Having escorted Oh Haena away, I made my way to the waiting room.
On the way, I stopped a staff member and asked,
“By any chance, do you provide any kind of potions? For fatigue recovery?”
“No. As far as I know, they’re only provided to the winner for the event match.”
“I see. Thank you.”
The staff member gave a brief reply and then returned to their duties.
‘I’m fine, but Park Hayeon expended quite a bit of mana using that strange draw technique.’
It seemed the tournament was designed this way, perhaps to test fairness or to account for such tactics.
The next match was scheduled to start in an hour.
During the lengthy break, the audience left and then returned with snacks.
‘To end up facing Park Hayeon…’
I sighed in the waiting room.
In the game, making it to the finals as the protagonist was quite difficult. After completing it, I remember seeing a message that read, “An achievement attained by only 7.8%.” Park Hayeon’s abilities weren’t specifically tailored for one-on-one combat, so once we reached the semifinals, overpowering physical strength became necessary to win.
‘She seems to be doing fine without my detailed intervention. That’s fortunate.’
Whenever I thought about the original male protagonist, I envisioned someone who set romantic flags with every woman he met, had a ridiculously wide network, and always ended up meddling in situations he couldn’t handle until he died.
However, seeing her devise that strange draw technique today lightened my concerns.
‘I just need to make sure she gets some rare skills or items.’
Still, there was an important lesson I needed to teach Park Hayeon for this match:
Swords might be good, but spears are the best weapons.
Whether fighting another person or a monster, spears give a significant advantage, and during the later stages, many weapons that drop are spears. Hence, it would be more effective for her to start practicing with a spear now.
I intended to mercilessly toy with her using a spear, so she’d fully grasp its superiority and reconsider her weapon choice.
“Match is about to begin!”
I heard someone calling me from outside.
I grabbed my spear and stepped out of the waiting room.
At the tournament’s VIP seating, tables and broad seats left a distinct impression.
Zhang Haoran, a member of the Central Politburo of the People’s Republic of China, had arrived in Korea a few days ago. He was highly unsettled that the South Korean president hadn’t come to greet him personally, despite his own ranking as 23rd in the Chinese hierarchy.
Zhang Haoran was taking a quick break, with security staff stationed behind him. By his side was his adoptive son, Zhang Yichen, one of China’s “Gai-Shin In-Lui” (改新人类), or “New Humans.”
These “New Humans” are referred to as “Designer Babies,” where failed experiments are sent to the military or espionage organizations, while successful ones are adopted into high-ranking families.
Zhang Yichen was one of the successfully classified cases, Zhang Haoran’s adoptive son. With his pale hair and crimson eyes, he looked like a handsome Western adolescent.
“The winner over there will be your opponent.”
Intensely fighting were Shinnoda and Park Hayeon. To the naked eye, they seemed evenly matched.
“I believe that man there will win.”
Zhang Yichen, an A-rank Awakened One, had an intuition. He could vaguely sense Shinnoda’s strength and thus predict the outcome.
《Ah… Shinnoda is truly formidable! It’s daunting to think that he’s just a first-year.》
《Indeed. It’s unsettling to imagine how monstrous he’ll become by graduation. Judging from his growth trajectory, achieving the rank of S-class isn’t out of the question in the future!》
As Zhang Yichen predicted, Shinnoda relentlessly attacked, pushing Park Hayeon to her limits.
With no other choice but to defend herself, Park Hayeon eventually suffered a severe cut to her right leg.
Right Leg: 0/150<Deficiency>
The damage was reflected on the scoreboard, and immediately, the defensive suit Park Hayeon wore hardened in her right leg section, immobilizing it.
The practice suit locks the injured part once a deficiency is determined.
Though Park Hayeon continued to fight desperately, dragging her wounded leg, she was inevitably overpowered. Shinnoda wouldn’t give her the space to use her “Draw-ZeroSecond,” which could have turned the tide.
Even if Shinnoda had wanted, he could’ve easily blocked it but chose to keep her at bay to demonstrate the inadequacy of her sword skills.
《Losing a leg effectively ends it. Frankly, defeating a spear with a sword like that is nearly impossible. She should’ve worn heavy armor like Oh Haena.》
《Park Hayeon was a bit too confident. Oh! Just as I say this, Shinnoda delivers a sudden stab! It hits his neck!》
The holographic model of Park Hayeon turned red, displaying the message “DEATH.”
—
Beep, beep.
The referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the match.
—
《Match is over! Shinnoda has won the championship! Incredible! A champion who only used telekinesis skills!》
《The skills were merely auxiliary. This was an amazing display of unparalleled spear techniques and combat sense. Even professional Heroes could learn a thing or two.》
《Please refrain from such dangerous statements.》
A smile spread across Zhang Yichen’s face. He was already feeling restless for a battle, having no worthy opponents his age.
“Thank you for bringing me today, father. To prepare such a good opponent for me.”
“Uhh, y-yes, that’s right…”
He expressed his gratitude to his adoptive father, though his combat instincts screamed for him to jump into the fray immediately.
Zhang Yichen eventually stood up and picked up his dual swords.
“Master, the friendly match is scheduled for an hour from now. Please wait a little longer…”
“Understood.”
Listening to the guard, Zhang Yichen reluctantly sat back down to control his excitement.
Back at the contestant waiting room.
What should have been a quiet rest space for me was now filled with important figures.
“Mr. Shinnoda, it is crucial that you win the match that will take place in an hour. The national honor is at stake.”
A high-ranking official took my hand while saying this.
“Yes, I’ll take care of it.”
Since I already planned to win, I merely nodded in acknowledgment.
We were at the mid-point of the original story, and soon enough, China would openly reveal its hegemonic ambitions in the latter half.
A southern invasion using North Korea as a proxy.
Of course, the remaining provinces of North Korea—places like North Pyongan and Hamgyong—have no real fighting force left, but that wasn’t much of a concern.
A so-called “voluntary corps” of Chinese “heroes” sympathizing with North Korea.
Strangely, most of these “volunteers” turned out to be former members of the People’s Liberation Army, numbering in the tens of thousands, but the Chinese government adamantly claimed ignorance.
Meanwhile, there were demonic forces seeking to summon the Demon King, and even with everyone scrambling to deal with those threats, it wouldn’t be enough if we had to deal with China’s invasion as well.
I planned to showcase maximum force during this sparring match, making sure that China wouldn’t underestimate us.
“Just because I’m a mere student, they might underrate me, but I will do my best.”
Preventing China’s potential trolling war in the later half would make preparing against the Demon King that much easier.
“So, drink this potion, please. It’s the highest grade from K Group with a booster added.”
He leaned close and whispered in my ear,
“A booster?”
I stiffened slightly and questioned him. A booster is an illegal drug that temporarily enhances an Awakened One’s abilities. While some are effective, others come with significant side effects, necessitating caution.
Needless to say, in this kind of competition, it is strictly considered doping and thus prohibited.
“Oh, don’t worry. This isn’t one of those cheap ones with side effects. I’m not an expert, but I believe it’s called some ‘Oracle.'”
If it was Oracle, it was an ultra-high-end booster with virtually no side effects. It significantly enhances abilities, raising all stats by +300.
This was an event not present in the original story, likely another butterfly effect. Since the middle-aged man didn’t appear to be lying, I trusted him and drank the potion.
“Status window.”
————<Status Window>————
◈ Name
n̶̡̡̛̟̠͈͎̟̍͜͝͡͠ų̢̰̭̲̋͒̓͊̀̒́͘͡l̴̳͙͓̞̻̝͇̥͆̋͂̉̕͡͠͠l̨̛̫̖̝͓̮̳͓͆̃̈̈́̈́͆̈̕
◈ Stats
[Strength 200 A](+300)
[Agility 841 B](+300)
[Intelligence 291 C](+300)
[Luck 277 F](+300)
[Overall C]
◈ Skills
[Succession 921 A]
[Dragon Heart — A]
[Telekinesis 767 C]
[Enchant — B]
[Polymorph — S]
———————————–
It was indeed Oracle.
To prepare such an expensive booster meant they were serious.
‘Does the government also recognize the danger posed by China like I do? Is this why they want a show of force?’
Even if it felt a bit illicit, doping in secret, the opponent was a Gai-Shin In-Lui.
Someone whose very existence was doping. Moreover, to prevent war, I absolutely had to win this fight decisively.
As the break drew to an end, I exited the waiting room and looked toward the duel arena where my opponent was already waiting.
The sight of him made me sense that something was off.
A boy with white hair and crimson eyes.
He wore light armor like me but carried dual swords as his weapons.
And the overwhelming energy he exuded.
‘Much stronger than I thought?’
Just the power radiating from him was already at an A-rank level.
In the original story, this match was of the “guaranteed defeat” type, so I had no clear idea how strong he actually was. I had assumed he’d be upper B-rank at best, but observing him now, I began to doubt if I’d need to give it my all to win.
I returned to the waiting room to summon the staff and referees.
‘I need to make the most of the home-field advantage.’
