The Ranking Match Begins
“Come on in and rest up. If anything else happens, just contact me right away.”
Suhui insisted on walking Chayeon all the way to the dormitory entrance even after she kept insisting she was fine.
“Teacher, head inside too.”
“Yeah, get some proper rest.”
Suhui waved and vanished from the spot.
Tap. Tap.
Footsteps echoed across the emergency stairs.
It had been the same stairs she always took, yet after such a big incident it suddenly felt brand new.
The dorm was quiet.
Only a few people here and there gathered in small groups to chat softly.
What broke the silence was the sound of the Black Fox’s voice ringing inside her head.
Psychological state is a mess.
“…! You, you!”
How long had it been since she heard that voice?
“You damn bastard!!”
She couldn’t help shouting loudly, and the surrounding people turned with startled faces.
Chayeon hurriedly covered her mouth and rushed inside.
Bee-pik. Clatter.
“You bastard! What the hell were you doing, now showing up!”
I told you not to. I slept for a while because I used too much power recovering.
“How many days did you sleep?!”
It seems quite some time has passed just from your reaction. The reaction isn’t normal. What happened? Could it be the White Nine-tailed Fox came?
The anger that had been simmering down flared up all the way to the top of her head.
What happened? What the hell happened?
Memories from the afternoon flashed through Chayeon’s mind.
Terrible memories that could be called the worst moment of her life, ones she never wanted to experience again.
So that’s what happened.
“Yeah! Damn it, while I’m sleeping whenever necessary, calling myself a deity or whatever. If it weren’t for that, I… I…”
Sorry.
“Huh?”
An unexpectedly sincere apology made Chayeon jump and blurt out.
I apologize.
“…”
She had apologized so straightforwardly that he had nothing left to say.
“…Yeah. Whatever happened already happened. There’s no point keeping it up.”
You stabilized quickly. It really makes a difference whether I interfere or not.
An incomprehensible remark.
“What do you mean, interfere?”
It might be better if I explain.
The Black Fox continued.
By speaking to you normally, I’ve been contributing to maintaining your calm.
Contributing to maintaining calm? What did that mean?
You seem not to understand, so I’ll explain in detail. Becoming a female, entering Jindal, facing death, and fighting that pathetic demon. I was interfering.
A bewildering explanation.
Normal humans feel fear and panic in such situations. By using my power, I kept your mind stabilized so that wouldn’t happen.
Chayeon listened to every word of the Black Fox’s explanation with her mind strangely clear.
However, because I had to rest briefly this time, I couldn’t stabilize your mind properly. It was careless.
Why had she broken so easily this time?
The Black Fox’s explanation provided the answer.
It was a bit shameful.
Chayeon had a much stronger mental state than she thought.
Learning that the Black Fox had been secretly caring for her from behind made her no more shocked than hearing that Jo Namyeon had actually been a disguised demon.
Interfering with her mind secretly.
Should she feel disgusted or grateful?
Hm.
Right now, the first thing she needed to think about was something else.
So that bastard.
“Yeah. I need to pay him back. But my ability is a pain. According to him, he can freely control Attraction and Repulsion. If that’s true, I don’t see any way to win.”
She had laid the groundwork for revenge, but whether it would actually work was another matter.
Of course, the method she had used could have reduced the damage somehow, no matter who won.
But what Chayeon wanted was thorough, perfect victory.
I can’t win with the current you.
“No way to win? You’re strong.”
It’s not that there’s no way. It means I can’t beat you with the current you. Let me explain once more.
The Black Fox spoke again.
My ability is Adaptation. Quite literally, it allows me to adapt to the opponent’s ability and gain power to counter it. To activate it, I need to experience the ability’s activation at least a few times.
“At least a few times.”
The first match with Arena and the fight with Rubrum-Luna.
In both cases, she had been completely defenseless at first, but later her body’s senses became extremely sharp, and she could suppress them both.
“But I’ve already been through that bastard’s ability multiple times.”
I know. But because I was asleep, it wasn’t enough. I need more experience.
From a certain point onward, the opponent becomes weaker than you.
It was true that the Black Fox’s ability was one that deserved to be called the strongest.
But the cost wasn’t insignificant either.
Strictly speaking, if you died before adapting, it was nothing but an ability.
“Anyway, it means I have to adapt a bit more.”
Yes.
She needed to experience the power a bit more, though not enough to be dangerous.
“Okay. I’ll ‘endure’ a bit more.”
It didn’t seem as difficult as it sounded.
***
The next morning.
When Chayeon entered the main building’s first floor, she saw a familiar back.
That back that made her shiver just from looking at it.
Chayeon carefully scanned her surroundings.
Many eyes were watching.
That was safe enough.
She clenched her fists at her sides.
After bending her knees, she covered the 15-meter distance in an instant.
Superhuman physical ability obtained after the decisive battle with Rubrum-Luna, the only one that appeared when she held a sword.
Just as Chayeon was about to swing her sword right behind Ju Jihyo.
“Ugh!?”
A force strong enough to resist was pushed her away from Ju Jihyo.
Chayeon floated in the air and flew backward.
Ju Jihyo had already turned around and was looking at her.
BOOM!
“Cough!”
The body that had been flying crashed straight into the corridor wall thanks to Attraction.
Her head rang from the impact that traveled through her arms and shoulders.
“Kyaa!”
“What the—!?”
The sudden appearance of the girl who flew and hit the wall sent the surroundings into chaos in an instant.
Moans came from all around.
“Ugh.”
“Hey. I didn’t know you knew how to greet first.”
Tap. Tap.
Ju Jihyo walked over.
He had an eye patch over his right eye.
“Yesterday I was in your debt. Nice to see you again so soon.”
“Die!”
Chayeon quickly swung her sword at Ju Jihyo’s head.
But the blade never reached him, and once again he was blown away together with the sword by a massive pressure.
Chayeon rolled around, barely regaining her balance.
Dizzy.
The world was spinning.
“There’s a list of Ranking Match participants on the corridor wall. You’re participating too?”
WHISH—
Chayeon’s body slammed into the marble pillar.
CRACK!
“Agh!”
WHISH—! BOOM!
“Cough! Cought.”
Once again pushed, Chayeon crashed into the floor head-on.
Pain surged from her chest.
Her ribs felt dislocated.
“I guess it was supposed to be a miss. I wonder what trick you used, but it worked out.”
Ju Jihyo approached the fallen Chayeon.
Her whole body was stuck flat on the floor and couldn’t move.
Standing close, Ju Jihyo squatted and whispered in her ear.
“Go ahead and try to struggle. I’ll completely destroy you.”
“Hey, what are you doing?!”
Someone shouted from afar and ran over.
“…Ju Jihyo! You, again!”
“Oh my, the senior came. How nice.”
Ju Jihyo stood up laughing brightly.
“What are you doing inside the academy? You know that using abilities on people outside training hours is punishable, right?”
“Y-yes. Just fooling around with a friend for a bit.”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets as if he didn’t care about the raging woman and walked right past her.
“You okay?”
As soon as Ju Jihyo disappeared, the woman quickly approached and helped Chayeon up.
“Cough, cough. Yeah. I’m fine.”
“…That bastard, doing this again!”
The woman bit her lip in frustration.
“I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“No. Really, I’m fine. Thank you.”
Chayeon bowed her head and refused.
It wasn’t a lie. Thanks to her rapid recovery, she was completely fine now.
Thanks to regaining a lot of power, I gained superior recovery ability.
The question that came to mind was handled by the Black Fox on its own.
“So how is it? Did you adapt?”
Can’t you feel it yourself?
The Black Fox answered with a question to a question.
But it was true.
The third time experiencing this, the sensation was fundamentally different.
Moreover, it differed from the previous two experiences.
While the earlier ones had been pure increases in physical ability, what she experienced this time was a sensation as if she could now counter something else, an invisible intangible force.
It felt extremely unfamiliar.
Like her senses had awakened to a new kind of perception.
“Yeah. I can feel it.”
Everything needed was ready.
***
The day of the Ranking Match approached quickly.
The B class Chayeon belonged to had a total of twenty-three students.
They were divided into six groups.
The group Chayeon was in was Group 3, and Ju Jihyo’s was Group 6.
Four or five members from each group fought first.
Unlike the end-of-year comprehensive exam that evaluated ability output, attack power, defense, and situational response in detail, the Ranking Match was decided purely through matches.
The first match in the preliminaries was a personal contest where all members of the group competed.
In other words, it was 1 vs 1 vs 1 vs 1 for Chayeon.
Only one person advanced from the preliminaries, and those who were eliminated were recorded as C rank.
Meaning, about 75% received C, and only 25% moved up.
“It’s tighter than I thought.”
The six who advanced from the preliminaries—six from the B class—were now divided into pairs for one-on-one matches.
The winners received A rank, and the losers received B rank.
Divided into these three categories, they were sent to the various missions that were called additional tasks.
Except for additional matches within C rank, the Ranking Match was essentially just two rounds: preliminaries and finals.
On the first day, many places within the academy were mobilized for simultaneous large-scale matches.
The next day, the finals were held in the main auditorium one after another.
In the finals, where only a relatively small number advanced, the attention of the students was concentrated.
The Ranking Match was not just a simple exam; it was a kind of large-scale event.
For Class B, the winners of Group 1 vs Group 4 and Group 2 vs Group 5 and Group 3 vs Group 6 would meet.
If both passed the preliminaries, Chayeon and Ju Jihyo would face each other in the finals.
The omnipotent god had helped.
Incidentally, “omnipotent” to Chayeon these days meant Suhui.
The first match of the Ranking Match will begin shortly. Please prepare your equipment and move to the assigned arena. I will give you one more reminder. Shortly after…
A broadcast came out from the classroom.
Chayeon hurriedly packed her things and stood up from her seat.
Finally, the Ranking Match had begun.