Chapter 67

The day of the 1st Year Flowering Festival Finals dawned.

[The day of the finals that everyone has been waiting for has dawned! I hope our audience members haven’t been waiting so long that their necks have stretched!]

[The commentary for the finals will be handled, following the preliminaries, by everyone’s favorite, Kalen! You all waited for me, right?]

Laughter erupted from the audience at Kalen’s question.

No one was so uptight as to be serious about his playful words.

“That way of speaking. Tsk.”

At least, excluding the stubborn professors.

Beatrice watched the commentator’s box with anxious eyes, worried that Kalen might make a comment that crossed the line.

[In the last preliminary round, there were students whose skills were so outstanding that it was hard to believe they were first-years!]

Perhaps noticing Beatrice’s gaze, Kalen continued speaking in a more refined voice than before.

[Would anyone believe it if I said there were first-year students who, by demonstrating wisdom and wit, defeated a Geothermal Hound! A mid-rank beast officially recognized by the Imperial Family, with the power of just three people?!]

[But, from now on, you’ll have to believe it! It is an honor to introduce them like this! Lucian, Zephyros, and Liber!!]

Amidst the cheers, Lucian, Zephyros, and Liber entered the training ground.

Zephyros had the confident and elegant demeanor befitting a son of a ducal family, and Lucian, though he occasionally flinched, consciously straightened his posture from time to time.

And Liber… was feeling like he could die right now.

‘Ugh… just kill me instead….’

He was already nervous just for making it to the finals, but how did he end up being the first to enter as one of the most anticipated first-years?

He really felt like hiding in a mouse hole if he could.

No, he just wished he could faint without even advancing to the finals, and when he woke up, the Flowering Festival would be over!

“Liber, relax.”

That’s not as easy as it sounds!

Despite Zephyros’s suggestion, tears clung to the corners of Liber’s eyes.

It was then.

“Liber, fighting!!!”

A loud voice was heard from the audience seats. Liber’s face, who had been looking in the direction of the voice, instantly brightened.

“I believe in you!!”

It was because a woman who looked just like Liber, but a little older, was cheering for him.

Waving her hand lightly, Liber stood in the center with Zephyros and Lucian, as confident as if nothing had happened.

After the first three to enter, Kalen introduced the students entering one by one.

Cheers were heard, but of course, they couldn’t compare to the beginning. In the finals, the first and last to enter received the most attention.

And, since the first in were the top three from the Knight Division, the last in was as good as decided.

[Here is our final student! I declare him the most anticipated student, who received the highest score among all first-years with his outstanding wit and excellent magic skills! Theo!!]

In time with Kalen’s introduction, Theo leisurely walked into the training ground.

A relaxed attitude, a leisurely gait, and a smile that spread across his lips.

It was as if he were proclaiming that he was the first-place winner of the preliminaries and the first-place winner of the upcoming finals.

Theo, who entered confidently amidst a round of applause, currently felt like this.

‘This is so much pressure!!!’

* **

Perhaps because I took first place in the Magic Division with an overwhelming score, I was assigned the last spot.

‘Why?’

In the original story, the protagonist was last! Isn’t making a cool entrance at the end usually the protagonist’s role?

《You should have toned it down a bit.》

I wiped my face with my palm at the words of Albedo, who had stealthily followed me into my pocket.

“How can I tone it down when I’m aiming for a medal.”

+++

<Sudden Quest>

The Flowering Festival is an important event at the Academy.

A good result will greatly affect future evaluations.

Receive a medal at the Flowering Festival.

-Reward: Special Title, EXP 5000

-Failure: Debuff, Vulnerable to Status Ailments (8,760 hours)

+++

For a failure penalty of a mere sudden quest, it’s too harsh.

He told me to prepare for the miserable future that’s to come, but instead of helping, he’s just getting in the way.

“Life, isn’t easy.”

This kind of possession, is really not easy.

Other possessors seem to have it easy, so why am I the only one on hard mode?

It must be the cunning scheme of a wicked writer trying to torment me.

“Next up is Theo.”

My turn had finally come.

《Go out there with confidence.》

“I’ll do that even without you nagging.”

Although I had gotten first place with a bit of trickery and outstanding skill, my heart was pounding as if it would explode. But I had no intention of showing it in the slightest.

More confident and self-assured than anyone else. I even plan to add a little arrogance.

The hallway leading to the training ground was a little dark.

It was probably an intended atmosphere.

If you follow the single beam of light, you emerge into the hall of the training ground with a bright light.

How many students could go through this process without their hearts pounding?

[The rising star who received the highest score among all first-years with his outstanding wit and excellent magic skills!! Theo Lisitoel!!]

Along with the introduction, cheers poured in, so loud that I couldn’t help but realize what the expression ‘like thunder’ meant.

I stretched the corners of my mouth and moved my feet leisurely with a relaxed attitude.

With every step I took, it felt like the pressure was weighing down on my body.

But, even if I was in first place, I was the weakest prey with the frailest body, so I couldn’t show any weakness and be looked down upon.

…Still, let’s hurry to Lucian’s side where I feel the most at ease! Without forgetting my composure, I stood confidently next to Lucian, and Kalen continued his introduction.

[Our last rising star has completed his entrance! Then, from now on, we will begin the Flowering Festival finals that everyone has been anticipating!!]

I’m not the last rising star!

No, I mean, I am! This is driving me crazy!!

[First, before we officially begin, I would like to ask for a round of applause for the 64 students who have passed the preliminaries and proudly advanced to the finals!]

Perhaps because they had already clapped their hands red as the 64 students entered the training ground one by one, the applause wasn’t very loud.

Although it wasn’t a satisfactory sound, Kalen didn’t drag it out any longer and decided to start the finals right away.

[Well then, I will now explain the rules of the finals! As with the preliminaries, it will be divided into the Knight Division and the Magic Division!]

[The first-place winner of the Knight Division and the first-place winner of the Magic Division, and the second-place winner of the Magic Division and the second-place winner of the Knight Division will compete against each other to determine the rankings!]

[Now, we will reveal the tournament bracket!!]

The tournament bracket appeared on the magitool floating in the sky.

Where’s my name? As I quickly checked the large names, I immediately frowned.

“Wow….”

How… can this be?

“Theo, are you okay?”

The opponent I would face from the start was the name of the student who took second place in the Magic Division, the one who had entered just before me.

Lucian asked, gripping my shoulder as if he were worried.

“Am I okay?”

Is that even a question right now?

Of course—

“I love it.”

It’s a situation where I have no choice but to say I love it!

* * *

To decide which student would receive a medal, various factors were taken into account.

For example, the preliminary scores, and bonus points were also given for facing a high-ranking student in the final tournament.

As Theo was in first place, there were no students ranked higher than him, so he couldn’t get bonus points in this area.

However— in any case, it was advantageous to meet as many high-ranking students as possible in the finals.

And, surprisingly, Theo’s preliminary round was set up so that if he just advanced up the ranks, he would face the 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place winners in order.

“Hey, are you really okay?”

At Zephyros’s question, Theo had to hold back the laughter that kept trying to bubble up.

“I love it.”

In any case, since the preliminaries were limited to monster hunting, there was no guarantee that the higher-ranked students would advance. That also applied to Theo.

“This is your first 1-on-1 duel.”

“Should we have made him spar a little?”

Zephyros and Lucian were busy whispering to each other in front of Theo.

“I told you, I’m aiming for the medal.”

Theo slyly looked at his stats.

+++

<LapidemyBunnyPrincess> Lv. 22 (+2)

-Class: Writer (Unique)

-Title: Possessor, One Who Contracted with a Primeval Demon

-HP: 80

-Mana: 50(+9)

-Strength: 9(+1)

-Agility: 8(+1)

-Physical Resistance: 5

-Magic Resistance: 5

-Intelligence: 45

-Luck: -99~99

※Penalty: Nearsightedness

+++

My level had gone up thanks to hunting, but there was one stat that hadn’t changed since I was possessed.

Luck. Luck had been fluctuating between -99 and 99 for almost three months since I was possessed.

Being fluid is a good thing, but I wanted to somehow raise this negative number.

“Theo?”

“I don’t know if the goddess of luck will smile on me or give me the finger.”

Lucian tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“Anyway, I don’t know which of you will make it, but I’ll see you in the finals.”

“Somehow… you sound confident?”

“Because I’m going to take first place in the Magic Division.”

Theo smiled a confident, almost arrogant, smile.

In a situation where he had to at least take first place in the Magic Division, and at most first place in the entire first year, to get a medal, what was there to be afraid of?

* * *

The one I was matched against in the round of 32 was a guy named Barka, who had placed 6th in the preliminaries.

“Hm? Isn’t that the guy I neutralized?”

I didn’t know his name when I faced him in the preliminaries, but I wasn’t at the point where I couldn’t remember his face.

On the contrary, with my high intelligence stat, I could easily remember the faces of even opponents I had just brushed past.

Moreover, he was the guy I had subdued with a last-minute buzzer-beater, so there was no way I couldn’t know him.

This guy was also bought by the Duke of Nevera, so how did he make it to the finals—

“Ah, well, he didn’t attack me anyway, so he wouldn’t have been eliminated.”

Furthermore, that guy at least tried to attack me when he found me at the end.

In other words, he would have been able to catch monsters until he found me, so he would naturally have received a higher score than the other guys who were trapped in the magitool from the beginning and couldn’t move.

“You damn bastard!”

Barka’s face instantly turned bright red, and he raised his magic wand.

“A wand.”

Unlike a staff, which helps to control precise output, that was focused solely on increasing output.

Both staves and wands were a type of magitool that helped to use magic more easily, so they were forbidden in class.

However, in the Flowering Festival, where individual skills were competed, obtaining tools was also considered part of one’s skill, so unless it was a balance-breaking tool like the Holy Sword, it was allowed.

“You’re wearing glasses you didn’t wear before, so isn’t that your own secret weapon?”

“Uh, it’s not like that.”

It’s just for normal vision correction, you punk.

“Stop lying!”

“Actually, it displays the opponent’s combat power as a numerical value.”

“What?!”

“Just kidding.”

I’m not a Sc*uter, there’s no way that’s possible.

When I replied with a straight face, his already red face turned even redder.

“Oh, it could get even redder.”

It’s a curious sight, if you can call it that.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

I beckoned with my finger in a provocative manner.

“Come at me.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep