Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game

The last match of the top 16.

“Team 15, Team 16, move to your respective positions.”

Upon Hong Daye’s call, Lee Jinhyuk suddenly turned his head.

Outside the duel arena, numerous students were spectating. Some were leisurely cooling down with sports drinks, while others were carefully observing Yoo Seolhyun.

Yoo Seolhyun, being the descendant of the Spear Phantom and ranked seventh among the newcomers, was a figure of special attention. Even Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan, who had shown little interest in other matches, were quietly watching.

Lee Jinhyuk casually scanned the stands, and then, as he was gulping down water, his gaze met Jin Soyeon’s. In the midst of thinking how even her drinking water seemed graceful, she blinked her large eyes, pulled her lips from the bottle, and cheered for him with a broad smile, shouting words of encouragement.

“You’re not planning to embarrass yourself in the first match, are you? Show them what you promised! Lee Jinhyuk, fighting!”

“Ah, right.”

Had he ever received such enthusiastic support from a beauty in his past school days?

As a man, it wasn’t a bad feeling, but Lee Jinhyuk could only respond with a slightly awkward smile.

After all, continued displays of overly familiar behavior would be perfect fodder for rumors.

…Of course, Lee Jinhyuk had offered his support as well.

“Was Lee Jinhyuk acting like that just now? Are they really broken up?”

“They claim to be childhood friends. Doesn’t seem like a bad breakup.”

“Even so, that level of closeness… Aren’t they practically dating?”

“Gasp! Could it be Jin Soyeon is stringing along both Lee Siwoon and Lee Jinhyuk?”

“Does her face justify that?”

Ah, as expected.

The girls were buzzing with curiosity, jealousy, envy, and dissatisfaction. They couldn’t help but dislike seeing Jin Soyeon, freshly single, seemingly cozying up to the wealthy young master Lee Siwoon. Of course, Jin Soyeon probably didn’t care at all.

“Hey, Lee Jinhyuk.”

As the members of Teams 15 and 16 began moving toward the duel arena,

“Weren’t you nearly last in the qualifying ranks?”

Han Dongwon, the leader of Team 15, prodded Lee Jinhyuk with a snide tone.

“Why did Yoo Seolhyun and Sunari even choose you as a teammate?”

“Who knows?”

“I’m envious, Jinhyuk. You’re going to mooch off easy wins.”

“Would be nice if it actually were a cinch.”

Chortling, Han Dongwon suddenly revealed a smug, mocking smile.

“Anyway, thanks. Because of you, it seems we’ll win.”

He patted Lee Jinhyuk on the shoulder.

“Without a weak link like you, it would have been a challenge against the formidable Yoo Seolhyun and Sunari.”

The cheap provocation didn’t suit Lee Jinhyuk’s temperament; he also let out a sardonic laugh.

“I’m thankful, too.”

“Huh?”

“Because your Team 15 is ‘again’ a team.”

Sincerely, it was fortunate.

Han Dongwon, Oh Seongwoon, Ko Mirae – that the three of you are on the same team. Just like in the game.

“Hey, Han Dongwon. Zip it.”

Suddenly, Sunari, with her pigtails fluttering, glared fiercely at Han Dongwon.

“It’s really annoying how much you’re whining when you’re barely ranked in the 90s.”

“What?”

Startled, Han Dongwon quivered at Sunari’s sharp retort.

“You and him are cut from the same cloth, pretending to be tough is just pathetic.”

“Did well on the entrance exam and think the world revolves around you?”

“If you’re jealous, you should’ve done better, Mr. Rank 90.”

“That’s the real deal.”

As the tension escalated, Hong Daye, who had been yawning lazily, waved her hand dismissively.

“Enough with the useless banter. Move to your positions already.”

Quelled by Hong Daye’s intervention, Han Dongwon and Sunari glared at each other before abruptly turning away and heading toward the arena.

Thus, Teams 15 and 16 moved to opposite ends of the duel arena.

“Don’t worry about his taunts.”

“Huh?”

Lee Jinhyuk was caught off guard by Sunari’s unexpected comment and scratched his chin.

“I’d be more worried about you.”

“What?”

Sunari, shooting an annoyed glance that seemed childish, received a nonchalant response from Lee Jinhyuk.

“Anyway, thanks for caring. Normally you’re just grumbling.”

“Pfft. As if I’m worried. The exams are right around the corner. I don’t want your focus going off and messing things up!”

Sunari wasn’t inherently mean-spirited, though her constant grumbling was an issue.

“Anyway, Han Dongwon’s provocation saying you’re the weak link of Team 16 was deliberate, so don’t stress it.”

“Huh?”

“It helped me be more certain of their tactics. Thanks to that, our match will be a bit easier.”

Both teams arrived at their respective ends of the arena.

“Are you all ready?”

Hong Daye looked back and forth between the teams, then suddenly deployed a circular protective barrier around the arena with her remote.

“Let’s stick to the plan, just like we discussed.”

“Heh, I’ll be looking forward to your strategy.”

“If it fails, Lee Jinhyuk, you know you’re dead meat.”

Yoo Seolhyun gripped her spear tightly with a smirk, while Sunari, ever grumbling, assumed her combat stance.

Team 15, likewise prepared for battle, glared menacingly at us.

“Both teams, ready.”

At the signal from Hong Daye,

“3, 2, 1… Begin!”

Our first match commenced.

***

Han Dongwon was ranked 91st among the Union Academy newcomers, a prodigy who had been famous since middle school.

His supernatural ability was acceleration and deceleration: the power to control the speed of objects.

Suddenly, he could adjust them from 1 to 100 or from 100 to 1. This peculiarity made it easy to combine with other abilities, yielding unexpected synergy.

For example…

“Are you ready? Firing now.”

“Go ahead, fire!”

Ko Mirae pulled back the bowstring with all her might. When released, the arrow flew like a beam of light.

Whoosh!

The arrow approached in a blink of an eye. As it launched, Yoo Seolhyun dashed toward the center. Then the arrow, wrapped in a bluish magic, skimmed past Yoo Seolhyun, baring its icy fangs toward Lee Jinhyuk.

‘Targeting the weakest is the basic rule of mercenaries.’

Lee Jinhyuk seemed to have anticipated this, having prepared a shield in advance and crouched down, but it was futile.

Because the true target of the arrow was never him to begin with.

‘…Or so they wanted to make Jinhyuk think as they grazed him. The real target is Yoo Seolhyun.’

The arrow, which almost reached Jinhyuk, made a sudden U-turn and surged towards Yoo Seolhyun’s back.

Thanks to Ko Mirae’s ability.

She had the supernatural ability to control the trajectory of projectiles.

“Yoo Seolhyun!”

“…!”

At Lee Jinhyuk’s shout, Yoo Seolhyun glanced back.

But even if she noticed, what could she do?

“Now, Oh Seongwoon.”

“Okay.”

Oh Seongwoon activated his ability, and the single arrow split into several.

His supernatural power, Illusion Multiplication, allowed him to apply illusions to objects, creating several duplicates. The duplicates couldn’t cause damage, but it was difficult for the opponent to distinguish between the real and the illusionary, creating a dilemma.

Several arrows converged on Yoo Seolhyun, who quickly adjusted her spear to defend. It was impossible to tell which arrow was real among them.

Yoo Seolhyun had to choose.

Which of the several arrows would she defend against?

‘Where will Yoo Seolhyun focus her defense?’

Arrows aimed at the head, neck, chest, abdomen, legs.

Humans trained for a long time instinctively protect vital points in sudden situations.
Hence, the head, neck, chest, and abdomen were feints.

Team 15 had been aiming for Yoo Seolhyun’s legs from the start.

Her mobility was the target.

With the main goal of the test being flag capture, if the melee dealer Yoo Seolhyun injured her leg, she would pose less of a threat.

‘Even if you’re lucky and try to protect your legs, it’s no use, Yoo Seolhyun.’

Han Dongwon had imbued the arrow with his supernatural ability.
Acceleration and deceleration.

‘If I suddenly slow down the fast-moving arrow with my ability… No matter how physically adept she is, she’ll miss it due to the surprise. The power will be reduced, but…’

This is a common tactic in baseball.

Throw a series of fastballs at 140 km/h and then suddenly switch to 110 km/h, and the batter’s timing is off.

A sudden change in speed allowed for an offbeat attack.

Speed shift, Illusion Multiplication, Trajectory Adjustment.

The first strike, combining these three supernatural abilities, could arguably catch even active heroes off guard.

In fact, when Han Dongwon tested it with a hero he knew, they were hit without being able to react.

Yoo Seolhyun, no matter how gifted, was just a student like the rest.

Unaware of the upcoming strike, she was bound to get hit…?

“Ah. That startled me.”

As if slightly surprised, Yoo Seolhyun swung her spear and deftly struck down the arrow targeting her right leg. The arrow spun aimlessly in mid-air before falling to the ground. The illusionary arrows faded.

“How… how did she block that?!”

They had never seen this combination before, yet she stopped it?
A technique that worked even on active heroes?
Is she even human?

“…It really went just like Lee Jinhyuk said.”

Yoo Seolhyun, the one who blocked it, appeared dumbfounded.
She had been skeptical, after all. Who would have thought?

“Darn it, guys! I’ll keep Yoo Seolhyun in check, Oh Seongwoon, you take on Sunari. Ko Mirae, take down Lee Jinhyuk quickly!”

“Got it!”

“Ah, they blocked it.”

Yoo Seolhyun glanced at Lee Jinhyuk and Sunari before stepping forward to engage Han Dongwon, and Sunari raised her fists slowly, charging towards Oh Seongwoon. Though Seongwoon’s combat ability paled in comparison to Sunari’s, he could keep her at bay for a while with his illusions.

Then, Ko Mirae approached Lee Jinhyuk.

She was an archer, skilled at curved shots with Trajectory Adjustment.

Lee Jinhyuk, also an archer, stood little chance against her. It’s difficult to dodge arrows coming from various trajectories.

Therefore…

“Wow, what’s with you, man?”

“Why? Never seen a shield before?”

“No, you idiot! Why the hell are you carrying two shields? You think you’re a turtle?”

“Are you disrespecting the dual-shield style?”

Like a hardcore action game called ElO Ring, I wielded two shields to block Ko Mirae’s arrows.

Two shields mean double the defense? Well, that’s a joke, but still.

“You’re really something else!”

Ko Mirae fired arrows rapidly.

Despite the beautiful arch they made, they were futile against the massive dual shields. As Jinhyuk slowly advanced, protected by the shields, Ko Mirae frowned.

“Keep it up and see how long you last!”

“Yeah, it’s starting to get tough.”

No matter the dual shields, blocking all the arrows was impossible.

Furthermore, the impact from the arrows coated in magic was tremendous, as they pounded on the shields like blunt weapons.

“Clearly, I can’t win one-on-one. Didn’t realize it’d be this tough to defend.”

“Hey, are you about to break?”

Cracks began to form on the shields.

Ko Mirae imbued a heavy dose of magic into the bowstring.

If she could just break that guy’s shields, she’d soon take him down. Then, while the rest distracted Yoo Seolhyun and Sunari, she could snatch the flag.

“But this is a team battle, a team battle.”

“So what?”

“Check your back.”

“Don’t think I’ll fall for that…”

Suddenly, Ko Mirae sensed movement behind her.

“Hey, Lee Jinhyuk. Why are you telling her that?”

“What?!”

She reflexively looked behind her, only to see Sunari with her fist raised high.

No way.

Did she already take down Oh Seongwoon?

Taking down Seongwoon, with his Illusion Multiplication, so quickly was practically impossible!

Yet there he was, foaming at the mouth, completely down for the count.

“Wait a sec!”

“Ignoring you, bye.”

Ignoring the desperate shout, Sunari swung her petite fist.

It was like a little middle school kid throwing a tantrum punch at his older sister.

However, Ko Mirae, feeling a threat to her life like a high school girl in danger, hastily raised her bow to defend, but with a thunderous crash, the bow shattered.

“You’re insane! You Godzilla woman!”

“Really want to die, huh?”

Then, as Sunari delivered a follow-up blow not quite calibrated, Ko Mirae, struck in the ribs, rolled several meters before clutching her side gasping.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

“Oops, my bad. Who told you to spout nonsense?”

It seemed like her ribs might be cracked.

Thanks to the armor, the damage was limited, but without it, several ribs might have snapped like twigs.

‘Seriously, her ability is brutal every time I see it.’

Sunari’s physical enhancement ability was simple but highly effective, as seen. The power was formidable and threatening, making her excellent as a tank and a dealer.

“Argh!”

Clang! A sword spun in the air before falling.

Following the sound, there stood Yoo Seolhyun, calmly, and Han Dongwon, gasping and collapsed, having lost his sword.

Han Dongwon panted heavily, muttering in disbelief.

“All this difference between you and me?”

“Well~”

With a seductive voice and a slight grin, Yoo Seolhyun gently bit her lip.

“You know you have a habit of rolling your right foot or clutching your left hand when retaliating or using big moves?”

“What?”

“That made it easy to predict your attacks.”

“How did you know?”

A quick glance from Lee Jinhyuk, and Yoo Seolhyun kindly responded.

“We have a pretty decent supporter on our team.”

“Lee Jinhyuk? He’s the reason? But how did he know…?”

“He must’ve been analyzing the training videos closely, huh?”

“No matter how much… how did he…?”

Han Dongwon murmured hopelessly as Yoo Seolhyun edged closer with her spear, asking casually with a smile.

“Are you going to keep going or surrender?”

“…”

Han Dongwon bit his lower lip.

His teammates were already wiped out.

He himself was disarmed and incapacitated.

There was virtually no chance for a comeback.

“…I surrender.”

“What? Can’t hear you. What did you say?”

“I said I surrender!”

With a huff, Han Dongwon shouted, and upon hearing his words, Hong Daye blew the whistle.

Peep!

“Team 15 has expressed their intent to surrender… Team 16 wins!”

Victory was declared without capturing a flag.

The first match concluded just as Lee Jinhyuk had anticipated.

“Wow… it actually worked?”

Lee Jinhyuk was left admiring the results in solitude.

Memories of a past life… absolutely golden.