Breaking Up With the Heroine in an Otome Game

56 – Battle Survival (3)

056.

“….”

“….”

The two of us fell silent for a moment.

A subtle tension lingered.

The wind tousled our hair.

Beyond the disheveled hair, Ishiwoon’s gaze was clear.

It was a solemn and profound pupil, to the extent that you couldn’t blink once.

Between the bars, Ishiwoon and my eyes met.

Our gazes intertwined.

Ishiwoon’s face, frozen cold, was elegant.

It was an expressionless face, yet some emotions were revealed.

Various emotions were mixed.

“Talking about it now won’t do any good, right?”

“Yeah. Lee Jinhyuk, I want to see your skills.”

I wanted to resolve it through conversation if possible.

But in the current situation, persuasion seemed impossible.

What Lee Siwoon desired was not the casual laughter and chatter, but rather the clash of skills, the sharp edge that could be honed against each other.

“To be honest, it’s a bit daunting to fight against you.”

Run away?

Should I run away now?

I briefly considered it, but it sounded like a ridiculous idea.

There’s no way Siwoon would just let me go easily.

Sorry to say this, but facing Kim Yuseong and facing Siwoon are entirely different matters.

Acting as I did against Yuseong would only lead to a swift defeat.

Siwoon and Yuseong, who was at best in the upper-middle tier, couldn’t be compared.

Siwoon, the current leading figure in the Union Academy, often referred to as the cradle of geniuses. The absolute best.

‘Of course, if we were to judge purely on swordsmanship, Baek Yurin might be better, but let’s put that aside for now.’

I let out a deep sigh in my mind.

I anticipated that I might cross paths with Siwoon, but fighting already? Unbelievable.

If we were to fight, I expected it to be in a place filled with traps.

‘Well, there’s no way I can win if we fight now.’

I admitted it willingly.

The difference between Siwoon and me at the moment was not something that could be bridged.

But it’s okay.

Because, you see, there’s no need to win by fighting.

“Alright, Siwoon.”

I tightly gripped the bow and slowly moved toward Siwoon, subtly guiding him towards the direction where the mines were set.

As he approached, he would step on a mine.

Considering Siwoon’s personality, he would likely come straight at me. If that’s the case, boom!

“Let’s try it your way.”

“Sure.”

I quickly pulled the bowstring.

Several arrows were poised in the bow.

Despite aiming the bow, Siwoon remained nonchalant.

I gradually launched several arrows towards Lee Siwoon. Pop, pop, pop, pop! Four arrows precisely surged towards Lee Siwoon, piercing through the air.

However,

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Lee Siwoon’s divine figure disappeared.

The arrows embedded themselves in the tree behind Siwoon with a sharp thud.

Cloud Steps.

It was one of the movement skills used in the game—a magical approach that instantly moved the feet to approach the opponent.

“What’s this, already?”

Why so fast?

There wasn’t even time to reload the arrows.

Between the blinking of my eyes, Lee Siwoon was almost at arm’s length.

It truly reminded me of a teleportation spell.

It was incredibly challenging to track him with my eyes.

He seemed much faster than during the evaluation.

Has he grown this much in just a few months?

“As expected, he charged straight in. Thinking about dodging before shooting arrows again, Belle?”

But Lee Siwoon,

If you charge in a straight line, eventually, you’ll step on something.

Like the explosive landmine in front of me.

“Alright, that direction… Gotcha!”

Lee Siwoon, charging like a streak of light, unexpectedly stepped on the buried mine.

With a click sound and a deafening explosion, the blast echoed in my ears.

Rocks and branches scattered in all directions, and a cloud of dust billowed up.

Since I couldn’t know how I fought against Kim Yuseong’s group, I hadn’t considered the possibility of landmines.

However, Lee Siwoon…

“…A landmine, huh? I did hear something like an explosion earlier.”

He seemed nonchalant, as if it was nothing.

Despite stepping on a landmine, he looked perfectly fine.

I discreetly observed Lee Siwoon’s condition.

He was protected by a bluish barrier-like shield.

“Hosin Ganggi (Protective Qi).

The moment he stepped on the mine, he formed a magical barrier, eliminating the impact.

‘Hosin Ganggi in that short moment?’

While other kids were helpless.

It must be Lee Siwoon, one of the top geniuses in the story.

He knows how to respond in those brief moments.

Well. But.

I expected this much.

Of course, he would block it.

What’s crucial now is that despite protecting Siwoon’s feet from the mine with Hosin Ganggi, it still caused some damage to his ankles.

In other words,

It’s time for the next move.

“Siwoon!”

I deliberately shouted Siwoon’s name.

To get Siwoon’s attention.

I quickly drew my training sword.

Raised the azure blade.

Rushed toward Siwoon like a surging wave.

No more using the bow.

Since arrows can’t pierce that protective Qi anyway.

But a sword can. Or more precisely, it can pierce through with direct ‘contact.’

“….”

Siwoon looked at me with a calm gaze.

He held the sword at an angle, concentrating a considerable amount of magical power.

A deep blue light flickered like a flame on the edge of the blade.

Siwoon, in a slashing stance, was about to swing the sword directly at me. The Sword Qi Master. It seems like he’s about to use Sword Qi Master.

‘Alright, now!’

I immediately used the spatial ring.

Ah.

Why the sudden use of the spatial ring?”

“That’s what I mentioned last time.

Unlike in the game, in reality, this ring can be applied in various ways.”

Just like this.

“…?”

In an instant,

One of Lee Siwoon’s feet sank into the ground.

As if someone had stepped into a sticky swamp.

Underneath Lee Siwoon, there was a crack in the ground like a phenomenon, and his foot was stuck in it.

Because one foot suddenly went into the ground, even if it’s Lee Siwoon, he couldn’t balance properly.

“What is this?”

‘Opening!’

The reason why one of Lee Siwoon’s feet sank into the ground was because he used the spatial ring.

When you use this ring, you can open and close a spatial entrance within a radius of 6 meters.

In simpler terms, it formed an entrance to the space below Lee Siwoon’s foot, trapping it like a trap and making it fall.

Of course, the spatial entrance opened quite slowly, so it was necessary to stop Lee Siwoon’s movements and attract attention.

So, I provoked him like this.

‘Eat this!’

I, who had suddenly reached right in front of his nose, swung my sword straight away.

In a situation where he lost balance because one foot sank into the ground, can Lee Siwoon really block my attack properly?

“…This kind of trick won’t work, Lee Jinhyuk.”

Clang!

The sound of swords clashing echoed.

Flames scattered here and there due to the clash of our swords.

Despite losing balance, Lee Siwoon effortlessly blocked my attack with his sword.

Indeed, with this level of trick, it’s impossible to land an effective hit.

If it were me, I would have been defenseless.

From Noble mtl dot com

“Just now, I let my guard down. Is that your supernatural ability?”

“Well, who knows!”

But, Lee Siwoon,

In the first place, I’ve already achieved my goal.

What I wanted was to face you with swords like this!

“As far as I know, you don’t have any special abilities…?”

Lee Siwoon paused for a moment.

His expression, which had been dry, subtly changed.

A perplexing emotion flickered in his two pupils.

Because he activated the artifact embedded in his body.

Tear of the Moon.

An artifact that absorbs and releases magical power.

At the moment, Siwoon and I were in a situation where our swords clashed.

What would happen if an artifact were used in such a state?

The answer is that it would absorb all of Siwoon’s sword energy.

“You? How? My sword energy?”

As Siwoon’s sword energy disappeared in an instant, he couldn’t calm his bewildered mind and hastily took a step back.

Perhaps due to stepping on a mine, he had suffered some damage to his ankle and couldn’t use healing magic.

Seizing this opportunity, I took a deep breath and generated magical power.

Then, wielding my sword with all the strength I had, I used the Sword Artistry skill.

My magical power + Siwoon’s magical power + a 1.5x increase in power when all magical power is released—this was the effect of Sword Artistry.

Even if it was Siwoon, it would be difficult to block such a powerful Sword Artistry.

Moreover, Siwoon had momentarily lost magical power and was experiencing a temporary power decline.

It was almost impossible to perfectly block such a Sword Artistry in this situation.

“Ugh!”

Surprised by the sudden Sword Artistry, Siwoon quickly raised his sword. He managed to block the Sword Artistry and staggered backward.

The momentum of the forcefully released Sword Artistry was considerable, and Siwoon was eventually pushed back several meters.

However, that was not the end.

Because Siwoon used the Four Liangs Move of the Sagyeonbalcheon (四兩撥千斤) technique to redirect the Sword Artistry diagonally.

Due to the Sword Artistry redirected backward, several trees fell with a thud, but Siwoon himself suffered no damage.

It was a blow where I used all my strength.

Is it really impossible to land a proper effective hit?

Not just any male protagonist, Siwoon.

However.

“…Ah.”

Swish, clang!

Gold adorned the training sword of Lee Siwoon.

It soon split in half with a resounding crack!

Facing the power of my magic + Siwoon’s magic + the enhanced aura of a training sword, crafted to increase power by 1.5 times when all magic is released, a regular training sword couldn’t withstand it.

If it had been a sword suitable for Siwoon’s level, it wouldn’t have broken.

But what Siwoon was wielding now was a mass-produced item made for academy students.

“Phew. Luckily, that sword broke.”

Indeed.

My ultimate goal isn’t to defeat Siwoon.

How could you defeat a talented male protagonist like Siwoon?

I just wanted to break the sword, subtly conceal my strength, and give the impression that fighting without a sword would be burdensome.

“… “

Siwoon silently stared at the broken sword.

There was no point in continuing to fight.

Of course, if we fought, you would definitely win.

But you don’t know that, right?

“How about it, Siwoon.”

Feeling the right moment, I cleared my throat with a sharp sound.

Though I felt like I might collapse at any moment due to using all my strength, I somehow maintained composure, acting nonchalant.

Then, with a quiet voice, I spoke, suppressing the heavy breaths that rose to my chin.

“I think this is sufficient.”

“… “

“I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

“… “

Satisfied, I sheathed the sword as if to say that was enough.

I glanced at Siwoon with slightly tense eyes.

Surely, he won’t attack, right?

He wouldn’t be so arrogant as to attack just because I sheathed the sword, would he? The match isn’t over yet, and you’re a cool character, Siwoon.

Fortunately, Siwoon just looked at me with a calm gaze.

“Yeah, Isiwoon. You thrust the sword as if it’s all over, but I believe it’s not in your nature to gloat. Moreover, your sword broke, didn’t it?

Given Isiwoon’s temperament, it’s unlikely. If I know Isiwoon well… well, unless he’s extraordinarily resilient.

You’re not blindly consumed by jealousy, are you?

You don’t want to witness his complete downfall, do you?

“…But if he persists contrary to my thoughts, it’ll be a problem.”

Now, there’s no strength left, nor magic.

Honestly, even if it’s Isiwoon barehanded, I can’t win.

Honestly, even if he fights single-handedly, I’ll be defeated?

“Isiwoon, please don’t push further, please. Let it go.”

So, I intentionally pretended to be strong.

Against someone using unknown abilities and exceptional swordsmanship, why fight more? That doesn’t make sense.

It would be embarrassing if you’re already defeated.

“…Is Jinhyuk. Was your archery fake?”

What?

I’ve been honing my archery for ten years.

Did my skill with the bow look fake to you?

“…And was that awkward swordplay just an act?”

Awkward?

Hey, your words are harsh.

I did my best in my own way.