episode_0157

157. Tournament Bracket.

“Hoo… Hoo. I was really surprised. What kind of crazy bastard is that?”

“Hah, hah. It’s all because of that Steel Magician. Why did you have to mess with someone like that of all people?”

The man who had planted his rapier on the ground muttered like that. The heat was so intense that the man was dripping with sweat.

The man shook his head and shuddered. Just being in the range of the explosion was this much, what would it have been like to be hit directly…?

‘That would be terrible.’

The man looked up at the Steel Magician who had requested a magical duel with the monster. He was lying on the ground, panting.

His whole body was charred black, like a human made of charcoal.

‘Makes me want some charcoal grilled pork belly.’

The man smiled playfully and looked at the opposite side of the Steel Magician.

There was a monster magician dusting off his clothes with a nonchalant face, not even sweating.

The monster magician was frowning, looking at his palm. He seemed to be pondering something.

‘Maybe, was that too much?’

Indeed, the power of the spell was strangely too strong.

No matter how outstanding a magician is, they have no choice but to overdo it. Yeah, that’s right.

…If that’s not the case, then it’s too much of a cheat.

***

John looked at his palm and thought.

‘Hmm, I can somehow imitate the Steel-type, but I really have no clue about the Golem.’

Well, there’s already useful teaching material right in front of me. John approached the fallen Alex.

John crouched down in front of Alex. And he tapped his cheek with his finger.

John tilted his head when he saw Alex’s expression.

‘By the way, why is he smiling?’

The corners of Alex’s mouth were raised to an unpleasant degree.

Annoyed by it, he swung his hand hard.

Smack!

“Huh! Huuuuh! W-what!”

“Are you awake?”

“…Huh? Yes, yes. I am.”

Alex turned his head from side to side and got up.

He rubbed his tingling cheek. Before doubt could settle in Alex’s eyes, John said.

“What are you so happy about?”

“Yes?”

“You were smirking, it wasn’t the expression of a defeated person. What is it?”

Alex scratched the back of his head with a somewhat blank expression.

“Umm… Well, as a magician, how could I hate having such a high-level magic duel? Haha.”

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t wrong. John himself had applied for the duel to see Alex’s Steel Magic.

But why, for some reason, a sense of unease doesn’t disappear from my mind.

Is there any way to draw out Alex’s inner thoughts?

‘Hhmm…’

At that moment, John instinctively turned his head. Other players were in the same situation. Everyone turned their heads to look at the ceiling.

The ceiling seemed to be opening, and something began to descend.

“Oh, it’s like something I saw at an idol concert.”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“…Honey, what do you mean by that?”

“…”

A woman was standing on a white platform. What was unique was that the woman’s hair was shining in rainbow colors.

The top of her head was red, then orange, and the bottom was purple.

The woman looked around at the players once and then opened her mouth.

[Welcome, players.]

And everyone was shocked.

“What…!”

“N-no way!”

The rainbow woman was clearly moving her lips, but no voice was heard at all. Instead, a blue window appeared in front of them.

John recalled his memories. He remembered what the rainbow woman’s mouth shape had been just now.

Immediately after, John let out a hollow laugh.

“They’ve finally appeared.”

The entity that shows the message window has finally appeared.

***

The players’ confusion was only temporary, and the surroundings quickly became quiet. Perhaps because they had all gone through thick and thin, they were quick to grasp the situation.

For some reason, it reminded them of the tutorial, and they were deeply moved.

The rainbow woman kept mumbling.

[The tournament will begin soon.]

[From now on, we will construct the tournament bracket.]

At the same time, a huge blue window floated above the woman’s head. John had seen a similar form before.

The blue window that tallied how many rabbits he had killed when he first entered the tower was similar to this.

Well, since the creator is the same, the blue window must be similar as well.

“Tournament bracket?”

As someone absentmindedly repeated-

Swish!

With the sound of cards unfolding, the blue window was torn into hundreds of small pieces.

The hundreds of divided blue windows flickered for a moment, then took on a new form.

‘Oh.’

It was a photograph. A photograph was attached to the top of the window, and a short name was written below it.

John scanned the photos one by one. Then, he couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Alex’s photo.

‘Heh, it looks like they formed the photo based on the current time.’

Alex’s face was dyed black. The scorched appearance caused by John’s magic was reflected as is.

“What, what! Why is my photo the only one like this!”

“Hehehe, Alex. It suits you, doesn’t it? I told you, you’d be shitting blood.”

“Shut up!”

Alex next to him shouted, his face turning red. It was like looking at a charcoal briquette heated in a fire.

The next moment, the rainbow woman waved both her hands. Then, a blue, round ball of thread was created in the air.

[Commencing shuffle.]

Soon, countless blue threads stretched out in all directions from the ball of thread.

As if the threads had a set target, they chose one card without the slightest hesitation and pushed their thin faces into it.

“……Could it be.”

It would be ridiculous if they didn’t know how the tournament bracket was being drawn up even after receiving this many hints. They could roughly guess how the tournament bracket was being drawn.

[Let me summarize.]

The rainbow woman clasped her two hands together, which had been stretched out to both sides. Then, the threads that had been rolling around haphazardly lined up in an orderly fashion.

Then, a pretty plausible tournament bracket was completed in the air. Someone who had mumbled ‘Tournament bracket?’ earlier mumbled again.

“Oh, the tournament bracket.”

John rolled his eyes, found his face, and followed the connecting thread.

‘Mooyoung.’

At that moment, John turned his head sharply.

“……”

“……”

A black-haired, black-eyed man was looking at John. The two men’s eyes met in the air.

John’s eyes widened as if he was slightly surprised. It was because the man’s skin was too white.

‘I mean, if I stand next to that person, I might as well be a black person.’

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but that’s how white the man was. Faint blue blood vessels seemed to be visible on his face.

Soon, the white man turned his gaze away first. Only then did John take his eyes off the man. After all, they would be able to meet soon.

Then someone asked the rainbow woman a question.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

[Yes.]

“There are a few cards that don’t seem to be players, who are those guys?”

[They are the natives of this place.]

“I knew it.”

The man who asked the question nodded as if he had roughly expected it.

The rainbow woman mumbled again.

[We will begin the tournament.]

Then someone mumbled.

“Wait, it’s too sudden…”

Fwoooooosh-

Immediately after, the waiting room where the players were standing was enveloped in white light.

It was a familiar light. They could roughly guess what would happen next.

‘……Huh?’

***

“Hmm…”

John frowned and looked around. He could see a structure like the Roman Colosseum and spectators filling the stands.

John and the other players were summoned to a place where spectators were not allowed to enter, and one of the spectators who discovered this shouted.

“Oh! Those people! Are those people the rumored players?”

“Where? Ooooooh!”

When one person turned his head, hundreds of people turned their heads, and when hundreds of people turned their heads, thousands of people turned their heads to look at them.

The players were momentarily flustered by the sudden attention, but quickly came to their senses.

“I feel like I’ve become a zoo monkey.”

“And what is this glass wall? Hey! Status window woman! We’re not tourist attractions!”

The surroundings quickly became noisy. Regardless, John clenched and unclenched his hands, recalling the feeling from earlier. Being engulfed in white light and feeling his whole body move somewhere.

But why is that? If he does it well…

‘I might be able to refuse it.’

It was then. Suddenly, a blue window appeared in front of John’s eyes.

[The first match will begin.]

[Due to time constraints, the tournament will be held simultaneously in multiple Colosseums.]

[Match 1: Max VS Adela. *Colosseum 1*]

[Match 2: Shinichi VS Kim Suho. *Colosseum 2*]

[Match 3: Naikacosf VS Abduli. *Colosseum 3*]

[Match 4: Wang Jin-chung VS Fiori Ellis. *Colosseum 4*]

[Match 5: Michael Harden VS Kim Sarah. *Colosseum 5*]

“Oh, Sarah. Looks like you’re up first?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Take it easy. Take it easy.”

“Okay.”

No sense of tension could be felt on John and Sarah’s faces. John firmly believed in her.

No matter how skilled and prominent the players who gathered were, they seemed to pale in comparison to Sarah.

[Then, we will begin the match.]