Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Culling (2)
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In the mid-to-late stages of Reversal Hero Saga, the stage known as Dabcheon Academy is where a truly staggering number of incidents and accidents erupt.
Things like demonkin ripping open rifts and invading during the entrance evaluation, or hordes of magic beasts spawning en masse, or cadets or professors harboring malice launching terrorist attacks.
Among those, from a player's perspective, the trickiest to deal with were the man-made disasters.
Demonkin invasions required sufficient plausibility to tear open rifts and charge in, and mass magic beast outbreaks were the same.
Such events only happened under deliberate plans and iron wills, like during the entrance evaluation.
That meant demonkin-related incidents, for all their massive scale, always came with plenty of forewarning time. To me, a total veteran of Reversal Hero Saga, they weren't much of a problem.
But human-caused incidents and accidents? Even for a vet like me, there was no way to react preemptively.
Their acts of terror had enough plausibility to erupt at any moment, in any situation, without raising an eyebrow.
It was like time bombs scattered everywhere in Dabcheon, with no telling when they'd go off.
And these bombs had their own free will, could move around at liberty, and detonate whenever they damn well pleased. From a gamer's standpoint, that was enough to make you curse up a storm.
"In that sense, this 'culling' is a golden opportunity to defuse a few of those bombs ahead of time."
Most of the terrorists were cadets like me.
Superhuman weapons raised from childhood by foreign nations, infiltrating on orders to undermine Dabcheon's influence.
Annoying bastards like that dotted every grade, a handful per year. But in this culling, there were five targets.
Petty as they were, each was a boss in their own episode, holding at least blue cards—the strongest had a navy one.
In other words, every single one ranked in the top 50 of Jincheon Class at minimum.
"Take out five superhuman weapons raised as weapons since childhood... within a week."
Summarized like that, it sounded insanely tough. But to me? Not even a blip.
Because I was one of the world's top veterans of Reversal Hero Saga.
"Just gotta watch out for one of 'em... the rest are a cakewalk."
I reviewed the intel on those five terrorists in my head and set off to begin the 'variable culling'.
"Man, I knew things had changed a lot at Dabcheon since Go Yeo-ryeong took over as principal... but I never expected it to go this far off the rails."
Year 1 ranking 48th, owner of a blue Jincheon card—Chao Mingming shook her head in disbelief at the sudden 'culling' test, perched on a rock in the woods.
Getting into Dabcheon on orders from the Party had gone smoothly enough, but she hadn't anticipated Jincheon Class under Go Yeo-ryeong being this unpredictable.
Still, she was a superhuman weapon forged through countless trainings since childhood. She knew how to stay calm in unexpected situations and twist them to her advantage.
"That said... this culling might actually be an opportunity."
Chao Mingming quickly grasped that it was a chance to quietly eliminate promising talents who could elevate Dabcheon's prestige.
A bit ahead of the original plan, sure—but even accounting for that, it was too good to pass up.
The academy itself had provided the stage for classmates to slaughter each other.
"Only an idiot would let this slip. Time to move."
No one could blame her for dancing with her blade and cutting down other cadets here; it was on Dabcheon's stage, after all. With that in mind, she rose and headed for her pre-set targets.
Rustle.
Right then, something approached from the bushes behind her, footsteps crashing through without a shred of stealth.
"Eek?!"
It was so bold, anyone could sense it without focusing—but Chao Mingming startled anyway.
"Wh-who's there?!"
She'd stuck to her subculture stereotype of a Chinese character all this time.
Ending sentences with 'hae', giving off a slightly airheaded vibe while always projecting spunk. She'd faked this shock—normally she wouldn't have flinched—out of fear that her normal inner monologue might've tipped her concept.
"Oh? You're Yang Woo-bin, hae? ...Alone, hae?"
But seeing it was a lone guy—and not just any guy, but Yang Woo-bin, the hot topic who'd barely clawed into Jincheon by beating the former 100th, Choi In-gyu—her shock settled instantly.
She hadn't lived a life so inept she'd flinch at a weakling whose pathetic skills were public knowledge.
"Yeah, just me."
"Heh... You don't get how this culling works, do you, hae?"
Yang Woo-bin's brazen 'just me' drew a sharp edge to Chao Mingming's voice, even as she held her character.
She'd decided to hunt; a frail guy like this was fair game to toy with.
"I do. Cadets with gray Jincheon cards get demoted, so I need to snag a higher one before it ends, right?"
"You know that and still came to me, hae? To steal my card? Hm... well, I do have a sloppy image. And I'm not from a noble house, so I get why a noble like you would think that, hae."
Trained superhuman weapon that she was, Chao Mingming could view situations objectively and rationally.
Thus, she swiftly deduced why Yang Woo-bin—who'd put on that pathetic show in the promotion match—had sought her out.
"Big mistake on your part, though, hae. Yeah, I'm sloppy and not a noble superhuman, but I'm not about to lose to a guy like you, hae."
Even so, Yang Woo-bin was dead last in current Jincheon Class, while she ranked 48th—a solid mid-tier.
"If you wanted me, you should've come holding hands with that Fuyuno girl who's always glued to you, hae."
Resolved to kick off the hunt by crippling the oblivious fool beyond recovery, Chao Mingming drew the longsword at her waist.
Shing—!
"A pup who doesn't fear women is just begging to get bitten to death—it's the law of nature, hae!"
Whoosh—!
Her legs, tempered brutally since childhood, propelled her to Yang Woo-bin in a single explosive step.
'Drop dead without even knowing what hit you, you arrogant prick!'
Inner thoughts in her normal tone, she channeled the charge's power from her waist to shoulder, elbow, wrist—converging it all at the blade's tip as she slashed.
A swordsmanship honed to lethal extremes, pure killing efficiency.
Facing that blinding diagonal arc, Yang Woo-bin casually swung his right fist horizontally.
Boom!
"Guh?!"
The instant his knifehand met the descending blade, an explosion erupted from it.
The blast's force tore the grip from Chao Mingming's hands.
"Wh-what?"
She'd never dreamed Yang Woo-bin—who struggled against a nobody like Choi In-gyu—would react, let alone that his hand would unleash an explosion even she couldn't handle. Her mind blanked.
No matter how elite the warrior, when reality shatters expectations right in your face, your brain freezes for a split second.
"Over."
And that split second was more than enough for Yang Woo-bin—who'd marked her as prey—to smash his fist into her face.
Crunch—BOOM!!
His left straight was far faster than her charge.
Chao Mingming didn't even think to dodge; the punch nailed her face, the ensuing blast hurled her back, and her skull cracked against the rock behind.
Thud. Thump.
Just like that, Chao Mingming hit the dirt, face caved in, never registering what struck her.
"Okay, Chao Mingming's out. Ugh, thinking about how much hell this bitch gave me in the game... tsch. Anyway, no more casualties in this culling now."
Yang Woo-bin clapped his hands to shake off the lingering smoke, then pocketed her blue Jincheon card.
"Hm, better snap a leg too, just to be safe. Keep her from any funny business."
He broke her right leg for good measure, then headed for his next target.