NOVEL NEXT chapter 13
13 – Main Episode Performance Evaluation Begins (2)
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The final match of the top 16.
“Teams 15 and 16, move to your respective camps.”
At the sound of Hong Da Ye’s call, Lee Jin Hyuk suddenly turned his head.
Outside the arena, countless children were watching.
Some were leisurely cooling down while drinking sports drinks, and some were carefully observing Yoo Seol Hyeon.
Yoo Seol Hyeon was a prominent figure, being a descendant of Chang Gwi and holding the 7th ranking among the freshmen.
Even Lee Shi Woon and Kang Dae Han, who had shown no interest in other children’s matches, were quietly watching.
Lee Jin Hyuk glanced at the audience and caught Jin So Yeon’s eyes, who was gulping down her water.
In the meantime, he had a frivolous thought that even drinking water looked beautiful.
She blinked her big eyes, took her lips off the water bottle, and grinned brightly, as if cheering him up, yelling loudly.
“You won’t be embarrassed to lose from the first match, right? Show them what you’ve got! Lee Jin Hyuk, fighting!”
“Ah, uh.”
In his previous life, had he ever been cheered on by such a beauty during his school days?
As a man, it wasn’t a bad feeling, but Lee Jin Hyuk could only respond with a slightly awkward smile.
After all, if he continued to appear overly friendly, it would be a perfect opportunity for rumors to spread.
…Of course, Lee Jin Hyuk had cheered on her as well.
“Earlier, wasn’t Lee Jin Hyuk being like that with Jin So Yeon? Did they break up?”
“They’re childhood friends. It’s not like they had a bad breakup or anything.”
“Even so, that’s a bit too much. Aren’t they basically dating?”
“Wow! Is Jin So Yeon actually setting a trap for both Lee Shi Woon and Lee Jin Hyuk?”
“Is that the advantage of having a pretty face?”
Ah, as expected.
The girls whispered among themselves.
Their emotions were a mix of curiosity, jealousy, envy, and dissatisfaction.
It couldn’t be helped that they didn’t like the sight of Jin So Yeon, who broke up with her boyfriend on the first day and was already flirting with the rich heir Lee Shi Woon.
Well, Jin So Yeon probably wouldn’t care at all.
“Hey, hey. Lee Jin Hyuk.”
Around the time when the members of Team 15 and 16 were walking onto the arena,
“Didn’t you say you barely passed at the bottom of the ranks?”
Han Dong-won, the leader of Team 15, subtly teased Lee Jin-hyuk with an insinuating voice.
“Why did you think Yoo Seol-hyun and Seo Na-ri chose you as a teammate?”
“Who knows?”
“Wow, I envy you, Lee Jin-hyuk. You must be enjoying the sweet benefits so much.”
“I wish it was as sweet as you say.”
Giggling and talking down to Lee Jin-hyuk, Han Dong-won suddenly showed a faint, sarcastic smile.
“Anyway, thanks. I feel like we can win because of you.”
He casually patted Lee Jin-hyuk’s shoulder.
“If there hadn’t been a weak link like you, it would’ve been tough just to compete.”
He expressed his ungrateful gratitude for the fact that Lee Jin-hyuk was terrible compared to the formidable Yoo Seol-hyun and Seo Na-ri.
Although it was a cheap provocation, it was against Lee Jin-hyuk’s nature to stay silent, so he also let out a snicker.
“I’m also grateful.”
“Huh?”
“Because your Team 15 is ‘again’ on the same side.”
“What?”
It’s not a joke; it’s actually a relief.
Han Dong-won, Oh Seong-woon, Go Mi-rae, the three of you being on the same team.
As if in a game.
“Hey, Han Dong-won. Just shut up.”
Suddenly, Seo Na-ri glared at Han Dong-won, her hair in pigtails fluttering in the air.
“For someone who can only boast about being ranked around 90, you’ve been quite noisy since a while ago, really.”
“What?”
Han Dong-won’s eyes trembled at Seo Na-ri’s sharp remark.
“Both of you don’t differ by more than fifty ranks, stop acting so arrogant, it’s disgusting.”
“Seo Na-ri, did you think you’re the center of the world just because you did well on the entrance exam?”
“If you didn’t like it, you should’ve done better than me, right? You, who’s ranked 90th.”
“This can’t be real.”
As the quarrel between the two escalated, Hong Da-ye, who had been yawning nonchalantly, waved her hands dismissively.
“Stop with the pointless arguments and get moving already.”
Thanks to Hong Da-ye, who extinguished the sparks, Han Dong-won and Seo-nari stopped glaring at each other and turned their heads as they started walking.
Thus, Team 15 and Team 16 headed towards the opposite ends of the stage.
“Hey, Lee Jin-hyuk, don’t mind those provocations.”
“Huh?”
Caught off guard by Seo-nari’s words, Lee Jin-hyuk scratched his chin.
“It seems to bother you more than me.”
“What?”
Although Seo-nari shot a sharp, dissatisfied glare, it looked more like a child’s tantrum, so Jin-hyuk responded nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulder.
“Anyway, thanks for worrying. Usually, you’re always grumbling.”
“Ha. It’s not worry. It’s just that the test is right around the corner! And you might make a blunder if you get too shaken up!”
Fundamentally, Seo-nari wasn’t a bad person.
It was just the needless grumbling that was a problem.
“Anyway, don’t get too worked up about Han Dong-won saying I’m the weak link in Team 16. It was on purpose.”
“Why?”
“Thanks to that, I can be more certain of their tactics. Anyway, it’ll be smoother.”
Both teams arrived at the end of the stage.
“Is everyone ready?”
Hong Da-ye looked back and forth between both teams and quickly spread a protective barrier around the entire stage with a remote control.
“Guys, let’s just stick to the plan, alright?”
“hehehe. I’m curious about your strategy.”
“If it doesn’t work, Lee Jin-hyuk, you better know you’ll die by my hand.”
Yu Seol-hyeon smiled slyly, gripping her polearm tightly, while Seo-nari grumbled and assumed a battle stance as usual.
Team 15 also glared menacingly at us, as they finished their preparations for battle.
“Both teams, ready.”
With Hong Da-ye’s signal,
“3, 2, 1… Start!”
Our first match began.
***
Han Dong-won’s rank was 91st among freshmen.
He was a genius, notorious since middle school, ranking within the two-digit number among the freshmen of Union – considered the best in South Korea.
Handongwon’s supernatural ability was acceleration and deceleration.
An ability to control the speed of an object.
It is possible to instantly adjust from 1 to 100 or from 100 to 1.
Thanks to this peculiarity, it was very easy to mix with other supernatural abilities and could exert synergies beyond imagination.
For example…
“Are you ready? I’m shooting.”
“Alright, shoot!”
Gomirae put an arrow on the bowstring and pulled it back with all her might.
As she let go of the tightly pulled bowstring, it flew like a streak of light.
Whoosh!
The arrow rushing in the blink of an eye.
As soon as the arrow was shot, Yuseolhyeon ran towards the center.
Soon, the arrow wrapped in a bluish glow grazed past Yuseolhyeon and bared its icy fangs towards Iejinhyuk.
‘It’s the basics of mercenaries to target the weakest opponent first.’
Iejinhyuk also seemed to have anticipated this, raising his prepared shield and crouching down, but it was futile.
Because the arrow’s target was never Iejinhyuk in the first place.
‘… I just scratched Iejinhyuk gently to make it seem that way. The real target is Yuseolhyeon, you.’
The arrow, which reached Iejinhyuk’s nose, made a sharp turn and aimed for Yuseolhyeon’s back.
It was because of Gomirae’s supernatural ability.
She had the ability to control the trajectory of a projectile.
“Yuseolhyeon!”
“…!”
At Iejinhyuk’s shout, Yuseolhyeon glanced back.
But even if he noticed, it was useless.
“Oseongwon, now.”
“Okay.”
Oseongwon activated his supernatural ability.
Then, the single arrow split into half a dozen.
Oseongwon’s supernatural ability: the phantom clone.
With the ability to create multiple illusions on an object, the illusionary bodies couldn’t inflict damage, but it would be difficult for the opponent to distinguish between the real and the illusions, making it troublesome.
Around half a dozen arrows were aimed at Yuseolhyeon.
Yuseolhyeon swiftly grasped the spear tightly and took up a defensive stance.
However, it would be impossible to distinguish the real one among the half a dozen arrows.
Yuseolhyeon had to make a choice.
Which of the half a dozen arrows to block.
‘Where would Yuseolhyeon focus their defense, after all?’
Arrows targeting the head, neck, chest, abdomen, and legs.
A person who has trained for a long time would instinctively defend their vital points, especially in a sudden situation.
Hence, the head, neck, chest, and abdomen were fakes.
From the beginning, team 15 aimed for Yuseolhyeon’s legs.
In other words, their mobility.
Since the main theme of the test is capturing the flag, if Yuseolhyeon, a close combat dealer, gets injured in the leg, it wouldn’t pose much of a threat.
‘Even if you’re lucky enough to attempt to defend your leg, it’s useless, Yuseolhyeon.’
Handongwon had imbued their special ability into the arrow.
The ability to decelerate and accelerate.
‘If I suddenly decelerate the arrow, which was rushing in at high speed, with my ability… even a person with good physical abilities would be flustered and miss it. The power might be lacking, though.’
It’s a common occurrence in baseball.
If you suddenly throw at 110km/h after throwing consecutive fastballs at 140km/h, they’ll miss the timing.
The sudden speed change allowed for off-beat attacks.
Speed conversion, illusionary clones, trajectory adjustment.
Combining these three special abilities, one could say that even active heroes wouldn’t be able to properly respond to this first strike.
In fact, they had tested it by calling a known hero acquaintance, who had been struck by the arrow without being able to do anything.
No matter how genius Yuseolhyeon was, they were still just a trainee like the rest.
Without prior knowledge, they would inevitably be struck…?
“Oh. That’s surprising.”
As if slightly startled, Yuseolhyeon swung their spear and skillfully deflected the arrow that had been charging towards their right leg.
The arrow spun in circles in the air and soon fell to the ground with a thud.
The illusionary arrows vanished with a rustle.
“Ah, damn it? How the hell did they block that?!”
He blocked this combination on his first try?
This technique that even works on an active hero?
Is that guy even human?
“…Really, it turned out just like Lee Jinhyuk said.”
Yoo Seolhyun, who managed to block it, had a surprised expression on his face.
To be honest, he was half-skeptical.
But it turned out to be true.
“Damn it, hey! Hey, I’ll keep Yoo Seolhyun tied up for now, so Oh Seongwoon, you take care of the others. Go Mirae, take down Lee Jinhyuk quickly!”
“Got it!”
“Ah, this is blocked.”
After scanning me and the others, Yoo Seolhyun took a step forward and approached Handongwon again. Meanwhile, the others slowly lifted their fists and charged towards Oh Seongwoon.
Though Oh Seongwoon had less combat ability than the others, his illusions could restrain them for a while.
And then, Go Mirae went to Lee Jinhyuk.
Go Mirae is an archer.
Her specialty is trajectory adjustment with a bow.
Even though Lee Jinhyuk primarily used a bow as well, it was nearly impossible for him to fight and win against Go Mirae. It would be difficult for him to dodge the arrows that rained down from various trajectories.
And so.
“Wow, you crazy guy, what’s with you?”
“Why? Never seen a shield before?”
“No, you lunatic! What kind of shield are you holding up, damn it? Are you a turtle?”
“Are you underestimating double shields?”
I tried blocking Go Mirae’s arrows with two shields, just like in the hardcore action game, El Draco Ring.
Wow, having two shields doubles the defense?
Well, I was just kidding.
“Damn, this is really something!”
Go Mirae quickly fired arrows one after another.
The arrows flew in beautiful curves, but it was of no use.
With the huge double shields, I blocked the incoming arrows as soon as they were shot. As I slowly approached her using the double shields, Go Mirae’s expression turned sour.
“Keep holding on like that. How long do you think you can last?!”
“Yeah, it’s already hard.”
No matter how hard they tried to use the twin shields, they couldn’t block all of the arrows.
Moreover, the shock coming from beyond the shield was enormous since Gomi-rae was freely shooting arrows without any restraint.
It was because the arrows wrapped in magic power were striking the shield like a blunt weapon.
“I can’t win one-on-one for sure. I didn’t know it would be this hard to defend.”
“Hey, how much longer now?”
Cracks began to form on the shield little by little.
Gomi-rae filled the arrows with magic and pulled the bowstring.
If they could just break that guy’s shield, they would be able to defeat him quickly. Then, while the others are restraining Yoo Seolhyun and Seo-nari, they could steal the flag.
“But this is a team battle, you know, a team battle.”
“So what?”
“Watch your back.”
“I won’t fall for that…”
At that moment, Gomi-rae felt a presence behind her back.
“Hey, Lee Jin-hyuk. Why did you say that?”
“Uh, uh?”
When she reflexively looked back, there was Nari with her fist raised high in the sky.
No way.
Did they already defeat Oh Seong-woon?
It was virtually impossible to defeat Oh Seong-woon, who uses the Phantom Clone, so quickly!
Unintentionally rolling her eyes, unbelievably, Oh Seong-woon was lying down, his mouth full of foam.
They really defeated him?
That idiot, already down and out!
“Wait, just a moment!”
“Alright, bye.”
Seo-nari swung her small fist, ignoring the desperate shout.
She swung her fist lightly, like a middle school kid playing a prank on her older sister.
However, Gomi-rae quickly raised her bow to take a defensive posture like a high school girl who felt threatened, but with a thunderous sound, the bow was crushed.
“Are you crazy? This Godzilla girl!”
“Do you really want to die?”
Shortly after, Seo-nari, who misjudged the strength, struck a follow-up blow, and Gomi-rae, who was hit in the side, rolled for several meters before suddenly grabbing her collarbone and wheezing in pain.
“Uh, oof, ugh!”
“Ah, my mistake. Who told you to speak so carelessly?”
It seemed like his ribs were cracked.
Thanks to the protective suit, it only ended up like this. If he hadn’t been wearing the suit, he might have snapped a few ribs like dry twigs.
‘That ability is really brutal every time I see it.’
Seonari’s physical enhancement ability.
It’s a very simple ability, but the effect is as seen.
Strong and threatening power. Excellent as both a tanker and a dealer.
“Ugh, ack!”
With a bang!
One sword floated and swirled in the air before quickly falling.
Following the sound of metal clashing, Yoo Seol-hyun stood nonchalantly while Han Dong-won gasped and collapsed, having lost his sword.
Han Dong-won breathed heavily, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Is there such a difference between you and me?”
“Well~.”
With a voice tingling with laziness, Yoo Seol-hyun smiled and soon licked his lips.
“Do you know that you have a habit of rolling your right foot or clenching your left hand when you counterattack or use a big skill?”
“What?”
“Thanks to that, it was much easier to read your attacks.”
“How did you-?”
Yoo Seol-hyun glanced at Lee Jin-hyeok and calmly answered.
“We have a pretty useful supporter on our team.”
“Lee Jin-hyeok? Because of him? No, how could he know my habits…”
“Did he diligently watch the training videos and analyze them?”
“No matter how hard he tried…”
As Yoo Seol-hyun brought the tip of the spear close to Han Dong-won’s dejected face, he suddenly asked with a smiling face, “So, will you keep going? Or surrender?”
“…”
Han Dong-won bit his lower lip slightly.
His teammates were already annihilated.
Even he had lost his grip on the sword and became helpless.
In fact, the chance of turning the tables was as good as lost.
“….Surrender.”
“Huh? I can’t hear you. What did you say?”
“Ha, I said I surrender!”
“hehehe, okay then.”
Grumbling quietly in annoyance, Han Dongwon soon raised his voice, and Hong Daye blew the horn in response to his words.
Beep!
“Due to Team 15’s declaration of surrender…… Team 16 wins!”
Victory without even taking away the flag.
The first match ended as predicted by Lee Jinho.
“……Wow. It actually worked?”
Lee Jinho was left in admiration on his own.
Memories of his past life… were so sweet.