Chapter 113: Final Exam (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113: Final Exam (9)
The original plan was a little different.
Yohan's team would engage Yu Serin and buy time until they were on the verge of elimination.
I never expected them to succeed. That would have been impossible.
The exact moment they were eliminated.
At that point, I would strike her from behind.
That was my initial plan.
They would draw her aggro from the front, allowing me to strike from behind at her only weakness: a perfect blind spot.
It was a bit cowardly for someone without a team, but in terms of efficiency, there was no better scenario.
However.
“Huh…? No, what the…”
The situation fell apart much faster than I’d expected.
Like leaves in the autumn wind.
The phrase kept echoing in my mind.
One swing of her arm sent two of them flying; a swing of the other, and two more vanished.
Movements so simple it was embarrassing to even call them attacks.
What little strategy they had vanished the moment Yu Serin dodged the initial flashbang.
Yohan was the only one who managed to withstand an attack… but it looked like he'd be gone soon enough, too.
In the end, I had no choice but to move in earlier than planned.
One shot.
I had to end it in one shot.
Even though she likely had plenty of stamina left, I had to use my maximum output.
I gathered my mana and steadied my breath.
– KABOOOOM!!
It struck her squarely in the back.
Phalanx exploded, piercing through the chains that instantly coiled around her back.
Yu Serin was sent flying, slamming straight into the wall of a building.
Debris scattered and dust rose.
From where I stood, I made eye contact with Yohan.
“Hey, man… Why are you so weak…?”
It wasn't mockery.
I was genuinely curious.
Then I immediately focused all my attention on the building's wreckage.
Was it over?
…I didn't think so.
I'd hit her with all my strength, but it probably wasn't enough to take her down.
Just then.
The pile of debris shuddered and heaved upward.
“Oh, dear.”
Right. I'd expected this much.
From between the cracks of the collapsed building.
Something black rose through the thick, dusty smoke.
– Sssshhhk.
Chains.
They shot out from the gaps in the ruined wall, clearing away the debris piece by piece.
“Ugh… That really hurt…”
With a ragged breath, Yu Serin emerged from the center of it all.
She straightened her back with a wince, brushing her hair back with one hand.
The bridge of her nose was smudged with dirt, and her clothes were torn in several places.
“…Don't you think that was a bit much?”
She looked at me with a smirk.
Her tone was light, but her expression was far more exhausted than before.
The attack had clearly landed.
Even she couldn't hide her fatigue.
“What a shame.”
“Pfft!”
Yu Serin let out a short laugh and lowered the hand gripping the chains.
“You're a little late, you know? Your friends have already come and gone.”
“I suppose so. They've gone to a better place, I'm sure.”
With the sound of chains scraping against the ground, she slowly walked toward me.
I, too, closed the distance, taking one step forward at a time.
– Beep.
A notification sounded from my watch.
An alert that the boss fight had begun.
“Why did you come here?”
I asked a question I'd been holding onto.
“Oh, that?”
She smiled a little and nodded.
She spoke as if it were nothing.
“Back then, on the rooftop during the party. My third question. Do you remember?”
“Your question…”
It came back to me in a flash.
The three questions she'd asked that day.
I was sure I'd answered all of them…
Ah.
“What's your relationship with Vice-Representative Kang A-rin?”
She said with a smile.
“I don't think I ever got an answer to that one.”
The moment she finished speaking.
Yu Serin's silhouette blurred and vanished.
“!—”
I reflexively looked up.
A chain was already grazing past my head.
I twisted my body instinctively.
– Pow!
Shards of mixed grass and dirt shot up as if from an explosion.
A black chain was embedded in the ground, twisted, just a handspan from where I'd been standing.
A long-range fight was out of the question. I'd be at a constant disadvantage just trying to maintain distance.
I had to get close.
At that moment, a shadow spun as if floating in mid-air.
At its center, Yu Serin's eyes curved as she smirked.
“My turn for a surprise attack.”
I caught my breath, then leaped with all my might.
“Not… bad!”
I shot into the air as I replied.
Instantly, multiple chains flew toward my trajectory.
Weaving countless patterns from the side, the back, and diagonally from the front.
Although the limit on the number of chains was restricted, the pressure they created was immense.
‘How in the world…’
‘…did the attack team even think of taking her on?’
I applaud the reckless courage of my friends who went before me.
I deflected the chains coming from behind by spinning my spear like a windmill, forming a defensive screen.
– Clang! Clang!
I twisted my body to evade the chains flying at me from the front.
And then, I charged straight for her.
The moment I closed the distance to just three paces.
“Hahh…”
I heard her breath.
A sound I could only hear because I was so close.
Yu Serin was panting.
It seemed the fatigue from the continuous battles had definitely taken its toll.
But I was just as exhausted.
From the punching machine earlier to the strike just now, I'd already used Phalanx twice in one day.
This fight was likely to be a short one.
– Swish!
A chain swung again.
I ducked under it.
– Clang!
Without even looking, I deflected a chain aiming for my side with my spear.
This was a situation where even the time it took to look was a luxury I couldn't afford.
“Intuition, too…”
Yu Serin was surprised.
We exchanged a few more blows.
Then, Yu Serin took a short, sharp breath.
She flinched, her shoulders twitching as if in pain.
That single beat.
It was enough.
Using Phalanx again was out of the question.
However, there was a technique I'd been researching.
Aldebaran's second Authority, 『Ghost Slash』.
The weapon in my hand was just a practice spear, not Catastrophe, but I could at least imitate the move.
I raised my spear.
This time, I wouldn't thrust.
I would swing.
At that moment, Yu Serin quickly retreated.
‘…!’
At this rate, the spear wouldn't reach.
Yu Serin had dodged perfectly, moving to a distance my attack couldn't reach.
‘She took the bait.’
She'd pretended to be in pain, pretended to show an opening, all to bait my attack.
A psychological ploy, counting on me to charge in.
I had walked right into her trap.
Her eyes shone with a strange light.
She began to twist her chains, preparing the perfect counterattack.
‘So strong it's sickening…’
She's strong.
She also knew I had no proper long-range attacks.
It seemed she'd already finished analyzing me.
However, there was one thing she'd overlooked.
Ghost Slash is not a melee attack.
Since I'd never shown it before, there was no way she could have known.
The weight crawling up my wrist.
I overlaid the memory from that time.
I couldn't replicate it perfectly, but I could imitate it.
– Fwoosh!!
The spear cut through the air, tearing something unseen.
The Spear Aura radiating from the tip of the spear.
One step ahead, at point-blank range.
It erupted.
– Kiiiiiiing!
Yu Serin couldn't defend.
She had anticipated that my attack wouldn't reach and had taken a counterattacking stance.
Her defense was too late, and her body was caught off-balance.
That opening.
The Spear Aura pushed through that opening and struck her squarely in the abdomen.
– Crunch!
The explosion tore at my eardrums.
Yu Serin's body was flung through the air.
And in a wide arc…
…she slammed into the ground, back-first.
Dust billowed up, and the ground caved in.
I quickly reversed my grip on the spear and charged toward her.
I couldn't be sure it was over yet.
But.
She lay on the ground, motionless.
“……”
I landed slowly.
I turned my head.
– Crack…
The spear in my hand began to crack.
I had poured more mana into it than a practice spear could handle.
Soon, the spear shattered into pieces.
Yu Serin was still panting.
In that exact position.
Her eyes were closed, only the sound of her faint breathing continued.
A moment later, she let out a small laugh.
“…Haaah.”
She carefully turned her head, looking at me with a slightly crooked gaze.
“Hae-in, are you an onion?”
“What's that supposed to mean…?”
“The more I peel, the more layers I find… First intuition… and what was that just now… Ow, that hurts.”
A clear wound was visible through her torn clothes.
“Do you concede defeat?”
I aimed the remains of the shattered spear at her.
“……You're really too much.”
She muttered, sweeping her hair back with one hand.
Then she held out her other hand to me.
I could see the glowing screen of her watch.
A Black Bell icon was blinking on the screen.
I walked over to her.
I gently took her wrist, and just before I pressed the screen…
…I met her eyes.
I raised the corners of my mouth ever so slightly.
It was time to give her the answer she wanted so badly.
“Oh, right. About Kang A-rin?”
Her expression tensed slightly.
“We've promised our futures to each other.”
“……Eh?”
It wasn't a lie.
Without another word, I pressed the screen with my finger.
– Beep!
A notification sounded from the watch.
[Black Bell Capture Successful!]
[Reward Distributed]
[Solo Kill!]
[Points Acquired +2000]
[2040 pt]
And right after, a message announcing the end of the exam rang out.
[Exam Over!]
[Current Personnel]
[Blue Team 77] VS [White Team 42]
[Score Status]
[4790 pts] vs [5110 pts]
[White Team Victory!]
The exam ended automatically because our team reached 5000 points.
“Wow… shit.”
The Blue Team had really been hunting down the White Team like crazy.
If it hadn't been for the Black Bell, or if I'd been just a little later, we would have lost for sure.
[MVP Jung Hae-in]
[2640 pt Acquired!]
[Black Bell Boss Solo Capture Successful!]
[Silver Bell Boss Solo Capture Successful!]
A stream of records praising my achievements scrolled by, but I just turned my wrist and shut off the watch.
“……I'm dead.”
And with that, I fell back and lay down.
“…Wanna come lie down over here? It's kinda soft.”
Yu Serin's quiet voice.
Her tone was slightly sarcastic, but I could feel she meant it.
“……”
Now that she mentioned it, she had a point.
I turned my head to look at her, then silently moved over to lie down beside her.
The two of us lay side by side, saying nothing.
It was only natural, perhaps, after we'd just been trying to kill each other.
I was breathless, and the mana circuits inside my body were screaming.
‘…It's over.’
The long final exam was finally over.