The duel ended after about eight minutes. Neither fast nor slow, the result was as expected, but no one could have predicted what just occurred. The audience remained dead silent.

“How terrifying. Those were real bullets, right?”

Oh Junhyuk looked down at Kim Hajin walking back to the waiting room.

“Yep.”

Seo Youngji nodded.

“But he doesn’t look hurt at all, even though he looks like a beehive.”

He pointed to Kim Horak, whose body was full of bullets. The protective armor covered his vital points and he didn’t bleed much or seem to be in pain.

“For martial artists, their bodies are their weapons. Recovery is their specialty.”

“So, what did you think?”

“Kim Hajin did well, but Kim Horak was too reckless. Kim Horak showed off and lost. If he took it slow… Well, I guess the result would have been the same.”

Honestly, Kim Horak didn’t need to use qi reinforcement. Instead, he could have simply imbued his gauntlets with magic power and slowly overwhelmed Kim Hajin.

“I guess it was Kim Hajin’s tactical victory. He still lost though.”

Oh Junhyuk scratched the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure how to feel since Kim Hajin surrendered a won fight.

“It leaves a bad aftertaste,” Seo Youngji murmured with a frown. Her laptop displayed a picture of Kim Hajin as she wrote a report.

“What, that he lost on purpose?”

“No, Kim Hajin put up a good fight, but I understand his loss.”

“… Really?”

Oh Junhyuk looked at Kim Horak being treated in the arena. No, it couldn’t even be called treatment. Kim Horak simply drank a high rank potion, and the bullets popped out of his muscles after he flexed. His expression contained both anger and relief at the results. 

“At first… no, from the start until the end, Kim Hajin overwhelmed him. His initial reaction speed and dynamic vision honestly surprised me. His firing speed was unbelievable too.”

“I agree. His firing speed was something else.”

“However, he slowed down just as much as Kim Horak, even though he never got injured. I think Kim Hajin can’t maintain that movement for long.”

Tak tak tak. Seo Youngji spoke as she tapped on the keyboard.

“And before Kim Hajin surrendered, he tried to finish off Kim Horak. I saw him pull the trigger, but nothing came out. His face stiffened, and he rummaged through his pockets without taking anything out.”

“So he used up all his bullets.”

“Yep, but he didn’t try fighting Kim Horak, even though Kim Horak only had his left hand. Why?”

“Because he wasn’t confident in winning?”

Seo Youngji lightly nodded.

“Right. He used up his bullets, but he hadn’t won. Kim Horak only had a single arm left, but he could still fight. At that point, Kim Hajin lost.”

Oh Junhyuk took a deep breath. Then he tilted his head.

“Oh right, how did he break Kim Horak’s qi reinforcement? He only used a single bullet, and twice at that.”

“Right, that’s the problem. That’s why I said it left a bad aftertaste.”

Seo Youngji took off her glasses. It looked like she was getting ready to explain in detail. Oh Junhyuk swallowed his saliva.

“Most people, including you, probably missed it, but I spotted the movement of magic power on his bullet.”

“… Is that possible? He’s only a cadet!” exclaimed Oh Junhyuk.

Mana was extremely difficult to control. Making it thin enough to coat a bullet and compressing it to destroy qi reinforcement, even Oh Junhyuk wasn’t confident.

“I’m looking it up on the market in case it’s a trick that uses an item, or if it’s related to his gift. If he used an item, it’s cheating. But if it’s his gift… It might be the first of its kind.”

Oh Junhyuk sighed at Seo Youngji’s serious expression.

“Huu… Anyways, I don’t like it. I thought Kim Horak was carrying out justice, but Kim Hajin crushed him.”

Kim Horak won, but suffered enormously. In a one-on-one fight, warriors countered sharpshooters. Kim Horak should have overwhelmed Kim Hajin, but Kim Hajin toyed with him instead. Not only would this be traumatic, but his scout evaluations could also plummet. On the other hand, Kim Hajin attracted everyone’s attention, including the guild associates present.

— Yes, Kim Hajin. Never heard of him? Me neither, but he just fought with Kim Horak and he…

— He uses a gun. Yes, his limit should be clear, but he broke a qi reinforcement. Yes, it was an incomplete qi reinforcement, but just the fact that he broke it…

— I don’t know how he destroyed a qi reinforcement either. That’s why I’m calling you…

Guild associates started calling.

“Justice doesn’t always win. Well, we don’t really know which side is justice.”

“… Yeah, yeah. Just keep writing your report. New talent discovered. Nice title.”

The host announced the next duel as Seo Youngji glanced at her watch.

“Kim Hajin, I’ll have to remember him. Let’s leave after we watch Kim Suho’s match. It’s coming up in three fights.”

“Yeah, I planned on doing the same. What is he complaining about?”

Oh Junhyuk gestured across the arena. The man who previously grinned at them stared at Kim Hajin’s passageway with killing intent. 

Seo Youngji replied, “… He must not have liked how it turned out. Everyone has their taste.”

***

After the first duel, I used two of my nominations. I picked two male cadets around the 300-400 ranks. The duels started around 5 and ended around 8.

The fights were… strange comebacks.

Of course, I was no longer at my best. I had depleted stigma’s magic power against Kim Horak, and couldn’t use Bullet Time, which was limited to once a day. In addition, I fought against swordsmen.

Kim Horak made for an easier target because he used martial arts. Although I would have been helpless if he didn’t use qi reinforcement and saved his magic power instead. He lost because of his carelessness. He might have been aiming for the quickest win record to show off.

Unlike Kim Horak, my other two opponents slowly closed in on me. They blocked my bullets with their swords and dragged the fight out. 

In the end, I managed to win thanks to my luck.

The first opponent lost to a ricochet. The bullet I accidentally bounced off the ground and struck his armpit. He dropped his sword in pain and instantly surrendered.

The second opponent lost to his own mistake. It was a drawn-out battle over 30 minutes. He sweated so much from blocking my bullets that it pooled into a puddle. Before the referee announced a draw, he charged at me while I reloaded. Then he slipped on his own sweat. Hoiiik—! I recalled his scream.

“God, that guy was just too funny.”

I giggled and lay in bed. The final results were 2 wins 1 loss. Sharpshooters also gained bonus points for fighting warriors, so I no longer had to worry about being held back.

“Auuu.”

I stretched and looked out the window. Darkness concealed the world like a thick curtain, and the pale moon was its only source of light. The eerie scenery made me anxious.

“I hope everything will be okay.”

I suddenly thought about the Chameleon Troupe. I saw them at the arena. Not only the boss, but also that guy. A monster with the instincts of a savage beast, completely obsessed with strength. According to the original story, he should have felt Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak’s potential and peacefully returned after promising to fight them in the future. However, that didn’t seem to be the case. He wanted to fight immediately with the strong heroes currently patrolling Cube.

“Well, it’s not like I can do anything about it.”

He could kill me with a single breath.

“Hmm…”

My gaze wandered to the corner of my bed. Park Soohyuk gave me a rather expensive gift for being his first investor.

“A drone…”

It was a fist-sized drone with a camera.

***

A chilling wind brushed against the leaves in one of Cube’s artificial forests. A bulky man sat on a tree trunk in the darkness. He wore a formal suit that made him quite eye-catching.

“He wasn’t much by my standard,” the man murmured.

— By your standard?

“Yep, he’s a mouse. I don’t like him, a tiny guy who only shoots from a distance.”

— You mean you don’t like his fighting style… You were supposed to find out why Boss is interested in him.

“How should I know?”

The man’s voice turned hostile.

— What are you mad for?

“You would understand if you saw that little rat’s fight. Rats like him… I need to pop off their heads…”

His eyes looked bloodshot. The duels he watched between rookies made his blood boil. He wanted to jump in and show them a real fight, but barely held himself back.

— What about Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak?

“Mmm… I thought they were okay… Maybe not…”

— Make up your mind.

“They were fine. Happy? I want to wait until they grow up to fight.”

At that moment…

“Who are you?”

A voice rang out from behind him. The man turned around and saw a police officer roaming around because of the combat exams. The man didn’t notice him because he was such a weakling without magic power.

— Don’t forget why Boss brought you.

The man nodded.

“Yeah… I know. I’m a master when it comes to recognizing the strong.”

— Right, that’s the only reason.

“Excuse me, what are you doing here? The forest is off limits. Please come out.”

The police officer approached him with a flashlight. The man stared at him with killing intent, but the officer couldn’t see his expression in the dark.

“Oh right, how did you get here in the first place? Sir? Come out!”

The man laughed.

“… Hey.”

— What.

“I’ll go after I crack open a nut.”

“Sir, stop talking to yourself and come out!”

The man’s fist cut through the air. He punched the air and caused a shockwave that crushed the officer’s body.

— Did you do it?

“Yep.”

— Boss is going to kill you.

“Keep it a secret.”

— I will until she finds out. For now, do your job.

Thanks to the weakling, his mind slightly cleared up. He stood up and walked away. The dorms were only a few minutes away. After a while, his keen hearing picked up on a few faint voices.

— Hey, what is this?

— Ueeek. Fuck, this is a corpse! Contact headquarters!

Far off in the distance, he grinned as he watched the two officers vomiting.

Wiing— Wiing—

“Mmm?”

He heard a mosquito buzzing and turned.

— What?

“Nothing, just a mosquito.”

— How lame. Hurry up before I tell Boss that you killed someone.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.”

The man quickened his pace.

A tiny drone hovered silently above and watched him leave before disappearing.