I Have a Fiancee in a Parallel World

38 – The Final

“Ha… That’s the Masters League, huh.”

“I mean, you see…”

After the conclusion of the second semifinal match, the team that advances to the final, Team Choi Seungjun, like Jihoon-SooYoung’s team, receives some light coaching from Guseongjun.

“Maintaining this distance – attacking while keeping this range is crucial for both the tank and the mage to synergize to their maximum potential.”

Guseongjun providing guidance to Team Choi Seungjun and the audience observing him seemed far more relaxed and stable compared to a little while ago.

An Academy elite, top-tier ranker Guseongjun.

If he’s providing guidance, such an atmosphere should naturally form.

When he speaks, his students listen and understand, nodding in agreement.

When he moves, the students watching him are astonished and mentally trace his motions.

As he points out flaws and demonstrates with his sword, the students, unable to avoid the enlightenment, gasp in awe.

Yes… that’s how the reactions of Academy students receiving guidance from top-tier rankers should be…

Before witnessing a regular Masters League, did they witness something so absurd?

Yet for some reason, the eyes of the other audience members observing Team Choi Seungjun and Guseongjun’s guidance constantly directed towards Jihoon.

“That’s how it should be… Instead of fighting to the death with top rankers…”

“I mean… bursting out skills, receiving hits, splattering blood on the shoulder… that’s not the Masters League…”

“What kind of being is he, really…”

Just a month ago, they couldn’t grasp how to view Kang Jihoon, a Class 11 student, who was at the bottom, as anything else.

That previous duel.

Did that guy really engage in a fight equivalent to the 17th ranked hunter Guseongjun?

No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.

But what hundreds of people saw with their own eyes, it was an undeniable fact.

Surrounded by gazes and attention, Sooyoung sitting next to Jihoon felt like she was sitting on thorns.

“Ji…Jihoon…over there…”

“……”

“Ji…Jihoon?”

“……”

“…Are you sleeping?”

“……”

Sooyoung couldn’t believe it.

After moving seats for the training session with Hunter Koo Sung-joon, Jihoon and Sooyoung were waiting in the stands until the finals.

Jihoon, who had received a peculiar weapon from Hunter Koo Sung-joon, seemed to be deeply troubled by something.

With a serious expression, Jihoon closed his eyes and asked to be woken up when the finals started.

But just now, as Sooyoung spoke to him, she realized.

He wasn’t in deep distress or having serious worries.

He had simply…fallen asleep because he had some free time.

Sooyoung couldn’t believe Jihoon’s absurd calmness.

How could he be so nonchalant after going through all that just a little while ago?

“He should be starting the finals soon…isn’t he feeling any anxiety at all?”

Sooyoung looked at Jihoon’s calm face.

The fact that Jihoon had closed his eyes with a serious expression was just a delusion that she had imagined on her own.

As she looked at Jihoon, who was peacefully sleeping, Sooyoung felt her own frantic heart calm down.

“Hmm…Yeonhwa…Yeonhwa…”

Now he’s sleep talking.

But Yeonhwa?

Didn’t he also sleep talk that name before?

Sooyoung remembered that Jihoon had said the same name in his sleep during the first round of exams.

“Who is Yeonhwa…seems like a girl’s name…”

Sooyoung, who couldn’t understand why she felt strangely hurt, felt her heart become even more at ease as she looked at Jihoon, who was even breathing heavily.

“Jihoon! Wake up!”

“Uh… Uh? Yeon… No… It’s Su-yeong… Has the final started now?”

Ji-hoon rubs his eyes and yawns.

“No… That’s not it… It seems like it will start soon.”

“I wonder what that person has been teaching all day long… They’re so passionate, it’s irritating. Don’t they ever get tired of swinging that strange sword around… Anyway, I don’t like them.”

Ji-hoon complains incessantly with a burst of words.

“Ji-hoon…”

Su-yeong’s voice calling him carries an indescribable firmness.

“Now that we’ve made it to the finals… I’ll really do my best. When you asked me to be a team, I really didn’t believe in you… I’m sorry for doubting…”

Ji-hoon looks at Su-yeong’s determined expression and smirks.

“Why are you taking it so seriously now? The finals won’t be any different from the previous matches. Let’s finish it quickly and go eat.”

Su-yeong relaxes a bit more at his playful words.

It’s already the end of Coach Joon’s guidance. On the big screen, the names of the players from the two teams about to compete in the finals appear.

***

Facing each other, Choi Seung-joon’s team and Ji-hoon-Su-yeong’s team.

As it is the finals, a solemn atmosphere is expected, but Ji-hoon’s laughing expression keeps interfering.

“We made it to the finals? Did you find good teammates?”

Choi Seung-joon’s impression crumples even further at Ji-hoon’s non-provocative provocation.

However, he couldn’t simply get angry or curse.

Getting pierced all over by his attacks and bleeding, that was last week.

Seung-joon, who hadn’t fully recovered from the memories of that pain, still held them vividly.

Furthermore, now that he knows about that guy’s extraordinary skills, Seung-joon was better at controlling his emotions than ever.

“This time won’t be like last time.”

Seung-joon spits out a word with great effort.

Even though the memories of pain suppress him, Seung-joon was also a top-level Class 4 hunter.

He had received practical combat training for over a year.

He regarded that strange guy in front of him, whose identity he could not discern, as nothing more than a formidable opponent to be dealt with.

“I’ll give you credit for not running away even after taking such a beating. If you had experienced what I did, you wouldn’t even be able to look me in the eye… Ah, did the healer use two skills on you, so it hurt a little less?”

Ji-hoon’s words hit Seung-joon again, stirring up memories from last week.

Trembling, Seung-joon retreats without saying a word, trying to somehow escape from those memories.

“Seung-joon… What happened?”

Since meeting Jihoon, Seungjun had repeatedly lost his sanity.

But no matter how many times his teammates asked, he couldn’t give any answers.

He picked a fight and got beaten to a pulp. His body was pierced with a tanghulu skewer…

Instead of telling his teammates the truth, Seungjun simply gave combat orders as their leader.

“Buff me with everything you’ve got. The two tanks protect the healers and mages from behind. Pour all your magic onto that girl over there, the healer. While I keep that guy occupied, the healers will handle everything. We have a chance if we do that.”

Had he finally regained his composure in the finals?

He had shown continuously losing his sanity, slowly losing the trust of his teammates.

But now, his true self, who previously made cold and precise judgments, has returned and issued the most effective instructions to increase their chances of winning.

“Yeah… Now you’re more like Seungjun. We don’t want to fight against an 11th-class opponent, but let’s overwhelm them in numbers. We won’t back down in positioning or teamwork!”

The leader regained his composure only in the most important finals.

The morale of the teammates watching him started to rise once again.

Following the orders, the teammates prepared their tactical formation, and as Seungjun had said, the buffs poured onto him. From both of Seungjun’s hands, a huge magical whip materialized.

Oooong

The skill that had been shown several times before reaching the finals, but with full buffs and Seungjun’s maximized magical power, the appearance and destructive power of his whip were distinctly different from before.

“Jihoon… Be careful.”

Jihoon, who had to defend against attacks from the entire opposing team while continuing to attack, including protecting himself as a healer. Suhyeong, who felt the amount of magical power contained in Seungjun’s skill, expressed her concern to Jihoon.

“Well… You should be careful. They seem to be quite skilled… They’ll probably focus on you after capturing me.”

Jihoon and Suhyeong’s eyes met.

Beep-

The match started as the starting sound rang out.

As Jihoon expected, Seungjun took the lead and swung his whip at Jihoon to capture him.

Jihoon faced Seungjun as he measured the distance between him and Suhyeong.

Ziiiiing

Jihoon casually swung his sword, as if ignoring it, at the fiercely roaring Baekwol.

He didn’t put in any internal energy.

He didn’t unleash his ascendant swordsmanship.

It was just a single swing.

With that one swing, the middle part of Seungjun’s whip, which had received buffs and had its maximum magical power pulled, literally disappeared.

Guseongjun, who was sitting in the stands watching the match, had a flash in his eyes.

“Of course! I knew it would turn out like this!”

The recent events were quite surprising to Jihoon.

“The skill to neutralize magical abilities is truly amazing. With this, I don’t even need to use my own strength when facing skills.”

Jihoon felt a sense of excitement from Baekwol, as if it was happy to meet its master or trying to move on its own.

That’s when Jihoon caught a glimpse of the energy heading towards swimming.

Swish!

Quickly, Jihoon stepped on magic circles and launched himself towards swimming.

However, the mana spheres were already falling from the magic circles above their heads.

“Oh… It’s too close…”

Jihoon unintentionally drew more mana from the idea that pierced his mind.

High-speed movement skill.

A narrow wormhole opened, and Jihoon, carrying swimming, flew towards the wormhole.

In an instant, the two disappeared and appeared in front of the tanks of the Seungjun team about 10 meters away.

A moment of silence.

Although Jihoon had saved swimming safely with the skill, there was something peculiar about his expression.

“I wasn’t the only one who could enter the wormhole…”

Jihoon’s gaze became deeper.

Whether he forgot that it was the final match or got lost in contemplation, Jihoon was no longer in the mood to fight.