After the peaceful second day had passed.
The Birth Festival entered its third day, and the excitement was reaching its peak.
As proof, the arena was packed with even more spectators than during the preliminaries.
In the participants’ waiting room, Emily was holding Mugi’s hand tightly.
“Are you really nervous?”
She nodded silently.
In truth, her hands were trembling, cold sweat was running down her face, and her lips had turned blue.
She looked less like a warrior who had advanced to the main round and more like a frightened puppy, making Emily smile bitterly.
But Emily was nervous too.
From the main round onward, they would fight not with the wooden weapons used in the preliminaries, but with their own sharpened weapons.
If someone made a mistake, their own life—or someone else’s—could be in danger.
Even so, she was Naira and Mugi’s older sister.
And she had resolved that, no matter what, she would return to reality alive together with them.
Emily gently stroked Mugi’s back.
“It’s okay. You practiced a lot. And if you still can’t trust yourself, then trust me.”
“Unnie…”
“Yeah. You can do this.”
Just then, the waiting room door opened, and a dark elf staff member called Mugi’s name.
“Lady Mugi. It is time for you to enter.”
“Looks like it’s already time.”
Emily patted Mugi’s back one last time, giving her strength, while Mugi rose from her seat as if she were being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
She spoke in a crawling voice.
“I… I’ll be back…”
“Yeah. I’ll be watching.”
Mugi forced a smile at Emily, who had clenched her fist encouragingly, then left the waiting room and made her way to the arena.
But when she reached the entrance, Mugi froze stiff.
‘There are that many people?’
On top of that, this time it was not a survival match, but a one-on-one tournament.
She had to fight entirely on her own, with no one to help her.
Seeing Mugi like that, the staff member tilted his head.
“Lady Mugi?”
“I-I’ll go in.”
At the staff member’s words, Mugi barely managed to pull herself together and quickly passed him, entering the arena.
Before her eyes, her opponent, a dark elf, was warming up by swinging a spear.
He was not a particularly famous warrior, but the pressure he gave off was more than enough to make Mugi shrink back.
‘But Unnie said she’d be watching.’
She steadied her heart and struck the ground with her staff, readying herself.
The cheers died down.
And silence flowed through the arena like the calm before a storm.
Amid everyone’s anticipation.
At last, the announcer’s voice rang out.
“Birth Festival Tournament main round, Round of 32, Match One!”
A match between the player mage Mugi and the dark elf spearman Sengata.
“We will now begin!”
***
Level 1 player Erik had once again taken a seat in the spectator stands early in the morning with his friend Rosa to watch the matches.
Because the lingering impression he had felt on the first day had yet to fade.
‘They were all so incredibly cool.’
The sight of them fighting with all their might to survive had left a deep impression in his heart.
At the same time, he was curious to see just how far the woman named Ian, whom he had chosen, could climb.
Thanks to that, even though he had barely slept the previous night, his mind was clearer than ever.
And Rosa, who was watching him from beside him, let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re completely hooked. Weren’t you never interested in this kind of thing before?”
“I-It can’t be helped. There’s nothing else to watch here.”
“Sure, let’s say that’s it.”
Avoiding her sly gaze, Erik turned his head and cleared his throat, changing the subject.
“Anyway, did you see the bracket?”
The main round bracket had been announced this morning, not on the day the preliminaries ended.
Because of that, neither the participants nor the spectators had known who would be fighting whom until that very morning.
That was why Erik had asked.
Rosa nodded.
“Yeah. I took a screenshot before coming here. Here, look.”
She shared her window and showed Erik the bracket.
A tournament bracket with the names of thirty-two participants written on it.
The players listed there were Mugi, Shaura, Ian, Nasser, Aslan, Yuki, Emily, Rohan, Rin, and Naira.
Ten in total.
Erik’s gaze moved to the first match.
“Match One is between someone named Mugi and a dark elf named Sengata.”
“Yeah. She’s the only mage player who survived. And this guy’s apparently a member of the Guard.”
But Erik let Rosa’s explanation go in one ear and out the other, his gaze already fixed on the spot where Ian’s name was written.
“This person comes out fourth. Her opponent is… Malakor?”
“From what I heard, he’s a dark elf with the title of defense captain. Looks like she ran into a big shot right from the start, huh?”
Rosa smiled brightly, and Erik stuck out his lip before pointing at Emily’s name.
“What about you? Isn’t this person in danger too?”
“No. This one’s just a guard. And his weapon’s a bow, so she’ll probably win easily.”
“What kind of bracket is this?”
They were passing the time arguing over the bracket like that when—
-Waaaaah!
A burst of cheers drew the attention of both of them.
“Huh? Looks like the match is starting.”
Before they knew it, Mugi and Sengata were standing inside the arena, pointing their weapons at each other.
Soon after, the announcer’s voice rang out.
“Birth Festival Tournament main round, Round of 32, Match One. We will now begin!”
At the starting signal, light gathered around Sengata’s spear.
His figure rapidly closed in on Mugi.
Mugi calmly thrust her staff forward.
After the boss battle the other day, her staff proficiency had reached 300, granting her a new spell.
Basic Magic Skill, Third Circle Fire Magic.
Area defense technique.
“Fire Wall!”
A wall of flame rose from the ground, blocking Sengata’s path.
Sengata flinched at the scorching heat.
Mugi did not miss the opening, and a sphere of flame appeared above her head.
“Fireball!”
Mugi’s magic surged forward.
-Bababang!
Mugi’s barrage of fireballs continued without pause.
‘I can’t give him an opening.’
She recalled the experience of yesterday’s practice.
The people who had closed in fiercely the moment she showed even the slightest gap.
And no matter how hard she tried, there were almost no ways for a mage to defeat a warrior in close combat.
So she could not rest.
Her staff continued spewing flames.
But.
‘He’s too fast!’
Her magic kept missing Sengata.
Even when she predicted his path in advance and cast her spells, he quickly escaped the trajectory of the flames.
‘At this rate, my mana will run out first.’
In fact, Sengata’s eyes were constantly watching Mugi.
Waiting for the moment when her mana would eventually hit bottom.
In the end, the longer the fight dragged on, the worse it was for Mugi.
To overturn this situation, she needed to make a decision.
Either use a spell stronger than what she had now, or throw a gamble.
But she did not possess powerful magic like Damar, the dark elf archmage.
Meaning it was impossible to turn the current situation around with magic alone.
In other words, now was the time to gamble.
‘I don’t want to lose.’
With her timid personality, she did not particularly like gambling.
Given a choice, she was the sort of person who would choose the stable option most of the time.
But she, too, was a gamer, and here, she was one of the top players.
Even if she ended up losing, she did not want to show such an unsightly performance.
No—she wanted to win, no matter what.
‘If I were that person…’
The face that came to mind in that instant was not Emily’s, but the person who used magic at the very forefront.
Mugi’s eyes flashed.
Having made up her mind, she dispelled the wall of flame and stepped toward the enemy before her.
Sengata’s eyes widened at Mugi’s sudden action.
By his common sense, he could not understand her intention.
But now that the deluge of magic had disappeared, this was a perfect chance for him to seize victory.
His hesitation was brief.
Sengata stamped his foot, and his spear surged toward the charging Mugi.
“Drive!”
Sengata’s spear rushed toward Mugi’s eyes along with a crimson trajectory.
A chilling sensation shot up her spine.
In most cases, a mage could not defeat a warrior in close combat.
However, through yesterday’s sparring, Mugi had found her own answer.
And now, she would bring that answer into reality.
Basic Magic Skill, Second Circle Ice Magic.
Single-target debuff.
Mugi opened her eyes wide and thrust her staff forward.
“Frostbite!”
Mugi’s magic fired from a distance where dodging was impossible.
Cold flowers of ice bloomed on Sengata’s hands and feet.
Frostbite—an ice spell whose damage itself was not outstanding, but which had the effect of greatly reducing the opponent’s movement for a short time.
‘I can see it!’
Sengata’s spear, which had been approaching quickly, slowed noticeably.
It would soon regain its original speed, but that single strike was slow enough for even Mugi, whose Agility stat was low, to dodge.
She twisted her waist and head, avoiding the spear.
It grazed her cheek and sent droplets of blood flying, but Mugi ignored the pain and pressed her staff against his side as if stabbing him with a spear.
Sengata’s eyes went round.
‘This won’t work twice.’
If she failed to bring him down this time, he would never fall for such a shallow trick again.
So she had to take him down now.
Mana gathered at the tip of Mugi’s staff.
“Fireball!”
-Kwabang!
A bombardment of flame erupted at point-blank range.
Together with the surging flames, thick smoke rose and swallowed the two of them.
Everyone watching held their breath.
The result was impossible to predict.
All they could do was wait for the smoke to clear.
At last, a gentle wind blew through.
And the one who appeared from within the fading smoke was…
“Haa, haa…”
The player mage, Mugi.
With the unconscious Sengata before her, her entire body covered in soot, she was desperately holding herself up with her staff.
“T-That was insane…”
Starting with Rosa’s exclamation, applause spread here and there, celebrating her victory.
The end of the first match of the Round of 32.
The atmosphere was more heated than ever before.
***
After the first match ended.
I did not watch the second match and went straight to Miss Mugi’s waiting room.
There, the battered Miss Mugi was receiving treatment from healers.
I did not know whether it was a type of magic or not, but seeing the wounds on her body healing rapidly, it did not seem like there was any need to worry too much.
Still, there was something I absolutely wanted to say.
“No, seriously. Wasn’t that way too reckless?”
It was not exactly my place to talk, but the attack Miss Mugi showed at the very end had been practically a gamble.
Even though it had not been my match, I had found myself holding my breath while watching.
And Emily and Naira were the same.
Emily in particular scolded Miss Mugi with an expression full of anger.
“Exactly. You could have done it a little more safely. Do you really want to make your unnie’s heart drop?”
“Right, right. If you hype up the atmosphere like that, how are the people after you supposed to fight?”
“Naira!”
“I’m kidding, kidding. Seriously, you won’t even let me joke.”
“Do you think this is the time for jokes?”
Watching the two of them bicker like that, Mugi, who was still receiving treatment, gave a faint smile.
“I-I’m okay. Actually, if I hadn’t done that, I think I would’ve regretted it…”
“Even so…”
“Come on, Unnie. Are we children? She did it because she had her own thoughts.”
“If she thinks twice, I’m going to die, you little brats.”
And so Emily and Naira began fighting in earnest once again.
Mugi, who had been watching the scene with a fed-up expression, turned his gaze to me.
“Um…”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll be looking forward to your next match.”
I never imagined Mugi would be cheering me on.
In that case, I ought to give him an answer too.
I lifted the corners of my mouth in a playful grin at him.
“What, are you trying to pressure me?”
“N-no, that’s not…”
Flustered by my teasing, Mugi’s face turned as red as a carrot in an instant.
He was cuter than I’d expected—enough to make me want to keep teasing him.
But.
“Don’t expect too much, though.”
I said with a shrug.
“Because I’m going to end it quickly.”
“Huh?”
“Then I’ll head out first.”
After leaving Mugi’s waiting room, I didn’t return to my own but headed for the arena.
My match was fourth.
Since a roar of cheers had already rung out once, it was about time for my match to come up.
When I reached the entrance, another thunderous shout from the audience burst out from the arena.
It seemed the third match had been decided.
As I waited for the staff member’s signal, I saw a familiar face coming out of the arena.
“Shaura? The third match was yours?”
“Hoho, aren’t you a little too uninterested?”
I gave an awkward smile and avoided his gaze.
Honestly, I’d only been focused on my own match, so I hadn’t cared who he was fighting.
“So, did you win?”
“Of course. This body is not so easily dealt with.”
He won, huh…
Then my opponent in the round of sixteen would be Shaura.
Shaura probably knew that fact very well too.
“So, Ian, make sure you win as well.”
Shaura had come up to me before I knew it, and his hand patted my shoulder.
“Because there is something I must prove to you.”
With resolve written across his face, he left my side and returned to the waiting room.
For a long while, I watched his back as it grew farther away.
“You need to enter now.”
“Yes. I’ll go right in.”
Only after the staff member’s voice reached me did I shake off my stray thoughts and step into the arena.
There stood a tigerkin with a body as massive as a bear.
“Oh! So you’re the human called Ian, the one the humans were looking for. Glad to meet you. I am Malakor, captain of the guard.”
And Malakor held out his hand to me.
I gripped that hand very tightly.
“I’m Ian.”
“Ho, you’re a pricklier woman than I expected.”
“Well, that can’t be helped.”
From the moment the matchups had been decided, I had come here intending to do this.
I took a necklace from my clothes and showed it to him.
“Th-that’s?!”
Malakor’s eyes widened at the sight of the necklace.
It seemed he knew what it was, which made things simple.
“I received this from Kalinia. I’m something of an honorary scout, you see.”
And he was none other than the captain of the guard.
As a scout, and as Kalinia’s friend, I had a duty to smash him.
So.
“I’ll apologize in advance.”
Putting the necklace away again, I pointed my sword at Malakor.
“Because this won’t be very fun for you.”