The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 76

“W-what?”

The crowd jumped out of their seats, shocked. Kang Jae-Hyeok had just thrown Lee Seung-Jun to the ground like a sack of rice. It was a move that Lee Seung-Jun should have shown, not the other way around.

“That guy, did he do it on purpose?”

The crowd's reaction was bigger than it had been in the first duel assessment when Jae-Hyeok had knocked down Ha Kyeong-Su. At that time, many people could still accept the situation, praising Kang Jae-Hyeok for being good with both the sword and spear. But then today, Jae-Hyeok showed off hand-to-hand skills against a fighter.

His intent became obvious.

“Is he declaring he’s good at everything? What an attention seeker.”

“He’s already overwhelmed two Class A students using the same weapon as them. Anyone who’s that skilled and doesn’t show off is an idiot.”

“It isn’t appropriate behavior for an aristocrat. It lacks humility.”

“Since when did you treat the Kang family as aristocrats?”

The stands became even noisier. The students of Class A reacted sensitively, while the students of Class B laughed at them, making the atmosphere nasty.

Kang Jae-Hyeok, that cheeky bastard.

The students of Class A suffered from the jealous prejudice that they were assigned to Class A only because of good parents and power leveling. To dispel the absurd belief that Class A was power-leveled but incompetent, they had to constantly prove that Class A was the best. But now, following Ha Kyeong-Su, Lee Seung-Jun was also defeated by Class B’s Kang Jae-Hyeok.

Because of this, class A could suffer from even greater prejudice.

There would be a growing number of voices criticizing Class A's right to receive preferential treatment, such as dormitory allocation and prior education.

Some students in Class A, who hated Lee Seung-Jun, didn’t think of saving face and called out nasty things.

“Lee Seung-Jun, you bastard! Why aren’t you doing it properly?”

Meanwhile, Ha Kyeong-Su remained quiet in the stands. He had only taught Lee Seung-Jun how to neutralize Jae-Hyeok’s swordsmanship and spear techniques. He didn’t know how to handle Kang Jae-Hyeok’s hand-to-hand combat techniques, so he couldn’t blame Lee Seung-Jun.

In the first place, rather than thinking about Lee Seung-Jun, Ha Kyeong-Su was lost in his own thoughts, confused.

How is this possible?

The physical abilities of humans who awakened and gained stats were extraordinary. They easily learned anything with their bodies, so the more they desired to become high-class players, the more skilled they became in various martial arts.

However, Kang Jae-Hyeok was level 10 not long ago; his stats were several times lower than the students in Class A.

To a certain extent, I can understand.

Even if a person had low stats, they could easily learn any martial art if they possessed great martial talent. However, ultimately the most important thing in PVP was the presence or absence of Skills.

Ha Kyeong-Su had awakened Stealth as an Initial Skill, which had nothing to do with the spear, but Lee Seung-Jun’s Initial Skill was the Grappling technique. It was an active Skill that triggered unconditionally with any form of physical contact. Its power was immense. Even if Lee Seung-Jun had struck prematurely and Kang Jae-Hyeok had countered, Lee Seung-Jun’s Grappling technique Skill should have been enough for him to turn the result around.

Yet, it was Lee Seung-Jun who stuck the ground, not Kang Jae-Hyeok.

Was he caught off guard?

Ha Kyeong-Su decided that had to be the case; Lee Seung-Jun had been caught off guard and failed to activate his Skill in time. The confusion in Ha Kyeong-Su’s mind cleared, and the anxiety in his heart disappeared.

Kang Jae-Hyeok, don’t be too proud about beating this idiot.

Ha Kyeong-Su snorted and left the scene.

The boy didn’t realize that the more he disparaged Lee Seung-Jun, the more he was only hurting himself.

“......”

Meanwhile, Jang Yeon-Ju was astonished.

Based on what she saw, Lee Seung-Jun hadn’t been caught off guard. She clearly witnessed Lee Seung-Jun’s Grappling technique activate the moment Jae-Hyeok blocked his kick.

His Skill was triggered at the right time. But Jae-Hyeok read the timing.

Jae-Hyeok’s deliberate shift in weight and the tilt of his upper body had allowed him to evade Lee Seung-Jun’s Grappling technique and execute a precise throw. It was an unmistakable tactical maneuver.

Does he have a lot of experience sparring with someone who uses the Grappling technique?

No, even then, how was it possible to predict the motions of the Skill?

The Grappling technique was tricky; sometimes, it would grab the target’s waist, the back of the neck, or the collar. The user always sought the best route, so it was very difficult to predict the Grappling technique’s activation movement.

“By the way, why isn’t he waking up?”

As Jang Yeon-Ju was lost in thought, the audience trembled.

Lee Seung-Jun was motionless on the stage, splayed out like a dead frog.

Had he fainted after being slammed into the ground only once? The students in Class A were close to level 30, and Lee Seung-Jun was also a fighter. His Stamina stat was definitely high, so his physical durability should also be great.

“He is probably pretending to faint out of embarrassment.”

“I don’t know about that... This is the duel assessment we’re talking about, not some joke. It’s directly related to your grades.”

In any case, it was over. The assistant teacher went on stage to check Lee Seung-Jun’s condition and shouted, “The first-year student, Lee Seung-Jun of Class A, has been incapacitated. The winner of the Group Five duel assessment is Kang Jae-Hyeok of Class B.”

Incapacitated?

The students tilted their heads and were taken aback. Then, as Lee Seung-Jun was lifted and placed on a stretcher, they saw his legs were twisted at strange angles... It went beyond the level of broken leg bones. It looked like his pelvis was shattered.

Moreover, blood was pouring from the back of his head.

“Wow, this is crazy. It looks like his waist was folded in half.”

“I-isn’t he dead?”

“......”

The students in the non-awakened class made a fuss, while the students in the awakened class were silent with serious expressions.

He wasn’t hit by a weapon or a Skill. He was just smashed, but Lee Seung-Jun’s bones were broken?

Doesn’t this mean Kang Jae-Hyeok’s Strength stat exceeds, or is at least equal to, Lee Seung-Jun’s? How ridiculous is that?

Lee Seung-Jun was close to level 20 when he entered the Lion’s Castle, while Kang Jae-Hyeok was level 10 when he conducted the admission re-examination three weeks ago. That the two people's stats were now similar was ridiculous.

In particular, Class A progressed much faster than Class B. It was safe to say that Kang Jae-Hyeok shouldn’t have had any possibility of catching up with Lee Seung-Jun’s level.

“Is Ha Kyeong-Su’s claim about him eating elixirs for his daily meals true? I thought it was a joke.”

“I think the Kang family was pretty good around ten years ago. It isn’t strange for the family to hoard elixirs. In addition, he received the Fairy’s Tears from the chairman.”

“He was born privileged.”

“Calling someone from the Kang family privileged is a bit... Huh?”

The students were whispering as they watched Jae-Hyeok return to the stands, only for their eyes to go wide.

It was Jang Yeon-Ju, the beautiful girl with light blue hair. She—who always attracted the attention of the first-year students for various reasons—approached Jae-Hyeok.

Even more unusual, Jang Yeon-Ju was fidgeting with her hands clasped in front of her chest.

“Damn.” freeωebnovēl.c૦m

The Class B students stopped fiercely fighting the Class A students’ relentless attempts to find fault with Jae-Hyeok and cursed in unison.

Chae Da-Hee’s friends, standing on Class B’s side, also had wide eyes. Then they all sighed together at what they saw.

Jang Yeon-Ju nervously discussed something with Jae-Hyeok before grabbing him by the collar and leaving the gym.

“A good-looking person who can fight well. It’s no wonder he’s popular.” Yoo-Jin laughed loudly while adding fuel to the fire. She teased the others despite clearly knowing Jae-Hyeok’s relationship with the Shooting Club.

The atmosphere quickly became heated.

Numerous students became motivated as they imagined themselves winning the duel assessment and receiving the confession of a second-year beautiful girl or boy.

“I-it isn’t like that... ”

Chae Da-Hee tried to calm the overheated atmosphere, but it was useless. The duel assessment became a zealous battleground, and the number of wounded students increased.

The observing Professors also discussed with one another.

“Hehe, this year’s freshmen are pretty enthusiastic. It’s too early to evaluate anything else, but at least their enthusiasm is at an all-time high. They’ll grow well.”

“The son of the Yaksha... is his name Kang Jae-Hyeok? Seeing him counter a Skill was impressive. It’s reasonable for the other kids to be stimulated.”

“Indeed, his technique was flawless. The ability to reverse the power of a Skill is excellent.”

Professors were active players who devoted themselves to research and nurturing future students. They had their own ideas and were unbiased, so in assessing Kang Jae-Hyeok, they didn’t consider the political position of the Kang family at all.

Only one person was different. The professor of mana studies, Lee So-Yeong, was unable to escape her prejudices and trembled with fear.

“H-he folded a person’s waist in half! He definitely resembles the Yaksha!”

***

“Previously, when I collided with the white tiger beastman, I was hurt and forced back... If I had known some close combat techniques, things could’ve been different... ” Jang Yeon-Ju confessed, kicking pebbles with her heel as they walked.

“... The only thing that has ever mattered to me was archery, so it never bothered me if I failed at everything else. Even after I failed to stop that beastman, I didn’t view my path as a mistake because Grandfather Song was still rescued safely... ”

Jang Yeon-Ju only stopped walking when she reached the front of a small garden. A certain rock standing tall in the garden filled her blue eyes. “I was... just lucky. If my mistake had brought about the worst result, I would’ve regretted being only obsessed with archery... ”

Jae-Hyeok’s gaze shifted to the rock as well. A narrow, deep mark was visible in the center. It looked as if it had been pierced thousands of times by an arrowhead.

“First... I have to focus on what I’m good at—no, what I should be good at. If I continue to focus only on what I want to do, then I won’t be able to do my part.”

She now vaguely understood why her grandfather disliked her obsession with archery. It wasn’t just a lack of talent. He must have been worried about his granddaughter, who couldn’t take care of herself but continued acting stubbornly.

She had realized it listening to the freshmen’s conversations about Jae-Hyeok being good with both the sword and the spear. She needed to be qualified first before she could pursue her dream.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Jae-Hyeok nodded. He knew how horrible and cruel this world was. Therefore, he had always assumed failure meant death.

However, most his age had never learned to think that way.

It was the same with Jang Yeon-Ju. If the white tiger beastman had been more vicious, the result of her mistake would’ve been her death, not just a fracture.

He told her, “First, you need to build up enough strength to survive before you can focus on what you want to do.”

“......”

Suddenly, Yeon-Ju realized that Jae-Hyeok’s world was different from her own. Survival seemed a natural thing for her, but for Jae-Hyeok, it was a task to be accomplished. She pulled out a lollipop and popped it in her mouth while staring into Jae-Hyeok’s eyes. She asked, “And what is it that you want to do?”

“Revenge.”

Since she’d opened herself to him, Jae-Hyeok thought it was polite to answer honestly. “I’ll my enemies and get everything back.”

His father’s health, the family’s honor and wealth, and his safety—Jae-Hyeok’s eyes dimmed slightly, longing for things that felt far away.

“...I see.” Jang Yeong-Ju crunched her lollipop, no longer in the mood to enjoy its sweetness.

“I will remember this.” She said, and she knew it was true.

She would never forget the day she pledged to throw away the archery that she’d believed was everything. And the dream of the boy who gave her this day would also be branded in her heart.

Ah, this guy. I’m completely tied to him now. Jang Yeon-Ju laughed as she waved and left.

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