Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: A Battle of Wits with the Shepherd Girl
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Hoo, this is tough.”
Amid the specters that had died bleeding out, Oh Sua wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“I could’ve taken them out for you.”
Na Youngho spoke with uncharacteristic politeness, but Oh Sua shook her head.
“No. I wanted to handle this with my own strength.”
Oh Sua gazed down at the hint notes and smiled.
“I want to beat Dokgo Hyun fair and square, using nothing but my own power.”
She wanted to outsmart him at poker—not with brute force, but with pure intellect.
Spotting the pout on Na Youngho’s face, Oh Sua flashed a grin.
“That’s the look of someone thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to just swarm him with the four specters plus you, Senior?’”
“I won’t deny it.”
“But that approach has a whopping three problems.”
“Three?”
“First: the worst-case scenario. Dokgo Hyun turns the tables and wipes out the specters and you, Senior.”
“Hm.”
In that case, she’d lose the hints and her valuable pawn, Na Youngho, for good.
“Second: not the worst, but breaking even. Meaning, we fail to take down Dokgo Hyun, but the specters and you come out unscathed. I wouldn’t lose anything special, but it means I can’t guarantee snagging those hint notes by eliminating the specters myself.”
What Oh Sua craved most was to outwit Dokgo Hyun at the poker table.
Since pure odds made that tricky, securing all four hint notes in this run phase was a major goal.
Missing that chance now—even if it was just breaking even—meant squandering an opportunity and taking unnecessary risks, making it worse than even.
“And the third?”
Slap!
Oh Sua suddenly smacked Na Youngho across the face.
“You don’t need to know that one, Senior. Now go block Dokgo Hyun.”
“...Fine.”
Na Youngho’s face twisted in anger, but he obeyed the order faithfully.
Left alone, Oh Sua muttered to herself.
“The third... it just wouldn’t be my style.”
That mattered most to her.
As a member of the mystery club—devoted to deduction novels—she wanted this tale to end on her terms, just as she’d plotted.
‘None. There’s really none.’
Dokgo Hyun hid at the library building’s entrance, scanning the sports field.
It was night, so visibility was poor, but no footsteps from specters or Na Youngho hunting him reached his ears.
‘Why aren’t the specters coming after me? I got my experiment in thanks to that, though.’
If Oh Sua controlled the specters, the simplest order would be to hide safely and send them to find and kill Dokgo Hyun.
But she wasn’t doing that, which meant...
‘Damn. It’s just like I thought.’
Dokgo Hyun had tensed up when Oh Sua declared in this run phase that he’d die.
Naturally, he’d braced for an all-out assault with the four specters and Na Youngho.
He’d figured her forcing Na Youngho to fold unconditionally in the last poker round was part of that preparation.
But it was all a bluff.
‘She never planned to brute-force me in the run phase.’
Dokgo Hyun had pieced together Oh Sua’s strategy.
‘She intended to take me down at poker.’
Building on that inference, he layered in the clues he could sense now.
‘And not a single specter in sight. No patrolling footsteps at all... so it’s the hint-snatching strategy after all?’
Dokgo Hyun quickly arrived at the answer.
‘No way Oh Sua skips that play. Which means...’
That left Na Youngho.
He wasn’t a specter, so killing him now would be pointless for Oh Sua.
Better to brainwash him, keep him alive, and milk him for all he’s worth.
So...
‘She must’ve ordered him to take me out. But with sniping—nothing reckless.’
Dokgo Hyun held a slight edge in close quarters.
‘No doubt about it. Na Youngho will go for sniper shots.’
Hiding at some dark window in the school building, lining up a shot on Dokgo Hyun.
‘Time to draw him out. But safely.’
‘Come on out, Dokgo Hyun.’
From a third-floor classroom window in the main building, Na Youngho was in sniper stance.
‘I know you’re around the library, Dokgo Hyun.’
He’d pieced it together from the starting messages and movement sounds.
‘To get from the library to the main building, you have to cross the sports field.’
From what Na Youngho could hear, Dokgo Hyun hadn’t left the library yet.
And this third-floor window was the prime spot for sniping the field between the two buildings.
‘Something’s coming...!’
A figure crept low and stealthy—Dokgo Hyun, dashing across.
‘Coming in super sneaky. Not a single footstep?’
In the dead of night at school, footsteps on the field should’ve echoed loud—but nothing.
‘...Get closer.’
The moment Dokgo Hyun nearly reached the main building.
‘Now!’
Bam!!
Dokgo Hyun took Na Youngho’s air arrow dead on.
Fwoom.
Struck by the air arrow, Dokgo Hyun burst and vanished.
‘An afterimage!’
Na Youngho startled but quickly analyzed coolly.
‘That bastard Dokgo Hyun. His skill was just [Instant Acceleration], right? All lies?’
Na Youngho judged Dokgo Hyun’s real skill went beyond simple speed boosts.
‘Making afterimages means it’s time or speed manipulation.’
Even imagining it screamed top-tier cheat skill.
‘As expected of Dokgo Hyun. Can’t let my guard down.’
Cold sweat beaded down.
But.
‘Still, I’ve got the edge now.’
Distance, position, attack range—all overwhelmingly in his favor.
Plus, he’d figured out how to spot afterimages.
‘No weirdly silent footsteps from afterimages, Dokgo Hyun.’
Na Youngho smirked.
Locked in sniper mode, he was confident he’d nail Dokgo Hyun—image or real.
‘Damn. Sniping it is.’
Dokgo Hyun had sent only an afterimage of himself—racing down the basement level hallway—via his special move, [Afterimage Creation].
[Afterimage Creation]
Stealthy decoy dispatched across the field
He’d anticipated Na Youngho would snipe for sure.
And sure enough, the afterimage crossing the field got picked off cleanly.
‘Luring me right to the main building to shoot. Not bad.’
Na Youngho’s skill was sharp enough to hit Dokgo Hyun anywhere on the field.
But factoring in the chance Dokgo Hyun might dodge with a skill, he’d waited to draw him all the way to the building.
‘Na Youngho’s at one of the main building windows.’
The issue: no visual on the exact window.
‘If it were a gun, muzzle flash would give it away. But air arrows? Invisible.’
Especially at night.
Overcharged air arrows made noise, but Na Youngho would avoid that.
‘What now?’
One option: swarm with multiple afterimages.
But Na Youngho’s [Air Bow] proficiency was likely high enough for rapid fire by now.
Dokgo Hyun had his S-rank skill and sky-high mastery, unleashing specials and combos from the start.
Na Youngho wasn’t slacking either—decent skill and smarts meant he could rapid-fire in varied ways, not just basics.
‘My [Afterimage Creation] is versatile, but fragile. One weak air arrow shreds it.’
So, afterimage spam was a last resort, too risky as primary.
‘Can’t reach Staff Room 1 on the first floor without crossing the field...’
Backing off was an option.
He’d get the specter’s mark, but third time—no death.
‘No. Wasting time agonizing is exactly their play.’
Less than two minutes left already.
Na Youngho knew time was critically short too.
‘Tch. Down to under two minutes.’
Under Oh Sua’s orders, he had to pin Dokgo Hyun even if it kept him from the poker room.
‘It’s fine. Obey Oh Sua, and I survive. That’s no lie.’
Brainwashed, Na Youngho held his sniper stance steady at the third-floor hallway window.
‘Prep air arrows in advance.’
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
Drew the [Air Bow], released without firing.
Generated air arrows only.
The pre-make technique.
‘He’ll swarm with afterimages, right?’
Then rapid-fire the prepped arrows to shred them.
That very moment.
Thud!
Dokgo Hyun burst from the library side.
‘Solo, no afterimage?’
No [Instant Acceleration] either—just normal speed.
Tat-tat-tat...!
Mid-run, Dokgo Hyun flung dirt into the air.
Soil from a potted plant in the library hallway.
Whoosh!!
Fine dirt sprayed high.
But way too thin for a smoke screen.
Na Youngho didn’t hesitate.
‘Firing!’
Three air arrows, power-focused, in succession.
Air arrows launched!
Power shots tear through the dust
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three launch blasts rang out in a row.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!
The flung dirt scattered wide.
‘He’s here!’
The instant the sounds hit, Dokgo Hyun dropped low.
Thrust both hands forward.
‘[Object Rewind]!!’
[Object Rewind]
Rewinding incoming air arrows to harmless air
The skill he’d used to reclaim his thrown knife—now spread wide with both hands.
‘Turn these incoming air arrows back to harmless air!’
Normal air couldn’t be rewound.
But ‘air arrows’ counted as created objects from a tool skill.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two air arrows dissolved into air the moment they touched Dokgo Hyun’s nullifying intent via [Object Rewind].
The last one...
Rip!
Grazed his shoulder.
‘Guh! Nullification caps at two, huh.’
Still, blocking ranged attacks with a skill was huge.
“What the hell?! That works?!”
Na Youngho’s shocked yell echoed from the main building window.
Even for a cheat skill, he hadn’t expected that application.
Dokgo Hyun caught the voice pinpoint.
“Oh, that’s the spot? On my way.”
Thud!
“Stay back, you lunatic!”
Na Youngho switched: no weak fast shots—instead, charged heavy ones.
Boom!!
Boom!!
Thunder-like blasts.
‘No blocking this!’
Two heavy air arrows flew straight at Dokgo Hyun.
‘Direct hit!!’
But.
‘[Instant Deceleration]!!’
[Instant Deceleration]
Slightly slowing incoming projectiles
Fwoosh!
The fast-flying air arrows slowed just a hair.
Screech!
One of the two grazed and missed.
‘Close! That was too damn close!!’
Faster speed, more mass—harder to defend with time manipulation.
Na Youngho’s arrows were insanely quick.
‘Survived ‘cause they’re light air constructs.’
But ramp up power or closer range? Near impossible.
Worse: Na Youngho had clocked it.
‘Forced slowdown? Let’s see if even faster works!’
Rrrumble...!
Drew [Air Bow] harder than ever.
Weeeeen...!!
Air compression hummed from classroom to field.
That instant, Dokgo Hyun pulled a mini-item from his inventory.
A purple spray can.
‘Isn’t that the purple dye spray I gave him?’
Na Youngho puzzled, as Dokgo Hyun sprayed high.
Hiss!
Hiss!
Purple mist cloud bloomed in the air.
“Next, [Instant Deceleration]!”
[Instant Deceleration]
Spray mist lingers, forming purple smokescreen layer
The sprayed droplets hung, slowed in air—creating a purple cloud smokescreen.