Chapter 289: 16th Week Duel Battle (3)

I’ve confirmed Cha Hyeon-joo with this.

I also identified the location, composition, and near-perfect condition of Cha Hyeon-joo’s team.

Even if I didn’t directly fight them, it was always beneficial to gather as much information about the opponent as possible.

Especially since most information had been blocked off by the blind rule.

Depending on the situation, I could adjust by either widening the distance between us or going on the offensive.

Next, I need to check on Team 3.

Whether I fight and take them down or drag this into a long-term battle by using the environment is a decision I can make later.

That’s exactly why I left after erecting just one ice wall against Cha Hyeon-joo.

If we clashed now and wasted health, it would only work to Team 3’s advantage since we haven’t even encountered them yet.

On top of that, there was another card I was playing here—

Thud, thud!

The fact that Cha Hyeon-joo was making a ruckus trying to break the ice wall.

Even though we had put a good amount of distance between us, I could still hear the sound of her pounding on the wall.

If Team 3 happens to be nearby, their attention would naturally be drawn to the commotion.

And if the two sides end up clashing and exhausting themselves, that’s even better.

Meanwhile, we needed to keep moving without pause.

This labyrinth is already a headache to navigate, and it’s riddled with traps. Wouldn’t it be better to just hole up in one spot, whether it works out or not?

It’s a thought that anyone might have.

Of course, the academy anticipated such “endurance” or “turtle” strategies and prepared plenty of ways to counter them.

In a very blatant way, no less.

Right on cue, a wave of mana rippled through the area, sweeping across the surroundings.

I could hear the metallic grinding of gears from the walls, ceiling, and floor at the same time.

“......?”

Seo Ye-in grew curious and looked around curiously before pointing to a spot on the floor a short distance away.

“They increased. The traps”

“They’ll increase even more soon.”

As time went on, the traps continued to increase in number.

And if someone stayed in one spot for too long, the traps would concentrate heavily on that area.

In other words, traps could even appear and activate right beneath your feet while you were standing still.

Therefore, it was clear that sticking to the original plan of constant movement was the best course of action.

However, there was a new problem that had just arisen.

“There are a lot, aren’t there?”

“Mhmm.”

Looking at the passage ahead, it was almost impossible to find a spot to step on.

Magic circles lit up in rapid succession, and the number of various mechanisms scattered everywhere was beyond count.

The situation behind us was similar, creating a structure where it was unavoidable to trigger something no matter which direction we took.

And this kind of situation was only going to get worse.

“What choice do we have? We’ll have to step on them and move forward.”

If avoiding them wasn’t an option, the best plan was to trigger the safest ones possible.

A pitfall trap, for example, would be far less damaging than a fire explosion trap.

With that in mind, I pointed to a small gap between the magic circles a short distance away.

Even there, there was something that resembled a stepping stone, which clearly seemed like it would trigger a trap as soon as it was stepped on.

“That one looks like the least dangerous option. I’ll throw you over there, so step on it and jump forward.”

“Mhmm.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head and took a few steps back.

Then she activated Feather Walk and moved quickly forward a few paces.

At that moment, I grabbed Seo Ye-in’s wrist, gently hurled her forward, and cast Wind Force at the same time.

It was the two-person skill Wind Leap.

“Jump lightly! Jump!”

“Jump!”

Whoosh—

Seo Ye-in soared through the air in a long arc.

She landed lightly on the stepping stone I had pointed out earlier.

“Jump.”

Without missing a beat, she kicked off from there and leaped forward once more.

Because the trap had been triggered, sharp spears shot out from the walls on both sides. However, Seo Ye-in had already soared gracefully through the air and landed far away.

She looked back at me and started waving her hand lightly as if signaling for me to hurry up.

I used a similar method by combining Thief’s Step with Wind Force to leap across the distance.

Since we still had to explore more of the labyrinth, I figured we’d have to keep doing this repeatedly, but the situation wasn’t too bad.

It’s not like we’re the only ones struggling with this.

Boom—!

A distant explosion echoed, and a faint tremor traveled under my feet.

Judging by the direction, it seemed to have come from Cha Hyeon-joo’s team. Unfortunately, it looked like they had set off some sort of explosive trap.

“You bastard—!!”

“Let’s refrain from using bad language, please.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head in agreement.

“Bad words, not allowed.”

Even in such an absurd situation, the monk duo remained as calm and carefree as ever, as if this was the most natural order of things.

From beyond the ice wall, Ilgong’s voice could be heard.

“May I ask for some guidance—”

“Shut up—!”

As expected, Cha Hyeon-joo immediately redirected her rage toward Ilgong and Igong.

If it were any other team, they probably would’ve formed a temporary alliance to deal with how annoying I was being, but her mind was so clouded with rage that she couldn’t see anything else.

She simply attacked anyone who got in her way.

Boom! Boom!

Leaving the two teams clashing behind, I turned to Seo Ye-in and said,

“Let’s come back in a bit.”

“Mhmm.”

In the end, one of the two teams would end up defeated, and I planned to swoop in and reap the rewards like a cunning opportunist.

However, because of the dungeon’s nature, staying in one place would only lead to traps being set up all over that spot.

Even while waiting, I had to keep moving.

So, I strolled through the labyrinth with Seo Ye-in as if we were on a leisurely walk before returning to the same location.

Boom! Crash!

The Ice Wall was now heavily cracked as if it might shatter at any moment. From the sounds beyond the wall, they seemed to still be frantically hammering away at it.

Finally, with a crumble, a corner of the wall collapsed, and Cha Hyeon-joo came into view.

“......!”

The moment she saw me, her eyes filled with killing intent.

Despite how utterly exhausted she must’ve been after such an intense battle, her eyes still brimmed with venom.

She really is a promising student.

That level of determination was what it took to reach S-rank.

I met Cha Hyeon-joo’s gaze and asked,

“What about Hee-chan’s stand-in?”

“.......”

“Did they lose?”

“...Yes.”

It seemed her team member had been rendered unable to fight while facing the Ilgong duo.

When I nodded and lightly stirred the sapling, the ice wall collapsed with a crumbling sound.

But immediately after, a perfectly intact ice wall rose up just a bit ahead.

And if that wasn’t enough, I added another layer of ice wall on top of it.

With a bright smile, I said,

“This time, it’s double-layered!”

“Stop... Just stop...!”

Cha Hyeon-joo, having reached her limit, began to sound a little tearful in her rage.

Honestly, I was just messing around this time, and since it was about time to wrap things up, I dispelled the Ice Wall.

Then I posed a question to Cha Hyeon-joo.

“Why are you so determined to fight me?”

“Why do you keep avoiding it?”

Cha Hyeon-joo answered my question with a question of her own.

I already knew she had a fiery personality, and it wasn’t exactly a difficult question, so I shrugged and responded.

“I just don’t waste my energy on pointless things. Besides, you’re too weak.”

“...What did you just say?!”

As if I had delivered a grave insult, Cha Hyeon-joo’s face went rigid.

Regardless of her reaction, I continued speaking.

“Let’s be honest here. It’s not like you’ve just barely lost so far; you’ve been completely overpowered every time. If you’d at least landed a single hit, it’d be a different story, but even that hasn’t happened.”

“......!”

“This isn’t about competition anymore; it’s just recklessness. And I’m not the kind of person who has time to entertain something like that.”

“......!”

Cha Hyeon-joo couldn’t say a word; her body started trembling with frustration.

Whether she silently acknowledged what I said or was simply too enraged to respond, I couldn’t tell.

Then as if a thought suddenly came to her, she took a deep breath, glared at me, and asked,

“So you’re saying you won’t fight me?”

“For now. There’s an order to these things.”

“What do I have to do, then?”

At Cha Hyeon-joo’s question, I pointed to Seo Ye-in who was standing nearby.

“Try taking her down first.”