The Demon Goes to Work Today As Well - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Duel (4)

Jung Minwoo, watching the spear flying towards him, showed a pleased smile.

‘To think he’d react this intensely.’

It was because 99번 had reacted even more intensely than he had anticipated.

‘I thought it would be advantageous if he got a little excited, but to think he’d be completely consumed by rage.’

Thinking he could easily handle the match better than expected, Jung Minwoo poured demonic energy into his ring.

Swoosh—Clang!

Looking at the spear that had flown right up to him, he shouted the activation words.

“Shadow Deployment.”

Wriggle—

The shadow that had been spread out on the floor soared upwards.

Clang!

It lightly blocked the spear.

“……Damn it!”

As his attack didn’t work, 99번, seemingly anxious, bit his lower lip as if chewing on it.

“Let’s see if you can block this too!”

He then lifted the spear back into the air.

“Division!”

He instantly increased the spear into 100.

T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r o m kin gm tl. o rg
“……Whoa.”

Jung Minwoo, impressed by the sight, gazed at the spear with bright eyes.

‘If he can increase them to that extent, he could attack using the confusion as an opportunity.’

If it were any other demon, they would be flustered by the divided spears and end up getting hit.

‘But, that won’t work on me.’

Jung Minwoo smirked and used his Demon Eye.

‘That’s the real one.’

Then, he could see the main body, shrouded in black energy, among the spears.

‘No matter how much you try to deceive with numbers, it’s meaningless if there’s an eye that sees through it.’

Jung Minwoo crossed his arms and spoke to 99번.

“Do you think you can win against me with such obvious trickery?”

T h i s w as copi ed f ro m k i n g m t l . or g
“Sh, shut up!”
Th i s w a s c op i e d f r o m k i n g m tl . o rg

99번 showed a strong reaction to the light provocation.

‘Like a pufferfish, he reacts immediately when touched.’

Feeling a strange amusement, Jung Minwoo continued to tease.

“Ah! Your strength is weak and lacking, so you have to deceive to win? Is that it?”

“No!!!”

99번 shouted with a face that was red as if it were about to explode.
Th is w a s c o pi ed f r o m k i n g mt l . o rg

“I’ll tear your throat apart right now!”

Thinking there would be no benefit in talking any further, 99번 immediately launched an attack using his spear.

Swoosh—Clang!

100 spears, rotating fiercely, flew towards Jung Minwoo.

‘There’s no need for me to react, right?’

Jung Minwoo simply showed an indifferent expression with his arms crossed.

Slide—

And the flying spears passed through Jung Minwoo’s body and continued on.

Just then, as he stood still.

‘The main body is coming.’

The main spear was flying hidden among the other spears.

‘I just need to block and counterattack.’

Jung Minwoo lightly waved his hand.

Rustle—

The shadow surged, striking the flying spear.

Clang—

“Th, this!”

99번, with a face mixed with bewilderment, tried to retrieve the spear.

“That won’t work.”

Jung Minwoo firmly grasped the spear using the shadow.

T h i s w as c o p i e d f r om ki n gm t l . or g
“Now it’s my turn, right?”

He waved his hand once more.

Rustle—

The shadow beneath 99번 transformed into a thorn-like shape and surged upwards.

“Ugh!”

He thought it would end with one blow, but 99번 threw himself to the right, miraculously dodging the attack.

“Oh, you’re quite nimble.”

However, 99번 couldn’t dodge all the attacks, as blood was dripping from his forearm.

“Gi, give me back my spear!”

At 99번’s shout, Jung Minwoo burst into laughter and said.

“I think you’re misunderstanding. This is a place for sparring, not for catering to your whims.”

“Give it back, I said! You son of a bitch!!!”

“……”

Jung Minwoo shook his head at 99번’s attitude.

‘As his demonic energy falls, he immediately reveals his weak side.’

Jung Minwoo, deciding to end the duel, poured demonic energy into his ring.

‘Since it’s the final, it’s better to end it with a bang, right?’

If the final ended too abruptly, the audience would be disappointed, wouldn’t they?

‘And take this opportunity to imprint my image once more.’

He intended to imprint himself as a talented individual to the instructor and as an unapproachable demon to the cadets.

‘It’s not without risks to reveal my trump card.’

If he had to spar again later, he would be even stronger by then, so he didn’t have to worry about this part.

“Let’s end this meaningless duel now.”

“Who says you get to decide when it ends!”

“I do.”

Snap—

As Jung Minwoo snapped his fingers.

Whoosh—

The shadow that had been limited to Jung Minwoo and 99번 bulked up and covered the entire stage.

“Try to run. If you can.”

Smiling, he manipulated the shadow.

Rustle—

The shadow, transformed into thorns, rushed towards 99번 all at once.

“N, no……”

Seeing this, 99번, with a dumbfounded expression, couldn’t react at all.

After the duel ended, a massive demon climbed onto the stage.

“I will now announce the results of the duel.”

At the massive demon’s words, 99번, standing next to him, turned pale.

“The winner is Number 1 from the ‘Small Demon Spear’ class!”

Following the announcement of the winner, the demons sitting in the audience began to clap.

‘Whew, it was a rough ride, but I somehow managed to get first place.’

Jung Minwoo wanted to scream and express his joy at winning the duel.

‘But then I’d be scolded by the demon next to me.’

As the demon valued formality, instead of screaming, Jung Minwoo

“Thank you.”

placed his right hand on his chest and bowed his head in a formal greeting.

“As promised, bonus points will be awarded to the individual who placed first in the duel. For your information, the points awarded are 10.”

10 bonus points?

At the demon’s words, Jung Minwoo widened his eyes without realizing it.

‘……This is no joke.’

He thought it would be around 3 points at most, but 10 points!

The bonus points were quite impactful.

‘I’m really glad I didn’t give up.’

Just thinking about what would have happened if another demon had gotten them made him dizzy.

“Now, we need to start the matches for the other classes, so you two should leave the stage.”

“Understood.”

Jung Minwoo nodded at the massive demon’s words and went down below the stage.

“Number 1, congratulations on your win! Ribbit, ribbit.”

The Frog Man, waiting below, welcomed him with open arms.

T h is w as c o p i e d f r om ki n g m tl . o rg
“Thank you.”

Jung Minwoo smiled at the pure goodwill he felt from the Frog Man and replied.

“I didn’t know you would take revenge for me so coolly! Ribbit, ribbit.”

“Of, of course. We’re friends.”

“Friends? Ribbit, ribbit.”

At Jung Minwoo’s words, the Frog Man tilted his head.

‘Hmm?’

He could tell from his reaction that the Frog Man didn’t know the word “friend.”

‘He doesn’t know the word “friend”?’

He was momentarily taken aback, but then he thought it made sense.

‘Well, it would be hard for demons to have the concept of friendship, wouldn’t it?’

If you didn’t make it into the top 10, you’d be disposed of, so it was natural for the word “friend” to be unfamiliar.

“Think of it as a comrade you can trust your back to.”

As he kindly explained the definition of friend.

“……Friend. It has a really cool ring to it. Ribbit, ribbit.”

The Frog Man said with sparkling eyes.

“……Haha, is that so?”

“Of course! It’s a word I’ve never heard before, but it makes my heart race! Ribbit, ribbit.”

Jung Minwoo fell into deep thought at his unexpected reaction.

‘Since it’s turned out like this, should I create a nickname too?’

They would be seeing each other for half a year, so it seemed too impersonal to just call him by his number.

Also, he couldn’t give him a name as it would grant him status, but a nickname should be fine.

After organizing his thoughts, Jung Minwoo said to the Frog Man.

“It’s awkward to just call each other by numbers when we’re friends, don’t you think?”

“I, is that so? Ribbit, ribbit.”

“Right. So, why don’t we decide on nicknames for each other?”

“Ooh…… That’s a good idea! Ribbit, ribbit.”

At the Frog Man’s positive response, Jung Minwoo fell into thought once more.

‘What kind of nickname would be good……’

He wanted to give him a cool nickname.

‘Frog in English is Frog…… if you take out the Fr, it’s og. It’s a bit lacking to call him Og…… should I call him Rok?’

It was a pretty decent naming sense considering he came up with it in such a short time.

“How about Rok?”

“It’s a cool nickname. I’ll go with that! Ribbit, ribbit.”

The Frog Man, no, Rok seemed to like the newly given nickname.

“Then, I’ll give you a cool nickname too. Ribbit, ribbit.”

Rok stroked his chin and fell into thought.

After about 3 minutes.

“How about Gnat? Ribbit, ribbit.”

“……What?”

He suggested a ridiculous nickname.

“Gnat is good. They’re tasty too. Ribbit, ribbit.”

“……Just call me Minwoo.”

“I like Gnat more……”

“Call me Minwoo.”

“B, but……”

“Call me Minwoo.”

T h i s w as c o p i e d f r o m k i n g m t l . o rg
“……O, okay. Ribbit, ribbit.”

He could see that Rok was dejected by his strong insistence.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be called Gnat……’
T h i s w a s c o p i e d f ro m k i n g mt l. o r g

He couldn’t let himself be called Gnat, so he had no choice but to ignore Rok’s opinion.

“Then, shall we return to the dorms since the duel is over?”

“Yes, Gna…… no, Minwoo! Ribbit, ribbit.”

Afterward, Jung Minwoo and Rok returned to their respective dorm rooms.

That night.

After finishing his studies, Jung Minwoo took time to reorganize his plans.

‘The perfect score for the exam is 100 points, so even if 10 points are deducted, I can make up for it with the bonus points.’

If he earned more bonus points in the future, the probability of him reaching first place would increase even further.

‘And it would be advantageous to widen the score gap in the first exam.’

The theoretical exam was the one he was most confident in because he had studied it in his previous life.

Jung Minwoo took out his calendar and checked how many days were left until the exam.

’45 days…… that’s a reasonable amount of time left.’

With this much time, he would be able to perfectly finish reviewing.

‘Just in case, I should steadily spar with Rok and improve my skills.’

He couldn’t predict what kind of exam the third one, “Unique Trait Utilization”, would be, so he needed to prepare in various ways.

‘It won’t be easy since it’s the last exam.’

After finishing reorganizing his plans, Jung Minwoo decided to review the competitors who could be obstacles for him.

‘I can consider there to be no rivals in our class in terms of theory and combat.’

One might think it’s too early to jump to conclusions about the theoretical part, but

‘You can tell just by watching them study.’

He had been living with them for over a week and had checked their study methods and notes, so he could be certain.

‘However, it’s meaningless even if I get first place in the class.’

Getting first place in the class didn’t mean getting first place in the entire school, so he couldn’t get complacent.

‘Should I start looking for demons who could be rivals?’

It was better to identify them beforehand so he could prepare in advance.

T h i s w a s c o pie d f ro m k i n g m t l .o r g
‘First, should I go to the video archive and look at the demons who got first place?’
T his w a s c op i e d f r o m k i ng m t l . o rg

Just because they got first place in the duel didn’t mean they were good at other subjects, but at this point in time, when he was lacking information, it was more than worth investigating.

‘I’ll select 9 demons and observe them carefully, and if any of them stand out, I can investigate them further.’

Afterward, Jung Minwoo went to the video archive and spent time analyzing the 9 demons who had placed first in the duels.

‘They’re all quite something……’

Jung Minwoo’s impression after watching the videos was simple.

‘If even one of the demons who placed first had been in our class, it would have been difficult for me to get first place……’

Monstrous demons.

Looking at them, even 99번 felt cute.

‘As expected, it was a good idea to check.’

Jung Minwoo, feeling a sense of vigilance, wrote down their numbers in the notebook he had brought.

‘It wouldn’t be a bad idea to approach them sometime over the weekend.’

After writing down their numbers, Jung Minwoo replayed the videos and memorized the demons’ sparring.

And when dawn broke outside, which had been dark, Jung Minwoo finally returned to his dorm room and went to sleep.