I spoke in a Go Hyeon-woo impression.
“Hoho, Miss Seo. After accepting the challenge, where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m giving up and going home……”
“Unfortunately, giving up is not an option.”
“I’ll do it later……”
“If you insist, I suppose I could let you go. But are you sure? You’ll have to leave your pillow behind.”
The Kim Ho Pillow will be staying here.
At that, Seo Ye-in seemed to freeze for a moment, then grabbed my arm and started tugging on it.
“Come with me.”
“The place I belong is here. Sadly, it seems we must part ways.”
“……Then I won’t go.”
She changed her attitude in an instant.
Soon, Dang Gyu-young peeked over with curious eyes.
“Why did the mood suddenly change?”
“……I got played.”
“By what?”
“A challenge.”
Seo Ye-in answered while pointing at me.
At that, Dang Gyu-young let out a quiet sigh.
“So you fell for it too, huh? That evil Kim Ho.”
“Evil Kim Ho.”
“He goes around luring innocent people.”
“Scammer Kim Ho.”
The two of them kept criticizing me, but as always, I stayed confident.
“It just looks hard because it’s the beginning. You’ll get used to it soon.”
“Wow, look how shameless he is.”
“And this isn’t even a hardship. It’s just a trait quest with a challenge added.”
It’s not exactly easy, but it’s relatively low difficulty.
Maybe she thought it made some sense, because Dang Gyu-young frowned slightly.
“Is that so? Let me see.”
Seo Ye-in then shared the quest details.
[Side Quest – Sailboat] (In Progress….)
▷Objective: Evade while moving along the flow (0/1,000)
▷Getting hit deducts 20 counts
▷Equipment disabled: Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot
▷Random strong gust occur
Dang Gyu-young glanced at me with narrowed eyes.
“Hey, that’s hard.”
“It looks manageable to me.”
“What do you mean 1,000 dodges? And losing 20 every time you get hit?”
Even if you reach 500 successful dodges, allowing the enemy to land 25 hits means you’re back to square one.
On top of that, the pot that used to serve as a reliable piece of defensive gear is disabled, and there’s even the added variable of random strong winds.
It was somewhat understandable why Seo Ye-in wanted to go home.
Still, what needs to be done has to be done.
It’s not like you can just stop a challenge once it’s already started.
So I spoke in an extremely calm tone.
“Then just don’t get hit. Finish it clean with 1,000 consecutive dodges.”
“Wait, is that supposed to be easy?”
“At the very least, I’ve done it. And under much harder conditions.”
“When?”
“When I got [Distortion].”
“……Oh, right?”
Dang Gyu-young’s eyebrows shot up.
The condition for obtaining [Distortion] was stacking invisible “evasion stacks”.
The minimum was 1,000 stacks, but in reality, you needed to build up over 4,000 to 5,000.
You could stack faster against opponents with a higher rank than yourself, but that also came with greater risk.
If you got hit even once, it wasn’t just minus 20. You’d lose everything and reset completely.
That’s how I kept dodging through that grueling process, endlessly stacking while knocking on the door of probability, until I finally obtained [Distortion].
So I confidently asked back,
“Proven through skill, right?”
“……You really leave me with nothing to argue.”
“And you two are benefiting from that rare trait through a single use of [Bond].”
“……”
“Feeling grateful?”
Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in glanced at each other before speaking to me.
“Thank you, young monarch.”
“Thanks.”
Since I was already at it, I pulled out the [Challenge Book] as well.
“This is actually quite a valuable item too. It’s A+ rank and a consumable.”
It’s a book made by binding together dozens of [Challenge Scrolls], so if you keep using it, it’ll eventually run out.
“I’d honestly like to save it, but I’m investing boldly for the sake of world peace. You all have potential, and we’re in this together.”
“……”
“So if you keep complaining like that… wouldn’t that make me a bit disappointed?”
Dang Gyu-young and Seo Ye-in looked at each other again.
At the same time, they grabbed my hand and said,
“Sorry, young monarch.”
“Sorry.”
To wrap things up, I spoke in a gentle tone.
“I know it’s tough, but since you’ve already taken it on, let’s give it our best.”
“Okay.”
And just like that, I successfully suppressed the Sloth-Qyu’s rebellion.
Next, I shared the quest details with the Hye-seong Group members.
Ahn Jeong-mi nodded as if she had expected it.
“As expected, it’s an evasion-related quest.”
“Yes, it’s become somewhat trickier with the added challenge, but I’ll make sure they train hard.”
“We’ll trust you, Kim Ho-nim. We’ll also do our best to help.”
She added that that was why they had come in the first place.
Soon, Seo Ye-in took her position in the center of the training ground, while the four Hye-seong Group employees spread out to surround her from all sides.
Then each of them pulled out a handgun, which looked to be made of a plastic-like material and had the unmistakable appearance of a toy.
Still, it seemed to function at least as a basic magic firearm.
As if to demonstrate its performance, Ahn Jeong-mi fired a shot into the air.
Pop,
A round, BB magic pellet shot off into the sky and disappeared.
“Since the focus is on evasion, we minimized the power.”
For this quest, whether it’s a powerful sniper bullet or a toy bullet, it still counts as a single shot and one evasion.
So it seemed they chose those to eliminate any risk of accidents.
They probably also calculated that taking turns firing from four directions would be sufficiently challenging.
Dang Gyu-young, for her part, had to undergo the hardship challenge as well, so she continued sparring with the Dang family’s twin warriors.
As for me, I decided to take on the role of a human fan while practicing wind magic.
After summoning Sylphid, I lightly tapped the crow tree and spoke to Seo Ye-in.
“Ready?”
“Mhmm.”
“Then here comes the wind.”
Whoooosh—
A swirling gust of wind began to blow toward Seo Ye-in.
Then I added,
“Let’s start by reading the flow.”
Like the word sailboat suggests, you have to grasp the direction of the wind and move along with it.
Evasion comes after that.
“……”
Seo Ye-in slowly looked around her surroundings.
Soon, as if following something with her eyes, she took a step, then another.
Then, she matched her feather steps to the flow of the swirling wind.
She’s already doing it.
I figured it would take at least a few hours, if not several days.
But it seemed she got the hang of it as soon as we started.
Maybe her exceptional eyesight lets her see the flow itself.
Whoooosh—
While walking in a wide spiral, Seo Ye-in glanced over this way.
Her look seemed to ask what to do next, so I spoke.
“Let’s move on to evasion.”
It was much earlier than planned, but there was no reason not to proceed if she was ready.
I signaled here and there with my eyes, and the Hye-seong Group employees began firing one by one.
Pop, pop,
Round BB pellets flew in from all directions.
In response, Seo Ye-in continued moving with the wind, stepping diagonally and slightly tilting her body.
Each time a magic pellet grazed past, the quest updated in real time.
▷Evasion (1/1,000)
▷Evasion (3/1,000)
…….
▷Evasion (11/1,000)
A smooth start.
She could probably reach 1,000 like this, but then she wouldn’t actually learn much.
She would have to train even after acquiring the trait anyway, so it would be better to handle it all at once now.
So I had already discussed with Ahn Jeong-mi that we would gradually increase the difficulty.
But let’s observe one more thing first.
I needed to confirm the final variable to properly gauge the quest’s difficulty.
Adjustments could come after that.
So for a while, the slow-paced firing of magic guns and evasion continued.
Then,
Whooooosh—!
A sudden updraft lifted Seo Ye-in high into the air.
I immediately ran over and cast Wind Force, catching the startled Seo Ye-in.
Whooosh—
“……?”
“This must be the ‘random gust’.”
It was both a challenge condition and the “final variable” I had been waiting for.
As I set Seo Ye-in down, I said,
“It just sends you floating.”
“The wind’s strong.”
Her body had grown lighter due to the effect of Feather Step, which likely made her more susceptible to the wind’s influence.
Of course, even setting that aside, the wind itself was quite strong.
And there was no guarantee that only updrafts would keep occurring.
“It might blow sideways too.”
“Random.”
“Be careful not to get blown away.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s continue.”
Soon, I returned to my original position and cast Twister again.
Whoooosh—
Seo Ye-in stepped along the spiral traced by the wind.
Watching her briefly, I exchanged a subtle glance with Ahn Jeong-mi,
Tap, tap-tap, tap,
And the frequency of the BB pellets increased.
Despite the heightened difficulty, Seo Ye-in continued her Feather Step with an indifferent expression.
▷Evasion (36/1,000)
…….
▷Evasion (47/1,000)
…….
▷Evasion (89/1,000)
Before long, the evasion count approached triple digits.
Noticing two magic projectiles flying in from the side, Seo Ye-in tried to twist her body at an angle.
But at that moment,
Whooooosh—!
A sudden gust shoved her hard in that direction.
As a result, the magic projectiles that should have barely missed struck her directly.
▷Evasion (91/1,000)
▷Evasion (51/1,000)
And the evasion stack she had built up so diligently dropped sharply.
At that, Seo Ye-in, seemingly losing motivation just as quickly, looked over at me.
“I want to go home……”
“You got this far in no time. You’ll get it back just as fast.”
After coaxing her like that, the training resumed,
Tap, tap-tap,
And Seo Ye-in once again skillfully stepped through Feather Step, dodging the BB pellets.
▷Evasion (83/1,000)
…….
▷Evasion (95/1,000)
Just as I said, she quickly recovered what she had lost.
It might be going a bit too easily.
I felt a playful urge rise for no reason.
So, while maintaining the twister, I lightly pushed Seo Ye-in with Wind Force as well.
Whoooosh—
“…….”
As she was pushed sideways, Seo Ye-in barely managed to steady herself and stay on her feet.
Her gray eyes turned toward me.
“It’s you.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s you.”
“That can’t be. It’s the doing of ‘random gust’.”
“……Suspicious.”
Seo Ye-in kept her gaze on me for a few more seconds, as if pressing the issue, before looking away.
Next time, I should make it stronger.
Going easy on her only makes it more obvious.
Of course, there was no need for me to play tricks.
Before long, another “random gust” swept in.
Whooooosh!
Seo Ye-in was sent flying in a graceful arc through the air.
She landed with a thud right in front of Ahn Jeong-mi.
Very unfortunately, she was also struck by three BB pellets in the process.
▷Evasion (115/1,000)
▷Evasion (55/1,000)
Her evasion count was cut in half in an instant.
As if her motivation had dropped to less than half as well, Seo Ye-in remained sprawled on the ground, showing no sign of getting up.
“…….”
“Young miss.”
“…….”
“Young miss?”
“…….”
Perhaps because there was still no response,
Ahn Jeong-mi glanced around, as if gauging the situation.
Then she aimed her gun at Seo Ye-in who was still lying face down.
Tap,
▷Evasion (55/1,000)
▷Evasion (35/1,000)
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