Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Victory in the Captain's Battle
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[Activating effect: 'Fighting Spirit.']
[For 3 minutes, all stats increase by 20%.]
I immediately activated Fighting Spirit.
Once again, my stats were boosted, and the effects of Heart of Great Nature and Fighting Spirit stacked, causing an enormous surge of mana to pour out from my body.
My body, now even stronger by another level, barely dodged Lee Seojun's sword once more.
Then, I poured mana into my foot and kicked Lee Seojun squarely in the stomach.
"……Kuh!"
Lee Seojun's body floated into the air and was shoved far back.
He let out a pained breath and stabbed his sword into the ground.
Lee Seojun's gaze turned back to me. A hint of irritation was mixed into his eyes.
Was he upset about the kick? As that thought crossed my mind, Lee Seojun called out to me in a voice chilled to the bone.
"……Kim Sunwoo."
Lee Seojun bit his lip for a moment before opening his mouth again.
"You're not holding back, are you?"
"......What?"
I couldn't believe my ears for a second. Who was holding back on whom?
"If you are, cut it out right now and go all out."
"……What the hell are you talking about?"
"Four times."
"What?"
"Your movements changed drastically four times."
That was when I realized what Lee Seojun meant by 'four times.'
Once when I used Instant Acceleration.
Twice when Brutal Resolve activated.
Three times when I used Heart of Great Nature.
Four times when I used Fighting Spirit.
From his perspective, with my abilities surging multiple times through traits and skills, he must have mistaken it for me going easy on him.
That was when it happened.
Kwaaaaang-!
A massive explosion rang out from afar, followed by a huge plume of smoke.
I turned my gaze and saw three figures vanishing after being struck directly by a fireball.
Now, only Shin Youngjun remained.
Shin Youngjun charged at them again on his limping legs.
Lee Seojun watched the scene with troubled eyes before turning his gaze back to me.
I looked back at Lee Seojun and spoke.
"I'm not going easy. Who would I go easy on?"
"Then what was that movement just now."
"Anyway, I'm telling you it's not that."
Lee Seojun didn't respond. He simply charged at me without a word.
I quickly retreated to avoid closing the distance with him.
And I attempted a Compressed Manifestation.
Paaang-!
The compressed magic orb shot forward, leaving a white afterimage.
Lee Seojun twisted his body swiftly to dodge the attack.
The magic barely grazed his upper arm and veered off.
"Kuh!"
At that moment, the duration of Heart of Great Nature ended.
With my rapidly recovering mana gone, I had no choice but to lower the intensity of my mana-enhanced physical reinforcement.
This was bad. Lee Seojun was in his awakened state right now.
If he closed in like this, I wouldn't last long.
As I tensed up,
A massive fireball flew toward Lee Seojun.
Lee Seojun dodged it quickly by moving aside.
Kwaaang!
Lee Seojun glanced toward Yoo Ara, gripped his sword tightly, and looked at me.
It seemed Shin Youngjun had been taken out.
That meant the situation was reaching its endgame. I checked the status board.
Lvsl3.
Victory was right around the corner.
*Exam End.*
Silence hung over the observation room. Everyone was too stunned to speak.
At first, it had been a chaotic melee with no real strategy—just brute force.
Considering the prestige of the Korean Wizard Academy, it was a disappointing style of combat.
But that wasn't the case.
The messy fights at the beginning were all forgotten once the final battle began.
The battles in the last 20 minutes were on an unbelievably high level for students.
A few students were strongly etched in people's minds.
Yoo Ara from the winning Team 1, who racked up the most kills and took MVP.
Shin Youngjun, who held out tenaciously against 14 opponents for a long time to buy Lee Seojun attack windows.
Kim Sunwoo, Team 1's captain, who put up a solid fight against Lee Seojun and survived to the end.
……And Lee Seojun, who thrilled everyone by taking out 8 in a hellish 1-vs-13 scenario.
It was a historic exam in many ways.
Especially Lee Seojun's desperate and valiant final stand—it was legendary enough to be talked about in every future captain's battle exam.
"Insane."
"Really gives me chills. Wow…… Lee Seojun is on another level……"
"Even though they lost, he's all I can think about. How does one guy handle 13 like that?"
"I thought I was watching a zombie. Kept getting hit by magic but wouldn't go down."
"Kim Sunwoo proved he's no fluke this time."
"The hidden MVP. He basically drew all the key players' attention by himself and survived to the end."
"Yoo Ara beat Lee Seojun in the end. A strategic win, right? I think she was the team leader."
[Winner: Team 1]
[Most Kills MVP: Yoo Ara]
[Captain: Kim Sunwoo]
The individual scores appeared on the scoreboard. Some guild scouts started making frantic calls upon seeing them.
"Kim Sunwoo—keep tabs on that guy properly."
"What the hell is that kid's deal?"
"He's ranked 20th?"
And.
Lily was still trembling with excitement as she stared at the scoreboard.
The showdown between Kim Sunwoo and Lee Seojun.
And Lee Seojun's final battle alone.
It had been so intense it made her palms sweat. She wondered if she could have lasted that long in their place.
She had seen Lee Seojun and Kim Sunwoo as rivals, but this time, she felt genuine respect for them.
"Luke! Wasn't it amazing?"
Lily turned to Luke to share her thoughts.
But Luke didn't answer. His expression was stiff, lost in thought for a moment before he stood up.
"I'm heading out."
"Huh? Already?"
"I've got class today. Busy."
Lily's mouth fell open at Luke's words.
"Oh, right. I have class too. Ugh~ I don't wanna go."
Luke ignored her and left the observation room.
Lily chased after his back, shouting loudly.
"Hey! So, what'd you think of the exam!"
"You guys did great!"
"Wow, Kim Sunwoo was the captain?"
"At the end, I really thought you were done for against Lee Seojun."
"Today's real MVP is Kim Sunwoo."
The exam was over.
In the waiting room, the winners of Team 1 gathered, sharing their thoughts on the test.
Everyone's faces were lit up with excitement.
No one had imagined they'd take down Lee Seojun, who had been undefeated in main exams. It was a natural reaction.
"Good work."
As I sat on the bench resting, Yoo Ara sat next to me and spoke. She then held something out in front of my face.
It was an apple-flavored canned drink.
"You did great too."
I took the can and replied. Yoo Ara gave a faint smile.
"Your performance was huge. We definitely would've lost if you hadn't held out. Great call making you captain."
I shrugged at Yoo Ara's praise.
"Nah. I only lasted because you timed it perfectly. Oh, right—we finally won? Against Lee Seojun."
Yoo Ara's performance today had been incredible.
And as MVP, she'd surely take first in this midterm over Lee Seojun.
"Won…… Yeah, we won."
Yoo Ara murmured quietly. Even though she'd gotten the win she wanted against Lee Seojun, her voice didn't sound satisfied.
Well, Lee Seojun's final fight had been shocking even to me, who'd seen the original story through to the end.
Awakening in a crisis moment.
Then breaking through his limits again while already surpassing them. That was what it meant to be a protagonist who grew in battle.
"Whatever. The important thing is you're the winner and Lee Seojun's the loser. Focus on the result."
Yoo Ara nodded. Then she looked at me with a meaningful gaze.
"But you……"
Yoo Ara trailed off suddenly.
"Why?"
Yoo Ara's lips twitched before she spoke again.
"I overheard what Lee Seojun said to you during the exam. Were you really going easy on him?"
I furrowed my brow.
"I wasn't. Who would I go easy on?"
Yoo Ara pondered my firm denial for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah? Okay then. Looked like Lee Seojun was pretty pissed."
With that, Yoo Ara stood up.
"Anyway, good work. I'm off."
"Uh-huh."
Yoo Ara vanished somewhere after that.
I took a sip of the apple can and stood up as well.
As I moved, I spotted Lee Seojun in the distance, surrounded by dozens of students offering consolation.
His tenacious solo stand had probably inspired a lot of people.
An indomitable will that never gave up, even in dire straits.
But his defeat against the numbers likely stirred strong sympathy.
Then, as if sensing my gaze, Lee Seojun looked my way. I met his eyes. We stared at each other for about three seconds.
There was no more irritation or anger in his gaze like before.
Lee Seojun gave a faint smile. It was like he was congratulating me.
Like a runner-up in a tournament final graciously congratulating the victor.
A lonely, regretful smile, yet sincere.
After finishing all the events, I returned to the dorm. I trudged wearily into my room.
The mental fatigue outweighed the physical.
I'd been mobbed by reporters after the exam, and the test itself had been grueling.
"Ungae."
Gretel approached me with a sausage in her mouth. I stroked her hard, prickly back, and she grinned happily.
I flopped onto the sofa.
After pondering what to do, I activated Outsider's Benefit.
['Captain's Battle Victory' achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
['Won as Captain's Battle Captain' achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
[Many people feel deep admiration for you.]
[Reward: 8,000 points acquired.]
[Character 'Lee Seojun's interest in you has increased.]
[Character 'Lee Seojun's interest level in you: Lv. 3]
[Reward: 3,000 points acquired.]
[An unseen character feels interest in you.]
[Reward: 500 points acquired.]
I'd earned a ton of achievements and fame points. Even Lee Seojun's interest level had risen. There were so many I could barely read them all.
Rough estimate: about 18,000 points.
I cleared all the messages and sank into thought for a moment.
Then I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes.
In the end, we won.
Even with Lee Seojun on the opposing team, I'd pulled off the victory.
If we'd lost, it would've been a huge setback for Seongmu Festival participation…… Good thing we didn't.
In a conference room at Hanseong Pharmaceuticals, discussions about sponsoring the Wizard Academy had been going on for a while.
Team Leader Kim from the PR team, who had observed the match in person, gave a long rundown of the 2nd-year Captain's Battle.
Yoo Ara, who clinched MVP.
Kim Sunwoo, the surprise who went toe-to-toe with Lee Seojun in a 1-on-1.
And Lee Seojun, who shocked everyone in a 1-vs-13.
"Excluding Lee Seojun, the student drawing the most public interest right now is Kim Sunwoo."
Everyone in the room checked the documents.
Rank 20 overall—ambiguous, but a massive improvement from last semester.
"The consensus is that he excellently fulfilled the key 'captain' role in the Captain's Battle. Plenty calling him the hidden MVP."
Han Seyeon adjusted her posture and read the file carefully.
Kim Sunwoo.
This student again.
She'd decided there was no link to Kim Jinwoo and tried to ignore him, but here he was, shining in the midterm once more.
Looking at it, Han Seyeon felt a strange sensation in a corner of her heart.
"Any issues with his character?"
Han Seyeon asked. Character was crucial when indirectly promoting to the public.
"No, none at all. Teachers rave about his great personality."
Great character too……
The story was solid.
From the bottom of the school to top ranks through effort. And good personality.
Plus, perfect theory scores always, so diligence would appeal to the masses.
"Sponsorship justification is more than enough. We'd look like idiots not to."
"Yes, exactly."
"I think this kid's good. What do you say, Director Jeong?"
At Han Seyeon's question, Executive Director Jeong quickly scanned the file and nodded.
"Well, I'll go with Headquarters Head Han's opinion. Haha."
Executive Director Jeong replied with a laugh.