Seo Gyeoul-a character revered as one of the ga's most reliable allies, crucial for securing victory in the later arcs.
Not only was she a formidable warrior, but she possessed a beauty that rivaled the most enchanting of heroines.
Yet, it was her unique ability to bestow the [Skill: Hidden Blade] that truly set her apart-a rare and coveted skill that could only be obtained through her training.
Despite her strength and beauty, Seo Gyeoul's character was often considered sowhat bland compared to the more flamboyant heroines of the ga.
However, beneath her seemingly ordinary exterior lay a complexity that few could fathom. Her struggles with social awkwardness and extre anxiety added depth to her character, foreshadowing the challenges she would face in her own story arcs.
As the perfect embodint of the Hidden Blade, Seo was a master swordsman, her skills unmatched by many.
Yet, her inability to express her emotions often left her isolated, a solitary figure in the virtual world.
Only those who managed to forge a deep connection with her could hope to recruit her onto their team.
In the ga, there were only two ways to capture her attention and start her route.... So why?
Why is she here?
I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to get her attention though?
Did she sneak in here with ?
As I gazed at the neatly severed corpses strewn behind her, the answer seed painfully obvious.
The evidence lay before -electric sparks crackling in the air, the lingering afterimage of a blinding flash that happened a while ago, and the fresh corpses bearing identical cuts. It was clear that Seo had orchestrated this massacre.
Thinking back on it, I couldn't shake the feeling that sothing had been amiss from the start. No ambushes, no traps, not even a single monster in sight. Even the system had warned about monsters capable of sensing their opponents' auras. Now, it all began to fall into place.
They probably all gathered here, drawn by the formidable aura that Seo exuded.
But if Seo was responsible for all of this, did that an the flash of light when I mimicked her attack earlier was also her doing?
And what about the sudden influx of levels I had received-was that her doing as well?
Suddenly the system ssage popped up again.
[Note: would you like to disband party?]
[Yes/No]
Huh?
[Status info:]
[Seo Gyeoul]
[Race: High Human]
[Level-98]
[Strength: B]
[Agility: S]
[Endurance: C]
[Luck: D]
[Power: B]
[Skills:]
[Advance Swordsmanship] [Proficiency: (100%)]
[Heavenly Steps] [Proficiency: (100%)]
[Aura] [Proficiency: (90%)]
[Shadow Steps] [Proficiency: (80%)]
[Hidden blade] (Unique)] [Proficiency: (75%)]
[Advance Spearman ship] [Proficiency: (40%)]
...
....
.....
[Special abilities]
[True strike]
[Description: No matter what situation you will always have the first strike]
[Overview: A lone flower in the green garden]
Seeing her status window splattered across the transparent blue screen before , I couldn't
help but widen my eyes.
Seo and I were at a party?
Since when?
[Note: Approximately 02:45:37]
But I didn't notice her since the beginning though?
How did she even beco part of my party in the first place?
And why didn't this bloody system tell about such an important detail.
[Note: You didn't ask]
Now this thing was just pissing off at this point.... Ignoring my overly useless system I looked at Seo's stats in more detail.
Seo's stats were nothing short of staggering. Her S-rank agility and level 98 status spoke volus about her prowess. It seed she hadn't lost any of her power since the mont we ford our party.
With her formidable Hidden Blade skill and the ga-changing True Strike ability, she held the upper hand in any combat scenario.
If Alice was known for her ability to decimate enemies with her card army and knights, then Seo was the undisputed champion of solo battles.
Her skillset ensured victory in almost any situation.
With a plethora of skills at her disposal, it was hard to believe that she was an early-ga character available for teaming up.
Seo embodied the epito of cheat mode in the ga, her very presence guaranteeing success in most encounters.
Amidst my focus on the screens before , I felt a warmth enveloping my hands, followed by the distinct sound of a slap. Startled, I turned to see Seo lifting my arms, her expression as emotionless as ever as she forced into a clapping motion.
"We won... yay!" she declared in her usual monotone voice. Her actions would have been less
bizarre if she actually seed excited about our victory.
This girl... as awkward as ever, just like in the ga.
"Seo Gyeoul," I called out to her, trying to regain control of my hands as she continued to
press them against hers.
She looked at , her head slightly tilted. "You know ?"
"Almost everyone in the knight departnt knows of you," I replied.
"Why?" Her tone was curious, almost innocent.
"Because you're the top seat in our departnt."
"I see... Is that also the reason you know of ?"
"Yes,"
"Ah... I see." Her response was devoid of emotion, yet a sense of disappointnt seed to
linger in the air.
'Did I say sothing wrong?'
In the ga, there were subtle signs that indicated when Seo was feeling sad or troubled, and one of those signs was when her gaze drifted downward. Now, she was exhibiting exactly that
behavior.
Whenever I noticed such signs in the ga, I would often reload to the nearest save point to ensure a 100% success rate in romancing her when following her specific route. Knowing her personality, I anticipated that she would take this interaction to heart in so peculiar way. I knew I had to cheer her up, but there were other pressing matters that needed
addressing.
"Why are you here, Miss Seo?" I inquired, attempting to steer the conversation back on track.
Suddenly, she jolted, releasing my already numb hands. Her eyes darted from side to side as she struggled to find her words.
"...I was curious?" she finally managed to articulate.
"Curious about what?" I pressed, genuinely puzzled. What could possibly pique her curiosity
enough to prompt her to venture all the way here and, ironically, save my skin despite the trouble inadvertently caused by her presence.
"About you" ca her imdiate reply.
Huh... so she really did co here because of ?
But why, though? As far as I knew, we never had any sort of interaction aside from this
morning. We rely bumped into each other in the first place.
So why was she suddenly secretly following like this?
If what the system said about the party indicator was true, she probably started tailing
around two hours ago.
Coincidentally, that's around the sa ti I left the library.
Wait... was that presence from before, her?
Now, everything started to make sense.
This girl probably saw when I took the trials for the Tears of Chronos back then.
It would make sense as to why I've caught her attention. Only soone on her level could
discern the unique quality of mana my earrings were exuding.
She probably thinks I'm a celestial mage or sothing now.
"Don't worry, Mr. Celestial Mage, your secret's safe with ," she said, her hands clenched
into fists.
Yup... This girl clearly misunderstood everything.
"By the way, Mr. Mage, why did you not use magic?" she asked curiously, scanning from head to toe. She's probably trying to pinpoint where all my mana went.
But unfortunately for her, I had no such thing. I don't even have the unique mana to use
celestial magic to begin with.
Haah... it would be troubleso if a misunderstanding like this goes on any longer. As I'm going for a more physically oriented build for the upcoming arc in the future, any notion of
magical attacks from would be nonexistent.
So, It's better to fix this now.
"First of all, I'm not a mage," I interjected.
"Eh....? But you were clearly using-"
"And second, stop calling Mr. Mage. My na is Riley, Riley Hell. You can just call
Riley, Miss Seo."
"Riley... is that really alright?" she said, her tone carrying a hint of happiness. It was hard to
tell, though, given her usually stoic expression.
But sothing about the way she spoke made think she was genuinely pleased.
Was being called by my na really such a big deal to her?
"Yeah" I replied, trying to keep my own emotions in check. "Riley, Riley... your na is very beautiful as well" she continued, her hands suddenly
grasping both of my arms as she leaned in. A smile almost tugged at my lips at her endearing
actions, but I suppressed it quickly.
I didn't want to co off as creepy.
"Then you can call Seo as well, Riley."
"Sure...," I agreed, feeling a bit awkward about the sudden closeness.
I attempted to ease out of her grip, hoping to create so distance between us, but her hold
only tightened, her fingers intertwining with mine.
What was she doing?
CRACKK!!!
Then, without warning, a sharp cracking noise echoed through the air, followed by searing
pain shooting through my hands.
I bit down hard on my lip to stifle a scream, refusing to show any weakness in front of her.
I could feel the bones in my hands being crushed as she clenched her fists around them.
"Riley... since we call each other by nas now, does that an we're best friends?"
Huh...?
What is this woman talking about all of a sudden?
Best friends?
This is the first ti we've actually interacted, and can you please let go of already... darn
it!
Her question caught off guard, and I struggled to find the right words to respond. Despite my discomfort she seed to have no care as her grip on my arm remained firm,
making it difficult for to concentrate.
As Seo approached the young man from behind, only a single thought lingered in her mind:
how could she explain everything to him?
She was afraid he would get mad at what she accidentally did.
That was why her brain worked overti, desperately trying to co up with a good excuse.
But despite her efforts, she eventually stopped, unable to think of anything.
With a tired sigh, she dismissed her shadow steps technique and slowly approached him. As
he turned around, she knew it was her chance.
No matter what, she must make a connection with him now.
How should she first interact with him? It should be congratulating him for their victory,
right?
"Y-yay! We did it, right?" she blurted out nervously.
The mont she said those words, he slowly turned around and looked at her in confusion.
Then, suddenly, his gaze intensified, and he didn't even say a word as he stared at her.
Seo's heart raced as she tried to gauge his reaction. Was he angry? Confused? She couldn't tell, and the silence stretched between them, thick with tension.
She swallowed nervously, feeling a bead of sweat forming on her brow. This wasn't going
according to plan at all. What should she do now? Should she apologize? Explain herself? Or should she just wait for him to speak first?
'Why is he staring at like that...?' Seo wondered, feeling uneasy under his intense gaze.
Was congratulating themselves the wrong way of doing things? She had never had a man look at her so closely before.
The way he directly looked into her eyes without hesitation was weird, so Seo averted her
gaze. But when she looked back, he was still staring at her, making her feel kind of vulnerable for the first ti in her life.
'Don't tell ... is my potential friend one of those man wolves my sister warned about? Is
he after my body?'
Dangerous thoughts flooded her mind imdiately. Should she just abandon the thought of befriending him?
But she had already co this far. Though he could just possibly be staying silent, unsure how to react.
After all, Seo fully believed he was socially awkward, just like her.
That was why she decided to take action. As soone who understood his struggles, she felt it
was her responsibility to lighten the mood and speak up to prevent the conversation from becoming even more awkward.
"We won... yay!" Seo exclaid, her voice forced cheerfulness as she forcefully grabbed his arm, pulling it into a clap with hers and making a small high five in the air. Finally, it grabbed his attention... and that's when their conversation kept going.
For the first ti in her life, Seo finally had soone she could talk to for more than 10
seconds. Though most of it may have seed unnatural and awkward, Seo understood that it was just okay for first-tirs like them.
Their conversation had its ups and downs. He was quite blunt with his words, but even still,
Seo was happy to talk to sobody like this for the first ti. She could feel that he actually cared, for so reason unknown to her.
It was a strange feeling, having a stranger who seed to genuinely care about her well-
being.
But as they continued to talk, Seo couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude wash over her. Maybe, just maybe, she had finally found soone she could call a friend.
Then it finally ca... one of the very few signs that your best friends, from the book she had
read, [How to Make Friends]
"My na is Riley, Riley Hell. You can just call Riley, Miss Seo," he said, granting her
permission to use his na. It was a small gesture, but to Seo, it felt like a significant milestone.
Calling each other by their first nas was common, but the book had emphasized that it was
different if the other person gave you permission.
Her heart raced at the thought of having a best friend, sothing she had never experienced
before.
"Riley... is that really alright?" she asked, wanting to be sure. "Yeah," he replied, his tone calm but reassuring.
Is this truly it? Seo couldn't help but wonder.
"Riley, Riley... your na is very beautiful as well," she couldn't help but mumble in
happiness. Finally, a best friend!
"Then you can call Seo as well, Riley," She offered, sealing their newfound friendship.
With this, they were best friends in both ways, right? "Sure...," Riley agreed.
Feeling a rush of excitent.
She rembered a technique from the book, one that would supposedly make any man weak
in front of any girl they t.
Grasping onto his hands in excitent, she interlocked her fingers with his, looking into his
eyes with affection.
This was it.
This was the mont where their bond would truly solidify, and Seo couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation at what was to co.
But still, as everything felt surreal to her, she still needed verbal confirmation. "Riley... since we call each other by nas now, does that an we're best friends?" she asked
eagerly, her heart pounding with anticipation and fear that Riley might disappear all of a
sudden.
Unknowingly, she had put too much strength into her grip, her fingers tightly intertwined with his.
The young girl couldn't even see the pained expression he was making, his face contorting with discomfort as her grip tightened.
He tried to hide his discomfort, not wanting to ruin the mont, but the pain was evident in
his strained features.
"Uhg!— yeah... yes????" he replied awkwardly, trying to mask the discomfort in his voice.
Seo's heart soared at his response, interpreting it as confirmation of their newfound
friendship.
She didn't just make a friend.
'She had a best friend now'
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