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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“As I said before, the duels will be conducted in a tournament format. The matchups will be sent to each of your smartwatches now, so check them.”
As Kang Cheol-su said that and operated his smartwatch, an alarm rang from the smartwatches of the kids, including me, indicating that a message had arrived.
Everyone opened the holograms on their smartwatches and checked the matchups.
But there was something strange about the matchups.
I narrowed my eyes and carefully examined the matchups.
But even after double-checking, my name wasn’t on the matchups.
I immediately raised my hand and called the instructor.
“Instructor, my name isn’t on the matchups.”
The moment I said that, Asuka, who was sitting next to me, also raised her hand.
“Instructor, mine isn’t there either!”
“Mine isn’t there either.”
“…Me too.”
Hands were raised from here and there.
Looking at the faces of the kids who raised their hands like me, saying their names weren’t on the matchups, they were all familiar faces.
“I’ll make a separate matchup for you guys. I’m working on it now, so wait a moment.”
Saying that, Kang Cheol-su manipulated the hologram on his smartwatch in various ways.
And a little later, a new matchup arrived on the smartwatches of the kids who had raised their hands, including me.
I immediately opened the hologram and checked the new matchup.
[A]
[01][Lee Yu-jin]
[07][Park Seong-woo]
[B]
[03][Lee Seo-yeon]
[04][Shuhei Asuka]
[C]
[02][Arthur Pendragon]
[08][Kim Woo-min]
[D]
[05][Noah]
[06][Park Ga-ram]
The main characters: Arthur, Lee Seo-yeon, Asuka, Noah.
The supporting characters with talents no less than the main characters: Park Ga-ram, Park Seong-woo, Kim Woo-min, etc.
It was a glamorous matchup that would be seen in the Duel Season, an important event of Arena Academy that determined the ranking.
But why is the match order like this?
The moment I thought that, Kang Cheol-su said with a smirk,
“What, is the match order strange? Your faces all look like you don’t understand.”
I guess it wasn’t just me who thought that.
“The random match order is intentional.”
Saying that, Kang Cheol-su manipulated his smartwatch.
Then, a translucent blue dome the size of the circular arena appeared.
That dome made of mana served to protect the spectators watching from outside the arena.
The faculty members working at Arena Academy and the students attending were all superhumans.
As superhumans clash, the shockwaves created by clashing weapons, fragments of mana, and magic can escape outside the arena.
The kids and I sitting on the tiered seats overlooking the arena were also superhumans, but since there was the possibility of ‘what if’, they set up a mana dome like this to prevent accidents.
By the way, the one who created the dome was the principal, Yoo Baek, so it couldn’t be broken by ordinary power.
Even if it was Arthur or Lee Seo-yeon.
To break the dome of the training arena, you needed to have at least the strength of Kang Cheol-su.
As expected of something made by the Grand Wizard.
The effect was certain.
“I intentionally made the match order random. Although the entrance rankings are set, the matches held here are not official, and they are only to check how skilled you guys are.”
And, Kang Cheol-su added.
He continued, raising one corner of his mouth.
“Honestly, you guys are also dissatisfied even if you didn’t say it. Even though you all took the same exams, the entrance rankings are determined by mere scores.”
At Kang Cheol-su’s words, a considerable number of people nodded their heads.
Honestly, as the instructor said, there was dissatisfaction.
Since it was the world’s top academy, we didn’t express it, that was all.
We all took and passed the same exams.
But the criteria for determining the entrance rankings were the scores obtained in the third exam.
No matter how much Arena Academy valued competition, it was unreasonable for the rankings to be determined by merely acquiring scores.
That’s because the scores to be obtained in the third exam can be acquired not only by eliminating fellow examinees but also by finding hidden items or defeating monsters, right?
If you’re lucky, you can find items and acquire scores, and since you’re taking the third exam, you’ll have the skills, so there won’t be a problem with defeating monsters either, right?
If the rankings were determined by competing based on skills in a tournament format like now, instead of by scores, it would have been understandable.
So, the entrance rankings were wrong!
…That was what they must be thinking.
‘Pathetic bastards.’
I sneered at the guys who nodded their heads, falling for Kang Cheol-su’s ‘raising fighting spirit’ remark.
Is it not right for the entrance rankings to be determined solely by the scores from the third exam?
If you’re lucky, you can find items and defeat monsters to acquire a lot of scores?
It was truly a stupid and pathetic thought.
‘Luck is also a skill.’
They still don’t know.
Luck is not something to be taken lightly at all.
In the life and death of a battle, luck is just as important as your own skills.
The higher the skill, the more luck in a life-or-death battle can be a very important power that can determine life or death.
Yet they assessed it as ‘mere’.
That’s why their rankings were low.
“Hmph, idiots.”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought that way.
Asuka, who was sitting next to me, was looking at those guys with a contemptuous expression, not a smiley one.
And not only Asuka but all the main characters were shaking their heads as if those guys were pathetic, and the supporting characters with talents no less than the main characters also had displeased faces.
‘From a rough estimate…’
It seemed the kids within the top 30 didn’t have much dissatisfaction with the criteria for determining the entrance rankings.
That meant everyone from 31st to 100th place was dissatisfied.
“Then, Instructor, don’t you have to rearrange the matchups?”
One of the complainers said that while looking at me.
“The top student, second place, and up to 8th place. They’re not on the same matchup as us.”
‘That guy is ridiculous.’
Does he think I got the top rank by luck?
And even if I did get the top rank because I was lucky, do the main character kids like Arthur look easy?
‘You’re just gonna get beaten up, you idiot.’
While I was thinking that, Kang Cheol-su shook his head and said,
“No, I won’t change the matchups.”
“…What do you mean? Why?”
The complainer expressed doubt at Kang Cheol-su’s firm answer.
Kang Cheol-su himself answered that question.
“Because the top student to 8th place are stronger than you think. I didn’t make a separate matchup for no reason.”
“…”
Even though Kang Cheol-su said that, the complainer who asked the question, as well as the other complainers, still had dissatisfaction and doubt on their faces.
At this, Kang Cheol-su scratched the scar on his cheek, not his forehead.
‘That’s the motion he makes when he’s angry or annoyed.’
But even without the motion, anyone could see that Kang Cheol-su’s expression was like ‘You’re talking back to me, the instructor?’
‘Honestly, Kang Cheol-su did entice them by asking ‘Aren’t you dissatisfied with the entrance rankings?’ to get the kids to participate enthusiastically in the class, but…’
If they kept talking back and failing to read the atmosphere, remaining dissatisfied, even the kindest and best instructor would get annoyed.
“Phew…”
Still, since they were his students, Kang Cheol-su suppressed his anger with a deep sigh and offered an alternative to the complainers.
“Then let’s do this. We’ll start the matches with the top students first.”
Having said that, Kang Cheol-su’s gaze turned to me.
“Since we’ll start with Group A, the top student and 7th place, come down.”
“…”
Hey, since when does the top student go first in the matches?
“Hey, top student, 7th place. Don’t dawdle and come down quickly.”
“”…Yes.””
In the end, we went down to the arena.
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“The duel format is free.”
Standing between me and 7th place, Park Seong-woo, in the arena, Kang Cheol-su explained the match format.
“It doesn’t matter how you fight.”
However, Kang Cheol-su added and looked at me.
“Top student, since most of your weapons are long-range firearms, you’ll need to balance it out with the weapon chosen by 7th place.”
The weapon Park Seong-woo chose was a melee weapon.
Among them, it was a sword, a close-range weapon.
And it was just a single sword.
Kang Cheol-su continued,
“Reloading is limited to once per firearm.”
“…Yes.”
What a waste.
I had packed my inventory full in addition to the magazines on my tactical vest.
Still, the number of guns I had was three.
And the number of bullets in the guns was…
Pistol: 17 rounds.
Revolver: 6 rounds.
Shotgun: 6 rounds.
A total of 29 rounds.
Plus, I could reload once.
I could shoot a total of 58 rounds.
‘That’s good enough, right?’
Honestly, it was not just good enough, but it seemed like I could easily win.
I not only had bullets but also grenades, albeit non-lethal, and flashbangs.
And I brought a sword to use when I ran out of bullets.
‘But why is he choosing only one weapon?’
Unlike me, who brought four weapons, Park Seong-woo, 7th place, only brought a single sword.
‘Is it a difference in practicality?’
Still, it would be more advantageous to bring more weapons.
I couldn’t understand it.
“Now, take ten steps back.”
At Kang Cheol-su’s words, Park Seong-woo and I turned around and took ten steps.
Then we turned back to face each other.
“I will now begin the match, so take your stances.”
Park Seong-woo grabbed the scabbard with his left hand and grasped the sword’s handle with his right hand.
While extending his right leg forward, he slightly bent his waist.
A typical Iaidō stance.
Seeing that, I recalled that Park Seong-woo was a disciple of the top-tier hero, Sokgeom.
‘That’s right. Park Seong-woo, he was Sokgeom’s disciple. A popular supporting character who becomes as strong as the main characters.’
Although he’s a supporting character, Park Seong-woo, who has mastered Sokgeom’s swordsmanship, possesses strength comparable to Asuka.
Of course, that was the story from the later part.
‘The current Park Seong-woo is…’
Although he was strong among the students as he ranked 7th in the entrance exam…
‘He’s obsessed with Iaidō.’
Having become immersed in the anime ‘Rurouni Kenshi’, Park Seong-woo was focusing on training Iaidō among Sokgeom’s swordsmanship techniques.
And if he did Iaidō, he should fight with the sword drawn, but he had the strange habit of sheathing the sword and performing Iaidō again.
‘I should fix that guy’s habit on this occasion.’
As the story progressed, it got tougher, so I decided to break Park Seong-woo’s love for Iaidō since the match was set up like this.
With that thought, I prepared to shoot the pistol in my right hand right away.
“Since I’m here, don’t worry about inflicting fatal wounds.”
Kang Cheol-su said that and stepped back from between me and Park Seong-woo.
And then…
“Match start.”
He signaled the start of the match.
Click.
“Watch closely.”
Park Seong-woo spoke in a period drama tone and put strength into the hand grasping the handle.
“This is Iaidō.”
As Park Seong-woo said that, light flashed at his waist.
Shink!
The sound of the sword being drawn from the scabbard filled the arena, and the moment the blue blade was revealed…
Bang!
A single gunshot filled the arena.
“…”
“…”
Silence followed.
In that silence, Park Seong-woo looked at his sword with a perplexed face.
He was certain he had put strength into it.
He drew the sword.
And he clearly saw the blade being revealed from the scabbard.
But… as if he had been dreaming, it was sheathed again.
Park Seong-woo came to his senses.
He thought what had just happened was in his imagination.
“…Watch.”
He put strength into his body again.
Putting strength into the hand holding the scabbard and into his feet.
Then he put strength into the hand grasping the sword’s handle.
“This is Iaidō!”
And he drew the sword with a powerful declaration.
Shink!
It could be heard.
The hot friction of the blade being drawn from the scabbard.
It could be seen.
The sharp sword wind created by the drawn blade reaching that top student’s body.
But that belief was short-lived.
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot rang out once more.
And then…
Clink!
Click.
“…”
The blade disappeared again.
Park Seong-woo stared at me with a blank expression.
I opened my mouth while looking at him.
“What?”
Is this the first time you’ve seen it?
Hitting the sword’s handle with a bullet?
Saying that, I smirked.
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