Complete Victory Festival 3

The Academy’s grand martial arts arena.

The circular arena was covered with the cheers of the audience.

Countless eyes were focused.

On the platform, compared to those eyes, only two students stood.

On one side, a girl holding a greatsword.

On the other side, a girl holding a Japanese sword (※not actually).

Han Seo-yeon glanced at the audience.

There was the blonde delinquent younger sister who sent her sister to danger, and the villainess young lady.

─I think it’s good. Seo-yeon is strong, after all.

─Show that woman a harsh lesson!

When she went for advice, this is what they said.

Truly words that made her heart shrink.

─There’s no reason to be forced into a match. If you don’t want to do it, wouldn’t it be better to go tell the professor?

As expected, only Michaela was lovely.

Warm and touching.

─It’s okay, Seo-yeon, you can do it.

─You are strong! So you can have more confidence!

Compared to that, the other two.

Hahaha.

Hahaha!

“You look quite relaxed.”

The blue ponytail-haired girl said.

“Do I look that way…?”

The black-haired, red-eyed girl’s smile wasn’t really a smile.

“Your pretense of strength ends here, incompetent one.”

“Yes…”

She was thinking.

About the repercussions this exhibition match’s result would bring.

In the original work, the protagonist and Lee Ha-yul face each other around the final exams, the Hero Festival.

Lee Ha-yul was the heroine conquered last among the heroines.

The Complete Victory Festival was just a passing event.

Lee Ha-yul trying to subdue and kill the villain.

The protagonist stopping Lee Ha-yul, saying murder isn’t allowed.

This episode would only hint at the prelude to conflict.

“I’ll expose you in front of everyone.”

The conflict itself never becomes the event.

“Your true ability.”

“…”

What should she do?

Victory and defeat.

Whichever she chooses, the original work will be twisted.

For reference, the defeat mentioned here means losing on purpose.

There’s no way Han Seo-yeon would lose to Lee Ha-yul.

Some might say.

The idea of losing on purpose isn’t that of an overpowered character.

She knew.

That it was a thought befitting a depressing story protagonist.

If she were a picture-perfect overpowered protagonist, she would have long since beaten down the heroine thirsting for male attention and given her a proper lesson.

The very act of worrying was already a sweet potato.

Because overpowered characters don’t worry about such things.

Even knowing this, she couldn’t easily do so.

Because the girl before her eyes was living and breathing.

Even if it was a one-sided hateful relationship.

Perhaps she was disqualified as an overpowered protagonist.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Han Seo-yeon was an utterly ordinary reader.

She was merely pretending to be a protagonist as a reader.

Lee Ha-yul has human duality.

If there are bad parts, there are also good parts.

Like all people in the world.

She hasn’t committed any crime yet.

She’s just an utterly ordinary student.

Just with somewhat strange ideology.

Lee Ha-yul is a delicate girl.

Her heart is complex, like any adolescent girl.

If approached carelessly, she’ll break.

Like a glass window.

If possible, she wants everyone to be happy.

Lee Ha-yul was no exception.

If even one more person could be happy, wouldn’t that be good?

She hesitated.

After hesitating, Han Seo-yeon decided.

If she just overwhelms with absolute power, Lee Ha-yul’s heart will break.

“…I understand.”

However, she still can’t choose the option of losing on purpose.

Han Seo-yeon has precious people.

They are watching, and probably cheering for her.

“Please, one match.”

She’ll win.

She won’t lose.

She won’t end in an ambiguous draw either.

She doesn’t want Lee Ha-yul to be unhappy.

But Han Seo-yeon had people watching over her.

The bell rings.

She grasped the sword hilt at her waist.

Her body stiffens and cold sweat flows.

A heavy silence descends.

It was pure tension.

“…Why are you standing there blankly.”

She forcibly shakes off that inexplicable tension.

Lee Ha-yul shouted loudly.

“Come at me. I’ll give you the first move!”

She can win.

Because her opponent is incompetent.

Even if she gives the first move.

“But let’s make one thing clear. No excuses like you couldn’t use your full power due to some circumstances. Got it?”

She won’t make any excuses.

Because her victory will be natural.

“…I understand.”

But why.

For what reason does cold sweat continue to flow?

“─!”

Without time for thoughts to continue.

The sword was drawn from its scabbard naturally like flowing water.

And.

─Lightning Flash.

A draw like lightning struck.

“─What.”

It’s fast.

Without even time for her mouth to react.

The sword rushes into her chest at lightning speed.

‘But…!’

Steel clashes with steel.

Lee Ha-yul’s greatsword blocked Han Seo-yeon’s hwando.

“…Surely this is how you defeated Carol too.”

A quick draw.

Lee Ha-yul blocked it.

Her S-class ability that strengthens the body is on a different level from the ordinary reflexes of an E-class incompetent.

“This technique alone isn’t bad.”

A scene that never fails to appear when the media covers Han Seo-yeon.

An E-class Awakener beheading Carol with a draw of transcendent speed.

“But that’s all.”

It was a formidable achievement for an E-class.

At the same time, it was the limit of an E-class.

An old sword.

Below average mana.

Presumably, this is her full power.

There’s nothing after this technique is blocked.

Lee Ha-yul was certain of this.

Moreover, her sword is a top-grade artifact.

“It’s over.”

She moved her sword.

The greatsword swung down heavily.

“Is that so?”

“…What!”

It should have been over with that.

Lee Ha-yul witnessed.

The incompetent before her eyes received it too easily.

Her full-power strike.

It was beyond common sense.

If circumstances were properly considered, it was natural.

Lee Ha-yul’s ability is S-class physical enhancement.

Her weapon is also an artifact matching that.

However, Han Seo-yeon’s weapon is the Falling Star Sword.

From the first clash of swords, Han Seo-yeon was holding back.

So that Lee Ha-yul wouldn’t die by any chance.

So that she wouldn’t cut down Lee Ha-yul with the greatsword.

It might be deception.

In some sense, more cruel than an overwhelming victory.

So what should she do?

“Impossible. How can an incompetent…!”

Han Seo-yeon had never called herself incompetent.

The other side was just arbitrarily saying so.

The carelessness was a result Lee Ha-yul brought upon herself.

“…That’s twice. There won’t be a third coincidence!”

Lee Ha-yul must have reasons why she can’t lose.

Assertively, those were wrong reasons.

Not right by absolute moral standards.

Han Seo-yeon had reasons why she couldn’t lose.

Assertively, those reasons might not be right, but they weren’t wrong either.

Lee Ha-yul’s sword swings.

Once, twice, thrice.

“Kugh…!”

─Many times.

They’re carelessly blocked by Han Seo-yeon’s sword.

“I think we’ve passed three times now.”

It was a difference in technique.

Also a difference in resolve as a swordsperson.

“Will you still say it’s coincidence now?”

“─You!”

It’s an utterly monotonous taunt.

Lee Ha-yul got excited at that taunt.

A hunter should always be calm.

Her appearance wasn’t befitting of a promising hunter.

An obvious sword path continues.

Lacking skill even considering her young age.

Excitement gradually robs her of reason.

“Don’t look down on me!”

It’s an obvious line.

Han Seo-yeon isn’t soft enough to just watch this.

─Horizontal Flash.

A posture without waste.

Without a shred of opening.

A clean horizontal cut like from a textbook.

“…!”

Lee Ha-yul twists her sword path to block it.

Han Seo-yeon’s sword path rushes faster than that.

─Continuous Vertical Flash.

A vertical cut following the horizontal.

Smooth movements continued the sword’s trajectory.

The seemingly monotonous attacks were just heavy.

A sword is originally a weapon for killing.

Nothing is as specialized for killing as an honest sword.

Because it’s honest, one had to react honestly to respond.

She’s being pushed back.

She was being pushed back.

An S-class Awakener.

And in front of Han Seoyeon, at that.

“─!”

Anger became the driving force of power.

A driving force that wastefully expends power.

─Multiple Horizontal Flash.

And thus, an even bigger opening.

Without missing it, she fires off swift cuts.

A festival of horizontal cuts easily exceeding five.

Lee Ha-yul was barely blocking.

While also being conscious of the gaze from the audience, from Han Seoyeon.

The consumption repeated.

Han Seo-yeon shows swordsmanship surpassing Lee Ha-yul.

Lee Ha-yul struggles to catch up to that.

Han Seo-yeon surpasses that again.

“Haa…”

The limit gradually approached.

Lee Ha-yul’s limit.

“Senior.”

She had no intention of dragging it out.

“Let’s end this soon.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s still a long way to go…!”

With a voice clearly showing fatigue, Lee Ha-yul said.

“…Yeah, looks like you’re quite tired too despite appearances? That’s right. Because you’ve been using so much power despite being incompetent!”

It was nonsense.

“Why don’t you just admit it? That you’re incompetent. That you’re pathetically weak!”

They were all nonsense.

“Why can’t you incompetents even admit that you’re incompetent? Incompetence is a sin. A sin! Because you’re weak, you break easily! You break and even hurt innocent others!”

Not a single thing worth listening to.

“Just like…”

“Like your parents, senior?”

“…!”

It was just an outburst.

A childish tantrum.

Of a child not loved by anyone.

“I know. Your family history is famous, after all.”

Lee Ha-yul is a famous promising hunter.

Her past has often been covered by the media.

It wasn’t strange for even a complete stranger to know.

“I’m not you, senior. So I don’t know what kind of things you went through, or how you felt.”

A real person, not a character in a novel.

Han Seo-yeon doesn’t know the heart of an abused girl.

She was just abandoned.

It’s a different kind of misfortune.

So without clumsy empathy.

But as an adult living two lives.

“But I have precious people. I have people who cherish me.”

Han Seo-yeon decided to talk to the child.

Like when they played hunter back then.

“So I don’t think of myself as incompetent.”

Admonish without simply comforting.

Because the path Lee Ha-yul is trying to take is wrong.

Because it wasn’t right no matter what anyone said.

“Calling me incompetent and looking down on me is also belittling the people who cherish me.”

But, because she can still turn back.

Because she hasn’t crossed the line yet.

“So I’ll deny your words.”

Han Seo-yeon will move forward.

Lee Ha-yul too, together.

“I’ll have to get them revoked.”

She adjusted her stance.

“Your evaluation that I’m incompetent.”

“─.”

For an instant.

A picture unfolds before Lee Ha-yul’s eyes.

It was a sword dance.

The sword was dancing.

─Omnidirectional Swordsmanship.

A net of sword paths that constricts all directions, impossible to escape.

Lee Ha-yul couldn’t react.

The dense net captures her entire body.

Swish.

The sharp edge of the hwando was suddenly at her neck.

“Now.”

Han Seo-yeon smiled faintly.

“Can you revoke it?”

“…”

It was truly godlike skill.

Was this how the hero’s spear would be?

Lee Ha-yul couldn’t speak.

She collapsed right there, her strength gone.

The winner and loser are decided.

The winner remained on the platform.

The loser was carried to the infirmary.

“Splendid…!”

Major General Kim Il-soo’s mouth corners rose involuntarily.

“To rebuke that ill-mannered girl so refreshingly! The more I think about it, what a regrettable talent. If such a talent had joined the Free National Army, she would surely have been general material…”

It was a pity.

Swallowing his regret, Kim Il-soo continued the operation.

“Thanks to this, it’ll be easy to deal with.”

The operation target was greatly weakened.

Now he just had to aim for the Academy’s weak point to finish.

“Thank you, student Han Seo-yeon.”

Thus, Kim Il-soo expressed his gratitude.

Such a talent would surely be used importantly even after reclaiming the country.