Chapter 47
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 47 - How to Adapt to a new Environment (9)
Boom—! Boom—!
A colorful fanfare sounded and the sound of fireworks being launched was heard.
A large crowd of people could be seen entering and entering the Academy.
Among those people, there must be quite a few scouts from famous guilds.
Although scouting of first-year students was rare, there was a high probability that scouts would be sent for the purpose of checking in advance which talents were outstanding.
And today…
“Hmm! Of course you will win, right? I mean, you’re the disciples of this Yggdrasil!”
Yggdrasil stood majestically in front of us, exerting pressure.
“You said we can’t let down our guard?”
When Scammer grumbled softly, Yggdrasil suddenly slapped him on the mouth.
“There is a difference between carelessness and objective judgment!”
“…”
Well, anyway, we had to participate in the preliminaries with the expectations of Yggdrasil.
Is the Yggdrasil dictatorship okay as it is?
To put it in a word, the preliminaries were a melee.
In total, a certain number of teams are grouped and assigned to various blocks such as block A and block B.
And in each block, all teams in that block fight simultaneously for a certain period of time, and only the surviving team advances to the finals.
It was a composition that showed the will to finish the preliminaries easily and quickly. What’s important is that it’s the finals.
Although people were able to enter the stands during the preliminaries, not many people came to watch the preliminaries, especially the unexpected first-year preliminaries. So usually only acquaintances sit in the stands for the preliminaries.
People begin to gather in earnest for the finals, where they can see the rookies.
I heard that if you’re not familiar with people, you may experience negative effects.
In my case, I have to work hard because my orphanage family is eagerly waiting to see me from the preliminaries. If I can’t do anything, I can’t raise my head. I still want to be a cool older sister.
Since there were many people participating, we were assigned to the back block and waited leisurely.
As the wait got longer and Choi Soojung was getting bored, she said jokingly.
“Let’s make a bet to buy drinks.”
“Great.”
I happened to be full of boredom. We started playing rock, paper, scissors without anyone to say first.
Choi Soojung, Lee Hana, and I also lost. Sheesh.
I strolled along with Choi Soojung and Lee Hana to find a vending machine.
“What should we do?”
“What should we do?”
Until I stopped walking when I heard a voice that I hadn’t heard in a very long time.
I thought I was hallucinating a voice in a dusty memory.
“The irregular one who caught the eye of the returned one.”
“The irregular one who caught the eye of the returned one!”
The two voices resonated simultaneously without any difference.
This voice and way of speaking… no way,
At that moment, Choi Soojung’s sharp wind headed towards the direction from where the voices were heard.
“Huh.”
“Huh?”
The two people sang in unison.
“It’s been a while, pet cat.”
“It’s been a while, pet cat!”
Gemini.
I didn’t expect to meet them here.
These are characters that appear in the novel, and they’re the beings used in my dealings with ‘Black Libra.’
And… Choi Soojung’s enemies.
Choi Soojung purred and glared at the two as if looking at her sworn enemies.
“I’m no longer your pet. What brought you here?”
It’s truly malicious for them to appear at this time. Maybe it was intentional. They’re like those twins with nasty personalities.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Because you stabbed your friend and gained freedom.”
“Because you stabbed your friend and gained freedom!”
Gemini, the annoying twins, laughed at Choi Soojung as if mocking her.
Lee Hana holds Choi Soojung’s hand, who’s biting her lip and unable to say anything.
“…Hana.”
“Soojung, I’m alive here.”
Lee Hana gently patted Choi Soojung. While staring at Gemini.
“I guess it’s fun to pick on other people’s wounds, you guys.”
“Well?”
“Well.”
“More than that.”
“More than that!”
I was startled by the Geminis’ gazes directed at me. They’re going to say something strange again!
However, contrary to what I thought, they said something unknown.
“Will it be fine? The returned one will be targeting you.”
“It will be fine. Because…”
“Because the player and the hero are by your side.”
“Because the player and the hero are by your side!”
“What are you talking about again?”
I can guess who the word ‘player’ refers to. He’s probably Scammer. I know roughly who the word ‘hero’ refers to.
But what about ‘the returned one’? Who the hell is that?
I asked them with a frown, but Gemini just chuckled.
“Can’t do no more.”
“Can’t! Then…”
“Bye.”
“Bye!”
And then they quietly disappeared like powder being scattered in the wind.
Anyway, they’re really nasty twins.
Gemini has appeared before me occasionally since I dealt with Black Libra. That doesn’t mean they would do anything, they would just say strange things one by one and disappear.
To think that they showed up after a long time, scratched my senior’s wounds, and deliberately said strange things to me.
I looked at my seniors.
“Those bastards…!”
“Calm down.”
Choi Soojung hit the wall in frustration. Lee Hana silently held her hand.
Soon, Lee Hana’s eyes turned to me.
“Nahyun, do you know Gemini?”
“Yes. They appear sometimes, say strange things, and then disappear.”
Choi Soojung, who heard what I said, came quickly towards me and grabbed my shoulder to the extent it hurts. Her expression was distorted to a degree I had never seen before.
“…Senior?”
“Listen carefully. When Gemini asks you to make a deal, never say yes. No, don’t get involved with Gemini at all.”
“Y-Yes…!”
After hearing my answer, she seemed relieved and relaxed a little.
“Senior, it hurts.”
“…I’m sorry.”
An uncomfortable silence surrounded us the whole time.
The children in the waiting room noticed our mood and looked at us carefully.
I feel sorry about this.
Let’s forget it for now. Now is the time to focus on the preliminaries.
Just as Choi Soojung’s rage subsided, a voice was heard calling for our block. We leisurely packed up our gear and entered.
There was no worry. Because we’re the ones who rolled so hard under Yggdrasil.
The shouts of people across the aisle of the stadium were calling to us.
In the stadium, various teams were looking at each other with great nervousness. There were teams I had sparred with before and I also saw unfamiliar teams.
And…
“Ha, Na Yuhan! I will pay for your last humiliation!”
It seemed like the big guy whom Scammer bullied during the last aptitude test also participated.
Scammer smiled crookedly at the big guy and raised his middle finger without saying a word. The big guy jumped up and down.
Looks like he’s pretty much back to his old self. That’s a relief.
“Relax! It’s starting soon!”
Shin Baran shouted and placed an arrow on her bow. Then Scammer shrugged his shoulders and again grabbed his flag with both hands.
<Now, the countdown begins!>
People held their breath. It was the same for us too.
<3!>
In the lead, Calmy took a stance, holding a sword in both hands.
<2!>
Beside him, Na Yuri raised a flame in her fist without saying a word.
<1!>
I could feel the movement of Lee Hana gathering cold mana from the side of the group.
<Start—!>
<Beep—!>
As soon as the starting buzzer sounded, a storm of powerful magic surrounded us.
“Nyahahaha—!”
Arrows and all kinds of magic attacks fired by other teams bounced off the wind barrier created by Choi Soojung and were scattered.
“As expected, they’re trying to keep us in check first.”
Scammer muttered lowly.
“Strategically, that is the right decision.”
Na Yuri raised a flame in her fist and spoke bitterly.
As they said, the other teams were implicitly not attacking each other, perhaps because they thought they would have a chance of winning if they defeated us first.
<Is it a union? This is a disadvantageous situation for Team Yggdrasil!>
Well, other than that… They can’t even break through the protective shield, though?
Clank—! Clank—! Clank!
Arrows rained down on the wall for a while, yet any attacks were bounced off helplessly by the wind.
“I’ll help you~”
“Thank you.”
At the same time, Shin Baran’s arrows were fired at each team.
“Ugh!”
“What is the state of the shield?”
“Some are damaged!”
Shin Baran’s arrow, fired lightly as a check, damaged the opponent’s defense shield.
Some teams hesitated and focused on recovering their shields, but,
<Amidst the bloody battle of nerves, Team Suho’s shield and flame spear display aggressive movements in earnest!>
Some teams started to be more aggressive.
“We’ll be going!”
A team running towards us began to pour out a full-scale attack on us.
Scammer, who saw this, smiled broadly as if he had been waiting and gave the order to attack.
“Switch to attack stance! Formation A! Senior Soojung, please take charge of defense, and the leader will attack in earnest! Everyone else, please stay in your positions and attack!”
“Mmhm!”
“I know even if you don’t say it!”
And we also started moving in earnest.