Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Tournament (2)
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Oh Ha-na, who had stopped by the waiting room before emerging into the duel arena, presented a truly shocking sight.
Her entire body, including her face, was covered in heavy plate armor.
She held a dagger in her hand, and several more daggers—three or four—hung from the leather belt at her waist.
It looked like she intended to use them for throwing.
‘She must have heard that spears are weak against heavy armor.’
Lee Chan-hyuk had given me that advice.
Spears were vulnerable to heavy armor, so it was better to learn the longsword as well.
She must have overheard that conversation and geared up like this.
In the end, her cunning attempt had been highly successful.
My current armament was just a spear.
For defense, I wore light armor that covered only my chest and abdomen.
[What a brazen wench. Shall I just Dispel her outright? How would she even explain it if her ability suddenly stopped working?]
‘No. It’s fine. I’ve been thinking it was about time to put her in her place.’
I politely declined Laura’s offer.
Honestly, I had known a clash with Oh Ha-na was inevitable sooner or later.
If anything, this was later than expected.
We stepped up onto the duel arena.
“Please take care of me.”
“Please take care of me.”
We stiffly bowed our heads in the formal pre-match courtesy.
《This match is between Shin Noda, who wields telekinesis, and Oh Ha-na, who manipulates air.》
《Telekinesis, huh? It’s the first time I’ve seen it make it this far.》
《Indeed. Looking at his profile, Shin Noda is B-rank. Seems like his stats outweighed his skills.》
Numbers appeared on the electronic scoreboard.
「10」
「9」
“You don’t usually wear armor like that. It must not be comfortable. You sure you’re okay?”
I asked out of pure curiosity.
Moving freely in heavy armor like that wasn’t something you could do overnight.
It required a fair amount of practice.
My question was genuine, but Oh Ha-na took it differently and began glaring at me with furious eyes.
「8」
「7」
Even as she did, the timer counting down to the start of the match ticked away.
“Why don’t you worry about yourself? You’ll be getting your ass kicked soon, and everyone will know you’re just a water rocket.”
Oh Ha-na smirked mockingly.
I didn’t see the point in responding.
Before long, only three seconds remained.
《Oh Ha-na is a student with a bright future ahead. Her air manipulation skill is extremely rare and versatile.》
《Considering the stat difference with her opponent, her decision to wear heavy armor doesn’t look bad at all.》
The numbers on the scoreboard continued to drop.
「3」
「2」
「1」
I had planned to end it in an instant, but seeing Oh Ha-na’s attitude changed my mind.
If I didn’t thoroughly demonstrate the gap in our skills, she’d just come crawling back eventually.
I took a deep breath.
Maximizing my oxygen intake.
《Match start!》
“Huuh.”
The instant it began, breathing became difficult.
Oh Ha-na had used her skill to block oxygen from entering my body.
It was exactly as expected.
《Oh, it looks like Oh Ha-na has immediately cut off his oxygen supply!》
《To explain further, her ability lets her prevent opponents from breathing. I experienced it once from a villain called ‘No Mask’ back in my active days.》
《How was it?》
《I really thought I was going to die. After about a minute without air, my vision blurred, and my limbs started shaking.》
Oh Ha-na flashed a sinister smile and lowered the visor of her helmet to hide her face.
“Any normal Awakener would panic and flail around the moment they fell to my ability, suffocating themselves.”
I calmly advanced toward Oh Ha-na, spear in hand, as I spoke.
On average, a normal person could last three minutes without oxygen, an Awakener five.
But I had long since transcended human limits thanks to Laura’s modifications.
If I had to define it, I was half-human, half-dragon.
I could go thirty minutes without oxygen, or fifteen even during intense activity.
“Today, I’ll break that habit of yours.”
And fifteen minutes was more than enough time to smash Oh Ha-na and remodel her personality.
I let out a rough laugh and thrust my spear.
***
The commentator inwardly thought every match today had gone strangely.
《Uh… how many minutes has it been now?》
《It’s already been five minutes.》
《Shin Noda…! He’s been holding his breath for five full minutes while pressing the attack relentlessly.》
The spear tip flew toward Oh Ha-na’s armor.
Thanks to the heavy plate, it didn’t pierce, but the impact landed fully.
She glanced sideways at the scoreboard.
[Oh Ha-na]
Head: 104/150
Torso: 120/150
Right Arm: 110/150
Left Arm: 98/150
Right Leg: 101/150
Left Leg: 141/150
The duel suit absorbed the actual shock, but the damage was steadily accumulating.
Oh Ha-na bit her lip in growing anxiety.
This wasn’t her original plan.
Things weren’t going according to the ‘Weapon Master’s’ advice.
‘Against a spear user, wear heavy armor and close the distance as much as possible to gain the advantage easily. When they try to thrust, don’t panic—just grab the shaft.’
Wearing heavy armor to mitigate damage had worked, but she couldn’t close the distance or grab the shaft.
Naturally, the ‘Weapon Master’—hired by Yang Min-seo that day but still in contact with Shin Noda separately—had shared countermeasures for exactly that tactic.
Oh Ha-na yanked all the daggers from her belt and wedged them between her fingers.
She had long worried about being labeled a ‘one-trick suffocation’ user.
So she had diligently researched other techniques.
‘I’ve got an ace up my sleeve too!’
Oh Ha-na hurled the daggers at Shin Noda.
He didn’t even try to dodge, just stood there—and that was the right call.
All four daggers missed him completely.
Shin Noda nodded slightly with a smile.
To her, it was clearly a mocking sneer.
“Hmph. Think that’s all I’ve got?”
As she spoke, Oh Ha-na unleashed her skill at maximum output.
Her head throbbed painfully.
The daggers that had flown past curved back toward Shin Noda, guided by the air currents she created.
《Whoa, what’s this? Flying Sword technique?!》
《It’s like something out of a wuxia novel!》
This was Oh Ha-na’s secret weapon.
She manipulated air currents to freely control multiple daggers and attack with them.
“Is that all?”
He dodged the incoming daggers with minimal movement and asked.
《Shin Noda! Dodging with total ease!》
《B-rank, huh? His instincts are incredible. Looks almost A-rank level.》
《And he’s been holding his breath for eight minutes now. Wonder how he’s enduring it.》
Sweat trickled down Oh Ha-na’s back.
She was terrified of the impassive Shin Noda, who showed no sign of agitation.
‘No way he has a counter for this too?’
Every option blocked—the worst possible situation.
Her head felt like it might explode, but she gritted her teeth and kept controlling the daggers.
This pseudo-Flying Sword technique was a bit overambitious for her intelligence stat.
“Time to end this.”
Shin Noda murmured as if everything so far had been play, then uttered the activation word to trigger his Magic Engraving.
“Kyaaak.”
Overwhelmed by the immense pain surging through her brain, Oh Ha-na collapsed to her knees.
The daggers swirling around targeting Shin Noda clattered to the ground one by one.
He had crushed them with telekinesis.
《Whoa—Shin Noda! What’s that? Red tattoos appearing all over his body.》
《That’s Magic Engraving. I heard it was in development in America, but for some reason, this player got it implanted.》
《So that’s it. First time seeing it in person—I didn’t recognize it. It amplifies skills that use intelligence stats.》
Oh Ha-na had no choice but to abandon dagger control and struggle to her feet.
Shin Noda closed the distance in one step, just as she wanted, then hooked her leg to trip her.
“Khaha.”
Oh Ha-na flailed and crashed to the ground.
She tried to get up urgently, but telekinesis pinning her body made it impossible.
《Oh Ha-na can’t get up.》
《Looks like telekinesis is holding her down.》
Shin Noda stepped on her solar plexus to ease the telekinesis burden, gripped his spear two-handed, and brought the tip down on her neck area.
The thick heavy armor wouldn’t be pierced by the blunted blade, but it began to dent bit by bit.
He kept slamming it down.
“Kuhuk. Kuheuk.”
The armor crumpled so much it started constricting Oh Ha-na’s airway.
Breathing grew harder and harder.
Even the duel suit was helpless against the pressure from the armor itself.
She flailed her arms trying to escape, but it was futile.
“How does it feel to suffocate for yourself?”
Seeing Oh Ha-na choking, Shin Noda withdrew his spear and said.
“F-Fuck… you… I’ll… kill… you…”
“You still haven’t learned.”
Shin Noda lifted the visor of her helmet.
Oh Ha-na, unable to resist at all, locked eyes with him.
His vertically slit pupils gazed down at her inorganicly, like she was an object.
Chills ran through Oh Ha-na’s entire body.
《Looks like the match is decided. Things started going weird when Oh Ha-na’s suffocation failed.》
《He’s trying to remove her helmet. Will she forfeit like this?》
Shin Noda raised his spear again and struck her face guard, similar to a fencing mask.
“Huek.”
Each time the spear tip hovered before her eyes, Oh Ha-na’s heart pounded wildly, her muscles contracting throughout her body.
“Hueuk.”
No matter how hard she tried to hide her fear, her body trembled uncontrollably, and whimpers escaped her.
Oh Ha-na had never bowed in her life.
Her parents had spoiled her rotten, proud of their Awakener child, and she grew ever more arrogant.
For those who wouldn’t listen, she secretly suffocated them just short of death.
There was no evidence, and as an elementary or middle schooler, no proper investigation happened even if reported.
A single tear rolled down Oh Ha-na’s cheek.
Terror, injustice—a swirl of complex emotions hit her at once.
‘This… can’t be real. I’m the strongest in PvP. No human can live without breathing!’
Yet the Shin Noda slamming his spear down while looking at her—what was he?
Over ten minutes without a breath, relentlessly cornering her.
The dented face guard touched her nose bridge.
The next strike would graze her skin.
The scoreboard showed [Head: 14/150].
Shin Noda had been careful with the suit sensors to avoid instant disqualification.
The referee watching from the sidelines couldn’t see past her helmet.
Oh Ha-na’s body shook like an aspen leaf.
Tears burst from her eyes like a waterfall from a swollen valley stream.
“Next one shatters your face. Your skull caves in completely—even potions won’t fix the permanent damage.”
Oh Ha-na squeezed her eyes shut, face twisted in agony.
Deep down, she fully submitted to the man before her.
“Forfeit! Forfeit!”
With Oh Ha-na’s declaration, the referee blew the whistle.
《Match over! Shin Noda wins with room to spare. What just happened?!》
《Shin Noda advances to the finals, defeating Oh Ha-na using only telekinesis!》
“Fuu.”
Shin Noda took a deep breath.
Oh Ha-na’s air manipulation had lifted, and he felt grateful for oxygen once more.