Chapter 82. The Appearance of the School Nurse (4)

Chapter 82. The Appearance of the School Nurse (4)

“Then, let the duel begin!”

As soon as Professor Kim Jinhyuk gave the signal, Han Seoyul charged at me.

Thump.

I felt a faint heartbeat.

That meant my Combat Sense was reacting, even if only slightly.

“Huaaaah!”

Han Seoyul was fast, befitting the top-ranked second-year…

‘Clairvoyance.’

But not fast enough for my eyes to miss.

I blocked the horizontal slash aimed at my side with ‘Cotton Guard’ while simultaneously igniting a small flame in front of Han Seoyul’s eyes.

“Ugh!”

Whoosh!

Han Seoyul quickly leapt back. A decent decision, but he didn’t realize there was already a magic circle waiting behind him.

‘Flame Surge.’

“…?!”

A scorching blaze engulfed Han Seoyul entirely. He hastily swung his sword, imbued with mana, to disperse the flames.

I didn’t let up the attack.

Fwoosh—!

Every time Han Seoyul adjusted his movement, I shot flames toward him.

He defended calmly against the onslaught of fire magic but was slowly being pushed back.

Eventually, realizing he couldn’t just keep defending, he forced his way forward through the flames, accepting some burns in the process.

‘His skills are decent.’

He was strong, certainly among the top-ranked students. It was odd that he was just an extra in the game.

His sword slashed toward my shoulder with impressive force, but I accelerated my body.

Spinning to evade the attack, I struck his exposed side with a quick Force Magic blow.

“Kugh!”

Even though my Combat Sense wasn’t fully engaged, it was clear I outmatched him. My base stats were far above the level of a mere cadet.

Han Seoyul rolled backward, creating distance before summoning four duplicate swords and launching them at me.

Unfortunately, his full-powered sword barrage was effortlessly blocked by my ‘Cotton Guard.’

Time to finish this.

There were still seven more opponents to go—I couldn’t afford to waste time.

Buzz!

I summoned dozens of fire spheres, filling the duel arena.

Each one was packed with an immense amount of mana.

Seeing the entire stage surrounded by flames, Han Seoyul sighed.

“Double casting, huh? Damn… this really hurts my confidence.”

Han Seoyul chuckled bitterly.

“You flatter me, senior. You’re strong yourself.”

For an extra, Han Seoyul was truly formidable.

I couldn’t understand why someone this skilled had never even appeared in the original game.

Of course, the simple answer was ‘because he’s a guy.’ There’s no room for male characters in a harem game.

“Yeah, sure. I think I’m done. Professor, I surrender.”

The moment Han Seoyul saw my fire orbs, he conceded defeat.

That was disappointing—I had set up such a good finisher for him.

“This is a waste… Can I use these in the next duel?”

“Of course not.”

Professor Kim Jinhyuk scolded me for my nonsense.

“…Hey, was he always this strong?”

“I mean, yeah, he did beat Kim Hojin…”

“I know, but… double casting? Can a cadet even learn that?”

“I have no idea.”

The watching cadets were all staring at me with open mouths.

Normally, lower-ranked students wouldn’t pay attention unless it was their turn to fight.

People say watching weaklings fight is the most fun, but things are different when the competition is high-level.

Professional leagues are always more exciting than amateur ones.

That’s why over a hundred cadets had gathered around the top-ranked duel arena.

“Wow, he’s already taken down six people.”

“He’s seriously amazing… Hey, did you record this?”

“Of course, dude. Posting a video about Lee Hoyeon gets at least 100 recommendations on EveryDay.”

“Shit, I need to start recording too.”

Any rumors about my weak combat abilities had completely vanished.

After watching me beat upperclassmen like swatting flies, everyone could see the truth for themselves.

And it wasn’t just my strength—they were mesmerized by my fluid movements and explosive magic.

The cadets watched in excitement, but the professors had a different reaction.

When Nam Daeun and Elise fought, the professors couldn’t stop praising them.

“Man, this year’s first-years are insane.”

“Right? Should we give them a special title? How about ‘The Golden Generation’?”

“Not a bad idea~.”

“Elise’s mana control is stunning.”

“And her swordsmanship is already at an advanced level. She’s way beyond what we expected.”

Then... everyone watching Lee Hoyeon’s duel fell silent.

“...Am I seeing this wrong?”

A middle-aged professor who had been at Victoria Academy the longest muttered to himself.

“...The A-Class students are all ridiculously strong.”

“Strong? That’s not even the issue here.”

A female professor replied incredulously.

“Exactly. ‘Overrated’ my ass, he’s a real monster.”

Some professors had believed that Lee Hoyeon was just a marketing tool for the academy. The older and more experienced they were, the more skeptical they had been.

They never believed anything unless they saw it with their own eyes.

Moreover, even as academy professors, they weren’t in direct contact with the chairman or headmaster, so they naturally assumed it was all just publicity.

Since they had never openly criticized Lee Hoyeon, Kim Jinhyuk hadn’t bothered to argue with them either.

“I think the ‘overrated’ rumors will be completely gone now... or maybe it’ll stir up even more chaos.”

“The videos are already spreading. The moment guild scouts see them, it’s game over.”

One professor was already watching EveryDay on his smartwatch.

Lee Hoyeon’s video had already climbed to the top of the trending list.

“Insane speed in deploying magic circles, double casting, and near-zero delay between spells... he’s the ultimate battle mage.”

“He definitely has some kind of physical enhancement skill. You can see brief moments where his reaction speed spikes.”

“Isn’t this already the level of Awakening?”

Awakening.

A stage where a gifted individual surpasses their own limits and reaches a new realm of power.

Whether or not someone achieved Awakening determined their standing in the Hunter world.

The majority of active Hunters hadn’t even reached that level—it was that difficult.

“Obviously. If he wasn’t at an Awakened level, this wouldn’t make sense.”

“The impact this will have... I don’t even want to imagine.”

The professors were now convinced that Lee Hoyeon had reached that stage.

A male professor sighed and sipped his coffee.

“I don’t know. Let’s just leave it to Professor Kim Jinhyuk. He’s the homeroom professor anyway.”

“...Agreed.”

While the professors were talking, Lee Hoyeon had already defeated the 7th-ranked second-year student.

Judging by how he kept testing out different spells, it seemed less like a duel and more like a self-assessment of his abilities.

His level was simply on a different plane compared to the other students.

“We should probably start printing the first-place pamphlets for the midterms already.”

“...”

The perception of Lee Hoyeon among the professors had completely flipped, and now they were more worried about the storm he was going to bring.

“As expected... my dear!”

“Excuse me? Saintess, what did you just say?”

“Ah! Nothing!”

Baek Ayoung had been staring at the dueling arena intently before suddenly lowering her head in embarrassment.

Cheers erupted throughout the arena as a small, stout student stepped onto the stage.

“Hello, Senior Yoon Hyunkyu?”

“You... you... what the hell are you?!”

Yoon Hyunkyu had been shoved onto the stage against his will. Gone was the sly smile he had in the student council meeting room—now, he was trembling with nerves.

“Since you take so much pride in your skills, I wanted to personally experience just how great your magic is. Please go easy on me.”

“You... you bastard...!”

Yoon Hyunkyu clenched his fists, his whole body shaking at my provocation.

“You’re not planning to forfeit without even fighting, are you? Even though I’ve already exhausted my stamina and mana taking down seven opponents?”

I grinned at him, teasingly.

“Who said I was forfeiting?! Bring it on!”

The stout Yoon Hyunkyu flared his mana aggressively.

A mage, and a fire-type at that—just like me.

‘Should I reveal my other elements here?’

There were a lot of eyes watching. This stage wasn’t a bad opportunity to show off my full power.

If I demonstrated my ability to wield multiple elements, the shockwave would be immense.

‘No... there’s a bigger stage ahead.’

The midterms and the festival.

One of those two would definitely give me an even better chance.

If I was going to steal the spotlight, I should do it in the biggest way possible.

Besides, I could handle this guy just fine with fire magic alone.

“If you’re ready, let’s begin!”

At Kim Jinhyuk’s signal, Yoon Hyunkyu immediately started drawing a magic circle.

Fireball. A simple, fast, and powerful fire-type spell—a staple among fire mages.

Fwoosh!

Blazing spheres of fire materialized, crackling as they surged forward.

“Are you underestimating me?!”

Five fireballs launched straight at me.

I effortlessly blocked them with Cotton Guard.

“Senior, that’s way too slow. Let me show you how to really use Fireball.”

Fwoosh—

Fwoosh—

Two fireballs continuously formed around my body.

One, two, three, four, five… A total of 24 fireballs covered the dueling arena in just three seconds.

Compared to Yoon Hyun-gyu, who took over five seconds to create five fireballs, my speed was on a completely different level.

“You better block well. It wouldn’t be fun if it ended too quickly.”

Boom!!

I unleashed all 24 fireballs at Yoon Hyun-gyu simultaneously.

Realizing there was no room to dodge, he cast a barrier in front of him.

A firewall. A shield made of fire, naturally resistant to fire-based attacks.

It was a reasonable choice.

However—

Fwoosh!

My fireballs effortlessly tore through his shield.

“Aagh!”

As soon as the fireballs broke his shield, I summoned chains of fire from the ground and yanked Yoon Hyun-gyu’s legs.

Thud! He crashed onto the ground, and my fireballs skimmed past his head.

“How can a fire shield be pierced by fireballs?!”

“That just shows how big the skill gap is between Ho-yeon and that senior.”

“Ah... Well, he does look like he wouldn’t be good in a fight. Maybe he’s more of a theory guy?”

I could hear sneers and laughter from the students below the arena.

Yoon Hyun-gyu, his face red with embarrassment, broke free from my fire chains and shot up to his feet.

“You… You... I’ll make sure you regret this! You dare mock me?! Do you know what happens when you go against the vice president?!”

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t forfeit.”

He furiously hurled more spells at me, but I simply scoffed and neutralized each one effortlessly.

“H-how…?”

“Just accept it already, senior. You’re pathetically weak.”

“I-I’m a second-year! There’s no way I’d lose to a first-year!”

As he continued to deny reality, I slowly approached him, dismantling every spell he cast.

“Just keep kissing up to the vice president and stay out of trouble.”

Wham!

I reinforced my shin with mana and kicked him. Yoon Hyun-gyu collapsed onto the ground, and I turned away.

“I forfeit.”

“... Using a forfeit like that isn’t appropriate.”

Professor Kim Jin-hyuk frowned at me.

I guess he believes duels should be fought with full effort.

But Professor, didn’t Nam Daeun and Elise just forfeit too?

Maybe he favors pretty girls.

Fortunately, I had a good excuse.

“Professor, after so many duels, my head hurts. I need to rest in the infirmary.”

“You look like you’re in peak condition to me.”

“... No, really. Ask the infirmary teacher if you don’t believe me.”

“Sigh, A-Young is far too busy to be playing along with your games—”

Before he could finish, a clear voice rang through the hall.

“Ho-yeon! Are you alright?!”

Baek A-Young, who had been watching the duels from among the professors, hurriedly climbed onto the stage and examined me.

“Indeed. His condition isn’t great. Professor Kim, he needs rest.”

“... Really? He looks fine to me.”

“I’m certain. Are you doubting my judgment?”

She glared at Kim Jin-hyuk.

There is no better healer than Baek A-Young, and Korean hunters should be grateful she’s here.

A phrase every active hunter in Korea knew.

“... My apologies. Please take him quickly.”

“Ho-yeon, can you walk on your own? Do you need assistance?”

“... Yes. Please help me.”

★ Heroine Status Window ★

[Baek A-Young]

- [ Affection: 88 ] (+0.2)

- [ Lust: 80 ]

- [ Appetite: 30 ]

- [ Fatigue: 35 ]

Current Status: Finally... Taking him to the infirmary... Locking the door...!

Does nobody notice those perverted eyes?

Everyone was blind to reality, still enchanted by the illusion of the “Saint.”

“Wow, checking on the injured right after her appointment... Amazing.”

“That’s why she’s called a Saint. I’m becoming her fan today.”

Even eyes filled with lust are being mistaken for pure dedication. Incredible.

“Everyone’s blind.”

“Ho-yeon, don’t speak too much. It might worsen your injuries.”

“I was never injured in the first place—”

“Shhh!”

“... Yes, yes. Understood.”

And with that, Baek A-Young and I left the auditorium together.

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