The Vegetable Launcher
“Huh? What did you say?”
‘How is she using sword energy?’
After giving up on half-assing the match and deciding to lose with proper courtesy, Ijun began observing Zen closely.
But something felt off.
It was the fact that Zen was using sword energy.
Because of her Nine Yin Blocked Meridians, she couldn’t handle mana at all. She shouldn’t have been able to convert anything through her dantian into aura, so using sword energy should have been impossible. Yet every time she drew her blade, sword energy came flying.
‘Every time she draws her blade?’
While pondering how Zen was managing to use sword energy, Ijun noticed one peculiar detail.
The sword energy only appeared under a very specific condition.
It only flew out when she drew her sword and then immediately sheathed it again.
‘She really is a monster born from sheer effort.’
After discovering this quirk, Ijun concluded that Zen had reached some monstrous level through pure, relentless training.
‘This is basically a frame-perfect bug.’
In Eldron Symphonia, the three developers had intentionally left behind several bugs. One of them was the so-called frame-perfect bug.
It required hitting a 0.001-second timing window, so the devs had just left it in, figuring anyone who could pull it off was probably just that skilled.
What Zen was doing right now was triggering a data anomaly by drawing and sheathing her sword within that 0.001-second window.
‘I said “every time she draws her blade,” but honestly, you can’t even see it.’
When someone like Zen performed a draw-and-sheath within that tiny interval, it caused sword energy to burst outward.
‘I never thought anyone would actually be able to do this for real.’
That was exactly why Ijun had called her a monster born from effort.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of training it would take to reach that level—
‘At this rate, she’s basically main character tier.’
That was what I felt while facing off against Zen.
She was the kind of character you could easily call a main character without exaggeration.
Setting aside her strength, her visuals were top-tier, she had the unique constitution of Nine Yin Blocked Meridians, and her entire character concept was more than enough to put her in the main cast. So why didn’t I remember a character like this? Then again, the same thing had happened with Lina, so I didn’t really have room to talk.
‘Well, the Curbis family already has Heinz.’
Heinz Curbis.
The next Tower Master, the next Magic Saint.
A genius who reached the third circle in his mid-twenties.
I’d once felt skeptical when Rohan said he was aiming for the third circle at such a young age. Part of that was because Rohan was a demon, but there’s a saying that those destined for greatness will achieve it. Heinz was the perfect embodiment of that—a main character who could be described as the concentrated essence of the word “genius.”
“What sort of idle thoughts are you entertaining?”
Sword Energy Slash
While I was lost in thought, Zen sent another slash of sword energy flying my way.
I barely dodged it and spoke up.
“Yeah, thanks for snapping me out of it. Guess it’s my turn to attack now.”
I started manipulating my inventory.
Designated Ejection System.
The inventory had a function that let you specify exactly where an item would appear when taken out.
If you repeated the take-out-and-put-back motion about three times, it triggered the Ejection Bug.
As the name suggested, items would shoot out like missiles. The guy who first discovered this bug must have been pretty amazing.
‘It looks like a useless bug at first glance, but it’s surprisingly useful in combat.’
Some weapon-collector player had even used it to perfectly replicate the attack of that golden hero king from a certain anime. That was how practical this bug could be in battle.
“Gate of Vegetable!”
I rapidly used the designated ejection system to fire the worthless vegetables I’d gotten from gacha like missiles straight at Zen.
“What the hell is that?!”
“Vegetables?”
The students began murmuring at the bizarre sight.
I got it. If I were them, I’d probably react the same way.
“Sir Ijun employs quite the peculiar technique.”
In contrast, Zen simply marveled at my so-called Gate of Vegetable without panicking. She calmly began slicing through the incoming vegetables one after another.
“There’s still plenty more!”
This line carried several meanings.
The biggest one was my desire to vent my frustration over how badly the gacha had screwed me over.
‘Ugh… this trash game!’
My supply of vegetables was practically infinite.
Or rather, there were so many that it might as well have been infinite.
It was solid proof of just how terribly the gacha had failed me.
‘It’s about time. I’ve shown enough respect, I think.’
Now it was time to lose.
Zen sliced through the final vegetable.
When Ijun saw the last one get cut down, he decided it was time to end things. He raised both hands.
“To think my secret technique would be blocked like this… I admit defeat.”
Surrender declaration.
Ijun raised both hands with an expression of bitter frustration, as if his trump card had been completely neutralized.
Having witnessed Ijun’s clear intent to surrender, the officiating judge, Marcia, announced,
“By Han Ijun’s declaration of surrender, the winner of this ranking match is Zen Curbis.”
“……”
‘What’s with that look? Did she notice something?’
Once the ranking match ended in Ijun’s forfeiture, Zen stared at him intently.
Feeling her gaze, Ijun wondered if he’d given something away, but it seemed to be his imagination.
“It was a fine duel. Then I shall take my leave.”
With that, she turned and left the training ground.
‘Good. Looks like I wasn’t found out.’
Little did Ijun know about the shocking event that would soon come knocking at his door.
“Extra! Extra!”
Today, as always, Rata was running around the academy with boundless energy.
This time she was dashing all over campus, distributing copies of the academy newspaper.
“That squirrel’s working hard from the crack of dawn.”
Ijun picked up one of the newspapers Rata had scattered, activated his device, and started reading from the front page.
“Huh? Vegetable Launcher?”
Title: Han Ijun, He Is the Vegetable Launcher
Written by: Rata Tosk
Yesterday’s hottest match was the ranking duel between Zen Curbis of the Curbis ducal family and the academy’s special transfer student, Han Ijun. During the bout, the special transfer student Han Ijun displayed a truly astonishing ability.
It is widely known that Han Ijun possesses the overpowered ability called Perfect Copy.
However, the technique he revealed yesterday was on another level. He fired vegetables into the air and launched them like projectiles.
This is a technique no one has ever seen before, and it caused an absolute sensation.
This reporter, along with the rest of the student body, has bestowed upon Han Ijun the new nickname “Vegetable Launcher.” We look forward to seeing what other creative, wondrous, and bizarre techniques he will unveil in the future.
“?????”
As I read the article, all I could do was spam question marks in my head.
Vegetable Launcher…? What the hell kind of nickname is that?
“That damn squirrel reporter…”
“Hey look, it’s the Vegetable Launcher.”
“Please launch some cabbage next! Cabbages are crazy expensive these days!”
“Vegetable Launcher! Vegetable Launcher!”
The impact of Rata’s article was enormous.
Across the entire academy, I was no longer known as the special transfer student. I had officially become the Vegetable Launcher.
“Munch munch.”
“Hm?”
I was ignoring the students pestering me to launch some vegetables by covering my ears when I spotted a squirrel walking leisurely while chewing on an acorn.
“Rata!”
“Eek?!”
“Stop right there!”
When I shouted her name and started running, Rata jumped in surprise, dropped the acorn cookie she was eating, and immediately took off.
“Huff! Huff! I just want to talk for a second, so stop!”
“No way! You think I’m gonna stop when you’re chasing me with that scary face?!”
She really was a squirrel—insanely fast.
Before I knew it, I had lost her completely.
“Just wait until I catch you later.”
Out of all the possible nicknames, she went with Vegetable Launcher. What kind of nonsense was that?
After losing sight of Rata, I caught my breath and ground my teeth in frustration when someone approached me.
“There you are, Sir Ijun.”
The person who approached was none other than Zen.
“Zen? Were you looking for me?”
“Indeed. This one was searching for you, Sir Ijun.”
“What’s the matter?”
When I asked, Zen’s face suddenly turned bright red and she hesitated to speak.
Why was her face red, though?
After a long moment of hesitation, the words that finally left Zen’s mouth were nothing short of shocking.
“P-please… become engaged to this one!”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Weekend, Curbis Ducal Villa located in Eldron City.
I was currently sweating bullets as I sat across from a middle-aged man who was glaring at me sharply and another handsome man who kept pushing up his glasses while staring daggers.
“So you’re Han Ijun.”
“Y-yes…”
“Then tell me, what exactly do you like about our Zen?”
This gathering was, without a doubt, the most nerve-wracking and terrifying family meeting imaginable.
