episode_0089

089.

Whooooosh.

The rough and strong wind swept through.

Under the intense sun, the strong wind tousled the hair of Lee Siwoon and Baek Yurin haphazardly.

But the two of them didn’t even blink.

They only gripped their sword handles tightly, staring at each other’s faces.

It seemed like a significant amount of magic power was concentrated, ready to draw their swords and unleash their skills at any moment.

“….”

“….”

A tense silence pressed down on the two of them.

For a moment, only an unknown silence prevailed.

The whispers of the trainees around echoed loudly.

“Lee Siwoon.”

Suddenly.

Baek Yurin spoke first.

Her calm but cold voice pierced into his ears.

“….Step aside.”

“I refuse.”

“This has nothing to do with you. Why are you interfering?”

“I just said.”

Lee Siwoon calmly replied with a serene look in his eyes.

“If you’re planning to cause trouble, face me first.”

“Is that so…?”

Lee Siwoon, another disciple of the sword, acknowledged Baek Yurin’s talent.

Recently, she even directly taught him swordsmanship.

Being personally taught by Baek Yeonghyun was rare, indicating Lee Siwoon’s exceptional talent.

In fact, Lee Siwoon achieved the feat of entering Union Academy as the top student.

Truly a genius among geniuses.

Critics believed he had an immense potential that could lead him to become a top-ranked player in the future.

But as far as I know, Lee Siwoon has already been defeated.

By none other than Baek Yurin.

“Can you… stop me…?”

If Lee Siwoon was a genius, Baek Yurin was a monster.

Her talent was a blessing and a curse that surpassed common sense.

Baek Yurin was originally a disciple of the sword’s ‘water.’

Among many disciples, she was the most outstanding.

That was Baek Yurin.

“You… are weaker than me, right?”

“That’s all in the past.”

Despite the provocation, Lee Siwoon did not care and confidently showed his determination.

“How long do you think you’ll be weaker than me?”

“I do feel like I’ve gotten a bit stronger.”

Baek Yurin carefully observed Lee Siwoon and nodded to herself. His intuition was remarkable. Could she roughly estimate it just by his posture?

It seems that the training under the sword for the past few months has been quite effective.

Indeed, Lee Siwoon.

In such a short time, he achieved enough growth to be acknowledged by Baek Yurin. The male lead is the male lead after all.

“Hmm…”

Baek Yurin stared at me with a slightly troubled expression, lost in thought for a moment.

She seemed to be hesitating between giving a slap or not.

After glancing around, Baek Yurin let out a short sigh.

“…Fine.”

She sheathed her sharp blade.

“…It’s not today.”

Although her face seemed a bit disappointed, there were too many distractions, so she seemed to be looking forward to another day.

“Isn’t that right, Lee Jinhyuk?”

“Baek Yurin, what are you thinking?”

I can’t understand why Baek Yurin attacked me.

No, it’s not an attack, but she seems to want to fight me peacefully. I don’t know why she challenged me to a duel.

After all, Baek Yurin is a member of Rebellion.

I was careful not to get involved with her unnecessarily.

“…What a pain.”

Baek Yurin tilted her head.

“…Do you remember what happened at the dojo two years ago?”

Two years ago at the dojo?

Oh, come to think of it, Baek Yurin did mention ‘long time no see’ at the beginning.

In that case, there was a high possibility that she had mistaken the person. Of course, it was hard to imagine Baek Yurin simply accepting my words obediently, considering her personality.

“…Yeah. It might be such a trivial matter that you don’t need to remember from your perspective.”

“Baek Yurin, I’m sorry, but I think you’ve mistaken someone for me.”

“…Mistaken someone? Really?”

Although Baek Yurin spoke with a dry expression and tone, there was a strong conviction in her words.

“…I saw the footage. You, no, the woman with white hair, blocking the attack and inflicting wounds.”

Huh?

That was partly a coincidence.

Why is she so fixated on this, seriously?

“…That woman with white hair is strong.”

“She must be strong.”

“…Strong enough to not even get hurt by a trainee.”

“….”

Did she become curious because she thought the person was strong enough to inflict wounds on Yudahee, the best in the world?

However, Baek Yurin’s personality wasn’t that aggressive.

“Jinhyuk Lee. I know who you really are.”

“…?”

Is this some kind of joke or amnesia?

Who I really am?

“I confirmed what the girl, Jin Soyeon, has.”

“Oh.”

If it’s the sword that Soyeon has, it seems to refer to the sword of Vitrante.

Wait a minute.

Could it be Baek Yurin.

Am I being mistaken for Vitrante?

Why?

“I can’t keep making excuses… Your skill in injuring the woman with white hair, the sword that Jin Soyeon has, and the attitude that didn’t care about life…”

“That’s not it.”

“Are you going to keep making lame excuses?”

What the hell is this lame excuse?

But I can’t think of a good excuse.

I gave the sword to Soyeon as a favor.

Without proper evidence, any verbal defense would be useless against Baek Yurin.

‘It’s getting annoying, how do I explain this? Or do the Rebellion members also think I’m Vitrante?’

In the setting, Baek Yurin resents Vitrante.

Because a few years ago, he was defeated by Vitrante in a sword duel in front of Baek Yeonghyun.

I knew that Baek Yurin didn’t like Vitrante, but I didn’t think he would want to duel again.

Would he really want to show off so blatantly?

‘But considering Baek Yurin’s personality, he probably won’t kill me…’

Although Baek Yurin is one of the Rebellion members, he is not the type to casually commit murder like other villains.

Originally, he joined by catching Yudahee’s eye while gaining practical experience in back alleys.

“…Let’s settle the score in the ranking match in a week.”

“If it’s a ranking match.”

“…I’ll nominate you.”

A ranking match.

It’s literally a 1vs1 individual combat test.

It’s quite dangerous as it is a test of individual combat for hero trainees. Many instructors and security guards are prepared for any accidents.

From the outside, media, clan members, association heroes, etc., come to see potential talents. Trainees have the opportunity to prove their worth to people.

Each trainee can challenge the ranking match with the opponent they want.

Depending on the opponent’s ranking, victory, content, etc., the points that can be obtained vary.

If a high-ranking opponent defeats a low-ranking opponent, they won’t get many points, and they often get teased as cowards for no reason.

But Baek Yurin doesn’t care, as she nominated me.

It seems like she intends to compete confidently in the ranking match where many people are watching. Well, damn.

“It’s better to just accept it. If you refuse…”

Our eyes met briefly.

“…you’re planning to reveal your true identity to people.”

“Hey, that’s…”

I couldn’t hide my confusion at Baek Yurin’s words.

Are they going to expose me as Villerante?

It’s a pretty dreadful thought.

Given the enemies who hold a grudge against Villerante, it would be quite troublesome.

“Well then… see you at the ranking match.”

“Hey, Baek Yurin!”

Baek Yurin glanced at me once, then quickly disappeared without looking back.

I just stared blankly at where she had vanished.

“I’m already busy enough, why did I get involved with Baek Yurin…”

“True identity…”

Suddenly, Ishiwoon, who was standing next to me, seemed to be lost in thought, briefly lowering his head before glancing at me.

He seemed quite curious about the identity Baek Yurin mentioned.

“Does Baek Yurin know your identity?”

“What identity? It’s just a misunderstanding on Baek Yurin’s part. I don’t know how to clear up this misunderstanding.”

“Well, if you say so, then it must be true.”

Ishiwoon clearly didn’t believe me.

“Sigh, really, what should I do… huh?”

I looked at the sword in my hand.

Come to think of it, Baek Yurin didn’t take her sword back.

“For now, I’ll meet her under the pretext of returning the sword.”

The next morning.

During homeroom, I went to Baek Yurin’s class.

But Baek Yurin hadn’t come to school.

What’s going on. I thought she might be late, but by the end of the day, there was still no sign of Baek Yurin.

It seemed like she was training hard for the ranking match, but I couldn’t find her even after going to her house to meet her.

And then, some time later.

“…Ah, today is the day of the ranking match. Are you nervous, Jinhyuk?”

“Yeah.”

The day of the ranking match had arrived before we knew it.