Chapter 700: Week 8 PvP (1)
Song Cheonhye kept agonizing over it for a long time after that, but in the end, she still couldn’t give me an answer.
Of course it’d be hard.
It wasn’t just about breaking school rules. It also meant standing against the people she’d been sharing the same pot of rice with.
Even Han Somi, whose way of thinking was fairly flexible, had hesitated at first. For someone like Song Cheonhye, who was practically the model student incarnate, the resistance would be even stronger.
That’s exactly why I asked.
Just looking at the underground floors, right now she was on the side trying to stop people from secretly going down.
Meaning she’d be more of a hindrance than a help.
For any real relationship with us to work—and eventually for [Bond] to be possible—she’d have to bend that rigid value system at least a little.
Song Cheonhye herself probably understood that perfectly well, but values weren’t the kind of thing that changed overnight.
I’ll have to give her some time for now.
Enough time to think it through properly and make a decision by her own will.
*****
At this point, I’d already accomplished everything I’d set out to do during this raid week.
I had finally pushed [Greedy Choice] all the way to S-rank and traded it for [Movement of Eternity(S)].
I’d taken the two meteoric iron ingots to the dimensional crow and fused them into [Starmascus(??)].
And I’d even strengthened [Mutual-Destruction Eye] through the dungeon shutdown reward.
So I decided to spend the rest of the week shoring up the fundamentals.
Training and rank grinding at the training center, and building mana in the special cultivation room.
As a result—
[The rank of ‘Single-Point Explosion’ has increased. (B→A)]
[The rank of ‘Air Burst’ has increased. (B+→A+)]
I managed to raise the ranks of the combo skills in my [Spiral Explosion] line.
For reference, [Twister] had already been raised during winter break.
[The rank of ‘Spiral Explosion’ has increased. (B+→A+)]
My other skills and traits had also continued growing steadily, all of them now eyeing the wall of A-rank.
At this point, it was probably about time I started thinking about learning something new too.
*****
Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was Monday morning.
After spending the whole night building mana in the special cultivation room, I caught a short nap for rest—
and when I opened my eyes, Seo Ye-in and Fast-Luckless were sitting beside me, staring down at me.
“......”
......“What’s with you two? Up before me for once?”
Normally, even after I woke up, they stayed sprawled out for a long time.
But today, they were fully dressed and completely ready to head out for breakfast.
At my question, Seo Ye-in kept looking down at me as she answered.
“Day we leave.”
“Leave where?”
“Our house.”
Today was the day we were heading for Hyeseong New City under the excuse of an outside request.
Both Seo Ye-ins had bright, sparkling eyes.
“Quick PvP.”
Crush it.“Immediately board train.”
Depart.“Our house.”
Go play there.They were seriously excited already.
Well, they’d been waiting for this for more than a day or two.
But moments like this were exactly when mirror therapy was most effective.
So I turned over with a look like I was dying of exhaustion.
“No idea what you’re talking about. I’m sleeping more.”
“?”
?The two of them looked at each other, question marks practically floating over their heads, then grabbed me and started shaking me hard.
“Wake up.”
Wake up.“Wake up.”
Wake up.“Right now.”
Breakfast.“And then class.”
PvP.“Then board train.”
Our house.Whatever the process was, the conclusion was still our house.
That somehow made it even more annoying, so I decided to pretend to be even sleepier.
This time, quoting Seo Ye-in’s own lines back at her.
“Let’s leave it alone and sleep five more minutes. No, ten more minutes. No, one more hour.”
“No.”
Impossible.“Wake up immediately.”
Depart for our house.Now they were skipping the steps entirely and jumping straight to depart for our house.
Eventually, Seo Ye-in and Fast-Luckless climbed on top of me in layers like rainbow rice cake and shook me again.
This time, quoting my own lines back at me.
“Let’s get up.”
Let’s do that.“You’ve slept enough.”
Sufficient rest.“It’s time to get up.”
Already passed.“......”
......“......?”
Even then, I didn’t budge.
The two of them tilted their heads, then looked at each other again.
They were starting to look genuinely frustrated.
That seemed like enough mirror therapy for one morning, so I finally asked,
“Not so easy, right? Waking somebody up.”
“Not easy......”
“And I do this every single day, you know? Because of certain people.”
“Butler’s hard work.”
Highly praised.“So from now on, when someone wakes you up, you’re getting up right away, yes?”
“......”
“You are getting up right away, yes?”
“......I’ll try.”
Seo Ye-in answered without sounding all that confident.
How long that resolution would actually last was another matter entirely.
*****
PvP class.
Standing in front of the podium, Lee Sudok opened his mouth in the same indifferent tone as always.
“I will begin with an announcement. Midterms start next week.”
The students all made split expressions—half so it’s finally here, half does it really have to?
At this school, practical evaluations were never easy, but midterms always managed to be even worse.
Of course, Lee Sudok was not the kind and considerate teacher who cared about how his students felt.
And even if he did, that wouldn’t change the contents of the midterms.
“Since the rules covered in last year’s PvP and raid sessions will appear in combination, keep that in mind. Also—”
I had the distinct feeling his sharp gaze slid briefly in my direction.
“—if you have an outside request scheduled, make sure to manage your schedule carefully so your return is not delayed.”
If you got back to Dungeon Island late, it would either become impossible to take the midterms at all, or you’d be forced to join late and eat a heavy penalty.
Obviously, there would be no makeup exam.
Midterms and finals are mandatory, no matter what.
That was when the better sub quests and rewards tended to appear.
Which was why I was only planning to stay in Hyeseong through this weekend before coming back.
Even if things drag, next Wednesday is the absolute deadline.
Midterm week didn’t begin with students getting thrown straight in on Monday.
Usually they revealed the rules and environment first, then gave about two days of preparation time.
At the very least, I had to be back on Dungeon Island before that.
Assuming nothing unusual happens, anyway.
Suddenly, what Dark Dragon Lord and the principal had said crossed my mind.
Meteor says the time he’s been allowed isn’t very long.I heard the atmosphere over there’s really bad. Apparently the Blood Cult and a dragon went at it nearby.Still, there was no point worrying already.
I’d find out what kind of situation it was once I got to Hyeseong.
While I was thinking that, Lee Sudok continued the lesson.
The rules and environment had already appeared on the blackboard.
MAP: [Waste Disposal Site]
RULE: [2-person] [Crystal*2]
“Since midterms are approaching, I prepared familiar material as a form of review.”
Lee Sudok added that [Waste Disposal Site] counted as a “hostile environment.”
Like a volcanic region with lava running everywhere and fireballs raining down, or a swamp that oozed poison and swallowed your feet whole, it was the kind of place where damage piled up even if you just stood still.
To win, you either had to seize a better position than your opponent or bring them down quickly.
As for [Crystal], the rule meant recovering an “empty crystal” dropped somewhere on the map, then taking it near a “sanctuary” and charging it to 100%.
You had to be careful not to leave the sanctuary’s area midway through, and not to let the enemy steal the crystal.
Then Lee Sudok added one more point.
“However, this time, remember that the crystal has a ‘2’ attached to it.”
Naturally, that meant you had to charge two crystals to win.
It would take even longer, and the proportion of combat would rise accordingly.
While Lee Sudok explained the various possible scenarios, a notification message was appearing in one corner of my vision.
[Sub Quest: Week 8 PvP] (In Progress....)
[Would you like to use the [Challenge Book]?]
[Accept / Decline]
Stop asking already.
It’s going to be Accept every time, no questions asked.
As if it had read my mind, the quest updated immediately.
[Sub Quest: Week 8 PvP] (In Progress....)
▷ Condition 1: Proceed with a teammate whose score is 500 points or lower
▷ Note: You will be matched against opponents above the average score.
▷ Condition 2: Teammate must hold all crystals
▷ Win 3 PvP matches (-/3)
▷ Reward: Scaled according to completion rate
I expected nonsense, but this is really something.
There weren’t even many people under 500 points to begin with.
And on top of that, the opponents would be above average.
In other words, I’d basically be fighting a 2-person team with a 1.5-person team.
Having to hand over the crystals is a problem too.
I’d already have to bring along a teammate with low combat power, and now that same teammate would become the primary target for the enemy.
If the crystals got stolen, the odds of losing would shoot up.
They might not even hold out and could go down entirely.
And if that happened, Condition 2 would fail, which meant that even if I wiped out the enemy team alone afterward, my completion rate would still drop.
I’m going to have to keep my teammate as far back as possible.
Which meant removing combat-oriented candidates from consideration—especially melee classes.
Take a spearman like Yang Jihong or a tank like Baek Junseok. They’d have no choice but to go up front, and if they ran into opponents above average, the condition would break immediately.
A mage or another long-range class that could stay in the back was the best option.
But they also need to be fast on their feet.
They’d need to survive a hostile environment while also recovering and charging the crystals.
Take Jeong Suji from the Emerald Mage Tower, for example. She was decent enough at harassment, but her stamina and control were lacking, so she went down pretty quickly in fights.
So she was out too.
I kept adding conditions and crossing people off, again and again—
until, regrettably enough, only one person remained.
Is this really the best option?
I felt less than thrilled about it.
Meanwhile, PvP class ended, and the students began looking for partners one by one.
Hong Yeonhwa and Song Cheonhye, sitting on either side of me, both spoke at the same time.
“Want to... pair up?”
“You haven’t picked a partner yet, right?”
Then they glared at each other with openly competitive eyes.
For a second, it felt like sparks were literally crackling in the air.
So I said the same thing to both of them.
“Sorry, but I can’t this time. I would if I could, but—”
“Something... happened?”
“Nothing big. It’s just that I’ve got a quest attached.”
“Ah....... Then it can’t be helped.”
Hong Yeonhwa did her best to cheer me on, but the disappointment on her face was impossible to hide.
Song Cheonhye also looked like she wanted to say something, then shut her mouth with a bitter expression.
A moment later, the two of them glared at each other again and both turned away sharply.
The two of them pairing up wouldn’t be a bad option, actually.
But since they were unmistakably rivals, apparently neither of them intended to go that route.
Then, after thinking for a moment, both of them started messaging somebody.
Hong Yeonhwa will probably pair with Seo Ye-in.
Last year she’d often teamed up with her childhood friend Baek Junseok, but as the gap in skill widened, it had reached the point where he couldn’t really pull his weight anymore.
Seo Ye-in, on the other hand, was close enough in skill, and the two of them had grown reasonably close too.
They’d even worked together to take down the boss in [Black Serpent Fang].
And Song Cheonhye, as usual, would probably pair with Lee Seulbi, Geum Johan, or one of the other Discipline Committee members.
Right now I need to worry about myself.
So, just like the other two, I sent out a message.
Still feeling pretty unenthusiastic about it.
[Kim Ho: You there.]
[Shin Byeongcheol: THANK YOU FOR CALLING ON ME!!!]
[Shin Byeongcheol: WHAT DO YOU NEED, valued customer!?!?]
[Kim Ho: You.]
[Shin Byeongcheol: Huh?]