Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Midterm Evaluation (2)
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Blade Leopard.
It was the magic beast among the five prepared ones that offered the chance to score the most points.
Which meant it was the trickiest one to take down out of all five.
This was a magic beast that Dabcheon had openly prepared as a high-risk, high-return option.
"Ha, damn. No openings at all."
Unlike the beasts in the other gates, which had clear strategies, the Blade Leopard had no weaknesses.
True to its form as a feline predator magic beast, its balance was perfect, and its claws and fangs could rip an opponent apart on their own.
Among them, the most dangerous were those fangs, sharp as actual blades.
If you got caught by that pair of protruding blade fangs, losing limbs would be the least of your worries.
Step... step...
Despite its name and its body size rivaling an adult tiger, its footsteps were eerily quiet.
Even I, a superhuman, had to focus to hear them. If the Blade Leopard had ambushed me in its natural habitat like a mountain range or forest, I definitely would've taken some damage.
But this was a circular arena, and I was fully aware of its presence.
That's why it wasn't closing the distance further, just growling without rashly charging at me.
But standoffs like this had their limits.
"Hooo..."
The moment I exhaled the breath built up in my chest and activated my mana core, tension rippled through the Blade Leopard's limbs.
This wild beast, untamed by any dilution, could sense mana like any magic beast, and it seemed to realize I'd entered combat readiness.
Clack... clack...
The tense probing standoff came to an end. Just as I'd reinforced my body with mana, it began reinforcing its own.
A reddish mana coated the already razor-sharp pair of blade fangs.
Now, anyone caught by those fangs would be sliced through in an instant, reinforced body or not.
Bang-!
The Blade Leopard, knowing this better than anyone, finished reinforcing its body—especially its most devastating blade fangs—and kicked off the ground without hesitation.
The leap of this quadrupedal feline magic beast closed the 30-meter gap between us in a flash, fast and powerful.
In the blink of an eye, it invaded my space, jaws wide, flashing its pair of blades.
Damn, it's fast as hell.
So fast it was hard to track with my eyes.
Which meant, rephrased, that I could still track it with my eyes.
And being able to track it with my eyes meant...
"Now."
...it couldn't dodge the perfect counter I unleashed based on prediction.
Whoosh- Boom!!!
My full-power right hook sent the Blade Leopard's head whipping halfway sideways as it tumbled across the ground.
Crash-tumble-tumble!
The mana from my Solar Body, separated via Mana Fluidization and coated over my fist's knuckles, exploded on impact, amplifying the destructive power even further.
Its jaw, stretched wide to devour me, couldn't withstand the explosion.
"Keh... kehhh..."
"Hoo."
I approached the Blade Leopard, its lower jaw completely torn off, flailing helplessly from the shock of the blast.
"Go."
I placed my foot on its neck, coated the sole of my shoe with mana, and stomped down with full force and weight.
Bam-!
With the explosion, I felt something thick and sturdy snap cleanly under my foot.
At the same time, the Blade Leopard's massive body, trembling violently, went limp.
A clean finish where it probably didn't even feel the pain.
"Alright, time to loot. I tried not to damage the blades."
After gathering the materials from the Blade Leopard's corpse—which was intact except for the missing jaw—the space hummed and an announcement rang out.
The system, recognizing my defeat of the Blade Leopard, signaled the end of the test.
With the announcement echoing through the circular arena, I passed the practical exam just like that.
As I felt that peculiar sensation of spatial transfer, there was only one thing I could do.
Fuyuno Tsubaki, that girl... she's doing okay, right? Her third gate's beast matches her affinity perfectly, so if she doesn't chicken out, she should win easily. I even told her she'd be screwed if she failed, so she shouldn't slack off or freak out. Ha, I'm actually worried.
I was worrying about Fuyuno Tsubaki like a mother who'd left her baby by the water's edge.
But worrying wouldn't change anything. At this moment, everything depended on her.
"Hoo... I'll be waiting, so please do well."
All I could do was pray fervently.
※
Whoosh-!
The light filling my vision faded, replaced by a familiar sight.
It was the opposite side of the testing area where cadets who finished their practical exams arrived.
"Ugh... s-save me..."
"Medical team here! Someone's badly hurt!"
"How'd it go? You okay? I couldn't get the angle right, just grazed it a bit and forfeited."
"Really? It was super easy for me. I got the fifth gate's beast, right?"
"Hoo... Dabcheon's brutal... I forfeited the second I saw the Blade Leopard."
"For real? The Blade Leopard is kinda scary..."
Here were cadets badly injured mid-test, ones who'd forfeited, lucky ones who'd picked the fifth gate with an easy beast, and others lamenting their lack of skill.
Seeing all these varied reactions after the exam started making me anxious for no reason.
"But forfeiting right away means bottom score, right? Ugh, it'll be on my record for sure. What do I even tell Mother..."
Especially that girl who forfeited the moment she saw the Blade Leopard—it ramped up my anxiety even more.
What if Fuyuno Tsubaki got scared like her and forfeited...?
"W-Yang Woo-bin..."
"..."
Mid-worry, a voice I shouldn't be hearing right now came from behind me.
Only two people in all of Dabcheon Academy could call me Yang Woo-bin, and one was way too high up to meet like this.
So it narrowed to one naturally—but it shouldn't be her.
My head knew the only one who could call my name here was Fuyuno Tsubaki, but I couldn't accept it.
Because she'd entered the gate at the same time as me.
"..."
Her coming out this fast meant the worst-case scenario I'd dreaded most. So I kept my head turned, pretending I heard nothing.
"Yang Woo-bin...? Hey, Woo-biiin?"
But reality charges on relentlessly, acknowledgment or not.
"Yang Woo-bin!"
She shoved her flushed, pale face right in front of mine.
At this point, I couldn't ignore her even if I wanted to.
"Haaa..."
I let out a deep sigh and looked over Fuyuno Tsubaki.
She was spotless, no scratches—just as she'd been before entering.
That pristine state after facing a magic beast gave me a rough idea of what she'd done.
"Sorry, Yang Woo-bin... I couldn't keep the promise."
"Yeah."
This girl actually forfeited, even after I warned her she'd be screwed if she failed.
Is this how parents feel seeing their kid bring home failing grades despite expensive tutoring?
A sigh escaped me as I pondered how to fix her cowardly streak.
I'd warned her, so maybe a knuckle rap on the head. As I lightly clenched my fist, unexpected words popped from Fuyuno Tsubaki's mouth.
"You told me not to, Yang Woo-bin, but... I borrowed Gigawubin's power..."
"...Huh?"
"I'm still... scared of the cold without Gigawubin. I had no choice..."
Gigawubin? Borrowed power?
That didn't sound like something a forfeiter would say.
Realizing that, I asked her on a hunch.
"So you passed the test using that Gigawubin whatever?"
"Huh? Y-yeah. With Gigawubin's power, it was really easy, just like you said, Yang Woo-bin."
"That... well, theoretically, it should've been easy for you."
The beast waiting in the third gate Fuyuno Tsubaki entered was the Icefield Squid.
A massive cephalopod magic beast that drilled holes under polar icefields, waiting to snag and devour prey with its tentacles.
For Fuyuno Tsubaki, who wielded cold, it was an extremely favorable matchup. Passing unscathed was only natural.
"...Ha."
"Yang Woo-bin?"
Yet that natural outcome swelled my chest with emotion.
Like parents thrilled over a newborn holding its head up, I was moved by what any Reversal Hero Chronicles player would see as routine.
"Good job. You did really well, Fuyuno Tsubaki. Yeah. Really."
Dabcheon's weakest superhuman in history, Fuyuno Tsubaki—the coward who couldn't even catch a baby horned rabbit—had effortlessly dispatched a massive beast that countless cadets couldn't even scratch.
Whether expected or not, knowing her life story, I filled my hands with pride and ruffled her hair wildly.
"Good job. You did amazingly."
Pet pet pet pet pet.
"Eek! Ha! Uh! Et! Ugh!"
The moment my hand touched her head, Fuyuno Tsubaki froze stiff, squeaking like a broken doll.
Of course, that didn't stop me from expressing my pride—I kept petting.
And just like that, the two of us smoothly earned our tickets to challenge for promotion to Jincheon Class.