Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Captain's Battle Preparations
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Yoo Ara looked at me with curious eyes.
"I've just had a bunch of things to take care of."
"Looks like you were out all night."
Out all night. Yeah, that was pretty accurate.
"Uh, yeah. Spot on."
Her gaze toward me turned a bit strange.
"What kind of business does a student have that requires staying out overnight?"
"It happens. Don't pry."
"Hmm... Fine."
Her expression seemed lost in thought for a moment before she nodded.
"Well, it's not like you were out drinking late with some girl."
What? How did she know?
The nuance was way off, but it hit close enough to make me feel guilty.
"Uh, uh-huh. Right."
"What's with that reaction? Is it true?"
"No way."
"Hmm... Suspicious."
Yoo Ara narrowed her eyes.
"Anyway, if you have nothing else to say, I'm going."
She turned to head back to the dorms.
"Kim Sun-woo."
Yoo Ara called out to me from behind.
I turned around, and she spoke.
"No, let's both do our best on next week's exam."
I chuckled.
"Yeah. Let's crush it together."
With that, I parted ways with Yoo Ara and returned to the dorm.
Beep. The door opened, and Gretel, who had been sprawled out far away, woke up in a daze. It was like seeing a puppy waiting for its owner at home.
"Gretel. Were you good?"
Gretel toddled over to me. Then she hugged my ankle.
I crouched down and stroked her torso.
It would be nice if it felt soft like a puppy, but it was hard and rough, making my palm hurt.
Time passed, and midterms began. The first day was the written exam.
Thanks to the external aid buff, I wrote down perfect answers in no time and fell asleep.
My condition was perfect as a result. I figured I could shave 0.3 seconds off my record in the next artificial boss battle.
Lunchtime arrived.
"Kim Sun-woo! Let's eat together!"
Lee Seo-jun approached me cheerfully. For once, he was alone—Shin Young-jun and Lee Hyun-joo, who usually stuck to him like best friends, were nowhere in sight.
I gave him a knowing look, and he spoke first.
"Young-jun and Hyun-joo are in the faculty office. They have a meeting about scholarships."
"Ah."
I nodded.
"Sure, let's eat together."
Better than eating alone like a loner.
Lee Seo-jun and I headed to the cafeteria. Crowds of people were visible outside.
About 70% of them were outsiders here to watch the exams—reporters, scouts, and the like.
The remaining 30% were...
Safety personnel from the Wizards' Association.
After the terrorist attack by demons last semester, the school had made some preparations.
As we walked along, Lee Seo-jun suddenly asked,
"How'd the exam go?"
"Of course. Perfect score guaranteed."
"You're so confident. Well, three straight perfects on theory, so yeah."
"Doesn't matter. The real deal is practical."
"What are you talking about? You're great at practical too. I'm looking forward to the captain battle."
Lee Seo-jun said that, paused as if in thought, then opened his mouth again.
"If I do well, I might even fight you."
The captain battle was a rule where you basically had to fight and take down the opponent's captain to win.
As he said, there was sure to be a situation where I'd have to face Lee Seo-jun in this exam.
Plus, I was the 'captain' for this exam.
"Go easy on me."
He chuckled at my words.
Just then, a reporter with a camera and mic approached us from afar.
Other reporters spotted us too and came running.
I thought they were all here for Lee Seo-jun, of course.
"Kim Sun-woo! Can we have an interview?"
They addressed me, not him.
I was a bit flustered, but since it might earn points, I agreed to it.
Lee Seo-jun smiled and waited patiently. From his expression, he found the situation amusing.
"Sure, that's fine."
"Thank you! So, Sun-woo, you've been selected for 'Star 50'—the 50 rising stars we absolutely must watch this time. Did you know?"
Star 50.
It was an authoritative magic magazine that ranked promising talents worldwide.
The rankings covered everyone from 17 to 19 years old. Right now, 1st place was probably Lee Seo-jun, 5th Yoo Ara, 6th Lily Rose, 9th Choi Seo-yoon.
Of course, Yoo Ara's 5th place was underrated because she'd always lost to Lee Seo-jun and stayed at 2nd.
Lily Rose had dropped due to her poor performance in the last final exam.
It felt oddly surreal that I'd made it onto a list combining prospects from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years worldwide, not just 2nd-years.
"Nope, didn't know."
The reporter smiled at my answer and continued.
"Ah, then you probably don't know that Lily Rose picked you today as the student she fears most for next year's 'Seongmuje' either?"
That night.
Lily Rose lay in bed, surfing the internet on her laptop.
The screen showed the results from today's Korean Wizard Academy exam.
Artificial Boss Time Attack Exam
1st: Lee Seo-jun (4:21)
2nd: Yoo Ara (4:26)
3rd: Kim Sun-woo (4:27)
"As expected."
Kim Sun-woo had achieved top-tier results again.
Sure, 3rd place—not 1st or 2nd—was a bit odd, but jumping from 20th to 3rd was impressive enough.
Lily checked the exam details.
"Reinforced Golem, huh."
More precisely, 'Reinforced Black Golem.'
It wore five layers of defensive armor, so you had to destroy all five to take it down—a boss monster with extreme defense.
These were usually advantageous for power-type wizards with naturally high mana reserves, rather than technique or control specialists.
That probably favored Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara.
From sparring Kim Sun-woo before, she knew he was definitely a technique-type wizard.
Though reviewing that fight, he was less a simple technician and more one of the world's rare 'all-rounders.'
The exam footage confirmed it—Kim Sun-woo's performance was insane.
Comments about him made up nearly 30% of the total.
Seeing that stirred an inexplicable emotion in Lily Rose.
"Maybe I should go to Korea."
The main event, 'Captain's Battle,' would start the day after tomorrow in Korea.
With the time difference between the UK and Korea, she could attend without messing up her schedule.
"Hmm."
Yeah, it'd been a while. Time to head to Korea and watch the exam.
Lily Rose smiled and booked a portal gate.
Two days later, the anticipated 'Captain's Battle' began in the multi-purpose virtual training grounds.
Like the hostage crisis training before, it was held in virtual grounds, so no direct viewing.
Instead, monitors broadcast it live.
The viewing rooms with those monitors were probably packed with reporters and scouts.
A-team's combat exam, full of Lee Seo-jun, Yoo Ara, and top-rankers—no way they'd miss that.
"Alright, teams, gather up."
"Got it."
Twenty minutes before the exam started.
The teams assembled.
I looked around our team—Team 1.
Everyone's faces showed anxiety.
"Ah, can we even win this?"
"Yeah. How do we block with Lee Seo-jun on their side?"
"Hey, we've got Yoo Ara too."
"But compared to Lee Seo-jun..."
"What'd you say?"
Yoo Ara suddenly appeared and asked.
Everyone knew she hated being compared to Lee Seo-jun.
The students who'd been chattering apologized and backed off, fearing retaliation.
Yoo Ara sighed deeply and addressed the group.
"Gather round. Strategy meeting."
At the leader's call, all 25 assembled quickly.
Yoo Ara glanced at Lee Seo-jun's team, chatting animatedly in the distance, then spoke.
"First, before strategy: we won't tell anyone who the captain is."
Murmurs erupted among some students.
"Is that okay? They won't know either, but how do we protect ours?"
"It's fine. And there will definitely be betrayals no matter what. This is better."
Captain's Battle rules.
Twenty minutes after start, the first three could use the 'betrayal' system to switch teams.
And Yoo Ara knew how much the students trusted and respected Lee Seo-jun.
Some would betray just to join his team.
"Have you picked a captain?"
"Yeah. Captain's already chosen. Registration done."
"Oh? So the captain knows?"
Yoo Ara pretended to scan the group while briefly meeting my eyes.
"Yep."
"Hmm. Wonder who it is. Yoo Ara herself?"
"Heh. That'd be a twist."
As commotion stirred, Yoo Ara glared sharply at everyone. They flinched and shut up.
She could exert that pressure on peers.
What charisma... though it felt more like reign of terror.
"Enough guessing. Quiet down."
Yoo Ara said again.
"Our strategy is simple."
Everyone looked at her.
"All-out attack."
"What?"
"Exactly that. No guarding anyone. Focus only on reducing their numbers."
"Won't that put the captain at risk? If everyone's attacking, the captain has to join in to avoid suspicion."
"It's fine."
Yoo Ara looked at me.
Her eyes conveyed trust in me.
Then a voice echoed in the exam grounds.
[The midterm main event, 'Captain's Battle,' will begin shortly.]
"Argh! I'm late—!"
Korean Wizard Academy main gate.
Lily Rose was sprinting frantically on foreign soil.
The academy's main event for today—2nd-year Captain's Battle—had already started.
Plus, Korea's core powerhouses, Lee Seo-jun and Kim Sun-woo, might face off today. Missing this big event would be a crime.
"Out of the way!"
The flashy blonde suddenly dashing drew everyone's eyes.
"Isn't that... Lily Rose?"
"Yeah? Looks like her."
Some reporters recognized her and tried for interviews, but Lily ignored them all in her rush to the exam grounds.
Then she stopped.
"Where's the viewing room again?"
Lily hurriedly looked around. Should she ask someone? Then she spotted a familiar brown-haired back nearby.
The brown hair turned at the feeling of her gaze.
Lily's eyes widened.
"W-What? Why are you here?"
"That's what I want to say."
The cool-looking guy with his brown hair slicked back muttered as he looked at her.
"Luke. You here for the exam too?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Luke Fallon.
Top of 2nd-year at the American Wizard Academy.
Ranked 2nd among world prospects.
Specialty: reinforcement magic, wielding a sword like Lee Seo-jun and Lily.
"Didn't expect to run into you here."
Lily scoffed at Luke's words.
"That's my line. Still analyzing other schools' exams like a creep, huh?"
"Creep? What about you?"
"I'm here purely 'cause it'll be fun. Anyway, you're persistent. Thought you went quiet after losing to Lee Seo-jun last year. Tsk."
Luke frowned at Lily's jab.
Last summer break.
There'd been a joint training between Korean and American Wizard Academies.
It included student spars, and by chance, Luke faced Lee Seo-jun 1v1.
Luke had been confident.
He believed he was the best in their age group. Lee Seo-jun's higher ranking was just because they hadn't fought yet.
But after that 1v1, those thoughts vanished.
Lee Seo-jun's skill surpassed his imagination.
Not just prospect level—he could hold his own against mid-to-upper pro wizards right now.
The result: Lee Seo-jun's complete victory.
For Luke, it was the most shocking experience of his life.
"And you? You lost to him in finals too."
Luke chuckled and added,
"Oh, wait—not Lee Seo-jun, was it Kim Sun-woo? The guy's ranked 20th now, right?"