A Ten-Match Showdown with Yang Woobin, Who I Want to Beat to a Pulp.
Even though this was a ten-match showdown with a wish at stake, Jin Sejeong wasn’t nervous at all.
It wasn’t because Yang Woobin had used the magic word “scared?” to provoke her into blind rage, nor was it because she was too angry to feel nervous.
It was simply because she believed she would win.
“I lost earlier because I let my guard down. That’s obvious, right? I’m Jin Sejeong of the Jin family.
It’s just that Yang Woobin moved better than I expected, and I held back because he’s a guy.
Those factors combined, and I lost once.
But from his perspective, it was just a lucky break.
My Blue Dragon First Advance missed for the same reason.
If I do it properly, there’s no way I can lose.”
Jin Sejeong justified her previous defeat using words too complex for a ten-year-old.
In her understanding of the world, the idea that she, a girl, could lose to a boy in a sparring match was simply impossible.
“I’m going to do it properly this time. It won’t be like before.”
In reality, Jin Sejeong had told herself that she had held back earlier and that she would go all out now—
But during the previous match, she had already unleashed her full power with her Blue Dragon First Advance.
After all, as a ten-year-old, she didn’t even know how to control her strength, nor did she have the presence of mind to hold back while she was so furious.
But forgetting all that, she now declared that this time was the real deal.
“Heh.”
Yang Woobin let out a small chuckle.
The way she carried herself was so perfectly fitting for a prideful ten-year-old that he couldn’t help but laugh.
He considered pointing out that the look in her eyes and the aura she exuded in the last match were far from someone who was holding back—but he held his tongue.
He had no time for arguments if he wanted to beat Jin Sejeong ten times in a row.
“Alright, I’ll look forward to it.”
With no time to waste on petty arguments, Yang Woobin quickly moved into position for another match, just like before, and gestured with his hand.
“Come at me with everything you’ve got.”
“Grrrr…! I won’t go easy on you this time!”
THWUMP!
Provoked by Yang Woobin’s taunt, Jin Sejeong’s blue silhouette charged at him like a dragon.
※
BANG! CRASH!
“Ugh!”
Jin Sejeong had really—or so she thought—gone all out with her Blue Dragon First Advance, but just like in the previous duel, her attack once again slashed through empty air near his side, and she went tumbling to the ground after being swept off her feet.
“You said now you’re being serious, right? Fine. That means the very first match didn’t count as serious, so I’ll erase that one. It’s 1-0.”
1-0
※
No matter how confident she was in her Blue Dragon Twelve Swords , if the same technique failed twice, she needed to find a different approach.
This time, instead of recklessly launching into her Blue Dragon First Advance, she slowly closed the distance before unleashing her attack.
CRASH BANG BOOM!
“Ugh!”
But whether she charged from afar or attacked up close, it was still the same technique that had already been countered twice.
The third time, it was no different—Jin Sejeong was once again flipped and sent rolling across the ground.
“You know, we’re already on the third match, but you keep trying to stab me the exact same way. Anyway, it’s 2-0.”
2-0
※
After being countered in the exact same way three times in a row, Jin Sejeong finally realized that Yang Woobin was good at dodging thrusts.
“TSHAAAAAH!!!”
So, the method she chose was more thrusts—Blue Dragon Twelve Swords’ second form, Blue Dragon Thousand Strikes .
The only continuous attack technique in the Blue Dragon Twelve Swords, this move was so powerful that even a genius like Jin Sejeong struggled to handle it.
Grab.
“Eh?”
BAM!
“UGH!”
Which is why it ended with Yang Woobin effortlessly catching her wooden sword and flipping her straight into another faceplant.
“This technique… Isn’t your wrist still too weak for it? Anyway, 3-0.”
With a ten-year-old’s tiny wrists, it was impossible to properly execute such a high-level technique, and predictably, it led to another loss.
3-0
THUMP!
“Guh!”
4-0
※
BANG!
“Gyaah!”
5-0
CRASH!
“HIIYAAAAH!”
6-0
※
BONK!
“Ow!”
7-0
※
“Hey! What was that flick on my forehead for?! That hurts—ACK!”
WHAM!
8-0
※
“D-don’t come any closer! Stay back, you idiot! Go away—HEEEEK?!”
CRASH BANG BOOM!
9-0
“U-Ugh… T-This doesn’t make sense. I am Jin Sejeong, an unparalleled genius, gifted by the heavens…!
Losing to a boy even once is already absurd, but never winning even once?! That’s just impossible!”
“Yeah, no, it makes perfect sense.”
CRASH! BANG! THUMP!
“KYAAA!”
10-0
The ten-match showdown for the wish—Yang Woobin wins.
X
“Hah, I thought this would take longer. Ended sooner than I expected.
Guess I’m even stronger than I thought. Looks like my training paid off.”
Unlike herself, who was now covered in dirt, Yang Woobin only had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.
Jin Sejeong’s mind was thrown into turmoil.
Even if she had let her guard down in the first match, the fact that she lost ten times in a row after that couldn’t be excused by simply saying she was careless.
“What the hell is this guy…? Is he really a boy? Could he actually be a girl?
Maybe he’s some kind of secret weapon raised in secrecy by the Yang family?”
Yang Woobin, like Jin Sejeong, was ten years old—an age before any secondary sexual characteristics would appear.
With jet-black hair contrasting against his pale white skin, a sharp nose despite his young age, eyes that carried an unusual depth, and an overall well-proportioned physique…
“Yeah, if you really look at him, he’s pretty. He must be a girl!
That’s the only explanation! Otherwise, there’s no way I’d lose!”
Yang Woobin was undeniably a handsome boy, but Jin Sejeong, unable to accept the fact that she had been utterly defeated by a male opponent, began filtering reality through her own mental gymnastics.
“Now that I think about it, there were a lot of strange things about him for someone who’s supposed to be from a noble family.
When we first met, he reached out to shake my hand. He also wanders around at night.
No well-bred noble child would behave so improperly. The fact that he does all these things so naturally must mean…”
“Haha… Pfft… Hahaha!”
“What? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”
Having “discovered” the hidden truth (not really), Jin Sejeong started laughing while looking at Yang Woobin.
Seeing her snickering like that, Yang Woobin wondered if losing ten times in a row had finally broken her spirit.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“You liar! Hiding the fact that you’re a girl and pretending to be a boy just to humiliate me!
That disgusting mask of yours—I’ll tear it off completely!”
In reality, she was just desperately trying to cope with the fact that she had lost ten, no, eleven times in a row to a boy.
Now fully convinced, Jin Sejeong, who preferred straightforward actions over beating around the bush, smirked and spoke directly to Yang Woobin.
“Hey, Yang Woobin. You’re a girl, aren’t you?”
A full-force fastball thrown right down the middle.
Jin Sejeong expected Yang Woobin to panic at this sudden accusation. She planned to use that moment to pressure him into admitting, “Y-Yeah… actually, I’m a girl, Sejeong.”
But…
“No? I’m a guy. Want to check?”
“Eh?”
The response she got was a full-power swing of absolute confidence—“I’m a guy. Want to check?”
The fastball she had thrown with all her might was sent flying straight out of the park by Yang Woobin’s counter.
Jin Sejeong’s confident expression immediately crumbled into one of shock, her pale face turning red.
“I-I-I-I… YANG Woobin, YOU PERVERT!!!”
She screamed at the top of her lungs, her brain still struggling to process what had just happened.
“What?!”
“What do you even mean, ‘Want to check’?!
How could you say something like that so casually?! You won’t be able to get married if you act like this!
Right now, you’re safe within your family, but the outside world is a scary place! You don’t know that yet!
You’re only acting like this because you don’t know any better! Check… Check what, exactly?!”
All I had done was respond to her nonsense with a simple “Want to check?” and now she was flailing around, yelling at me like a machine gun firing nonstop.
Honestly, I had no idea why she was making such a big deal out of this, so I asked her directly.
“What’s the big deal about checking? If you’re curious, you can just confirm it yourself.”
“W-WHAT?! How can you just… How can you say something like that to a girl you’ve only just met today?!
So—So—So casually…!”
“What the hell are you talking about? I meant check my mana core.
If you examine it, you’ll immediately know I’m a guy, you dumb kid.”
“Eh?”
At my words, she blinked in confusion, her mouth hanging open.
In the world of Reversed Heroic Legends, female superhumans became much stronger, much faster than male superhumans.
The reason for this was the difference in mana cores.
Men had only one mana core.
Women, however, had two—one in the heart and another in the womb.
“Here, grab my hand and check for yourself. You can at least do that, right? You’re supposed to be a genius, after all.”
I held out my hand, and, still looking dazed, she hesitantly reached out and placed her fingers on mine.
“…Huh? It’s true… You really are a guy…”
Feeling the flow of mana through my body, she confirmed that I only had one mana core.
…Wait. Hold on.
The mana waves are definitely from just one core.
But…
What is this…?
Despite confirming I was a guy, she didn’t let go of my hand.
In fact, she tightened her grip, now holding both of my hands, her fingers slowly tracing over them as if she was exploring something.
What the hell is this girl doing?
Why is she touching my hands like that?
For someone who kept calling me a pervert, she was the one acting the most suspicious right now.
I decided I’d tease her the moment she let go.
Just as I was waiting for my chance, she suddenly lifted her head, her eyes wide with shock as she met my gaze.
“How…
How is this possible?
When did you awaken?!”
To be continued…