The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 96



Placement Failure

International Solo Exhibition.

From noble mtl dot com

A friendly match held between academies founded by heroes, to ensure the past is not forgotten.

The friendly match takes place at the sanctuary of the great hero Wolfram.

It was to honor Wolfram’s heroic deeds and to show that the academy still supports the world.

“Wow, this is Wolfram’s sanctuary!”

Seron exclaimed in wonder, sticking his head out of the carriage.

Next to him, Card sat with a more subdued expression, looking outside.

It was only natural.

The person who sent Card as a spy was coming here today.

When our eyes met, he gave me a nonchalant smile.

“Why, are you nervous, Wangnon? Don’t worry. I’ll be number one.”

He’s always the same.

Hania and Iris were traveling in a different carriage for the first time in a while.

“In the solo exhibition, we’re enemies. There won’t be a repeat of what happened during the team match.”

I led my team to victory over Iris’s team during the team match.

Hania, conscious of this, prioritized victory over our contractual relationship this time.

Iris looked at me with regretful eyes, but she also agreed with Hania.

Isabel was no different.

“You, this is a continuation of what happened last time. Look forward to it.”

During the boycott incident, I had left the battle with Isabel midway and slipped away.

She meant to continue from where we left off in this solo exhibition.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

I wondered how much Isabel had grown.

Her role in the scenario would become increasingly important.

I hoped she had achieved significant growth.

As the people surrounding me dispersed, the troublesome trio gathered for the first time in a while.

“Prince Sweet Potato, how well do you think you’ll do?”

Seron asked about the international individual competition ranking.

That’s something you only know after trying, but I smiled calmly.

“I’ll be in the top six.”

The fame of the six stars.

I intend to thrust my head into that fame.

＊＊＊

The stadium prepared for the international individual competition resembled a grand arena.

Naturally, since all the students from the six academies were competing, the arena had to be enormous.

But the number of people is the number of people.

Even if you make the arena this huge, you can’t accommodate everyone.

So the international individual competition starts with preliminary rounds mixing the six academies.

The children eagerly expressed their determination to at least pass the preliminaries.

From the main rounds, key figures from each kingdom and empire come to watch in person.

To make a name for yourself there, you had to pass the preliminaries.

Thus, everyone was assigned to their preliminary groups.

“The groups have split.”

Seron looked at me with regret.

As Seron said, she and I were placed in different preliminary groups.

“Hehe, jealous? I’m in the same group as Wangnon.”

On the other hand, Card was teasing Seron, having been placed in the same preliminary group as me.

Seron punched Card in the side and looked back at me.

“Prince Sweet Potato, you miss me too, right? I know you do.”

“Yeah. I was planning to eliminate you first. It’s a shame.”

“Even if it’s a lie, say you want to be with me!”

“I’m an honest person, so I can’t do that.”

And then I got punched in the side by Seron too.

Seron grabbed my collar tightly and said,

“If you don’t say you want to be with me, I’ll give you a kiss.”

What kind of crazy threat is this?

As I looked at Seron with astonished eyes, her face turned bright red after saying it.

Seron clutched her skirt tightly, trembling all over.

If she was going to act like that, she shouldn’t have said anything.

“I expected it to be like this to some extent, but it’s quite an amusing sight for me.”

Then Card chuckled as he looked at us.

Even after being hit in the side by Seron, he remained unscathed, showing his resilience.

“Jerion Academy.”

At that moment, Professor Beganon’s voice was heard.

The eyes of the gathered Jerion Academy students turned to Professor Beganon.

She looked at everyone and spoke.

It seemed like she was going to say something useless as usual.

“This is your chance to shine. Don’t come back defeated.”

But what she conveyed was encouragement.

At times like this, it was just like her to be supportive.

“If you lose and the academy’s prestige drops, my salary will be cut.”

She didn’t forget to add that at the end.

“Maybe it’s okay to cut Professor Beganon’s salary.”

“Hehe, indeed.”

As the kids whispered, Beganon glared at them with fiery eyes.

“Stop talking nonsense and go do well.”

With that, the kids dispersed with enthusiastic responses to prepare for their respective group tests.

Seron was in Group 1.

Card and I were in Group 2.

As such, we parted ways with Seron and headed towards Group 2.

On the way, I saw a few familiar faces.

“Hmm, Wangnon, it seems most of the kids you were close with ended up in different groups?”

“Indeed.”

Most of the kids I hung out with weren’t in the same group.

The preliminary round gathers students in one place, and only those who survive move on to the main round.

Forming a team under these circumstances wasn’t exactly a shortcut.

It was quite unfortunate in many ways to lack acquaintances in such a situation.

At that moment, I spotted someone.

The corners of my mouth naturally lifted.

Not entirely hopeless.

“Grantoni.”

“Huh?”

The one who heard my call turned this way.

Inside the face of a white skull, red eyes gleamed.

A small ossuary.

Grantoni, a second-year student in the special department.

He was a guy who dealt with unique special skills like necromancy and corpse manipulation.

He was quite a familiar face, having teamed up in a previous group match.

“Oh, haha, Hanon, you’re in this group too?”

“Yeah, there’s an open spot in the healing side. How about we team up again this time?”

“I’m in. I wasn’t too concerned about the preliminaries anyway!”

Grantoni’s only interest was the underworld.

So he just followed along when told to participate in the international individual competition.

He didn’t actually have that much determination.

After all, Grantoni’s true purpose lay elsewhere.

But if someone pulled him along, it was a different story.

Grantoni was the type to get things done when he had to.

“That’s great. It’ll be easier with you around.”

The probability of passing the preliminaries increased significantly.

“Ah.”

At that moment, a sigh escaped from Card’s mouth.

“…Wangnon, this won’t be easy.”

My gaze followed Card’s.

Soon, my eyes caught sight of ash-gray wolf-cut hair.

As soon as I saw the distinctive hairstyle, I knew who it was.

‘Solvas Umbra.’

Vice President of the Illusion Kingdom, Aquiline Academy.

One of the six stars.

‘Assigned to the same team?’

I understand why Card reacted this way.

It’s because Solvas was his superior.

The Umbra Count family, to which Solvas belongs, has traditionally produced the Foreign Ministers of the Illusion Kingdom.

The main task of such a Foreign Ministry is to extract advantageous information from foreign countries and use it for coercive negotiations rather than transactions.

Therefore, the Umbra Count family is a subject of fear in the Illusion Kingdom.

Their notorious reputation is widely spread even in other countries.

Card is a spy used by such a Foreign Ministry.

Naturally, Solvas, the son of the current Foreign Minister and the future Minister, was his superior.

Solvas was skillfully conversing with the people around him.

After all, he was wearing the hat of the Foreign Ministry.

He was also very eloquent.

And I knew well the children who would soon fall victim to that eloquence.

“Card.”

Card’s gaze turned this way.

“What do you think will happen if one of the six stars falls in the preliminaries?”

A sinister smile drew on my lips.

Card, seeing this, slowly rolled his eyes.

“…Are you confident?”

There is a common story everywhere in the world.

A boss who assigns excessive work is always disliked.

The reason Card had been complaining of extreme fatigue recently.

It was because he had been thoroughly exploited by the Foreign Ministry.

Jerion Academy had been suffering from a series of measles.

There must have been a mountain of information that could be extracted from such measles.

The Foreign Ministry had thoroughly exploited Card for not noticing this.

In fact, for Card, the incident at Jerion Academy was nothing short of a disaster.

Above all, there were too many dangerous things for Card to stick his head into.

The most important thing in spy activities is not to get caught.

If the spy activities are exposed and caught, it could not be more troublesome.

Card carried out his mission while strictly adhering to this rule.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ignored Card’s position and turned him inside out.

In such a situation, the son of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was also Card’s superior, appeared.

“Have you ever seen me talk about something I’m not confident about?”

Card laughed hollowly.

“Not even once.”

He was a guy who always achieved what he said.

Card, who had lived with him for a long time, knew this best.

“Good. If the Six Stars drop out in the preliminaries, it will make a very good rumor.”

A sinister smile followed on Card’s lips as well.

“Hehehe.”

Grantoni, not knowing the reason, laughed along, clenching his teeth.

He was a good guy.

“Group 2, the preliminaries will start now.”

The professor from another academy, who was in charge of this test, called out the names of the Group 2 kids.

Soon, his assistants began to quickly distribute bracelets to the students.

“You will now move to the location written on the bracelet to take the preliminaries.”

At that moment, light leaked from the bracelet, indicating the direction.

“The light on the bracelet will turn off when you reach the point.

The preliminaries will start only when everyone arrives, so please check your position carefully.”

The direction was a forest with a huge defensive magic.

It was a large-scale magic circle set up to prevent intrusion from the outside.

And that forest was also the place where the preliminaries would be held.

“As we are monitoring your vital signs, the light will turn off if you become incapacitated.

The total number of participants is 300, and the preliminaries will continue until 16 remain.”

The preliminary groups were divided into four.

Selecting 16 from each group meant that the finals would be a round of 64.

“Sixteen out of three hundred.”

“That’s too few.”

The children’s murmurs continued.

It was natural since the majority of them were eliminated.

“There is also a defensive magic that activates when your life is in great danger. This is a friendly competition, and if you harm your opponent’s life, you will be immediately disqualified and face legal consequences. Remember, this is a friendly competition. The real enemy is the Demon Palace. Do not risk your life in the match.”

The professor warned the children repeatedly.

It was emphasized because accidents happened every time in the international individual competition.

Fortunately, no one had died in the international individual competition so far.

‘Unfortunately, it won’t be the case this time.’

Just one person.

In this international individual competition scenario, one person will die.

And I know who it is.

This is one of the bad endings I must prevent.

“Then, all students, please move to the preliminary round location.”

After glancing at Card and Grantoni, I took a strong step forward.

I was very curious about where I would be placed first.

Depending on the location, what I had to do would also change.

In such anticipation, the moment I arrived at the assigned location,

I saw a familiar face a little distance away.

“Hmm?”

Damn.

“Oh, hello. The one who was confessed to by Cheongyeom.”

He looked at me and smiled brightly.

Even though he already knew my name, his voice was very calm.

The son of the shadow.

Solvas Umbra.

It was twisted from the start of the placement.