I Become a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 37

"This guy's insane, isn't he?"

"Who's crazier? The bastard asking for food in someone else's club? Starting today, 'Familia' is protecting this place, and I'm here as the person in charge, so security is my responsibility. So, get lost."

"Familia? Security? What kind of nonsense is this, Lee Seri?"

Hearing the male voice calling her, Lee Seri, who was behind Jinwoo, peeks her head out and shouts.

"W-Wait! Our 'Recipe Development Club' has a contract with the 'Familia Club'! T-This is a threat... so please go back!"

"What? Threat? Seriously? Did I beat anyone up? Did I swear? I just want some food because I got hurt on a mission. Isn't that what your support-type club is supposed to do?"

"T-That's not an obligation! What we do is support, not tribute!"

The man shows an expression of disbelief after hearing Lee Seri's words.

"Tribute? Ha, people might think we're the bad guys. Is it wrong for a combat-type club to expect support from a support-type club?"

"If the people providing support feel forced, that's when it becomes wrong."

For Jinwoo, who had lived with members of the Vivaldi Family since childhood, this fact was significant.

He had always been proud of being part of the 'Vivaldi' Family under 'Calione.'

Moreover, 'Calione' and 'Vivaldi' never forced those who supported them.

"I'll say this one last time. Get lost, unless you really want to get hurt."

"You brat... Do you think seniors are a joke? What will you do if I don't leave?"

If it came to that, Jinwoo would simply follow his mission.

"For the mission of the club 'Familia,' I'm going to beat the hell out of you."

His mission was to protect the 'Recipe Development Club' from threats.

"Ha, you want to fight me? Because of some unknown club called 'Familia'? Are you serious?"

"If you leave, there won't be any need for that. But you're not planning to leave anyway, right?"

Jinwoo glares at the man as he speaks. The man bursts into laughter, finding it amusing.

"AHAHAHA! This guy is really something. Yeah, I was told not to come back until I got a final answer from the president. ......Follow me to the sparring ground. I'll give you the fight you want."

After saying that, the man immediately turns and walks out of the club booth. Jinwoo prepares to follow him when something grabs his clothes from behind.

"Y-You're really going? Just like this?"

Lee Seri and the members of the 'Recipe Development Club' look at Jinwoo with worried expressions.

Seeing their concern, Jinwoo gives them a slight smile, as if to say there's no problem.

"We're part of the same family now. Trust me. If you come to cheer me on, that would be even better."

After saying that, Jinwoo follows the man out of the club booth and briefly updates the club chat about the current situation.

[Me: The Ranger Club guys are picking a fight again. We're going to have a match at the sparring ground. Come watch if you want.]

The first sparring match after his bout with the club president, Yoojin.

The first match had been a complete defeat, but Jinwoo had no anxiety at all about the upcoming sparring match.

The opponent he had just been arguing with wasn't a monster like Yoojin.

The two moved toward the sparring ground. Once there, they entered the sparring room, using club activities as an excuse to borrow the sparring ground from the instructor.

"Let's set the field to a forest, alright? So that if you lose, you can't blame the field."

Before entering the sparring ground, Jinwoo discusses the field settings in advance.

The man grits his teeth in frustration and answers in a tone of disbelief.

"Do you really think you can beat a Ranger in a forest?"

"Yeah."

"......Instructor, please set the field to a forest."

After setting the sparring ground's interior to a forest using the control panel.

As the two enter the sparring ground, the previously white room begins to ripple and transform into the shape of a forest.

The chirping of birds from above, the cool sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, and the texture of the ground, all making it feel like an actual forest.

Momentarily fascinated by the realistic implementation, Jinwoo takes in his surroundings.

Fully aware of the dangers of carelessness from his previous match with Yoojin, Jinwoo draws his two daggers from his waist and quietly closes his eyes.

[Sparring Start]

As the instructor's voice echoes from above, Jinwoo immediately leaps up into a tree, hiding his body among the leaves before surveying the area.

Amid the chilly wind and rustling leaves, an unnatural sound reaches Jinwoo, and he quickly turns his head.

───!

An arrow grazes Jinwoo's cheek and embeds itself in a tree behind him.

Despite hiding among the leaves, his position had been discovered by the opponent.

Realizing his position was compromised, Jinwoo begins advancing through the trees, searching for the Ranger's location.

"Tch."

Meanwhile, arrows continue to fly toward him. Even if he tried to dodge, the leaves obstructed his view, so he relied solely on his sixth sense and hearing to evade the arrows.

But he couldn't just sit there and take it.

Roughly identifying the arrows were coming from a certain direction, Jinwoo starts sprinting forward.

Jinwoo closes the distance with movements akin to acrobatics, leaping between the trees. At the same time, something flashes before his eyes, and a blinding white light blooms.

"You idiot, did you really think I'd just sit still without a plan?"

The continuous shooting from one spot had been a trap by the Ranger to lure Jinwoo out.

"You're done for."

The Ranger pulls back the bowstring, making an eerie creaking sound.

According to his plan, Jinwoo's eyes would still be unable to recover their sight. Having lost his vision at this distance, there was no way he could dodge the arrow.

If he had lost his vision, that is.

"Predictable."

Jinwoo, who had his eyes closed, quickly opens them and charges toward the Ranger.

Startled, the Ranger hurriedly releases the bowstring, but Jinwoo smirks as he uses the dagger in his left hand to deflect the arrowhead, sending it flying off.

"How...?"

"Do you think you're the only one who thinks like that? I've had my eyes closed since I started running this way."

Jinwoo is from a family.

And he had grown up watching street fights since childhood.

The street fights Jinwoo witnessed were all about 'cunning.'

Fights where any means necessary were used to incapacitate the opponent. Fights that started with fists would suddenly involve rocks, and when a child cried, enemies would be lying in ambush.

That was the kind of 'fight' Jinwoo had grown up seeing.

Which was why Jinwoo respected his father, 'Vivaldi.' In those fights, his father, his family, never accepted a single defeat.

And Jinwoo knew this about himself.

He too was a 'Vivaldi.'

Once given a mission by the boss, he couldn't afford to lose in a fight.

"Got you."

Jinwoo thrusts the dagger in his right hand toward the spot where the opponent's lung is located.

A small hole would be fatal. But realizing his plan had failed, the Ranger immediately discards his bow and draws the machete from his waist, deflecting Jinwoo's blade.

"Do you really think you'll win in close combat?"

"Yeah, I will."

Simultaneously, their feet cross as they deliver powerful blows to each other's bodies.

Both of them are struck by the impact and fall.

Jinwoo swiftly grips his dagger in reverse and stabs it into a tree to avoid falling, while the opponent hides himself in another tree.

Meanwhile, Jinwoo retrieves his dagger and lands on the ground.

"What do you plan to do, running away without your bow?"

Jinwoo remains vigilant, scanning the surroundings.

Thinking the opponent would ambush him with the machete, he tracks the opponent's traces.

[You're getting hit because you lack experience, chick.]

Suddenly, the arrows embedded in the trees are pulled out, and from all directions, they come rushing toward Jinwoo.

'Telekinesis?!'

Jinwoo swings his daggers to deflect the barrage of arrows suddenly set in motion.

The sheer number of arrows the opponent had fired made it impossible for Jinwoo to deflect them all, even for him.

That is, the usual Jinwoo.

'Wait? I feel like I can deflect them all?'

Despite the surprise attack, Jinwoo was managing to deflect nearly all the arrows almost perfectly.

Both the Ranger watching from above and Jinwoo himself were astonished by this sight.

However, Jinwoo soon recalled what he had eaten earlier and understood the situation.

Recipe Development Club.

A club where awakened ones who can create food with buff effects gather.

Having eaten so much of the food they made for him there, it was only natural that his physical abilities would be different from usual.

"This is so absurd......."

[Skill: Reverse Attack]

A unique skill that allows the user to launch arrows once more at a designated target, regardless of the situation.

The man, watching his own skill being completely blocked by a first-year rookie, was so astounded by the surreal sight that he forgot he was supposed to be hiding and spoke aloud.

And this became an opportunity for Jinwoo.

"──Found you."

"You crazy bastard!"

The Ranger hurriedly swung his machete to force Jinwoo back, as Jinwoo swung the two daggers he held in reverse grip.

As intended, Jinwoo dodged the Ranger's attack and disappeared from view.

"My weapon's reach is superior!"

The Ranger shouted with all his might to assert his presence, then began looking around to locate Jinwoo.

He couldn't see him, so he tried to determine Jinwoo's location by listening to the sound of rustling leaves.

─!──/─!──!/───/!───/───!

It didn't take long for him to realize something was off.

'The sound of rustling leaves is coming from all directions?'

When the wind blows from one direction, the leaves should sway in that same direction.

Moreover, by pinpointing the unusual sound, one could determine the enemy's position. That was basic.

But what about now?

It was as if irregular winds were blowing in from all four directions—north, south, east, and west.

"Where are you! Where?!"

Panicking over this impossible phenomenon in a field that perfectly replicated the natural environment, the Ranger wildly swung his machete around while shouting. Then, he suddenly realized.

If something impossible was happening in a natural environment, there was only one possibility.

Ability.

So this was the brat's ability.

"You damn punk! If you're wielding a blade, fight me face-to-face like a man! Aren't you ashamed to be fighting a Ranger like me this way?"

Hoping to provoke Jinwoo, the Ranger shouted at the top of his lungs. This sparring match was surely being watched by others.

He hoped Jinwoo would fall for his taunt and engage in a head-on battle.

At least in a direct confrontation, he was confident he had a chance.

But there was one thing he had overlooked.

"──I'm an assassin, you idiot."

With that icy voice whispering in his ear.

The Ranger's consciousness faded.