As the intense battle turned into an overwhelming one-sided affair, the once heated atmosphere of the audience began to die down.
Jin Yeseo, bruised all over, flailed her arms, but all she did was gather air.
The masked male student easily dodged her attack and reset his position to throw another punch.
Puh-uk!
“…!”
A heavy fist landed squarely on the blonde female student’s lower abdomen.
Jin Yeseo could barely let out a scream, her voice barely a whisper now. She flailed her arms and merely mouthed words without sound.
Some spectators couldn’t bear to watch the pitiful sight any longer and left the dueling grounds.
“Is that really the Jin Yeseo I knew?”
However, a big, muscular male student in the audience couldn’t take his eyes off the scene.
“She’s getting beaten like a dog…”
Choi Woojin watched with interest but didn’t show any pity for her.
In fact, it was somewhat satisfying.
Her arrogant personality and crude remarks were hard to believe for someone from a prestigious family. And of course, her skills were remarkable.
Choi Woojin had known her since childhood, but they were also rivals who couldn’t stand each other.
Puh-uk!
“Seriously… ugh. It’s brutal. Even in a duel, how can someone beat another like that? It’s not like she’s a demon…”
With each punch landing on Jin Yeseo, Moon Yeowool shuddered involuntarily.
She then dug deeper into the arm of her fiancé, Ryu Seunghun, sitting beside her.
“Moon Yeowool. Why do you sound like you’re watching someone else’s problem?”
Woojin seized the opportunity to probe as he noticed the strange tone in Yeowool’s words.
Instead of worrying about her friend Jin Yeseo, she was expressing more disgust at the barbaric behavior of the masked male student.
“Don’t you feel angry seeing your friend getting beaten like that?”
Yeowool shot him a sharp look in response to the muscular student’s teasing tone.
“Choi Woojin. What nonsense are you trying to say again…”
“Why are you getting defensive? I just asked.”
However, Woojin calmly continued talking, dramatically pretending to come up with a revelation.
“Oh, or maybe that’s it? You’re secretly feeling relieved that your friend who has never beaten you is getting revenge for you…”
“Wha-what nonsense are you talking about?!”
A momentary look of discomfort flashed across Yeowool’s fiercely glaring face.
Despite their personal relationship, they had been part of the same social group since childhood.
Yeowool wanted to strangle Woojin for openly spouting nonsense even though she knew the full story.
The fact that she had never won against Jin Yeseo since childhood filled her with a strange inferiority complex.
And after entering the Cradle as peers, the news that Jin Yeseo had fallen from the top student to the perennial second place was a source of solace, but unlike Jin Yeseo, who continued to compete for second place with Woojin, Yeowool was barely maintaining her position in the top ten.
They maintained a decent relationship as she, together with her respected senior Baek Seoyeon, mentored Jin Yeseo, but the underlying feelings of jealousy only deepened over time.
“Woojin. Just stop.”
“Hehe. Just kidding, just kidding.”
As Seunghun intervened, trying to shield his fiancée Yeowool, Woojin finally stepped back.
The muscular male student turned his attention back to the dueling grounds.
The masked man was seen dragging Jin Yeseo by her hair and tossing her against the wall of the dueling arena.
Crash!
“I’d like to try my hand at this too.”
Woojin’s eyes sparkled with interest and competitiveness as he looked down at the dueling grounds.
Then, Yeowool shot a sharp retort at him as if she wanted to take revenge for that moment.
“Don’t make me laugh. How would you beat him? Yeseo is losing like that! And I heard he even did that to Ireh unnie’s jaw…”
“Just don’t say that in front of my sister. You know what happened to Jaeryong when he mentioned that in front of her, right?”
Woojin countered, cutting off Yeowool’s words.
When his sister Choi Ireh showed up at the Cradle again after the Jeokhwa incident, her jaw, wrapped in bandages and plaster, became quite the topic of discussion.
Choi Ireh was among the top performers in the second year, known for pushing the limits of the school’s unique magic, Phalanx.
Even Baek Seoyeon took a long 15 minutes to break through her Phalanx in a duel.
Moreover, Ireh’s jaw had been infamously broken by the new heir of the Heukryeon family, stirring quite a hysterical reaction from her.
“And you don’t know until you fight, right? At least in terms of versatility, I won’t be outdone by my sister in durability.”
“…”
“I hope I get to fight him in the next ranking match. Or maybe challenge him to a duel? Or…”
Yeowool was left speechless at his unfounded confidence.
In the lower rows, three female students were also watching the duel.
Puh-uk!
“Ugh…”
“Why does it hurt so much…”
Every time Lee Hyun’s fist struck Jin Yeseo, Sera and Summer flinched.
Usually, he had a rather naive personality.
But it was still hard to get used to his complete transformation in ranking matches or duels.
“I’m glad I got close to Hyun… right?”
“Yeah…”
The short-haired female student, Summer, responded to Sera’s words and lowered her gaze.
At that moment, she noticed a certain female student with brown eyes clasping her hands tightly in prayer.
This girl trembled every time the male student threw a punch, yet she couldn’t take her eyes off the dueling ground.
Anyone who didn’t know the situation would easily mistake Yena for cheering on the blonde female student.
“…”
Summer recalled the story she had heard from Yena numerous times.
The tale of the masked male student saving her from thugs in a back alley had been told so many times that she could recite it with her eyes closed.
Puh-uk! Pow!
“Haah…”
‘She’s going to have a tough time…’
Watching Yena shrink back at the dull thudding sound, Summer thought.
*
“Ugh… this seems a bit excessive… he’s intentionally holding back his power…”
“I was wondering why he set such conditions…”
The conversation of the professors attending as the judges, sitting to the left of the audience, could be heard.
Lee Hyun had laid down a condition before accepting the duel.
Since this was a separate duel and not an official ranking match, both parties could agree on additional conditions as long as they stayed within reasonable bounds.
The condition he set for this duel was to prohibit any interruption or intervention for the first five minutes, no matter what happened.
Upon agreeing to Lee Hyun’s condition, the duel was officially set.
Since the justification was already on his side, there was no reason to refuse.
Moreover, it was a simple condition that had no significant loopholes or unfairness.
Of course, now everyone here was aware of his true intentions.
Puh-uk!
“But if he goes too hard, he’ll face repercussions later… What is he thinking…?”
Professor Moon Seon-kyung, who was attending as a judge, let out a deep sigh.
No matter what conditions were set, they couldn’t override school rules.
And the violence the masked male student was inflicting on Jin Yeseo clearly exceeded acceptable limits for a duel.
The outcome had already been decided. Once the five minutes he imposed passed, the bell would ring, declaring him the winner.
Jin Yeseo would immediately be taken to the medical station, but the masked male student would face a disciplinary committee later.
“He must know who he’s dealing with.”
Professor Kwon Chanyul, also attending as a judge, answered nonchalantly.
“Perhaps he intends to send some kind of message, even if it means facing punishment.”
“A message? What do you mean?”
“You know… with Yeon Minha’s position as a second-year student… And Jin Yeseo openly following Baek Seoyeon, right? He might be trying to issue a warning concerning those factors.”
“Are they that close? I know they entered the mentoring group together, but before that, they didn’t have any significant contact…”
“Oh come on, you already know all that, Professor.”
Professor Kwon waved dismissively.
The rumors about the commotion in front of the Student Council Room and their relationship had already reached the professors.
The Education Committee was even considering asking for formal explanations due to the detailed and specific nature of the rumors.
To prevent thoughtless deviations and ensure effective lineage management, inter-gender relationships were strictly prohibited unless there was an official engagement at the Cradle.
“Oh my, so that’s really…”
“Shh…”
“…”
Ignoring the professors discussing these matters, Yeon Minha was still lost in thought as she watched the duel unfold.
For several days, she had been going in circles with the same dilemma in her mind.
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