The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 18

“Kyaaah!”

Thud!

The last female student among the four who insulted me rolled on the floor.

In the end, she couldn’t break through my Skin of Steel and shield barrage and collapsed.

She rolled across the floor and fainted on the spot.

A streak of overwhelming victories.

The four who fell helplessly to me bit their handkerchiefs in frustration.

But when our eyes met, they shrank away in fear.

Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.

Corrupted.

They all got a harsh lesson from me.

The princess.

She’s obsessed.

From now on, they won’t dare to openly talk badly about me.

‘Doesn’t feel too bad.’

It’s refreshing.

Is this what they call a satisfying moment?

Before I knew it, my rank is now 15th.

Most students are waiting for the results of their mock battles, but mine isn’t over yet.

‘Four more to go.’

If I defeat four more, I’ll surely break into the top ranks.

‘Whew, even I’m getting tired now.’

I’ve certainly grown through all the physical training I’ve done so far.

But trying to leap from 46th to 15th in one go…

I’m starting to feel the strain.

Moreover, now that I’ve reached the middle ranks, the gap in skills has become more apparent.

It’s clear why only outstanding students make it into Zeryon Academy.

I’m reaching the limits of what I can do with just my Skin of Steel.

It’s lucky this is just a mock battle.

If it were a fight to the death, I wouldn’t be able to defeat the mid-tier students so easily.

In a real battle, they would use any means necessary to try to kill me.

It would undoubtedly be a much tougher fight.

‘Still, my Skin of Steel alone won’t be enough to take on the top ranks.’

I’ve prepared a few tricks for that, but…

I don’t even know how far they’ll get me.

“What rank are you at now?”

“Now I’m 15th.”

“Are you seriously going to make it into the top ranks?”

Just then, I heard whispers among the students.

In the history of mock battles, there were almost no students who caused this much rank fluctuation.

Most students only shifted about three ranks at most.

“Come to think of it, doesn’t this situation remind you of before?”

“Yeah, with Lucas…”

At that moment, the students fell silent.

They realized their slip of the tongue and glanced nervously at someone.

The person they were worried about was Isabel.

She had been quietly watching my battles the whole time.

Isabel’s current mock battle rank is 5th.

Considering she was originally 10th, she climbed five ranks.

That’s how much Isabel had improved.

But Isabel had her sights set on a different target.

The one who had risen from the lower to middle ranks.

Me.

The only other person who had ever caused this much rank fluctuation in mock battles was Lucas.

There was no one else but Lucas, who had been lingering in the lower ranks, who awakened the unique trait, The Flame of Determination.

Once Lucas awakened the Flame of Determination, it synergized greatly with the training he had always been doing, causing him to grow rapidly.

As a result, he shot up from the lower ranks to the top ranks in an instant during the mock battles.

He truly showcased his protagonist-like qualities.

And now, here I am.

The one who insulted the late Lucas has climbed up from the lower ranks, just like him.

In the minds of the students, the image of the deceased Lucas resurfaced once more, and naturally, their gazes shifted to Isabel.

Isabel remained silent, her lips tightly pressed together.

No one here is thinking about Lucas more than she is.

But she didn’t say a word.

She just quietly looked at me, pondering how to face me.

‘Go ahead, think it over as much as you want.’

In the end, all that thinking won’t mean much.

“14th rank, Van. 15th rank, Airei.”

Right then, my name was called again.

‘Here we go.’

And for the first time, the calm disappeared from my face.

In the distance, a skinny boy was slowly walking over.

His face was full of boredom and annoyance.

He seemed like someone who lived however the wind blew, going along with the flow of life.

And I immediately sensed that today, I was facing the toughest opponent yet.

The lazy genius.

Van.

A genius who, no matter what, always seemed disinterested in everything.

Despite being undoubtedly one of the top five in terms of skill, he often declared forfeit out of sheer laziness.

The teaching assistants and professors never really scolded him for it.

A person who lacks motivation won’t gain it no matter what you do.

His rank also reflected his attitude.

If he didn’t have the will to rise, being stuck in the mid-ranks was considered fair enough.

Van scratched his back and looked at me with lazy eyes.

Meeting his gaze, I stepped into the arena.

“Van, if you’re going to declare forfeit again, say so now,”

The assistant said in a familiar tone.

Van glanced at the assistant and then slowly looked back at me.

He stopped scratching his back.

“No.”

Though his eyes still held that same boredom, there was now a faint spark of interest, something he hadn’t shown in a long time.

“I feel like cutting something today.”

What a weirdo.

Just like Sharin, the top student in magical studies, why are all these geniuses so strange?

“Van says he wants to cut something.”

“Is it finally happening?”

“If Van’s showing interest, the transfer student must be strong.”

The students started whispering again.

All the second-years knew Van’s skills.

And they also knew that Van had never shown his full power before.

But the reason he decided to fight me wasn’t because he respected my strength.

There was only one time Van had ever seriously shown his skills in a mock battle.

“It was back when he crossed swords with Lucas.”

It was when he faced Lucas.

After a grueling battle, Lucas managed to defeat Van through desperate effort.

This was the turning point for Van, where he regained interest in the sword and began wielding it once more.

But after Lucas died, Van lost interest in the sword again, reverting to the lazy genius he had become.

“That guy, he was a pretty decent person.”

Van let his sword’s sheath fall to the ground with a thud.

At the same time, a faint murderous intent began to rise from his body.

“You’ve been talking recklessly.”

Van had liked Lucas quite a bit.

And I had insulted Lucas, the one who had rekindled Van’s motivation.

It wasn’t just Isabel who was upset about the insult to Lucas.

At least the top-tier students in the martial arts division who had spent a year with Lucas.

They had all gotten along well with him, and they were deeply displeased with me for mocking him.

That’s why the composure disappeared from my face.

14th rank, the lazy genius Van.

He was not going to let me off easily.

And sorry, but…

“I just said what I needed to say.”

I wasn’t going to go down easily either.

“Ah, I see.”

Van responded nonchalantly.

But his eyes locked onto me with a sharp gaze.

“I’m going to cut you.”

“Begin the duel.”

As soon as the assistant announced the start and stepped back, Van disappeared from my sight.

Fast.

Seeing Van move so quickly that I couldn’t perceive him for a moment, my reaction came just a beat too late.

Slash!

For the first time, blood splattered from my chest.

I stepped back, feeling the skin on my chest sliced open.

Below me stood Van, who had swung his sword.

For the first time, my Skin of Steel had been cut.

And this was something I had expected.

Van’s sword was radiating a clear blue aura.

A rare talent, possessed by only a few even in Zeryon Academy, where geniuses gathered.

Sword Aura.

The ultimate mastery of the sword, where one imbues their own spirit into the blade.

Even a blunt sword wielding sword aura can cut through stone, and it can even slice through steel.

Van was one of the few sword masters who could wield such an aura.

No matter how strong my Skin of Steel was, at my current level, I couldn’t block sword aura head-on.

This was also why I said my Skin of Steel alone wouldn’t be enough to make it into the top ranks.

Van’s sword moved again.

Relying on my Skin of Steel and dragging the fight into a long battle, like I did with the mid-ranks, was now meaningless.

The shield on my arm moved quickly to block.

But Van looked at the shield with disinterest.

“Does that even matter?”

With his words, Van’s sword and my shield collided.

Slash!

In an instant, the shield was sliced cleanly in two and shattered.

Before Van’s sword aura, the shield was also useless.

The only way to block sword aura is to use the same sword aura in return.

I keenly felt the power of sword aura once again.

The assistant didn’t stop the fight.

He knew Van’s skills well.

Though it looked dangerous, he was certain that Van wouldn’t kill his opponent.

That’s how much Van’s swordsmanship had matured.

Van’s sword glided forward as his foot hit the ground.

My body narrowly dodged Van’s sword.

Thanks to today’s mock battle, I realized one advantage of Vikarmern.

Vikarmern’s dynamic vision was better than I thought.

An attack that the original me wouldn’t have been able to react to was being avoided by Vikarmern’s body, which executed engraved steps.

Repeated dodging in previous battles had been helpful.

My body had accumulated experience.

But not everything could be solved by evasion alone.

My opponent was a sword master.

Due to Van’s swordsmanship, I was slowly being cornered.

His sword began to cut off the direction I was trying to dodge faster than I could move.

Before I knew it, my space to evade was shrinking rapidly.

Van wielded multiple types of sword techniques simultaneously.

This particular style, which seizes and narrows the opponent’s space, was clearly a form of heavy swordsmanship.

On top of that, he added the logic of swift swordsmanship that rapidly pressed the opponent.

Slash!

The areas I could dodge into were getting smaller.

Each time, more of my skin was cut by his sword aura, and blood splattered onto my clothes.

My space was quickly being overtaken by Van.

His eyes gleamed.

I could sense how long he had been cultivating his understanding of the sword.

Before I realized it, I was backed into a corner with no way to move.

Dodging his sword had left my body covered in blood from numerous cuts.

My breathing was heavy.

The constant near-miss dodging had worn down my stamina.

“Van, take him down!”

“Show him what you’re made of!”

Perhaps because I had ruthlessly defeated the others before.

I had become a villain in the eyes of my fellow martial arts students.

Well, I had to admit I had taken some twisted pleasure in tormenting the others.

With endless dodging and relying on my Skin of Steel, I’d broken them when their stamina was depleted.

To the other students, it probably didn’t feel like a fair fight.

Some had grumbled that if this weren’t a mock battle, they wouldn’t have been dragged out like that.

But this was a mock battle.

I had to thoroughly exploit its nature.

Besides, being seen as the villain was actually a welcome role for me.

The more I became the villain, the more it would motivate Isabel to defeat me.

Even with the students’ shouts, Van’s eyes remained calm.

His concentration was terrifying, like he was showing what true genius was.

Van had completely taken over my space.

Knowing this, his sword reached out to finish me.

Like a snake biting into the neck of its prey.

Van’s sword shot toward me.

A close-range attack that was impossible to avoid.

My eyes recognized the sword, but there was no way to dodge it.

And so.

‘I’ve been waiting for this moment.’

Van’s sword came rushing toward me.

The sword, filled with murderous intent, cut through my skin and pierced into my chest.

Crunch!

Van’s eyes opened for the first time.

Skin of Steel.

There’s one secret that no one else knows about this.

Skin of Steel isn’t just layered over my skin.

Even the weapons or clothes I hold can be coated with Skin of Steel.

And why am I saying this now?

The reason is happening right before my eyes.

Van’s sword, which was supposed to cut me down.

That sword stopped dead, fixed in place against my chest.

Van’s sword was completely stuck, unable to move.

It’s because the blade of his sword has become firmly connected to my Skin of Steel.

Of course, the pain of my chest being cut open surged over me.

But that was something I had prepared for a long time ago.

Van’s eyes widened.

His gaze carried the meaning of, ‘Are you out of your mind?’

“You.”

He finally realized the special trait my body possesses.

I am not just a tough guy.

I am a body wrapped in the mystery that the Empress of Steel originally possessed.

But it’s too early to panic.

The moment Van swung his sword, my hands were already in motion.

Both my hands, with fingers spread, aimed at the blade embedded in my chest.

Van noticed my movement, but it was too late.

Crrrack!

My fingers pierced through the surface of Van’s sword.

Using the mystery of the Skin of Steel, I interfered with the sword itself and pushed the contact surface away.

“Heh, let me teach you something while I’m at it.”

Though I felt the sensation of my fingers being torn apart.

I didn’t care and flashed a malicious smile.

Sweat flowed down my face, and my red eyes gleamed as they caught the light.

Van’s pupils widened as if he was staring at a madman.

Throughout his life as a genius, Van had always been surrounded by ordinary people.

So I decided to leave one thing firmly imprinted on him.

Van, the lazy genius who should have been Lucas’s most reliable companion and friend one day.

Standing before him now was someone he had never encountered before—a madman.

“Don’t ever use your sword in front of me again.”

Then I clenched both hands at once and pulled.

Crack! Shatter!

The misaligned sword shattered and scattered in all directions.

Van stared blankly at the broken pieces of his sword as they scattered around him.

Sword Breaker.

Even Aisha was taken aback by my move.

It’s my trump card to destroy the genius of the sword.