Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Reeducation (2)
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‘Hmm. Where should I crash?’
The moment I arrived at the arena, I carefully made my preparations.
Right away, preparations for a nice, long nap.
“Here we go…!”
I claimed the comfiest-looking spot in the spectator stands and lay down.
Draping my Shadow Cloak over myself like a blanket.
“…….”
Yuria and Artel gave me a quick once-over,
exchanged a brief glance,
then just shook their heads with a sigh and sat down primly beside me.
“Jeron. Today’s the day you have a match…. Never mind. Forget it.”
“…Sweet dreams.”
What? Don’t give up on me yet.
Anyway.
I was just casually racking up some easy sloth points like that
when someone gently shook my shoulder to wake me.
“Jeron, time to get up. It’s your turn soon!”
It was Yuria, of course.
Still half-asleep, I whined and rolled over.
“Ugh…. Five more minutes….”
“Sigh. You’re impossible. Fine, one more minute. That’s it, no more!”
Yuria let out a resigned sigh.
A little later, when Yuria shook me awake again, I had no choice but to sit up.
And right in front of my bleary eyes, this system window flickered into view.
[Whining for more sleep]
[A slothful action!]
[Slothfulness +1!]
‘…….’
Huh….
I hadn’t meant to, but somehow I’d instinctively earned some sloth points.
Lately, I’d been feeling even lazier—what was I supposed to do about that?
In fact, heading out for this match right now felt like a total drag.
But there was no helping it.
To snag that number one A-Rank spot and qualify for the S-Rank promotion match, I had to slog through these duels no matter how annoying they were.
“Yawn….”
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I climbed up onto the arena floor.
My opponent was already there, waiting for me.
A red-haired magic department cadet.
“…….”
He stared at me with his lips pressed tight.
It was none other than Kaiser Fireheart.
My very first rank match as an A-Ranker.
And wouldn’t you know it—the opponent was the very first guy I’d fought after dropping into this world.
‘Kaiser. It’s been a while, huh.’
The guy who’d picked a fight with me on the first day of class because I was dozing off.
I’d turned the tables right away, using his habit of firing his ultimate [Crimson Flame Arrow] from the start against him with [Inferior Reflection] to school him in one shot.
After that, he’d been too scared to even talk to me and started avoiding me like the plague.
He’d flinch and look away if I so much as glanced at him.
I hadn’t run into him much since, so I had no idea what he’d been up to lately.
Probably nothing much different from the game.
‘…Feels like ancient history now.’
It had only been about a month, but it seemed like ages ago.
Life on Earth was mundane by comparison, but here, things were so spectacular that time flew by even faster.
Anyway, I was dozing against the arena wall when
“Hey, Jeron Airgia.”
During the brief prep time before the match started, Kaiser spoke up.
I’d planned to ignore him, but what he said next caught me off guard.
“…I apologize for underestimating your strength that day. You’re definitely a powerhouse.”
An admission and an apology?
Surprising, but nothing worth dwelling on, so I gave a half-hearted reply.
“Yeah.”
“But!”
Suddenly, Kaiser’s face turned deadly serious as he shouted.
“That doesn’t mean I accept your slothful attitude! Sloth leads to weakness, and weakness means getting weeded out…! That’s the creed of the Fireheart family—and mine!”
“Ah.”
He had that kind of backstory?
I’d just learned some trivia about the Fireheart family that I hadn’t particularly cared about.
“That’s why… today, I’ll surpass you and prove my creed is right!”
He pointed straight at me.
“After that, you know full well the blood, sweat, and tears I’ve poured into beating you. Jeron Airgia…!”
“…What’d you do?”
No clue.
Seriously, no idea.
I scratched my cheek blankly.
“Y-You don’t know? If you’d bothered to watch my match footage, there’s no way… Gah, psychological warfare, pretending not to know? Nice try, but it won’t work. I’ll just show you what I’ve prepared.”
“……?”
Kaiser was suddenly getting all intense, muttering to himself.
Then he declared gravely once more.
“Anyway! While you’ve been slothfully coasting, I’ve kept growing stronger! Today, I’ll surpass you and prove I’m the true powerhouse!”
“…Uh, good luck?”
“Grrgh…! Don’t cheer for your opponent!”
[Slothfulness +10!]
Even after all this time, Kaiser was still a sloth point vending machine.
But whatever he’d done, it looked like he’d come prepared.
What surprised me more was something else.
Kaiser Fireheart was the classic strong-against-weak, weak-against-strong type.
He groveled before anyone he acknowledged as strong and only played the big shot against the weak.
In the game, he’d tucked tail after the protagonist beat him once.
But this time, even after admitting I was strong and showing fear, he was still coming at me….
Guess I really got under his skin.
Maybe because I was the total opposite of his beliefs?
Too bad for Kaiser, but beating me was pretty much impossible.
Sure, he’d gotten stronger over the month, but I’d leveled up to an absurd degree.
Wrapped in legendary skills, items, and runes—the gap was massive now.
‘Might as well wrap this up quick.’
Like always, I considered ending it in one shot from the start.
Ding!
[A sudden quest has occurred!]
[The Return of Reeducation Time!]
Objective: Make Kaiser, who still won’t accept sloth, truly feel the wall!
Reward: Slothfulness +500
‘Oh…?’
My face lit up at the system window.
That changed things.
I’d been planning to end it fast, but I couldn’t pass up a juicy reward like this.
The condition was a bit vague, though.
Make him feel the wall?
Just one-shotting him might not cut it.
How could I do it in the laziest way possible while still driving the point home….
“Match starts on three. One, two, three!”
Even as the referee’s signal kicked off the duel, my mind was consumed with that question.
“Here I come, Jeron Airgia! It’s different this time!”
Kaiser yelled as he cast his spell.
But this time, it wasn’t his signature [Crimson Flame Arrow].
Kwaaaa!
A small fireball shot toward me like a probe, while a blazing curtain of flames unfurled around him.
Ah. He was wary of [Inferior Reflection], so he led with a non-threatening spell to force me to reflect it, then protected himself with a barrier.
Not bad—he’d used his head.
This pattern usually only popped up probabilistically around the second semester.
But whatever. I had two counters.
Ignore the fireball with [Spirit Body],
or go true-false-true double slash combo to reflect and pierce his flame curtain.
I was mulling over which to use
when I sensed something off about a specific part of the incoming fireball.
Like spotting a weak link in a massive chain.
‘Huh? Hit that spot… and I could break the spell?’
No idea why, but instinct told me so.
‘Oh, could this be it?’
The new [Magic Severing Strike]’s “Spell Destruction Slash” enhancement.
In the game, it showed as a sparkling weak point on spells, but in reality, it felt like this.
“Hyah.”
I tested it out, swinging [Magic Severing Strike] at that spot.
Slash—!
The strike cleanly severed the fireball’s weak point.
The blazing orb split apart and scattered into the air.
***
‘Jeron Airgia…. Today, I’ll overcome you right here…!’
Kaiser gritted his teeth.
The past month flashed before his eyes like a montage.
That day’s defeat had been a nightmare.
His prized signature spell, so easily reflected back at him.
Afterward, just meeting those purple eyes filled him with paralyzing helplessness.
It was trauma.
At this rate, he’d never stand before him again.
But he didn’t give up.
‘Sloth and surrender are for the weak…! Effort never betrays!’
The Fireheart family creed pulled him back up.
He’d gotten a photo of Jeron’s face and plastered it on the training ground wall.
Then he blasted it with fire magic every session.
At first, even looking at the photo made his spells fizzle from fear, but he didn’t stop.
He kept going, and going.
Eventually, the fear started to fade.
‘See? The family was right…!’
The weak were all mentally frail and lazy!
Having conquered his trauma, he’d spent nights crafting a new strategy tailored to beat Jeron.
A custom plan to counter his reflection and slash magic.
And today, fully prepared, he faced him.
‘Come on, Jeron Airgia! How’ll you handle this?’
Force him to waste his reflection on a light attack.
Jeron wouldn’t see this coming.
Especially if he really hadn’t watched his matches, like he claimed.
Hard to believe, but still.
But….
‘Huh?’
The scene unfolding before him seemed to mock all his effort and predictions.
Slash—.
His fireball, snuffed out by a single gesture from Jeron, dissipating into nothing.
It wasn’t a reflection.
Nor some new defense spell.
‘A slash?’
A slash, but….
He’d slashed it.
Slashed the magic itself.
Was that even possible?
‘M-Magic… got sliced…? H-How…?’
Kaiser felt like he’d seen a ghost.
And worse.
Slicing magic with a slash spell was shocking enough, but this was a technique he’d never seen in all his analysis of Jeron.
Kaiser thought, grinding his teeth.
‘Jeron Airgia, what the hell are you…? You were hiding a skill like that too…?!’
If it was a technique at that level….
He must have developed it through the same bloody effort.
‘Sly bastard…!’
He’d been pretending to be slothful on purpose, strategically hiding his full arsenal until now.
That’s what Kaiser thought.
No.
He had to think that.
To keep his creed from crumbling.
Because right now, an unbearable, despairing possibility was creeping into his mind.
‘No way….’
What if he hadn’t been hiding it…?
What if he’d just invented it on the spot?
‘N-No, that’s impossible….’
Kaiser desperately shook his head, denying it.
Right then.
Jeron’s mouth opened.
With a look of genuine surprise.
“Oh, this works.”
‘…….’
That one line left Kaiser utterly speechless.