The Duel (2)

The duel challenge had Mok Jonghwa's fingerprints all over it.

The picture more or less drew itself: a grudge match to restore the Emerald Magic Tower's honor.

But if there was one thing they'd overlooked—

"Not interested."

"What?"

—it was that I had no reason whatsoever to accept this duel.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I leaned back in my chair, boredom written all over me. "What exactly did you leave in my hands? Did you think that meant I go when you say go, come when you say come, and fight whenever you feel like fighting?"

"A duel is... an honorable thing."

"And a guy who loves honor that much jumped me two-on-one?"

"That's—!"

The incident where Gwak Ji-cheol and Jeong Su-ji had ambushed me together and lost remained an indelible stain on the Emerald Magic Tower. Dropping a two-on-one was embarrassing enough, but the fact that their opponent was a "coward" made it worse. However my reputation might change down the line, what mattered was being called a coward right now.

To bury that stain, they needed to knock me down in a duel on an official stage—and preserve the moment as a replay. Hence their desperation to drag me into the ring by any means necessary.

As far as I was concerned, I had nothing to lose by holding out.

"Anyway, I'm not accepting. I already won. Why would I waste time on something pointless?"

"..."

"If you insist that badly, I'll count it as your win. Go on, brag about it."

That they'd scored a forfeit victory ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over a coward. There was no way Emerald would swallow that. But Gwak Ji-cheol, for his part, clearly couldn't think of a clever way out of the mess. He shot Mok Jonghwa a look, begging for backup with his eyes alone.

Mok Jonghwa glared at him like something worthless he'd scraped off his shoe, then turned to me. "Winning once and running away—now that's what a coward looks like. Afraid of losing?"

"I am a coward. Terrified, honestly."

Mok Jonghwa unleashed the gambler's classic provocation skill, Scared?, but I didn't so much as blink. When your reputation is already rock-bottom, moments like these are downright convenient.

Realizing the jab wasn't landing, Mok Jonghwa changed tack and dangled a bait instead. "You said you don't waste time on pointless things. What if there were stakes on the table? Would you accept then?"

"If it's worth enough."

Honestly, part of me wanted to accept on the spot and beat Gwak Ji-cheol to a pulp. The only reason I kept shrugging off their provocations was—

'Because waiting pays better.'

The Emerald Tower had to avenge its honor by any means necessary. They would offer bait if that was what it took to make the duel happen. And that bait would be something so mouthwatering I couldn't help but bite.

Of course, whether I ended up biting the bait or Mok Jonghwa did—that remained to be seen.

Mok Jonghwa pulled a small ticket from his inventory and slapped it down on the table. "I'll wager this."

Park Nari and Ha Suyeon, who had been spectating without a word, both showed visible surprise. That was how big a move Mok Jonghwa had just made.

The craftsmen of Dragon Slayer Academy didn't take commissions easily. Demand far outstripped supply, so they accepted only a very limited number of orders, and even those sat in a queue stretching far into the future. This VIP ticket let you ignore that queue entirely and have your item crafted with top priority. It was one of the academy's many privileges, in the same league as a Season Pass for the Special Training Rooms.

'How considerate of them.'

I'd been short on equipment anyway, and here they were, thoughtfully preparing a rare ticket for me.

"But only if you win."

"Are you sure you can afford to put that on the line?"

"It doesn't matter. Winning settles everything. Do you accept?"

"Gladly. Consider it settled."

The moment I accepted the duel, Mok Jonghwa crossed his arms and Gwak Ji-cheol stepped forward again. "Set a date."

"Two days from now sounds good."

"...Why two days?"

I gave the [Blank Skillbook] I'd just traded for a little wave. "I have to learn this first."

"What?"

"...?"

Every face at the table went blank with disbelief.

Crafting a skill with a Blank Skillbook was hard enough, but making it wasn't the end—if anything, that was where the real work began. You had to grow accustomed to your custom-built skill and raise its rank until it was fit for actual combat. And here I was claiming I'd do all of that in two days. How absurd must that have sounded?

"Kukukuku..."

Mok Jonghwa let out a low laugh and ran a hand down his face. He was plainly fuming, a ferocious smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Apparently he'd taken it to mean that even Gwak Ji-cheol could beat a skill learned in two days.

"It's been a long time since anyone looked down on Emerald like this."

"I have confidence in my abilities."

Not that I was entirely without contempt, but still.

"Gwak Ji-cheol."

"Yes, hyung."

"If you lose to this guy, you're out of the club."

"...I will win. I swear it."

Gwak Ji-cheol bowed his head, his face gone stiff.

With business concluded, there was no reason to keep sitting in such unpleasant company. One by one, they rose from their seats.

"I'll look forward to two days from now. Show me what you can manage to learn."

"By all means, look forward to it. And do keep that ticket safe and sound."

"..."

Mok Jonghwa kept glaring daggers at me right up until the moment he walked out.

"I-I'm leaving too. S-see you next time!"

"Meow."

Park Nari stammered out her farewell, and Beomi the cat waved a front paw or two at the empty air.

'I should head straight to the Training Center.'

Get there and make the skill, first thing.

I was about to chug the rest of my iced coffee in one go when Ha Suyeon spoke up. "Could we have a word, just the two of us?"

"...Sure."

I planted my backside right back in the chair.

As I chewed on the tip of my plastic straw, Ha Suyeon opened with a sigh. "First, there's something I need to apologize for. I watched President Mok Jonghwa send Ji-cheol and Su-ji your way with my own eyes, and I pretended not to see it."

"You were testing me, then?"

"To be honest with you, yes. I wanted to see how you would handle the two of them."

'Figures.'

Park Nari had been the one to spread the word in the first place, yet the Nature Club hadn't lifted a finger—instead, the Gwak Ji-cheol–Jeong Su-ji duo had come looking for me. Given how cozy the Nature Club and Emerald were with each other, I'd been certain Ha Suyeon had a foot in this somewhere. I just hadn't expected her to admit it so candidly.

In any case, I returned her honesty in kind. "I understand. Anyone leading a club would have to be careful. Still, it stings a little."

"I'm sorry. I don't know if this will smooth things over, but I do hope you'll take it."

As a token of her apology, Ha Suyeon handed me a slip of parchment.

The very same item I'd pulled down just last week as a reward for three straight PvP wins. Getting one for free? All the better for me.

'She plays big.'

It did rub me the wrong way that she'd been testing the waters with me. But unlike Emerald, she hadn't picked a direct fight, and I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walked away with a useful item besides—easy enough to let it slide.

"I'll accept it gratefully. Though... doesn't this leave the Nature Club at a loss?"

"It does. I'd originally meant to tack it onto the Cube deal, but with Nari butting in, I missed my window. Even so, it's quite all right."

Ha Suyeon smiled gently. Not a trace of regret over the loss.

She must have picked up on something during our conversations—both the Cube trade and the talk of the duel. If I were truly the coward the rumors made me out to be, I could never have treated Mok Jonghwa—a senior, and a club president no less—with such brazen ease. Which meant she'd likely judged it wise to cultivate goodwill in advance, just in case the future held something worth having me in her corner for. And by that reckoning, a single F-rank [Rank Up] was a bargain.

A good choice. I had plenty more items to trade with the Four Major Factions besides the [Life Cube], after all.

"Are you confident about the duel?"

"A hundred percent."

When I answered without a second's hesitation, Ha Suyeon's eyes went wide. "...I hadn't realized it was quite that certain. Still, let me warn you ahead of time: President Mok Jonghwa and Ji-cheol have analyzed every one of your replays and prepared their countermeasures."

"Isn't that just basic strategy?"

"No. This time, Ji-cheol will be receiving support at the club level."

'Figures.'

Gwak Ji-cheol had looked oddly self-assured for someone challenging me to a duel, so I'd figured he had something to lean on. The club would be preparing items aimed squarely at my weaknesses. His old gear, too, would very likely be swapped out for second- and third-year equipment. Considering that I, unaffiliated, couldn't get any support worth the name, the duel was bound to be an unfair one.

"That hardly seems sporting. If you wish, I'll lend you artifacts from the Nature Club."

"I appreciate the thought, truly, but I'll pass."

I held up the Blank Skillbook. "This will be more than enough."

"...!"

I hadn't been joking about crafting a skill and putting it to use within two days. But Ha Suyeon apparently couldn't bring herself to believe it, because she asked again. "...You truly mean to decide this with a skill you've only just made?"

Rather than a long explanation, I simply smiled. "You'll be surprised when you see it."

The Training Center.

I sat alone in the middle of a spacious training room. The wooden dummy before me would lunge to attack the instant I gave the order, but for now it hung perfectly still.

Blue light bled from the [Blank Skillbook] spread open in my hands. The way it worked: breathe mana into the pages, picture whatever word or sentence you wanted, and it wrote itself in. Anyone else forging a new skill would agonize over it, wringing their heart out over every single character. My skillbook, by contrast, was filling at a relentless clip, like a court stenographer hammering away at the keys.

'This was never a day-or-two job.'

How many Blank Skillbooks had I burned through in my time? So many that I'd given up counting ages ago. I might have lost the number, but the data banked through all those trials and errors still sat intact in my head. And now, the optimal skill a Blank Skillbook could produce was taking shape on the page.

— What kind of supporter is the most useful?

That question had no single right answer. Usefulness bent to the situation—sometimes healing, sometimes a barrier, sometimes buffs or debuffs proved the better tool.

But—

— What kind of supporter is the hardest to deal with, the most infuriating to face?

— Which supporter, the moment you're on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wrong end of them, has "that son of a bitch plays the filthiest game" springing unbidden from your lips?

That question had a right answer.

'The forced-movement supporter.'

I rose to my feet and squared off against the wooden dummy. A thread of wind stirred through the sealed room, tickling my hair as it slipped past.

The dummy abruptly jolted into motion and hurled a one-two punch at me. Keeping time with it, I tipped right, then left—and rested a hand, feather-light, on the dummy's chest.

BANG!

The wooden dummy went sailing the length of the training room and crashed down at the far end.

[41] The Support Ate It All