The Award Ceremony And

I pulled my fist back from where it had been pressed against Jung Ayeon's and bent down to pick up my phone that had fallen to the ground. The moment I did, both Jung Ayeon and Caersi, who had been watching me, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠suddenly started screaming at the top of their lungs.

At that exact moment, Furia desperately tried to stop Caersi.

Furia shouted with bloodshot eyes, pleading desperately.

Two bolts of lightning suddenly shot down from the sky. As if Caersi's rage was completely justified. One struck my phone. The other struck Furia, who still harbored such blasphemous thoughts.

My phone instantly turned into a pile of ashes. I collapsed in utter despair and muttered,

In Furia's case, he'd taken a direct lightning hit. Smoke was billowing from his entire body. He had passed out while still standing—an utterly pathetic holy knight.

Meanwhile, Jung Ayeon watched the scene with a deeply puzzled expression.

It felt like lightning was about to strike from the sky at any second. As if to prove Jung Ayeon was right. I urgently made an offer to God.

But the signs of lightning showed no intention of disappearing. The air trembled sharply as if in warning, so I made an even more outrageous additional offer.

The moment those words left my mouth, the signs of lightning vanished without a trace. As expected, even God cared about money.

Piece, who had been watching, shouted in utter disbelief.

'What a shitty bastard…'

Meanwhile, Caersi no longer wore that demonic expression from earlier. Instead, she looked completely drained. She let out a deep sigh ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and muttered quietly.

We approached Caersi after seeing her like that. She turned her head toward us and asked carefully.

It was true that Jung Ayeon had desperately begged me to win no matter what. And I had gone all out to fulfill that promise. Right on cue, Jung Ayeon smiled at me and expressed her gratitude.

Jung Ayeon and I simply stared at each other without another word. Then, as if on cue, we both shouted at the same time.

That was why I had fought so desperately in the previous round. To keep my promise with Jung Ayeon. Obviously, that promise had been to bring home money. It was more than worth rolling around and fighting that hard for.

'What the hell kind of touching moment would there be in this novel?'

There are places where emotion belongs. In a novel like this, any attempt at emotion would just be 'emo-tionless.' The only thing that fits this novel is the half-dazed expression of 'what the fu-ck.'

Meanwhile, Piece still couldn't accept it and was throwing a fit.

'Hey now. That was my ultimate technique.'

But Piece seemed scared of the word 'granny' and fell silent without saying anything more. As expected, 'granny' wasn't weak. The opponent had simply been too far outside the norm.

Caersi, who had been watching us, asked again with a half-dazed look on her face.

Jung Ayeon and I proudly told Caersi exactly how much we'd earned. Caersi clutched her head in frustration and shouted at us.

Caersi tore at her hair and let out a groan of despair.

We muttered while crouching beside the despairing Caersi. Then I turned my head toward her.

Caersi looked at me with slightly displeased eyes.

I reached out to the still-depressed Caersi and said,

Caersi's face brightened instantly. She grabbed the hand I had extended and shook it vigorously, expressing overwhelming joy. Her tail was wagging so hard from side to side that it didn't even look like she was a cat beastman anymore.

It was a new place, after all. It wouldn't hurt to check it out. There'd be some fur flying around, but since I didn't have an actual allergy, it would be like taking a leisurely walk. A little vacation. Plus, I had a lot of questions. Did bird beastmen have cloacas or not? Did reptile beastmen lay eggs or give live birth? And did a raccoon beastman with a duck bill actually exist?

When Caersi suddenly stopped laughing and stared at me with a straight face, I quickly averted my gaze.

Meanwhile, the students kept booing me nonstop in order to look good in front of Caersi.

At that moment, Caersi let go of my hand and turned toward the students. Then she shouted in a voice so loud it was hard to believe it came from such a small body.

Public opinion flipped in an instant. The students immediately started showering me with praise.

Piece, watching the spectacle, spoke in utter disgust.

'I should just purge all those dog bastards with Cheonma Laser.'

The shift in attitude was so terrifying that even if Naruto saw it, he'd probably mistake this place for Hell Leaf Village. I was extremely tired from the aftermath of the finals, so I decided to let the students live for now instead of using Cheonma Laser on them.

At that moment, Piece stopped cursing the pathetic students and asked me something else. It was about the name of my new technique.

'Then what should I call it? Cheonma Does Everything Well With His Power?'

But I couldn't think of any other decent technique name. If I went with something like Cheonma Energy Wave or Thousand Demon Sightseeing Massacre, the copyright hammer would come down so hard that the novel would disappear without a trace. That was genuinely dangerous. In the end, I compromised on Cheonma Laser.

Just then, I saw the white bear and lion regaining consciousness in the distance. They seemed to be talking about something before the lion suddenly kicked the unconscious Furia once more with its front paw. The lion spat on Furia one last time, then approached Caersi and gave a short greeting.

Jung Ayeon, who had been watching, asked me,

Caersi allowed the lion's retirement with a complicated expression. At that moment, the unconscious Furia suddenly opened his eyes and spoke to Caersi with a serious face.

Lightning struck Furia once again. Naturally, he passed out again.

Now, only the award ceremony remained. At the ceremony, prizes were given only to the tournament champion. The prize consisted of a portion of the money the students had lost through betting, plus a certificate of commendation from the Academy signed by the president.

As we walked toward the temporary podium set up in the center, Jung Ayeon spoke to me.

"Hmm…"

After careful consideration, I gave the most fitting answer.

We stepped on the blackened, charred Furia lying on the path and headed toward the podium. The moment we were about to step onto the stage—

A magician appeared.