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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I was shocked when I watched Si-hwa’s battle.
I was well aware of her skills, but that wasn’t the part that shocked me.
“What the heck is that?”
I muttered to myself out of absurdity.
Is that really a pair…?
Of course, I never thought of a pair being two as one like Ha-rin did, but still…
Park Min-seok, Si-hwa’s pair, hadn’t moved a single step since the match started.
The only one moving in Class 5’s pair was Si-hwa. Just one person.
I couldn’t directly detect mana through the monitor, but it seemed like Park Min-seok did something to Si-hwa as soon as it started, and since nothing happened to the opponent, it seemed to be a reinforcement spell.
The opponent must have thought Park Min-seok’s attitude of not moving was rude, so they quickly started attacking.
A man holding a huge greatsword charged at Si-hwa.
However, the audience froze at Si-hwa’s next action.
Because his greatsword, filled with mana, touched Si-hwa.
It wasn’t the sound of a successful attack.
It purely ‘touched’ her.
Si-hwa didn’t even unwrap the bandage on the spear she was carrying on her back.
With an arrogant gaze as if saying you guys aren’t worthy of being my opponents, she used only her index and middle fingers.
She nullified his attack with just two fingers.
…The level was different.
It wasn’t that those students were weak to yield such results.
It was just that Si-hwa’s level had reached an incomparably high state.
Unlike me, it seemed Si-hwa hadn’t been holding back in classes or other places so far.
At least that wasn’t a student level.
No. Even the instructors at the Hunter Academy wouldn’t be able to do that if they were told to.
The condition required to do that was an overwhelming difference in talent.
In other words, the amount of mana had to be extraordinary from the start.
The reason Si-hwa was able to block his greatsword just now was because she greatly enhanced her body with an immense amount of mana.
No matter how much the effect was amplified by a reinforcement spell, ordinary hunters could never even imitate it.
Si-hwa stabbed the man’s sword into the ground as it was.
The huge greatsword was stabbed into the ground against its owner’s will, as if it had become a toy sword.
When the expressionless Si-hwa struck his abdomen with her other fist, the man couldn’t endure the pain and collapsed on the ground.
Naturally, the other one targeted Park Min-seok, but there was no way Si-hwa would just watch it happen.
It seemed their plan was for the other agile friend to take care of Park Min-seok while the greatsword friend bought time, but the time the greatsword friend bought was less than 30 seconds.
It wasn’t like Si-hwa was just absurdly strong either.
It took about 10 seconds for the remaining one to be grabbed by the back of the neck and thrown to the ground.
In about 1 minute total, Si-hwa made the two of them unable to fight.
“…Monster.”
Ha-rin was behind me, looking at the monitor with an anxious expression.
As the fallen students from Class 3 couldn’t get up, the MC immediately ended the match.
[Wow! That’s terrifying! At least among the new students I’ve seen, she seems to be the best!]
The audience, which had become quiet due to the match ending too quickly, erupted in cheers for Si-hwa.
[She’s the best!!! Yoo Si-hwa!!!!]
[This is my favorite! Let’s go to Mars!!!]
Ha-rin, who plopped down next to me weakly, gently leaned her body on my shoulder.
“…Seeing that, I feel even less confident.”
…Me too.
I wondered if I could do that.
If it were me from my previous life, I would have thought it wasn’t difficult, but considering my current physical condition… Hmm…
It was ambiguous.
Even if it was impossible with two fingers, maybe it would be possible if I used all five fingers?
What was certain was that Si-hwa was the one who had been training overwhelmingly more since returning.
Let’s get stronger slowly. Let’s not be impatient.
That was the mindset I had been living with in this life.
It was more unconscionable for me, who had been living with such a loose mindset, to be on the same track as the epitome of self-discipline.
[Yoo Si-hwa and Park Min-seok pair! Give us a brief comment on your victory!]
The MC handed the microphone to Si-hwa.
[…I’ll be waiting in the finals.]
She spoke in a calm voice, looking straight at the camera.
And with her words, the venue was once again heated up.
[What finals! Let’s go all the way to victory~]
[Underdogs, are you coming to your senses?]
I knew better than anyone who Si-hwa’s words were directed at.
* * *
As much as we had diligently prepared for the class representative tournament, our pair was also able to achieve decent results.
As expected, the students from other classes were also pretty good since only the best were selected, but the opponents were me and Ha-rin.
There was no one who could stop the two of us.
They all had prepared some kind of secret weapon, but the strategies they had prepared looked cute to me, a veteran.
Of course, I thoroughly disrupted their plans without letting the other students notice, and they had to taste the bitterness of elimination without being able to properly resist.
After easily winning two matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals, we monitored another semifinal match that would determine our final opponent.
The winner was obvious.
Not only me but also Ha-rin and everyone else in the audience must have known.
The match started again.
This time, Park Min-seok didn’t move either.
In the last round, Si-hwa waited for the opponent to move first, but this time, she started attacking first.
She took a stance for a leap, holding the spear on her back with both hands.
The bandage on the spear was still wrapped.
Even though the students from Class 8, their opponents, were visibly tense, when Si-hwa expressed her intention to face them with a blunt spear, they seemed to have their pride hurt.
Si-hwa, who took a moment to catch her breath, started running towards them.
A terrifying speed.
The arm of the male student who barely blocked Si-hwa’s attack trembled.
But it was only for a moment.
The male student’s body couldn’t withstand Si-hwa’s spear and was thrown back.
The female student standing behind was preparing magic targeting Park Min-seok.
Perhaps their pair also had the same composition as us, so I watched their battle more closely.
Si-hwa quickly passed the male student who had gotten up with trembling arms and ran towards the female student.
The female student flinched for a moment but calmly continued the magic she had prepared.
Soon, the ground where Park Min-seok was standing began to shake.
Sharp rocky spears emerged from the ground, threatening him.
“Hieek!”
He somehow managed to dodge the attack without getting hurt, but the earth spears blocked his vision and restricted his movement.
He was essentially unable to participate in the battle.
However, Si-hwa seemed to have no intention of protecting her pair.
Concentrating mana on the tips of her feet, she appeared in front of the female student as if she had teleported.
“…Huh?”
The female student, unable to react to the suddenly closed distance, allowed Si-hwa’s attack.
“Seo-yun!”
The male student behind shouted her name and ran to stop Si-hwa, but the female student had already been struck in the neck.
The female student’s body lost balance and collapsed on the ground.
Si-hwa slowly turned around and stared at the remaining male student.
Although he knew there was no chance of winning, he took a stance again.
“…Good spirit.”
As if acknowledging his attitude of wanting to fight to the end, Si-hwa unwrapped the bandage at the tip of her spear.
A bluish mana made the tip of her spear even sharper.
“…Here I come.”
The two figures clashed.
Dust rose, making it impossible to properly assess the situation on the screen.
The last one remaining was, as expected…
[Winners! Yoo Si-hwa and Park Min-seok pair!]
The image of the male student kneeling was captured on camera, and Si-hwa withdrew the mana concentrated on her spear.
“…We’re next.”
Ha-rin, who had been watching the screen with me, spoke.
“…Yeah.”
There was only an hour left until the finals.
We calmly reviewed our strategies once again.
But both of us, without saying it, recognized it.
The fact that the probability of these plans working in real combat was extremely low.
* * *
[Finally! The last battle of the day! This is the stage to determine the strongest pair among the first-years!]
Even though we hadn’t appeared yet, it felt like the arena was reverberating due to the people shouting.
[The pair who showed an amazing performance! Yoon Ha-rin! Choi In-wook!]
We walked towards the center of the arena.
[And the pair facing them! The pair who demonstrated a terrifying force! The strong contenders for victory! Yoo Si-hwa! Park Min-seok!]
At the MC’s words, Si-hwa and her pair walked out from the opposite side.
Si-hwa, in her uniform, looked at us with sunken eyes.
[Now, the final match! Begins now!]
“Choi In-wook.”
Unlike other rounds, Si-hwa unwrapped the bandage on her spear from the start.
“Do it sincerely.”
Mana so intense that it gave me chills began to condense on her spear.
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