episode_0095

With about ten minutes left until the match began, Lee Hyunjin sat on a bench near the stadium, idly passing the time.

Having unintentionally become famous recently, he had to use perception-hindering magic.

Anyway, the sky was blue, and the afternoon sun shone brightly. It was the perfect weather for a highlight event.

The audience’s excitement was already peaking.

Indeed, wasn’t it natural? Even without considering anything else, the new 8-person tournament event was an event that stimulated the primal curiosity of ‘who is the strongest Awakened?’

What’s more, the two people who made it to the finals in such a competition were a second-year and a fourth-year, respectively?

Regardless of who won in the end, it was guaranteed to be an exciting match.

And it was even more so if the relationship between the two competitors was profoundly complex.

Lee Hyunjin and Cheon Woohyuk. At first glance, they seemed unrelated, but a few weeks prior, that perception had to change completely.

This was because it was revealed that Cheon Woohyuk’s sister and Lee Hyunjin were in a romantic relationship.

To Lee Hyunjin, Cheon Woohyuk was his older brother-in-law, and conversely, Lee Hyunjin was his younger brother-in-law. In a broader sense, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it a family dispute.

Regardless of the actual facts, it was true that such a perception was subtly spreading.

“…”

Even at this moment, Lee Hyunjin’s vacant staring at the sky was not entirely unrelated to the strange atmosphere around him.

The match-up itself was already unsettling enough, but then, just a few hours ago, his own mother had proposed such a bet.

To win, an opponent like this required more than just giving his all. He was not someone to be underestimated, or compared to Cheon Soyul, just because they used the same unique magic.

Yet, in such a match, he now bore ‘a reason he absolutely could not lose.’

How could he not feel burdened?

Lee Hyunjin felt uneasy.

Personally, he didn’t want this exciting relationship with Cheon Soyul to end…

In truth, no matter what Yeon Seobaek and Cheon Sehee said, he had no intention whatsoever of letting his bond with his girlfriend be disrupted.

‘Still, if possible, I want their approval.’

Of course, the best outcome was to have this relationship affirmed by those around them.

He didn’t want to pretend to be a star-crossed couple and elope just yet.

“Haa.”

That’s why he absolutely couldn’t lose. At that moment, Lee Hyunjin seriously resolved to defeat the current strongest person in Cheongsong Academy.

As his emotions stirred, frost settled on his fingertips.

Crackling-

At the same time, thunder energy, fused with ice properties, appeared as sparks around his eyes.

“Why are you sighing so pitifully?”

A voice suddenly came from behind him.

Lee Hyunjin blinked.

There was nothing wrong with his perception-hindering magic, yet someone had seen right through it and spoken directly to him…?

Was it a Grand Mage? That first guess, unfortunately, was wrong.

“…Cheon Soyul.”

“Yes, it’s your wife-nim. Why are you calling me by my full name, so coldly?”

Thwack! Cheon Soyul, who had appeared behind him, clicked her tongue and slapped Lee Hyunjin’s head.

Lee Hyunjin awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, then turned around and sat on the bench.

The two of them gazed at each other for a moment.

It was Lee Hyunjin who let out a small chuckle first.

“How did you know?”

“What?”

“Perception hindrance.”

“Ah.”

Cheon Soyul let out a short gasp, shrugged her shoulders, and tugged on Lee Hyunjin’s cheek.

“How could I not recognize this foolish-looking face? I could spot you from 100 meters away, you know?”

“What’s the meaning of that gesture? Are you picking a fight?”

Lee Hyunjin growled, his face scrunched up fiercely, and Cheon Soyul, as if she’d seen something quite amusing, let out a giggle and nonchalantly pulled her hand away.

“No way. Not today, of all days. My back is out because of you.”

“…”

And that’s what she said, while patting her own lower back.

Lee Hyunjin was forced to close his mouth, having been hit with a sudden, undeniable retort.

“If you put it like that, what am I supposed to say?”

“Yup. That’s why I said it.”

Cheon Soyul gave a mischievous grin, turned around, and leaned back against the bench herself, while stroking Lee Hyunjin’s head.

“So why were you making such a gloomy face?”

“?”

“Your expression earlier was awful.”

“…”

Lee Hyunjin’s lips closed again. His eyes darted around, and his expression was ambiguous, as if searching for the right words.

“Hmm.”

Cheon Soyul crossed her arms and made a threat.

“If you don’t tell me everything honestly right now, I won’t have sex with you for a while–”

“There was a small issue with my mother.”

And Lee Hyunjin dropped his guard.

Cheon Soyul’s lips twitched slightly.

“…He actually said it right away.”

With a muffled laugh, Cheon Soyul averted her gaze slightly from Lee Hyunjin’s deadpan eyes, and spoke again.

“Ahem, anyway, keep talking. What happened with your mother-nim?”

“…”

“Ah, hurry up.”

Lee Hyunjin sighed, making a sour face. He didn’t like it, but not telling her felt a bit awkward too.

After all, she was involved.

In the end, he had no choice but to explain a bit.

He recounted the conversation with Yeon Seobaek and the details of the bet.

While it might sound a bit abnormal, the task at hand was clear.

In the match against Cheon Woohyuk, he wouldn’t suffer a humiliating defeat.

Or… if possible, to seize a perfect victory.

Lee Hyunjin finished, explaining that was how things stood.

“…”

And Cheon Soyul, unlike her playful expression from moments ago, instantly turned serious, and bit her fingernail slightly.

…Outwardly, she maintained that expression, but inwardly, she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

‘Engagement… broken…?’

So, um, what was it again?

In other words.

Was he talking about breaking off the engagement?

‘…Oh.’

Drip, drip, drip. Her cold sweat intensified. She had merely approached her boyfriend, whom she’d coincidentally seen looking forlorn while passing by, intending to play a prank…

Cheon Soyul raised her head and looked around the stadium, recalling her older brother.

Student Council President Cheon Woohyuk. Perhaps the person who knew his strength best was not a professor, a teacher, or even a classmate, but herself.

Having learned the same unique magic, there were things she could see.

While Cheon Soyul had always been told she was the most talented of the three siblings, what if they looked at it from a practical standpoint, right now?

The strongest was the eldest daughter, Hyeon-a Cheon, and the one closest to her was Cheon Woohyuk.

Cheon Soyul, who was still only a twenty-one-year-old second-year academy student, had a long way to go.

That’s why she knew even better.

Cheon Woohyuk was strong. Probably so strong that the current Cheon Soyul couldn’t even contend with him… He would use lightning that was intensely powerful, truly fierce.

Gulp.

Cheon Soyul swallowed dryly and looked back at Lee Hyunjin.

Could *this guy* defeat someone like that?

She knew. She knew Lee Hyunjin’s skills well. How could she not, after being together for a year?

However, Lee Hyunjin, like her, still lacked experience and time.

‘…If this idiot loses…’

She thought. Her mind, chaotic and almost blank, was trying to process and come up with something.

What if this happened, what if that happened?

“Ah.”

The conclusion she reached after such deliberation was quite radical.

She looked at Lee Hyunjin with wavering eyes.

And what she blurted out was…?

“…If I were to get pregnant right now, even your mother-nim wouldn’t stop us…”

“What nonsense, damn it.”

Lee Hyunjin looked back at Cheon Soyul with the eyes one might use for an utterly insane woman.

Fortunately, by then, Cheon Soyul had regained her composure.

Knowing shame, she blushed slightly and mumbled through her lips.

“Well, if not, then not.”

“…”

Lee Hyunjin stared dumbfounded at Cheon Soyul, his feelings utterly bewildered.

He’d wondered what she would say, but it turned out to be an extremely drastic solution.

Of course, it might be the most certain solution…

But he didn’t particularly want to go that far. Putting everything else aside, wouldn’t it be a burden on Cheon Soyul?

Wouldn’t confronting it head-on be the most preferred solution?

Lee Hyunjin rose from the bench, and once again checked his physical condition.

There were no issues with his external physical abilities.

His mana was as pure as a blue stream.

The fusion magic of lightning and ice, which had now become his most powerful weapon, as well as the state of his additional trait, ‘Frozen Core,’ were also in perfect condition.

With his head held high, Lee Hyunjin closed his eyes tightly and quickly organized his thoughts.

Then he opened his eyes and looked back at Cheon Soyul.

There was no longer any hesitation.

On Lee Hyunjin’s lips, a somewhat confident smile appeared.

“Because I’ll win. Against your Oppa.”

Lee Hyunjin deliberately didn’t add the word ‘probably’.

The reason being, it would be less cool.