Chapitre 10: Chapter 10 : The Game Is Afoot
<Fisherman Training Arena>
*CLANG* *CLANG*
The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the arena. Jinwoo and Anak had entered a fight with each other. Needle clashed against needle as the two jumped from one platform to another.
Pretty much everyone was looking at the fight with keen interest. It's not every day one gets to see a fight where an unknown regular is holding his own against a princess of Zahard.
Anak went for a stabbing motion with the needle. But Jinwoo easily parried it and slashed her. She however, jumped back to evade the attack.
'What is going on?! He wasn't this strong during the crown game. Did he really get this strong within the span of three weeks? Or was he holding back earlier?' She was quite confused.
And this feeling was shared by the second princess in the arena.
'This guy... It looks like I underestimated him.'
Jinwoo didn't give Anak a chance to breathe as he rushed and delivered a few more slashes. With quick reflexes, she managed to evade most of them. However, one of the attacks managed to leave a tiny scratch on her left cheek. But he wasn't done yet.
Using the momentum, he leapt and delivered a powerful kick, which she managed to block. The force behind the attack pushed her away and she almost fell from the platform. But she managed to backflip onto another platform to avoid elimination.
For a second it looked as if her rage was about to explode if it hadn't already. But then, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked at Jinwoo with a calm expression.
"I'll admit, Sung Jinwoo. You are strong." Pausing for a bit, she continued. "But there is one thing you should know..."
At this moment, Jinwoo sensed a change in the shinsu surrounding Anak. And it only grew with time.
'Wait. Is she using...' He was a little bit surprised by the turn of events.
Deco, the ranker overseeing the match, also had a look of realisation.
'Oh? She already mastered 'that'? Then again, that's to be expected from a princess of Zahard.'
"You see, Jinwoo..." Now she spotted a grin on her face."... I wasn't going all out before."
"I am surprised you've already mastered how to use Shinsu Boost." Jinwoo commented. "It has only been two days since our instructor taught us that."
"But there seems to be a misunderstanding, Anak Zahard."
At first, the people around were a bit confused by what he meant. But that confusion turned to realisation when the shinsu started flowing irregularly around him as well.
Seeing the surprised look on their faces, he smiled.
"You are not the only one who can do that."
[Skill activated: Shinsu Boost]
[Active Skill: Shinsu Boost
MP Cost: 20(+5 per minute)
Level: 1
A shinsu technique used to increase your physical parameters. The increase depends on the user's proficiency.
Boosts all stats by 10%]
Anak leapt into the air and brought down a powerful kick at Jinwoo.
'Let's check how your shinsu boost is compared to mine.' He met the kick with a punch. Both of them recoiled from the impact.
'Almost even, huh?' Both of them had the same thought in mind. 'In that case...'
Anak dropped her weapon, challenging him for a barehanded fight. He responded in kind and dropped his weapon as well. They both rushed at the same time and threw a flurry of punches at each other.
Almost every punch he threw at her was met by her own punch. Although occasionally, a few attacks did seem to breach her defences. To the others watching this exchange, the motion almost seemed blurred due to the speed at which it was happening.
Eventually, they broke off the exchange and leapt back. But what surprised almost everyone was that Anak seemed to have taken more damage than Jinwoo
'That lizard took more damage?! Even if she is a fake, she still has father's blood flowing through her veins.' Even Endorsi was surprised by the observation. 'They seemed to be evenly matched in strength and speed. If there is any advantage Jinwoo has, it would... Ah. I see...' She figured it out.
Jinwoo was taller and had a longer reach compared to Anak.
'Hold on. Now that I think of it, he wasn't this tall three weeks ago. What is he?'
But before the match could continue, an announcement came.
"Alright regulars. That's enough. The test is over." The ranker Deco announced.
"What?" Jinwoo was surprised. "But I thought the test was supposed to go on until... Oh." He realised the reason when he looked around.
Including him, Anak and Endorsi, only five regulars remained.
"Indeed Mr Sung. Like I said in the beginning, the test was supposed to continue till at most eight regulars remained. And considering there are only five remaining, you have well crossed the requirements."
During the earlier fight, they did land on some platforms containing other regulars and had knocked down some of them, knowingly or unknowingly.
"But then... Why didn't you stop the match earlier?" He asked him.
"I just wanted to personally witness a 'Princess of Zahard' in action." Deco casually remarked, putting emphasis on 'Princess of Zahard'. A fact which didn't go unnoticed by Jinwoo. "You can go back now. We will meet again tomorrow."
With those final words, Deco walked away from the remaining regulars.
Looking back, Jinwoo saw that the two princesses were now talking with each other. But the conversation soon turned to arguing, and every sign showed that a fight might break out.
Jinwoo shook his head and walked away, not wanting to get caught up in whatever came next.
**********
At the same moment, Hansung Yu finished drinking a cup of coffee. He had watched the entire event that transpired during the test. Any doubts he had before was cleared.
'Now I can confirm that Sung Jinwoo is indeed an irregular.'
He turned around and started walking back towards his office.
'Looks like things are about to get chaotic, with three irregulars entering the tower at the same time.'
"Director." A voice called out to him. He saw Hwaryun walking towards him from another corridor.
"What are your next plans?" She enquired.
"We will try and recruit him, obviously." He answered. "We will continue with the original plan. Albeit, with some minor changes."
"And what about the two spies?" She asked.
"I already have a plan for them as well." He chuckled.
*****
<Unknown Cave on the test floor>
A lone figure sat on one of the rocks inside a cave, covered in darkness. A brown cloak hid most of his features, except for strands of blonde hair. In front of him floated a small black sphere and a lighthouse that looked similar to a Rubix cube. A beeping sound signalled the arrival of a message on the pocket.
"Unit No. 67, what's the status of the target?"
"..."
"Okay. Don't do anything rashly. Bide your time."
"..."
"Oh? Two potential targets for elimination? What are their positions?"
"..."
"I see. Keep an eye on the one under you. I'll relay the news to Unit No. 69 to watch the other one."
"..."
"Good. Keep me updated on the status."
"..."
_________________________________________________
<Cafeteria>
"So you are looking for a particular person in the tower?
"Yes. Her name is Rachel. I've asked a lot of people, but nobody seemed to have seen her. I thought I saw her during the crown game, but Khun said it was a different person."
Currently, Jinwoo and Bam were seated across a table. Both Khun and Rak had extra training for their position test and were unavailable at the moment. Jinwoo coincidentally saw that Bam was alone in the cafe, and had decided to keep him company.
"Hmm. Sorry, but I don't recall meeting anyone with the features you mentioned."
"Oh. I see..." Bam had a rather downcast expression on his face.
"But don't worry. I am sure you will meet her someday if you keep climbing." Jinwoo tried to console him. Bam smiled lightly on hearing this.
Then, a familiar voice interrupted their conversation.
"Hey, Jinwoo. We need to talk. Alone."
Turning around from his seat, Jinwoo saw Ho standing behind him. Over the past few days, he had noticed that his teammate had grown rather gloomy and distant from almost everyone. While he seemed open to everyone in the beginning, his behaviour slowly turned cold towards everyone other than his teammates.
Jinwoo simply nodded. "We'll talk later, Bam." He wished Bam who was sitting opposite to him on the table and got up to leave the cafe and move elsewhere. But during this, he noticed that Ho was glaring at Bam for some reason.
"Uh...Ho?"
"Ah, sorry. My mind was elsewhere." Ho broke off from his trance and left the cafe, with Jinwoo following him. Eventually, they reached a secluded place.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Jinwoo asked him, leaning on a wall.
Ho looked at Jinwoo with a blank expression, for a few seconds. Eventually, he asked a question.
"If you were given two different choices which may lead to a single outcome, one an easy choice and the other a hard choice, which will you pick?"
Jinwoo was surprised by this question. He was not expecting a philosophical question, but here it was.
"... You are serious, right? "
"As serious as I can ever be."
He thought for a few minutes on how to answer this question. He realised this had something to do with Ho's current mentality and that his answer could have consequences. But at the same time, he wasn't going to blatantly lie to his friend.
Eventually, he answered.
"... It's got nothing to do with whether the choice is easy or hard. I would pick the choice that would leave me with fewer regrets."
"And why is that?" Ho enquired.
"Because dying with regrets… Is one of the worst feelings one can ever get." Jinwoo paused for a bit and looked upwards, reminiscing about the event that could be said to be the reason he was transported to this new world.
"Some may say that the end justifies the means. But I don't think so. I believe the journey itself is more important than the destination. If I am going to live, I want to do it on my terms. And if I am going to die, I also want to do it on my terms. In a way that I won't regret. "
"I see." Ho finally spoke. "Thank you, and sorry for wasting your time like this." With those final words, he walked away from Jinwoo, determination clearly visible in his eyes.
'No regrets, huh?'
And while Jinwoo watched the figure of his friend walking away, a familiar redhead was leaning on the other side of the wall, listening to the entire conversation.
_________________________________________________
Name: Sung Jinwoo
Level: 10
Class: None
Title: None
HP: 1192
MP: 231
Fatigue: 0
<Stats>
Strength: 60
Vitality: 20
Agility: 49
Intelligence: 22
Sense: 22
Available Stat points : 0
<Active Skills>
Sprint(Lvl 1)
Dagger Throw(Lvl 1)
Bloodlust(Lvl 1)
Shinsu Boost(Lvl 1)
<Passive Skills>
Tenacity(Lvl 1)
Dagger Arts(Lvl 1)
_________________________________________________
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone