A Lonely S-Rank Explorer, Returning to His Student Days to Redo His Youth—It Seems the Strongest Loner Is Being Genuinely Loved by the Most Beautiful Girls in the School - Chapter 27: The Crystallization of Effort

Wolves leaping out from the darkness of the trees.

From the muzzle of the gun that Hakari aimed, magic like an icicle was unleashed, accurately piercing the wolves.

The shot wolf comes to a sudden stop, leaving behind a cube-like effect as it disappears.

It’s like a cheap game production.

That makes sense.

Those wolves are illusions generated in the “Virtual Training Room.” They are NPCs projected by AR technology.

However, the latest AR technology is not just about projecting images into space.

“Huff!!”

Kirika braces herself with a large shield to withstand the wolf’s attack.

Despite the wolf being a projected illusion, Kirika’s shield made a loud “thud!!” sound.

When Kirika swung the sword, the sword’s speed only slowed down the moment it cut through the wolf. As if actually slicing through the wolf.

Those wolves are not just illusions projected into space.

It is a tangible illusion created by reproducing mass through magical power.

…To be precise, it’s not that the illusion has substance, but rather that the physical phenomena are being recreated with magic to match the illusion. But let’s not get into the details.

(The two scores are tied… it wouldn’t be surprising if either one of them won…)

Yuito looks up at Hakari and Kirika.

There were green numbers floating there. They were the combat scores of the two.

If they defeat a wolf, they gain points; conversely, if they are attacked, they lose points.

The current scores of the two are about twenty thousand, and they are neck and neck. Either one could win.

They probably both noticed it too.

While avoiding the wolf’s attack, Hakari glanced at Kirika’s score.

She smiles faintly while breathless.

“Huff huff… As I thought, it seems our skills are quite close, don’t you think, Kirika-san?”

At the provocation from Hakari, Kirika smirked.

The sweat glistens on Kirika’s fair skin. However, Kirika’s breath is not labored. She clearly has more stamina left than Hakari.

Kirika hasn’t given it her all yet.

Kirika squinted her eyes proudly and showed off a smug expression.

“Too bad for you. I still have one transformation left!”

“Tsu!?”

A beam of light extended from the sword of Kirika and solidified into the shape of a sword.

The sword of Kirika, which had grown in both reach and power, slashed through the attacking wolves one after another.

In line with that, Kirika’s score skyrocketed. The gap with Hakari began to widen.

(As expected of the top student. Balancing sword and magic so well… It’s a ‘model student’ kind of fighting style.)

If he were to score Kirika’s combat, he would give her ’90 points’ for both martial arts and magic.

For comparison, if he scores Hakari, she gets “50 points” for martial arts and “90 points” for magic.

At first glance, it seems like there’s only a 40-point difference in martial arts, but in reality, the gap is much larger.

Balancing martial arts and magic. This will be a significant scoring factor.

If someone wants to know how difficult it is to balance martial arts and magic, it’s like “playing a soccer match at full intensity while solving math problems.”

To cast magic, it is necessary to manipulate the magic power within the body, but when the body moves during combat, the magic power within the body also fluctuates.

It’s like performing acrobatics while juggling on a tightrope.

To perform that acrobatics, proficiency in both “martial arts” and “magic” is required.

This isn’t normally something a freshman who just entered high school would be able to pull off.

A realm that cannot be reached with half-hearted talent. The crystallization of Kirika’s accumulated efforts.

Compared to an abnormal person like Yuito, she might seem less impressive, but Kirika also possessed outstanding abilities.

(As expected, this match is…)

After the battle ends, the trees disappear, and they return to the sterile white room.

Yuito looked at the numbers floating above the two of them.

Almost a double score. The point difference was nearly double.

Hakari collapses onto the floor, out of breath.

Wiping the sweat off her entire body, she looked up at Kirika’s head and widened her eyes.

“Huff huff… huh?! Kirika-san, you’re amazing as always. I admit defeat…”

“Hakari-chan, you have way too much guts… I never thought you’d hang in there until the end. I was aiming for a triple score.”

“…You show no mercy to your friends.”

“Don’t you think Hakari-chan doesn’t want me to go easy on you?”

“That’s right.”

Kirika reached out to Hakari. Hakari firmly grabbed her hand and stood up.

Their eyes sparkled as if to praise each other.

However, Kirika smirked with a wicked smile.

“That aside, I win. I’ll be accepting my reward from Yuito-kun!”

“…It can’t be helped.”

Speaking of which, there was such a story.

Even now, Yuito remembers the reward of “hugging the winner and praising them while stroking their head.”

He didn’t understand what was so great about it, but Yuito moved to finish it quickly.

“Ah, yes, yes.”

“Huh?! W-wait, I’m all sweaty right now――”

Before Kirika, with her face flushed red, could start rambling, Yuito was already on the move.

He hugs Kirika tightly.

――My younger sister asked me to do something similar too…

Yuito absentmindedly stroked Kirika’s silky hair, his hands moving with an oddly practiced ease.

“Kirika-san, you did a great job. You’re amazing. Good girl, good girl.”

Isn’t something off?

Yuito pats the heads of even kindergarteners, saying “There, there” as if praising them.

What Kirika was probably looking for was surely a sweet, romantic situation like one would have with a lover.

“Ehehehe. Yuito-kun, pet me more…”

However, it seems that this is fine as it is.

Kirika pressed her head against Yuito’s chest with a melting smile.

Hakari watches the scene with a bright red face.

“U, ugh… so envious… it’s shameless!?”

“Hehe… It’s the privilege of the victor…”

“Ugh… one more time!! Let’s have one more match!!”

Hakari’s shout echoed in the virtual training room.

After that, after repeating the training several times, Hakari gradually closed the gap in scores with Kirika.

However, she couldn’t win until the end, and Hakarika puffed up her cheeks in frustration.