Breaking Up With the Heroine in an Otome Game

14 – Main Episode Performance Evaluation Start (3)

015

Whispers filled the air.

The whispering sounds of the trainees watching Team 15 and Team 16’s match buzzed in their ears. It’s because there were more interesting scenes than expected.

In particular, the first arrow attack was quite impressive.

Although it was impossible to use them continuously, the combined attack using multiple superpowers was enough to pique the interest of the children.

Orbit control, illusionary clones, and speed adjustment.

The attack that mixed these three superpowers turned out to be more threatening than expected.

The arrow’s trajectory was distorted by orbit control, the arrow was divided into multiple pieces by illusionary clones, and the collision timing was disrupted through speed adjustment.

If it had been other children, they would not have been able to counter it.

But didn’t Yoo Seolhyun confidently swing her spear as if she already knew it, completely ignoring the illusionary arrows and accurately deflecting the real arrow?

Is it because of the bloodline of Yoo GapRyeong, the master of the spear?

The children looked at Yoo Seolhyun with admiring eyes.

They had ranked her below Lee Shiwoon and Gang Daehan as she was the 7th place in the freshman class, but they probably needed to rethink that.

Yoo Seolhyun’s performance this time was extraordinary to that extent.

“No wonder it’s Seolhyun! You’re amazing!”

“This time, Seolhyeon did everything by herself, really.”

“Wow~ How did she even block that?”

The kids in Yu Seolhyeon’s group were busy showering her with praises.

They gathered closely together, chattering away in excitement.

In the children’s eyes, the star of this week was definitely Yu Seolhyeon.

“Hey, Siwon.”

Kang Daehan, who had been watching the scene from afar, discreetly turned his gaze to Lee Siwon.

At the sound of his voice, Lee Siwon moved his head slightly and looked up at the red-haired boy with a calm expression.

Sub leader Kang Daehan grinned and threw a question.

“Could you have stopped that first arrow?”

“Well…”

Lee Siwon pondered for a moment and answered with a hint of doubt.

“If I knew how the opponent would attack, maybe… but it would be quite difficult in a situation where I don’t know anything.”

Of course, he was confident that he could block it with a 50% chance, but mentioning the probability itself was already absurd.

“I thought so.”

Kang Daehan clicked his tongue and muttered.

“Well, I can’t be sure whether I could have stopped it or not.”

Unlike his usual arrogant attitude, Kang Daehan honestly revealed his feelings and looked at Yu Seolhyeon as if seeing her in a new light.

“Yu Seolhyeon. I didn’t really care about her before, but now I want to have a match with her sometime.”

“…”

The spear technique taught by Changgye himself…

It wasn’t of any interest before, but now it’s quite intriguing.

With a confident smile, Kang Daehan clenched his fists tightly. As a fellow spear user, his fighting spirit surged.

“……Hm.”

On the other hand,

Hong Daye, who had been pondering over the duel between Team 15 and 16, tilted her head in curiosity. In her dark eyes, a glint of interest swirled. There were many questionable aspects in Yu Seolhyeon’s duel.

It wasn’t an attack that could be stopped by Yu Seolhyeon’s reflexes that she had observed for a month. Even for an active hero, it was difficult to counter.

Moreover, although the children might not have noticed, Yu Seolhyeon, who had actually blocked the arrow, had a slightly flustered expression as well.

‘It’s not just luck that she blocked it.’

That’s because she had been accurately defending the point of impact even before the arrow arrived. It couldn’t be just a coincidence that she managed to block it in a fluster.

Rather, it seemed similar to a half-believing appearance, as if she had received a hint from someone about what she should do but couldn’t fully trust it.

‘There are many questions in the fight with Handongwon.’

Rank 7 Yoo Seolhyun and Rank 91 Handongwon.

It would be natural for Yoo Seolhyun to win their fight, but it definitely wasn’t to the extent that it would be decided in just one or two minutes.

When considering both their training, physical abilities, combat records, and data from their middle school days, she thought it would have taken about 5 to 10 minutes.

However, when the lid was opened, Yoo Seolhyun easily won the victory, didn’t she?

Yoo Seolhyun had overwhelmed Handongwon throughout the fight.

Every time he prepared to counterattack or use a big move, she noticed it like a ghost and responded cleanly.

It was as if she had known Handongwon’s every move in advance.

This meant it wasn’t just a simple physical response.

There was a high possibility that she had already familiarized herself with Handongwon’s techniques, habits, and tendencies beforehand.

‘Come to think of it, the match between Seonari and Oh Seongwoo was quite interesting.’

Physical Enhancement ability of Seonari and Illusion Duplication ability of Oh Seongwoo.

Oh Seongwoo’s illusory duplicates were sophisticated enough to confuse opponents, but Seonari somehow found his real body hidden among them in an instant and immediately knocked him down.

How did she accurately distinguish between the duplicate and the real body?

As far as Hong Daye knew, Seonari shouldn’t have had the ability to discern Oh Seongwoo’s illusions at once.

‘Finally, Lee Jinhyuk…’

To be honest, Lee Jinhyuk didn’t do much in this match.

Comparing him to Yoo Seolhyun and Seonari, his exploits were very minor.

It can be said that he only blocked Gomirae’s arrows with two ridiculous shields.

But why did he prepare two shields from the beginning?

It seemed as if he had prepared for Gomirae’s arrow baptism from the start.

‘I remember the 16 teams talking before the exam started.’

– Guys, let’s just stick to the plan, the plan alone.

– hahahaha. I’m looking forward to your strategy.

– If it doesn’t work, then you really know you’re going to die at my hands, Lee Jinhyuk.

A plan…

Could it be that Lee Jinhyuk had devised the entire strategy?

If so, the evaluation changes.

If he gathered information on the opposing team in advance and devised this kind of strategy, it would be more than enough to earn high scores.

But could they really establish such a highly accurate plan, even though they were only known to be the best in theory?

No matter how much they gathered and analyzed the opponent’s information, the flow of events went unbelievably smoothly.

As if they already knew everything.

***

Yoo Seolhyun’s room.

“…It’s better than I thought.”

Immersed in the darkness of the bedroom, Yoo Seolhyun thought back on the performance evaluations that had taken place over the past few weeks.

Round of 16, round of 8, semifinals…

Surprisingly, through Lee Jinyuk’s plan, they had easily made it to the finals.

Especially in the semifinals against a formidable team, everything had fallen into place with Lee Jinyuk’s strategy, leading to an easier victory than expected.

To be honest, Yoo Seolhyun hadn’t expected much from Lee Jinyuk. However…

Lee Jinyuk’s ability to establish tactics and execute plans was more exceptional than they had imagined.

Several times, Yoo Seolhyun couldn’t help but be surprised at Lee Jinyuk’s ability to analyze the opposing team members’ habits, tendencies, weaknesses and relationships, and devise accurate responsive tactics.

In particular, it was baffling how Lee Jinyuk seemed to discover the opponents’ hidden trump cards and secret techniques before the match even began.

Could they be reading the future, as a joke?

‘A power to foresee the future….’

Precognition.

An ability anyone would envy.

It wasn’t unheard of in this world.

There had been a seer called Oracle.

‘That’s impossible.’

Yoo Seolhyun chuckled.

‘After all, Lee Jinyuk doesn’t have any special abilities.’

A non-esper.

Lee Jinyuk had not yet awakened any special abilities.

‘Unless they’re deliberately hiding it.’

Yoo Seolhyun then shook their head vigorously, freeing themselves from the pointless thoughts.

They didn’t want to waste any more time on baseless fantasies. It was best to try to think productively.

‘Well… whatever powers Lee Jinyuk may or may not have, their tactical abilities alone are worth recognizing.’

Having observed many heroes for a long time, Yoo Seolhyun considered Lee Jinyuk’s prowess as a tactician to be on par with the seasoned esper heroes.

Thanks to a single tactician, they breezed through the round of 16, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals.

She had thought of Lee Jinyeok as a mere tag-along.

But he turned out to be quite a decent tactical advisor.

‘Hmm, interesting.’

Lee Jinyeok.

His combat ability may be terrible, but his tactical planning and strategizing skills are exceptional.

It’s hard to tell if he’s a talent worth eyeing in the Gaon Nuri Clan, but keeping an eye on him for a bit longer can’t hurt.

Heroes hardly ever act alone.

In order to skillfully handle numerous situations, they form teams.

As they work in teams, members with various strengths are needed to cover each other’s weaknesses.

This also meant that there were heroes like Lee Jinyeok, who specialized in support roles.

‘…Of course, powerful hero candidates like Ye Shiwoon are still our top priority for scouting.’

Yoo Seolhyun laughed and turned off the lights in her room.

Tomorrow is the final match.

It’s the last day of the performance evaluation.

Yoo Seolhyun was somewhat looking forward to seeing how well Lee Jinyeok’s strategy would fare against Ye Shiwoon’s team.

To be honest, with Yoo Seolhyun’s current team’s strength, they could never beat Ye Shiwoon’s team.

Only an excellent strategy could turn the tide of a disadvantageous situation in their favor.

If tomorrow’s match goes according to Lee Jinyeok’s plan…

‘What will really happen?’

Yoo Seolhyun was extremely curious about the outcome of tomorrow’s match.

***

“…I did tell Yoo Seolhyun and Sunari a plausible strategy, but if we really go head-to-head, we’ll be beaten to a pulp within 10 minutes.”

I muttered to myself and then laughed.

How could we beat the talented male and female protagonists?

“There’s no need for us to win in the first place.”

That was because the special event that always took place during the finals was tomorrow.

The special event would occur during the final match.