I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 105



104 – End of the Test

“Do whatever the hell you want. You son of a b*tch.”

Omega was taken aback by the taunt. Not angered, though.

The pathetic struggle only amused him, and his lip twitched in a smile.

*‘I don’t think I’ve had someone curse at my face in quite some time.’*

Surprisingly, the whelp wasn’t driven mad by fear.

The fire still burning in his eyes. The fact that he still held his sanity.

These things ignited Omega’s most wicked desires.

The sadistic urge to break anything that stood strong boiled within him.

He found satisfaction in crushing those kinds of men, forcing them to abandon their beliefs with their own mouths.

Hex had told him to avoid such hobbies, since they were inefficient, but Omega had no intention of relinquishing the privileges of the strong.

“Heh heh heh…little pup. This body has already decided your future.”

“Bullshit.”

Rohan shot off the ground, lunging towards Omega.

He rapidly passed Ichinose and Noah, who were still incapacitated, retching.

*Whoosh!*

Flames erupted from the long sword.

[Dual Sword – Dawn’s Setting Sun]

Like waves crashing against rock, the inferno rose and engulfed Omega.

But the sensation was the worst. Rohan knew as he swung the sword.

*’Not even a scratch.’*

His wrist throbbed. If he misapplied his strength even slightly, it would shatter.

Still, he did not hesitate.

He swings again.

[One Sword – Blazing Cut]

The blade met resistance on Omega’s thick neck.

A grotesque smile contorted his ruined face and mechanical jaw.

“What can you hope to accomplish with such a feeble sword and flame?”

“…”

Rohan knew his actions had plunged them into a delicate game of strategy.

He had to keep Omega’s attention riveted, prevent him from looking away.

He had to make Omega *want* to torment him, to *provoke* him to do so.

He couldn’t allow Omega to think about sending a sample to Hex using the worm waiting in the wings.

‘Same goes for me. I can’t let my gaze drift toward my friends. The only believable picture is one of reckless abandon.’

He didn’t need to win through brute force.

The moment Jooyeon arrived, his victory was assured; his role complete.

‘The Instructor will come. He *must*.’

He believed it. Jooyeon would undoubtedly arrive without delay.

That was the kind of person he was.

An individual impossible not to respect.

‘Therefore, my role is…!’

Even if everything burned away to a handful of ash.

To buy as much golden time as possible, ensuring Jooyeon’s arrival wouldn’t be too late.

*CLANG*––!!!

The standard-issue longsword shattered with a metallic shriek. Half of the blade spun wildly through the air.

Despite that, Rohan continued to swing.

“Beginning to bore me.”

Omega stood still, passively enduring Rohan’s swordplay.

He sneered, opening his mouth as he watched Rohan struggle, bathed in sweat.

“Little whelp. Are you familiar with the varieties of poison? Some are particularly adept at inducing pain.”

“Hgh!”

Rohan didn’t respond, pressing his attack.

Even a half-blade was still a weapon.

“Some poison, so potent even the strongest narcotic painkillers offer no solace. It doesn’t kill, but makes you wish for the sweet release of death.”

An Omega’s finger morphed, thickening into a grotesque centipede.

A clear threat to inject such a poison.

“Endure. I trust you won’t debase yourself by begging for mercy, or death, within the first few seconds.”

Hex had refined the venom specifically to his specifications.

It inflicted an unbearable pain, one that, in the Omega’s experience, was unparalleled for torture.

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Even those with the most resolute will crumbled before it.

*Swish!*

The Omega’s tentacles ensnared Rohan.

A sword with its blade broken clattered! onto the earthen floor.

“Well, it’s time for your dose. Will you beg for your life now?”

The Omega grinned, locking eyes with him, but his smile quickly faltered.

“Fool.”

There was absolutely no fear lurking in Rohan’s eyes.

One might suspect a madness inherent to his very being.

“…Intriguing. I hope you can maintain that impudence for a good long while.”

The centipede’s sharp mandibles gaped like pincers before clamping! down on Rohan’s neck.

Rohan’s eyes snapped wide as he felt the liquid seep into him.

“Ro, Rohan!”

“Ugh! Damn it, move…”

Ichinose and Noah writhed weakly on the ground.

Straining to move, but the poison was already surging into Rohan’s body.

“!!!”

A fast-acting venom.

Its effects would be instantaneous.

Rohan’s teeth ground together with such force they threatened to shatter.

His entire body tensed as he fought the pain, causing blood vessels in his eyes to burst.

Each breath felt as if his lungs were being sliced open.

“Hahaha!!! What does it feel like? Go on, spout those clever words you had before.”

“Ugh…”

The octopus limb flung Rohan onto the floor.

He couldn’t rise. He lay prone, writhing.

He was unable to move freely from the pain that felt like tearing and burning him from the inside out.

He was sure it would be less agonizing to have a knife plunged into his gut and twisted.

“Heh heh, little whelp. You want the antidote?”

“Huh… Ggh, huff…!”

Not knowing how long it would take for the pain to subside.

A sure element that amplified the terror.

“Show some deference if you want to be free.”

Rohan raised his head, revealing eyes bloodshot and inflamed.

Sweat streamed down his face as he slowly opened his mouth.

Delivering his voice, with unwavering clarity, to Omega, who was focused with anticipation.

“Go… fuck… yourself…”

A single word forced from Rohan’s lips.

Omega’s expression hardened at the utterly unexpected reply.

“…It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered someone this amusing.”

Even though he seemed to have no leverage, it was as if he knew that bowing down would please him.

He absolutely refused to yield.

Watching Rohan, who was drooling onto the floor but clinging to his sanity.

Omega recalled the conversation he had with Hex.

— Omega. This poison is a compound extracted from the immune systems of monsters.

— What does that mean?

— It means, as you requested, it’s been modified to only inflict pain. No blood clotting, no tampering with synapses…

— Enough. Simply.

— Hah… It’s a poison that delivers pain far more intense than a burning sensation across the entire body. Satisfied? It’s powerful enough to shock even a magically enhanced body, but there will be no death resulting from the poison’s effects.

The more Omega mulled over that conversation with Hex that day.

The more he felt the heat rising to his head.

He was not the one crawling on the ground like a bug, yet he was overcome with an inexplicable sense of defeat.

‘This b*stard…’

A green youth, but he endured what he, himself, could not stand, with both eyes wide open.

As if to chastise himself, traumatized by flame, for not being able to endure.

His mere existence incites fury.

‘I’ll make you howl.’

The octopus leg lifted Rohan once more.

His head was held in place, so that his face, twisted in agony, could be scrutinized.

And then.

“Heh… !”

He looks this way and smiles. Tears and saliva dribbling, he forms a contemptuous curve with his lips.

Absurdly, it feels like a provocation to do even more.

‘He laughs?’

Rohan was aware of his role, and it was an act he intentionally performed, but.

This presented an entirely different sensation to the Omega.

Not fueled by anger, nor consumed by a competitive spirit to break him at all costs.

The Omega felt a sudden chill.

He becomes infinitely calm. His expression sheds the emotion of fury and turns frigid.

‘…I must kill him.’

He has an intuition that this nameless viper must be eradicated here and now.

A decision to sever his lifeline here, even if it means breaking his promise with Hex.

This one, in a different sense than the protagonists, is a grating flame.

If he isn’t extinguished now, this ember will transform into an immense fire demon and return to us.

‘Just what is this wretch….’

Preposterously, he felt certain that this cadet’s blade would reach ‘that one’.

An imagining that could not be conjured when contemplating any other strongman in the world now materialized vividly.

“You were born into the wrong era.”

But now, a single finger of his own would suffice.

Just as the Omega ceased his play and was about to bore a hole through his head with a finger.

“!?”

Severing the restraints, an intense flame that aimed for his neck. He sensed a power that evoked nightmares.

The Omega retracted his outstretched hand, focusing on defense.

KWAANG───!!!

Omega crashed, alongside the Worm behind it, under Juyeon’s hand blade.

The octopus leg was severed clean, freeing Rohan.

Red hair whipped around, enfolding Rohan in its embrace.

“Instructor…I, cough, I’m okay…haaa!”

Rohan, face a mess, struggled to speak, letting her know his life wasn’t in danger.

Juyeon couldn’t utter a word, biting down hard on her lower lip.

“In, Instructor…!”

“Please, save Rohan and Korin!”

Two girls, furious that they still couldn’t move, cried out.

Juyeon raised one foot from the ground.

*Kuuung!*

Juyeon stomped the earth with a magic-infused foot.

The fear clinging to the girls vanished cleanly. Freedom returned to their limbs.

“…”

Juyeon gently laid Rohan down on the ground and fixed her gaze on the spot where Omega had flown.

Her eyes, as she glared at the enemy, were expressionless as always.

Yet, a blazing fury emanated from her.

Anyone could sense her genuine anger.

*Clack. Clack. Clack.*

Omega emerged unscathed, stepping on the burst, pulpy remains of the Worm in a steady manner.

Juyeon, watching the opponent she knew by sight, broadcasted in a low voice.

“The test is over. Take Rohan and Korin and withdraw.”

A declaration of the practical exam’s end.

A semi-transparent window materialized before Rohan’s face, who had held on with only the hope of Juyeon’s arrival.

[Quest Completed.]