𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔
Roar.
Roar.
『Wow, how did you win? Does this even make sense?』
『I’ve never seen a prestigious school’s student lose to a regular student in a one-on-one match before.』
Everyone seemed shocked by the result.
However, they were confused since they had no idea what happened.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙢 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚.」
Cheong Haram, who had fainted, opened her eyes for a moment after Choi Do-won’s simple treatment. Then, with a look of dejection on her face, she returned to her seat without saying anything.
“I didn’t stop the match, but the techniques were excessive. Points will be deducted.”
Choi Do-won, who had found fault again, seemed to understand, although he couldn’t comprehend it either.
Roar.
『Did you use some kind of underhanded method? It’s suspicious. It’s practically impossible.』
『Is it collusion then? You won, that’s for sure. The result is what matters.』
『Not the result, the whole thing.』
『. . . . . .I’ll just shut up.』
Amidst the gazes filled with a mixture of surprise and doubt, I leisurely returned to my seat.
The result was satisfactory, but somehow it didn’t feel fulfilling.
「𝙄 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙.」
Two out of the three Phantom Nightmares I created were destroyed, and the shikigami, Earthbound, wasn’t in good condition either.
Considering the effort and resources that went into creating them, it was a huge loss.
「𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧.」
I looked at the elegant, light blue prayer beads wrapped around my wrist with mixed feelings.
「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
Tiling.
【Baryok Beads】
▶Each bead stores a certain amount of spiritual power, which the wearer can use whenever they want.
▶Remaining (1/8)
Among the talismans Cheong So-ha sent me with the elixir, I chose the Baryok Beads because I thought it suited me.
I fully charged all eight beads and participated in the match, but I ended up using all but one of them.
Despite making thorough preparations, it was a very close fight.
「𝙏𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄’𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙢.」
Cheong Haram was undoubtedly talented, but her fighting style was relatively easy to predict and counter. Plus, she wasn’t at a high level yet.
However, the opponents I might face in the future wouldn’t be at this level.
「𝙎𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.」
Bi-hyeong, who will cause the Yeongwol Island incident during the first semester’s final exam, is strong enough to fight Cheong Haram with just one hand.
「𝙊𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧.」
However, that’s only a few weeks away.
Will I be able to become strong enough to survive on Yeongwol Island, the final stage of Chapter 1 of the story, in that amount of time?
Will I be able to protect and bring along all the main and supporting characters that I need?
「𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨.」
While I was lost in thought, the teachers who had been cleaning up the arena resumed the matches.
After my match with Cheong Haram, the results were relatively predictable.
All the second-year students finished their matches, and finally, it was time for the first-year students, who were the main characters of the exorcism game, to begin their matches.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩.」
The protagonist, Yoo Ha-on, and Baek Eun-seo, who is always by her side.
And Hwang Woo-seop from the Three Great Houses, the Hwang family, and the exchange student from the US, Johan.
Lastly, Cheong Juhwa, who had been hiding her strength in Class B.
Han Seo-ah, who was closely related to me, was also one of the main characters in the first year, but she didn’t participate in the Comprehensive Combat Practice class, just like in the original story.
“It took long enough. This is the last match. First-year students, choose an upperclassman you like from the top-ranking students and the second-year students.”
After all the long matches, the final stage of the Comprehensive Combat Practice mid-term evaluation, the inter-grade competition, finally began.
“. . . I’d like to compete with Senior Hwang Ji-hak.”
While everyone was having exciting matches, surprisingly, no one chose me, who seemed like easy prey.
The reason was simple.
“Excuse me. Senior Cheong Haram? Would you happen to be okay?”
“. . . . . .Ha.”
The student from Class A of the first year who chose Cheong Haram, who had been looking unwell the whole time, was literally crushed.
Roar. Roar.
『What the heck! You said she wasn’t feeling well?』
『Wow. . . . . .It didn’t even take 3 minutes.』
『As expected, the upper-ranking second-year students are on a whole other level. What did that guy do to win last time? I heard he was completely useless last year.』
Cheong Haram, who had finished the match easily, went back to the dormitory after finishing the evaluation early, saying that she wasn’t feeling well.
Cheong Juhwa, who had lost her chance to compete, was disappointed, but that was to be expected.
『I wanted to fight her even though he’s a D-rank, but I guess I’ll let it go.』
『Right. Points are at stake, so gambling isn’t really an option.』
On top of being unexpectedly re-evaluated, I was a D-class student, so even if you won, it wouldn’t look good. That’s probably why the students thought it was an advantageous choice that wouldn’t benefit them in any way.
However, there was one person who didn’t care about that.
It was Baek Eun-seo.
“You over there, come down here.”
I had a feeling she was looking at me, and as expected, I sighed and got up from my seat and headed to the arena.
The students focused their attention once again on the interesting match that had suddenly begun.
However, I, who had already made up my mind, nonchalantly crushed everyone’s expectations.
“I forfeit.”
“What did you say?”
Baek Eun-seo looked at me in surprise, and so did teacher Choi Do-won.
“You forfeit?”
“Yes.”
The reason was simple.
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