Transcension Academy - Chapter 19

C19: Tournament (1)

There was an untimely uproar in the stands. It was difficult to accurately grasp the meaning because many sounds overlapped like a dottegi market.

However, it was not difficult to guess the cause of the disturbance as everyone was looking at the electronic display in the sky.

“Seo, Seo-joon??!?!?”

Seo-yoon was so surprised that she screamed and she could feel several gazes focused on her in an instant so she hurriedly lowered her head to cover her face.

Fortunately, no one recognized Seo-yoon, perhaps because she was quick to respond.

“That was close…”

Seo-yoon calmed down and looked around once. People soon moved their gazes away from Seo-yoon and started talking among themselves again. Of course the topic was Seo-joon.

“No way. How can he break through in 27 minutes?”

When Seo-yoon turned her head at the sudden sound she saw the Hunter team that was talking about Lee Chul-min.

“It’s amazing, but… Is it that hard? You can do that much as a guide.”

“I can do it but not in 27 minutes. I need at least an hour.”

“What?”

Then a man called a guide continued.

“To escape the maze, you have to catch monsters and collect pieces of the map, but 27 minutes is not enough.”

“You don’t have to collect them all.”

“That’s why I said an hour.”

“…”

The two turned their eyes again and looked at the electronic display in the sky.

“I can only think that he knew the exit of the maze from the beginning…”

A  man with a dim figure reflected on an electronic display screen.

“Who is Kim Seo-joon?”

‘What the hell did you do?’

Seo-yoon was not much different from them.

“I just found out that he’s a student at Dream Academy”.

Someone’s voice was suddenly heard at that moment.

“Dream Academy? What academy is that?”

“Wait. I think I heard it somewhere.”

Seo-yoon faltered for a moment at the subsequent words. The academy it’s empty now, but when it was first founded, it was quite famous, so someone might know it.

“I can’t remember…”

However, there were thousands of academies nationwide and dozens or hundreds of academies were established each year. There were so many academies that sparkled and disappeared, so it was hard to remain in people’s memories for a long time.

Seo-yoon let out a sigh of relief.

‘No. Is it right to breathe a sigh of relief?’

Seo-yoon stood up, shaking her head slightly. Now that the Dream Academy name is out, someone will think of it.

‘Let’s get away before it gets too loud.’

[Bba-bba-bba-bba-bba-bba!]

<Breaking time: 1 hour 7 minutes 33 seconds.>

<3rd place: Lee Jun-hwan>

Seo-yoon left the stands and walked aimlessly.

She came out, but it had no place to go. In fact, Seo-yoon was going to visit Seo-joon’s waiting room and ask him what the hell did he do but when she thought about it, Seo-joon was not alone in the waiting room.

Especially now that Lee Jun-hwan is with him, it was awkward for Seo-yoon.

‘It’s true that you’re doing well…’

Anyway, Seo-yoon had nowhere to go right away, but she couldn’t go back to the noisy stands since people knew about Dream Academy.

Seo-yoon walked while thinking until,

“Hey, what’s wrong with the tournament table?”

Seo-yoon’s footsteps stopped with a sudden sound. It was because of the word “tournament match list.”

When she turned her head, what came into Seo-yoon’s view was a shabby space located in a corner of the competition hall, which was not easily seen, a position that would be inadvertently overlooked if someone wasn’t looking clearly.

There were several people gathered in it, their eyes were wide open, and they seemed to have not washed for a few days.

‘Gambling?’

Seo-yoon could easily guess.

Although the Academy competition has become a sports culture by now, it was not a healthy culture and gambling was one of the drawbacks.

The government strictly prohibited this by law, but human nature was not completely controllable by law.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Didn’t you say that there were 32 people who passed the first round?”

“But?”

Seo-yoon was not particularly interested in gambling and never liked to play with money.

“But why does the tournament start in the semifinals?”

She was about to leave but the words she heard stopped her.

It was a considerable distance so Seo-yoon used mana to strengthen her hearing, and at the same time, the answer flowed out of the gambling house.

“What do you mean why? It’s because all the rest gave up.”

“What? Gave up? Why?”

“This competition is particularly competitive because of Lee Jun-hwan, Jang Deok-cheol and Lee Chul-min. Their ranking is already confirmed, so why should they participate in the tournament?”

“Ah…”

The man who asked nodded as if he understood and Seo-yoon was also able to grasp the meaning of those words.

In this competition, the best-performing three academies will qualify for the third division.

It was a meaningless competition if they could not make it to the top three and in this competition was attended by exceptional students compared to other competitions.

“Eh, tsk tsk tsk. They want to become professional hunters but have no spirit. ”

“It’s not the fourth division for no reason. It’s their own league anyway, and the rest were just bridesmaids, right?”

Then they laughed once and changed the subject.

“So who do you think will win this time?”

“Why do you ask when you know? Of course, it’s Lee Jun-hwan.”

“That’s true, but the dividend is so disastrous. What if something unexpected happens?”

Just then someone wearing a black hoodie came into the casino.

Perhaps because of such a heterogeneous atmosphere, the attention of those in the gambling house was focused on him.

“Brother, do you know where you are?”

“I know.”

A dry voice was heard. Only then did Seo-yoon realize that he was a man.

The man at the counter looked up and down at the man in the black hood and said sarcastically.

“How much are you going to bet?”

“One billion.”

“…!”

The man at the counter was not surprised, but the man at the hood put something on the counter.

The man at the counter checked it and looked at the black hood with surprised eyes once again.

“Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey, are you serious?”

Black Hood nodded silently.

The man at the counter gulped once and said.

“So who are you going to bet on? Lee Jun-hwan? The dividend is low, but if it’s a billion won, there’s still some profit. That’s why it’s called a fund fight…”

“No.”

Black Hood shook his head firmly and said.

“Kim Seo-joon.”

“What?”

Seo-yoon was surprised to hear the familiar name from a completely unexpected place.

“Kim Seo-joon? Kim Seo-joon, who got first place in the first competition?”

“You’re going to bet a billion on him now?”

And it was not just Seo-yoon, but also others.

“Bro, he’s just a lucky guy from Dream Academy that no one heard of. There’s a certain card called Lee Junhwan, but why…”

Black Hood said without turning his head.

“Did I ask for advice?”

“…”

“…”

He was so determined that they were speechless.

“Do as you please, brother. Later, don’t come whining because you lost money.”

“How will I get my money? I don’t think you can afford a billion.”

The man at the counter looked unexpectedly at the black hood.

“As you said, I’m a middleman. If you happen to win it, go here. Of course that won’t happen.”

The man at the counter handed something to Black Hood.

Black Hood received it and disappeared without much retort.

‘Who is he?’

Seo-yoon only stood there and looked until Black Hood disappeared from view while Seo-joon sat in the waiting room and waited for the tournament to start.

Originally, the tournament would start from round of 32 but now there were only 5 students left because 27 students that passed the first round forfeited.

Lee Jun-hwan, Jang Deok-cheol, and Lee Chul-min, including Seo Jun and the last one was,

“What should I do?”

It was Lee Min-ki.

Seo-joon looked up at Min-ki once.

“What should I do?”

In the end, Seo-joon couldn’t watch and talked to Min-ki.

“Why are you shaking like that?”

“Aren’t you nervous”?

Min-ki answered as if he’s been waiting.

Seo-joon asked with a shrug.

“Why are you nervous?”

“Why am I nervous? The tournament will start soon!”

“So?”

For a moment, Min-ki replied with trembling eyes.

“My opponent is Lee Jun-hwan! Lee Jun-hwan! How can I beat Lee Jun-hwan?”

At Min-ki’s words, Seo Jun turned his eyes and checked the tournament table on the wall of the waiting room.

[Second Competition Tournament Match List]

Kim Seo-joon vs Jang Deok-cheol.

Lee Min-ki vs Lee Jun-hwan.

And Lee Chul-min advanced by default.

Originally, Seo-joon, who won the first place in the first competition, should’ve been the one to advance. However, Seo Jun is in a situation where he wins the competition if he goes to the finals.

If Seo-joon advanced by default, the winner would be determined only by the first competition, so Lee Chul-min inevitably advanced.

Seo-joon looked at Min-ki again.

“How do you know without a fight?”

“Of course I know! I’ll never win!”

Min-ki is confident that he will lose.

“Then you can just forfeit, too.”

“That’s…”

Unlike before, however, Min-ki didn’t answer right away.

After a long pause, he answered in a crawling voice.

“…because I can’t do that…”

His words almost couldn’t be heard, but Seo-joon, whose senses became better, could hear it. Apparently there was a reason why he couldn’t give up.

He didn’t know what it was, but Seo-joon thought it was enough.

“Then do it until the end. You could win.”

“No, that can’t be the case.”

Min-ki sighed deeply and asked Seo-joon.

“Come to think of it, you’re also competing with Jang Deok-cheol. He’s also very strong. Don’t you have any thoughts?”

Seo-joon replied with a shrug.

“Not really. How much experience will he give?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Kim Seo-joon and Jang Deok-cheol get ready for the tournament!”

The cry of the competition official was heard in the waiting room just then and Seo-joon got up from his seat.

The tournament consists of one-on-one duels between the students. Of course the tournament was a way, so it didn’t have to be a 1:1 duel.

However, the competition was made a 1:1 duel because it was not only to determine the superiority between the academies but also to determine the superiority between the students.

Seo-joon entered the stadium alone under the guidance of an official.

“Wow! I guess it’s starting!”

“I’m going to lose my neck while waiting!”

When Seo-joon entered the stadium, the first thing he heard was the shouts of the crowd. Obviously, each voice said something different, but it was difficult for Seo-joon to grasp their meaning because so many voices were mixed.

‘There are a lot of people.’

Seo-joon stopped for a moment and looked around.

Looking at the stadium that looked like a soccer stadium, Seo-joon felt his heart beating for some reason.

‘Will Seo-yoon be watching, too?’

Seo-joon turned his eyes again and looked at the packed stands. However, it was impossible to pinpoint Seo-yoon among countless people.

“Hahaha! Are you the lucky guy that you won the first round?”

At that moment, a fierce voice came from the stadium.

His whole body is covered with muscles and he had a large axe hanging behind his back.

Seo-joon thought that the man might be a miniature version of Xiang Yu.

It was none other than Seo-joon’s tournament opponent, Jang Deok-cheol.

Seo-joon bowed his head slightly and said, as Jang Deok-cheol approached from the other side.

“I’m Kim Seo-joon.”

“Jang Deok-cheol. But you punk…”

Jang Deok-cheol looked at Seo-joon with a displeased look on his face, saying hello lightly.

Seo-joon lowered his gaze following Jang Deok-cheol’s eyes and could see the iron bar he was holding.

Jang Deok-cheol then said.

“Are you going to fight with me over that?”

“Oh, I don’t have the right weapon.”

At Seo-joon’s answer, Jang Deok-cheol’s expression was grimly distorted. Apparently he thought that Seo-joon was mocking him.

“I’ll let you regret it.”

Jang Deok-cheol said, biting his teeth with a blazing look.

Seo-joon hurriedly changed his expression and tried to resolve the misunderstanding.

<Ladies and gentlemen! You’ve been waiting for a long time!>

However, due to the host’s comments, he couldn’t do it.