Chapter 55: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 55
The bet between Class A and Class B, tied to the pride of their class leaders, had begun.
The tense atmosphere between the two made me swallow nervously without realizing it.
Marin, even in the original story, was a character who showed a lot of affection to those around her.
Of course, she would have been the same with the kids in Class B, and she would have trusted them equally.
Mei, though she seemed a bit stoic, had an incredible affection for Class A.
Since neither of them thought their class would lose, one of them was bound to get hurt if there was a clear winner.
I hoped for a 3-3 tie, thinking it would be the best outcome, as I watched the combat of Team 1 on the screen.
Overall, Class B was on the offensive.
However, Class A held firm with Daniel's timely support and Andre's solid defense.
It seemed evenly matched, but then Daniel, who had moved behind Andre's shield and out of sight, jumped and threw a powerful spear.
A kid from Class B was hit, and perhaps the damage exceeded their protective gear's limit, as they disappeared from the screen, bouncing out of the illusion magic.
"That's it, Daniel!"
"Oh no! If you get hit by that!"
I could hear the contrasting reactions from both sides.
It had been even when the numbers were the same, but with one team outnumbered, the balance tipped.
With the numerical advantage, Class A turned offensive, and one by one, the members of Class B were eliminated, leading to Class A's victory.
The illusion magic dissipated, and the victorious kids from Class A returned with a triumphant stride, as if they were on a victory parade.
"Ha ha ha! Applaud!"
"Daniel! Daniel! He’s a god!"
"Everyone else was great too!"
As Daniel, the hero of the victory, raised his spear high and shouted, the other kids from Class A cheered.
The kids from Class B looked annoyed by this provocative celebration.
Mei, tilting her head back slightly, muttered to Marin as if stating the obvious.
"It looks like Class A will win."
"Hmph, that was just one match! Class B will win the remaining five!"
Marin retorted confidently, then turned to the kids from Class B and shouted loudly.
"Don’t give up! Show them Class B’s strength!"
The kids from Class B seemed to rally at Marin’s shout.
They looked determined to win and get revenge.
Despite being confident that Class A would win, Mei watched with a smug smile as if challenging them.
However, when the results of the battles for teams 2 and 3 were announced, the smile disappeared from Mei's face.
This was because both teams had been victories for Class B.
“Waaah, we lost…”
Jessie, who had declared, "I’ll definitely get us a point!" before the third match, came back tearfully.
As I comforted Jessie, who was clinging to me, Marin smiled and spoke to the now-silent Mei.
“Did you see that? Class B’s strength. Do you still think Class A will win?”
“It’s 1 to 2, the results aren’t in yet.”
Mei spoke calmly, but I could tell she was a bit anxious.
Mei likely felt it too.
Class B seemed to have a slight advantage in overall average strength.
In the original story, when the classes merged, the proportion of Class B students was higher.
Fewer Class B students stayed in the gym compared to Class A, meaning there were more Class B students considered as immediate power.
Even though Eve had tried her best to form balanced teams, some differences were inevitable.
Daniel and Andre were stronger than expected, which was why Team 1 had won, and that was fortunate.
When Eve called Team 4, Mei stood up abruptly.
“Mei, good luck! Please avenge me!”
When Jessie, who was behind me, shouted, Mei turned to look at us.
I nodded encouragingly at Jessie’s enthusiastic cheering, and Mei nodded back at us before moving forward.
Her eyes were ablaze with determination to win.
...Although I was cheering for her, honestly, the opponent was a bit of a problem.
Looking at Team 4’s composition, I thought it was terribly unbalanced.
Marin, sitting beside me, relaxed her arms and released the small girl she had been holding.
“I’ll be back!”
“Okay, take care.”
Florene jumped up from the ground and greeted Marin.
Marin’s face showed no sign of worry as she bid her farewell.
“It’s my first time seeing her in person today, but I’ve heard stories about the daughter of the Dolos family. If what I’ve heard is true, this team might have a tough time.”
Sylvia, sitting next to me, whispered quietly.
The Dolos family, Florene’s family, was very famous.
It was comparable to Sylvia’s family, Astra, or the principal’s family, Aegis.
As famous as they were, they also wielded great influence.
Despite this, Sylvia hadn’t known Florene’s face because, due to her peculiar personality, Dolos rarely allowed her to roam outside.
Anyway, I knew the stories Sylvia had heard about Florene from the original work.
The current generation of Dolos was not only peculiar but also extremely strong.
And I knew that those rumors were not exaggerated at all.
The battle of Team 4 began.
Florene took out a small wand with a tiny star-shaped ornament at the end from her pocket.
Holding what looked like a magic wand, Florene, with her small stature and pink hair, looked like a magical girl from a children's anime.
Despite her harmless appearance, the kids from Class A didn’t recklessly charge at her.
With such a famous surname, the class leader had probably given them some tips.
It was a good judgment, but only if they had a way to deal with her.
Florene smiled brightly as she watched the hesitant Class A.
Dolos, the hero’s family that led the 70 crusaders to defeat the Witch of Lust in ancient times.
The hero, who ran non-stop from the far west to his family’s land with a massive hole in his stomach, delivered the news of the 69’s noble sacrifice and the Witch’s defeat before dying, had a simple ability.
Just an exceptionally strong body. That was all.
Even with just that, he was strong enough to lead renowned heroes.
Florene was considered to have inherited his blood more strongly than anyone else in her family.
Marin could subdue her because Florene didn’t truly hate being held by her.
There were almost no people who could subdue Florene with mere physical strength.
The wand in Florene’s hand extended in length.
It grew to almost her height.
As the star-shaped ornament grew proportionately, menacing spikes suddenly protruded from it.
It was an oddly shaped weapon, but it was classified as a morning star.
As Florene charged at Mei and swung the weapon with one hand, a fearsome sound of something heavy cutting through the air echoed.
Even though Mei dodged the attack with a quick backstep, her face showed a horrified expression, feeling the terrifying power.
I recalled the story about Florene’s weapon from the original work.
It was so impressive that I remembered it clearly.
A long time ago, drunk dwarves debated the most manly weapon and made one from adamantium, the heaviest and strongest metal.
It could grow in size according to the user’s strength but also increased in weight proportionally, a true man’s weapon.
Unless it reached a certain size, the spikes wouldn’t appear, and it would look like a toy suitable for little girls, hence the name “Girl Tester.”
The dwarves, upon sobering up, realized that no one could wield it in its true form without a masculine lightweight enchantment.
Left with no choice, the dwarves gave the weapon to a truly strong man.
Now, ironically, the “Girl Tester” revealed its true form in the hands of the most girlish-looking Florene.
Surprised that Mei dodged the attack, Florene tilted her head slightly before charging again, swinging her weapon horizontally.
Mei, trying to avoid another massive attack, leaped back, her face filled with shock.
In Florene’s hands, the “Girl Tester” suddenly grew in size as she held it with both hands.
With a cute battle cry, Florene struck Mei.
The sound of Mei’s barrier, likely created with her ability, shattering resounded ominously.
Hit by the magic warrior’s physical attack, Mei’s body floated into the air and disappeared.
What followed was a massacre.
As Class A students tried to maintain distance while distracting Florene, the other Class B students obstructed them, and one by one, Class A students fell to Florene’s attacks.
As expected, Team 4’s mock battle ended in a defeat for Class A.
Whether it was due to losing three times in a row or some other reason, Mei returned to her seat looking a bit dazed.
Jessie quickly ran over to comfort her, but Mei’s expression didn’t improve.
Florene, who had jumped into Marin’s arms, looked at Mei and said innocently,
“I thought the class leader would be strong, but she wasn’t. Marin is as strong as Florene. Well, don’t be too sad! Losing to Florene isn’t embarrassing!”
Mei seemed to be on the verge of snapping but held back, remaining silently frustrated.
However, Jessie couldn’t hold back and shouted at Florene.
“Ugh, Mei isn’t weak! You shrimp!”
“Sh...Shrimp?! Hey! You’re not much taller than Florene! And besides, she is weak! She flew away with one hit!”
Florene, whose small stature was a sore point, trembled as she shouted back at Jessie.
Feeling a sense of duty to defend Mei,
Jessie shouted even louder.
The sight of the two small girls arguing while clinging to their respective class leaders looked like a fight between elementary school kids.
“I can be short because I have dwarf ancestors! You’re shorter than a dwarf! And Mei is strong at heart! She didn’t run away even in front of the Monster of Sloth!”
“What’s the point of a strong heart? You need to be actually strong! And Florene will grow taller!”
“Ugh! Anyway, Mei is strong! And thinking you’ll grow at this age means you’re not just short in height, but also in brain! Our growth spurt is long over!”
“Ugh...Marin! She’s mocking me! Say something to her!”
Like children who call for their parents when losing an argument, Florene called for Marin.
Marin sighed and lightly tapped Florene's head.
“Ow! Why? I didn’t say anything wrong!”
“You started it. You can’t say things like that to others! Sigh, you’re giving me a headache. I’m sorry. She has a tendency to speak without thinking.”
Marin sighed familiarly and bowed her head to Mei.
“Phew, it’s okay. What she said is true anyway. And Jessie, I appreciate the sentiment, but you shouldn’t resort to personal attacks. Apologize quickly.”
Upon hearing Marin's apology, Mei took a deep breath and spoke.
Jessie, who looked triumphant, blushed at Mei's words. Realizing how childish she had been, Jessie bowed her head to Florene, who also apologized, saying she was wrong too.
Usually, after such incidents, they would be made to do an awkward reconciliation hug, but fortunately, Marin and Mei didn’t seem to have that in mind.
“I heard there were students who defeated the Monster of Sloth at the school. Were you the ones? It must have been a tough opponent. Impressive.”
To lighten the mood, Marin changed the subject.
Perhaps because Jessie had mentioned the Monster of Sloth, Mei responded.
“To be precise, it was one person, not a group. I didn’t do much. It was Scarlet who defeated the monster.”
As Mei looked at me, Marin and Florene also turned their gaze towards me. Their eyes were filled with admiration, making me feel uncomfortable.
Seeing me avoid their gaze, Mei gave a bitter smile and spoke again to Marin.
“You said you were as strong as the Dolos girl. I wish I were that strong to have been more helpful... Well, anyway, experiencing it firsthand, I now know Class B is strong. You seem to have many outstanding people.”
Feeling pleased by Mei’s praise, Marin shrugged her shoulders.
“Hmm, so you’ve finally realized the excellence of Class B. Well, if you know that, we can consider the bet null and void. I only made it because I thought you were underestimating Class B.”
With three points already secured in a first-to-four bet, Marin spoke generously, thinking they had already won.
I sighed in pity at Marin's character, who couldn’t help but accumulate more trouble for herself even when she could have stayed still.
Mei spoke to Marin, who was shrugging her shoulders.
“…You know, I haven’t conceded yet. If Class A wins the next two rounds, it will be a tie.”
“Do you have something to rely on?”
Marin asked, and Mei glanced at me.
Specifically, she was looking at Sylvia, who was clinging to me and quietly observing the situation.
Marin then looked over here and spoke.
“Ah, so you were relying on these two. The heir of Astra and the student who defeated the Monster of Sloth... Unfortunately, Class B has a secret weapon. It’ll be tough for you. Of course, you have to defeat me first.”
I wanted to correct her misunderstanding, but Eve called for the members of Team 5.
“I think I’ll win 1 to 5?”
Marin said confidently as she stepped forward.
Sylvia, also in Team 5, stood up slowly.
“Can you win?”
“Shall I?”
When I asked, Sylvia returned the question.
I glanced at Mei, who seemed slightly down and would be more saddened if they lost. I nodded.
“I wasn’t planning to lose, but since Scarlet wants me to win, I’ll fight even harder.”
Sylvia smiled and stepped forward.
The battle of Team 5 was intense.
Marin, whose parents were both famous heroes with supernatural abilities, inherited powers from both and controlled water and ice freely.
Gathering moisture from the air, she shot powerful water cannons and attacked by freezing the moisture above her opponents and dropping it on them.
Sylvia intercepted all these water and ice attacks with her well-timed spells.
The silver starlight symbolizing Astra reflected on the water and ice, creating a beautiful sight despite the battle. The kids watching through the screen constantly exclaimed in admiration.
However, these beautiful attacks were all powerful and destructive. Despite Sylvia and Marin's continuous commands, the other members of Team 5 were eliminated one by one.
Mei watched with a complex expression.
I didn’t know what she was feeling, but since she was no longer just a nameless extra but my friend, I lightly held her hand from behind as she watched the battle of the world's main characters.
Mei, startled by the sudden touch, looked at me for a moment, then smiled slightly and squeezed my hand.
Looking back at the screen, it was now just Sylvia and Marin.
Marin, who had been attacking, was now surrounded by an ice fortress to block the starlight flying toward her, putting her on the defensive.
However, the destructive power of Sylvia’s starlight was more than enough to pierce through the ice.
As Sylvia chanted a slightly longer spell, the screen momentarily flashed brightly, and Team 5's battle ended in victory for Class A.
“You... You’re strong.”
Marin, who had confidently gone out, blushed as she looked at Sylvia, who had returned and sat next to me.
“Don’t be too disheartened. Losing to me isn’t embarrassing.”
Sylvia, seemingly impressed by Florene's earlier words, smiled as she spoke, causing Marin to bury her head in Florene’s shoulder.
Marin, who should have stayed quiet, raised her head slightly and spoke again.
“…But the next team will definitely win for Class B. Someone stronger than me is still left.”
Marin looked towards where the Class B kids were sitting.
Eve called for the final Team 6, and a notable male student rose from where Marin's gaze was directed.
A blond male student with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes.
Dwight Neinhart, a character considered Yoon Si-woo's rival in the original story.
He was a magician, supposedly a descendant of the great mage who had once cast a barrier over a city.
He was considered an asymmetric force among the students.
“Dwight is really strong. Even if you defeated the Monster of Sloth, it’ll be tough. By the way, aren’t you going out?”
Marin looked at me and asked.
It seemed she firmly believed I would be in Team 6, so I shook my head and showed her my left arm with a gem attached to it.
“Well, in this situation, I’m banned from combat for a while.”
I had put it on to avoid startling the Class B kids, but it ended up deceiving them unintentionally.
Marin looked confused for a moment at the realization I wasn’t participating, then, seeing the four members of Team 6 from Class A stepping forward, she exclaimed.
“Four people? Really? Isn’t that unfair?”
She was right.
I nodded internally in agreement, staring at the most unfair person in this world.
Yoon Si-woo, who made eye contact with me, nodded slightly. I didn’t know what was happening, but nodding back made him look happier.
Although there was some murmuring among the Class B students, it quieted down as Eve didn’t say anything.
Dwight was urging to end it quickly, likely because he had been practicing magic late into the night and was tired.
Marin muttered to herself while looking at Dwight with trembling eyes.
“Are they really okay with one person missing against Dwight?”
Unfortunately, it didn’t matter.
Regardless of Marin's confusion, the battle of Team 6 began.
As soon as it started, multiple magic circles appeared around Dwight.
Even at the beginning of the story, his ability to deploy magic at that level was astonishing.
The students knowledgeable in magic were shouting in disbelief.
Magic required a certain amount of time to cast, but Dwight Neinhart was a genius who drastically reduced that time and could perform multiple spells simultaneously.
Combining overwhelming talent with relentless effort, he achieved outstanding results.
The powerful spells aimed at Class A were quickly cut down by Yoon Si-woo, who moved swiftly with his sword.
The kids watching were speechless at Yoon Si-woo’s simple yet unbelievable actions of slashing through the incoming magic.
Dwight, flustered, tried to cast more spells, but no ordinary magic could stop Yoon Si-woo.
A genius in both talent and effort, combined with powerful equipment, Yoon Si-woo didn’t stop despite the barrage of spells.
In the original story, Dwight had never beaten Yoon Si-woo.
With Yoon Si-woo stronger than in the original story, Dwight had no chance.
Thus, the battle ended as quickly as Dwight had wanted.
Marin, having slightly lost her composure, watched with trembling eyes.
Mei muttered in disbelief.
“It’s a tie, but I feel like I’ve lost.”
Hang in there, Mei.
Unaware of anything, Yoon Si-woo smiled broadly and nodded at me.
thanks for the chapter
ReplyDeletethanks for the chapter
ReplyDeletethanks for the chapter
ReplyDeleteGotta wait one more week for that offense up buff! Heh.
ReplyDeleteTftc
hahahaha, despite it being a tie, it's a gg for me. glad yoon seems happy btw but how would mc fight that team? just curious
ReplyDeletePunch till they die
DeleteThank you for the chapter. Gracias por el capĂtulo.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter. This story has been pretty interesting but im surprised the author didn’t do much with the entire losing an arm ordeal. Feels like the author could have expanded on that but its just kinda treated as if its nothing. The only people sad because of it are the other characters and mc seems to barely even care about it. Losing an arm has a lot of side effects like phantom pain, discomfort, fatigue, depression, etc. This just feels like, “yeah she lost an arm, oh well”. Its kinda sad cause this novel was feeling realistic with all the character development and the mc’s depression from being isekaid and in a new world away from everything the mc loved, and now that realism is breaking from the nonchalant attitude from losing an arm. Seriously its an entire arm we’re talking about, its not easy to instantly adapt to this kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteAlthough i agree, you have to remember that MC has a huge tendency of sealing emotions and thoughts because of that trauma of being called a crybaby.
DeleteAlso, MC has a strong case of tunnel vision.
Meaning that with all there's to care about, as MC's going to get a prosthetic, it's left forgotten in the list of priorities.
From the author's side, my guess is that the prosthetic is going to be amazing, thus losing that arm may not be that huge of a deal.
If not, maybe we will get some depressing scenes about it later.
It wouldn't be the first time all seems fine until it explodes.
Thx for the chapter
ReplyDeleteWell, if in the original more B students survived, it stands to reason that the overall strength of that class group is better.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of efficiency for multiple enemies, that's better than having one or two aces.
That is, unless they have huge stamina to be able to hold on or enough power to fry them in a second.
Which brings me to stalker-kun.
I'm guessing he misinterpreted things again and he's going to be annoying because sure as hell he didn't learn the lesson.
I mean the attitude of jumping from 0 to 100.
Showing kindness or care doesn't mean that love blossomed so he shouldn't expect MC to do anything.
I know that happens in reality too, and it REALLY sucks to be the recipient of that misconception.
I really wish that kid learned some self-restraint...
“Four people? Really? Isn’t that unfair?”
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is unfair. It's not just Yoonie, but Him +3. In fact, it could be Team B +3 VS Yoonie and it'd still be unfair
Go bro you rocks
ReplyDeletethanks for the chapter
ReplyDelete