Of course, he knew that Han Kang-yoon wasn’t someone to be taken lightly, but that didn’t mean he had any reason to think highly of him.

However, he could see it now. That had been a grave mistake.

Guilford had come to fully realize that fact just 3 minutes after the start of the fight.

「. . .𝙐𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚. 𝙏𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙜𝙪𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝘿-𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨.」

Someone as talented as Guilford could get a rough idea of their opponent’s skill level just by exchanging a few blows.

And to Guilford, Han Kang-yoon wasn’t just some nobody. He could tell that Han Kang-yoon was, at the very least, a veteran who had been through countless real battles.

Screech!

Clang!

「𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙞𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.」

Guilford had always been confident that he could handle any opponent he faced.

However, when he came face to face with Han Kang-yoon, he realized that the man before him was on a whole other level.

It wasn’t just a matter of responding to his opponent’s attacks; he felt like Han Kang-yoon was completely controlling the flow of the battle.

As a seasoned fighter, Guilford understood all too well what this feeling of frustration meant.

That’s why Guilford decided to make his move.

He unreservedly drew upon his spiritual power to enhance his physical abilities, and used his family’s unique spell to relentlessly corner Han Kang-yoon.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨.」

Whoosh.

As he was about to step forward while casting the spell, Guilford felt a dizzying sensation and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Clang!

Boom!

“Keuk!”

It all happened in an instant.

Guilford was confused as he stared at the ceiling of the cave, his body barely moving and his vision blurry.

「. . .𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙?」

He had momentarily seen Han Kang-yoon charging at him. But that was it. Guilford’s mind couldn’t even comprehend what had happened.

As if anticipating such a reaction, Han Kang-yoon’s voice came from above the fAlan Guilford.

“I knew you were aiming for a one-hit kill.”

“. . . . . . . .”

“No matter how powerful a finishing move is, it’s meaningless if it’s seen through. You would have been better off using it as bait to catch me off guard.”

It was a cold but accurate assessment. Guilford realized that the dog tag hanging from his waist was gone.

Clack!

Clang!

Ding!

【Class 2-A Guilford: Eliminated】

Having suffered defeat, Guilford had no choice but to admit it. The Han Kang-yoon before him was a far greater talent than he had thought.

He was different from Sophia.

Han Kang-yoon didn’t have the same overwhelming power or talent as her. He could be sure of that.

But even so, Guilford felt something immense from Han Kang-yoon.

“. . .How much did you have to go through to become like that?”

“Well, no one knows that.”

Han Kang-yoon turned away and left to help his teammates, whose battle was still ongoing.

And as he felt Han Kang-yoon’s presence fading away, Guilford clenched his fists tightly once more.

Internally etching another person he had to surpass into his mind.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

𝚊𝙬𝘦ʙ𝔰𝙩𝐨𝔯𝔦𝔢𝙨.𝚌𝔬𝚖

The battle was over.

With their linchpin, Guilford, defeated, the other class B students were unable to put up much of a fight.

In the end, we were able to completely eliminate Joseph’s team from Class 2-C, which Guilford belonged to, and earn 100 points.

After regrouping, I briefly reflected on my fight with Guilford.

「. . . . . .」

To put it simply, it was a complete victory. As expected, it took a considerable amount of time because the game and reality are different, but I can say that I won without any problems, just as I had planned.

「𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖.」

Of course, there were moments when I would have been in danger if I had missed my timing or failed to adjust my distance even slightly.

However, just being able to gain this much of an advantage over an opponent with similar specs, and that too an academy student, who are said to be a gathering of geniuses, is a great feat in itself.

I had felt it before, but Han Kang-yoon’s body seemed to possess a remarkably keen sense in that regard.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙧.」

A perfectly ideal outcome, but this was also just the beginning.

Considering the crises that lay ahead, no matter how much I improved my skills, it would never be enough.

My teammates, who had been catching their breath, approached me.

Fortunately, there were no additional casualties, thanks to the shikigami I had sent to support them wholeheartedly.

The teammates who had achieved ideal results all had elated expressions on their faces.

“This is a dream, holy crap. . . . . .”

“Did you really defeat that Guilford in a one-on-one fight?”

“I still can’t believe it. This is the first time I’ve seen him lose a fight.”

Among the admiring teammates, Yoon I-hwa also sent a message through her communicator.

『Are you really at the bottom of A-class? It doesn’t make sense no matter how I think about it.』

“Well, I just got promoted. It would be weirder if I was ranked higher.”

『. . .Y-Yeah, that’s true.』

After taking a short break, we finally managed to find the point we had discovered earlier and got our hands on the treasure in the cave.

Ding!

【Treasure Hidden in the Northern Cave Area Acquired: Complete】

▶350P

【5th Place: Class 2-B Yoon I-hwa Team】

▶600P

With the 150 points we had originally, the 100 points we earned by completely eliminating the opposing team, and the 350 points from the treasure acquisition mission, we had climbed to the upper ranks of the scoreboard in an instant and seized the 4th place title.

“From now on, we should be able to get by just by clearing small missions, right?”

“. . .If we can just maintain our score, getting a high grade isn’t a dream.”

At the results before their eyes, the teammates gulped and tensed up with excitement.

However, just then, Han Chae-won from Class B, who had been examining the treasure, called out to everyone.

“Wait a minute, something’s weird.”

“What’s wrong?”

To the teammates’ question, she silently pointed to the object in her hand.

A wooden tablet that didn’t look like anything special. And there was a single character written on it.

「𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙」

『Cheon? A thousand? No way. . . . . .』

As if to confirm Yoon I-hwa’s unease, a new mission was suddenly added to the student-exclusive terminals.

Ding!

【Possess the Treasure of the Cave Until the End of the Exam】

▶1000P

At the contents of the mission, the expressions of everyone present hardened.