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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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At the academy, the first ranking match was often seen as not very important.
To be precise, it was important, but compared to the full-scale end-of-semester ranking match or the events of the second semester, it felt like it took a backseat, and many people thought of it that way.
Nevertheless, as it was the first event for the freshmen, the atmosphere was inevitably heated.
Especially this time, there was a lot of buzz not only within the academy but also from the outside, and the reason for that was simple.
Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak, the first joint top rankers of the renowned Reilan Academy.
There were many who wanted to assess their abilities, and if they waited until the end-of-semester ranking match or the sports festival, which outsiders could watch, they would clearly fall behind in the recruitment competition in the long run.
Now, there were two problems.
The first problem was the cross-dressing Kang Ha-ni in front of me.
“It’s the ranking match today, so I made a hearty meal. Eat up.”
My roommate, who had prepared an incredibly heartwarming menu of tteokgalbi and spicy stir-fried pork since morning.
“Lilac and Cheon Yoo-hak… Honestly, I can’t beat them in theory, but practicals are a different story~”
Surprisingly, those words were not a lie.
Even in the original story, Kang Ha-ni, who was half-villainized, overwhelmed Lilac with Snow Fang in her hand.
She killed an evil person in the end, so she couldn’t be called a complete villain, but she became intoxicated with the sharpness of the sword, neglected her training, and enjoyed killing people, so from Lilac’s point of view, she probably seemed like half a villain.
Anyway, to correct his friend’s deviation, Lilac had a duel with Kang Ha-ni, and in the process, Lilac was pushed back by Kang Ha-ni, who wielded Snow Fang.
Even Lilac, who had become much stronger after going through many more trials than now, couldn’t handle Snow Fang’s sharpness.
He would lose.
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like Lilac would lose.
Well, he wasn’t the type to get hung up on losing, but if the attention that should be focused on Lilac was transferred to Kang Ha-ni, that would be a problem.
“Did I make too much? Eat what you can and leave the rest for later.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Come to think of it, you never leave food. Is there a reason?”
“It’s a waste.”
A reason? There was. It was the second problem I was currently worrying about: True Love Farm Products.
True Love Farm Products.
A corporation established by a man who graduated from the academy eight years ago, it was a strange company with only himself as a member.
Normally, he was a man who lived a simple life, farming with superhuman strength and protecting his own small happiness, but he was a madman, one of the most notable even in the novel, regardless of whether he was a hero or a villain.
That madman, whose behavior was somewhat different from other villains or heroes, was apparently coming today to deal with the cadets who had been bullying Kim Ga-eul.
So, what action should I, a transmigrator, take?
First, I moistened my dry mouth with soybean paste soup, then I placed a small piece of tteokgalbi on top of my white rice, and lastly, I ate it while it was warm.
“This is really delicious.”
“I made plenty of tteokgalbi because I thought you would like it. Even if I’m not here, you can take out the frozen ones from the fridge and eat them.”
I wasn’t going to do anything.
Considering the flow of the original story and the original plan, Lilac losing might be a problem, but when I thought about it, it might not be so bad.
Lilac was originally burdened by the excessive expectations placed on him.
And thanks to my help, his sluggish growth might accelerate if he felt a sense of crisis from a duel with Ha-ni instead of a villain.
I could probably handle the minor problems that followed after that.
“It’s really not bad, huh?”
“You really like tteokgalbi, don’t you? Eat all the frozen ones too~”
For now, let’s focus on the ranking match in front of us.
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When I arrived at the classroom, I received the information about my opponents for the ranking match.
One opponent stronger than me, three at a similar level, and one weaker than me.
As I explained before, the ranking match was determined by fighting a total of five people.
Except for the first ranking match of the first year, you could choose your opponents yourself, but this time, the professors chose our opponents based on our usual class performance and entrance exam scores. However, no matter how I looked at it, my match-up list was quite strange.
1st Match: Woo Jae-hee of the Holy Sword class.
2nd Match: Professor Park Ah-ram, in charge of the Mana Studies class.
3rd Match: Professor Kim Min-soo, in charge of the Physical Education class.
4th Match: Professor Cathy, in charge of the Martial Arts class.
5th Match: Chae Yoo-jin of the Holy Sword class.
…What is this? Was I actually the strongest in the world? Why is there a raid party list here instead of my opponents?
The only students in my list were the first match, where I fought someone stronger, and the fifth match, where I fought someone weaker. The rest were all filled with professors.
Had they gone crazy?
Me… on par with Professor Cathy or Professor Park Ah-ram…?
“Ah, some cadets might have professors’ names on their list. It’s not an error. It’s because it was difficult to find cadets with similar abilities to some of you guys, so the professors will directly observe and safely assess your skills, so don’t worry.”
Ah, so that was it.
If you looked at it based on the academy’s official system, there would still be no one in the academy who could fight me on equal footing.
Only the chairman knew that I had defeated a villain and that I had a special relic, and I had specifically asked her not to reflect it in my grades.
According to the academy’s assessment standards, I was still a loser.
…Still, am I so weak that there isn’t even a single person among the lowest-ranked students who are similar to me?
Woo Jae-hee, the tank of Cheon Yoo-hak’s party, was evaluated as stronger than me… And how weak was Chae Yoo-jin to be evaluated as weaker than me?
The academy’s ranking match was practical, so you could use relics.
Black Shadow was a bit much to use in front of others, but I could probably use Ruyi.
“Loser~”
“Huh?”
“Who are you fighting, loser?”
While I silently held the paper with my list, our loser asked me with a puzzled look.
“…What’s this?”
“What do you think this is? It’s my match-up list.”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, So-hyun’s match-up list? Let’s see who you’re fighting.”
Following her was Kang Ha-ni, and even Lilac. The expressions of those who saw my match-up list became complicated.
“It’s okay. I’m working out hard too. I’ll be able to catch up by the next evaluation.”
“R-right. We’ll help you a lot, so don’t worry, So-hyun!”
“Thanks, but you’re really bad at comforting people, you know?”
“But isn’t this a good thing? Loser, you’re really strong.”
I wondered what she was talking about, but when I thought about it, Kim Ga-eul had seen me fighting Jin Kyung-tae up close.
“Hey, don’t you remember that his ability makes him feel pain?”
“Ah, right. Sorry…”
And she also saw me being taken to the emergency room afterward.
Actually, if I fought seriously, I think I would do pretty okay.
“Hmm, the professors’ eyes must be clouded. To think they would classify Jae-hee as stronger than you…”
“Oh, Yoo-hak.”
“Jae-hee is not bad, but it’s a shame he can’t beat you. But for his sake, don’t go easy on him.”
I think you’re overestimating me, Cheon Yoo-hak.
“Well, I didn’t come here to chat with you today. I came to make a declaration.”
“A declaration?”
“Lilac, this time I’ll make you realize that you’re below me.”
“Oh, you came to provoke me? But Yoo-hak, I don’t plan on losing easily either.”
The two boys smiled at each other, but there was no hostility in their eyes.
“Hmm, we’ll see about that. I promised on this spear, so I have no intention of losing.”
“Wow, relying on a relic.”
“Do you think it’s unfair?”
“No, choosing a good weapon and using it well is also a skill.”
“I’m glad you’re not stupid. Anyway, the joint top rank ends today. From now on, I’m the top, and you are second.”
“Says who? A weapon is important, but it’s not everything.”
“Hey.”
While the two protagonists were burning with rivalry, a girl crossdressing as a boy intervened.
Kang Ha-ni.
She then declared to Cheon Yoo-hak and Lilac with a confident smile.
“Funny, you two. Who says you get to be the first and second when I’m here?”
“I acknowledge that you’re competent, but unless you’ve had some kind of small enlightenment, the gap between you and me has only widened since the entrance ceremony, not narrowed.”
“Ah, I’m not ignoring you. But I have no intention of losing. I’ll do my best, so…”
The two boys openly regarded her as a lesser opponent, but there was no humiliation or anger in her expression.
“It’s true that the weaker the dog, the louder it barks. Watch closely. I’m going to beat you two and take the top spot in the practicals.”
She even provoked them with a confident attitude, which was quite different from her usual self, so the two seemed quite puzzled about it.
“You seem very confident. Good, I look forward to it.”
“Han-hee. Let’s both do our best. No holding back.”
“Of course.”
Before the strange atmosphere between the three of them could shift to me, I decided to quietly leave.
“Huh? Where are you going, loser?”
“My match with Woo Jae-hee is early, so I should get going.”
“Really? Good luck! Ah, no. Don’t try too hard, you can go easy on him.”
“Anyone would think I’m really strong if you say that.”
Jae-hee was probably smiling right now, thinking he had an easy opponent.
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‘I’m fucked.’
Woo Jae-hee prayed that his eyesight had deteriorated, that he had misread, as he looked at his match-up list over and over again.
But the name written there didn’t change.
The name that was definitely written in the space where a weaker opponent should have been.
Kang So-hyun.
The name that had become a greater source of fear in his mind than even Cheon Yoo-hak, the name of the devil who easily accomplished what he couldn’t do no matter how hard he tried.
Of course, after seeing him give up the relic to Yoo-hak and calmly handling the situation of their party, he had re-evaluated him, and he had reflected a lot on his own attitude since then.
But that was that, and seeing him in a new light didn’t make the fear ingrained in his instincts disappear.
To make matters worse, his match order was early, so he couldn’t even run away.
Honestly, it may be a bit arrogant of him to say this, but Woo Jae-hee believed he had quite a bit of talent.
He lacked offensive abilities, but his defensive power and ability to draw aggro as a tank were beyond the level of a first-year.
That was why he was so confident. He wanted to show off his cool side to his friends.
Joo-ri had refused, but Yoon-ha and Mi-na had said that they would come to watch his first match, even if only out of a sense of party loyalty.
He wanted to show off his cool, smart victory and win the favor of the two girls.
He didn’t want to be a gladiator fighting a monster.
Regardless, his turn came while he was waiting, and when the instructor in the center nodded, the door opened.
And standing across from him was ‘that guy’.
A small stature with no sense of danger, with a frail body that looked weak.
His roughly tied hair and glasses gave him a bit of a loser-ish impression, but his true nature couldn’t be judged from such an appearance.
Except for himself and a few others who had directly witnessed his prowess that day, everyone underestimated him, or rather, didn’t even evaluate him at all.
“Oh~ long time no see.”
-A bet? You little shit. I told you not to mess with them just because they were picking a fight. What bet? What do I have to ask you for? From now on, don’t pick fights with kids, you punk.
The past image was reflected in his waving hand.
“Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“…Why are you talking like that? Are you sick?”
He was probably trying to induce carelessness with his friendly appearance, but it wouldn’t work on me.
Everyone else might not know it, but I alone could feel the pressure of this guy who dominated this arena.
Should I just forfeit?
The thought crossed his mind.
“Oh! So-hyun! You do your best, too~”
Yoon-ha’s cheering voice came from behind him.
The sound of her cheering for someone other than him.
That sound jolted him awake.
“There are times when a man has to do what he has to do.”
“What?”
“There are moments when you can’t back down even if you know you’ll lose.”
The guy looked at him like he was looking at a madman, but this was important. At least to him, it was.
Joo-ri liked Cheon Yoo-hak.
That was why he had given up on her and decided to devote himself to the other two girls who clearly had feelings for him.
But another wall had appeared.
To achieve his goal, to achieve his dream, he couldn’t run away twice.
“Here I go.”
“…Uh, sure.”
As soon as the instructor gave the signal, he surrounded his body with a protective aura and rushed at the guy.
This was his only chance.
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…Is he crazy?
What’s wrong with him?
The sight of him spouting nonsense to himself and then rushing at me was a bit difficult for me to understand.
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T/N – Lol, Jae-hee’s overdramatic monologue and the MC’s cluelessness made this scene hilarious. Go, Jae-hee! Fight for love and youth!
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
YOOUUUUTTTHHHHH