Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

Chapter 995

Hirano Seiji had been expected to make contact again during the exchange event, but I never imagined it would be this soon.

Moreover, I wasn't alone; I was with the other selected team members and staff.

His pale complexion and the fact that he didn’t seem to have been sent by Kozuka Yashiro made me suspect something.

I had a reasonable guess as to why he came to find me.

‘He must’ve heard that I leaked the offense team lineup.’

Did he think I was manipulated by the fox?

Judging by his attitude, it seemed like quite a few people had fallen victim to something similar to me.

That's probably why he came to find me so urgently.

“Yi-shin, do you know anyone from the Japanese team? They all seem eager to say hello, but do you mind if I do it on their behalf?”

Yeom Junyeol spoke casually, but I could sense a bit of caution in his voice.

That made sense, as I had never shown any signs of knowing anything about Hirano Seiji when analyzing the Japanese team's strength.

Naturally, he would be concerned about Hirano Seiji approaching me with some hidden motive.

And indeed, Hirano Seiji had approached me with intentions, so Yeom Junyeol's concern was justified.

I decided to handle it casually.

“I recently got to know him. It’s a good opportunity, so it’d be nice to introduce him.”

“Ah... my apologies. Hello, I’m Hirano Seiji.”

Hirano Seiji belatedly greeted us.

He looked genuinely flustered, so he probably hadn’t been fully aware of what was happening.

His somewhat careless demeanor made the Korean team’s members lower their guard a little.

After the brief introduction, I spoke to Yeom Junyeol.

“I’ll talk to Hirano Seiji for a bit. Go ahead.”

“Okay. There’s no rush, so I can wait.”

“It’s fine. I won’t be long.”

“…If you’re late, I’ll come to meet you.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll go too.”

“Oh, can I go too?”

After the other classmates and even the juniors spoke up like that, it seemed like there were more people willing to meet up than I expected.

It was just a quick conversation with a member of the other team, but even the juniors and classmates were reacting like this. It seemed like everyone was excited before the first match.

As Yeom Junyeol led the players away, the corridor outside the Korean team's waiting room grew quiet.

Hirano Seiji broke the silence first.

“You all seem to get along so well. The atmosphere is completely different from our team.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. If I’m not around, they’ll be cautious, but no one’s really worried about what I’ll do.”

Hirano Seiji spoke with a self-deprecating tone.

It was somewhat pitiful, but should he really be saying that?

If Kozuka Yashiro overheard, he might try to “adjust” Hirano Seiji’s mentality.

“Is it okay to say that?”

“There are no eavesdroppers. They’re doing an item inspection before the match, and it’s hard to use any noticeable abilities in the stadium with so many people around.”

Hirano Seiji’s words seemed to be true.

To prevent overwhelming the exchange event with overpowering gear, weapons, armor, and consumables were to be provided by the event organizers, and there would be a simple body check.

Because of this, Hirano Seiji seemed to have briefly escaped the potential surveillance.

But I was still concerned.

“If you came here, you would’ve stood out.”

“It’s fine. I’ve prepared an excuse. I told them I was here to check if the offense lineup you gave me was correct.”

It didn’t seem like he just came here recklessly in a panic.

Hirano Seiji looked at me with desperate eyes.

He was hoping that I hadn’t been manipulated by the fox into spilling information, but that I had deliberately given false information about the offense lineup to confuse the Japanese team.

“The offense lineup is exactly as I gave you. The defense team, however, will be flexible with substitutes, so I couldn’t be completely certain about them.”

It was true that the defense team would operate flexibly, but there were core members. However, I hadn’t disclosed anything about Ahn Da-in’s composition or who she would team up with, because I wanted them to think more about it themselves.

Still, I had indeed shared the offense lineup.

Thud.

Hirano Seiji wobbled and leaned against the wall after hearing my words.

He looked at me with a mix of guilt and anguish.

He seemed to believe that I had been manipulated by the fox.

Hirano Seiji lowered his head and suddenly, as if realizing something, hastily continued speaking.

“Yi-shin, I heard there’s a senior at Eungwang High who’s skilled in healing... Could it be...?”

Could Hirano Seiji also know about Yu Sang-hee, the Healing Wind?

It was expected for anyone, even a foreigner, to know such a powerful healer like Yu Sang-hee, but I was eager to brag about her since I was happy she was a part of our team.

However, this wasn’t the right moment for that.

Hirano Seiji seemed to believe that I needed serious healing from Yu Sang-hee.

I decided to reassure him for now.

“Remember I told you I’m fine?”

“But!”

“I’ve already gotten clearance to share the lineup. Don’t worry, it’s all fine.”

Even after hearing my words, Hirano Seiji still had a doubtful expression.

While I was thinking about how else to reassure him, I suddenly felt a strong presence approaching from afar and closed my mouth.

Hirano Seiji, still in a flustered state, didn’t seem to notice it.

“You said there wouldn’t be anyone worrying about you, right?”

“Huh?”

“I think you’re mistaken.”

Bang!

Someone was rushing down the hallway from the other side of the waiting room.

At first glance, I couldn’t tell if they were a student or an ordinary staff member because they weren’t wearing a team uniform, and their size made it hard to distinguish. But I recognized the face.

It was Arihara Tomoaki.

Arihara Tomoaki quickly closed the distance and grabbed Hirano Seiji by the collar.

“What are you doing here, Seiji? Did the fox send you?”

“Ah…”

Hirano Seiji looked momentarily stunned when he saw Arihara Tomoaki.

Arihara Tomoaki, who had been running around searching for him, was panting.

It seemed like he wasn’t worried about Hirano Seiji causing trouble, but genuinely concerned for him.

If a friend was caught up in the fox’s schemes and wandered into the other team’s waiting room before a match, it was understandable why Arihara Tomoaki would be worried.

The way he kept calling his name also hinted that they might be quite close.

It might be better for me to leave the scene now.

“I just wanted to say hi before the match starts. I’ll be heading out now. I’ll see you both in the stadium.”

“Wait, I still have something to say…”

“What more are you planning?”

As the two Japanese students argued, I turned and left.

Hirano Seiji seemed like he still wanted to say something, but I decided to leave.

Even if both of them were willing to go against Kozuka Yashiro, I couldn’t show all my cards here.

Also, if I stayed and talked to Arihara Tomoaki for too long, Kozuka Yashiro would likely become suspicious, so staying here wasn’t the best move.

Though I was a bit curious about what the two of them would discuss, I decided to leave it for later, thinking there might be an opportunity to learn about it afterward.

After joining the Korean team, Dokgo Mi-ro immediately approached me with a suspicious expression.

“You’re here. I thought you’d be late, making some shady move. Go quickly wave at our cheering section. We were all really disappointed you weren’t there.”

Although he suspected something, Dokgo Mi-ro didn’t press further, which was typical of him.

The stands were packed, but it wasn’t hard to find our class members.

I spotted the aurora-colored cheering light and immediately waved.

Whether they saw me or not, cheers echoed around the stadium.

It didn’t seem like it was only our class cheering, though. The nearby spectators likely joined in with the mood.

“Looks like everyone’s here. We’ll explain the rules on the broadcast soon. You all probably know the rules already, but it’s worth reviewing while we also introduce the other teams.”

Following Cheon Dong-ha’s words, a signal for the broadcast began.

The Eungwang Global Stadium’s giant screen showed the logo for the Korea-China-Japan Exchange and then a hologram of the studio and the announcer appeared.

The announcer was Choi Ji-na, a renowned commentator and broadcaster, both in Korea and internationally.

[Hello, I’m Choi Ji-na, the host of the Korea-China-Japan Exchange. The first day of the tournament is here. The first event is the “Random Otherworld Invasion” chosen by the Chinese team.]

The broadcast was in Korean, but subtitles were displayed in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and English for the international audience.

[In “Random Otherworld Invasion,” the random elements are determined by two main factors: the rarity of the otherworld and its attributes.]

A brief explanation about the rarity and attributes of the otherworlds followed, including charts and the drawing method.

This time, they weren’t using commemorative coins, so the otherworld would indeed be decided randomly.

Some of the spectators seemed displeased about the rarity being random.

They probably just wanted to see youth players challenge high-rarity worlds.

Anticipating such reactions, Choi Ji-na provided further explanation.

[The competition in different rarities will play out very differently. For lower rarities, we’ll summon three rifts of the otherworld and use a time attack format. The outcome will be determined based on the time taken and the damage caused.]

As Choi Ji-na explained, a video showed a player clearing enemies from a lower-rarity world with a single skill.

From a viewer’s perspective, watching the enemies from a lower-rarity world being swept away would definitely be entertaining.

[For higher rarities, three teams will simultaneously challenge a single otherworld. The offense teams will enter the rift together, and the defense teams will protect the surroundings. When a large otherworld appears with high rarity, pro player teams often collaborate to clear it, and the contribution to the kill is usually split among them.]

As explained, it was common for multiple teams to collaborate in high-rarity worlds.

If a large team with multiple offense and defense teams was involved, it would be possible to challenge the world alone, but more often, teams had to cooperate.

To use an analogy from athletics, a low-rarity world was like a short-distance race with assigned tracks, while a high-rarity world was more like a marathon where players mix in the same space.

[Before determining the attributes of the otherworld, we will first decide its rarity.]

With that, Yeom Junyeol, the Korean representative, stepped forward.

Since the Chinese team had chosen the event, Korea would decide the rarity, and Japan would choose the attributes.

In the center of the stadium stood a giant lottery drum filled with commemorative coins representing the rarity of the otherworld.

Yeom Junyeol, standing before the drum, spun around 360 degrees to greet the audience and then shook the drum before tossing a coin toward the lottery machine.

[The rarity of the otherworld that the representatives of each country will challenge has been decided.]

Yeom Junyeol, looking at the rarity engraved on the commemorative coin, widened his eyes and smiled confidently.

[Rarity: SSR+]

Yeom Junyeol had drawn the highest rarity available.