NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 210
Countless gazes were directed at me. A mix of hostility, fear, respect, and rarely, joy poured in my direction.
If I hadn’t been behind this fence, they would have approached me with various meanings hidden in their hearts.
However, there were no brave souls daring to cross this fence. This fence was literally a ‘returnee’ barrier that could claim to be the strongest in the world.
Nothing particularly exciting happened while I was watching the match.
Thanks to that, I could leisurely and calmly enjoy the Sports Festival. Then it hit me—while it’s stressful to participate, watching from the sidelines was incredibly thrilling.
I understood why people came from all over the world to watch this. It was that much fun.
With each match, the set changed in an instant, and within that transformed set, all kinds of Abilities Users gave their all to seize victory—how could that not be entertaining?
Even the rounds judged to be relatively dull, the first and second, well, they weren’t boring when looked at absolutely.
With explosions and chaos everywhere, how could it possibly be dull? In this dopamine-addicted society, it’d be hard to find something more entertaining than this.
Ah, except for drugs. That’d be cheating.
“And that concludes the second match! The Rescue Mission is over!! Thank you, athletes, for your hard work!!”
As the host’s voice echoed, cheers erupted from the audience. However, the masters of the place appeared unfazed.
“Your lady won, and you don’t seem very happy?”
Curious, I asked Altera, and her response was a sight to behold.
“Do you rejoice simply because you can breathe?”
The idea that winning was as obvious as breathing left me momentarily speechless on how to react.
Should I call this arrogance, or is it just that at this point, it feels natural? I was so lost in thought that Myungho chuckled awkwardly and added.
“It’s a bit of an exaggerated expression, but that’s how we think. We taught her, so surely she wouldn’t fail at this level… that’s it.”
Myungho seemed to try to sound humble, but it actually came off as more arrogant.
“We taught her, so you think she wouldn’t manage even that much? What would the Class C and D kids feel hearing that?”
“By the way, your daughter made a promise with us a while ago. She said she would become a Hero so strong that winning wouldn’t even matter…”
“…So she’s a Hero who makes winning seem obvious.”
“Right. What do you think? Do you find it ridiculous?”
Considering she was only picking difficult questions to ask me, it was clear that Harane had some grudge against me.
However, this time, I could answer without a second thought.
“No. On the contrary, I think it’s quite impressive. If winning feels obvious, it means she never loses and doesn’t get cornered.”
Unless that’s the kind of grand dream one can’t dare to even harbor, it would be a symbol of living victory and safety.
After saying that, Harane remarked that I spoke well.
However, though she smiled, it seemed she didn’t entirely dislike me.
Scoring points was tough, but at least I felt I had a grasp on how to earn a bit of affection.
As the brief break ended, the highly anticipated final round, the Tournament, was about to begin.
The athletes who would kick off this event were… Yeonhwa and Lapiz.
“Of all the people, those two ended up facing each other.”
Casually muttering, Harane didn’t seem to care much.
Though I held the status of a servant of the Lapiz family here, at this moment, I was their friend.
Though I couldn’t hear them well from a distance, it seemed Yeonhwa was telling Lapiz to not go easy on her, referring to her as a friend.
Lapiz, in turn, advised her not to hesitate and to be fierce since it was too late to back down now.
She probably had kept in mind the words I told her yesterday.
While their words were mild, their gazes were heated. It seemed like quite an interesting spectacle was about to unfold.
“Alright, it seems we’ve exchanged all greetings?! Then let the first match begin!!!”
As the host shouted, Yeonhwa unleashed dozens of fire snakes at Lapiz to take the offensive.
Lapiz created a wall of rocks surrounding her and launched the entire wall towards where Yeonhwa stood.
Seeming to judge that she couldn’t change the trajectory with fire, Yeonhwa chose to jump and evade.
While doing that, she launched fire spears and arrows that changed paths multiple times, but Lapiz responded by making several rocks float and moving chaotically.
Then, Lapiz quickly approached Yeonhwa by sending the floating rocks one after another towards her.
Yeonhwa seemed too busy dodging to make a proper counterattack and was perpetually on the defensive.
However, it looked like she steeled her resolve, crossing her arms and fiercely rubbing her Ignition Cloths together, creating a massive blaze.
The flames spread chaotically before converging into a crescent shape, flying towards Lapiz.
Lapiz managed to block it using rocks and concrete, but the heat from the flames was enough to crack or break the stones.
“Lee Yeonhwa, is she actually turning the tables here?! Just when she seemed cornered, she begins her counterattack!”
Whether she gained confidence or was certain Lapiz could handle it, Yeonhwa swirled the flaming crescent gracefully, steadily pushing Lapiz onto the defensive.
“Oh, that girl! She’s putting up quite a fight against Lapiz! I thought she would be obviously losing, but she had tricks up her sleeve!”
Altera seemed quite impressed with Yeonhwa as she watched, but that was all.
Soon after, Lapiz slightly twisted the ground beneath Yeonhwa and threw her right out of the ring.
Whether to call that a fortunate outcome, Lapiz was cushioned by the soft earth’s embrace, so she didn’t seem too hurt.
“Lee Yeonhwa is out of bounds!! Lapiz wins!!!”
“Is it because they’re friends? She can’t be too harsh. Despite saying to not go easy, she’s being more lenient than anyone.”
Altera looked displeased with such a Lapiz but couldn’t help but smile, showing her affection for her granddaughter.
“Well, it was a good show. Let’s get going.”
“You’re leaving already?”
When I asked if we were leaving even though there were still many matches left, Altera looked at me in disbelief.
“No? Surely, I wouldn’t do that. I’m off to meet those cursed Heros Company folks. I just found out where some high-ranking members of the Intelligence Department are. We need to deliver the ‘request’.”
“Oh.”
“You should’ve picked up on that. Just wait here, my dear, and you too. It’ll be over quickly.”
Feeling embarrassed that I didn’t understand such a simple thing, I quietly follow behind Altera.
Passing through the ordinary audience section, we entered a VIP room that looked almost like a private booth in the back row, where a short, chubby man awaited us.
As soon as the high-ranking Intelligence officer recognized us, he pretended to be somewhat flustered but quickly regained confidence, thinking he had no reason to worry, greeting Altera with a bright smile.
That was the usual protocol, but this time, circumstances were not in his favor.
“You’re shameless and utterly without sense.”
“What do you mean by that—”
Before the employee could finish speaking, Altera casually flung her half-dried hand at them.
“A few weeks ago, you dared to sneak into my mansion. Luckily, this cat was around, or it would have been a huge disaster.”
“How did you know this was one of ours…?”
The higher-up seemed to realize something was off in the conversation, slowly backing away while seeking an exit.
“This cat here has a few tricks up its sleeve.”
As she summoned my appendage, she brought it close to the official’s ear.
“…What do you want from me?”
“Hmm. I thought you might go down the easy route. What a lucky one you are.”
Altera said that and threatened to tear the company into three pieces if they sent something like that again.
“And if you pull any tricks on my family and those connected to me, I’ll bury your company underground. Do you understand?”
It seemed he was just overwhelmed by the pressure, repeatedly mumbling “yes” without actually taking it seriously…
Not that I had any reason to worry; I just watched, feeling amused.
“Hmm… Oh, right. And I have one more request. This cat wants to get some data from where she was experimented on. Can you help find it?”
“That… that’s a bit difficult…”
“Really? Is that so, Blanca? What do you plan to do?”
She said that and stepped aside, implicitly allowing me to start my intimidation.
“I could just consume your mind and extract the memories. Or I could scoop out your brain and implant myself inside to retrieve information. Think carefully about it, piglet.”
“So that’s how it is.”
The high-ranking Intelligence officer could only shed tears.
This is getting entertaining.