Free Web NovelWhen he clenched his fist, the shadow that had been writhing on the ground slowly began to rise.
It looked almost like a person pushing themselves upright, as if it were a living being.
The black shape, bearing Seoh Yeonwoo’s silhouette, quickly began to climb the rock face as if it had received its owner’s will.
In an instant it reached the top, wrapped itself around the flag, and returned in front of Seoh Yeonwoo.
The whole process took less than two minutes.
"Jumma—what the... Is that even a person?"
A voice full of astonishment rang out. Taeeon, too, looked at the arena with a face as shocked as Yeonwoo’s.
So that’s what the Big Three guilds were—places where incredible people gathered.......
Taeeon, who had secretly aimed for the Big Three, suddenly felt his confidence drain when he saw Seoh Yeonwoo.
Just then Yeonwoo tapped his arm and spoke.
"Ham. But there aren’t as many successful ones as I thought. A lot are even forfeiting."
Yeonwoo was right.
Awakened people who lacked skill control kept breaking or burning the flags, and some gave up early and left the arena.
A few managed to reach the top of the rock face, but they were eliminated for failing to get down within the time limit.
"Isn’t that too high? Feels like you could just jump down."
"Yeonwoo. You’ll die if you do that......."
It was a full forty meters.
An awakener wasn’t an immortal; no matter how awakened, a person without technique couldn’t be expected to jump from that height — especially with no basic safety equipment.
The broadcasting crew hadn’t placed that rock there for nothing.
Taeeon was about to warn Yeonwoo not to jump, just in case,
"1601, please get ready."
but the number was called at that moment and he missed his chance.
"Ham! They called Ham! Damn, I’m shaking!"
Yeonwoo, having confirmed Taeeon’s number, fussed and gave him a shove from behind.
"Kim Taeeon, over here! I’m here!"
"Are you number 1601?"
"Yes? Yes."
"Other participants, please wait behind. Number 1601, when you’re ready, wave your hand and the test will start immediately."
"Okay. Got it."
"Ham, do well! Fighting!"
Bolstered by Yeonwoo’s hearty encouragement, Taeeon stepped forward.
Watching from the standby seats had felt fine, but standing in front of the rock face made his heart pound like it would explode.
He placed a hand on his chest and took a deep breath, then raised his hand to the staff.
The time limit was ten minutes.
He’d thought of several methods while watching the other participants, but he wasn’t sure any would go as planned.
"Huu."
Taeeon’s ability was earth among the elemental types.
Since the rock face was also a substance derived from earth, he could only hope his power would work.
Taeeon aimed for the flag placed near a flowerpot.
If the staff’s plan was followed, that flag would be part of the course made for healing-type awakeners, but Taeeon intended to shake the rock and make the flag fall to the ground.
They’d said any flag would do so long as you brought one, so it wouldn’t be cheating.
Taeeon moved closer to the rock, carefully put his hand on the stone, closed his eyes, and slowly focused on the sensations at his fingertips.
'Shake. Please.'
Hudududu—
The rock trembled slightly and bits of stone began to fall downward.
But that was all. Surprisingly, nothing happened in zone ten.
'This isn’t it...?'
Although his innate grade was excellent, his understanding of the skill and his proficiency were lacking, and things didn’t go as he wished.
At this point he had no choice but to switch to plan B.
'I really didn’t want to use this method.'
Taeeon crouched on one knee, put his hand on the ground, and concentrated far more than before, pleading in his mind.
'Please move. I need that flag. Please.'
Still, zone ten stayed quiet.
Yeonwoo, waiting for his turn, sighed as if relieved,
Kugugugung!
and at that moment a heavy roar shook the whole zone ten area.
Yeonwoo grabbed the fence to keep from toppling and stared in surprise. At first he thought he’d misseen it, but the ground Taeeon stood on was slowly rising bit by bit.
"What the? The ground’s moving or what?"
Beads of sweat formed on Taeeon’s forehead.
The staff filming zone ten started bustling to capture Taeeon’s figure.
Meanwhile Taeeon heard none of the surrounding commotion.
His whole body weakened and his eyelids trembled, but he had to steady his mind several times to keep his focus.
Then, just when the vibrations could no longer be felt, he cautiously opened his eyes.
'It worked...!'
No sooner had he opened his eyes than the arena came fully into view.
The ground he’d been standing on had risen to be level with the rock face, and the flag lay within arm’s reach.
Taeeon slowly reached out and grabbed the flag, and the land that had risen ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ like a mountain sank back down in an instant.
He’d lost his concentration in the joy of having succeeded.
"Ugh!"
Thunk!
Taeeon fell from a considerable height with a groan, curling his body into a ball.
"Are you okay?!" freewёbnoνel.com
Startled staff rushed over to check Taeeon’s condition. But Taeeon’s concern was only passing the preliminaries.
Even as he fell he had clutched the flag to his body and, once on the ground, hurriedly thrust it toward the staff and asked.
"Ugh. I’m fine. More importantly, there’s still time, right? I passed, didn’t I?"
Fortunately, there was still one minute left.
"Yes. You passed."
As the staff took the flag, the end siren sounded.
Only then did Taeeon’s face bloom with a smile.
"Thank you!"
✧
Then it was Yeonwoo’s turn. He greeted Taeeon, who returned with a beaming face.
Clap!
The two palms met with a bright sound.
"Nice! Ham, you did a bit? But it won’t work for me. I’ll do it in two minutes, so just wait right here."
Passing the baton to Taeeon, Yeonwoo strode forward with confidence.
There was no trace of nervousness. If anything, the corner of his mouth crooked in a way that showed he’d been waiting for this moment.
"Huh? Isn’t that Park Yeonwoo?"
"The archery prodigy? Why is he here?"
At Yeonwoo’s appearance, people began murmuring in other zones as well, recognizing him.
"They said he went blind but he’s not."
"Do you know his grade?"
"I think elemental grade C, but I’m not sure. Electricity? Something like that."
Whispers rose among the crowd.
After being lit up by Roy in a revenge lighting, anyone who cursed him online or offline was beaten without hesitation, but that wasn’t possible today.
Today was the day Yeonwoo would take the first step toward the revenge he had planned for so long.
'I’ll definitely pass and flatten the noses of those who looked down on me.'
When Yeonwoo suddenly awakened before the Olympics, some pitied him and others told him his life was meaningless.
But Yeonwoo didn’t think that. He didn’t feel one bit sorry for himself, and he had never once regretted the path he’d walked.
Standing before the rock face, confidence filled Yeonwoo’s face.
'Watch closely.'
For this moment he had sharpened the blade of revenge every night.
Memories of the nights he trained in the dark gym with Roy flashed by like a slideshow.
As Yeonwoo focused, the golden eye began to shine brilliantly.
The light gathering around him took on a familiar shape in his grasp.
"What is that?"
"......A bow?"
"A C-grade can do something like that?"
In the blink of an eye, a large bow and arrows were in Yeonwoo’s hands.
It felt a little unfamiliar, but it was the same thing he always held.
There were, rarely, other elemental light awakeners besides Yeonwoo.
But most of them used light to fire powerful lasers or to move at light speed and strike directly in close combat. Because of light’s tendency to disperse widely, forming a shape was itself difficult.
Yeonwoo was different.
Though his grade might be low, he was proving that no one could take his bow from him.
Yeonwoo lifted the golden bow and fixed his gaze on the flag placed at the top of the rock face.
He could fire two arrows.
However, the second arrow was still unstable.
'So make the first one count.'
Yeonwoo’s target was the hawk sitting on the rock’s summit with a flag in its mouth.
Of course he didn’t intend to kill it. The goal was to lightly threaten it and make it drop the flag.
Yeonwoo closed one eye and slowly drew the bowstring.
The taut string pressed vertically against his lips and lower jaw.
As he raised his focus to its maximum, the surrounding noise faded into a distant hum.
'Just knock the flag loose.'
Even then the hawk missed nothing, attentive to the smallest sound or movement.
But his arrows had never failed to do what he wanted.
Yeonwoo held his breath and waited for the precise moment.
When the hawk that was watching him turned its head,
Swiish—
the arrow left his hand and skimmed over the hawk’s head.
"Kkeeek! Kkeek!"
Flap—
At the same time the hawk let go of the flag and flapped up with force.
Yeonwoo saw the falling flag and dashed toward the rock face.
Before the flag hit the ground and was destroyed, he barely snatched it, exhaling in relief as he checked the remaining time.
[8:00:00]
It was exactly a two-minute cut.
"Wow! Ham, did you see that! Did you see me!"
Yeonwoo bounced on the spot and looked back at Taeeon.
Unable to contain his joy, he hugged even the staff and cheered, then ran toward the camera.
There, as a ceremony—or rather, a murder notice for viewers who would watch this broadcast later—he made a gesture.
He drew his hand across his throat and nodded; if that wasn’t a murder notice, what was?
Taeeon, who had been looking at Yeonwoo with fondness moments before, froze in shock.
Thus Roy’s parachute acts had unexpectedly overturned zone ten.
