Chapter 56 : Chapter 56
Chapter 56: Education Project (3)
Flare!
"Ohh!"
Crack!
"Waaaah!"
Every time blue flames flew through the air and cold ice froze the atmosphere.
Exclamations burst out from the spectator seats.
The main event of the Taewoon High Athletic Meet.
The final match of that event.
As expected of a match to decide the strongest of Taewoon High, the battle unfolding inside the stadium was truly a match that made one's knees weak just by watching.
Flare!
As blue flames rose from Jin-ho's feet, the distance to Kang Tae-wook narrowed in an instant.
That split second where one would be defeated if they let their guard down for even a moment.
Jin-ho sprayed flames from his legs to momentarily boost his mobility and create his own distance.
A technique he had never shown before.
It was a technique Jin-ho had saved and cherished solely for this single moment.
To land one proper blow.
To convey it to the genius who was on a different level.
Perhaps surprised by the sight of Jin-ho closing in to punching range, Tae-wook's eyebrows, which had maintained a poker face, slanted diagonally.
For some reason, Tae-wook did not swing his fists or shout with all his might to attack like Jin-ho.
As if trying to show the difference in class, aloofly.
He merely twitched his hand and poured out his Unique Skill, the ice attack.
Such a seesaw battle continued, and then soon.
A crack occurred for the first time just a moment ago.
Flare!
To not miss this chance, Jin-ho quickly wrapped blue flames around his fist before Tae-wook could use another skill.
And then.
"Raaaaah!!"
Letting out a rough sound, he threw his fist straight toward Kang Tae-wook's face.
A match where there hadn't been a single proper effective hit.
It was just before the first effective hit was about to be made in that match.
However.
"There is no way I cannot do what you can do."
At the movement of Kang Tae-wook's lips, Jin-ho reflexively transferred the skill on his fist to his feet.
Cr-cr-crack!!
An ice wall that appeared in an instant.
Above the ground where Jin-ho had been standing just a moment ago, a massive chunk of ice had soared up.
And at the peak of that ice, Kang Tae-wook stood with an aloof gaze.
Offense and defense swapped in an instant.
"Wow……."
"He made that ice in 1 second?"
"Ice, my foot. That's a mountain, a mountain."
"He can use skills even on the ground he's stepping on? That's tremendous."
"That kid Jin-ho did that too."
"I mean, it's amazing. Both of them. Well…… looking at the size or hardness, Kang Tae-wook's skill is more surprising though."
A match so tight that people were saying it was indeed a final was continuing.
Clatter―.
Misty ice crystals freezing the empty air.
Kang Tae-wook, who was standing amidst them, quickly rolled his eyes.
Then his cold gaze stopped shortly after.
"How long are you only going to run away? The match time ends at 5 minutes."
"Right. It was 5 minutes……?"
A spot slightly away from the soared ice wall.
Jin-ho was gasping for breath.
Jin-ho checked the electric scoreboard out of the corner of his eye.
1 minute.
Not even 1 minute had passed yet.
But.
"Ha…… ha…… ha……."
He felt as if his body was already exhausted.
'He was this strong?'
He hadn't even exchanged a proper punch yet.
Although he took the first attack after the match started, Tae-wook dodged it easily and then.
He preempted his distance and was only twitching his hands.
Just those few hand gestures.
In those few times, Jin-ho was experiencing the depletion of his stamina in real-time.
Training inside the Gourd that felt like several years, several hundred years.
The initial goal was just to endure, but Jin-ho had proceeded with training that far exceeded the goal Yoo jin had given him.
Not stopping at enduring, but to the extent of moving his body to fight the monsters inside.
He trained while enduring the pain that crushed his whole body in that place where gravity increased by dozens of times.
Even so.
Kang Tae-wook's face, without a single short breath, was visible in Jin-ho's view.
Clearly, he had become stronger.
To the extent that his rank would have changed if he measured it.
Reaching the finals must be the proof of that.
Despite such visible changes.
'Just why…….'
Jin-ho's fist was not reaching Tae-wook at all.
He thought it would definitely reach.
Because he had become stronger.
So he couldn't accept it, this situation.
At that moment.
Creep.
Jin-ho's eyes, which were capturing Tae-wook, began to tremble violently.
Only now did he realize.
No, only now was he able to see.
The aura of orange Demonic Energy rising sluggishly around Kang Tae-wook's body.
"How do you have that……."
Jin-ho's trembling voice rang out, but Tae-wook did not give any answer.
As if he didn't know what he was talking about.
Or as if it wasn't even worth answering.
"Looks like you still have room to spare. For a worm."
"Of course. Because I have to win."
After Kang Tae-wook's brow furrowed.
Boom!!
A giant ice rock fell on the spot where Jin-ho had been.
Paat!
As soon as Jin-ho left the spot.
Boom!
An ice rock falling again on the spot where Jin-ho moved.
Kang Tae-wook was still only twitching his fingers.
After that, as if punishing him for talking back, Kang Tae-wook's ice rocks fell without rest.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ice rocks persistently following Jin-ho.
Like guided missiles, they continued to fall above Jin-ho's head as soon as his feet touched the ground.
At the same time, Jin-ho dodging those ice rocks by a paper-thin margin.
It was clearly a one-sided attack, but strangely.
"Woah! That's amazing!"
"He dodged it well!"
"Good, there was room to spare this time!"
"Attack!"
Cheers chanting for Jin-ho continued to increase from the spectator seats.
Jin-ho, who was dodging the ice rocks falling like cannonballs, widened his eyes and then.
Pa-paht!
Leaped into the sky in an instant.
And the eyes he met.
It was Jin-ho floating in the air as if standing on the same line as Kang Tae-wook who was on the ice wall.
Jin-ho spewing blue flames from his legs was visible in Kang Tae-wook's sharp eyes.
A faint smile was formed and.
"We aren't in a position to look down on each other anymore."
Jin-ho, who was lifting the corners of his mouth, fired blue flames with both hands.
A very large flame.
Kwa-a-a-ang!!
A tremendous explosion sound rang out where Tae-wook had been standing.
And.
Chwa-a-a-a―.
The sound of ice oxidizing filled the stadium.
The massive ice wall that melted in an instant.
In the place where the ice screamed, misty water vapor covered the area like fog.
And in that stadium where visibility was zero.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A chilling sound rang out.
"I can't see!"
"Just what is happening!"
Murmurs arose here and there in the spectator seats.
The fog created by the friction of fire and ice just now.
Because the situation in the stadium couldn't be seen due to that fog.
The only thing heard was.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A dull sound.
Only sounds one might have heard in boxing or mixed martial arts before the era developed were filling the gymnasium.
The sounds that rang regularly gradually subsided and.
Just in time, the fog that was blocking the view of the stadium had cleared before anyone knew.
And in that place where the view opened up.
The sight of a student collapsed on the floor and Kang Tae-wook throwing punches at that student was visible.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Every time the fist struck down, red blood splattered together.
And the expressions of the people capturing that in their eyes gradually distorted.
Underdog effect.
Because a guy who looked similar to me, whom no one expected, had risen to the finals.
So most of the spectators sent support to that figure and sympathized.
So right now.
At the sight of Jin-ho being beaten one-sidedly by Tae-wook, most of the expressions in the gymnasium were sunken.
The students as well.
"How did this happen all of a sudden……."
"I know, I thought he was holding out well……."
The brows of Ye-na and Seong-hyeon, who were in the group, were crumpled.
"Just up until the attack melting the ice earlier, there was expectation. Just why……."
"He worked so hard……."
The children who saw Jin-ho's efforts closer than anyone else.
Jin-ho was someone who never once said he wanted to quit even while repeating painful training that one dared not imagine every single day.
Rather, the image of Jin-ho asking Yoo jin for training one more time saying he had time left comes to mind vividly.
Before the main event, the biggest reason Class A won all events in the Athletic Meet was Jin-ho's performance.
Jin-ho who became visibly strong.
Although he is the lowest D-Rank, neither Ye-na nor Seong-hyeon could have the confidence to win fighting one-on-one against Jin-ho.
Jin-ho had become that strong.
So they expected it.
Knowing the relationship between him and Tae-wook.
Because they saw closest how he strived for months for this True Education Project to take revenge on Tae-wook.
And yet.
"Is the difference this big? Enough not to hit even once?"
"Jin-ho……."
Seong-hyeon and Ye-na couldn't watch anymore and dropped their heads.
"Hey, hey. The match isn't over."
A voice heard from the back.
At that voice, Seong-hyeon and Ye-na's gazes moved.
"What do we do if you guys give up first? When you watched from the closest."
Yoo jin was standing there.
"But…… Teacher……."
"Jin-ho is only getting hit continually……."
"He could get hit. Since it's that kind of match. For a big stage like the finals, the flow is especially more important."
Despite Yoo jin's voice, the children's expressions didn't think of getting better.
It was understandable, as quite a lot of time had passed since Tae-wook's one-sided attack proceeded.
During that time, Jin-ho hadn't been able to make even a single counterattack.
However.
"If it was going to end like this, the referee would have ended it already."
At Yoo jin's voice, the children's eyes turned to the stadium.
That is right.
If he was only being beaten one-sidedly like this, the match would have been stopped for the safety of the student.
Because that is what the referee is for.
But―.
The fact that it wasn't stopped means…….
"The one attacking is definitely Kang Tae-wook, but the one who created this situation is Jin-ho."
Yoo jin's corners of the mouth went up.
And it was clearly visible with Yoo jin's black-brown eyes.
Jin-ho's legs frantically choking the torso to not let Kang Tae-wook fall off while continuously getting hit in the face.
Flare!
Cr-rack!
Against the bodies in contact, each other's Unique Skills were continuously clashing.
If ice is created, blue flames immediately melt the ice.
If blue flames try to burn the body, he creates a shield with ice.
Yes.
Jin-ho and Tae-wook were fighting a different fight contrary to the punching seen.
"Let go of this!"
"No, I absolutely can't let go."
Thud! Thud! Thu…….
Jin-ho was dodging the punches that were continuously landing little by little before anyone knew.
"You do this so recklessly……."
"Of course. Because it feels like I can barely reach you if I do this."
Even while a nosebleed trickled down, Jin-ho smiled.
Because only now did it start to flow as he wanted.
In ability, it's overwhelmingly not a contest.
In talent as well.
Then, what he could do was induce a brawl and.
Break that scenario of aloof and overwhelming victory that Kang Tae-wook wanted, and drive it into a mudfight.
Well, the price for that was a bit high, though.
Crack.
"Ugh……."
Jin-ho quickly spewed flames from his body.
The ice covered over his skin disappears.
"Crazy bastard……."
Kang Tae-wook's eyes trembled violently.
He is continuously throwing punches, but it didn't seem like he could win against this guy with this.
He has to knock him out or freeze his whole body with the ice skill to make him incapacitated, but…….
"Damn it……."
Even that wasn't easy.
The legs the guy is wrapping around him continue to spew flames.
Because of that, he is distracted and cannot even spray skills elsewhere.
Because if he turns his attention away even a little, he felt like he would be eaten by the flames and his waist would be torn off.
Just.
How.
How is this guy…….
Using such a strong skill.
For a mere D-Rank.
There was a time he released all his power to freeze this guy along with the legs holding him.
However, this guy's blue flame did not allow that.
It is a power that froze the Student Council President who used a Unique Skill in 1 second.
Even though he put out such strong power, no, a stronger output than when it was the Student Council President.
He couldn't freeze this guy.
'How did he become this strong.'
Grind.
Memories of eavesdropping on the school rooftop come to mind in his head.
'Tae-wook True Education Project!'
'Jin-ho beating Tae-wook at the Athletic Meet!'
He thought it was nonsense.
That it was an impossible thing.
But that thing was happening in reality, unfolding before his eyes.
Yoo jin's smiling face came to mind in Kang Tae-wook's head.
Why did you appear.
If only you weren't here…….
Flinch.
A bleak feeling passing by at that moment.
At that feeling.
Kang Tae-wook's eyes moved slowly.
"……."
And he came to capture it.
The face he absolutely did not want to see.
His father with an infinitely cold expression.
With eyes that had not even a little interest.
With eyes looking at something dead.
Kang Yu was looking at Kang Tae-wook.
To not see that face.
He tried to win overwhelmingly.
He approached the finals only with hand gestures to deliberately show the difference in class.
Clunk.
The fist that lost strength.
Kang Tae-wook's head dropped.
And.
The eyes that do not miss that short gap.
"Raaaaaah!!"
Jin-ho let out a shout and squeezed out all his strength.
Blue flames fill the entire stadium and.
Poong!!
Jin-ho's fist, for the first time.
Reached Kang Tae-wook.