Festival (5)
Festival (5)
Most people's minds seize up when faced with an unforeseen situation. And that was precisely why silence descended over the auditorium.
Students, professors, spectators, commentators.
Everyone was still gaping at the completely unexpected outcome.
The referee who had been waiting offstage—a priest of the God of Amusement—walked toward the audience seating.
He carefully turned Jane Moore over. She had been lying motionless, face down. He infused her with holy power and examined her condition.
'One blow to the abdomen... and nothing else.'
Her internal organs were undamaged.
Jane Moore's condition was significantly better than he had anticipated.
Which made it all the more baffling.
'A fist strike that sent Jane Moore flying in one hit... and yet the internal organs are fine. Only superficial bruising. How is that even possible?'
Alternatively, Jane Moore might have poured every last drop of mana into protecting her body the instant before the blow landed. The exam confirmed she was suffering from complete mana exhaustion.
'The Executor will be pleased.'
The priest—the referee—gently rested Jane Moore's head back on the floor and rose to his feet.
In his heart he rejoiced that the child cherished by their other light, the Executor, had won. Then he filled his voice with mana and proclaimed:
[ Jane Moore cannot continue outside the arena or resume combat. Baek Ha-na wins!! ]
The referee's voice carried through the hushed Grand Auditorium.
And time, which had stopped, began to flow once more.
-Whoaaaaaa!!
-Insane!! What the hell just happened?!
-Replay!! Show the replay!!
In that moment, the name Baek Ha-na was branded into the minds of everyone watching.
**
[ A supernova has appeared!! A supernova! ]
[ I still can't believe what I saw. To claim victory against Jane Moore in a mere five seconds. ]
[ I'm dying to know what kind of exchange took place inside that Sanctuary of Light!! ]
[ I share that sentiment. In fact, everyone watching this broadcast must feel the same way. ]
[ Haa!! I wish a psychometry Awakened would arrive on site right now!! ]
The score was 229 to 236—a First Academy victory.
Even so, the commentators, and the spectators who hadn't budged from their seats long after the match had concluded, paid no attention to which academy had won or lost. They couldn't stop chattering about a single student: Baek Ha-na.
Meanwhile, inside the competitor waiting room.
"Hey. Your butt sinking down there? Want me to kick it back up?"
"N-No, ma'am!!"
Kang Han-na had corralled the students who had lost into one corner and was making them do headstands.
"The moment we return to the hotel, you eat, change, and assemble in the underground training room. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!!"
"This is the last chance our little darling has given you, so don't fuck it up. Anyone who loses from the round of sixteen onward, you'd better be prepared to die for real once we're back in Korea."
The upperclassmen balancing upside-down on their heads rather than their hands prayed fervently. They wanted that psychometry Awakened to arrive on stage as fast as humanly possible.
The First Academy side had cleanly accepted Jane Moore's loss. The British Royal Family, however, which was hosting the Ceremony, proposed an on-site reconstruction to prevent any whisper of controversy about the unprecedented supernova's emergence. Jaden agreed to the proposal.
Click.
The waiting room door opened and Cheon Ji-ho stepped inside.
"Miss Ha-na? Some guests are here. Would you like to see them?"
"Guests?"
Sitting beside Nam Seo-hee, Baek Ha-na had been crunching away at a chocolate bar. She tilted her head. Cheon Ji-ho smiled and swung the door wide open.
"Hey~"
"Maria?"
Baek Ha-na rose to her feet at the sight of her friend waving with her usual mischievous grin. Nam Seo-hee stood up and followed right behind her without a word.
"Professor Jaden is guarding the entrance, so feel free to chat."
Leaving those words behind, Cheon Ji-ho disappeared into the waiting room where the upperclassmen were still being put through the wringer.
"When did you get here?"
The instant Cheon Ji-ho was gone, Baek Ha-na broke into a bright smile and asked.
"Around the start of the twentieth match? Traffic held us up, so we were a little late."
"I see. But what's wrong with Idni? Carsick?"
"Carsick, my foot."
At Baek Ha-na's question, Maria poked Idni's sagging cheek with her finger.
"She bet money and lost everything."
"Money? Oh, wagering on the outcomes? She bet on them?"
"Yep. She went all in on our students winning every single match and ended up vaporizing every bit of allowance she'd saved up."
"Uwaaaah!!"
The moment Maria finished speaking, Idni tore at her own lovely hair and crumpled to the floor.
"Lie, tell me it's a lie......!!"
"Heh heh, it's the truth."
"Guh-hnnngggh!!"
She had moved on from pulling her hair to pounding the floor, sobbing her heart out.
"How, how can you lose after being trained by Professor Baek...... just how useless can you be...... guh-hnnggh...."
"Well...."
"Leave her be."
Baek Ha-na had been fretting about how to comfort Idni, but Maria shook her head and held out her smartphone.
"Check this out instead. The internet's exploding with talk about you."
· ↓What year are you? Is the Queen your friend? If I catch you, you're dead.
· But really, what the hell is Baek Ha-na? Is she actually a transformation-type? (999+)
· Is the 5-second KO for real? Truly magnificent pectorals. (13)
· lololol anyone imagining us in first place right now, take my upvote (999+)
· What on earth is happening right now? (57)
"Uwah...."
Reading through the posts on the academy student community, Baek Ha-na's cheeks went a little pink.
"And a bunch of fan cafés have popped up for you, Ha-na."
"Fan cafés?"
"Yeah. Your popularity is through the roof right now. Look."
"N-No. It's fine. I don't want to see...."
Seeing Baek Ha-na unexpectedly flustered, Maria smiled fondly and nodded. She wouldn't have minded watching a little longer, but she wasn't about to force it on a friend who clearly didn't want it.
"...Anyway, is there anything about Woo-jin?"
Because Baek Ha-na had been at the party that day, she hadn't been able to watch Vuar's footage. After returning to the hotel, she learned online that while she had been eating chocolates and desserts fed to her by other female students, that person had fought the Awakened she had glimpsed that afternoon.
Everyone had spoken of him with awe and amazement.
It simply made her happy. Perhaps because people were finally recognizing how remarkable that person was.
"Does Woo-jin have a fan café too?"
Baek Ha-na had even contemplated creating one herself once she returned to Korea if he didn't.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing about the professor."
"Why?"
"Our god deleted every post related to the professor early this morning. Right now, it's impossible to even write anything if it contains related content."
"...Why?"
At Baek Ha-na's question, Maria shrugged.
"That's as far as my knowledge goes. If I had to guess, though... perhaps because the professor dislikes a fuss?"
"......That's true. Woo-jin wouldn't like that kind of thing."
Easily convinced, Baek Ha-na lifted her head again.
"But what about Na-young and Yeon-ju? I don't see Big Sis and Ppiyaki either."
"You really don't waste any time asking, do you?"
"U-Uu...."
At Maria's teasing remark, Baek Ha-na flinched, a slight shiver running through her.
'Hmm~'
Would the world ever know?
That the person hailed as a supernova, the one setting the world ablaze, was in truth this gentle and endearing girl.
"Na-young stayed in the car because of the crowds, and Yeon-ju also stayed with her, saying it'd be a pain to pull the car out later."
"Mm... that makes sense. It might have been a bit much for Na-young."
"Right."
"Then what about Big Sis and Ppiyaki?"
"Right here."
"......!!"
At the clear voice from directly behind her, Baek Ha-na spun around.
-Peep-peep!!
At the same moment, the Fairy that had been perched on Claire's shoulder as she walked down the corridor beat its little wings and fluttered toward the top of Baek Ha-na's head.
-Ha-na!! Peep!!
"Ahaha, okay."
The Fairy sat on her head and began patting her hair with its tiny hands. Baek Ha-na laughed, her fluffy white beast ears perking up and revealing themselves.
-Peep~
Only then did the Fairy nestle itself against Ha-na's soft ear and settle down.
"A magnificent strike."
"Huh? Oh, hehe... it's all thanks to you helping me, Big Sis."
As Baek Ha-na shyly fidgeted with her fingers and smiled, Claire responded with a gentle smile of her own.
"Let's discuss the rest back at the hotel."
"Huh? You're leaving already?"
"This isn't a place we should have entered to begin with."
"Oh, right."
As Baek Ha-na sheepishly scratched her cheek, Claire reached a hand toward the top of Baek Ha-na's head.
-Peep~?
She carefully cupped the drowsy Fairy and transferred it into her front pocket.
"I'll see you at the hotel."
"Okay. See you later."
Claire departed first.
"Good grief, get up now."
"Guh-hnnggh...... Baek Ha-na...."
"H-Huh?"
Idni rose from the floor and seized both of Baek Ha-na's shoulders tightly, teeth clenched.
"Why, why did you have to win so overwhelmingly......?! Now the odds on you in the losers' bracket are going to be so lo—"
Smack!!
Maria's palm exploded against Idni's back.
"......?!"
Idni let out a silent scream and collapsed.
Thump. Maria seized the back of the fallen Idni's collar and beamed.
"See you later~"
"S-Sure."
Maria dragged the weakly squirming Idni away.
Baek Ha-na waved at her receding friends and murmured softly.
"Maria might actually be a Holy Knight."
"...I'm starting to wonder myself."
The two of them stood in the corridor waving until the sight of Idni being hauled off by Maria finally disappeared.