Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Clubs Are Won Risking Your Life
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"This the place?"
The academy's holographic arena.
More precisely, the waiting room for that arena.
The method was a bit haphazard, but since the club recruitment battle was still one of the academy's official systems, the duel would take place in the Seoul Hunter Academy's top-tier holographic chamber.
A recruitment battle proceeding as an open duel at Yoon Sirius's request. Honestly, I'd thought only a few people would show up.
'More than I expected.'
This holographic chamber wasn't all that large, but even so, it had nearly fifty spectator seats. Through the gap in the waiting room, the stands looked easily filled past fifty.
It seemed word of the first club recruitment battle in years had drawn a crowd.
"Baek A-rin, you're not nervous, are you?"
"How could I not be tense when some lunatic put me up as a prize without asking? And his own ward, no less."
"Calm down, Baek A-rin. We already mutually agreed to it."
"If we're splitting hairs, it's a totally unequal treaty."
That's when Yoon Sirius, who was already there, spotted me and started picking a fight.
"You punk, you actually showed up instead of running away."
"Why would I run?"
"Still just spewing garbage from that hole you call a mouth. Wait there, A-rin. I'll save you."
Baek A-rin recoiled at his words.
"Ugh... No thanks. If we lose this, you're dead and I'm dead, Kim Si-woo."
"No chance of losing, so don't worry."
"I'm already getting goosebumps and might not fight properly."
"Then we might lose."
There wasn't a shred of tension about this fight. Baek A-rin and Kang Hwa-yeon were right behind me.
That's when we stepped into the holographic chamber.
"Si-woo, I didn't keep you waiting, did I?"
"Nah, we just got here early."
"Good. I finished up our group project a bit late."
"It's Saturday today."
Kang Hwa-yeon placed a hand on her chest and said,
"I'm the group leader. A true leader has to set an example for the team. I filled in the gaps in our research, revised the presentation slides, and wrote the script, so I ran a little behind."
?
Isn't that basically doing it all yourself?
"What were your groupmates doing?"
"They all asked me to handle the weak spots since they trusted my input. I helped them out, Si-woo."
No, that's just slacking off.
The thought flashed through my mind, but I couldn't say it to her face—not when she looked so proud of fulfilling her leader duties.
"Impressive."
"It's what a leader does."
Well, Hwa-yeon wasn't an idiot. She probably figured handling it all herself would score higher.
As I thought that, Baek A-rin shook her head from the side.
"Didn't they just dump it on you?"
"Hey, how can you say that? Have some heart, Baek A-rin?!"
"You're letting them get away with it like a fool?"
"But she's so proud of it..."
"I can hear everything, Si-woo."
Oh crap.
Kang Hwa-yeon smiled and continued,
"Of course, I assigned separate tasks to all the group members. To help them grow on their own."
Guess I was wrong.
Though that sounded like its own kind of hell.
Yoon Sirius looked shocked as he watched us chatting.
"Kang... Kang Hwa-yeon?! Why is she talking to that scum?!"
He seemed pretty rattled by Kang Hwa-yeon's appearance.
Well, I'd never mentioned she was on our side, so it was understandable.
Then Yoon Sirius glared at me and said,
"You never once said Kang Hwa-yeon was with you...!"
"Nah, you didn't ask."
"You trash! You coward!!"
"Hey, you guys never mentioned Erina or Esnatia either. Who's the coward here?"
"You cowardly pile of trash!"
I brushed off Yoon Sirius's outburst and turned to Baek A-rin and Kang Hwa-yeon.
"Their lineup will probably be Yoon Sirius, Erina, and Glasses."
"Yeah, figures. The only one on their level who could match you or Hwa-yeon is Erina at best."
"You're putting me on the same level as Hwa-yeon?"
"Isn't it obvious? Honestly, anything less than that would put me in a tough spot."
Baek A-rin nitpicked, with Kang Hwa-yeon chiming in.
"Si-woo saved both of us single-handedly from the start. We might not know everything, but we have a rough sense of your skills."
No, you're way off. Completely wrong.
"Why'd you exclude yourself, Baek A-rin?"
"Because I'd lose to Erina."
"Didn't see that coming from you."
Baek A-rin shrugged at my words.
"I know I'm strong—but only moderately so—better than anyone."
"I see."
That sharp self-awareness was one of her strengths, if anything.
Kang Hwa-yeon asked curiously,
"Si-woo, why's Erina over there anyway? Is she a discriminator too?"
"What else? Kim Si-woo rigged the match. We gotta arrest him."
"Got it. So it's not Erina—it's Si-woo's fault."
Baek A-rin and Kang Hwa-yeon both turned accusatory stares on me.
Come on, can't one of you be nice to me?
For some reason, it felt like Baek A-rin, Hwa-yeon, and even Erina were all primed to roast me without mercy.
'Is this all karma?'
I denied their words.
"No way. Erina will give her all in the duel. Don't throw around ugly terms like match-fixing."
...
The recruitment battle format was best of three, first to two wins.
I'd handed over all opponent nomination rights to 'Praise.' In exchange, we upped the stakes—not twenty times, but fifty.
The bet I put up was ten million won. Per the contract, only personal assets counted, so I couldn't beg from others. Even so, fifty times ten million was five hundred million.
And one more condition I'd added.
They must've accepted such a stupid term thinking they couldn't possibly lose before knowing about Hwa-yeon.
Five hundred million would sting even for a chaebol heir like Yoon Sirius.
For me, it'd be a sweet chunk of change.
With nomination rights on their side, they'd probably assume an instant loss against Hwa-yeon.
So, they'd pit their ace Erina against Baek A-rin.
And Glasses would target me.
'Surprisingly, Yoon Sirius might be their weakest link.'
The instructor standing in the arena's center shouted,
"Both sides seem ready, so let's get started. Praise's vanguard, step forward."
At his words, Glasses emerged as their vanguard.
"Then, per the agreed rules, Praise selects the opponent."
Glasses pointed at us and declared,
"Baek A-rin. It'll be her."
?
What? Why her and not me?
Did they have some strategy I didn't know about?
As Baek A-rin entered the arena, the stands erupted.
"Isn't that girl Baek A-rin of the Snow Mountain Clan?!"
"What's she doing here?!"
"She joined that E-rank first-year club?!"
"No way—rumor was every club tried recruiting her since orientation, but she stonewalled them all."
"So why's she there?"
"You don't know? That E-rank first-year's tied to all the major clan heirs. Rumors say he even chats directly with clan heads."
The murmurs from the stands.
The rumors were inflating more by the minute.
Glasses adjusted his glasses and muttered,
"Never liked you from the start, Baek A-rin. Before you enrolled, I was the top ice-element user. But ever since you showed up, the vice captain's been...!"
"What're you babbling about?"
Then Yoon Sirius yelled,
"What are you doing?! Why her and not Kim Si-woo?!"
"Vice Captain! I'll prove it. That I'm not inferior to her."
What kind of messy backstory was this?
So, he was jealous that the vice captain's attention was on Baek A-rin instead of him?
Wait, aren't you two both guys?
"Damn it, Lee Seo-yeon! Disobeying me like this?!"
"Sorry, Vice Captain. But I have to do this. Even if it's to pull you back from neglecting Praise's activities just to chase that bitch."
Lee Seo-yeon?
What was with that girly name?
Looking closer, their face did have a somewhat androgynous vibe.
Not that it mattered right now.
Besides, 'Praise activities' were just discrimination evangelism.
Neglecting that was a good sign, right? Why drag your vice captain back into that pit?
Baek A-rin shook her head in disbelief.
Thinking about it, even before Baek A-rin enrolled, Glasses wasn't the academy's ice top dog.
The true ice-element ace was Baek A-rin's older sister, Baek I-hwa.
Baek A-rin harbored some inferiority complex toward her sister too...
No wonder Baek A-rin looked so baffled at Glasses's rant.
"Begin."
With the instructor's signal, the machine beeped to start the first match.
-Beep
"Baek A-rin! I'll beat you here and bring the vice captain's attention back."
"Never wanted that attention anyway. Do whatever."