Chapter 111

<Chapter 114> As Long as Things Go Well, Who Cares if You’re an Idiot?

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“Wasn’t this tournament a bit too extreme?”

The one who spoke was Yu-jin’s homeroom teacher, Ji-hye.

Still short in stature and with her cute appearance, she was overwhelmed by the piles of paperwork.

Borrowing a ruined city, equipping students with special systems so they don’t die, deploying drones and items…!

Of course, all these processes required meticulous planning.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that organizing this tournament drained the entire Academy teaching staff.

“This much is necessary if we’re going to select Korea’s representative.”

The mastermind behind this whole situation—Tae-jin Kim—casually munched on some tteok while speaking.

If the person who came up with this tournament wasn’t the legendary hero Tae-jin Kim, there might have already been a riot.

“But there are just too many questionable aspects.”

“Making the tournament overly complicated to give ordinary students a chance? Or adding missions to increase the likelihood of top students being eliminated?”

“All of it!”

Ji-hye slammed her desk as she spoke.

Tae-jin flinched slightly.

There weren’t many people who dared to speak this way to him, someone respected by everyone—but Ji-hye was one of them.

“What reason do we even have to push the kids this hard? I don’t even understand the meaning behind drones or missions.”

“Calm down.”

“I’m calmer than ever right now!”

Tae-jin casually took a sip of tea.

“True, for just picking a representative, this much effort isn’t really necessary. If we judged solely by grades, Yu-jin would definitely be chosen anyway.”

“You know that, yet you still decided to hold this tournament?”

“Exactly because of that. Yu-jin needs to experience some hardship.”

Ji-hye tilted her head slightly.

“Are you not worried about Yu-jin’s future?”

“Nope. Why should *I* worry about that?”

“I thought you stepped in because you were concerned Yu-jin might get corrupted while caught between the Association and Hwagcheon’s schemes.”

“Hahahaha! Corrupted? That kid? Are you serious?”

Tae-jin burst out laughing as if he’d heard the funniest joke.

Watching him, Ji-hye puffed out her cheeks, looking like a younger sister sulking at her older sister.

“That kid won’t get corrupted. It’s not in his nature.”

“But with Hwagcheon involved, you can’t be sure, right?”

“If that kid ever does get corrupted, do you think you could reform him? I guarantee there’s no one in this Academy capable of that.”

If Yu-jin wanted to, he could easily commit all sorts of evil deeds right here.

In fact, from Tae-jin’s perspective, there’s no real reason for Yu-jin to even attend the Academy.

“Yeah, but this tournament is indeed for Yu-jin’s benefit. Just not in the way you’re thinking.”

“Not in the way I’m thinking?”

“I made this tournament specifically to make Yu-jin work harder.”

This time, Ji-hye’s eyes widened in surprise.

For the mastermind to go through all this trouble just to make his own student suffer?!

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“Yu-jin has never been exposed to other people’s aggression.”

Since childhood, Yu-jin Kim had lived as Hwagcheon’s young master. Not only the Academy students, but even some teachers feared him.

Yu-jin had always been in a position of dominance—never having experienced being attacked one-sidedly.

“That’s true in the Academy too, right? While there may be competition, students don’t fight each other directly.”

“How can that be acceptable in an educational institution?”

“Exactly—that’s the problem. Kim Yu-jin has never experienced friction with others.”

Who in this school would dare to oppose or attack him?

Undeniably, Kim Yu-jin is strong.

But that strength shines mostly when fighting monsters—not humans.

The malice and hostility of people.

All kinds of politics and strategies used to target a single individual.

Exposure to such human tactics and strategies.

That kind of experience was lacking in Yu-jin.

“In this tournament, Kim Yu-jin is clearly the strongest contender for victory, right?”

“Yes?”

“So naturally, he’ll also be the most targeted.”

Ji-hye nodded silently.

With multiple students battling together in a Battle Royale format, the basic strategy would obviously involve taking down the strongest opponent first.

“Most students will team up and target Yu-jin as part of their strategy.”

“Hmm…”

“Some might even mob him, while others might try assassination tactics. And there will likely be those who come up with really clever plans.”

Of course, whether any of that would actually work against Yu-jin was another matter—Tae-jin added.

“So, you mean this tournament was designed from the start with the assumption that Yu-jin would be targeted by other students?”

“Exactly. Though depending on the situation, Chul-soo Kim might also be added to the list.”

Ji-hye’s expression turned dubious.

“I understand what you’re saying. What about the points or missions then?”

“Those are just decoys. They’re merely devices to ensure the tournament runs smoothly.”

To Ji-hye, who had worked overtime creating those very devices, this revelation was mind-blowing.

Maybe the Academy shouldn’t have listened to this guy in the first place.

“The points mean nothing, and completing missions won’t affect winning the championship either.”

“What if Yu-jin loses to another student or fails a mission and gets eliminated?”

“In that case, his potential was simply limited to that extent.”

Tae-jin chuckled.

“Heroes don’t just fight dumb monsters. Sometimes, they need to strategically plan ways to kill villains—even if they’re human.”

Monsters, demons, terrorists…

The range of villains heroes must face is endless.

It would be problematic if a hero in the field declared, “I won’t kill human villains.”

After all, that choice could lead to hundreds of innocent civilians dying.

“Let’s call it a trial run. U-Academia is ultimately a competition where people fight each other, right?”

“Hmm…”

“Well, this will overall be a good experience for Yu-jin. Both carrying out missions and fighting other students will be fresh experiences for him. Honestly, I’m not sure how well he’ll handle missions, but at least he fights well.”

Ji-hye sighed deeply.

“For all this talk, you’re still favoring Yu-jin, aren’t you?”

“Finally realized that, huh?”

As he answered, Tae-jin swallowed the last piece of tteok in one gulp.

“I’ve always been the type to push my students to their limits. All the other teachers are scared of Yu-jin, so I need to balance things out somehow. A student who’s lived comfortably until now needs to endure hardships for when the time comes.”

‘Hmm, this is going way too smoothly.’

Yu-jin thought this as he smashed the ghoul appearing before him with a punch.

The level of monsters appearing in the city wasn’t particularly high.

In fact, they were almost too easy.

The amount of points gained was surprisingly generous compared to the monsters’ difficulty.

‘Maybe they never intended to eliminate students using monsters or points?’

If that’s the case, the remaining factors are student-versus-student combat or missions.

Although Yu-jin hadn’t fought other students before either.

Thanks to this, he was progressing through the tournament more comfortably than anyone else.

“Wow, you can take down a ghoul in one hit! You’re amazing, Yu-jin!”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

The class president wiped blood off her cheek as she spoke.

Next to her lay the remains of the ghoul, torn apart.

While killing monsters was expected, seeing a female student covered in blood yet smiling cheerfully was somewhat unsettling.

‘Is this the kind of person who might start a monster rights movement someday?’

Anyway, thanks to the class president, dispatching monsters was proceeding smoothly.

Until meeting Soo-hyun, all Yu-jin needed to focus on was completing missions.

“Hey, Yu-jin, look! The point rankings are out!”

“Already?”

Well, considering some time had passed since the tournament began, it wasn’t unexpected.

Still, curiosity about the rankings was undeniable.

【Top 5 Teams in the Martial Arts Tournament Points】

1. Kim Yu-jin, Seo Yura

2. Lee Se-na, Yoo Hyun-a

3. Kim Chul-soo, Lee Young-hee

4. Gu Sin-ho, Kwon Hee-jeong

“Ugh! Why are we ranked first?!

“Hehe…my name is right next to yours, Yu-jin.”

Yu-jin felt like crying a little.

Even if points weren’t crucial, they were still an important factor.

Being number one would undoubtedly make them the primary target.

‘This is a bit troubling.’

Yu-jin’s priority was to meet up with Soo-hyun.

To achieve this, he was heading towards the ruins via the shortest route.

However, if attacked by other students, he might need to adjust his plans.

‘Guess I should hurry a bit.’

Having made this decision, Yu-jin unfolded the map.

“President, we probably need to move faster.”

“Hmm? Sure! If that’s what Yu-jin wants, I’m fine with it.”

“First, I want to head towards this bridge.”

“Eh? Isn’t that the long way around? This direction is clearly shorter.”

Yu-jin stopped in his tracks.

Eh? Is that true?

Looking closely at the map, it seemed like it might be.

“……”

“……”

The silence from the president was heavy.

A creeping sense of regret started to rise.

Just then, an alarm sounded.

【Attention all participants: Announcing the second mission!】

【Cross the bridge and proceed to the designated area. Failure within the time limit results in automatic disqualification.】

【Reward: 1000p, Penalty: Automatic Disqualification from the tournament】

Upon hearing the announcement, the president’s eyes lit up with admiration.

“Amazing! You suggested speeding up because you anticipated this mission!”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Of course! There’s no way Yu-jin would misread the map! To predict the Academy’s mission just by looking at the terrain…you really are incredible, Yu-jin.”

“……Yeah, that’s right! That was my plan all along.”

This shameless opportunist quickly jumped on board with the flow.

“Anyway, let’s hurry. There’s no harm in moving quickly.”

“Got it!”

Despite Tae-jin’s intentions, Yu-jin’s luck seemed destined to continue during this martial arts tournament.

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