Chapter 9 : This Means War

"Hey, Jinwoo. Do you mind if I ask you something?" Shibisu asked him from across the table.

"What is it?"

"Every day I see you leaving our building early in the morning. Are you secretly training or something?" 

Currently, the teams of Jinwoo, Khun and Shibisu, minus Anak, were having their breakfast. It has been two weeks since the training began and the groups were mostly on friendly terms with each other. 

One of the assignments for the scouts training was making a friends list. Seeing no reason to decline it, Jinwoo had signed it. After that, the two groups began interacting more with each other and others who were on the list. 

Despite being the reason for his defeat in the crown game, Hatz didn't bear any kind of animosity against Jinwoo. In fact, he had actively voiced his wish to spar against him in the future to improve himself. 

"Yes. I train daily if that's what you are asking." He confirmed. "To be more precise, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and running 10 kilometres." 

"Wait. THAT STUFF ACTUALLY WORKS?!! I thought it was just some rumour seen in comics!" Shibisu was shocked, to say the least.

'They have comics here in the tower? Oh, wait. Why am I even surprised?'

"It works for me." He shrugged it off.

"Then mind if I join you from tomorrow?" Shibisu was determined.

"Dude. Did you forget that from tomorrow, we have extra tasks early in the morning for the scout training?" Hatz intervened.

At this Shibisu broke down into tears, complaining about overworking while the rest of them were amused by his antiques. It was then Jinwoo noticed that Ho was in a dazed state. He was staring off into space and had yet to touch his food.

"Ho?"

"Hmm?" He broke out of his trance. "What is it?"

"You... Still haven't touched your food. Are you okay?" 

"Oh. I was... Thinking about something. Don't worry." He quickly began eating as if nothing happened. Jinwoo was a little concerned by his teammate's behaviour.

But it wasn't only Jinwoo who noticed this. From his side, Khun also saw the behaviour of Ho and noticed the difference from a week ago.

'That guy is becoming more and more aloof. Could it be.... She was telling the truth?'

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<One week later, in the Fisherman Training Arena>

Currently, all the regulars who were selected for the fisherman position were in an open area. Multiple tall cylindrical blocks were present in the area, and each regular was placed on different blocks. Their instructor was floating in the air, observing the situation from above.

"Greetings, regulars. My name is Deco and I'm your new instructor for the fisherman position. You see, due to circumstances your old instructor, Hex, had to leave the test floor to attend to some matters. So from today onwards, I'll be the instructor in her stead. Is that clear?"

Jinwoo sized up the new instructor and his outfit. He was a tall guy wearing an ankle-length black overcoat, a white plague doctor mask, black gloves and boots.

For a second, Jinwoo could have sworn he saw the ranker glancing at him. Then he continued talking.

"For this test, your aim is to be the last one standing. You have to jump from pillar to pillar, knocking the others down from the block, at least till only eight of you remains. Also, you cannot use any weapon other than the needle that was given to you. Remember, the result of this test will have a major impact on the final test. Any questions? "

At this, Endorsi raised her hand.

"People could die if they fall from this height. So, is there any protection setup?"

"There is a protection, but it's not perfect. So there is a high chance you might get injured if you fall from this height and might miss a few classes. And as you know, there are points for participating in the classes. You might lose those." 

Most of the regulars had a nervous look on hearing this. In their minds, Jinwoo and the two princesses were pretty much guaranteed to pass. So it was only a matter of who will be eliminated.

"Now then, let's not waste any time and get this over with. Start."

For a few seconds, no one moved from their spots. The distance between the platforms was quite big and not everyone could jump that distance. Everyone was playing defensively. Well, almost everyone.

Jinwoo decided not to waste any more time and jumped to another platform. The regular got scared and tried to slash at Jinwoo. But he easily caught the needle with his bare hands.

"W-What?!"

Before he could do anything else, Jinwoo swiftly kicked him in the gut and send him down from the platform. At that moment he heard somebody shouting from behind him. One other regular had decided to take the chance and jumped at him.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!!"

But Jinwoo easily caught him midair by the throat and slammed him onto the ground.

"You know, shouting before you attack beats the purpose of an ambush." And just as easily as the previous guy, he too was tossed down the platform.

Jinwoo leapt onto the next platform. But he didn't notice that it had a familiar occupant.

"We meet again Sung Jinwoo." It was Endorsi.

"Oh. It's you."

"What do you mean 'Oh. It's you'? You should be honoured that a 'real' princess of Zahard had deemed you worthy to be fought against." She immediately slashed him with the needle, but Jinwoo blocked it with his own needle.

"Honored? Not really. Flattered? Maybe." He quipped. 

She was about to reply when they both noticed another person about to attack them. They leapt back right on time to avoid it. And the culprit? Someone they both had an encounter with.

Anak Zahard. 

"What are you doing here, fake?" Endorsi asked her. "You do know you are no match for me without the Green April, right? Don't tell me, do you have the IQ of a lizard as well?"

"Are you afraid that a so-called 'fake' will defeat an original?" Anak quipped back. "Every time I see the symbol of Zahard in your hair, I just want to break you into pieces." The mutual disdain they had for each other was pretty obvious at that point.

Looking at the conflict between the two apparent sisters, Jinwoo only had one thought. 

'... I am glad I have a normal family.'

"And you..." Anak pointed a finger at Jinwoo. "After I'm done with her, I am coming for you. I still have to pay you back for what happened during the crown game."

"Pay me back for what happened during the crown game?" Jinwoo scoffed. "I think that's got more to do with you, than with me."

"What did you just say?" Anak froze for a second. 

"Your team was the favourite to win the entire game. Hell, with that special weapon, you could have probably won the entire game by yourself. And what did you do? You decided to sit on the throne and do nothing for the majority of the time." Jinwoo continued, not noticing Anak gaining a dark look on her face. 

"And while Hatz and even Shibisu, the weakest member of your team, were putting effort, you did nothing. Had you supported your teammates even a little bit early on, we probably would have lost the round. And now you want to blame ME for your actions? If you haven't realised it already, the tower isn't a playground, little girl. I suggest you grow up. Fast."

(A/N: Fun fact, she is over 300 years old 🤣)

"..."

Silence.

For seconds, there was nothing but silence in the arena. Everybody was looking at Jinwoo with their jaws wide open. No one uttered a word. 

Not Endorsi. 

Not Anak. 

Not any of the other regulars. 

Not the instructor. 

Not even Hansung, who was watching the entire thing from a distance. 

"..." 

If there were words to describe the emotions going through her mind at that moment, it probably would be… 

Absolutely livid. 

Leaping high into the air, Anak brought down her fist with full force upon Jinwoo. Everyone who saw this expected him to dodge the attack. But surprisingly, he didn't move an inch. And when the attack was about to connect, he simply put his hand upward.

'Is that guy crazy?! Is he trying to contend against a princess of Zahard on the field of strength?!' This was the thought that went through the mind of every regular watching the clash.

And what happened next, surprised them all.

He caught the punch.

"You..." The most surprised was Anak herself. "You were not this strong during the Crown Game. What did you do?"

"What can I say?" He simply smiled.

"Three weeks is a long time."

Reeling back his free hand, he punched her in the gut with so much force that she was sent flying. Luckily, she landed on another platform and managed to avoid elimination.

Jinwoo glanced at the hand he used to block the punch.

'I guess she isn't a princess of Zahard for no reason. My arm feels a bit numb.'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Anak slowly getting up. Her attention and rage were now purely focused on Jinwoo.

"If you were aiming to make me angry..." She paused a bit, wiping her mouth. "Congratulations. You've done it."

"Well then, Anak Zahard...." He merely beckoned her. 

"... Bring it."

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[Name: Sung Jinwoo

Level: 10

Class: None

Title: None

HP: 1192

MP: 231

Fatigue: 2

<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)]

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