Chapter 155
Chapter 155
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Episode 50. Eyes Looking Down from the Dark (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yoo Ji-tae grabbed Yoo Yeoreum by the scruff of her neck as she stuck her tongue out at the camera, teasing them lewdly.
"Cut it out. Time to head home."
After the third-quarter rankings announcement.
The academy district and Colosseum Lair were swarming with people. Twenty percent were reporters, the rest fans flocking to catch a glimpse of celebrities among the cadets.
Over there, guardians with thrilled expressions came into view. Like the Yong family's Yong Cheol-jun and Erpan Guild's Ryun.
Yong Cheol-jun spotted Yoo Ji-tae and quickly averted his gaze.
Ryun smirked.
"What should we have for dinner tonight..."
Yoo Yeoreum followed Yoo Ji-tae's line of sight and turned her head.
She scowled at Ryun chattering away in front of the reporters and the Erpan Guild cadets.
"Did they take a bullet to the forehead? What a smug look..."
Yoo Yeoreum shoved her hands into her pockets and fiddled with her cigarette case.
Up until then, she hadn't seemed too upset.
She was just forcing herself to stay calm, thinking about what was to come. There was no way she'd be happy about getting humiliated right in her face during the individual matches or falling behind in rankings.
"Look at them. That one over there, dying of joy. They're acting like they own the world even though they didn't get first. If they had, maybe they'd do a tap dance naked? Bunch of idiots."
Then Yoo Yeoreum locked eyes with Zhou Lurushin.
"What's that? Yoo Yeoreum's coming over."
Zhou Lurushin said it loud, then chuckled and turned away. The other Erpan Guild cadets' eyes simultaneously flicked toward Yoo Yeoreum.
The next moment, snickers rippled through them like a wave. It wasn't hard to guess what Zhou Lurushin had blabbed.
That must've gotten under her skin.
"Oh yeah? These crazy bastards are asking for it."
"Don't get worked up over trash like that."
"...Who said I'm worked up? Tch, if I just had a hammer, I'd nail their heads together and hang 'em like dried mackerel. Who do they think they are, smirking like that? Funny?"
Yoo Yeoreum seemed like she'd follow Yoo Ji-tae obediently, but when the laughter hit, she whipped around and yelled.
"Hey! What's so funny?"
Her shout cut through the noise, drawing eyes from the crowd.
"You fucking assholes! Am I hilarious to you?"
Yoo Ji-tae wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"I said calm down."
"No, seriously. Let go. These psychos are laughing at me! You saw that, right? Huh? And that one just now?"
"Yoo Yeoreum."
His stern tone made her eyes widen a bit. Yoo Ji-tae's grip on her arm tightened. She bit her lip hard.
"Hoo..."
The whole way back, her breathing was ragged.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Her shoulder trembled under his hand.
"Hey. Our plan... it's really gonna work out perfectly, right?"
She asked on the way.
"Of course."
"If it doesn't..."
With the anger cooled...
Sadness settled in her chest.
"I'm seriously gonna cry..."
But that wouldn't happen.
Erpan Guild. Guardian Ryun.
He received an unbelievable call.
"Hello! Yes? Oh, yes, yes! This is Ryun..."
His voice was so polite it shocked the listening cadets.
Even over the phone, Ryun bowed deeply.
It was a call from Zhonggong's top combat unit, Tianshen. The dream of all Chinese superhumans, the elite of the People's Superhuman Force.
Ryun mouthed excitedly to the cadets: 'Tianshen, Tianshen.' They gasped, hands over mouths.
"Yes, yes. Ah, yes. Yes... That's right. Yes? Ah...! Really?"
The cadets held their breath, staring at his reaction.
—Yeah. The way you nabbed Yoo Yeoreum looks good, so...
Insane.
Ryun thought. Totally insane.
Tianshen had just mentioned scouting Zhou Lurushin. If he joined, he'd get massive backing from all of Zhonggong, rocketing to the world's top twenty rankers in ten years.
And Ryun would be that ranker's guardian—an irreplaceable opportunity.
—Yong Tae-ha too would thrill the elders, but that guy's a tough nut.
A bitter pill. As he said, Yong Tae-ha was hailed alongside Tier Blanc as the greatest genius ever.
—What can you do? Look ahead. The top spots are made, not born, right?
"Yes. Exactly."
—But watch the sprouts. Second place... you can hold that, right?
"Of course. Erpan Guild will never betray the elders' trust!"
—Fourth quarter. Looking forward to it.
The call ended.
Ryun hugged Zhou Lurushin and yelled in joy.
The other cadets looked disappointed—no word for them—but still shared the glee, hoping for scraps if their peer succeeded.
And so Erpan Guild was festive for days after the fourth quarter began.
Guardians encouraged their cadets. Cadets trusted Zhou Lurushin and tackled assignments more aggressively. Laughter never stopped.
"...Hic."
Then, on the day of 'individual duels.'
When ranking 51st Wei Jinmei returned to the dorm sobbing.
They were puzzled.
"What's wrong, Mei? What happened?"
"I lost the duel..."
"Aw."
Top-50 competition participants lost sometimes. Even dodging bad matchups, facing outsiders like Oscar Blanc or Sophia Borcova was unavoidable.
"It's fine. Who'd you face?"
"...Yoo Yeoreum."
No surprise.
Humiliated after the beatdown, no doubt. Still, Wei Jinmei's guardian comforted her.
"No biggie. Underdog system means minimal point loss."
"Yeah..."
The next day, third-quarter 27th 'Yang Wei' lost to Yoo Yeoreum and returned.
"Couldn't even fight back... Sorry."
"Kid, nothing to apologize for. Everyone knows Yoo Yeoreum's strong."
"My ranking's gonna drop..."
Until then, Erpan guardians chalked it up to coincidence.
But on the fourth quarter's third day, 33rd Jia Yu fell to Yoo Yeoreum. Fourth day, 15th Jang Su-young too. Erpan's mood began to waver.
"...Damn it. What's going on?"
Jang Su-young bit her lip, head down.
Zhonggong organizations weren't harmonious to begin with.
Just riding Zhou Lurushin's high, but four straight losses had guardians raising voices.
"Hey. Why are you all coming back beaten by Yoo Yeoreum?"
"Sorry."
"Didn't check her login time?"
"W-Well, actually..."
Early fourth quarter, buried in work, Ryun hadn't noticed.
"What? The helper bolted?"
The helper was Erpan HQ staff scheduling duels.
Ryun called somewhere.
No answer.
Calling guild HQ: the helper and entire 'helper barracks' vanished.
"What nonsense? Why would the helper disappear!"
Eight years ago, before Lair systems solidified, Erpan rigged devices everywhere to track grades and info.
Most caught by Education Bureau, but individual duel boards survived.
Now blocked.
"How do you idiots handle shit from the corner! Especially now...!"
Ryun yelled, lit a cigarette. Alarm bells rang in his head. Like swept in a massive current.
"I-It must be coincidence..."
Zhou Lurushin's words.
Ryun grimaced. No way. Erpan scheduled to avoid internal duels. All four losers to Yoo Yeoreum were first in line that day.
Screaming non-coincidence.
Must shadow cadets. Find it himself.
"Ah, fuck, my points!"
But day five, no find.
Day six, Jang Su-young with him lost to Yoo Yeoreum again before his eyes.
Her rank dropped from 15th to 19th.
Points saved since first quarter. No time to recover now.
"Teacher, what do I do! Those were my hard-earned points...!"
Back from sub-space to duel room, Jang Su-young buried her face and sobbed.
"Ha, damn, fucking... I'm losing it."
Assault teams create flow. Not follow it.
Assault teams despair not when dragged by war's tide, but when dragged without knowing how.
Ryun felt revulsion rising like vomit. Yoo Yeoreum was sniping all Erpan. Know the principle, dodge maybe. But couldn't grasp it.
"......"
How the hell is she sniping?
First floor above ground.
Emergency evacuation stairs.
No light despite daytime. No windows, sensors detected nothing.
A man stared at the floor.
Colosseum structure: best spot overlooking all duel rooms from B1 to 5F.
Once, skills or powers for viewing.
No need now.
The regressor opened his eyes.
Cloudy gaze pierced concrete, surveying the entire basement.
Sniping principle was simple.
Yeoreum entered Colosseum Lair at duel times. Skipped classes if needed.
Sat in duel room waiting.
Yoo Ji-tae crashed Erpan parties, memorized all cadets' mana textures and faces. When one entered a duel room and hit duel button, signaled Yeoreum.
Waiting Yeoreum hit DUEL on signal.
Simple, impossible without Yoo Ji-tae.
Then, message on his watch.
These past few days, Yeoreum—the Red Dragon—had been beaming brighter than ever, wondering if she could even smile that wide.
Erpan usually dueled from 6 PM, ten-minute intervals, one by one.
But today was different. Thirty minutes late, still no one.
Preparing something?
Soon, the reason emerged.
"......"
Familiar figures entered through Colosseum's north gate: Ryun and Zhou Lurushin.
Ryun glanced around warily, leading his cadet to a duel room.
They picked gear: from last list, swapped crossbow for shield. Two shields now.
Yoo Ji-tae messaged.
Erpan realized first-duel sniping. So arming Zhou Lurushin with shields to face Yeoreum. Draw steals her daily fight chance, opens path for others.
No chance.
Yeoreum picked gauntlet-crushing spiked two-handed hammer as weapon.
Signal dropped, Yeoreum hit DUEL.
High-score cadets matched.
Yoo Ji-tae checked duel screen via guardian app on watch.
Yeoreum and Zhou Lurushin summoned to sub-space.
Zhou Lurushin's panic flashed—saw her weapon.
Simultaneously, B3 duel room: Ryun smashed chair in rage. Realized weapon sniped too.
Still mad, hurled broken chair at machine.
Spectators flooded in seconds.
Duel began.
Recently, even perfect counterpick, Zhou Lurushin barely held. Countered now? No match.
Kaang—!
One spiked hammer pierced shield.
Kaang—!
Two shattered the other.
Crack—!
Three: Zhou Lurushin's head exploded.
Goddess statue prevented gore, but victory was anticlimactic.
Yeoreum's perfect win.
Back from sub-space, she bounced toward Yoo Ji-tae, fiddling with watch.
Everyday grudge, everyday revenge. Seeing her so thrilled at petty payback, even the regressor felt a pleasant warmth.
Everyday revenge.
Another thing caught his eye. Spotting Ryun and his smashed chair, Yoo Ji-tae called Colosseum's guidance office.
—Hello?
"Thinking of reporting property damage."