As soon as we arrived at the arena, we scanned our student IDs on the terminal.
While we waited for the match to be assigned,
“Open the store.”
“…..?”
Seo Ye-in tilted her head in confusion but opened the student store nonetheless.
She quickly skimmed through the endless list of items being displayed.
Why the student store all of a sudden?
Of course, it was to prepare for the upcoming duel battle.
The glacial zone was clearly a hostile environment.
If you gather information and equip yourself with the necessary equipment, you can adapt much more easily.It was just like preparing gas masks, antidotes, or poison immunity before entering an area filled with poisonous fumes.
Though it seemed like most students hadn’t realized this yet.
Eventually, I pointed to an item on the list and said,
[Spiked Soles]
“They say it’s a glacial zone. Don’t you think the floor will be slippery inside?”
“Mhmm.”
“We should buy them, right?”
“Buy them.”
[Bought ‘Spiked Soles’ (-300pt)]
As soon as the points were deducted, a pair of shoe soles dropped onto my hand.
They were equipped with sharp spikes and could be attached to shoes to act as crampons.
I made another subtle suggestion in a soft voice.
“It’ll be cold in there. Why don’t you buy some hand warmers too?”
“…Buy.”
[Bought ‘Hand Warmers’ (-100pt)]
I bought one, but Seo Ye-in bought a whopping three.
Together, we spent a total of 1,000 points.
It might seem excessive for just one week of duel battles.
However, if the opponents weren’t as prepared as we were, it would give us a clear advantage in battle.
And if the replay sold well, we’d earn back more than what we spent.
Soon, the match was set, and the scoreboard displayed the names of both our team and our opponents.
[Kim Ho: 738 points, Seo Ye-in: 752 points]
vs
[Jeong Soo-ji: 601 points, Park Na-ri: 1,013 points]
A promising student, huh.
The druid promising student Park Na-ri, along with her mini-tiger familiar Bum.
And paired with her was Jeong Soo-ji, who had an annoying knack for chipping away at opponents with precision.
At the start of the semester, Go Hyeon-woo had struggled against this duo.
Even with relentless combined attacks from him and Bukgong Han-seol, they couldn’t break through Park Na-ri’s health, and in the end, they lost by timeout.
I had expected it would be a while before we faced Park Na-ri in a duel battle, but it seemed Jeong Soo-ji’s recent losing streak had caused her to drop a significant number of points.
As a result, their average score dropped to the 800s, and they ended up matched against us.
They were certainly tricky opponents, but—
You never know until you try.
This was a 2-on-2 duel battle.
And it was also a crystal-based duel.
I turned to Seo Ye-in and said,
“Shall we go?”
“Mhmm.”
We walked toward the arena and stepped onto the teleportation magic circle.
Our view immediately opened up to reveal an expanse of pure white glacier terrain.
While a few gentle hills rose here and there, the area was largely flat.
The only problem was—
Whooooosh—!
A fierce snowstorm pelted our faces.
Even with the cold resistance magic cast on our uniforms and elemental resistance in place, the chill was sharp enough to seep through.
It’s colder than Winterhalt.
Then again, that place focused more on defensive battles, while this was an overtly hostile environment designed as a survival challenge.
They deliberately created these blizzard conditions, and if it wasn’t freezing, that would be even stranger.
I glanced at Seo Ye-in to see how she was holding up.
She had her hood pulled low over her face and was huddled tightly into herself.
Still, her eyes darted around, and she was scanning her surroundings. I asked her,
“What are you looking for?”
“…I want out.”
So she was searching for the exit.
Just from the fact that Seo Ye-in had pulled out her “Kim Ho Pot” at the faintest trace of a chill, it was clear how much she hated the cold.
And now, in a place blanketed entirely in snow and ice, with a relentless blizzard raging, it was no environment for someone like her to endure.
Unfortunately, the match had already been set and we were already inside the arena.
“The exit doesn’t open until the match is over.”
“…Forfeit?”
“You want me to get angry?”
No matter how cold it was, forfeiting wasn’t an option.
There were too many stakes involved. This duel battle, the side quest, and even the items we just bought.
I wasn’t sure if Seo Ye-in fully grasped all of this, but the fact that I said I’d get angry seemed to have convinced her to abandon the idea of forfeiting.
So I asked her in a firm tone,
“Do you want to get out of here quickly?”
“I want out.”
“Then we’ll have to finish this fast.”
I raised my hand and pointed toward the distance.
Amid the low-lying hills stood one that rose noticeably higher than the rest.
At its peak, a large boulder glowed faintly with a blue light.
That was the sanctuary of this crystal duel battle.
“Head straight for the crystal. I will be the one to restrain the others.”
“Okay.”
The plan was simple. Seo Ye-in would charge the crystal while I focused on keeping the opponents distracted.
But judging by her hunched shoulders and stiff movements, it looked like she was already feeling the effects of the environment’s slowing debuff.
At times like this, a little more effort was needed.
[Activated ‘Enchantment’.]
[You have granted the skill “Elemental Resistance (S)” to the target.]
[The rank of the granted ‘Elemental Resistance’: B.]
[Duration: 00:14:56.]
[Cooldown: 00:34:56.]
It was only a B rank, but even this would help alleviate the cold considerably.
I handed her the hand warmer I brought for myself as well.
The hand warmer disappeared into her hoodie in an instant.
“Feeling warmer now?”
“…A little.”
“Then let’s go.”
“We’ll take them down.”
It seemed the opponents were ready as well, as the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
[Kim Ho 100%, Seo Ye-in 100%]
vs
[Jeong Soo-ji 100%, Park Na-ri 100%]
The moment the match began, Seo Ye-in turned invisible and disappeared.
She had cloaked herself with her invisible ghillie suit.
Not that it’ll matter much here.
The blizzard made her faint outline occasionally visible, and her footprints were clearly imprinted in the snow-covered ground.
Still, since her role was to charge the crystal, it wasn’t a bad idea to stay hidden even for a little while.
Her footprints were heading in a slightly different direction from where the sanctuary stood.
She must be looking for the crystal first.
The crystal’s location was random.
The blizzard partially obscured the view, making it necessary to search around extensively under normal circumstances.
Yet Seo Ye-in moved forward with unwavering confidence as if she was certain the crystal was in the direction she was heading.
I didn’t question her judgment much either.
I trust you, Lucky Charm.
Seo Ye-in had an uncanny intuition in moments like these, and even when her intuition failed, her luck always seemed to make up for it.
Meanwhile, checking the scoreboard revealed the other side was struggling just as much under the blizzard.
[Jeong Soo-ji 98%, Park Na-ri 99%]
[Jeong Soo-ji 97%, Park Na-ri 98%]
[Jeong Soo-ji 96%, Park Na-ri 98%]
Their health was steadily dropping on its own.
Jeong Soo-ji’s health, in particular, was decreasing faster.
She really is the weakest link.
I had told her before to exercise more, but whether she had listened or ignored me, I couldn’t tell. I had even brought it up when we were on the Cloud Stairs because of how poor her physical ability was.
[Jeong Soo-ji 96%, Park Na-ri 98%]
[Jeong Soo-ji 97%, Park Na-ri 99%]
It seemed Park Na-ri was using healing magic, as her health dipped slightly only to recover. And the cycle was repeating over and over again.
On the other hand, thanks to the elemental resistance, we remained entirely unharmed.
[Kim Ho 100%, Seo Ye-in 100%]
As I idly observed the scoreboard, the path of invisible Seo Ye-in shifted slightly. She was heading straight toward the sanctuary.
As expected of Lucky Charm.
She must have pinpointed the crystal’s location and retrieved it in one go.
While scanning the surroundings again, I caught a faint glimpse through the blizzard. It was a silhouette of two people and a large beast.
It was unmistakably Park Na-ri’s team.
Since I was in charge of keeping them in check, I started moving toward their direction.
The snow was piled up to my knees, which caused my feet to sink with every step, and where it didn’t sink, there was ice.
Of course, the soles of my shoes were fitted with spikes, so I didn’t have to worry about slipping.
It seems like they’re more concerned over there.
Park Na-ri’s team was moving much slower compared to Seo Ye-in and me.
They even stopped occasionally, as if they were struggling to maintain their balance and avoid slipping.
Thanks to that, it was easy to close the distance between us.
When I got closer, they seemed to notice my approach and assumed a defensive stance.
I casually greeted them.
“Hope you’re all doing well.”
“H-Hello…”
Park Na-ri waved her hand timidly.
When it came to timidity, she was on a completely different level than Hong Yeon-hwa when it came to “Kim Ho”.
Jeong Soo-ji gave me a slight nod, and even the tiger who was now as large as a house let out a low growl.
While exchanging greetings, I discreetly checked their footwear.
Nothing there.
Just as I had guessed on my way here, their shoes didn’t have spiked soles.
That meant the difference in mobility would be significant, and I could count that as a major advantage in my favor.
Whoosh—
I conjured up a small gust of wind to test the surroundings. The entire area was made up of a large ice sheet with a little snow on top.
It was as slippery as it could get. A perfect battlefield.
After checking up to this point, I looked at the three of them and spoke honestly.
“As you can probably tell, I’m just here to buy time. I’m in charge of keeping you occupied.”
“Where’s Seo Ye-in?”
Jeong Soo-ji asked the question, but there was no need for me to answer.
Wooong—
At that moment, the sanctuary glowed even more blue and sent down a pillar of light.
Though it was hard to see clearly from this distance, it was obvious who the target of that light was.
[Crystal: 1%]
[Crystal: 2%]
Jeong Soo-ji’s face turned frantic as she quickly looked toward Park Na-ri and spoke.
“Na-ri, I’ll take care of—”
Then, perhaps she remembered that she had no chance of winning if she fought me one-on-one, she closed her mouth for a moment and spoke again.
“Na-ri, I’ll hold her off. You handle this one.”
“U-Uh, okay….”
Park Na-ri nodded her head in response and turned to face me.
The tiger Bum also let out a low growl in my direction.
It seemed they had divided their roles. Park Na-ri would engage me, and Jeong Soo-ji would go after Seo Ye-in.
At a glance, it might have seemed like a reasonable strategy, but it had a fatal flaw.
“Do you think I’ll just let you go?”
I was here to keep them both tied up, after all.
Just as Jeong Soo-ji began to leave her position, I cast Wind Force in her direction.
Whooosh—
“Huh? Huh?! Whoa!”
The headwind pushed Jeong Soo-ji backward, causing her to lose her balance and flail her arms.
Eventually, she fell flat on her butt and continued sliding a considerable distance across the ice.
Meanwhile, I stood firmly in place on the icy surface. As naturally as if I were standing on solid ground.
Only then did Park Na-ri and Jeong Soo-ji’s gazes drop to my feet.
“That…?”
“Oh, this? I spent some points on it.”
A hefty sum of 300 points had gone into it.
And when you spend that much, it’s only natural to show off a little.
I stood on my tiptoes and showed the sole of one foot.
The underside was covered with sharp, protruding spikes.
“They’re super comfortable. You should each get a pair.”
“……”
Both of their faces turned noticeably serious.
They had realized how severely disadvantaged they were in terms of mobility.
And that dividing roles between them was virtually impossible.
Still, they seemed confident they had the upper hand in combat.
Their plan in a two-on-one situation was probably to quickly overpower me and then move on to interfere with Seo Ye-in.
Park Na-ri took a deep breath before calling out to Bum.
“B-Bum.”
“Grrr…”
Bum let out a low growl as it glared at me while crouching low.
Then, like a coiled spring, it launched itself at me.
“Graaaaah—!”
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