Discipline 6: The Disciplinary Committee Leader Rejects Persons of Interest (2)
The promised day arrived. I filed the duel application with the school and brought healers along with me — they were already on standby just outside the arena.
Naturally, a duel between me and the Shindorim Swordmaster had stirred up a storm of attention. Enough Ahseong High students had turned out to more than fill the spectator stands.
I found out just how much from the live stream on ZTube. '140,000 concurrent viewers...!? W-what is this...?'
I had expected a crowd. I just hadn't expected this crowd. The viewer count for Sinso TV's live broadcast was pushing 140,000 — and neither Sinso nor I had even shown our faces yet. Once the duel actually started, that number was only going to explode.
"All eyes are on you. Students from several schools will be watching."
Vice Leader Oh Baek-seo said it mildly, eyes on her smartphone.
"The Mahyeon High Disciplinary Committee Leader sponsored the stream! The 'Rock Cloud General' himself! Ooh, and Sein High's student council president too! Absolute heavyweights are backing this! And get this — they said they're rooting for both you and Sinso!"
"R-right...?"
Executive Ha Ye-song was grinning vapidly at her phone.
'Sponsorship, my ass. Those guys are dying to watch without showing their hand, and they're calling it sponsorship!?'
It made me want to scream. I hadn't imagined things would balloon to this size... Mahyeon's Disciplinary Committee Leader? Sein High's student council president? And after that? Were they watching from Hanyang Federal Academy too?
"Leader, you're HUGE! Hanyang Federal Academy's General Student Council just posted in the chat! They're asking for a good match!"
'What a goddamn circus this has become...'
As if any of them were tuning in with pure hearts. They'd be there with drool running down their chins, crunching through popcorn, praying the Ahseong Disciplinary Committee Leader would embarrass himself on camera.
Proving my ability to the Disciplinary Committee was one thing — that I welcomed. Baring my fighting style to every other academy in the city was another matter entirely, and a far less welcome one.
"Looks like everyone's got far too much time on their hands."
"Oh, come on, it's great! You're gonna be suuuper famous, hehe."
Why did this girl have to be so relentlessly cheerful?
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the arena. The crowd was every bit as suffocating as I'd expected.
We stepped up onto the arena floor amid the cheers of the Ahseong students — and in the same instant, a mass of flame came hurtling in from somewhere across the field and touched down on the far side.
Flames burst and spread with a roar — and there he was, a male student wearing a goblin mask. The Shindorim Swordmaster.
'Cool...' I had to give him that. Before the duel had even begun, I had lost the 'coolness' category outright.
"Kyaaaah! Amazing!"
"Sinso! Sinso!"
"Sinso! I love you!"
"Sinso! Destroy that Committee Leader!"
The students went into a frenzy over his flashy entrance. Ha Ye-song included. I honestly could not tell whether that girl was on my side.
His entrance alone was enough to drive the crowd insane. So this was what being a ZTuber really meant, huh.
In any case, the sight was unbearable in every possible way.
Sinso stretched his arms out toward the stands, and slowly the din of student voices receded.
Watching him strut and milk the crowd so shamelessly, the impression arrived unbidden: truly the Shindorim Swordmaster.
"Disciplinary Committee Leader, thank you sincerely for granting my unreasonable request."
Sinso bowed his upper body in a deep, courteous bow.
'So he knew it was unreasonable.' He'd whipped all of this into a spectacle, and somehow his manners were still intact.
"Hoo."
I let out a short breath, folded my emotions neatly away, and pulled on my black gloves.
It was time to deal with this irritating bastard.
"Name tag."
"Yes?"
I pointed at the name tag stitched to my chest: Ahn Woo-jin.
"Wearing your name tag anywhere but the chest is a violation of school regulations. I'll mark it as a point deduction. Challenging the Disciplinary Committee itself is clear interference with official duties — which means punishment is in order. Furthermore, all revenue collected through today's broadcast will be classified as illicit gains stemming from unlawful conduct, and the Disciplinary Committee will confiscate every last coin of it."
I laid it out strictly by the book.
Call it a quirk of Academy City. Here, within the district under Ahseong High's jurisdiction, Ahseong's school regulations carried the full weight of law.
The constitution, fairness, morality, social justice — those all deserved consideration as well, but the regulations I had just cited were valid as of this very moment.
"That's—!"
Sinso's voice trembled.
"I apologize, but I beg you to overlook it just this once, for the duration of this duel alone! I came here as a challenger — I only wanted to test myself against you, Committee Leader, man to man...!"
Perhaps his fervent challenger's spirit had collided head-on with a colder reality than he'd bargained for. Sinso shouted as though begging me to recognize his sincerity.
A thoroughly disagreeable attitude. And the nerve to keep a straight face through it all was first-rate, too.
Our duel had become this much of a spectacle, which meant the man stood to pocket quite the allowance off it. Naturally, the duel aside, he'd be greedy for the proceeds.
Truly... people really do come in every imaginable variety.
"...You certainly do as you please."
"I'm sorry?"
I took hold of the front brim of my cap, pulled it down a shade, and fixed Sinso with a glare.
I had stepped onto this stage under the name of a duel — but what I was about to carry out was not, in truth, a duel at all.
"It seems to me you could use an education."
No — discipline.
"Vice Leader — what would you say was my reason for sponsoring Sinso TV?"
Mahyeon High School, Disciplinary Committee executive office. Disciplinary Committee Leader Lee Je-ho, watching the Sinso TV live broadcast on his tablet, posed the question to his vice leader.
"...I'm not interested."
"......"
Lee Je-ho shot his vice leader a pointed look. It plainly said, ask me. The vice leader exhaled a soundless sigh and dutifully threw the question back.
"Very well, Leader. What was your reason for sponsoring?"
"To advertise to Ahseong High that our Mahyeon Disciplinary Committee has its eyes on them."
Lee Je-ho gave a low "hmph" of a laugh and pushed his glasses up one more time.
"And what if the Shindorim Swordmaster proves more capable than we anticipate — if the Ahseong Disciplinary Committee Leader struggles, even a little? Or, even if he doesn't struggle — what if it becomes plain that his level of force falls short of ours?"
"In that case, it would be established that Mahyeon's Disciplinary Committee is the stronger of the two — meaning you would be indirectly signaling that we have taken note of the fact, and in practice you would secure the upper hand in our day-to-day disputes."
"......"
"Understood, Leader. From now on, I shall refrain from explaining on your behalf."
His vice leader had steamrolled Lee Je-ho's planned self-question-and-answer routine with a complete, fully reasoned answer. Lee Je-ho, who had wanted nothing more than to look a shade more intelligent, glared at his vice leader once again with a petulant slant to his eyes.
"In any case... a certain degree of power logic cannot help but govern the relationship between us. Our school districts share a border, so conflict between us is a matter of course."
In Academy City, the jurisdictional districts over which each academy held autonomy were known as school districts.
With districts pressed up against one another, history was thick with incidents that had spiraled into jurisdictional disputes.
Which was why, between academies the size of Ahseong, Mahyeon, and Sein, some measure of power logic was simply unavoidable.
And therefore —
"Should the Ahseong Disciplinary Committee Leader reveal even the faintest flaw, that man becomes our prey."
Lee Je-ho tilted his chin up, pushed his glasses higher, and let the corner of his mouth curl. A sly "heh heh" slipped out from between his lips.
His vice leader offered nothing but a flat "Yessir..." He had no particular intention of picking a fight with Ahseong High.
"It will begin shortly."
On the tablet screen, the student serving as referee stepped up onto the Ahseong arena.
Whoosh! Sinso drew his duel-approved sword. It bore an edge, technically — but a blade with no sharpness to speak of, closer to a thin bludgeon than a sword.
"Are both combatants ready?"
When the referee asked, Sinso nodded; Woo-jin offered nothing but an icy non-reaction.
'Ahn Woo-jin... judging from appearances alone, the man is clearly no ordinary fighter.'
His skill remained unknown, but befitting his office, a proud and weighty aura radiated off Ahn Woo-jin like pressure.
A knife-edge tension settled over the arena. Every student in the stands held their breath, eyes locked on Woo-jin and Sinso.
"Then — take your stances!"
Sinso dropped into position.
"Duel — begin!"
And with the referee's declaration, Sinso kicked off the ground and hurled himself at Woo-jin.
"......!?"
Lee Je-ho's eyes widened a fraction and his jaw hung open.
His vice leader, registering the surprise, felt a prickle of curiosity and toddled around behind him — and together, the two of them watched the Sinso TV broadcast.
"Ooh, shit."
The vice leader let the common exclamation slip out without meaning to. It took only a glance to understand why Lee Je-ho had been stunned.
Just a few minutes earlier.
The arena at Ahseong High School.
The Shindorim Swordmaster had felt an overwhelming pressure the moment he first laid eyes on Ahn Woo-jin. The man's mere presence had made the air across the arena heavy in an instant.
His tall, striking frame — and beneath the shadow thrown by the brim of his cap, teal eyes that gleamed with haughty light. His gaze was as keen as a blade honed to perfection: sharp, cold, and utterly composed.
Not a whisper of hesitation, not a flicker of unease could be found in it. No tremor of any emotion existed in those eyes whatsoever.
Sinso swallowed drily.
Just as prey recognizes a predator by instinct alone, his heart slammed against his ribs and every nerve in his body stood on end.
And so Sinso made himself certain: this duel with the Disciplinary Committee Leader would raise him one step higher.
Which meant he had no choice but to force the fear back down.
"Duel — begin!"
With the referee's call, Sinso shot forward without a beat of delay.
Sinso's mana flooded into the duel sword. Crimson flame roared up along the blade. The 4th Tier — the art of converting raw mana into the power of an element.
The blazing fire threw off waves of heat, searing the air itself. Brilliant flame trailed behind Sinso like a tail, and for a moment the scene resembled an Eastern dragon wreathed in fire swooping down upon its quarry.
Woo-jin, meanwhile, simply stood his ground and returned a cold stare.
"I'll be taking the first move!"
KWAM! A stomp of the foot to fix his stance — and in the next heartbeat, red flame carved a razor-precise trajectory through the air.
FWOOSH! The fire came surging in.
But Woo-jin drew his upper body back with fluid grace and slipped lightly past the flaming strike.
"!"
Bewilderment clouded Sinso's eyes.
In that same instant, something slid free from Woo-jin's belt, splitting the air with a razor-thin whistle.
SHWAEK! The moment Woo-jin's weapon came cutting in under his chin, Sinso's reflexes fired and he flung himself backward. Only belatedly did he realize the weapon's reach was extremely short.
What had been drawn was a black baton — in other words, a handle.
Woo-jin smacked the arm gripping the baton with his free hand. CHUNK! Two segments of steel rod snapped out from within it.
A black three-section staff.
TZZZT! Woo-jin's mana seeped into the staff's mana circuit, and that mana took on the form of teal lightning.
No lengthy thought process was required. Sinso kicked off the ground and came rushing in once more; flame-wreathed strikes came howling down, cleaving the instant itself.
A dazzling dance of the flaming sword.
But it was not the aesthetics-first swordplay the spectators knew from the videos. It was a killing technique — a craft whose sole purpose was putting the opponent down.
HWEE! Falling back a step at a time, Woo-jin wove his body with veteran ease and glided past strike after strike.
Sinso poured everything into focus.
Keep this up, and he could corner him. Keep this up, and he could land a critical blow on the Disciplinary Committee Leader himself.
'I can see it.'
Then, all at once, an opening appeared.
Sinso did not let that instant slip away.
FWOOSH! A far greater volume of mana raced along the sword's mana circuit, whipping the flames into something fiercer still.
Land this, and he would score a clean, effective hit on Woo-jin. He would seize the flow of the duel for himself.
Sinso was certain of it.
THWACK! CRACK!
"!?"
The flaming strike failed to accomplish even the simple act of cutting the air.
A flash of teal light, over in a blink, cracked against Sinso's wrist — an attack threaded with exquisite precision into the gap Sinso himself had exposed.
In the next breath, a torrent of lightning came roaring down his arm and crashed through his entire body.
"Ghhk!"
Sinso's form crumbled. His hand lost its grip on the sword. The shock of it made recovering his stance a hopeless task.
THUD! WHAM!
In a flash, two teal arcs carved themselves through empty air. CRACK! Electricity bloomed outward, impact sounds cracking back and forth — Sinso had already taken heavy blows to his arm and his neck.
"Kgha!"
Woo-jin's movements — brief, measured, economical — carried the disciplined restraint of a soldier's drill. Precise as a blade polished over long years, every strike served a single purpose: suppressing the enemy at maximum efficiency.
Woo-jin's arm rose. WHUM! He brought the three-section staff around in a savage arc.
KRAKOOM!
With a sound closer to an explosion than a swing, electricity scattered in all directions and a monstrous shockwave erupted.
WHOOM! Sinso's body was hurled through the air, scraping along the ground — skidding to a stop right at the arena's edge, escaping elimination by a hair's breadth.
"Heok...!"
Sinso gulped down air in ragged heaves.
That roar from moments ago was not a sound a mere three-section staff could produce. That impact was not a force a mere three-section staff could deliver.
"A shockwave...? How...?"
There was no mistaking it: condensed lightning mana had given birth to a shockwave, compounding the physical force into something far greater.
It defied belief. A technique he had never heard of, let alone witnessed.
Sinso had pegged Ahn Woo-jin as a 4th-Tier combatant like himself — because the man fought by doing nothing more than winding lightning mana around his three-section staff. He hadn't looked like a bearer of a Unique Ability, the qualifying condition of the 5th Tier.
Of course, skill divided even those within the same tier.
But Sinso was a formidable fighter in his own right, and so he had believed that against a same-tier opponent, he could fight Woo-jin to something close to a draw.
...He had been wrong.
That command of mana had already left the mere 4th Tier far, far behind.
"......"
Woo-jin bent down and picked up the duel sword lying on the ground.
With a flick of the wrist, he tossed it lightly toward Sinso. KAANG. The sword gave off a clear, ringing chime as it landed at Sinso's feet.
Sinso's stunned gaze jumped back and forth between the sword and Woo-jin.
"Pick it up."
Woo-jin's solemn command came down like a verdict.