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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Lazy Genius
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The fragments of the sword, illuminated by the auditorium lights, shimmered with various colors.
I had played 'Flame Butterfly' countless times.
In that game, Van was always an important figure, Lucas's constant companion and friend.
Could I truly be unaware of Van's existence?
No way.
Before the mock battle, I studied ceaselessly, endlessly.
Of course, some of that study was to keep up with academy classes.
But the most crucial part was learning how to counter my opponents.
I am no genius.
Yet, I know the habits, actions, unique traits, strengths, and weaknesses of every supporting character.
I grasp all of it.
'Flame Butterfly' was my favorite game, the one I loved most.
Even the minor characters, I remember them all clearly.
That's why, even more so,
I want to see a happy ending, not a bad one.
I always wished this beloved game would have a happy ending.
My hand shot out from among the shattered sword fragments.
Thanks to my steel skin, the hand, taking the form of a blade, became a sword in that moment.
A living bio-weapon.
I, the sword, lunged at Van.
*Whoosh!*
My surging hand-blade sliced past Van's head.
What kind of monstrous reflexes did he possess?
Even in the moment of shock when his sword shattered, Van reacted.
'Tch.'
You wouldn't know it now, but I even had a career as an athlete before my injury.
But for those who had already far surpassed human limits, my past training held little meaning.
But it's fine.
'If I failed once,'
'I'd go for a second attempt.'
'Here he comes.'
My gaze met Van's.
Van stared at me with a dazed expression.
Yet, separately, a quiet fire ignited in his eyes.
His sword shattered—an unprecedented event.
For Van, it was the first time his own sword had ever been broken.
"You're out of your mind."
And that sparked the flame of his desire for victory.
Van had always possessed the flame of victory.
However, for some reason, that flame had once been extinguished.
But there was one time his flame had reignited.
That was when he faced Lucas, the flame of sheer fighting spirit.
It was a flame that should have burned fiercely alongside Lucas.
But when Lucas died, Van's flame eventually faded with him.
Now, at this moment,
the flame of victory he possessed.
Onto that flame,
my faint flame reignited.
Van pulled his hand back and gripped it.
Only an empty hilt remained in his grasp.
But he was a genius.
*Crack-crackle-crackle!*
Blue sparks flew.
Van's grey hair fluttered with the sparks.
The surrounding air vibrated, and a silent roar echoed in my ears.
My steel skin tingled.
My whole body told me.
That it would be dangerous.
Above the empty blade.
Even without a physical blade, a blue blade of Ki appeared, unyielding, baring its fangs and roaring fiercely.
*Grrrrr, grrrrrrr-!*
People said that when you encountered a sword master wielding Sword Ki, you could hear the roar of a beast.
This phenomenon, where Sword Ki manifested upon contact with the air, had no known explanation yet.
But it certainly imprinted one fact.
The sword master before me was more dangerous than any beast.
The materialized form of Sword Ki, without a blade, emerged from Van's sword.
The children watching gasped in shock and admiration from various spots.
Even those who could imbue their swords with Sword Ki were rare in this world.
But to materialize a sword purely from Sword Ki—that was another level entirely.
His skill was such that he could be immediately employed as a knight in the renowned Hycirion Imperial Guard, no problem.
A genius.
Van had unequivocally shown everyone present what that truly meant.
The surging blue Sword Ki form glowed with an eerie brilliance.
But I knew.
The current Van couldn't maintain the Sword Ki form for long without a physical blade to serve as its core.
It would last for a mere ten seconds.
Van's eyes, for the first time today, blazed with fire.
If he couldn't end it within ten seconds, it would be his defeat, for he had no sword.
And Van was well aware of this.
But if it was Van,
'He'd definitely aim for victory within those ten seconds.'
That's precisely what the lazy genius, Van, was capable of.
Suddenly, Van vanished from right in front of me.
My body tensed.
Now, relying on the trickery of my steel skin wouldn't work.
One slash, and it would be over.
Ten seconds from now.
I had to dodge every single attack.
"Van!"
The assistant instructor, realizing too late that Van had drawn too dangerous a card, shouted his name.
But Van, who had materialized Sword Ki, couldn't be stopped even by the instructor.
Nothing registered for Van, who had already entered a state of intense focus.
All that filled his eyes now was me.
'Yes, that's the kind of guy you are.'
I looked at Van and smiled darkly.
Van was a genius, yet lazy.
But he was only lazy; it wasn't that he lacked the desire for victory.
No, rather, he had an excessive amount.
His overly abundant desire for victory had caused Van to botch countless things until now.
This was true even for his own brother.
Van's talent was immense, and his desire for victory cried out for nothing but triumph.
As a result, his eldest brother, who loved the sword more than anyone, was utterly crushed before Van's blade.
Afterward, his eldest brother holed himself up in his room.
He put down the sword he loved and avoided Van.
Van was sad.
And he grew sick of his own desire for victory.
He came to despise this terrible thirst for triumph.
If this was how it would be, he decided it would be better not to ignite the desire for victory at all.
He let go of his desire for victory and chose to become lazy.
It was the bitter choice of a young boy, made in his immaturity.
But now.
Van's desire for victory had reignited for the first time since Lucas.
The desire for victory he had suppressed deep within his heart.
That craving instantly consumed Van.
'First attack, the head.'
I knew Van's habits inside out.
And this habit hadn't changed even now.
The Sword Ki, which had been aiming to bisect my waist, suddenly shot up, targeting my head.
I quickly tilted my head back so far that my posture nearly broke.
The Sword Ki, rushing right up to my nose, tore past the bridge of my nose.
Blood splattered.
But it wasn't a fatal wound.
One second.
Lighter without a blade, the Sword Ki bent freely and dug into my shoulder.
A chunk of flesh from my armpit tore away, but this too was not a fatal wound.
Two seconds.
The bent Sword Ki tried to strike my lower body.
At the same time, I threw a piece of shattered sword that I had secretly held in my hand.
Van dodged the sword fragment that flew right in front of his face.
Thanks to that, while the Sword Ki couldn't complete its attack on my lower body, I rolled away and escaped.
Three seconds.
Rolling on the floor, I kicked a shield that had been split in half.
Van's Sword Ki struck downwards, splitting the shield in two once more.
Four seconds.
Chasing after me as I tried to stand, Van's merciless sword tore through the arena floor, lunging.
I plunged my hand into a seam in the arena floor and flipped up a tile.
Van's Sword Ki sliced through the tile.
Five seconds.
From between the cracked floor tiles, the sword surged towards me.
My posture was unstable, and my body faltered due to the continuous injuries.
I realized.
In my current state, I could no longer dodge Van's sword.
Victory or defeat.
The moment these two possibilities were about to intersect.
Van's eyes met mine.
Van noticed the faint smile playing on my face.
The fact that I was smiling in this situation made his eyes widen.
The ten seconds Van had put his full effort into.
This was Van's mistaken assumption.
This match wouldn't allow a long ten seconds.
Five seconds.
That was the exact time I had accounted for victory.
*CRASH!*
Someone who had burst into the arena grabbed Van and slammed him into the ground.
Due to the impact, Van's Sword Ki dissipated, and his sword hilt tumbled across the floor.
Van's hand, the price of materializing Sword Ki, was burned stark white.
Van dazedly lifted his head.
There stood Begagnon, the professor in charge of Martial Arts for second-year students.
She looked down at Van with slightly annoyed eyes.
"Were you planning to kill a fellow student with your own hands, Van?"
Hearing that question, Van flinched.
And then, Van's gaze slowly turned towards me.
Van looked at my battered and bruised state.
Van's final sword.
That sword had undeniably been aimed at my life.
Van realized that his desire for victory had once again consumed him.
"Ah."
A sigh escaped Van's lips.
He sank into self-reproach.
His desire for victory, ignited for the first time in a long while since Lucas.
Lucas had been strong enough to readily tell Van, "Let's fight again next time."
Because Lucas was like that, Van had been able to clash with him and his desire for victory countless times.
But I couldn't be like Lucas.
Lucas was the protagonist.
I was a third-rate villain who had exited the narrative.
I couldn't engage in an equally matched battle with Van like Lucas could.
"...I apologize."
When Van apologized, Begagnon no longer reprimanded him.
Then she turned to look at me, still slumped on the floor.
"Hanon, you get a warning too."
As expected, she was the professor.
She had noticed that I had anticipated her intervention from the start.
"And Van."
Begagnon called out to Van, who was rising with a somber expression.
"Look closely at him. Even if the mock battle had continued just now, it wouldn't have been your victory."
Van slowly lifted his head, belatedly.
"This is your defeat, for failing to notice that your opponent had hidden a final move until the very end."
Van's eyes slowly widened.
In his eyes, he saw a faint light glowing and then fading on my arm.
Begagnon's intervention.
And, assuming Begagnon hadn't been able to intervene.
The next move I would have pulled out.
A magic engraving.
Van only now realized that I had considered both of these possibilities from the beginning.
I had one more hidden move up my sleeve until the very end.
If the battle had continued.
He didn't know what outcome would have befallen him, given that he hadn't noticed this.
"Don't be arrogant. I acknowledge your sword, but it doesn't mean those around you have no strengths."
Van wore a dazed expression at Begagnon's advice, which cut deep to the bone.
"Ha, haha."
And soon, a hollow laugh escaped Van.
He gazed at me for a moment, then slowly lowered his head.
"I'm sorry. It seems I was the one who didn't see anything clearly."
Van looked up, his expression somewhat relieved.
"I lost."
Hearing Van's next words, I snorted.
"You're stating the obvious."
'Who did you think won, then?'
Van let out an incredulous laugh.
Watching Van, I slowly began to sway.
And before long, I realized why.
I had moved while bleeding so profusely.
The relief and exhaustion after the battle.
With the endorphins that had surged during the fight now gone,
the outcome had been decided from the start.
Bed, here I come.
Moreover, in my fading consciousness, I saw Isabel, eyes wide, in the distance.
Isabel, who had eagerly awaited a battle with me all along.
I'm sorry to her, but.
Next time, on this same channel.
Today, once again, I had made Isabel look bad.
*Thud-*