WebNovels

Chapter 49 - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: A New Heroine

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Slam!

Teacher Claire slammed her palm against the blackboard.

The large letters written on it shook from the sudden impact.

The end-of-semester tournament.

It marked the start of final exams.

"This Wednesday, the end-of-semester tournament begins! It's a test that will affect your grades, so prepare diligently!"

[It's finally starting!]

An end-of-semester tournament, huh.

Hmm, no matter how I think about it, I still can't understand why something like this counts as final exams.

Usually, shouldn't exams be designed to differentiate students?

In most academy novels, they use things like this to rank students, but I always wondered if that was right.

If the 1st and 2nd place students met in a preliminary round and the 1st place student lost, then wouldn't they end up in last place?

When I asked the author about it, the development was revised. They're probably going to talk about that today.

"The tournament will include a loser's bracket. So, don't worry too much."

"A, a loser's bracket?"

Ah, just in time, the teacher is talking about it.

It seemed she was concerned by the students' anxious expressions.

"There have been discussions about the tournament lacking proper differentiation for a while now. That's why there will be a loser's bracket."

"Oh, ohh..."

"And one more thing."

Teacher Claire conveyed an important fact to the relieved students.

...In a way, this is the most important part.

Even I hadn't thought of this. Sometimes, the author comes up with good ideas too.

"This tournament, you'll be working in teams of two."

"Wha, what?!"

"If we include a loser's bracket, we'll run out of time. Everyone agreed to this. The reasoning was sound."

Hmm, these bewildered expressions.

These must be the students who heard about the tournament details from their seniors.

It felt somewhat good to see those guys flustered when something different from their prior knowledge was revealed.

It's like... I can control the emotions of these dolls!

Though I'm not the one controlling them, the author chose it.

"So, so it's sound?"

"Yes. Have any of you ever worked in sync with others before?"

"...Ugh."

"No, right? I know it all."

"B-but...!"

A student who tried to retort stopped speaking when they saw Teacher Claire's expression.

...An expression that seemed to yearn for something. She was probably recalling a deceased former comrade.

She had that kind of backstory, after all.

"I say this because I once had such times myself. ...Learning to work in sync with others is something every hero must do."

"B-but! We haven't had any experience working in sync! To change the exam content now...!"

...does it make sense for it to change now?

The student, who was about to say that, noticed Teacher Claire staring intently and finally shut their mouth.

Right, the teachers had merely been turning a blind eye.

Exam content at the academy is strictly confidential. Furthermore, the exam details are only revealed on the Monday of that week.

Knowing the exam content beforehand was originally impossible. The teachers had simply been overlooking it out of goodwill.

The students only now realized that fact.

"So, you're expected to try it out this week. ...Weren't you all aiming to become heroes?"

"Y-yes. That's right..."

"Most heroes don't wander around alone as you might think. At the very least, they work in teams of two. That's the basic standard. The solitary heroes you imagine are a rare minority."

Teacher Claire wrote words on the blackboard with chalk.

Teams of Two.

"The magical beasts on the front lines cannot be handled by an ordinary superhuman alone. That's why most form teams. ...But tell me, who do superhumans team up with?"

"Isn't it their close comrades? That's obvious."

"No, that's not it. About half the time, they work in sync with people who aren't their comrades. It's different from what you think."

"...Huh?"

Oh, really?

I didn't know that either.

Perhaps the author set that up without telling me.

The author doesn't bother explaining things to me that don't need explaining, after all.

And I've suffered so much because of that.

"As you all know, superhumans are busy. The front lines, villain suppression, patrols for civilian safety, and so on. They're incredibly busy."

Teacher Claire, who had unconsciously returned to teaching mode, walked around the students, continuing her explanation.

"Superhumans are human too. They need rest, and they get injured. It's common for their schedules to clash with their comrades'. ...So, what will you do if a comrade gets injured and their schedule goes awry?"

"N-nurse your comrade back to health?"

"Are you crazy? Superhumans are already scarce. If one team member gets injured, do you just leave a perfectly healthy person idle? If that were the case, development would have been much slower than it is now."

"..."

The student who had been answering the teacher's questions until now was speechless.

Since all their opinions had been refuted, it was understandable.

"The answer is simple. You go on a mission with a superhuman who is available and whom you've never met before, or only know by face."

"B-but! Then we don't know what kind of accidents might happen!"

"Of course, I know that. That's why this final exam has been set with such content. I don't think this alone will solve everything, but isn't it better to get a little accustomed to it?"

[Hmm, it's not a bad setting, right?]

My concentration completely broke at the author's words.

In the end, it's all just playing with settings. I was a fool for carelessly listening to the teacher's words so attentively.

After Teacher Claire, who had circled the students once, returned to the blackboard, she wrote words in the empty space with chalk.

"The evaluation criteria for this final exam are simple: teamwork and the ability to handle unexpected situations. ...In other words, it's different from the past, where rank was the sole criterion for everything."

The word "Teamwork" was written large on the blackboard.

Towards the students who stared blankly at the words, Teacher Claire declared,

"For this tournament, your partners will be chosen by lottery."

Heh, I see. So who will I be with?

I subtly glanced at Yoo Siwoo and Amelia.

Those two are obviously going to be together.

...Do I have to team up with someone I don't know?

However, after all the students drew their lots, I was flustered when I saw the result.

Because Amelia was next to me.

"Arte, please take care of me."

"Y-yes. Please take care of me too."

What is this?

Weren't Amelia and Yoo Siwoo supposed to be on the same team?

Why did she come here?

[Phew, a chance has finally arrived. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to have a heroine created but unable to use her.]

...What? A heroine?

I quickly looked next to Yoo Siwoo.

...It was a girl. According to the author, she must be a heroine.

But now? Suddenly?

Perhaps they noticed my confusion. The author confidently began to explain.

[Well, the heroine I'd only set up hasn't had as much interaction as I expected. Since things turned out this way, I thought I'd try to increase her prominence.]

I even told the readers she was a heroine!

At the author's words, I stared intently at her.

...A heroine? They said that? When?

After staring at her for a long time, the timid-looking heroine seemed to notice my gaze, startled and trembled, so I turned my head away.

"Arte, do you have some business with that girl?"

"No, it's just that I thought I'd seen her somewhere before... Do you know her, Amelia?"

"Hmm. Even though she's in the same class, I haven't really met her much besides our first sparring session on the first day."

"Ah."

That's it.

Amelia's words made me realize.

The female student who was thoroughly beaten by Amelia in their first sparring session, not long after enrollment.

It was her.

"...I see."

Come to think of it, the author did drop a hint like that once.

They said both of them were heroine candidates during the sparring session.

I hadn't met her since then, so I thought the author had eliminated her and forgot about her.

It seems they were waiting for the right moment to use her, as no opportunity had arisen.

Indeed, there have been a bit few heroines.

So far, there have only been three heroine candidates.

Laila, Amelia, and that girl.

...The Section Chief wasn't really a heroine. At best, she was a supporting character.

Laila was consumed as a villain, and that girl is only now appearing in the novel.

Unlike typical academy novels, it was a solo system with only one heroine. Considering that most academy novels are harems or involve choosing one heroine from several, it was a bit unusual.

Are they finally planning to introduce other heroines and get things moving?

"A-Arte."

"Yes?"

"Don't worry too much. Nothing bad will happen."

"?"

Amelia uttered something nonsensical.

What? What is it? What's she thinking to comfort me out of the blue?

Her expression, as if she was looking at someone pitiful, made me feel a little annoyed.

***

The girl, Dorothy, was greatly flustered.

"Nice to work with you, Dorothy."

"Ah, yes. ...You know my name?"

"Because we're classmates."

She had already resigned herself to the fact that Siwoo, who was famous among their friends, had become her partner.

And knowing her utterly useless name was embarrassing, but she thought it was possible.

There were always kids who knew the names of their classmates, even if they weren't close.

But Dorothy couldn't stand Arte's gaze.

"...Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no! It's nothing at all!"

The closer Siwoo came, worried about her, the more Arte's gaze intensified.

H-hee. Scary.

When there was a rumor among the students that Arte was someone whose thoughts were utterly unfathomable, she hadn't understood what it meant.

She had always just thought of Arte as a beautiful and strong person, unlike herself, who always smiled brightly.

Now, she understood completely. She had no idea what Arte was thinking at all.

The gaze was glaring at her as if to kill, but Arte's face was smiling...!

"You look like you're feeling unwell... Are you sure you don't need to go to the infirmary?"

"D-don't come closer! Please!"

"...U-uh, sorry."

Siwoo, rejected by her, made a hurt expression, but Dorothy couldn't help it.

Because the gaze from behind her was growing increasingly piercing, making it hard to endure.

"Um, Teacher. Is it possible to change lots...?"

"I already explained it, didn't I? This is a test to see how well you can coordinate with someone you've never met before. The moment you try to switch, I'll give both of you the lowest possible score, so don't even dream of it."

"...Yes."

Dorothy wanted to cry.

In her heart, she wanted to yield her spot to Arte.

She started to resent the teacher.

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