WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 57: Ranked Match
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“I’m challenging you to a rank duel, you bastard.”
“Two days from now, at the public training ground, in front of the entire first year.”
That delinquent girl had really made a spectacle of things.
A duel request dropped into the classroom like a bomb.
‘She came out swinging harder than I expected.’
I couldn’t help but smile.
A rank duel.
An event labeled [Ranked Match] in the game.
As the name suggested, it was a duel over the competitors’ ranks.
At the same time, it was an event that was difficult to back out of once it had been initiated.
‘Because the penalties are huge.’
Normally, in a Ranked Match, the lower-ranked person challenged someone above them.
The goal was to defeat a higher-ranked cadet and raise your own position.
There was nothing to gain from targeting someone below you.
‘It’s not exactly forbidden, but...’
Everyone would wonder why anyone would bother.
Ranked Matches were a privilege reserved for the top students in each class to begin with.
As such, lower-class students often used them to challenge the last-ranked student in the class directly above theirs, hoping to move up a class.
Even then, they only got one chance per semester.
There was no reason to waste such an important opportunity on someone ranked below you.
If you lost, your rank fell and you were utterly humiliated. If you won, you had merely broken even.
‘And Caitlin went ahead and did it anyway.’
The delinquent girl had only one goal.
“Let everyone watch you get humiliated.”
“Scared? Want to get down on your knees and beg?”
She wanted to stomp me into the dirt.
She had deliberately blown this up so she could crush me in front of everyone.
‘She’s not exactly normal either.’
Had she enjoyed that insult about her parents so much?
To burn her once-per-semester chance like this...
I wasn’t sure whether to call it vicious or pathetic.
‘...Well, that insult was probably just the trigger. She was likely annoyed by me from the start.’
I had been doing a lot of attention-grabbing things lately.
I was the top student of Class E, yet I’d beaten the top student of Class C. I’d outperformed every upper-ranked class and taken first place in practical training...
My actions had been so bizarre that I’d become quite the topic around the academy.
Noisy.
And when things got noisy, enemies came easily.
By that logic, I must have really gotten under the delinquent girl’s skin.
‘Is this why being famous is tiring?’
What a shame.
‘Well... it’s not like there’s any way to avoid it.’
A Ranked Match was difficult to refuse.
Sure, I could skip the duel that day and tell them to go to hell, but that would bring massive penalties to my grades for the semester.
‘I want to keep my position as Class E’s top student.’
There wasn’t any reason for me to refuse in the first place.
If anything, I was grateful.
Who would’ve thought she’d set up such a perfect stage and bring it right to me?
Thanks to her, my plan to establish a foothold in the academy would go much more smoothly.
‘The more spectators, the better.’
A stage where the entire first year would be watching.
And I hadn’t stopped there. I’d raised the stakes even further.
“How about we make a bet? Just dueling sounds boring.”
“The loser... becomes the winner’s lackey from now on.”
I had put a Slave Bet on the duel.
Caitlin seemed flustered by my aggressive response, but after hearing my next provocation, she immediately accepted.
“Scared?”
A magic word that could make someone see red.
The blonde, tanned delinquent gritted her teeth and shouted her agreement.
That was how a Slave Bet with everything on the line was made between the top students of Class B and Class E.
“Hey... did you hear? There’s a Ranked Match tomorrow.”
“I heard ages ago! It’s great timing since there aren’t any classes tomorrow.”
“I can’t believe those two are actually clashing...”
Perhaps because it was such an exciting topic, the news spread by word of mouth until it reached the entire student body.
“Really? The top students of Class B and Class E are doing a Ranked Match...?”
“You can’t run away from a Ranked Match, that’s for sure.”
“They’re using their once-per-semester chance like this? Seriously?”
“The top student of Class E picked the wrong person. Why would they mess with Caitlin of all people...?”
Students whispered among themselves.
“I hadn’t heard anything for a while, so I thought it had fizzled out. I can’t believe they took it all the way to a Ranked Match...”
“The top student of Class E, that’s the one who wears that weird mask, right? That kid’s really screwed.”
“Yeah, won’t they get humiliated in front of the whole school?”
“What’s there to pity? They brought this on themselves for acting up.”
“I agree. Honestly, I never liked Viktor or whatever his name was!”
Most people seemed to be predicting my defeat.
No, maybe predicting wasn’t the right word.
They were certain of it.
“Caitlin’s famous, you know? She may be a delinquent, but her lightning magic is among the best in the year...”
“How could the top student of Class E possibly win? Honestly, even against the last-place student in Class A, he’d barely manage.”
“Still... Viktor, was it? I heard he beat the top student of Class C easily.”
“Hey, are those even comparable? The top students of Class B and Class C are worlds apart.”
“It’s true that he’s absurdly strong for Class E. You have to wonder why he was admitted there at all...”
“I agree with that. But if you ask whether he can take on the top student of Class B, I still have to shake my head.”
The discussion went back and forth with great enthusiasm.
There wasn’t a single person who thought I had the advantage.
Most predicted that I’d be crushed in a second, while only a few thought I might hold out for a little while.
“Boss... are you really going to be okay?”
The Class E students felt the same.
“Hmm?”
“Um... we heard you have a Ranked Match with the top student of Class B.”
“That demon bitch. How much does she plan to torment you...?”
The errand boys looked worried.
Did they think that even I couldn’t beat the top student of Class B?
Each of them wore a bitter expression and muttered as though realizing how helpless they were.
“Damn... I’m sorry we can’t be any help...”
“Last time, we were so scared that we couldn’t say anything...”
“Why not forfeit? Boss, you can’t let them make you dance to their tune!”
The kids seemed to shrink at the mention of Class B.
From what I heard, Class B looked down on lower classes more than any other class.
Whenever they passed Class E, they would pick fights for no reason or snicker while insulting them...
‘Well... they’re in exactly the kind of position to do that.’
Class A wouldn’t care about such things, and Class C was in too ambiguous a position to call itself upper-ranked.
They belonged among the upper ranks, yet weren’t at the very top, so they took out their frustrations on those beneath them.
I could understand the Class E students’ reactions a little better.
‘No wonder they always seemed especially timid around Class B students...’
I should straighten them out properly this time.
No playing school thugs at an academy I attend.
I smiled to reassure the worried errand boys.
“Don’t worry, everyone.”
A relaxed smile spread across my face.
“I’ll give you all a surprise.”
“......”
Despite my meaningful words, the errand boys and the others wore uncertain expressions.
Some even looked miserable, thinking I was only pretending to be fine.
“Damn it.”
“Those demons...”
“You shouldn’t have made that bet...”
It was as if they hadn’t even heard me say I would win.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘These kids don’t have enough faith.’
Well, I understood.
If someone told me a Bronze DPS player could beat a Grandmaster DPS player, I’d tell them to quit talking nonsense too.
‘This time, I should drive the point home.’
I would give them unquestionable faith.
That I was strong enough, and that I was someone they could trust and follow.
Whether I liked it or not, I was in a position where I had to raise these kids and make use of them.
Ding!
[Side Quest]
-Title: Let’s Level Up Together!
-Details: Develop every student in Class E into a fighter of Grade B or higher.
-Penalty upon Failure: None
-Reward: Character-exclusive item ‘Black Tuner’s Scales (S-)’
[Time Limit: Until Graduation]
I glanced at the status window.
‘It’s about time to start raising them. Once this is over, should I put everyone through special training...?’
No matter how noisy things became around me, I simply waited calmly.
Beneath my mask, I hid a smile full of anticipation.
‘Looks like I’ll be getting a good lackey.’
I quietly hummed to myself.
* * *
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Ranked Match.
The day of the event everyone had been waiting for had arrived.
As Caitlin had announced, it would take place in the public training ground, surrounded by countless spectator stands.
“This place is huge no matter how many times I see it...”
They had held the Freshman Welcome Test here as well, but the sheer size was still overwhelming.
Viktor stood in the middle of a circular arena large enough to hold a soccer field.
The stands were packed with countless spectators.
At the same time, a hologram displayed like an electronic scoreboard clearly broadcast the scene in the arena.
“There are a lot of spectators too.”
Viktor looked around and muttered.
He could see not only first-year cadets, but some second-years, third-years, and faculty members as well.
Waaaah!
The students chatted among themselves, creating something like a roaring cheer.
As Viktor received their heated attention, he met the gaze of the person standing across from him.
“Hm...”
Bright yellow hair and bronze-tanned skin.
Caitlin had a distinctly delinquent air about her.
Yellow sparks crackled around her eyes.
With her arms crossed, Caitlin sneered as if she found it unexpected.
“You didn’t run away? Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t even show up.”
“Of course I showed up. We made that kind of bet, after all.”
“Ha ha! The loser becomes the winner’s lackey... can you handle that?”
“Who knows?”
“You shouldn’t act tough when you don’t know your place. You should’ve known when to stop pretending to be strong.”
“It wasn’t a bet I made on a whim. I only asked for what I needed, that’s all.”
“Heh, heh heh... What, you think you actually have a chance? Fuck, that’s so ridiculous.”
“You’re free to interpret it however you want.”
Caitlin openly sneered.
She clenched her fist, and lightning began to burst from her fingertips.
Crackle!
Bright yellow currents whipped through the training ground.
Her hair fluttered as though the electricity had stirred up a wind.
“You’re going to get hit today.”
It was a proud declaration.
As the temperature suddenly rose, the announcer’s voice rang out.
《Cadets, wait at your designated positions.》
《The duel will proceed as a sparring match and end once one side subdues or incapacitates the other.》
《The match will also end if either side declares forfeiture.》
The rules were the same as during the Freshman Welcome Test.
Before long, a bell rang to announce the start of the duel.
Ding!
Then.
“Die, you bastard...!”
Booom!
Caitlin’s fist shot forward.
Yet a pitch-black scythe blocked it between them.
Caitlin frowned irritably.
“Ha... You reacted to that?”
“You’re fast. Just as I heard.”
The scythe remained completely unmarked as electric currents exploded from Caitlin’s fist.
The sound of their clashing power struck the ceiling of the training ground.
The first exchange erupted with a thunderous bang.
“Hup...!”
And so...
The duel to decide who would become the lackey began.
Footnotes:
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