episode_0014

015

Rustle, rustle.

The murmurs of the trainees who were watching Teams 15 and 16 echoed loudly in their ears. This was because many interesting scenes were being staged more than expected.

Especially the first arrow attack was quite impressive.

While using them consecutively might be impossible, the combined attack using various psychic abilities was enough to capture the children’s interest.

Orbit adjustment, phantom projection, speed control.

The attack that combined three psychic abilities was more threatening than expected.

By adjusting the orbit, twisting the trajectory of the arrow, projecting the arrow into multiple phantoms, and using speed control to disrupt the timing of impact.

If it were other children, they might not have been able to respond.

But Yoo Seolhyun seemed to already know and cleanly deflected all the phantom arrows with her spear, accurately bouncing back the real arrow, didn’t she?

Is it because of the bloodline of the Spear Ghost, Yoo Gapryeong?

The children looked at Yoo Seolhyun with admiring eyes.

Ranked 7th among the freshmen, she was slightly underestimated compared to Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan, but it seems like they need to rethink that.

Yoo Seolhyun’s performance this time was exceptional.

“As expected, Seolhyun! Amazing!”

“This time, Seolhyun did it all by herself, she did it.”

“Wow, how did she block that?”

The members of Yoo Seolhyun’s group praised her.

They gathered around and chattered excitedly.

In the eyes of the children, Seolhyun was undoubtedly the star of this performance.

“Hey, Siwoon.”

Kang Daehan, who was watching from a distance, sneakily turned his gaze towards Lee Siwoon.

In a soft voice, Lee Siwoon raised his head slightly and looked at the red-haired male student with a nonchalant expression.

With a sly smile, Kang Daehan asked a question.

“Do you think you could have blocked the first arrow?”

“Well…”

Lee Siwoon pondered for a moment and replied somewhat skeptically.

“Unless you knew how the opponent would attack… it would be difficult in a state of not knowing anything.”

Of course, he had confidence in blocking it with a fifty percent chance, but mentioning probabilities in the first place was fallacious.

“As expected.”

Kang Daehan clicked his tongue and mumbled, pondering his words.

“Well, I’m not sure if I could have blocked it or not.”

Contrary to his usual arrogant attitude, Kang Daehan honestly expressed his feelings, looking at Yoo Seolhyun as if seeing her again.

“Yoo Seolhyun. I didn’t pay much attention to you, but I’d like to face you later, what do you think?”

“…”

The spear technique taught by the Spear Ghost…

I wasn’t interested in it before, but it’s quite intriguing now.

With a curious smile, Kang Daehan clenched his fist tightly. As a fellow spear user, his fighting spirit was rising.

“Hmm.”

Meanwhile, Hong Daye, who was pondering the battle between Teams 15 and 16, blinked her head in confusion. In her dark eyes, a hint of interest lingered. There were many puzzling aspects to Yoo Seolhyun’s battle.

With the reflex nerves of Yoo Seolhyun she had been observing for a month, it was not an attack that could be blocked. Even a current hero would have had difficulty responding.

Moreover, although the children didn’t notice, Yoo Seolhyun, who actually blocked the arrow, also seemed a bit bewildered.

‘It wasn’t just luck that she blocked it.’

She had been defending the exact point of impact even before the arrows reached her. It was definitely not a hasty block by chance.

Rather, she seemed hesitant and skeptical, similar to someone who received advice on what to do but couldn’t completely trust it.

‘There are also many doubts about the fight with Han Dongwon.’

Rank 7, Yoo Seolhyun, and Rank 91, Han Dongwon.

It was expected that Yoo Seolhyun would emerge victorious in their fight, but it was by no means going to be settled within 1-2 minutes.

Considering the two individuals’ training, physical abilities, interpersonal combat records, and past data from their middle school days, I had anticipated it would take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.

However, when the lid was finally lifted, Yoo Seolhyun had effortlessly clinched the victory.

Throughout the fight, Yoo Seolhyun overwhelmed Han Dongwon.

Every time he attempted a counterattack or a major technique, she astutely caught on like a ghost and neatly countered it.

It seemed as though she was aware of Han Dongwon’s every move in advance.

It wasn’t simply a physical response.

It’s highly likely that she had already familiarized herself with Han Dongwon’s techniques, habits, and tendencies.

“Come to think of it, the showdown between Seonari and Oseongwoon was quite intriguing.”

Seonari with physical enhancement abilities and Oseongwoon with projection abilities.

While Oseongwoon’s projections were intricate enough to confuse his opponent, Seonari swiftly identified his real body hidden among the projections and promptly defeated Oseongwoon.

How did she accurately distinguish between the projections and the real body?

According to Hong Daye, Seonari didn’t possess the ability to instantly see through Oseongwoon’s projections.

“Lastly, there’s Lee Jinhyuk…”

To be honest, Lee Jinhyuk didn’t do much in this match.

Compared to Yoo Seolhyun and Seonari, his performance was quite minimal.

Ridiculously, all he did was block the future arrows using two shields.

But why did he start with two shields from the beginning?

It’s almost as if he had prepared them in advance to counter the future arrows.

“Before the exam started, the 16 teams had something to say.”

– Guys, let’s stick to the plan, just the plan.

– Hehe. Wanna bet on it? Your strategy.”

– If it doesn’t work, Lee Jinhyuk, you better be prepared to die by my hands.

A plan…

Could it be that Lee Jinhyuk had planned everything?

If so, the evaluation changes.

Compiling and analyzing the opponent’s information in advance to come up with such a plan is enough to earn high scores.

But even though he’s heard to be the top in theory, can he really formulate such accurate plans?

The flow of events went smoothly, almost as if he already knew everything.

Like he had known the content beforehand.

***

Yoo Seolhyun’s room.

“…It’s better than I thought.”

Yoo Seolhyun, lying on the bed in the dimly lit room, reflected once again on the assessment that had taken place over the past few weeks.

Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals…

Surprisingly, thanks to Lee Jinhyuk’s plan, she was able to smoothly advance to the finals.

Especially in the semifinals, the team they faced was no pushover, but Lee Jinhyuk’s strategy fit perfectly, allowing them to win more easily than she had expected.

Honestly, she didn’t have high expectations for Lee Jinhyuk…

But his ability to formulate and execute plans was beyond imagination.

She couldn’t help but be amazed at how Lee Jinhyuk analyzed the opponent’s habits, tendencies, weaknesses, and compatibility to come up with precise countermeasures.

Especially, how he managed to anticipate and warn about the opponent’s hidden trump card-like finishing move even before the match was beyond comprehension.

Half-jokingly, one could say he could see the future?

“Predictive ability…”

An ability to foresee.

A power that anyone would covet.

It’s not an ability that doesn’t exist in this world.

After all, there was an oracle named Oracle.

“But that’s impossible.”

Yoo Seolhyun chuckled.

“After all, Lee Jinhyuk doesn’t have any extraordinary abilities.”

He’s just an ordinary person.

Jinhyuk has never awakened his supernatural ability.

“If it wasn’t intentionally hidden.”

Yooseolhyun finally shook her head to snap out of her foolish thoughts.

Not wanting to waste any more time with empty daydreams, she decided to focus on more productive thoughts.

“Well… Whether Jinhyuk has future-seeing abilities or not, that’s beside the point. But as a tactician, his skills are commendable.”

Having observed many heroes for a long time, Yooseolhyun could say that Jinhyuk’s tactical abilities were quite impressive.

Thanks to one tactical theorist, he managed to breeze through the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals.

She had underestimated Jinhyuk quite a bit.

As a tactical advisor, he was quite a decent individual.

“Hmm. Interesting.”

Jinhyuk.

While his combat abilities were lacking, his tactical and strategic planning skills were excellent.

It’s hard to say if he’s a talent worth scouting for in Gaon Nuri Clan, but it seems fine to keep an eye on him a bit longer.

Heroes rarely operate alone.

They form teams to adeptly handle numerous situations.

As they operate in teams, they need individuals who can complement each other’s shortcomings in various ways.

There are heroes like Jinhyuk who excel in supporting roles.

“…Of course, powerful hero candidates like Isiun are the top scouting priority.”

Yooseolhyun chuckled and turned off the lights.

Tomorrow is the finals.

It’s the last day of the evaluation.

Yooseolhyun was somewhat looking forward to seeing how Jinhyuk’s tactics would fare against Isiun’s team.

Honestly, with the current strength of Yooseolhyun’s team, they wouldn’t stand a chance against Isiun’s team.

Turning the tables on the unfavorable situation would require a brilliant strategy.

If tomorrow’s match goes according to Jinhyuk’s plan.

“I wonder how it will turn out?”

Yooseolhyun was curious about the outcome of tomorrow’s match.

***

“…I told Yooseolhyun and Seonari a plausible strategy, but if we really go head-to-head, we’ll probably be defeated in 10 minutes, right?”

I chuckled to myself before laughing out loud.

How can I defeat the talented male and female protagonists?

“Well, we don’t really need to win in the first place.”

After all, that event will happen tomorrow.

The special event that occurs in the finals.