Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Don't Do Anything Strange
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Everyone's eyes except for the meditating Isia turned to Shin Ga-yeon. But as if she couldn't care less, her blue eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
Her hands clasped under her chin, gazing up at me. What was this pose called again?
"Huh?!"
Sway, sway.
For some reason, I had the illusion of a wagging tail. Ah, I got it. This was it—a pet dog waiting for a treat—
"The conditions for being a maid are simple. First off, she has to be pretty. She needs the kind of beauty that would satisfy someone like Lee Seong-hoon."
The damn blonde standing next to her spouted some nonsense. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Sure, she was pretty. But these were the protagonists, right?
If the leads were ugly, no one would watch. That's just how it was. Not my type anyway.
I shot Shin Ga-yeon a look conveying all that, but she had already glanced once over Raphael and Sophia.
Then her face fell dejectedly. The confident expression from moments ago was gone, replaced by a deflated puppy that buried its head on the floor.
She must have decided she couldn't measure up to Sophia and Raphael.
Smack—!!!
"Aack!!!"
I smacked the blonde for her useless words. I never really looked at faces to begin with, and even if I did, Shin Ga-yeon more than passed—but right now, I was going to use this.
"That's how it is. If you get it—"
"Only natural beauties count?"
What the hell was this now?
"I-I might not compare to them!! But I've grown up hearing how pretty I am too?!"
She even spat out something about getting plastic surgery if I wanted!! I said to look at her face—would I give points for surgery? She was already pretty!!
I looked at Shin Ga-yeon's resolute face. She looked ready to bolt out of Justitia right then, rankings be damned, and head straight to a Gangnam plastic surgeon.
Stop. Gangnam's a sea of flames right now. Mostly my fault.
"No. No."
I grabbed her shoulders. She let out a "Kyaa!!" but I ignored it.
I had to stop her. Right now. If I left her be muttering "sweet deal?" she'd show up in a week with a full makeover.
This was the girl who'd come running even after I cursed her out and slammed her into the floor. The odds were high.
And then what? I'd be the one getting death threats from Shin Chae-yeon.
No helping it.
"Shin Ga-yeon."
"Y-Yes!!"
"You're pretty enough. Don't do anything strange."
Please. For the love of god.
"...Huh?"
The damn blue-hair tilted her ear toward me like she'd misheard. A question mark floated above her head.
"I must've misheard. Could you say that again?"
"I said you're pretty, so don't do anything strange."
"!!!!!"
The question mark flipped to an exclamation point, and she shook off my hand before stumbling back.
Ow. Damn it.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. So please, no strange stuff."
She was too far for me to see her face clearly, but I caught her nodding. Good. Bad ending averted.
Now, how to shake her loose—
"Then does that mean I can be your maid now?!"
"Nah."
"Huh? But you said I'm pretty—"
That's one thing. This is another. I'd already figured out how to pry this positive blue-hair off me.
"This is your brilliant plan?"
The damn blonde said that while holding popcorn and cola in both hands. Her face screamed "this is gonna be hilarious."
And yet her mouth still ran. Did she have a filter or what?
[Me too. Looks fun, nya.]
The damn cat, finally back in human form and out and about, had her eyes sparkling too. No cola for her—just popcorn in both hands.
You joking? Don't you know popcorn's pricier?
Isia was off meditating in her spot, so I footed the bill. If Sophia had tagged along maybe, but no—she was on Isia duty. God's account was basically wiped this month.
Oh, and I'd been slapped with an approach ban to Isia.
Right before we got here, she tried Chantless Disruption again. I got all excited and closed in, and nope.
Isia's words: 'It doesn't seem to work because of you. Stay away.'
A little hurtful. Emotional damage. Telling anyone not to come close stings.
"Think about your usual behavior. Isn't it trauma?"
Fair enough if so. Was that it? Perpetrators don't remember? I don't think I did anything wrong.
[Not knowing is the problem, nya.]
Were you two the gaslight duo? Every word out of your mouths leaves me speechless. What the hell? Lately you've been stuck together—been practicing this?
Anyway, I'd sucked the food from the two chatterboxes sitting on either side of me into my inventory. Here's the explanation:
—Hey?! Give it back!! What are you doing!!
—This is unfair, nya. Can't just take it 'cause you don't like it, nya!!
—Lachesis. I think this is it. Popcorn tastes better infused with mana, right? Tsundere thing. Doing it for us but embarrassed to admit it.
—Didn't know, nya.
Noisy as hell. Couldn't even talk. I shoved their heads back to their seats with the pair yapping away on either side of me.
Back to the point.
We were here to watch the ranking matches. If this won't work and that won't work, there's only one way.
Make her feel her own powerlessness and send her packing.
This was the girl who'd smile through all my trashy antics. How to drop her?
"Ah. There she comes."
Sure enough, as Raphael said, I shifted my gaze. The positive blue-hair was waving at us. Right at us. Directly.
And coming out opposite her was a person.
Messy brown hair, cat eyepatch hanging around his neck, half-lidded eyes, hands empty.
[Oh, student Oh Seung-jin. No weapon?]
At the question, those half-asleep eyes cracked open a bit more. He glanced around, then slowly headed down to the prepared weapon rack.
He grabbed the first spear in line, then slowly made his way back up to the arena.
Anyone could tell it was a random grab. But he signaled the announcer like it was fine, then stared into space with those half-lidded eyes.
"Whoa. He's spacing out. He really strong?"
A perfectly reasonable question. Zero motivation radiating from those sleepy eyes.
But once the fight started? No one in Justitia could beat him.
[Here we go. 5—!!!]
Hearing the countdown, I tossed the popcorn back to the whiners begging for it and watched the arena.
Countdown underway, and the blue-hair was still grinning at us. She might even blow a kiss at this rate.
Oh Seung-jin's rank: 210th. Shin Ga-yeon's: 220th.
Neither belonged in that bracket. Common point: zero interest in rankings.
Shin Ga-yeon was too focused elsewhere.
Oh Seung-jin was just sleepy.
That's why she'd taken my words at face value. Confident she'd crush anyone in the 200s.
Tough luck. Opponent's Oh Seung-jin.
Simple deal. Beat my designated opponent, and you're in as maid. That opponent being Oh Seung-jin.
"No way she wins."
"Why not? I think Shin Ga-yeon will."
I smirked at Raphael, who was stuffing popcorn into her mouth like a hamster.
"Absolutely impossible."
She'd admit defeat and leave on her own. I was a genius. "Muahaha!" I cackled, and a voice piped up beside me.
"Not a demon? Wanna be friends with Asmodeus?"
Shut up.
'I have to win this.'
Shin Ga-yeon waved enthusiastically at Lee Seong-hoon, who was watching intently.
The reason for her obsession with him was simple. He was strong.
There was this tired old saying she'd heard growing up.
—If you're born a girl in our family, your duty is to bring in a strong man as a son-in-law.
She'd hated it as a kid. "I'm gonna marry someone I love!!" she'd yell, only to get smacked.
But as her mind matured, she came to understand the family. Realized her immense physical prowess and mana came from her ancestors' sacrifices. Her thinking changed.
Bring in a strong man as son-in-law.
That's when she met him. Fate, maybe?
A powerhouse who erased her rampaging mercury ball in one blow.
Perfectly catching it amid the spray. Strength beyond words.
And then casually saying "Hey?" as a rainbow unfurled.
That's when Shin Ga-yeon knew. This was fate. Her white knight on a steed had arrived—the prince she'd dreamed of since childhood.
The lingering embers of her marriage fantasies reignited.
Conditions perfect. Snag him, and she could marry for love while satisfying the family's demand for strength.
So she'd used aggressive methods to track their meeting spot and waited.
Result: this.
Win this match, become his maid.
'Love that starts as a maid.'
Overcoming class differences in the end. How beautiful.
Her ocean-blue eyes fixed on her opponent, burning with unbreakable will. But...
If life always went your way, would it be life?
[Start!!!!]
With the shrill whistle, she gripped her sword tight. Gone.
"Huh?"
No opponent where there should have been one. She panicked and tried to look around, but a dull impact hit her back first.
"Ugh?!"
She endured a blow strong enough to feel like something snapped and turned. A yawning guy stood there.
'What the...'
It didn't compute. Her senses couldn't keep up. Shin Ga-yeon was sword nobility.
Sword in hand her whole life. A bit slow on the uptake otherwise, but deadly serious when wielding one.
Even her eyes couldn't track the speed that seized her from behind.
Yawning all casual? She wanted to chalk it up to luck. Just happenstance. But she couldn't.
She wasn't the type to dismiss skill as coincidence.
"This is annoying. Let's end it quick."
"No—"
Thwack—!!
No time to respond before the relentless assault. This time, no retreat. The spear barrage from the front was impossible to dodge.
All she could do was block. Barely at that—several strikes slipped through, hitting her shoulder and gut.
Incredible. Shockingly strong, but what made her doubt her eyes was something else.
'First time with a spear?'
He gripped it like he had no clue, tilting his head and constantly readjusting. Heck, he'd been striking with the shaft this whole time, not the blade.
"Ah. Gotta hit with the blade part."
With that, he flipped the spear. Aimed the blade, tilted his head... then assumed a flawless stance.
"Like this?"
Clang—!!!!
Before the words even registered, a perfect thrust. She barely reacted in time to block, but something was off.
She'd blocked it clean, yet the trajectory twisted mid-motion, the blade slamming dull force into her gut.
"Yeah, this feels right."
Dropping to her knees was inevitable. If it hadn't been a practice blade, her gut would've been pierced right then.
"Over? I'm heading out?"
No. She had magic. Recover with magic, fight back—
"Huh?"
"No magic."
Magic wouldn't activate. What had he done? No matter how she formed the ritual or poured in mana, nothing.
Her eyes shook. Just as Oh Seung-jin waved like it was done...
She channeled mana. Chantless magic. A mana-clump of water.
She could recover on water.
Just needed to make some. Chantless water.
Nothing came.
'Why not?'
Stronger mana? Stronger spell? She wrung out every drop.
After struggling awhile, what happened next was all but inevitable.
Mana rampage.
A phenomenon most people never experience more than once or twice in a lifetime.
Mana surging wildly inside, leaking out uncontrollably.
Two causes.
One: Excessively abundant mana that can't discharge and keeps cycling internally.
Two: Overinfused mana backflowing during casting.
Mages rarely hit the second—they know their limits.
But Shin Ga-yeon was a swordswoman. Magic was her hobby.
Water enveloped her body. Leaking mana clung tight, binding her.
Vision darkened, sounds faded. She could barely see, but she did. Barely hear, but she caught it.
—Done. Can I go?
—What do we do?!
—Don't touch! The person inside first!!
No one dared intervene. Mess up, and the person inside suffers. No rash attacks.
'Not this again.'
Rampages happened often for her, but never in front of a crowd. Embarrassing. Wanted to hide. Her flaws laid bare for all. Someone end this quick.
As she thought that...
Something approached. Silhouette from afar, but the voice was crystal clear.
—Ugh, such a pain. For real.
—Seong-hoon. You said it last time. People gotta own their mistakes!
—I know. Geez. Hear me? Nah, probably not.
—How should I know.
—Told you not to nag!! Crazy bitch!! Whew. Feels better.
—Whoa... what if they heard?
—So what? Tell the rescuer thanks again.
The bickering ended with one sound. Crisp and refreshing.
The pop of a mercury ball bursting.