This Novel is not my Novel

Clang-a-rang—! Chiiiiing—!

Within time slowed by the thought-acceleration effect.

Sounds that would normally have rung out in short, sharp bursts—"Clang!" and "Ching!"—stretched long, the metallic vibrations echoing more prominently.

It was nothing compared to the sonic boom of the whip, but the noise was still fairly loud.

If the battle dragged on, it would eventually draw the others here.

It would be better to finish this while I still have enough stamina to run away.

Even if I continued fighting to the bitter end, I would ultimately lose.

Despite avoiding direct clashes as much as possible and focusing on deflecting her attacks, the hand gripping my dagger had begun to ache.

More importantly, none of my attacks would work on Vigdis.

I had reinforced the dagger by coating it in ether.

But I lacked the strength behind my swings, so I could not leave so much as a scratch on Vigdis's skin, which had been strengthened by the 【Ironblood Physique】 skill.

A whip swung at the speed of sound would probably inflict an effective blow, but that was irrelevant for the moment.

I never intended to defeat Vigdis in a fight to begin with...

Pretending to be exhausted, I breathed heavily and slowly edged backward.

Vigdis began swinging her sword faster and faster, and the force behind each strike grew stronger in turn.

She must have decided that victory would be hers if she pushed me just a little further.

Claaaaang—!

After blocking several more attacks, the instant the dagger in my right hand met Vigdis's sword—

I subtly released it, pretending the strength had left my hand.

The dagger was knocked away by her blade and flew into the distance. At that moment, Vigdis's eyes gleamed.

She must think her chance has finally come.

As though proving my guess correct, Vigdis shifted her sword into one hand and stretched the other toward my bag.

I twisted my upper body as though trying to evade her reach, then deliberately fell to the ground while pretending to lose my balance.

Vigdis lowered herself after me, intending to take the contents of my bag.

Everything had gone according to plan so far.

However, a small, unexpected accident occurred.

I had only intended to land lightly on my backside, but I stepped wrong on the fallen leaves, slipped, and fell flat on my back.

Perhaps deciding she needed to restrain me completely so I could not get back up, Vigdis immediately took the full mount position.

To explain it simply in Korean, that meant she was straddling my abdomen.

Still in that position, she pulled open the zipper of the bag I was wearing with a long ziiiip.

"Ah...!"

Only then did she seem to realize that our position was rather strange, and a belated gasp escaped her.

Normally, realizing that the position was embarrassing would make someone scramble away.

Had she become so flustered that her thought process had stopped?

Vigdis froze solid as a rock without moving from where she was.

This is a little... awkward... Still, judging by the result alone, it's actually a good thing.

I had originally planned to sit close to her and make my move while Vigdis was distracted by the "dud" capsules inside my bag.

But broadly speaking, the current situation was no different from what I had planned.

So before it was too late, I decided to act and achieve my objective.

"Huh...? Aah—!"

When I opened her bag and swiftly pulled out the two capsules inside, the sounds above burst from Vigdis's mouth.

I shoved her away, sprang to my feet, and fled.

The contents of my wide-open bag spilled everywhere in the process, but it did not matter because they were all "dud" capsules anyway.

Vigdis, however, believed they were treasures.

Instead of chasing after me, she busied herself gathering the fallen capsules.

I wonder how she'll react when she opens them later...

Thanks to that, I was able to escape with ease, but I felt terribly guilty.

Once I thought I had gotten far enough ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) away—

"Was that a little too... cowardly and underhanded...?"

I stopped to catch my breath and asked the wise baby dragon that question.

Yor scribbled three words across the whiteboard and raised a thumb.

「 Competition World Ruthless 」

The world of competition was ruthless by nature. My actions had not been wrong at all. In fact, I had done extremely well.

My baby dragon was always on my side, so this was more likely unconditional support than an objective assessment.

Still, it was enough to help me shake off my guilty conscience.

"I've already taken them, so I can't exactly go back and return them... Well, technically, I could. Anyway, um... Let's just do what we need to do."

"Meow, meow."

The possibility was almost exactly "zero," but Vigdis might have tried to lure me in with "dud" capsules as well.

So I decided to check the contents before hiding the notes.

「 Potato 」

「 Tomato 」

They really were treasure notes.

It was what I had expected, but seeing it confirmed still made a sigh escape me.

How could she be so innocent? I could not help wondering how Vigdis intended to survive in this harsh world.

...That's enough worrying about someone else. I need to hide these before anyone comes.

With that thought, I slipped one treasure note between my boot and thigh, then hid the other in the same place on the opposite side.

That was when a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Karvaldr! There you are!"

The other person's voice was filled with delight, but I was not pleased in the slightest.

That was because the voice belonged to the person I most wanted to avoid right now.

Furthermore...

"Why is Yor digging the ground all by himself with a dagger? And why does he have... two capsules beside him?"

"Mya?!"

As the line above made clear, the biggest problem was that we had not yet completely concealed the empty capsules.

"Judging by the fact that there's no dirt on the capsules, you didn't just dig them up... Were you trying to bury them? Do those contain treasure notes, then? But why is Yor doing that alone? Knowing you, Karvaldr, there's no way you'd make Yor work while you lazed around. What were you doing?"

Once again, the protagonist of someone else's novel flaunted his persistence by unleashing a barrage of questions.

Now that Raysir had seen us, I could not leave the empty capsules here and run away.

No, running away itself was impossible to begin with.

Raysir's Agility stat was over 100 when I checked it at the library last time. Even if I used 【Encouragement】, 【Exhortation】, and 【Elevation】 all at once, he'd catch me in no time.

The thought occurred to me that I could order Yor to take the empty capsules and escape into the sky, then slip away alone while Raysir chased him.

But I could not bring myself to do it after imagining the baby dragon being struck by Raysir's lightning and falling from the sky.

Of course, Yor has extremely high elemental resistance, as befits a dragon, so he might not take much damage...

But if he flew into the sky, he risked being targeted by Fjodra and her summoned beast, Lausa.

Attacks made from wind were classified as physical force, so Yor's elemental resistance would be meaningless no matter how high it was.

If Yor fled through the trees instead of taking to the sky, Raysir would catch him before long.

Still, he could buy me some time.

That made it the best option available right now, but...

Even if this is only training, I don't want to use the one I treasure most as bait.

But I could not exactly tell him to finish burying the empty capsules while Raysir watched.

"Yor, hand me the capsules."

"Myaa?! Meooow..."

"It's all right. Hurry."

Yor hesitated.

But when I urged him once more, he approached me with a helpless expression and handed over the empty capsules.

Until I accepted them, placed them in my bag, and closed the zipper, the protagonist of someone else's novel merely stood there and watched.

That confidence must come from knowing he can take them no matter who holds them...

That composure, befitting the strong, felt especially irritating today.

Had this happened before I hid the treasure notes, things would have been better.

I could have shown Raysir the empty bag and said, "This is the only treasure I have," handed over the capsules, and hurried off to resume my search.

Even if I pulled the treasure notes from beside both thighs and handed them over while saying that, he wouldn't believe a word of it...

Had I known I would end up in this situation, I would not have removed only the papers and hidden them on my body.

Regret surged through me, but it was already too late.

Besides, simply handing over the treasure notes went against the purpose of the training.

And after going so far as to spout tsundere lines and ignore my guilty conscience to obtain them, it would feel unfair to surrender them without a fight.

Rationalizing it that way, I drew my whip with all the reluctance of someone forced to eat mustard while crying.

"You're going to fight me? I knew you would, Karvaldr."

The protagonist of someone else's novel smiled broadly in satisfaction, drew a spear from his inventory, and spun it.

The motion was light, almost as though he were warming up.

But whoosh—whoosh—the heavy sound of it cutting through the air was thoroughly threatening.

Does he really plan to subdue me and take every treasure note I spent the last two hours gathering? Pret gave me one of his treasures without a fight...

That thought crossed my mind, but saying it aloud would be no different from revealing that I possessed at least three treasures.

I swallowed my dissatisfaction and reactivated 【Encouragement】 and 【Exhortation】, whose durations were nearly over.

Then I swung my whip and used 【Elevation】 as well.

This time, I intended to receive Yor's help, so I applied the two stat-boosting buffs to him too.

"Myaaaaaah—!!"

Did he think we had ended up in this situation because he had failed to hide the empty capsules quickly enough?

The instant I finished using all my buff skills and completed my preparations for battle, Yor let out a spirited cry and fired numerous ether arrows at Raysir.

He must have used 【Dragon Fear】 at the same time, because I saw Raysir's shoulders twitch slightly.

But as was only natural—

The protagonist of the original work did not freeze in place and allow the arrows to hit him.

With an utterly calm expression, he spun his spear, now infused with golden ether, and lightly deflected every attack.

And not only that—

"Ah, so this is what it feels like? It really does make you go, 'Awoong!'"

—he even grinned while making such a ridiculous joke.

Apparently, I was not the only one irritated by him. Yor snarled, "Kyaoong!" in fury.

But even the baby dragon's heartfelt anger could not frighten the protagonist of the original work.

"Karvaldr. When Yor goes 'Kyaoong!' behind you right as you frown, it really... Pfft..."

"......"

"......"

Yor and I attacked simultaneously, united in heart and mind.

My whip lashed toward the protagonist of someone else's novel, and dozens of arrows flew at him.

And the result was, well...

Exactly what you readers expected.

Unfortunately, neither Yor's attacks nor mine achieved anything.

Raysir threw himself sideways to evade the whip, then spun his spear once more to deflect the pale-blue arrows.

And he did not do so while standing still.

He stepped forward and closed the distance at the same time.

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