“S-save me…! Save me please!”

“Caught you…When?!”

“Wow…”

Just before Dorothy got caught by Amelia, Siwoo hurriedly picked up the threads he cut and tripped Amelia, eliciting an admiring voice from Arte.

He thought she would be annoyed rather than amazed.

“Ugh, wh-what the…! Let go! Ow, why is it so sturdy?! Arte! Make this a bit weaker!”

“That’s hard to do… Those are just threads. They aren’t supposed to…There, I cut it for you. Is that okay now?”

“Ah, she got away!”

Swish.

It was instantly cut by another thread.

It was easily cut by Siwoo’s sword last time, so it seemed weak to slashing attacks.

“Huff, hah… T-too much run…”

“Dorothy, no time to rest. Hurry.”

“Ah, okay! The scarecrow said: I want a brain. The wizard…”

“Ahahaha, sorry. Seems it won’t work a second time. An ability that strengthens allies… How rare!”

Ah, darn it.

They were found out.

…Well, Dorothy has to recite a unique line to activate her ability.

It’s so distinctive that it’s easy to notice if she does the same thing twice.

Still, they planned to use it at least twice before being found out…

Siwoo wiped his face with his hand, sensing things had already gone wrong.

Arte’s threads weren’t slow enough for Dorothy to dodge.

As expected, Dorothy was instantly bound by her threads and immobilized.

“Now then, you’re outnumbered, so what do you plan to do? You can admit defeat and forfeit if you want.”

“…”

“That’s great! Ahahaha, you can step down if you don’t want to look worse, Siwoo!”

The grinning faces of Arte and Amelia looked hatefully smug for some reason.

Yeah, that’s how it goes.

“Sorry, but it’s not like there’s no way…”

“…Alright, then show me that way you speak of.”

It can’t be helped now that it’s come to this.

‘I may not look like it, but I’m a man too. I can’t just sit still after being mocked this much.’

“I didn’t want to resort to this, but… Arte, you brought this upon yourself!”

“…Huh?”

“Come at me!”

***

I looked around anxiously.

Dorothy, neatly wrapped in thread, was stuck in the corner of the arena.

Amelia caught her breath with a flushed face.

My already-used threads scattered everywhere.

…And the protagonist, Siwoo, drenched in cold sweat.

[W-wow… To think he can go that far… As expected of the protagonist, amazing evasive maneuvers!]

Is this the time to be gazing at the protagonist in a trance?!

I got impatient and kicked the ground for no reason.

Hearing that sound, Amelia accelerated once more.

Having accelerated multiple times, Amelia, now fast enough to be invisible even to my eyes, charged at Siwoo.

With my thread wound around her neck.

“This time for sure, die!”

The threads placed around Siwoo instantly soaked up mana and tightened towards him.

…And failed again.

He focused on breaking through one part of the encircling threads and escaped the net.

“Amelia, die, you say. This is an exam. The goal is to subdue, not kill.”

“Aaargh, another failure?! Shut up! It’s because you keep running away like a coward! Arte, one more time!”

“…”

“Arte? What are you doing! …Is there a problem?! Should I go alone?!”

I’m in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime dilemma right now.

Amelia doesn’t seem to have noticed since she’s focused on Siwoo, but I’ve used up all the threads I tried to conserve as much as possible.

…In other words, I’m currently only wearing a leotard, school uniform, and jacket.

This is driving me crazy. What do I do?

The entire school is watching this match right now.

Of course, the spectator seats are far away for safety, so they can’t see clearly, but won’t the students slowly realize something is off?

Why are that person’s clothes damaged when they haven’t been attacked at all?

It’s a problem even if they don’t suspect it.

If I fight more here, my clothes or leotard.

I’ll have to give up one of the two.

Of course, assuming I can subdue him right away, using the leotard is the right call.

The leotard is worn under the uniform so it won’t be seen.

…But what if I still can’t catch him even after using up the leotard?

It’ll be a huge disaster. The moment that happens, my ability will be sealed.

But I can’t reveal the leotard in a place with so many eyes on me, either.

What, what should I…?!

“Eeek?!”

“Amelia, you know you don’t match up well.”

“So annoying!”

“Just learn to sit still already.”

[Ah, she’s caught. As expected, Amelia is at a disadvantage against Siwoo.]

This is bad.

Wh-what do I do…

While I was pondering for a moment, Amelia was subdued.

I think she asked me for help, but I was lost in thought and didn’t answer, so she must have gotten impatient and rushed in.

Amelia disrupts the opponent with incredible speed, but it doesn’t work on Siwoo.

It was impressive how he seemed to predict where Amelia would charge from, placing his sword in the path beforehand as if predicting her hit-and-run tactics.

Huh, but is that really Intuition?

Isn’t it about gaining an extra sense to make it easier to dodge attacks?

But just now, it looked like he already moved his sword to that path before Amelia even moved.

…Am I mistaken? It must be my imagination.

The Author said Siwoo’s ability is Intuition.

I must have seen it wrong because Amelia’s speed and Siwoo’s reaction were too fast.

“Arte. You’re the only one left.”

“…So it seems.”

Siwoo’s voice brought my mind back from momentary contemplation.

Right now isn’t the time to think about such trivial matters. There’s a more important problem left.

…How can I break through this terrible situation?

My mind started to go blank.

“Now the numbers are even, so what do you plan to do? You can admit defeat and forfeit if you want.”

“…”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what I heard.

…What did Siwoo just say?

Did he say I can admit defeat and forfeit?

Those lines were the lines I said earlier.

The lines I said when urging the protagonist to surrender.

Click.

I clearly realized why he was fired up after hearing my words.

Of course, that was my goal from the start, but suddenly, hearing those lines thrown back at me made my head feel like it was rushing with blood.

[R-Reader-nim… A-are you angry?]

Am I angry?

Of course. The words I said were returned right back at me.

I would admit defeat and lose, just as the protagonist said…!

“Ha, haha… That’s a good one.”

“Huh, uh…?”

“Since you’ve said that much, I suppose you’re prepared.”

The threads of the black leotard under my uniform began to unravel one by one, slowly creating a spider web in the arena.

I know very well I shouldn’t do this.

I know that if I make a mistake, I might end up showing skin in front of others…

I don’t care. It’ll work out somehow.

***

“Th-this isn’t right…?”

Siwoo looked at the threads Arte scattered all over the arena in shock.

This confirmed it. Arte’s ability is to use her own clothes like consumables.

As proof, her stockings and gloves were gone at some point.

Arte also started showing lukewarm movements at one point, so he made the suggestion after subduing Amelia.

‘…While throwing back the lines that pissed me off.’

He didn’t expect her to get this fired up. Arte had only shown me a leisurely side until now, so he thought she didn’t have much competitive spirit.

“Let’s see if you can dodge this too.”

He flinched at Arte’s eerily glowing eyes, but suddenly Siwoo remembered.

Gloves, gone.

Stockings, gone.

Clothes and jacket, untouched.

…Then where are these threads coming from now?

“Try dodging. If you can.”

Siwoo approached Arte while dodging the threads flying from all directions and sometimes striking them away.

The fight had already restarted. To beat Arte, he had to get somehow close to her.

But where are all these threads coming from…?

Siwoo looked at Arte with questioning eyes and finally noticed.

The black leotard, normally visible on Arte’s neck, was gone.

“N-no way…?”

“What are you staring at?”

Siwoo suddenly looked at the threads Arte deployed.

…He couldn’t tell the color. They all looked a faint blue, wrapped in mana.

“No, it can’t be. No matter how much you want to win, to do something like that…?”

Siwoo touched a thread stuck on his sword and brought it to his nose.

It was a fatal opening during the fight, but the exam was no longer important to Siwoo.

His mind was already filled with other thoughts.

“…What are you doing?”

A faint scent came from the thread.

A familiar smell.

When?

…The women’s changing room, inside Arte’s locker.

“Arte, you…”

“Yes?”

Siwoo looked at Arte with shocked eyes.

The leotard wasn’t visible on her neck.

And the scent he smelled before was faintly wafting from the thread cut by his sword.

‘…Th-this is.’

Siwoo realized.

Things will go very wrong if they keep fighting.

“Arte, let’s stop fighting–”

“What do you mean by that? You’re saying that you want me to give up after this?”

“N-no. That’s not it…!”

“…”

Arte started attacking me while manipulating the threads as if to say she was done waiting.

Even as he reflexively dodged her attacks, his mind spun, trying to figure out what to do.

Should I surrender?

Judging by her reaction, she thinks I’m trying to win by drawing out the battle. She’ll get angry then. It’ll be the same even if I lose on purpose.

‘But I’m weaker than Arte, so I can’t win.’

He was barely managing to dodge right now. Small cuts on his clothes appeared while thinking unnecessary thoughts…

…His clothes are getting torn?

“Ugh, I’ll have to buy a new uniform. This one was expensive…!”

“…?!”

Siwoo prayed inwardly.

Hoping she would understand what he meant.

“I surrender.”

“What? Arte, are you serious? You were fighting well until just now.”

“Yes, Teacher. My head is starting to hurt a bit.”

“…I see. Doesn’t seem like you’re giving up. Got it.”

Teacher Claire declared the end of the match with a displeased expression.

Th-thank goodness…

Siwoo finally realized he had passed the dangerous hurdle and sighed.

He suddenly looked up and saw the numerous students.

If they had kept fighting like that…

Siwoo didn’t want to think about it anymore.

That was close.

“By the way, Arte’s ability is really annoying. What should I do with these threads…? I’m sorry, but Siwoo, can you throw these threads away on your way out?”

“Yes, I understand… What?!”

“I’m counting on you. I have to repair the arena.”

Siwoo suddenly sniffed.

He felt like her scent lingered from the threads sprawled across the arena.

Author’s Notes

Originally, I wanted to continue the fight in the next chapter, but I realized it might be better to put it in one, so this one is longer than usual.