NOVEL WEB Chapter 63
After the first match ended, Lucia finally seemed a bit calmer as we arrived at the Player Waiting Room for each class.
“…I think I’m okay now. Thanks, Wo.”
Feeling embarrassed about bursting into tears and hugging me, Lucia immediately distanced herself as soon as she regained her composure.
It looked less like embarrassment and more like she was on guard.
But with Lucia’s affection level skyrocketing to stage three, it didn’t hurt my feelings much. Given her personality, it made sense.
After all, she was someone who distrusted and avoided people due to the wounds inflicted by her family.
If she was able to hug and cry on anyone visible, it was clear she was starving for some human warmth.
I had no idea what could have happened that led her to unleash a light she hadn’t even used during the villain’s ambush, but… I could always ask later.
Plus, I could use that chance to get closer to her, so I should save it.
For now, I’d let Lucia think alone for a bit. Let’s quickly recap what had happened so far.
First, regarding the eliminated members—there wasn’t much difference from the original version.
At least the main members of Class A and the core members of Class B were still intact.
No disasters had struck with the heroines being eliminated, and Blanca, Jinhyeon, and Yeonhwa were all waiting in this waiting room for the next match.
Honestly, I secretly hoped Yeonhwa, Blanca, and Jinhyeon would get eliminated. It wasn’t that I disliked them or anything. It’s just that…
I couldn’t even begin to guess how much the knowledge I had would become twisted by their presence.
Even though we were classmates, I found myself wishing they would fail.
Thinking about it, and considering how others might see it, it was truly embarrassing.
“Oh! You made it through too!”
Seeing that I was separated from Lucia, Yeonhwa promptly approached me, clearly pleased.
Feeling awash in embarrassment, I could barely make eye contact with her.
“Of course. It’s Class A, after all! If I can’t handle this much, I wouldn’t even deserve to sit here.”
“Uh, about that. You know that’s something Mukho would feel super bummed about, right?”
“Muk… ho? Who… oh, that guy.”
I struggled to remember Mukho at first but finally managed to recall him.
Of course, not every student in Class A had passed. Out of 28, about 2 failed, and Mukho was one of them.
His abilities and skills were mediocre. He was likely to lose his spot in Class A to the top student in Class B during the finals.
After that, he’d be overwhelmed with inferiority complex and cross the line he shouldn’t have crossed, becoming an event character of sorts.
“…I must have thought a bit too short. Sorry. I spoke out of turn.”
“Why are you apologizing to me? You should apologize to Mukho. And to Alchino, too. Although the academy strictly evaluates skills… we’re friends, right?”
I was somewhat impressed that Yeonhwa was concerned about even those types of people.
Maybe the elements I was unaware of could perhaps improve the future. If someone like Yeonhwa was around, maybe Mukho wouldn’t fall to darkness after all.
Or maybe it could get worse.
While Yeonhwa might improve things, Blanca’s presence raised the possibility that something I didn’t know could make things turn bad.
During the first match, I’d seen her nearly hunt down members of the other classes while darting around the imaginary forest.
Sure, it was only about 10 people, but somehow I didn’t think she’d only taken down that few.
“Still, yeah. I’m glad at least we passed. Let’s work hard for those who didn’t!”
Not liking the gloomy atmosphere, Yeonhwa clapped her hands, trying to lighten the mood.
Then, accidentally catching fire to her gloves, she panicked and put it out, which made me laugh without realizing it.
“Y-yeah, let’s do our best, Blanca!”
“I’ll try to go as far as I can. After that, I’m not sure.”
Blanca, possibly unaware I’d seen her antics, sat beside Lapiz with her eyes closed, leaning her head against the wall.
While knowing it wouldn’t do any good to ask, I still wanted to know how many members she had eliminated from the other classes.
Out of curiosity about her, I approached Blanca, gently touching Lapiz’s hair, and asked quite directly.
“Blanca. How many did you take down? I managed about 7.”
Upon hearing that, Blanca stopped stroking Lapiz’s head, looking at me in silence.
Then she stood up and gestured for me to follow her without a word.
Unintentionally, my gaze wandered a bit, and I quickly turned my head.
The embarrassment was different from when I looked at Yeonhwa. After all, as a heterosexual guy, it’s hard not to be drawn to her appearance.
As I trail behind Blanca, she closed the door the moment we stepped out of the waiting room and turned to me.
“90.”
“90…?”
That was practically like taking out almost an entire class.
“Why?”
I wasn’t curious about how she did it. If it was her and her abilities, she could have wiped out all participants single-handedly.
But I was curious why she had eliminated so many.
“If I reduce the number of people, won’t this Sports Festival end a bit quicker? I really don’t want to go out there looking like this.”
And that reason was surprisingly absurd yet plausible. Blanca had consistently hated the costume she was given.
If it were someone else, I’d have dismissed it as a lame excuse, but hearing it from her strangely made sense.
“…I see. Actually, I watched you attacking the other class members during the first match.”
“Ah, so that’s why you asked! I thought I had been hiding well. Guess I’m still lacking.”
Blanca smiled mischievously as if playing a prank and said that she’d be going back in. However, following her felt uneasy.
In fact, besides seeing her ambush the other members, I also glimpsed her swiftly disappearing from Class A and Class B.
If I were to think of it normally, it could be said that she didn’t target Class A because they were friends and strong enough to avoid her attention. Class B might have simply been strong enough to deter her as well.
No matter how much of a badass she was, it wouldn’t be easy for her to overpower that level of skilled fighters.
But having seen her toy with Fukukin at the beginning of the semester—and secretly suspecting her of being a reincarnated person—that thought just wouldn’t leave my mind.
If she hadn’t messed with A and B classes, could it be because she didn’t want to ruin the original story…?
Only she would know the truth, but…
If she were trying to safeguard the original story, wouldn’t she have messed with people like Yeonhwa or Jinhyeon? The reason for not involving them could be…
Because they were friends? Or was it because they were part of the ‘original story’ she was aware of?
I pondered for a moment before shaking it off.
Eh, I think I might be overthinking this. I should really chill out with the paranoia.
– – During the first match – – –
“Looks like our Blanca is going completely off the rails. Is she trying to help us?”
“Maybe she is, boss. But just looking at her commentary and how the cat behaves, it doesn’t seem like it.”
“That’s true…”
Immanuel sighed, regretting that Blanca hadn’t fixed her twisted personality.
“Still… one way or another, she’s definitely helping us.”
“That’s true, Wei. Seems like everyone’s really getting into the game… Shall we start soon?”
Immanuel said that as he instructed Jack via radio to get things rolling and exited the arena with Wei.
“Boss. I’ve been wondering… Why are you doing all of this? If you want to change the world, there are plenty of other methods, right?”
Glancing at the guards hustling somewhere, Wei directed his query at Immanuel.
“You could just churn out Regeneration Recovery Medicine.”
Immanuel praised Wei for learning a lot, while also explaining there was a reason behind it.
“That’s because, fundamentally, Regeneration Recovery Medicine is an item made using magical power. It can’t be created chemically.”
As that argument was countered, Wei awkwardly changed the subject.
“…I mean, it doesn’t have to be that. There are many ways to make money. Why go through all this trouble instead of just safely making money?”
“Reasons…”
Immanuel stroked his rough chin, pretending to ponder, then quickly replied.
“I want to see the world change while I’m still alive. I guess I’m a bit impatient. I’d really like to see it with my own eyes. That’s my reason.”
“Pfft, that’s just it. Boss, your head’s a bit off. Well, that’s probably why you’re doing this.”
They quickly arrived at the location marked on the map after following Immanuel.
Then, without hesitation, they installed the waypoint in the designated area, randomly pulling out black orbs.
Filling the undetected dimensional pouch they had prepared with black orbs, they labeled that pouch as No. 1.
“Let’s move to the next spot, Wei. I doubt Jack’s going to last long.”