Tournament Main Round (1)
Tournament Main Round (1)
The sun rose on the final day of the midterm evaluations.
The day of the tournament main round.
A match that would leave most cadets who advanced tense and fully prepared.
I intended to prepare accordingly as well.
Though by prepare, I mostly just meant catching up on the sleep I hadn't gotten over the past few days.
And in the end, I was able to catch up on sleep quite thoroughly.
By the time my consciousness was surfacing,
the headache stabbing through my skull was very faint.
I'd lived with constant headaches in my original world, and here they'd only grown worse thanks to spatial perception—and to managing the Authority of Observation and the Authority of Space. But now they had subsided considerably.
My body felt light too. Right after the preliminaries I had dragged myself around like a waterlogged sponge, but now I felt full of energy.
And I was very warm. My whole body felt so toasty that I wanted to just melt into the softness wrapped around me.
'.......'
Warm and soft... the feeling of a gaze resting atop my head, the aura of the Calamity Flame seeping through that clinging warmth...
My eyelids trembled faintly. I steadied my breathing and activated the Authority of Observation.
I registered a pair of red eyes gazing fixedly down at me.
.
.
.
The place where I had come to my senses was Hong Yeon-hwa's dormitory. More precisely, Hong Yeon-hwa's bed... in Hong Yeon-hwa's arms.
When I registered those eyes looking down at me, I was honestly dumbfounded.
It felt like my memories had been cleanly snipped.
As I carefully groped at the gap that seemed cut away, the moments just before I passed out drifted back one by one.
A body sagging with exhaustion and a mind equally frayed from evaluations that had kept me awake for nights on end.
The wave of sleep rushing up violently from my toes.
The embrace that enfolded me as if to affirm it, and the gentle, tender voice...
"You're hungry, right? Let's eat and then head out."
After being patted for a little while in that state, one thing led to another, and now we were gathered around the table for breakfast.
Time was relaxed. Even considering that my match was practically the first one, there was plenty of time to eat without rushing and still make it there at a leisurely pace.
Without any particular resistance, I quietly took my seat at the table.
"Why are there two place settings?"
"I have already finished my meal."
"You usually eat with us, so why today?"
"That is because, in spite of your coughing, my lady remained in her room—"
"Enough. I get it."
Eriel had apparently already had breakfast.
Hong Yeon-hwa and I sat facing each other at the table. Eriel stood waiting behind Hong Yeon-hwa.
The spread was familiar to me.
White rice and doenjang stew set side by side. Well over a dozen side dishes in an array of colors, and in the center, spicy stir-fried pork glistening bright red...
If I still had my sense of smell and taste, it would have been a feast that made my mouth water on its own.
It was a meal I had eaten once before, when I had visited during my recovery.
"I did my humble best to prepare this for you, young master."
[I will gratefully accept]
[Miss Eriel]
At Eriel's deeply modest words, I bowed my head.
As someone who had tried cooking just a tiny bit, I could only find Eriel, who prepared a table like this every single day, truly impressive.
After the traffic accident, when I'd been stuck at home, I had given cooking a try.
Neither my circumstances nor my personality were suited for going out and hunting down good food.
So I'd only dabbled in it to pass the time, having ingredients delivered and limping around the kitchen.
I never learned properly; I'd just pick out ten- to thirty-minute videos and fumble my way through.
Even that, at some point, became too much of a hassle and I threw it aside, filling up on delivery and convenience food instead.
I'd gotten an earful from Kkonnim about it more times than I could count.
'... Ah.'
My thoughts had wandered miles off track. I shook away lingering attachments to what was already over and glanced at Hong Yeon-hwa.
She was tapping at a hologram for a moment.
"......"
I waited quietly, and once she finished what she was doing, Hong Yeon-hwa lifted her chopsticks and picked up a piece of the pork.
- Nhom
The pork vanished into her mouth.
Only after I confirmed that her cheeks gave a small chew and she swallowed with a gulp did I pick up my spoon.
I took a small bite of the white rice and chewed.
Something was being chewed inside my mouth. But no matter how long I worked my jaw, the characteristic sweetness didn't come out.
'?'
After chewing and swallowing the rice, I tilted my head at the odd sensation in my mouth.
I worked my jaw. I pushed my tongue out to poke at the roof of my mouth and the inside of my cheeks, then prodded at my teeth with it.
'What is it?'
Should I call it a sense of incongruity? The feeling that I had eaten something, or drunk something, while also not having drunk it at all. A strange sort of sensation.
"What's the matter, Ha-yul?"
Hong Yeon-hwa asked, her eyes curious. At the question—was something uncomfortable?—Eriel's gaze from behind joined in as well.
[It's nothing]
After briefly feeling out the sensation, I shook my head and said it was nothing.
'Must just be in my head.'
How could I have eaten anything while I was asleep?
Unless someone had deliberately put something in my mouth, that couldn't have happened.
I washed the sensation down with a sip of water and picked up my spoon again.
.
.
.
The venue for the tournament main round was the First Arena, located at the center of Siyoram.
The First Arena was a facility that Siyoram only opened for major official events and occasions.
In other words, it was naturally open for something like today's tournament main round.
After finishing breakfast at Hong Yeon-hwa's dormitory and arriving there, I found the First Arena enormous in scale, as befitting a facility opened for important events.
Even the sparring stage set at the center of the building was several times wider than the one used in the preliminaries.
It wasn't just wide. When I analyzed it closely with Observation, the entire facility—floor, walls, and all—was densely packed with all kinds of spell formulas.
Any ordinary attack wouldn't easily leave deep scars in the floor the way it had last time.
I wasn't exactly knowledgeable about such arenas, but even a glance was enough to tell that the spectator seating could easily accommodate tens of thousands.
"There are so many people here..."
The contestant waiting room that an administrative staff member led us to was a private room.
Hong Yeon-hwa had also advanced to the main round, so we had parted ways upon arrival.
I was sitting in a chair pulling myself together when
a knock came, the door opened, and a tuft of yellow hair poked itself partway in. It was Ellia.
Ellia let out a voice that sounded daunted by the sight of the spectator seats flickering on the hologram display.
- Murmur, murmur
Just as Ellia had said, those countless seats were packed so tightly that not a single one was empty—like a crammed bean-sprout steamer, as the saying went.
Far from empty seats, there weren't enough places to sit at all, so some people were even standing to watch.
Inside the contestant waiting room as well, the presence of a massive crowd could be felt.
[Did you get eliminated, Ellia?]
"Yes, I met a combat major cadet in the third match and lost."
[That's a shame.]
[One more win and it would've been the main round]
"It is disappointing, but personally I'm satisfied. I probably couldn't have won the first two matches either without my spirit."
Looking down the list of the sixteen main-round qualifiers, there were no cadets from the support major.
Most were combat majors, with a few magic majors mixed in.
This sort of one-on-one match wasn't a suitable stage for cadets in the support or craft majors to begin with.
Which only made it more impressive that Ellia, whose main major was support, had secured two victories with her own learned magic, techniques, and the spirit arts she had just begun picking up.
If Ellia had won just once more, she would have been the only support-major qualifier in this main round.
"I'll be cheering from the spectator seats with my family."
[Your family?]
There were plenty of cadets in the seats as well. Most of them wore the standard-issue cadet uniform or daily uniform, making them easy to spot.
Cadets who weren't participating in the tournament, or had been eliminated, were also taking their seats.
And it didn't stop there. In fact, the greater share of seats was taken up by people from outside.
Unlike the cadets, whose attire was fairly uniform aside from plainclothes, the outsiders' outfits were of every shape and color.
Heroes and superhumans who had come to see the budding sprouts.
Representatives from clans dispatched to scout promising prospects.
Or the families of cadets who had somehow gotten the chance to visit.
The crowd filling the seats was diverse.
"So, um... do you think you might have some time after it's over? My parents said they'd like to thank you in person..."
'Ah...'
Honestly, it was a bit much, but refusing here would also feel a little wrong.
Most of all, to refuse after I'd practically wolfed down the Confession Necklace from them... that would really be something.
I thought it over for a moment, then nodded. Ellia smiled brightly and took my hand.
"Thank you! Oh, and I'll be cheering for you in the tournament! Though, since your opponent is A-rin, I'll be cheering for both of you. Ehehe..."
At her slightly sheepish laugh, I shook my head to show it was no big deal.
[If it were me, I'd cheer for both sides too]
[Thank you for the support]
"I'm the one who should be thanking you for saying that."
It was getting to be about time. Ellia rose from her seat, apologizing for taking up my time.
"Still."
And just before stepping out the door, Ellia poked only her head back inside, the same way she had entered.
The smile on Ellia's face was sheepish, but it carried a sincere wish of encouragement.
"I'll be hoping for an even better result for my benefactor."
- Clunk
The door closed with those words. Once more, only the sound of an instrument playing to ease tension drifted through the waiting room.
'A better result, huh...'
To be honest, I wasn't expecting a victory.
Because I knew that, at this point, winning against Baek A-rin or Hong Yeon-hwa would be difficult.
While I've been growing exponentially, the other cadets haven't been sitting around doing nothing either.
The same went for those two, who even at the time of admission were easily a match for active heroes.
In fact, across all the iterations, the only one who had managed to beat the two of them at around this point was the Diamond Warrior.
What I wanted was something else. For that, even if I couldn't claim victory, I needed to make my level widely known.
If I showed considerably strong skills here... if I showed my future potential, then I'd certainly be approached from many places.
Including from the group that would later cause a catastrophe.
'......'
The disaster events from the original story.
It was already too late to turn my back on them.
With the knowledge I possessed and the power I'd gain in the future, if I did nothing and simply ran, I'd never be able to forgive myself.
And I knew how many would become entangled and sacrificed in those catastrophes.
I also knew that many people would step up to stop them.
Siyoram is a cradle that produces the heroes who will block those catastrophes.
Whether for money, for honor, or for countless other reasons,
though their motivations may differ, the vast majority of past graduates have gone on to work as heroes, involving themselves in the suppression of dungeons and monsters.
The same will surely be true of Hong Yeon-hwa when she one day graduates from the Cradle and becomes the head of the Calamity Flame Family.
It will be true of Baek A-rin when she becomes head of the Changhae Family, and true of Ellia when she works as a hero.
Even without limiting it to the cadets, the same can be said of my Master, who hasn't retired yet, or of Professor Liana, who may be retired but whose abilities remain unchanged.
Directly or indirectly, everyone will be affected by and swept up in those catastrophes.
And will only good things await in that?
I imagined it based on my memories of the original story.
There was not a single good result.
'I hate that.'
I can say it firmly.
I absolutely hate that. Just thinking about it made bile rise in my throat. I never wanted to tolerate such a miserable spectacle.
Even more than the thought of my own death, I hated that hypothetical.
And so, I have to do something.
Confidence? I don't have that kind of thing. I've never thought all that highly of myself.
But it's clear that I have to act.
'Special Admission Cadet. Authority of Observation and Authority of Space.'
Moreover, I felt as though someone had placed those expectations on me.
Special Admission Cadet. A status of special treatment granted by the Tower Master of Growth.
Authority of Observation. A power granted by the Tower of Observation.
Authority of Space. A power granted by the Tower of Space.
It's nothing but conjecture, but wouldn't it mean that they saw some kind of potential in me and granted me these benefits?
So...
'I can't run away.'
I must not be a bystander. I must not get discouraged, telling myself I can't do it, and shut myself away in a corner.
Even if I lack confidence, even if I lack certainty, I have to struggle and fight.
To break these curses... and for the people who care about me, I have to struggle.
Because this isn't a game where you can just make a new character when you die. I can't act like it is.
That's a fact I've known from the very beginning.
But even with a mindset that treated life as a game and thought nothing of death, the assumption still failed.
Even the Diamond Warrior, who had been built up in the game through every possible stroke of luck and coincidence, ultimately failed in the end.
Life is precious, but if I try to cling to it and shy away, even the things I could achieve will end in failure.
'During the break... I'll have to go out again.'
In my heart I'd like to stay at the Cradle the whole time, but... it can't be helped.
There's visiting the Calamity Flame Family's main estate with Hong Yeon-hwa, and there are reasons I need to find certain Hidden Pieces.
There's something I need to find and destroy as quickly as possible, if I can.
- Vwoong...
[Attention please. The first match of the tournament main round will begin shortly—]
An announcement rang out amid the instrumental music.
The tournament main round was about to begin.
[Contact: Master]
▶Me: I'll come back after giving the main round my best!
...
'Hmm...'
It looked a little too stiff.
I fiddled with my hands for a moment, thinking, then added an emoticon.
▶Me: (saluting puppy emoticon)
That puppy emoticon had existed in something pretty much the same back in my original world. I remember being oddly happy when I'd first found it.
After leaving that last message for my Master, I pulled myself up from the chair I'd been leaning against.
[—Cadet Lee Ha-yul. Cadet Baek A-rin. Please finish your final preparations.]
The first match was me and Baek A-rin.