The Next Day.
From the mont we t, Seo Ye-in couldn’t take her eyes off my shoulder.
“……”
“Why are you looking at like that?”
“…There’s sothing there.”
“What’s there?”
“There’s just sothing.”
Could the Bond crest be visible even through clothing?
Her eyesight really is unreal, like always.
I actually asked her about it once, and she shared a few unidentified traits that showed up as [???].
Her sharp vision probably cos from one of those.
“……”
Seo Ye-in kept her eyes fixed on the crest and started tugging lightly at the hem of my clothes.
She was practically about to undress , so I decided to stop her there.
Not that I had any reason to hide the crest, so I gave a brief explanation.
“I learned a new skill. It’s called [Bond].”
“I want a Bond too.”
“There’s no slot left.”
There was only one, and it’s already taken.
Seo Ye-in looked up at , her eyes silently asking, “Who is it?”
The answer ca from elsewhere.
“Hey~ What are you two talking about?”
Dang Gyu-young walked over cheerfully, waving her hand.
Seo Ye-in’s gaze imdiately darted to her, then back to my shoulder.
After a few back-and-forths, her gray eyes widened in realization.
“…….!”
Dang Gyu-young seed to notice the aning in her look as well, and a victorious smile crept across her lips.
Looking smug, she shared the secret like she was doing a favor.
“I reserved in advance. That’s how I snagged the number one spot.”
“Number one…!”
Seo Ye-in’s eyes grew even wider.
She grabbed my arm and tugged.
“…I want a reservation too.”
“You don’t need to rush. Once more slots open up, I’ll explain everything and we’ll decide carefully.”
“All of them. I’m reserving all of them.”
“What do you an all of them?”
“All the others too.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I want to be number one.”
Seo Ye-in kept pestering for quite a while.
***
The final day of the tournant featured the third-place match and the grand finals.
However, the energy in the arena felt more subdued than the day before.
Well, after what happened yesterday…
News of the Witch of Exhaustion’s defeat had spread across the entire Dungeon Island, and everyone must’ve celebrated all night long.
By now, they were probably running on empty.
And the outco’s basically a given.
In truth, the winner had more or less been decided when Namgong Chang-cheon and Song Cheon-gi faced off in the semifinals.
Word was, Song Cheon-gi had won by a hair’s breadth.
Personally, I had placed more hope in Namgong Chang-cheon, but I guess he wasn’t quite ready to topple one of the third-year elites.
In comparison, Hong Ye-hwa and Kim Gap-doo’s skills were clearly a step below the top two.
Dang Gyu-young alone would be enough to handle them.
With such an obvious skill gap, not just but most of the spectators already had a good idea how things would end and that predictability dulled the excitent.
And just as expected, Hong Ye-hwa lost to Namgong Chang-cheon in the third-place match.
Now, the final match was underway.
Fzzzzzzzzzzzzt!
Thunder roared relentlessly, and flashes of lightning split the air.
Kim Gap-doo and Song Cheon-gi exchanged blows at extrely close range.
At first glance, Kim Gap-doo seed to have the upper hand, but his health was clearly draining fast.
The constant exposure to electric magic was taking its toll.
He lost the mont he fell behind in lee combat.
A martial artist can’t exactly turn a match into a long-range bombardnt.
Especially not against a mage.
So Kim Gap-doo had no choice but to keep forcing close combat, and the health gap between them kept growing.
So people might’ve been hoping for another miraculous appearance of the Great Healing Orb, but unfortunately, no such miracle occurred.
Kim Gap-doo’s movents grew slower and slower until at last he dropped to one knee—
And couldn’t get back up.
Seo Cheong-yong, fired up with excitent, shouted into the mic,
“Song Cheon-gi—! Has finally seized the championship trophy—!”
[Kim Gap-doo: Lose]
vs
[Song Cheon-gi: Win]
– Waaaaah!
Cheers from the crowd filled the entire arena.
***
The awards ceremony followed, along with the principal’s closing speech, marking the successful conclusion of this year’s Fixed Zone tournant.
Everyone flocked to the downtown district to celebrate, but ironically, the champion Song Cheon-gi remained seated in the stands.
He stared at the now-empty stage, then glanced at and finally spoke.
“I’ll admit it. My judgnt was lacking.”
“She improved a lot, didn’t she, Senior Dang Gyu-young?”
“Yeah. I didn’t expect her to defeat a Disciplinary Committee mber.”
Before the tournant, Song Cheon-gi and I had made a bet.
If Song Cheon-gi won, I would cancel the [Wish Ticket (dium)] promised by Song Cheon-hye.
Conversely, if I won, he would owe a [Wish Ticket (dium)].
– There’s a clear limit to how much soone can improve in a short period. At best, she might make it to the round of 16.
– I think she’ll go further than that. Maybe the quarterfinals or even the semifinals.
The result: she defeated Kang Dae-san, a third-year Disciplinary Committee mber, and advanced to the quarterfinals.
She later faced Namgong Chang-cheon, which put an end to her run, but as far as the bet was concerned, I was the winner.
Song Cheon-gi said,
“As promised, I owe you one Wish Ticket. Tell what you want.”
“I’ll have to think about it and let you know. There’s nothing I want right now.”
“…So this is what it feels like.”
With a bitter smile, Song Cheon-gi seed to understand his younger sister’s mindset a little better.
Then he slowly stood up from his seat.
“If there’s nothing more to say, I’ll take my leave. Let know anyti you want to use your Wish Ticket.”
“I still have sothing I’d like to propose.”
At those words, Song Cheon-gi stopped in his tracks and turned back to .
“…What is it?”
“How about another bet?”
“Another Wish Ticket on the line?”
“Yes, but let’s raise the stakes this ti.”
Song Cheon-gi’s eyes flashed.
“[Wish Ticket (Large)].”
“If I lose, I’ll forfeit it.”
“And if you win?”
“Rather than another Wish Ticket, I’d like to receive an item.”
“You’re bringing this up now… It must be the tournant prize.”
“Right again. I need it to rank up.”
The championship prize was two A-Rank Exchange Coupons and a Rank-Up B.
A Rank-Up item would be roughly equivalent in value to a [Wish Ticket (Large)].
After thinking it over for a mont, Song Cheon-gi spoke.
“Let’s hear more before I decide. What kind of bet are you proposing?”
“It’s not exactly a bet….more of a duel.”
“…A duel?”
I gave a small smile and nodded.
“As you know, I forfeited right after reaching the main bracket.”
“I assud you had your reasons.”
“Yes. It’s hard to explain, but I was left with so regrets. I’d like to learn from you.”
“…….”
Song Cheon-gi stared at in silence for a long while.
“If all you wanted was to learn, you could’ve just used your Wish Ticket. That ans you think you have at least a shot against .”
“You never know until you actually try.”
“Quite the confidence. What are the rules?”
“Let’s follow the tournant rules as they are.”
C-Rank [Fixed Zone] with [Slots].
As a third-year, Song Cheon-gi entered the duel with 8 slots. I, a first-year, had 10 slots.
Song Cheon-gi slowly tilted his chin upward.
“Fine, I accept.”
“Just one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“I’d like to keep the details of the duel private.”
“As you wish.”
With that final condition settled, the duel was officially agreed upon.
Soon, we each stepped onto our respective magic circles.
Looking across at Song Cheon-gi, I thought to myself,
I avoided the duel at first.
To be honest, I could’ve challenged him to a duel back when he first approached about the Wish Ticket.
But at the ti, I hadn’t even brought it up because while my odds of winning were better, they weren’t good enough to be confident.
Mostly because I didn’t have enough information.
The main issue was that I had no idea what skills, traits, or equipnt Song Cheon-gi had slotted.
If I went in blind, I risked losing. Even if I won, it would’ve been a tough fight.
But now? Things were different.
Throughout the tournant and by rewatching the footage, I had analyzed his slot setup, noted how he operated, and studied his habits.
As a bonus, the copy slots that were previously empty had now been fully loaded.
With powerful skills and traits like [Vendetta] and [Chain Explosion].
So, what are my odds now?
100%.
***
About ten minutes after the match began—
The scoreboard displayed the results.
[Kim Ho Win]
vs
[Song Cheon-gi Lose]
Song Cheon-gi stared in disbelief with his eyes wide.
“This… can’t be…!”
“Well fought, Senior.”
I gave a respectful bow.
Song Cheon-gi opened his mouth as if to say sothing, then closed it… then opened it again.
And he kept repeating the motion.
Eventually, as if realizing it was all pointless, he let out a quiet sigh.
Then, from his inventory, he produced the [Rank-Up (B)].
“I accept the result.”
“Thank you. I’ll take it gratefully.”
“Looking back… ntioning Dang Gyu-young when you proposed the bet…that was intentional, wasn’t it? You were trying to draw in.”
“I won’t deny it.”
One of the reasons Song Cheon-gi had entered the tournant in the first place was to increase the chances of Dang Gyu-young getting eliminated.
If he had faced her before she made the quarterfinals, he could’ve taken her out.
However, Dang Gyu-young never ended up facing him, and Song Cheon-gi, following the Thunder Lord’s philosophy of spirit, made it all the way to the finals, revealing all his cards in the process.
“You were planning to challenge to a duel one way or another.”
“If you made it to the semifinals or higher.”
Rank-Up (B) was awarded as a prize starting from the semifinals.
In other words, if Song Cheon-gi made it to the top four, he would’ve definitely challenged .
Given his skill, it was entirely possible, barring any major upsets.
Song Cheon-gi let out another long sigh.
“I was completely dancing in the palm of your hand. I’ve learned a lot.”
And just as he was brushing off his clothes and about to stand—
A strange voice ca from sowhere.
“So, you lost.”
It was none other than the head of the Song family.
Wearing the sa cold expression that seed to run in the family.
I could guess he’d been watching us for quite so ti.
Song Cheon-gi seed to think the sa. He imdiately bowed his head and spoke.
“I lost. I apologize.”
“It’s all right.”
But while the head of the Song family wore a cold expression, he didn’t actually seem all that upset.
If anything, he gave off the impression that he’d expected this outco.
He patted his son’s shoulder, then turned to face .
“So we finally et. Could you spare a mont of your ti?”
“Yes, of course.”
He didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d bite my head off just for following him.
Besides, I had a feeling this might be to my advantage.
I followed after the father and son.
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