Published: January 22, 2026
The perspective changes in the second half.
After killing time aimlessly, it was finally my turn to fight, so I returned to the waiting room.
“Ah, Mr. Orun, we were looking for you! Why weren’t you in the waiting room? Honestly—”
They must have been searching for me.
The staff member who spotted me began to complain nonstop.
“Sorry. I was just taking a walk.”
“...Well, it’s fine. The previous match has already started, so please prepare.”
Just as the staff said this, the previous match seemed to have ended.
Derrick entered the waiting room from the arena.
As soon as he saw me, his face was burning with rage as he glared at me.
“Hey! Win and move on! Tomorrow, I’ll beat you badly in front of the crowd!”
He’s as noisy as ever. I told him to stay out of my way, but he keeps picking fights.
Well, I’m partly to blame for this, though.
“I appreciate your support.”
“I’m not supporting you!”
I joked with Derrick and then walked out of the waiting room.
As I moved deeper inside, an arena with a circular fighting space spread out before me.
“That armband is a magical tool, isn’t it? Bringing magical tools into the arena is forbidden. Please hand over the main device or the attached magic stones.”
I had heard this in the pre-match rules explanation, so I wasn’t surprised. I removed the armband from my right wrist, then took out my sword belt and two swords for the martial arts tournament.
Then I took the magic stones from the left armband and handed them to the staff.
I definitely didn’t want to hand over my magical tools to someone else.
I wrapped the sword belt around my waist, sheathed the longsword on my left hip and the short sword on my back.
While preparing, I heard the announcer’s voice.
“Now, we are down to the final match of today’s tournament! Representing the silver rabbits of the night sky, the ace and top favorite for the championship, dragon slayer Orun Dura! His opponent is Loretta Weaver from jade gale, who has reached the 89th floor within the past month and is said to be the closest to an s-rank party!”
The announcer’s voice echoed throughout the arena, and the crowd’s cheers were as loud as during the first match.
Everyone’s so energetic...
With preparations complete, I slowly walked toward the designated spot in the arena.
◇
“Nice to meet you, dragon slayer. I can’t believe I’m facing the top favorite in the first round. I’m so fed up with my bad luck. But if I win, our party will become famous overnight. So I’ll be the one winning!”
“...Whether I win or lose, I don’t think your party’s notoriety will change that much. After all, your party has jumped from the 86th floor to the 89th floor in just one month.”
That’s right. Last month, the party with the highest progress among A rank parties was the one Mr. Barnard from the silver rabbits of the night sky belonged to.
But within this month, they rapidly rose to the top of the A rank parties.
That progress is genuinely admirable.
It’s not easy to clear the lower floors in such a short time, let alone the mid-level floors.
“We’re still not enough. We’ll surpass red copper twilight, surpass the rabbits, surpass dawnlight, and become the hero party!”
Ms. Loretta raised the two longswords she held in both hands.
I wonder if a woman can handle them well without any buffs—in terms of strength, I mean.
She has a standard build, but I feel like she might get overwhelmed by the swords.
“Is that so? I support that goal, but I also have my reasons for not losing, so I’ll be the one winning.”
I drew the longsword from my left hip, lowered my center of gravity slightly, and relaxed my entire body.
“It seems both are ready. Then, first round, match eight—fight!”
Right after the start, Ms. Loretta rushed at me.
I didn’t move, watching her every move.
She entered sword range and swung the sword in her right hand horizontally from right to left—exactly as I predicted, somewhat clumsily affected by the weight of the sword.