NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6 - Duel. (2)
TN: Thank Dragons33 for reaching the goal.
“Alright, let’s begin the duels. Everyone get ready. Watch the students in the earlier duels and share your impressions. Also, keep them in mind in your own battles.”
[Finally, it’s starting! Wow!]
“First, let’s start in the determined order.”
I looked at the paper in my hand.
It said 10–the last pair.
[Hehe, as expected, the protagonist appears last! Is that okay?]
“It’s fine.”
The duel order was determined by drawing lots, but it didn’t matter to the Author and me.
Probability doesn’t apply to us.
If the Author wants, we can do anything as long as it’s plausible.
Delaying the protagonist’s appearance to the end is nothing.
“What do you think?”
“H-huh?! Wh, what do you mean…?”
Why is he so startled?
His breathing also seems labored.
Did I tease him too much? Surely he hasn’t actually fallen for me?
“About the students dueling right now. Do they seem skilled?”
“…I guess. That girl with the spear is strong, but her opponent is too weak. It’ll be over soon.”
He’s switching between polite and casual speaking.
Putting that aside, I agree it’ll likely end quickly.
The blonde girl presses with her long-range spear, while the other female student can’t react at all.
It doesn’t seem like she can keep the spear in her vision, let alone match the speed.
“Ah, it’s over.”
“…He couldn’t react at all. Can you guess what her ability is?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but I can guess roughly.”
One can enhance their physical abilities using mana, but she seemed to be on another level.
It has to be an ability.
Probably some kind of physical enhancement.
[They’re both heroine candidates, don’t you think they’re pretty?]
“Hmm…”
I can see the blonde spearwoman being one, but that other girl, too?
Well, there is a heroine type that starts out as an underdog before a makeover…
Maybe that’s her role; the protagonist will discover and help resolve her issues.
“…Any other candidates?”
[Hmm, not at this point. Having too many from the same class would be a bit much… Maybe later during the swordsmanship class?]
I see.
Then, I don’t need to pay much attention to the rest.
I watched the second duel start with a disinterested gaze.
The duel level was certainly higher than the previous one.
But they were still lacking.
No one seemed stronger than the spear-wielding heroine candidate.
The third, fourth, and fifth duel passed.
Before I knew it, the eighth duel had started, but no one seemed stronger than that first girl I saw.
…The other girl might have lasted a bit longer against someone else.
“Next up is the last duel! Once this is over, class is dismissed, so the rest of you can take a break!”
“Ah, that’s us. Shall we go up?”
“…Yeah.”
[Kyaa, kyaa! The protagonist’s going to fight! Hurry!]
They don’t need to rush me; they’ll get to see it soon enough.
We took our positions on the stage.
The protagonist, Yu Siwoo, had his sword drawn with a stern expression.
“Ready? Start!”
What if I lose right at the start?
I haven’t heard how strong the protagonist is supposed to be.
It would be embarrassing to lose instantly, so I hope to at least put up a decent fight.
I tensed up, waiting for Yu Siwoo to attack, but he didn’t make a move even after a while.
…What’s going on?
“What’s wrong, you two? Is there some issue?”
“No, there’s no problem at all.”
“…I see.”
Even the homeroom teacher found our lack of movement strange.
…I should probably make a move soon.
“Aren’t you coming at me?”
“…”
Yu Siwoo stayed silent, his sword pointed at me.
It doesn’t seem like he plans to take the initiative.
[Uuu, I thought you said you’d start!]
“Well, I can’t help it… I’ll go first then.”
With the teacher watching, the Author complaining about when we’ll start, and Yu Siwoo showing no intention of making the first move, I have no choice.
I’ll go to him.
The thread from the lining of my inner clothes began rushing towards him as I loosened it.
“…!”
“…Good judgment, I’ll give you praise for that.”
I admired how he evaded the rapidly approaching threads instead of trying to deflect them.
If the threads touched his weapon, he’d have been instantly bound and disarmed.
He seemed slightly startled before finally speaking.
“I saw you bind a monster with those threads, so I won’t try to deflect them.”
“I see… Then how about this!”
I unleashed another wave of threads to attack. Let’s see how he reacts.
Ting!
The threads fell to the floor as the sound of metal clashing with each other rang out.
“…You deflected them instead of evading?”
“I also saw you cut through concrete before.”
“My, you’re more perceptive than I thought.”
So he was watching that too?
I’m starting to enjoy this.
Is this the power of the protagonist? He’s quite skilled at gathering information.
[Ahem, our protagonist’s ability is intuition! He excels at perceiving physical threats!]
“Intuition, huh…”
That’s a good ability.
Even if an invisible person attacked, he could counterattack with the ability to sense threats.
His ability to distinguish my visually identical threads is even more impressive.
Although his physical potential may not be outstanding, the protagonist can probably overcome that by growing his ability.
“Wait, how did you know my…!”
“Well then, here I go again! Can you handle this?”
If that’s the case, maybe an unavoidable attack will work.
I expended one side of my inner wear in a widespread indiscriminate attack around Yu Siwoo.
His intuition would be useless if he couldn’t evade the attack.
“Phew, phew… That was close.”
“…You’re more impressive than I thought. I like it.”
Woah, is that even possible?
I thought he’d be done if I attacked without giving him a chance to evade, even with his intuition.
But it seems my overwhelming thread coverage was still not enough.
He deflected the threads he could, letting them collide with other threads, and slipped through the gaps.
Is he even human? That’s just unfair if someone with insane basic stats has that kind of ability!
“Okay, then next is…”
[I don’t like this.]
As I was about to unleash my remaining threads, the Author’s gloomy voice interjected.
“What don’t you like…?”
“…?”
Suddenly?
I have no idea why the Author’s mood has soured so much.
With no further attacks coming, the protagonist shot me a questioning look while catching his breath.
The Author’s tone was uncharacteristically subdued. If this isn’t a joke, who knows what might happen if I provoke them further.
[I can’t even see the protagonist’s first appearance! It’s their first duel, but…! This won’t do! The protagonist doesn’t even seem strong. You’re outperforming him!]
“Oh, oops…”
Ah, I forgot the most important thing!
So absorbed in finally testing an opponent, my desire to see the protagonist’s strength took over.
They never came at me, and it was my first time really cutting loose with my ability, so I got too excited.
I should have played up the protagonist instead…!
[I’m mad…! Hmph!]
“That…this is really troubling…”
What do I do?
The Author is totally angry now.
It’s my fault this time, so I have no excuse.
“I forfeit.”
“…What? Are you serious, Arte?”
“Yes, completely serious.”
[You ruined the protagonist’s first duel, Reader! Waaaaaah!]
The confused stares of the students and bewildered teacher fell upon me, but I was too busy to pay attention.
I had to placate the crying Author first.
Making the protagonist win is easier to retcon later, anyway.
“This, this is going to be hard to fix…”
[Waaaaaaaaah!]
***
“She uses threads…”
The woman had approached hoping to duel the man who took down the monster, but
She had tripped and fallen over something.
By the time she got back up, he had already paired up with someone else.
With no choice, she ended up getting paired with the remaining student.
‘…When I tripped, I thought I saw a glimpse of black threads but dismissed it as my imagination.’
Could it be…?
“And what’s up with her forfeiting after clearly winning? How ridiculous.”
She had completely overwhelmed and dominated that male student the entire time.
She could have just kept draining his stamina for an easy win.
But then suddenly, she says she doesn’t like it, calls it troubling, and mumbles some weird things before declaring her forfeit.
It’s not like she was joking around.
The other students looked dumbfounded, but I was angry.
If you can’t show your full strength, fine, but mocking your opponent and throwing away the win is unacceptable!
“Arte Iris…Didn’t she help resolve the monster attack?”
The woman had hoped to befriend her after hearing she and someone else took down the monster while the other students evacuated.
But who could have imagined she would be such a deceitful person?
Was subduing the monster for another purpose as well?
Her skills certainly seem real.
But she could not abide by that suspicious behavior and poor sportsmanship.
She does not seem fit to be an academy student.
“I, Amelia, will be watching…!”
Amelia firmly resolved to judge if that woman was fit for the academy!
Translator’s Corner
I know I mentioned that I was doing daily chapters, but have another one. Again, thank Dragons33 for bringing you this chapter. If you want to support me, get more chapters, or both, consider supporting me on ko-fi.
Also, I tried finding any art for the other characters. There isn’t even fan art. All I can really find is Arte and Author, so comment below if you want me to compile it for you guys. (Only Arte ones, at least, since we haven’t gotten the Author’s appearance described yet.)
-Ruminas