Week 10 PvP (1)

Monday.

Walking into class, I caught the news that Instructor Lee Su-dok and Instructor Seo Cheong-yong would be away from their posts for several days. My best guess was that they'd gone off to throw down with the hostile faction. My hope, of course, was that the faculty—Lee Su-dok included—would simply take care of those bastards on their own, but the odds of that were slim.

'The reverse held just as true, though.'

If the people I had in mind were who I thought they were, they'd sooner clear out than fight to the death. So I filed away any worry about the teachers coming to harm altogether.

The PvP class was run in their stead by Jo Ok-soon, the Monster Ecology instructor. Even outside her own field, teaching first-years posed no problem for her whatsoever. The only issue beyond the material itself was that whatever she taught, the students couldn't hold out and kept nodding off.

Madam Jo Ok-soon swept her gaze across the devastated classroom as if nothing were amiss.

"The theme of this week's PvP is also closely tied to ecology."

Then she wrote one word large on the blackboard, and three more, smaller, beneath it.

"Environments are classified by disposition as friendly, neutral, or hostile. So then—what would count as a friendly environment?"

Song Cheon-hye, who had only just barely wrestled her drowsiness under control, raised her hand.

"Would a fortress qualify as a friendly environment?"

"That depends on which side you stand on. From the defender's position, of course, a fortress is indeed a friendly environment."

The defending side fought sheltered behind sturdy walls, from advantageous high ground. Any environment that granted one's own side an advantage, great or small, qualified as friendly.

Madam Jo Ok-soon carried on with her explanation.

"Most of the environments you've encountered in PvP and conquest battles so far have been 'neutral environments.' The circular colosseum, a deserted island, forests, caves. None of them lifts a finger for either side. But what about hostile environments?"

If a deserted island slowly flooded, or a cave came crumbling down around you, you'd be too busy scrambling to survive to fight at all.

"Unfortunately, among the dungeons you will face in the future, quite a few do feature hostile environments of this kind."

Consider it from the perspective of the boss monster that designed or held the dungeon—shaping the environment itself to work against intruders was far more efficient than scattering in half-hearted monsters and traps.

'The ruthless ones use every last tool at their disposal, too.'

"Therefore, for the remainder of the first semester, you will be training to adapt to hostile environments such as these."

The blackboard wiped clean, and the PvP rules and environment rose in its place.

"I trust [Death Match] needs no further explanation?"

The match ran until one side was incapacitated or declared surrender. Factor in that the Volcanic Zone was a hostile environment, and the conclusion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrote itself.

'Whoever outlasts the others wins.'

"[Three-way Battle] is, just as the word suggests, a rule in which three combatants split into three teams and fight."

One versus one versus one. Where the old one-on-one PvP had divided victor from defeated, the three-way battle ranked first, second, and third. The first to fall placed third, the next second, and the last one standing took first. Points were likewise won or lost accordingly.

"Now then, I'll take questions. Anything you'd like to ask?"

"......"

Madam Jo Ok-soon asked while looking around the room, but not a single hand went up. The rules weren't so hard to grasp that they warranted any.

After a brief pause, she continued in her soft, unhurried tone.

"One piece of good news: this week's PvP requires only two matches."

The midterms had ended just last week, and more than a few students hadn't fully shaken off the fatigue yet. The human sloth sprawled across the next desk over was a fine example. In other words, this week's quota was two matches—a slightly more forgiving schedule.

As Madam Jo Ok-soon wrapped up the lesson, I checked the sub-quest that had just arrived.

The old PvP sub-quests had paid out better rewards the more victories you stacked up; the three-way battle paid out better the more first-place finishes you earned. Which made my goal obvious.

'First place in both matches.'

And with this kind of thing, the sooner you cleared it, the better.

"Brother Kim."

Go Hyeon-woo, apparently of the same mind, came over and suggested we head to the Arena together.

Seo Ye-in, meanwhile, had stayed face-down from morning all the way to this very moment. Something told me she'd remain like that until evening if left to her own devices, so I gave her arm a light tap-tap.

"Hey there, missy. Time to wake up. If you're going to sleep, at least go do it in the dorm."

"......"

"You slept all weekend, didn't you? Still sleepy?"

"Not enough......"

"Not enough? Not enough what?"

At my question, Seo Ye-in lifted her head the barest fraction through her half-dreaming haze, eyes cracked open a tenth of the way. Then she reached out, slow as syrup, and gently tugged at my pinky finger.

"Pillow......"

"Your pillow's back at the dorm. The tiger plushie."

"No......"

Her gray hair seemed to sway from side to side in the slowest possible motion, then she flopped right back down. What exactly she was denying, I couldn't begin to say.

Go Hyeon-woo glanced back and forth between the two of us, then seemed to take the hint.

"In that case, I shall go on ahead."

"No, we go together."

I couldn't indulge her whims indefinitely. Besides, these were individual matches, and the quota was only two—there was no reason Seo Ye-in had to march in lockstep with us. So Go Hyeon-woo and I left the sloth exactly where she lay and walked out of the classroom.

A listless voice drifted after us from behind.

"Pillow......"

The Arena was thinner on students than usual. They must have wanted to watch a replay first and see for themselves just how hostile the [Volcanic Zone] really was.

'Won't make much difference.'

Seen through a replay or seen in person, it was all the same. Not worth burning 100 points just to sightsee. Of course, if they did, that meant tidy point income for those of us running our matches early—me and Go Hyeon-woo—so far be it from me to complain.

The moment I scanned my student ID, the terminal began searching for a suitable opponent.

Go Hyeon-woo said, eyeing my score.

"Your climbing pace is a fearsome thing to behold, Brother Kim. 600 points already, and who would have thought."

"Aren't you nearly at 900 yourself?"

"Haha, true enough—not far off now."

I had won every match except the sticker PvP. Go Hyeon-woo had won all but a match or two. Thanks to that, our scores—once sitting in the 300s and 600s—had climbed steadily into the 600s and 800s. Naturally, that meant we'd be matched against ever more formidable opponents, and winning streaks would only grow harder to keep from here on out.

I was trading idle chatter with Go Hyeon-woo when, before long, the match was set. One look at the names floating up on the scoreboard, and a dry laugh escaped me.

'Why does every single name look so familiar.'

The instant the teleportation circle carried me into the arena, hot, heavy air closed in around me. The chief culprits were the volcano nearby, endlessly belching black smoke and volcanic ash, and the river of lava coiled around the arena's rim.

Before long, two more figures appeared a short distance away. As I'd gathered from the scoreboard, both were old acquaintances.

Kang Hee-chan was the longsword warrior who had paired with Cha Hyun-ju at the midterms. He'd come at us swinging alongside her and I'd swatted him aside with ease, after which Seo Ye-in had removed him from the board entirely with a single sniper round.

Son Hyeong-taek was one of Toad Senior Kim Gap-du's mentees—the one who'd gone up against Song Cheon-hye in the Crystal PvP and been smashed to pieces.

'He ran for his life before getting caught, too.'

But as if he'd long since blown that humiliating memory away, Son Hyeong-taek burned with fighting spirit at the sight of me. Kang Hee-chan's eyes gleamed at me as well.

"I've been itching for a rematch whenever the chance came around. Talk about lucky."

"You sure it's luck?"

"Of course. This time it's not a pair match—it's singles, isn't it."

Apparently he was convinced our midterm victory had been all Seo Ye-in's doing. Fair enough, I supposed—Spiral Explosion didn't exactly announce itself. Whereas a Magic Bullet was plainly visible to the eye. And plainly painful, too.

"......"

Son Hyeong-taek kept his gaze pinned on me as he tossed a proposal to Kang Hee-chan.

"Kim Ho grinds on me more than you do. What do you say?"

"Couldn't agree more."

The two traded a look, then fixed their stares on me in unison. An implicit alliance had been formed, it seemed. Deal with me first, then sort out first and second place between themselves.

"Well, aren't you two playing it dirty."

With things come to this, I had no choice either.

Dirty was the only way to go.

- KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!

No sooner had the match begun than the volcano erupted, shaking the earth to its core. Fireballs spewed skyward in wild bursts while lava came streaming down below. Either way, both would reach this spot before long.

And Son Hyeong-taek and Kang Hee-chan—

"Gotcha!"

—kicked off the ground as one and came charging straight at me. Per their silent agreement: cut me down first.

Kang Hee-chan, closing in first, carved his longsword across, then diagonal, then across again. I dodged back, twisted my body, dodged again. Then I darted a few quick steps sideways—

- PA-PA-PA-PAT!

—because Son Hyeong-taek, arriving right on his heels, sent a fist wind flying my way.

'So he was a sneaky bastard from the very start.'

In the Crystal PvP his opponent had been Song Cheon-hye, so fine, his hands had been tied. But to be sniping away even in a situation that was effectively two-on-one? And by the look of it, not something he'd only tried once or twice, either.

- PA-PA-PA-PAT!

He loosed his fist winds with exquisite timing—calibrated to the hair to stay out of Kang Hee-chan's way. Potshots of a true seasoned hand.

Their pincer play was deft enough that I had to give ground in a flurry of Thief's Steps. But even retreat had its limits. This battlefield was ringed by a river of lava.

- PA-PA-PA-PAT!

Dodging Kang Hee-chan's blade and Son Hyeong-taek's fist winds in an endless stream, I felt my back heating up bit by bit. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed it: lava, bubbling away just a few steps behind me.

Convinced they'd finally backed me into a corner, Kang Hee-chan curled a knowing smile at the corner of his mouth.

"It's over now!"

"Hold on, wait—"

"There's no 'wait' in a fight!"

I threw up a hand in desperation, but he was too fired up, swinging his longsword all the more fiercely. Just as a long gash was about to be carved across my torso—

I slid past Kang Hee-chan on Thief's Steps.

In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a blink our positions had swapped, and my hand came to rest lightly on his back. As if he'd sensed the grim future awaiting him, Kang Hee-chan's face went rigid.

"H-hold on, wait."

"There's no 'wait' in a fight."

- BOOM!

The compressed air detonated, and Kang Hee-chan's torso hurtled forward—plunging straight into the river of lava.

"GRAAAAAAGH!"