The dorms for the male cadet. One of the top floor dorms.
There, Shin Jonghak stared at his smartwatch, frowning. "...Weird."
He had texted both Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun to see what they were doing. Since it had been a bit since they talked, he was curious about how class went.
But...
"...They aren't responding."
Did something happen?
No, if it did, then there would be more of a fuss.
Were they ignoring him?
...No. Nayun wouldn't do that, and Yeonha especially wouldn't.
Then that meant that something else had caught their interest.
'Or maybe someone.'
Jonghak ran a hand through his bleached white hair, his golden eyes flashing in the dark. "That one. The American."
For a moment, Jonghak wondered if it was the gunman, but he quickly discounted it. No, it HAD to be that one. The bastard who shared his last name. The faker who used a spear as well.
"...Should I send some people to teach him a lesson?" Jonghak murmured.
The guy was a nobody. A quick search confirmed it. Rank 999. Barely at the cutoff.
So-
*ding*
Jonghak paused and looked at his smartwatch.
===
[From: Nayun]
Sorry for the late response! I did it! I got enlightenment! Aaaahhhh I'm so happy!
===
Jonghak blinked. Then he let out a soft smile, completely forgetting about what he was thinking about before. Instead, he reached out to type a response.
And then another message popped up.
===
[From: Yoo Yeonha]
Sorry. Busy analyzing the video from today. Still analyzing. Have a pleasant evening.
===
An unusually curt message from Yoo Yeonha.
Jonghak frowned at that. But he quickly forgot it as Nayun sent a followup text.
Smiling, he sat down at his bed to respond to her, forgetting about everything else for the moment.
===
It was Wednesday. The third day at Cube.
Today's first class was anti-personnel training. In other words, one-on-one paired sparring from two cadets. And sparring that continued for two hours.
Lee had also remembered to bring his halberd because of that, so unlike in the team exercise, he didn't have his spear.
Part of that was to test his limits. The other part was to keep a trump card in his back pocket.
But for now...
"Hello again, Friend." Kim Suho smiled as he stood across from me.
...Yes. Lee had to deal with that guy.
Lee laughed and said, "Well, I guess you get your wish, huh?" He rested his halberd over his shoulders and said, "A spar with me."
"Yep." Suho pointed his sword at Lee and said, "Two hours of your undivided attention. Do you know how rare this opportunity is for me when you've been hogged by those three beauties?"
"I don't know if I'd put it that way..."
"Please." Suho laughed. "Everyone's talking about it. You're quite hated in the boy's dorm, you know? In fact, I'm surprised Jonghak hasn't challenged you to a duel yet."
"Who? Oh, wait. You mean that white-haired guy, right?"
"...Pft." Suho laughed. "Oh, I can't WAIT until you meet him properly. You two haven't talked yet, right?"
"Don't think so? I've seen him around Nayun and Yeonha, but that's about it."
Suho's eyes widened. "Nayun? Yeonha? You don't use their last names?"
"...No? Should I?"
"Oh... that guy is going to be SO angry. Well, your problem not mine." Suho smiled and then took a loose stance. "Well then. Shall we?"
Lee smiled right back at him and said, "Of course. I'm curious just how good you-"
A sudden blur of movement. Suho rushing forward with a slash to end the fight immediately.
But Lee didn't flinch. Instead, he stayed perfectly still until the last moment. Then he stepped back with his left foot and swung his halberd at a diagonal with his right hand.
Suho immediately pivoted on his heel, blocking the slash with the flat of his blade and using the force to slide out of range.
Lee simply spun his halberd back around to rest on his shoulder again.
Suho laughed, but his eyes were sharp, surveying Lee's stance. "...You definitely don't fight like anyone I've sparred before. Most people are eager to end the fight."
"Oh, I am too. I just like ending it on my terms." Lee smiled.
That was the advantage of a polearm: range and spacing.
In order to attack someone wielding a polearm, you had to enter their range.
But once you were in their range, it was hard to retreat.
Unless you deliberately took the attack to continue your advance, you had to deflect like Suho did and retreat.
But that led to a stalemate.
Lee chuckled and said, "You know. There is a reason why the halberd was the favored weapon of guardsmen in Europe for a while. All I have to do is wait here for you. But you have to reach me to defeat me."
"A game of speed, huh? No, of timing." Suho murmured, watching Lee closely. "...You've fought a lot of people, haven't you? This isn't a fighting style you develop against monsters."
Lee just smiled.
...It was technically true.
Since he had martial arts as a hobby, he had spent a lot of time theorycrafting and pressure testing against other people back on Earth.
Of course, he had used a sword, not a polearm like this halberd or a spear.
But at the top levels, principles transferred.
And since Lee Shin, the body Lee had right now... since that guy's body was trained with spears, it all slotted together perfectly.
Suho hummed and slowly circled Lee.
But Lee didn't move. He just stayed perfectly calm and let Suho circle.
Because one thing was engraved in his core: moving from zero is always faster than moving from one.
Or in other words, transitioning TO a state was faster that transitioning BETWEEN states.
So he simply stayed there. Calm. Ready.
And when the faint sound of Suho's foot pressing against the ground to lunge forward occurred, Lee pivoted to face him and swung the halberd around in a wide arc.
Suho jumped to avoid it, sword raised to slash from above. But...
"You're a sitting duck in the air."
...Lee pulled his halberd back and sent a flurry of thrusts.
One, two, three...
Suho parried the first. Then the second. But Lee deliberately staggered the third, making it hit Suho straight in the chestplate he wore, sending the guy back to the ground.
To his credit, Suho didn't crash. Instead, he rolled with the force of hitting the ground and back up onto his feet. The moment he did, he laughed and looked at Lee. "Rank 999 my ass." He raised his sword again and said, "You smurf."
"Rude. I don't smurf. I'm handicapped."
"Pft. Then unhandicap yourself. I wanna see the real thing."
"Nah. Maybe if you can get past my halberd, I'll consider it."
"Deal."
After saying that, Suho advanced again. This time, instead of trying to dodge or parry, he ran straight towards Lee, no doubt intended to speedblitz him. But...
A step fortyfive degrees to the right. A pivot on that right foot. The halberd, swinging up at an arc from the floor to the ceiling...
And Suho was sent flying back, barely managing to block the blow with the flat of his blade. He landed on his feet, sliding back a bit. But then he laughed and said, "Oh. This will be fun."
Was it the first time he'd been stumped?
Either way, Suho wasn't discouraged at all. Instead, he looked at Lee like he was a puzzle to pull apart.
Lee just laughed and set his stance again, resting his halberd over his shoulders.