With the completion of Se-Hoon’s demonstration, the stage quickly transitioned into the awards ceremony amidst the lingering confusion.0

“Due to their exceptional performances in the tournament, the following students will receive special awards…”0

Luize, Amir, Jake, Erika, Jane, and Ren—who had been eliminated early despite their abilities due to unfavorable matchups—were each given a special award. It made sense, given Babel's tendency to reward talent, and since these individuals were clearly skilled enough to vie for third or fourth place, both competitors and the audience alike found the decision reasonable.0

However, there was one thing about the announcement that left Se-Hoon slightly puzzled.0

So, they completely left Manuel out of it…0

It was shocking, given that the second-year honor student didn’t even place, though Se-Hoon could somewhat understand why.0

Well, he did fight terribly out there.0

Had Manuel shown anything worthwhile, things might have been different. But since he had gotten knocked out at the very first moment, losing in one blow to Sung-Ha, Ludwig likely saw no reason to award him anything special.0

Hmm… perhaps this is a good opportunity.0

Confirming that Manuel wasn’t even present in the arena, Se-Hoon fell into thought.0

Since Manuel had been utterly crushed by Sung-Ha, part of the attention would naturally shift toward...0