Chapter 37

Chapter 37

"Are you crazy?"

"Crazier than an asshole who comes to a club and asks for food. This place is under the protection of the Familia as of today, and since I'm in charge here, security is my responsibility, so get lost."

"Familia? Security? What kind of newfangled bullshit is this, Isheri?"

At the sound of the male voice calling out to her, Isheri, who was behind Jin-woo's back, sticks her head out.

"Look, our 'Recipe Development Club' has a contract with the 'Familia Club'! This is a threat, so please...... go back!"

"What? A threat? Ha, really. Why are you threatening me? I'm asking you to cook for me because I got hurt on a mission, and isn't that what your volunteer club is supposed to do?"

"That's not a duty, no, it's not! All we do is provide payment, not support!"

After hearing Isheri's words, the man made a dumbfounded expression.

"Payments? Ha, you'd think we were the bad guys. Is it wrong for a combat-type club to expect support from a support-type club?"

"It's wrong when the support club is forced to do something they don't like."

This was important to Jin-woo, who had lived with members of the Bevalt Family since he was a child.

He has always been very proud of the fact that he is a member of the Bevalt family under the Corleone umbrella.

Corleone and Bevalt don't impose on those who support them.

"Get lost, unless you really want to be trashed."

"The kid's.......You think you're funny, don't you? What if I don't leave?"

If that happened, Jin-woo would just follow through with his mission.

"I'll have to beat the shit out of you for the club's 'Familia' mission."

His mission was to protect the Recipe Development Club from threats.

"Ha, you're going to fight me for a club I've never heard of called 'Familia', are you serious?"

"Not if you get out, but you're not going anyway, are you?"

Jin-woo says while glaring at the man, who bursts out laughing in amusement.

"Ah! That's right, I was also told to not go back today until I get confirmation from the president.......Follow me to the training center. I'll give you a good beating."

With those words, the man turned and left the room, and as Jin-woo started to follow, someone grabbed his clothes from behind.

"Are you really going, like this?"

Isheri and the other members of the Recipe Development Club look at Jin-woo with worried expressions.

Seeing this, Jin-woo smiled brightly, as if nothing was wrong.

"We're in the same family now, trust me, and it's even better if you come and support us."

After saying that, Jin-woo followed the man out of the room and left a brief note on the club's chat room about the recent situation.

[Me: The Ranger Club guys are coming to fight. We're going to fight in the duel arena. Anyone want to watch?]

This is the first duel since the duel with Eugene, the club leader.

The first duel could be called a complete defeat, but Jin-woo was not at all nervous about the duel that was about to take place.

The opponent who had just argued with him was not a monster like Eugene.

The two made their way to the training center, where they used the excuse of club activities to borrow the field from the instructor.

"Let's make the field a forest, so there'll be no complaining when you lose."

Jin-woo discusses the setting of the field before entering the arena while the man replies with a sarcastic tone.

"You seriously think you can beat a ranger in the woods?"

"Uh."

"......Instructor, the field is the forest, please."

As the two entered the arena, the pure white arena began to stir and take on the form of a forest.

The chirping of birds in the sky, the cool sound of the wind tickling the leaves, and the texture of the floor made it feel like they were in a real forest.

I take a moment to look around and feel mystified by the realization.

Well aware of the dangers of letting his guard down from his duel with Eugene, Jin-woo silently closed his eyes as he reached for the two daggers on his waist...

[Duel begins]

As soon as the instructor's voice rang out from the sky, Jin-woo jumped up into a tree, hiding himself among the leaves and scanning his surroundings.

Amidst the gentle breeze and the rustling of the leaves, an unfamiliar sound could be heard, and Jin-woo quickly looked up.

───!

An arrow whizzes past Jin-woo's cheek and lodges in a tree behind him.

Despite hiding in the foliage, he's been spotted by his opponent.

Realizing that he had already been spotted, Jin-woo began to climb the tree, searching for the ranger's location all the while, arrows continued to fly toward him.

He tried to dodge, but the leaves obstructed his view, so he could only rely on his senses and hearing to avoid the arrows.

After realizing that the arrows were coming from a certain direction, Jin-woo began to run straight ahead.

With acrobatic moves, Jin-woo hops from tree to tree, closing the distance little by little. At the same time, something flashes in front of his eyes.

"Stupid bastard, did you think I would just stand still?"

The continuous firing from the same place was a trap set by the ranger to lure Jin-woo.

"Keep looking."

There's an eerie creaking sound as the ranger pulls on his bowstring.

According to his plan, both of Jin-woo's eyes have yet to regain their sight so there was no way he'd be able to dodge an arrow at this distance.

"Obvious."

Jin-woo opens his eyes and lunges at the ranger.

The ranger panicked and hastily let go of his bowstring, but Jin-woo deflected the arrowhead with the dagger in his left hand as if it were a joke.

"How......?"

"Don't you know there are a lot of people who think like you? I had my eyes closed the whole time I was running this way."

Jin-woo grew up watching street fights from a young age and for him, street fights were about "despicability."

Fighting to neutralize your opponent at all costs.

What started as a fight with fists soon became a fight with stones, and when a child cried, enemies ambushed them. That's what Jin-woo had seen growing up.

That's why he respected his father, because even in such battles, his father, his family would not accept a single defeat.

And he knew it himself that as long as he was tasked by a boss, he could not lose a fight.

"Gotcha."

The dagger in his right hand was immediately sheathed and pointed at the ranger lungs.

Realizing that his plan had failed, the ranger quickly dropped his bow and drew his machete from his belt, parrying Jin-woo blade.

"Do you think you'll win if we go into a melee?"

"Yeah, I win."

At the same time, their feet crossed and they slammed into each other's bodies, and the two of them fell back in shock.

Jin-woo immediately reverses his dagger and plunges it into a tree to avoid the fall, while the other man ducks into another tree.

Meanwhile, Jin-woo lands on the ground, retrieving his sword.

"What are you going to do, run away without a bow?"

Even as he looked around, Jin-woo remained tense.

'If he doesn't have a bow, he'll probably ambush me with a machete.'

[Inexperience gets you killed, chick]

Suddenly, the arrows embedded in the trees are pulled out, and they start firing at Jin-woo from all directions.

'Telekinesis?!'

Jin-woo swings his dagger at the hail of arrows that have suddenly started to move, parrying them as they fly towards him.

The number of arrows he's fired so far is considerable, and it would be difficult for even Jin-woo to block all of them. That is, if it was the usual Jin-woo.

'What, you think you can block all of these?'

Even though it was a surprise attack, Jin-woo was able to block all the arrows with near-perfect accuracy.

This surprised the ranger watching from above, as well as Jin-woo himself. But then he remembered what he'd eaten just a few moments ago and came to terms with the situation.

'Recipe Development Club'.

A group of Awakened people who could create buffed food.

It was no wonder his physical abilities were different than usual, since he had been eating the food they had prepared for him.

"What kind of nonsense is this......."

[Skill: Reverse Attack]

A unique skill that allows the user to reverse an arrow that has been fired at a target of their choosing, no matter the circumstances.

Seeing his attacks blocked by a first-year brat caused the words to come out of the man's mouth, forgetting that he was hiding from such an unrealistic sight. And this gave Jin-woo an opportunity.

"──Found you."

"You crazy bastard!"

Seeing Jin-woo swinging two daggers backwards towards him, the ranger swung his machete in a panic, forcing Jin-woo to back away.

As he intended, Jin-woo dodges his attack and disappears from view.

"Weapon reach is higher up here!"

Shouting as loud as he can to show he's alive, the ranger looks around for Jin-woo.

He can't see him, so he tries to locate him by listening to the rustling of leaves, but──

─!──/─!──!/───/!───//───/───!

He quickly realized something was wrong.

'I can hear the leaves everywhere?'

When the wind blows from one place, the other leaves tend to sway in the same direction and it's fundamental to identify the location of the enemy by identifying the place where strange sounds are coming from.

But what about now?

The wind is blowing erratically across the field, as if it's coming from four directions: east, west, north, and south.

"Where are you?"

He shouts, swinging his machete wildly in the air around him, baffled by something that can't possibly be happening in a field that perfectly replicates the natural environment. And then it hits him.

If something can't happen in nature, there's only one possibility: his opponent has powers.

"You damned brat, if you have a sword, come and fight me fair and square! You have no shame against me, an archer!"

The ranger shouted in a last-ditch effort to provoke Jin-woo, hoping he would fall for his taunt and dive into a head-to-head fight.

At least in a head-to-head fight, he'd have a better chance of winning. But there was one thing he had overlooked.

"──I'm an assassin, asshole."

After hearing that cold voice in his ear the ranger was knocked unconscious.