Chapter 97. One-on-One Duel (3)
[The quarterfinals will begin shortly. Spectators, please return to your seats.]
"Looks like it's starting now. I'll head back. Good luck in the finals."
"Yes. Thank you. I'll visit your lab after today's matches are over."
"Okay. Got it."
With the announcement, Im Sol returned to the spectator seats.
After talking so much about magic research, I ended up promising to visit the lab today.
I should start getting ready too.
There aren't many matches left now.
Four matches in the quarterfinals, then the semifinals, followed by the finals.
The semifinals and finals will probably be held after lunch, following the quarterfinals.
[The first match is between Cadet Kim Younghan of Class A and Cadet Jung Yeonju of Class A! Let's welcome them with a round of applause!]
The first match was Kim Younghan's.
My match is next, so if Kim Younghan wins, I'll be facing him in the semifinals.
In the Round of 16, his opponent was weak, so I couldn't gauge his ability. Hopefully I can see more this time.
The match began, and Kim Younghan used an unusual skill.
Thorns sprouted from his sword, and he overwhelmed the girl named Jung Yeonju throughout the duel.
"The sword looks cool as hell... but it doesn't feel impressive."
He felt exactly like a high-ranking cadet. No more, no less.
He's strong compared to the average cadets, but not on the same level as someone like Nam Daeun or Elise.
'I can beat that easily.'
Relieved, I began preparing for my match.
After Kim Younghan's match ends, there'll be a 10-minute break, then it's my turn. Time to get moving to the waiting area.
Knock knock.
"Cadet Lee Hoyeon. Time to get ready for your match~."
"Yes. Understood."
Right on time, a staff member came to get me.
I followed the staff to the player waiting area for my match.
[Match over! The winner is Cadet Kim Younghan of Class A!]
The match ended with Kim Younghan's solid victory.
And now, it's my turn...
"Of all people, it had to be this bastard."
The bracket had the name Do Jinhyuk written on it.
Lately, I've become so famous that people don't dare provoke me directly, but this guy used to be a reckless punk from Class A who always picked fights.
We were pretending not to know each other while trying to hit on girls, and now we meet like this.
Winning won't be an issue—it's just annoying and a pain.
"Cadet Lee Hoyeon, it's time to head in."
"Yes. Understood."
Guess the ten minutes are already up.
I made my way to the arena for the duel.
[The next maaaatch! A duel between Cadet Lee Hoyeon of Class A and Cadet Do Jinhyuk of Class A! Both are incredibly promising cadets. This is going to be an exciting match!]
The announcer's enthusiastic tone mixed with the crowd's cheers echoed in my ears.
I looked toward the first-year cadet section, spotted Lumi, and waved.
Lumi waved back lightly, then shrank into herself under the eyes around her.
In the VIP section, I also spotted Im Sol among the gathered professors.
I waved to Im Sol as well. She gave a slight nod, and the cat-like beauty sitting next to her got even more excited, waving both hands at me.
"Who's that?"
She's pretty, but I've never seen her before.
Im Sol seemed to be saying something to her, but it was too far away to make out.
Either way, I had to get on the arena now, so I turned away and climbed up.
Standing in front of me was Do Jinhyuk.
As expected, he was oozing hostility toward me.
"Don't get cocky just because you're famous now. I'm gonna crush you."
"...."
What's this guy's problem?
Thinking about it, I've never done anything to him.
Is it just jealousy because I'm doing well?
In the original story, he picked fights saying I didn't deserve to be in Class A, but I've been Class A from the start.
"Hey, you don't like me, right?"
"Yeah. I hate you."
While the commentator went on about our achievements and predicted the winner, I talked to Do Jinhyuk.
"Why? Did I ever do anything to you? Talk behind your back? You're the one who did all that."
Do Jinhyuk stayed silent.
"Do you just feel this uncontrollable rage when you see me? Like you wanna kill me on sight?"
"...I won't deny it. Every time I see your face, the anger rises. It's unbearable."
"Hmm."
Judging from his response, he's serious.
Maybe he's literally written to be a villain?
Do Jinhyuk is a villain in the original.
So even though the story's twisted now, he's still destined to be my antagonist.
Just like how Moon Surin's affection rises just from seeing me, this guy probably has a similar mechanic. Just in the opposite direction.
[Second match of the one-on-one quarterfinals, starting now...!]
The commentator stopped listing our career highlights, and the duel was about to begin.
"Alright then. Do your best."
I don't care how pitiful he is—I'm not going to save him.
Once I crush him overwhelmingly, he'll realize the gap and back off on his own.
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Duel start!]
Mana surged from Do Jinhyuk's body.
The manifested mana wrapped around him, forming a full-body shield.
His specialty was hand-to-hand combat powered by massive defense and physical enhancement.
Do Jinhyuk charged at me with notable speed, but his movement was easy to read.
Thump.
My heartbeat quickened slightly.
Still, he was a known prospect, so my Combat Sense responded.
'Clairvoyance.'
I got into combat stance and faced Do Jinhyuk.
Ending this quickly would best demonstrate the gap between us.
I summoned fireballs to keep Do Jinhyuk in check as he approached.
He dodged the fireballs as best he could and threw a punch at me,
Boom!
But there's no way someone like him could break through my Cotton Guard, which even an ogre couldn't penetrate.
"Ugh!"
Instead, it was Do Jinhyuk who flinched from the recoil of his own attack.
Fwoosh—!
I attacked him as he staggered back from the backlash, but his defense was truly formidable.
The flickering mana surrounding his body functioned perfectly as a shield.
'Still, he's not completely weak.'
But I had the perfect skill to counter someone with high defense like him.
I accelerated the mana around my body and prepared a counterattack.
Do Jinhyuk noticed something was off and rushed at me, but I was already ready.
I read the trajectory of his incoming right punch, ducked, and simultaneously burst a small flame in his eyes.
"Guhk!"
When people are blinded, their instinct is to step back.
Using 'Acceleration', I followed after him, condensing spiral-shaped mana in my hand.
Do Jinhyuk twisted his body in a panic to regain balance, but I used double casting to summon a pillar of flame behind him.
Startled, he ducked low instead of stepping back.
He was planning to roll away to escape the spot entirely.
Maybe he thought he could tank it once with his defense—but my 'Spiral' pierced even an ogre's armor.
"Gaaaaah!"
I slammed the Spiral into Do Jinhyuk's back as he dodged, and the shock immediately triggered the safety setting.
That meant it would've been a lethal blow outside the mana field.
[Match over! The winner is Cadet Lee Hoyeon of Class A!]
The judge's declaration confirmed my victory, and the excited announcer amped up the crowd.
The mana barrier around the arena vanished, and cheers erupted from the spectator seats.
"Waaaaaah!"
"Lee Hoyeon! Lee Hoyeon!"
I glanced at the VIP section and saw Professor Im Sol staring at me with wide eyes.
'Professor, your student is this strong.'
For some reason, I felt a surge of pride.
Do Jinhyuk was still lying down.
Even if there were no injuries, the pain still registered. He must've felt like his back was being ripped open.
I did feel a little sorry for him.
"...That's what you get for picking a fight, dumbass. Tsk tsk."
I clicked my tongue as I watched Do Jinhyuk being carried out on a stretcher.
*
Unlike the roaring crowd, the VIP section had fallen silent.
The duel Lee Hoyeon just showed was enough to leave even the most elite VIPs speechless.
"What was that last spell...? It looked like a unique skill. Is that kind of destructive power even possible?"
"That's not the mana control of a first-year cadet...! Never mind the precise concentration—it didn't even lose any mana during the process!"
"There was also a moment where he accelerated his body. That looked like another unique skill."
As one person muttered, the others began to murmur excitedly.
The match itself hadn't lasted long.
Do Jinhyuk charged at Lee Hoyeon and was blocked, charged again and got countered. That was it.
The duel was only about twenty seconds, but in that time, Lee Hoyeon had demonstrated overwhelming skill.
"Did that contact I asked for ever go through? What? He hasn't replied? Then go grovel to him if you have to, idiot!"
"There's no guild officially backing him yet, so with that kind of skill, we have to get him no matter what. I don't care about conditions...."
"I think he's way stronger than Nam Daeun. What he showed today blows her out of the water!"
Scouts were busy calling their guilds, and guild masters were yelling at their scouts.
Im Sol and Min Yeji were just as shocked by Lee Hoyeon as everyone else.
"...Sol, sorry to ask, but can I contact him for a guild recruitment thing, not just business?"
"...Do whatever you want."
Im Sol was stunned by her student's combat power.
He was stronger than she had been at twenty.
Even more than when she was called a monster and envied by everyone—her student had surpassed that.
Of course, what made Im Sol a monster wasn't just combat power, but her terrifying comprehension of any magic. Still, Lee Hoyeon's magical talent was on par with hers.
"Wow, how did you even find someone like that? Sol, you've really got magic locked down."
"I have to protect him."
"Huh? Protect what?"
I have to protect him from being interfered with or targeted by people who aren't even worth a starfish.
Im Sol didn't want Lee Hoyeon to walk the same path she did.
One monster like her was more than enough.
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"Hmm, what kind of message should I send to get Cadet Lee Hoyeon to reply..."
The moment Min Yeji sensed the change in Im Sol's atmosphere, she lost interest.
Because she knew better than to touch Im Sol in that state.
*
"So strong..."
Elise, who was waiting in the player waiting area for her next match, was stunned after watching Lee Hoyeon's duel.
Lee Hoyeon was far stronger than she had imagined.
"Even with congenital mana disorder, he's manipulating mana like that—what method is he using?"
No matter how many magic stones you use to supplement mana, using that much at once is supposed to be taxing.
But Lee Hoyeon had used high-tier skills in succession without showing a hint of strain.
That shield wasn't ordinary, and the acceleration skill and condensed mana attack must've consumed a huge amount of mana.
Yet he cast them like he didn't have any mana disorder.
"There's definitely a secret."
She had a suspicion.
Either a top-grade mana stone. Or the Saintess.
One of those two had to be helping alleviate the congenital mana disorder.
"Is there some usage of top-grade mana stones I don't know about...?"
It's not like she hadn't researched top-grade stones before.
The Iris Guild had invested a huge amount of money to cure Elise's mana disorder.
But the result had been using mid- to low-tier mana stones.
She had also visited the Saintess before.
Anyone could receive healing from the Saintess with money through the Association.
But the answer she got was that congenital diseases couldn't be cured with her healing magic.
That's why Elise had written the Saintess off—but maybe she recently found a solution.
"I'll contact the Saintess later... Should I re-research top-grade mana stones again...?"
Elise sent a message to Sebastian, asking him to send the research material on top-grade mana stones.
When she looked back at the screen, Lee Hoyeon was bowing politely to the crowd.
"He's even polite...."
Elise wanted to become friends with Lee Hoyeon, who shared the same illness.