Mistaken for a Masked Monster - Chapter 83

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 83: I’ll Finish This in Two Minutes.

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“See you later.”

“What do you...?”

Swoosh-.

Before I even had a chance to ask anything, Rin turned to mist and vanished.

In her place stood a male student.

He wore a broad grin.

“Ah! The switch worked!”

Gail Rabint.

He was the keeper on Rin’s team.

He was also one of the most talented sorcerers in the entire year.

One of the arts he could use allowed him to swap positions with someone he had marked.

I checked the crystal ball.

[Team Rin]

-Runner: Dexi Cluise

-Assistant: Gail Levint

-Keeper: Rin Glacia

Just as I thought.

The two had already switched roles.

They had taken advantage of the rule allowing a team leader to reassign their members’ roles during the game.

“Whew... That was close.”

Sweat poured down the boy’s face as he wiped it away.

I watched him silently.

If he was standing in front of me, that meant Rin had been sent to Area 3.

‘...Caitlin?’

Area 3.

By now, Caitlin should have taken the flag and been looking for a route back.

Which meant Rin had appeared right in front of her.

* * *

Class A’s top student versus Class E’s top student.

The students in the stands were going wild over this match.

The buildup of the past few days, combined with the two contestants’ reputations, had drawn everyone’s attention.

A hologram displayed like an electronic billboard broadcast Rin and Viktor’s fight in real time.

-Oh! They’re finally fighting!

-Is it because they’re both assistants? They met in the middle of Area 2!

-What? I thought Class E’s top student would get knocked out right away, but he’s holding his own!

-They’re so fast, I can barely follow them with my eyes...!

A sword and a scythe.

The two weapons clashed fiercely.

Snowflakes swirled, and sparks flew between the blades.

Their movements were so dazzling that even their close-quarters battle was a spectacle.

The audience could only marvel at the high-level exchange.

-They’re evenly matched?

-Class E’s top student is handling her better than I expected.

-Are you all idiots? Lady Glacia is obviously going easy on him!

-But Class E’s top student doesn’t look like he’s going all out either.

-They both have plenty to spare.

The students couldn’t take their eyes off the spectacle.

Before long, the excitement turned into cheers.

-They can perform like that without even using their full strength?

-What kind of monsters are they? Viktor really could be considered one of the top students in Class A!

-Wow... I can feel the gap. Lady Glacia turns the whole area into ice with a single swing.

-How is Class E’s top student stopping attacks like that?

-He hasn’t been hit even once! He’s dodging or deflecting everything...!

Then Rin suddenly vanished.

The audience was filled with question marks at her abrupt disappearance.

-What...? She vanished like she turned into mist.

-Where did she go? Some kind of stealth magic?

-Hey, Lady Glacia can’t use magic.

-You idiots, can’t you recognize sorcery? One of her teammates used an art.

The hologram focused on them again.

Gail Levint.

Rin Glacia.

Their positions had switched in an instant.

After checking the screens, the students grasped the situation in each area.

-Caitlin had just snatched the flag in Area 3!

-She was about to run, but Gail and Lady Glacia suddenly switched places... Now Lady Glacia is blocking Caitlin’s path!

-Did they plan this from the start?

-Come to think of it, they exchanged some kind of signal earlier!

-They must have agreed to swap positions as soon as it looked like the flag would be taken!

The students’ guess was correct.

Gail and Rin had coordinated their strategy beforehand.

If Gail failed to defend and let the enemy runner slip past him, he would immediately switch places with Rin.

-Surely even Caitlin can’t escape from Lady Glacia.

-I just checked, they switched roles too. They must’ve operated the crystal ball while changing positions.

-Gail chose his position well. Lady Glacia has completely cut off her retreat.

-This is going to hurt. If they lose their runner like this...

The stands stirred again.

Viktor’s team looked increasingly likely to lose.

-Class A’s second-ranked student is defending well for now...

-But the moment it becomes two against three, this match will become decisively one-sided.

-Facing Lady Glacia alone will be hard enough.

-Viktor’s stuck too. Gail is one of the strongest students in Class A.

-He must be pretty exhausted after fighting Lady Glacia. Gail might knock him out like this.

The students held their breath and fixed their eyes on the screen.

Victory seemed to be tilting toward Rin.

At that moment, in Area 3.

Caitlin had taken the flag and was about to return.

As she ran through the sandy desert, a white blizzard suddenly began to rage before her.

“...”

The desert heat faded, and cold winds gathered like a storm.

Snowflakes settled one by one.

At their center stood a blue-haired girl.

Caitlin came to an involuntary stop.

Sparks crackled as her expression twisted in dismay.

“Fuck...”

The confidence in her bearing subtly faltered.

“Where the hell did this monster bitch come from?”

Her bronze fist clenched tightly.

* * *

Meanwhile.

I stood there absently fiddling with my scythe.

‘This is surprising...’

I never thought Rin would retreat to their base to protect the flag.

It wasn’t entirely outside my expectations, but I was still surprised she’d chosen to fall back.

The Rin I knew would have dealt with me first, whether the flag was stolen or not, whether it decided the match or not...

‘She’s being strangely cautious.’

How should I put it?

She was taking this match more seriously than usual.

Her attitude earlier had been the same. It looked like she had some reason for it.

‘Well... it doesn’t really matter.’

The plan remained the same.

It had been adjusted slightly, but nothing about it was a problem.

If a variable this small could crack it, it wasn’t a plan. It was a patchwork mess.

In the end, the game was still under my control.

‘This might be better. I can test Caitlin too...’

I shook out my tingling hand.

That was the aftermath of exchanging blows with Rin.

As expected of the best of this generation.

We had only clashed a few times, yet my arm throbbed like it was about to break.

“Urgh...”

As I rubbed my stiff arm, an extra suddenly hovered in front of me.

“Hey, what’re you going to do? Lady Glacia went to catch your runner.”

Was his name Gail?

How could a person be named Gail?

Drop the L sound, and it came out as “gay.”

I had plenty to say, but every word that came to mind would fail to respect human diversity, so I held back.

I was an intellectual, after all.

Intellectuals didn’t casually make discriminatory remarks.

“Haah... Caitlin, right? The top student in Class B. She was too fast for me to catch. I could beat her if we fought, but she knows that too, so she just kept running away...”

Just as you’d expect from someone named Gail.

He’d just met another man, yet he was already dumping TMI on me.

For some reason, his gaze sent a chill down my spine. It looked like he might go after the two Dubai chewy cookies in my pants at any moment.

“Well... Lady Glacia will handle her. Forget that bitch, I’m going to have some fun with you.”

Was he really living up to his name?

He was ignoring women so he could play with a man.

Even as my wariness grew, Gail examined me with interest.

“I hear you’ve gotten famous lately? People are saying you’re Lady Glacia’s rival, that you’re as strong as the upper ranks of Class A, all that bullshit... I happen to be one of the upper ranks in Class A, you know? So I wanted to check for myself.”

“Hmm.”

The corner of his mouth curled unpleasantly.

What exactly did he want to check on another man that made him smile like that?

My fist tightened.

“I’m a little tired. That art I used earlier took a lot out of me. Still, I think I can play with someone like you.”

An open provocation.

He looked utterly relaxed, as if he considered me beneath him.

Did everyone in the upper ranks of Class A have inflated egos?

“Come on. You don’t even need to make it as far as Lady Glacia. I’ll stomp you here so you never get cocky again.”

Well, I had no intention of wasting time here.

Without hesitation, I reached inside my robe.

“Quit yapping. Let’s finish this quickly.”

“...What?”

Gay...l went blank at my retort.

Ignoring him, I pulled a black fragment from my inventory.

Ding-!

[Broken Crown]

-Category: Accessory

-Rank: A-

-Status: Destroyed

-Description: A crown once worn by the Black Queen, ruler of nightmares. It has now been destroyed, leaving only her remnants behind. It can be worn for up to five minutes per day. When equipped, the skill ‘Nightmare Transformation’ can be used.

[Skill Name: Nightmare Transformation]

-The user’s body assimilates with nightmares.

-While the skill is active, the user is considered ‘invincible.’

-Unrestricted flight becomes possible, and the user is freed from all physical forces.

I placed the Broken Crown on my head.

A dark crimson aura rippled around me as a chilling presence gathered.

“My Pikachu’s waiting for me at home.”

“Huh...?”

Gay froze as though his brain had stopped.

I gave him no time to react. I rushed in and swung my scythe.

Two minutes.

That was how long it took me to knock him unconscious.