Chapter 15 – 04. Your Eyes Looking at Me (3)
Since it was group 8, there was still time left, so I decided to go up to the second floor and watch the game.
I looked around the audience seats with a few unfamiliar faces, but I couldn’t see that Ryushin was intentionally avoiding me, and Ha-yul was second in order, so I decided to go down ahead of time.
Except for the next two groups waiting in the aisle leading to the stadium, all the other students were sitting at the top, so the atmosphere was quite noisy.
“From now on, we will begin the sparring between John Rayak of Class A and Gaeun Jang of Class K. When one of the two shouts surrender, the sparring will end immediately, and if it is judged that there is no great difficulty in moving the body even if injured, the sparring will resume. We can continue, but if we see that the opponent is continuing the attack with the intention of intentionally damaging the body, then we will step in and stop the match.”
After the professor finished speaking, I saw an exotic-looking boy and a pale green-haired girl walking to either end of the large amphitheater.
“Start.”
Beep profit!
The moment the whistle blew, John started running at a tremendous speed based on the strength of the physical Awakener.
Green is usually the hair color of magicians who use the wind attribute. Because wind uses the surrounding atmosphere, the time it takes to activate its ability is short, but its strength is relatively low compared to other attributes.
Perhaps John Rayak seemed to be trying to overwhelm Jang Ga-eun with powerful destructive power in order to know such characteristics and finish it quickly.
The width of the stadium from one end to the other is about 300m.
A distance that could be said to be far away, John Rayak kept accelerating and breaking through with momentum that seemed to break the wall.
If you collide like this, no matter how awakened you are, at least one limb will explode.
Even so, Jang Ga-eun stood in her place without moving a single step.
Perhaps her body froze from her bewilderment, seeing her with her eyes closed and taking no action, her professor Cyana was about to jump from her audience to break into her arena. The professor in charge of Class K next to her stopped her and said.
“3 seconds… No, just watch for 4 more seconds. Jang Ga-eun has prepared something.”
At that moment, the wind quietly began to bloom from her toes.
The air, which began to gracefully embrace her ankles to the extent that the expression ‘blooming’ would not be colorless, slowly rose and at one point wrapped around Jang Ga-eun’s entire body with a crackling sound.
Compared to what I saw last time, it was extremely complete, but the form was unmistakably the wind armor, Boreas.
Perong!
When John’s fist, which replaced all fearsome speed with destructive power, touched Boreas, John stepped back with a tremendous explosion.
Although she was still not at the level of completely controlling the atmosphere around her, she used the wind from his punches as material for her armor, absorbing all of the impact.
The common attribute of body awakeners and wind attribute awakeners is formidable speed.
In a confrontation where a moment’s hesitation can shatter the tight composition, stepping back first means one thing.
As if not to miss her momentary opportunity, Zhang Ga-eun stretched out her hand to create a spear of wind and shot it straight at him.
The biggest advantage of Boreas is that attack and defense are integrated.
As the window of air compressed dozens or hundreds of times vibrated as if it were going to explode, John hurriedly rolled his body to avoid it, but he lost control to the constant barrage of attacks and was soon driven to the corner of the arena.
“…Surrender.”
A confrontation was over in less than a minute.
It’s a kind of speed battle, so there’s no such feeling, but Jang Ga-eun’s ability seemed quite proficient for a newbie Awakener who had just entered school.
When the battle was over, the two students went into the waiting room to treat any possible internal injuries, and soon the two walked out of the aisle leading to the arena.
“Lee Ha-yul in A class and Kim Jung-rae in K class, preparing for Dalian… Start.”
Unlike Ha Yul, who smiled confidently, the male student named Kim Jeong-rae threw something she was holding in her hand into the air with an expression of no confidence.
A sharp metal weapon resembling a sword-type shuriken rises into the sky, and soon begins to float around him.
“He’s also a telekinesis type.”
“There was a reason why his expression was so bad. I think the compatibility is almost the worst?”
Sang-ho, who was watching the match next to me, spoke as if he was sorry.
Usually, telekinesis-type abilities are very vulnerable to interpersonal warfare, so they carry a weapon that can fight while widening the distance.
The bulkier or heavier the weapon, the lower the physical ability, so I mainly use light weapons like daggers, but I met the wrong opponent today.
“I see. Once you start breathing fire, what…”
Metal weapons are vulnerable to heat after all.
Whether it’s tungsten or super heat-resistant alloy, it has no choice but to degenerate into a lump of scrap metal, losing its original function in front of the super-high-temperature flames created by the Awakeners.
In this situation, the only way he can win is to approach the opponent first before the ability warms up and subdue him with a weapon. There is only a future in which the preheating is complete and the melting is complete.
And the result, as expected, ended with Ha Yul’s easy victory.
I watched a few more games while accepting Hayul’s complaint about not being able to properly show what I had prepared, and then it was my turn.
When I went down the aisle leading to the stadium, I saw Ryu Xin, who was waiting for me first.
It was Ryushin’s words that broke the suffocating silence in the long hallway.
“Do your best. They won’t look at you.”
His eyes, shining bloodshot in the dark, turned to me.
Receiving an intense gaze, not knowing whether it was sympathy or jealousy, I forgot what to say and could only nod my head in response.
After the match was over, even the group in front of us walked to a corner of the vast stadium at the signal.
It looked really big from above, but looking at it from here, it was really terrifyingly big.
“Lee Ji-hoo from A class, Goryushin from A class. Prepare for sparring.”
Wear the equipment prepared in advance.
There would be no benefit from revealing the identity of the Critical Shield now, so I took it off and put on a white glove that sticks to my hand instead.
Made of a special material, it is a medium glove that helps the telekinesis ability to be transmitted better.
Until just a moment ago, the thought of having to face off against the main character of the original story was complicated, but when the game is about to start, my heart calms down.
No matter how the match turns out, all I have to do is show what I can show and accept the result cleanly.
“Start.”
At the same time as it starts, Ryu Xin runs towards me.
It is the same attack as John Rayak’s earlier attack, a standard move to target the telekinetic magician who is vulnerable when close.
At a speed that seemed to be faster than when he crashed to get the hidden piece, he barely came to his senses and rolled his body to avoid the attack.
The advantage of high speed is that it carries that much destructive power, but the risk of a miss is very high.
Before passing me and crashing into a wall, I shoot a compressed wave at Goryusin, who rapidly decelerates to reduce damage and widens the distance.
Even though the waves didn’t have a lot of aggression, he must have realized to some extent that he shouldn’t just run at the feeling that his brain was shaking from being hit properly.
But as time goes by, I get more and more disadvantaged.
As this war of attrition continues, no matter how far I spread, I will eventually catch up with him, and the moment I allow close combat, I am almost defeated.
In the end, the only way was to see the right opportunity and deal damage to him little by little, and when he was damaged to a certain extent, send him off with a final blow at once.
Immediately he ran again.
If earlier it was a wild move like an excited elephant, this time it’s a little softer but much sharper.
I managed to escape for a few minutes with the momentum I gained by sending waves back, but I was eventually caught by him by the head.
“Whoa, you can’t be careless just because you caught them all.”
Still, there was a chance left.
He stretches out his arms to catch me, sees that the center of gravity is concentrated in the front part of his body, and puts his feet down into his stomach.
It must have felt like his intestines were twisting because he sent waves as he slammed his feet down.
“Oooh…”
This must have done quite a bit of damage, right?
I started to run in the opposite direction, breathing heavily before I knew it, but before I could distance myself, he again led his injured body and slowly approached me.
I tried to stop the movement by hurriedly sending out waves, but suddenly the part where he grabbed my head grimaced and rang, and I lost my concentration for a moment.
Oh shit
The moment I grabbed his head earlier, something seemed wrong.
The moment the endorphins that had been exploding out stopped secreting, I collapsed as his legs gave out.
I felt like I was going to vomit as my head rang all the way to the inside and my vision went round and round.
“Heo-eok, heo-eok… Lee Ji-hoo… I won.”
Goryushin bent his knees and tried to stretch out his arms to lift me, who was lying on the floor and unable to move.
The stress was building, but when his winking, frowning grin finally came into my blurry vision, I couldn’t hold back the simmering feeling.
Mr. Erai, I don’t know either.
I think the time has come to use the skills I’ve been practicing for a week.
I reached out and grabbed his arm as he was trying to lift me up.
The technique I will be using from now on is a so-called ‘Big Explosion’ technique, named after a special move in a certain game.
I began to vibrate my body rapidly, drawing energy from deep within my chest.
Goryusin’s arm, which was tightly gripped by clenching his teeth and gathering strength, also slowly resonated in line with my vibration.
“Going alone, never, never…!”
It feels like my intestines are being torn apart by the tremendous vibration.
Perhaps the god Goryu next to me feels the same way.
I don’t know why I suddenly wanted to do this and make him unbeatable.
It’s just… I felt like if I gave Goryushin victory now, I wouldn’t be able to follow him anymore.
I slowly passed out as I heard Professor Shiana’s haste to run.
* * *
When I open my eyes, it is an unfamiliar ceiling.
I tried to raise my head, but even with the slightest movement, I immediately gave up because of my screaming joints.
“Uh… I’m going to die…”
It’s probably some kind of facility inside the school.
As I turned my head as far as my joints allowed, I could see white curtains, blankets, and pillows all covered in white.
From the faint smell of alcohol and potion, I soon knew that this was the infirmary.
Just then, there was the sound of the curtains opening and a silver-haired woman peeking out her head.
That mischievous expression on a face that doesn’t even distinguish the age properly can’t be…
“Oh, Jihoo-kun, you’ve had an accident since the first match!”
She was the principal of this academy, Sanya Dominas.
No why are you out there
When I tried to greet her by lifting her trembling waist, she quickly put me back on her bed and said,
“Uh-huh, the patient can’t wake up!”
“Thank you.”
The principal was holding my hand tightly before I knew it, erasing the mischievous expression and making a benevolent face.
“Jihoo-kun, I know you want to win, but wouldn’t that be too dangerous a technique?”
“…That’s right, but I don’t think it would have happened if I hadn’t done that at the time.”
No.
On the contrary, now that I have come back to my senses, I am very regretful about using the technique, but my mouth spat out words that had nothing to do with my will.
“Do you know what powers I have?”
“Isn’t that a sound wave?”
“Yeah, that’s right~ Judging from the admissions documents, Jihoo-kun also has the same kind of ability. If Jihoo-kun is okay, how about learning from me for a few hours a week from now on?”
The conversation develops in an unexpected direction.
I was taken aback by the sudden offer, but it would be foolish to refuse such an offer.
It was also a good opportunity to observe her up close, which was her original target.
“As long as the principal is okay, I’m fine.”
“Okay, then come to the principal’s office around 6:00 PM on Friday. Oh, and someone was waiting outside the infirmary earlier. Is it your girlfriend?”
Is it a girlfriend or Ha-yul?
No matter how much he was attacked by me, he still chose me over his childhood friend… I’m a little touched.
As the headmaster left the infirmary, he heard someone talking to him.
I can’t hear her because her voice is so low… I’ll have to surprise her while pretending to sleep with the blanket over her.
Again and again.
With the sound of shoes, someone entered the infirmary, followed by the sound of the curtains being pulled back. I pulled the covers off and screamed with my eyes wide open.
“Wow! …Ah?”
“Lee Ji-hoo, I would have told you to come over for lunch.”
It wasn’t Ha Yul who came to see me,
It was Yoo Seol-ah senior who ignored my screams with an expressionless face.
Oh, I was just kidding.
