Maeng Hyo-don couldn’t take his eyes off the barehanded fighter’s battle from the first round.

At first, he was interested simply because Jo Yi-shin was playing, but gradually, the fight itself captivated him completely.

When the “watching together” content was announced for the afterparty, he even decided he’d go watch PlayerZ’s match right after dinner.

Because of the team format, when a new round started, characters had to be leveled up again, so the barehanded fighter returned to level 1—but despite low skill levels, the fighting style was far from sloppy.

‘If I fully understood and mastered my own fighting skills, wouldn’t my movements look like that?’

Maeng Hyo-don’s fighting skills covered various martial arts, essentially a martial version of all-purpose usage skills.

Just as an all-purpose user can handle every weapon and armor, a user of fighting skills could do the same with their body.

For example, taekwondo emphasizes kicking techniques, boxing focuses on hand techniques, but fighting skills allow free, unrestricted fighting.

That was exactly how Jo Yi-shin manipulated the barehanded fighter’s combat.

Jo Yi-shin, fighting by manually controlling the character and disabling auto-activation of all skills, looked free in a good sense, but like a beast if you put it harshly.

It almost seemed like Jo Yi-shin was playing a completely different genre of game from everyone else.

[The barehanded fighter is the last survivor, but refuses to give up!]

[The PlayerZ team only needs to break one more cage to get the traitor’s lament, yet their focus hasn’t faltered.]

[It’s a tiny chance, but if the PlayerZ team fails the gimmick release, Eungwang High’s team member might resurrect and join. Looks like they’re aiming for that.]

The barehanded fighter manifested the last healing item, a potion, and poured it over his head.

Thanks to that, the blood flowing from his torn forehead was washed away and the wound healed, but many enemies still remained.

A desperate fight followed.

He threw enemies, sized so he could grab and lift them, at other foes; deliberately smeared his own blood on walls and opponents to trick those blinded by popped eyes; fighting by any means necessary.

Despite that, the Military Academy earned the traitor’s lament first and lost round 4, but checking overall stats showed the barehanded fighter dealt overwhelmingly ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the most damage among all players.

‘How would I have fought? That barehanded fighter had no derivative skills, but fought so well. If I added my derivative skills to that, then definitely...’

He imagined using his two derivative skills:

“Fighter’s Eye,” which reveals the unseen if needed in battle.

“Fighter’s Master,” which lets you use techniques beyond your implemented level.

While Maeng Hyo-don was reconstructing that fight in his mind as he built his own fighting style, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

Jo Yi-shin was sitting beside him.

Maeng Hyo-don blinked, switching his gaze between the screen and Jo Yi-shin.

At that moment, the scene on screen showed Jo Yi-shin encouraging his teammates after round 4.

“Don’t you get tired of watching something again?”

“Not really.”

In fact, most in the screening room were watching this match for the second time.

Jo Yi-shin’s gaze lowered slightly as he noticed this after looking around the audience.

Though his face gave no sign, having spent a long time in the same class made it easy to tell Jo Yi-shin was embarrassed.

A first-year junior sat beside him, and when asked, Jo Yi-shin quietly added occasional commentary just loud enough not to bother others.

Because of that, nearby viewers focused all their attention and even used powers to hear the commentary.

‘So that smart bastard thinks like this when someone with skills similar to mine fights.’

Thanks to sitting beside Jo Yi-shin, Maeng Hyo-don heard that commentary in full.

Round 5 took place amid turbulent waves, where protecting the ship and crew while fighting enemies was necessary.

Fighting under disadvantageous conditions while protecting something was difficult and tricky.

But Jo Yi-shin fought and overcame the worst situations seemingly relying only on his fighting skills.

In fact, Jo Yi-shin had saved Maeng Hyo-don multiple times from desperate crises in PlayerZ High.

Using that experience to control the barehanded fighter, he fought brilliantly in PlayerZ, mesmerising Maeng Hyo-don.

‘No matter how much I think, I can’t fight as smart as the vice class president. That bastard’s brain runs as well as an MVP chess player.’

Jo Yi-shin also showed overwhelming chess skills, winning MVP over other teammates.

Moreover, the first- and third-year teammates were Eungwang High’s top students.

Though Jo Yi-shin only aimed for second place academically, everyone knew he was just as smart as the top students.

Compared to him, Maeng Hyo-don hadn’t even grasped the chess rules.

Honestly, he didn’t even know how many types of pieces there were or why similar-looking pieces moved differently.

When watching chess, all he could say was “Oh” in brief admiration when Jo Yi-shin captured an opponent’s piece.

‘But even if I can’t keep up mentally, I can fight like that with my body!’

Fully aware of his limits, Maeng Hyo-don focused on the barehanded fighter’s movements on screen instead of Jo Yi-shin’s complicated commentary.

As he thought so, clearer images formed in his mind.

Though Maeng Hyo-don thought he was dumb, Jo Yi-shin privately called him a fighting genius, and his current thoughts matched that title.

When the barehanded fighter’s battle ended with Eungwang High’s victory in round 5, Maeng Hyo-don felt an itch in his hands.

He thought he could now fight well enough to surprise his master, Tak Geosan.

‘I was only watching the game.’

Maeng Hyo-don looked at Jo Yi-shin buried under teammates celebrating the PlayerZ logo and victory.

He felt a strange, confusing kind of insight he couldn’t get by just moving his body to learn.

Of course, Maeng Hyo-don’s stubbornness easily stalled when unrelated matters interfered, so the conclusion was “Well-made game.”

When round 5 began, Maeng Hyo-don was so absorbed in the screen that no one could get a word in.

It was only around the end of my interview video that I finally found a chance to speak.

I asked what he was thinking so hard about, and Maeng Hyo-don, struggling to roll a stone, said:

“Uh, that game and chess? You even got MVP there.”

Chess came up unexpectedly, so I wasn’t sure if he’d really been focused.

Anyway, I understood he’d watched the video paying attention to my play.

I expected Cheon Dong-ha to be MVP in chess, but it turned out to be me.

Judges’ opinions on chess MVP were somewhat divided, but I won by a narrow margin.

So in practice, Cheon Dong-ha was almost like the MVP.

Unlike me, Cheon Dong-ha was a real high school student, after all.

“I finished the match quickly, but considering depth, diversity, and possibility of moves, Yi-shin was better. No problem with MVP selection.”

“I like Dong-ha’s chess too, but I agree with that.”

When I said that, Cheon Dong-ha and Eunho responded sharply.

Seeing them get along so well was nice, regardless of the content.

I was the only one to get MVP in two events, so the topic drew more attention, so I decided to change the subject.

“You didn’t eat anything while watching. Aren’t you hungry?”

“You suck at deflecting, vice president.”

Maeng Hyo-don said that, but he was adjusting to my poor deflection skills.

Talking about food naturally led to a discussion about Chuseok holiday dishes, and Maeng Hyo-don proudly said:

“I’m going to the master’s house for Chuseok. He said he marinated a lot of ribs for me. I want to test my fighting skills, so I’ll go early tomorrow.”

Now Maeng Hyo-don, who had nowhere to go, finally had a place.

It was unfortunate he couldn’t spend the holiday in the dorm, but as Tak Geosan’s family, they would warmly welcome him.

‘So this year, am I the only one staying in the dorm?’

Kwon Rena and Mok U-ram seemed invited to the Eternal Lake; Sawol Seyum was returning to her family home.

Except for Eunho, who planned to attend various gatherings as Cheon Eun-ha, the other Tigers were heading to the Tiger Mansion.

That would leave me alone in the dorm among our classmates.

As that thought crossed my mind, I heard a small chuckle.

“Baekho hyung, enough. I think I already know what Yi-shin hyung will say next.”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

The white tiger was noisy even without saying a word.

Though the event hall was louder overall, the white tiger’s laughter was irritating enough to be called noisy.

Ignoring it, I focused on thinking about snacks for the juniors staying in the dorm over the Chuseok holiday.

“Why?”

“I was thinking about what snacks to buy for the juniors staying in the dorm this holiday.”

“Buying them in advance? Then get ones that last long.”

“No, I’m staying in the dorm too. I’ll get tasty ones, not preserved food.”

It seemed Maeng Hyo-don’s mental gears stalled.

He froze for a moment, then said:

“What are you talking about? The master can’t even call you if he wanted.”

Then he added a short explanation.

From that, it sounded like I’d been invited to many places over Chuseok but all got canceled by some strong barrier.

Invitations came from various people, including self-proclaimed phantom thief colleagues like Gwanjong, and even the dragon clan led by Yeom Jun-yeol.

I even heard Jin Jeongmook’s sect prepared an invitation.

“No one invited you...?”

At that moment, the white tiger abruptly interrupted.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To the place you call the Tiger Mansion.”

I wondered if this was because I mentioned the Chuseok holiday.

We spent last Chuseok together, but this year was different.

With the Jeokho couple, the Black Tiger, and Woon-sa added, there was a real family, so I was...

But before I could think more, the white tiger interrupted again.

“We promised to go.”

“When?”

No matter how much I thought, I never promised to spend Chuseok at the Tiger Mansion.

Though the white tiger says a lot of strange things, he never lies, so I didn’t understand what he meant.

Then the white tiger seemed about to show proof and activated his device.

When I saw the hologram, I had to admit I’d forgotten a very big promise.

On the screen was an angel surrounded by various bathing products.

“Didn’t we promise to give Olmu a bath? Everything’s ready and waiting.”

“I’m coming!”

Our angel was waiting for me to give her a bath this Chuseok, so of course I had to go!

At this moment, or rather from before, my Chuseok plans had already been set, so I decided to follow through.