I first explained the rules of the toy hamr ga.
“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors. Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
I chose paper, and Seo Ye-in chose rock.
Kim Ho wins.
I picked up the toy hamr from the small folding table and lightly tapped it on Seo Ye-in’s head.
“The winner gets to attack with the toy hamr. Again, rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
This ti, I chose scissors, and Seo Ye-in chose rock.
Seo Ye-in wins.
Seo Ye-in slowly brought the toy hamr toward my head, as if asking, “Is this how you do it?” I nodded and flipped a pot over to place it on my head.
Then, the toy hamr lightly tapped the small pot.
“The loser defends with the pot. Got it so far?”
“Okay.”
“And if you grab the wrong thing, it’s a foul. Like if you win rock-paper-scissors but pick up the pot, or if you lose but pick up the toy hamr.”
“Foul, okay.”
In summary, when you win or lose at rock-paper-scissors, you have to quickly grab the right tool from the table and succeed in either attacking or defending.
It was a ga that required a decent amount of quick reflexes.
Seo Ye-in seed a little interested, but re curiosity wasn’t enough.
If I wanted to keep this up all week, I needed stronger motivation.
So I decided to offer a light reward.
“If you win 10 tis, you get a wish ticket. How about that?”
“…A pillow?”
Seo Ye-in was always true to her desires.
She has been strangely obsessed with since she slept soundly on Kim Ho pillow during the midterm exam.
She even leaned on the entire ti while talking to Ahn Jeong-mi.
Since it wasn’t sothing I couldn’t grant with a wish ticket, I nodded without hesitation.
“A pillow’s fine.”
“10 wins…!”
Seo Ye-in beca even more fired up with my approval.
It seed she was determined to quickly rack up 10 wins and claim as a pillow.
It won’t be that easy.
Whether she could even manage one win, let alone ten, against remained to be seen.
Before starting, I raised the rank of [Enchantnt] by two levels using Amplification.
[Used “Amplification”.]
[The rank of “Enchantnt” has increased. (F -> D)]
Next, I passed a skill to Seo Ye-in using [Enchantnt].
[Used “Enchantnt”.]
[You have granted the skill “Wind Force (C )” to the target.]
[The rank of the granted “Wind Force”: E]
[Cooldown ti: 00:03:58]
When passing a skill with F-rank Enchantnt to soone else, the rank drops by three levels, but with D-rank Enchantnt, it only drops by two.
Additionally, as the rank increased, the cooldown ti significantly decreased, and the 90% reduction effect of the special training room further cut down the ti.
As a result, she could use this powerful skill once every four minutes.
During training, if she just kept using it each ti the cooldown finished, escaping from F-rank in her skill was practically guaranteed.
Whirrr—
Seo Ye-in who was curious about Wind Force summoned gusts of wind here and there.
However, since it didn’t match her class, it only made her hair flutter a little.
I stepped half a step closer to the table and spoke.
“Shall we begin?”
“Mhmm.”
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
I chose rock, and Seo Ye-in chose scissors.
Seo Ye-in lost.
However, by the ti she reached for the pot, the toy hamr had already landed on her head.
Thwack!
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
I chose scissors, and Seo Ye-in chose rock.
Seo Ye-in won.
But before she could swing the toy hamr halfway, it was blocked mid-air by the pot.
Clang—!
A clear sound echoed through the room.
Both of us calmly put down what we were holding back on the table and continued our ga of rock-paper-scissors like nothing had happened.
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
This ti, I won again.
Before Seo Ye-in could react, the toy hamr struck her head once more.
Thwack!
Even when playing rock-paper-scissors against soone as lucky as her, I wasn’t losing at all.
In fact, my win rate was even higher.
It’s not just about luck.
If I relied solely on luck against Seo Ye-in, I wouldn’t stand a chance.
Go Hyeon-woo’s 15 consecutive losses proved that much.
But for hero candidates who have surpassed human limits, the outco of rock-paper-scissors isn’t decided by luck alone.
It’s about keen observation, catching the slightest movents in the fingers, and responding with lightning-fast reflexes.
From what I had observed so far, Seo Ye-in had a good eye for things, but she still fell short of the level of a stagnant water.
So my win rate was around 75%, with Seo Ye-in taking the rest.
Of course, this was only in terms of rock-paper-scissors wins.
When it ca to hitting with the toy hamr, my accuracy was 100% while Seo Ye-in’s was 0%.
There was a significant difference in speed, and needless to say, my close combat skills were far superior.
As a result, contrary to her initial plan of winning 10 rounds quickly and getting the Kim Ho pillow, Seo Ye-in didn’t manage to win a single round and was repeatedly hit with the toy hamr.
– Thump! Thump! Thump-Thump! Thump-Thump-Thump!
“……”
Seo Ye-in stared at blankly.
A flicker of competitive spirit shone on her otherwise expressionless face.
This was part of my plan as well.
The toy hamr, with its soft impact and that annoying “Thump” sound, could really get on soone’s nerves after a while.
In other words, it was perfect for provoking soone’s competitive side.
She’s going to use it soon.
Sure enough, just as we started the next round of rock-paper-scissors,
Flash!
Seo Ye-in activated Bullet Ti.
Now, she could read every tiny movent of my fingers, so all she had to do was play accordingly and she’d have a guaranteed win.
Flash!
Currently, Bullet Ti had the special training room’s cooldown reduction applied, which decreased it by 90% and allowed it to be used once every 30 seconds.
In other words, Seo Ye-in could secure a win in rock-paper-scissors every 30 seconds.
So her win rate shot up rapidly, but if there was one unfortunate detail,
Rock-paper-scissors isn’t the end.
To claim a win, she had to succeed in the next stage. It was hitting with the toy hamr.
And so far, Seo Ye-in’s hit rate was still 0%.
Originally, this toy hamr ga was designed to put the defender at a disadvantage because the pot was so small.
If it were a large pot, you could simply wear it like a helt, but this tin pot was barely the size of a palm.
To block the incoming hamr, you had to position the pot exactly at the point of impact.
Of course, this wasn’t particularly difficult for .
I’d long since mastered close combat.
Clang!
The toy hamr kept striking the overturned pot, and each ti it did, a clear sound echoed through the air.
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang!
Despite using Bullet Ti each ti the cooldown reset and winning in rock-paper-scissors, Seo Ye-in kept missing her swings with the toy hamr.
And how was she doing on defense?
Thump! Thump! Thump-Thump-Thump!
She still couldn’t block a single hit. My accuracy remained 100%.
Unlike , Seo Ye-in had only experienced long-range combat nurous tis and was not used to close-range defense.
On top of that, the small size of the pot made it even harder for her to defend.
If she protected her forehead with the pot, the toy hamr would strike the side of her head, and if she covered the side, the hamr would hit her forehead or the opposite side.
Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump!
Seo Ye-in stared at blankly with her head still covered.
She looks mad.
It seed she realized sothing at the sa ti.
That increasing her win rate in rock-paper-scissors against was aningless.
Using Bullet Ti in the toy hamr battle was the only way she had a slight chance of winning.
I restarted the ga.
“Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
Kim Ho wins.
Flash!
Seo Ye-in imdiately activated Bullet Ti.
She blocked my hamr which I brought down directly in front of her by using the pot.
Clang!
It was the mont my 100% accuracy with the toy hamr was broken.
I felt slightly satisfied, as if she had finally taken her first step forward.
“Alright, let’s keep going. Rock, paper—”
“—scissors.”
However, gaining one thing often ans giving up another.
Because Seo Ye-in had focused her Bullet Ti on the toy hamr battle, I regained the upper hand in rock-paper-scissors.
So once again, I won.
Flash!
Just like before, Seo Ye-in imdiately used Bullet Ti but I had already anticipated it.
I just stood still with the toy hamr in hand and waited as the short duration of Bullet Ti quickly passed.
And in the next mont,
Thump!!
I struck her gray hair with the toy hamr like lightning.
“Don’t use it too hastily. You need to ti it better.”
“……”
Seo Ye-in gave a slight nod.
Her already few words seed to grow even fewer.
The ga of rock-paper-scissors continued, along with the back-and-forth of the toy hamr and pot.
I kept adjusting my speed, swung the toy hamr, then paused, then swung again, and repeated the rhythm over and over.
I wanted to help Seo Ye-in find the perfect timing without using Bullet Ti too early or too late.
Though she still got hit more often than she blocked,
Thump, thump, thump! Clang! Thump, thump, thump! Clang!
She’s keeping up well.
The number of successful blocks was noticeably increasing.
As a result, my hit rate was noticeably decreasing.
It ant her skill was improving rapidly.
As always, her talent was monstrous.
At this rate, she would probably reach E-rank even before using the full week I had expected.
“Rock, paper—”
I threw scissors, and Seo Ye-in threw rock.
I lost.
I instinctively reached for the table to defend myself.
But the spot where the pot should have been was completely empty.
Seo Ye-in had already taken it.
Why’d she grab the pot when she won?
I lifted my head with that question in mind, and imdiately had to widen my eyes in shock.
“Hey, you—”
I saw Seo Ye-in swinging the pot at with a full swing.
Clang—!!
***
Due to an unfortunate accident, the toy hamr ga and Bullet Ti lesson were temporarily halted.
“Hold your hands up properly.”
“…Sorry.”
The offender, Seo Ye-in, stood with her hands raised above her head as a punishnt.
When I glared at her, she slowly averted her gaze.
I approached her and asked in a questioning tone,
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
—Shake head—
“No, that pot swing was full of emotion. You were angry, weren’t you?”
“…A little?”
“Yeah, it’s okay to get angry. But does that an it’s okay to hit soone with a pot?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
I held the pot—the weapon and evidence of her cri—right in front of her eyes.
“Do you see this? Do you see what you’ve done?”
“A Kim Ho-shaped pot.”
She had hit so hard the pot was deeply dented in the shape of my head.
Seo Ye-in was curious and poked at it with her fingertips, but quickly raised her hands again when I glared at her.
I questioned her again while pressing for answers.
“Do you regret it?”
“I regret it.”
“You won’t hit with a pot again, right?”
“…Okay.”
“Put your hands down.”
When Seo Ye-in lowered her hands and stepped closer, I stuck my hand inside the pot and pushed hard.
The Kim Ho-shaped pot was flattened with a creaking sound, but the dents remained, leaving it uneven.
Looks like I can’t use this for cooking anymore.
I borrowed it from the kitchen.
Still, there shouldn’t be any problem using it to block the toy hamr.
I placed the pot on the table and said,
“Let’s continue.”
“Mhmm.”
The toy hamr ga went on late into the night.
However, the once-clear “Clang!” sound from the now-dented pot could no longer be heard.
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