Desert Island Survival # 2
Desert Island Survival # 2
A genuinely admirable ambush!
Right! If you're going to fight, that's the timing you go for!
Mun Min seems more clever than I thought. No. Did I make him clever? My physical therapy must've cleared his head.
ㅡFwat!
Anyway, his sword carried that cleverness. I blocked it, but the moment an ambush succeeds, you've already seized the initiative. Once you've got the attacking momentum, you push hard.
"Hup!"
With a battle cry, Mun Min poured mana into his strike and drove me back with superhuman strength. A very smart decision.
"Kuh!"
My body slid backward.
I focus as hard as I can. If I lose my balance here, that's one death banked. A death right after the game starts?
Then I might as well quit!
I can't die here!
ㅡBoom!
I stomped down hard, channeling mana into the step, and my body, which had been shoved backward, regained its center. Mun Min was burning mana continuously to push me out, so I had to spend a single explosive burst to stop his charge.
Still.
"You think I'd let you go!"
Mun Min was locked in too. The little bastard had his pride bruised and was working hard to make up for it.
ㅡClang!
He tried to twist my blade around...! If he pulls that off, someone like me who's never properly studied swordsmanship will be helplessly outplayed!
So.
ㅡBoom!
I immediately poured mana into my hands and slammed his attack aside with force. I was about to follow up—
ㅡPwah!
He retreated with a backstep. That left us facing each other with swords pointed, at a standoff.
"What's this? You're fighting better than last time."
He said it like he was puzzled. Oh, now that he mentions it? I handled this better than before. My body moved more smoothly. My judgment seemed faster too.
It's simple.
I'd already fought Mun Min once, so I had a rough grasp of the gap between us, and I knew my own level. With the hesitation gone, I could fight more freely. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you'll fight better. Admiral Yi Sun-sin said it, so it's not wrong.
"Kim Geun-cheol. Weren't you worse at fighting than me?"
"This is our second fight, right? Kinda getting the hang of it."
Of course I fight better the second time than the first.
"What the...!"
ㅡFwat!
Gritting his teeth, he charged again. Fast. But I don't get that feeling of being devoured. Actually, it felt manageable. Obviously, he's slower than Leona, Yu-ri, and Si-hoo.
Whatever. This fight isn't the lynching I dealt out last time—a struggle to smash my opponent. It's just a battle between cadets competing in good faith.
Thinking that put me at ease.
Honestly, last time should've been like this, but things went weird. Anyway, maybe that ease is why?
ㅡBoom!
I watched Mun Min charge and brought my sword straight down, blocking his attack.
"Huh?!"
When I smoothly deflected it, he made a flustered noise. I guess I do have some talent for swordsmanship. That was a perfect block. I'm getting a rough sense of how to swing this thing.
Of course.
I lack absolute experience.
I can't win with swordsmanship alone right now.
"Hup!"
I sucked in a breath in an instant!
"Th-this bastard, that again!"
Mun Min flinched in horror and tried to step back to get away from me. He's been conditioned. The danger of War Cry. The fear. It's good that he's wary, realizing he's helpless at close range, but—
"Fake!"
"Huh?!"
War Cry was a fake!
Timed with his backward retreat, I thrust my sword.
"Damn!"
He swung his blade in a panic—but that was a fake too.
"Hup!"
That was a fake as well.
The breath I sharply inhaled while pretending to thrust—
—I blasted it out with mana in a violent scream!
"Uwaah!"
Eyes squeezed shut, Mun Min lost his balance and toppled sideways. I didn't miss the opening. Tightening my grip, I smacked his Headgear.
ㅡClank!
Done.
ㅡBeep!
ㅡYou have died.
The death judgment triggered and Mun Min went down.
[Victory Point acquired.]
The voice came through my Headgear... Nice! I won! This time I won with pure skill!
"Victory is mine, Mun Min!"
"Ngh...! Hey! Screaming like that's a cheap trick!"
"What's cheap about fighting a villain, dumbass. And this time I didn't beat the shit out of you like before. You got tangled up in psychological warfare."
Mun Min was excessively wary of my War Cry, which made it really easy to bait him with mind games and fakes. If he hadn't flinched and had bravely closed in before I let out the War Cry, I would've lost.
It was a gamble.
But to beat a guy who's better than me, I had no choice but to gamble. The psychological play worked, and I won.
"You were too on guard about my screaming."
I pointed at my mouth, and Mun Min let out a sigh.
"Anyone would be on guard hearing that noise. Ugh, seriously. I came for revenge and I'm retired right off the bat."
"Well, it was fun. You been doing martial arts since you were a kid too?"
ㅡSwish.
I held out my hand as I spoke.
"Yeah."
Mun Min nodded, grabbing my hand and pulling himself up.
"I awakened when I was young too, actually. So I've been training since then. I even went to, uh, Yu-ri's family dojo."
"Yeah?"
Oh, right, Yu-ri's family is famous for their Awakened martial arts dojo. So he went there too.
"So you knew Yu-ri from before?"
"No. Nothing like that."
"What? You're the same age and went to the same dojo, how do you not know her?"
Same dojo, same age—don't you just become friends? He said they were kids, so they should at least know each other.
"I-I couldn't possibly know her!"
Why's he yelling?
"Anyway! When did you awaken, Kim Geun-cheol?"
"About half a year ago?"
"Oh... haa. Never mind."
When I said half a year, Mun Min sighed.
"Heh heh heh, what? Hurts your pride losing to a half-year rookie?"
"Why are you so blunt?"
"Between you and me, we've already seen the worst of each other, why would I bother talking uncomfortably? You little shit. Hey? Let's put the jealousy aside, we're friends."
"This guy... kinda annoying personality. Knowing you're only half a year in makes it even more annoying."
"Shut up, man."
Talking like this, it didn't feel awkward at all. Looks like we can get along from now on.
"Hoo. Well, I'm dead, so I'm heading back. Kim Geun-cheol, you..."
"What."
"Let's, you know, spar together next time. Train and stuff."
"I like that. Take care. See you next time."
Waving his hand, Mun Min turned and headed for the shore.
"Ah, but for real, my pride is wrecked. Kim Geun-cheol, I'm definitely taking you down. Got it?"
He looked back at me for a moment and said that.
"Heh heh heh, yeah. Do it if you can."
I grinned and sent him off.
"Funny bastard."
Anyway, the sparring suggestion? I like it. Honestly, the other friends are ridiculously strong. But Mun Min's only about one or two steps above me, so sparring with him'll actually be interesting.
Ah, this is how guys get closer—by fighting each other.
Good.
Now I'll hide somewhere safe and recover my stamina and mana—
ㅡDing.
At that moment, a notification sound suddenly rang out.
[**Quest]
"Huh."
A quest?
[**Quest******]
[****]
ㅡCrackle.
-------------------------
[****]
[********]
[**]
[*************]
-------------------------
"What the."
Why's it doing this?
ㅡDing.
The static-filled notification window simply vanished.
"No, fuck."
What the hell is this?
A quest window suddenly popped up, glitched out, spat out scrambled characters everywhere, and disappeared.
"..."
Something about it felt off, and I just stood there like an idiot. I mean, shit. When it does this out of nowhere, it's scary. What's wrong with it?
"Huh."
Maybe whatever I just did with Mun Min unlocked some kind of special quest condition? Thinking about it, that makes sense. The main quest window had a similar vibe when it first appeared.
The text was garbled and unreadable.
Seems like this is the same kind of phenomenon... Most likely, something progressed because of my connection to Mun Min.
"Shit."
I rubbed my face and moved on.
If it's important, it'll show up later.
For now, I'll just enjoy the thrill of victory, review the fight, and focus on recovering my stamina. I used War Cry, so I must've drawn aggro. Gotta run fast and hide.
* * *
I hid myself among the camouflaged underbrush and lay there for about thirty minutes. My stamina and mana recovered to a decent level.
"Hoo."
The Awakened body really is amazing. Stamina surpasses some athletes', and the recovery rate is excellent. A superhuman's truly a superhuman.
Anyway.
That's one Victory Point earned.
Realistically, taking down two more opponents at my level would be tough, but let's take meaning in collecting that one point. This much should earn me praise from Leona saying I did well.
And since I beat an opponent with swordsmanship, Yu-ri will probably be happy too. Nice. When we get back to school, I'll ask Yu-ri for some focused training.
Today's battle with Mun Min made one thing certain.
I've got talent for swordsmanship. That's why I could fight Mun Min to that extent. I want to unleash my talent right this moment.
"But, man."
I'm getting hungry and thirsty now.
They told us to survive on a deserted island—are we really supposed to find our own food and water? This is so hardcore it's bewildering. There's still over twenty hours on the clock.
"Then I'd better find water."
Drinking water is a priority.
Since it's a survival class, I'll keep that in mind. Alright. First, I need to find a water source.
"..."
Moving around while the sun's up feels like I'd get picked off immediately.
Search at night?
With that thought, I closed my eyes.
* * *
"Not night yet."
When I woke up, it was late afternoon. The sun was about to set soon. Still, with the dimness, it should be safe enough to search for water. Definitely better than daytime.
ㅡSwish.
I rose carefully.
And moved while surveying the surroundings.
As I was walking—
"Geun-cheol."
From behind me, Lee Si-hoo's voice!
"Gah!"
Turning around, Si-hoo was smiling confidently! With the eyes of a predator that's got its prey!
"You bastard...! When did you get behind me!"
"You, Scream Man. You screamed again earlier in the day, didn't you? I roughly pinpointed you from that. Exposing your position is very dangerous, Geun-cheol."
"Ngh!"
Now that Si-hoo's caught me, there's no way I'm getting out alive!
"Si-hoo, wait! Let's negotiate!"
"No. Rules are rules. Still, Geun-cheol, count yourself lucky to die by my hand."
"What kind of crazy serial killer talk is that...!"
I was desperately trying to figure out how to resist.
ㅡSlither.
ㅡHiss hiss.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a snake sound... huh?
"Hey, hey! Si-hoo...!"
"Geun-cheol? Your last words?"
"Snakes! Snakes! Shit, there's a ton of them!"
A whole shit-ton of snakes!
"What? Geun-cheol, at least make your lies believable."
They're even on Si-hoo's feet and shoulder...!
"Ah?! Aaaaaaaaaah! Noooooo!"
This time, the one who let out the War Cry wasn't me—it was Si-hoo!
