“Some fights don’t end when the blade is sheathed.”
It was a spar meant to test Kang Han-byeol’s true skill.
It felt a bit too much of a waste to end it right away.
So, even though I had plenty of chances to bring him down, I let him catch his breath and adjust his stance whenever he needed to.
I’m sure he noticed it too.
Perhaps the spectators watching the duel didn’t realize it, but when blades clash like this, there’s no hiding the difference in skill.
This is what a protagonist should look like.
And yet, even with the outcome so clear, Kang Han-byeol refused to give up. He fought with all he had until the bitter end.
It made me nothing but proud.
His will that refused to flicker out, that grit that wouldn’t break, that unyielding resolve.
It will be the very strength that lifts us up when we face the countless trials ahead.
He was the ideal talent my past self had once admired and my present self so desperately sought.
He’s growing stronger, too.
Even as we fought, Kang Han-byeol was learning. Rapidly.
At some point, he began reading my moves, and his responses grew more precise.
At first, he couldn’t even keep up with my full speed, but now he was starting to catch up.
And then—
…Did he just push me back?
My navy blade clashed with Han-byeol’s sword, and it was forced back past my shoulder.
I’d lost in a contest of raw strength.
For a moment, my stance crumbled.
Crackle!
Instinct kicked in.
Trusting my Gift’s whispers, I let my body twist away from his follow-up strike.
Losing in a clash of strength meant one thing—Kang Han-byeol’s physical power had changed.
Pushing down my surprise, I called up his status window in my mind.
His stats went up.
Did he just push his body past its limit?
Even so, the growth was too steep to be natural.
It made more sense that a skill had been activated.
I brought up his skill window, and there was my answer.
He had grasped something new in the middle of the battle.
[Competitive Spirit Lv.1]
◆ Skill Type
— Conditional Activation
◆ Effect
— When HP drops below 20%, all physical stats increase by 5%.
A stat-boosting skill: Competitive Spirit.
In the game, this was a skill the player would help him unlock during a fight against Do Seung-woo.
Seeing Kang Han-byeol evolve right before my eyes, a grin crept up my lips.
He’s better than I expected.
His progress was more than satisfactory.
But that didn’t mean I intended to lose.
I don’t know what the future holds, but at least right now, I refuse to be beaten.
These past five years, I won’t let them be for nothing.
And more than anything, Yeon-ha-neul is watching.
If I’m losing in strength…
Then I’ll win with agility.
With sharper movements and swifter hands.
Faster.
Even faster.
──!!
I swung my navy blade, finally bringing the spar to an end.
At the same time, Han-byeol’s sword moved too.
But before his blade could even reach me, mine touched his throat first.
That was the end.
“I win.”
“…Yeah. I lost.”
As soon as the cold blade pressed against his neck, Han-byeol, frozen in an awkward stance, readily admitted defeat.
When I withdrew my sword from his throat, the tension left his hardened face, and he finally let himself relax.
Without needing to say who should go first, we clasped hands and shook.
“You’re seriously strong! I feel like I learned so much today. That was fun! Let’s do this again sometime!”
“I learned a lot, too. You’re not bad, Han-byeol. Yeah—next time, we’ll spar again.”
Kang Han-byeol’s skill was more than good enough.
He was worth training, and there’d be no need to worry when fighting alongside him.
“You two did great! That was one hell of a match!”
“Right? I was the referee, but honestly, you were so fast I could barely keep up with my eyes.”
“If either of you has got hurt, please tell me. I can heal you right away.”
“Han-byeol! Next time, fight me! When are you free, huh?!”
People who’d been watching the match started gathering around, showering us with praise and chatter.
I welcomed them warmly, but at the same time, I opened Han-byeol’s status window once more.
A blue system message flickered into view.
[Personal Information]
Name: Kang Han-byeol (Male, 17) (Round 1)
Title: Disciple of the Battle Ogre
Affiliation: Geumgang Academy
[Possessed Gift]
Resonance Hands
[Physical Stats]
Stamina: 60
Strength: 60
Durability: 60
Agility: 60
Magic: 60
Luck: 60
Remaining Points: 0
All of Kang Han-byeol’s stats were fixed at 60.
Exactly the same as when you first started the game with him.
From here on out, how to develop him is entirely the player’s responsibility.
But in this world, that responsibility is mine alone.
And just then—
“Here, good work.”
“Ah, Ha-neul. Thanks. I needed this.”
While everyone was chattering around Han-byeol, Yeon-ha-neul quietly came up to me and handed me a bottle of cold water and a towel.
I was already parched, so I drained the bottle in one gulp and wiped the sweat off my neck with the towel.
A soft, fragrant scent wafted up from it.
Ha-neul’s scent.
“I think I get why you wanted to get close to him. He fought well.”
“Right? Be good to him from now on.”
“Yeah… I’ll try my best.”
“Oh, by the way, Ha-neul.”
“What?”
“So, I won.”
“….”
“Does that mean you’ll let me touch your tail now?”
“…You heard that?”
“How could I not? Even if I was focused on the fight, I’m not deaf, you know.”
For some reason, her voice always reached me so naturally.
Whether I was conscious of it or not.
I looked down at her flustered face and chuckled.
Then I quietly reached my hand behind her back.
“Not here.”
“Why not?”
Yeon-ha-neul kept her gaze dead ahead and slapped my hand away.
“You’re not going back on your word, right? Don’t be petty and say I gave it, then took it back.”
“Who said that? That’s not it…”
“Then?”
“There are people around… So don’t do it here… Do it somewhere private. Just us.”
“If that’s what you want… Sure. That’s a promise, okay?”
Honestly, I wouldn’t have cared even if everyone was watching.
It didn’t matter to me.
But for Ha-neul’s sake, I decided to save it for later.
Or maybe that’s not quite right.
Now that I think about it, being alone means I can touch her as much as I want.
No one will be there to interrupt.
Whether she gets shy or not, I’ll make the most of it until I’m satisfied.
Midterms were still a ways off, but it was never too early to prepare.
Get complacent just because it was the beginning of the semester, and you’d end up chasing the clock later.
Even if you tried to cram at the last minute, it wouldn’t yield good results.
Diligent review and steady revision, there was no room for laziness.
I have to make up for it during midterms.
After botching my entrance exam, I’d barely scraped by into Geumgang Academy with disappointing scores, nowhere near the top of the class.
Because of that, I had suffered the humiliation of being mocked by members of my family who had always looked down on me.
Just wait. I’ll make sure none of you ever dare say that again when the midterms come.
Min A-rin of the Mado Clan’s lesser line. The Little Griffin.
It was a blow to her pride that she couldn’t forgive.
Her pride simply wouldn’t allow it.
That was why, ever since she’d moved into the dormitories, she hadn’t skipped a single day at the academy library.
She was staking her life on the midterm exam a month from now.
“Where was it again…?”
She scanned the shelves that the librarian had pointed out.
She was hunting for the materials she needed for class.
“Ah, here it is. I’ll take this one for now… Maybe that one too, while I’m at it.”
Her yellow eyes darted across the spines of the books on the shelf.
Finding what she wanted, Min A-rin turned toward the counter.
That was when she ran into Yeon-ha-neul.
“Ah.”
Between two bookshelves.
An empty aisle where no one else was around.
They locked eyes and froze on the spot.
An awkward tension hung in the air between them.
Neither Min A-rin nor Yeon-ha-neul looked particularly pleased.
But since they’d shared meals before, ignoring each other would have been more uncomfortable.
And with the aisle so narrow, it wasn’t like either of them could just turn around.
In the end, they had to greet each other.
Is she here to study too?
What stirred Min A-rin’s mind in that moment was a sudden surge of competitive spirit.
Her eyes flicked to the stack of books Ha-neul was holding.
It seemed Ha-neul was here to prepare for the exams too.
Realizing that left an unpleasant taste in A-rin’s mouth.
She couldn’t bring herself to greet Ha-neul nicely.
“…Hi.”
“Yeah. Hi….”
“Why are you here?”
“Just… there was a book I wanted to read. And some I needed for class too…”
“Ah, really? Same here.”
Min A-rin was the one to speak first, her tone sharp enough to sting.
Yeon-ha-neul’s face, as she answered, was shadowed by wariness.
Seeing Ha-neul so visibly uneasy around her made the corners of Min A-rin’s lips twitch upward.
When it came down to it, the girl standing before her was the root cause of that wound to her pride.
So, to poke at that source now—
It gave Min A-rin a strange rush of victory, like reclaiming a piece of pride she’d lost.
“Anyway, do your best. I’m heading out. See you around.”
“Yeah… you too. See you—”
“Oh, right.”
“….”
“Next time, you should come borrow books with Gyeon-woo. He’ll need them too, right? We’re all in the same class, so I should look out for him.”
“….”
“Looking at him, he seems like the type who needs someone to keep a close eye on him. If I don’t, who will?”
Yeon-ha-neul’s eyelids trembled ever so slightly.
She couldn’t say a word back.
Which meant Min A-rin had won.
Suppressing the thrill bubbling up inside, Min A-rin brushed past Ha-neul with her head held high.
Ah. Refreshing.
She stepped out of the library with a lightness in her feet.
The night breeze was crisp and cool—it made her feel even better.
She couldn’t help but hum a tune.
Min A-rin let that buoyant feeling carry her along the path back toward her dormitory.
‘Once I’m back, I’ll have dinner, shower, then get started on the midterm re—huh?’
Whoosh!
She’d always been bad at sensing a presence.
By the time the sound reached her ears and she turned, it was already too late—Min A-rin’s eyes went wide in horror.
A massive iron hammer was flying straight at her.
Crash! Crack!
The hammer smashed past her, toppling an entire tree.
Min A-rin’s gaze shifted from the tree—splintered at its base—to the direction the hammer had come from.
Beneath the lamps that pushed back the creeping darkness of the night, a figure stepped forward.
A figure she recognized instantly.
Hair so pale and blue it almost glowed even in the dark.
Eyes as red and eerie as a monster’s.
It was none other than Yeon-ha-neul, the very girl she’d parted ways with in the library moments ago.
“Come back.”
“Ah…”
Ha-neul extended her hand toward where Min A-rin stood frozen.
Even that small gesture made A-rin flinch.
And then—
The iron hammer embedded in the ground behind her quivered before lifting cleanly into the air.
It zipped past Min A-rin’s cheek, straight into Ha-neul’s waiting palm.
Only then did Min A-rin fully grasp what was happening and tried to speak.
“What the hell are you—kyaa!”
Whoosh! Crash! Crack!
Ha-neul swung the hammer again.
Another tree split apart with a thunderous crack.
“You psycho—!”
Whoosh! Crash! Crack!
Again.
The hammer missed her by a hair’s breadth, each swing shuddering through the night air.
Again, and again.
“Kyaaah!”
Caught in the sudden chaos, Min A-rin completely lost her composure.
She knew she needed to defend herself.
But seeing that massive iron hammer fill her vision, threatening to smash her flat, her mind went blank.
Every casting failed.
She was overwhelmed by the sheer force of the sight alone.
—W-wait…!
—It’s going to hurt a lot.
It all came flooding back.
The entrance exam.
The day Yeon-ha-neul’s hammer had hit her dead-on.
That nightmare roared back to life.
Her legs trembled uncontrollably until she collapsed onto the spot.
At some point, the hammer’s menace had stopped.
“Ah…”
Min A-rin stared up at Yeon-ha-neul, dazed and pale.
Ha-neul approached her step by step, a gentle smile playing at her lips.
Yet to A-rin, that smile looked nothing short of terrifying.
Ha-neul crouched just slightly, her voice soft as silk.
“Oops, sorry—my hand slipped.”
“….”
Your hand… slipped?
Min A-rin’s eyes went wide.
That crimson glow in Ha-neul’s eyes made her flinch instinctively.
And then, in that same gentle tone, Ha-neul leaned closer and whispered.
“Don’t mess with me. I’m really trying to get along with you, so why do you keep pushing it?”
“A…”
“And stop throwing yourself at Gyeon-woo. Got it?”
“Y-yeah…”
If she answered wrong, she might actually die.
A cold dread prickled down her spine as instinct forced her to nod desperately.
Satisfied, Ha-neul straightened her back.
Her expression was as bright as spring.
“Good. Let’s get along from now on. See you tomorrow.”
“Y-yeah…”
“Oh, one more thing.”
“…?”
“If you tell Gyeon-woo about this…You know what happens, right?”
“…”
Nod. Nod.
Min A-rin nodded so hard her head nearly fell off as Ha-neul turned on her heel and walked away.
She only vanished from sight once she’d strolled far down the moonlit path.
“Phew…”
Only then did Min A-rin let out the breath she’d been holding.
But then she stiffened again.
“Why… did I…”
Why did she have to listen to her?
Had she really just backed down?
Her?
Min A-rin?
The girl called the Little Griffin?
Me? ME?!
Min A-rin’s face twisted in humiliation.
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