126 Quinn

If there were any individuals who had left the deepest impression on Joss thus far, the flame-haired girl was one, and this girl with sun-kissed skin was another.

The name she had given earlier sounded similar to the English name "Queen." Beyond her remarkably striking tan lines, her appearance was easily among the top five of this entire batch of contestants. Perhaps it was due to her heritage; Queen was quite tall, visibly standing between 1.7 and 1.8 meters, yet her body proportions were so perfect that she didn't look out of place at all. Naturally, as someone who managed to stick in Joss's memory, she was, without a doubt, a girl so flat-chested she could be used for rock climbing.

At this moment, Queen and her opponent stood on opposite sides of the arena, awaiting the signal to begin their duel.

"That appearance... wait, could you be *that* Queen?!" Suddenly, a girl standing below the arena cried out in alarm, as if she had discovered something earth-shattering.

Hearing this shout, Joss felt his heart skip a beat. Why did this scene feel so familiar?

"What? Is it *the* Queen? The one who remained undefeated in the Grandmaster’s arena?"

"It must be! If she hadn't left, there wouldn't have been any room for the likes of Beta Ray Bill or Man-Thing; for all we know, the title of Champion of Sakaar might have changed hands!"

"My god! So those rumors were true!"

Before he could even speak, a wave of gasps and exclamations erupted from the girls resting near the arena, each of them casting looks at Queen that were a mixture of envy and extreme jealousy.

"Holy crap, is this for real? Girl, you’re in trouble!"

Joss’s cheek twitched. He knew this trope all too well—it was the standard template for a "Dragon Overlord" to show off. On one side of the stage, an unknown combatant; on the other, an eye-catching beauty with a self-contained aura of greatness. Before the fight even begins, the crowd starts mindlessly hyping her up, followed by some trash-talking toward the opponent. Then, the person who seems destined to win gets swiftly written off.

And right now, Queen was standing in the shoes of that doomed side character!

"Ugh... but if this is the Marvel Universe, maybe this flag doesn't apply?" Joss muttered to himself, whether to comfort himself or to find an excuse for Queen.

With this thought in mind, Joss looked toward the other contestant on the stage and found a completely unremarkable girl. It wasn't that she was unattractive, but she was merely average—perhaps even less memorable than those with minor flaws.

"What the hell?! What is this textbook 'protagonist aura'?!"

What is a protagonist? They are the type of person shrouded in words like "ordinary," "plain," and "unremarkable." These are the exact people who love to slap faces, show off, and play the pig to eat the tiger!

"Tsk tsk, it's over. You're going to lose this match for sure." Looking at Queen again, his gaze now held a hint of pity. Facing the raw power of the "Dragon Overlord" template, how could she possibly win? (And no, this is not a reference to the aircraft carrier *Hiryu* from *Kantai Collection*; please don't get the wrong idea.)

No one knew how many little scenarios Joss had conjured up in his mind during those few seconds, and the two on stage were certainly unaffected by his malicious overthinking.

"So you are that Queen?" the girl on stage asked cautiously.

"That's right, it's me," Queen said, folding her arms—or rather, holding the air in front of her chest—and nodded haughtily.

"Hmph, I've heard many legends about you. Today, I'm going to see if they're true!" The girl didn't seem intimidated by the gasps from the sidelines; instead, her fighting spirit burned even brighter.

"Is that so..." Queen raised her eyelids slightly and even let out a yawn as she spoke, looking as if she hadn't taken her opponent seriously at all.

"How dare you look down on me!" Seeing Queen's attitude, the girl let out a low shout and lunged forward to attack.

"Oh?" Seeing the girl's movement, Queen gave a small, lazy wave of her hand, as if she were shooing away a fly.

Yet, that light, casual gesture made her opponent react as if she were facing a mortal threat, causing her to retreat in terror as if she had seen a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!

"What did she just do?!"

"I don't know, but look at how scared her opponent is! That must be a terrifying move that kills on contact!"

"No wonder Queen only flicked her hand; the rules state we can't kill our opponents. If she had actually landed that hit, it would be all over."

"I never imagined someone so powerful would actually respect the rules!"

Listening to the chatter around her, the girl on stage gritted her teeth and attempted a series of attacks in different ways. However, each time, Queen simply waved her hand toward her with indifference, her fly-swatting demeanor suggesting she didn't even consider these full-force attacks worth her attention. Fearing the opponent's terrifying strength, the girl hesitated to get close. After a few minutes of stalemate, she finally gave up and conceded.

"She won! Queen-sama is the strongest indeed!"

"Are you stating the obvious? How could Queen-sama possibly lose?"

Listening to the heartfelt praise from the girls around her, Queen didn't look particularly smug. She simply nodded slightly and turned to walk off the stage, leaving the space for the next group.

...

"..." Joss pinched his thigh hard, keeping his face neutral while watching the next match, but he kept muttering to himself unconsciously:

"What the hell did I just watch? What actually happened? Are we even watching the same fight???"

Since he couldn't leave his spot to watch the arena, Joss summoned the combat Goblin he had acquired earlier and told it to secretly follow Queen to see what she was up to. The seemingly useless Goblin was surprisingly quick on its feet; after two rounds of combat, it returned and pulled out a phone—from who knows where—to show Joss the video it had recorded.

"Ahhh, that scared me to death! That person was so terrifying!"

"I was just trying to raise my hand to say hello! Why did she suddenly lunge at me!"

"And what the hell is she doing anyway? Why does she keep rushing in and then running away? My muscles are so stiff I can't even move!"

Queen’s frantic muttering while huddled in a corner was captured in its entirety. Listening to this subtle whining, Joss thought for a few seconds and finally made a decision.

"Forget it, whatever!"