The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 86

The Rebirth of the Mythical Archmage-87

Time flew by, and it was already the 6th day of the Olympiad.

—”With this, all three matches are over.”

—”It’s been a truly thrilling development.”

The third match.

The finals of the Reel Side had just ended, and the schedule for the 5th day was complete.

The commentators and casters were recapping the events so far, exchanging words.

—”With this, Korea, England, and the United States have each won one match. Wow. It’s a close contest, literally.”

The winner of the first match, the siege battle, was Korea.

The winner of the second match, the Reverse Field, was England.

And the winner of the third match, the Reel Side, which had just ended, was the United States.

—”Ah, the current rankings are out.”

The commentator opened the current ranking table that had just been sent.

[Overall 1st Place – United States, Harvard Affiliated Academy]

[Overall 2nd Place – England, Oxford Affiliated Academy]

[Overall 3rd Place – Korea, Obelisk Academy]

With three matches completed, Korea, which had been in 1st place, had fallen to 3rd.

The point difference was surprisingly large.

They had clearly shared the victories, so how did this result come about?

The reason was simple.

—”Korea’s loss in the round of 16 in the Reel Side is a big blow.”

—”And before that, they unfortunately fell in the semi-finals of the Reverse Field.”

The United States’ past results were 2nd, 2nd, and 1st.

And England’s were eliminated in the round of 8, 1st, and 2nd.

However, Korea’s were 1st, eliminated in the semi-finals, and eliminated in the round of 16.

The results of the two matches they didn’t win were overwhelmingly worse than those of England and the United States.

It was only natural that Korea fell to 3rd place.

—”Especially, meeting the United States in the round of 16 in the Reel Side was a big factor. Even though Shin Hayul didn’t participate, they shouldn’t have been eliminated in the round of 16.”

—”They showed a pretty good performance, but their opponent was just too strong.”

The commentators and casters began talking about the Reel Side matches that had taken place today.

The trio of Jin Heeyoon, Ma Jinseok, and Kang Shinwoo, all third-year students, had shown a decent performance.

But they unfortunately met Dahlia Salentia of the United States in the round of 16 and were ultimately defeated.

For reference, they also lost to the British team led by Kyle Bentia in the semi-finals of the Reverse Field.

—”But this is just the current ranking. The upcoming matches are more important.”

—”That’s right. There’s a good chance that other countries, such as Germany in 4th place and Spain in 5th place, will rise up.”

—”Above all, Korea has only used their powerful card, Shin Hayul, once.”

—”That’s right!”

The United States and England had already put their best players, Kyle Bentia and Dahlia Salentia, into the matches twice.

On the other hand, Korea had only used him once.

This difference is significant.

—”Ironically, Korea, currently in 3rd place, is in the most advantageous position. It’s fair to say that.”

—”That’s right.”

The caster and commentator continued their back-and-forth, looking excited about the upcoming developments.

—”Wow. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s matches.”

—”Me too.”

As more than half of the audience left the stadium,

The caster and commentator began their final wrap-up.

—”Please look forward to seeing what kind of developments will unfold in tomorrow’s tie-break match.”

—”Then, see you again tomorrow.”

With the two bowing their heads, the lights on the monitor all went out.

And so, the 6th day of the Olympiad came to a complete end.

* * *

That night, at 1 AM.

When everyone was asleep.

I was engrossed in weaving the Ring of Truth in my dorm.

‘Weave a ring that is similar to the Ring of Deliberation, but not the Ring of Deliberation.’

The Ring of Truth, a complex multi-infinity circle made up of three small rings and one large ring.

To weave this ring, you must first weave the small rings one by one.

I am currently trying to weave a small infinity circle that is symmetrical to the Ring of Deliberation.

‘The Ring of Truth is different from the Ring of Expansion. Since the two rings are different, the Ring of Deliberation must also be woven with its own variations.’

A proportional structure, a symmetrical structure.

By adding the characteristics of the Ring of Truth to different laws, the Ring of Deliberation is formed.

The mana circulating within my body began to follow my will, walking an untamed path.

It wasn’t a complete wasteland after several surveys over the past four days, but it was still an unpaved road with the raw, wild sensation still alive.

When this rough road is made into one complete path, a ring that is the brother of the Ring of Deliberation, but not the Ring of Deliberation, will take its place within my body.

‘It feels good.’

As if the trial and error of the past four days was about to bear fruit.

The mana was gradually refining the new path faster and more surely.

‘Let’s keep going like this.’

The sensation of a new infinity circle taking its place is clearly transmitted.

It’s not even half finished yet, but I can tell. It’s a success.

There can be no failure.

Woong, woong, woong!

As if to put an end to my conviction, the resonance of mana rang out.

A sound that is like the sign of an infinity circle.

A sound of mana strongly asserting itself.

I listened to that sound and continued to move the mana.

‘I feel good.’

The joy of the moment when four days of effort bear fruit.

The exhilaration of reaching a new level.

The sense of stability felt as mana flows through my body.

My mood was heightened by a torrent of emotions.

Woong, woong!

Intoxicated by my mood, the mana also rotated more and more fiercely.

In a time that cannot be measured.

I felt and felt the increasingly intense rotation of mana.

And when I opened my eyes next.

“…It’s done.”

Within my body, a new infinity circle, a brother ring symmetrical to the Ring of Deliberation, had taken its place.

‘This is it.’

It was the moment I took one step closer to the Ring of Truth.

“It was really close this time too.”

The current time is 6:30 AM.

In 30 minutes, it will be time to leave for the stadium.

I immediately began to prepare to leave.

* * *

Day 7 of the Olympiad.

30 minutes before the start of the highly anticipated fourth match, the tie-break.

Dahlia was in a state of extreme annoyance due to the appearance of an unexpected uninvited guest.

—”Kyle. We’re not on good enough terms to watch the match together, are we?”

Kyle Bentia.

He was standing next to Dahlia, looking down at the stadium with an interesting gaze.

—”It’s not like I wanted to watch with you either. It’s just that this is the best view.”

The relationship between Dahlia and Kyle is indescribably bad.

Even their teachers, the Tower Masters, don’t get along.

And since the United States and England don’t get along, there’s no way these two would get along.

—”There’s another VIP room on the other side. Go there.”

—”The other side only shows Hayul’s back. If you don’t like it, you go to the other side.”

The tie-break, unlike the previous matches, is a small-scale sports-type match that doesn’t require a huge battlefield.

Each team faces each other during the match, so if you go to the other side, you can only see Shin Hayul’s back.

—”I was here first.”

—”Hmm. Is this a single room? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.”

Kyle smiled and replied to Dahlia’s half-forced argument.

“…Ugh, seriously.”

Dahlia glared at Kyle.

Kyle brushed off the glare as if it were nothing and turned his gaze back to Shin Hayul, who was preparing in the stadium.

In one minute, the tie-break round of 32 will begin. The match between the Korean team and the Netherlands team.

Whether Dahlia likes it or not, that’s not what’s important right now.

—”Let’s hope we’re not in the same place in the round of 16.”

—”If you’re going to be on the side where you can see Hayul’s back, I’ll gladly accept it.”

“…You’re really annoying.”

Dahlia frowned and turned her gaze to Shin Hayul.

Whether she’s annoyed or not, she needs to gather information about Shin Hayul.

Dahlia swallowed her annoyance and focused on the match.

—The match will begin in 30 seconds.

With the referee’s words, the representative of the Netherlands team began to prepare.

They gather mana so that they can use magic at any time.

—”Hayul is so relaxed.”

On the other hand, Shin Hayul was very relaxed.

Regardless of the 30-second countdown, he was just smiling naturally.

—”He’d be relaxed. The tie-break victory is practically a given for Korea.”

Olympiad’s fourth match.

Kyle and Dahlia are not on the list of participants for the tie-break.

With the two only people who can stop Shin Hayul out of the picture, Korea’s victory is as good as decided.

It was only natural that Shin Hayul was relaxed.

—Starting the countdown. 5!

Even as the referee’s countdown began, Shin Hayul’s composure did not disappear.

—3!

Three seconds before, he opened his eyes sharply with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Shall I start preparing now?’

—1! The tie-break round of 32, match 4, will now begin! The Netherlands will go first!

At the start, the representative of the Netherlands team picked up the ball prepared in front of them and activated magic.

A magical sphere the size of a volleyball.

The magical algorithm designed specifically for the tie-break was completely embedded in the ball, causing it to glow red.

Then, they attached the ball, which had all the magic inscribed on it, to the launcher prepared right in front of them.

They activated the launcher again using the tie-break magic algorithm and fired the ball.

The red sphere flew towards the ‘protection stone’ in Shin Hayul’s camp.

Clang!

The sound of the protection stone breaking rang out loudly.

—Break! With this, the Korean team has 9 protection stones! The Netherlands takes the first point with a good start!

Dahlia and Kyle’s eyes widened at the same time.

“…Huh?”

—”They just gave up a point? And on the first turn?”

The tie-break, as mentioned, is a sports-type magic match.

Offense and defense alternate each turn. The attacking side uses a magic sphere to destroy the opponent’s protection stones.

The defending side uses a magic shield to block the sphere.

This process is repeated a total of 10 times, and the side that breaks more protection stones wins. It’s a simple rule, if you can call it that.

Of course, the rules are simple, but if you go into the details, it’s quite a deep match.

For example, there are the ‘durability’ and ‘balance’ systems of the magic sphere and magic shield.

If you keep putting powerful mana into the magic sphere and magic shield, they become unusable for one turn. That’s the ‘durability system’.

And if you put more mana than necessary into the magic sphere, the magic shield weakens. That’s the ‘balance system’.

In short, the rule created to prevent overwhelming power is the ‘durability system’.

The rule created to provide strategic diversity by making offense and defense inversely proportional is the ‘balance system’.

—”At this rate, the Netherlands representative will be knocked out.”

—”They will be. They didn’t put that much mana into the attack, but they succeeded like that.”

As the rules are like this, the first point is more important than you might think.

If you give up a point easily at the beginning like now, you can give up on attacking and go all-in on defense.

If this happens, it becomes quite difficult to break through an opponent who has focused all their efforts on defense because of the balance system.

Shin Hayul’s disadvantage can be seen from the past tie-break records.

Looking at the past tie-break records, the win rate of the person who scored the first point is 74.7%.

That’s how much the first point has a significant impact on the outcome of the match.

—”Why did they just give up a point?”

Was it carelessness?

Or was it a strategy?

Or was it a gear malfunction?

—”Is it confidence? The overwhelming confidence that they can dominate even if they give up the first point.”

—”Shin Hayul isn’t Kyle. There’s no way he’d do something so foolish.”

Kyle and Dahlia’s minds became complicated in an instant.

—For reasons unknown, the Korean representative has given up on defense. Now they are going on the attack.

The caster announced Shin Hayul’s attack with an excited expression and voice.

Shin Hayul grabbed the magic sphere and began to inscribe the magic formula.

The magic sphere turned red in an instant. The amount of mana it contained was extraordinary.

—”Mana amount just before durability overload… Is he going all-in right away?”

If that attack fails, the magic sphere and magic shield will become unusable for one turn due to the durability system.

In short, Shin Hayul has bet everything on this attack.

—”Does he not know what kind of match the tie-break is? What is he thinking?”

Kyle and Dahlia’s eyes widened even further at the action that was incomprehensible by common sense.

Regardless of whether the two were surprised or not, Shin Hayul loaded the magic sphere into the launcher with a calm expression.

And he fired the magic sphere through magic.

—It’s flying fast!

The sphere flew quickly towards the protection stone in the Netherlands camp.

—The Netherlands representative! As if they can’t just stand by and watch, they are blocking it by giving the magic shield the maximum amount of magic!

The Netherlands representative held up the shield and blocked the sphere.

An expression as if they were sure of their victory.

‘This can’t be broken through.’

Just as they were thinking that and lowering their stance to prepare for the impact.

—”Huh?”

—”The trajectory… it changed?”

The trajectory of the magic sphere changed.

As if the ball were alive, the magic sphere turned at a right angle and moved to the right.

—”No way…”

The magic sphere that Shin Hayul shot went through a total of 13 trajectory corrections.

Clang, clang, clang-!

It ended up breaking all 10 protection stones.

—T-Tie-break! Korean representative Shin Hayul! He succeeds in breaking all the protection stones in the first attack!

Breaking all protection stones.

He succeeded in a ‘tie-break’.

—Mr. Raymond. Please give us your commentary. What exactly did the Korean representative just do?

The caster and announcer, who didn’t know much about magic, excitedly called out to the commentator.

However, the commentator was not in the right state of mind to answer the announcer’s question.

—No way… The magic sphere changed its trajectory? How on earth…

The commentator was completely out of it. He had an expression as if he couldn’t believe what he had just seen was real.

—Mr. Raymond?

—…Well, it’s the first time in an official match.

—The first time?

Raymond said with a hollow laugh.

—I mean, it’s the first time someone has succeeded in a tie-break on the first attack.

The tie-break, a representative magic sport with a 50-year history.

In that long history, Shin Hayul was the first to achieve a ‘tie-break’ on the first turn.

—If it is determined that there was no foul play in what the Korean representative just did, the history of the tie-break will change.