Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Archery Club Showdown
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‘What the hell is he saying right now?'
The Archery Club members doubted their ears. They couldn't comprehend at all why Jae-hyeok had challenged Jun-yeop to a duel.
Coming to the Archery Club and causing a ruckus?
A hundred concessions made, they could understand that as revenge for Baek Do-jin.
But a formal duel challenge was an entirely different matter.
'Hey, you clueless freshman. Do you even know what it means to formally challenge the club president?'
Unable to hold back, No Jun-yeop let out a scoff and nailed it down.
'I'm just putting the club president position on the line, but you're betting your life. This isn't exaggeration. You lose, and your life is really done for.'
Bet your life to conquer one club?
It was a statement lost on anyone attending an ordinary school.
But in Lion's Castle, the concept of a club was close to that of a guild.
Guilds run directly by students.
A form of experiential learning.
They were granted the qualifications to take on their own commissions, generating all sorts of revenue, and the scale of earnings from major clubs surpassed that of ordinary businesses.
When an outsider threw down the gauntlet aiming for that massive pie, it only made sense for them to pay an appropriate price in defeat.
For example, becoming the club's slave for three straight years.
'Eh?'
What on earth was the reason for blowing this out of proportion just to avenge a mere team member?
No Jun-yeop tilted his head, utterly baffled, then clapped his hands with a snap.
'Kang Jae-hyeok! You're Yaksha's son, aren't you? Yeah, that tracks. You're a guy with nothing to lose.'
All the doubts finally cleared up, and No Jun-yeop looked utterly relieved.
'Hah, the little punk with no balls going all-in at the poker table to salvage his worthless life—what a pitiful sight.'
No Jun-yeop had zero interest in the fallen House Kang.
But one fact he knew for certain.
They had raised swordsmen generation after generation.
Right—he was a swordsman.
The weapon hanging at his waist was a sword, and what had smacked the back of my head was probably the scabbard.
I'd been on guard, wondering if he had some ace up his sleeve, but now I felt at ease.
'Just a lunatic who doesn't know his place. Makes sense he's buddying up with Baek Do-jin.'
I'd heard the rumors.
At the re-examination broadcast nationwide, he'd spectacularly awakened a bloodline skill.
Life turned upside down overnight, so getting drunk on the feeling of owning the world wasn't surprising.
That kid had no idea how vast the world really was.
'Planning to help your family's finances with the club activity funds and commission fees? Fine. Your intent is touching, so I'll accept the duel. Even if you lose and spend three years waiting on the Archery Club hand and foot, don't hold it against us too much. Compared to scraping by in your beggar's den, slave life might even feel decent.'
Sneering, he took his place at the shooting line and leisurely drew his purple revolver.
That was when Jae-hyeok opened his mouth.
'It's not me becoming Archery Club president—it's Baek Do-jin.'
'…?'
'What I want is colonial rule over the Archery Club. No one's more suited to the regency than Do-jin. He'll put you to good use.'
The largest group activity Jae-hyeok wanted was strictly at the team level.
He had to keep getting stronger without rest. His honest desire was to pour most of his time into himself.
That was why he kept using the term 'colony.'
He craved pleasure without responsibility.
Not to become a member and dive into operations or get tangled in every incident—but to let the Archery Club chug along on autopilot and just skim the profits.
'If Do-jin hadn't laid the groundwork, I never would've even thought of this.'
A single student challenging a club's hegemony was rare even across all of Lion's Castle history.
Successful cases were virtually nonexistent.
It wasn't mainstream culture, so students didn't even bring it up.
As a freshman, Jae-hyeok hadn't even known there was a school rule allowing him to seize the club presidency.
He'd only learned of it by chance from the bloodied Archery Club members collapsed outside the range, lamenting that a 'foreigner was trying to conquer the Archery Club,' and decided to exploit it.
In other words, pure improvisation without any real plan.
Coming to realize that sometimes in life, letting things flow was the smart play.
'This guy's actually insane?'
Reading the sincerity in Jae-hyeok's tone, No Jun-yeop's face crumpled like a sheet of paper.
A mere first-year, daring this?
A useless fallen noble bloodline, strutting on one bloodline skill—what a joke.
'You think you can look down on me?'
Club president wasn't a job for just anyone.
No Jun-yeop was a rare black-rank player even in Lion's Castle.
He had the basic qualifications to become an S-rank player and had awakened a shooting-specialized skill, which was why his third-year seniors had entrusted the Archery Club to him.
'Why so much talk?'
A tall beauty cut in.
'Challenged? Then shut up and start the match.'
'Jang Yeon-ju, you… tch, whatever.'
Surprisingly, No Jun-yeop was powerless against this woman named Jang Yeon-ju.
She hadn't seemed ordinary from the first glance—was she actually stronger?
If so, why was No Jun-yeop the president and not her?
Jang Yeon-ju gave an eye signal to the intrigued Jae-hyeok.
'First-year Kang Jae-hyeok? The Archery Club formally accepts your challenge. Winning's simple: outshoot that bastard No Jun-yeop with bow or gun and rack up more points. We'll follow Ragnarok rules.'
Ragnarok.
Easiest way to think of it: the players' Olympics.
A tournament held every three years in an event-type world gate.
Minimum entry requirement: level 150.
Even among S-rank players, only veterans at the tail end of their growth curve were Ragnarok's lowest rung.
'N-no, that's impossible!'
Chae Da-hee recoiled in horror.
A Ragnarok fanatic since childhood, she knew the shooting rules inside out.
Random targets popping up across a 500-meter range.
Varied in size, color, and shape—participants could only score by hitting 'yellow targets.'
And the yellow targets' diameter was a mere 0.5 centimeters.
About the size of a black ant.
Targets that small—hard to spot even stationary—would appear and vanish randomly up to 500 meters away.
Sometimes overlapping other targets or shielded by cover.
Shots limited to twenty total, with penalties for hitting non-yellow ones, making it nearly impossible for an ordinary person to score even two points under Ragnarok rules.
Jang Yeon-ju popped a small stick candy into her mouth and tilted her head.
Her flashy vibe made it look less like candy and more like a cigarette dangling from her lips.
'Impossible? Then don't challenge if you're not up for it.'
Law of the jungle.
Lion's Castle ran on power logic.
Even this absurd school rule letting outsiders conquer clubs stemmed from that power logic.
Lion's Castle actively encouraged student rivalries.
And as a second-year, Jang Yeon-ju had seen plenty of students ruin their lives because of the school's attitude.
Deep down, she hoped this kid Kang Jae-hyeok would back off the challenge.
Lose badly, and he'd be the Archery Club's slave for three years—sacrificing his time and talent, only to get culled fast.
'Sounds fun.'
Chae Da-hee, who'd been about to persuade Jae-hyeok to quit, clamped her mouth shut.
Jae-hyeok was already at the shooting line, smiling.
The moment she saw it, anticipation bubbled up absurdly.
When he'd beheaded the leech king, before the re-exam, when he'd broken Ha Kyung-su with spear arts.
He always wore that smile.
'Should I go first?'
Jae-hyeok decided to stick with the hornbow he'd picked initially.
The band tied to his hwando—to easily reverse the grip—was purely for the bow. A design for wearing sword and bow together.
Korea had been a nation of archers since ancient times, and House Kang warriors excelled at archery.
Rarely used in actual combat, but training for it was clan tradition—to honor their spirit and hone focus.
Besides, Jae-hyeok was an all-master.
Already confident in archery, now boosted by skill corrections.
Truth be told, he had no faith in losing.
'If it were a straight-up duel, maybe different.'
The very rule the Archery Club made to defend itself was now aiding Jae-hyeok.
'Watching peasant archery would rot my eyes, so I'll go first.'
Oblivious to the backstory, No Jun-yeop worked the controls at the line.
[Ragnarok Mode initiating.]
'…….'
The match began the instant the mechanical voice rang out.
Hundreds of targets popped up and vanished repeatedly across the massively expanded range.
No Jun-yeop stayed silent for a beat.
His usual practice mode used the same map as Ragnarok mode.
Just with only yellow targets appearing.
No target distinctions or cover objects.
Even a haughty club president like him couldn't grind the insanely mana-draining Ragnarok mode often.
Bang!
Around twenty seconds in.
Boosting his eyesight to the max with [Eagle's Eye] and sharpening his focus, No Jun-yeop targeted a target at sixty meters and pulled the trigger.
Most club members couldn't even spot it.
That 0.5-centimeter diameter was way smaller than imagined.
[Hit.]
'Whoa, incredible.'
Da-hee swallowed hard, checking the score on the display.
To even recognize yellow targets, you probably needed at least 100 agility and insight stats, she figured.
'No—probably way higher…'
The vast range wasn't just yellow targets.
Hundreds of times more multicolored ones constantly cluttered the view.
Bang, bang, bang!
No Jun-yeop fired three more shots, landing one hit out of the trio.
'Tch.'
He clicked his tongue and took a deep breath to steady himself.
Nearby targets kept getting blocked by others or cover.
Too risky even for bullet-curving tricks.
'Aim for ones over 400 meters.'
Ragnarok allowed just three minutes per round.
Yet after over a minute, he'd only used four shots.
He needed to pick up the pace to avoid wasting his remaining sixteen.
Whiiiing!
His revolver let out a clear, rhythmic cry as it poured out mana.
He'd activated his first skill, boosting bullet power and speed.
'Go!'
Ratatatang!!
One trigger pull, and the muzzle spat five flames.
The five rapid-fire shots without interval smashed through rocks in sequence, shattering them.
Boom!
No Jun-yeop's sixth shot, fired in the interim, nailed the yellow target hiding behind.
'Gotcha.'
Six shots for one target, but his expression brightened.
Total score: three points.
Tough even for average club members.
Beginners couldn't hit three even with luck.
Eased up, he targeted the next.
When the three-minute limit ended.
[6 points.]
An astonishing score lit up No Jun-yeop's display.
Rough even for pro players.
'Close one.'
'If that red target hadn't popped at the end, he could've hit eight for a new record.'
Club members clapped with regrets.
No Jun-yeop's face wasn't bad either.
The last shot had clipped a red for a penalty, but six was his peak-condition score.
No way he'd lose…
'…Huh?'
His pupils quaked as he stepped down from the line, chin raised arrogantly.
The other club members were speechless too.
[Hit.]
[Hit.]
[Hit.]
Jae-hyeok had just mounted the line seconds ago.
Yet he'd already loosed three arrows—all perfect hits. Curve shots precise as a protractor pierced the yellow targets behind cover effortlessly.
'…….'
For a moment, everyone in the arena saw an illusion.
The third range, trashed by Loren, transformed into a Ragnarok tournament venue.