WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 58: I Can’t Even Imagine Caitlin Losing…
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Ranked Match.
Viktor and Caitlin’s Slave Bet.
Over the past few days, a particular sentiment had taken root among the top-ranked students.
- Viktor? He did seem kind of arrogant...
- He definitely acts cocky.
It was a public-opinion campaign that had begun in Class B.
The sentiment spread beyond Classes A and B, swallowing up even Class D.
Class C, at least, didn’t join in. They remembered Viktor beating the soul out of them.
- I heard he’s trying to go up against Class B’s top student now?
- He’s lost his mind... He’s only the top student of Class E. How impressive could he possibly be?
- Isn’t his overall stat grade E, too? Where’s he getting the confidence to pick a fight like this?
- I heard he knows a few tricks. Didn’t he beat Class C’s top student in a really strange way last time?
- Well... I did watch that in amazement. Still, he’s not good enough to compete with Class B’s top student!
Of course.
The masked boy was pleased by that sentiment.
‘Good... I told the Class C kids not to go around talking about how I wiped the floor with them during practice. Looks like they kept their word.’
It was thanks to the Class C students’ admirable cooperation.
Viktor had no intention of stopping the tide rushing toward him.
He simply intended to drift along amid the fierce currents.
- If an upper class puts him in his place, he should just take it quietly. The bastard doesn’t have the skill, yet he still doesn’t know his place.
- He was definitely annoying. Honestly, it’s obvious how he came first in practice. Lady Kihano was on his team, so she must’ve done all the work.
- I heard the difference wasn’t even that big. That makes it obvious. He coasted on Lady Kihano’s score.
- And he still walked around with his head held high?
The sentiment continued to spread.
Viktor didn’t respond at all.
He only told the other students he knew not to do anything, either.
Just let Class B do whatever they were planning.
- I hope Caitlin crushes him this time.
- Right? Kids like that need to be crushed so they never act cocky again.
- I definitely need to watch this Ranked Match.
A stage with everyone’s attention fixed on it.
At a glance, it looked like a board Class B had set up, but they were actually playing into someone else’s hands.
It didn’t take the students long to realize that.
* * *
Crackle!
Sparks raged viciously.
Visual effects, like cracks splitting through the air, filled the training ground.
The high-voltage current painted my vision white before condensing into a bright yellow light and exploding.
A flash of light.
Booom!
A bronze fist shot forward like lightning.
It was so fast that I could barely follow it with my eyes.
The next moment, the girl had closed the distance until she stood right in front of me.
“Got you, bastard!”
“Oh dear.”
Without panicking, I pressed the button on my pocket watch.
The ticking hands of the watch slowed the world.
Click.
The world moved as though it were in slow motion.
Even after being slowed, her fist was noticeably fast.
I dodged the girl’s attack by a hair.
“Urgh...”
Crackle!
A faint burst of static crawled up my cheek.
A black scorch mark remained, followed by a small explosion.
Booom!
“Hup.”
“What? You’re still fine after that?”
My mask remained completely unmarked amid the billowing smoke.
Caitlin frowned and pulled back her fist.
Ding!
[Item ‘Mask of the Evil God’ has activated.]
- Current remaining uses: 2/3
- Time until uses recharge: 47 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
A blue window floated before my eyes.
I swung my pitch-black scythe in a wide arc.
“Activate. Thorns.”
Slaaash!
Thorns spread in every direction, and Caitlin stepped back.
The prickling sensation receded. It was only for a moment, but it gave me room to breathe.
I reshaped Wriggler into a scythe.
“You’re holding out pretty well. I thought you’d go down in one hit.”
Crackle!
Current swirled around her bronze skin once again.
The girl leaped forward in a bright yellow flash.
“This makes you worth playing with...!”
Whoosh!
Static shot out in rapid succession.
I had to keep pressing the watch without pause.
Each time, the scene slowed for three seconds, then sped up again.
Click.
Click.
Click.
I narrowly avoided her fists again and again.
The air around us had heated up from the crackling current.
With lightning pouring down in a writhing mass, I spread Wriggler into a broad, flat shape.
“Activate. Umbrella.”
Click.
An umbrella as large as a parasol opened.
Wriggler was made of a nonconductive material, so attacks like this were easy to block.
‘What I need to watch out for... is her speed.’
Caitlin was fast.
When it came to speed, she was among the top three first-years.
Without the Slowdown Bug, I would’ve been beaten to a pulp and forced to retire long ago.
Click.
“Fuck! You little rat, you’re damn good at dodging all over the place!”
“Thank you for the compliment. On the other hand, Miss Can’t-lin is terrible at catching me.”
“Don’t call me that...!”
Booom!
Bright flashes repeatedly filled my vision.
I spoke as though I had room to spare, but the strain on my body was starting to build.
The bug let my mind keep up, but making my body react accordingly was another matter.
“You cocky bastard! I’m going to burn you to death...!”
“Not cocky. Just cock-equipped.”
“Shut up!”
Of course, I wasn’t the only one getting tired.
Ten minutes had already passed since the duel began.
It had become a game of tag.
Caitlin’s breathing had grown quite ragged as well.
“Haa, haa...!”
“Oh? You seem strangely tired.”
“I’m pretty sure I told you to shut up.”
Caitlin’s weakness.
She had overwhelming explosive power, but she burned through her charge quickly.
It was also the decisive reason she had remained the top student of Class B instead of entering Class A.
“What should I do? I haven’t even broken a sweat yet.”
“You fucking son of a bitch...!”
Booom!
Her bronze fist collided with my scythe.
Perhaps because the fight was far fiercer than expected, the cadets in the stands were unusually excited as well.
- What... This is way more intense than I expected.
- He’s insanely fast! He’s dodging every one of those attacks by the tiniest margin!
- No way. He’s competing with Class B’s top student? He isn’t getting knocked out in one hit...?
- How is he dodging by twisting his body at exactly the angles he needs?
Voices filled with admiration.
It was a high-level duel.
Caitlin’s dazzling lightning, and me slipping past every attack.
It was a sight that caught everyone’s attention, regardless of whether they belonged to an upper or lower class.
- What is she doing? Caitlin can’t even beat the top student of Class E?
- Idiot, does that look like an ordinary Class E student to you? How could those movements belong to Class E’s top student?
- He’s also smart with his weapon. Is he spreading it as wide as possible to prevent electrocution...?
The audience’s murmurs reached us clearly on the training ground.
Admiration, praise, interest, and amusement directed at me.
Questions, doubt, disappointment, and disdain directed at Caitlin.
Their many voices settled into a palpable atmosphere.
“Ghk...!”
The audience’s eyes focused on her more and more.
Had she grown impatient without realizing it?
Caitlin kept increasing her speed.
The color of her current darkened as though it were overloading.
Kraaaackle!
“Just get hit already...!”
“Ah.”
Booom!
The instant my steps tangled, her bronze fist struck me head-on.
The flash was incomparable to the previous ones. Light burst forth.
I brushed away the black scorch mark.
Ding!
[Item ‘Mask of the Evil God’ has activated.]
- Current remaining uses: 1/3
- Time until uses recharge: 47 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
I had already used two charges.
I couldn’t help but be impressed.
‘I knew she was skilled, but I didn’t expect this much...’
She was certainly excellent.
Solid fundamentals.
Well-honed instincts.
Reach that worked at both close and long range.
And speed that flashed like lightning itself...
‘...But that was all.’
She fell short of the very best.
It was difficult to call her a genius.
That was why she had remained in Class B instead of entering Class A.
She had dragged herself this far through sheer effort, despite being unfinished.
“This bastard... Why isn’t there even a scratch on you no matter how many times I hit you?! What kind of trick are you using?!”
“Who knows?”
I shrugged.
It was close.
The fight continued, taut as a tug-of-war.
Caitlin pressed forward like mad, yet she had little to show for it.
Her mana was steadily running low, and even her vicious current was beginning to lose strength.
“A trick, huh...”
Tag.
It was about time for the one who was it to change.
“I haven’t even shown you a real trick yet.”
Wriggle.
I sharpened Wriggler and returned it to its original scythe form.
Perhaps because my stance had changed, Caitlin hesitated for a moment.
Until now, I had focused only on defense. This was clearly a stance prepared to attack.
“...”
“Come on.”
A casually thrown remark.
Had that alone wounded her pride?
Caitlin clenched her teeth and wrapped lightning around her fingertips.
“Fuck... That bastard, this bastard, every last one of them keeps looking down on me.”
Her distinctive golden eyes flashed.
“Now even trash from Class E...”
Booooom!
Voltage flooded the training ground, turning the air scorching hot.
Caitlin planted her foot, then kicked off.
Crackle.
A feeble crackle, then the girl’s silhouette disappeared.
Before long, bronze skin appeared before my eyes.
She was moving fast enough to pass for teleportation.
“Uaaaaah!!”
She threw a punch with a rough battle cry.
My vision flashed white.
But I didn’t retreat.
Click.
I only smiled.
As though I had been waiting for this very moment.
“...”
Caitlin’s magic, Electric Shock.
Its most basic application was high-speed movement.
It was magic that wrapped her entire body in current to accelerate herself.
‘And.’
That counted as applying a buff to herself.
In other words, it was treated the same as a status ailment.
“Got you.”
Whoosh!
I swung my scythe at the bronze fist rushing toward me.
Its path curved as though it were shaving away her attack.
At the same time, a status window appeared before my eyes.
Ding!
[Misunderstanding ‘Status Effect-Parrying’ activates.]
Then.
The light flickering around Caitlin went out.
As though someone had flipped a switch, the writhing current faded away.
“...?!”
Caitlin stopped in place.
Not knowing what had happened, she froze in a daze.
I couldn’t resist throwing a remark at the dumbfounded girl.
“Oh?”
Caitlin Lettus.
A battlemage who fought with martial arts based on self-buffs.
Her matchup against me was...
“Caitlin’s current... disappeared?”
The worst possible.
Footnotes:
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