Chapter 38: Group Battle (4)

There were several more matches after that.

Each time, I finished them all by myself.

Since we don't know how causality might change, there was no need to show off Si-woo and the heroines' abilities.

And finally, it was time for the finals.

Unfortunately, the students from Goryeo and Seoul Academy had all self-destructed.

Ah, how stupid. In my opinion, those two academies should have had a bloody battle.

"How the hell did they manage to steal each other's flags at the same time for a draw?"

"And that 10-person battle was ridiculous - they all collapsed while spouting crap like 'You fought well,' 'No, you did' to each other."

That's actually what happened. Well, that's how it went in the original too.

Either Writer Yoo Eun-ha was too lazy to write it out, or she wanted to write some friendship crap, but while Hanseong Academy's protagonist brutally crushes their opponents as they advance, Seoul and Goryeo keep fighting each other to draws.

But this wasn't described in such detail in the original.

Yet in reality, Goryeo and Seoul are putting on this friendship show even as they defeat each other.

Hanseong Academy is really about to become the outcast among the top 3 academies.

[There are also causality adjustment issues.]

"I figured as much."

That I can accept. Due to causality adjustments, rather than forcing the original's plausibility, real people coincidentally acted out this friendship drama.

[Especially with Hanseong becoming Galapagosized due to Master's influence... It seems to have affected the tournament brackets too.]

Come to think of it, Hanseong mostly ended up fighting other Hanseong teams.

As expected, Class A teams seem to rely heavily on family background.

While Class A has the highest level overall, there are many students with similar abilities in Class B and such. They even drew with Class C.

"So who's next?"

[Hanseong Academy Class A Team 1 VS Hanseong Academy Class B Team 1]

Class B Team 1 - that's the team with that Cheok Jun-gyeong reincarnation or constellation or whatever.

It's the finals anyway. I entered the arena with my teammates.

"Ah, so it's that bastard."

Class B on the opposite side - a gathering of poor kids. And in the center was Park Jun-hyeok, who unlike in the original story had been thoroughly ignored by Choi Si-woo.

He looks pretty agile, but has a delinquent face. His hair is dyed a color that wouldn't look out of place being friends with Geum Tae-yang.

Speaking of which, that Geum Tae-yang bastard claims to attend the academy but doesn't seem to have shown up for the group battles.

If he had, we would've spotted him with that bronze skin.

Thinking of him, I sent him a text.

Eun-ha: You not joining the group battles?

NTR Professional Actor: Noona. Let's not do this. I know your alias, and I don't wanna die.

Look how fast he replies. Does this guy have nothing better to do.

Eun-ha: Fuck you, you should at least come cheer me on asshole.

NTR Professional Actor: Wow where's your conscience.

This mint chocolate-loving bastard is a coward despite being Geum Tae-yang.

As Geum Tae-yang he should be corrupting taken women into bitches. Tsk tsk.

"Texting in front of me? You must be real comfortable."

Just then some guy started picking a fight.

"Hm?"

"Class A is down to just you guys. How's that feel?"

There's no one in Class A who exceeds B-class in ability anyway.

At most there's the protagonist and heroine party.

Since this is both an academy story and a large-scale hunter story, it doesn't cover many relationships at the academy besides the heroines.

For the protagonist, male characters are just assholes who skip the heroine storylines.

The ironic part is that Park Jun-hyeok treating me like a protagonist has twisted the original story again.

"And?"

"You Class A people think you're so great just because you're in Class A."

Park Jun-hyeok. Said to be #1 in combat ability in Class B.

But he has an inferiority complex about Class A, challenges Choi Si-woo and loses. A troll character who stubbornly sticks to his own path till the end in the original.

Actually, meeting Park Jun-hyeok was supposed to happen earlier, but since Si-woo skipped the event of meeting him, he's suddenly acting up here.

"Why are you so twisted?"

"Am I wrong? Class A is privileged! No matter how hard Class B works, we can never move up to Class A!"

Is there really any need to be so hung up on class?

I recalled Choi Si-woo's lines from the original.

-You might be right. Class A has many students who got in through family power or wealth. But not everyone is like that!

The righteous protagonist Choi Si-woo spared no inspiring words trying to convince the stubborn hothead Park Jun-hyeok.

But I'm no saint, so I don't need to copy Si-woo.

"Does not being in Class A make thorns grow in your mouth? Or do you just get triggered whenever you see privileged kids?"

He just glares at me in response.

Park Jun-hyeok grew up dirt poor after all.

Even now he survives on part-time jobs with the academy's permission. His tuition is covered by scholarship.

-But that doesn't mean everyone in Class B deserves to be in Class A. Why don't you show me what you can do? Try beating me, the one you hate so much!

Choi Si-woo is a protagonist character.

But now she's just watching with an emotionless face.

Seems like she's leaving this entirely to me this time.

"Look at this fucker. You're just bitter about your own situation. Jealous of Class A kids? Then try getting a mythical weapon. Or get a Divine Sword. Or be from another world or a hero's sibling."

"..."

Park Jun-hyeok's face twisted nastily.

Come to think of it, his backstory is being an orphan who grew up dirt poor.

Again, I'm no saint. I have no intention of making obstacles understand me or rehabilitating them.

In that case, I should use this to really tear into him.

"You must've done some fucked up shit in your past life to be born poor and parentless in this one, so why are you bitching at us? What? Cheok Jun-gyeong? Does getting beat up hurt less because of that?"

The fact that Choi Si-woo, who shouted such righteous things in the original, is staying quiet now says it all.

Looking at it coldly, he's not helpful.

To be honest, he's just a nuisance.

I bet his personality changed a lot after regression too.

Rather than repeating the same actions, protecting the world is the only priority now.

And I'm the same way.

While Park Jun-hyeok isn't a villain, he was a huge pain in the ass for the protagonist.

Despite not being a heroine, he acts all tsundere and stubbornly ignores Si-woo's words, which delays the response to the great demon flood that will happen near the academy later.

So I'd rather not get involved if possible.

"If you're so jealous, why don't you come at me?"

When I beckoned with my finger, Park Jun-hyeok drew his crescent moon blade.

This guy has no sense.

This group battle is supposed to be about capturing flags, but with no concept like that, no wonder he's stuck in Class B.

His teammates also drew their weapons, seemingly disliking me.

And Reina and Han Soo-ji who were quietly by my side drew their bow and spear.

"How presumptuous."

"Forget flags and everything else. You need a beating to wake up."

No reason to take their bait. Choi Si-woo just meets my eyes and nods.

"Hey wait, isn't this the finals? This isn't the time for arguments."

The school directors came to the arena to stop me and Park Jun-hyeok's teams. But Park Jun-hyeok still wasn't done, smirking.

Does he think he can win?

"Does it even matter at this point? It's just Hanseong vs Hanseong, so let's change the rules."

"*Sigh* To what?"

Kim Young-hee and the other academy deans sighed.

Their faces said "This brat is really trying to break academy rules."

"It's called flag capture but from the start wasn't the goal to beat each other up?"

"That's true."

"How about we do 5v5, one-on-one matches?"

This Park Jun-hyeok bastard must be out of his mind.

In flag capture you should focus on the flags, but where's this confidence coming from?

He's way more arrogant than I expected. Is he that full of himself?

"Well that's not a bad idea. We don't have individual matches scheduled this year anyway. Plus Yoo Eun-ha and Park Jun-hyeok are well-known students at Hanseong."

"I think it's not bad either. The spectators seem to be expecting it too."

At the deans' words, I looked at the spectator seats and everyone did seem to have that expectation.

They're saying that since it's just been fighting anyway, might as well drop the annoying rules.

And so it became individual matches like Park Jun-hyeok wanted.

[Yoo Eun-ha vs Park Jun-hyeok]

Park Jun-hyeok glared at me murderously from the arena.

The atmosphere is sharper than usual.

Fine. This noona will specially let you attack first.

When I beckoned, Park Jun-hyeok charged in swinging his crescent moon blade.

"So arrogant! Even with light speed, can you block this?"

He must know about my acceleration.

That's probably why Park Jun-hyeok seems to be trying to catch me with speed too.

Suddenly he vanished from in front of me.

But I can see it all clearly.

Now that I've awakened and gained all of Azhi Dahaka's power, I had a thought.

Do I really need to keep attending the academy? It's getting annoying just fighting weaklings.

The academy has lost its meaning now that my future has changed.

The heroines would probably be better off doing dungeon training than staying at the academy too.

The tricky part is that I need to stay at the academy to be involved in the story.

Since I survived, there's no need for Park Jun-hyeok to be useful no matter how strong he is.

Isn't an incompetent ally worse than an enemy?

Park Jun-hyeok is exactly that type.

Originally he could have been a powerful ally with exceptional abilities, but he's a character who trolls a lot.

Better to bury him here.

"It's useless."

"What are you babbling about? It's too late to block now!"

Park Jun-hyeok, called Cheok Jun-gyeong's reincarnation, freely swings his massive crescent moon blade.

Like how Class A has Han Soo-ji, Class B has Park Jun-hyeok.

Of course, his weapon wasn't even mythical grade, just a spear his father supposedly left him as a child. While a normal human would probably be split in half if they didn't dodge that attack...

Clang!

I just took the hit.

Unfortunately for him, I'm only human-shaped - inside I'm Azhi Dahaka.

By wrapping magic power around my body, I can draw out the defensive power of the evil dragon's scales.

Someone who can't even sync with a constellation has no chance of piercing an evil dragon's scales.

If even the Flame of Purification Spear and Magic Dragon's Spear couldn't pierce it, how could he do anything with a spear of lower grade?

"Didn't I tell you? It's useless."

After taking one hit, I casually pushed away his spear.

"How is this possible..."

Why are you surprised now? You should have been prepared.

"Why would I bother blocking attacks that just tickle?"

Do I need to?

At my muttered words at the end, Park Jun-hyeok's face turned bright red.

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