Chapter 284 - The Last Athletic Competition (3)
[From now on, the horseback fight for all grades shall begin!]
The cheering of the audience increased as the broadcast sounded out. Kang Shin-hyuk thought only middle-aged people would respond, but surprisingly, superhumans and non-superhumans of all ages were cheering. Looking at it, Kang Shin-hyuk realized how this old-fashioned sport had survived this long.
“Is this interesting for those watching...?”
“Let’s go! Burning youth!”
“You hated this a little while ago, but now you’re fully enjoying it.”
In a sense, it could be said that Baek’s ability to ride the atmosphere had reached the limit. In fact, Kang Shin-hyuk was similar, so he moved forward with Baek while hiding his reluctance.
“Hye-na was the back team, yeah.”
Baek In-ha mumbled as he suddenly noticed Oh Hye-na on the other side. Originally, male students participated mainly because of the close-quarters contact, but Oh Hye-na, who liked to look strong outwardly, declared she was the strongest first-year. The appearance of Oh Hye-na was pitiful and sober amongst the others, but Kang Shin-hyuk spoke in a stern voice to her.
“The teacher should always exist as an insurmountable wall to their disciples. I will crush you.”
“Shinyuk...”
“Don’t use a weird nickname.”
In the horseback fights, abnormalities occurred every year. For example, three years ago, Douglas Payne swept away all the enemies by himself and quickly became the Knight Department’s ace. Two years ago, that same Douglas Payne somehow turned upside down by himself and lost. He had been embarrassed at the time to see Eleanor, who was a freshman, on the enemy team. Like Oh Hye-na now, Eleanor also confidently fought. Last year, Kang Shin-hyuk and Baek In-ha had been the main contenders, and this year, despite Oh Hye-na, they threatened to sweep it away again...
“But that surprise will remain in history.”
“Oh, stop it.”
[The battle begins!]
The game started. Kang Shin-hyuk kicked off from Baek’s back and ran through to air to collect every headband closest to him. Magic triggered around him to pull at the band around his own head. Direct attack magic wasn’t allowed, but so long as it targeted his headband and not him, it was fine. Kang Shin-hyuk analyzed the magic with his spiritual power and then ran toward its source.
“Hey, what is that?! We’re riding horses, but he’s running alone in the sky!”
“Hey, we’ll fly too! Fly!”
The rule was that if you left the horse’s back and fell to the ground, you were out. In order for students from the Magic Department to fly, they needed a timely casting, and even once they made it, it was difficult to return to the back of their horse. While Baek was still embarrassed by the unexpected situation, Kang Shin-hyuk grabbed the headband of the Magic Department student who dared to steal his. Then, he landed right back onto Baek a moment later.
[Ah, the Rookie King! He’s surrounded!]
What? When Kang Shin-hyuk looked up, the other team, including Oh Hye-na, were pushing toward them fast. Moreover, the magic continued to pull at his headband.
“What?”
“What should I do, should I jump?”
“It’s the same as last year. We’ll break through head-on!”
Unlike last year, when he was quite reliant on Baek, this time, he had the confidence to make everyone kneel before them.
“Run, Baek!”
“Okay!”
It was impossible to rely on wind mastery to run through the sky because of the magic pulling at him from all sides. Then, he just had to move in unity with Baek! Reading his mind, Baek rushed the nearest team. Kang Shin-hyuk lightly avoided their rider, reaching out, and took their headband before Baek rushed to the next team. Now that they were surrounded by a dozen riders, they were trying to break each individual.
[Oh my god! The Rookie King is trying to individually break them! Very reckless... In the meantime, he has already defeated five, no, six!]
The commentary became a machine that counted Kang Shin-hyuk’s number of victims. The line was collapsing quickly, and the entire siege began to shake. And, in the gap, the horsemen of the same team rushed in from the outside- they were the horses of Class A with Do Woojin at the lead!
“All off!”
“When the A-class guys die, they have to fight!”
“Go, Woojin, I choose you!”
“Woojin, Woojin!”
“Who are you right now?”
As if waiting for the two to be focused upon, the A-class horsemen rushed through with a sharp spear formation. Kang Shin-hyuk realized that from the start, his classmates were thinking of making them the bait.
[Oh my god, the back team is confused! Surprisingly, most of the 2nd and 3rd-year horses are already retired! Horsemen are flocking to the outside to prevent the spear... Oh, the Rookie King has taken down dozens more!]
But their calculations were wrong because Kang Shin-hyuk alone could break the siege. And...
“100 years is early, disciple.”
“Ah!”
Oh Hye-an clenched her jaw and activated her ability in response, as Kang Shin-hyuk had already taken down all the horses gathered around her. Her ability to freeze everything around her had progressed fast as she learned with him for the past half a year, reaching the point where it could stop everything around her at a ridiculous speed. It was at the point of being considered a direct attack and would’ve disqualified her, but it was a truly astonishing growth. Unfortunately, Kang Shin-hyuk had already fully grasped her abilities and was able to get rid of them only with the flow of Golden Dragon Fighter in his body without having to use his spiritual power.
“Ah.”
Oh Hye-na’s freezing ability still had a significant drawback, in that it didn’t distinguish between enemies and allies. She stopped all the targets around her, including her own horse, so she had no other way except to use her hands to stop Kang Shin-hyuk from flying away. Kang Shin-hyuk knocked her hand away and removed the headband from her head.
[Oh my god, the siege was completely broken, and the captain of the back team had their headband stolen!]
-Woaaaaaahhhhh!
The audience let out a loud cheer. Kang Shin-hyuk waved his hand at them as he still rode on Baek’s back.
“Why did you do that?”
“Were you excited?”
-A 1,000,000HP bonus for your impressive performance!
“Ah.”
“What?”
“No, just, I feel good.”
Claire must be somewhere out in the audience. If Claire were happy to see it, Kang Shin-hyuk would be rewarded for his hard work.
“Dad is cool!”
“Fool.”
At that time, he could hear the voice of Vita. Her eyes went wide as people around her looked at her. Her refreshing features were very beautiful, but of course, it would be surprising if a grown-up adult woman were yelling about her dad being cool. Soon after, Claire, seated next to her, struck her and said, ‘You said say older brother, not dad!’ Many still questioned who she called her father, but the most active in the battle was Kang Shin-hyuk and Baek, so the candidate had to be one of the two naturally...
Baek In-ha slipped away from Kang Shin-hyuk, but Vita continued to wave at him as she shouted. As the subject became clear, countless eyes focused on Kang Shin-hyuk.
“Hey... Who is that beauty?”
Baek, having clearly defined Kang Shin-hyuk as the enemy, looked at him as if he might stab him right then and there. Kang Shin-hyuk looked at him with a rapidly tiring expression.
“Don’t you see she’s with Claire? It’s okay; it’s not like that...”
“Shin Eunah also is with Claire noona, but she’s aiming for you.”
“No, not anymore.”
Although Vita caused more attention to be drawn to him, he had won the battle anyway. There was still a relay, but that was left to Baek, so Kang Shin-hyuk’s work ended there. It was still the morning, but Kang Shin-hyuk had spoken to his teacher in advance and was allowed to act freely. He wanted to prepare for the preliminary round for the Two Crowns tomorrow, or at least that was the reason he gave, but in fact, he was planning on meeting Claire.
“Then I’ll go, run well.”
“No, you should introduce me to that beauty!”
“Know that I will never give her to you.”
“Is that beauty your daughter?”
He was needlessly sharp about pointless things. Kang Shin-hyuk neatly ignored him and headed to join Vita and Claire. But, before he could join them, Oh Hye-na caught him.
“What?”
“Oh, today. Can I visit you?”
If anyone heard it, they would think it was a date request, but Kang Shin-hyuk understood what she meant. It was obvious that she was tense about the rookie exhibition. Maybe she had grown anxious at being defeated by Kang Shin-hyuk in the horseback fight. Kang Shin-hyuk shook his head firmly while making an understanding expression.
“No, I’m going on a date with my girlfriend today.”
“Die!”
Kang Shin-hyuk lightly stopped Oh Hye-na from fleeing with a bloody smile.
“In this case, try to appeal to Baek. Hold him while showing your anxiety.”
“My brother has the Knight Crown tomorrow...”
“I have the Two Crowns, damn it.”
“Senior... That’s a preliminary battle. The Knight Crown’s battle will be held tomorrow.”
Not that Kang Shin-hyuk was likely to lose anyway. He smiled bitterly and nodded.
“Then come along, let’s eat together.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s finish it quickly in the afternoon. I don’t have to go on a date.”
“Anyway...” Oh Hye-na followed along while complaining.
Claire had narrowed eyes as she saw her coming up behind Kang Shin-hyuk, but she soon smiled and welcomed them.
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