The Support Ate it All

[Go Hyeon-woo 100% vs Baek Jun-seok 87%]

[Remaining Time 3:08]

Go Hyeon-woo was in the midst of his second placement test.

His opponent looked just like a typical knight, wearing sturdy armor over his school uniform and wielding a two-handed sword.

Each time the heavy, thick blade sliced through the air, a menacing whoosh echoed around.

However, such deadly-looking attacks were futile if they didn’t connect.

Clearly, Baek Jun-seok was the one who was launching the attacks one after another, while Go Hyeon-woo focused solely on evading.

Yet Baek Jun-seok didn’t seem to have the upper hand in this match.

Baek Jun-seok looked exhausted and was drenched in sweat, while Go Hyeon-woo continued to move with graceful ease and a calm expression.

Baek Jun-seok stopped his attack and created some distance.

He had exhausted himself with continuous swings that never hit their mark.

As Baek Jun-seok gasped for breath, Go Hyeon-woo pointed his sword at him and asked,

“Shall we continue?”

“……Aaagh!”

Baek Jun-seok got angry and charged in.

Even though he had little stamina left, he recklessly swung his longsword without even considering the aftermath of depleting all his energy.

At that moment, Go Hyeon-woo, who had been consistently evading, stepped forward.

Then, with the fluidity of a brushstroke, he drew his iron sword across the air.

Dzzzzt

And with a chilling friction sound, a long diagonal cut was etched across Baek Jun-seok’s armor.

[Go Hyeon-woo 100% vs Baek Jun-seok 87%]

[Go Hyeon-woo 100% vs Baek Jun-seok 68%]

A significant chunk of health was shaved off in an instant.

Baek Jun-seok fell to one knee, clutching his chest in great pain.

Once again, a sword was pointed at him.

“Shall we continue?”

“……I’ve lost.”

[Go Hyeon-woo Win vs Baek Jun-seok Lose]

He truly is remarkable.

Go Hyeon-woo took a light step forward and casually swung his sword as if it were nothing.

I could see the profound intricacies embedded within that movement.

While he still had many shortcomings, his swordsmanship alone was nearing perfection.

Anyone who knew me would have been shocked to hear this assessment.

As I am known for being extremely critical in my evaluation.

Shin Byeong-cheol seemed to agree that Go Hyeon-woo was quite strong., even if he couldn’t read his profound movements.

“Wow… Baek Jun-seok is no easy opponent, and he just sliced through him. I heard he fought to a standstill against Han So-mi as well.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Hehe, even if I look like this, I am someone who deals in information. That’s what I do. Gotta keep up with such details. Anyway, this makes Go Hyeon-woo’s second win, right? Let’s compare our insights in the third match.”

Go Hyeon-woo stepped onto the teleportation magic circle for his final placement test.

And then another person emerged from the opposite side.

This person was a head taller than the average male student, with a robust build made of steel-like muscles.

[Go Hyeon-woo 100% vs Jo Byeok 100%]

“…This third match is going to be tough.”

“Who’s stronger between Han So-mi and Jo Byeok?”

In response to my question, Shin Byeong-cheol rubbed his chin with a rare serious expression on his face.

“Well, based on public opinion alone, the Fist King is slightly above the Sword Marquis. But that’s just comparing the Fist King and the Sword Marquis. Their disciples’ skills are another matter, right?”

“In short, you don’t know?”

“……”

Shin Byeong-cheol, briefly at a loss for words, quickly changed the subject.

“…Anyway! Let’s change the conditions for the bet this time. It’s not about who wins, but how many minutes it takes for the match to end. How about that?”

“Sure, you go first.”

At the end of the match, how many of the 5-minute limit would have elapsed?

After a brief moment of contemplation, Shin Byeong-cheol decided on a time.

“I’ll say 4 minutes. No, let’s go with the full 5 minutes. If their skills are similar, it won’t end quickly, right?”

“Then I’ll go with a 2-minute finish.”

“……Huh?”

Shin Byeong-cheol displayed an unmistakable look of astonishment.

It was rare for a match to conclude in just two minutes unless one side was overwhelmingly superior.

“No, why the 2-minute limit? Do you think he’ll lose that quickly?”

“Who said anything about a quick loss? I never said that.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“You’ll see.”

“Hey, do you always have to be so mysterious? Even so, under 2 minutes seems far-fetched.”

“If it’s far-fetched, you get your 5 silver coins back. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

***

Kim-hyung is watching.

Go Hyeon-woo spotted Kim Ho in his field of vision.

In the spectator seats, he was looking down at him, engaged in a serious conversation with Shin Byeong-cheol.

Even though he didn’t know the details of their conversation, it probably wasn’t unrelated to him.

If possible, he wanted to show a winning performance in front of his friend.

Though the result of the match might not impact their friendship, winning would certainly be more honorable.

However, it wouldn’t be as easy as it sounds.

Given the caliber of his opponent,

[100% Go Hyeon-woo vs 100% Jo Byeok]

Go Hyeon-woo glanced once at the scoreboard and then at Jo Byeok.

He was known as the disciple of the Fist King.

Recalling his assessment of Han So-mi’s skills on the train, he knew that if Jo Byeok’s abilities were even remotely similar to hers, victory would be hard to achieve.

On the train, Kim Ho’s mysterious power had helped him hold out a bit longer, but this time he had to rely solely on his own strength.

Suddenly, he found himself looking down at his hands.

His hands were trembling slightly without him realizing it.

Was the trembling due to fear? Excitement? Anticipation? Or perhaps all three?

Even he was not certain.

He clenched his fist tightly and then released it, quelling the tremor.

Only then did Go Hyeon-woo return his gaze forward.

Facing each other, Jo Byeok slowly opened his mouth.

“I heard you were evenly matched against Han Somi.”

“That’s not true. My insufficient skills only served to stall Miss Han.”

“We’ll see just how insufficient they are now. How about drawing your sword?”

Go Hyeon-woo realized that when Jo Byeok spoke of a ‘sword’, he wasn’t referring to the iron sword at his waist.

His gaze was directed towards the object tied to his back.

Go Hyeon-woo could only smile bitterly and shake his head.

“As much as I would like to, now is not the time.”

“Is that so? That’s a shame.”

“I agree. Let’s begin then.”

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Start!]

As soon as the match began, Jo Byeok kicked the ground.

He was surprisingly quick, unbecoming of its bear-like size.

With each step, he closed the distance rapidly.

Go Hyeon-woo sent out two light sword energies as a combination of probing and feint, but Jo Byeok didn’t even bother to block them.

The sword energies dissipated without any effect upon touching Jo Byeok’s body.

Starting with a strong move.

Go Hyeon-woo thought to himself that it was indeed a fighting style typical of him.

He discarded any superficial probing and charged straight ahead from the outset, confronting his opponent head-on.

Although he wanted to enjoy the duel a bit more leisurely, he didn’t mind this style of battle either.

“Uh!”

Realizing that his opponent had closed the gap, Go Hyeon-woo made the first move.

He grasped his iron sword with both hands and launched a storm of consecutive slashes aimed at Jo Byeok’s upper body.

Swish, swish, swish—

Jo Byeok’s figure swayed from side to side, leaving faint afterimages.

He dodged all the incoming sword strikes with speed that belied his large frame.

Meanwhile, powerful energy gathered in his tightly clenched fist.

Jo Byeok pulled it in tightly, then thrust it forward with all his might.

To Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes, the fist seemed to swell in size as it approached him.

It’s like a huge boulder…!

There was no time to admire his opponent.

He gathered energy, channeled it into his iron sword and unleashed three lightning-fast strikes.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

With each strike of his sword, the boulder-like energy visibly diminished.

Yet, even after colliding with the sword three times, Jo Byeok’s punch was not completely neutralized; a part of it remained and struck Go Hyeon-woo forcefully.

Boom!

Hmm….

Go Hyeon-woo felt as though he had been struck by a massive boulder as a heavy impact jolted his body.

He slightly furrowed his brow and in that brief moment, Jo Byeok had vanished from his sight.

Instantly, Go Hyeon-woo lunged forward.

Boom!

A tremendous force struck the spot where he had just been standing.

The gray tiles of the arena shattered and were scattered in all directions.

Although Go Hyeon-woo had managed to widen the gap between them by avoiding Jo Byeok’s missed attack, he soon realized that simply increasing the distance would not guarantee safety.

Jo Byeok launched a punch from afar.

It was the same powerful strike as before.

But from such a distance, the rock-like force barreled towards Go Hyeon-woo.

This won’t be easy.

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!

This time, Go Hyeon-woo executed five consecutive sword strikes in order to counter Jo Byeok’s momentum.

However, a portion of the force still remained and struck him hard.

Boom!

The battle had barely begun, and only a few exchanges had taken place, but Go Hyeon-woo painfully acknowledged that he had been at a disadvantage the entire time.

If things continued this way, the pattern would likely remain the same.

Go Hyeon-woo had no choice but to admit it now.

My basic attacks have reached their limit. I thought they would have a greater impact…

Go Hyeon-woo realized that the moment had come to reveal his hidden skills.

“……”

As Jo Byeok was closing the distance again, he suddenly noticed a sharp change in Go Hyeon-woo’s aura.

The iron sword’s movement was so languid it could dull the interest of anyone watching, while at the same time, a light breeze originating from an unknown source, playfully tousled his hair.

It was like the cool wind that occasionally blows on a hot summer day to ease the heat on the ground.

In a round arena completely isolated from the outside, such a wind shouldn’t exist.

Therefore, the source of this gentle breeze must be Go Hyeon-woo himself.

Something’s not right.

Jo Byeok’s instincts sounded an alarm within him.

This time, he needed to be more cautious.

Uncharacteristically, he maintained a certain distance and sent out his third punch.

But the energy, which was once like a huge boulder, dissolved instantly upon touching the breeze and vanished.

His subsequent punch also evaporated quickly.

Then Jo Byeok was certain.

That breeze is some kind of sword energy.

From his first two strikes, he realized that any half-hearted attack was just a waste of energy.

Hence, he decided to concentrate all his power into a single decisive move.

Jo Byeok’s body emanated a tangible surge of energy

He carefully wrapped himself in this aura and then leaped into the gently blowing wind.

‘This is…’

Elevating his energy to its peak had been the right decision.

The soft wind, as it brushed past him, pressed in from all sides like a raging sword energy.

Any ordinary warrior would have been instantly torn apart and their body would turn into a cold corpse in mere moments.

The energy enveloping his body rapidly diminished, but this was within his expectations.

There was still enough left to reach his target.

“……”

Facing the approaching Jo Byeok, Go Hyeon-woo also sensed that his opponent had made a critical move.

As he raised his iron sword above his head, all the gentle breezes converging towards Jo Byeok were now focused on the blade.

At the moment Jo Byeok threw his punch,

Go Hyeon-woo’s iron sword also descended.

Flash!

“……”

“……”

In the blink of an eye, the positions of the two got reversed.

After a brief silence, Jo Byeok was the first to speak.

“What is the name of this technique?”

“Clear Stream.”

Jo Byeok slowly lowered his gaze.

A small part of his school uniform’s shoulder was slightly cut.

This means that Go Hyeon-woo’s single sword strike surpassed the school uniform’s D-rank defensive magic, even if it was only for a brief moment.

However, the absence of more severe injuries suggests that Go Hyeon-woo’s attack had little effect on the protective aura enveloping Jo Byeok.

“I’ll remember it, but it’s a shame.”

Psssst

Go Hyeon-woo’s dangling iron sword began to crumble from the tip, slowly disintegrating.

It was the result of the durability being exhausted by the recoil of the clashing techniques.

As he released the handle, which was all that remained, the rest of the sword also vanished.

With the destruction of his iron sword, Go Hyeon-woo was left with two choices.

Either draw the long sword on his back to continue the duel or accept defeat.

He chose the latter.

“I have lost.”

“I look forward to our next match. Then, I hope to see your full strength.”

“……”

Go Hyeon-woo silently watched the departing figure of Jo Byeok in silence.

What he was thinking remained unknown.

***

I paid close attention to the iron sword that Go Hyeon-woo always carried with him.

It was understandable that he would use a different sword instead of the sacred weapon of his sect, which was likely due to some personal reasons.

But was it necessary for the sword to specifically be an “iron sword”?

After contemplating this question, I arrived at the conclusion that it was because the sword was used as a “disposable item”.

Go Hyeon-woo seemed unfazed even when his iron sword broke on the train.

His attitude was not that of someone experiencing such a situation for the first or second time.

It was probably due to the nature of the martial arts that Go Hyeon-woo practiced.

Since most equipment can’t fully contain that energy, the weapon’s durability quickly decreases and it eventually breaks.

Therefore, the same thing could have easily happened during the placement test.

Especially when facing a strong opponent like Jo Byeok, the probability of such thing happening was very high.

Thus, my bet on a ‘2-minute limit’ was not about the duration of the fight but rather the time until the iron sword would inevitably break.

[Go Hyeon-woo Lose vs Jo Byeok Win]

The match lasted for 2 minutes and 28 seconds.

Since it was much closer to 2 minutes than 5 minutes, I was the winner of the bet.

“Come on, this is unbelievable. It ended just like that? Hey, this isn’t right. How could anyone predict this?”

“You talk too much. 5 silver.”

As I reached out my hand to collect the money, Shin Byeong-chul showed a begrudging smile.

“Hey, I don’t have the money right now, but I’ll borrow it and pay you back real soon. Really soon.”

“You were the one who wanted to bet. Why did you make a bet if you didn’t have the money?”

“Well, I thought I would win this time… I mean, it’s Shin Byeong-chul betting, but my luck is just terrible today.”

From the way he spoke, it seemed he had quite a bit of confidence.

Unfortunately for him, I was his opponent in this match of insight.

I could have just written off the 5 silver coins as a debt,

“But there’s no need to settle it in money though.”

“Really? Then what?”

Shin Byeong-cheol smiled and asked.

I nodded towards the notebook he was holding with a gesture of my chin.

Information.