WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 87: Choice■.

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The match was over.

After being reverse-summoned out of the field, we returned to the original waiting area.

We arrived at the center of the stadium, passing through a desert turned snowfield, a scorched jungle, and green grasslands.

The moment we appeared in midair, cheers rained down as if the crowd had been waiting for us.

"Whoaaaaa!"

"There they are...!"

"Should we record this with a crystal ball?"

"This is headline material! It has to be on the front page of the next academy paper..."

I'd expected it, but the volume far exceeded anything I'd imagined.

Even Ranne, standing beside me, flinched in surprise.

I let out a short laugh and listened to the uproar.

The cadets were fired up.

"What the hell was that final attack...?!"

"So he was hiding a move like that this whole time!"

"They said his overall stats were E-rank, right? Did they even test him properly?"

"They should run a doping test. No, even magical doping shouldn't make someone that strong..."

"This is seriously the kind of record that goes down in academy history! A cadet who entered Class E beat the top student of their year before even half a semester had passed..."

They were making all kinds of fuss.

Amazed, horrified, ecstatic.

"How did that solid field get destroyed all at once?"

"Because of you, they're repairing the field!"

"My match got pushed back! Take responsibility!"

"Take responsibility and show us that again just once..."

The response was better than I'd expected.

After witnessing that, their reaction was hardly surprising.

'Was that a little too much?'

At best, I was only the top student of Class E.

On top of that, my overall stats were firmly marked as E-rank.

I'd raised my stats a fair bit by now, but the other students had no way of knowing that.

'Regular rank evaluations only happen once per semester...'

Someone like me, whose rank kept shooting upward, was strange from the start.

That was probably thanks to the system that let me grow through Merit Points.

In only three months since enrolling, I'd raised my overall stats by several levels.

Still, I couldn't afford to draw any more suspicion, so I should get evaluated separately sometime soon.

I needed to update my information.

"Haa..."

As I sorted through my thoughts, accumulated fatigue crashed over me.

A groan and a yawn slipped out together.

I felt like collapsing on the spot.

'She was terrifying.'

Rin Glacia.

Since my opponent had been Rin, I'd used bugs like crazy in just a few minutes of fighting.

Not only Parrying, but I must've used the Slowdown (Clock Click) bug over a hundred times too.

Maybe because of that, nausea hit me as though I'd been tossed into a centrifuge.

'Ah, I feel sick.'

Ding!

[The One Who Collects Misunderstandings]

-Category: Title

-Description: When you use one Misunderstanding at least 30 times, it is registered in the collector. Misunderstandings registered in the collector greatly reduce the user's burden.

[Misunderstanding Collector]

1. Step Skip

2. Slowdown

3. Parrying

4. Status Effect-Parrying

Thank goodness I had that title equipped. Otherwise, I might've thrown up on the spot.

My whole body ached from exchanging blows with Rin too...

'...And Devour was absurdly strong.'

Javert's full-force punch.

I mixed in the Double Counting bug and inflated the damage fourfold.

Honestly, at my current level, it was a double-edged sword.

'I can't control it.'

My body wasn't complete yet.

Only my agility was unusually high. The rest of my stats were abysmal.

That last attack had enough recoil to catch its user in the blast.

Without the mask's protection, I would've become a splattered tomato.

'Not being able to distinguish friend from foe is a problem too.'

Earlier, the field had been prepared, so I could fire it off without holding back. But I couldn't go around blowing things up like that in everyday situations.

Nearby allies or civilians I needed to rescue could get caught in it.

It was a card that required a lot of consideration.

'As expected... great power is hard to handle.'

It was powerful, but it needed the right conditions to use.

First, I needed to quickly make up for my lacking stats.

Clicking my tongue, I dusted off my hands.

'I need to gather Merit Points, but when am I ever going to save that many people...?'

A quiet sigh escaped me.

As my attention drifted for a moment, the following announcement snapped me out of it.

《Students, you have worked hard.》

《Cadets who have completed the practical examination, please move outside the waiting area.》

《Today's practical examination will be graded over the next week, then announced as a combined score with the written examination.》

Swoosh.

A door opened in front of the stadium.

We headed for the exit.

'Ah.'

That had been one damn long hour.

* * *

Afterward, we headed to the infirmary near the testing grounds.

It was where those who had dropped out or been injured during the examination were taken.

"Here it is."

Caitlin, Gale, and Rin.

They were all sharing one room divided by curtains.

I passed one partition and greeted the girl on the bed.

"Miss Caitlin."

"You came."

Caitlin was sitting on the edge of her bed.

She had been badly battered and eliminated during the match.

Maybe she'd received treatment in the infirmary, because there were no visible injuries.

"How are you feeling?"

"Can't you tell? I'm completely better."

"That's amazing. All those injuries, without even a scratch left..."

Grandia Academy.

Was that what made it the continent's finest educational institution?

Its facilities and infrastructure were of remarkably high quality.

"More importantly, what happened with the match?"

Caitlin asked casually.

She must have already heard, yet she asked anyway.

I gave a brief laugh and answered her unnecessary question.

"We won."

"You bastard. You actually went and won it."

"You said you'd kill me if we lost, Miss Caitlin."

"Did I?"

"I'm someone who always keeps my promises."

I lightly held out my fist.

For once, Caitlin didn't avoid it and returned the fist bump.

She still had that prickly air about her, but her reaction was somehow refreshing.

Tap.

"Good work. You too."

"Oh?"

The words came from the bronze-skinned girl.

They were so unexpected that I couldn't help being surprised.

"Goodness."

"What? What's with that reaction?"

"I never thought Miss Caitlin would say something like that."

"What do you mean, something like that?"

"Something that praises another person?"

"What the hell do you think I am?"

"Hmm... A racist with a talent for antisocial psychopathy?"

"I'm going to kill you."

"Or Pikachu works too."

"I said, what is a Pikachu?"

We bickered for a few exchanges.

Ranne, who had come with me, suddenly joined in and praised Caitlin.

One hundred percent pure goodwill descended upon the blonde, tanned delinquent girl.

"Miss Caitlin!"

"W-What?"

"I heard all about your amazing performance from Sir Viktor! You crossed the boundary with the flag in your arms, even when your body was in tatters, for us and for the completion of the mission...!"

"Wait, back off! Don't grab my hand..."

"I was deeply moved! I never imagined you were nurturing such a blazing spark within you, Miss Caitlin!"

"No, you're way too close!"

"I want us to become friends!"

Ranne charged at her without restraint.

Caitlin, on the other hand, reacted strangely stiffly.

Maybe she had more trouble than expected dealing with such a barrage of praise.

Even as Caitlin frowned, she couldn't bring herself to shove Ranne away.

'She's weak against pushy types.'

I learned something else useful.

I'd have to tease her with it later.

"Ahem."

Light conversation continued.

With my teammates before me, I glanced toward the other side of the infirmary.

"..."

Rin's bed.

That side felt like a funeral home.

Her teammates seemed crushed by the heavy mood. They had frozen up and couldn't even speak.

Standing across from Rin was a young man.

'That's...'

He wore a neat uniform, with blue hair and a deep, subdued gaze.

He bore a striking resemblance to someone I knew.

'Valteric Glacia.'

Rin's older brother.

He was also a faculty member at Grandia Academy.

One of the figures representing the Glacia family, a long-standing magical house.

"..."

That man was looking down at Rin.

There wasn't a trace of concern in his eyes.

His pupils were deep and icy.

Rather than the look of someone seeing his younger sister, it was like he had found trash by the roadside.

'Was that why?'

Only then did I understand.

Why Rin had been so obsessed with victory today.

Her older brother, Valteric, had come to watch the match.

'Rin... is treated poorly by her family.'

I held my breath and watched.

Before long, Valteric spoke.

"Trash."

"..."

"You lost."

"Brother..."

"I told you not to call me that."

"...I'm sorry, Sir Valteric."

It didn't sound like a conversation between siblings.

There wasn't even a shred of affection in it. The air was so cold it felt as though someone could be strangled at any moment.

Rin lowered her head.

"Trash. A mutant born with the Glacia name who can't use magic at all. I thought you might at least wield that inferior swordsmanship well, but now you can't even do that. You couldn't even handle the top student of Class E."

"..."

"You were sprawled out there in the most pathetic state. In front of the entire student body."

"..."

"You insist on dragging the family name through the mud."

"..."

The air was cutting.

The girl neither refuted him nor resisted.

She only stayed silent, like a criminal.

"..."

"Tsk."

Perhaps even that sight disgusted him.

Valteric clicked his tongue once, then immediately turned his back and left the infirmary.

A faint scent of winter lingered behind him.

Only then could Rin's teammates speak again.

Whether they did or not, the girl remained frozen.

"..."

Complicated family matters.

I turned away, pretending I hadn't seen anything.

'If I want Rin as an ally, I'll have to deal with that eventually...'

But today wasn't the day.

If I approached her carelessly, it would only make things worse.

For now, I should let it pass and have a separate conversation with her soon.

"Miss Caitlin, are you interested in chivalry? Let me teach you...!"

"I told you, I'm not interested in knight stuff...!"

Over there, our teammates were still noisily carrying on among themselves, seemingly unaware of what had happened.

They were all distracted, so it seemed like I could take care of my own business.

I quietly sat down in a chair across from the bed.

A blue window appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

[Special Reward]

-You have obtained the item '???-Rank Reward Selection Ticket.'

-You may choose and obtain two of the offered rewards.

'I can't resist checking the rewards.'

I'd been curious about it for a while.

A reward selection ticket.

It was a type of reward I had never received before.

The rank marked with ??? intrigued me as well.

Without hesitation, I clicked one of the two tickets.

Ding!

[???-Rank Reward Selection Ticket]

-Would you like to view the list of available rewards?

I immediately clicked the Yes button.

Right after that, the status window unfurled.

-Selection Ticket-

[Please select one of the options below!]

1. Obtain Merit Points (10,000p)

2. Damaged Item Repair Ticket ×1

3. Broken Item Restoration Ticket ×1

4. Item Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1

5. Space Leap Ticket ×1

6. ■■■■ ■ (???)

7. ■ ■■ (???)

.

.

.

28. ■■■■■■ (???)

29. ■■■ ■■ (???)

30. ■■ (???)

"..."

Text scrolled down for a long time.

Every item listed looked extraordinarily useful.

After checking the entire message, I could only stare in disbelief.

'No...'

I could choose a reward from here?

And two of them...?

An unexpected treasure trove had suddenly appeared.

Footnotes:

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