.

Despite my reaction, Dae Lisa rubbed her chin with a severe look on her face then opened her mouth again.

“I guess we must not interrupt those newly qualified for the actual tournament. It’s rather better to aim at the previous top 50 ranked fighters. They must have become loose while not fighting at the match for a long time.”

“Let’s go,” replied Jooin with no hesitation. As he stood up, Dae Lisa got up from the seat after him.

Glancing around alone, I found Ban Hwee Hyul as well as Eun Hyung, Yeo Ryung, and lastly, Yi Ruda standing up determinedly.

‘Haha, I seem to hear the crash of their ordinary school life…’ That was all I could think of at the moment.

After a heated discussion, they decided to have Ruda and Hwang Siwoo joining the Ranking Battle, supporting Ban Hwee Hyul.

Well, I understood Ruda being chosen for the participation, but Hwang Siwoo? Why? Blinking in surprise, I threw a question.

“Did Hwang Siwoo say he would help us and join the battle? Since when? For what reason?”

“Perhaps he’s afraid of what comes afterward once Ban Hwee Hyul recovers his first-place position,” responded Yoon Jung In apathetically.

I nodded, agreeing, ‘Yeah, maybe that’s the reason.’ From what Hwang Siwoo showed us so far, always jumping on the bandwagon alongside his bad and mean personality, that seemed to be the only acceptable reason for now. That kind of person wouldn’t suddenly become a new man and support righteousness.

‘Such a sneaky bastard!’ I grumbled in my thoughts. Hwang Siwoo was as sly as a fox, always able to avoid punishment this way.

However, aside from my feelings against him, we were fortunate to have another teammate. That’s because we had to deal with not only Jung Yohan but also the twenty competitive fighters following him.

On the other hand, the more people we wished to get qualified for participation in the actual match, the more ‘ticket’ we were in need of for it. In other words, we had to search for more ranked fighters.

Crossing his arms, Yi Ruda asked, “Would two qualified participants for the Ranking Battle be that easily found? They say the total number of fighters in the ranking sums up to two thousand people. Qualified participants are only a hundred among them.”

“That’s true. We can also have other people go find them for us, but lately, those who already noticed power change won’t listen to my favor… If we had about a week, maybe things could work, but having left only two days is too tight,” replied Dae Lisa.

At that moment, Ban Hwee Hyul, quietly listening to her words, spoke abruptly. Both Yi Ruda and Dae Lisa raised their heads in a flash.

“Those in the ranking often gather at the bar I’m working part-time.”

“Are there anyone in the Top 50?” asked Dae Lisa.

Ban Hwee Hyul kept his mouth shut. It reminded us of his chronic problem.

Heaving a sigh, Dae Lisa touched her forehead and murmured, “Hey, never mind… It’s my fault to rely on your memories.” She then immediately got up from the seat and shouted, “Get us there! We’ll check it out in person then decide what to do. We’re gonna confront and fight them anyway.”

Speaking that way, Dae Lisa prepared for getting outside. I also got up with a bright expression on my face.

‘Hmm, once these people all leave, let’s clean up the house first. It isn’t that messy since they stayed here for a short time, but that’ll help me with sorting out my thoughts,’ I convinced myself.

Above all, this space was where they just debated for such a topic like nationwide Number one or ranked fighters. Geez, once I finished cleaning up the house, I would return to my usual, student position and start studying. Even if the worldwide Number one changed tomorrow, I would still plant my apple tree… no, solve another question in my workbook.

Being determined that way, I wandered around the front door. Putting on her jacket, Dae Lisa turned around and asked me, “Are you going there like that?’ Showing her concerns, she added, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to wear a face mask?”

“Huh? Going there? Me?? Um… for what reason…?”

“To loot!” replied Dae Lisa with all her might, lifting her fist high up in the air.

Watching her actions, my face turned pale.

Come on, why am I supposed to go there?

* * *

After five minutes, I was riding on the back of Dae Lisa’s scooter.

My face didn’t look good, wearing a helmet, feeling the scooter shaking with every fiber of my body. As a side note, everyone except me was running to the place on foot. In other words, this was like a VIP seat, prepared for me, who had the worst physical strength, but to be honest, it wasn’t that thankful.

Running across the familiar town at night, I kept murmuring, ‘I mean, why are they bringing me there? Unlike them, I’m not able to run as fast as the scooter; thus, what am I supposed to do there?’

After a few minutes of the ride, we arrived at the alley where I bumped into Ban Hwee Hyul earlier. Between the dumps of trash bags stacked like mountains, the rusty steel door that Ban Hwee Hyul came out last time came into view.

Gently getting off the rear seat of the scooter, I looked around. Indeed, no one else except us arrived yet. Well, it would have terrified me for sure if a person arrived here at a speed close to that of a scooter.

While I nodded with that thought in mind, Dae Lisa carefully bent her steps and stood in front of the steel door. Putting her ear right beside it for a while, she then pulled the doorknob out of the blue with no caution. The squeaking noise sounded particularly loud in the silent alley.

I asked with a flinch, “What are you doing?”

“Shoosh, be quiet! Your voice is louder than this door opening,” she said, putting her forefinger on her lips. Pulling the doorknob, a bit more, Dae Lisa uttered, “And look.”

Following her words, I walked totteringly to the door and brought my eyes closely between it.

“There’s a dogfight going on. Opening the door wide? Nah, even if we go inside and lift up the chair, they won’t notice it. And those two over there…”

Although she pointed at somewhere with her chin, it was almost impossible to distinguish where she was aiming at amid this chaotic situation. Thankfully, two boys popped into my sight; they looked exceptional even to me, who knew nothing about fights.

One was huge, who almost reached two meters, and had long limbs like a basketball player. The other was as short as me, about 160 cm tall; besides, he was too slim, looking like a little boy.

“That one is his first time joining the actual Ranking Battle this year, which means he’s from Jung Yohan’s gym; the other is Jung Haneul, a.k.a. the flying squirrel, from Dae Chun High School.”

Being at a loss for words for a second at her explanation, I soon uttered, “… The flying squirrel?”

“It’s named after his speedy and clever moves… but what’s wrong with that expression on your face?”

“Ah… nothing…”

I just shook my head quietly upon Dae Lisa’s threatening question. Though I wanted to ask her if the ranked fighters all had these master of martial arts-like nicknames, it seemed better to just leave the question unasked for the sake of my mental health.

Anyway, only those who looked like their henchmen were around the table where the two were having a dogfight. That is, they seemed to have lent the whole bar.

Putting aside the question about commonsense, whether it was appropriate for students to occupy a bar or not, it was thankful that no innocent people were here to get involved in our upcoming fight.

What a perfect condition to take over their ranks! The moment I tried to look up at Dae Lisa and ask when would the other kids arrive, she lowered her head and whispered to me.

“Shoosh, they’re saying something! Let’s hear what they’re talking about.”

I also lowered my body, following her.

The two-meter giant, who was said to be Jung Yohan’s henchman, spoke with a gasp, wiping out the sweat on his chin.

“I have no idea why you’re reacting this way. We clearly promised that we’d treat you with respect to your reputation as the flying squirrel of Dae Chun High School, but why are you suddenly doing this…?

Listening to his words, Jung Haneul shouted all of a sudden, “I’m not a flying squirrel! I’m not that short!”

“Um, that’s not what I meant…”

Being perplexed for a moment, the boy then, surprisingly, recovered composure and smile on his face like the experienced.

Watching that sight, I exclaimed, ‘Wow, he doesn’t seem like a teenage student like me but a wheeler-dealer of a villain group often appearing in movies.’ Especially, he could have become bewildered at Jung Yohan’s response of, ‘I’m not that short…’