An Unexpected Dance with a Yandere
The arena match (3). I ran into one of the heroine candidates in a place I never expected. Even though I was wearing a mask, I could tell who she was right away. It was all because of the way she moved. After being forced to dance with her sword so many damn times, I’d learned her patterns whether I wanted to or not.
-Master. Aren’t there other yanderes here too?
‘Ugh, don’t say such horrible shit.’
Jukchang-i’s sudden words sent goosebumps racing down my arms. I tried to deny it, but it wouldn’t hurt to check. ‘Hmm… I can’t really tell.’ If they were here, they’d definitely be in the stands. The problem was that the recognition-blocking masks made it impossible to tell who was who.
‘I’d need to look really closely to even have a chance.’
Anyway, I had no idea if the other yanderes had shown up, but right now that wasn’t what mattered most. Because my next opponent was none other than Eve.
-From what I can see, you probably can’t win without using me, Master?
‘…….’
She was right. Honestly, if we were talking pure swordsmanship, I had the edge. ‘But aside from that, there’s nothing about me that’s better than her.’ Even though her physical abilities hadn’t finished growing yet, it was undeniable that she was still superior to me. Not to mention she could even create sword energy using aura.
‘Maybe I should just give up.’
-Master. I don’t recommend giving up.
‘Huh? Why?’
-Just imagine it, Master. That woman wearing the Invisibility Hat.
For a second, the image of her wearing the Invisibility Hat flashed through my mind. An invisible person watching me every single day. I’d be on edge, constantly wondering if she was spying on me. And I’d never get a proper night’s sleep. She’d sneak up on me while I was exhausted…
‘Fuck. That’s the one thing I can’t allow.’
The moment she got her hands on that hat, hell would descend on earth. Sure, the thing needed to be charged with mana, but even so, I absolutely could not let Eve have it.
‘Jukchang, we’re screwed. Go all out.’
-Got it! Master!
With those words, I rested as much as possible until the next match began.
About an hour later, all the preliminaries had ended and the quarterfinals finally began. And the very first match of the quarterfinals was…
“Will contestants number one and number three please step forward!”
None other than me and Eve.
We slowly walked toward the arena. A moment later, the emcee began his introduction.
“Both contestants are participating anonymously, so I can’t reveal their identities. However, if you watched their previous matches, you already know, right? Both of them are top contenders for the championship! Ladies and gentlemen, feel free to place your bets on who will win!”
As soon as we reached the arena, the crowd started buzzing and placing bets.
-By the way, Master, you bet on yourself, right?
‘Yeah. Obviously.’
-Then you absolutely have to win, huh?
‘Thanks for giving me one more reason to win, Jukchang!’
While I was talking with Jukchang-i, the betting time must have ended because the emcee resumed the match.
“You may begin!”
The instant those words left his mouth, Eve drew her sword and pointed it at me. In response, I raised Jukchang-i, who had transformed into a magic staff, and aimed it at her.
“…….”
“…….”
A brief silence fell between us. On the surface it looked like we were just standing still, but in reality we were engaged in a battle of wits. As we stared at each other without a word—
Drip.
A single bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. The moment it slowly gathered on her chin and fell to the floor—
Whoosh!
She kicked off the ground and swung her sword horizontally. Her movement was on a completely different level from the criminals I’d faced before. I lifted Jukchang-i and barely managed to block it.
“Ugh!”
Both of us let out a small groan at the same time. Hers was obviously because of Jukchang-i’s curse. In my case, the overwhelming force behind her strike made my palms scream in pain.
‘As expected, there’s a limit to what technique alone can do.’
The moment I thought that and bit down hard on my lower lip—
Whoooosh!
She swung her sword again in a clean, economical motion. Instead of dodging, I redirected it with a hair’s breadth of movement. Even so—
“Hoo…”
My hands still felt numb.
‘Damn it. What kind of person is she? She’s basically a monster!’
Even though she was under the effects of Jukchang-i’s various curses, she kept swinging her sword without pause. Maybe because she’d suffered through it quite a bit in the previous round, she seemed able to endure it this time.
“As expected, you really are him, aren’t you?”
She took a step back, a manic smile spreading across her face. Then—
“I’ve wanted to dance with you like this for so long. I don’t know if you’ve regressed or not, but right now I should focus on dancing with you, right? Yes. That’s right. That’s how it should be. I hope this moment never ends.”
Her face flushed bright red as she spoke rapidly without even pausing for breath.
‘She’s insane.’
-Master. It feels like she’s gotten even worse than last time?
‘I was thinking the same thing.’
Up until the regression, she hadn’t been this bad. She must be really happy to be sparring with me after so long.
‘This won’t do. I need to end this quickly.’ Otherwise I felt like I might lose my mind too.
Having organized my thoughts, I poured mana into the circuits. The mana flowed slowly along the pathways. At the same time—
Whoosh!
Blue mana erupted from my entire body.
-Master. You’re using Body Reinforcement?
‘Yeah. It’s better to finish this quickly.’
Especially since—
“Ah, I’ve waited so long for this moment. I want to enjoy it as long as possible.”
The woman in front of me was showing her madness in real time, her cheeks flushed red. I took advantage of the brief opening she gave me and—
Whoooosh!
Swung Jukchang-i diagonally without the slightest hesitation.
“As expected, even this part is exactly the same!”
She blocked my attack with a smile of pure joy. But just as I expected—
“Kyaaak?!”
A ridiculous scream escaped her lips.
‘Looks like Body Reinforcement really works.’
It was only natural. Until now, I had only attacked with my pure physical body. That meant even a legendary weapon like Jukchang-i had its limits. But when I attacked while using Body Reinforcement, the curse became even stronger.
I struck down at the flustered Eve once more.
Whoooosh!
She somehow pulled herself together and twisted her body to dodge the blow. At the same time—
Swoosh!
She spun and swung her sharp blade. But she used the flat of the sword, not the edge.
‘At least she has some conscience.’
-Master. Even so, getting hit by that would probably knock you out, right?
‘Exactly. So I have to dodge!’
I deflected her strike with Jukchang-i, then—
Thud!
Attacked her chest with my free hand. However—
‘Fucking hard!’
As expected, instead of dealing damage, my palm just hurt like hell.
-Master. It kinda looks like you just wanted an excuse to touch her chest?
‘As if!’
Her chest looked incredibly soft given how massive it was, but because she had reinforced her body at that exact moment, it felt ridiculously hard.
‘To think she can make those breasts that hard. Maybe she really is a mage?’
-Master. That’s pathetic.
Ignoring Jukchang-i’s jab, I focused on the spar with Eve.
Eve traded blows with the man before her—no, with Elric—while briefly recalling the spar they’d once had. She had been living as a professor as usual, but honestly the world felt boring to her. Nobles who called her a genius and only flattered her to look good. Knights who couldn’t last more than a few exchanges before collapsing. Because of that utter lack of stimulation, she had simply been letting time pass her by.
Then one day—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of a sword cutting through the air reached her ears. When she turned her head, she saw Elric in the training ground, swinging a green wooden pole in a beautiful sword dance.
“…….”
At first, her impression of him was naturally the worst. Just as the rumors said, he was a good-for-nothing with a terrible personality. He’d even thrown flirtatious glances at her in front of other people just to seduce her.
But—
‘At some point, he changed.’
Starting from a certain day, Elric had become completely different. Of course, she hadn’t paid much attention to it. Honestly, whether he changed or not had nothing to do with her. So she lived without caring… until she saw his sword dance and felt a strange spark of curiosity.
‘Those movements… is he really a mage?’
The motions were far too precise for a mage. Moreover, there wasn’t a single wasted movement. She had seen countless swordsmen, but this was the first time she had witnessed such a beautiful sword dance.
‘I can see how much effort he must have put in to obtain that level of technique.’
She, who had been called a genius her whole life, had always been ahead of her family without much effort. Because of that, she hadn’t really understood the concept of hard work. But watching his sword dance, she felt like she was starting to understand.
Maybe that was why she unconsciously walked toward him.
“Hmm? Professor Eve? What brings you here?”
“It’s nothing special… but would you be willing to spar with me?”
“……Pardon?”
Elric jumped in surprise at her question. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking hard, then answered.
“Well, I don’t mind. No, rather, it would be an honor. To spar with none other than Lady Eve.”
“Then let’s begin right away.”
With those words, the two began their spar. And the result was—
“What the…”
Her overwhelming defeat, completely contrary to her expectations. She had definitely blocked all of his strikes. His technique was outstanding, but his physical abilities weren’t that impressive, so blocking hadn’t been difficult. Yet even though she blocked, an unreasonable wave of agony washed over her. And it wasn’t ordinary pain—it was the kind of pain that made death seem preferable.
Because of that, she couldn’t even counterattack properly and ended up losing.
“Well then, I have a lecture to attend, so I’ll be going.”
Elric simply left after subduing her, as if it were nothing. She could only stare at his retreating back. She couldn’t chase after him.
After that day, for the first time in her life, she began to put in effort. She requested sparring matches with Elric every single day—until the moment he ran away.
Shaking off her thoughts, Eve unleashed the sword dance she had perfected over the past year. But Elric had grown just as much; he deflected every single one of her strikes. Watching his beautiful sword dance, she burst into wild laughter.
“Kyahahahahaha!”
How long had it been since she last exchanged blows like this? How long since she last felt this pain while trading swords? It felt like they were dancing together, sharing each other’s pain. As she savored this long-awaited dance with him, she thought—
I hope this moment never ends.