Chapter 350
Chapter 350
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 351
Chapter Title: Sparring Aftermath
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After the spar with Kim Sunwoo, Lee Seojun remained alone on the mountain, replaying the match in his mind.
“……I never imagined I’d lose this easily.”
Kim Sunwoo’s words that it would end in an instant.
It hadn’t been mere bravado.
It was an expression of confidence born from objectively trusting his own abilities.
And Kim Sunwoo had proven it with his skill.
“He really is amazing.”
Kim Sunwoo’s strength was something he knew better than anyone.
He was so confident that no one inside the Magic Academy knew Kim Sunwoo as well as he did.
But he himself had no experience losing in a 1-on-1 against anyone his age.
Even if he was exhausted from training, even if his skills had dropped to the point where he couldn’t properly manifest a single sword aura, he had believed he wouldn’t lose easily.
No, he thought that if he went all out, he could win.
“Was I the arrogant one……”
A sudden curiosity arose.
How far did Kim Sunwoo’s strength go? Had he really given his all against me?
Lee Seojun felt an inexplicable bitterness as he gripped Sobackcheon again.
The world praised him as a genius, but he still had much to improve.
Today, he had felt that once more.
He needed to become stronger than he was now.
He never wanted to feel this sense of defeat again. At least not to anyone his age.
“Huu……”
He took a short deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing his mana.
At the same time, light mana began to emanate from the Sobackcheon in his hand.
Lee Seojun opened his eyes and looked at the blade.
His sword aura no longer trembled unstably.
[You have achieved the ‘Physical Therapist’ accomplishment.]
[You have obtained 3,000 points as a reward.]
As he returned to the dormitory, a message popped up.
Physical Therapist.
He couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the sheer absurdity.
“At least it helped him overcome his slump.”
I had taken it pretty seriously since Lee Seojun needed some new motivation.
To get him in top condition, I had gone outside to remove the penalty from the ‘Moonlight’ effect and used ‘Fighting Spirit’, ‘Heart of the Great Nature’, and even ‘Instant Acceleration’ from the start.
It seemed like a lot of abilities to invest in a simple spar, but I was satisfied since it appeared to help Lee Seojun.
“……Ah, but it kinda hurts.”
The spar with Lee Seojun had left cuts all over my body.
It was because I had let so many of his glancing attacks land during the match.
The only attack I successfully landed on him was that kick to his back.
If we were just counting damage taken, it was a total loss for me.
“Tch, a victory marred only by wounds.”
This feeling of having won but still feeling like I lost.
……It’s frustrating for no reason.
Right then.
Ding.
An alarm rang from my smart student handbook.
[Notice: Next week’s 3rd-year school trip.]
[The school trip schedule has been set. Students, please form groups of 4-6 people freely and submit by midnight tomorrow.]
The school trip schedule was finalized.
The destination was Jeju Island, and the main event was the ‘Jeju Autumn Festival’ sponsored by Jeju City and supported by the Hanseong Group.
For reference, even before my regression, we had gone there on a school trip, and aside from a ‘minor incident’ that would occur there, I had bad memories unrelated to it.
There had been so much tasty-looking street food, but back then I had no money, so I couldn’t buy anything.
“Gotta bring a lot of cash.”
Ding.
Then another message rang from the smart student handbook.
[Shin Youngjun: Everyone see the school trip notice?]
It was the group chat with Lee Seojun, Shin Youngjun, Yoon Hayoung, Yoo Ara, Choi Seoyoon, and Lee Hyunju.
I didn’t use it often, but Shin Youngjun and Yoon Hayoung basically monopolized it with their constant chatter.
[Yoon Hayoung: Lol Jeju makes me think of the expo]
[Shin Youngjun: Yeah, that demon terrorist attack turned it into chaos lol]
[Yoon Hayoung: So we’re sticking with this group for the trip?]
[Shin Youngjun: Obviously. Everyone’s grouping together, right?]
[Shin Youngjun: What’s up? Everyone’s read it but no replies? Answer if you saw it]
[Yoo Ara: .]
[Lee Hyunju: Let’s do 6 people here]
It looked like they were planning to form the school trip group with the group chat members.
Having the main characters together was nothing bad for me.
[Choi Seoyoon: Let me join the Jeju party too]
[Shin Youngjun: Right, 2nd years go to Busan?? We went to England for ours lol]
[Choi Seoyoon: (sad puppy emoticon)]
[Shin Youngjun: But why no reply from Kim Sunwoo and Lee Seojun? You guys grouping with us?]
I stared blankly at the chat before typing a message.
[Kim Sunwoo: 1]
[Shin Youngjun: Look at that half-assed reply. But why hasn’t Lee Seojun checked the chat since earlier?]
If my guess was right, Lee Seojun was still up on the mountain training.
[Kim Sunwoo: Probably training.]
[Shin Youngjun: Huh? At this hour? But how do you know he’s training?]
[Lee Seojun: What? Were you looking for me?]
Lee Seojun finally appeared late. His training must have just ended.
[Shin Youngjun: We’re talking about forming groups for the school trip.]
As I stared blankly at the chat, a message appeared before my eyes.
[The number of people praising and following you has exceeded 2,000.]
[You have obtained 5,000 points as a reward.]
“……What’s this?”
I had suddenly gained 5,000 points.
For the reason that 2,000 people were praising and following me.
……Why all of a sudden?
And another message popped up.
[3,000 people are enthusiastic about you.]
[You have obtained 5,000 points as a reward.]
“……What the hell.”
Usually, this kind of thing happened when an article about me went up.
At that moment, a message appeared in the group chat.
[Shin Youngjun: Hey, Lee Seojun. You sparred with Kim Sunwoo today?]
[Lee Seojun: ? How’d you know?]
[Shin Youngjun: Something went up on the Sage’s Grove?]
“……Sage’s Grove?”
I immediately logged into the Sage’s Grove.
At the top, the [Today’s Hot Topics] list caught my eye.
[Today’s Hot Topics]
1. Today’s Lee Seojun VS Kim Sunwoo Actual Combat Spar Video
2. Where Are the Top Magic Academy Graduates Now?
3. This Month’s Wizard Rankings
I stared blankly at the first hot topic post.
‘Today’s Lee Seojun VS Kim Sunwoo Actual Combat Spar Video’.
“What?”
After a moment of bewilderment, I checked the content.
The post had a single video uploaded.
It was footage of today’s spar between me and Lee Seojun, from start to finish.
“No way, when did they film this?”
I stared blankly at the video before checking the comments.
[2,356 Comments]
[Lol wtf Kim Sunwoo what is this? Isn’t this just a total beatdown?]
[No way this is edited right? It’s so dark you can’t even see properly.]
[I told you, Kim Sunwoo is just a monster keke]
[He just took hits all day and then turned it around at the end kekeke]
As expected, explosive reactions were pouring in. As my head started spinning, a message appeared before my eyes.
[Future changes have been detected.]
[Karma increases by 1.]
The next morning.
As I walked to school, I heard students whispering about me.
—Hey, that’s Kim Sunwoo sunbae over there.
—Did you see the video from yesterday? It was insane.
—I was shocked too. I thought Lee Seojun sunbae was the top.
“……Haa.”
I let out a small sigh.
The video of my spar with Lee Seojun from last night had spread worldwide so fast that pretty much everyone knew about it.
Thanks to that, I earned various additional points, totaling 20,000.
20,000 points was enough to buy a decent trait, but since it felt like I had damaged the protagonist Lee Seojun’s reputation, I felt more burdened and guilty than happy—emotions hard to put into words.
After all, Lee Seojun was this world’s protagonist and hero, obligated to receive the respect and attention of many people going forward.
“Sunbae!”
As I walked along in a dazed mood, a voice called me from behind.
Turning around, I saw Choi Seoyoon and Song Seungah approaching me.
With two famous Magic Academy students coming over, even more attention focused on us.
“Yeah, hi.”
I greeted them plainly, and Song Seungah next to her asked,
“Sunbae, is the video from yesterday real?”
At Song Seungah’s question, the surroundings quieted for a moment. I glanced around before nodding.
“Yeah, it’s real.”
At my words, surprise filled Song Seungah’s eyes and those of the surrounding students.
“Wow, so sunbae is stronger than Lee Seojun sunbae……”
I cut her off and said,
“But that video is exaggerated to some extent.”
“Exaggerated?”
“Lee Seojun wasn’t at full strength.”
Then, Choi Seoyoon, who had been quietly watching, seemed to catch my intent and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Ah~ There were rumors Lee Seojun sunbae was in a slump lately, so sunbae helped him out because of that?”
“……Yeah, something like that.”
At those words, the surrounding students started buzzing again.
—Oh, what? That’s what it was? There were rumors about Lee Seojun sunbae being in a slump for the past few days.
—……Hmm, but for a slump, that fight level was ridiculous.
This should serve as a decent explanation.
“Kim Sunwoo!”
Then another voice called me.
Turning around, Lee Seojun and Lee Hyunju were approaching.
With Magic Academy heavyweights gathering on the way to school, even more spectators gathered.
Ignoring the stares, Lee Seojun smiled and said,
“Seoyoon and Seungah are here too.”
“Hello.”
They bowed slightly, and Lee Seojun nodded lightly in return.
“But what were you talking about? Why’s the vibe like this?”
“Ah, that’s……”
Song Seungah glanced around before saying,
“We were asking if the video of you and Kim Sunwoo sunbae from yesterday was real.”
“Oh, that? Yeah, we went at it for real. Kim Sunwoo was insanely strong. Haha, it’s kinda embarrassing.”
Lee Seojun spoke in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
At the same time, everyone wore shocked expressions.
—What? It’s real?
I let out a big sigh as I looked at Lee Seojun.
I had just barely explained it away.
Lee Seojun’s statement quickly spread not just through the school but to various communities and media.
I wondered if this would blow up this much, but it was proof of how high Lee Seojun’s star power and the public’s interest in him were.
For about a week after, pointless debates raged across communities about who was stronger between Lee Seojun and me.
[No, Lee Seojun wasn’t at full strength kekeke Kim Sunwoo admitted it himself.]
[That’s just humility. Didn’t you see the skill gap beyond condition?]
[Top pick for major guilds: Lee Seojun A-rank]
[Ugh, that’s last year’s record, Kim Sunwoo overtook a month ago kege]
[Sigh; The guys themselves are friends but their fandoms are fighting lol live your real lives.]
In the end, the endless debate concluded with ‘We’ll know when they fight at full strength.’
Some of the public refused to accept even that and kept arguing, but over time, the topic cooled off.
In the meantime, the results of the first midterm exams came out.
[Overall Rank: 3rd]
Since all the top students had gotten bottom scores in the Abyss Exploration Trial, I luckily maintained 3rd overall.
My grades didn’t matter much since my Special Task Force acceptance was basically confirmed, but it was fortunate I could keep up some dignity(?) since my fame directly turned into points.
“Alright, all 3rd years gather! Groups together now!”
And so three days passed.
The students gathered at the Magic Academy’s main gate early in the morning with excited faces.
Today was the day the long-awaited final Magic Academy school trip began.