Dang Gyu-young frowned.
“Hey, this isn’t just a little difficult. I barely clear Hardship quests as it is. What do you mean a Challenge on top of that?”
Quests obtained through [Hardship] generally have high difficulty, as they push you to your limits.
And the difficulty keeps increasing with each stage.
Dang Gyu-young had recently cleared Stage 17.
After advancing to Umbramancer at Stage 10, she had been steadily climbing, clearing about one stage every one to two weeks.
Of course, the process had been incredibly grueling and it was only going to get worse.
And now, adding a Challenge on top of that?
Dang Gyu-young shook her head vehemently in refusal.
“It’s not that I’m trying to take the easy way out; I just really don’t think I can handle that.”
“But isn’t it worth trying at least once?”
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious how that’s going to turn out.”
She seemed firmly decided against it.
At this point, there’s no choice.
I’d have to use my trump card.
I stepped closer to Dang Gyu-young.
Then I took her hand and met her gaze.
“Let’s do it, Qyu.”
“……”
“Just once should be fine, Qyu.”
“…Pfft.”
The corners of Dang Gyu-young’s lips twitched uncontrollably.
But she tried her best to keep a straight face as she looked at me.
“This time, seriously, no. It’s not fine, Qyu.”
“Didn’t expect even that wouldn’t work.”
“Honestly, it was cute. Anyway, I can just keep working on Hardship quests, okay?”
Dang Gyu-young ended up comforting me instead.
But I still had no intention of giving up.
I casually brought it up, as if in passing.
“None of the others have done a Challenge Hardship yet.”
“Well, obviously. If you think about it.”
“If you do it now, you’d be the first. The very first.”
“…….!”
Dang Gyu-young’s body flinched for a moment.
And I continued, like a devil whispering in her ear.
“Think about next year. You’ll keep entering dungeons, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“But usually the party size is fixed. Two or three people.”
“Of course you’re taking me, right?”
Her eyes clearly said, “You’re not going to ditch me and take someone else, are you? I’m even re-enrolling because of you.”
I met that gaze calmly and answered,
“That depends on the dungeon type. If it’s water or ice-type, I’ll take Hong Yeon-hwa. If it relies a lot on luck, I’ll take that sloth over there.”
“…Honestly, that’s fair.”
Dang Gyu-young nodded without resistance.
She acknowledged that Aqua Flame and that absurd luck were beyond her reach.
“For the rest, it mostly comes down to skill…”
“I’m number one in that.”
“You are. But who knows about later?”
“……!”
A sense of crisis spread across Dang Gyu-young’s face.
Everyone in the group had terrifying potential, and their growth rates were astonishing.
Seo Ye-in was a genius. No need to even say it.
She was extremely lazy, but once she actually committed to training, she always exceeded my expectations.
Hong Yeon-hwa was also a promising student, with casting speed that stood out even among mages.
On top of that, she had the creativity to develop her own magic.
Go Hyeon-woo might seem a bit behind at first glance, but he hadn’t even inherited his sacred relic yet.
Even by rough estimation, it was at least S-rank, so there was no telling how much stronger he would become.
All things considered, any one of them had the potential to surpass Dang Gyu-young.
I continued,
“That doesn’t mean you can just sit back and let it happen.”
“Hey, hey, stop it. Stop trying to tempt me.”
“If you make a big push ahead of time and widen the gap… you’ll stay number one.”
“…Ah, man. I really can’t handle this.”
Dang Gyu-young hesitated, but it was obvious she was already close to giving in.
So I pulled out my trump card once again.
I stepped even closer and whispered in her ear.
“Let’s do it, Qyu.”
“……”
“Let’s do it, Qyu.”
“…Just this once. From next time on, no more Challenge or anything.”
In the end, Dang Gyu-young reluctantly agreed, tilting her head with a self-disgusted expression.
“…Damn, am I really this easy? Why can’t I just firmly say no?”
“Then let’s lock it in~”
[Activated ‘Hardship’.]
[‘Stage 18 Hardship’ has been assigned to the target.]
Next, I handed over the Challenge Book.
She was probably seeing a prompt like this.
[Would you like to use the ‘Challenge Book’?]
[Accept / Decline]
Dang Gyu-young shot me an annoyed glare but still chose Accept, and soon the Hardship quest updated.
The further she read, the more her face crumpled.
“…I already regret this.”
“What did you get?”
Instead of answering, she shared the quest.
[Side Quest: Stage 18 Hardship] (In Progress…)
▷ Greatly expand the range of ‘Shadow Garden’
▷ Condition 1: Fight while maintaining ‘Shadow Garden’
▷ Condition 2: Fight while maintaining at least 2 ‘Shadow Undead’
▷ Objective: Reach proficiency (0/100%)
Shadow Garden.
A skill that dominates a certain area with shadows, continuously summoning shadow butterflies, limbs, weapons, and more to exchange offense and defense.
Back when Dang Gyu-young was a Shadow Mage, it was practically her trump card. Her finishing move.
However, it had a fatal flaw.
It’s too defensive.
It’s fairly effective at countering opponents who come at you, but against enemies who stay at range and never step into the area, there’s almost no way to deal with them.
After gaining Shadow Undead and evolving into a far more aggressive fighting style, Dang Gyu-young had practically abandoned Shadow Garden, since it was the complete opposite of how she fought.
And now, out of nowhere, it showed up in a Challenge Hardship.
If she cleared it successfully, the skill would probably be improved, or she might gain linked skills or traits.
That is, if she could clear it.
Dang Gyu-young carefully reread the quest details.
“It’s already a mess from the first line. It’s hard enough to use as it is.”
Shadow Garden was a large-scale spell, making it difficult both to cast and maintain, and it consumed an enormous amount of mana.
If its range had been greatly expanded, then the difficulty of maintaining it would have increased just as much.
“At least mana isn’t as big of a concern now.”
“At least.”
Thanks to the bond, she shared the [Great Sage’s Ring].
It granted automatic mana recovery, and the effect grew stronger the lower her remaining mana became.
At the very least, it meant she could keep fighting without interruption.
Of course, that didn’t make Shadow Garden itself any easier.
Dang Gyu-young frowned as she finished reading.
“It says I have to maintain the undead too. Is that even possible?”
“Humans are adaptable. If you keep at it, you’ll manage.”
“Easy for you to say when it’s not your problem.”
Annoyed, Dang Gyu-young grabbed both my cheeks and stretched them out.
Then she asked while pouting,
“So basically, this is it, right? Keep the skill active and fight until it hits 100%?”
“Probably. But the process will matter too.”
If she just barely maintained it and half-heartedly fought, the progress would obviously be slow.
On the other hand, if she pushed herself to the limit and fought intensely, it would likely rise much faster.
Likewise, the strength of her opponent would probably affect proficiency gain.
The Dang twins were not just strong. They were overwhelming.
Dang Gyu-young let out a deep sigh.
“Why did I fall for that so easily… Anyway, let’s do this.”
Then she grabbed me and headed back to the group.
Seo Ye-in who had been watching us asked,
“What were you talking about?”
“I assigned a Hardship quest. This time with a Challenge too.”
“……?”
Seo Ye-in tilted her head in confusion.
It seems she can’t quite grasp what a Challenge Hardship is or how difficult it might be.
So I decided to give an example.
“Remember when you had that nine-hour sleep limit before?”
“That was rough……”
“If you add a Challenge, it drops to eight hours.”
“……!”
“On top of that, you have to split it into four two-hour intervals.”
“No way…….”
Her gray eyes widened.
There seemed to be a mix of respect and slight sympathy in the way she looked at Dang Gyu-young.
Next, I briefly explained the Hardship to the Dang twins to ask for their help.
Of course, I left out the part about me being the one who set it.
“In fact, Noona received a quest. She has to spar under certain conditions.”
Dang Il-bi and Dang Han-bi responded in turn.
“Sounds like wearing a sandbag.”
“If something like that existed, you should have said so sooner.”
“Of course, we’re willing to help.”
“What exactly do we need to do?”
I smiled faintly as I replied.
“Sh’ll be casting a large-scale spell, so you just need to fight within it.”
“That’s not difficult. We’ll do it.”
The Dang twins nodded readily.
Soon, just like when we first started sparring, we stood facing each other at the center of the training ground.
After staring at the twins for a moment, Dang Gyu-young drew up a massive amount of mana.
Then, with a gentle wave of her hand, the shadows beneath her feet rippled violently and spread outward in all directions.
Expanding uncontrollably far.
It was because the Challenge condition, ‘greatly expanded range,’ had been applied.
“What is this? Why is it so wide?”
Even Dang Gyu-young who had cast the skill herself seemed startled.
However, she quickly regained her focus and completed the spell, and the spreading shadows formed a square-shaped garden.
[Shadow Garden]
Watching with interest, the Dang twins asked,
“So we just need to step inside this?”
“That’s right.”
“Good. Let’s proceed.”
Steel pellets scattered from Dang Il-bi’s hand, while coins flew from Dang Han-bi’s.
Some circled around them as if to protect them, while others shot straight toward us.
Ssshaaaak!
Even Dang Gyu-young who had easily dodged or deflected them during the first spar now moved stiffly and awkwardly.
She hadn’t even summoned her shadow club.
Just maintaining [Shadow Garden] was already too much for her, leaving no room to do anything else.
Ping!
I deflected the incoming coin with a dark cloud and casually remarked,
“You need to use the shadow undead too.”
“……I know.”
Her proficiency would only start increasing once she satisfied both conditions at the same time.
When Dang Gyu-young waved her hand with difficulty, Qyu Lab Director and Qyu Shadow Lord suddenly rose up from one corner of the garden.
Of course, she had only managed to summon them. It didn’t look like they could actually fight.
Just like their master, they moved in a stiff, jerky manner.
There was no way the Dang twins would leave such perfect targets alone.
In the next moment, steel pellets and coins riddled them like a beehive.
Pababababak!
“Ah…….”
Sensing a hint of irritation in Dang Gyu-young’s sigh, the twins’ expressions grew cautious.
“We only did what we’ve been doing so far.”
“Was that not acceptable?”
“If so, we apologize.”
Dang Gyu-young shook her head vigorously.
“No, that’s exactly how you should do it. You two didn’t do anything wrong.”
As she said that, she looked at me, and it practically felt like I could hear her saying, “This is all your fault, right?”
It also sounded like, “We’ll talk later.”
Looks like I’m either getting chewed out or having my cheeks stretched endlessly tonight.
Soon, Dang Gyu-young refocused and resummoned the shadow undead.
At the same time, massive shadow arms began bursting out from all over, each gripping a different shadow weapon.
Then, all at once, they charged toward the Dang twins.
Whooooooooosh—!
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