Great Battle b 2}
There was no three-second countdown that he was familiar with. It didn’t even occur in the middle of an arena but a space blocked by bars covered by smooth outer walls. Yoon-seok stood inside with two new challengers.
「3v3 battle is starting.」
「Challengers should decide the vanguard, center, and captain position.」
「0:04:59 until the battle starts.」
Five minutes were given. He’d already heard about the final battle from Elle, so instead of panicking, Yoon-seok turned to the other challengers.
“…Final Battle? What is this?”
A woman in a tunic with a combination of whites and reds asked with a wary look. She wasn’t holding her sword, but he felt she was ready to attack anytime. It seemed like she hadn’t heard about the battle from her admin manager…luckily, the other one was different.
“This might be the lady’s first battle since ascending the sixth floor. Is it your first time too?”
A man who had a bow-like siege weapon over his shoulder asked Yoon-seok, and he shook his head.
“It’s my first time, but I’ve heard from my administrator about the trial.”
“Then we can go through it quickly since we have a little time for the other one.”
He didn’t know much, but the beast-man offered an easy summary about the Great Battle.
“The Great Battle is a three-to-three team match, but it’s spread out into one-on-one duels. However, once a duel is over doesn’t mean you’re done; the winner can fight the next opponent one after another.”
When he asked, “Did you understand this far?” the woman tilted her head and nodded. Was it an illusion that she didn’t understand but still said yes? Well, it wasn’t much of a concern.
“This battle is fixed, but we are a community. If one wins, we all win, and if we all lose, we all lose, okay?”
The beast-man emphasized a strong sense of comradeship and insisted on showing each other’s abilities to some extent. But the woman drew the line there.
“Why would you do such a thing? We’re not fighting together anyway.”
Although her voice was harsh, Yoon-seok agreed. They didn’t have to talk about each other’s abilities. In addition, their relationship ended after this battle, and each of them would go back to being a competitor.
Perhaps it felt different to the beast-man because he had gone through multiple attempts? Even if his brows furrowed at the woman’s attitude, he only sighed and said nothing.
“…Okay, let’s each decide our roles.”
Vanguard, center, captain. Giving them five minutes must be for them to adjust the order of the duel. As expected, the agreement wasn’t very amicable.
“I’ll stand at the captain’s station, and you two can choose the rest.”
Suddenly the woman spoke, and the beast-man protested.
“How can you decide so freely? We should at least listen to everyone’s opinion…”
Had he experienced this a lot so far? Blood vessels rose prominently from the beast man’s forehead. But she didn’t care and continued with what she had to say.
“Isn’t it common sense that the strongest person should be the captain?”
She said it in an annoyed tone as if she was stating the obvious. In the beast man’s eyes, it was ridiculous, talking about common sense when she hadn’t fought in the battle yet. But he remained patient. His fists were shaking a little, but he composed himself and answered calmly and logically.
“Then let’s say, lady, you are the strongest here, but how do we know that? We haven’t even started the fight yet…”
“Don’t call me Lady because it annoys me. And to answer the question…no, do I have to answer the question?”
Immediately the beast-man tried to refute, but the woman cut him off mercilessly and hit him right in the sore spot.
“You said it was your third time, didn’t you? It tells me enough about you.”
“That’s because I was unlucky in the duel…!”
The beast-man shouted that it was unfair. Of course, the woman didn’t even try to listen. She just snorted, Humph! and fired one last blow.
“If you’re trying to climb the Tower based on your luck, then just stay still. I’ll take care of it and do whatever I want.” “
Y-you fucker…!”
In the end, the beast-man, who seemed like a gentleman, swore. However, the woman simply clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath without responding. Perhaps she thought she couldn’t lose like this. The beast-man turned to Yoon-seok.
“I understand. So what are you going to say? This must be her first battle like you.”
It was like the arrow suddenly aimed at him.…
To be honest, he was curious about what kind of answer Yoon-seok would give, but he didn’t say much.
“Tsk! He’s here because he doesn’t have good taste. Don’t you know just by looking at the mask he bought?”
The woman said so without any hesitation and glanced sideways at Yoon-seok’s waist. She thought it was only used for him to act cool.
“How can a mask make him weaker than you? That’s ridiculous? Hey you! Aren’t you mad?”
The beast-man spoke for Yoon-seok as if it were his own business, but in the end, he was just asking for his help to criticize the woman. He understood the encouragement, but Yoon-seok had no intention of joining this conversation.
“What’s there to be angry about? It’s meaningless anyway.”
“See! He thinks so, too.”
“How is he admitting that?”
Yoon-seok looked at the two quarreling as if they were pathetic. He just couldn’t understand what there was to fight about. They already had less than a minute left.
‘No, it’s not about the order, but pride?’
Well, even so, that’s what it was. Yoon-seok, who had been quiet, stepped forward and separated the two.
“Stop it—I’ll be the vanguard.”
When Yoon-seok said he would play the most unwanted role, the beast-man also calmed down.
“…Okay, then I’ll take the center. I’m angry that it seems to work out in that uneducated woman’s favor, but it doesn’t even bother you.”
He seemed ready to act like an adult again, but somehow Yoon-seok thought he might get into an argument with him again if he chose the center.
‘Still, everyone hates the vanguard position.’
The vanguard must fight the enemy without any information. Also, if they didn’t win three times in a row, they had to die. Of course, if the team won, as a result, they wouldn’t lose the coin. But no man wanted to die.
Yet…
‘Well, isn’t this better?’
Clank!
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