Ch.192192 – Shining Personality

# 192 – Shining Character

The morale of both teams before the team competition was starkly contrasting.

“Repeat after me: ‘I’m dead.’ I’ll beat you so badly you won’t even be able to surrender.”

“Just try it. I’ll make you wet your pants.”

The Imperial faction students were shooting venomous words like poisonous pufferfish in season.

Thanks to them, the morale of the Frontier faction students hit rock bottom, despite having initially hoped they might stand a chance due to the mysterious terrorist attack injuries suffered by the Imperial students.

“What should we do, Oknodie? Their spirit isn’t broken at all.”

“Hmph. It doesn’t matter. I want to vent my frustrations too.”

Winner Stays On.

A competition where the winning team’s player keeps their position until defeated, while the losing team must continuously send new challengers until they win.

Depending on how it’s played, a few could utterly crush many.

━━━

<Winner Stays On Event>

The class competition finally begins!

In this brutal rule where winners continue to defeat opponents, greater rewards await those who demonstrate their presence!

Step up as the vanguard and defeat many enemies!

Proudly march forth to defeat the enemy ace!

Become your team’s last bastion in crisis and fight valiantly!

Or perhaps you’ll be slaughtered like a civilian and retire quickly.

What will you show us?

━━━

I already know what the most delicious reward is.

<The Last Bastion>.

Participating as the final player in the Winner Stays On match!

“Dorothy. Go out as our vanguard.”

“Huh!? Me!?”

“They’ll give you lots of points.”

Tempted by this, Dorothy promptly joined the battle.

Even if I don’t eat it myself, I should give tasty rewards to my friends.

* *

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Wooooo━!

The lamp in Professor Warerd’s hand changed from green to yellow to red, signaling the start of combat.

As the noisy alarm sounded, Professor Layve added his voice.

“Begin.”

The first to attack was an Imperial student.

“I’ll humiliate you from the start. Triple Magic Bullet!”

“Is that all?”

Dorothy, who had built up her stamina and agility through training, easily sidestepped and evaded all attacks.

Before the surprised Imperial student could continue casting, Dorothy’s magic bound their feet.

“Vine Binding!”

Category – Nature Magic

Activation – Vine Creation

Specialization – Binding

A 2-circle binding spell.

Though its growth speed and durability were lacking, it was sufficient to trip opponents and slow their movements.

As the Imperial student missed their timing to cast, Dorothy’s <Vine Thorn> grew long in her hand at close range.

“Aack!”

“Want to get stabbed, or surrender?”

“I… surrender…”

“Winner, Dorothy.”

“Woooah!”

“How did you do that?”

“Wow! I didn’t believe in you! How did you just do that!?”

Despite all the praise pouring in from students who had skipped training and just wagged their tails, Dorothy felt no joy.

Instead, she only felt displeasure.

I didn’t want your praise.

“It’s just one win.”

“Thirty-two more to go before we reach thirty-three.”

Sandcooker spoke with an unpleasant tone as if claiming a victory he’d been promised, while Rozini gave off an air of “surely you wouldn’t be this excited over something so trivial?”

The comrades who had trained together were like climbing vines supporting each other on a wall.

Just as they could keep up with Professor Warerd’s cruel note-taking sessions (characterized by his “Are you done writing?”) by dividing sections among themselves, they could overcome seemingly insurmountable tests by working together.

‘Is this right, Professor Warerd? Oknodie.’

Professor Warerd, with his inscrutable blank face, let out a short “Oh” of admiration.

Oknodie smiled brightly and gave a thumbs up, indicating she was doing well.

“Winner, Dorothy.”

“Winner, Dorothy.”

“Winner, Dorothy.”

Dorothy continued winning consecutive matches.

She dodged enemy spells and landed all of her own.

Having built a solid foundation, Dorothy avoided all the demonstration-like spells that screamed “Look what magic I learned!”

[Score Status]

[Dorothy, 10 consecutive wins]

[Remaining Players]

100 vs 90

-Vanguard Dorothy on a 10-win streak!

-Dorothy has risen to ace status. Defeating her will earn bonus points!

“Someone do something quickly. If she surrenders, we’re the only ones who lose.”

“If you’re so great, you stop her. How am I supposed to hit someone doing crazy backflips?”

“Tsk. Unbearable. This is why commoners are worthless.”

From among the Imperial students, a haughty student with slicked-back white hair stepped forward holding a short staff.

An unusual hair color.

Oknodie’s eyes showed a “oh dear” reaction.

Dorothy realized what this meant.

A powerful opponent had appeared.

This test, this would be the critical moment.

“Hugo Mayonnaise. Let me show you the power of the special magic from the Mayonnaise baronial family, which has served in the Magic Command for generations.”

As the match began, Dorothy tried to approach in a circular motion with side movements.

Unlike students who hastily cast spells, Hugo took his time with a long incantation.

“Ugh…!”

She was trapped.

For Dorothy, who couldn’t handle high-circle magic and struggled with mana capacity, an enemy’s powerful spell was a shortcut to defeat.

The opponent seemed to have predicted this psychology and ostentatiously began casting.

‘I can just cancel it anyway!’

The stone she threw missed as Hugo simply stepped aside.

Was it coincidence?

Yes, it must be coincidence.

Trying to suppress her anxiety, Dorothy threw three more stones.

She had to admit it.

This guy knows how to move!

“That’s not fair. Having good movement on top of that magic skill!”

“Mayo Sphere.”

Eight cream-colored viscous spheres with the distinctive Mayonnaise hue appeared floating in the air.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”

“What kind of color is that?”

“Eww. It’s wobbling so much.”

Unlike the students expressing disgust, Dorothy felt anxious watching the slowly approaching spheres.

A spell that took so long to cast couldn’t possibly be so easy to avoid.

There must be some trick to it.

“Hah!”

She threw a stone at one sphere, but instead of popping, it simply reformed its shape after collapsing.

‘Ugh. It recovers its form just like a slime.’

Dorothy nimbly widened the distance, rotating more broadly to target Hugo Mayonnaise’s back.

However, the eight spheres were spread out—four continuously chasing her, and the other four guarding Hugo’s surroundings.

‘Hesitating will only get me surrounded!’

She needed to break through while there were fewer spheres.

“Vine Thorn!”

Dorothy stabbed a sphere with her thorn-like vine, trying to split it open.

“Got you.”

“Kyaah!?”

The Mayonnaise sphere burst with a pop.

The scattered mayonnaise left white stains on Dorothy’s uniform.

“Eww. What is this? It’s sticky and I can’t see well!”

“Heheh. This is our family’s special magic, inspired by slimes and created by our ancestor, Lord Hentai. Once touched by Mayo, you cannot escape.”

With slowed movement and limited vision, Dorothy allowed new spheres to approach as she became covered in more mayonnaise.

Soiled with the cloudy white liquid, she could no longer display her specialty of light movements and fell.

“Winner, Hugo Mayonnaise.”

Dorothy’s winning streak ended.

“Ugh. It smells weird.”

“I really hate this. Don’t come near me.”

“What is that strange liquid anyway?”

Despite her great contribution, students obviously avoided Dorothy.

“Good job.”

“Cover yourself up. Not that it’ll help.”

“…I’m sorry. I came back without getting 33 wins.”

“You fought well enough. The opponent was just bad news.”

“Hugo is considered a strong fighter even in the lower classes. He’s an eccentric type that even traditional mages from magic towers are reluctant to face, so don’t feel too discouraged.”

“Does Oknodie think so too?”

“She’s a good kid. Don’t worry unnecessarily.”

“If you’re anxious, go ask her directly.”

Encouraged by Rozini and Sandcooker, Dorothy nervously approached Oknodie.

“Oknodie. I’m sorry. You even trained me, but I only managed 10 consecutive wins.”

“It’s okay! Breaking a winning streak won’t kill you. You’ll get benefits from the vanguard bonus and winning streak bonus, so you can look forward to it when the midterm grading is done!”

“Oknodie. How do you always say such nice things? You really are the kindest person in the world!”

Though they heard someone nearby mutter “lying bastards,” the two ignored it.

“Cowardly fellows. Entering after wearing her out with 10 consecutive defeats just to claim the ace defeat bonus.”

“It’s called intelligent combat. I just waited until your disgusting mayonnaise spheres were sufficiently reduced.”

Sandcooker, who went after Dorothy, defeated Hugo and achieved 10 consecutive wins before being eliminated.

The strong opponent who defeated Sandcooker achieved 20 consecutive wins before being eliminated by Rozini’s ace defeat.

Even Rozini, after facing an unexpected formidable opponent, achieved 10 wins before being eliminated.

[Remaining Players]

50vs70

The allied side had 50 people left.

The students taking Professor Warerd’s <Basics and Understanding of Mana Usage> were excited despite being outnumbered.

“Haha. What fools. They used up their aces trying to stop Dorothy, Sandcooker, and Rozini! But we still have Oknodie, the joint top student of our year!”

“Despair, losers who only take Basics and Understanding of Imperial Magic! We’re the class with Oknodie!”

“Huh? I’m going last though?”

“…What? Seriously?”

“For real?”

Oknodie gently suggested:

“Are you sure? If I go first, you’ll all get penalty points for cowardice without even getting to fight.”

“Whaaaat!? There was such a penalty!?”

“Me, me! I’ll go next!”

The remaining students rushed to participate in panic.

The reason for letting them go first was obviously to secure the <Last Bastion> bonus.

Still, with 49 people left excluding me, they should be able to reduce the enemy by at least 25 people.

[Remaining Players]

1vs70

It was a vain hope.

All 49 were swept away by a single person.

The students were utterly demolished.

“Ugh…. Sorry, Oknodie…”

“After skipping the lecture, even the training we did became meaningless as my body felt heavy.”

“If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have given up completely…”

The Frontier students couldn’t lift their heads in shame.

Unlike before, the Imperial students shouted arrogantly:

“Ha. No matter how good Oknodie is, 70 people is too much.”

“She has to face 70% of the lecture’s students alone. At this rate, Oknodie will collapse from mana depletion first!”

“Oknodie, just surrender after putting up a decent fight~ You don’t need to suffer for those idiots!”

Students openly mocked and ridiculed her.

But Oknodie’s expression remained bright.

“I actually prefer it this way. I can get tons of consecutive win bonuses!”

“Goodness. She’s surely feeling overwhelmed too, but she’s saying that so we don’t feel bad about our trolling!”

“Oknodie…!”

“Argh! How much brighter are you trying to shine, Oknodie! Your light is too dazzling to look at!”

While the regular students couldn’t contain their admiration, Dorothy, Sandcooker, and Rozini also offered words of encouragement.

“Go for it, Oknodie!”

“Go. Crush those arrogant Imperial nobles.”

“…Good luck. Avenge us.”

She had only wanted the points.

Anyway, excited by the praise, Oknodie cheerfully shouted “Yes!” and stepped onto the battlefield.

1 versus 70.

The legend of the Winner Stays On match that would be talked about throughout the first semester had begun.