Sometimes, when people witness something utterly absurd, they find themselves at a loss for words. This was one of those moments.

“Choi Moonguk forfeits. Winner: Heo Sungshik advances to the semifinals!”

[…….]
[…?]
[What just happened?]

People were left speechless by Choi Moonguk’s unexpected forfeit.

[No way, does this even make sense?]
[WTF, I found out the reason for his forfeit.]
└What is it?

└Did some hidden illness suddenly flare up?

[If that were the case, I wouldn’t even be this dumbfounded. LOL. The reason is… urgent diarrhea. He got food poisoning. LOL, I can't believe this.]
└Insane. LOL. Is this a joke?

└That’s ridiculous. LOL. Oh my god, a poop-related forfeit, is this real?

└I mean, I can understand if it’s urgent, but… couldn’t he just go, do his business, and come back?

└Maybe it kept coming out. LOL.

Even though it was an unavoidable biological issue, it was still so absurd that people were left in disbelief.

[But aren’t Heo Sungshik and Choi Moonguk close? Couldn’t this be intentional?]
└But if someone was going to throw the match, wouldn’t it make more sense for Heo Sungshik to do it? Why would Choi Moonguk? He’s pretty strong and had a good shot at winning B Group.

└Yeah, agreed. If anyone was going to be pushed forward, it would’ve been Choi Moonguk, not Heo Sungshik.

└That’s true. Guess it really was urgent diarrhea.

Once people started to accept Choi Moonguk’s forfeit, only one thought remained.

“Wow, Heo Sungshik is seriously lucky.”

And why wouldn’t they think that? Some people couldn’t even qualify for the main tournament, but here was someone who barely seemed strong at all, winning his way through qualifiers purely by luck. Now, in the main tournament, he had already advanced twice thanks to sheer good fortune, making it to the B Group semifinals. His ridiculous luck was so frustrating that just watching him win felt unfair.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

B Group Semifinals. Heo Sungshik vs. Kim Jung-hoon.

Heo Sungshik’s opponent was an undead summoner. If one were to classify it as a profession, he could be called a necromancer or death sorcerer.

It was an incredibly rare trait, both now and in the foreseeable future, and Sungshik was more curious about the way he used his power than the match itself.

If Kim Jung-hoon had enough time, he could summon an endless army of undead within the limits of his mana. Because of this, the audience fully expected Kim Jung-hoon to win this match with ease.

[Even Park Tae-sik didn’t give Kim Jung-hoon any time when they fought. He took him down immediately.]
└Yeah, if you give him time, even Park Tae-sik finds it annoying to deal with him.

└Is Kim Jung-hoon really that strong?

└Yep. Give him a little time, and he’ll summon entire battalions of undead. On top of that, he can cast curse-type magic, making him an absolute nightmare to fight.

[I’d love to see Kim Jung-hoon last 10 minutes against Park Tae-sik.]
└Doesn’t matter. Park Tae-sik would still wipe the floor with him.

└True.

Nobody believed that Heo Sungshik, who had made it this far through sheer luck, stood a chance against Kim Jung-hoon.

And so, the semifinals began. As soon as the match started, Kim Jung-hoon widened the distance and began chanting his spell. Watching this, Heo Sungshik’s curiosity was piqued.

‘He’s drawing in mana so defenselessly?’

Sungshik could see it—the process of Kim Jung-hoon pulling in mana around him and resonating it through his spell.

Unlike typical magicians who cast spells by resonating their own mana with external mana, Kim Jung-hoon was simply pulling in external mana to prepare his spell. This was a method he had devised as a temporary measure due to the enormous amount of mana required for summoning magic.

‘Is he guarded against interference?’

It was pure curiosity. Sungshik released a small amount of his own energy to sever the mana channels that Kim Jung-hoon was pulling in, while also sending some of his energy directly toward him.

“Kuhk—”

Kim Jung-hoon coughed up a massive amount of blood and collapsed forward. The external mana had been cut off, and Sungshik’s energy had disrupted the spell, causing a violent backlash within his body.

Kim Jung-hoon had been aware of the risks of drawing in external mana so carelessly. However, he had never imagined that Heo Sungshik would be skilled enough to interfere with his spell using energy manipulation.

Trying to conserve mana for the B Group finals while maintaining his condition had been his fatal mistake.

“Urgh—”

Even as he lay on the ground, coughing up blood, he stared at Heo Sungshik in disbelief.

‘He didn’t just get here by luck… No…’

Before he could finish his thought, he lost consciousness.

“…B Group Semifinals, Heo Sungshik wins!”

The referee, seemingly caught off guard, announced Sungshik’s victory with a slight delay. The audience, of course, had a lot to say.

[…What just happened?]
[What? Why did he suddenly collapse, coughing up blood?]
└Looks like his spell backfired while he was chanting.

└Is that even possible?

└I’ve heard that if you push yourself too hard, it can happen, but it’s extremely rare.

└Wait, are you telling me that this incredibly rare event just happened? Does that make sense?

[No way, does this make sense? I don’t get it. He won without doing anything again?]
[This has to be rigged. No way. LOL, I can’t believe this.]

People were so dumbfounded that they even started suspecting foul play.

And rightfully so. Looking at Sungshik’s journey from the qualifiers to now, he hadn’t won a single match in a normal fashion. It all just seemed like a series of coincidences and strokes of luck.

[No, seriously, does it make sense that from the qualifiers until now, he’s only swung his sword once?]
└For real. This is practically scripted. It makes no sense.

[Oh, this reminds me of that old manga. Lucky Man or something? The protagonist just won every fight purely through luck. But this guy is even worse.]

People had every reason to think so. Setting aside Choi Moonguk’s forfeit, every other match—whether it was against the illusionist, the qualifier finals, or now the B Group semifinals—just looked like his opponents were self-destructing.

The forums and community boards exploded with discussions about Sungshik.

[Heo Sungshik’s trait is definitely related to luck.]
[At this point, he should be called the Man of Great Fortune.]

And then, fuel was added to the fire.

B Group Finals. Heo Sungshik wins by default.

B Group Champion: Heo Sungshik.

Final match of the main tournament—secured.

[No way, does this even make sense? Hahahahahahaha]

[At this point, we really have to suspect it's rigged. Hahaha]

[Just how far does his luck go? This is insane, absolutely insane.]

That’s right. Even in the final match of Group B, he won by default and advanced to the finals. If his previous matches had at least involved some of his skill, this time, it was purely luck that granted him victory.

‘No, what the hell is going on?’

Even Sungshik himself was dumbfounded.

The situation went like this: The other Group B semifinal match, opposite Sungshik’s, featured two contenders not quite at the level of Park Tae-sik or Han Hye-ryeong but still considered potential champions.

Berserker Jung Sang-hoon. Flame Sorcerer Kim Chang-seon.

Their nicknames said it all—they were superhumans with highly aggressive fighting styles. Their explosive techniques earned them those titles!

People were excited. They hoped that at least one of them would reach the final match and give Park Tae-sik a thrilling battle.

Their match was fierce from the very beginning. A relentless exchange of blows! The audience was ecstatic watching them fight! Unlike the anticlimactic, almost joke of a match between Sungshik and Kim Jeong-hoon earlier, this was a dazzling, intense battle that was truly worth watching!

Their duel was incredibly close. Though it was their first time facing each other, their power levels were shockingly even.

Perhaps because of that, an incident occurred.

In their final, all-out assault, neither focused on defense, and they ended up knocking each other out simultaneously. A double knockout.

Double knockouts were extremely rare, but somehow, it happened.

And just like that, Sungshik automatically advanced to the grand finals. The aftermath caused the SASU community to explode.

[Wow, is this final completely ruined now?]

[Is this even going to be a match? How is Park Tae-sik vs. Heo Sungshik a final?]

[Tomorrow’s final is going to be the most boring one ever.]

[But let’s be honest, Park Tae-sik was going to win anyway. No matter how it played out, it was always going to be an easy win for him.]

[Looking back, the real final was Park Tae-sik vs. Kim Subin. Hahaha]

[In the end, Park Tae-sik is going to graduate with a record-setting three consecutive championships. He’s going to be remembered as a legend of the academy.]

The students had zero anticipation for the upcoming final. Park Tae-sik’s victory was considered a foregone conclusion. Then, the conversation shifted even further:

[Guys, you never know. What if Heo Sungshik is secretly a hidden monster?]

└You’d be better off praying for Park Tae-sik to get food poisoning.

└But seriously, if Sungshik’s luck is actually part of his ability, something ridiculous could happen. Like Park Tae-sik not showing up to the match for some reason and Sungshik winning by default.

└If that really happened, wouldn’t Sungshik have won the entire tournament with just a single swing of his sword? Hahaha. That would be legendary in its own way. Hahaha.

└Forget One Punch Man. This guy would be One Slash Man. Hahaha.

At this point, people were jokingly writing scenarios where Sungshik actually won the tournament. It was all in good humor, but no one truly believed in his victory.

Except for the people close to him.

“Honestly, I think you have a shot at winning, Sungshik.”

Choi Moonguk truly believed it.

“Thanks for saying that, even if it's just to make me feel better.”

“No, I mean it. I’ve sparred with both you and Park Tae-sik, remember? And I don’t think you’re that far behind him.”

As someone who had fought both of them, he felt their strengths were surprisingly close. He genuinely thought that tomorrow’s winner wouldn’t be decided until the match itself.

“I think so too. I haven’t sparred with Sungshik myself, but based on how he fought Moonguk, I don’t think he’d be easily overpowered by Park Tae-sik.”

Kim Subin, who had been listening nearby, added her thoughts. She had just fought Park Tae-sik in the Group A final yesterday, so she had a sense of his power.

But Sungshik knew the truth—that Park Tae-sik hadn’t been showing his full strength at all. That was why he couldn’t be too sure.

‘The exhibition match after the finals, where the academy instructor stepped in…’

During that event, Park Tae-sik had demonstrated something to everyone. He had shown them that, until then, he had never needed to fight seriously.

When Park Tae-sik finally went all out, his power wasn’t that of a mere academy student.

Sungshik had almost forgotten about it, but watching the stats during Park Tae-sik’s match with Kim Subin had suddenly reminded him of that event.

Name: Park Tae-sik

Rank: 4-star (★★★★)

Trait: [SSS-Rank] The Reincarnation of Lu Bu

Lu Bu. The legendary Chinese warrior. The undisputed strongest in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Park Tae-sik’s transcendent trait was linked to Lu Bu himself.

That was the secret behind his overwhelming power.

Even without it, his trait already granted him monstrous martial talent, but one of his skills, "Lu Bu’s Descent," allowed him to temporarily wield Lu Bu’s strength. A completely broken ability.

That was how he, a mere 4-star, had been able to defeat a 5-star academy instructor in the exhibition match.

The gap between 4-star and 5-star was supposed to be an insurmountable wall, yet he had broken through it. That was the power of his transcendent connection to Lu Bu.

That was the true strength of the man known as "The Domination."

That was why Sungshik had reconsidered his confidence in facing him.

Originally, Sungshik had a clear understanding of his potential. He knew he would continue to grow stronger. Right now, he simply saw this as a checkpoint on his journey to the top. He didn’t care who was stronger or weaker at the moment—he was confident he would surpass them all soon enough.

That’s why he hadn’t placed much importance on winning or losing in this one-on-one tournament. He had only joined on a whim, hoping to enjoy one last thrill before graduating from the academy.

‘But now, I’m actually feeling competitive.’

Park Tae-sik, the man who would one day be known as the "Spear King," one of the closest contenders to reaching the Eleven Thrones. If he hadn’t perished in his duel with the First Night’s Master, he might have even surpassed the Eleven Thrones one day.

Sungshik was curious. Against someone who would become one of the absolute strongest in the future—just how well would he fare?

‘This is going to be fun, really.’

A genuine smile formed on Sungshik’s face. For the first time in a long while, his fighting spirit burned bright.