Meritocracy (2)
Meritocracy (2)
-All right, write your name here and put it in the box.
Following Jaden's instructions, the students wrote their names on slips of white paper and dropped them into the container.
Some distance away, the professors watched.
"Hey, Kang Han-na."
"Heh-heh, heh... Yes?"
Kang Han-na, who had been giggling to herself for a while, wiped a little drool from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and turned toward the voice that had called her.
A third-year professor who had looked out for her countless times since her student days and through her time as an assistant was now staring at her as if he'd just seen something he couldn't unsee.
"You seemed to be pushing yourself a bit earlier... Are you okay?"
"How so?"
"What do you mean, how so, you punk."
"Agh!!"
It figured, since the man also taught combat arts.
He seemed to tap her lightly—thwack!—but her side tingled with a lingering sting.
"Quit exaggerating."
"...Just so you know, don't do that to the students. Your hands are seriously no joke, Professor."
"Hey, watch your mouth, you brat."
He was a senior so far ahead of her that seniority alone was meaningless, but perhaps because of the bond they'd formed back when she was a student, Kang Han-na was never particularly nervous around third-year Professor Hwang Min-ho.
Hwang Min-ho ruffled the hair of his former student—now a junior professor—and asked again.
"So, who's the student you bet a fortune on?"
"...Don't you go getting interested in my precious baby."
"Ha. Look. I've already placed all my bets. Telling me their name won't change a thing, will it?"
"Oh, right."
At that response, Hwang Min-ho clicked his tongue.
Back in her student days, she'd clawed for every scholarship and thrown herself into any competition with a slightly pricey artifact on the line.
Now, as a professor, the way she lost all perspective the moment money was involved was so consistent that it was almost laughable.
"I said, who is it?"
"Ah, that hurts! Damn..."
Rubbing her slightly pinched forearm, Kang Han-na pointed toward the cluster of students.
"See that snow-white fairy-like girl over there?"
"Yeah. I see her. Is that her?"
"Yes. Her name is Baek Ha-na... The sweet little darling who's going to make me filthy rich. Heh-heh..."
"......."
Hwang Min-ho clicked his tongue at Kang Han-na, who was giggling like a middle-aged man his own age. Then his gaze shifted, and he took a long, careful look at the snowy-haired girl Kang Han-na had indicated.
'Hmm, she looks rather ordinary...'
If anything, the two girls clinging to her sides seemed more outstanding.
'Still, there must be something about her.'
The fact that the children of the Top 10 Guilds were sticking so closely to her made it obvious there was something he hadn't yet spotted.
"Ehehehe, thirty-seven times... eheh..."
"...Good grief."
Hwang Min-ho cast a slightly pitying glance at Kang Han-na standing beside him.
Arena Academy.
It was the place where the very finest prodigies from specialized schools gathered—genuine elites among elites.
If this were an ordinary academy, maybe a freshman could have defeated an upperclassman based purely on awakened ability and total mana reserves.
But this was Arena Academy.
The freshmen might be the cream of the crop, but the upperclassmen above them were exactly the same.
And the students assembled here were the ones at the very top of that elite pool.
In other words, every single person here was a talent who had bloomed an exceptional ability.
'Has she really forgotten what her own student days were like...?'
In a place where equally brilliant geniuses were struggling to climb higher, could a young predator, just tossed into the wild, really defeat a true beast close to full maturity, no matter how desperately the youngster thrashed?
Hwang Min-ho's eyes drifted to the female student standing next to Jaden.
A girl with an unremarkable impression and plain black hair.
The current vice president and next Student Council president, a third-year.
'Yoon I-seul...'
He recalled her ability and glanced sidelong once more at Kang Han-na, still giggling next to him.
In the history of Arena Academy, the position of "King" had always belonged to a third-year.
'I should buy her a meal sometime.'
Hwang Min-ho was certain that history would not change this year either.
**
"First, I will explain the rules for the freshmen."
The upperclassmen's heads all turned toward where Baek Ha-na, Nam Seo-hee, and Na Ju-hee were standing. Those three were the only freshmen participating in the Ranking Match.
"To start, you each draw a name from the box. After confirming your opponent, you decide whether to fight or not. If you believe you cannot win, you may forfeit on the spot."
Once the match-ups are set, the students take the stage and compete, then are divided into a winners' group and a losers' group.
Then, win or loss is decided again within the losers' group. The students who win within the losers' group may then select any student from the winners' group and challenge them to a duel.
"Naturally, the students targeted by the losers' group may also forfeit. In that case, their positions simply swap, yes? After this process of dividing winners and losers once more, winners will face winners, and losers will face losers, taking turns to decide victory or defeat. The results from this determine the final rankings."
The Ranking Match is held once a week, and a lower-ranked student can only challenge someone exactly one rank above them. Additionally, any student who does not participate in today's Ranking Match must start their challenge from the lowest rank.
"Nothing too complicated, right?"
Baek Ha-na nodded, and the two girls with her likewise agreed.
"Then, shall our first-year students come up and draw first?"
Jaden held out the box, and Baek Ha-na strode forward, slipping her hand inside.
Ssssk, ssrrk.
Unlike her unhesitating approach, she was rather deliberate in drawing a name, almost as if she was searching for a specific person's.
Slip.
Finally, Baek Ha-na withdrew her hand.
And unfolded the slip of paper she had grasped.
[Yoon I-seul]
"Hmm, Yoon I-seul?"
Jaden looked at the black-haired upperclassman standing right next to him and called out the name written on the paper.
-Woah. Of all people...
-This won't splash back on us, will it?
-Even their hair colors are complete opposites.
The upperclassmen began murmuring among themselves.
Jaden cleared his throat briefly and continued.
"Miss Ha-na? This upperclassman here is your opponent."
"Understood."
Baek Ha-na nodded calmly and went to stand beside Yoon I-seul.
Jaden seemed about to add a few more words but fell silent. Instead, he pushed the box forward again and continued the proceedings.
**
"Hi."
While the remaining pairs were being decided, Yoon I-seul greeted Baek Ha-na first.
"Hello."
Baek Ha-na received her greeting with the same calmness.
Yoon I-seul looked up at Baek Ha-na, who was a little taller than her, and asked quietly.
"So, you were looking for my name tag."
The reason for the question was simple.
The moment she drew her name, the snowy-haired junior had come to stand beside her and stared at her intently. As if checking whether the choice she'd made was the correct one.
"Yes."
"I see."
Baek Ha-na admitted it openly, and Yoon I-seul nodded without a strong reaction.
She was a little curious about how it had been done.
'She didn't use any mana, either.'
The names had been written with an ordinary pen. Naturally, the name tags were nothing more than ordinary paper.
So how had she found hers?
She wanted to satisfy her curiosity right then, but the other girl was her junior. And in a moment, she would also be her opponent on stage.
She had no desire to ask a question that might expose her junior's capabilities, no matter what. Whether she'd even answer was another question.
Yoon I-seul licked her lips and studied Baek Ha-na carefully.
Sharp eyes and smooth skin.
And an excessively generous chest.
A pretty junior who looked like she would smell good if you hugged her.
'I'll take her to a cafe after all this is over.'
By then, she'd probably have realized where she stood.
The corners of Yoon I-seul's eyes curved like a snake's.
**
After every pair had been decided.
Nam Seo-hee looked down at the arena floor with a deeply displeased expression.
"Do you think Ha-na will win?"
Nam Seo-hee was visibly irked, but Na Ju-hee, seated beside her, paid zero consideration to that and just asked whatever was on her mind.
"...Don't call her by her name like you're friends."
"Ha-na gave me permission, so what's it to you?"
Grind.
A chilling sound leaked from Nam Seo-hee's tightly shut mouth.
"Does Ha-na know you have this kind of personality?"
"......."
Nam Seo-hee chose not to answer and looked back down below. Baek Ha-na and the upperclassman Yoon I-seul had just stepped onto the stage.
"What, are you mute? I asked what you think."
"...Ha. Just shut up and watch."
Part of Nam Seo-hee's distaste for Na Ju-hee was amplified by the fact that she, too, was targeting Baek Ha-na. But the fundamental reason she disliked her was that noisy personality that always had to voice every little thought.
From birth, Nam Seo-hee had loathed anything loud and bothersome, while Na Ju-hee had always possessed a fiery personality.
By anyone's estimation, the two were complete opposites.
"I admit Ha-na is amazing, but still, against that senior... it seems like it'll be a bit hard for her."
"......."
"If you'd backed me up, Ha-na might have forfeited. Why didn't you?"
"......."
"Are you seriously mute?"
Ultimately, Nam Seo-hee used mana to block her hearing.
Only then did peace return to Nam Seo-hee's heart.
The two were facing off at a distance easily exceeding three hundred paces.
This upperclassmen's sparring ground was indeed on a completely different scale from the freshmen's.
'How will she win?'
Why hadn't she backed Na Ju-hee up when she suggested Baek Ha-na should forfeit?
The reason was simple.
Because she was certain Baek Ha-na would win.
'Yoon I-seul.'
Excluding the Student Council president who was about to graduate, she was currently the strongest person in the academy.
A possessor of the rare ability to control 'Shadow'—a talent that didn't even fill all the fingers of one hand globally. She also had an innate mana sensitivity and a sharp intellect for understanding spell formulas.
A talent who couldn't help but be called a genius.
And despite her plain face, inside, she harbored the disposition of a ferocious ruler.
That was all information Maria had dug up for her, but having seen Yoon I-seul with her own eyes, Nam Seo-hee was convinced.
'Ha-na is superior.'
Baek Ha-na was a Transformation-type who possessed mana that surpassed Supernatural-types.
But except for a very small handful, no one knew Baek Ha-na held such vast mana.
On the other hand, while Yoon I-seul's power felt somewhat contained, it was still clear that she possessed a considerable amount of mana.
This fact alone was enough for Nam Seo-hee to be certain Baek Ha-na would win.
'It's started.'
She had blocked out sound, so she knew the match had started from the way the two began to move.
Baek Ha-na rushed in immediately to close the gap.
A pitch-black wall rose up in front of her.
Without any hesitation, she threw a punch at the wall.
The wall of shadow twisted around her outstretched fist like a piece of cloth and then wound itself around her right hand.
Just then, a blue glow burst from the hand consumed by shadow.
Yoon I-seul's shadow writhed violently, as if in pain, before it detached from Baek Ha-na's hand and retreated back to Yoon I-seul.
"Hmm..."
A brief clash, over in an instant.
Nam Seo-hee's mouth fell open unconsciously at the result.
The black half-gloves held in Yoon I-seul's hand.
That was one of Baek Woo-jin's precious gifts to Baek Ha-na—something she treasured second only to her own life.