Chapter 729: Week 9–10 Midterms (8)

The distance someone flew with [Ejection] was random.

They could end up all the way on the opposite side of the Great Forest, but they could also land surprisingly close by.

If it was the latter, they would come find us again before long.

“We should hurry, yes?”

“We move now.”

So we started moving quickly.

It was obvious, in a way, but the D zone had all sorts of dangers lurking in it besides the other participants.

It was less wild than the B zone, but monsters did exist there.

“GROOOAR!”

A large moon bear came charging at us with tremendous speed.

Whether it was extremely hungry or furious, drool streamed from its mouth as it ran.

We stepped hard with [Featherstep] too, but because of the rank difference, the distance between us and it gradually shrank.

And to make matters worse, the path ahead was occupied by huge, vividly colored mushrooms.

Maybe they sensed someone’s presence, because they rose up on two feet and turned toward us.

Mushroom-men in front, bear behind.

We were right on the verge of becoming a Kim Ho-sloth sandwich, but I calmly exchanged a look with Seo Ye-in.

Then I stretched the crow tree over my shoulder.

[Octopus Arms]

[Ice Wall(E)]*3

THUD!

Three thick ice walls rose behind us.

Meanwhile, we maintained our speed and rushed straight toward the mushroom-men.

And right as we were about to collide—

SHHHH...

We used [Ghost Without Shadow] to slip away.

A moment later came the crashing sound of ice walls shattering, followed by the bear’s roar.

“GROOOOAR—!”

It seemed even angrier now.

Maybe it would chase us as persistently as the leopard we met in the B zone.

That was something to think about when the time came.

We continued hurrying our steps, and at last, we managed to reach our destination: the altar.

There stood a statue similar to the sanctuary’s stone grandfather statue + village guardian post + moai, but the difference was that it wore a benevolent smile and held out one open hand.

As if saying, Hurry up and hand it over.

Then we should offer it.

When I placed the B+-rank crystal we had just charged on it, the crystal disassembled at once, and a cluster of light floated into the air.

It seemed to circle around us for a while, then split and was absorbed into the two of us.

FLASH—!

[Rank]

▷Kim Ho:E→D+

▷Seo Ye-in:F→D

As expected, using a good one raises us a lot.

I seemed to have gotten close to C-rank, and Seo Ye-in had risen by a full three stages.

By the standards of the current fixed zone, we had reached the maximum.

I let out a long sigh and spoke in a rather solemn tone.

“The long era of humiliation and oppression...”

“I was getting sick of it.”

“From here on, we walk the path of overlords.”

“No one can stop us.”

We traded that kind of banter, then soon sensed someone’s presence and turned our heads at the same time.

There stood the large moon bear.

As expected, it had tracked us.

“...GROO?”

However, the thing seemed to instinctively realize something was wrong.

The humans in front of it were clearly the ones it had been chasing until just now, but their presence had swelled to an incomparable degree.

After hesitating for a moment, it turned around.

But we had no intention of letting it leave quietly.

“You came all this way. Stay a little longer.”

THUD, THUD, THUD!

When I waved my staff, ice walls rose and blocked the moon bear’s retreat.

The thing swung its forepaws in rebellion.

For some reason, it felt like it was pleading, I wanna go! Let me go home!

THUNK! THUNK!

However, even after it hammered the walls several times with its forepaws, the ice walls only cracked slightly and remained intact.

When it was chasing us, I had been E-rank, but now I was D+.

“GROOOAR! GROOAR!”

Seo Ye-in trudged toward the increasingly desperate bear.

She lifted the pot slightly, then swung it in a full swing.

CLANG—!

Once the blunt impact struck the back of its head, the moon bear buried its face against the ice wall and slowly collapsed.

Leaving behind one item card.

[Tracking(D+)]

▷Displays the target’s location on the map.

▷Duration:1 day

We collected it and left the area. On the way, we saw mushroom-men, so we beat them down too.

I could not tell whether they were the same ones that had blocked our path earlier.

RATATATATATA!

Seo Ye-in fired the assault rifle.

After collecting the [Plunder(D)] the mushroom-men left behind, she nodded with visible satisfaction.

“...The path of an overlord.”

“Our conquest has only just begun.”

“No one can interfere.”

But we had barely walked any distance before another group appeared to interfere with our conquest.

It was Kang Huichan and the Guild Alliance crowd.

Five of them in total.

Just like Back Guy’s group had done, they seemed to have come after seeing the light emitted by the altar.

I switched into Han Somi mode and waved both hands wildly.

“Hiiii, hiiii! Huichan, hiiii!”

“...You son of a bitch.”

Kang Huichan’s eyes were badly bloodshot.

Well, of course. He had been trapped in an ice bubble and rolled for quite a while, and after that, he had even ended up unable to fight.

I kept talking right at him.

“Hey, you lot are still better than Sagong Uk’s side, though.”

“They came first?”

“Exactly three of them showed up, so I sent them back with this.”

When I flicked an item card, he seemed to roughly grasp what had happened.

Three was exactly the maximum number of targets for [Ejection].

Soon, Kang Huichan’s eyes flashed.

“To send all of us away, you would need two more. But even you cannot have that many cards to spare.”

“That’s why I said you’re better. You brought a lot of people. Of course, you’re about the same level of stupid.”

“Stupid?”

Seo Ye-in and I answered that question in turn.

“Should’ve come a little earlier. You missed your last chance to catch us.”

“Our ranks went up.”

There were too many of them to use a card on, and I had also run out of [Ejection], but now there was no need to rely on cards.

We could just fight.

I looked at Kang Huichan and added one more thing.

“At least bring Hyeonju with you. Five people? Seriously, five?”

“You seem to be badly mistaken. This is a fixed zone.”

Normally, we were wrapped in high-grade skills and traits, but right now, everyone’s specs were the same.

That made it much easier to take advantage of numbers, so his calculation was that five against two was plenty doable.

I studied Kang Huichan’s face closely.

“You don’t look nearly confident enough for that, though.”

“...Do not talk bullshit.”

“I get it. Win or lose, you have to fight us, right? If you just leave, they’ll give you hell.”

Cha Hyeonju would chew him out too, wouldn’t she?

Perhaps I had hit the mark, because Kang Huichan’s expression hardened.

I said casually to his face,

“Let’s get started. We have a long way to go.”

“That is exactly what I wanted.”

The Guild Alliance lackeys all took up combat stances.

They grasped their bows, staffs, daggers, and other weapons, forming a battle formation.

And Kang Huichan, as always, stood at the front with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

“...I’m coming.”

“Yep, come on in.”

Soon, he seemed to lower his body slightly, then kicked off the ground and charged.

TAP!

*****

The result of the rematch was about 90 percent the same as before.

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (6/20)

The four Guild Alliance lackeys were rendered unable to fight and expelled straight out of the Great Forest.

Kang Huichan was trapped in an ice bubble, blinking.

I nodded as if acknowledging him.

“Still, Huichan is smart. He knows how to learn.”

“...”

“Last time, he spammed debuff cleanses and got every one of them eaten, but now he’s saving them.”

He was waiting instead of immediately trying to cleanse it, in case [Diamond Freeze] had applied.

I continued in an exaggeratedly excited tone.

“But here’s the amazing thing—”

“...?”

“—right now, it actually can be cleansed.”

FLASH!

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

As if he had immediately cast [Purification], light burst from Kang Huichan’s body.

Cracks spread through the ice bubble, and he broke out.

I added one more thing to him.

“But here’s another amazing thing—”

POP!

As I trapped him again with [Bubble Bubble] and froze him.

“—‘cleansing’ is all it does.”

I still had no intention of letting him go.

At that, Kang Huichan’s eyes became badly bloodshot.

His mouth kept opening and closing as if he were spewing vicious curses, but unfortunately, we could not hear him at all.

I continued in a calm tone.

“You seem really angry, but honestly, you’re not exactly the victim here. You came after us twice when our ranks were low. And it seems like you’d come a third and fourth time too.”

“...”

“So this time, I’m thinking of launching you farther. Next time, even farther than that.”

That way, he would at least learn something.

That if he attacked carelessly, he would bleed.

And if he kept attacking, he would bleed more.

First, I used an item card on him.

[Tracking], which we had gotten from the moon bear on the way here.

[The target’s location is displayed on the map.]

▷Remaining Time:23:59:58

If he came after us again, we could check the map and prepare, and conversely, we could also strike from our side.

Then I raised one hand.

WHOOOOOSH—

Wind gradually gathered and compressed above it.

As if he had guessed what would happen soon, Kang Huichan’s face went pale.

Then he blinked desperately. Judging by the conversation we had during our first fight—

“What? You have items?”

BLINK, BLINK, BLINK.

“A lot, even?”

BLINK, BLINK, BLINK.

“Then launching you away would be a waste.”

If I wanted to increase the defeat count for the quest condition, beating him down was the best option, but for the sake of “fun,” I had been planning to launch this one far away.

But if he had item cards, the scales tipped the other way again.

BLINK, BLINK, BLINK.

Judging by Kang Huichan’s expression and the shape of his mouth, I could roughly guess what he was saying.

—I’ll give you all my items and crystals, so hurry up and let me out!

“Sure, sure. Let me check one thing first.”

I rummaged through my clothes and took out an item card.

It was [Plunder].

FLASH—

The card turned into a cluster of light and shot toward Kang Huichan.

However, after lingering around his body for a moment, it returned as it was.

As if it had not been used at all.

It wasn’t blocked by [Protection].

If it had been, it would have turned into ash and scattered.

In other words, the target had no items at all.

I stiffened my expression and lowered my voice.

“Huichan, didn’t you say you had lots of items?”

“...”

“Were you trying to trick me?”

“...”

“I was going to try believing you once. I’m truly heartbroken.”

WHOOOOOSH—!

As if representing my feelings, the wind whirled violently and concentrated above my hand.

Maybe he decided it was do or die, because Kang Huichan started spamming the debuff cleanses he had been saving.

FLASH! FLASH!

However, [Diamond Freeze] had applied to the second ice bubble.

Even if it had not, I would have trapped him again anyway.

I changed my tone back to a kind one and said,

“Huichan, next time, hold Hyeonju’s hand and come together.”

“...! ...!”

Then I thrust out the extremely compressed [Wind Force].

BOOM—!

The ice bubble shot away like a cannonball.

Toward the B-rank zone we had passed through.