Week 11 Conquest Battle (3)

Early evening, just after the sun had gone down. It was still far too early for bed, yet Song Cheon-hye was already in her pajamas, standing before it.

Then the corners of her mouth curled up softly, and she dove into the mattress headfirst, rubbing her face against the pillow again and again.

"Ahh~ this is the best~"

A small, quiet happiness bloomed across her face. Today she was off duty from the Disciplinary Committee — freed, at last, from work so relentless she could barely catch her breath.

What was more, Han So-mi, who was always assigned as her partner, was away on personal business, so the conquest battle had been pushed back a few days as well.

The result was that a genuine do-nothing day — the kind that came perhaps once or twice a year, if that — had arrived on Song Cheon-hye's doorstep. That was why she'd changed into her pajamas before the evening was even underway.

Of course, she had no intention of actually lazing about doing nothing.

'Even my rest should be put to good use.'

After rolling around in bed for a while, she opened the student shop and began slowly scrolling down the list of replays. Even during downtime, watching how all sorts of students fought was bound to teach her something.

'Hm?'

Her eyes snapped upward, bright and alert. Something on the list stood out to her, unmistakably.

She would have been too embarrassed to admit it to anyone, but Song Cheon-hye was, in fact, an unofficial devotee of Kim Ho's replays. Ever since she'd learned the finer points of Hummingbird from one of them, she had bought and studied nearly every replay he released. Though it did strike her as somewhat odd that lately he hadn't used Hummingbird at all.

Seo Ye-in, too, was someone who had left a deep impression on her. Ever since their match in the placement exam, Song Cheon-hye had felt a strange, persistent flicker of rivalry toward her — and the way the girl kept clawing her way up the rankings at an astonishing pace had fed that feeling considerably.

Those two names alone were more than enough reason to purchase the replay. And as if that weren't temptation enough, the dungeon in question was called Lightning Ravine.

'A lightning-themed dungeon.' How on earth had the two of them fought their way through it? She was far too curious to simply scroll past.

The moment Song Cheon-hye paid 100 points, a crystal orb dropped into her palm, and the replay began to play.

A sky so heavy and dark it seemed a bolt would split it at any second. A narrow ravine, and at its very center, a goddess statue. Kim Ho and Seo Ye-in took up positions before and behind the ravine — and their enemies revealed themselves.

'Lightning spirits.' Creatures utterly familiar to her; they showed up all the time around the Topaz Magic Tower. This was an F-rank dungeon, so only the lowest grade appeared, but take them lightly and you'd pay for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it dearly. Song Cheon-hye leaned in, focusing harder on the replay. Just how would the two of them respond?

Whooosh—

Kim Ho raised his short spear and leveled it at the lightning spirits. At once a massive whirlwind swept them all into a single point, and the spirits, tangled together, set off chain explosions among themselves. Not one of them made it over the wind.

'Perfect.' A whirlwind that swallowed the narrow ravine whole — magic that might as well have been prepared for this dungeon specifically. No, more likely the reverse: Kim Ho had grasped the properties of his own whirlwind and shrewdly picked a dungeon to match. And Song Cheon-hye couldn't help but admit the choice was superb.

But the fight was too one-sided to hold any spectacle, so her gaze soon drifted over to Seo Ye-in.

Ratatatat!

Seo Ye-in raking the spirits with sustained fire from her mana guns. Sure enough, her skill had improved by leaps and bounds compared to the start of the semester. The lightning spirits dropped one after another — and yet a question rose unbidden in Song Cheon-hye's mind.

'And what does she do after this?' The static electricity released as the spirits dissipated was steadily accumulating in the narrow ravine, forming lightning rods one by one.

KRAKA-BOOM!

Just as she had predicted, a bolt came crashing down, and a wave of current ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spread wide across the gorge. Seo Ye-in failed to dodge in time and took the strike full on.

BZZZT!

So this is how it plays out, Song Cheon-hye was thinking — and then she froze.

'Huh?'

Seo Ye-in's health hadn't dropped by so much as a sliver. For a moment Song Cheon-hye wondered if she'd misread it — but the same scene proceeded to repeat itself several times over.

BZZZT!

Seo Ye-in's health remained utterly untouched. Even Song Cheon-hye, with her high affinity for and resistance to the lightning element, would not have walked away from that unscathed.

Which could only mean one thing.

'Her resistance is higher than mine?' Whether she'd refitted her equipment or mastered some trait, Seo Ye-in's resistance had clearly soared far beyond what it had been. Come to think of it, Song Cheon-hye herself was the one who had handed her that defeat in the placement exam — it would hardly be strange for her to have prepared a countermeasure since.

Song Cheon-hye ran the scenario through her head. If she were to clash with the Seo Ye-in of right now, how would it go?

'...I might actually lose.'

Her expression dimmed a shade. Her lightning magic would, of course, be far more potent than an F-rank dungeon's stray bolts — but whatever Seo Ye-in possessed would slash that power down by a huge margin. And that thundercloud drifting about nearby looked like a considerable nuisance in its own right.

Seo Ye-in, meanwhile, was a gunner — a class that held a markedly favorable matchup against mages. Hadn't Hong Yeon-hwa just tasted that bitterness firsthand against her in last week's PvP? Weigh all of these factors together, and it wouldn't be a certain loss — but she couldn't promise herself a victory either.

'This is no time to be lying around.'

Song Cheon-hye bolted upright in bed. The sense of crisis made it impossible to rest easy. While she sprawled here rolling around, Seo Ye-in was surely growing stronger, briskly and quietly, somewhere out of sight. If she didn't want to be caught, she would have to push herself that much harder.

She changed back into her uniform and left the dormitory, made for the Training Center, and set about hammering the wooden training dummies with everything she had.

BZZZT! BOOM!

Beads of sweat gathered on Song Cheon-hye's forehead, but she paid them no mind, hurling lightning magic all the more furiously. Her training carried on late into the night.

Meanwhile, at that very hour, Seo Ye-in lay deep asleep in her own room — hugging a tiger plushie tight to her chest. As she tossed and turned, sleep-talk drifted from her lips.

"Kim Ho pillow..."

...give me an extension...

In truth, this was the first defensive skill I had ever learned. Three options, but the effect was identical across the board: wind imbued with a set amount of defense and resistance. The only difference lay in the wind's shape — the Barrier wrapped around you as a spherical membrane, the Armor fitted itself over you like a suit of plate, and the Wall rose up as a flat plane.

So which one made the best first pick?

'I'll play it safe for now.' The Armor offered the greatest freedom of movement but its wind ran thin; the Wall was thick and solidly defensive but covered only a single direction. The Barrier sat comfortably between the two.

Of course, just as I had advised Hong Yeon-hwa, I intended to learn all three in the end. Defensive magic could be layered one sheet over another, so the more, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the better.

After that I returned to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dormitory for a short rest, then passed the hours circulating my mana in the Mana Cultivation Room. And then, late that night, I made for the Dungeon Hall — where Shin Byung-cheol and Go Hyeon-woo were already waiting. They spotted me coming and each tossed out a greeting.

"Aigoo. Welcome, honored customer."

"Brother Kim."

With all three of us assembled, our next destination went without saying. Our feet carried us naturally toward the underground floors. First-years could now set foot as far down as Floor F, so we descended the spiral staircase openly, no skulking required.

Even Shin Byung-cheol, who used to be all caution and hushed steps, now led from the front, chattering away without a pause for breath.

"Hey, you already wrapped up your conquest battle? And down in the underground floors, no less."

"No point dragging it out. It's not exactly difficult."

"Heh heh, fair enough. You stroll in and out of D-ranks like it's mealtime — what's a little F to you?"

A faint smile had also settled at the corners of Go Hyeon-woo's mouth, though for a slightly different reason than Shin Byung-cheol's.

"Judging by your successful conquest, it would seem you have also made peace with Lady Seo."

"We were never at odds to begin with. In any case, it's all settled now."

"Haha, that is a relief to hear."

I turned the question back on him.

"You brought it, right? The Bodhidharma statue."

"Of course. It never leaves my side."

Go Hyeon-woo drew the statue out of his inventory. A hidden piece obtained from an inn near the Black Snake Chamber, it carried two effects. The first was that the enlightenment of the swordsman who had carved it was embedded within — making the statue itself well worth studying in its own right.

"How's the study going these days?"

"Mmm. The longer I look, the more I find to learn. And yet I still cannot begin to fathom its true depth."

Go Hyeon-woo wore a wry smile, and I gave an unconcerned nod. Carved as it was by a master several cuts above him, difficulty was only to be expected.

"Keep at your studies. I just need to make use of it today."

"Of course. I am, after all, merely the one borrowing it on your behalf, Brother Kim — it is only proper that I hand it back the moment you have need."

Go Hyeon-woo moved to pass it over, but I raised a hand to stop him.

"Hold onto it for now. Just tell me when we need it."

"So I shall. If I recall, you said it had a part to play against a formation — am I right?"

"Good memory. That's right."

The statue's second effect: it could break a specific formation. In other words, it served as a kind of key. And that specific formation would be waiting in the very dungeon we were about to enter.

Meanwhile Shin Byung-cheol, out in front, spotted something — his face lit up at once and he let out a whoop.

"Whoa-ho! Finally!"

An elevator stood there. Go Hyeon-woo's face and mine brightened in step with his.

"Liberation for us pedestrians — F-rank only, mind."

"Haha, a most welcome development all the same."

Until now, the only way down had been to trudge the long stretch from the top of the underground levels all the way to Floor D — and then trudge all the way back up. Elevators and teleportation arrays had caught our eye along the way, but sneaking in as we were, we'd had to pretend they didn't exist. Now that we held authorization for Floor F, the elevators were ours to use freely. And given how much ground Floor F covered within the underground levels, that slashed our walking distance by a huge margin.

The three of us each scanned our student IDs at the terminal in front of the elevator. We stepped aboard, and with a single clunk, we plunged downward at breakneck speed.

"Smooth as ever."

"Mm."

All three of us wore contented smiles.

The elevator let us off at the very bottom of Floor F — right about where Floor E began. Setting foot in E was still a rule violation for first-years, so we donned our Anonymous Badges and swapped out our tie pins.

Shin Byung-cheol took the guide's role, as he always did. However quick he was to goof off at other times, in moments like these he was nothing but serious. His knack had sharpened a great deal too — the instant he sensed anyone nearby, he would whisk us down one corridor or another to slip past unseen.

Thanks to him, we crossed into Floor D without a hitch and arrived at our target dungeon.

Casting a sidelong glance at the teleportation portal, Shin Byung-cheol asked,

"We just wait up ahead, right?"

"Yeah. Give me a few."

I would finish up in no time and be right back.