CHAPTER 265: RANKING MATCHES RESUMES [4]

After losing the match with Alice... I also lost my match against Professor Lena.

Now, don’t blame me. Everyone already knows how Alice toyed with me the entire time.

...And Professor Lena was serious.

I mean very serious.

She’s the martial arts instructor, so as soon as the match started—BAM—she closed the distance before I could even think. No fancy spells, no flashy moves. Just pure, raw, terrifying speed.

One second I was standing in my stance, ready to react, and the next, I was on my back wondering how I’d even hit the ground.

I tried to defend, I really did. Lan was in my hand, my mana was ready, but her strikes were so precise it felt like she was reading my mind. Every time I raised my weapon, she was already somewhere else, striking from a new angle.

Within a minute, I was panting, my arms aching just from blocking. Within three minutes, I was on the floor again. By the fifth minute... I started wondering if my ribs were insured.

And you know what the worst part was? She didn’t even look tired.

When she finally knocked me out of the ring, she just stood there, perfectly composed, while I sat on the floor trying to remember how breathing worked.

If Alice made me feel like a helpless plaything... Professor Lena made me feel like a punching bag in a training gym.

But I won my match against Instructor Ray Black—the same instructor Ryen could only manage a draw against in his match.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I was stronger than Ray or Ryen. Not at that time, anyway.

The truth was simpler: losing both of my previous ranking matches had put me in a foul mood, and I really

wanted this win.

So, I went and took it.

Ray, on the other hand, decided he’d "show me the difference between a professor and a cadet." He even went as far as to graciously yield me the first move.

Big mistake.

The instant the match started, Lan shifted from dagger form back into its true staff form, and before Ray could react, I shoved him clean out of bounds.

And that was that.

History, written in the shortest match of the day.

Ray just stood there outside the boundary line, blinking at me like I’d just insulted his entire bloodline.

"...You... you can’t just—" He stopped, sighed, then muttered, "Okay. You can. But it’s still cheating in spirit."

I grinned. "It’s called strategy, sir."

He gave me a long look, then shrugged. "Remind me never to give you the first move again."

Word about my "record-breaking" victory spread faster than I expected.

By the time I left the arena, half the cadets were laughing about it, and the other half were arguing over whether it counted as a real win.

Personally, I didn’t care. A win was a win. The scoreboard didn’t care how it happened, and neither did I.

...Well, except for Alice.

I spotted her leaning against a pillar near the corridor, arms crossed, smiling in that way that made me wonder if she was planning something unpleasant.

"Congratulations, Rin. That was... creative."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why do I feel like there’s a ’but’ coming?"

"Oh, no ’but’," she said sweetly. "Just wondering if you’d still be able to win if your opponent didn’t stand still for you."

"...I’ll take that as a compliment."

She chuckled, and that was somehow more unnerving than if she’d insulted me outright.

Before I could come up with a witty comeback, Professor Lena walked past us. She didn’t say a word, just gave me a single glance—short, sharp, and so full of quiet judgment that I swear my knees almost buckled.

I think she was silently telling me, You may have won, but you’re still weak.

...Or maybe I was just traumatized from earlier. Hard to say.

Either way, the schedule was tight today, so I didn’t get the chance to watch any of the other matches. Still, since this was my last fight, I figured I’d ask about the results once it was over.

"Ah, hello."

She was already waiting in the arena when I arrived, having finished her own match earlier than me.

Aria Collins.

She was one of those people who showed up so rarely it was easy to forget she existed. According to the academy’s records, she was ranked even weaker than me—and I was basically at rock bottom.

"You really do only appear once in a blue moon."

"...What? You make it sound like I’m just some background extra."

Well... in the original story, she wasn’t

even an extra. She didn’t appear at all, not even in the author’s notes. Which meant I had absolutely no idea what her fighting style was supposed to be.

Maybe she was one of those deceptively cute berserkers who went wild the moment the match started. Or maybe she was a mage or a debuffer hiding behind a gentle face.

"Anyway, this is the last match of the day. Let’s end it quickly."

"Sure. If you say so..."

Click.

Huh?

Before I could say "I’m looking forward to it," she raised something and pointed it right at me.

It wasn’t just any weapon—it was far too refined, too elegant to belong in a medieval fantasy setting.

A sleek, extended barrel. A frame with clean lines and perfect symmetry. A grip that looked like it was molded to fit the hand. And a trigger that just invited you to pull it.

In short... a gun.

The background extra who nearly died in the prologue was now pointing a very real-looking firearm at me.

...Wait. Is she actually the protagonist?

"The match has already started, right...?" she asked casually—then pulled the trigger without a hint of hesitation.

Bang!

I almost died.

No, technically I wouldn’t have—thanks to the academy’s barrier and shock-absorbing magic—but that didn’t matter. The shot was so realistic, so viscerally threatening, that my brain screamed real gun.

Honestly? It was scarier than most spells I’d ever faced.