―This contestant looks familiar?

―Me too. Ah! It’s Cadet Heo Sungshik, the protagonist of that recent hearing!

Maha and Soha were astonished to recognize that the finalist of Group 31’s preliminary round was Heo Sungshik.

―I heard this contestant was a 1-star with a non-combat trait. Did he have some hidden ace up his sleeve?

―That’s what I’m wondering! Back then, it was said that he didn’t stand out in combat at all. Oh, breaking news just in—this contestant has passed the third-year promotion exam!

―Oh, so that means he’s at least 2-star now?

―That’s right.

[Whoa, I thought he’d go the non-combat route, but he advanced in the combat track?] [Who is this guy, anyway?] └ The guy who scored a perfect mark on the second-year theory exam. But his trait was supposedly non-combat. └ Wow, so did he just get lucky and only face 1-stars? Even with a bad trait, you can win if there's a big enough stat and rank gap. └ True, but what are the odds of that…? └ I just checked his prelim group—there were 2-stars in there too. └ Whoa, so he made it this far on his own skill? └ Yeah, seems like it.

The viewers were shocked that Heo Sungshik, once thought to have awakened a non-combat trait according to the hearing, had made it to the finals of the preliminaries.

―Wow, he must have had a hidden ace after all. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he fights.

―Same here! His opponent is Cadet Jo Jeongchi, an assassin-type fighter who specializes in quick, dagger-based attacks.

―Alright, the match has begun! Let’s take a look.

While Maha and Soha TV chattered about Sungshik, he was inwardly startled upon seeing his opponent. A boy with a sharp, weasel-like face—someone he recognized.

‘That guy…’

Not long ago, when Sungshik had been filling out his application for the 1v1 tournament, this boy had been one of the two who picked a fight with him.

During the preliminaries, contestants fought their matches and then returned to the waiting room, only coming out again when their next turn arrived. That meant no one could watch their opponents’ matches in advance—it was designed to be fair, preventing fighters from preparing based on prior observations.

So Sungshik had no way of knowing he would face this weasel-like boy in the finals.

As he realized this unexpected encounter, a small smirk played on his lips. But it seemed he wasn’t the only one pleased by this reunion.

“Wow~ What are the odds?”

Jo Jeongchi’s face split into a broad grin as soon as he realized his opponent was Heo Sungshik. He had struggled in the semifinals, barely making it through, and was worried about the finals—but what luck! A bonus mob(?) was waiting for him.

“Hah! No wonder I had such a good dream last night. It must have been a sign that I’d make it to the main tournament. Hahaha!”

His mind was already filled with the vision of easily defeating Sungshik and proudly advancing to the main stage.

To him, Sungshik was nothing more than a weakling with zero combat ability, who had somehow fluked his way past Kim Hoyun. He was convinced that anyone could beat Sungshik without breaking a sweat. The idea that Sungshik had reached the finals on merit never even crossed his mind.

And that was the beginning of Jo Jeongchi’s tragedy. Though, even if he had known the truth, it wouldn’t have changed much.

“Alright, how should I cook you up?”

Jo Jeongchi tapped the palm of his left hand with the dagger in his right, contemplating how to defeat Sungshik in the flashiest way possible.

As he strode confidently forward, Sungshik merely stood there, sword dangling from his right hand, showing no reaction whatsoever.

“Already frozen in fear? Scared, huh? Regretting facing me now?”

Seeing Sungshik unresponsive, Jo Jeongchi’s excitement grew, and he started mocking him.

“I can’t stand guys like you—pretty face, no skills, but lucky enough to get a free ride. Huh? Let’s be honest here. This prelim… Wait, how did you even make it to the finals?”

As he got closer, the thought finally struck him—how had Sungshik reached the finals?

And then, it happened.

Sungshik, who had been watching him silently, suddenly unleashed an overwhelming killing intent.

“Hrk… Hhhiik!”

The fear of standing before an unstoppable predator—was this what it felt like?

For a moment, Jo Jeongchi was so terrified he nearly wet himself.

Thud.

Shocked out of his wits, he stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet and landing hard on his rear. The dagger he had been holding slipped from his grasp, spinning into the air.

Sungshik infused a slight amount of energy into the falling dagger, subtly altering its trajectory.

Thwack—

The unmistakable sound of something breaking. A sound every man dreads.

“GAAAAAHHHHHH—”

Jo Jeongchi clutched his crotch, writhing in agony as he rolled side to side. The hilt of the falling dagger had landed squarely on the worst possible spot.

Sungshik merely watched with indifferent eyes. He could have ensured the blade struck instead of the hilt, but as a fellow man, he had granted some mercy.

As Jo Jeongchi rolled in pain, a healer rushed over, signaling the end of the match.

“T-The winner of Group 31’s finals is… Cadet Heo Sungshik!”

Even the referee outside the arena, a man himself, stammered as he declared Sungshik’s victory, shaken by the unspeakable sight.

“Whoa.”

“Wow…”

Even the commentators at Maha & Soha TV were left speechless by the catastrophe.

[Whoa, did his… you know… get shattered?] └ Yeah… looks like it.

[I… I have become a eunuch!!] └ Seriously? Making jokes at a time like this? Even Satan would cry.

[Damn… I feel pain just watching this. T_T] └ But if he gets high-level healing, won’t it regenerate? └ Yeah, with ‘advanced’ healing, it should be fixable… but the emotional trauma and pain? Ugh, I don’t even wanna think about it.

└ㅇㅈㅇㅈ Wow… ㅠㅠ I don’t even want to imagine it.

The chat was also flooded with condolences for Jo Jungchi.

―Ahem, well, there was a bit of a disaster, but in any case, Heo Sungshik won, right?

―Yes, this can only be called pure luck.

―His opponent tripped over his own feet while approaching, and the weapon he dropped just happened to hit that spot. Isn’t this the kind of luck where you should go buy a lottery ticket?

―Sigh, I feel like the odds are even lower than that. I’m not a guy, so I don’t know for sure, but it looked really painful. Wishing him a smooth recovery. Now, let’s go interview Heo Sungshik.

[But seriously, his luck is insane.]

└ㅇㅇ Right? At first, it looked like he was frozen under Jo Jungchi’s pressure, but who could’ve predicted his opponent would self-destruct like that?

[Wow, so that means Heo Sungshik made it to the finals without lifting a finger?]

└ㄹㅇ For real. That’s crazy. ㅋㅋ

[Ah! I figured it out. Heo Sungshik’s awakened trait must be ‘Maxed-Out Luck.’ This has to be it.]

└Makes sense. He probably guessed everything on the exam and got it all right with pure luck.

└King-level reasoning. Divine intuition accepted.

[I’m curious what he’ll say in the interview.]

└Me too. ㅋㅋ

[Oh, the interview is starting now.]

While the chat was still buzzing about Heo Sungshik’s unbelievable luck, his interview began.

―Hello, Heo Sungshik! I’m Soha from Maha & Soha TV. Congratulations on making it to the finals! Your matches were so impressive! Can you share a quick tip on how you made it through?

―Ah, hello. Hmm… a tip… I think I just got lucky.

―Ah… yes, luck. That’s certainly… Oh! No, wait, that’s not what I meant. You’re so humble!! Congratulations again on making it to the finals, and we look forward to seeing your performance in the championship match!

As Sungshik spoke, Soha instinctively nodded along before quickly changing the topic and wishing him good luck, ending the interview.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Did anyone else see Soha nod when Heo Sungshik said he got lucky?]

└Me. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I chuckled watching it.

└Same. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Soha noona is so cute.

[But honestly, isn’t it fair to say he got here purely by luck? ㅋㅋ No wonder Soha nodded.]

└ㅇㅈ ㅋㅋ

While everyone was busy debating whether Sungshik had made it through sheer luck, one boy watching the match saw things differently.

‘That wasn’t luck. The timing that disrupted his opponent’s movement. The aura charged with mana. The mana burst and control strong enough to influence the dagger midair. All of these elements came together to create that outcome.’

A smirk played on the boy’s lips.

‘He looked interesting before, but he’s grown so much in such a short time? This just got fun.’

The preliminaries, which started at noon, finally ended after sunset. The main tournament was set to begin in two days, following a day of rest.

“Sungshik, congrats on making it to the finals!”

“Sungshik, congratulations.”

“Yeah, thanks. And congrats to you too, Subin and Moonguk, for making it to the main tournament.”

Along with Sungshik, Kim Subin and Choi Moonguk had all advanced to the main tournament, congratulating one another—except for one person.

“Ha, why did I have to face Park Tae-sik?”

“Tsk, Jihwan, just let it go already.”

“Haaah, I could’ve made it to the main stage too…”

“Honestly… even if it wasn’t Park Tae-sik, I think it would’ve been tough for you.”

Seeing Jihwan’s complaints, Moonguk delivered a brutally honest remark.

“Damn it, Choi Moonguk, you wanna fight me one-on-one?”

“You serious?”

“…No.”

Jihwan looked like he was about to charge at Moonguk but quickly backed down, making everyone chuckle.

“I mean, I know I probably wouldn’t have made it either, but can’t you at least let me vent a little? Do you have to rub it in?”

In reality, aside from Jihwan, everyone else was ranked 3-star or higher. Since all main tournament participants were at least 3-star, his chances of advancing were slim even if he hadn’t faced Park Tae-sik. He knew this, but he couldn’t help feeling left behind.

“Alright, next year, let’s make it together.”

“More importantly, look! The main tournament brackets are out.”

“Where?”

While Jihwan and Moonguk were bickering, Subin brought over the bracket.

“Subin, you’re in Group A.”

“Yeah, I see that. But whoa~ isn’t Group A a death group? Park Tae-sik and Han Hyeryeong are both in it?”

“Wow, you’re right. The two strongest contenders ended up in the same group.”

“Damn, I’m screwed.”

Subin, who found herself in the same group as the overwhelming favorite Park Tae-sik and his rival Han Hyeryeong, looked utterly dejected.

“Sungshik and Moonguk are in Group B.”

“Wow, Sungshik, you really dodged a bullet.”

The main tournament’s Round of 32 was split into Group A and Group B, each with 16 participants. The winners of each group would face off in the final.

“Wait, but if Sungshik and Moonguk both win their first matches, they’ll face each other in the Round of 16?”

“Whoa, you’re right!”

“Ah, come on! Why do I have to fight Sungshik?”

Upon seeing the bracket, Moonguk realized he’d have to face Sungshik early on and turned to look at him in horror.

Sungshik grinned.

“Moonguk, looks like fate keeps bringing us together. Let’s do our best in the main tournament.”

“Ugh, no way. This is a scam.”

“I’ll go easy on you.”

“Do you think I’d fall for that again? No chance, damn it.”

Memories of his grueling sparring sessions with Sungshik resurfaced, making Moonguk shudder as he rejected reality.

“Pahahaha! Moonguk, congratulations! Yep, that’s life for you. Hahaha.”

Jihwan burst into laughter, enjoying Moonguk’s misery.

“Ugh, even if I make it through, I have to face Han Hyeryeong at some point.”

Amidst the chaos, Subin let out a sigh of frustration.

“Let me see… Whoa, you’re right. Oh no. Subin, I guess your luck ends here. Such is life.”

Jihwan flitted about, making cheeky remarks, earning him a glare from Subin.

Sungshik, however, looked at Subin with an excited glint in his eyes.

‘Kim Subin, once known as The Moonlight Holder, facing the Ice Witch Han Hyeryeong… This is going to be interesting.’