ASCC-Chapter 24 Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival Representative Selection Battle

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Blazers receive a great deal of attention from society at large.

Apart from the professional Knights, even the student Knights in the reserve ranks attract considerable media attention. When someone like Stella, a genius knight, has the bonus of a prestigious background, they become media darlings and kings of traffic.

Take, for example, the annual 'Seven Stars Sword Art Festival'.

As the premier competition for student knights, with thousands of Blazers vying for the title of strongest, this massive tournament is televised every year. The broadcast rights alone are worth Billions of Yen.

Some of the more powerful Blazers have already gained fame and a following before the tournament.

Ryoji, however, is just a first-year student at Hagun Academy, with no prior fame. Thanks to his mentor's protection, even the media were unaware that God of War had such a student.

Only four days ago, the duel between him and Shinguuji Kurono was recorded by Kusakabe Kagami and posted online, seemingly gaining him a significant following.

He had already become famous at the Hagun Academy before school had even started.

After all, he had once defeated the third-ranked Knight in the world, and in a school where most of the students were E-rank or D-rank Blazers, that was enough to make him stand out.

"Nangou San! Nangou San!"

Kusakabe Kagami squeezed in next to Ryoji, pushing his arm into her personal space and using her charm skilfully. With sparkling eyes, she said:

"I've always wanted to interview you! Do you have any free time lately?"

Her youthful face and undeniable charm made it hard for Ryoji to say no.

"We can talk later."

Ryoji thought for a moment and seeing her sincere interest, he readily agreed.

"Really?"

"Actually, I'd like to talk to you too~!"

"I really... want to see you bleed, Nangou San..."

As Kagami successfully approached the handsome boy, the other girls quickly became excited as well and moved towards him one by one.

"All right, students, back to your seats... 'ahem ahem', the class meeting will start now!"

Just as Ryoji was about to drown in a sea of sincere affection, a faint voice came from outside the classroom.

The teacher soon appeared in front of everyone.

She was a young teacher with slightly wavy dark brown hair. Dressed in a white shirt and black pencil skirt, she had an impressive figure. Despite her good looks and attractive body, her complexion looked terrible.

She looked pale, with deep-set eyes, and her voice was weak, as if she had been suffering from a chronic illness for a long time. The students couldn't help but worry that she might suddenly collapse in the middle of class.

This frail, sickly appearance was enough to give pause to anyone with romantic intentions.

When the teacher arrived, despite the reluctance and disappointment, everyone had no choice but to return to their seats.

Ryoji looked around the classroom, and his expression darkened slightly.

Except for the front row, all the other seats were taken.

It seemed that no matter where you went, students who hate school were the same.

Ryoji had no choice but to sit in the front row, where his teacher kept looking at him.

"Cough cough... Well--☆! Congratulations, new students, you are officially enrolled☆!"

The young teacher stood at the podium, smiling broadly. She pulled out a party popper, which made a loud bang and sent colourful confetti flying everywhere.

"I'm the class teacher for Year 1, Class 1-'Oreki Yuuri'! Although I'm a rookie teacher and this is my first time as a homeroom teacher, I'll do my best to make friends with all of you! Please don't be too formal, just call me 'Yuuri Chan' and I'll be very happy!"

The "chan" added was a bit strange.

"No, wouldn't it be even weirder to call a teacher your friend?"

"It feels like this will be a very exhausting teacher..."

A voice of complaint could be heard from behind, though it was unclear who had said it.

"Well— today is the first day of school, so we won't be having classes! But, Sensei has an announcement to make about the upcoming 'Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival Representative Selection Battle'!"

'Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival Representative Selection Battle'.

As the name suggests, this is a practical selection process to choose a fixed number of students from the over 700 students in the school to participate in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival.

"The Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival is a nationwide tournament open to all Student Knights. However, due to limited spots, each school selects its representatives in its own way."

Oreki Yuuri stood at the podium. Despite her weak voice, she looked quite excited, explaining the process to everyone with this contradictory tone.

"Although the Director already mentioned it at the opening ceremony, I'll repeat it. In the past, Hagun Academy used ability value as the selection standard to choose the contestants, right? But this year, that system has been abolished and replaced by a practical selection process open to all students!"

Among the seven knight schools in Japan, six of them originally used ability value as the standard to select their contestants. That means the students with the best stats on their panels were chosen to compete, and Hagun Academy was one of those schools.

But with the new Director Shinguuji Kurono taking office this year, major reforms have been made. The previous ability value-based selection system has been scrapped, and now all students will compete in a practical selection.

"The battle selection will be a round-robin format, where all students can participate. Each person will have a match approximately every three days, and each person must participate in at least ten matches, lasting nearly a whole semester! After the battle selection ends, the school will select the top six students to represent Hagun Academy in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival!"

One match every three days, at least ten matches per person.

Considering this is a round-robin tournament, those who make it to the end will probably need to play dozens of matches.

The entire process will last about a semester, likely until mid-July, when the six representatives for Hagun Academy will be decided.

In other words, the selection process will take about three months.

"Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival..."

Hearing Oreki Yuuri's more detailed explanation, Ryoji fell into thought.

The tournament will bring together all the Student Knights from Japan, all vying for the prestigious title of 'Seven Stars Sword King', becoming the center of national attention.

Such a competition will certainly attract experts. C-Rank knights will be abundant, B-Rank knights will definitely participate, and even A-Rank knights like Stella— unprecedented in history— will compete... For anyone aiming for the pinnacle, it will undoubtedly be a tremendous challenge.

For Ryoji, it feels like a massive trial. Only by overcoming this trial will he have the chance to break through, shed his weakness, and reach the true peak.

It seems some readers may have misunderstood, so let me clarify here: Ryoji's charm stat in his previous life was set at 46, not the maximum value of 50, and his sword technique innate skill was maxed out. 

After crossing over into this world, he assumed the persona, but there is no system in place. Everything relies solely on his own abilities.

(End of Chapter)