NOVEL WEB Chapter 67
“What’s up, Hero? How long are you planning to keep running away? It’s pathetic!”
Truth be told, I hadn’t really decided how far I would go in the tournament. I truly didn’t care how high I climbed.
Before the sports festival kicked off, I figured I’d probably drop out around the quarter-finals. I didn’t really have any big thoughts behind that choice.
It wasn’t too high or too low; it was an ambiguous rank that was not so outstanding but still couldn’t be ignored.
So I was planning to coast through my first year, sucking the sweet nectar out of both the Academy and Heros Company.
Right before the graduation ceremony, when both the school and students were as lethargic as ever, I’d pull off a major hit—an Academy raid.
That was my original plan. To make that happen, it was best to avoid attracting the eyes of Heros Company as much as possible.
If they started investigating me, my identity would be exposed in no time.
I had no clue how much information Heros Company had on that lab. But surely, they’d figure something out somehow.
Whether it be through psychometry or some bizarre abilities I’d never even heard of, they’d hunt me down again.
I didn’t know what would happen next.
But, judging from how a suspicious artifact that resembled the abilities of a villain I’d recently defeated had appeared, I probably wouldn’t die.
Or I might end up in a worse state.
As for the Liberators… well, I wasn’t sure how that would turn out, but it would probably be a tough time for them. I couldn’t let it come to that.
I got a bit sidetracked in my thoughts, but that was the conclusion. In the eyes of the Giant, I had to avoid the attention of Heros Company.
If that was the goal, I thought maybe I could just drop out now.
Hmm. Still, seeing that smug face like he’s all high and mighty makes me want to stomp him into a pitiful state.
Dodging the magic spear aimed at my waist, I pondered how on earth to bring that guy down.
His ability was a straightforward magic release type. But both the speed and power were no joke.
Sure, things like daggers or arrows asked for a low investment of magic, but they were bearable. I figured that out after taking a couple of hits.
However, a greatsword or spear would definitely pierce me on impact.
Realizing that his little prickly attacks were pointless, he stopped flinging daggers and arrows and began launching real heavy artillery.
In simpler terms, he could just spew carbon monoxide everywhere.
But that would be boring, could harm the audience, and, most importantly, he’d just end up dead.
That would attract the eyes of Heros Company. So I needed to find a pinpoint way to strike him.
This is also annoyingly a downside of my ability. There’s no middle ground.
To see immediate effects, I almost had to pour lethal doses, making things tricky when I shouldn’t be killing him.
Yet if I went for a moderate amount, he’d cough it out and somehow endure.
I thought about whether it was due to my inexperience from never having fought without killing before, but I doubted that.
Where could you even find a suitable poison? Even sleeping gas becomes a deadly poison if the dosage is off by a bit.
“Maybe it’s because it’s a cat, but damn, she’s flexible!”
For that reason, using poison was tough.
If I could use some bleeding venom like a snake, that’d be one thing, but I couldn’t produce protein poison.
Plus, because my poisonous needles were shot down, finding a pinpoint way to strike seemed off the table.
Then, if I wasn’t using poison, what should I do?
I took a deep breath, filling my body with air. Most of it was nitrogen and oxygen, but surprisingly, there were plenty of elements in the atmosphere.
Like carbon dioxide. And hydrogen or oxygen.
Even though the carbon dioxide was a bit low, I could fill the excess with carbon overflowing from the human body.
And if I filled it with the excess hydrogen from the moisture in my body and the atmosphere.
C3H5(NO3)3. Otherwise known as nitroglycerin, completed and ready to go.
I slightly modified the suit and made a droplet to hold the nitroglycerin, then tossed it at the guy who had been provoking me all this time.
“So you could do that… Aaaah?! No way, that’s a bomb?! You’re not just using poison?!”
The guy, who had been arrogantly shooting down my droplet, froze at the loud boom and revealed a gap.
As soon as I pulled out the bomb, the commentators went wild with excitement. However, I wasn’t planning to drag this out.
No matter how much I could acquire elements from the air, my magic wasn’t infinite, and messing with my suit was a bad move.
Above all, I had no resistance to explosions.
If I messed up and it exploded in my hand while I was holding it, that’d be my hand gone.
After making another explosive droplet, I focused on closing the distance between us.
“You crazy b****, are you actually trying to kill me?!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you in one go.”
His words seemed filled with fear, but he went back to launching arrows and daggers in response to the brief gap.
Was he planning to explode it in mid-air or in my hand? Smart move, but he really shouldn’t have.
As the adrenaline started to fade, I synthesized norepinephrine to boost my reaction speed and athletic abilities as much as I could.
Avoiding daggers flying through the air, rolling on the ground, and absorbing impacts, I ensured my hands were never shaken.
Once I got close enough, I threw the droplet at his feet.
He scrunched up his face and jumped back dramatically.
It was always the same. Every time I narrowed the distance, he would just leap backwards.
It was predictably obvious.
I leaped after him, throwing the droplet with all my might as long as it wouldn’t explode.
His scream was drowned out by the explosion.
Only I landed firmly on the ground.
It seemed he had unlucky timing, as he got hit square in the chest, gasping for air and bleeding profusely.
“The winner is… Blanca!!!”
I couldn’t help but think that even at Heros Academy, that scene didn’t show well on camera, as it only focused on me.
This suit. It really is charming aside from how it looks. Who would have thought I’d be attacking from a distance?
I watched my opponent being carried away on a stretcher, then headed to the Player Waiting Room to find Maria.
I hadn’t gotten out unscathed myself, as my whole body ached once the adrenaline faded.
Aye-ayeing with Yeonhwa, who ran up saying I did great, I brushed off Jinhyeon, who said that was a bit too much even for an enemy, and approached Maria.
“Maria. Can you look at my injuries?”
“Of course… But, Miss Blanca, that was a bit much.”
It seemed Maria wasn’t too pleased with what I had done.
Well, I wanted to subdue them gently, too.
“He started it. He threw that racial slur first. So this amount of mercy is generous.”
“Ah…”
Not that I had really said that. But saying it that way made it seem like the others could accept it, so it was a smooth atmosphere.
“Umm… Blanca? Could you show me your wounds? If your clothes are blocking them, I can’t heal you properly.”
In that case, okay. My back was particularly aching, so I pushed the slime covering it forward to reveal my back for Maria.
“Here.”
“Okay, then…”
As Maria’s warm hands touched my back, I felt warmth flowing through me.
I had never felt anything like it before, but maybe this is how a mother’s touch feels?
“…All done.”
“Thanks, Maria. I feel like I’m always imposing on you.”
“Just be careful from now on.”
After thanking her, I covered my back with slime again. Then I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t seen Minho.
Where did he go? Wait a second. Could it be? Did he figure out the plan?
In the original story, Minho knew about the existence of the Liberators, but he didn’t know how they were going to raid the Academy.
So there was no way he would have caught on. He didn’t even know about Wei’s presence or that the Boss was here.
I knew that. But still, not seeing him made me anxious.
“Where’s Minho?”
When I asked Seolhwa, she casually said he was in the audience seats.
The audience seats? Why was he there? That’s where the Boss is…
After thanking her, I hurried towards the audience seats.
—
I had gone to the audience seats simply because I was bored sitting around the Player Waiting Room.
There was no particular purpose behind it.
Thus, hearing that story was purely coincidental.
“That kid said he was in the 3rd year, right…?”
A man was oddly pointing at the scoreboard and saying strange things.
He was pointing at the scoreboard, which displayed Blanca’s image.
“Excuse me, have you met Blanca?”
“Blanca…? Is that the name of Chemicat? No, more importantly, who are you…?”
“I’m a friend of Blanca.”
“Oh… yeah. I’ve met her. Not too long ago, when the suiciders were raiding the outskirts, I was there, and she leapt right into the battlefield to find her little brother. I swear she said she was in the 3rd year…”
Ah, so she said 3rd year to avoid being sent away for saying 1st year.
The man tilted his head but convinced himself with his own reasons.
But I felt an icy chill run down my spine.
Blanca didn’t have a little brother. She shouldn’t have. And there was no reason for her to go to the outskirts.
But… a little brother?
Something.
There was something.