Chapter 93

[Translator – Bob ]

[Proofreader – ilafy ]

Chapter 93

Many of Gaon’s girl students were wearing dresses in the vicinity of the café, possibly in preparation for the ball.

There was an unparalleled beauty among them, however.

Everyone around EunAh couldn’t help but focus their gazes on her. She was wearing what looked like a name-brand blue dress and had freed her usually tied-up hair.

She didn’t seem to care, however, it was like she was used to people staring at her.

“Oh yeah, how’re your preparations for the International Competition going?”

Three people were required in order to participate in the competition.

YuSung had already decided on the strongest people.

“I’m thinking of choosing myself, then you, EunAh, and Sumire for the third.”

Kim EunAh, who had killed the lake dragon subspecies, had overcome a disadvantage in match-ups and had absorbed an artifact in the process. Then there was Sumire, who had gained experience in raiding dungeons and had eventually absorbed the Witch’s Fragment.

YuSung’s participation was obvious enough.

The skills of the students representing Gaon were firmly established.

EunAh nodded her head. “Good. What about the other two members?”

The International Competition had a rule that second-string members were also needed in case of unexpected incidents and for strategic maneuvering.

“Amy and SiWoo.”

“Amy’s pretty dependable. She’s stronger than she looks.”

Even among the Class A students, Amy’s combat abilities were top-notch. While not as strong as EunAh, she was plenty reliable.

“Is that Lee SiWoo guy strong? I’ve never seen him fight…”

YuSung answered her question with an enigmatic smile.

“Well, whatever,” she replied, “I’m going to destroy them all, anyways.”

Curiosity satisfied, EunAh continued walking while looking at her surroundings. Every step they took in Gaon led them to a place where the spirit of the festival was abuzz in the air.

“Ooh, they’ve got everything here.”

The variety of events being held fascinated her, especially because the majority of them were from a universe completely separate from the one a chaebol heiress was used to.

“Haah, darn it,” she grumbled, “I would’ve done that if it weren’t for this dress.”

Suddenly, EunAh stopped in place.

“Huh? Huh?!”

Her gaze was fixated on a cute doll in the shape of an orca.

“…Wh-what is that? Are you guys selling this?”

Her interest piqued, she grabbed the doll.

First-year Kim JinSung of Class B smiled in a business-like manner. “Oh, we aren’t selling this. It’s a prize! Let’s see, that’s Hwang InYoung’s handmade orca doll. See here? It’s a second-place prize.”

The female student next to JinSung, InYoung was making a V with her hand, though her face was expressionless.

TL/N: Unsure if this is an intentional pun or not, but ‘doll’ in Korean is pronounced InHyung, and it is also spelled pretty similarly.

“I make my dolls as a hobby, but they’re the best in the world. I take pride in that fact.”

EunAh gulped as InYoung finished speaking.

“A-alright! What do I have to do to win it?”

“Haha, customers are always welcome! The game is, tadah~ throwing darts! It’s a bit expensive, but you pay $20 per attempt!”

JunSung gestured towards the prepared dartboard with both of his hands.

As he did so, InYoung crossed her arms, pressed her mouth into a straight line, and struck an arrogant pose, nodding her head. “Naw, it really isn’t that expensive. My dolls are worth at least that much.”

EunAh was already completely fixated on Class B’s orca doll.

“YuSung-ah, let’s try playing this!”

“Darts?”

YuSung was confident, and EunAh was relaxed.

“Yeah. One throw will do it. I just need to use mana.”

Dart in hand, EunAh chuckled and began doing some basic stretching exercises while still wearing the dress.

“You’re supposed to throw it from here, right? It’s kind of far away, though…” she said, carefully aiming the dart.

JinSung laughed. “Oh, right! Just letting you know, but using mana is cheating! You need to hit the target with nothing but your own skills!”

“Huh?! How am I supposed to hit that when I’m this far from it?!”

“If you keep trying, you’ll hit it eventually, right? People generally get 10 points or so. You need to get 50 points in one attempt for the second-place prize, though, so… your chances are… pretty low.”

He smiled personably.

Many people had tried the darts game in order to win InYoung’s doll. As things stood, however, no one had even managed to obtain the third-place prize. JinSung seemed to think that EunAh would be no different.

“Too hard without using mana? I guess we could give you a refund now if you want…”

His dismissive attitude chipped at EunAh’s pride, and she grimaced.

“Shut up. I can hit something like this easily, even without mana.”

Translator – Bob

She threw the dart with all of her strength, much like a pitcher throwing a baseball. Perhaps it was due to the distance of the dartboard from her…

Wshhh! Thunk!

But it didn’t land anywhere near the target.

“That’s a foul!” JinSung explained, voice kind.

“I know!”

YuSung closely inspected EuAh’s throwing form.

‘The muscles in her shoulders and neck are too taut, and… she can’t draw out any strength if her feet are placed parallel like that…’

YuSung had experience throwing rocks to catch wild animals and was thus an expert in the subject. On the other hand, that was the first time EunAh had ever thrown darts in her entire life.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

She threw the darts with all of her might, gripping the projectile tightly in her hand. Even so, her skills were lacking.

“Shit, this is hard!”

Thunk! Thuuunk! Thunk!

She managed to land a dart that time around. Even so, she had only earned 2 points from hitting the dartboard’s widest area.

JinSung’s voice was kind when he spoke up again. “Wanna try again?”

EunAh scrunched up her face in a displeased expression and thought it over. Still, her eyes just couldn’t leave the orca doll alone.

A handmade orca doll…

Not even money could buy it, and there was only one of them that existed in the world. It seemed like she really wanted that doll.

Right then, YuSung, who had been staring at the darts, stepped forward.

“I’ll try.”

EunAh stared at him, confused.

“The darts?”

“Yeah. It reminds me of the past. I used to do something similar to this when I was little.”

Of course, what YuSung was throwing back then were not darts but rocks, and what he hit with them were not dartboards but wild boars.

JinSung handed the darts over to YuSung. That boy was the powerful individual who had defeated first place in the student rankings, Adela. JinSung made sure to properly teach the other boy the rules.

“You can try as much as you want, but you can’t use mana. Got it?”

“Mana is cheating.” Even InYoung, next to JinSung, threw her own two cents in. ”I can’t give my doll to someone who cheats like that.”

YuSung took his position without saying a word.

His location…

The amount of strength used…

The direction in which to throw the dart…

YuSung calculated all that and more down to the last detail.

‘They said 50 points for the second-place prize, right?’

In contrast to EunAh, YuSung relaxed his body and threw the dart with a concise motion.

Woosh! Thunk!

The result? 10 points.

JinSung hid his expression to hide his shock. “Huh? Ha, haha! You got 10 points, nice! You have nine more throws left.”

YuSung was a hunter who had trained his body to its limit on Martial Spirits’ Mountain, however—the placements of his darts were predetermined.

Thunk!

His next try netted him another 10 points.

Thunk!

The next, also 10 points.

Despite the near-artistry of his skills, YuSung kept throwing darts with a neutral expression on his face as if it were nothing.

EunAh stared at the tips of his fingers in wonder. “Th-the hell? You already got 30 points!”

Woosh! Thunk!

The fourth dart raised the point total to 40. It was a result one could only achieve if one didn’t make a single mistake.

“Seriously, what is this? This is so sick, YuSung-ah!” she yelled as if she was the one throwing the darts.

YuSung once again gathered up his concentration; his sharpened senses left no room for error.

Woosh! Thunk!

The dart hit the 2-point area.

“Dang, too bad! Still, you have 42 points.”

YuSung took position, acting like he hadn’t heard her platitudes. His 2-point throw had not been a mistake.

Woosh! Thunk!

He earned another 2 points.

YuSung had planted the dart right next to the one he had just thrown.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Only then did EunAh stare at YuSung. The prize she wanted was the orca doll which was worth 50 points. She realized why he had hit the 2-point target.

‘He’s doing this for my sake…’

It was a fascinating spectacle to watch.

JinSung and InYoung couldn’t peel their eyes away from YuSung’s display of dart skills.

“He’s getting 2 points on purpose and even hitting the same spot…”

“Goddamn. This guy’s a total darts master.”

YuSung landed the rest of his darts in the 2-point area.

JinSung looked at him, smiled lightly, then brought the orca doll on display to him.

“Your total is 52 points. Here, your prize: the orca doll.”

InYoung waved goodbye to her own doll. “Have fun with your new owner~ orca~”

YuSung held out the orca doll to a bemused EunAh.

“Here, EunAh.”

The orca doll was incredibly cute.

His gift was completely unexpected. EunAh squashed her desire to hug the doll as soon as humanly possible and instead addressed YuSUng.

“…Oi, what’s this?”

He returned her question with a smile and an innocent expression.

“Hm… payment for your ballroom lessons?”

Only then did EunAh take the orca doll. She locked eyes with it, her own softer than usual.

“…Not bad.”

Her heart tickled.

For some reason, EunAh felt strange.

Gaze still fastened to the doll, she began to mumble quietly.

“I really do like…”

Poof—

EunAh buried her face in the orca doll, stopping YuSung from seeing her expression. All he could see were her reddened ears.

“…Dis iz relly sof,” she muttered quietly. Seeing that, YuSung grinned.