Imagination Overdrive: If I Think It, It Becomes Real

Speaking of duels, I wondered where it was going to take place. Not like there's a big-ass arena behind the scho—

Motherf—

I turned around and, of course, there it was. A full-on Roman Empire-style coliseum, because why the hell not? Who even approved this budget?!

Ah, well.

Now I stood in the middle of the grand arena, the ENTIRE school gathered to witness the great Prince Julian fall to his knees. Overconfidence, you ask? Nah, I've got plot armor. This is a guaranteed win.

Across from me, my so-called arch-nemesis, Julian, stood tall. At the sidelines, Amilya watched with her usual smugness, surrounded by her little minions like some final boss in a dating sim.

Random NPC #1: "Do you think Prince Julian's gonna win?"

Random NPC #2: "We saw what Leon did the other day."

Amilya (with unshakable confidence): "Don't worry. I've known Julian since childhood. I've seen his swordsmanship firsthand."

Julian stepped forward, his golden, high-rank sword gleaming under the sun. Meanwhile, I had a barely passable rank-D sword I picked up in Physical Magic class the other day. Fair matchup, right? Totally not rigged.

Julian smirked. "Leon, are you ready?"

"Well, kind of." Hands still in my pockets.

Then, the instructor—whose tragic backstory we all knew but never talked about—stepped in. "The rules are simple: no lethal attacks. Magic is allowed."

Julian scoffed. "I won't use magic. It wouldn't be fair since Leon can't use any."

The instructor nodded. "If the opponent accepts, then it's permitted."

I shrugged. "Nuh uh. Even with magic, you won't defeat me."

The crowd gasped so hard I thought someone was about to pass out. Julian's eye twitched, though he kept his composure. "As you wish. But prepare to lose brutally."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I waved a hand lazily.

"The duel will now begin!"

Julian lunged at me, his movements sharp and precise. I sidestepped effortlessly. He swung again—I dodged. Again—I dodged. And again and again and again.

Julian gritted his teeth. "Stop dodging and face me, coward!"

Annoyed, he infused his sword with dark energy—no, not dark magic, but some elemental magic nonsense. He started launching ice shards at me.

I dodged.

More ice shards.

Still dodging.

Julian growled. "FACE ME, COWARD!"

The crowd began chanting: "COWARD! COWARD!"

"Great, I'm a school-wide meme now."

I lunged at him, and he barely managed to block.

Julian smirked. "Now we're talking." He swung again, mixing in more ice attacks. One nearly grazed me.

"Whew, that was close. Man, magic really is something. Imagine if I just had a gun right now."

…

Then I felt something heavy in my hand.

I looked down.

A Glock 21.

Wait. What the actual hell?

Panic set in. I quickly hid the gun behind my back before anyone noticed.

I was having a full-on crisis in my head.

I CAN'T USE THIS. THIS ISN'T A SCHOOL IN AMERICA. WHAT THE HELL?!

Alright. I needed to end this quickly.

I dashed forward, Julian raising his sword to counter, but at the last second, I swept my leg under his and knocked him down like a martial arts master. He hit the ground hard, and before he could react, I pointed my sword at his throat.

"You're defeated."

Silence. Absolute silence.

Julian's eyes widened in disbelief. "I… I can't lose. Not to a commoner. Not to someone with no magic!"

The crowd collectively gasped, followed by screams. Someone in the stands actually fainted. A noble girl started sobbing. Another guy dropped his drink, spilling it all over himself but too shocked to react.

Amilya's expression went through the five stages of grief in five seconds, before settling on 'completely dumbfounded.'

The school's dramatic announcer (who definitely took his job too seriously) yelled, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, A MIRACLE HAS OCCURRED BEFORE OUR VERY EYES! THE COMMONER… HAS BESTED THE PRINCE!!"

Meanwhile, Julian was still on the ground, staring at the sky like he was rethinking his entire existence. I half-expected him to go full anime protagonist and whisper, 'Was everything I worked for… meaningless?'

I shrugged. "Whatever, homie. You lost. I've got urgent business to attend to."

I bolted out of the arena like a damn jaguar, leaving everyone—Amilya included—completely flabbergasted.

"The winner is… Leon Oseven," the instructor finally announced, his voice tinged with disbelief.

Somewhere in the crowd, a girl watched, her fox-like ears twitching. "Leon Oseven, hmm?"

Meanwhile, I had made it outside the school, far from prying eyes. I slowly pulled out the gun.

"…Where the hell did you come from?"

No answer.

"…I'm a fool for asking a gun that."

I sighed. "Well, for now, you're staying with me."