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Chapter 13: Placement Test (3)
Song Cheon-hye silently looked at Seo Ye-in across from her and then took out a glove from her pocket before slipping it onto her right hand.
The glove was black, adorned with golden embroidery and tiny topazes, like grains of rice embedded in it.
It must be a unique artifact of the Topaz Magic Tower.
She had been completely bare-handed when she faced the spear-wielding male student, which seemed to imply that she intended to approach this final placement test more seriously.
On the other hand, Seo Ye-in was wearing something like suspenders over her school uniform shirt. Upon closer inspection, they were holsters for pistols.
And she had one pistol on each side.
Shin Byeong-cheol saw this and asked me.
Shes a gunslinger, isnt she? Did you know that?
No, I didnt. I just realized it myself.
A gunslinger, or gunner.
A long-range class that subdues enemies with bullets filled with magical power.
From her appearance, I never expected Seo Ye-in to be a gunslinger.
Well, when I think about it, we had only met a day ago, and half of that time she had just been sleeping.
Its hard to imagine a nimble, target-striking gunslinger from what Ive seen of her so far.
Shin Byeong-cheol watched both sides with interest.
This is getting interesting. A gunslinger is a complete counter to a mage, right? Is it 6 to 4? 7 to 3? Song Cheon-hye might actually lose this one.
Well, thats hard to say. Well have to wait and see.
Come on, even if its the Topaz Magic Tower, its tough to lose if youre a gunslinger and just stick to the basics, right?
How about a bet then?
At the mention of a bet, Shin Byeong-cheol grinned, revealing his teeth.
Aha, a bet. Im always up for that. Whats at stake?
Five silver.
Okay. Five silver is a bit much, but thats what makes it exciting, right?
Alright, youre betting on Seo Ye-in, and Im betting on Song Cheon-hye.
Deal.
I had put in my entire fortune of five silver coins.
It was soon to double.
Meanwhile, a heated discussion was going on between male student A and student B sitting nearby about Song Cheon-hye and Seo Ye-in.
However, their topic was slightly different from ours.
Which side are you on?
Umm Its really hard to decide.
Its hard to choose when both are such rare beauties.
If I had to choose, Id say Song Cheon-hye is more my type. Her aloof gaze reminds me of gazing at ice flowers.
Is that so? We seem to have different tastes then.
Not just student A and B but other male students were also divided, not over who would win? though.
Their opinions were divided over who was more beautiful? and who is more to my taste?
The opinions of those in the Song Cheon-hye camp, when summarized, mainly expressed their desire to serve her like a queen for life and a wish to be stepped on by her, even if just once.
In contrast, the Seo Ye-in camp didnt put forth any clear opinions, instead concentrating their gaze in one direction and remaining silent.
The thoughts of men are similar in all worlds.
[Song Cheon-hye 100% vs Seo Ye-in 100%]
[Time Remaining 5:00]
The scoreboard displayed the two competitors health and the remaining time.
Immediately afterward, the countdown began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
As soon as the match began, Seo Ye-in already had a pistol in each hand.
The pistols took turns in emitting blue light.
Tututututu!
Song Cheon-hye didnt even attempt to dodge the barrage of magic bullets raining down on her.
She simply extended her gloveless hand forward.
As if to say, Stop right here.
Zizz! Zizzz!
Sparks flew incessantly just in front of her outstretched palms.
The magic bullets were blocked by the barrier Song Cheon-hye had erected.
Shin Byeong-cheols eyes widened as he witnessed the scene unfold.
What? How is that blocked? It shouldnt be blocked?
This is why we need to keep watching.
While the amount of magical power that Seo Ye-in packs into each shot was above average, the amount of magical power that Song Cheon-hye possessed was exceedingly huge.
The amount of mana she poured into each spell made an E-rank Hummingbird look like a D-rank spell.
Even the simple barrier spell she was using now was almost twice as thick as usual.
This is why the magic bullets which would normally have pierced through a light barrier lost their power halfway and dispersed
Song Cheon-hye maintained the barrier with one hand and raised two hummingbirds made of lightning with her other hand.
[Hummingbird]
The two hummingbirds sliced through the air.
Seo Ye-in redirected the barrage from her pistols towards the hummingbirds.
Tutututu!
She succeeded in intercepting one of the birds, but the other remained intact.
Seo Ye-ins figure slid sideways, evading the hummingbird.
But as Song Cheon-hye waved her hands like a skilled conductor, the hummingbird circled in the air and dove back towards its target.
Tututututu!
The pistols spat fire again.
Despite losing one of its wings, the hummingbird did not lose its momentum, drawing a line of lightning as it reached Seo Ye-in.
Fzzzt!
!
Seo Ye-ins expression tightened ever so slightly.
Because she was protected by fairly good equipment, she did not immediately become incapacitated, but her movements became noticeably slower.
Bang!
Song Cheon-hye, who was in the process of conjuring a thick bolt of lightning for a follow-up attack, hesitated for a moment.
This was due to a small explosion and the sudden billowing of thick smoke.
Clearly, Seo Ye-in had quickly thrown a smoke bomb, anticipating she couldnt evade the hummingbird.
Shin Byeong-cheol nodded in satisfaction.
Excellent judgment! That should buy some time.
The key now is how quickly the mage can clear the smoke.
After all, blindly hurling lightning into the unseen smoke would likely end in failure.
But it seemed Song Cheon-hye was attempting something else before clearing the smoke.
The structure of the spell on her glove rapidly twisted, transforming into something else, and the lightning split into several baseball-sized electric balls.
Song Cheon-hye hurled all of them into the smoke at once.
Fzzt, fizz, fizz!
[Song Cheon-hye 100% vs Seo Ye-in 88%]
[Time Remaining 4:02]
Since the scoreboards health had decreased, it would seem that one or two hits had landed but there was still a long way to go to overpower the opponent.
Song Cheon-hye then cast a wind magic spell to clear away the smoke.
The arena was empty.
Seo Ye-in was nowhere to be seen.
Then, in the next moment,
Dong!
A heavy impact sound accompanied Song Cheon-hye staggering to the side.
A powerful, unidentified blow had come from somewhere on her right.
After barely maintaining her balance, she carefully observed the direction from which the attack had come and noticed something undulating like a mirage. It resembled a transparent bush or a pile of leaves rustling.
Shin Byeong-cheol let out an exclamation.
Wow Invisible Ghillie? She must be really wealthy.
Invisible Ghillie. An optical camouflage ghillie suit.
Even at its lowest, its a C-rank item, and with a craftsmans touch, it can even reach A-rank.
So, needless to say, it should be an expensive item.
The fact that a student, and a first-year one at that, had equipped an Invisible Ghillie was surprising but I was paying attention to something else.
Shes switched to a rifle.
A pistol wouldnt be effective, huh?
For a gunslinger to inflict damage on a mage, they must target and break through a specific point in the magical barrier. However, this becomes considerably more difficult when the mage, like in this case, possesses an enormous amount of magical power.
Therefore, in such situations, it is a wiser decision to switch from firing multiple shots with a pair of pistols to using a powerful rifle for a single, impactful shot.
The magic bullet used in Seo Ye-ins rifle seemed to focus more on destructive power than penetration. It was designed to crush a barrier-enveloped mage with a cannonball-like strike.
Dong!
Once again, Song Cheon-hyes body was pushed back.
This time, the sniper shot came from the front.
Song Cheon-hye must have thought that things couldnt go on like this, so she quickly cast her next spell.
An additional layer of electric current was added on top of the magical barrier.
Dong!
The third bullet struck the reinforced barrier.
Thanks to the reinforced barrier, Song Cheon-hye wasnt pushed back as much as before but the impact still resonated inside.
Feeling dizzy, Song Cheon-hye slightly furrowed her brow.
[Song Cheon-hye 85% vs Seo Ye-in 88%]
[Remaining Time 2:13]
Hey, honestly, even I was doubtful, but now it looks like Seo Ye-in might really have a chance to win.
Keep watching.
If she kept allowing direct hits, the mage would eventually lose.
However, the reason I kept insisting on watching till the end was that I was still confident in my bet.
After all, this is the Topaz Tower of Magic. Among all the spells taught there, surely there must be a way to overcome this situation?
I could think of dozens of methods right off the bat.
.
Song Cheon-hye sighed deeply as if she resigned herself and pulled out another glove from her pocket, slipping it onto her empty hand.
Clasping her hands together as if interlocking fingers, she then stretched them apart as if pulling a thread.
[Lightning Thread]
Between her hands, dozens of thin threads of electricity formed.
Song Cheon-hye began to spread them widely in all directions.
Thats right. Smart move.
What is that?
Simply put, its like a spider web. Shes set it up and is waiting for her opponent to get caught in it.
As I explained, it wasnt long before the entire round arena was filled with lightning threads.
Zzzt!
And then a reaction occurred.
In a corner of the arena, a faint spark flickered over an entity that wriggled almost transparently.
The moment her location was pinpointed, Seo Ye-ins rifle spewed fire.
Dong!
But Song Cheon-hye was not one to be fooled by the same attack four times.
Especially when the snipers position was clearly visible.
She concentrated all her magical barriers on one side and blocked the magical bullet without suffering any damage.
Bang!
Deciding it was now pointless, Seo Ye-in discarded her invisible ghillie suit and set off another smoke bomb.
However, for Song Cheon-hye, there was no longer any need to clear away the smoke.
The continual sparking revealed the rough location of her opponent anyway.
Once again, a hummingbird darted across the arena.
This time, there was only one, but it was relatively larger.
Its movement was also much more erratic.
Seo Ye-in failed to react in time to the movement that resembled a mix of zigzags and whirls.
Fzzt!
There is a bit of improvement.
By my standards, the spell deserved 30 out of 100 points.
Until just now, it wouldnt have even scored 10 points.
How I longed to offer advice when I witnessed how she sent the hummingbird on a straight trajectory like a sparrow before.
Indeed, it is through real battles that one learns the most.
Regrettably, it seemed Seo Ye-in had no more cards left to play.
Because she was hit hard by the hummingbird, her mobility was close to zero.
Thus, she decided to unleash her maximum firepower in one final attempt, whether it would work or not.
Her rifle was rapidly disassembled and reassembled into two pistols.
Tutututu!
However, as her initial attacks had been ineffective, it was no surprise that this time too, the shots were easily blocked by the barrier.
Every time Song Cheon-hye maintained her steadfast defense and launched a counterattack, Seo Ye-ins health continued to deplete.
Its over.
Ah.
[Remaining Time 0:00]
[Song Cheon-hye 85% vs Seo Ye-in 68%]
As the five-minute time limit expired, Song Cheon-hye swiftly retracted all her magical power as if it had never been exerted.
Watching her manipulate mana as naturally as she did her own body, I was convinced.
Theres almost no match for her among the first-years.
Seo Ye-ins skills were indeed great, though she had the misfortune of facing a very tough opponent.
The fact that she held her own against a student of the Topaz Magic Tower without being overwhelmed until the end of the match was praiseworthy in itself.
[Song Cheon-hye Win vs Seo Ye-in Lose]
Of course, an evaluation is an evaluation, and a bet is a bet.
I extended my hand to Shin Byung-cheol.
5 silver coins.
No way~ I lost~ Ah~
He looked incredulously as he reluctantly pulled out and placed 5 silver coins in my hand.
Though he had said that betting 5 silver made it exciting, losing the bet seemed to be a bitter pill for him to swallow.
Come on, lets bet one more time. Just once more.
Why keep betting? Its not good for you to do this after losing, you know?
Oh come on, just hear me out. The placement tests are joint for all first-years and everythings out in the open, but you know, usually these duel battles are pretty private. When else will we get a chance to bet while munching on popcorn like this?
I was, of course, already aware of this.
Unless there was a tournament in the fall, opportunities to spectate student duel battles were rare.
So, I agreed to another bet and pretended to be persuaded.
Alright, just one more time then.
Great decision! This time, lets bet on.
Shin Byung-cheols eyes began to roam across this and that arena, searching for potential subjects for our next bet.
Han So-mi was overpowering her opponent with fierce sword energy, ultimately dominating them.
Hong Yeon-hwa turned one of the arenas into a sea of fire.
Both were more than suitable for a betting subject, but unfortunately, they were almost finishing their third placement test.
Ah!
Then, Shin Byung-cheol spotted someone and his eyes lit up.
How about Go Hyeon-woo?
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