I’m taking Seo Ye-in with when I go to the main family.
‘Honestly, I’m not thrilled.’
I’d been planning to spend the entire winter break being all lovey-dovey with Kim Ho, just the two of us. If I add one more person, I’ll have to rewrite a big chunk of that plan.
‘Still... it’s better to think long-term, right?’
Seo Ye-in is soone I’m going to be with for a long ti.
Even after graduation. Even after re-enrollnt.
And if that’s the case, I’m going to have things I need to ask her for from ti to ti—so the smartest move is to start building a good relationship now.
‘And she’s... not bad, either.’
If she’d been completely unbearable, I would’ve cut her off cleanly no matter what ca later.
Given my relationship with the main family, this break probably won’t be purely comfortable in the first place. If I bring soone I can’t stand, it’ll be twice as suffocating.
Seo Ye-in doesn’t talk much, and she’s a little slow on the uptake, but her personality doesn’t have any sharp edges.
If you talk to her, she’s secretly kind of fun.
Even when we went out in the busy district, she blended in with us fine.
After we finished settling the bill, Dang Gyu-young spoke.
“Going together is fine, but let’s add one condition.”
“......?”
“If you end up going to Hye-seong or sowhere later, take with you.”
It’s only fair—give and take—so it’s not an unreasonable condition, right?
Just like I expected, Seo Ye-in nodded readily.
“Okay.”
“Good. I’ll tell your side ahead of ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ ti, and Kim Ho too—”
Dang Gyu-young cut off mid-sentence, shut their mouth, and exchanged a look with Seo Ye-in.
A faint blue light was leaking from both of their bodies.
At the sa ti, it felt like bands of mana were forming around their [Core].
“......?”
“......What the hell?”
*****
The match against Kim Gap-doo was getting more intense by the second.
A fist ca crashing in, packed with overwhelming power.
The mont I tried to lightly deflect it with Wind Force, it dug in even deeper and stabbed at with an elbow.
Right as my solar plexus was about to cave in, my body flickered out—
—and reappeared a short distance away.
I’d opened space with ★Blink★.
In response, Kim Gap-doo’s body spun once in a huge rotation, spilling tension in every direction.
—KRRRRAAAMMMM—!
“......!”
Go Hyeon-woo and Song Cheon-hye hesitated for a beat, then forced their way between the surging waves of pressure.
A single sword stroke that carved like a beam of light, and a bolt of lightning.
—FLASH!
A bit of damage stacked up on his shoulder and back, but Kim Gap-doo all but ignored them, springing up in a clean leap.
Then he dropped straight down at .
—KRAAANG—!
The arena floor exploded into fragnts, stone shards flying everywhere.
I stepped back with Feather Step, and Kim Gap-doo imdiately chased, working his footwork tight to mine.
Just as he was about to throw another punch—
“Let’s stop here.”
As if he’d never been fighting, Kim Gap-doo let both arms hang down.
I raised a hand to stop Go Hyeon-woo and Song Cheon-hye as well.
“Good work.”
[Ti Remaining 00:06]
With only a few seconds left, it’s better to cut it clean than keep trading blows to the end.
Everyone’s gaze went to the scoreboard.
[Go Hyeon-woo 86%]
[Kim Ho 100%]
[Song Cheon-hye 83%]
vs
[Kim Gap-doo 71%]
We didn’t take him down, but our average HP was higher—so it was a judgnt win.
When “Win” popped up next, smiles tugged at my teammates’ lips.
anwhile, Kim Gap-doo seed to have sothing left to say, and beckoned over with his hand.
When I got close, he spoke.
“You really have gotten strong. More than I expected.”
“You’re flattering . The three of us together can barely handle you, senior.”
“From what I see, you could manage one-on-one as well. Even if not, you’ll be able to soon enough.”
His tone was definitive—like it was a certainty.
Then he continued.
“I can finally put my worries down. It’s ridiculous for a weakling to worry about a master. From here on out, everything rests on you.”
“Thank you... for everything.”
I bowed my head with sincerity—and Kim Gap-doo pulled sothing out of his Inventory again.
“Take it. This is the last one.”
[Rejuvenation Pill (B )]
A rare elixir packed with so much energy it could rival a Grand Reversion Pill.
Seeing him hand sothing like that over so casually, Song Cheon-hye—watching from a short distance—made a shocked face.
Even Go Hyeon-woo’s reverence deepened another notch.
The road to world peace was far too long for to refuse, so I quickly accepted the Rejuvenation Pill.
“I’ll use it gratefully. I have sothing to give you, too.”
I handed him a neatly folded slip of paper.
A strange light flickered in Kim Gap-doo’s eyes.
“......What is this.”
“A strategy guide.”
“It’s not for the underground floors, then.”
Giving that to soone about to graduate would be aningless.
I tipped my chin in confirmation.
“Just like you guessed. It’s outside Dungeon Island.”
A strategy guide listing the locations and acquisition thods of fist-fighter–type Hidden Pieces located near where Kim Gap-doo would be active after graduation.
‘There’s not enough ti to collect them all anyway.’
In that case, it’s better to pass it to soone trustworthy than keep it hidden to the very end.
If even one more strong ally shares the cause, achieving world peace gets that much easier.
Kim Gap-doo stayed silent for a mont, then spoke.
“......An unexpected gift. And it’s sothing you can’t even put a price on.”
“I’ve received a lot from you, senior. I wanted to help you sohow, even if it’s only like this.”
“I’ll accept it gratefully.”
He left with a wish for good fortune in battle, then turned and walked away.
Only after his back vanished into the distance did I turn my eyes and call up the quest window.
Side Quest: Week 16 PvP Match
▷Objective 1: Win with HP at 80% or higher(2/2 tis)
▷Objective 2: Total damage dealt accumulates to 60% or higher(67/60%)
▷Reward: Shared Trait slot 1
‘Thank god it ca as a slot.’
If it had been sothing else, I would’ve been a little disappointed.
Either way, sharing it sooner rather than later would benefit everyone.
[Registering ‘Ring of the Great Sage’ to the slot.]
▷Shared Trait[3/3]
Distortion
Ten-Thousand-Poison Immunity
Ring of the Great Sage
It was a Trait I already had, so nothing changed for .
But the three people tied through [Bond] must have been pretty shocked—ssages ca flooding in.
[Hong Yeon-hwa:(startled puppy emoticon)]
[Seo Ye-in:(question-mark? cat emoticon)
[Seo Ye-in:What]
[Dang Gyu-young:Young sovereign]
[Dang Gyu-young:How about turning the blinky on before you co in]
[Dang Gyu-young:You scared ]
[Dang Gyu-young:(fox holding a club emoticon)]
[Kim Ho:Sorry]
[Dang Gyu-young:What does it do?]
[Kim Ho:In simple terms, mana builds faster]
[Hong Yeon-hwa:!]
[Hong Yeon-hwa:(tail-wagging puppy emoticon)]
[Hong Yeon-hwa:(bouncing puppy emoticon)]
Just reading it, I could practically picture her beaming.
With A-rank not far away, it made sense she’d love a mana-support Trait.
I’d explain the details later when we t in person.
I turned my head to Song Cheon-hye, who was standing beside .
Then I stiffened my face and started.
“Watching you fight up close...”
“Watching ... fight?”
Song Cheon-hye tensed, waiting for what ca next.
She’s probably worried I’ll say, ‘Let’s keep doing squeaky-hamr training,’ because she didn’t et the bar.
I stayed silent for a while, then grinned mischievously.
“We can move on. To control training.”
“......!”
Mok Jong-hwa might have been a third-year, but strictly speaking they were a turret-type mage, so their close combat would’ve been lacking.
Kim Gap-doo, on the other hand, was as close-combat as it gets—a Martial Artist.
Since we’d taken a clean win against him, it ant she’d proven the minimum level of skill.
Song Cheon-hye spoke, fired up.
“I’m finally free from the squeaky hamr. Should we go right now?”
“If you’ve got ti.”
“I do today. I’m off-duty.”
“Good.”
We headed to the training center, and before booking a training room, we rented a few items.
Cones, jump hurdles, rings—various obstacles.
Normally, Beast Tar–type classes use stuff like this for agility training.
Maybe that’s why Song Cheon-hye gave a strange look, but for now, she set the obstacles up the way I told her.
I lined the cones up, then set the hurdles and rings.
“This goes without saying, but you’re not the one running it. Make a Hummingbird.”
“Yes.”
By now, Song Cheon-hye seed to understand what I was trying to do.
She gathered electric current and lifted a lightning sparrow into the air.
—ZZZT,
I summoned Sylphid on my end.
Wind gathered, a translucent stead bun appeared, and I placed it at the start line.
Song Cheon-hye lined her Hummingbird up beside it.
“Like this?”
“Good. We start right away. Follow.”
Sylphid imdiately flew toward the obstacles, weaving through the line of cones in a zigzag.
The Hummingbird followed a similar trajectory—until a slight control error made it slam into the fourth cone.
—PZZZT!
“......I’ll do it again.”
A second Hummingbird took its place at the start line and began flying after Sylphid.
—PZZZT!
Of course, it didn’t get far before it clipped an obstacle again.
I spoke like it was nothing.
“Next.”
—ZZZT,
Out of all lightning spells, Hummingbird is one that’s especially sensitive to control.
Which ant if she mastered this, the level of her other spells would rise with it.
‘For now, the goal is finishing the course.’
*****
After focusing on obstacle races with Song Cheon-hye for several days...
Her Hummingbird control improved a bit.
She’d gotten fairly used to zigzagging through cones, and now she was working on clearing hurdles of different sizes.
While helping her train, I also got a result of my own.
[‘Sylphid’ rank increases. (C →B )]
Since I already had enough proficiency to finish the course easily, the rank climbed fast.
anwhile, Song Cheon-hye’s Hummingbird cleared a hurdle, tried to pass through a ring—
—and snagged the edge.
—PZZZT!
Like her tension finally snapped, she let out a long breath.
“......I’m going to rest a minute.”
I tipped my chin, aning go ahead.
She’d been maintaining extre focus nonstop, so her ntal fatigue had to be significant.
For a while, silence settled over the training room.
“.......”
“.......”
The silence broke with a knock.
—KNOCK KNOCK,
I opened the door to see who it was.
Hong Yeon-hwa stood there.
In a sowhat cautious tone, she spoke.
“They said you were here... so I ca.”
“Yeah. But what’s up?”
“Well... I wanted to say thank you. I got over it.”
The mont I heard “got over it,” I knew what she ant.
“[Core]?”
“Yeah. I’m A-rank now.”
I’d been expecting it around finals or during break, but she said it got pulled forward because she received the shared Ring of the Great Sage.
I nodded, satisfied.
“You worked hard. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. And... I learned ★Blink★ too.”
Of course she dropped everything and learned ★Blink★ first.
Mages all think the sa way.
Hong Yeon-hwa continued.
“I practiced a bit, and I wanted you to watch.”
“Yeah? Use it.”
Hong Yeon-hwa took a spot near one side of the training room.
She focused, assembled a complex formula—
—WHOOSH,
Then she flickered out and appeared one step forward.
“How is it...?”
“You’re doing well.”
It was nowhere near usable in real combat yet, but the important part was that she controlled even a single step perfectly.
At my praise, Hong Yeon-hwa spoke with a face that was half fulfilled, half shy.
“I’m going to... increase the distance little by little.”
“Better than getting greedy from the start. You’ll do great.”
“Yeah, thank you...!”
After exchanging a few more words, Hong Yeon-hwa left the training room.
“......!”
Song Cheon-hye, anwhile, looked seriously shaken.
Not only had her Core rank been caught up—she’d been overtaken in ★Blink★ too.
She stood where Hong Yeon-hwa had demonstrated the spell.
“I-I’ll try too.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to do it later?”
“Just once. Only once.”
“Go ahead, then.”
She’d gotten stubborn—there was no point stopping her if she wouldn’t listen anyway.
Better to let her realize it herself.
Song Cheon-hye concentrated hard, pulling up mana.
A complex formula assembled, and her figure vanished for an instant.
And then—
—BANG!
She headbutted the ceiling with a spectacular crash, then flopped down.
“.......”
“This is totally pathetic.”
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