Thanks to that freshman causing a commotion in the sparring hall, everyone's attention started to focus on me.
I thought I could use this opportunity to challenge him and elevate our club's status, since he had âchallengedâ us, a non-combat club...
'Dangerous.'
Yes, it was a really dangerous situation.
I never imagined that he would fight so well against our club members.
Isn't he a freshman?! A new freshman who just joined this year? And yet, such an unbelievable guy appeared.
[If you don't want to get hurt, come in right now, brat.]
The voice of the guy echoed from the speaker connected to the sparring hall.
Anyone could tell that he was openly targeting our âInvestment Fund Clubâ.
'Heâs openly provoking us!'
There was no doubt that he was trying to drag us into a mud fight.
Just how did it come to this?
The plan to take over the âInternational Trade Clubâ was perfect.
We would recruit members from the International Trade Club, then buy them out to make them attack us first, thus gaining the upper hand in terms of image and justification. Then, using the pre-prepared members, we would counterattack and subordinate the âInternational Trade Clubâ under us, using our financial power to monopolize the academy's distribution!
If this plan had gone through, our club's future would have been smooth sailing.
But.
That brat, that freshman, was the problem.
What? The owner of the âInternational Trade Clubâ is him? And he even brought a bunch of spectators?
This was clearly a situation where we had fallen into his trap!
Moreover.
"Damn, even if it's a non-combat club, how can you lose to a single freshman?"
"This Fund Investment Club is really messed up this time."
"Today sure has a lot of interesting sights."
It just so happened that today was the day we were trying to persuade other clubs.
'Damn it, why are you all looking at me like that! Stop looking at me that way!'
The meaning of those gazes was all too clear.
'What? You mean they weren't as tough as you thought? Maybe we can handle this too?' Their eyes were filled with greed and mockery.
If this continued, it wouldn't just be the âInternational Trade Clubâ that would suffer; we would be the ones to lose our ground first.
First, I needed to turn the tide somehow.
Pretending to run my hand through my hair, I wiped the sweat and forced a smile.
First, I had to act as if nothing was wrongâ
"Are you the president of the âInvestment Fund Clubâ?"
"Hmm?"
Turning around at the sound of someone calling me, I saw a guy with a stern expression wearing glasses.
Judging by the color of his name tag... he's a freshman.
"What's up, freshman? Sorry, but it's not the time to recruit new members."
"âŠIt's not that. Our president asked me to give you this."
"What?"
The guy with glasses said this and handed me an envelope.
"And if you don't come into the sparring hall right now, he'll reveal this to everyone here."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I've delivered everything the president asked me to. I'll be going now."
"What? Wait!"
After saying what he had to say, the guy turned and left.
Feeling curious about his identity, I opened the envelope, and the contents were revealed.
"Huh?"
As soon as I confirmed the contents, I quickly closed the envelope again.
Just a moment, why is this here?
"President? Why are you suddenly like this?"
"âŠ."
"What did that guy give you?"
The other members were saying something, but I didn't hear a word.
After all, how could I explain that the envelope contained evidence of our embezzlement of investors' money? How could this... how did this...
Finally, everything clicked in my mind.
Why were so many students gathered in the sparring hall?
Why did the guy who just gave me the ledger call the freshman inside the president?
Why did he look so relaxed, watching us?
"Damn it...! This rookie brat!"
He had planned this from the beginning.
He created a situation where our corruption could be exposed in front of everyone.
A situation where we had no choice but to attack him!
But everything wasn't over yet. His move was just a check, not a checkmate.
First, I needed to counter this check.
"âŠInstructor. Can the entire âInvestment Fund Clubâ enter now?"
"Now? Well⊠since the âchallengeâ is directed at your club, there's no problem according to the rules."
No matter what, I had to shut him up.
* * *
âŠThat's what you might think.
Those who don't know chess don't realize they're in checkmate until it's declared, and the guys' expressions were just like that.
Just looking at their murderous expressions tells you that.
Are these guys the villains, or the faces of aspiring heroes?
But I couldn't really say anything. After all, such a situation was a result of the stagnant academy system.
That's why such a scenario unfolded.
The moment the guys entered, a red aura began to swirl around them. [Bloodline: Calliope] recognized them all as enemies and started to react.
A completely different level of excitement. To avoid getting lost in the euphoria, I took a deep breath and glared at the guys charging at me.
Spear, axe, gauntlet, sword.
They were charging at me with various unique weapons, ready to fight to the death.
But.
"You're too late."
If they were going to attack, they should have done it before all my skills reached their peak.
An axe swung at my shoulder.
I judged that such an attack wouldn't cause significant damage, so I took it and charged at the guy.
A breakthrough to break the encirclement.
The guy's face showed shock at my charge, but my fist was already about to make intimate contact with his face.
Bangâââ!
With a loud noise, the guy's body flew backward as if hit by a bomb. I immediately spun around and delivered a backspin blow.
The guy standing behind raised his guard in surprise, but with a loud thud, I shattered his guard and my fist hit his jaw.
The guy collapsed to the ground as if he had been injected with a sedative.
"Damn brats! Don't try to block, just get out of the way!"
"How are we supposed to avoid that kind of attack! Damn, he just takes them and hits back!"
As the guy said, the exchange ratio didn't even exist.
While their attacks were just itchy or slightly painful, my attacks were nearly fatal.
"Don't fight, brats! It's a âchallengeâ! If we lose, we have to sign the agreement with these clueless brats!"
The president, who didn't want to give the guaranteed agreement, was shouting at the mercenaries with a lot of anger.
"Everyone, fall back! We'll use ranged attacks from the back!"
"Protect the mages and archers!"
Following the mercenary leader's orders, the guys started to regroup.
Then, four people appeared, forming a line. From the items they held, they seemed to be two archers and a mage.
They were probably planning to wear me down with ranged attacks before engaging in combat.
I thought it was a very orthodox method and looked at the guys in front of me.
"Fire!"
At the command, arrows and fireballs started flying from the guys.
The mercenary leader, who had been watching, was speechless.
"âŠYou're standing there like an idiot while the enemy charges, you moron."
The guy turned and walked toward the entrance of the sparring hall.
"Our âFortune Soldier Clubâ is done here. With the client in this state, what more can we do?"
The mercenary leader walked slowly toward the entrance, and the other mercenaries followed, butâ
"What nonsense are you spouting, senior?"
The guys stopped at the sound of my voice.
"What?"
The mercenary leader turned his head to look at me. I smiled at him and said,
"Are you just going to take it, or will you resist while taking it?"
I was planning to finish everything.
"âŠDamn you."
The guy's expression twisted.
I wiggled my fingers at him, who was gripping his unique weapon even tighter.
"Since it's almost lunchtime, let's finish this quickly."
I was starting to get hungry.
* * *
"How can someone sweep away that many people without breaking a sweat?"
Jin-woo, who was about to hand me a towel as I stepped out of the sparring hall, looked bewildered.
"Non-combat clubs are usually like that, you know. You could have done it too."
"Huh? I don't think so. Besides, those guys lying there are mercenaries, right?"
Jin-woo, looking at the guys lying in the sparring hall, shivered.
"Judging by their skills, they were probably the cheap ones in the mercenary club. They might have thought it wasn't worth spending much money to deal with me."
"âŠSo the opponent made a complete mistake?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
I looked at the male instructor standing at the sparring hall booth as I passed Jin-woo.
"I think I won the challenge. Can I get the gold agreement?"
"Huh? Oh, sure. The guys gave this to me before entering the sparring hall. Here, take it."
"Thank you."
By receiving the gold agreement from the male instructor, I fulfilled all the conditions Ji-soo-hyun had asked for.
"Instructor, with this, all the conditions you mentioned are met. Can I ask for the next step?"
"Damn, you really are crazy. I didn't think you'd actually pull this off."
Ji-soo-hyun, holding the agreements I handed over, waved them and smiled.
"Alright, since you kept your promise, I'll keep mine. I'll go negotiate with the student council. Have lunch in the meantime."
Ji-soo-hyun, fanning the precious agreements, left the sparring hall.
As I watched his back, feeling a sense of relief that it was finally overâ
ââRumble ââRumble.
My phone in my pocket started to vibrate violently.
"âŠWhat's this?"
ăHidden Quest Completed!ă
[One-Night Club]
[You have successfully created a club in one day, a first in the history of the academy. This will be recorded in the academy's history forever.]
[Reward: Smart Lens]
"Of course, there would be a hidden quest in such a big event. But, a smart lens?"
At the same time, a cold pain, as if I had put saline solution in my eyes, started to spread.
I squeezed my eyes shut and endured the pain for about 10 seconds.
When the pain in my cornea subsided, I opened my eyes to see a new landscape.
ă(NEW) Main Story Open!ă
[You have caused a new wind in the academy! By creating a new club, you have written a new chapter in your own history! Lead your club to success and upgrade it to a silver club!]
[Completion Condition: Complete 5 club missions!]
[Completed Missions: 0 / 5]
[â»The reward may vary depending on the result.]
"Boss? Are you okay?"
"âŠIt's nothing."
The notification window, which had previously only appeared on my phone, now floated in the air in a semi-transparent state.
Various interface windows and numbers appeared in the corner of my vision, perfectly replicated as if a smartphone was floating in the air.
It was quite annoying to be treated strangely every time I looked at my phone in front of others, but with this, I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.
Most importantly, the new [Main Story] had opened.
I was worried that the main story wouldn't open after the deserted island, but it seemed I was on the right path.
"But, how do I turn this off?"
I moved my eyes around, and when I thought about turning off the phone screen, the windows in front of me disappeared.
Fortunately, it seemed I could turn it on and off at will. I wouldn't have to worry about it interfering with my vision during battles.
"Is it really over? Can we really create our club now?"
Se-ah and Yeong-je, who had been watching the battle from the stands, approached me.
"Yeah, the instructor said he would take care of the rest. We just need to wait now."
Based on the main quest window I just saw, the creation of the club was almost certain.
The only thing left was for Iharu to crush the âInvestment Fund Clubâ in the club battle.
With the âInvestment Fund Clubâs reputation and value likely to plummet due to this sparring, it wouldn't be difficult for Iharu.
âââââŹ
The academy bell signaling the end of club exploration time and the start of lunch.
The sound seemed to announce the end of the long and short battle for the agreements.