At That Moment, Above the Cliff
Clan members watched as Do Gyeon-woo, without a backward glance, left Do Seung-woo behind.
Meanwhile,
“Hey! Do Gyeon-woo!”
Do Seung-woo’s desperate cries rang out vividly. In another feed, he was seen wailing and shouting.
“Come back! You jerk!”
As if betrayed by someone he trusted, Do Seung-woo’s face contorted. Yet he clung to a sliver of hope.
“No way, right? This joke’s gone too far….”
But reality struck. The monster Do Gyeon-woo lured, and others drawn by his screams, emerged one after another.
“Kero?”
“No, don’t come… Don’t!”
“Kero?”
“If only I could move properly, I’d show you… Damn it!”
Despite his reputation as a prodigy, Do Seung-woo was paralyzed with fear. His face wasn’t that of a brave lion but a prey animal cornered by predators.
“Don’t chase me!”
Do Seung-woo fled from the monsters, looking pathetic. Still paralyzed, fighting them was reckless—yet, in its own way, wise. Even so, onlookers couldn’t help but chuckle.
“A lion chased by toads… Seung-woo’s nothing special after all.”
“Run, run! That’s how you survive. Keep running!”
Clan members mocked him. Do Beom-joon, whose pride was at stake, wouldn’t stay silent.
“Head of the household! Do Gyeon-woo must be punished immediately! He’s blinded by rivalry, luring monsters to kill Seung-woo! Our clan encourages competition, but this crosses the line!”
“Sang-joon, what’s your take?”
“I….”
Do Sang-joon, blushing with embarrassment, pleaded. Do Ye-eok merely chuckled, then asked Do Sang-joon, who was watching the evaluation with his family, for his opinion.
“Gyeon-woo’s at it again…”
Do Sang-joon sighed inwardly. He’d begged his son not to cause trouble, but Gyeon-woo only pretended to listen. What a headache.
Yet, no parent could abandon their child. Reluctantly, Do Sang-joon defended him.
“I think it’s fine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Similar things have happened in competitive matches before—sometimes worse.”
“Hmm, true.”
“Gyeon-woo didn’t intend to kill Seung-woo. He knew we were watching and hunters were nearby, so it was just a prank.”
“Prank? A prank?! Do Sang-joon, you…!”
“And Seung-woo himself said he could’ve beaten Ruddle Kero alone. The credit goes to him first.”
“Credit….”
Amused, Do Ye-eok murmured, “Sang-joon, you’re right.” He shrugged.
“We can’t halt the evaluation over this, nor scold a kid who’s doing well.”
“Gyeon-woo will be relieved to hear that.”
“Thank you, Head of the household.”
Do Ye-eok gestured to Do Gyeon-woo. Only then did Do Sang-joon breathe easy. His wife, Han Ji-ae, who’d been anxious, could now relax.
“That boy really…”
He fearlessly ate unknown fruits and fought monsters recklessly, making her heart race. Yet, like any parent, she could only resign herself and cheer him on.
“Stay safe, please, stay safe.”
“I want those fruits too… Mom, can I have them when I see hyung later?”
Her daughter pleaded, oblivious to the danger.
“Speaking of which, it’s amazing.”
Meanwhile, Do Ye-eok, watching Do Gyeon-woo navigate the forest, murmured. His gaze was fixed, bright with interest.
“If I’m not mistaken…”
Recalling Do Gyeon-woo’s swordsmanship earlier, he fell into thought.
Earlier, to save Do Seung-woo, Gyeon-woo had leaped from above, executing Attack Form VII. For a fleeting moment,
Crack!
In the spiraling wind, Do Gyeon-woo sparked a blue current.
It was unmistakably…
“Bijung.”
He couldn’t have misseen it. Replaying the scene in his mind, Do Ye-eok silently studied Do Gyeon-woo on the screen.
The Forest Thinned
The gaps between trees widened. The ground’s color and texture shifted. The croaks of Mud Kero, inflating their throats, faded.
“The forest is ending.”
I quickly assessed. I’d left the Mud Kero’s habitat and neared the lake.
Before long,
“Is that it?”
A vast lake came into view. I landed on a tree at the forest’s edge.
Then, a message popped up.
[Next objective: Slay the sovereign in the lake.]
Seems I’d arrived at the destination.
“Five others are already here.”
I glanced at the people, checking the situation. They were fighting monsters on floating platforms or hopping across the water’s surface, struggling to adapt.
“As expected.”
It was hard enough to stand on water, let alone fight monsters. Misstep, and they’d flip with the platform. Their age and skill were showing.
Among them…
“Sis Ye-eun’s there too.”
Do Ye-eun stood out. Without using platforms, she leaped across the lake, battling monsters.
Shuwang Style Attack Form V
A flash of lightning.
She charged, kicking up water sprays, slicing monsters with her sword.
Screech!
Childlike, faceless monsters with blue scales fell to her blade.
Carrying her momentum, Do Ye-eun sprinted toward the lake’s center.
Screech!
There, the sovereign awaited—a female monster with scaled skin and blue flesh. Dripping blue blood, its left arm and tail were severed, likely by hunters. Exhausted, it still parried Do Ye-eun’s strikes with its spear.
As she stepped to attack again,
Shriek!
The sovereign’s gill-like mouth opened, emitting a strange cry. The water churned violently. New monsters materialized in Do Ye-eun’s path.
“The sovereign summoned minions.”
Or created them, as bosses in games often did. I frowned.
“Even weakened, the sovereign’s not easy with minions guarding it.”
Indeed, others hesitated to approach. Do Ye-eun, too, had to retreat when new foes appeared.
From their fatigue and stiffness, it was clear—some were paralyzed. Even Do Ye-eun, despite her skill, couldn’t push further. Her recent movements suggested she was also affected.
“Hmm.”
Could I take on the sovereign and its minions alone? My Gift could evade their attacks, but timing a strike was uncertain. My stamina and mana might run dry first. Fighting on water’s surface would be even riskier.
“I need help from those people…”
But collaborating with older, arrogant relatives? Unlikely.
“How to persuade them?”
With no monsters nearby, I lounged on a branch, watching the battle and brainstorming.
Crunch.
I ate a Vitality Fruit. Like them, I needed to conserve stamina for the sovereign…
“Ah.”
A thought struck me. No need to struggle—there was already a way to win them over.
Paralysis Set In
I’d thought my Gift had detoxified me, but Ruddle Kero’s paralysis venom was stronger than expected.
Do Ye-eun, too, felt her body tingle when swinging her sword, biting her lip.
“…Right shoulder, left leg. Can’t push deeper into the crowd like this. If only I could move properly…”
She couldn’t exert force as intended, and stimulating the paralyzed mana circuits risked overload. Assessing her state, she stepped back before full paralysis struck.
Screech!
Her hard-won path was blocked by the sovereign’s minions. Again. Her face darkened.
“Is there no way?”
Yet she didn’t give up. While others fought monsters, she tried to recover stamina and mana.
“…Time to go in.”
But it was short-lived. Others were faring worse. After tidying her hair, she saw the tide turning and decided to rejoin the fight.
Splash!
Kicking the water, she charged. Relatives parted to clear her path. She sprinted toward the sovereign, but its minions blocked her again.
Shuwang Style Attack Form VI
Do Ye-eun’s blue eyes tracked the foes blocking her way. She stepped forward, braking sharply on the water’s surface.
Crash!
Friction erupted, sending a wave skyward. The falling water blocked the monsters’ sight.
In that instant, her sword flashed.
Lion’s Dance
A blue blade, slicing through the wave, severed a monster’s neck.
Whoosh!
Its head floated upward. Do Ye-eun leaped over the collapsing corpse and targeted others.
Whiz!
Slash!
Unbound by form, she moved relentlessly, spinning to amplify her mana-coated strikes. Her dance on the water’s surface cut foes down in one blow.
“Phew…”
Then, she caught her breath, aiming to push through the remaining path.
That’s when it happened.
Screech!
“Ugh!”
Though she’d left the rear to relatives, they’d been pushed back to the lake’s edge. Do Ye-eun clicked her tongue. If she let the monsters flank her, she’d have to watch her back while fighting the sovereign—a heavy burden.
She had no choice.
Shuwang Style Attack Form III
Though the sovereign was near, Do Ye-eun reluctantly turned back to clear the rear.
Lion’s Hammer
Her sword struck a monster. Like a hammerblow, it shattered with a crunch, sliding face-first into the water and flying away—dead on impact. She aimed to finish the others with her footwork.
But as she raised her sword,
“My body…!”
Her right shoulder popped, freezing mid-air. Paralysis hit.
Bad luck for her, but fortune for the monsters.
Screech!
They lunged together. She barely shook off paralysis, rushing to counter.
Too late.
“I can handle one, but the other two…”
While she dealt with one, the other two would exploit the gap. She gritted her teeth.
No choice but to minimize the impact…
Splash!
Then, Do Ye-eun sensed a presence. Someone approached swiftly from behind.
The figure zipped past her.
“I’ll take the left, sis the right.”
A voice brushed her ear.
Do Ye-eun was confused. But her body reacted instantly. As the stranger darted left,
“Ah, got it.”
She automatically stepped right, stabbing the monster before her.
After eliminating one, she turned to see her helper. The stranger had already felled the other two.
“…Do Gyeon-woo?”
The Do Gyeon-woo is mocked as a coward and “Rabbit” in the clan.
Seeing the unexpected ally, Do Ye-eun’s eyes widened.
Ignoring her shock, Do Gyeon-woo immediately broached a topic.
“Sis, wanna team up?”
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