33: Strongest Rookie

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Wooin rose and looked at him with calm eyes. He quickly cast an attack toward Jisuk, not letting him counterattack. The attack connected with his face, forming another bleeding wound, but this one was much worse.

"You bastard!!!" shouted an enraged Jisuk, as an intense wind started releasing from his body.

******

Meanwhile...

"We are sorry for the urgency, but Sir Jisuk told us to take you to the battle facility." asked a man in a dark blue suit.

"No, no. It's okay! But, err, can I take Mr. Kay- Ahem- Casein Nitrate with me?" asked a teen with light cream-colored hair, a nervous smile on his face.

The man looked at his partner, and after seeing no disagreement, he nodded.

...

They headed for the facility with the teen in a wheelchair.

Arriving at the facility, the teen could see Jisuk with a bleeding head, and some explosion marks on his uniform. Wooin on the other hand was on the floor, his body riddled with gashes and scratches, while his uniform was shredded on some parts.

"Wooin!" the teen shouted in worry.

'Looks like the Main Character finally showed up. And...' thought Shinji with a grin. He then glanced at the cat sitting on the teen's lap.

'Kayden Break... One of, if not, the most powerful Unofficial Ranker alive...'

...

"I called you a long time ago... What took so long!?" shouted Jisuk, once he spotted the teen.

Wooin looked at the teen, and after seeing all the bandages wrapped around his body, he said, "Jiwoo Seo..."

His face scrunched up in anger, and red energy radiated from his body even more.

"Jisuk Yoo!!!"

A huge blast of red energy was launched toward Jisuk, but the teen parried it with a huge wind blade of his own.

Jiyoung quickly formed a protective bubble around Jiwoo, to shield him from any stray attacks from Wooin and Jisuk.

"You still had this much energy left in you?"

'These youngsters seem to be very fiery.' thought a certain cat, sporting a smile.

...

Both of them readied to attack each other... Shinji, seeing this, sighed and said to Inhyuk, "The fight's a draw."

Inhyuk nodded in understanding.

Shinji's hand twitched and a thick wall of ice was summoned, separating the teens, and also blocking both of their attacks with ease.

'Hoh?'

"Oi! What the hell, Shinji?! Why are you interfering?!" shouted Jisuk angrily, while Wooin looked at the undamaged wall of ice with shock.

"The fight is finished. It's a draw." Shinji informed them, ignoring Jisuk.

"What do you mean!? I'm only just getting started!"

That was when Inhyuk stepped in and said, "That's enough, Jisuk.

"I wanna keep fighting..." voiced out Wooin.

Shinji retorted, "If you idiots still want to fight, then you can come at me.

Jisuk wanted to say something, but he hesitated. Jisuk just clicked his tongue and looked away, muttering, "Fine."

'What...?' Jiwoo thought in shock after witnessing someone like Jisuk hesitate in front of a person who looked like someone his age.

...

Inhyuk turned to Wooin and asked, "Wooin. Why do you want to fight Jisuk this badly?"

The teen said nothing and just glanced at Jiwoo.

"Pfft. It looks like they're fighting because of that kid, Inhyuk." Shinji stated, pointing at the cream-haired teen.

"... Now that I think about it, that jerk asked me if I was the reason Jiwoo was in the hospital," said Jisuk, now noticeably calmer than before.

"Could it be... because Jisuk injured Jiwoo?" questioned Inhyuk.

Again, Wooin remained silent and sweated in embarrassment.

...

...

After they cleared the misunderstandings, Jisuk and Wooin were sent to the infirmary, albeit with some protests.

'This is great! With them here, I won't be bored! Hehe.' thought Jiwoo with a happy smile.

But, after a few moments, he jolted up, as if remembering something.

"Ah! Jisuk... I have a question..."

"Huh? What is it?" Jisuk looked at Jiwoo, and Wooin's ears perked up in curiousness as well.

"Ahm, that person who summoned the wall of ice... Who was he?" asked Jiwoo with great interest, since Kayden said something...

****

[When they were alone in the infirmary after the fight ended...]

"Jiwoo. No matter how much you want to, you can't fight that brat back there, you hear me?" said a cat with white and orange fur.

"W-why?"

"With how you are right now, you wouldn't be able to beat him. He's currently way out of your league." the cat answered in all seriousness.

But he continued, his face with a wide grin, and his voice full of narcissism, "Of course, that's just for now. With me, the smartest man ever, teaching you? You'll be able to surpass him! Kekeke."

*****

[Back to current time...]

"Hmph! He's just an asshole." Jisuk answered, crossing his arms.

But, after a second, he sighed and answered seriously.

"As much as I don't like to admit it... He's the... ugh. He's the Strongest Rookie in Korea, right now. But, give me a year and I'll crush that bastard!"

"I... I see." Jiwoo answered in understanding.

"Yeah... I remember challenging him back when we were 15 years old... Tch."

****

[Meanwhile, at the Chairwoman's Office...]

"Shinji..." said someone looking at the teen, but the said teen was looking away.

"I thought you said you'd "take care of it"?" asked the man.

"What are you saying, Seongha? I did take care of it..." replied the young man in ungenuine nervousness.

"What do you mean?! I just got informed that both of them were injured! How is that, "taking care of it"?!"

...

While they bickered, a certain man in a green suit looked on with amusement, a grin plastered on his face.

*****

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