Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I Became the Academy Mafia, Chapter 21The sparring arena located on one side of the enormous building was far larger than the place where we had sparred yesterday.

Of course it was. This place was designed not for simple one-on-one spars, but for large-scale battles.

In front of the sparring arena, I could see the Fund Investment Club members warming up ahead of us.

“Let’s start right away. It’ll be over soon anyway.”

After doing some simple stretches outside and coming in, I rolled my shoulders and said that, only for one of the opposing club members to grin and provoke me instead.

“What, you didn’t even bring your unique weapon? Leave it at home? Or maybe you couldn’t afford one?”

Of course, that wasn’t even close.

“Why use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken.”

“What?”

“I’m saying seniors of your level are manageable even without one.”

“...

Let’s see how long you can keep that attitude.”

Perhaps deciding that talking to me any further would only be a loss for him, the guy turned around and walked back toward his companions.

At least he has some sense.

“Boss, you’re really okay, right?”

Jin-woo asked me worriedly, and I handed him my jacket as I answered.

“There’s no reason to be afraid of guys no different from goblins.”

“Right?”

“Yeah, so just watch. Watch what happens from here.”

While I was moving around and warming up before entering the sparring arena, the door opened and a man I had never seen before entered.

A man with deep dark circles and black-rimmed glasses. Judging by the necklace and ID card hanging around his neck, he appeared to be an instructor.

“...

Of all days, a challenge happens when I’m on duty. What a pain.”

The instructor scratched his head and stood in front of the sparring arena’s control panel.

“Hmm... you’re the freshman who issued the challenge?”

He looked at me, pushed up his glasses, frowned strangely, then looked at the Fund Investment Club members.

“...

He really is a first-year. Are you guys seriously planning to spar against him?”

“He insulted the Fund Investment Club. How could we just let that slide?”

“He’s the one who challenged us, so this isn’t entirely our fault.”

After hearing what they said, the instructor turned his gaze back toward me, looked at me carefully, then approached and asked.

“Why the hell are you going this far? You haven’t even been enrolled for a week, and you’re already issuing a challenge.”

“Because I want to make my Academy life a little easier.”

“...

What is that supposed to mean?”

The Fund Investment Club.

Choosing these guys wasn’t just some whim or impulsive decision.

There was a reason I needed to crush them early if I wanted a smooth Academy life in the future.

The first was recruiting Lee Haru.

Lee Haru would eventually lose the Club War, be held responsible, and get expelled from the International Trade Club she herself had created.

She would even become unable to operate openly anymore.

Although she had received support, it was entirely Lee Haru’s own ability that had raised the International Trade Club to Silver rank.

I couldn’t afford to lose someone like her because of guys like these.

The second reason was maintaining the current state of the ‘International Trade Club.’

The International Trade Club was the best shop inside the Academy for obtaining high-quality items.

And I was supposed to hand a shop like that over to the ‘Fund Investment Club’? Not only would the quality of the shop fall, there was also a possibility that I’d no longer even be able to look at rare items.

The third reason was nothing special.

I just didn’t like these guys, who did shady things behind the scenes.

“I don’t know why you’re trying to fight them... but you’d better be prepared to deal with the aftermath, freshman. The other Fund Investment Club members tend to hold grudges.”

Contrary to the instructor’s warning, there was no need to worry about the aftermath.

Because I wasn’t the kind of person who left future trouble behind.

“Yes, thank you for the advice.”

Just as I answered and was about to turn away.

“What a sight, scaring a freshman.”

A familiar voice came from behind me.

“Eugene! I brought her!”

“Ordering an instructor around to come and go. You really are an arrogant brat, aren’t you?”

Kim Se-ah was breathing heavily, while Ji Su-hyeon looked at me with narrowed eyes full of interest.

“Oh. Senior?”

The male instructor’s expression stiffened when he saw Ji Su-hyeon.

“You bastard, I was wondering why I didn’t see you in the faculty room. Looks like you’re on sparring arena duty today?”

“I just got dumped with the shift. But what brings you here, Senior?”

“I heard one first-year and four second-years were sparring, so I came to watch. But what were you thinking when you approved this spar?”

Ji Su-hyeon stood in front of the male instructor with her hands in her pockets, and he hurriedly waved both hands.

“He issued a ‘Challenge’ to his seniors, so what was I supposed to do? By the school rules, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Even though he was much taller than Ji Su-hyeon, the male instructor somehow looked far smaller.

Ji Su-hyeon reached out, wrapped an arm around his neck, and spoke.

“There’s no problem with the rules, so you allowed a one-versus-many spar between a freshman and current students? Is that something an instructor should say?”

“No, anyway, isn’t that guy the one who entered in second place this year? I figured he had some kind of plan if he was asking for instruction!”

“...

When you put it that way, I’ve got nothing to say, huh? Okay. Then if there’s an accident, you take responsibility, got it?”

“What? I’m responsible?”

“Of course, bastard. You’re the observer. You think I’m going to take responsibility?”

Ji Su-hyeon clenched the hand she still had in her pocket and mimed punching him.

At that, he flinched and hurriedly shouted.

“O-okay! It doesn’t look like there’ll be any major accident anyway. But by any chance, are you connected to that guy somehow, Senior? Your eyes seem different from usual.”

“Hm? Ah, he’s our class vice president.”

“...

Pardon?”

“A first-year says he wants to create a club. As his homeroom instructor, I can help him this much. Oh, Han Eugene!”

Ji Su-hyeon suddenly called my name and pointed around my neck.

“Are you going to use that?”

It was obvious what she meant. She was probably talking about my unique weapon.

“Of course not.”

I simply waved both hands and answered.

“My bare hands are enough.”

When I nodded and answered, Ji Su-hyeon smiled.

“This should be a little more fun.”

Looking satisfied with my answer, she finally removed her arm from around the male instructor’s neck, looked around, and clapped her hands.

“Alright, then everyone get into the sparring arena. This guy and I will both be observing, so don’t worry about dying. Okay?”

At Ji Su-hyeon’s direction, both my opponents and I entered the sparring arena.

The guys were already glaring at me, their eyes full of anger as though even looking at me pissed them off.

“Cute.”

To someone like me, who had been fighting an actual Mafia war not long ago, those gazes were nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum.

I cracked my neck and finger joints to loosen up, then stepped onto the white line drawn across the center.

Buzzzzz─!

At the same time, the air around us briefly vibrated as if enveloping the space, glowing with blue light.

The weight of the air seemed to change, making the sensations throughout my body feel awkward, before they soon returned to normal.

It was a sign that the field meant to protect the students had activated.

When we reached positions facing each other, Ji Su-hyeon’s voice echoed through the speakers inside the sparring arena.[Alright then, both sides... go wild.]

“You’re dead, freshman────?!”

The moment it began, I reached toward the face of the first guy charging at me and slammed him backward with all my strength.

Crack─! With that sound, the guy was driven straight into the sparring arena floor.

Judging by the way his body went limp the moment he hit the ground, he seemed to have passed out.

“One.”

I straightened my back and looked around.

The remaining three stared at me with expressions that showed they couldn’t understand what had just happened.

Even though I had openly entered the center of their formation, they were frozen in place, so I shrugged.

“If it’s now, I’ll still accept your surrender.”

“You crazy bas────.”

The second guy charged at me.

Maybe because he was still a second-year. Having seen his companion get taken down instantly, he raised both arms to guard himself, lowered his body, and tried to slip into my space.

The attempt was good, but...

“Your body’s completely open.”

With his vision restricted because he was protecting his face, he rushed in. I grabbed his arm and drove my knee upward into his solar plexus.

Crack─!

“Two.”

At my count, the remaining guys flinched.

“If you’re already scared, this won’t be fun.”

The two stepped back after seeing me.

“Hey, two of them went down in an instant...”

“Get a grip, you idiot! It’s only because those guys let their guards down!”

Maybe it was because they had directly watched their companions get crushed right in front of them.

The two were glaring at me with far more tension than when I had first seen them.

“Oh.”

So now they weren’t going to just let me hit them?

As I wondered how I should crush them this time───“Get him!”

The two, who had slowly moved around until they managed to surround me, charged at me simultaneously.

I hadn’t expected them to come in first.

“Interesting.”

“...

Huh?”

I grabbed the wrist of the first guy who swung a fist at me and pulled him toward my body.

“W-wait──.”

I drove my palm upward from below and struck his chin. His knees buckled and he started to collapse, but I didn’t let go and instead hurled him into the ground like I was swinging a flail.

“Three.”

Less than three minutes had passed since the spar started, and already three of them had fallen.

Their expressions were stiff enough that anyone could clearly tell.

It’s already over. About forty seconds... just as expected.

But what should I do? I had no intention of ending it here.

“No, I heard someone issued a ‘Challenge’ for the first time in ages, so I came to see. What the hell is this?”

“I came as soon as I heard. Is it already over?”

The guys turned their gazes toward the voices coming from outside the sparring room.

“...

Who the hell are those people?”

At the sudden appearance of spectators, their eyes began to shake.

“Aaaaaagh! I bet on the Fund Investment Club, what the hell is this?!”

“There’s still a sucker betting on the favorite? Gambling is all about the underdog! Let’s go, freshman!”

“I put my entire fortune on you!”

The guys looked flustered at the students who began shouting in delight or horror the moment they saw what was happening in the sparring arena.

“What the hell... what did you do...?”

“The people outside?”

The crowd that had gathered without regard for rank included the Basketball Club, Literature Club, Tea Ceremony Club... and many more.

Some of them had apparently come straight from recruiting freshmen, because there were even people still wearing promotional signs.

The reason they had gone this far to gather here was...

“Yes, that’s right. I called them.”

It was all to create this exact situation.

“A freshman’s ‘Challenge’ is an unprecedented major event, isn’t it? Especially when it’s a spar between me alone and an entire club. How would I know what might happen to me later? I need at least some insurance too.”

I spread both arms and pointed toward all the people watching us.

“There need to be at least this many witnesses if the ‘Fund Investment Club’ is going to be so embarrassed that it properly collapses, don’t you think?”

At my grin, their faces twisted violently.

“Why... why are you going this far against us! Why the hell!”

“──Because you touched what’s mine.”

“...

What?”

“The ‘International Trade Club.’ That belongs to me. But you guys are currently making moves to stab the ‘International Trade Club’ in the back, aren’t you?”

“How the hell do you know that...”

“Is that important? What matters more is probably how much longer you seniors can hold out, don’t you think? So...”

Saying that, I turned my body and looked toward the crowd outside the sparring arena.

“You’re watching from outside, right? President of the ‘Fund Investment Club.’ If you don’t want your club shut down, get in here right now, you fucking bastard.”

Because the real highlight starts now.