READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Duel (1)
Swoosh—
The shadow that had been clinging to the floor transformed into the shape of thorns and shot upwards.
“Oh……”
Jung Minwoo let out a low exclamation of admiration at the sight.
‘It’s amazing to see it in person.’
He knew that he could control the shadow in this way, but seeing it in person was a whole new experience.
‘Let’s see how sharp it is.’
Jung Minwoo brought his finger to the shadow that had risen like a thorn.
Poke—
“Ugh!”
A stinging pain was felt in his finger.
‘It’s pretty sharp……’
If this was the result of just a slight touch, the thought of being stabbed directly sent shivers down his spine.
T h i s wa s c opi e d fr o m k i n gm t l . o r g
‘And the power depends on the amount of demonic energy.’
Also, as the power of the shadow increased the more demonic energy he injected, if he could consistently grow, its power would continue to rise.
‘Since I can create various shapes, shall I try making one?’
Jung Minwoo tried to create a shield shape by manipulating the shadow.
‘It’s nice to be able to change the shape just by thinking, if I get more proficient with this, I’ll be able to attack and defend freely.’
He then practiced manipulating the shadow, creating various shapes such as swords, spears, and hammers.
About 30 minutes later.
‘I think I’ve practiced enough.’
Jung Minwoo stopped manipulating the shadow and decided to start practicing for the duel.
‘The individual training room has a function to duel with skeletons, right?’
Even though he only studied before reincarnation, he occasionally enjoyed games, so he knew what kind of monster a skeleton was.
“Summon one skeleton.”
As he looked up at the ceiling and spoke.
[There are three grades of skeletons: low, intermediate, and high. Which grade would you like to set?]
A woman’s voice flowed from the speaker, asking him which grade to choose.
“I’ll go with low.”
Since it was his first time, Jung Minwoo decided to start with the low grade as a taste.
[The grade has been set to low.]
Thud—
Along with the words that the setting had been completed, the wall split open.
Thud, thud, thud.
He could see a figure walking out from there.
‘That’s a skeleton.’ A form with only bones. It had the same appearance as the skeleton he had seen at the human body museum before his reincarnation.
However, there was something slightly different.
‘It’s holding a shield and a sword.’
The skeleton was walking toward him, fully armed.
‘Even if it looks weak, I shouldn’t underestimate it.’
Jung Minwoo adjusted his posture and looked at the skeleton.
‘Should I attack first?’
He thought it wouldn’t be bad to attack and see how it would react.
As he swung his hand toward the skeleton.
Swoosh!
The shadow on the floor transformed into thorns and pierced the skeleton’s head.
‘Is it slow to react because it’s low grade?’
The moment Jung Minwoo tried to observe what action the skeleton would take.
Fizzle—
It turned to dust and disappeared.
“……What?”
Jung Minwoo frowned at its absurdly easy death.
‘Why is it so weak?’
Jung Minwoo wondered if he had chosen too low of a grade, so he skipped ‘intermediate’ and immediately chose ‘high’.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter—!
Unlike before, this time the skeleton started running towards him, fully clad in plate armor.
‘Is this the real deal now?’
Jung Minwoo manipulated the shadow and attacked as he had before.
Swoosh!
The shadow, shaped like thorns, pierced the head of the helmeted skeleton.
Fizzle—
“Hmm?”
As before, the skeleton turned to dust and disappeared.
“……”
Jung Minwoo couldn’t help but feel deflated at the sight.
‘……Am I unexpectedly strong?’
For a moment, he thought he might be strong.
‘No, the skeleton was too weak for that.’
Th i s w a s c o p i e d f r o m ki n g mt l . o r g
He dismissed the thought, as he felt he could have won even if he had fought with a sword.
‘Skeletons won’t do for practice.’
Jung Minwoo stroked his chin, lost in thought.
If this continued, he might have to duel without proper practice, so he had to find a way.
‘……Should I duel with the other demons after all?’
In the end, Jung Minwoo concluded that he had to improve his skills by dueling with demons.
‘Then, should I ask that guy?’
A suitable opponent came to mind, but.
‘……What if he becomes too strong?’
The compulsion to be first and the fact that the opponent could become even stronger than him were holding him back.
‘But I’m hesitant to duel with anyone else……’
He didn’t trust the others, as he felt they would blab about his strategy.
‘Sigh, is there no other choice?’
Eventually, Jung Minwoo realized he had no choice and decided to ask that guy.
‘Alright, let’s stop thinking useless thoughts. Let’s think of it as a risk I have to take to improve my skills!’
When he went outside.
“Where should I train? Ribbit, ribbit.”
The Frog Man was looking around the training room, tilting his head.
‘What luck.’
Jung Minwoo was worried about finding him, but thankfully, he was spared the trouble.
“What are you doing here?”
Jung Minwoo approached the Frog Man with a friendly smile.
“Oh, I got my equipment, so I came to the training room to try it out. Ribbit, ribbit.”
“You’re here earlier than I expected. What number did you pass?”
“Unfortunately, I passed 11th. Ribbit, ribbit.”
“That’s still a good pass.”
T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r om k i n g m t l .o rg
Jung Minwoo patted the Frog Man on the shoulder and said.
“It’s fate that we met like this, want to go in and train together?”
“Train? Ribbit, ribbit.”
“Yeah, to be precise, let’s duel.”
At Jung Minwoo’s words, the Frog Man tilted his head and replied.
“Why? I was just going to train and go back. Ribbit, ribbit.”
Jung Minwoo, sensing that he might miss the chance to duel, whispered cautiously into the Frog Man’s ear.
“We should practice dueling. I think they’ll make us duel soon.”
“Do you have any reason to think so? Ribbit, ribbit.”
“Of course. They gave us equipment…… so they’ll make us use it, right? Don’t you think?”
Persuaded by Jung Minwoo’s passionate argument, the Frog Man nodded and said.
“……Indeed, the instructors would definitely make us duel. Ribbit, ribbit.”
“Exactly. That’s why I’m suggesting we be each other’s opponents to prepare.”
“Alright. Ribbit, ribbit.”
And so, the Frog Man was persuaded by Jung Minwoo’s passionate argument and entered the individual training room.
“Let’s warm up a bit before we start.”
As Jung Minwoo warmed up and brought up trivial matters, the Frog Man also started warming up and responding.
“By the way, what kind of equipment did you get? Ribbit, ribbit.”
At the Frog Man’s question, Jung Minwoo raised his hand and said.
“Me? This ring. What about you?”
“I chose a vest armor. Ribbit, ribbit.”
“Hmm? I don’t see it.”
“Ah! This armor has the effect of becoming transparent when worn. Ribbit, ribbit.”
T hi s w a s c op i e d fr o m k in g mt l . o r g
Jung Minwoo’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the Frog Man’s body.
‘Transparent armor…… It would be good for surprise attacks.’
When facing other demons, using this point could lead to easy victories through surprise attacks.
“Then, shall we start?”
“Sure. Ribbit, ribbit.”
He then said they should start the duel.
[Protective barriers will be set according to each individual’s defense. If the barrier is destroyed, you lose.]
A faint black curtain began to envelop his body.
‘They seem to be quite concerned about safety.’ He didn’t expect them to care about safety at all, but they seemed to be taking care of it meticulously.
“Ooh, this is amazing. Ribbit, ribbit.”
The Frog Man looked at his own body, seemingly fascinated.
[The duel will begin in 5 seconds.]
As the curtain enveloped his entire body, it announced that the duel would begin soon.
[5]
T hi s wa s c opi ed fr o m k in g m t l . o r g
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
As the countdown ended.
Beep—!
A buzzer sounded in the individual training room.
“Monster Transformation!”
And the Frog Man immediately used his unique trait in sync with the buzzer.
“……Riiiiibbbbbiiiit!”
T h is wa s c o p ie d fro m kin gmt l . o r g
His body swelled rapidly, his human-like form changing into that of a frog, and something resembling bat wings sprouted on his back.
‘I have to attack now.’
Jung Minwoo decided to land a decisive blow before the Frog Man finished transforming and shouted the activation word of the ring.
“Shadow Deployment.”
Then, the shadow beneath the Frog Man transformed into thorns and shot upwards.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—!
However, the barrier didn’t even scratch, probably because the defense measurement was set high.
‘As expected, the skeletons were ridiculously weak.’
Jung Minwoo clicked his tongue and was about to manipulate the shadow again when.
“Ptoo!!!”
The Frog Man, having finished his transformation, puffed out his cheeks and spat at him.
‘Fast.’
Realizing it was too late to dodge, Jung Minwoo created a shield using his shadow.
As the spit and the shield collided,
Sizzle—
The shadow began to melt rapidly.
‘This much demonic energy won’t do, huh?’
Jung Minwoo injected more demonic energy into the ring.
Slide—
The melted shadow was restored and became more solid.
“Ribbit!!!”
The Frog Man, seeing that his attack was ineffective, stuck out his tongue and attacked.
‘If I block this, I have a chance to counterattack!’
Jung Minwoo tried to block the attack by hiding behind the shield, but.
“Ribbit!”
The direction of the tongue changed, bypassing the shield and reaching behind him.
‘Damn it!’
The moment the tongue lunged towards him.
“Hup!”
He raised the shadow and wrapped it around his body.
Crash—!
Crack—
However, he couldn’t completely offset the attack, and he heard the sound of his barrier cracking.
“Ugh!”
In the midst of the chaos, Jung Minwoo desperately racked his brain to find a way out of this situation.
‘What can I do to turn this around?’
After going through hundreds of thoughts in a short time, he succeeded in coming up with a way to break through this situation.
‘This might work!’
Having finished his thought, Jung Minwoo released the shadow and immediately used Mind’s Eye.
And as he looked at the Frog Man.
【I’ll shoot poison and then finish him off with my tongue. Ribbit, ribbit.】
Letters formed above his head, turning the Frog Man’s thoughts into text.
‘If I know where he’s going to attack beforehand, it’s not difficult to block!’
Th i s w a s co p ie d fr o m k i n g m tl . o r g
Jung Minwoo jumped up from his spot and ran towards the Frog Man.
“Ribbit?”
The Frog Man seemed momentarily flustered by the unexpected action, but.
“Ptoo!!!”
He spat at him again.
‘No way.’
Jung Minwoo successfully blocked the spit by creating a shield with his shadow.
“Ribbit!!”
The Frog Man then stuck out his tongue.
【I attacked from behind last time, so it would be better to attack from above this time. Ribbit, ribbit.】
Having read his thoughts, Jung Minwoo created a shield above his head.
Thud—!
The tongue bounced right off.
“……Ribbit?”
The Frog Man looked bewildered, as if he hadn’t expected it to be blocked.
‘Now’s my chance.’
Jung Minwoo squeezed his heart and poured demonic energy into the ring.
“Here I come!”
And the moment he was about to strike the Frog Man.
T hi s w a s c o pie d f r o m k i n gm t l. o r g
Clang—
[Barrier number 1 has been broken. Number 1 loses.]
“Hmm?”
An announcement came from the speaker, informing him that his barrier had been broken.
‘……Did it break because of that attack just now?’
Jung Minwoo realized that his barrier had broken belatedly due to the impact of the Frog Man’s attack, as he had been late in defending himself.
T h i s wa s c o p i e d f r o m k i n g mtl . o rg
“Tsk, it was a good fight.”
It was a shame, but a loss was a loss, so Jung Minwoo readily admitted defeat.
‘Considering I’ve never fought before, I guess I did well.’
He decided to focus on the fact that he had fought this well with a unique trait specialized for combat and vowed to win next time.
“I agree. Ribbit, ribbit.”
The Frog Man released his Monster Transformation and extended his hand.
“You’ll come out tomorrow, right?”
Jung Minwoo asked, clasping the Frog Man’s hand.
“Of course! Ribbit, ribbit.”
Fortunately, the Frog Man gave a positive answer.
After that, Jung Minwoo and the Frog Man started spending about four hours dueling after class.
And as they dueled every day, a week passed quickly.
A week later.
As he sat at his desk in the classroom, like any other morning.
Creak—
“There will be no class today.”
The instructor who entered the classroom abruptly made an announcement.
“Instead, we will be having duels for all four periods.”
At the word ‘duel’, the classroom began to buzz.
‘This day has finally come.’
Jung Minwoo knew this beforehand through Mind’s Eye, but he pretended to be surprised to avoid suspicion.
“Are there any questions about this?”
At the instructor’s question, a demon cautiously raised his hand and asked.
“……Excuse me, instructor? It wasn’t in the notice. Is this happening so suddenly?”
The instructor clicked his tongue at the demon’s question and said, as if he found it pathetic.
“Would you say the same thing if the pigeons attacked?”
“……”
The treaty was about not invading each other’s territories, not about fighting.
T h i s w as c o p ie d f ro m k i n g mt l. or g
In other words, fighting on other planets was not a violation.
“Therefore, we must always be prepared to fight the pigeons.”
At the instructor’s explanation, the demons nodded as if they understood.
“Since we are holding this duel without notice, bonus points will be awarded to the one who places first.”
The demons’ eyes began to sparkle at the instructor’s following explanation.
“Now that you all seem to understand, make sure to come to the dueling arena as soon as you are ready.”
As if he had finished what he had to say, the instructor left the classroom.
“Wow, I didn’t expect we’d actually duel. I’m glad I listened to you. Ribbit, ribbit.”
The Frog Man exclaimed in admiration and spoke to Jung Minwoo.
“What did I tell you? I said they’d probably do it. It doesn’t hurt to listen to me.”
At Jung Minwoo’s words, the Frog Man nodded vigorously as if he agreed.
“He told us to go to the dueling arena, so shall we head out now?”
“Sure. Ribbit, ribbit.”
They both got up from their seats and left the classroom.
As he walked down the hallway, Jung Minwoo felt his body itching.
‘I’m excited to see who my first opponent will be.’
His skills had also improved tremendously over the week, so he was confident he could win against anyone.
‘I’ll definitely get the bonus points by placing first.’
Jung Minwoo, burning with motivation, headed to the dueling arena with the Frog Man.