-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Childhood Friend (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A 10-match showdown with Yang Woo-bin, the guy I desperately want to beat senseless.
Jin Se-jeong wasn't the least bit tense, even though this was a best-of-ten match with wishes on the line.
It wasn't because Yang Woo-bin had used that magic word 'chicken?' to piss her off so much that any tension vanished. No, she simply believed she would win.
'I lost last time because I got careless. That's only natural, right? I'm Jin Se-jeong of the Jin family. That Yang Woo-bin guy just moved better than I expected, and I held back because he's a guy. All those factors lined up, and I lost once. From his perspective, it's a brag-worthy moment. My Azure Dragon First Thrust missing was for the same reason. If I go all out, there's no way I lose.'
Jin Se-jeong, at just ten years old, rationalized her previous defeat using words that were remarkably precocious for her age.
In her common sense, there was no way a girl like her could lose a spar to a boy.
"From now on, I'll go all out for real. It won't be like last time."
In truth, even as she thought she'd held back and declared she'd get serious now, in the previous bout, she'd definitely unleashed her Azure Dragon First Thrust with full power.
From the start, a ten-year-old kid like her didn't even know how to hold back, and she was so angry that she had no intention of doing so anyway.
But forgetting all that, the current Jin Se-jeong declared that the real fight started now.
"Heh."
Seeing her like that—so full of pride, the very picture of a stubborn ten-year-old kid—Yang Woo-bin let out a scoffed in amusement.
He considered pointing out that the look in her eyes and the aura from the last bout had been anything but merciful, just to poke at her, but he held back.
To beat Jin Se-jeong ten times, he'd need a lot of time.
"Alright, I'll look forward to it."
With no time to waste on banter, Yang Woo-bin quickly shifted to the spar, standing opposite her like before and beckoning with his hand.
"Come at me with everything you've got."
"Urgh...! No mercy, got it!"
Tsspang!
Provoked by Yang Woo-bin, Jin Se-jeong's blue figure shot forward like a dragon.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Crash! Clang!
"Hnghk!"
Jin Se-jeong's "all-out" Azure Dragon First Thrust—which was no different from the very first one—cleaved through the void by his side, just like in the initial spar, and she tumbled to the ground after he dodged.
"You said this is when you get serious, right? Good. Then the first one doesn't count since it wasn't serious. 1-0."
1-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
No matter how confident she was in her Azure Dragon Twelve Swords, getting the same technique countered twice in a row would force anyone to find a new approach.
So Jin Se-jeong abandoned starting the spar with an immediate Azure Dragon First Thrust. Instead, she closed the distance slowly before unleashing it.
Thud! Crash!
"Hngk!"
But whether charging from afar or thrusting suddenly from close range, using the Azure Dragon First Thrust a third time—after it'd been read twice—was the same mistake, so she ended up rolling on the ground again after he evaded.
"C'mon, this is our third bout, and you're still coming at me with the same thrust every time? Anyway, 2-0."
2-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After being dismantled the same way three times, Jin Se-jeong realized Yang Woo-bin was exceptionally good at dodging thrusts.
"Tsyaaaa!!!"
Her solution? Even more thrusts: the Azure Dragon Twelve Swords' second form, Azure Dragon Thousand Rushes, the only combo technique in the set—with power even a genius like Jin Se-jeong struggled to control.
Thud.
"Hweh?"
Crash! Clang!!
"Urghk!"
But Yang Woo-bin lightly caught her wooden sword, leading straight to another leg sweep finish.
"This technique... your wrists aren't strong enough yet, are they? Anyway, 3-0."
A ten-year-old's wrists simply couldn't handle the strain of that advanced move, naturally leading to defeat.
3-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Crash!!
"Grhk!"
4-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Thud-clang!!!
"Heek!"
5-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Kwaboom!!
"Hiyaaak!"
6-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Whack!
"Ow!"
7-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hey, what was that sharp rap to the knuckles just now?! That hurt—kyaak!?"
Thud!
8-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"N-no, stay back! Stay back, you idiot! Get away—huek!?"
Crash! Thud!!
9-0 ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"N-no way... I-I'm Jin Se-jeong, a unrivaled prodigy of the millennium, blessed with heaven-sent talent...! Losing to a boy even once—no, not even once—that's impossible!"
"It makes perfect sense."
Kwaboom! Crash! Thud!!
"Kyaaak!"
10-0 Yang Woo-bin Victory
Wish Claimed ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Phew, I thought it'd take longer. Ended quicker than expected. Guess I'm stronger than I thought. Training's paying off."
Looking at Yang Woo-bin—who had just a bit of sweat on his forehead while she was covered in dirt—Jin Se-jeong's mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
Even if she chalked up the first bout to carelessness, getting crushed ten times straight after that couldn't be dismissed so lightly.
'What the heck is this guy...? Is he really a boy? What if he's actually a girl? Like a secret weapon the Yang family raised in hiding?'
Yang Woo-bin was ten, like her—before signs of physical maturity had kicked in.
Jet-black hair contrasting with snow-white skin like his eyes, a perky nose and eyes deeper than his age despite baby fat still lingering, a perfectly balanced build.
'Yeah, he looks ethereal and refined. He must be a girl! There's no other way I'd lose!'
Yang Woo-bin was a beautiful boy by any measure, but Jin Se-jeong, unwilling to admit defeat to a male, began seeing him as a girl through her own filter.
'Come to think of it, there were weird things about him for a noble heir. Offering a handshake at our first meeting, wandering at night. A properly raised noble heir wouldn't do such disgraceful things. The fact he did them so casually means...'
"Hehe. Puheheh!"
"What's so funny all of a sudden?"
Having "uncovered" the "hidden truth" (which wasn't), Jin Se-jeong started giggling at Yang Woo-bin.
Yang Woo-bin worried her mental state had cracked after ten straight losses, but thankfully, it hadn't.
'Good, you sneaky liar. Hiding that you're a girl, pretending to be a boy, humiliating me. I'll rip off that despicable mask of yours...!'
She was just unwilling to accept losing eleven times—no, ten times—to a boy, so she claimed a mental victory on her own terms.
In any case, having convinced herself, Jin Se-jeong—preferring to go straight rather than beat around the bush—curled one lip and said to Yang Woo-bin,
"Hey, Yang Woo-bin. You're a girl, aren't you?"
Her words were a blunt verbal fastball, packed tight with intent.
Jin Se-jeong expected this direct shot would fluster him, letting her pry a confession like, "Y-yeah, I'm actually a girl."
"Nah? I'm a boy. Wanna check?"
"Uh?"
But what came back was, "I'm a boy. Wanna check?"—a full swing only a truly confident man could muster.
Her confident full-power fastball smashed into the fence off his swing, her smug face filling with panic, her pale cheeks flushing red.
"Y-yo-you-you, Yang Woo-bin, you pervert!!!"
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Jin Se-jeong once again felt the full extent of his indecency.
"What?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"What do you think you're doing as a boy?! Keep that up, and you'll never get married! You don't know 'cause you're safe in your family, but the world's scary! That's why you can say stuff like that! 'Check'? Check what, how?! Ugh... checking..."
I'd just said no and offered a check when she asked if I was a girl, yet the kid was now barraging me with the most heated rant yet.
Honestly, I couldn't understand why she was making such a fuss, so I asked the kid,
"What's wrong with checking? If you're curious, we can do that much."
"Wh-what?! How can you say that so casually... showing your, uh, p-p-private... things to a girl you just met today like it's nothing..."
"What are you even talking about? I meant check my mana core. Then you'd know right away if I'm a boy or not, kid."
"Uh?"
At my words, the kid's mouth dropped open with an "Uh?" and her eyes went wide.
In the world of Reverse Hero Tale, female superhumans could grow much faster and stronger than males because of the difference in mana cores.
Males only developed one mana core, while females could have two.
One in the heart, one in the womb.
"Here, hold my hand and check. You can do that much, right? You're a genius."
I offered my hand to the kid, and she tentatively grasped my fingertips, still looking dazed.
"Huh? It's true... You really are a boy..."
Feeling the mana fluctuations from my fingertips equivalent to one mana core, she confirmed I was male.
"...Huh? Wait. The mana fluctuations are for one core, sure. But what's this...?"
Even after confirming I was a boy, the kid kept holding my fingertips tight.
No, she gripped my hand with both of hers and started... caressing it? With her fingers.
What the heck, kid. Why are your hand movements so indecent?
Speak of the devil—while she'd been calling things indecent left and right, this kid was the most indecent of all.
I figured I'd tease her the moment she let go, biding my time, when the shocked kid finally looked up from my hand, met my eyes, and asked,
"H-how is this possible? When the heck did you awaken?"