The First Match of the Round of 16
The final match of the round of 16.
“Teams 15 and 16. Move to your respective positions.”
At Hong Daye’s call, Lee Jinhyuk suddenly turned his head.
Outside the sparring arena, a crowd of students had gathered to watch. Some were slowly cooling down with sports drinks; others were observing Yu Seolhyeon with particular care.
As the bloodline of the Spear Ghost and the seventh-ranked freshman, Yu Seolhyeon was a person of interest. Even Lee Siwoo and Kang Daehan—who had shown little interest in the other matches—were quietly watching now.
Jinhyuk let his gaze drift across the spectator seats until his eyes met Jin Soyeon’s. She was gulping water in big, ungraceful swallows.
Even drinking water looks beautiful on her, he thought absently.
She blinked her large eyes a few times, pulled her lips from the bottle, and broke into a bright smile. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted with everything she had.
“You’re not planning to lose embarrassingly right from the first match, are you?! You said you’d show them what’s what! Lee Jinhyuk, fighting!”
“Ah… yeah.”
In his previous life’s school days, had a beauty of that caliber ever cheered for him?
As a man, it wasn’t a bad feeling—but Jinhyuk could only answer with a slightly awkward smile. Showing too much familiarity would invite all sorts of talk.
…Of course, he had cheered for her earlier as well.
“Hey, earlier Lee Jinhyuk was doing the same thing. Did they really break up?”
“They’re childhood friends, right? It wasn’t a bad breakup or anything.”
“Still, though. At that level aren’t they basically dating?”
“Wait—what if Jin Soyeon’s stringing both Lee Siwoo and Lee Jinhyuk along?”
“Playing the pretty-girl card, huh?”
Ah. Of course.
The girls were murmuring among themselves. Curiosity, jealousy, envy, dissatisfaction—every emotion floated freely. A girl who had broken up with her boyfriend on day one and was already wagging her tail at the rich young master Lee Siwoo was never going to sit well with them.
Not that Jin Soyeon would care in the slightest.
“Hey. Lee Jinhyuk.”
As the members of Teams 15 and 16 began walking onto the sparring floor, Han Dongwon—leader of Team 15—prodded at Jinhyuk’s nerves in a sly voice.
“I heard you barely scraped in dead last.”
“Why did Yu Seolhyeon and Seo Nari even pick you as a teammate?”
“Who knows?”
“Man, I’m jealous. You’re gonna freeload so hard, Jinhyuk.”
“I’d love it if it really was freeloading.”
Han Dongwon chuckled and kept needling him, then suddenly let a faint, mocking smile curl his lips.
“Anyway, thanks. Because of you, I think we can actually win this.”
He casually clapped a hand on Jinhyuk’s shoulder.
“Without a hole like you on their team, we would’ve had a tough time even competing.”
Unlike the formidable Yu Seolhyeon and Seo Nari, Jinhyuk was free experience—and Han Dongwon made no effort to hide his gratitude for that fact, smiling with oily satisfaction.
It was a cheap provocation, but simply taking it in silence wasn’t in Jinhyuk’s nature. He let out a quiet snort of his own.
“I’m grateful too.”
“Huh?”
“That you three from Team 15 ended up on the same team… again.”
“What are you talking about?”
I’m not joking. I’m genuinely glad.
Han Dongwon, Oh Seongwoon, Go Mirae—the three of you being on the same team.
Just like in the game.
“Hey, Han Dongwon. Shut up already.”
Seo Nari suddenly whipped her twin-tails around and glared daggers at him, brows furrowed hard.
“You’re barely ranked ninetieth and you’ve been whining nonstop. It’s seriously annoying.”
“What?”
At her sharp retort, Han Dongwon’s eyelids twitched.
“You and him are six of one, half a dozen of the other. Acting tough is just disgusting.”
“Seo Nari, you think the whole world belongs to you just because you did decently on the entrance exam?”
“If you’re so salty, you should’ve scored higher than me. Ninetieth-place scrub.”
“You little—”
As the staring contest threatened to escalate, Hong Daye—who had been yawning with open boredom—waved a hand dismissively.
“Enough useless bickering. Move already.”
With the instructor dousing the sparks, Han Dongwon and Seo Nari settled into a temporary ceasefire. They glared at each other one last time, then spun on their heels and headed for opposite ends of the arena.
Teams 15 and 16 took their positions at either end of the sparring floor.
“Hey, Jinhyuk. Don’t let that crap get to you.”
“Huh?”
The unexpected comment from Seo Nari made Jinhyuk scratch his chin.
“You seem more bothered by it than I am.”
“What?”
She shot him a prickly look full of displeasure, but it only looked like a child’s sulking. Jinhyuk shrugged once and answered with a sly grin.
“Anyway, thanks for worrying. You usually just grumble all the time.”
“Ha. Worry? Please. The exam’s right in front of us, that’s all. If your mental game cracks you might do something stupid!”
At her core, Seo Nari wasn’t a bad person. The constant unnecessary grumbling was just her problem.
“Anyway, Han Dongwon calling me the hole of Team 16 and picking a fight was deliberate, so don’t worry about it too much.”
“Huh?”
“Thanks to that, I’ve got a clearer idea of what strategy they’re going to use. Things should be a bit easier now.”
Both teams had reached the edges of the arena.
“Everyone ready?”
Hong Daye looked from one side to the other, then used a remote to raise a circular protective barrier around the entire sparring floor.
“Kids. Stick to the plan. Just the plan.”
“Heh. I’m looking forward to this strategy of yours.”
“If it doesn’t work, Lee Jinhyuk, you’re dead by my hand. Got it?”
Yu Seolhyeon smiled sweetly and tightened her grip on her spear shaft. Seo Nari grumbled as usual and settled into a combat stance.
Team 15 finished their own preparations and glared at them with open hostility.
“Both teams. Ready.”
At Hong Daye’s signal—
“Three, two, one… begin!”
Their first match started.
Han Dongwon ranked ninety-first among the freshmen.
Even so, placing inside the double digits of the Union Academy’s freshman rankings—widely considered the best in Korea—meant he had been called a genius since middle school.
His supernatural ability was acceleration and deceleration: the power to freely control the speed of objects. He could instantly shift something from one to a hundred, or from a hundred back to one.
That peculiarity made it extremely easy to combine with other abilities, producing synergy far beyond what most people expected.
For example…
“Ready? I’m shooting.”
“Good. Fire!”
Go Mirae nocked an arrow, drew the string to its absolute limit, and released.
The arrow streaked forward like a bolt of light.
Whish!
In the blink of an eye it closed the distance.
The moment the arrow left the bow, Yu Seolhyeon sprinted toward the center. A pale-blue aura of mana wrapped the shaft as it skimmed past her and bared its fangs at Lee Jinhyuk.
Target the weakest first—basic mercenary tactics.
Jinhyuk seemed to have anticipated it. He raised a prepared shield and crouched behind it—but it was useless.
Because the arrow’s true target had never been him.
I only needled Jinhyuk so you’d think that. The real target is you, Yu Seolhyeon.
The arrow that had raced to Jinhyuk’s face suddenly veered hard and shot toward Yu Seolhyeon’s back.
That was Go Mirae’s ability: she could freely alter the trajectory of projectiles mid-flight.
“Yu Seolhyeon!”
“……!”
At Jinhyuk’s shout she glanced over her shoulder—but realizing it changed nothing.
“Oh Seongwoon, now.”
“Got it.”
Oh Seongwoon activated his ability. The single arrow split into five or six.
His power was Illusionary Clones: he could cast illusions over an object to create multiple phantom copies. The clones dealt no damage, but from the opponent’s perspective distinguishing the real one from the fakes was nearly impossible.
The swarm of arrows crashed toward Yu Seolhyeon. She instantly adjusted her grip on the spear and took a defensive stance—but she still couldn’t tell which of the five or six was real.
She had to choose.
Which one to block.
Where will she prioritize?
The arrows were aimed at head, neck, chest, abdomen, legs. A well-trained fighter, caught off guard, would instinctively protect the vital points first.
So the head, neck, chest, and abdomen were all fakes.
From the very beginning, Team 15 had been aiming for Yu Seolhyeon’s legs—her mobility.
With the main theme of the exam being flag capture, a close-range dealer who couldn’t move freely would cease to be a major threat.
Even if she luckily tries to guard her legs, it won’t matter, Yu Seolhyeon.
Han Dongwon had layered his own ability onto the arrow—acceleration and deceleration.
If I suddenly slow a high-speed arrow with my power… even someone with great physical ability will flinch and miss the timing. The power drops a little, but that’s fine.
It was the same principle common in baseball: throw consecutive 140 km/h fastballs, then drop to 110 km/h, and the batter’s timing collapses.
Sudden velocity change, illusionary clones, trajectory correction.
The first strike combining those three abilities was, frankly, something even an active hero would struggle to handle cleanly. They had tested it once on an acquaintance who was a real hero—and the man had taken the arrow without being able to do a thing.
No matter how much of a genius Yu Seolhyeon was, she was still just a student. Unless she already knew what was coming, she would have to take the hit…?
“Ah. That startled me.”
Looking only mildly surprised, Yu Seolhyeon swung her spear and cleanly batted away the arrow that had been racing for her right leg.
The shaft spun through the air and clattered to the ground. The illusionary arrows faded like mist.
“Wh—what the fuck? How the hell did she block that?!”
She had never seen the combination before, yet she stopped it?
A technique that had worked on an active hero?
Was that even human?
“……It really went exactly like Jinhyuk said.”
The one who had blocked it—Yu Seolhyeon herself—looked half-dazed. She had been half-skeptical, but it had actually been true.
“Fuck! Hey! I’ll pin Yu Seolhyeon down for a bit—Oh Seongwoon, you take Seo Nari! Go Mirae, drop Jinhyuk right now!”
“Got it!”
“Ah. So it got blocked.”
Yu Seolhyeon glanced once at Jinhyuk and Seo Nari, then stepped forward again toward Han Dongwon. Seo Nari slowly raised her fists and charged Oh Seongwoon.
Oh Seongwoon was weaker than Seo Nari in pure combat, but with his illusions he could keep her occupied for a long time.
And to Jinhyuk came Go Mirae.
Go Mirae was an archer specializing in trajectory-altered shots. Jinhyuk also used a bow as his main weapon, but beating her one-on-one was nearly impossible—dodging arrows that came from every angle was simply too difficult.
Therefore—
“Whoa. You crazy bastard, what the hell are you?”
“What? Never seen a shield before?”
“No, you lunatic! Why the fuck are you holding two shields?! Are you a turtle?!”
“You looking down on dual shields right now?”
Just like in a certain hardcore action game, he raised two shields and began batting away Go Mirae’s arrows.
Wow. Two shields means double the defense?
Well, that was a joke.
“Fuck, this guy’s got every trick in the book!”
Go Mirae loosed a rapid volley—papapat!—arrows arcing in beautiful curves. It made no difference. Every shaft that came near was knocked aside by the oversized dual shields. As Jinhyuk slowly advanced behind them, Go Mirae’s brow furrowed.
“Keep blocking like that! How long do you think you can last?!”
“Yeah. It’s already getting tough.”
Even with two shields, he couldn’t stop every arrow. And because he couldn’t return fire, Go Mirae was free to pour arrows into him. The impact transmitted through the shields was enormous—mana-wrapped shafts hit like blunt weapons.
“Yeah, I definitely can’t win a pure one-on-one. Blocking is harder than I thought.”
“Hey. Almost done, right?”
Cracks began to spiderweb across the shields. Go Mirae poured mana into her string and drew it fully. If she could just shatter those shields, she could drop him in an instant. Then, while the others kept Yu Seolhyeon and Seo Nari busy, she could snatch the flag.
“But this is a team fight, you know. Team fight.”
“So what?”
“You might want to check behind you.”
“Like I’d fall for that—”
A presence suddenly registered at her back.
“Hey, Jinhyuk, why the hell would you say that?!”
“Huh? Huh?”
She spun on reflex—and found Seo Nari standing there with a fist raised high overhead.
No way.
She had already taken down Oh Seongwoon?
Dropping someone who used illusionary clones that quickly should have been practically impossible!
Her eyes rolled wildly and landed on Oh Seongwoon, foam at his mouth, sprawled unconscious on the floor.
She had actually dropped him.
That idiot was already out?!
“W-wait!”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Seo Nari ignored the panicked cry and swung her small fist. It looked almost like a little middle-schooler throwing a tantrum at her big sister—light, casual.
But Go Mirae felt the same life-threatening pressure a high-school girl would feel facing a monster. She hastily raised her bow to block—
KRAAANG!
A thunderous impact, and the bow shattered into pieces.
“Y-you crazy Godzilla bitch!”
“You wanna die for real?”
Seo Nari, having misjudged her strength, followed up immediately. The blow to the side sent Go Mirae tumbling several meters across the floor. She curled up clutching her ribs, gasping and choking.
“Ugh… ghk… kkhh…”
“Ah, my bad. Who told you to run your mouth like that?”
It looked like a cracked rib. The protective gear had kept it from being worse; without it, a few ribs would have snapped like dry twigs.
That ability is terrifying every single time I see it.
Seo Nari’s body-reinforcement power. Extremely simple—and exactly as effective as it looked. Raw, threatening strength. Perfect for both tanking and dealing damage.
“Ugh… ah!”
Clang—
A sword spun lazily through the air and clattered to the ground.
Jinhyuk’s eyes followed the metallic sound and found Yu Seolhyeon standing calmly while Han Dongwon lay gasping, having lost his weapon.
Han Dongwon sucked in huge breaths and muttered in disbelief.
“Th-this big a gap? Between me and you?”
“Who knows~.”
Yu Seolhyeon answered in a sweet, lilting voice, smiling softly, then slowly parted her lips.
“Did you know that every time you counterattack or use a big technique, you either dig your right foot in or clench your left hand?”
“What?”
“Thanks to that, reading your attacks was a lot easier.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
She flicked a glance toward Jinhyuk and answered lightly.
“Our team has a pretty useful supporter, you see.”
“Lee Jinhyuk? Because of him? No—how would he know my habits…?”
“He must have watched training footage and analyzed it thoroughly.”
“No matter how much you analyze…”
As Han Dongwon muttered with a hollow expression, Yu Seolhyeon casually brought the tip of her spear near his face and asked with a smiling face:
“So? Are you going to keep going, or do you surrender?”
“…….”
Han Dongwon bit his lower lip.
His teammates were already wiped out. He himself had lost his sword and been neutralized. Any real chance of a comeback was gone.
“……I surrender.”
“Hmm? I didn’t catch that. What did you say?”
“I said I surrender!”
“Heh heh. Good.”
He had been muttering bitterly under his breath; now he shouted it. Hong Daye heard and blew her whistle.
Tweet!
“Team 15 has declared surrender… Team 16 wins!”
Victory without even taking the flag.
The first match ended exactly as Lee Jinhyuk had predicted.
“……Wow. It actually worked?”
Jinhyuk could only marvel to himself.
Memories from a past life… pure freeloading gold.