Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Efforts to Win the Bet with the Shady Teacher (2)
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I'd come to the training grounds to train. Park A-young was just a bonus. Chatting with her was no reason to head back.
I grabbed a training spear from the rack and waited for a spot to open up in the technique honing room.
The honing rooms were hugely popular. They were the only place where you could unleash your mana freely without special permission, so every cadet was lining up to use them.
"Crowded, huh..."
"The sparring rooms don't work first-come, first-served. The lines are brutal."
Park A-young had paused her training and was sticking by my side. Was she keeping me company so I wouldn't get bored waiting? She clearly had no intention of leaving.
I didn't mind her hanging around either. Better than being alone.
Staring blankly while waiting beat idly eyeing her outrageously massive tits. Way healthier for my dick, at least.
"Isn't that one empty?"
The honing rooms weren't just one. There were eleven scattered across the vast training grounds.
Yet one of them sat vacant. No line behind it, no one using it.
Helpfully explaining for an academy noob like me, Park A-young chimed in.
"That's a sparring room. Not a honing room."
"Different?"
"...?"
She shot me a puzzled look, wondering why I didn't know that.
"People with permission can spar in there. Not just weapon forms—you can use mana for real fights."
"For real?"
"Yeah, but who wants to spar out in the open like this? No one, obviously. That's why it's empty."
The Hero Tournament was right around the corner. No cadet in their right mind would reveal their full power to everyone gathered here.
It made perfect sense that it was empty. Clicked instantly.
'...Couldn't they just tint the glass or something to block the view?'
They could've designed it right from the start. No clue why they'd make it so you could see inside the sparring and honing rooms.
'Academy bans dating, after all.'
Not that the rule meant much anymore.
"Hmm..."
Thoughts swirled. It was 4 p.m. now.
Should I keep waiting for a honing room spot? Even with King Tits right here, it didn't seem like it'd be quick.
'Might as well swing the spear around in a sparring room and call it...'
Why didn't they run the honing rooms on a reservation system? If they took bookings ahead of time, no one would have to deal with this mess.
There had to be a reason. Nothing else to do but assume.
"How do I use a sparring room?"
"...You want to use the sparring room? You can't go solo."
She gave me a questioning look when I asked. Not sure if she was sharp or oblivious.
"Obviously, you need a partner to go in."
"Partner?"
Park A-young glanced around, hunting for someone to pair me with. Too bad—I'd come alone. Only one familiar face in the whole training ground: hers.
With a chuckle, I slung my arm around her shoulders like an embrace. Even in this reversed gender world, I towered over the average woman.
Easy to pull her into my chest.
"Eep...!"
Her body went rigid. Froze solid the instant my arm touched her.
Guess she'd been training hard in her own way, despite pretending otherwise.
"A-young, you've got me covered. We can just go in together."
"M-Me? Spar with you...? It won't help you at all..."
The skill gap was that wide. I was the vice class president duking it out for 1st or 2nd in C Class, while she scrapped for the bottom spots.
But that didn't matter.
"Any conditions for using the sparring room? As long as you've got a partner, right?"
"...Well, yeah."
"Then let's go in. Beats waiting for a honing room."
"The sparring rooms have CCTV."
So what? Did it matter?
"Means other cadets or teachers might watch. Could leak your full power..."
"Ah."
There had to be guys like me out there. Better to pair up and use the sparring room than rot in the honing room line—clever workaround. No way I was the only one who'd thought of it.
The academy had countermeasures. They'd locked it down strictly for sparring only.
Wouldn't have cared any other time, but right now, spectatorship loomed large.
"That's why it's empty. Honing rooms don't have CCTV?"
"Nope, just the sparring ones."
Everyone was dead serious. Desperate to rack up results at the Hero Tournament.
'I'm serious too, but...'
My bet with Eum Ji-hye was basically the body's scheme.
The body had deliberately rampaged my power to hurt her, then played up the trauma angle as an excuse.
'If it planned that, doesn't it mean I can make it to the quarterfinals?'
Didn't care if my power leaked. Reaching the quarters was basically fate anyway.
Didn't dwell long. Better mental health to spar in a room and bounce than camp out here for a honing spot.
"A-young, wanna spar with me?"
"...I don't mind... You really wanna use the sparring room?"
"Yeah."
Park A-young wasn't competing in the Hero Tournament. Her skills weren't up to snuff—no chance.
I was different. I had the quals to enter.
Hanging on the cutoff line, sure, but unlike her, I had odds.
That's why she worried. Was it okay to show off straight-up to other cadets and teachers?
Leaking power meant I'd be the one hurting.
"It's fine. I just gotta get stronger than what I show today."
Stronger than today, and any leak's meaningless.
"...That's a bit different from what Han-seol said."
"Huh?"
She glanced at me sideways and muttered.
"Han-seol said you were pretty passive, Juyeon-woo. But you don't seem like it."
"Ah..."
The heroine profile did list me as passive.
'Passive, but with strong protective instincts and paternal affection.'
Reasons were up to interpretation.
'Right now, I want to spar with A-young.'
Because I wanted to boost her confidence.
Not for me. That's why I could act bold.
"I am passive and introverted. Kinda shy around strangers. But not with friends."
"...With friends?"
"We're friends, right? Same class, same team before."
"..."
No telling when, but we'd end up rubbing dicks and pussies together someday.
"Friends... Juyeon-woo and me... friends..."
She teared up like "friends" hit her hard. She blinked it away quick, but I caught that fleeting expression.
'No friends, huh?'
Recalling what I knew about Park A-young.
Han-seol's friend, C Class dead last, academy's top tits... Yeah, that last one's my private nickname.
Like "best under heaven," but for the biggest rack in the academy. Too vulgar to say out loud.
'Never seen her hang with friends.'
Back in C Class, she kept to herself. Barely there, kinda invisible.
Not the party type, not the model student either.
"Heh heh, calling me out as a friend feels kinda embarrassing."
She gave an awkward laugh, shrugging her shoulders. Squirming to shake off my still-draped arm. That vibe.
I hugged her tighter instead. Friends could sling arms around shoulders, mindset.
The body greenlit it.
"You'll help, right?"
"...I'll just be no match. Is there even a point to sparring?"
"Beats the honing room wait time. Feels worthwhile."
Waiting was waste. That's my philosophy.
Seeing my earnest eyes, she nodded like she got it.
"...Okay, I'll go let them know. We're using a sparring room."
"Just saying it gets us in?"
"No one's using them, so yeah. That's why you asked me, right?"
"Spot on."
"Wait here."
Park A-young handled exactly what I wanted, no fuss. Saved me the hassle, thanks to her.
'This why popular kids get lackeys?'
Convenient. No effort needed—pure bliss.
Guy and girl? Third parties wouldn't bat an eye. No way it'd look like bullying.
"Told them."
"Quick."
"Management office is right next door."
"Ready to use now?"
"Yeah, but only 30 minutes."
"Perfect."
Anything over 30 minutes sparring's torture. I headed into the sparring room with Park A-young.