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Chapter 07
<Some time later>
Keurk!!
The kobold’s gaping jaws grazed right past Woo-hyun’s head, and he barely twisted his neck aside to dodge the attack.
But since he was gripping the longsword’s blade with his bare hand to push the kobold back, damage was steadily accumulating in real time—3 points at a time.
Keurk! Keurk! Keurk!
The kobold launched a three-bite combo, aiming for Woo-hyun’s head. Woo-hyun barely managed to shove it back with the side of his longsword, dodging each attack.
“I was a master at Rock-Paper-Scissors-Tag, you mangy mutt!!!”
Woo-hyun read the kobold’s bite attacks like a rhythm game, slipping past them with almost supernatural precision.
But that didn’t last long.
Because the price of grabbing the longsword blade with his bare hand had left him with only 4 HP.
“I’m not dying here! You bastard!!!”
Woo-hyun squeezed out the last of his mana to activate his Body Hardening Technique, and kicked the kobold square in the gut. By draining every drop of mana, he managed to push it back just a little.
[3 Damage!]
[HP: 1]
Now Woo-hyun’s HP was down to 1. He thought this might really be the end.
Grrraaaaahhh!!!
The kobold’s eyes rolled as it lunged toward him again.
Skaaaak!!!
A crescent-shaped blue sword aura sliced in front of the kobold, blocking its path.
And then, right before Woo-hyun—who had only 1 HP left—stood Serin, her entire sword glowing with the radiance of blue moonlight.
“Now it’s my turn.”
“You sure took your time. One more second and I’d have been retired.”
Woo-hyun smirked. Serin answered flatly.
“Seven minutes, forty-five seconds. That was already incredibly fast. You said you’d last eight minutes, but you fell short by fifteen seconds.”
“For a kobold that can move on all fours, I lasted long enough, don’t you think? Anyway, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
At his words, Serin simply nodded, raised her longsword into a middle guard stance, and readied herself.
Tatata-tak!!!
The moment she did, the kobold rushed toward her.
To be precise, it was aiming for Woo-hyun behind her. But Serin decided she had to shift its aggro away from him and onto herself before it could buy time chasing him down. So she charged straight at it.
Swish!!!
“Crazy…”
A crescent-shaped moonlight shimmered under Serin’s feet. Like a speed skater, she glided across the ground at breakneck speed.
Sliding required less effort and produced more speed than running. With minimal mana, Serin gained astonishing velocity.
Whoooosh!!!
In seconds, she was right in front of the kobold. She swung her longsword, launching a crescent sword aura.
Fwoooosh!!!
As expected of a nimble kobold—it bent its waist back a full ninety degrees, dodging the crescent slash like it was doing the limbo.
“Got you.”
That was exactly what Serin wanted. She didn’t stop after firing the aura—she closed the distance, and by the time the kobold arched backward, she was already in its face.
Tap! Slash!!!
She leapt into a backflip, and as her legs swung overhead, the moonlight blade under her feet slashed across the kobold’s groin.
Screeeeeeech!!!!!
Blood spurted in twin streams. Hearing the kobold’s pitiful shriek, Woo-hyun instinctively crossed his own legs tight.
“Yikes… so you were male, huh…”
Just from its scream, Woo-hyun instantly understood.
Whirr-slash!!!
Serin landed from her backflip, swung her longsword again, and left a deep diagonal gash across the kobold’s chest.
Grrr!!! Awoooooo!!!
Now castrated and gashed across the chest, the kobold howled with rage and charged her. Serin skated across the arena like an athlete, turning the fight into a deadly game of tag.
<Some time later>
“This really feels like augmented reality.”
In reality, a kobold would never be walking after having its groin cut open. But this one was an AR monster, so it rose immediately to chase Serin again.
“Still… her application is insane. As expected from the original genius.”
Watching Serin apply her ability to moonlight, Woo-hyun could only marvel.
The sword aura she used at the start combined concentration and form. The skate-like moonlight blades under her feet combined emission and form.
At his current level, Woo-hyun could barely recognize the principles, but reproducing them with mana was impossible.
Even when he mastered his ability in the first cycle, he couldn’t do what Serin just did with her Gift, which was even harder than mana manipulation.
To him, Serin’s talent was something to envy and admire.
‘Still, this time… I’ve gotten a little closer to that.’
He thought as he pushed himself up, raising his longsword.
‘Besides… this Yoo Serin isn’t the same Top-Ten Serin I knew.’
Then he noticed Serin’s expression change, like she’d just realized something while skating on her moonlight blades.
“Ah…”
The word slipped out of her mouth. Woo-hyun muttered under his breath, holding his sword in a reverse grip.
“You idiot.”
Thunk—!
Crash!!!
The moonlight blades vanished from her feet, causing Serin to halt abruptly and tumble forward with a loud thud.
As her head smacked the ground, the kobold seized the chance and lunged. Woo-hyun hurled his longsword.
Whoosh!!!
Thwack!!!
Screeee!!!
The sword stuck between Serin and the kobold, blocking its ambush.
Just a few seconds.
That was all the time Woo-hyun bought by tossing away his weapon.
But those seconds changed both of their fates.
Beep!!!
[Time Over!]
[Clear!]
Awooooo!!!
The 20-minute limit had passed. The kobold let out a mournful howl, robbed of its revenge, before dissolving into light.
“You copied my exact mana pattern! Didn’t you notice when you saw me use my ability? At least when it comes to mana, I’m above you.”
“Sorry… I got carried away.”
Serin dusted herself off. Woo-hyun extended his palm.
She tilted her head with a puzzled look, and he sighed.
“High five. You’re so good at everything else, why are you so awkward at this?”
Her cheeks reddened slightly as she slapped his hand.
Smack!!!
Their resounding high five echoed, marking their first real step in the Korean player world.
<Later, at the Player Management Bureau entrance>
“Ha! That’s the stuff!”
Having just received their F-rank player licenses, Woo-hyun and Serin clinked vending machine drinks together in celebration.
After sipping her cola, Serin hesitated, then offered her smartphone to him.
“Give me your number. I want to repay you for teaching me that ability. Just taking the exam together isn’t enough.”
Woo-hyun stared at the phone she held out shyly.
‘Wow… Yoo Serin, of all people, is asking me for my number.’
It felt surreal.
“You’re… not going to give it to me?”
She looked up at him with kitten-like eyes, and Woo-hyun thought to himself:
‘If she knows she’s this cute, then she’s a total fox. If not… well, that’s another kind of problem.’
After a moment, he took the phone.
“But if I give you my number, that means we’re friends, okay?”
“Friends…?”
Serin blinked. Woo-hyun replied casually:
“What, you think I’d just hand out my number to someone I just met? No friendship, no number.”
He decided to push his luck a little.
In the first cycle, Yoo Serin was someone untouchably far above him—her talent, her background, her character. There was nothing he could match.
But this was the second cycle. This time, he wanted to walk shoulder to shoulder with her.
And so, friendship was the first step.
Serin chewed her lip, then gave a small nod.
“Alright. Friends.”
She even dropped formal speech. Woo-hyun grinned.
“I saw your license earlier—you’re the same age as me. Then I’ll drop formalities too.”
She nodded again. He entered his number, dialed himself, and saved hers when his phone rang. Then he handed her phone back.
Both saved each other’s contacts. Woo-hyun tossed his empty can into the trash and turned to leave.
“See you around, then.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
She beamed at him. And so, the two of them parted—as friends.
It was the first branching point where the history of the first and second cycles diverged.
<That evening, Serin’s room>
Back home after the player license exam, Serin sat at her desk, reviewing a report from Daehyun Group’s secretary office.
She could access such reports because she was the only daughter of Yoo Shin-hyuk, chairman of Daehyun Group—the number one conglomerate in Korea.
“Chun Woo-hyun. High school graduate, normal family background. Nothing unusual.”
She murmured while reading the dossier, compiled with an information network rivaling that of the police.
“The only noteworthy detail is his special forces background… but that doesn’t explain the abilities he showed today. If it did, then every special forces soldier in Korea should have them.”
Sigh—
Unable to find a clear reason for Woo-hyun’s extraordinary display, she leaned back and exhaled.
“He didn’t seem to know my identity, at least…”
As the only daughter of Korea’s top chaebol family, she usually attracted all sorts of parasites. Her father had strictly shielded all family information since her childhood.
Thanks to that, her name wasn’t even known publicly, and she’d been able to enjoy a relatively comfortable youth.
And besides, this time she was the one who approached Woo-hyun.
It was hard to believe he’d deliberately sought her out for profit.
“…For now, I’ll just get to know him better. We’re friends, after all—that much is fine.”
