# Chapter 57
‘What should I do?’
Iyeon mentally counted the drawings remaining in his bag. Though he had brought a few more things, he couldn’t be confident they would work against Yu Jeongheon.
The opponent was extremely unfavorable. For someone who could return all physical attacks, Young’s combat style that primarily used weapon fighting was at a disadvantage, and Iyeon’s ability to materialize things was also a terrible match-up.
The one fortunate thing was that they knew Yu Jeongheon’s ability, but he didn’t know what abilities they possessed.
“He’ll definitely reflect any attack within his range of awareness using his ability. Don’t attack carelessly,” Iyeon whispered softly, stretching his arm behind him to grab paper from his bag. Since it had come to this, it was all or nothing. Iyeon took out all the papers and threw them. Papers densely covered with drawings fluttered through the air in all directions. In an instant, their field of vision was filled with white.
However, apart from the fluttering sound, nothing particularly happened.
“Ah, what is this…”
Yu Jeongheon’s irritated mutter was heard from beyond the papers. Some papers returned to Iyeon riding the ripples, but there were too many for all of them to be redirected. They weren’t that threatening either.
The paper storm soon subsided. Yu Jeongheon stepped on one of the papers scattered across the messy ground and kicked it.
“I don’t understand why you’re wasting resources like this. Don’t you feel bad for the Earth?”
Ah, that… That was criticism Iyeon couldn’t refute. He apologized sheepishly.
“I always feel sorry about that.”
“Because of people like you, no matter how many trees we plant, it’s never enough. You selfish humans.”
“But my ability is actually one that can save resources…”
Despite Iyeon’s timid rebuttal, Yu Jeongheon’s personal attacks didn’t stop.
“What’s the point of saving resources when your ability requires using this much paper? It’s not like you can sprout seeds, right?”
Yu Jeongheon crossed his arms primly. Young, who had been watching Iyeon’s downcast expression after losing the verbal battle, twisted her face in annoyance.
“What are you—”
That’s when it happened. The air around Iyeon’s waist rippled, and a hand shot out.
The moment those long fingers tried to touch the mark on the back of his side, Iyeon’s hand caught it. The lightly clasped hands almost looked like they were shaking hands.
“I won’t fall for something like this, no matter what.”
When Iyeon raised his head, there was no trace of his previous dejection on his face. Yu Jeongheon, whose hand had been caught while trying to attack from behind the cover of his crossed arms, twisted his hand irritably. The hand, freed by the rough struggle, disappeared back into the ripple.
Yu Jeongheon’s combat style was infamous. He mainly did nothing himself and only used his opponent’s power against them.
Conversely, there wasn’t much Yu Jeongheon could do when his opponent stayed quiet. His physical strength was at best on par with Iyeon’s. There were no stories about him being particularly skilled in physical combat either. Naturally, it was advantageous for Yu Jeongheon if they attacked first. It was even better if they became excited and their vision narrowed.
The earlier conversation was provocation for that purpose. There was a reason his speech was exceptionally unpleasant.
“You understand the pattern now, right? Yu Jeongheon is extremely provocative, so be careful.”
Iyeon whispered low enough for only Young to hear while keeping his eyes on Yu Jeongheon, who had uncrossed his arms. Despite his failed attack attempt, Yu Jeongheon still maintained his smirking expression.
“…I can’t do that like you.”
After a moment of silence, Young murmured awkwardly. Even without her admission, it seemed like she couldn’t. Iyeon, who hadn’t expected it anyway, chuckled and patted her back.
“It’s okay. From now on, you can just do things your way, Young-ssi.”
Since he failed once, Yu Jeongheon would have realized that shallow tricks wouldn’t work. Additionally, his wariness toward opponents who didn’t fall easily would have increased. The opportunity would come when Yu Jeongheon’s attention was focused on Iyeon.
Standing side by side with Young, Iyeon stepped forward half a pace. His quiet voice reached Young.
“I prefer fighting with my secret weapon.”
The light tap on her shoulder conveyed his meaning clearly.
There weren’t as many different types of drawings on the numerous papers scattered on the ground as one might think. His prepared strategy wasn’t meant to be used this way, but it wasn’t the worst-case scenario either. Iyeon immediately materialized a drawing from the paper closest to Yu Jeongheon.
Swish.
Instantly, a large bird trap sprang from the paper. It was a trap big enough to cover Yu Jeongheon’s entire height and then some.
Since he couldn’t create a passage large enough to transport a person, he couldn’t move this enormous bird trap elsewhere. Yu Jeongheon clicked his tongue and stepped back. The trap’s jaws closed with a savage metallic sound right in front of his nose.
“So this was the source of the resource waste.”
“You should move faster.”
As Iyeon spoke tauntingly, the papers near Yu Jeongheon began to flap one by one, spitting out traps. The rapid transformation speed rushed at him rather threateningly.
Getting away from the paper-covered ground was the priority. Yu Jeongheon tried to flee to an area without papers, but Iyeon wasn’t going to let that happen easily. He needed to push Yu Jeongheon as hard as possible to make Young’s presence fade, even if just for a moment.
Like a game of whack-a-mole, traps followed Yu Jeongheon wherever he went. Occasionally, things other than traps would spring forth. Wireless microphones, the fire extinguisher they had used earlier, ladders—these served as excellent decoys. The open space quickly became a mess of junk.
When Iyeon cleverly herded him and prevented him from leaving the paper zone, Yu Jeongheon changed his approach.
After ducking to avoid a trap about to pounce on him, Yu Jeongheon scooped up a handful of papers and threw them into the air. The crumpled papers were delivered directly in front of Iyeon’s face.
“Ugh.”
Iyeon waved his arm to clear the papers obstructing his vision, but Yu Jeongheon continued to scatter papers around Iyeon. It was quite an achievement for Iyeon to avoid all of Yu Jeongheon’s hands reaching out toward him while his senses were disrupted by the flying papers. Thanks to this, while Iyeon was busy evading papers, Yu Jeongheon also managed to escape the paper swamp.
The bench on the outskirts of the open space was a safe zone free from those damned paper scraps. The distance had increased somewhat, but that didn’t matter to him anyway. Just as Yu Jeongheon was about to turn toward Iyeon to counterattack, he felt a chill run down his spine.
It was an intuition built from experience.
There wasn’t even time to turn his head. Yu Jeongheon used his ability toward where he felt the chill first. Visual confirmation came after.
Beyond a ripple the size of a head, he saw a woman, distorted in a wave-like pattern, pulling back a staff as if about to swing it with all her might. Even though he knew he could counter the attack with his ability, her aura was threatening. Momentarily overwhelmed, Yu Jeongheon unknowingly stepped back a little.
But the moment his foot touched down, the sole of his shoe slipped powerlessly.
Yu Jeongheon’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar sensation beneath his feet. His body’s balance shifted backward and his field of vision shot upward.
Simultaneously, a strong impact hit his shoulder. It was an attack aimed precisely at his mark.
‘…How?’
Only after asking himself this did Yu Jeongheon realize what had happened. When Yu Jeongheon created the ripple just now, Young hadn’t swung her staff. Despite her formidable spirit, what she did was merely take a preparatory stance.
Yu Jeongheon had already lost when he was pressured by that.
Matching Yu Jeongheon’s movements, Young froze the ground beneath his feet. It didn’t matter if he didn’t fall completely. When his balance was disrupted, if he lost sight of her for just a moment.
Taking advantage of the brief moment when his vision flipped, Young avoided Yu Jeongheon’s ripple and thrust her staff. No matter how skilled Yu Jeongheon was, there was no way to return an attack he couldn’t see.
“Wow, who would’ve thought I’d live to see the day Yu Jeongheon-ssi’s mark was removed,” Iyeon, who had approached without notice, murmured. Young didn’t stop there. She immediately swung her staff sideways, but Yu Jeongheon wasn’t naive enough to be caught twice.
“Huh!”
This time the ripple was directed at Iyeon. Having narrowly avoided the staff tip that suddenly came at him, Iyeon stepped back, and Young, startled, withdrew her weapon again.
“That scared me… Anyway, well done, Young-ssi.”
Iyeon lightly raised one hand. It was a gesture he would never normally make, but surprisingly, Young met his hand. There was a small clapping sound.
“That was my trump card.”
She said this while smiling like a child. Her eyes held a slightly excited gleam.
