NOVEL NEXT Chapter 521
[‘Brazil Killer Love Kim’ advances to the Round of 16, will the next opponent also be Brazil?]
[NoName and Kim Love advance to Round of 16 together. “Tied with the USA.”]
[Asian players meet again in the stadium… Korean, Chinese, and Japanese viewers feel choked up.]
As soon as the match ended, articles poured out like mushrooms after rain.
This year, Love Kim had never struggled against Brazil in the evaluation matches.
And as expected, she led the game to victory step by step based on her overwhelming aura output.
[We declare that Love Isabel Kim won the match between Group H’s 1st place and Group G’s 2nd place.]
“Waaaaah!”
Once the referee confirmed the final result, we could finally relax and celebrate our victory to our heart’s content.
Brazilian fans started to rise from their seats and leave the stadium.
While Love Kim prepared for the interview, two screens appeared simultaneously on the scoreboard.
One was a highlight of Love Kim finishing with a sonic boom.
And the other was the 112th match of the National Exchange Tournament happening at the same time, marking the final match of the 32-team stage.
“Oh, I should have gone to cheer for them! I bought the wrong tickets.”
“It’s okay as long as one of us makes it.”
Brazilian fans climbing the stairs looked back regretfully.
“Na-me!”
“Oh.”
Love, dressed up for the interview, walked toward our area.
I leaned over the outer fence, placing my belly on it, and took her hand.
“You came to cheer! I heard from Coach you were here during halftime. I was looking for you for a long time.”
“Congrats on making it to the Round of 16. You prepared well for today’s match.”
“Yeah! There’s nothing better than this Taekwondo kick against Capoeira. Yaap yaap!”
Love demonstrated her impressive kicking with her legs swinging gracefully towards the sky.
Just when I thought how lucky I was to have such long legs .
“Huh? Na-me, is that Love down here? Waah, Kim Love! I’m a fan!”
Saetbyeol dashed out without looking where she was going.
Thud-!
Saetbyeol, hit on the forehead by Love’s foot, fell back.
“Ah…! Are you okay?”
Startled by the unexpected accident, Love covered her mouth with both hands.
After a while, Saetbyeol stood up, barely holding on to the railing, dazed.
“I-I’m fine, hehe. Seeing you in person is so dazzling I can hardly see in front of me—”
“You don’t look fine at all.”
“Don’t mind me, hurry and go do your interview.”
“Apologies, Na-me Unni! I’ll definitely apologize properly later when I’m less busy!”
With Saetbyeol lying on the floor, I noticed Hiroyuki fidgeting anxiously nearby.
“Ugh, at least help her up.”
I escorted Saetbyeol back to her seat and took care of her swollen forehead.
“Hehe, Na-me Unni, I’m so hurt.”
[Simple Magic Spell: Heat Transfer – Conduction]
I placed a magic circle on my palm and carefully set it on her forehead.
“Wah, it’s cold!”
“Please don’t fidget and just stay still. You made it drop!”
“Na-me seems to get along well with her sister.”
With a smile, Ruohan said this, and I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
“Sigh… Without me, Saetbyeol Unni would probably end up dead on the street.”
“How dare you curse such a heavenly Unni like that!”
“Keep that magic circle on for exactly 10 minutes.”
“Ugh!”
I slapped her forehead lightly and returned my focus to Love’s interview.
I thought I should borrow some of her good comments here and there.
Meanwhile, Narita Mei, who was watching a U.S. talk show on her phone,
Pulled on my sleeve and said,
“Na-me, look at this. It seems Murphy is trying to predict the match results from the Round of 16 to the finals.”
“Is it live?”
“Yes!”
“Eh? That old man is back again? At this point, it seems like he enjoys getting hate.”
Hiroyuki crossed his arms, showing his discontent.
When talking about Murphy, it was indeed former U.S. Secretary of State Yulisis Murphy.
A legend of the magical duels and the person who laid the groundwork for the National Exchange Tournament.
Now, he had declared the U.S. would join the tournament again this year.
He always received attention from people worldwide every season.
“Is this the start of Murphy’s curse?”
[In my opinion, this year’s main candidates for the National Exchange Tournament are…]
As the phrase “curse” suggests, his predictions are notoriously known to go the opposite way.
*
The next day.
I saw off the Narita siblings and Ruohan at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Being part of the national team means that continuing to stay unnecessarily would make it a waste of taxpayer money.
Therefore, returning to our home country is mandatory for now.
For Hiroyuki, who looked too disappointed, I arranged a 5-minute video call with Saetbyeol.
“Hiroyuki, if you have time, help Ruohan with searching for people.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Just a suggestion. Oh, by the way, I’ll make sure to tell Saetbyeol Unni never to contact you again.”
“Wait a minute! At least tell me why I should help or who we’re looking for!”
“Are you going to help me, Hiroyuki? If you just find them, I will absolutely never forget this favor.”
“Do I really have to think about it? sigh”
“Wow, a trip to China sounds fun! Ruohan is going to be our guide; what’s the problem? Hiroyuki, let’s go too!”
And so, the kids I met at the National Exchange Tournament left for their respective dreams in the eastern lands.
Upon returning to my accommodation, it was 3 PM, and it felt awkward to invite anyone to lunch.
In the dimly lit restaurant where all the lights were out,
I peeked into the kitchen and asked the resting chef.
“Can I take this?”
“Huh? Sure, NoName player! Would you like it all boxed up?”
“Oh no, just a bite-sized piece.”
I brought French toast and pulled rotis (grilled chicken) from the restaurant into my lock & lock container.
“Is it too cold?”
While poking my fork at the meat, I realized this wasn’t the texture I had wanted.
“I guess I’ll need to microwave it for a few minutes.”
Then it hit me—yesterday’s match prediction talk show that Mei had watched.
I turned on the broadcast and played Kariri’s opening song to gather people.
[♬: Reverse Jinx / Kariri Cover]
Today’s content fits perfectly with this song.
[No Name]
[Just Chatting – Just a Cute Lunch]
[Broadcasting Time – 0:05:14]
[Number of Viewers – 18,956]
Kyahhhh! Japanese song, stop it!!!
I’m getting dizzy since I haven’t heard this in a while, haha.
Why is this getting 15 million views…? Is the world going to end?
That’s a profound title, Teacher.
Congrats on reaching the Round of 16!!!
GoGo cute lunch?
Isn’t it difficult for Na-me to regulate her diet? T_T
Ding-!
With the sound of the microwave, the song ended.
“Ouch… that’s hot. Phew phew.”
I blew on the food until the steam dissipated, cautiously carrying the side dish to the table.
“Bon appétit! This is something called pulled roti, a French dish. It’s just chicken breast.”
Isn’t it just chicken?
Isn’t it chicken breast? It just makes me sad when you call it chicken breast.
Please keep the social function of language intact.
Is that chicken the same as the chicken over there? Haha.
Isn’t lunch a bit too scarce? It’s embarrassing for a national representative.
[‘Majangdong Swordmaster’ donated 5,000 won!]
Na-me can’t even eat like this, what makes us think we can enjoy luxury?
“Don’t insult our chicken. Chicken, close your ears. You’re not the one to hear such things.”
Chop-chop—
I cut the chicken breast into manageable pieces with my knife and popped a morsel into my mouth.
Viewers were in shock.
“It’s not that lunch is scant, but I intended to skip it. I thought I’d just grab something from the restaurant instead. By the way, have you all seen the Round of 16 matchup? I turned on the broadcast to talk about that.”
Wiping my mouth with a napkin, I spoke gracefully.
Wow, two from Korea!
Just a month ago, they said 12 from Europe would advance, but look at it now, haha.
Damn, it’s Na-me again. I have to worship her.
Mr. Murphy is on again, haha.
Mr.? He’s now a Grandpa.
Since it’s not okay to predict only America winning, he predicts alongside Germany like a real man.
“I watched that show too.”
Yulisis Murphy’s top choice, deemed overwhelmingly favored, is still Nathan Chen.
He hasn’t let his barrier drop below 50% in any matches to date.
On the opposite bracket, he chose between Japan’s Katsuhata Emika and Germany’s Aaron Krüger, settling on the latter.
“However, if you think about it, Murphy’s curse can be a bit unjust. After all, the probability of being wrong when predicting the overall winner is quite high. I mean, a non-American can’t just bad-mouth saying America won’t win, right? I mean, at least I’ve seen him get many right.”
But wouldn’t he rather enjoy bad-mouthing? Haha.
For real, LOL.
Murphy’s blessing, haha.
It’s just for fun.
But when it matters, the curse seems to kick in even harder, leaving a mark on people’s memories.
I displayed the Round of 16 draw on a hologram and maximized the window size.
Left:
⦁ Argentina (Giselle Fischer) vs Italy (Monica Ricci)
⦁ USA (Nathan Chen) vs Estonia (Rasmus Jani)
⦁ Republic of Korea (NoName) vs Saudi Arabia (Suphian Omar Hakim)
⦁ Sweden (Oliver Larson) vs USA (Cecilia Nieto de Sampaio)
Right:
⦁ Switzerland (Lukas Schmid) vs Kazakhstan (Alihan Kazenov)
⦁ Brazil (Theodore Rodriguez) vs Republic of Korea (Kim Isabel Love)
⦁ Japan (Katsuhata Emika) vs South Africa (Solani Malangu)
⦁ Germany (Aaron Krüger) vs Australia (Caleb Ryan)
“So Murphy has predicted that America, me, Switzerland, and Germany will reach the semifinals? The finals would be between America and Germany, with America winning?”
Honestly, Na-me should head to the finals.
But if you just pick the overwhelmingly favored candidates, you can’t complain when they lose.
No matter what, Emika was last year’s champion; that’s too downplaying.
I guess it’s because they struggled against China and Egypt in the group stages.
Have England, Spain, and Portugal really vanished? Legendary LOL.
[‘Song Hee33’ donated 10,000 won!]
Na-me! Na-me! Who do you think will win between Italy and the USA?
It turns out people are all raving over this game, calling it a preview of the finals.
Europa Champion Monica Ricci and the absolute powerhouse Nathan Chen.
Regardless of who comes up, I’ll probably smash their heads anyway.
At this point, I have no idea why that matters.
“But don’t those two need to both reach the Top 8 to meet?”
Gasp!
Damn?
Gasp!
Wow.
Feeling a rebellious spirit rise up, I put my bet against the odds.
America vs Estonia is too one-sided in terms of strength.
“Hmmm… but I think Giselle Fischer has enough to beat Italy. That’s what I’m thinking.”
[‘Lazy Na-me’ donated 10,000 won!]
Na-me loves Messi’s country to the point of winning awards.
[‘MadeoveridH’ donated 5,000 won!]
Hey Na-me, aren’t you two a thing, aren’t you?! Haha.
“No, seriously, I don’t even know Ms. Fischer. I just think she’s a talented player.”
Objectively, Monica Ricci is in a favorable position, but it’s impossible to determine results in a duel, as it all depends on the player’s conditions on the match day.
I briefly reviewed each of the players who made it to the Round of 16 and then dove into the main topic of predictions.
I stuffed the last toast into my mouth and swallowed.
“I don’t put much meaning into predictions, so let’s speed through this: On the left side, Top 8 will be Argentina, USA, Korea, USA, Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan, Germany.”
Last time I saw, America’s 3rd seeds were pretty weak. Aren’t they just 14 years old?
You’re really betting against Kazakhstan? That’s a bad move.
No matter how much Love Kim struggles, she’ll smash Brazil.
Japan vs Germany is a real godly match-up.
Awww, Argentina, lol.
“The semifinals will be the USA, me, Korea, and Japan.”
Why does Na-me sound so cool when she says ‘me’?
Wow…
The two from semifinals is basically a national holiday.
So that’s three girls and three Asians? Haha.
I’ll pick America, Na-me, Switzerland, and Germany.
Japan vs Germany is going to be tough.
Is Katsuhata Emika out?
“Let’s make the finals Korea vs Korea then. Sounds good?”
[‘Da-yeon’s Super High Performance Cutie AI’ donated 300,000 won!]
Na-me will win.
“Hmm, why are you stating the obvious? It’s just a sore point… Ouch! Ahh…!”
???
Gasp! What happened?
Is it Murphy’s curse hitting Na-me too?
“Are you okay?”
“Did you bite your tongue?”
I hopped down from my chair and bounced on the floor.
A tingling pain permeated my brain.
I grimaced harshly, rubbing my cheek with my hand.
“I’m trying not to bite inside my mouth…”
It really was one of those days where nothing goes right.