Rynne lowered her gaze. She could still remember the old woman's expression after Michael had left.
It hadn't been surprise. Nor admiration. It had been contemplation. Almost reverence. Then her grandmother had looked at her and calmly spoken words Rynne hadn't understood at the time.
"That young man… He may be the most special person in our realm."
At the time, Rynne had simply assumed her grandmother had been impressed. Michael's growth was extraordinary, and his strength exceeded what should have been possible.
Naturally, someone like that would attract praise. So she hadn't thought much about it.
Now she slowly looked back toward the panel floating before her.
The Origin Will itself had acknowledged him. It had announced his achievement to the entire universe. Her grandmother's words suddenly carried an entirely different weight.
"…Perhaps…"
"…you already knew."
Rynne smiled bitterly. Her grandmother's eyes had always been frighteningly accurate. If even she had regarded Michael as the most special person in Aurora months ago, then perhaps she had noticed something Rynne had overlooked.
Rynne lowered her head. A plicated feeling spread through her chest. It wasn't hatred. Far from it. It was disappointment. Not toward Michael. Toward herself.
"I…"
"…might never surpass him."
Those words were difficult to admit. Rynne had always possessed confidence in herself. She had trained harder than almost everyone around her.
She possessed exceptional talent. Exceptional prehension. Exceptional resources. Even when Michael repeatedly performed miracles, she had believed she could eventually catch him.
Maybe not immediately. Maybe not in a year. But someday.
Now that confidence wavered.
The distance between them no longer felt measurable. It felt fundamental.
She quietly laughed at herself.
"So this…"
"…is what defeat feels like."
The words echoed softly inside the cave. Yet strangely, rather than discouraging her, they brought clarity.
Rynne had never been someone who retreated simply because another person was more talented. If anything, it only strengthened her determination.
She looked once more toward Michael's name.
"What exactly…"
"…did you do?"
The Origin Will wasn't an entity that casually acknowledged individuals. What kind of feat, what kind of impossible achievement, could make even the Origin Will recognize someone by name?
Rynne slowly closed her eyes.
"It truly must be something beyond imagination."
When she opened them again, the trace of disappointment had already faded. In its place remained only determination.
"I may never surpass you…"
She smiled softly.
"But that doesn't mean I'll stop chasing your back."
After gathering herself, she turned to look at the leaderboard of the second layer. Her rank was 68. It wasn't a bad placement, but if she truly wanted to chase Michael, she still had so much to do.
Among the list of one thousand, there were a few other names she saw were from Aurora.
One named Brian was at rank 112 and another named Mira was at rank 534. She wondered whether she would encounter either of them here or back in the real world.
pared to everyone who knew Michael and found themselves shaken, Lily, his cousin, seemed barely affected by the panel that had appeared before her.
Unlike others who had first doubted whether it was actually him, she had immediately started wondering what interesting thing her cousin had managed to do this time.
The other reason she couldn't focus on her cousin's achievements aside from her ignorance was that she and Timi were currently running for their lives.
"Move!"
Timi suddenly shouted.
The two immediately changed direction.
BOOOOOOM!!
An enormous pillar of ice slammed into the ground behind them. The impact froze everything within hundreds of meters. Trees instantly became crystalline sculptures before shattering into glittering fragments. The frozen ground cracked under the overwhelming force.
Lily didn't even look back.
"He's still chasing us!"
"You think I can't tell?" Timi replied while sprinting beside her.
Both of them tightly held identical radiant treasures. The light surrounding the objects had already begun fading, making it obvious they wouldn't remain active for much longer.
Behind them, a furious roar echoed throughout the forest.
"STOP RUNNING!!"
The earth trembled. A gigantic blue dragon burst through countless ancient trees.
Although still juvenile, its body stretched nearly twenty meters from head to tail. Sapphire scales shimmered beneath the sky while enormous wings beat violently, sending freezing winds across the forest.
Its voice didn't sound childish, closer to a teenager's.
"I SAID STOP!"
The dragon inhaled deeply. The surrounding temperature instantly plummeted.
WHOOOOOSH!!
A terrifying torrent of freezing breath swept through the forest. Everything in its path froze solid.
Lily grabbed Timi's sleeve.
"Jump!"
The two split apart. The icy breath blasted between them, freezing an entire hill into crystal before the frozen mass shattered under its own weight.
CRAAAAACK!
Lily landed lightly before glancing backward with a grin.
"You missed again!"
The dragon's eyes widened.
"I DID NOT MISS!"
"You absolutely did."
Timi nodded seriously while continuing to run.
"That one wasn't even close."
"…It was close!"
Lily laughed.
"If that's what you call close, your eyesight must be worse than your aim."
The dragon's nostrils released icy mist.
"I'LL FREEZE BOTH OF YOU!"
Another blast erupted. Neither Lily nor Timi bothered defending. They simply accelerated. The freezing breath passed harmlessly behind them.
Lily laughed louder.
"Too slow!"
Timi looked over his shoulder.
"I think your wings are just for decoration."
The dragon almost stumbled mid-flight.
"My wings are magnificent!"
"They're average," Timi replied with a perfectly serious face.
"They're huge!"
"They're average… for a dragon."
"They're above average!"
Lily glanced at Timi.
"Do you think so?"
Timi pretended to consider it carefully.
"I've definitely seen bigger."
"I HAVE NOT!"
The dragon roared so loudly the surrounding mountains echoed. Its scales glowed brighter as frost spread through the air.
"I'M GOING TO EAT BOTH OF YOU!"
Lily couldn't stop laughing. The juvenile dragon nearly exploded from rage.
"YOU TWO ARE THE WORST HUMANS I'VE EVER MET!"
Without slowing down, Lily and Timi looked at each other before bursting into laughter again.
Behind them, the furious juvenile dragon beat its wings even harder, roaring as it relentlessly continued the chase, pletely unaware that the two humans had long since stopped seeing it as an enemy and had instead turned the pursuit into their own source of entertainment.
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