The atmosphere was tense and heavy—charged with energy like a taut rope that would snap at any moment.
The fight began with the Assassin Club's leader shooting a barrage of metal BB's at Ji Won—the speed and precision at which they were shot at made Ji Won feel like they were shot by a robot and not a human.
He weaved through them with ease—putting his arm in a cross position as a wooden sword came flying towards him, coated in blue mana.
"Oh? Nepo baby wants to fight huh?"
Sae Jaehyun mumbled under his breath in amusement—all the while the Archer was releasing arrow after arrow towards Sae jaehyun. The blood assassin deflecting them with ease with a wooden dagger.
Ji Won rubbed his forearms which were now a bit red—a bruise forming on them. But he wasn't in pain, it even felt a bit.. Enjoyable. A bit humbling after becoming so strong.
"You. Assassin. Why do you use a gun? Don't the top assassins use a dagger or at least Stilettos?"
He asked out curiosity—it wasn't to mock him or anything and the assassin knew it.
The club leader spun the gun by the trigger guard. Definitely a show off this one was.
"Well. Guns are superior inventions—they've got more range-"
He was cut off—Ji Won kneeing him in the stomach, mocking his smug expression by mirroring it.
"Oh? Really? Tell me more about it!"
The assassin coughed—stumbling back as steam arose from his abdomen, a hole in his tank top revealing the giant bruise that had formed underneath—courtesy of Ji Won's strength.
Pan Soo-yun jumped backwards, creating distance between herself and Ji won as she placed a hand on the ground—the concrete glowing pink for a moment suddenly, an absurdly large fist came out, rushing towards Ji Won.
"Oh? Nice trick! It's a bit too flashy though."
He met the fist in the middle—clashing his punch with it as the concrete and stone immediately shattering, leaving it nothing but useless rubble that crumbled into dust.
"See? No matter what you do—stat differences at our level. Meaning before triple digits, even a 1 stat difference make a bit difference."
Pan Soo-yun didn't let up, a few more fists rose up from the ground and this time—they were not only larger, more durable but also attacking Ji Won much faster. Forcing the boy to go on the defensive for a moment.
'She's got a lot of natural mana that's for sure..'
Sae Jaehyun lunged forward, slashing both of his daggers down at the archer—surprisingly the latter dodged and flung a few plastic throwing knives at his opponent but—Jaehyun simply cut them. Even with the blunt daggers.
"Oh? Prepared are we?"
Sae Jaehyun's wooden daggers got coated in a crystal like layer of dark red blood—the edges jagged and hard like diamonds. He reversed his grip on one of them before rushing forward.
'He's an archer—he can't fight at close distances.'
Sae Jaehyun was right—the archer was already tired, getting punched by Jaehyun was more than enough to knock him out, sending him flying towards the wall like a bullet.
"Ji Won, be gentle with the girl alright? You already have a bad reputation with them."
He said that a bit too late—Pan Soo-yun was on the ground, growling in pain as Ji Won had her in a choke-hold, forearm wrapped around the neck so tightly that it might pop out. And the assassin? His guns broken and piece scattered across the ground.
"Idiot! Let go of her! You'll never get a girlfriend at this rate!"
Sae Jaehyun ran towards them both, pushing Ji Won off of the girl who gasped for air. Tears filling her eyes as she stood up, trembling and definitely terrified.
"What kind of man treats a woman like this!!"
Ji Won rubbed the back of his head, a bit sheepish but definitely also entertained. He took a deep breath, the air calming his rapid heart beat down a bit.
"Sorry~ I thought you could take it."
A small taunting sigh escaped his lips as he turned his head to his side. A deadpanned expression on his face.
"But I guess I was wrong, you're a Nepo Baby after all."
Pan Soo-yun stood up—trying her best to keep herself from breaking out in tears as she punched Ji Won in the chest, but ended up just damaging herself as she let out a small yelp.
"Are you made of steel or something?! I swear to god! I'm gonna get back at you. Forget about my family, I'm gonna be the one curb-stomping you."
The assassin slowly stood up. Holding his face in humiliation but despite that, he had a bit of.. Fire, in his eyes. One that burned with determination and vigor.
"You win this time. But I promise. I'll be sure to surpass you one day. Until then—remember the name Ryong iI. You'll see at the top pretty soon"
Almost as if on cue, the archer slowly stood up. Body shaking from pain but the same fire that burned in Ryong Il's eyes was even brighter in the archer's eyes.
"I'm still standing. I've yet to lose, Club leader Jaehyun-"
Sae Jaehyun punched him in the gut—but this time the archer was prepared. Putting his bow in between the punch and his body but the attack still went through and hit him.
"Oh? You wasted a perfectly good bow. But since you're so determined—tell us your name as well, it feels like a damn movie where the side characters are introducing themselves.."
The archer coughed—but still stood, holding Sae Jaehyun by the wrist as he leaned in closer opening his mouth to answer—then just headbutting the assassin in the face.
'Oh damn!'
This surprised Sae Jaehyun who caught the unconscious archer—preventing him from falling onto the ground as a smirk spread across his face. A bit impressed.
"Hey, once this guy wakes up. Tell him to go ahead and move into our turf for now—until he gets assigned his own."
Ji Won blew a raspberry, eyes flickering towards Pan Soo-yun before he gave her a gesture with a rather specific finger. The girl becoming feral as she tried to lunge at Ji Won, but was held back by Ryong Il.
"Hey hey! He'll beat your ass again! This guy doesn't discriminate! Just ask my pistols! Their destroyed.."
Pan Soo-yun glared at Ji Won putting on his suit's jacket over his shoulders and walking away—leaving Sae Jaehyun and every other student in the training hall all alone.
The mechanical doors closed behind him with a small hiss of air, pistons and gears spinning as the door was fully sealed. Only to be opened by an ID card of a student.
He looked at the sky—painted a beautiful red and orange, the setting sun dipping below the horizon, the veil of night rising up on the other end of the sky,
'Well, its been a day since we've received news of the tournament.. Maybe I should go ahead and roll for a new class. The tank class is getting a bit more predictable—I've unlocked a new class anyway.'
When his system screen flickered to life—instead of the stats window or the gambling window, he saw the most hated thing ever.
A mission screen.
[Cheonjiwang Wants {REDACTED} To Improve At A Faster Pace. Therefore, An A-Rank Mission Shall Be Assigned To The User.}
[Mission: Clear An A-Rank Dungeon In Cheongyang-gun. When User Accepts The Mission A Portal Shall Appear. Teammates Are Strictly Not Allowed.]
[Reward: +10 Levels (Including Stat Points), +1 Weapon Of Choice, +2 Classes Added To Reward Pool (Rare: Thief, Rogue)]
[Time Limit: 8 Days]
[Penalty In Case Of Failure: None Due To This Being An Assigned Mission To {Redacted}]
|Accept?|
Ji Won looked at the screen silently—not knowing what to do. He was confused and definitely annoyed.
'Damn it.. I gotta go up two ranks to challenge the dungeon.. Fuck it. I either die in the dungeon or die during training for the dungeon..'