Juju Punch!
Juju punch! Juju punch! Juju punch! Juju punch!
—Tap, tap.
“…….”
Everyone watched in stunned silence as Juju strode into the gym without the slightest hesitation. Hwiseong. Rua. The third-year Special Class students. All of them.
Juju paid their stares no mind whatsoever. She shoved her way through the seniors, then held out her hand to Rua.
“Teach, your face is a total mess.”
“Ah….”
Looking up, Rua found that familiar bright smile already lighting Juju’s face. Coincidentally, the gym lights sat directly behind her head, and to Rua it almost looked like a halo.
“Come on, get up already.”
“R-right.”
Rua took Juju’s hand and pulled herself to her feet. Right there in the middle of the third-years, Juju dug a sports towel out of her pocket and wiped Rua’s face clean. The once-white towel was ruined with blood and tears, but Juju didn’t care in the slightest.
“Hehe. There. All clean.”
“Th-th-thank you… But how did you…?”
“I got worried, so I followed you.”
Juju turned her head and looked straight at Hwiseong. The smile was gone. In its place was a look of pure contempt Rua had never seen on her before.
“Well now. Guess that makes us the villains?”
Hwiseong shrugged, playing it off. Juju planted herself between Rua and Hwiseong and spread both arms wide.
“Sunbae. I won’t drag this out. You bullied the school nurse. Apologize.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, sorry.”
For a second, Rua thought she heard the grind of Juju’s teeth.
“A proper apology.”
“J-Juju. I’m fine….”
The atmosphere had turned ugly enough that Rua reached for her out of fear, but Juju clearly had no intention of standing down.
“Sunbaes. If you don’t apologize to Teach, I’m telling the other teachers.”
“Is that a threat? Wow. Juniors these days—scary enough to keep a guy up at night.”
As expected, the threat didn’t land. Even if word got out, they’d take some flak around school, but the people upstairs would smooth it over. If anything, reporting it might just invite retaliation.
“You’re going to be pro hunters, and you’re not even ashamed of ganging up on one person like cowards? And a teacher, at that—someone younger than you, too.”
Younger…?
Rua tilted her head.
“Watch your mouth.”
Hwiseong’s voice dropped low.
“Who’s bullying anyone? The nurse was just holding the sandbag and got hurt by accident.”
“Tch….”
“Right, Teach?”
Hwiseong looked past Juju at Rua.
“I—I….”
Rua stammered, at a complete loss.
If she agreed, she’d strip the justification from Juju, who’d come all this way to save her. If she denied it, she’d only pour fuel on the conflict between Juju and Hwiseong.
“Teach, you don’t have to answer. These bastards already know exactly what they’re doing.”
“These bastards? I’ve had just about enough of—!”
—Slap!
A third-year girl lunged in from the side and struck Juju across the cheek. Hard enough to snap her head sideways. Rua gasped and rushed over to check on her. The cheek was already swelling red.
“Hey, why’d you go off like that?”
“Because she has zero manners!”
Hwiseong laughed under his breath as he halfheartedly held the girl back; the girl kept shouting.
“…….”
Juju said nothing for a moment. Then she looked up at Hwiseong.
“Fine. I’ll take that just now as you saying you’ll accept whatever happens, no matter who I tell.”
“Do whatever you want, junior.”
“And I’m taking Teach with me.”
Juju took Rua’s wrist and started toward the edge of the ring. Rua let out a quiet breath of relief, thinking she was finally free—
“What’s the rush? We’re not done practicing yet.”
Hwiseong jerked his chin, and two third-year students stepped in to block Rua and Juju’s path. This time Juju really did shout at him.
“You still have more to do?!”
“Our little junior sure has a lot of complaints.”
Hwiseong sauntered over with a crooked smile and planted himself right in front of Juju’s face. With more than a handspan of height between them, the pressure alone would have been hard for her to ignore.
“Then how about you face me for a round.”
“A round?”
—Tok.
Hwiseong tapped the glove on his hand lightly against Juju’s chin.
“Sparring. I’m sick of hitting sandbags all day.”
“…….”
“Looking at you, you’re a dealer or tank type yourself. If you want something, isn’t it only fair to take it with skill?”
Rua noticed Juju’s fists trembling.
“Oh, is that so?”
“Oho?”
“If I win, you apologize to Teach.”
Hwiseong snorted, clearly entertained.
“I’ll even throw in a full formal bow.”
And so the sparring match was set. Juju and Rua took one corner of the ring; Hwiseong and the third-years took the other, and both sides began to prepare.
Healing
With her recovered mana, Rua treated the swelling on Juju’s face.
“Juju, are you going to be okay?”
“Ah, I’m fine. I wanted to knock that bastard around a few times anyway. This works out.”
As she spoke, Juju stripped off her training jacket and tightened her gloves.
“Hey, Juju.”
“What’s up?”
Rua finally said the words she’d been holding since the moment Juju had come to save her.
“Thank you. For helping me.”
“…….”
“And I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”
Juju studied Rua for a long moment, then offered a quiet little smile.
“Teach, can I tell you an old story?”
“Hm?”
“A long time ago, there was a little girl whose house got caught in a Gate outbreak. Monsters killed her whole family.”
“…….”
Juju spoke calmly. Of course, Rua already knew who that little girl was.
“Somehow she was the only one who survived, so she hid in a corner, trying to stay away from the monsters. It was a blind spot, sure—but she’d gotten hurt pretty bad while running, and she’d pretty much given up.”
“…….”
“So she never even dreamed hunters would show up before she died.”
“That’s… good.”
“But the hunters got torn up real bad just getting to where the girl was. Only two of them made it, and one of them even lost an arm.”
To keep Juju alive, they would have had to push all the way to the boss room—and clearing a Gate while protecting an injured child on top of that was a brutal ask.
“The girl told them to leave her behind. She was going to die anyway.”
“…….”
“But those hunters said—”
All of a sudden, a gloved hand ruffled Rua’s hair.
“—that it was okay. That kids are supposed to lean on adults.”
“…Huh?”
“And they cleared it like absolute legends. Watching them is what made me want to become a hunter.”
Juju grinned. Heehee.
“Teach, you’re a kid too—even if you’re a teacher—so you’re supposed to lean on me, the adult!”
“…….”
Uh… that’s not quite right….
It was a moving story, but she’d completely missed the mark.
Rua had thought the misunderstanding from the last Gate clear had been sorted out, but apparently Juju was still dead certain Rua was a twelve-year-old.
Even so, Rua wasn’t so tactless as to correct her right then and there. She simply stayed still and let Juju keep petting her head.
I’ll explain properly later….
“Hey! If you’re ready, get up here already!”
From the far side, Hwiseong shouted as he climbed into the ring.
“Alright. I’ll be right back.”
Rua watched Juju’s back as she stepped up onto the ring.
It was trembling, just a little.
“…Juju, fighting!”
Rua pressed both palms against Juju’s back and poured encouragement into her.
“Lee Hwiseong’s a shield specialist anyway. Beat the crap out of him…!”
“You got it!”
On the freshly cleared ring, Juju and Hwiseong faced each other. One of the third-years took the role of referee.
In height, build, and skill, the gap was enormous—but Juju loosened up as if none of that mattered. Hwiseong looked her over and laughed like she was a joke.
“You know I’m not going easy just because you’re a girl, right? Between hunter hopefuls, that’d be rude.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Ready!”
At the referee’s call, the two locked eyes.
“Equip skills!”
Both Juju and Hwiseong closed their eyes and slotted in three skills each. Neither could see the other’s hand.
A few tense seconds passed. Then the bell rang.
—Ding!
“Hup.”
Juju threw a jab. Hwiseong slipped it with nothing but a turn of his head. It had been a probing shot, but the punch itself hadn’t been slow at all.
“This is way too boring. What rank are you?”
“…Tenth.”
“What, dead last?”
—Whoosh!
Hwiseong’s fist came flying with zero wind-up. It was only a light jab, but even with her guard up, Juju’s upper body rocked hard from the impact.
The weight class difference…!
And raw skill-wise, Hwiseong was far above her too. Shields were his main kit, but he’d clearly trained with gauntlets as well.
In the game you couldn’t even equip those—this is cheating…!
“Tch!”
—Shhk!
Juju was the first to fire a skill. Charge Straight. The sound of her fist cutting the air was clean and sharp.
Charge Straight
“Hmph.”
But Hwiseong simply raised an arm and deflected it. Then came an uppercut from below.
“Ugh!”
It only grazed her, and still Juju staggered. Down below the ring, Rua could only hop from foot to foot.
Isn’t there some way I can help…?
Fortunately, Juju recovered her balance almost at once and dropped into a defensive stance. Seeing her switch to defense must have made her look like easy prey, because Hwiseong started hammering her without mercy.
—Thud!
—Thud!
She kept her guard up and blocked, but the damage stacked. Driven steadily backward, Juju finally felt the ropes press into her back.
“Hey! Lee Hwiseong! Finish her!”
“I feel bad for the junior! Put her down already!”
The third-years howled. A sharp smile cut across Hwiseong’s face.
“Fine by me!”
Hwiseong drew his right fist and right foot back together.
Rua’s eyes didn’t miss the motion.
“J-Juju! Guard—then the opening!”
Mega Assault
Hwiseong’s activated skill, Mega Assault, detonated against Juju’s guard. Her face twisted in pain—but she didn’t go down.
—Whooosh….
Carried by leftover momentum, Hwiseong’s fist carved empty air.
That was it—the exact opening in Mega Assault Rua had pointed out earlier. Just as expected, Hwiseong had ignored Rua’s advice and hadn’t mixed any evasion into the move.
Now…!
Almost in the same instant Rua thought it, Juju moved.
—Thud!
Arang Fist
“Ghk!”
A clean hit to his wide-open body sent Hwiseong staggering.
—Whooosh, bang!
Charge Straight
And then, Charge Straight.
Just as Rua had advised during practice, the two skills in reversed order linked together like flowing water and hammered into Hwiseong’s body.
“Khhk!”
His guard dropped. He was completely exposed.
“F-finish him!”
At Rua’s shout, Juju’s final skill—Storm Hook—fired.
FINISH HIM!
“Finish him!”
—Thud.
Echoing Rua’s words, Juju’s glove smashed square into Hwiseong’s jaw.
“Gah!”
Hwiseong reeled, lost his center, and pitched forward onto the mat.
Exactly as he’d promised with his own mouth—it looked for all the world like he was offering Juju and Rua a full formal bow.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing, you look pathetic!”
“Lee Hwiseong! Get up!”
The third-years screamed, but Hwiseong didn’t so much as twitch. He was out cold in an undignified frog sprawl, eyes rolled back.
“Hah… hah.”
The victor stood over the fallen loser, breathing hard.
“Have some shame, sunbae.”
It was Juju’s K.O. victory.