Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Tournament (3)
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I headed to the waiting room after taking out Oh Ha-na.
On the way, I spotted a staff member and stopped him to ask.
“By any chance, do you provide any potions? Something to relieve fatigue.”
“No. I believe they’re only provided to the winner for the event match.”
“I see. Thank you.”
The staff member gave a simple answer and went back to his duties.
‘I’m fine, but Park Ha-yeon must have used up a lot of mana pulling off that bizarre iaido technique.’
The tournament lacked some fairness to begin with, and it seemed that was intentional, factoring in such calculations.
The next match was in an hour.
During the fairly long break, the audience cleared out completely, then returned munching on snacks.
‘To think I’d end up fighting Park Ha-yeon….’
I sighed in the waiting room.
In the game, advancing to the tournament finals as the protagonist was quite difficult.
I recalled seeing the message, 『Achievement completed by 7.8% of players』 after clearing it.
Her abilities weren’t specialized for PvP, so by the semifinals, she had to rely on physical prowess to win against opponents.
‘Even without my detailed advice, she handles things well on her own. That’s a relief.’
When I thought of the original male protagonist, I imagined a character who raised romance flags with every woman he met, stuck his nose into impossible situations due to his meddlesome nature, and ended up dying.
But seeing her devise that odd iaido technique today lightened the burden in my heart.
‘I just need to hand her rare skills and items at the right times.’
There was one lesson I needed to teach Park Ha-yeon in this match, though.
The fact that spears were the best weapons.
Whether in PvP or against monsters, they had favorable matchups, and many late-game weapon drops were spears, making it efficient to train with one starting now.
I planned to toy with her thoroughly using a spear, making her feel its overwhelming superiority down to her bones.
So she could change her mind on her own.
“The match will start soon!”
I heard someone calling me from outside.
I grabbed my spear and left the waiting room.
***
Tournament arena VIP seats.
The table and spacious seating were impressive.
Zhang Haoran, a member of the Central Political Bureau of the People's Republic of China, had arrived in Korea a few days ago.
He was deeply displeased that the Korean president hadn’t come out to greet him, despite his rank as 23rd in the Chinese hierarchy.
Zhang Haoran was having a light snack.
Behind him stood his entourage, and right beside him clung Zhang Yi-chen, a New Humanity.
New Humanity referred to China’s “designer babies.” Failures were sent to the military or intelligence agencies, while successes were adopted as sons or daughters by high-ranking party officials.
Zhang Yi-chen was classified as a success among the New Humanity and was Zhang Haoran’s adopted son.
He was a beautiful boy with Western features—white hair and red eyes.
“The winner of that fight will face you.”
Shin Noda and Park Ha-yeon were locked in fierce combat.
On the surface, it looked evenly matched.
“That man down there will win.”
A-rank Awakener Zhang Yi-chen sensed it intuitively.
He vaguely understood Shin Noda’s strength and could predict the outcome because of it.
《Ah— Shin Noda is relentless! It’s scary to think this is just a first-year.》
《Seriously, I dread how monstrous he’ll become by graduation. Based on his growth rate alone, S-rank in the future isn’t just a dream!》
As Zhang Yi-chen predicted, Shin Noda pressed Park Ha-yeon with relentless attacks.
Park Ha-yeon could only barely defend.
Soon, her right leg was deeply slashed.
Right Leg: 0/150 <Severed>
The damage display on the scoreboard updated, and the right leg portion of Park Ha-yeon’s sparring suit instantly stiffened.
The sparring suit locked the affected area to prevent movement upon severance judgment.
Park Ha-yeon dragged her leg desperately, trying to attack and defend, but it wasn’t enough.
‘Iaido—Zero Second’ got no chance to shine because Shin Noda never gave her distance.
He could block it easily enough, but to demonstrate the sword’s weakness, he deliberately kept closing in aggressively.
《With her leg gone, it’s basically over. Honestly, beating a spear with a sword like that is a pipe dream. She should’ve worn heavier armor like Oh Ha-na.》
《Park Ha-yeon was a bit complacent. Oh! Right as I say that—Shin Noda’s surprise thrust! It hits her throat!》
Park Ha-yeon’s model on the scoreboard turned red, displaying the message 『Death』.
Beep, beep.
The referee blew the whistle, declaring the match over.
《Match end! Shin Noda wins the championship! What a surprise! Shin Noda, who only used telekinesis, takes the title!》
《His skills were just support, really. His divine spearwork and battle sense shone through. Even active heroes who rely on skills could learn from this.》
《Ahem… Please refrain from such dangerous statements.》
A smile crept onto Zhang Yi-chen’s lips.
He’d been bored lately, with no peers able to match him.
“Father, thank you for bringing me today. Preparing such a fine opponent.”
“Y-Yeah… Sure….”
He expressed his gratitude to his adoptive father.
His ingrained combat instincts were raging, demanding he jump in and fight the guy right now.
Zhang Yi-chen even stood up from his seat.
He picked up his weapon—twin swords.
“Young master, the friendly match is in one hour. Sorry, but please just a bit longer….”
“Got it.”
At the entourage’s explanation, Zhang Yi-chen sat back down to suppress his excitement.
***
Athlete waiting room.
The place where I should’ve been resting alone was now packed with VIPs.
“Shin Noda. You must win the match in one hour. The nation’s honor is at stake.”
A high-ranking official-looking man grabbed my hand and said so.
“Sure, leave it to me.”
I planned to win anyway, so I nodded vaguely.
This was around the midpoint of the original story, but in the late game, China blatantly revealed its ambitions as a hegemon.
Invasion of the South using puppet North Korea.
Of course, with only scraps like Pyeonganbuk-do and Hamgyong-do left, North Korea lacked proper forces, but that didn’t matter.
‘Chinese patriots’ ‘voluntarily’ enlisting in sympathy with North Korea’s cause.
Strangely, most ‘Chinese patriots’ were Chinese PLA veterans, numbering in the tens of thousands, but the Chinese government insisted they knew nothing.
Already stretched thin blocking demon forces summoning the Demon King worldwide, defending against a Chinese invasion would require two bodies.
I planned to demonstrate maximum power in this duel to ensure China didn’t take us lightly.
‘If they dismiss me as just a student, nothing to be done, but I’ll do my best.’
Preventing China’s war trolling in the late game would make preparing for the Demon King far easier.
“Which is why—drink this potion. It’s the finest from K Group, with a booster added.”
He whispered softly in my ear.
“A booster?”
I stiffened slightly and asked back.
Boosters were illegal drugs that temporarily enhanced an Awakener’s abilities.
Some were fine, but others had side effects, requiring caution.
Naturally, they were treated as doping and taboo in official matches.
“Ah—don’t worry. This isn’t some cheap one with side effects. I’m no expert, but it’s called ‘Oracle’ or something.”
Oracle was an ultra-premium booster.
Virtually no side effects, with massive boosts—+300 to all stats.
There was no such event in the original, so this must be some butterfly effect.
The middle-aged man before me showed no sign of lying, so I trusted him and drank the potion.
“Status Window.”
------------[Status Window]------------
◈ Name
null
◈ Stats
[Strength 200 A](+300)
[Agility 841 B](+300)
[Intelligence 291 C](+300)
[Luck 277 F](+300)
[Overall C]
◈ Skills
[Inheritance 921 A]
[Dragon Heart --- A]
[Telekinesis 767 C]
[Magic Engraving --- B]
[Polymorph --- S]
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As expected, it was Oracle.
Preparing such an expensive booster.
‘The government realizes China’s threat like I do? Planning a show of force?’
If so, that was truly fortunate.
I felt a twinge of guilt over the secret doping, but my opponent was New Humanity.
The guy was doping incarnate.
Besides, to prevent war, I had to win overwhelmingly.
By the time the break was mostly over, I left the waiting room and looked toward the duel arena. My opponent was already there, waiting.
Seeing him, I instantly sensed something was wrong.
A boy with white hair and red eyes.
Wearing light armor like me, armed with twin swords.
And the immense aura radiating from him.
‘He’s way stronger than I thought?’
Just gauging his power put him at A-rank.
In the original, this was a “must-lose battle” type, so I couldn’t gauge his strength.
I figured he’d be upper B-rank at best, but seeing him now, he might require my full power.
I went back to the waiting room and called the staff and referee.
‘Gotta make full use of home advantage.’