Nope. Just nope.
This chapter gave me a few seconds of hope when the MC first reacted to the "duel" request.
But then, he still went along with it because... the leader of his former team would stalk him or something.
Like he was the type to let go even if you best him in a fight.
So...
- MC accepting a duel when he has nothing to gain (not even self-confidence or something equally abstract) and a ton to lose.
- "Duel" request of 1v3... the "1" originally being a support role. How brave.
- Examiner playing along, pushing it so far as to extend the exam offer to the criminal team.
- MC beats two members then turns his back on a very untrustworthy leader who is still in fighting condition.
- And the crowning achievement: totally-not-expected attempt at backstabbing the MC... who actually didn't expect it at all... despite knowing that the leader is a trash human... which was the whole reason he even accepted the request in the first place.
The "duel" cliche is pretty bad to begin with. This implementation is probably the worst one I've read in a long time.
This series was unoriginal (just another "X is weak but actually OP") and barely average. This chapter pushes it down to just above outright trash.
(I save the "trash" category when the story is outright broken by internal contradictions. This is just plain stupid, braindead stupid, but not broken.)
Rated and dropped.