After class was over,

Most students stuck with their usual partners, but there were also quite a few who paired up flexibly.

And naturally, the latter group flocked to the thieves.

“Hey, hey! Partner with me!”

“Shin Byeong-cheol, you don’t have a partner yet, right?”

“If you team up with me, we’ll win for sure!”

Depending on the type, traps could deal damage or cause various status effects when triggered.

For those stepping on them, neither outcome was desirable.

However, if you paired up with a thief-class student, you could worry less about traps. It was no surprise they were in high demand.

Among them, Shin Byeong-cheol was particularly popular. While he might not have excelled in every area, his skill in handling various devices was on par with second- and third-year students.

Even in the Black Death Dungeon, Shin Byeong-cheol had bypassed all the mechanical traps, and he had also participated as a key member of the thieves’ club during the temporary storage room operation.

But for some reason, Shin Byeong-cheol ignored all the offers pouring in and walked over to this side.

Seeing him, Go Hyeon-woo spoke up.

“Shin-hyung’s skill with mechanical devices is truly unrivaled. It’s only natural he’s so popular.”

“My time has come, that’s what I’m saying.”

Shin Byeong-cheol said with a smirk before quickly shifting to a more serious expression.

“However, as a man of honor and romance, Shin Byeong-cheol does not turn his back on those who lend him a hand in difficult times.”

Even when Shin Byeong-cheol was considered the weakest in other duels or midterms, Go Hyeon-woo had always teamed up with him.

So this time, it seemed Shin Byeong-cheol intended to prioritize forming a pair with Go Hyeon-woo.

I thought he would chase after his own interests and immediately team up elsewhere, but this was unexpected.

It was a surprisingly heartwarming moment, but now Go Hyeon-woo wore an awkward smile.

“Shin-hyung, I really appreciate your offer, but I’m afraid I can’t accept it.”

“...What?”

Shin Byeong-cheol’s face stiffened as if he couldn’t believe he was being rejected.

“I already have a prior arrangement. I’ll take your feelings to heart, though.”

“What? With who?”

The answer came from elsewhere.

“Hurry up! Hurry!”

Beyond the classroom door, Han So-mi was waving her hand energetically.

We all turned to look at her and then shifted our attention to Go Hyeon-woo.

I asked him,

“How did you end up teaming up with her?”

“It’s one of those things. Sometimes, things just take an unexpected turn.”

“For now, just go. Don’t keep her waiting any longer.”

“Okay. See you later.”

With quick steps, Go Hyeon-woo walked off.

Shin Byeong-cheol who was left behind looked at me this time, but of course I was already spoken for.

“.......”

Lucky Charm had already grabbed hold of my arm.

As if to make it clear that she had no intention of letting me go, she gently but firmly started pulling me toward her.

As I was slowly being dragged along, I spoke to Shin Byeong-cheol.

“I think you’ve done more than enough to prove your loyalty. Now, it’s time for you to set off in search of a new connection.”

“......There’s no helping it, is there? But you’ll regret turning down my offer.”

Shin Byeong-cheol replied with a dramatic, chivalrous tone before turning on his heel.

The others who had been watching quickly realized that Shin Byeong-cheol was back on the market. Like a school of piranhas sensing prey, they swarmed toward him.

After observing the scene for a moment, I turned my attention to Seo Ye-in.

“Shall we get going?”

“Let’s go.”

***

The moment we arrived at the arena, we scanned our student IDs on the terminal.

While waiting for the match to be assigned, I checked this week’s side quest.

[Side Quest: 16th Week Duel Battles] (In Progress...)

? Objective: Complete 2 duel matches (-/2 matches)

? Deadline: ~ midnight on Sunday.

? Reward: Vary based on achievement

Maximum achievement would be coming in first place in both matches.

It wouldn’t be easy.

Since it was a two-person three-way battle, there were a total of six participants, which meant there would be many variables to consider.

Of course, because of that, the rewards were likely set higher than those of other duel battle weeks.

It should be pretty rewarding.

If things went well, there was a decent chance of earning a Rank Up or a high-rank Stamp Coupon.

As I was lost in these thoughts, a notification message appeared.

[Kim Ho: 789 points, Seo Ye-in: 801 points]

vs [?]

vs [?]

Because it was under blind rules, all information about the opponents was completely hidden. Including their names and scores,

After all, opponents in similar score brackets were often evenly matched, so revealing the scores could make it easy to identify who they were.

Since I was already aware of this, I brushed it off without much thought, and Seo Ye-in and I stepped into the teleportation magic circle.

The place we arrived at was a small room enclosed on all sides by walls.

“......?”

Or magic circles that engulfed an entire passageway in flames.

With so many different types of traps around, Seo Ye-in’s curiosity didn’t seem to die down just yet.

This time, she was staring intently at a faintly engraved magic circle on the floor.

Fine, do whatever you want.

I maintained my position as an observer, while Seo Ye-in, perhaps a little more cautious now, decided to prod the magic circle with the tip of her magic gun instead of stepping on it herself.

But that wasn’t a particularly wise choice either—

Squish—

The solid floor in that area instantly turned to mush, flowing like a swamp.

Before she could react, Seo Ye-in sank waist-deep into the sludge.

“...Help.”

“Had enough yet?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going to try anything else, right?”

“Okay.”

Only after receiving her firm answer did I extend my hand. Seo Ye-in grabbed hold of it, and I pulled her out of the swamp.

For a moment, I locked eyes with her pale gray ones, then shoved her back in without hesitation.

Squish—

Seo Ye-in, once again waist-deep in the floor, looked up at me.

Her face was expressionless, but her eyes seemed to ask, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I just felt like being mean”

“Don’t be mean.”

“Alright, I won’t. Take my hand.”

Just as I had done moments before, I pulled Seo Ye-in out of the trap.

From then on, Seo Ye-in became more cautious, and we carefully avoided the traps as we moved forward.

Occasionally, we encountered traps so widespread that they would activate no matter how close we got. In those cases, we simply treated them like walls and looked for another path.

Who knows how much time passed like that?

I feel like we should run into someone soon.

It had been quite some time since the match started, so I figured at least one of the teams would cross our path by now.

As if on cue—

Screeeeeech—!

A familiar sound of projectiles tearing through the air echoed in my ears.

Turning my head in the direction of the noise, I saw a few arrows flying toward us from the other end of the corridor.

“......”

A wisp of black mist rose from Seo Ye-in’s wrist. It darted through the air before nudging the arrows off course.

As expected, rounding the corner of the corridor were Cha Hyeon-joo and a male student I’d never seen before.

Cha Hyeon-joo glared at me and started grinding her teeth audibly.

“...Kim Ho.”

“It’s been a while. Where’s Hee-chan?”

“I ditched him.”

“How cold-hearted of you.”

“Shut up.”

Of course, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand Cha Hyeon-joo’s reasoning.

Kang Hee-chan’s skills were far from impressive for someone considered a promising student.

It’s human nature to want even slightly better teammates when given the choice.

On top of that, Kang Hee-chan’s repeated losing streaks had caused his score to drop significantly.

If paired with him, the average score would lower, making it less likely for someone like me to end up as her opponent in the match.

In that sense, Cha Hyeon-joo’s plan had worked out for her.

After all, I was the one matched against her in this duel battle.

Of course, whether it was a good decision or not was a different matter altogether.

Cha Hyeon-joo glared at me and said,

“Don’t run away. Let’s settle this once and for all.”

“Hmm...”

I rested my chin on my hand, pretending to think deeply for a moment.

Everyone focused their gaze on me, waiting for the next words to come out of my mouth.

At last, I opened my mouth to speak.

“Let’s settle th—”

But before I could finish, a wall of ice suddenly shot up and completely blocked the corridor.

I had cast Ice Wall.

“—settle this? What are you even talking about, you brat? Do you know how many times I’ve wiped the floor with you already?”

“Get rid of this!!”

Thud, thud!

Cha Hyeon-joo’s shouts and the sound of furious pounding came from the other side of the ice wall.

The male student standing beside her must have joined in as well, but breaking it wouldn’t be easy.

After all, this was a B-rank Ice Wall I had copied from one of the high-ranking members of the White Magic Club.

I reinforced the wall of ice with Chilwind and spoke again.

Whiiirrr—

“You two can go ahead and deal with that. We’ll be on our way now.”

“Get—! Get rid—of—this—!!”

With that, I turned and walked off with Seo Ye-in to another place.