Chapter 455: Gap-doo Punch!
Hong Ye-hwa hastily unleashed her fire magic as she retreated, but Kim Gap-doo wasn’t about to let her widen the distance so easily.
He relentlessly chased her down, throwing out his signature punches.
Bang-bang-bang!
[Hong Ye-hwa 83%]
[Hong Ye-hwa 79%]
[Hong Ye-hwa 76%]
[Kim Gap-doo 68%]
Her health was dropping fast in rapid succession.
Seeing this, Dang Gyu-young commented,
“It’s almost even now.”“Gap-doo’s plan worked.”
“At this rate, he might turn the tables.”
After all, it was a one-sided onslaught from Kim Gap-doo at this point.
Of course, Hong Ye-hwa wasn’t about to just take it lying down.
Her entire body suddenly turned soft and fluid like liquid, then sank down, merging into the lava.
A moment later, waves of molten lava surged out in all directions.
Whoooooooooooosh—!
The waves spread out quite far before settling down, and from one of them, Hong Ye-hwa emerged.
Dang Gyu-young nodded in approval.
“Nice combo with [Assimilation].”
A skill that temporarily allows the user to become one with terrain features or their own magic.
Dang Gyu-young often used it herself when going into stealth.
Hong Ye-hwa had linked Assimilation with the lava waves, successfully drawing her opponent’s attention elsewhere while gaining significant distance.
The waves going in multiple directions were meant to confuse the enemy.
If there had been just one, he could’ve simply followed it.
Of course, this came at the cost of a hefty mana expenditure.
“She probably pushed herself pretty hard.”
“Yeah, she’ll be lucky if she can pull it off two more times. Still, better than getting pounded the whole time.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
Tat!
As soon as Kim Gap-doo pinpointed his opponent’s location, he kicked off the ground.
Just like before, he didn’t care whether he got blocked or whether he took damage.
All he focused on was closing the distance as fast as possible.
Hong Ye-hwa, seemingly realizing she needed a different approach, pulled off one of her earrings and hurled it high into the air.
The earring kept rising until it stopped at the ceiling, where it began absorbing all the lava in the place.
Kwoooooooosh—!
A colossal lava sun soon formed.
She had noticed Kim Gap-doo was aiming for a quick, decisive battle and played her trump card early.
Chunks of molten rock rained down from the blazing sun.
Three golems appeared in Kim Gap-doo’s path, swinging their fists.
Even so, he didn’t slow down for a second as he charged forward.
He let some blows glance off while tanking others head-on.
And once again, he closed in on Hong Ye-hwa before throwing a heavy punch.
The golems surrounded him and kept battering away with their fists, but Kim Gap-doo ignored them all and struck only at Hong Ye-hwa.
Boom! Bam!
[Hong Ye-hwa 70%]
vs
[Kim Gap-doo 62%]
Dang Gyu-young let out a dry laugh.
“Look at that toughness. He’s got a one-track mind. Beat the crap out of just one target.”
“At this point, he’s riding the tiger.”
It was far too late to change tactics now, so whether it worked or not, he had no choice but to see it through to the end.
Kwoooooooosh—!
Once again, Hong Ye-hwa melted into the lava with [Assimilation], then rode the waves to escape.
“……”
Kim Gap-doo carefully studied the many waves of lava.
Then he chose one to pursue.
By chance, Hong Ye-hwa suddenly burst out from that very wave only to be met by a straight punch.
Bang!
[Hong Ye-hwa 66%]
“He actually landed that? What kind of eyesight is that?”
“More like a lucky guess than sharp eyes.”
“Really? Then that’s some insane luck.”
Like a whack-a-mole, Hong Ye-hwa ducked back into the lava and once again rode the waves to get farther away.
This time, Kim Gap-doo had picked the wrong one, and the distance between them grew.
“For Hong Ye-hwa, this is her last chance.”
“Yeah, she probably can’t use [Assimilation] anymore.”
Her mana had to be running low.
Of course, Kim Gap-doo’s situation wasn’t looking all that great either.
The lava sun kept summoning golems, and by now there were well over a dozen.
There was a real chance he’d run out of health before he could even reach his opponent.
“This just got unpredictable.”
“It’s not over till it’s over.”
Once again, Kim Gap-doo launched himself forward, kicking off the ground.
He barreled through the lava golems, taking hit after hit from crashing waves and fireballs as he pushed on.
[Kim Gap-doo 59%]
[Kim Gap-doo 56%]
[Kim Gap-doo 52%]
And just as he was nearly upon his opponent—
Something completely unexpected happened.
Pop,
Green light gathered in midair, forming a Healing Orb.
It was right within Hong Ye-hwa’s reach.
Seeing that, Dang Gyu-young’s mouth fell slightly open.
“Wow… I mean, I’d like Hong Ye-hwa to win, but honestly, this is way too rigged.”
“Yeah, poor Gap-doo got the short end of the stick.”
Was this payback for all the good luck he’d been having lately?
I also tossed a remark toward Seo Ye-in.
“Guess you’re about to lose the Kim Ho Usage Ticket.”
“…Crisis.”
Her gray pupils widened slightly.
Still, our surprise was nothing compared to that of the fighters themselves.
“……!”
“……!”
Both Kim Gap-doo and Hong Ye-hwa were visibly shaken.
But remembering they were still in the middle of a match, Hong Ye-hwa reached out and touched the Healing Orb.
[Hong Ye-hwa 66%]
[Hong Ye-hwa 78%]
It was quite large, so the recovery was significant.
On top of that, her mana seemed to have been restored as well.
Which meant she could use [Assimilation] once more.
Just as Kim Gap-doo finally closed the distance, waves of lava surged in every direction.
Kwoooooooosh—!
Moments later, Hong Ye-hwa appeared far away.
A moment ago, her expression had been desperate and tense, but now she looked far more composed.
“……”
In stark contrast, Kim Gap-doo’s face had gone utterly blank with despair.
It was like having nearly finished clearing the snow only for a blizzard to start.
But giving up here wasn’t an option, so he gritted his teeth and slammed his foot into the ground.
Layer upon layer of Lava Golems greeted him.
Huge molten fists narrowly missed him, some grazing his shoulder.
And then, finally—
Thwack!
One of them landed a punch square in his face.
“……”
Kim Gap-doo staggered back.
Then, with great effort, he took another step forward.
He made it a little farther before another Lava Golem struck him.
Thud!
“……”
“……”
We watched him in silence.
Meanwhile, most of the people in the crowd were shouting his name at the top of their lungs.
– Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo!
– Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo!
Before the match began, they had booed and mocked him as someone who got this far purely by luck. But now, their attitude had completely turned.
That meant they’d been moved by the passion he showed.
– Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo!
“……”
Maybe the cheers were reaching him, because Kim Gap-doo who had stopped for a moment began moving forward again.
But before he could take more than a few steps, a wave of lava came crashing down on him.
Kwoooosh—
[Kim Gap-doo 41%]
As his knees slowly began to buckle, Dang Gyu-young spoke with a pained expression.
“This really might be the end.”
“He lost, but he fought well.”
At the very least, no one would be mocking him after this match.
But then, something no one could have predicted happened.
Pop.
A green orb appeared above Kim Gap-doo’s head and began to swell rapidly.
Dang Gyu-young’s eyes widened.
“Wait, wait, is that…?”
“That’s… pretty big.”
“Pretty” soon became “very” and “very” became “absolutely massive”.
The now-enormous Healing Orb was absorbed into Kim Gap-doo.
[Kim Gap-doo 41%]
[Kim Gap-doo 82%]
The arena erupted into deafening cheers.
– Woooooooaaah—!
– Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo!
Amid the roar, Kim Gap-doo straightened his body.
One step, then another. He moved forward, gradually picking up speed until he was charging.
Hong Ye-hwa desperately tried to hold him back, but—
He has way too much health.
He’d recovered from the brink of defeat to nearly the same condition as at the beginning of the match.
In the end, Kim Gap-doo broke through the field of Lava Golems, withstanding waves of molten lava, and managed to close the distance for the fourth time.
Gathering all his inner strength, he clenched his fist.
Just from the brilliant glow of it, you could tell how much power had been compressed inside.
Sensing this was the final moment, Hong Ye-hwa also swung her staff horizontally.
The Lava Golems collapsed all at once, transforming into a tidal wave of lava that surged forward.
At the same time, Kim Gap-doo’s fist swept through everything in front of him.
Booooooom—!
A moment later.
The one still standing at the end was, of course, Kim Gap-doo.
The scoreboard displayed the result of the match.
[Kim Gap-doo Win]
vs
[Hong Ye-hwa Lose]
Once again, the arena erupted with thunderous cheers and applause.
– Wooooooaaaaah—!
– Clap clap clap clap clap—!
– Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo!
– Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo! Kim Gap-doo!
We also took a moment to savor the aftermath.
Then I turned to Dang Gyu-young and said,
“That was a phenomenal match.”
“Who said it’s not over ‘til it’s over? How many comebacks was that?”
Right then, Seo Ye-in tugged on my sleeve… about 2.5 times harder than usual.
She made a demand with her eyes sparkling.
“Kim Ho Usage Ticket.”
“Alright, let’s say you’ve earned one.”
– Shake shake,
Seo Ye-in shook her head and pulled out a square slip of paper, holding it out to me.
Seeing that, I asked,
“You want me to write it down?”
“Mhmm.”
So she wanted it in writing rather than just a verbal promise.
Since it wasn’t particularly difficult, I wrote in big letters on the paper: “Kim Ho Usage Ticket — 1 Day.”
Seo Ye-in added a single word.
“Signature.”
“A signature too?”
“Mhmm.”
Well, that’s not a problem either.
And that wasn’t the end of her requests.
“Smile.”
“Smile?”
“Mhmm.”
She sure wants a lot today.
Still, I obediently drew a =) emoji.
“Any other requests?”
“None.”
“What are you even going to use this for, going this far?”
A written note, a signature, and even an emoji.
That must mean she’s serious about making the most of this usage ticket.
Dang Gyu-young and Hong Yeon-hwa must’ve been curious too. They perked up their ears, waiting for the answer.
“……?”
But Seo Ye-in just tilted her head in confusion.
So I asked again,
“Haven’t decided how to use it yet?”
“……? Not going to use it.”
“Then what?”
The answer came from elsewhere.
“Young miss.”
At some point, Ahn Jeong-mi had walked over.
She handed something to Seo Ye-in. It was a mini acrylic frame.
Seo Ye-in carefully placed the “Kim Ho Usage Ticket — 1 Day =)” inside it for safekeeping.
“Treasure No. 4.”
“You’re not going to use it but keep it as a keepsake?”
“That’s right.”
“So for you, it’s more about winning it than actually using it?”
“Victory.”
Seo Ye-in made a V-sign with her fingers.
Whether she truly understood the full context remained unclear.
Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young stared longingly at the frame.
Then she looked at Seo Ye-in and said,
“……Didn’t think of a frame. Anyway, that was fun. Let’s do it again sometime.”
“Okay.”
Seo Ye-in gave a short reply and nodded.
I was worried the usage ticket might become another source of conflict, but it seemed neither of them held any grudges.
That was a relief. No need for me to step in as a mediator.
Then I turned my head toward the back and said to the Sword Queen,
“Shall we settle things as well?”
“……”
The Sword Queen’s face twisted into a grimace.