Chapter 735: Week 9–10 Midterms (14)

FLASH FLASH FLASH!

Soon, beams of light stabbed down, and some of Sagong Uk’s lackeys rejoined the fight.

They lost their words when they saw the battlefield reduced to ruin, then flinched when they saw Sagong Uk trapped inside an ice bubble.

“......!”

Seo Ye-in did not care either way. She opened fire on them with her assault rifle.

RATATATAT!

“Guh.”

“Coward—”

“Urgh!”

Still, they were Dragonslayer Academy students in their own right. Some of them took [Mana Rounds] head-on and still moved to respond.

They started using item cards at random.

FLASH FLASH FLASH—!

Beams of light fired at us wildly.

Whether they were [Plunder], [Ejection], or some other attack card, I could not tell.

Not that it really mattered.

They’re all getting blocked anyway.

FSSSSSSS......

Because I had prepared plenty of [Protection] cards, expecting exactly this.

If they burned through a few for us, it was actually a gain on our side.

[‘Payback(B+)’ activates.]

[You have acquired a random card.]

[You have acquired a random card.]

[Random .......]

.......

Between the [Plunder] and [Ejection] we had used to start the battle, and now the [Protection] cards being consumed, notification messages were floating up one after another.

Still, wasting them is forbidden.

Once all our [Protection] was gone, we could be sent flying by [Ejection] at any moment.

So before any more cards could activate, we began pouring on a real offensive.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Flame explosions erupted in succession.

Sagong Uk’s lackeys were swept up in them and became unable to fight on the spot.

SLASH!

A short distance away, Han Somi was stepping lightly with agile footwork and cutting the lackeys down.

And every time she did, crystals and item cards dropped to the ground.

FLASH FLASH FLASH!

More beams of light flew down from the sky.

The remnants of Sagong Uk’s group had joined in addition.

Of course, their fate was not much different from the ones before them.

SLASH!

RATATATAT!

More ownerless items spilled across the ground.

I watched the sight, then let out an admiring comment loud enough for Sagong Uk to hear.

“Your guys still have loyalty, huh? In a way, they’re stupid, though.”

“.......”

The moment Sagong Uk’s group was hit by [Ejection] and scattered, their defeat had already been decided.

If they wanted to minimize the damage, they should have given up what they had to give up, gathered separately with the people who had been blown away, and planned for later.

Not come back just to get strung up one after another.

I shrugged.

“What can you do? You should’ve talked it through with them ahead of time.”

“......!”

Predicting and preparing for situations like this was strictly the party leader’s job.

But whether Sagong Uk had grown careless or looked down on us, he had not prepared at all, much less stayed wary of an ambush.

And as a result, he had been crushed this badly.

A moment later, I glanced up at the sky.

Looks like everyone likely to come has come.

One or two of them might still be running over by now, but even if we caught those, there would not be much nutritional value, so I excluded them.

Then I gave my party members an order.

“Let’s clear the boss now too.”

“Yeah.”

Hong Yeonhwa immediately waved her staff and chanted a spell.

The flames burning across the battlefield gathered into a single point all at once, turning into a fire sphere as large as a house.

[Pyro-Fusion]

[Flame Orb]

Then it flew straight toward the carnivorous plants and triggered a tremendous explosion.

KWAAAAANG—!

Go Hyeonwoo, Han Somi, Seo Ye-in, and mirror-image Seo Ye-in kicked off the ground after it.

As the four of them attacked from four directions at once, Hong Yeonhwa chanted another spell and poured down fireballs.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The carnivorous plants’ resistance did not last long.

They seemed to thrash their wooden vines a few times and twist their bodies, but in the end, they withered away.

Dropping items with soft thuds.

[Crystal(C+)]

[Crystal(C)]

[Sacrifice]

After my party members recovered them, they approached this way and surrounded Sagong Uk.

“Should I let you out for a second?”

When he was trapped inside the ice bubble, I could not hear what he was saying at all.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK—

A moment later, countless lines split across the ice before it broke in half.

But Sagong Uk stood in place, only sweeping the group with murderously furious eyes.

It seemed he had realized he could not escape this place with his own ability.

“......You damn bastards.”

“Say your last words, if you’ve got any.”

When I held out my fist-mic, his face twitched nonstop.

But after taking several long, deep breaths, he put a bitter smile on his lips.

“......Heh. Fine. I lost this time.”

“Wow, you’re admitting it surprisingly easily.”

“You bastards are not beneath me in skill. I grew careless and lowered my guard, so it is only natural that this result followed.”

The next moment, Sagong Uk glared at me with cold eyes.

“But next time, it will be your turn. I believe I told you once. Grudges on the dark-blade side are never forgotten.”

“Was that last year’s midterms? You remembered it, sure, but you didn’t really do anything.”

“......Shut up. In any case, I will pay you back. Exactly what you bastards did to me.”

Watching him make up his mind in his own way, I slowly nodded.

“Got it. And if you want to pay us back, you’ll need to move diligently. We’re going higher, you see. B-rank, A-rank.”

“.......”

“And it’ll be boring if only your group comes. Make an alliance with Hyeonju’s group or something.”

Seo Ye-in added one line to that.

“Loser alliance.”

“.......”

As Sagong Uk lost his composure again and his face twisted violently, Go Hyeonwoo quietly spoke to Seo Ye-in.

“Miss Seo, I have a request.”

“......What.”

“May I borrow the pot as well? Seeing Miss Hong and Miss Han praise it so highly has piqued my curiosity.”

Apparently, he had wanted to feel the impact for himself.

Seo Ye-in looked satisfied and handed him the pot.

“Spreading the greatness of Kim Ho Kim Ho.”

“Thank you.”

Go Hyeonwoo replied that he would use it well and return it, then took one broad step forward while gripping the dented pot.

Sagong Uk seemed to guess the future that was about to befall him, because his face began twitching even more violently.

“To think I would suffer such humiliation......!”

“It will be better than letting Brother Kim take action.”

Even if he had not seen “ice bubble” in person, he could probably picture himself flying away well enough.

Even so, the instant Sagong Uk opened his mouth to say something, the pot was swung without mercy.

THUNK!!

Unlike usual, the sound was dull. It must have caught him on the edge.

As Sagong Uk clutched the crown of his head and writhed, I chided Go Hyeonwoo.

“You need to hit him properly. Now he can’t even pass out, and it only hurts.”

“I have wronged Brother Sagong. I shall not make the same mistake next time.”

Go Hyeonwoo slowly nodded, aimed the pot again, and swung with another full swing.

CLAAANG—!

At last, a clear, beautiful striking sound rang out.

In the end, Sagong Uk showed the whites of his eyes and collapsed with a thud before being ejected out of the Great Forest.

Go Hyeonwoo smiled and returned the pot.

“I think I understand why Miss Seo cherishes it.”

“......Treasure No. 1.”

Seo Ye-in happily accepted the pot and wore it on her head.

She seemed glad it had been acknowledged by several people.

Glancing at her, I took a moment to organize the items.

We got quite a lot of crystals.

They ranged from D+ to C+.

From Sagong Uk’s group’s perspective, visiting an altar every single time would have been inefficient, so it seemed they had left them for later to process all at once.

And we barely spent any cards overall.

We had consumed a large number of [Protection] cards, but the number of [Ejection] and [Plunder] cards had roughly evened out to where it had been before the battle.

Because some had been stolen, and some had been returned through [Payback].

Among them was something unexpectedly rare.

[Sacrifice]

▷Consumes any card to raise another card’s rank.

It finally showed up.

Until now, I had needed to trade surplus cards with other parties, but with this, we could sort them out ourselves.

Cards like [Payback(B+)] and [Shackles(C+)] were worth investing in further.

Especially [Shackles]. Its late-game potential is high.

[Shackles(C+)]

▷Lowers the target’s [Rank] by one stage.

▷Duration: 1 minute

High-tier bosses were not easy to defeat even if we matched their rank.

The only method left was weakening them.

So I decided to use [Sacrifice] on it whenever I had the chance and strengthen it in advance.

Next, I checked the quest contents.

[Sub Quest: Week 9–10 Midterms](In progress....)

▷Condition: Failure upon retiring

▷Objective 1: Party members reach A-rank (-/2)

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (29/20)

▷Objective 3: Seize competitors’ items (41/10)

▷Objective 4: Defeat field bosses (5/2)

▷Note: Rewards decrease if completion rate falls below the standard.

▷Reward: Differential payout based on completion rate

Most of the objectives are overcleared now.

And if I got the chance, I intended to overclear them even more.

We had alternated between wiping out Cha Hyeonju’s group and Sagong Uk’s group, then even left a request telling them to be sure to come find us.

Wouldn’t we clash with them at least once more later?

Still, for the time being, we need to focus on Objective 1.

If we failed to reach A-rank with two people, the reward would probably drop sharply.

That would make all the overclearing we had done on the other objectives meaningless.

We need to raise our ranks anyway if we want to cross into the A zone later.

And to raise ranks quickly?

Securing high-quality crystals was the best plan.

And where did higher-grade crystals drop?

Most likely in B zones, rather than C-rank zones.

So I looked around at my party members and said,

“Let’s go charge.”

So we could rank up and move into B.

*****

After offering every crystal we had gathered so far to an altar,

[Rank]

▷Kim Ho: C→C+

▷Seo Ye-in: B

▷Go Hyeonwoo: C+→B

▷Hong Yeonhwa: B+

▷Han Somi: C+→B

I seemed to be right below B-rank, and the swordsman couple rose to B together.

On the other hand, Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeonhwa had no change in rank.

Even though they were receiving 1.5x and 2.25x experience from [Boost].

It was probably because the amount of experience required had increased dramatically.

Still, this is enough preparation to move into B.

I soon unfolded the map.

The “sloth B zone” we had entered by following the Lucky Charm Radar was too far away now.

But if we went a little farther east, another B zone was located there.

So as I moved that way with the party,

[Entering [Fixed Zone].]

A notification message appeared.

At that, Seo Ye-in and I looked at each other.

“It’s not as nasty as yesterday, right?”

“Manageable.”

When we had been F-rank, even the air itself had felt heavy, but now that our ranks matched, we felt nothing.

Maybe because of that, our attitude was very different from back then.

Without needing to fuss over checking our surroundings, we marched forward confidently.

As we did, something wriggled on a tree to our left.

SWISH!

A fierce slash flew at us.

It came from a giant mantis that had been lying in ambush, the same kind that had once split Fast-Luckless in half at once.

CLANG.

But this time, it was blocked by the pot Seo Ye-in casually held out.

Immediately after, the muzzle aimed at the mantis and spat blue fire.

RATATATAT!

“......Strong.”

Seo Ye-in spoke triumphantly.

But soon, she turned her head and stared off into the distance. It seemed she had sensed something.

Maybe they had heard the gunfire and were coming over.

So I gave my party members an order.

“Get ready.”

So we could respond immediately if the other side was hostile.

We waited in battle formation.

A moment later, the things that had only been faint silhouettes gradually approached and grew clearer.

Then Han Somi’s face brightened all at once, and she jumped up and down while waving her longsword in the air.

“Cheonhyeee!”