Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: How to Screw Over the Novel's Protagonist
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"Here I am. You can stop calling now."
That heavy chuunibyou tone confirms it's definitely Lee Seong-hyeon.
Lee Seong-hyeon's original practical exam opponent was some dimwit with just three skillbooks.
He was nothing more than a character there to hype up Lee Seong-hyeon.
Since his opponent never changed across any loops, he'd let his guard down.
'He must have gotten the lowest evaluation aside from me.'
Lee Seong-hyeon's awakening happens after the written exam.
They don't re-measure skillbooks during the practical.
So at this point, his internal evaluation is rock bottom.
'It's only natural he'd get matched with me.'
Lee Seong-hyeon stepped into the arena and said in a low, sneering voice,
"Let's make this quick."
In the original story, Lee Seong-hyeon puts on an unprecedented show in the practical and gets accepted into the academy with a C-rank hunter grade.
The highest grade a freshman can receive.
Of course, I have no intention of playing the extra who props him up here.
That absolutely cannot happen.
'Damn right.'
Lee Seong-hyeon looked at my face and muttered in surprise,
"How did this guy..."
How did I what?
I went through hell because of you just to survive.
Lee Seong-hyeon stared at me for a moment, then his eyes gleamed.
"Still just one page. Trash skill. Doesn't look like he got anything from there... Guess the worm just got lucky."
He must have used [Piercing Gaze].
What a voyeuristic creep.
"No need to worry about him."
Lee Seong-hyeon clicked his tongue and looked away from me.
He hadn't detected the [Dark Screen] skill.
Skills acquired from the [Empty Skillbook] really are invisible to him, huh.
'No worries about observation skills then.'
At that moment, the proctor shouted,
"Examinees, we're assuming you're ready!"
I knew his first skill.
B-rank [Invisible Step].
A skill that hides your position for a short time.
He'd use it right at the start to go for my neck from behind.
Beep-
The electronic tone signaling the match's start rang out with the proctor's gesture.
And at the same moment, Lee Seong-hyeon vanished from sight.
Clang-
At the same time, the sound of my dagger clashing with Lee Seong-hyeon's sword echoed.
'Blocked it.'
No time to relax.
Before he used [Invisible Step], he'd pre-cast Ice Arrow and Fireball to target my back.
I quickly lowered my stance.
At the same time, the skills grazed past my back toward Lee Seong-hyeon.
"[Shield]!"
Lee Seong-hyeon blocked his own skills and froze in momentary panic.
"How did you see that coming...?"
Lee Seong-hyeon's bewildered voice.
Gasps erupted from the spectator stands watching the match.
"What was that just now? Did you see it?"
"No idea. It wasn't even visible."
"I thought this would be a boring match, but what skill was that he just used?"
"Who cares about that? He's already used four skills!"
"But dodging it like that?"
"Can you really dodge something like that? Wasn't it just luck?"
'As if it was luck.'
Of course, I didn't block it by sight.
I just knew the type of skill he'd use first and where he'd aim.
So at the start, I guarded my neck with my dagger.
And since I knew about the pre-cast skills, I ducked to dodge.
'I wondered if I could win by exploiting that. But yeah, that'd be too easy.'
After a brief silence, Lee Seong-hyeon vanished from sight again.
"Did you see that? Insane!"
"What even is that skill?! At least B-rank...!"
Lee Seong-hyeon used [Invisible Step] once more.
I lowered my stance, dagger gripped in my right hand.
'3 seconds.'
Exactly 3 seconds.
Then he'd appear behind me.
'3... 2... 1.'
The instant that thought hit,
I twisted my body with all my strength, swinging the dagger backward.
[Poor Strike]!
Whoosh-
In that split second, Lee Seong-hyeon stepped back.
Thanks to that, my dagger meant for his neck only grazed his arm.
'This makes no sense.'
Just his innate talent.
What an unfair world.
Lee Seong-hyeon muttered with a slightly shocked expression,
"This can't be..."
What can't be?
His face screaming he never expected a counterattack pisses me off even more.
'What now?'
This was the end of the attack patterns I knew for Lee Seong-hyeon.
Is my evaluation overturned enough?
"That student... looks like he's used at least five skills now."
"No way... If true, he'd headline the evening news."
"Get me his file. I swear it was two skillbooks."
"Must've been a measurement error. We almost missed a historic talent for Korea. Yeah, we need to change the system..."
The graders' eyes were fully locked on Lee Seong-hyeon.
The other professors were chattering away, fixated on him too.
In this atmosphere, passing is out of the question.
'Fuck, just pass him already!'
No helping it.
Dodging a couple attacks isn't enough.
I need one solid hit.
"Hoo... You got this, Kim Si-woo. Leave a deep impression on the big shots."
One chance. Just one.
'What the hell is that guy?'
Lee Seong-hyeon was rattled that his attack had been blocked.
Kim Si-woo.
At first, since he'd never seen him during his regression loops, he'd been wary.
But [Piercing Gaze] revealed the truth: a total worm.
[Ice Arrow] and [Fireball] were just for show to hype his own strength.
He'd planned to end it with [Invisible Step].
'But why...'
No, it was a fluke.
Just good luck on the worm's part.
Lee Seong-hyeon continued his assault with that thought.
"Playtime's over."
He muttered the cool line he was proud of.
But the trash in front of him dodged like he knew every move.
He wanted to crush him right then.
More precisely, the sight of a one-page skillbook worm crawling up was seriously irritating.
'Why... why won't it land!'
By the time Kim Si-woo thrust his dagger up to Lee Seong-hyeon's chin, he'd already leaped back.
'You bastard!'
With a gesture from Lee Seong-hyeon, a massive flame surged toward Kim Si-woo.
[Ashte's Dragon].
A skill that spewed powerful fire in the shape of a dragon.
Just before the flames engulfed him, Kim Si-woo shouted,
"Stop, Ella!"
"Like that's gonna happen. Quit squirming and die, worm."
But Lee Seong-hyeon didn't know.
[Ashte's Dragon] wasn't just an attack skill.
It was a familiar with its own ego, devoted to Ashte.
Hearing a pet name only its master would know threw Ashte's Dragon into confusion, making it hesitate.
Lee Seong-hyeon from the 5th loop had no way of knowing that.
"What? Why... What are you doing?!"
In that moment of panic as Ashte's Dragon disobeyed,
A sudden black smokescreen blocked Lee Seong-hyeon's vision.
"Where'd he go? I don't know what trick that worm bastard pulled, but anyway..."
"What?! I can't see him. That rotten bastard!"
"Looks like he used a smoke bomb."
"Using support gear in a combat match?"
"Guys without confidence in their skills do that."
"But are practical exam smoke bombs this good? I thought they barely smoked to avoid interfering with grading..."
Of course not.
This thick black smoke spreading everywhere is my skill [Dark Screen].
Unlike Lee Seong-hyeon, I have no plans to reveal my abilities right now.
Across all 8 loops, he never once chose to hide his power.
Of course, that choice wasn't without benefits.
He could connect with major clans early for support.
But it also drew massive media and public attention.
'Hard pass on that.'
I need to exploit the plot of Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy going forward.
To do that, staying low-key now is absolutely advantageous.
That's why I chose a smoke support tool as my means.
"Stalling with this childish crap changes nothing."
Lee Seong-hyeon said in a mocking tone.
"I think so too."
"What?"
In Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy, there's a system called [Skill Link].
A technique to link two skills and activate a new one.
It sounds crucial,
but activation methods vary wildly,
and compatible combos are few.
In short, it's inefficient.
Only a handful of professors researching it pay attention.
That's the general view on skill linking.
But I know better.
There are no un-linkable skills.
They just have absurdly finicky conditions.
So the technique I'll show now might be a first in Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy.
"Hoo..."
I took two steps forward in the pitch-black [Dark Screen].
Ridiculously finicky condition.
Cast [Dark Screen], walk two steps 4.3 seconds later, then use [Poor Strike] with left hand 2 seconds after that.
'If you know, nothing's impossible.'
I switched the dagger from my right hand to my left.
When trash skill [Poor Strike] links with [Dark Screen],
the E-rank skill becomes a superior version of B-rank [Invisible Step] for one moment.
An ambush striking from the darkness at the enemy's back.
[Dark Strike]
I unleashed the perfect ambush on Lee Seong-hyeon—one he absolutely couldn't dodge.