I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 35 : Public Training Exercise (5)

Su-hyeon's ability to withstand the Ma-in's whip barrage without taking a single direct hit amazed those watching.

'This is impressive, Jeong Su-hyeon.'

Among them was his homeroom instructor, Kim Cheol-han.

'I can state with certainty that the whip wielded by the One-Armed Trainer is difficult for freshmen to face in terms of speed, power, and technique.'

This was true even though his original B+ level strength had been significantly reduced to B-.

'Lee Yu-jin might have been able to respond to some extent with her characteristic and sword energy, but that's not what Jeong Su-hyeon is using.'

But what about now?

Looking solely at the aspects of evasion and defense, one might question whether Yu-jin would have done better than what Su-hyeon was showing.

'It's not a matter of agility or proficiency, his eyes are simply too good from the start.'

But that was just Su-hyeon's individual performance.

'With the current combination, they aren't landing any effective hits.'

Initially, he thought it was a fresh approach.

But as the fight continued, there was no sign of them pushing back the Ma-in through synergy with the rest of the team members.

'Jeremy McGarr is barely holding on with Oh Min-seon as a unit, without utilizing his strengths at all.'

Even that would have been impossible without coordination with Oh Min-seon.

'Currently, Oh Min-seon is probably the one best utilizing her abilities.'

Nam Tae-hoon, contrary to expectations, wasn't contributing much beyond minor harassment.

'As for Kim A-yun. Hmm. At present, her contribution is almost non-existent.'

Despite her incredibly powerful lightning ability, she was either reducing output to throw meaningless jabs or failing to reach the One-Armed Trainer even when occasionally releasing stronger output.

'I'm concerned about Kim A-yun. She still has many shells to break.'

If not for her characteristic, she might not have even made it into Class 1.

'It's a difficult situation, Jeong Su-hyeon.'

It seemed his intention was to utilize Kim A-yun's firepower as the main attacker.

But currently, it wasn't working, was it?

'Of course, even if they had switched those two to support roles and pushed forward with the three of them, the chances of victory would have been almost none.'

It was good that he avoided the easy but wrong approach that readily came to mind.

'Whether found with difficulty or easily, a wrong answer is still wrong.'

Had he expected too much, or was Su-hyeon still not mature enough?

Kim Cheol-han's gaze turned from Su-hyeon's team to the others.

'Is it the difference in characteristics after all? Seo Jun-seong and Hwang Ji-su's abilities are definitely effective even against B- rank Ma-in.'

Lee Yu-jin was also doing well, and Hong In-hyeon's individual struggle was at least without fault.

'Jeong Su-hyeon. What will you do now?'

He had wanted to gauge Su-hyeon's potential through this class.

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KWANG!

I retreated as a tingling shock vibrated through my entire arm while deflecting the whip.

'It's getting difficult to endure with just the shield.'

I could feel the shield trembling, suggesting it was nearing its durability limit.

'It's certainly not easy using ordinary equipment without a defensive skill.'

Therefore, I tried to draw the Ma-in's attention as much as possible by focusing more on evasion than parrying.

"Shit! How the hell are you dodging like that?"

Jeremy McGarr, who had joined at some point, was also lending a hand.

Though he occasionally jumped when affected by his own ability.

Nevertheless, this helped create timing for Nam Tae-hoon to strike at the Ma-in's weak point again.

"Go!"

I shouted as I saw the whip flying straight towards me.

"Got it!"

Nam Tae-hoon's ambush, timed to coincide with the whip's extension, was very appropriate.

He even made the good choice of slashing directly at the ankle from under a shadow, taking into account the Ma-in's ridiculous flexibility.

"I knew you'd come."

"!"

But that was the Ma-in's trap.

As if he'd been waiting, he jumped up to avoid the dagger, then twisted his body in mid-air and kicked Nam Tae-hoon's wrist, sending the dagger flying.

"Damn it!"

Nam Tae-hoon disappeared back into the shadows almost simultaneously with the whip being retrieved and flying towards him again.

'His reactions are no joke.'

It was rare to find someone who uses a whip yet is so prepared for close combat.

'Many newbies who ran into this folded here too.'

Even I had many days where I quit the game after being mercilessly beaten by bosses like the One-Armed Trainer or the Mad Puppeteer in my early iterations.

"That was close."

Nam Tae-hoon, returning to our side, said while clutching his wrist.

"I think my wrist is gone."

"It's okay. You still have the other one, right?"

"Wow. It's not your hand."

Ignoring his words, I turned my gaze toward Kim A-yun and Oh Min-seon's direction.

'They're doing well.'

Even from a distance, I could see sparks of lightning crackling.

Oh Min-seon had a concrete wall between them to avoid being electrocuted.

'Amazing.'

This was her output despite never having properly used her power before and still not knowing how to gather her strength.

'One proper hit and it's over.'

A sudden reversal is always as electrifying as lightning.

"Are you ready?"

Kim A-yun answered immediately.

"I think I'll be done in 30 seconds!"

"Good."

I smiled.

"Everyone attack together! This is the moment!"

"Kiyahoo!"

"First, let's take his whip!"

That was the first condition for a successful attack.

'Without the whip, his defensive and evasive abilities would drastically decrease.'

RUMBLE!

Oh Min-seon first showered the Ma-in with piles of asphalt to obstruct his vision.

"Jeremy!"

"Okay!"

While he was blocking those with his whip and escaping, the two of us stood side by side, front and back, grabbed the spear, and launched it together.

Ssswaaack!

The flame-engulfed spear became a beam of light flying toward the One-Armed Trainer.

CHANG!

Even then, he managed to respond in time and succeeded in striking down the spear.

'You're next!'

Once again, Nam Tae-hoon appeared behind the Ma-in's shadow.

"Is, is that all you can do?"

He snorted and tried to move away.

"You think?!"

Nam Tae-hoon also smiled as he immediately hid back into the shadow.

"Hup!"

I threw my shield like a discus while running, with Jeremy McGarr behind me.

"An-annoying."

The Ma-in deflecting the shield with his whip and Nam Tae-hoon reappearing to grab onto his arm with a flying armbar happened almost simultaneously.

"Stu-stupid!"

It wasn't strange for the Ma-in to mock him.

There was no way a joint lock would work on someone with ultra-flexibility.

But Nam Tae-hoon's purpose wasn't to break his arm, just to bind it for a very brief moment.

Because.

"Well done, Nam Tae-hoon!"

In that split second, I had rushed in and arrived right in front of the Ma-in.

"Ugh!"

The Ma-in flung Nam Tae-hoon off his arm with a body ripple.

'Too late.'

Having already closed the distance, there was no gap for him to wield his whip.

Instead, he utilized his flexibility, delivering a kick as if swinging a whip.

KEEIING!

I activated Eye Power to read his movements, bent my knee, and successfully deflected the kick.

"!"

The Ma-in's eyes widened not because I avoided the kick.

SLASH!

It was because I had sliced his wrist with my sword as I passed him.

"ARGH!"

Although I couldn't cut through the bone due to the vast spec difference.

Cutting the tendon was enough.

"Now!"

I shouted as I withdrew from the spot at full speed.

As Oh Min-seon waved her hand, a thick asphalt roof formed above my head.

I slid under it, hiding my body.

"Fire!"

KWAAAAANG!

Immediately, lightning struck with a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth.

CRACKLE!

"AAAAARGH!"

Kim A-yun's lightning bolt, fired at maximum output.

After an intense light and heat lingered for a long time, it gradually faded.

"Urk."

THUD!

The Ma-in, blackened to a crisp without even getting to swing his whip a few times, fell to his knees.

"...As expected of Kim A-yun."

He looked so miserable it seemed he might be dead.

'Quite the performance.'

[Main Quest, Subdue the Ma-in has been cleared!]

[4P Skill Points have been awarded!]

[Marvelous Achievement! You've led your teammates to defeat the Ma-in 'One-Armed Trainer'!]

[Achievement points 400 awarded!]

The rewards were definitely substantial.

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"They won!"

The instructors watching erupted in exclamations close to cheers at Kim A-yun's intense lightning that overturned everything at once.

"That's impressive. They finally managed to properly draw out Kim A-yun's power."

"The coordination of the other four to make that attack successful was also good."

"They fully utilized the fact that without his whip, his combat effectiveness would drastically decrease, in the final moment."

"He didn't get greedy and just sliced the tendon precisely to prevent him from blocking the lightning attack."

"Although they were a bit clumsy, the result turned out well. This batch of freshmen has many interesting individuals, doesn't it?"

Of course.

No one could guess that this 'slightly awkward but somehow victorious' appearance was exactly the battle Su-hyeon had intended.

Meanwhile, the team that received the highest evaluation that day wasn't Su-hyeon's.

"Jun-seong!"

WOOOONG!

After a fierce battle that reduced the battle puppets to less than a third, Seo Jun-seong activated his psychokinesis at maximum output, throwing them several kilometers high into the air before making them all crash down.

KWAAANG! CRACKLE!

"Yes!"

The battle puppets were all damaged to the point of functional shutdown, but the Mad Puppeteer pulled out a reversal card.

Namely, he gathered all the battle puppets and merged them into a single massive entity.

"Ah, damn it! What is that now!"

Kwon Seung-yeon was shocked, but Seo Jun-seong remained calm.

"Let's buy some time! There must be a weakness we can exploit!"

He encouraged his teammates as they engaged in combat with the giant battle puppet.

"Found it."

In just 5 minutes, he discovered the answer.

RUMBLE.

He gathered all his remaining strength to halt the giant battle puppet's body.

"Han So-yul, now!"

"Okay!"

Han So-yul, the were-gazelle, maximized her leg strength to launch Kwon Seung-yeon and Hwang Gyeong-su from her foot.

"Gyeong-su!"

Hwang Gyeong-su's body turned into a magnet, and the destroyed remnants of the battle puppets began to stick to him.

"Hehe, got it!"

Eventually, he transformed into a huge chunk of metal.

"Here I go!"

Just before impact, Kwon Seung-yeon maximized her weight.

'Try eating this!'

The two, now transformed into a large, heavy iron mace, drove into the battle puppet's jaw.

KWAAANG!

As the giant mace struck its jaw, huge sparks and cracks appeared on the battle puppet's body.

Through those cracks, the pyromancer Ahn Jun-tae projected his firepower, causing consecutive explosions.

KWAAANG!

Through the debris scattering everywhere, Seo Jun-seong's psychokinesis didn't let the fleeing Mad Puppeteer escape.

"Capture complete."

"Great!"

The instructors didn't spare their praise for Seo Jun-seong.

"As expected of Seo Jun-seong. A performance worthy of the top student."

"His understanding of characteristics is high. There were few flaws."

"Although the process wasn't entirely smooth, the way they delivered the finishing blow successfully created synergy through each individual's uniqueness."

They all drooled at the prospect of guiding such a promising young talent.

"The top student is indeed the top student. Excellent."

"Min Hae-na was good last year, but this year's Seo Jun-seong is no less impressive."

Meanwhile, in Hwang Ji-su's team, two people—Hwang Ji-su and Choi Min-a—delivered the decisive blow for victory.

"Mist!"

While three team members held down the Ma-in's feet, Choi Min-a spread a wide fog around the Ma-in before evacuating her teammates.

CRACKLE!

Hwang Ji-su then froze the entire fog-covered area with maximum output.

"Urgh."

Unable to escape or resist in time, the Ma-in became fossilized, imprisoned within the ice wall.

"Phew."

Fighting off a slight dizziness, Hwang Ji-su proudly raised her hand.

"We won!"

"Hwang Ji-su is undoubtedly an elemental awakened of a caliber that appears once in several years. Look at that output and control."

"She would have been the natural top candidate if not for Seo Jun-seong."

"Yes. But Lee Yu-jin is also excellent. It's hard for me to distinguish between them."

As one instructor said.

Lee Yu-jin, who was struggling due to Park Chang-jun's individual actions disrupting the plan, recalled Su-hyeon's advice and steeled her resolve.

'I've been patient enough.'

Even if this choice resulted in a deduction for her, so what?

If she could save more team members and subdue the Ma-in, it wouldn't be a choice she'd regret.

"Do-il, please!"

"Leave it to me!"

She successfully subdued the Ma-in by using Park Chang-jun as bait in reverse, then unleashing a coordinated attack.

Although Park Chang-jun retired first in the process.

"Restraint complete."

Yu-jin felt no remorse about that at all.

"Lee Yu-jin made such a choice?"

"She's more cold-headed than I thought."

"But if one member runs amok like that, refusing to follow control and endangering teammates, it's the leader's role to make a more rational choice, taking all responsibility."

"Well, one can't always be the good leader who guides everyone."

"As expected of the Sword God's granddaughter? She has such sides too."

But not all teams in Class 1 succeeded in subduing their Ma-in.

"Damn it."

Hong In-hyeon, who had been pushing the Ma-in while enduring damage close to annihilation, ultimately reached a state of combat inability almost simultaneously with the Ma-in, creating a rare draw.

"Sorry, guys."

Kim Ho-su's team managed to inflict significant damage on the Ma-in but ultimately failed to subdue it and was judged as annihilated.

Nevertheless, the achievement of four teams out of six succeeding was undoubtedly the best in recent years.

Therefore.

"Quite a fierce competition will unfold."

Not only Seo Jun-seong, Lee Yu-jin, and Hwang Ji-su.

"I still don't quite understand the cadet named Jeong Su-hyeon."

"Well, I think I understand why Instructor Kim Cheol-han gave him a high evaluation."

Now several instructors began to show interest in Jeong Su-hyeon as well.