"We're doomed, I'm telling you..."
Dorothy spewed complaints, spreading a gloomy atmosphere.
"Dorothy, don’t worry too much. It’ll be fine."
"Don’t spout nonsense. We barely practiced at all."
"Ugh..."
Yu Siwoo couldn’t argue with her.
It was true—just as Dorothy said, they hadn’t practiced properly.
It wasn’t that they didn’t have time. They’d been given the same amount as everyone else.
...The problem was that Dorothy hadn’t been able to focus.
"Isn’t Arte even practicing? She just watches all the time."
"Hmm. I’m not sure."
From what he’d observed, aside from occasionally talking with Amelia, she didn’t seem to do much else.
"Still, don’t let your guard down. They’re both strong."
"It’s a tournament—we might not even face them! What’s there to guard against?"
"No, we will. If we keep winning, we’ll meet them eventually, right?"
"...You’re awfully confident, aren’t you?"
"Of course."
Arte and Amelia were strong. He was certain because he’d seen it firsthand.
With those two together, he couldn’t imagine them losing to students their age.
And he didn’t think he would lose either.
Unlike the other students, he’d been through all sorts of situations, so he was confident in his fighting ability.
If they kept winning, they’d face them sooner or later.
"Do your best, Dorothy."
"...Yeah, fine."
And he’d already checked Dorothy’s ability.
Hadn’t she lost instantly to Amelia at the start of the semester? Now he understood why.
Her ability was useless when fighting alone.
No wonder she couldn’t win.
But in a 2v2 tournament like this, the story was different.
She could make full use of her ability here.
Maybe they even had a shot at beating Arte.
He entertained the thought.
"Everyone, focus! The tournament begins! Those waiting can watch the matches and leave comments! Observing other students and reviewing their fights will help you too!"
"Ah, it’s starting."
"I wonder what kind of fight Arte and Amelia will put on."
He didn’t doubt for a second that they’d lose.
There was only one thing he was curious about: Would those two actually cooperate?
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t picture it.
"...Hey, Arte. Is this right?"
"Of course. Here, you tie this and wear it."
The content of this exam wasn’t difficult.
It was all about how well they could use each other.
Using a stranger was hard, but she already knew Amelia’s ability.
It wouldn’t be difficult to easily subdue the students.
"This feels kinda weird. I mean, it’s, uh..."
"I know. It might feel a little off. But it’s efficient, isn’t it?"
"Hmm, I guess..."
Fortunately, Amelia seemed convinced.
It was a little funny how Amelia would instantly accept something if you just mentioned efficiency or called it the best method.
He could never do that.
"Enough chatter. Ready?"
"Yes."
He could see their opponents, tense with nerves.
Hmm, but he still felt a little bad.
They couldn’t lose to extras, though.
Now that he’d teamed up with Amelia, for the sake of the story’s progression, they couldn’t afford to lose to these guys.
"Start!"
Bang— the gunshot rang out.
Amelia accelerated in an instant, and the battle began.
"···!? S-Shit, she’s fast! Block her!"
"No. Amelia gets weaker the faster she goes! She won’t do much damage, so aim for Arte first!"
Hmm. Who is that? A classmate?
They seem to know me and Amelia, so probably. But I don’t remember their face.
I don’t bother memorizing the faces of all the dolls.
Whoever they are, it’s a smart call.
Amelia’s harder to catch the faster she moves, but her attack power drops in exchange. They know her well.
Even if she buzzes around like a gnat, if her hits don’t hurt, the best move is to take me down first, then deal with her at their leisure.
A gun that deals fixed damage regardless of the user?
Guns don’t deal meaningful damage to superhumans, and the recoil leaves the shooter wide open, so they’re useless. They’ve got a good grasp of Amelia’s Ability.
Smart extra—ignoring the nuisance and going straight for the target.
But that’s exactly why extras tend to mess things up.
If her attack power’s weak, then not attacking at all would be the smarter play. Why bother?
They should’ve thought about that.
"Sorry. I may not hit hard, but this isn’t the same."
"?! N-No! It’s the threads! Dodge!"
Amelia’s attacks are weak.
…But mine aren’t.
Why do they think Amelia started by accelerating in the first place? She could’ve fought without it.
That’s their fatal mistake—they didn’t consider it.
My threads are thin and hard to see, but if I attack outright, they’ll glow with mana, making them easier to dodge.
She’s fast, but not so fast they can’t evade. …But the more they dodge, the fewer attacks I can make. My clothes are running out.
But this is a stadium packed with watching students. I want to conserve my threads as much as possible. So what’s the solution?
Normally, I’d set up threads in one spot and lure enemies there, but pre-installation isn’t an option here.
So how do I use them without being noticed?
The answer’s simple. Tie nearly invisible threads to Amelia’s body, then have her scatter them all over the stadium.
They charged in without noticing the thin threads, but it was already too late. The stadium was rigged.
When the threads Amelia had spread suddenly surged with mana and shot toward them, they panicked—but it was far too late.
One student, who seemed to know us well, barely managed to escape in time, but the other was too slow.
Threads flew in from all directions, binding their entire body.
"Hey, Arte. Did you really have to tie it around their neck? …Feels a little too brutal. Not that I’m complaining. Couldn’t you have just tied their hands?"
"If you tie their hands, they might slip free."
"…Fair point."
Still feels off…
Amelia rubbed her neck as she said that.
…Well, she’s not wrong. Tying the neck is more reliable than the hands.
I’ve just gotten too used to doing it this way.
If I tied their hands instead… it’d feel… what’s the word?
Like I might make a mistake? I prefer the neck.
"Looks like you’re the last one standing. What now?"
"C-Come at me!"
"Oho, bold. I like it."
Amelia canceled her acceleration, sliced the thread around her neck with her spear, and grinned fearlessly.
And that was that.
They charged in with courage, but with threads already spread everywhere, they couldn’t withstand our combined assault and went down.
"...I’m glad it’s over quickly. Good work."
"Good. Now that it’s done, go back to your seats and rest. You can watch the other matches if you want."
[Good work, readers! You were amazing!]
Ending the game in an instant with the bare minimum of thread left him in high spirits.
To finish a fight with just half-gloves—unbelievable.
Of course, the opponent had been a weak extra, but this gave him confidence for future battles.
It felt like his biggest concern had been resolved. After all, the longer a fight dragged on, the worse it was for him.
If he killed them, he could strip naked without a care, but this was a school. His opponents were students. He couldn’t just kill them.
So he had to hold back, which inevitably drained his thread reserves.
In the end, the only usable thread sources were half-gloves and stockings. Anything else risked disaster if misused.
Granted, he could replenish his clothes during rest periods after a fight...
...But he couldn’t exactly change outfits in the middle of a match.
Unlike villains, the dolls watching now were students.
He couldn’t take out dozens of them. If he accidentally used too much thread during a fight and ended up exposed in front of all these people, that would be a nightmare.
Luckily, thanks to Amelia, he could see a simple solution—and that put him in a good mood.
"Wow, so that’s how they do it."
"...Simple, but effective."
Those were Yu Siwoo’s thoughts after watching Amelia and Arte’s match.
Simple, yet undeniably effective. Amelia used her incredible speed to set up threads everywhere, then attacked from all sides.
Amelia’s lack of raw power was compensated by Arte’s thread. A highly efficient tactic.
"I’m jealous. If I did that, I’d get great reviews."
"...I dunno. Doesn’t seem that impressive."
"Huh?"
"Couldn’t Arte just attack on her own...?"
That was Yu Siwoo’s confusion.
Sure, Amelia setting up the threads and Arte attacking was a solid strategy.
...But did they *need* to do it that way?
Wouldn’t it have been enough for Arte and Amelia to just attack separately?
Dorothy answered Yu Siwoo’s question.
"There must be a reason they *had* to do it that way, right?"
"A reason?"
"Yes. If they went through the trouble of doing something unnecessary, there’s got to be a reason behind it."
A reason, huh.
Yu Siwoo pondered why Arte hadn’t used her thread directly.
...And after a moment of thought—
Yu Siwoo finally realized.
"N-No way."
"...? Did you figure something out?"
"No, it can’t be. That doesn’t make sense..."
Up until now, Yu Siwoo had assumed Arte’s ability was to expel mana as thread.
After all, when they first fought, she had unleashed threads made of mana.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
...What if she wasn’t converting mana *into* thread, but rather, the thread itself was absorbing mana to grow stronger?
Suddenly, Yu Siwoo’s gaze fell on Arte’s hands.
One of her half-gloves—the one that should have been there—was missing.
"No way... even back then...?"
When he first fought Arte, he’d been too busy dodging to get a good look at her.
...Had she been wearing stockings on her legs back then?
It felt like he’d just uncovered Arte’s weakness.
But wait—if that was true, was it even right to exploit it?
Yu Siwoo’s mind was in turmoil.