NOVEL WEB Chapter 66
There wasn’t really any time to worry about other teams, but I couldn’t help but glance at the ones who were practically shaking the stadium with their overwhelming abilities while saving others.
Like Im Changwon, who was disassembling buildings with telekinesis and sorting out the injured in between.
Or Lapiz, who was wildly emitting golden magic, treating the collapsed debris like her personal playroom while rescuing mannequins.
Then there was Minho, who was practically flying as he carried the mannequins Lapiz brought out, casually rescuing one after another if he had the time to spare.
Ageha was casting a type of magic I had never seen before, using her abilities so flamboyantly it made me feel like, “Wow, that’s real magic!”
Seolhwa was creating ice pillars between the wrecked buildings to save people, while Jinhyeon was doing similar rescue work with a different approach.
Meanwhile, Yeonhwa seemed completely useless in saving someone, struggling to even wield her powers properly while carrying people.
And there were others like Fukukin, Morgan, Lucia, and Maria. Looking back, it turns out they were all from Class A, which made sense since Class A had the most exceptional and powerful abilities.
Class B had its fair share of decent abilities, but nothing that could draw attention like Class A did.
I couldn’t wrap my head around why anyone thought to create a rivalry with Class A when they were obviously weaker.
But since I didn’t need to understand it, I ignored Class B and focused on doing my best in the second match.
When comparing my abilities to the Class A folks, I couldn’t twist buildings or change their structure to rescue mannequins like they did.
Sure, I could unleash my powers recklessly, but that would probably end up with me being carried away without having twisted even a single building.
So, I couldn’t do what they did.
Then, I just had to focus on quality over quantity.
It’s important to save many mannequins, but saving them in the best condition is just as crucial.
And I could say I was specialized in rescuing them in their best condition.
I occasionally collaborated just enough to remind D and E that I was part of a team, trying to save as many mannequins as I could within my limits.
Before I knew it, the match was over.
“Second Match, Rescue Simulation… End!!! Thank you for your hard work!!!”
The announcer shouted so loud it was deafening, signaling the end of the match.
Immediately, all the mannequins that were littered around, which had been replenished from somewhere, turned black in unison and collapsed.
Some were left dumbfounded, staring at their hands as the match ended just before they reached the rescue point, causing the mannequins to collapse.
There were even some shivering like they had lost a real person.
But not a single care seemed to be given to those reactions, as the scores flashed on the screen with a loud drumroll.
The top spot went to the duo of Lapiz and Minho. They didn’t specify their exact scores for quantity and quality, but I could guess where they scored from.
So I was a bit puzzled. There was no way they could have come in first for quantity.
If it was purely about quantity, Im Changwon should have absolutely dominated.
But that wasn’t the case.
Listening to Minho, it seemed like they had rescued a healing ability user from the lower classes.
Well, it made sense. Healing with abilities guarantees a baseline score, no matter how weak the user.
You could say it was the luck and skill of a protagonist.
And about Im Changwon, his group came in second. Basically, he was the one responsible for it all.
If he’d paid even a little more attention to the state of the mannequins, first place wouldn’t have been out of reach.
He had saved that many mannequins all on his own.
Surprisingly, my group managed to snag third place.
“We’re third…!”
Asad or Asad seemed shocked that we made it to third, looking at me with a face full of awe.
He extended his hand as if to shake, but I didn’t feel like doing that, so I simply acknowledged him and stayed focused on the announcer as I watched the scores.
“32 members will advance to the next round! However! There’s a twist here too! Just because you’re in the top 8 doesn’t guarantee you all pass!”
According to the announcer, there were also personal scores based on individual performance, and the scoreboard shifted from team scores to individual scores.
As that happened, joy and despair crossed faces.
The revised scoreboards included more of Class A and B.
Those complaining were mostly the lower class teams that relied on a one-man-show like Im Changwon.
In contrast, those celebrating were from Class A or B who didn’t fit in or tried hard but just barely fell short.
Yeonhwa was among them.
She was overjoyed, hugging Jinhyeon, exclaiming how she couldn’t believe they made it through, insisting it wasn’t a dream.
“No way…! We made it, we really did! I can’t believe it, Jinhyeon! This isn’t a dream, am I really awake?!”
“It’s not a dream. Congrats, Yeonhwa.”
Even amid all this chaos, E barely scraped in at 32nd, just making it for the tournament.
Wow, that’s impressive.
I was hardly surprised since I already figured that, and it wasn’t shocking that the rankings didn’t change much either.
I placed a hand on Asad’s shoulder, praising him for his hard work, and followed the Class B homeroom teacher back inside the player waiting room.
Someone from behind called my name, but I didn’t even look back.
Those who got eliminated had to go that way, not this one. Plus, I was already drained from using so much energy.
“You… knew this was going to happen, so you stayed away from us…?”
But our oblivious E ran up to me, going on about whether I was trying to avoid us.
“No, not at all. It’s purely because you guys were just getting in the way. If I hadn’t helped you, I could have rescued at least 21 more mannequins.”
When I dropped that fact, E seemed unable to contain his anger, trying to grab my collar. But he was just awkwardly twisting around with my wrist caught.
“You seem to be overestimating your worth, don’t do that. It just leads to misery.”
I couldn’t tell if they were as lacking as I was.
But it disgusted me to see the weak trying to crawl up, so I expressed my utmost contempt with harsh words.
It wasn’t until E’s wrist costume started to melt away that I finally let go of him.
“Congrats on making it to the tournament. Work hard. Who knows, you might see me again.”
Leaving those words behind, I stepped into the Class A player waiting room.
—
The third match, the highlight of the sports festival, was held as a tournament with a staggering 64 participants.
32 from Hero department, 32 from Hunter department. They would mix and match to battle 1v1 until the best was selected.
Of course, using abilities was unlimited. Any attack was okay as long as it didn’t leave serious injuries on the opponent.
And by “serious injury,” we meant injuries that could potentially result in death—most matches ended up being bloodbaths or wrecking the arena.
It was the same for the students from Hunter and Hero departments currently in battle.
I had no clue who they were since I had never heard of or seen them before.
But the fierce fighting was fitting as the first match to highlight the gravity of the tournament.
Right, it was the first match. The tournament had begun.
The number of people inside the waiting room had significantly decreased. From over 28 participants at the start of the second match, we were down to 16.
Among those eliminated was Katyann. I decided I’d have to meet her separately later for some consolation.
With that thought, I checked the brackets on the screen inside the waiting room.
Luckily, my opponent was a student from Class B paired with Blanca.
I didn’t worry much because it was basically a guaranteed win…
But I was a bit concerned about Blanca. Even if she’s just an extra, she had to face an A-class student from the Hunter department.
Moreover, the brackets were slightly different from what I knew, making me somewhat anxious about how much the original story might twist.
Im Changwon’s opponent wasn’t a nameless extra either but Seojinhyeon.
“Jinhyeon…”
Yeonhwa seemed worried, telling him everything would be fine, but Blanca seemed utterly indifferent to it all.
Was she a competitor? Or did she have something else on her mind? I didn’t know, but I decided to stop worrying about her too.
‘Quest: Push to the Limit!’
‘Aim for the highest score possible in the sports festival!’
‘Reward: Stat Points, Relationship Points with specific heroines. ??? reward for making it to the top 8.’
I didn’t have the luxury to care about anyone else right now.
I needed to focus on clearing this quest.
Because I was curious about the rewards.