Academy's Drunk Fighter-Chapter 12: Loser (2)

“Is this bastard fucking insane?”

I normally don’t curse, but there was just no way not to.

Sure, it didn’t come up much in the game, but even I knew that in this academy, I was overwhelmingly the underdog.

I also knew it was a merciless environment for kids without any kind of backing.

Not every professor thought like that, but they were all firm believers in raw ability above all else.

And me? I’m dirt poor, broke as hell, cursed so I have to drink all day, got no one pulling strings for me, and not a single person who can vouch for my skills.

And on top of that, the fact he used [Silent Magic] isn’t going to come out unless he admits it himself.

Even if I said something, would anyone even punish him? Doubt it.

But still, this ain’t right.

Things you could just ignore in the game—stuff that'd get you chewed out in real life—are now happening to me, and I wasn’t even remotely prepared for that.

“Huuup...”

Isaac.

I definitely remembered that name.

He looks normal enough on the outside, but then he just throws his student into a duel ring to puff up his own pride?

I’m getting some kind of payback from this asshole. No matter what.

“...!”

CRACK!

Didn’t even see the end of the sword rushing in—my counter went off instinctively.

BOOOOM!!!

‘Already—?!’

Fast. Strong.

On a whole different level than that male student from before.

Even after taking a clean [Fajing], he’s not even staggering.

“Fuck.”

[Silent Magic] was still active on my mouth, and Isaac wasn’t gonna say a damn thing about it.

So my only way out of this fight is to lose... or win.

Maybe I could take one hit and pass out—but there’s no guarantee the number one guy will “go easy.”

Even as I fought, the burning betrayal still smoldered in my chest, aimed squarely at that professor.

And I kept thinking—

‘Something’s off.’

No matter how you looked at it, there was no good reason to throw a brand-new student into a pride match like this.

I need to look into that guy.

I’m pretty damn sure he wasn’t this much of a broken human being in the original game.

I have to find out why the hell he did this shit.

If there’s no big wager riding on this, maybe he’s just flat-out insane from the start.

And so—

“Urgh...”

I stuffed another liquor bonbon into my mouth and chewed it down.

The burn rising slowly in my chest.

‘Guh...’

[Current Intoxication: 3%]

Strength was starting to return to my limbs, but it still wasn’t anywhere near enough.

Just standing in front of him once was enough to realize—

The gap between me and first place was colossal.

“Shit.”

[Drunken Fist] came with built-in evasive movement.

The staggering makes it hard for the opponent to read your next move, harder for them to time their attacks.

But even that has limits.

Like how an ant that sees ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ one second into the future still can’t dodge an elephant’s foot.

Dodging has hard caps.

Yeah—just like right now.

CRACK!!

“Gah—!!”

I barely managed to raise both arms and block with my gloves, but still got launched back.

Even though I’d prepped my stance and everything perfectly, I couldn’t absorb the shock.

“Ow... fuck.”

This is bullshit.

I just wanted to get through this cursed life quietly, healing and going to class like a normal person.

Why the hell do I have to fight?

SHHHK!!!

CLANG!

No time to think.

That sword was locked on to me.

No matter how much I dodged, there was no end in sight.

No window to counterattack at all.

“Phewww...”

I feel like I could probably hold out if I got a bit more intoxicated—but then something like the Entrance Ceremony disaster might happen again, and that scared me.

Plus, if I ate all the chocolate in my pocket now, I didn’t know if I’d make it through the rest of the day.

So I decided to just do what I could for now.

Since the difference in reach between my fists and his sword was massive, I had to close the distance.

I stepped in to get close, but a punch flew in.

As soon as I tried to dive in, he widened the gap and used the full difference between male and female arm length against me.

“Guh...!”

Just one hit, and even the hand I blocked with was numb.

Click.

I snapped back to focus and pulled the gun from my back pocket.

BANG!!

Aimed and fired.

The recoil hit hard as the muzzle flared.

CLANG!

But the blade deflected the bullet.

“Goddamn broken-ass bastard.”

Well... I guess I should’ve expected that.

His speed wasn’t crazy or anything, but somehow, he swung his sword to curve the bullet off-course.

I’d hoped he might still be at first-year level, but he blocked it already?

Even so, I rushed in again.

THUD!!

This time, I actually got a kick into his stomach—

But he didn’t move.

Not even a flinch.

“Ugh...”

Felt like I’d kicked a goddamn boulder.

I had no idea what kind of trait this guy had.

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

[Invulnerable Body]? [Petrification]? [Harden Skin]? No... probably not those.

Maybe it’s a body enhancement trait—or he’s just got monster-level physical stats?

Hmph... and I doubt that’s his only trait, either.

I was thinking it through, but this fight was clearly past my limit now.

Since it had come to this, I figured I might as well squeeze out some intel.

The professor had no intention of removing [Silence] on me.

That’s when the number one guy suddenly stopped attacking and opened his mouth.

“You fight better than I expected.”

“...”

Not like I can answer you, dumbass.

But he didn’t seem to know that—he just kept rambling on.

“But seriously, do you think you can win? Or do you have something else up your sleeve?”

As if.

No... thinking about it, there is a move I could try if I really wanted to gamble.

But the odds of it working are shit.

To keep myself in the 3% range, I shoved another chocolate into my mouth.

Munch munch.

Still, eating this much probably isn’t good for me.

Feels like I’m losing 10 HP every time I eat one.

Yeah... if I keep this up, I probably won’t live long.

“You...”

Maybe he realized I wasn’t listening to a word he was saying, because he suddenly cut himself off mid-sentence.

Honestly, I would’ve loved to keep talking and drag this out, but I just didn’t have anything to say.

The more I managed to hold my own, the more relaxed the professor’s expression got—but that smug look would be turning into a panic face real soon.

Just imagining that made me feel a little better.

I silently prayed the guy would knock me out cleanly in one hit and braced myself to respond to the next wave of attacks.

Getting knocked out from repeated blows sounded way worse.

And with that, the fight resumed—and I started getting completely overwhelmed.

Forget dodging—I couldn’t even block the swings I could see.

Even if the system blocked fatal wounds, the fact that a real-ass blade was slashing at me was terrifying as hell for someone who’d lived a mostly normal life.

Good thing the gloves were tough. If they weren’t, I’m pretty sure my hands would’ve gotten sliced clean off.

Still, they didn’t absorb everything. My hands kept going numb.

And that sword—it looked insanely sharp. Familiar, too.

I swear I’d seen it somewhere before... same with the name Yoon Siwoo.

But I couldn’t remember where.

In the middle of all this, his sword slammed into the gun I was holding, knocking it clean out of my hand and sending it flying across the arena.

‘Shit...’

His blade came stabbing straight at me.

Right at that moment, the buzz in my chest hit its threshold.

.

.

.

.

[Current Intoxication: 5%]

CRACK!!

My hand came down to meet his blade, the impact ringing out with a bone-rattling force.

“...I really didn’t think you’d be able to dodge that.”

Crunch.

The world was sweet.

The chocolate was sweet.

The alcohol erased awareness.

It warped the reality in front of me into a drunken lullaby.

Yoon Siwoo’s eyes sharpened, his gaze darkening as if replaying the last attack in his head.

“How did you...?”

“Hehe...”

[You have reached 5% intoxication.]

[First Stage of Limit Release is now unlocked.]

[Activation rate of Drunken Fist has increased.]

My body flowed naturally into position.

There wasn’t a huge difference in speed or strength.

‘I’m so sleepy...’

Mentally, I was even worse off than before.

BOOM!!

The moment I planted my foot for traction, I launched a kick at the most vulnerable part of a man’s body.

A brutal upward strike from below, like kicking a soccer ball.

“You—are you—!”

“Pffhaa!!”

Immediately followed up with a knee strike aimed right at that place.

I was a guy, once. I knew how fucking dangerous that was.

He tried to pull back, but my leg caught his jaw clean on the way up.

CRACK!!

“...!!”

[Fist], [Palm]

As he staggered back, I combined two different martial styles—fists and palms—to block his escape route.

Every movement optimized to press the attack and leave no gaps.

Was it working?

In a way, yeah.

It might’ve looked like I was dominating him in an instant.

Even I started to think—maybe, just maybe—I could actually win this.

5% was insanely efficient.

“That’s so cheap...!”

“Hehe...”

And I kept aiming only for the places that absolutely had to be blocked—his head, his feet, and of course, the third leg.

Because of that, he seemed to shift into full defense mode instead of trying to counter.

“Gotcha.”

I forced his foot down and pinned it, locking his movement.

Then went straight for his jaw with a clean strike.

BOOM!!!

It really looked like I had him.

My hands stung with every hit, but I’d cornered him against the wall.

I reached forward to land the final blow.

Vmmmm...

His sword began to glow.

“Crap.”

KABOOOOOM!!!!

Something sharp shot upward—just barely missed me as I ducked.

I turned around—and saw it.

The supposedly “safe” barrier system and part of the arena’s protective setup?

Sliced clean through.

‘That... that would’ve been more than just “ouch.”’

“Oof...”

Yeah, if that thing hit me, we’d be talking severe injuries—minimum.

The second that thought hit me, I leapt away.

But again, his sword began to charge with blinding light.

In my vision—

The gun.

I dove for it.

No clue how many bullets were left.

Couldn’t remember how many I’d fired earlier. Hopefully at least one was still in there.

VRRRRMMMMMM!!!

‘Please, just one...’

The light engulfed my vision as I crouched and pulled the trigger.

KAAAAABOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

And then—

The world went black.