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CHAPTER 142 – DUEL REQUEST
To be honest, Go Nam-cheol didn’t like Black Scythe.
‘Telling me to trust and follow someone as commander when they won’t even show their face. I can’t do that.’
Whether he was Black Scythe or not didn’t matter.
As one person to another, didn’t it mean his trustworthiness was low?
“How do we duel?”
“First, we move somewhere wide.”
When Ryu Min went outside, the members followed after him.
“Nam-cheol, hwaiting.”
“Thanks.”
“Flatten that cocky nose for him.”
“Leave it to me.”
Maybe they’d already gotten friendly—some of them whispered in Go Nam-cheol’s ear and cheered him on.
All ten members came out to the front yard of the assembly site.
Everyone watched the two of them with glittering, interested eyes.
A duel late at night under glowing streetlights.
“Would’ve been nice if we had popcorn.”
“Heh, seriously.”
Seeing the giggling spectators, Ryu Min let out a small chuckle.
‘Go ahead and laugh as much as you want for now. Once this guy’s done, it’s your turn right away.’
From the start, Ryu Min didn’t intend to duel only Go Nam-cheol.
He planned to duel all ten people here.
Of course, it wasn’t simply because of a battle of pride.
As commander, he needed to gauge their skill, talent, and perseverance.
“Come a bit closer. I need to send the duel request.”
“Got it.”
They faced each other, leaving a distance of ten meters.
Ryu Min manipulated something in midair, and a message appeared that only Go Nam-cheol could see.
[The opponent in front of you has issued a duel request to nickname ‘Busan-ssanai’.]
[Duel Type ▶ Non-lethal simple sparring]
[Victory Condition ▶ Inflict even the slightest wound]
[If the opponent wins ▶ Busan-ssanai: fix your dialect, acknowledge him as commander]
[If Busan-ssanai wins ▶ Opponent: resign the commander position]
[Opponent Penalty ▶ All equipment and skill use prohibited]
[Busan-ssanai Penalty ▶ None]
[Would you like to accept the duel under the above conditions? Y/N]
While Go Nam-cheol stared at the message in a daze, Ryu Min said,
“If you accept, the duel will proceed under the conditions written there.”
“What is this ‘penalty’?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like—a penalty placed on each side.”
“Then…….”
“Yeah. As you can see, I’m going to face you after unequipping all items. I won’t use skills either.”
“…….”
Go Nam-cheol’s lips twitched.
A man called the commander was poking at his pride.
“Don’t misunderstand it as looking down on you. It’s to balance things. Someone at level 89 can’t seriously fight a level 40 while wearing equipment, right?”
“……Then this ‘if you win’ part is?”
“What each of us has to follow when we win. Like a wager. Of course, you can’t break the promise. The moment you accept, the system forces your actions to comply.”
“…….”
Go Nam-cheol looked at what would happen if he won.
‘If I win, he’ll resign as commander?’
He said actions would be forced, so there was no way he could disobey.
Of course, that assumed Go Nam-cheol would win.
‘With this, it’s worth doing, isn’t it? No matter how high his level is, he can’t ignore equipment power.’
Even if he roughly calculated stats, an unequipped level 89 would be similar to a fully geared level 40.
No—level 40 might even be higher.
If they had good equipment on.
That was why Go Nam-cheol felt confident.
Because his equipment power was better than anyone’s.
‘Too bad for him, but most of my gear’s rare. I’ve even got one unique.’
A big reason he’d held out to level 40 was thanks to items.
‘Even if his level’s high, if he doesn’t equip gear, his stats will be insanely low. Then there’s no way I lose.’
With that thought, Go Nam-cheol confidently accepted.
[The duel has been confirmed.]
[The duel between the two will begin in 10 seconds.]
This message was sent to everyone around them.
With serious eyes, Go Nam-cheol widened the distance.
‘I’ll make you regret putting that penalty on yourself.’
But there was one fact he had overlooked.
Even without equipment, Ryu Min’s stats—each and every one—were close to 300.
[Beep—! The duel begins!]
Tap-tap-tap—
Go Nam-cheol closed the distance the moment it started.
In the hands of the level 40 Blade Master was a sharp long knife.
Since they wouldn’t die, he intended to go at it seriously.
As the distance closed, he used three skills in sequence.
‘Blade Aura, Swift Blade, Dance of Blades!’
A blue blade aura settled onto the long knife, increasing weapon attack power by 70%.
With the Swift Blade buff, attack speed also rose by 70%.
Then Go Nam-cheol’s body moved dazzlingly, like he was performing a knife dance.
To butcher his target.
Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak—!
“Huh?”
However, right after using the skills, Go Nam-cheol couldn’t help but make a dumbfounded face.
Because he clearly saw it with his own eyes—his opponent was knocking his skill attacks aside with the edge of his hand.
‘Th-this makes no sense. He deflected all my skills with his hands?’
These weren’t just basic attacks—they were skill attacks loaded with five times the usual damage.
And he was brushing them aside one by one with hand strikes?
Unless you read the blade’s trajectory perfectly and struck it away at exactly the right speed, it was impossible.
‘Th-this can’t be real. It’s luck. If I do it again, I’ll definitely get a different result.’
Even though he’d seen it, Go Nam-cheol couldn’t accept it and swung his long knife again.
But as if he knew every path of every attack, Ryu Min smacked the blade away with his hands.
Without even moving from where he stood.
‘This is crazy. This is insane.’
It wasn’t some choreographed movie exchange—how could someone knock away a weapon barehanded?
No—this wouldn’t even be reproducible in a movie.
Just then, a welcome notification appeared in his view.
[Dance of Blades cooldown is ready.]
‘Good. Let’s see you block this!’
Go Nam-cheol’s blade danced once more.
From the momentum alone, it looked like he could butcher his opponent without leaving even a scrap of flesh—
Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak—!
—but when it was all slapped aside with a palm, Go Nam-cheol again wore that absurd, dumbfounded expression.
Of course, to Ryu Min, it wasn’t surprising at all.
‘If I can dodge bullets, something like this is nothing.’
With Agility 300, you can dodge bullets.
And with the Rune of Foresight, blocking that level of Swift Blade wasn’t difficult.
‘Looks like I’ve shaken his mental state enough, so should I finish this soon?’
After blocking the second attempt, Go Nam-cheol could no longer dismiss it as coincidence.
With a face that looked like the word “defeat” had been pasted onto his forehead, he only swung meaninglessly.
Thud—!
“Ghk!”
Avoiding the sword, Ryu Min drove in a body blow, and the sound of a rib breaking could be heard.
But the pain only lasted a moment.
[The duel has ended. The opponent is victorious.]
[Nickname ‘Busan-ssanai’ has been defeated, so “fix your dialect” and “acknowledge him as commander” will be executed.]
The moment the message appeared, the pain vanished as if time had been rewound.
Before he knew it, the rib that had broken had returned to its proper place.
It was a relief that the wound was healed, but his mental state wasn’t.
Feeling the overwhelming difference in level, Go Nam-cheol lowered his head, looking frustrated.
“I lost. As promised, I’ll acknowledge you as commander. And I’ll fix my dialect too.”
“Good. Thanks for acknowledging it.”
With a chuckle, Ryu Min turned to the other unit members.
Every one of them had their mouths open, replaying the duel they’d just seen.
-What did I just see? He knocked away every attack with the edge of his hand?
-He’s insane. Is this what people meant when they talked about Black Scythe’s power?
-How is there not even a scratch on him?
-He took off all his items and fought barehanded, and it was still like this?
-Is level 89 really that high?
They were repeatedly shocked and impressed, thinking it was unbelievable prowess.
But that breathing room didn’t last.
“You there—the member who said it’d be nice if we had popcorn?”
“Y-yes? M-me?”
“Yeah. Come closer. We’re going to go a round.”
“Ah, no, I acknowledge you. Your power is overwhelmingly superior, so you’re definitely Black Scythe, haha……”
“Hm. Are you already disobeying the commander?”
“Pardon?”
“I hate having to say things twice.”
“……I-I’ll go.”
The unit member had no choice but to approach Ryu Min, like someone swallowing mustard with tears.
“The rest of you, stay ready. You’ll all have to go one-on-one with me.”
“…….”
The unit members’ faces turned grim.
Ryu Min dueled each of the ten unit members one by one.
Just like he had with Go Nam-cheol, he smacked aside their weapons with the edge of his hand, showing ghostlike skill.
As a result, the unit members couldn’t even look him in the eye.
Even if they used skills, even if they used feints, even if they changed attack patterns—no matter what they did.
He blocked everything barehanded, and the helplessness they felt firsthand was beyond what they could imagine.
“Everyone, good work dueling. You must be tired, so sit down and rest.”
“…….”
Physically, there was no tiring part.
They were only mentally exhausted.
The unit members stared at Ryu Min with eyes full of awe.
He was wearing a mask so they couldn’t see, but they could tell.
Their commander hadn’t shed a single drop of sweat.
-He’s a monster. Seriously.
-He didn’t even equip items and we still couldn’t compete.
-The number one rank really is an insurmountable wall.
Faced with that distant wall of difference, the unit members’ heads lowered on their own.
A sense of defeat and powerlessness dominated their entire bodies.
Some of them even resented Black Scythe, who had toyed with them as if it were bullying the weak.
“We all lost the duels, so you acknowledge me as Black Scythe now, right? At this point, I’ve proven my qualifications as commander well enough too?”
“Yeees……”
He had proven it, but he was also a commander who had crushed their spirit and earned their resentment.
But it was still too early to resent him.
“Sit and listen. I’ll tell each of you your impressions from the duel. First, Go Nam-cheol.”
“Pardon?”
“Your movement, judgment, momentum—everything else is good, but your skill utilization is poor. A Blade Master’s skills aren’t meant to be used like that. You applied Blade Aura and Swift Blade buffs, then used Dance of Blades, but the increased values from those two buffs don’t apply to the skill. Instead, it only adds delay because you’re using the skill. So if you were going to use it, you should’ve used Dance of Blades first. Or you apply buffs, test the waters, and aim for the right skill timing. Personally, I recommend the latter—change your attack habits to that style. Dance of Blades has a casting delay, so using it while you’re retrieving your blade helps reduce the delay.”
“…….”
“Next, Hwang Man-gi. Your movement is good as a gladiator, but you rely too much on the Rage skill and you don’t pay enough attention to defense. Lowering your weapon below your chest in battle is the same as surrendering, or asking to be killed. It doesn’t look like simple carelessness—it looks like a habit you’ve formed. Fix it.”
“…….”
“Next, Kang Si-hyeok. Skill utilization, judgment, combat sense—you’re outstanding in every aspect among the members. You even mix in skills as feints. But you have a tendency to give up too easily when you gauge the opponent’s strength. I understand, but it’s a shame—I’d like you to show at least the level of perseverance where you keep trying until you truly can’t.”
“Ah…… thank you. I’ll correct it.”
Kang Si-hyeok spoke with sincerity.
Meanwhile, the unit members were all shocked.
Because he knew their names and jobs without them saying it?
That wasn’t surprising.
He was the commander—of course he would be familiar with his members’ personal info.
What shocked them was something else.
-So the duels weren’t just to crush us… it was to give feedback?
-This wasn’t about asserting dominance?
-No wonder he could’ve ended it quickly but didn’t……
With blank expressions, the members stared, having never imagined this intention was hidden behind the duels.
Especially since he listed their strengths and weaknesses and pinpointed feedback like a tutor, it was surprising.
It felt like receiving a gift they hadn’t expected.
At the same time, their perception changed.
The eyes that had shown loss and resentment just moments ago shifted into awe and affection.
They realized that the man called Black Scythe wasn’t only strong in sheer power.
“Through this duel, I hope you’ve looked back on your own problems and realized them…… Hm, judging by your eyes, there’s nothing to worry about. Then the one-on-one instruction is done—shall we move into theoretical education?”
“Yes! Commander!”
“Please!”
Ryu Min let out a wide grin.
Unlike at the start, the unit members were now brimming with spirit.