Chapter 9 – Rule 6. The Leader Excludes Attention Seekers (2)

 

 

 

The day of the duel arrived.

 

I submitted the duel application to the school and brought along a healer. They were waiting right in front of the dueling arena.

 

Naturally, the duel between me and the Sindo-rim Swordmaster caused quite a stir. There were so many students from Ahsung High School that the spectator seats were overflowing.

 

I figured this out by watching the live broadcast on JTube.

 

‘140,000 viewers…!?

 

What the hell is this…?’

 

I expected a lot of spectators, but I didn’t expect it to be this many….

 

The live broadcast on ShinsoTV had nearly 140,000 viewers. The duel hadn’t even started yet, and neither Sindo-rim nor I had made an appearance, so the number of viewers was bound to surge once it began.

 

“All eyes are on us. Other schools will be watching too.”

 

Vice President Oh Baek-seo said while looking at his smartphone.

 

“The Disciplinary Committee Leader from Mayeon High is sponsoring this! That ‘Dark Cloud General’! Oh wow, even the Student Council President of Saein High is supporting us! Big names are backing both you and Shindo-rim!”

 

“I-Is that so…?”

 

Officer Ha Yesong laughed foolishly while looking at her smartphone.

 

‘Sponsorship? Why are they making it so obvious!?’

 

I felt like screaming. I never expected things to get this big.

 

The Disciplinary Committee Leader from Mayeon High?

 

The Student Council President of Saein High?

 

What’s next?

 

Is the Hanyang Federal Academy watching too?

 

“Leader! The Hanyang Federal Academy’s Student Council just posted in the chat! They’re wishing for a good duel!”

 

‘This is a complete disaster….’

 

There’s no way those guys are watching the duel with pure intentions.

 

They’re probably chomping on popcorn, drooling at the prospect of seeing the Disciplinary Committee Leader of Ahsung High’s weaknesses.

 

Proving my skills to the Disciplinary Committee is one thing.

 

But I didn’t like the idea of exposing my fighting style to other schools.

 

“Don’t they have anything better to do?”

 

“What does it matter, it’s great! You’re going to be so famous, Chief, hehe.”

 

Why are you so cheerful about this?

 

Before long, we arrived at the dueling arena. As expected, it was packed with people.

 

We stepped onto the arena amid cheers from the Ahsung High students. At the same time, a fireball flew in and landed right in front of me.

 

Whoosh!

 

Bang!

 

As the flames dispersed, a male student wearing a goblin mask appeared.

 

It was the Sindo-rim Swordmaster.

 

‘Impressive….’

 

I had to admit it.

 

Even before the duel started, I had lost in terms of ‘coolness’.

 

“Wow! Amazing!”

 

“Sindo-rim! Sindo-rim!”

 

“Sindo-rim! I love you!”

 

“Sindo-rim! Defeat the Leader!”

 

The students were ecstatic over Sindo-rim’s flashy entrance. Ha Yesong was no different. I couldn’t tell if she was on my side or not.

 

To think his mere entrance could drive people wild.

 

Is this what it means to be a JTuber?

 

Anyway, it was an utterly unpleasant sight.

 

Sindo-rim extended his arm towards the audience. Gradually, the students’ voices subsided.

 

Seeing him skillfully handle the crowd, I couldn’t help but think, ‘As expected of the Sindo-rim Swordmaster.’

 

“Leader, thank you sincerely for accepting my unreasonable request.”

 

Sindo-rim bowed politely.

 

‘So you knew it was an unreasonable request.’

 

Despite making such a fuss, he was at least polite about it.

 

“Phew.”

 

I let out a light breath to calm my emotions and put on my black gloves.

 

It was time to deal with this annoying guy.

 

“Name tag.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

I pointed to the name tag on my chest that read ‘Ahn Woo-jin.’

 

“Not wearing your name tag is a violation of school rules. I will deduct points for that. Challenging the Disciplinary Committee is clearly an act of interfering with official duties. You should be punished for that. Also, any profit made from this broadcast will be considered unlawful gains due to illegal activities and will be confiscated by the Disciplinary Committee.”

 

I stated the rules.

 

This was the nature of Academy City.

 

In this area governed by Ahsung High School, the school rules were as good as law.
While we must also consider the constitution, fairness, morality, and social justice, the rules I mentioned were valid for now.

 

“That’s…!”

 

Sindo-rim’s voice trembled.

 

“I apologize, but please overlook it for this duel! As a challenger, I want to have a match with you, man to man…!”

 

Perhaps it was the unexpected cold reality hitting him in the face, but Sindo-rim shouted at me, seemingly hoping I would understand his passionate challenge.

 

His attitude was highly displeasing.

 

He had a top-notch ability to act shamelessly.

 

Given how much attention our duel garnered, he’d be making a handsome amount of pocket money.

 

Naturally, he’d be greedy for profits aside from the duel itself.

 

Really… what a piece of work.

 

“You’re so selfish.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

I grabbed the brim of my hat and pressed it down slightly, glaring at Sindo-rim.

 

Even though I stood here under the pretext of a duel, what I was about to do was anything but a duel.

 

“You need some education.”

 

More like discipline.

 

“Vice President, why do you think I sponsored ShinsoTV?”

 

In the Disciplinary Committee office of Mayeon High School, Committee Leader Lee Je-ho asked his vice president while watching the live broadcast of ShinsoTV on a tablet.

 

“…I’m not interested.”

 

“……”

 

Lee Je-ho shot a glance at the vice president, clearly expecting a response. The vice president sighed silently and asked the question.

 

“Yes, Leader. Why did you sponsor them?”

 

“To make it known to Ahsung High that our Mayeon High’s Disciplinary Committee is watching.”

 

Lee Je-ho chuckled softly and adjusted his glasses.

 

“If the Sindo-rim Swordmaster turns out to be more skilled than expected and the Ahsung High Disciplinary Committee Leader struggles even a little, or even if he doesn’t struggle but it shows that their combat level is below ours?”

 

“In that case, it would imply that Mayeon High’s Disciplinary Committee is stronger than Ahsung High’s, and we can indirectly signal that we’ve noticed. Ultimately, we can gain an upper hand in everyday disputes.”

 

“……”

 

“Okay, I’ll refrain from explaining for you in the future.”

 

The vice president crushed Lee Je-ho’s plan of a self-question and answer session with a detailed response. Deprived of the chance to show his intellect, Lee Je-ho glared at the vice president once more.

 

“In any case… there’s a certain degree of power logic that comes into play between us. Since our ‘school districts’ are adjacent, we inevitably experience conflicts.”

 

In Academy City, the areas over which each school has jurisdiction are called ‘school districts.’

 

Since the school districts border each other, it has historically been common for incidents to lead to jurisdictional disputes.

 

Therefore, among large schools like Ahsung High, Mayeon High, and Saein High, some degree of power logic was inevitable.

 

Thus,

 

“If we see even a hint of a flaw in Ahsung High’s Disciplinary Committee Leader, he’ll become our prey.”

 

Lee Je-ho adjusted his glasses and smirked. A sly laugh escaped through the corners of his mouth.

 

The vice president responded dryly, “Yes….” He had no intention of stirring up conflicts with Ahsung High.

 

“It’s about to start.”