Chapter 40 : Promotion Match (3)

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As soon as the promotion match began, both inside and outside the iron cage were completely covered in countless pure white needles, leaving the audience frozen in silence.

It was because the match ended instantly, without even giving them a chance to cheer.

A promotion match that you might be lucky to witness once a year had ended the moment it began.

The audience, who hadn’t even had the chance to open their mouths, slowly turned their gazes toward the one responsible for turning the atmosphere ice cold—Han Yujin.

In the suffocating silence, Han Yujin, who stood under the weight of hundreds of eyes, met their stares and muttered,

“This is annoying.”

The reason Han Yujin could express her irritation without flinching, despite all the hostile looks silently screaming “Seriously, what’s your problem?” was simple: she was strong.

Ranked 15th in Jincheon Class, which only gathered geniuses, her pride was as high as her skills.

To her, being chosen in a promotion match by some average student from the general class—who didn’t even know their place—was a massive blow to her pride.

So, her best form of punishment was to end it decisively the moment it began.

She had even used the secret technique of Hangha, Ssaragi Needle Eyes, which she wouldn’t normally use—far too extravagant for someone from the general class.

“tsk.”

Looking at the other side of the cage, now densely filled with pure white needles to the point where the structure couldn’t even be seen, Han Yujin clicked her tongue.

Even though the opponent who dared to select her had become something like a human pincushion, the irritation still hadn’t subsided.

“Hey. Aren’t you going to call it?”

Not wanting to stay even a second longer in this arena she’d been dragged into, Han Yujin turned her head atop the hill of white needles she’d created.

To her, this promotion match wasn’t even worth remembering—it was a disgrace—and she vowed not to look back as she spoke toward the commentator’s box.

The commentator, stunned by how the match ended the moment it started, snapped out of it and grabbed the mic at her words.

[Ah, um. Right. It appears we have a winner. As expected, the winner of the Jincheon Class promotion match is—]

“tsk.”

Even as the commentator was about to announce her victory, Han Yujin clicked her tongue, still overwhelmed by frustration.

Victory was a given, so there was no joy in it—only irritation at how the entire situation unfolded.

[Han Yu—······.]

Just as her name was about to be announced and the match declared over, the commentator’s voice suddenly cut off.

“······What the. Why’d you stop?”

Not only did he stop mid-sentence, he only got through two syllables of her name.

Of course she would be baffled and let out a short question in disbelief.

“Hm?”

Then Han Yujin noticed the commentator wasn’t looking at her, but at the hill of needles instead.

Turning her head toward the audience, she realized that not a single person was looking at her.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed in the same direction as the commentator’s.

Soon, murmurs started spreading through the crowd—breaking the silence that had persisted since the match began.

Something was off.

“What the······.”

At that point, Han Yujin couldn’t help but realize that things were not going the way she had expected.

This was supposed to be a match that ended instantly—a match so trivial she wouldn’t even bother remembering it.

She had promised herself not to look back, even for the sake of her pride.

Yet, her body had already turned to face the hill of needles.

“Ah?”

And when she turned and saw where everyone’s eyes were focused, she couldn’t believe what she saw.

“Phew, that scared me······.”

Fuyuno Tsubaki—the insect from the general class who had dared to choose her—was casually walking out of the hill of needles without a single scratch on her.

“Wh-What the hell is this······.”

The secret technique Needle Snow used by Han Yujin was the very spell that had earned her the nickname “Seolchim (Snow Needle)” just a month and a half after enrolling at Daecheon.

By scattering mana imbued with cold air into the atmosphere, absorbing and amplifying the moisture in the air, freezing it, and shaping it into needles to rain down on the enemy—this technique was powerful enough to injure even the top-tier elites of Jincheon Class, who were stronger than her.

It wasn’t just needles falling like snow or rain from the sky.

These were mana-charged and enhanced, so anyone facing them had no choice but to endure getting hurt.

That was the nature of Needle Snow.

And yet, even after taking a direct hit from the advanced form of that spell—Pellet Needle Snow—at the very start of the match, Tsubaki Fuyuno didn’t have a single scratch.

“This is ridiculous…”

As Han Yujin herself muttered, it was a situation that made no sense to her.

“Um…”

No matter how much she denied it in her mind, the completely unscathed Tsubaki Fuyuno standing right in front of her contradicted that denial with her mere presence.

Han Yujin clenched her teeth and stretched out her hand toward Tsubaki Fuyuno, who timidly raised her own hand as if about to ask something.

Immediately after, tiny mana particles carrying frost burst forth from Yujin’s fingertips.

Swaaaaaaaaa—!!

The mana particles sprayed from her hand absorbed the moisture in the air, froze, and transformed into needle-like shapes, rushing toward Tsubaki Fuyuno.

Han-ga Secret Technique – Pellet Needle Snow

Among the techniques Han Yujin could use for instant casting, this was the most powerful.

Just like before, it covered Tsubaki Fuyuno’s entire body.

Chwachwachwachwa—!

As the Needle Snow assaulted her, the impact of countless ice needles crashing into her created a cold mist that obscured Han Yujin’s view.

Still, even without seeing clearly, she could feel that her spell had hit its mark.

She heard the familiar sounds of the icy needles piercing, shredding, and scraping their target—sounds that always came with the use of Needle Snow.

“Haah…”

Because Pellet Needle Snow was an instant-cast technique with high mana consumption, Han Yujin, having used more mana than expected, finally let out the breath she’d been holding.

Her momentarily stopped breath resumed, her muscles naturally relaxed—but she didn’t let her mental guard down.

After all, she was up against an opponent who had already once taken a surprise Pellet Needle Snow without a single wound.

“…”

Srrrrrk—

That’s why instead of uttering “Did I get her?” like a cliché spell-caster, she began channeling cold-infused mana above her head, forming another Needle Snow.

Fwoosh—

As time passed, the cold mist left by the Pellet Needle Snow began to clear, and gradually, the figure of a person emerged.

“Hm.”

Tsubaki Fuyuno, who should’ve been completely covered in needles, was once again totally unharmed, casually scratching her cheek like nothing happened.

But this time, Han Yujin wasn’t shocked.

“I was surprised the first time, but now I get it. If you have that kind of ability, it’s no wonder you nullified my Needle Snow.”

Because she was a genius among geniuses, ranking 15th even in Jincheon Class—the class made up solely of prodigies.

Having experienced it once, she understood it could happen again, so when she saw Tsubaki Fuyuno emerge unscathed, she had already begun theorizing why her Pellet Needle Snow had failed.

And by the time the mist faded and her opponent reappeared, she’d already found her answer.

“Immunity to cold-based techniques. That’s it, isn’t it? That’s why you picked me. If you have that kind of ability, you could counter my Needle Snow.”

The conclusion Han Yujin reached was: nullification of cold-based techniques.

Otherwise, it would’ve been impossible to perfectly block Needle Snow—a spell that even Jincheon’s top-tier elites couldn’t withstand without injury.

Having arrived at her own answer, she erased all traces of confusion and smiled confidently like a victor.

“If I were just a little dumber, I might’ve fallen for it—but unfortunately for you, I’m a genius. And I’ve already prepared a countermeasure for cold-nullifying abilities.”

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never lose a hundred battles.

Now that she understood her opponent’s power, Han Yujin was certain she wouldn’t lose.

She began condensing all the Needle Snow she’d gathered above her head into a single form.

Kugugugugu… kuguk…!

What had looked like a massive cloud of needle snow now compressed into one colossal needle.

No—it was too big to even be called a “needle.”

Needle Snow Ultimate Technique – Snow Spike

“If cold doesn’t work, then I’ll just smash it with mass. This has been pretty interesting. Goodbye.”

With that farewell, Han Yujin swiped her hand from top to bottom, and like it had been struck by a hammer, the “Snow Spike”—a massive nail of ice—accelerated instantly and shot toward Fuyuno Tsubaki.

Thud! SwaaAAAANG—!!!

As the “Snow Spike,” powerful enough to cleave a person in half without leaving a trace, flew straight toward her, Fuyuno Tsubaki simply gave a small nod.

“…Just as I thought. I didn’t mishear it.”

Then she quietly raised her open hand.

It was a small and delicate hand, far too weak-looking to resist a “Snow Spike” that could pierce even the thick walls of the coliseum. But there was not even a flicker of fear in Fuyuno Tsubaki’s eyes.

Like how Yang Woobin used to look at her—utterly still, expressionless—she faced the flying spike with perfect calm.

And just as the light hand she extended and the massive, speeding “Snow Spike” were about to collide—

“Stop.”

A quiet command fell from Fuyuno Tsubaki’s lips.

Thunk.

As if obeying her words, Han Yujin’s finishing move, the “Snow Spike,” stopped abruptly—right in front of Fuyuno Tsubaki’s small, slender fingertips.

“…What?”

[…Excuse me?]

…?????

In this utterly nonsensical scene, where even the commentator and audience couldn’t believe their eyes, only one person remained perfectly composed—Fuyuno Tsubaki.

With the pillar-sized “Snow Spike” hovering above her fingertip, she resumed the words she had meant to say to her opponent, Han Yujin.

“Sorry.”

“Uh, wha? Huh?”

“I didn’t really hear the start-of-match announcement properly ‘cause I was spaced out. So I wasn’t sure if the match had really begun, and I just kinda stood there. But, uh, I’ll get serious now, so…”

She trailed off momentarily, then drew back the right hand holding up the “Snow Spike” in a large motion.

“W-Wait, hold on—!”

Han Yujin, realizing Fuyuno Tsubaki’s stance resembled that of someone about to hurl a spear, panicked and tried to squeeze out what little mana she had left.

But she had already depleted her mana to cast the finishing move—“Snow Spike.” The best she could manage was a handful of snow needles.

“Forgive me!”

With an apology for not taking the match seriously, Fuyuno Tsubaki hurled her pulled-back arm forward, and as if responding to her will, the “Snow Spike” rocketed toward its original caster—Han Yujin.

SwaaAAAANG—BOOOOM—!!!

There was no way a mere handful of snow needles could block that massive “Snow Spike.”

“Heuuk…”

Thud.

And just like that, as the enormous spike of ice pierced the ground right next to her head, Han Yujin’s eyes rolled back and she fainted on the spot.

[…W-We have a winner. Fuyuno Tsubaki.]

Not a single spectator had predicted this outcome.