My game of tag with Song Cheon-hye ended in my victory, needless to say.
She was practically a non-Blink user, so the difference in mobility between us was enormous to begin with,
[Mark ‘Concussion Mark (B)’ has been inflicted on the target.]
[Duration 00:00:11]
[Cooldown 00:29:59]
And I had even used the mark to stop her from running any farther.
Sure enough, Song Cheon-hye froze in place and glared at me resentfully.
I grinned at her.
“Good choice. Better to just get caught than get caught with a headache.”
“No, why are you doing this to me?”
“What do you mean why? The manju—”
“Ah! Aaaah! Stop!”
Song Cheon-hye freaked out and clapped a hand over my mouth.
Her face flushed with embarrassment as she continued.
“Do you have to keep bringing that up?”
“It’d be a waste to keep it all to myself. The true face of Disciplinary Committee member Song Cheon-hye! Revealed—! Right—! Now—!”
“Don’t! And I only acted like that because of the potion!”
I immediately turned serious and asked,
“Let’s get one thing straight. Did you really not mean any of it?”
“It’s not like I…… didn’t mean any of it.”
“I figured the potion just made you say what you normally kept to yourself.”
At that, Song Cheon-hye awkwardly looked away and fidgeted.
“There was…… maybe a little……? Of that.”
“I know it’s embarrassing. But I still think it was a meaningful time and a meaningful conversation.”
“……So do I.”
Song Cheon-hye replied in a barely audible voice.
I continued,
“You came out today because you wanted to learn something too, right? Let’s work hard.”
“Understood. You said you’d teach me Blink?”
“No, something better.”
“……?”
Song Cheon-hye raised an eyebrow, and I began in a suggestive tone.
“You must have wondered how everyone else has been improving by leaps and bounds.”
“I thought it was because you were good at teaching.”
“I am good at teaching. But there’s another secret.”
“……What is it?”
“A skill called [Hardship].”
I gave her a brief explanation.
It was a skill that assigned the target a personalized quest best suited to them.
The difficulty was considerable, so clearing it required pushing oneself to the absolute limit.
And the difficulty only increased with each successive stage.
Of course, the rewards were just as substantial, and there was plenty to gain from the process of working toward the objective itself.
Song Cheon-hye’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
“For one thing, the cooldown is long. And there’s already a line of people waiting for it. Seo Ye-in, Hong Yeon-hwa, Go Hyeon-woo…….”
“Ah……”
“By the time I cycle through everyone, there’s no room to spare. I can’t even use it on Han So-mi right now.”
“Not even So-mi? But then…….”
“How am I using it on you? I’m making a special exception just this once.”
Lately, I had been focusing [Hardship] on Go Hyeon-woo in hopes of accelerating his inheritance of [Wind God], even if only slightly.
But I had separate plans for this week, which left an opening for [Hardship], and I intended to use it on Song Cheon-hye.
I added,
“And this should go without saying, but even if the cooldown weren’t an issue, I wouldn’t use it on just anyone.”
“You’d need to build up a certain amount of trust first.”
“Yeah. Someone asked me to look out for you, and I think we’ve gotten a little closer after what happened this time. So I’m going to put my trust in you and give it a shot.”
At that, the corners of Song Cheon-hye’s lips gradually curled upward.
Apparently, she liked hearing that we had “gotten closer” and that I was “putting my trust in her.”
“……Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
“Want me to use it right now?”
“Can I ask you one more thing?”
“What?”
“If it’s a personalized quest, it’ll be related to Blink, right?”
“I don’t know yet.”
The main reason Song Cheon-hye wanted to improve her Blink first was simply because falling behind Hong Yeon-hwa had made her anxious.
It was, in many ways, an emotionally driven goal.
Even so, I didn’t bother pointing that out because I was an ardent believer in Blink myself.
Once you learned it, it was useful for life, after all.
But the system always prioritizes efficiency.
There was a good chance it would present her with an objective completely different from what she expected.
The ultimate goal might be to improve her Blink, but it could make her take a long detour first.
That direction would probably only become clear after progressing through several stages.
Song Cheon-hye nodded.
“I understand. Use it on me.”
“Very well.”
[Activated ‘Harship’.]
[‘Stage 1 Harship’ has been assigned to the target.]
[Cooldown 5 days 23:59:58]
Song Cheon-hye kept her gaze fixed on empty space for a while, apparently reading through the quest details.
“…….”
“Blink?”
“……No, you were right. It’s something else. Want me to show you?”
“Before that—”
I raised a hand to stop her and pulled the “Red Book” from my inventory.
“—how about using this too?”
“What is it?”
“An item called a [Challenge Book].”
Its effect was to greatly increase both the difficulty and rewards of a quest.
[Harship] was already difficult, but this made it extraordinarily so.
Even Dang Gyu-yeong, Go Hyeon-woo, and Hong Yeon-hwa, who were all quite motivated, struggled with it.
Song Cheon-hye also showed some hesitation.
“……Will I be okay? This is only my first time.”
“I think it’s better to get a head start from the beginning. The others are already around Stage 20.”
“……Already? What about Hong Yeon-hwa?”
“She’s the fastest. Was she past 25?”
“……!”
Song Cheon-hye seemed lost for words for a moment.
She had realized the gap was far wider than she had expected.
But only for a moment. Soon, her eyes were blazing with competitive spirit.
“I’ll do the challenge.”
“Then here you go.”
The moment the Red Book entered her hands, Song Cheon-hye used it without a second thought.
Then she shared the updated quest with me.
[Side Quest: Stage 1 Harship] (In Progress…)
▷ Increased difficulty maintaining ‘Lightning Rod’
▷ Fight while maintaining at least 7 ‘Lightning Rods’
▷ Objective: Reach proficiency (0/100%)
That was somewhat unexpected, so I immediately asked,
“What, you had [Lightning Rod]?”
“I’ve learned almost all the lightning spells.”
“Then how come I’ve never seen you use it?”
It was a kind of summon or totem created by condensing electrical energy.
It was extremely versatile, capable of amplifying destructive power, smoothing out skill combos, and much more.
It wasn’t even fixed in one spot; the caster could move it around at will.
And yet she had left such an incredibly versatile skill gathering dust all this time.
Song Cheon-hye pretended to look over the quest window again as she began making excuses.
“……It just didn’t seem like a good fit for me. I’m an all-rounder, you know.”
“All-rounders can make even better use of it, though?”
Artillery-type mages hardly ever needed to move, so all they had to do was set them up around themselves and chain their skills through them.
That alone made the skill plenty useful.
But all-rounders could take it a step further, leaving [Lightning Rods] in strategic locations or sending them ahead in advance.
I pointed this out, but Song Cheon-hye replied without batting an eye.
“I genuinely never felt the need for it.”
Still, judging by how she kept avoiding eye contact, it seemed I’d struck a nerve.
So I leaned my face closer to hers.
“Be honest. It’s because you can’t maintain or control them properly, isn’t it?”
“……I can.”
“You can only make two Hummingbirds, can’t you? Or was it three?”
“I can make four now, okay?”
Song Cheon-hye snapped back indignantly.
Six was the baseline for me.
And that was only by first-year, first-semester standards.
Still, there was no need to bruise her pride any further, so I left that part unsaid and asked another question.
“So how many Lightning Rods can you handle?”
“Four is easy.”
“You sure? Want to go test it?”
“……Two.”
“Then right now, you’ll probably struggle to maintain even one.”
The condition did say “increased difficulty maintaining Lightning Rod”, after all.
Song Cheon-hye replied with a slight pout.
“If I really put my mind to it, I’ll get the hang of something like this in no time.”
“Sure. Let’s go try it, then.”
Before long, we entered a training room at the training center and took our places facing each other in the middle.
“…….”
Song Cheon-hye slipped gloves onto both hands and focused her mind.
Sparks crackled from the tiny topazes embedded throughout them, sending currents of electricity surging forth.
Fzzzzzt,
The currents gathered at a nearby point, taking the shape of a slender pillar or rod.
Standing perfectly upright in midair was a [Lightning Rod].
Song Cheon-hye added confidently,
“See? I told you it’s easy when I put my mind to it.”
“I saw. Now let’s go for the second one.”
“…….”
Fzzzzzt,
Electricity surged from the topazes again, this time gathering at a point on the opposite side and forming another Lightning Rod.
However, it flickered constantly and looked far more unstable than the first.
The confidence had vanished from Song Cheon-hye’s face as well.
“……I-I managed two.”
“You need to get to seven.”
“I’ll work my way up one at a time.”
Fzzzzzt,
The currents gathered once again as she tried to create a third Lightning Rod.
But every time it seemed to take the shape of a rod, it collapsed, only to reform and collapse again.
“……!”
Song Cheon-hye gritted her teeth and poured all her concentration into it.
I watched her for a moment, then cast Wind Force and gave her a light push.
Whoooosh—
“W-Wait.”
Caught off guard by the sudden interference, Song Cheon-hye stumbled back several steps, and naturally, all the Lightning Rods dispersed.
She stared at me in disbelief.
“Why did you push me?”
“This is how it’s supposed to work.”
“What do you mean, ‘supposed to’?”
“It says so right there in the quest. ‘Fight while maintaining at least seven’.”
Does Wind Force even count as combat?
At that, Song Cheon-hye fell silent for a moment before objecting.
“Shouldn’t I focus on getting to seven first? The fighting can come after that.”
“From what I’ve seen, it’s faster to work on both at the same time.”
Sometimes, all it takes is getting knocked around a bit to make the impossible possible.
It was a tried-and-true method, proven by countless precedents.
Song Cheon-hye herself was living proof, having been thoroughly tempered by the toy hammer.
“……Fine.”
Despite her obvious displeasure, she took her place across from me again.
She was about to cast [Lightning Rod] once more when I casually continued.
“But doing the same thing every time gets boring, doesn’t it? Toy hammers, wind, over and over.”
“……?”
“So this time, I invited a special guest to help with your training.”
“A special…… guest……?”
“It’ll be faster if you see for yourself.”
I casually waved my hand as a signal, and the training room door opened, revealing Seo Ye-in and Chattering Sloth walking in.
I had messaged them beforehand.
Song Cheon-hye greeted her rather awkwardly.
“H-Hello…….”
The embarrassing memories from the downtown area the other day were probably flashing through her mind.
She must have known they would inevitably run into each other someday, but she probably hadn’t expected that day to be today.
Still, she quickly regained her composure, seemingly reassured by the thought that Seo Ye-in wasn’t the type to tease her like I did.
Given how indifferent she usually was, there was a good chance she wouldn’t even bring it up at all.
Soon, a faint smile appeared on Song Cheon-hye’s lips as she continued.
“I was a little surprised when you said you’d invited a special guest.”
“…….”
“But I can definitely see what you meant. It’ll feel different with you. Your class is different, and you’re skilled too.”
“…….”
“I look forward to training with you.”
Instead of answering, Seo Ye-in simply stared at her.
Then, after a moment, she casually blurted out,
“……The manju was good.”
“Kyaaaah!”
Song Cheon-hye writhed in embarrassment.
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