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I got into school for nothing - Chapter 143

I got into school for nothing (143)

Lesson 29. The Truth Will Be Revealed Someday - 3

As fate would have it, his first sparring opponent in the random match was the dark elf, Ketra, who drew daggers in both hands and declared with a subtle expression.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you win."

"Huh? Of course not," Ban Yuwon stared blankly, foolishly replying.

He had long known this person was strange, but... what was there to be sorry about?

"It's not to boast, but my grades in the mock Constellation battles are quite high. Considering our friendship, even if I let you win once, it wouldn't affect my grades... But even so, I don't want to lose to you."

Indeed, he was sorry to Ban Yuwon because he didn't want to lose, even though losing wouldn't impact his grades. So, that's why he was apologizing to Ban Yuwon?

Ban Yuwon felt his mind drifting into the astral plane and barely managed to pull it back.

"It's fine, just do your best. As Professor Zenon said, winning and losing aren't important."

No matter how skillfully Ban Yuwon could wield Authority within the Orb's space, he didn't believe he could defeat Ketra, who had already taken Professor Zenon's lectures for over a semester.

"Yes, winning and losing aren't important, you say. You're right. Even if I win a spar like this, it won't bring Mira back..."

"Uh..."

He looks like a handsome flower boy, but why do his words sound so insane?

Ban Yuwon gazed at Ketra's half-dead face, pondering what on earth had made this man like this.

"I'm sorry, junior. It was all a lie."

Noticing Ban Yuwon's disgusted expression, Ketra hastily composed himself and spoke.

Ban Yuwon was dumbfounded, wondering if Ketra still wanted to maintain their friendship even in this situation, and he drew his sword.

"Let's just start the spar."

"Alright—my bad."

The next moment, Ketra was standing behind Ban Yuwon.

There was no warning, no presence felt.

"But the part about it being a lie, that's real."

A sharp dagger slit Ban Yuwon's throat.

"Everything I told you, junior... Ugh?!"

—Clang!

Ban Yuwon's form, with his throat slit, vanished as if melting into water.

Of course, it wasn't something like Changeling, but an illusion borrowed from Eve through resonance.

Even if he hadn't prepared in advance, within this space, Ban Yuwon could read all surrounding situations in real-time and react accordingly.

Perceiving everything around him, including himself, as concepts and grasping them instantly, then weaving a corresponding flow of concepts to turn a disadvantage into an advantage.

That was the essence of the swordsmanship Ban Yuwon had created.

'An aura that surpasses Hyungi... This actually works. I can feel Hyunsingong reacting too. All that's left is to analyze this, maximize its efficiency, and train Hyunsingong to actually wield it.'

Golden mana was swirling in the air.

Mana the same color as Ban Yuwon's aura, dreaming of something beyond Hyungi, it was an energy Ban Yuwon had instantly forged.

Optimized for the swordsmanship he currently wielded—an energy that reacted more sensitively than psychokinesis to his imagination, creating concepts and extremely enhancing everything.

—Kagak!

"Ugh!"

Ban Yuwon's sword, which had suddenly ambushed Ketra from behind, was blocked by Ketra's swiftly reacting twin daggers.

He had known from the start that he couldn't overwhelm Ketra with physical abilities.

But what about Ban Yuwon now, perfectly wielding the Giwon Sword?

If it was the current Ban Yuwon, capable of creating an energy that vastly amplified all the concepts he generated, an energy beyond Hyungi?

"Are you really a freshman?!"

In mid-air, the two's weapons clashed incessantly, creating a cacophony.

Both were manifesting aura through their swords, but Ban Yuwon's quality was clearly superior.

To Ketra, who groaned in disbelief, Ban Yuwon shrugged and replied.

"In this space, imagination is more important than actual ability, isn't it? That's why you, senior, could completely hide your presence and ambush me too."

"That's impossible! This is only your second time in here, and you've already imagined an Authority that overwhelms mine? And that aura, how could it be—!"

"Talent, I guess."

While replying smugly, Ban Yuwon continuously read Ketra's reactions and launched slashes that were difficult for him to block.

With the fairy race's characteristic keen senses, and the power of his unique Authority that corrected minor errors in movement, Ketra managed to react without delay, yet couldn't hide his astonishment.

'This isn't right. It's beyond the limits of imagination. This—this is power he's had from the start!'

That's why it was even more absurd.

If this was an Authority he had possessed from birth—it meant that a mere freshman, who hadn't even completed a semester at Union Academy, was already perfectly controlling and developing his Authority.

Considering that students taking this lecture for the first time often tried to create Authorities that were blindly grand in scale or absurd in concept, only to stumble and fail, it was unbelievable that a mere freshman like Ban Yuwon had made such 'intelligent' attempts, but what was even more surprising was...

"Are you reading it?"

"I'm glad I got an opponent as difficult to read as you, senior, from the start."

Changeling, which turned his disadvantage into an advantage.

And Ban Yuwon's Giwon Sword, which read all those flows, aimed for the moment Changeling was activated, and instantly flipped it back into a disadvantage.

With just a few clashes, Ketra realized that Ban Yuwon's Authority was a perfect superior counterpart to his own, at least in combat.

"I'm definitely getting trained."

"—You."

How to read the concepts of himself, others, and the environment more precisely.

How to actualize his own intentions into conceptual power more swiftly.

How to maximize the amplification of the conceptual power he created.

The energy that answered all these questions was being wielded in Ban Yuwon's hand simply by him clearly imagining it.

Along with a sense of guilt, as if he were peeking at the answer sheet without properly solving the workbook, he felt the exhilaration of having the path forward laid out clearly before him.

'...Tch, already half?'

However, one regrettable point was that because Ban Yuwon himself hadn't yet reached that level, a considerable amount of mana was being consumed to bridge the gap between imagination and reality.

On the other hand, Ketra still seemed to have plenty of mana, and if Ban Yuwon didn't quickly seize victory, he would lose.

He had already grown accustomed to Ketra's movements.

If he hadn't simultaneously used Changeling and his presence-concealing Authority to evade fatal blows every time, Ban Yuwon's sword would have pierced his head long ago.

So, he could continue sparring a bit longer and look for an opportunity, but... Ban Yuwon, who had already grasped the essence of the martial art, was starting to want to end the spar and study on his own.

'Besides, what the senior said earlier is bothering me.'

—Chaang!

Ban Yuwon preemptively stopped Ketra's movement as he tried to hide his presence again and imitate an assassin, parried his sword, creating distance, then adopted an attacking stance again and spoke to Ketra.

"When you said everything you told me was a lie, were you referring to your feelings for Mira? Like, you actually liked her from the start?"

"..."

Ketra didn't deny it.

When they had talked before, he had evaded the topic, claiming he hadn't realized it until then... But now that his approach to Mira was completely blocked, it seemed he no longer had the luxury of maintaining his facade.

However.

However, Ban Yuwon felt that what Ketra was hiding was not such an obvious lie that anyone could see through, but something more fundamental.

"Senior, by any chance?"

Ban Yuwon spoke again.

In the past, the power of divine speech absorbed from Lusein Ortima's right-hand man had influenced his Babylonia Code and evolved his Authority.

The charm he possessed strengthened his influence over others.

So—words he uttered with intent became an Authority that made everyone listen intently and reply truthfully.

"Was the statement that Changeling, which swaps human and fairy children, doesn't actually happen—also a lie?"

"Ugh—?!"

The moment Ketra revealed his shock and fear, unable to conceal them, Ban Yuwon accelerated.

He gritted his teeth and thrust his twin daggers with fury—but immediately after, seeing Ban Yuwon's form melt away into nothingness, he instinctively knew he had been tricked.

"Ha..."

Thunk, piercing his heart in one swift motion and seeing the longsword emerge from his chest, Ketra couldn't help but laugh.

"To be ambushed from behind, my contracted Constellation would be furious if they knew."

"I had a feeling you were an assassination-type. Since this time it was practically a foul by me, let's spar again sometime."

For those defeated in a spar, there was a very light penalty.

Being expelled from the virtual space, meaning they couldn't stay in the virtual space created by the Orb for the rest of the day.

But the frustrated expression Ketra wore now was likely not due to such a penalty.

"Don't worry, I'll keep your secret."

There was no need to explicitly state what secret he would keep.

It was obvious just by how agitated Ketra became at the mention of Changeling.

...Surely Ketra was a fairy who had been Changeling-swapped and raised among humans.

Why his personality had become so twisted, he understood in an instant.

The reason he claimed to have liked Mira for a long time, but couldn't easily advance their relationship.

"Right... I'm counting on you."

"You can trust me, I don't lie about things like this."

"No, not just that. Mira too."

"Huh."

"As expected, someone like me, a fake, isn't enough."

With those final words, Ketra's form vanished from the spot as if erased.

It was just a loss in a spar, not actual death, so putting on such an act was one thing, but he still couldn't understand what Ketra was saying until the very end.

'What does he mean by 'fake'? Just because he was raised among humans doesn't make him not a fairy, senior.'

Does he mean 'fake' in a mental sense?

If he thought about it that way, it made some sense.

Beyond that, there were several points that made him think about Ketra's ambiguous attitude toward Mira, and his actions solely aimed at gaining others' favor...

'He wasn't a self-centered person. Perhaps he—was desperately self-brainwashing himself into believing everyone liked him.'

Right, because if he were truly self-centered, he wouldn't care about what others thought.

If he considered that Ketra instinctively performed 'actions to be liked' to maximize the alignment between his delusional world and reality, everything made sense.

He must have had a reason why he couldn't do otherwise.

'But honestly, there's nothing for me to gain by thinking about him any further, so I'll stop.'

There were already too many bothersome kids around that he had to clean up after, and he couldn't afford to add more to his workload.

Of course, if Ketra wished for it, he was willing to offer some counseling.

He probably wouldn't want it.

No matter what others thought, to him, Ban Yuwon would be nothing more than a plunderer.

"Let's train."

Winning one spar meant the rest of the time was free.

Of course, he could apply for additional spars, but for now, focusing solely on his martial arts would yield better results.

* * *

At Ban Yuwon's report of the sparring results, Dokgo Yeon subtly twisted her facial muscles into a smile.

"Well done. I thought that man needed to be put in his place at least once."

"How about you?"

"I'm confident I can win even without the help of this space."

Naturally.

He turned to see how the other two fared, and seeing both Rucell and As Light wearing similarly dejected expressions, he knew the results without asking.

"I just can't get the hang of... creating Authority. I blindly tried to increase my power, but it wasn't enough."

"That's a statement that really shows your identity."

"I was desperate to control the Holy Sword so it wouldn't be drawn, so I couldn't even focus on the spar or anything else..."

"Yeah, you worked hard. I'll make you hot chocolate, so cheer up."

He thought it was truly fortunate that these guys were simple enough to cheer up with a cup of hot chocolate, and sure enough, Dokgo Yeon silently tugged on Ban Yuwon's sleeve.

"I know. You think I'd leave you out?"

"No. I won, so give me two cups."

"You're getting more shameless by the day, Professor... Ow!"

That very day, after school.

Word began to spread on the intranet that Lyu Cheolmyeong had visited the student council office.

Seeing the recent rise of lower-rank dimension forces, spearheaded by Rebellion, within the academy, unsettling rumors circulated that Lyu Cheolmyeong, practically a representative of purebloodism, was perhaps planning to threaten the student council president.

While hundreds of students chattered on the intranet bulletin board—saying that if it were true, Lyu Cheolmyeong, who had crossed the line, should be immediately sanctioned; or asking why they were making a fuss when the Chancellor remained silent; or telling them not to escalate the situation with useless speculation—

Ban Yuwon discerned that the student council president—namely, Shatie and Mira—had officially begun their 'operation', and sent her a message asking if there was anything he could help with, but...

The reply he received was, 'Already succeeded without any help needed LOL'.

...These women are truly terrifying.