The Young Lady’s Crushing Victory

Grinning Darby stared intently at the game board, so engrossed he didn’t even notice his hat was askew. It was as if he couldn’t believe what was unfolding before his eyes.

However, Margaret’s words slapped the cold, hard reality directly into his face.

“What’s wrong? As the referee, aren’t you going to declare the winner and loser of this match?”

“Cough, cough…”

Only then did he snap back to reality, straightening his hat and reverting to his usual tone.

“The first ‘Challenge’ goes to this young lady! What a truly… outstanding match.”

Grinning Darby paused briefly, seemingly unsure how to properly assess the match.

Margaret, however, didn’t seem to notice his awkwardness. Instead, she puffed out her chest, a triumphant smirk gracing her face.

“Hmph, I knew this would be the outcome from the very beginning!”

‘Didn’t she say discouraging things at the start?’

‘Never mind… victory is victory.’

“Snap!”

Having recomposed himself, Grinning Darby snapped his fingers once more.

The spinning top arena vanished, leaving the space empty once again.

“Now, please select the second participant~”

“This time, allow me to step forward.”

Perhaps inspired by Margaret’s impressive display, the Young Lady was now eager to take her turn, her fists clenching in anticipation.

With someone having already volunteered, the others naturally deferred, leaving the opportunity to her.

“Hmm~ Very well, then, challenger, please step forward~”

“Snap!”

As the Young Lady approached, another snap of fingers brought two punch-strength testing machines into existence before them.

Naturally, matching boxing gloves also appeared.

“The rules for the second ‘Challenge’ are also quite simple~ Put on the gloves, strike the red target in the center of this object, and a score will appear~ As long as the challenger’s score surpasses mine, victory will be yours~”

Upon hearing the rules of the match, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

It seemed this match, too, would be an utterly one-sided crushing victory.

Grinning Darby, however, remained oblivious to what he was about to face, even performing a little magic trick with a chuckle.

He tossed a stack of playing cards, briefly obscuring our view.

When he reappeared before us, the white gloves on his hands had transformed into red boxing gloves.

The Young Lady, on the other hand, eschewed such flashy theatrics. She simply put on the gloves and rotated her wrists, seemingly getting a feel for them.

“So, for this round, I shall strike first, and then this young lady will follow, if that is agreeable?”

“It makes no difference to me… You go first, then.”

‘Oh, great… The Young Lady is going second. This is going to be an even more humiliating defeat.’

“Hehehe~ Please, esteemed guests, try not to be too surprised~”

Grinning Darby dramatically swung his ‘fist’ in a few circles.

Yet, he had no arms; only a single boxing glove floated in mid-air, tracing circles—a sight both eerie and comical.

Then, with a tilt of his torso, the floating glove shot toward the target!

“Hey!”

The glove struck the bullseye, and the testing machine’s colored lights immediately began to flash.

“Ding-dong, ding-dong, whir-whir~”

Cheerful music erupted, and the score line rapidly ascended, finally stopping at an incredibly high mark.

“Ding-dong! Congratulations! You’ve achieved an incredible score! Surpassing everyone in the world!”

‘This guy looks so frail, yet he has such immense strength?’

‘Or did he tamper with the machine?’

Perhaps sensing my skepticism, Grinning Darby addressed me directly.

“Hehehe~ I assure you, I haven’t cheated~ Everything is fair and square~ If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to come up and test it yourself~”

“Since you put it that way…”

“It’s fine, Eileen.”

Just as I was about to step forward to check if the two machines were identical, the Young Lady stopped me.

“Even if he’s pulled some tricks, I can still crush him head-on.”

As she spoke, a confident smile played on her lips.

“…!”

I felt as though my heart had been pierced.

‘Young Lady, you’re so cool!’

At this point, trusting the Young Lady was my only option!

Not just me, but every eye in the room turned toward the Young Lady.

Yet, far from being nervous, she approached the punch-strength testing machine with an elegant, cat-like stride.

Without any fancy techniques or even a moment of wind-up, the Young Lady simply took a deep breath and then delivered a straightforward, unadorned punch.

“!!!”

It felt as if a gust of wind had swept past me.

“Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong…”

The Young Lady’s machine also flashed and began to play music.

This time, however, the music couldn’t even finish playing.

The score line soared upward with a momentum that seemed destined to pierce the heavens, reaching its peak before the music was even halfway through.

In fact, it went beyond that.

“Crack! Bang!”

Under the gaze of seven pairs of eyes, the score line shattered the glass display, and colorful liquid erupted like spewing lava.

From that moment on, the entire machine malfunctioned. Lights flickered erratically, and the once cheerful music devolved into grating static.

Finally, with a resounding ‘bang,’ the punch-strength testing machine completely broke down.

‘Hmm… As expected, it was indeed a one-sided domination.’

“This…”

Grinning Darby was dumbfounded once again.

Fortunately, having learned from the previous experience, he quickly recovered his composure.

“Th-this… This round goes to this young lady!”

‘Young Lady! You’re incredible! Both cool and beautiful! Dignified and adorable!’

The moment the Young Lady returned, I immediately launched into praise mode.

Although she didn’t utter a word, a subtle smile was already threatening to break through her composure.

“Cough, cough… Well then, let’s begin the third challenge. Please, everyone, select a challenger.”

It was clear that Grinning Darby’s tone was no longer as lighthearted. Two consecutive defeats must have been quite a blow to him.

There was nothing for it; everyone here was essentially ‘cheating’ with their extraordinary abilities, so he couldn’t be blamed for his losses.

On our side, however, morale was soaring thanks to our two consecutive victories.

“This time, let me go.”

This time, it was Adam.

Initially, I had considered going right after the Young Lady, but the other participants in this round held higher statuses than me. Making a rash request would have been somewhat impolite, so I had deliberately waited.

And so, I waited until Adam spoke up.

“Very well… Challenger, please step forward.”

This time, Grinning Darby didn’t even have the energy to snap his fingers; the necessary props for the match simply rose into place.

This challenge was remarkably simple: a single platform and two longswords.

The third challenge was also straightforward. The challenger would take two swords, and within a set time limit, flying magical creatures would continuously appear and fly toward them. The objective was simply to strike these creatures with the swords.

Of course, these creatures were mere simulations, completely harmless. Even if one failed to hit them, no damage would be incurred.

Achieving combos would yield higher scores, and victory would be granted if the challenger’s score surpassed the target displayed here.

As he spoke, he revealed a sign bearing the number “500.”

‘…Isn’t this just Beat Saber?’

The challenge would begin once the participant stepped onto the platform.

This challenge, too, seemed to pose little difficulty.

‘Could it be that we’re about to achieve a third consecutive victory, sweeping the challenges?’