Chapter 302: 17th Week Strategy Battle (3)

Whooooooooooooosh—!

We dove to the sides, dodging the oncoming storm of flames.

Even though it was just an E-rank Inferno Fist, with my S-rank elemental resistance, I could have taken the hit head-on without much trouble.

Still, I chose to avoid it.

Because it might have taken [Copy].

If, by any chance, it had managed to copy a high-rank skill or trait, it would be a disaster. Leaving no openings was the safest choice.

Whooooooooooosh—

Even with the E-rank restriction, Inferno Fist unleashed power worthy of a prohibited skill.

Dark red flames smoldered in the path of the passing firestorm.

I felt the lingering heat and looked at the creature’s fist.

It had burned pitch-black, reduced to charcoal.

That meant it had taken the full brunt of the elemental penalty.

No elemental resistance.

But in the next moment, the charred fist rapidly regenerated and became as good as new—

As if time itself had rewound.

So it has Retrorecovery instead.

It must have copied skills at random, but the combination was surprisingly effective.

However, Retro Recovery had a cooldown of three whole days, and the battle had only just begun.

From this point on, it wouldn’t be able to manage its penalties at all.

I turned to Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

“At most, it can take three or four more hits.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

With brief responses, the two launched their assault on Doppelgang-Ho from both directions.

Sword energy slashed forward, while a battle rifle spat blue fire.

Swish—!

Tutututututututututu—!

“......”

The fake Kim Ho flicked its eyes back and forth, moved through the onslaught with precise footwork, and slipped through the smallest gaps in the attacks.

Blades and magic bullets narrowly grazed past.

Go Hyeon-woo let out an impressed murmur.

“Fake Kim-hyung sure fights like the real Kim-hyung. This won’t be easy.”

“That’s right. It dodges well.”

Maybe because it was my clone, but its movements were sharper than I expected.

Of course, without any significant movement skills, it was impossible to dodge every attack using only basic movements.

Especially when the opponents were none other than Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.

The two coordinated their attacks, steadily pressuring the doppelga?nger and gradually accumulating damage.

Before long, Doppelgang-Ho seemed to realize that things couldn’t continue like this and decided to play its next card.

Whooosh—

A whirlwind erupted around it.

The trajectories of the incoming sword energy and magic bullets subtly shifted, creating small gaps in the once-tight offensive.

Dodging became a bit easier.

Whooosh—

Immediately after, Doppelgang-Ho directed the wind toward Seo Ye-in.

Judging by the aggressive way it wielded the skill,

It’s not Twister; it’s Spiral Explosion.

Since it was a combination skill, it essentially meant the doppelga?nger had taken Twister, One Point Explosion, and Air Burst all at once.

However, this also confirmed that it hadn’t taken the copy.

Which means I can make my move.

Whooosh—

I generated a counteracting whirlwind, scattering its Spiral Explosion.

My rank was far superior, and with the added bonus of the Blessing of the West Wind, there was no way it could compete with me.

I was about to rush in and beat down Doppelgang-Ho, but then I changed my mind.

Maybe I should wait a little longer.

Opportunities like this didn’t come often, so it seemed better to let them gain as much experience as possible.

Besides, they were holding their own well enough even without my intervention.

So I decided to take a step back and offered advice instead.

“One trait left. Just watch out for that.”

“Understood.”

Its E-rank [Core] must have been there from the start, and one of its traits was [Retrorecovery].

Depending on what the remaining one was, it could still catch us off guard.

As its Spiral Explosion was effortlessly dispersed, Doppelgang-Ho clenched its fist tightly once more.

Then, it thrust an Inferno Fist straight at Seo Ye-in.

Whoooooooosh—!

Meanwhile, Go Hyeon-woo was rapidly closing the distance behind the doppelga?nger and stepping swiftly with precise footwork.

It seemed he had decided that engaging in close combat would be more effective than sending out sword energy.

Anyway, since we had successfully dispatched the doppelganger, it was time to carry out our objective in the control room.

I signaled to Go Hyeon-woo, and he smiled softly as he grabbed the lever and applied force.

The lever slowly descended, just a little at a time.

Crrreeeak,

“...It’s heavier than it appears.”

“If it weren’t set up like this, people would just pull the lever and run.”

“That makes sense.”

Anyone holding the handle would inevitably be vulnerable to attack.

The intention was to force us to deal with the doppelganger rather than resort to any underhanded tactics.

Before long, the lever reached the bottom and a series of clanking noises echoed from all directions.

And then, an almost terrifying silence ensued.

Every mechanical device installed throughout the dungeon had come to a stop.

I said to the two, who were looking around in wonder,

“Let’s move. This thing’s going to start rising again soon.”

“......!”

“......!”

The two promptly began to follow me.

It appeared that neither Seo Ye-in nor the ever-optimistic Go Hyeon-woo wished to linger in the trap-laden area for long.

With the poltergeists constantly poking and prodding at us, their irritation must have doubled.

We left the control room and made our way toward our final destination. The exit.

The good news was that since we had just pulled the lever, all the traps had been deactivated.

Even the poltergeists that had been popping up here and there had completely vanished.

“........?”

Curious, Seo Ye-in cautiously nudged the edge of a trap with her toe.

Naturally, nothing happened.

“It’s broken.”

“It will be fixed soon.”

After a certain amount of time, the control room would restore itself, and the deactivated traps would reactivate.

With that in mind, we quickened our pace and pushed through the dungeon.

After pressing forward for a while, we finally spotted a green emergency light glowing in the distance.

Right beneath it was a teleportation portal leading outside.

We had reached the exit.

Go Hyeon-woo let out a wry smile.

“This was more mentally exhausting than I expected. I didn’t realize my weakness to mechanical traps would be holding me back this much.”

“Well, what can you do? You’ll have to get used to it.”

After all, even the upcoming finals would take place in a dungeon that was essentially an upgraded version of the Cheese Trap.

“You’re right. I should take this as a learning opportunity.”

Nodding to himself, Go Hyeon-woo said he was going to seek advice from Shin Byeong-cheol and walked off.

Meanwhile, Seo Ye-in hugged the Kim Ho, Kim Ho Pot tightly and headed back to the dorms.

I watched them leave and pulled up my quest window.

[Side Quest: 17th Week Strategy Battle] (Completed)

? Objective: Clear the Strategy Battle Dungeon (1/1)

? Bonus Objective: Neutralize the Control Room (1/1)

?Reward: [Copy – Trait] Slot +1

? Copy – Traits [2/3]

1. Retrorecovery (S)

2. The Sovereign’s Crown

3. (Empty)

I finally had three slots each for skills and traits.

Thinking back to how I had barely scraped by with just one skill slot and one trait slot when I first enrolled, this was a huge leap forward.

With this, the Strategy Battle was officially complete.

The next thing on my schedule was entering the ice-themed dungeon with Hong Yeon-hwa.

While she worked on ranking up Aqua Flame, I planned to do some rank training of my own.

The rubies I’d receive as compensation were just a bonus.

But before that—

I should pick up what I left in safekeeping first.

With that in mind, I headed toward the Ruby Magic Tower clubroom.

***

As always, Hong Ye-hwa greeted me with her business-like smile.

“Welcome. Yeon-hwa isn’t here yet. Want me to call her?”

“No, I actually came to speak with you today, senior.”

“With me?”

Surprised by my words, Hong Ye-hwa raised an eyebrow slightly.

I nodded and continued.

“Yes, I’d like to use the Book of Chaos.”