TRPM 297

chapter 297

We spent some time in front of the memorial stone and then headed straight toward one of the arenas where the tournament was being held.

The Seoul Awakened Academy didn’t have just one arena, and today’s tournament preliminaries were taking place in all of them.

Among those many arenas, the one we were heading toward was the largest at the Academy.

Because that’s where the VIP seats are.

Normally, arenas weren’t built with outside spectators in mind, so the stands weren’t very big. At best, they were meant for fellow cadets or scouts from various guilds.

But once the Seoul Awakened Academy tournament began to be broadcast live to the public, there arose a need to build an arena that could actually host outside audiences. That was the very arena we were now headed toward.

“Ooh…”

“…It’s enormous.”

“Right? Can you believe an arena is the size of a soccer stadium? No matter how many times I see it, I can’t get used to it.”

It was a massive arena capable of holding tens of thousands of people.

Before my regression, this kind of arena hadn’t even existed at the Academy. Back then, the Academy grounds hadn’t been large enough to house such a structure.

Just how much money did they pour into this…?

Buying up all the land around the Academy was one thing, but constructing an arena like this must have taken an insane amount of capital.

As I was thinking this and trying to head up the stairs toward the stands, the shrine maiden stopped us.

“Ah, that’s the general seating. The VIP seats are this way.”

Hearing that, we followed her toward the VIP section.

Getting there was simple enough. There was a dedicated elevator that went straight up to the VIP seats.

“This is the VIP section. How is it? Can you see well?”

“…Yes, the view’s pretty good.”

The so-called VIP seats were more like a VIP room. The facilities were so refined it felt wrong to just call it ‘seats.’

“The height gives you a good vantage point, but isn’t it a little too high to see the duels clearly…?”

“There are binoculars here, too.”

At Elena’s comment, the shrine maiden showed us the binoculars placed on one side of the room.

“You can mount the binoculars here to use them. If you get hungry, just pick something from the menu and use the phone on the wall to place your order.”

“Got it.”

After listening to her explanation, Elena mounted the binoculars and looked down at the arena.

Since they were still preparing for the preliminary rounds, no real duels had started yet. But with cadets warming up all over the arena floor, it looked like the matches would begin soon.

“Well then, I’d better get to work. I’ve got to act as a referee myself.”

“Thank you, good luck.”

“See you later.”

With our send-off, the shrine maiden left the VIP room.

Elena then pulled out her smartphone and started filming the place.

“You like it that much?”

“Yes! I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”

“Really? I figured someone like you would’ve experienced plenty of VIP facilities already.”

It’s not like she lacked money.

Though this space was designed for VIPs, it seemed like anyone with enough cash to buy a VIP ticket could enter.

“Well, I did have plenty of opportunities. Lots of football stadiums in England have VIP boxes like this. But… unlike Elliot, I’m not really into football.”

So Elliot has experienced it, then.

“And besides, the Academy tournament… Seoul Awakened Academy is the only one that broadcasts a tournament like this to the public. So this is my first time being in a VIP room like this.”

“Hm…”

“What about you, Gunwoo?”

“Me? Well…”

I wasn’t the type to enjoy watching things for fun. This was also my first time entering a VIP room.

Normally, if I ever watched duels, it was from the ordinary seats down below, not in a place like this.

“Come to think of it, the stands are really packed.”

“They probably sold every ticket. The empty seats will fill up fast.”

“Really? Even though these are just preliminaries?”

“Yes. It’s still the only Academy tournament the public can see.”

Even though it happened twice a year, it was still the only place in the world where people could actually watch a tournament. Naturally, tickets sold for very high prices.

Other academies were scrambling to prepare their own tournaments for public viewing, but none could match Seoul Awakened Academy’s level.

So it was no wonder people flocked here.

“Ah, it’s starting.”

While I was thinking, a few pairs of cadets stepped into the arena and began raising their energy against one another.

…I haven’t seen every cadet in the Academy, but overall their level is quite high.

Of course, the ones chosen to fight in the public preliminaries were bound to be among the stronger students.

Some might complain about such favoritism, but it was an obvious choice for the Academy.

Even the cadets who didn’t make it here were still strong enough to be top-rankers at other academies.

“Waaah…!”

Anyway.

Elena was glued to the binoculars, her mouth hanging open as she watched the cadets duel.

She cheered for certain cadets, and when they lost, she reacted as though she herself had been defeated.

…I thought she came here to learn from the duels.

I had assumed she wanted to watch the cadets and find ways to become stronger herself.

But it seemed I was mistaken.

Elena was simply enjoying the spectacle for what it was.

…Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, it’s a good thing.

So I sat quietly beside her, watching the dueling cadets.

Unlike her, I didn’t need binoculars. My bare eyes were more than enough.

That cadet’s stance is unstable—probably just switched weapons, or maybe he’s too nervous. That one’s magic is fine, but not really practical in a duel. And that one… good technique, but his body can’t keep up with it.

As I observed, flaws stood out everywhere.

It might sound strange, since I had just admitted their overall level was high. But that only showed the gap between them and me.

By Academy standards, these cadets were clearly strong. But from my higher perspective, there were far too many openings.

…That’s what the Academy is for—to fix those flaws.

And they were all things that could be corrected with time and training. So I didn’t need to worry about it.

And besides, it’s only to the eyes of an Awakened like me that these flaws are so obvious…

I wondered how the cadets’ duels looked to the ordinary spectators in the stands.

“Wooooah…!”

“Did you see that dodge just now? He barely avoided the spear!”

“They say that’s nothing unusual for Awakened, but to us it looks insanely dangerous.”

“When that cadet used fire magic, did you feel the heat even up here?”

“Is that even safe? What if they mess up and it flies into the stands?”

“They said there’s some kind of barrier.”

Of course, to them it looked incredible.

Ordinary civilians rarely got to see Awakened battles, so they couldn’t truly understand what they were watching.

To them, it was just spectacular.

“Are you enjoying yourselves?”

While I was watching the cadets and the crowd’s reactions, a voice came from behind us.

“Wha—?! Hanji-unni?!”

I already knew Chairwoman Shin Hanji had quietly slipped into the room and stood behind us, so I wasn’t surprised. But Elena, who was wholly absorbed in the duels, nearly jumped out of her seat.

“Hehe… Elena, it looks like you’re having a good time. And as for you, Gunwoo…”

The chairwoman gave Elena a small smile, then looked at me.

“You may not be as enthusiastic as she is, but you’re enjoying yourself too, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

Before my regression, perhaps. But since then, I hadn’t really enjoyed much of anything.

It wasn’t that I never enjoyed myself, but between working as an artist and doing countless other things, I’d had little room for leisure.

Thanks to her invitation to the tournament, though, I was at least somewhat enjoying this.

…Though, truthfully, I was analyzing the duels and observing people’s reactions more than I was enjoying them.

Hanji nodded at my answer.

“You don’t sound too certain, but I’m glad you seem satisfied. More importantly, you haven’t ordered lunch yet, have you?”

“Well, no…”

It was a bit early for lunch, and Elena and I had both been too focused on the arena.

“Then let’s have lunch together. Watching duels is fine, but as they say, even sightseeing comes after a good meal.”

With that, she held up the menu from the VIP room.

So… she meant to eat here.

I looked at the menu and picked the first thing that caught my eye.

“I’ll have chicken.”

“Hmm… then me too…”

“Chicken, huh… not a bad choice.”

Chairwoman Hanji lifted the phone on the wall and ordered three portions of fried chicken.

Time passed, and soon the chicken arrived. The three of us ate the freshly fried meal while continuing to watch the duels.

But as I watched, a question occurred to me.

“…By the way, when do the cadets eat lunch?”

It hit me as I was eating—after all, the Academy had to have a lunch break, right? It was still a place where people lived.

So when cadets and instructors went to eat during lunch, shouldn’t we also have eaten then?

That’s what I asked the chairwoman.

“Ah, from twelve to two.”

“…Sorry, what?”

I blinked at her, thinking I’d misheard.

Two hours for lunch?

Normally, lunch breaks at academies were only one hour. It was odd. But considering all the outside visitors today, the cafeteria might be overcrowded. In that case, extending it to two hours made sense.

But…

“If I’m not mistaken, the schedule shows duels continuing straight through twelve to two.”

The timetable clearly had matches scheduled during the supposed lunch break.

“Yes. With 4,000 cadets all needing to fight enough preliminary matches, the duels have to continue through lunch.”

“…Then what about the cadets scheduled to duel during that time? How do they eat?”

“They just have to fit it in whenever they’re not fighting. Head to the cafeteria whenever they have a break.”

“…And the instructors acting as referees? They can’t rotate out.”

“The instructors….”

Hanji’s expression suddenly turned wicked.

“They’ll just have to snack on energy bars or something.”

“……”

“……”