Chapter 703: Week 8 PvP (4)
The activation rate of [Déjà Vu], at S-rank, was somewhere around 3% to 5%.
It was so low, and it activated automatically, that I’d basically left it alone as a “nice if it happens, whatever if it doesn’t” kind of trait.
And yet it had to go off now.
[Jang Chongmyeong - % Wang Sehun - %]
The two assassins were instantly rendered combat-incapable.
They had barely endured the first hit because they’d gone in fully prepared for it, but the second one had dropped out of nowhere without even a hint of warning.
Well, guess you really do live long enough to see everything.
I shrugged, then handed the crystal I’d just picked up over to Shin Byeongcheol.
“Charge this one too.”
“I was the one who had to do all of it, right?”
“That’s part of the quest too.”
More specifically, it was to satisfy Condition 2: “Teammate possesses all crystals.”
Shin Byeongcheol resumed charging with obvious enthusiasm.
Now that the pests were gone, all we had to worry about was the hostile environment.
BANG! BANG!
Every time the giant mortar-and-furnace thing in the dead center slammed down, shards sprayed everywhere, but compared to being chased by those two assassins, it was nothing.
The charge gauge rose quickly.
[Crystal A 100%]
[Crystal B 71%]
[Crystal B 89%]
[Crystal B 100%]
FLASH!
The moment both crystals filled with light, the match result appeared on the scoreboard.
[Kim Ho Shin Byeongcheol Win]
vs
[Jang Chongmyeong Wang Sehun Lose]
Shin Byeongcheol let out a quiet sound of admiration.
“Wow. We actually won this.”
“What, did you think we’d lose?”
“Honestly, it was pretty close. One little slip and my neck was just—slice?”
I probably would’ve saved you once.
Even damage severe enough to count as combat incapacity could be cleaned up neatly through a [Grant] and [Retrocovery] combo.
I didn’t bother mentioning that, though.
He’d start taking things way too lightly.
Given Shin Byeongcheol’s personality, if he knew he had an extra life in reserve, there was a high chance he’d start relaxing for no reason and get slippery about it.
He’d already suffered for that kind of thing before.
[Retrocovery] had a three-day cooldown per [Grant] recipient, so the best option was to conserve it and only use it when absolutely necessary.
So I just grinned and said,
“Just keep doing what you did now. Next match?”
“Oh, sure. Let’s go.”
*****
Around the same time, PvP battles were raging in the other arenas too.
RATATATATAT!
Blue fire poured nonstop from a gun barrel, and [Mana Round]s rained down in a torrent.
A man built like a bear was advancing straight through it.
It was Jo Byeok of the Discipline Committee.
RATATATATAT!
Despite that huge frame, they moved with startling agility, slipping between the [Mana Round]s.
The ones they couldn’t evade in time, they swatted aside or deflected with both fists.
At a glance, it looked like a flawless response, but—
[Jo Byeok 94%]
[Jo Byeok 92%]
[Jo Byeok 91%]
—their HP was steadily ticking down.
Each individual [Mana Round] carried so much force that even deflecting them caused damage to accumulate.
Even so, Jo Byeok never slowed down for an instant and charged straight into the hail of bullets.
If Go Hyeonwoo or Lee Seonghyeon had seen it, they probably would’ve burst out with, Now that’s the very model of a real man! It was that kind of rugged, macho spectacle.
Once they closed the distance enough, they leaped high and brought their whole body down in a crushing slam.
BOOOOM!
The floor made of miscellaneous junk caved inward.
Of course, Seo Ye-in had already slipped outside the blast radius.
Jo Byeok immediately chased after her as if refusing to let her go and unleashed a barrage of punches.
WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!
“......”
Seo Ye-in silently watched the fists filling her vision, then tilted and twisted just slightly as she stepped backward.
At the same time, she countered with her assault rifle.
RATATATATAT—
[Jo Byeok 88%]
[Jo Byeok 87%]
The difference wasn’t huge, but it was still a situation where Jo Byeok was taking one-sided damage.
Even so, Jo Byeok kept doggedly pursuing her, so Seo Ye-in lightly kicked off the ground and rose a few inches into the air.
WHOOOOSH—
[Featherstep]
[Sailboat]
Then she got blown backward like a balloon caught in the wind.
For Jo Byeok, the distance they had finally managed to close had opened right back up.
If they wanted to force close combat again, they’d have to repeat the whole process from the beginning.
And the match was tilting further and further against them.
Off to one side, Fast-Luckless, who had been rummaging through a pile of junk, raised something over her head.
It was an empty crystal.
“......Found.”
“Charge immediately.”
“Fast and decisive.”
“Then head home.”
“Kidnap Kim Ho.”
Both Seo Ye-ins were unusually fired up.
The [Mana Round]s started pouring again.
RATATATAT!
As they pushed through them, Jo Byeok thought,
There’s no chance if I keep fighting by the book.
They had already confirmed that the opponent’s movement speed was far above theirs.
If they tried to close in the same way again, the losses would only pile up.
And there was no guarantee she’d even let them get close the same way twice.
Then I’ll settle this from range.
A moment later, fighting spirit streamed off Jo Byeok’s body.
In that state, they shot up into the air, and for an instant both arms blurred so badly it looked like they’d split into many.
Then enormous palms and fists came crashing down in a storm.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Seo Ye-in stared at it blankly for a moment, then stepped through the gaps between the descending palm force and fist force with [Featherstep].
Seeing that, Jo Byeok suddenly had a strange sensation.
For just a moment, it looked like Kim Ho’s figure was overlapping with hers.
The next instant, after completing a perfect evasion, Seo Ye-in counterattacked.
RATATATATAT—
Meanwhile, not far away, another fierce battle was in full swing.
A storm of flames roared forth, and bolts of lightning rained down in streaks.
FWOOOOSH!
KRA-KA-BOOM!
[Hong Yeonhwa 98%]
vs
[Song Cheonhye 96%]
Since the score gap between them wasn’t large, both of them had expected that sooner or later they’d run into each other in PvP.
By pure bad luck, that had happened this time.
At the moment, neither PvP rules nor crystals meant anything to them.
All they cared about was pounding the other one down.
CRACKLE—
As Song Cheonhye gripped a thick bolt of lightning, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
This isn’t like me.
She also knew she should be approaching this more calmly.
Then why am I this frustrated?
Because she was facing her rival again after so long?
But it didn’t feel like that was the only reason.
Because of what happened earlier?
The fact that she and Hong Yeonhwa had both asked Kim Ho to pair with them, only to both be rejected.
There had even been a perfectly valid reason for it—he had a quest riding on it—and it wasn’t as though she alone had been turned down.
And yet somehow, it still felt like her competitive spirit had been provoked.
“......”
Apparently Hong Yeonhwa felt something similar.
Her red eyes looked even fiercer than usual.
Good. This is better.
Rivalry, rank, whatever it is—I can settle it right here!
Song Cheonhye rushed forward at terrifying speed and thrust the lightning in.
KRA-BOOOOM!
But in the very next instant, her opponent had vanished without a trace.
Song Cheonhye whipped her head around in alarm, then looked up—
Hong Yeonhwa was slowly descending from the air.
A scornful little smile rested on her lips.
“What? If you come right after me, you can catch me.”
“......!”
She was taunting her because she knew Song Cheonhye couldn’t use ★Blink★.
And evasion clearly wasn’t Hong Yeonhwa’s only aim.
Several red magic circles appeared in a row overhead, and fireballs poured down like rain.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
[Song Cheonhye 95%]
[Song Cheonhye 94%]
[Song Cheonhye 92%]
“......!”
Song Cheonhye realized she’d been caught once, but she didn’t stay still.
Advancing with two [Lightning Rod]s floating at either side of her—
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE—
—the current pouring out wrapped around her body and formed something like armor.
Then, using that momentum, she slammed straight into Hong Yeonhwa.
KRA-RUMBLE!
Hong Yeonhwa’s body lifted into the air, rolled across the ground, and landed facedown with a smack.
Normally, it would’ve drawn a pitiful little yelp out of her, but right now she kept her mouth firmly shut.
She had no intention of showing weakness in front of her opponent.
Instead, she burned with even fiercer fighting spirit and began chanting a spell.
FWOOOOSH—
RUMBLE! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The battle continued, and their attacks and counters flew back and forth too many times to count.
The longer it went on, the grimmer Song Cheonhye’s face became.
[Song Cheonhye 82%]
vs
[Hong Yeonhwa 94%]
The HP gap was widening rapidly.
She had felt herself getting pushed back a little, sure, but not by twelve whole percent.
...Why?
As if she had read the question from her face, Hong Yeonhwa spoke in a calm voice.
“Sorry, but you can’t beat me. You couldn’t before, and now even less.”
“Even less...?”
“Do I have to explain that too?”
“......So it was him.”
It seemed Kim Ho had given her something.
If [Austerity] could assign quests, then strengthening traits or equipment should’ve been more than possible too.
At this point, Hong Yeonhwa didn’t bother hiding it anymore.
“That’s right. But don’t think it’s only because of him.”
She added, full of confidence, that she still would’ve won even without that.
And in fact, she had beaten her last year.
At that, Song Cheonhye felt something heavy sink into her chest.
Maybe it was because, deep down, she already knew Hong Yeonhwa was right.
No. I won’t accept that.
CRACKLE!
As if venting her violent emotions, currents surged from her whole body like storm clouds.
Then she swung both arms, and the [Lightning Rod]s she had summoned all around the field converged at once.
She hurled everything she had at her opponent.
KRA-KA-KRA-BOOOOM!!
From Song Cheonhye’s perspective, it was her all-in move.
Against most opponents, it wouldn’t have been strange if that single attack had rendered them combat-incapable.
And even if it hadn’t, it should have dealt tremendous damage.
But—
[Hong Yeonhwa 94%]
[Hong Yeonhwa 90%]
Four percent...
Compared to what she had poured into it, the result was ridiculously small.
Her own HP was currently at 80%, which meant she’d have to do something like that three more times just to turn it around.
To Song Cheonhye, whose fighting spirit was steadily draining away, Hong Yeonhwa spoke again in that same calm voice.
“I told you. You can’t beat me anymore.”
Then she swept her staff, and three phoenixes came flying in from three directions.
FWOOOOOSH!
*****
We stared at the scoreboard with satisfied eyes.
“We pulled it off.”
“We sure did.”
[Kim Ho Shin Byeongcheol Win]
vs
[Son Hyeongtaek Dam Daehan Lose]
There had been a few twists and turns, but in the end, we’d won the third match too.
Naturally, while satisfying every single challenge-quest condition.
I grinned and said to Shin Byeongcheol,
“You worked hard. Thanks to you, I cleared the whole quest.”
“Aw, come on, what do you mean thanks to me? All I did was run for my life.”
“Making it to the end and staying alive like that matters too.”
“That’s only because you protected me so well. Honestly, if I’d been alone, there’s no way I would’ve lasted.”
In the warm mood, we generously gave each other all the credit.
Then the conversation paused for a second, and Shin Byeongcheol suddenly asked,
“Didn’t you say you were heading out today? For that outside request.”
“Yeah. I’m planning to catch the train around evening.”
“So that’s why you wrapped everything up on the first day. You really do live busy.”
“It’s all for world peace.”
“Of course, of course. In that case... let’s see...”
He rummaged through his inventory for a bit, then suddenly thrust something in front of my face with a flourish.
“Have one of these before you go.”
[T.E.B - 002]