How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

The barrier of wind created by Choi Su-jeong that surrounded us was released. Immediately, a giant spear of flame shot toward Nayuri.

“Hah, not a chance!”

Nayuri scoffed as she caught the spear with her bare hands. The burning spear was quickly devoured by Nayuri’s magical power.

Nayuri threw the spear at the team, which was busy repairing their protective shield. In an instant, they were left in ruins as if struck by a meteor.

“I’ll go first!”

Then Nayuri charged toward the Flame Spear team like a tank.

“Stop her!”

“Do you really think we can?!”

The Flame Spear team, composed mainly of members who handled fire, was unfortunately no match for Nayuri’s flames, even combined.

“Haap!”

Boom!

They were putting up a fight, but it didn’t seem like they could hold out for long. Other teams tried to help take down Nayuri, but,

“I’ll be back soon.”

Dum Dum, holding swords in both hands, blocked their path, and now they had to worry about being hunted themselves.

“Get out of the way!”

“Run away!”

“No, let’s catch her together!”

They stumbled around, falling one after another in an instant.

“No need to worry about the attack.”

Monsters, indeed.

The scammer muttered. I nodded in agreement as I shot a restraint bullet at a guy swinging a sword at me.

The teams outside Nayuri and Dum Dum’s range seemed to become fearful of being next. It looked like they were determined to take us down, charging at us with all their might.

“I didn’t expect them to use teleportation items!”

Right? Those things are so expensive!

I muttered to myself as I shot down the teams that approached us.

“Die!”

“Not a chance.”

The guy trying to hit me from behind froze instantly from Lee Hana’s magic.

“Thanks!”

“It’s nothing.”

Lee Hana said nonchalantly as she froze another team whole.

“Me too! Tell me I’m cool~.”

Choi Su-jeong said as she blew away the weapons of another team with a strong gust of wind.

…These people are indeed monsters.

I quietly swept away the attacking team while keeping an eye on the scammer.

It seemed that not much time had passed, despite how it felt.

Thus, the preliminary rounds ended rather anticlimactically.

In a way, it was an expected outcome.

After the preliminaries, I heard that the finals would take place after lunch.

That meant I would have some time to meet the people from the orphanage.

“Can I go meet my family for a bit?”

“Family?”

The scammer seemed interested in my family first, but unfortunately, he had to check the tactics.

“Where have you gone, Nayuhan!”

“Hik!”

“You must come! It’s time for tactic review!”

It sounded like he was being dragged away by Yggdrasil.

“Can you introduce me to Nahyun’s family?”

“Nyahaha! I bet they’re all adorable.”

“Yeah, they probably are.”

Some of the other members showed interest in my family or asked for permission to step out for a bit.

I also wanted to introduce my family, but…

“Well… the person who came with me wants to meet only our family. I’m sorry.”

Mr. Toto had mentioned that it would be better for us to spend time together this time.

Everyone seemed disappointed, but they quickly let me go.

I hurriedly walked outside and sent a text to Mr. Toto.

[Mr. Sponsor, where are you and the teacher?] [We are at the promenade. I will send the exact location through the device.] The place I arrived at after contacting them through the device was a spot with decent sunlight but not crowded with people.

“Sister!”

“Brother!”

“Wowwwww-!”

I caught Nana, Kang Yu-ri, and Kang Yoon as they rushed toward me and asked.

“How was it?”

“It was pretty cool.”

“Awesome!”

Kang Hoon and Kang Yu laughed as they replied.

“I’m looking forward to the finals too!”

The teacher said, and I smiled shyly. I wanted to win, especially for the happy faces of my family.

By the way, the winning team of the Battle Tournament receives a generous cash prize.

“If we win the prize, shall we all go eat something delicious? Of course, Mr. Sponsor will come too, right?”

As I recommended it to Mr. Toto, who was smiling at us, he looked momentarily surprised.

“…Sure.”

For some reason, Mr. Toto smiled bitterly and gently stroked my cheek.

Hmm… Why? Is he really busy? Did I miss something?

As I rubbed my cheek against his hand, he seemed slightly flustered, avoiding my gaze with a subtle expression.

Seeing that made me feel mischievous, and I hugged him tightly.

“Kang Nahyun.”

“What is it?”

“…”

When I looked up at him and smiled playfully, he let out a big sigh, as if he realized I was doing it on purpose. It seemed he had given up.

After clearing his throat for a moment, he spoke to me seriously.

“Before that, I have a favor to ask. Can you do it?”

“Of course! If it’s a precious request from my sponsor, I’ll do my best!”

Mr. Toto, watching me nod brightly, showed a complicated expression before pulling out a pouch from the bag he was holding and handing it to me.

“Take this and hide it somewhere in the stadium. If possible, put it in a place where there are few people and it’s hard to be discovered.”

“Huh? Why?”

As I asked, feeling puzzled, Mr. Toto placed his hand on my shoulder to bring our eye levels closer.

My head… it hurts.

I felt like I was forgetting something I shouldn’t forget.

“…Huh?”

I pressed my head, feeling a prickling sensation as if I was being poked by a needle.

Just when I felt something on the verge of coming to mind, I felt Mr. Toto’s rough, large hand resting on my cheek.

Before I knew it, I was looking into his golden eyes.

In a low voice, he whispered,

“I’m counting on you. Just hide it among the other items.”

“Okay!”

…What was I just thinking?

Anyway, since it was just a quick errand, I gladly accepted it.

I was told to hide it among other items without being caught, so I did just that.

Afterward, I returned to where my party was.

Yggdrasil barged into our waiting room and poured the super-effective recovery potion—commonly known as the ‘Yggdrasil Potion’—down our throats.

Our stomachs full, we ended up skipping lunch entirely. I wished someone would stop this elf.

The Yggdrasil team held their sloshing bellies as we started the finals.

As expected, we surged forward with unstoppable momentum.

By the way, as anyone could tell, the team name was named after Yggdrasil.

Then, with their team name on the line, they threatened us that if they didn’t win, they would make us train during lunchtime.

So, we were fighting with a certain level of desperation…

“Here, I shall thwart your victory!”

“Ugh!”

“Yes, next team.”

But the other teams were surprisingly weak. You all need to train a bit more.

“They’re pretty impressive.”

“They’re from Class A. Yggdrasil must have taught them!”

“Even so, isn’t there a huge gap compared to the other kids?”

Amidst the noise of the crowd whispering, I occasionally caught snippets of their conversation.

As we moved into the finals, we definitely saw many teams from Class A.

And they threw down the gauntlet without thinking about their past.

“Don’t get cocky just because you have Yggdrasil’s favor!”

“Cocky? What do you mean by that? Oh, am I so cool that you’re going crazy with jealousy? I’m merciful, so I’ll forgive you.”

The scammer’s mouth became increasingly free-spirited. This guy seemed to be fully back to form.

And with so many from Class A, the finals consisted of one team against another, meaning—

We were all opponents that we had previously defeated. It wouldn’t be hard since we knew each other well, right? In fact, the preliminaries were tougher.

Anyway, we were going to collect our prize.

We followed the staff guiding us and approached the podium set up in the arena.

The team leader, the scammer, went up to the podium to receive the award while delivering a speech. The crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause.

“Those guys are amazing! I’m looking forward to next year!”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to scout them early…”

“The grandson of a hero, the daughter of a divine family, and the children of recorders… Quite the glamorous combination. I don’t know what guild they belong to, but whichever guild it is will be lucky to have them.”

Amid the enthusiastic response, I waved back at the orphanage members waving at me, smiling brightly. Mr. Toto wasn’t there, perhaps he had gone to the bathroom.

“That concludes the award ceremony.”

Ah, it seems the award process ended while my consciousness was distracted for a moment.

Each party was awarded ten million won. I was very satisfied.

Since there were no classes today, I planned to have a barbecue party with my family from the orphanage. Or we could even go to a really expensive restaurant.

If I said it was a treat for winning, the teacher wouldn’t refuse!

As the award presenters exited, we were getting ready to leave while imagining our happy plans when—

Boom—!

The sound of the stadium’s barrier activating for safety echoed.

What’s this?

A sense of foreboding crept up my spine.

The match was already over, so what would trigger the safety barrier?

Intruders? No way…

While I was thinking this, something caught my eye inside the stadium, within the barrier.

It was a figure, not of a human but of a grotesque creature. A being that wanted to kill humans.

It was a monster.

…This doesn’t make any sense.