The training center.
Go Hyeon-woo walked across the spacious training hall.
One calm, measured step at a time.
As if trying to stop him, waves of sword energy came hurtling toward him.
Sweeesh—!
The one launching them was Han So-mi standing at the opposite end of the hall.
She swung her sword furiously without moving from her spot.
“Whoosh! Whoosh whooosh!”
She even made the sound effects out loud.
According to her, it helped her concentrate.
Whether it actually worked was anyone’s guess, but Han So-mi’s sword energy felt more powerful than her actual skill level suggested.
Its nature was different from usual as well. The swordsmanship passed down by the Sword Queen was sharp and icy, whereas the sword energy now wrapped around her blade was gentle like the wind, yet carried a heavy weight behind it.
That was because she received a special enhancement while assisting with the Challenge Hardship quest.
“Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!”
Sweeesh—!
The relentless barrage of sword energy continued.
Even as he faced it head-on, Go Hyeon-woo’s expression never changed.
He simply continued forward, gently sweeping both hands through the air.
It looked as though he were wielding an invisible sword and performing sword forms.
Sweeesh—!
Just before one blade of sword energy reached his hand, it abruptly veered off and flew harmlessly in another direction.
Another dispersed as though it had collided with an invisible sword.
The ones that followed were likewise deflected or neutralized as they passed.
They had been repeating this same training routine since last week, and by now Go Hyeon-woo had become remarkably proficient.
The Challenge Hardship quest was also nearing its conclusion.
And when I challenge the Sacred Relic again…
He would be able to get much closer than before.
Actually grasping it was still beyond him for now, but if he kept advancing one step at a time, even that day would eventually come.
Reaffirming his resolve, he continued onward until the distance between them had nearly disappeared.
Han So-mi immediately scampered back to the opposite side of the training hall, struck a ready stance with a sharp snap, and shouted,
“Come on!”
Go Hyeon-woo was about to resume walking with a faint smile, but the next moment he stopped in his tracks, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
Checking the message he’d just received, he said,
“It’s from Kim hyung.”
“Again?”
Han So-mi’s cheeks gradually began to puff up.
Perhaps because there had already been so many incidents, simply hearing the words “Kim hyung” was enough to set off alarm bells in her head.
Whether aware of her reaction or not, Go Hyeon-woo exchanged a few more messages before saying,
“He says he’s coming here. We might as well take a short break.”
“…….”
Han So-mi’s cheeks ballooned out even further.
Fortunately, Balloon Mode didn’t last long, because Kim Ho arrived at the training hall soon afterward.
With Seo Ye-in.
And another girl who looked like a freshman.
Go Hyeon-woo’s first thought was,
She looks remarkably similar to Senior Dang.
She wasn’t quite the same person as Dang Gyu-young, yet there were many similarities between them.
If he had to guess, perhaps they were cousins.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but marvel at Kim Ho.
Kim hyung truly is extraordinary.
He had no idea where Kim Ho kept finding these women, but somehow he embraced every one of them.
And as far as Go Hyeon-woo knew, there had never been any major conflict because of it, either.
Han So-mi seemed to be thinking something similar.
Though, perhaps because her perspective differed from Go Hyeon-woo’s, she silently bombarded Kim Ho with a look of pure condemnation.
What a total womanizer. The greatest womanizer under heaven. The greatest womanizer in all of history.
Go Hyeon-woo let out an awkward chuckle before asking,
“Kim hyung, how did you happen to meet this young lady?”
“It’s probably better if I tell you two. It’s not like I can keep it hidden forever.”
What came next was completely unexpected.
“It’s Senior Dang Gyu-young. She re-enrolled because of… various circumstances.”
Both Go Hyeon-woo and Han So-mi gasped in unison before immediately bowing.
“So it was Senior Dang. Please forgive us for failing to recognize you.”
“Wh-What?! Senior?!”
Dang Gyu-young, or rather, Dang Gyu-ri didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
She waved her hand dismissively and smiled.
“It’s fine. You couldn’t have known.”
She explained that although both her name and appearance resembled the original, the disguise was convincing enough that anyone would naturally be confused.
The Academy had invested considerable effort into the disguise, so under normal circumstances, recognizing her was practically impossible.
Dang Gyu-ri then gave them a brief explanation of how she’d ended up re-enrolling.
Originally, she’d planned to take a job as a guard at Dragonslayer Academy, but the Headmaster had approached her with a rather unexpected proposal.
The Academy needed people who could protect the first-years from up close.
Dang Gyu-young hadn’t needed much time to think before accepting.
Though her true motivation had nothing to do with the Academy’s.
Looping her arm through Kim Ho’s, she continued,
“I wanted to stay close to him~”
“Wow…”
Han So-mi’s mouth fell open.
She could see the unwavering resolve of someone willing to do anything to be with the person they loved.
Neither becoming a guard nor re-enrolling as a freshman could have been an easy decision, yet Dang Gyu-ri hadn’t even hesitated.
Her eyes filled with admiration as she hurried over.
“I respect you so much, Senior!”
“Hehe. Was she always like this?”
Dang Gyu-ri giggled, clearly amused.
Apparently deciding they were kindred spirits in some way, she and Seo Ye-in leaned in together, the three of them huddling shoulder to shoulder as they whispered among themselves.
– I go this far for him~, and he’s over there going on about buses and trying to collect more girls~. So unfair, so unfair~
– Exactly, exactly! He’s the worst, the worst!
– …Playboy.
Despite becoming the target of their gossip, Kim Ho’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
He accepted it as though it were perfectly natural before turning to Go Hyeon-woo.
“We should talk too.”
“Of course.”
The two stepped away to a quiet corner.
Kim Ho was the first to speak, his tone noticeably serious.
“This time we’re taking on a B-rank dungeon.”
“I had a feeling. Our abilities have improved tremendously these past few weeks.”
“That, and Seo Ye-in picked up a quest.”
Like him, she was currently working through a Challenge Hardship quest.
Though the objective appeared to be completely different.
Go Hyeon-woo gave a slight nod.
“Whatever concerns Miss Seo and Kim hyung concerns me as well. If you need my help, I’ll gladly lend you my strength.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Which dungeon are you planning to clear?”
“Before that, there’s something I want to ask you.”
Kim Ho paused briefly before dropping a single sentence.
“I’m thinking about going to the Black Death dungeon.”
“……..!”
“And this time, we’re breaking straight through the front.”
Back in their first year, they’d settled for a diversionary operation.
While Kim Ho drew the attention of the Black Snake Leader and his gang members, Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byeong-cheol had dug through a rat tunnel to secure the Black Chest.
After that, they’d escaped the dungeon using an Emergency Escape Scroll.
This time, however, the goal was to clear the dungeon.
Which meant Kim Ho intended to defeat the Black Snake himself.
As though he had already guessed what Kim Ho was about to suggest, Go Hyeon-woo’s eyes gleamed.
“Then I take it I’ll be facing Senior White Snake.”
“You don’t have to.”
The White Snake was, after all, only the hidden boss.
Defeating the Black Snake alone would be enough to accomplish their main objective.
Kim Ho added,
“What matters is what you want. Whether you want to face him again or not. If you don’t, there are plenty of other dungeons we can run besides Black Death.”
“I have looked forward to a rematch for a very long time. However…”
For once, Go Hyeon-woo trailed off.
The White Snake had been an opponent far beyond his ability to defeat, but following the strategy guide, he brought up the “Promise with Master Hyeon Yang”
As a result, what would have been a fight to the death became a test of surviving three techniques.
Even so, those brief exchanges had pushed him to the very brink of life and death.
Even now, a year later, the perilous battle remained vivid in his memory.
His sword energy scattering helplessly.
The White Snake’s blade splitting like a Snake’s tongue as it came slashing toward him…
He was incomparably stronger than he had been back then.
Yet he still couldn’t bring himself to feel confident.
“Kim hyung, do you believe I have a chance?”
“I didn’t witness your progress firsthand, so I can’t be certain. But at most… thirty percent. Maybe even less.”
“Thirty percent or lower…”
Go Hyeon-woo let out a bitter smile and sighed.
“That matches my own assessment. I still believe it’s too soon.”
“For the record, that’s if you fight as you are now.”
“…….?”
“If you draw the Sacred Relic, things will be very different. I’d put your odds at over seventy percent.”
Go Hyeon-woo felt the estimate was probably accurate.
Even during his duel with the White Snake, the third and final technique had carried power far beyond anything he could withstand.
What had stopped it was the Sacred Relic he had raised instinctively.
And it had remained peacefully sheathed the entire time.
If I were to draw it… and face him with it in hand…
Even the White Snake would be an opponent he could defeat.
Even so, there were still more than a few things weighing on his mind.
Go Hyeon-woo’s expression hardened as he spoke.
“To be honest, I can’t say I’m comfortable with using the Sacred Relic without going through the proper process… Aren’t we still in the middle of the challenge?”
“The challenge itself doesn’t change. Only the approach changes a little.”
Instead of approaching the Bloodwind Sword from a distance, he would simply draw it and try to withstand it directly.
Kim Ho added in a serious tone.
“There’s nothing wrong with taking things one step at a time by clearing the challenge the normal way. But don’t you think a more aggressive approach has its own advantages?”
If it succeeded, it would dramatically improve his abilities.
On top of that, if it came down to a fight to the death against a master like the White Snake, the insights he gained afterward would be considerable as well.
Just as Go Hyeon-woo opened his mouth to say something else, Kim Ho anticipated it and cut him off.
“You don’t have to worry about anyone seeing. It’ll just be Han So-mi and me.”
“Hmm…”
The reasoning was sound enough that Go Hyeon-woo closed his mouth again.
They had already witnessed his first attempt. Watching another one wouldn’t make much difference.
After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke.
“Your approach does seem worth trying, Kim hyung. However, the more extreme the method, the greater the repercussions are likely to be.”
“It’ll be far worse than just ‘significant’.”
Even when he had challenged it the conventional way, he had been struck by the sword energy and left half-unconscious. And now he was going to draw it and wield it directly?
Kim Ho spoke with absolute certainty.
“At the very least, you’ll end up seriously injured.”
“I’m prepared to suffer the injuries myself. My concern is whether I might end up causing trouble for the others.”
If he went down, the rest of the party would inevitably suffer the consequences as well.
Not only would the difficulty of the raid afterward increase, but in the worst-case scenario, they could fail altogether.
There was even the possibility of casualties besides himself.
But Kim Ho simply asked as if it were nothing.
“Did you forget? What I used on you last time?”
“…….!”
An exclamation mark seemed to pop up over Go Hyeon-woo’s head.
During the first attempt, Kim Ho had completely healed the internal injuries he suffered after being struck by the sword energy.
[‘Retro Recovery’ has been granted.]
The three-day cooldown had long since expired.
He could use it again at any time, which meant any serious injury he suffered this time would be completely healed as well.
From the very beginning, Kim Ho had proposed the “more aggressive approach” with Retro Recovery in mind.
Kim Ho grinned.
“So? Are you in or not?”
To Go Hyeon-woo, it somehow sounded like Kim Ho was asking, “Even with all that, you’re still not going?”
A helpless chuckle escaped him before he realized it.
“I can’t win against you, Kim hyung. Let’s give it a try.”
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