Week 9 Midterms (2)
As always, Go Hyeon-woo greeted the day with a smile full of cheerful energy, while Seo Ye-in wore the drowsy eyes of someone recently woken from a nap. Yet the moment their gazes locked, it was as if sparks were crackling in the air between them.
Go Hyeon-woo tried to coax her in his gentlest tone.
“Haha, Lady Seo. Would it not be gracious to yield this time? You paired with Brother Kim just the other day, after all.”
He was referring to the weekend, when Seo Ye-in and I had teamed up at the Game Center. Having his skull split open by the hand axe was something he'd let go, but it seemed he privately regretted that the two-player game had meant only one of us could play at a time.
His proposal: pair up fairly and take turns.
Seo Ye-in stared at him through her sleepy eyes for a long moment, then slowly shook her head. And with a single blunt remark,
“Underground dungeon.”
“Hmm...!”
Stretched out, those five syllables meant: you're the only one who hasn't gone down to the underground floors with me yet.
Seo Ye-in had made it clear she wanted in on the underground floor raids too, but unfortunately Ahn Jeong-mi had hammered down the iron rule—“The young lady absolutely cannot!”—and sealed it shut. She'd also begged me repeatedly afterward, so my conscience wouldn't allow me to smuggle her down there either.
Until Hyeseong Group granted its approval, Seo Ye-in could only join dungeons she qualified for, leaving the rest to her and Go Hyeon-woo. Which meant he would be hogging the pair slots anyway—so his call for taking turns made no sense at all.
It was a sharp point, and I nodded in agreement.
“Lady Seo has a valid argument. Even counting the sheer number of runs, haven't you paired with Sir Go far more often?”
“Hmm... I cannot deny it. That point had not occurred to me. If we are counting, then Lady Seo and Brother Kim—”
“But I shall grant a chance.”
I raised a hand to stop Go Hyeon-woo as he prepared to accept defeat, then pointed at Seo Ye-in.
“Defeat her.”
The winner takes everything.
Go Hyeon-woo asked, “How shall we settle it, then?”
“Whoever receives the challenge decides.”
Go Hyeon-woo and I both turned to look at the recipient of the challenge.
After tilting her head a few times, Seo Ye-in quietly raised her fist.
“...Rock-paper-scissors?”
“Rock-paper-scissors, is it? Very well. Shall we make it best of five?”
“Mm.”
Seo Ye-in gave a small nod. Whoever claimed three wins out of five rounds first would get to pair with me.
Their gazes clashed in the air once more, and Go Hyeon-woo raised a lightly clenched fist.
“Rock, paper—”
For an instant, Seo Ye-in's eyes seemed to sharpen with a glint of light. She just used Bullet Time, didn't she.
“—scissors.”
Unsurprisingly, the round went to Seo Ye-in. But Go Hyeon-woo chuckled as if he'd expected it.
“I knew Lady Seo would use a skill. However, I hear that skill carries a cooldown of a full five minutes. From here on, it shall be a contest of pure luck against pure luck.”
Pure luck against pure luck, he says...
Isn't that even worse for him? As I tilted my head in puzzlement, Go Hyeon-woo raised his fist valiantly.
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
Go Hyeon-woo, defeated. Seo Ye-in, two wins in a row.
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
Go Hyeon-woo, defeated. Seo Ye-in, three in a row.
The match had been settled in a flash at three to zero. And yet Go Hyeon-woo raised his fist again,
“Rock, paper—”
and kept challenging Seo Ye-in.
A little pathetic, honestly.
Seo Ye-in, meanwhile, accepted each challenge with perfect composure.
“—scissors.”
Go Hyeon-woo, defeated. Seo Ye-in, four in a row.
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
Go Hyeon-woo, defeated. Seo Ye-in, five in a row.
“Rock, paper—”
...
...
...
“—scissors.”
Go Hyeon-woo, defeated. Seo Ye-in, fourteen in a row.
By this point even Go Hyeon-woo seemed to sense something was deeply wrong; he brought his raised fist to his lips and began pondering with grave seriousness. Then, catching Shin Byung-cheol passing by at just that moment, he waved him over.
“Brother Shin, come here a moment, if you would.”
“Huh? What is it?”
The instant Shin Byung-cheol drew near, Go Hyeon-woo thrust up his fist.
“Rock, paper—”
“? —Scissors.”
Go Hyeon-woo, victorious. Shin Byung-cheol, defeated.
Whereupon Go Hyeon-woo stroked his chin, deliberated a while longer, and once more threw down the gauntlet to Seo Ye-in.
“One more round, then. Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
And the result, as surely as the tides: Seo Ye-in's fifteenth consecutive victory.
Go Hyeon-woo nodded, looking distinctly lighter of heart.
“It cannot be helped. This one's defeat.”
“I figured as much.”
Daring to contest fate itself against my lucky charm—this was a battle whose outcome was written from the very start. Though even I hadn't expected a fifteen-game losing streak.
I gestured with my eyes at Shin Byung-cheol, still standing there blankly.
“You could just team up with him.”
“That works well enough. What say you, Brother Shin?”
Shin Byung-cheol brightened at the sudden proposal. For a guy like him, chances to pair up with someone of Go Hyeon-woo's caliber came along rarely indeed.
“Ayy, I'm always free, you know me.”
“Haha, all worked out nicely, then. Shall we go discuss the details?”
“Let's do that. Can I get you something?”
The two had reached a meeting of minds with remarkable speed.
And so Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byung-cheol headed off to the store, while Seo Ye-in and I still had our own matters to settle before the midterms began. Sitting down across from her, I opened the discussion.
“You can only bring two items in.”
“Mm.”
“These are my two.”
Root and the Dark Cloud Bracelet—the highest-ranked pieces in my entire arsenal. My gear situation was dire enough that I didn't even need to agonize over the choice.
Seo Ye-in, by contrast, was practically wallpapered head to toe in high-grade items, so she was the one who had to whittle things down to two.
“You need your weapon, obviously.”
“Weapon.”
Seo Ye-in pulled out her mana gun and plunked it on the table. It could transform into various forms to suit its user's tastes; right now it was an assault rifle.
“Your setup was assault rifle plus shotgun, right?”
“Mm.”
“And before that, twin pistols and a sniper rifle.”
—Nod,
“Can you change the combination?”
At my question, Seo Ye-in rummaged through her inventory and produced a small booklet.
Instruction Manual for the Young Lady's Exclusive Mana Gun. Author: Ahn Jeong-mi.
Flipping it open, I found that Ahn Jeong-mi had written down everything there was to know about Seo Ye-in's mana gun in handwriting as sharp and precise as a blade—with doodles scattered throughout to supplement the explanations thrown in for free.
...She can't draw to save her life, though...
Still, it was at least legible, which put her one up on Seo Ye-in. A few more pages in, the method for re-tuning the mana gun appeared. Apparently there was no need to stubbornly stick with the rifle-shotgun combo.
If we're talking the setup best optimized for island survival...
After picturing the terrain scattered across the island for a moment, I said, “How about assault rifle plus the rifle?”
“Mm.”
Seo Ye-in nodded along immediately. It seemed she'd simply defer to whatever I said, reason or no reason. According to the manual, re-tuning the mana gun required several tools and a fair bit of time, so I left that task entirely in her hands.
“What about the second item?”
“......”
Whereupon Seo Ye-in, just as before, laid her items out across the table in a neat row. A bracelet, earrings, a bulletproof vest, a tie pin, and... a large tiger plushie.
More precisely, the Feather Cushion transformed into tiger-plushie form.
“......”
Seo Ye-in nudged the tiger plushie slowly toward me. Her own way of saying she wanted to bring it in.
I stiffened my face and imitated Ahn Jeong-mi's manner of speaking.
“Young lady, plushies are not permitted. Kindly choose something else.”
“Not allowed?”
“You have to pick things that will help on the exam.”
Seo Ye-in set the tiger plushie on her lap and hugged it tight.
“Can't sleep without it.”
“......”
It was true that Ahn Jeong-mi had said exactly that. Apparently the young lady woke up instantly if anyone pried that cushion away from her. But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn't let her walk into the exam carrying a plushie she'd only use for sleeping while perfectly good combat gear sat idle. Everyone else would be starting from two; Seo Ye-in alone would be starting from one.
So I coaxed her, gently and patiently.
“Just bear with it for two nights. I'll get you a sleeping bag.”
“Mm...”
And so her second item was settled: the Transparent Ghillie Suit, a perfect match for her sniper rifle.
Most of the students spent Monday and Tuesday in a frantic blur. With no way of knowing what the midterms would spring on them, they were busy reviewing everything from the past eight weeks of classes.
For me, on the other hand, this was hardly a midterm I was experiencing for the first time, so there was little need for review. Without even looking, I knew exactly where everything would pop up.
So instead I shut myself inside the Training Center for all of Monday and Tuesday, devoting myself entirely to grinding skill ranks—hurling Air Bursts at the iron dummies, and channeling Hyneum Jade Demon Finger through the Demon Sealing Box.
Then came Tuesday evening.
The rank of Hyneum Jade Demon Finger has risen. (C → B)
Hyneum Jade Demon Finger
Krrrrk—
The index finger now carried a chill colder than ever before. The demonic qi surged up the finger and tried to invade my hand with far greater ferocity than before—and yet it still could not break through my S-rank Elemental Resistance.
Which meant I had pushed its power right up to the Maginot line where it could be almost entirely neutralized by the resistance alone. I dissolved the demonic qi blackening my hand with a few drops of Lesser Elixir, draining the second bottle in the process.
Best to save the last one for an emergency. As for the Demon Sealing Box, not a wisp of demonic qi remained in it; it was now an empty piece of porcelain. I turned it upside down and shook it hard—nothing came out.
What frugal spending.
I'd burned through three B-rank items—the Demon Sealing Box, the Purification Talisman, and a Lesser Elixir—but in exchange my ranks had climbed at an astonishing pace. One problem solved, so I moved straight into the training room.
Air Burst training had continued in parallel with Hyneum Jade Demon Finger all along, and its rank-up was likewise just around the corner.
—Bang!
The dummies in the training room had been upgraded to reinforced steel, giving them high durability and blistering speed. They swerved wildly left and right, and even scrambled away by kicking madly off the walls and ceiling. I picked them off one by one by flinging compressed air at them.
—Bang!
Even a direct Air Burst hit only made one steel dummy pause for a beat before it bounded off again, gleefully running loose. Just as I was about to cast the next spell, a note-shaped icon appeared at the edge of my vision.
A message had arrived. I checked the sender: Jang Sam—or rather, Jang Mu-geuk.
The content was a single terse word.
In exchange for our deal over Ghost Without Shadow, Jang Mu-geuk had agreed to give me advance warning if Mak Daewoong's faction tried any funny business. Judging by this message, they'd meddled with the midterm exam.
Doesn't surprise me in the least.
How could it be any more textbook than this? I sent Mak Daewoong a gratitude-that-wasn't and kept flinging Air Bursts.
—Bang! Bang!
Sure, I appreciate the heads-up.
So he planned to send knives my way to slice me up, did he? In that case, I hoped he'd at least be considerate enough to bring plenty of Crystals along with him.
—Bang!
The rank of Air Burst has risen. (D+ → C+)
You have acquired Spiral Explosion (C+).
The trio of prerequisite C-rank skills had merged into one, and the long-awaited Spiral Explosion was complete.
The instant I pointed Root at the steel dummies still scampering about in a frenzy,
—Whiiiiing—
a vortex erupted, dragging everything toward it. The dummies kicked desperately at the ground, but it was no use—treading in place, their limbs creaking and jerking as if broken.
Then, from the heart of the vortex, the compressed air detonated—
—Bang!
—and shredded fragments of steel rained down in all directions.