Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Clubs Are Won by Risking Your Life
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Yoon Sirius stared down at the fallen glasses nerd, still seething with barely contained rage.
"Damn it. You idiot! Why the hell did you pull that nonsense when you weren't even a match for her?!"
Glasses nerd... Lee Seo-yeon, was it?
Hard to believe that punk was a girl, but feeling sweet on someone like her? Pretty pitiful, if you ask me.
'Not that it matters. They're all the same clique anyway.'
There was no reason to feel any affection for people who'd been ignoring me and my crew from the start. I'd just crush them thoroughly.
That's when Yoon Sirius shouted at Erina.
"Erina! You're up."
"Don't yell at me. You trying to get beat?"
"Ah, no, I mean it's your turn now."
Yoon Sirius couldn't even muster a proper response to Erina. Well, yeah. She was their last remaining hope over there.
As if his talk of smashing me was all hot air, Erina stepped up next.
Yoon Sirius looked like he was pleading desperately with her.
"Erina. You have to win this. You're our club's hope. If you win, we can save Baek A-rin over there."
"Quit making such a racket. You think I'm gonna lose?"
"Ah, of course not."
Erina kept up her usual gruff attitude.
How much ass-kissing did they do to make her this cocky? Not like they'd take responsibility if she didn't come back.
'Wait, thinking about it, Erina's always been like that.'
Anyway, sending Erina out first, huh.
Yoon Sirius must figure he can handle me himself, so he's saving Erina to take down Kang Hwa-yeon.
He's probably already told Erina to pick Hwa-yeon as her opponent.
'Won't help him anyway.'
Erina would pick me and then throw the fight on purpose.
In other words, the moment glasses nerd lost to Baek A-rin, any scenario where they win vanished from this world.
Erina's intentional loss would hand us the second win. It was set in stone.
Erina strode into the arena, pulling out her massive shield.
The referee approached her and asked,
"Choose your next opponent. Erina Esnatia."
At the referee's words, Yoon Sirius yelled from behind.
"Kang Hwa-yeon! Pick Kang Hwa-yeon!"
His shout must have carried to the stands, because murmurs started rippling through the crowd.
"What? Did he just say Kang Hwa-yeon?"
"Baek A-rin's one thing, but the other one's Kang Hwa-yeon too?! So the heirs from Snow Mountain Clan and Inferno Clan are both in the same club?"
"That make any sense?! Why the hell is Kim Si-woo mixed in with a freak club like that?"
I could hear every word.
Why all the fuss? I'm the club president, that's why.
That's when Erina slammed her shield into the ground hard.
-Clang!
The clear, ringing sound instantly silenced the noisy arena, from Yoon Sirius's shouts to the crowd's murmurs. Erina looked down at Yoon Sirius and said,
"Didn't they say pick the strongest one?"
"That's why Kang Hwa-yeon...!"
Erina cut him off.
"You know nothing. Can't you tell just by looking? Kim Si-woo's the strongest one here."
"W-what are you talking about?! If you don't face Kang Hwa-yeon, who will...!"
"Not my problem. Anyway, I'm picking Kim Si-woo as my opponent."
Erina said that and grinned.
The stands buzzed at Erina's words.
They were shocked enough that Kang Hwa-yeon was on our team, but Erina valuing Kim Si-woo even higher than her?
"What the hell is she saying? In a group with Baek A-rin and Kang Hwa-yeon, Kim Si-woo's the strongest?"
Just as everyone naturally thought Erina's judgment was off, one student stared at her and gasped in realization.
"Hey, wait. Isn't that Erina the second-year, Erina Esnatia?!"
"Esnatia?"
Someone asked curiously, and the student replied incredulously,
"You don't know America's famed Esnatia family? One of their young ladies came here as an exchange student to our academy's second year..."
"Why would a girl like that hype up Kim Si-woo that much?"
"Beats me."
That's when a silver-haired guy appeared behind them.
"Well, well. You guys still haven't heard the rumors about Kim Si-woo, huh."
"W-who the hell are you?"
The man placed a hand on his chest and introduced himself.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kim Seon. The man who acknowledges that Kim Si-woo over there, and his aspiring rival..."
The two students snorted in disbelief.
"Pfft! That Kim Si-woo guy's E3, right? And you wanna be his rival?"
"Whoever you are, dream big. Or is Kim Si-woo like the wannabe king in the bottom-feeder class?"
"What did you say...?"
Kim Seon frowned slightly at their mocking tones, then muttered with a smile,
"I see. So Kim Si-woo's always overcome stares like this. Impressive. Can't even imagine it myself."
One of the students waved him off.
"You look about the same level as that Kim Si-woo over there. Go play somewhere else and don't harsh the vibe."
"Same level as Kim Si-woo? Sadly, no."
Kim Seon pointed to his badge.
"What's that? W-wait. D-grade?"
"No way, a second-year senior...?"
The two first-years panicked at the D-grade badge. They'd just dissed a senior.
Kim Seon replied to them,
"I'm a first-year like you, but D-grade in A-Class."
He fiddled with their badges and continued.
"Borrowing your words, if we rank it, I'm above you guys, right?"
"N-no, that's..."
"A guy like you, why hype up that loser..."
Kim Seon shook his head at their fluster.
"One skillbook. E3 grade. On paper, yeah, you'd dismiss Kim Si-woo. I made the same mistake. But he's a man who's reached the pinnacle of the 'sword' itself, beyond skills. A sword master. No, Sword Emperor territory. No way a guy like me is on his level."
"What the hell does that even mean...?"
"That guy's supposed to be that good?"
The two students looked baffled, unable to grasp it. Kim Seon shook his head again.
"You don't need me to explain. Watch the match, and you'll get it soon enough. I just felt bad you hadn't heard of this academy's hottest guy."
Kim Seon stood and left.
Only after he was gone did they exhale.
"What the hell was that guy's deal? All A-Class folks crazy like that?"
"Watched too many wuxia dramas? Sword Emperor, my ass."
Their conversation spread around,
and without Kim Si-woo knowing, baseless rumors fueled by his unwitting connections were spreading like wildfire.
Meanwhile, a girl nearby who'd overheard by chance was shocked.
"S-Si-woo's a Sword Emperor?! I knew he was different, but he's that amazing...?"
It was Yoon So-ah, who'd come to watch the matches by coincidence and spotted Kim Si-woo.
"Kim Si-woo, enter the arena."
I headed out at the referee's call.
Up to now, the cliché would've been the crowd mocking or ignoring me as I walked in.
But no boos came.
If anything, cheers broke out here and there.
"Kim Si-woo, you got this! I'm watching!"
Who the hell are you?
Looking closer, kinda familiar.
Ah, that guy from Professor Kang Young-ho's class who I sparred with.
As I thought that, more cheers came from elsewhere.
"S-Si-woo, fight hard!"
Yoon So-ah?
Never expected her to show up too.
Not a huge crowd, but getting cheers in a match? Felt weirdly unfamiliar.
"Kinda awkward."
Probably thanks to Club 'Praise's' image. Even in a world biased hard against skillbooks, forcing that bias on others screams cult. That's exactly how people saw it.
So naturally, hardly anyone viewed 'Praise' positively.
Yeah, makes sense.
Even if they hated me and discriminated, being forced to do it by others rubbed them wrong.
Conversations from the stands behind me.
"Who'd you bet on?"
"Erina, duh. Crazy to bet on Kim Si-woo. Who you got? No way..."
"One shot at life-changing cash. 1:9 odds, gotta reverse bet once."
That student who bet against me on Erina.
Face I remembered from Professor Kang Geom-seon's class.
The guy who'd oddly helped spread my rumors.
'Gonna make you some money.'
Of course, I'd cashed out my Baek A-rin winnings and bet it all on myself again.
Considering the bet size, it wasn't pocket change.
'Enough for some new gear at least.'
Thinking that, I climbed into the arena and spotted Erina.
She'd picked me like I told her to.
But her expression looked suspicious as hell.
Then Erina grinned and said,
"Si-woo. Don't think you're winning this easy."
"Huh?"
What do you mean, teach?