Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Secret Friend
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I headed up to the training arena first and did some stretching.
Even though I didn't think I'd be moving much, being in a place like this made me feel like I had to put on some kind of show.
This was my chance to boost Lucy and Lumi's pride a bit.
I'm a guy, after all, and it doesn't feel great to be treated like the weak one.
"Pfft, acting all tough in front of girls. If you apologize now, I might let it slide."
Skinny had snuck up in front of me at some point and was smirking, looking me up and down.
The moment we stepped onto the arena, all eyes started turning our way.
The tense atmosphere drew more and more spectators.
"Hey, there's a real fight breaking out here!"
"Lee Ho-yeon and Kim Ho-jin are going at it!"
Kim Ho-jin. Another name I didn't want to remember but ended up doing anyway.
This guy was just Skinny through and through.
Down below the arena, Lucy was yelling her head off.
"Hey! Does it make sense for a mage to go one-on-one with an assassin? Kim Ho-jin, have you no shame?"
So he's an assassin class. Nice to have explanations handed to me without even asking.
"I get Lee Ho-yeon, but who's Kim Ho-jin?"
"You don't know Kim Ho-jin? He got scouted by Iris Guild last week and it was all over EveryDay."
"For real? A first-year getting approached by Iris Guild?"
"Yeah, EveryDay blew up over it."
Hmm, got it. Makes sense. In an academy story like this, there are always plenty of helpful explainers around. Super convenient.
I had a rough idea about Skinny now.
Iris Guild is the biggest information guild in France.
By the way, heroine Elise is the daughter of the Iris Guild leader.
Getting approached by them means he's got some real potential.
He's an extra villain, but he's on the promising rookie track, just like Do Jin-hyuk.
That's how he can compete with the protagonist.
Skinny might look like that, but he's apparently one of the top guys in Do Jin-hyuk's crew.
Come to think of it, he does give off second-in-command vibes after the chubby one, so yeah, that tracks.
"But can a mage really go one-on-one with an assassin? Especially in a bare dome with no terrain?"
"That's why Kim Ho-jin picked the fight, idiot."
"Okay, but why's Lee Ho-yeon accepting it?"
The explainers were hyping up the crowd on their own.
The other spectators were murmuring worriedly about me, which just shows how scary mob mentality can be.
⚙ COUNTDOWN ⚙ [3] Thump.
Combat Sense started rising slowly from the tips of my toes touching the ground, traveling up my body.
⚙ COUNTDOWN ⚙ [2] "Lee Ho-yeon. I'll make sure to pop your bubble for good."
Skinny was aiming his dagger at me, building up his killing intent.
Living as Lee Ho-yeon, I've noticed guys send a ton of hostility.
Then again, I probably did the same back when I had that face.
⚙ COUNTDOWN ⚙ [1] Thump. Thump.
"What... is this it?"
My body wasn't heating up any further.
When I fought Felix, my whole body had screamed in excitement.
Even before the fight started, my heart raced, vitality surged through me, my chest burned, and my senses sharpened to a razor's edge.
But now...
Thump. Thump.
Calm. Incredibly calm.
That meant I wouldn't need to go all out against the punk standing in front of me.
No, he wasn't even worth the effort, so my full power wasn't rising at all.
⚙ DUEL START ⚙ [START!!!!] "I've been waiting for this, you bastard! I'll end you in one shot!"
The moment it started, Skinny kicked off the ground and charged at me.
His speed was pretty good, for sure. Not Felix level, but purely in terms of pace, it felt on par with Elise.
Ziiing-
👁️ CLAIRVOYANCE Activated Mana gathered on the dagger in Skinny's right hand.
Trajectory: straight line. Aiming to stab right between my eyes.
Looks like he really holds a grudge against my face.
Swoosh-
Skinny rushed in, and I tilted my body sideways at the perfect timing to dodge the dagger.
To anyone else, it would look like a close call, but I had plenty of margin.
Skinny shot past me and braked behind my back.
"All you can do is dodge, you worm? Why'd you even step up?"
He must've thought I barely dodged it, because he started taunting me with a laugh.
"That all you got? No stronger, faster ultimate move? You're not giving me anything to work with here."
If he just throws simple attacks like that, I got nothing to show.
With this big a crowd, I need to put on a proper display.
"...Fine. I was gonna toy with you a bit, but I'll just end it quick."
Skinny seemed genuinely pissed, thinking I was looking down on him.
I'm serious, though. You need to show something impressive so I look even better when I win.
Skinny pondered how to finish me, then started channeling mana throughout his body.
"Hoo..."
Circulating mana all over his body—it was similar to [Acceleration].
But [Acceleration] is designed to vent the backlash into space, avoiding overload on the body. This technique clearly wasn't that advanced.
He successfully sped himself up by forcing mana acceleration, but without a way to handle the recoil, he couldn't stop properly.
Probably uses it by putting all the force into the attack and passing the backlash to the opponent.
In simple terms, if I don't take the hit, all that recoil bounces back on him.
He started circling around me rapidly.
Like Felix had, drawing circles and spinning around me.
But his speed was way below Felix's.
I'd tracked Felix's speed before, so no way I couldn't read this level.
"How's that! I'll slice you before you even know it!"
"Wow... killer line."
"Too late to flatter me now!"
"...Uh, yeah. Sure."
As he spun around me, I activated [Acceleration] too.
The now-familiar wind wrapped around my entire body.
"I'll kill you!"
Apparently unable to control his speed anymore, Skinny lowered his stance, gripped his dagger, and charged.
I wrapped mana around my hand in preparation for the impact.
Crack-!
"Gah...! Wh-what the...?"
"Slow."
Whoosh!
A speed so blindingly fast no one else could react.
I reacted effortlessly to his insane charge.
Stepping forward naturally, I grabbed Skinny's collar mid-rush with one hand.
"Guh. H-how!"
I raised the hand gripping his collar sky-high, then slammed him straight down.
Bam!
"Keh... huh...?"
Skinny lay face-down on the ground, trembling, still not grasping what happened.
At least he landed on his back first, so it probably didn't hurt too bad.
I placed my hand on Skinny's head and glanced around.
Lucy and Lumi, who had been squealing in worry moments ago, now stared wide-eyed. The guys hyping Skinny's guild connections and potential were gaping in disbelief too.
I grabbed Skinny by the hair, yanked him up, and slammed him down again.
Bam!
"Guh... keh..."
The magic circle was active, so no life-threatening damage, but the pain would be vivid.
That's what sparring training is for.
"Once for me. Ten times for Lucy and Lumi."
I dropped to one knee, leveling my eyes with his. Grabbed his hair from the floor and forced him to meet my gaze.
His earlier cockiness was gone, replaced by pure fear and terror of me.
"I-I'm sorry..."
Sorry, but reflecting now won't cut it.
Let him off here, and it'll just be more hassle later.
Like the unlucky first kid caught chatting in class and docked points.
Could let it slide, but you dock the first one to set the tone for the lesson.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Guuh..."
⚙ DUEL END ⚙ [Duel, Stop!] "Pathetic."
Only four slams in, and he was totally out of it.
The 'Magic Duel End Chant' triggered, forcibly ending the match.
By now, most of A-Class had gathered outside the arena to watch.
Nam Da-eun wasn't there, but I spotted Elise's face too.
I grabbed the beaten Skinny's head and stood up.
All the cadets were staring our way.
"Guys, you saw I didn't use any magic just now, right?"
"...!"
I heard gulps. Flicked my eyes—Do Jin-hyuk's crew.
"If any of you punks pull this again, next time I'll burn your asses. Watch yourselves."
Bam!
I let go of Skinny's head and walked down from the arena.
Lucy and Lumi waiting for me looked more thrilled than scared, thankfully.
Well, heroines fearing a strong protagonist wouldn't make sense.
"What the hell! How are you so good at fighting? And why do you never use magic in spars? You're not actually a mage, are you?!"
"Th-thank you."
Wonder what context Lumi's thanking me in.
Doesn't matter—she looks happy, so good enough.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The duel from one-on-one sparring class naturally got filmed and spread around by someone.
📰 Breaking News [Legendary Duel Vid of Controversial Lee Ho-yeon LMAO] [Video] The video alone makes him look impressive, but legendary? Eh.
Plot twist: the guy's a mage lol. Beat the promising Iris Guild recruit to a pulp without a single spell.
Recommendations: 329 Disrecommendations: 120
💬 Comments — Anon1 Wait, a mage? But wtf how'd he track that speed? — Anon2 Damn, slamming his face into the ground... scary af ㄷㄷ — Anon3 Iris Guild hype busted lol Global bubble burst ㄷㄷ — Anon4 I get he's strong, but his face pisses me off so disrec. — Anon5 ↳ Reply Agreed lol. Every time I see his mug, he's with some girl. Pisses me off. — Anon6 [-------Victoria Academy Loser List-------] [This fucking bitch] ⭐ Top Comment — Anon7 Breaking: Iris Guild cancels contract offer to Kim Ho-jin lol — Anon8 For real? He's screwed lololol — Anon9 But at this level, didn't Lucy and him really take down that demon? — Anon10 Agreed. This without magic? With magic, demon one-shot ez. — Anon11 Ehh, still not buying it even after this. — Anon12 Same, not convinced yet. Vets who've faced the two-horned demon are mostly skeptical, fact. "Vets talking all that crap. If they're weaker than me, they should drop the vet label."
Checking EveryDay reactions, and it wasn't fully satisfying.
Still, public opinion had improved, so I should be grateful. Looked up old reactions—back then, I was just a scamming bastard.
Should've given me a heads-up sooner. I'd have cleared it up quick.
How does no one tell me?
You're considering my feelings too much.
"Haa. All done! You, Lumi?"
"Me too."
Right now, we were doing club assignments in the clubroom.
I finished in about 30 minutes, but Lucy and Lumi took an hour.
Even when I offered to do theirs, they stubbornly insisted, which was admirable.
"All done? Let's head out then."
"Yep!"
"Okay! Homeward bound!"
Our club was still just the three of us.
Thanks to my efforts, the club finally appeared on the list.
With the beauty twin combo of Lucy and Lumi, male cadets were lining up to apply. And because of me, female cadets too.
But Felix's scar was still on Lucy.
Since then, she'd minimized contact with any guys except me.
Fine by me—not seeing her chat with other dudes was a plus. Kinda intentional too.
Anyway, we'd decided no new members for now. The clubroom stayed our cozy trio spot.
"See you tomorrow then."
"We're going to the dorms together anyway, why say goodbye?"
"Huh? Oh, got shopping to do today!"
Lucy said, waving her wallet.
"Ah, gotcha. What're you buying?"
"Uh, just... necessities?"
Her stammering screamed pads.
Figuring out a girl's mind from little stuff like this—my instincts were sharpening.
"Got it. Lumi and I'll go together. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Lucy. Catch you tomorrow."
"Yeah! Bye-bye!"
Lucy dashed toward the academy main gate.
I turned to Lumi.
"Shall we go too?"
"...H-Ho-yeon?"
"Yeah?"
"C-can we go back to the clubroom for a sec? I have something to say."
"Sure, of course."
I followed Lumi back to the clubroom.
She waited for me to enter, shut the door, locked it, and double-checked.
"...Lumi?"
Her face was a bit red. And she locked the door.
At this point, I could guess what was coming.
"Th-thank you so much for standing up for us today. Lucy feels the same."
"No biggie. I was pissed too."
"Knowing someone would get pissed for my sake... it makes me so happy. Lucy's family, but you're not. Yet you did it for me..."
Hmm, various circumstances overlapped, but better stay quiet.
Lumi looked deeply touched, squirming all over. Cute.
"W-we're secret friends, right? S-so, at times like this, I think it's okay to do something more... secret."
"...Yeah."
"I want to thank you in a s-secret way, Ho-yeon..."
Lumi made a V with her index and middle fingers.
"S-so... as thanks... I'll make you f-feel good. B-but I'm still not great at it..."
She stuck the V fingers in her mouth, stretching it wide into a square, mumbling.
"H-here. Pwease use my mouth, Ho-yeon..."
Gulp.
Lumi's pink insides filled my vision.