Before the start of Round 2, during the interim advertisement break, Rashid returned to the contestant waiting room after finishing his match.
“Yah!”
Pffft—!
Rashid had expected a thunderous applause upon entering, but instead, he was greeted with a fierce kick from Kang Tae-hoon.
“What were you thinking, delivering a knockout right from the start!”
“Ooh?”
“Ooh?! Are you serious?!”
“Umm?”
“Hey… If you say ‘Umm’ one more time with that big body of yours, I might actually kill you….”
Rashid tilted his head, confused as to why Kang Tae-hoon was suddenly so angry. Rashid had won the match, so why was Tae-hoon upset? Had some other event taken place without his knowledge?
Rashid looked around the waiting room to assess the situation.
“Shin Yoon-seong is not here.”
Shin Yoon-seong wasn’t in sight. Upon returning to the waiting room, Kang Tae-hoon was the only one there.
Where could Shin Yoon-seong have gone?
“…He said he’s going to the restroom for a bit because he thought he might lose it.”
Kang Tae-hoon dismissed the matter with a vague lie, since Shin Yoon-seong had specifically requested that others not be informed.
Something about how moving together might expose them.
“I scored on an underdog bet!”
Just then, a noisy chicken entered the waiting room—it was Yoo Ji-woo. Clearly something had gone very well for him, as he was happily hopping around.
“Rock! You were amazing! Thanks to you, I got a 2.7x return on my bet!”
“Ooh.”
“Hmm… Now what should I buy with this prize money?”
Yoo Ji-woo grinned widely, lost in happy daydreams. It was evident he had made a big win in gambling.
“Hey kid. Don’t tell me you’re betting while you can’t even afford bread? Surely you didn’t bet on my match, did you?”
“Of course, I placed bets on Round 2. You can’t enjoy a match like this unless you’ve got money riding on it.”
“And who did you place a bet on?”
“Lloyd Hintz. It was an underdog, so I dipped my toes in a little.”
“…”
To openly declare that you placed a bet on the opposing team right in front of a teammate, was bound to make anyone angry.
Kang Tae-hoon loudly roared, veins popping in his neck.
“Are you insane? Betting on the opponent? What the hell are you doing, man? Aren’t you on the same team as me?”
Anyway, time was up, so Kang Tae-hoon climbed onto the stage.
—Ughhhhh!
Even before the match began, a tremendous chorus of jeers erupted. They were all directed at Kang Tae-hoon. Judging by the sounds, it was coming from the visiting fans’ section.
—…
On the contrary, the home team’s section was eerily quiet. Not a cheer or clap could be heard.
“Is this even the home stadium?”
Not that he was ever expecting support. Everything was according to plan.
Likely, the students of Han-yul Military Academy seated in the home team section hoped deep down for Kang Tae-hoon’s defeat as well.
This was Kang Tae-hoon’s current status.
“Hmmm… hmmm… finally, I can knock you out.”
Right on cue, Lloyd Hintz also stepped onto the ring. As Shin Yoon-seong had mentioned earlier, his condition didn’t look too good.
“Ugh…!”
Lloyd was already panting heavily, clutching his chest in pain occasionally. That wasn’t all; his skin showed signs of dark red blotches, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He looked almost like a rabid animal.
“Hey, are you alright? Maybe you should be heading to the ER rather than here? I know of a good place if you want an introduction.”
“Shut up!”
BAM—!
Lloyd slammed down a huge broadsword matching his frame. But Kang Tae-hoon wasn’t someone easily intimidated.
He just felt like irritating Lloyd even more.
“Judging by your looks, you seem to have taken some kind of drugs again, huh? What did you take this time? Don’t just eat whatever you find. You might get diarrhea.”
“I told you to shut up… Ughhhhh!”
Lloyd paused mid-sentence, clutching his head.
There’s no way he became like this overnight. Likely, he was suffering from the side effects of the drugs.
It was definitely not simple narcotics, but a stimulant designed to amplify magical power, according to expectations.
Should something happen and that frame gets out of control, there won’t be anything more bothersome than that.
—Hintz! Pound that milk-faced bastard!
The audience, unaware of the truth, only cheered excitedly.
What could be done? They were sitting far away in the stands and didn’t have time to check Lloyd’s health status.
“Huff… Huff….”
“Hey. Are you sure you’re okay? Can you even wield that sword properly in your condition? How about just forfeiting?”
“I… I would never forfeit…! Stop laughing!”
Lloyd glared furiously. All Lloyd wanted at the moment was victory in the trial match, and for that, he had taken an awakening drug from a stranger without hesitation.
It wouldn’t matter if his body collapsed tomorrow. As long as he could flatten Kang Tae-hoon’s nose, he would even offer his heart to the devil.
Such was how Lloyd viewed his pride as more valuable than his life itself.
“I’ve always thought about it…. The day I would take revenge on you!”
“Revenge? People might think I gave you a beating out of nowhere. But who was it that started mocking me first?”
“Shut up!”
“Anyway, you act without thinking. Nothing different from the past to the present.”
Actually, Kang Tae-hoon was in no position to say such things. Who was Kang Tae-hoon? A man whose fists would fly out as soon as his mood was disturbed, wasn’t he?
Moreover, Kang Tae-hoon himself had once longed for revenge like Lloyd. Just this year, his revenge target was Shin Yoon-seong.
Well, he now found himself on the same team as Shin Yoon-seong, fighting against the yankees in an evaluation match.
“Fine. Do whatever revenge or nonsense you want. But it won’t be as easy as you think.”
As the time approached, Kang Tae-hoon also raised his sword.
No matter what, Lloyd needed to be held back at the moment. He didn’t necessarily have to win. Just buying some time would suffice.
Even if Lloyd went berserk, it wouldn’t matter. As things stood, all attention was already focused on him. If he could hold on, then the audience wouldn’t suffer any collateral damage.
If Lloyd was held here through the match, Shin Yoon-seong would surely wrap things up as planned.
Honestly, he didn’t trust him at all, but for now, he had no choice but to do as Shin Yoon-seong said…
“…Hold on.”
Suddenly, Kang Tae-hoon frowned as something crossed his mind.
“Why should I follow that guy’s orders anyway?”
Before seriously pursuing the drug salesman, I first went to the stadium’s operations room.
—Cancel the match? What nonsense are you talking?
Just in case, I asked if it was possible to cancel the match, but they ignored me. Naturally, since I had no proper reason to cancel.
In the end, the only option was to come back with direct evidence later.
In any case, I had to catch the drug salesman. I decided to send the spoon to thoroughly search the entire audience section.
“…”
I knew what he looked like. He had a likable face that anyone would easily associate with a salesperson. It wasn’t a common face either, so I wouldn’t confuse him with anyone else.
Whiiiirrr—!
—Wahhhhh!
Meanwhile, the Round 2 match began. The clash of Kang Tae-hoon’s saber and Lloyd’s greatsword produced a tremendous sound.
“Where could that guy be?”
As the spoon scanned the spectators, I could not easily spot the drug salesman.
Perhaps he hadn’t entered at all?
“Ah, we meet again.”
Then, a male voice came from the middle of the corridor. Looking back, it was the drug salesman I had been looking for.
“You might not remember me. We met once before in a bar.”
Whether the salesman realized he was walking into a trap or not, he approached me with a friendly face.
“I heard you’re competing in the final round. So, I thought I’d recommend something that might be helpful.”
The fact that he had approached me directly with more drugs was clear. He was much dumber than he looked.
“Are you giving these away for free?”
“Yes, it’s like a sample for you to try.”
The drug salesman glanced at the screen set up in the corridor.
“See there? The image of Lloyd Hintz dominating Kang Tae-hoon.”
Indeed, if only looking at the flow of the match, Lloyd seemed to be in the lead, overpowering the mighty Kang Tae-hoon.
“You can become like that too. All you need is this drug.”
The salesman shook a ziplock bag. I decided to play along for now.
“It does sound tempting.”
“Ah, then, let’s do it right now—”
“Not yet.”
I pulled out my smartphone, having already fixed its camera lens on the opponent.
“Let’s take a quick picture first. Just stay still, holding the drug.”
“Huh? Why do we need a picture all of a sudden….”
“I’ll start counting. One, two, three.”
“Cheese.”
Click—!
That secured the proof. Inside the photo, there was the drug salesman’s smiling face and the drug he held, perfectly captured.
Modern smartphone cameras really have excellent quality.
“Uh… What’s going on exactly….”
The smile from earlier disappeared as the drug salesman started sweating cold. He must be very confused, given that I suddenly pulled out the camera during a deal.
But it’s not over yet.
Thud—!
The spoon that I had sent on reconnaissance to the stands returned to my hand.
What I must do with this spoon right now is just one thing.
“First, let’s give you a good hit.”
“Huh…?”
To start by creating a lump on the skull of the guy who caused all this trouble.
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=151,215 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
