It is the third day of the Duel Rankings, and a special fight is about to commence. The Duel Rankings should have ended yesterday to give time for the planned extra-curricular activities, and the other ceremonies, but because of a certain Cube Cadet, a special program has to be squeezed into the schedule.
Kim Hajin’s declaration of war against Rank 2 Cadet Chae Nayun, and Rank 3 Cadet Kim Suho is so explosive that the moment it reaches the public, it quickly gains monstrous momentum that the management has no choice but to acquiesce.
It is certainly favoritism.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Today is the day!”
The host’s words earn a storm of shouts and cheers. Coming into the arena fully reserved in this fight are the three fighters— Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and Kim Hajin.
Perhaps, the reason all of this is possible is because of Hajin’s luck, Cube AI’s assistance, and Hajin’s own fame. Normally, Hajin will not be able to receive this privilege of fighting the Rank 1 Cadet and Rank 2 Cadet simultaneously, but because of the invisible status— fame is at play— it has become possible for something like this to happen.
“Suho, let’s team up and beat Hajin.” Nayun shamelessly starts as she draws her sword. She is carrying a sword about Suho’s sword’s size, unlike the usual big swords that Nayun favors.
“Eh?” Suho as the goody two-shoes decline. “That is unfair. I won’t hold back though.”
“…” Hajin remains silent, simply loading both his handguns.
For this battle, Hajin will be dual-wielding his guns. He also has brought enough bullets for him to last a long fight. Truly, inside him, he is trembling. ‘I must be crazy to suggest fighting them.’ He hides his fear with a practiced poker face.
Kim Hajin is just a normal average Korean guy, who doesn’t even know war. Despite serving in the military for a short duration in his home world, he isn’t really someone who has an affinity for violence. Moreover, he hasn’t even faced any action as most of the time, there really weren’t any active skirmishes back then.
Now, Hajin is fighting again and again… one after another. Yes, it has its thrills, and oftentimes, it makes his blood boil, but it is abnormal. Sometimes, he feels down for having to live a life like this.
The only thing that keeps him going is the meager hope of returning home. But after Nayun’s confession, and his being able to share her memories from the past iteration, Hajin has come to add another motivation for him to go on.
“Nayun, let’s have a motorbike date again, but this time as my girlfriend.”
“AH! Stop that! You are annoying—” Nayun is flustered by his words.
“…” And Suho is quiet. This is his first time hearing this and Hajin’s words must have surprised him too. The proof of this is the sudden increase of SP notifications on Hajin’s smartwatch.
Sometimes, Hajin has this wishful thinking. Maybe if he has enough SP, he can go home. And maybe if he has enough power and authority, he can return to this world as much as he likes. Just maybe… he can have the best of both worlds.
Hajin raises his both arms, aiming his dual guns at both Nayun and Suho. “Let’s do it.”
The moment the host’s counting recedes to zero, each of them makes their own moves. Suho flexes his sword, cleanly dissecting a bullet flying his way. Nayun simply endures the bullet and runs in Hajin’s direction without a care in the world.
The bullet coming at Nayun is anti-magic but it simply bounces from her skin which is covered with continuous waves of thick magic power. Nayun’s version of Qi reinforcement is better than most heroes, not to mention its revolutionary application in that her magic power is constantly moving around her skin instead of the usual solid magic power armor.
Hajin mentally connects to his system from his smartwatch and uses his SP to enforce his bullets with stronger anti-magic properties. Suho appears at his rear with even faster speed than Nayun, his sword already in midswing.
“Hey, I thought no team-ups?” Hajin voices his complaint inwardly. He uses his [Parkour Art] to run to Nayun who is only a couple of meters away from him, and then use her as a cover.
The essence of parkour is to traverse environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently.
In this case, Nayun is an obstacle. “Come and get some!” Hajin outmaneuvers Nayun with precise and calculated movements, outflanking her. As a result, she is now facing Suho, and at the same time, Hajin is in her rear shooting a hail of bullets at her.
Clang~!
The sound of steel echoes as Suho and Nayun lock their sword.
Before even Hajin unleashes a single bullet, he feels a dangerous amount of magic power around him through his superior perception. He dodges just right in time as a giant sword of magic power descends on where he stands.
Hajin dodges the descending sword with ease, relying on his SP-modified boots and the natural speed that comes from his stats. Hajin has the Magic Deficiency Physique which allows him to gain stats accumulatively through physical training in exchange for not being able to use magic power. The only reason he is able to use magic power is by rationing his Stigma.
This is not the time for him to waste Stigma, thus Hajin tries his best to dodge the series of falling conjured swords of magic power through pure technique and determination.
Hajin counts over seven descending swords from the air. These conjured swords of magic power vanish after they hit the ground. Hajin sighs in relief knowing that Nayun shouldn't be able to alter the terrain as she likes. While Nayun is able to continue raining him with her attacks, Hajin can see that she is becoming less and less accurate as Suho puts more pressure on her.
Nayun is fighting two in one, but she cannot let up. In front of her is the most dangerous swordsman she has ever known, surpassing even her master by a wide margin. Then there is the most dangerous sharpshooter in her rear who has once shaken the entire world.
While the people she knows are from different timelines, she cannot discount the fact that she is fighting both saviors of humanity at the same time. Nayun is lying if she says she is not thrilled.
Nayun recalls the Great Devil War, that gnarly fight to the death for the sake of humanity. “You greenhorns are still too wet behind the ears.”
Suho focuses his attention on Nayun realizing that she must be up to something. He is not someone to underestimate his opponent. A gigantic sword larger than what is thrown at Hajin comes crashing in between Nayun and Suho.
The giant sword of magic power about two person’s height embeds to the earth, providing stable defense to Nayun. It has become a shield. Suho realizes he has been had.
From 'outside' Suho’s perspective, Nayun presses her back on the giant embedded swor forcing the fight from a 2-on-1 to 1-on-1 this time against Hajin. Nayun prickly gazes at Hajin with full intent. She raises her sword and points it at Hajin.
Meanwhile, Hajin feels the dangerous caress of death from within his intuition. If not for his superior eyesight and perception, he would have been fooled. From under him, a series of conjured swords of magic power protrudes from underground, flying upwards at incredible speeds.
Hajin desperately tries to dodge while gunning down Nayun. He uses the recoil of his guns to increase his mobility as he acrobatically zigzags from the ascending swords.
Nayun calmly receives the bullets coming her way, by either parrying them or deflecting them. She feels danger through her animalistic instincts and in response, she raises her sword to the side.
Suho’s sword cleanly cuts the giant broadsword defending Nayun.
Nayun makes a split decision not to block and receive, but to fluidly parry the sword so that it may slide over her. She feels her back become cold with sweat. Kim Suho can cut anything! And Suho is certainly not holding back anymore. If Nayun chose to block that, her sword could have been cut and she would have been removed from the fight.
Suho proceeds to connect and flow his sword strikes at Nayun.
Nayun desperately tries to dodge, not even having the option to block Suho’s strikes. She realizes it is too late. “This guy! I only realized it now, but isn’t Suho my worst matchup!?” Hajin realizes this too, and he wants to take advantage of this by turning the once 1-on-1 with Nayun to 2-on-1 in favor of Suho.
The ascending swords coming from below are becoming lesser and lesser which prompts Hajin to analyze the situation more objectively. ‘Nayun completely suppresses me, and Suho completely suppresses her, but I suppress Suho— I am certain of this. If Nayun is taken down first, my victory will be certain.’
Hajin shoots several bullets with the enchantment of [Break] and [Anti-magic]. His objective is fairly simple— to break Nayun’s sword and remove her from the equation. While dodging the few ascending swords from under his foot, Hajin calculates the perfect trajectory to put stress on Nayun’s sword and break it.
The bullets curve their paths like a swallow maneuvering in the air.
But Hajin’s bullets don’t reach Nayun’s sword for Suho parries all of them with ease. Suho smirks. He is made aware that Hajin will be his bane. Suho is putting enough pressure on Nayun, but not enough for her to have an advantage over him.
‘I should have accepted Nayun’s proposal to team up against Hajin.’ Suho muses.
Nayun realizes there will be no development if a change doesn’t occur. Between Suho and Hajin, she realizes Suho is the bigger threat for her, thus she focuses on Suho.
At this point, it has become a three-way deadlock.
It is the third day of the Duel Rankings, and a special fight is about to commence. The Duel Rankings should have ended yesterday to give time for the planned extra-curricular activities, and the other ceremonies, but because of a certain Cube Cadet, a special program has to be squeezed into the schedule.
Kim Hajin’s declaration of war against Rank 2 Cadet Chae Nayun, and Rank 3 Cadet Kim Suho is so explosive that the moment it reaches the public, it quickly gains monstrous momentum that the management has no choice but to acquiesce.
It is certainly favoritism.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Today is the day!”
The host’s words earn a storm of shouts and cheers. Coming into the arena fully reserved in this fight are the three fighters— Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and Kim Hajin.
Perhaps, the reason all of this is possible is because of Hajin’s luck, Cube AI’s assistance, and Hajin’s own fame. Normally, Hajin will not be able to receive this privilege of fighting the Rank 1 Cadet and Rank 2 Cadet simultaneously, but because of the invisible status— fame is at play— it has become possible for something like this to happen.
“Suho, let’s team up and beat Hajin.” Nayun shamelessly starts as she draws her sword. She is carrying a sword about Suho’s sword’s size, unlike the usual big swords that Nayun favors.
“Eh?” Suho as the goody two-shoes decline. “That is unfair. I won’t hold back though.”
“…” Hajin remains silent, simply loading both his handguns.
For this battle, Hajin will be dual-wielding his guns. He also has brought enough bullets for him to last a long fight. Truly, inside him, he is trembling. ‘I must be crazy to suggest fighting them.’ He hides his fear with a practiced poker face.
Kim Hajin is just a normal average Korean guy, who doesn’t even know war. Despite serving in the military for a short duration in his home world, he isn’t really someone who has an affinity for violence. Moreover, he hasn’t even faced any action as most of the time, there really weren’t any active skirmishes back then.
Now, Hajin is fighting again and again… one after another. Yes, it has its thrills, and oftentimes, it makes his blood boil, but it is abnormal. Sometimes, he feels down for having to live a life like this.
The only thing that keeps him going is the meager hope of returning home. But after Nayun’s confession, and his being able to share her memories from the past iteration, Hajin has come to add another motivation for him to go on.
“Nayun, let’s have a motorbike date again, but this time as my girlfriend.”
“AH! Stop that! You are annoying—” Nayun is flustered by his words.
“…” And Suho is quiet. This is his first time hearing this and Hajin’s words must have surprised him too. The proof of this is the sudden increase of SP notifications on Hajin’s smartwatch.
Sometimes, Hajin has this wishful thinking. Maybe if he has enough SP, he can go home. And maybe if he has enough power and authority, he can return to this world as much as he likes. Just maybe… he can have the best of both worlds.
Hajin raises his both arms, aiming his dual guns at both Nayun and Suho. “Let’s do it.”
The moment the host’s counting recedes to zero, each of them makes their own moves. Suho flexes his sword, cleanly dissecting a bullet flying his way. Nayun simply endures the bullet and runs in Hajin’s direction without a care in the world.
The bullet coming at Nayun is anti-magic but it simply bounces from her skin which is covered with continuous waves of thick magic power. Nayun’s version of Qi reinforcement is better than most heroes, not to mention its revolutionary application in that her magic power is constantly moving around her skin instead of the usual solid magic power armor.
Hajin mentally connects to his system from his smartwatch and uses his SP to enforce his bullets with stronger anti-magic properties. Suho appears at his rear with even faster speed than Nayun, his sword already in midswing.
“Hey, I thought no team-ups?” Hajin voices his complaint inwardly. He uses his [Parkour Art] to run to Nayun who is only a couple of meters away from him, and then use her as a cover.
The essence of parkour is to traverse environmental obstacles by running, climbing, or leaping rapidly and efficiently.
In this case, Nayun is an obstacle. “Come and get some!” Hajin outmaneuvers Nayun with precise and calculated movements, outflanking her. As a result, she is now facing Suho, and at the same time, Hajin is in her rear shooting a hail of bullets at her.
Clang~!
The sound of steel echoes as Suho and Nayun lock their sword.
Before even Hajin unleashes a single bullet, he feels a dangerous amount of magic power around him through his superior perception. He dodges just right in time as a giant sword of magic power descends on where he stands.
Hajin dodges the descending sword with ease, relying on his SP-modified boots and the natural speed that comes from his stats. Hajin has the Magic Deficiency Physique which allows him to gain stats accumulatively through physical training in exchange for not being able to use magic power. The only reason he is able to use magic power is by rationing his Stigma.
This is not the time for him to waste Stigma, thus Hajin tries his best to dodge the series of falling conjured swords of magic power through pure technique and determination.
Hajin counts over seven descending swords from the air. These conjured swords of magic power vanish after they hit the ground. Hajin sighs in relief knowing that Nayun shouldn't be able to alter the terrain as she likes. While Nayun is able to continue raining him with her attacks, Hajin can see that she is becoming less and less accurate as Suho puts more pressure on her.
Nayun is fighting two in one, but she cannot let up. In front of her is the most dangerous swordsman she has ever known, surpassing even her master by a wide margin. Then there is the most dangerous sharpshooter in her rear who has once shaken the entire world.
While the people she knows are from different timelines, she cannot discount the fact that she is fighting both saviors of humanity at the same time. Nayun is lying if she says she is not thrilled.
Nayun recalls the Great Devil War, that gnarly fight to the death for the sake of humanity. “You greenhorns are still too wet behind the ears.”
Suho focuses his attention on Nayun realizing that she must be up to something. He is not someone to underestimate his opponent. A gigantic sword larger than what is thrown at Hajin comes crashing in between Nayun and Suho.
The giant sword of magic power about two person’s height embeds to the earth, providing stable defense to Nayun. It has become a shield. Suho realizes he has been had.
From 'outside' Suho’s perspective, Nayun presses her back on the giant embedded swor forcing the fight from a 2-on-1 to 1-on-1 this time against Hajin. Nayun prickly gazes at Hajin with full intent. She raises her sword and points it at Hajin.
Meanwhile, Hajin feels the dangerous caress of death from within his intuition. If not for his superior eyesight and perception, he would have been fooled. From under him, a series of conjured swords of magic power protrudes from underground, flying upwards at incredible speeds.
Hajin desperately tries to dodge while gunning down Nayun. He uses the recoil of his guns to increase his mobility as he acrobatically zigzags from the ascending swords.
Nayun calmly receives the bullets coming her way, by either parrying them or deflecting them. She feels danger through her animalistic instincts and in response, she raises her sword to the side.
Suho’s sword cleanly cuts the giant broadsword defending Nayun.
Nayun makes a split decision not to block and receive, but to fluidly parry the sword so that it may slide over her. She feels her back become cold with sweat. Kim Suho can cut anything! And Suho is certainly not holding back anymore. If Nayun chose to block that, her sword could have been cut and she would have been removed from the fight.
Suho proceeds to connect and flow his sword strikes at Nayun.
Nayun desperately tries to dodge, not even having the option to block Suho’s strikes. She realizes it is too late. “This guy! I only realized it now, but isn’t Suho my worst matchup!?” Hajin realizes this too, and he wants to take advantage of this by turning the once 1-on-1 with Nayun to 2-on-1 in favor of Suho.
The ascending swords coming from below are becoming lesser and lesser which prompts Hajin to analyze the situation more objectively. ‘Nayun completely suppresses me, and Suho completely suppresses her, but I suppress Suho— I am certain of this. If Nayun is taken down first, my victory will be certain.’
Hajin shoots several bullets with the enchantment of [Break] and [Anti-magic]. His objective is fairly simple— to break Nayun’s sword and remove her from the equation. While dodging the few ascending swords from under his foot, Hajin calculates the perfect trajectory to put stress on Nayun’s sword and break it.
The bullets curve their paths like a swallow maneuvering in the air.
But Hajin’s bullets don’t reach Nayun’s sword for Suho parries all of them with ease. Suho smirks. He is made aware that Hajin will be his bane. Suho is putting enough pressure on Nayun, but not enough for her to have an advantage over him.
‘I should have accepted Nayun’s proposal to team up against Hajin.’ Suho muses.
Nayun realizes there will be no development if a change doesn’t occur. Between Suho and Hajin, she realizes Suho is the bigger threat for her, thus she focuses on Suho.
At this point, it has become a three-way deadlock.
