At long last, his agility stat—long stagnating just below the threshold—had risen by one point.
The battle against the alter ego of Lee Ga-hyeon had proven to be an invaluable source of experience.
‘Just one more, and my agility hits seventy.’
He knew the gap between sixty-nine and seventy was vast—the required experience dramatically higher—but still, this was encouraging progress.
His mana stat had also climbed alongside. Once trapped in the forties, it had now breached into the fifties.
Crossing that wall marked a turning point. From here on, his control over mana would be unlike before—sharper, more refined.
Considering the trials that awaited them in the Diamond Academy, it was only wise to raise his mana as much as possible.
Still…
‘I need to find Lee Ga-hyeon’s soulstone.’
Defeating her didn’t mean the story had reached its conclusion.
Just as monsters left behind mana crystals upon death, a demon would leave behind a soulstone.
Until he confirmed that with his own eyes, he couldn’t be certain she was truly dead.
Sizzle…
He stared silently at the spot where Lee Ga-hyeon had been struck by the lightning wall.
The bolt that had split the sky had faded, but the lingering heat and smoke curled thick through the air.
“I saw that final slash. I knew that sword wasn’t ordinary, but I didn’t expect it to carry that much force. Next time, let’s have a duel—with that sword of yours.”
“Oh, that was so fun! Gyeon-woo, you know I could’ve landed the final blow, right? I gave it up just because it was you! I did great, huh?”
“Everyone, is anyone hurt? If you are, I can heal you.”
Yong Hae-rang, Nam Yu-ri, and Lisa approached him—the ones who had stood by him through the fight.
Yeon Ha-neul naturally took her place by his side.
He thanked them all for their help, though he never once took his eyes off the smoke still rising in front of him.
That was when Yong Hae-rang asked, “Why the long face? It’s over now.”
“It’s not over until the soulstone appears,” he replied flatly.
“Ah, right. There should be a soulstone. Still, I don’t feel any life force. No way she’s still alive.”
But he couldn’t rest easy until he saw it for himself.
The others nodded silently, agreeing with his unspoken caution.
They said nothing further, waiting quietly for the smoke to clear.
Then Min Ah-rin, standing apart from the group, snapped her fingers, summoning a gust of wind.
“Hmph. You all were just going to stand there watching? Honestly…”
Muttering to herself, Min Ah-rin directed the wind to disperse the smoke, glancing in his direction now and then with something less than kindness.
‘Did I do something to offend her?’
He genuinely couldn’t understand.
In the game, Do Gyeon-woo and Min Ah-rin hadn’t been on bad terms.
In truth, she had paid little attention to him—too timid and too quiet to be worth noticing.
She didn’t ignore him, per se, but she didn’t show any particular interest, either.
They had only started associating because she became friends with Kang Han-byeol.
So her pointed looks now were… confusing.
‘Pretty sure I haven’t done anything. I’ll have to ask her about it sometime.’
Better to clear up misunderstandings before they fester. Especially among those who’d be pulled into the game’s tangled storylines together.
He decided to bring it up another time—and then the smoke finally cleared.
“….”
Lee Ga-hyeon sat slumped on the ground, the lower half of her body resembling that of a spider.
The lightning had scorched away all her fur, and her upper half—the human-shaped torso—was charred black.
A diagonal gash crossed her chest, where the slash had landed.
No blood seeped out. The bolt had incinerated her from within. She was a husk, hollowed and empty.
One touch, and she’d crumble to ash.
He reached into her chest cavity—and grimaced.
“…It’s not here.”
The core of one’s existence—whether a mana crystal or a soulstone—usually resided in the heart.
But even after combing through the inside, his hand grasped nothing.
All he felt were the brittle remains of her ribs, which crumbled to dust under his touch.
His hand emerged from her corpse, caked in ash.
“Ha-neul, check the lower half.”
“Got it. I’ll look.”
“Something’s not right. I’ll help too!”
Yeon Ha-neul and Nam Yu-ri stepped forward with their devices, beginning to dismantle the spider-like half of Lee Ga-hyeon’s body in search of the soulstone.
Lisa joined them, soon shaking her head with a grim look.
“I checked for any magical signatures nearby. There’s nothing. No sign of a soulstone.”
Which could only mean one thing—Lee Ga-hyeon had escaped.
She wasn’t dead. Not yet. She had slipped away in the nick of time.
Like a shadow in the dark.
Frustration bloomed in his chest.
‘Even in the game, she was infuriatingly good at running away when she was supposed to die… Damn it.’
He couldn’t let her go.
He wouldn’t.
Thankfully, he had a hunch where she might have fled.
‘She’s heading for the gate. No doubt about it.’
After losing even in her demonic form, she’d have little strength left.
She’d want to preserve her soul, report back to her main body—and return to her original world.
The gate had been set up near this forest.
She was definitely headed there.
‘I have to beat her to it.’
He turned to the others.
“We’re chasing after Lee Ga-hyeon. I’ll need your help.”
“A friend needs help? Of course! Gyeon-woo, tell me what to do!”
“What, what, what? I’m not usually into favors, but this sounds fun! I’ll help!”
Yong Hae-rang and Nam Yu-ri agreed without hesitation.
Yeon Ha-neul and Lisa also nodded in support.
He issued orders swiftly.
“We’re short on time, so here’s the plan. We’ll jump from a high point and use wind and explosive force to boost ourselves toward the gate. Yu-ri, can you raise the ground?”
“Alchemy makes anything possible! I get it—you want a launchpad! The ash will help hold the structure. Leave it to me!”
Standing on the ash-covered ground, Nam Yu-ri clapped her hands and touched the earth.
Light spread from her fingers, forming an alchemy circle. The ash and minerals responded, and soon, a steep ramp rose from the ground.
“Ha-neul, pass the hammer to Hae-rang. Hae-rang, run with me to the top and launch me toward the gate. You know where it is, right?”
“Even if I didn’t, I’d toss you there on instinct! Don’t worry!”
“…Right, you have no sense of direction. Ha-neul, tell her where the gate is. And when I take off, I’ll need wind for thrust.”
“You’re doing something reckless again, aren’t you? Just wind, not an explosion?”
“Using both at once would weaken the effect. We’ll leave the explosion to Min Ah-rin. You’ll help, won’t you?”
“Why should I listen to you? Just because we fought together once doesn’t mean you get to boss me around. Why would I help you? I could catch her on my own.”
Min Ah-rin’s sharp voice cut through the air, yellow eyes narrowed.
Unlike the others, who had known him before, she had only met him today—and wasn’t inclined to be friendly.
‘Yup. That’s Min Ah-rin for you…’
Stubborn. Proud. A scion of a noble house. Fiercely competitive. Independent to a fault.
The kind of character who insisted on doing everything herself.
In the game, she only began to open up after the first-semester midterms.
‘How do I convince her… Do I go for her pride?’
But he didn’t need to say anything at all.
Yeon Ha-neul stepped forward.
“You’re not going to help?”
“…Tch! Fine, I’ll help, okay?! Just put that thing away!”
Yeon Ha-neul had raised the hammer over her head, preparing to hand it to Hae-rang. At that gesture, Min Ah-rin caved almost immediately.
It surprised him.
‘What the…? Min Ah-rin isn’t the type to fold under threat. Did something happen between them?’
He wanted to ask Yeon Ha-neul, but there was no time.
Best not to question a good thing.
“Then Min Ah-rin, help Ha-neul launch me through the air.”
“Tch. Fine. If my body had been fully recovered, I wouldn’t be resorting to this…”
“But flying is only part of the plan. What about the landing? From that height, not even a perfect breakfall would prevent injury.”
“I’ve already considered that. Lisa, can you cast a spell—one that’ll shield me from the impact?”
“Oh… that? Yes, I can. I’ll cast it on you now.”
With Lisa’s magic forming a final layer of protection, Do Gyeon-woo stepped up to the sculpted launch ramp, side-by-side with Yong Hae-rang, who still held the iron hammer in her hands.
“Then I’m counting on you.”
“Just trust me!”
“Let’s go.”
Gyeon-woo took off at a sprint, feet pounding up the inclined ramp. Yong Hae-rang followed close behind, their footsteps echoing off the steep surface.
Before long, they reached the peak.
“Gyeon-woo!”
“Yeah.”
Without hesitation, Gyeon-woo placed one foot atop the iron hammer just as Yong Hae-rang swung it with all her might—hurling him into the night sky like a shooting star.
“Fly, Do Gyeon-woo! Bashaaa!”
Below, Yeon Ha-neul and Min Ah-rin unleashed the magic they had prepared. A burst of wind and an explosive force struck Gyeon-woo’s back, propelling him even higher, even farther.
Lisa’s defensive spell activated, shielding him from the very force he used to fly.
Crackle!
Even his Gift activated on its own.
The world blurred beneath him. The stars twisted in dizzy spirals. His body struggled for balance, the rush of wind clawing at his limbs. The danger was overwhelming—but his instincts refused to freeze.
Survival screamed through his nerves. Even now, even in this chaos, his body refused to give in.
Meanwhile…
No matter how powerful one claimed to be—even among the Six Demon Generals—a puppet infused with a shard of soul would never match the true strength of the original body.
Worse, the doll she had used was subpar, barely worthy of enhancing.
Though she had fortified it with her own power, the puppet’s limitations were unyielding.
Lee Ga-hyeon had thought it would suffice against a group of examinees. She hadn’t expected to be found out, nor to be forced into retreat after their coordinated assault.
‘If only I’d used my real body… or at least my collection…’
She wouldn’t have been forced to run like this.
But for Hunters, death could come at any moment—from a mistake, from bad luck. Demons who violated Hunter law lived with death even closer at hand.
This was her error. She had failed to prepare for retreat.
Now was not the time for rationalizations. Now was the time to survive—no matter how humiliating.
Squeak squeak!
‘This is pathetic…’
At present, her soul resided in the body of a Rank 1 monster—one of the weakest, a hybrid of rabbit and rat called a Pikatail.
Moments before the lightning had struck her puppet, she had ejected her soulstone and fled to the nearby Pikatail’s body.
For someone obsessed with beauty, the current situation was grotesque and mortifying.
Squeak squeak!
‘I have to escape before they figure it out.’
She hated this body. She hated running in it. Everything about this form was hideous.
It made her want to die.
But she couldn’t. Because this wasn’t her real body—it was a vessel.
‘If my soulstone falls into their hands, the real me will become… incomplete.’
Incompleteness was ugliness. It was unacceptable.
No, even this disgraceful escape was better than fragmenting her soul.
Squeak squeak!
‘Luckily, the gate’s nearby… and Pikatails are fast.’
In that sense, fortune had favored her.
If she could just reach the gate, she’d reconnect with her main body. She could report back everything she had learned.
Squeak squeak!
‘Too bad I didn’t meet the Disciple of the Mad Ghost. But it wasn’t a total loss.’
There were others. Other students, full of frightening potential.
They might grow to be formidable enemies—or invaluable allies.
Especially him. Do Gyeon-woo, of the Shin Sword Do clan.
Squeak squeak!
‘That one’s… different.’
His mana was low, but his reflexes and instincts were uncanny. He was clever, ruthless when necessary, and utterly unafraid to use unorthodox tactics.
The kind of person who would make a great villain.
Squeak squeak!
‘If only I could tempt him to fall…’
His face was unfair. Soft, sweet, protective—so deceptive for someone so dangerous.
Her type exactly.
Squeak squeak!
‘I want him by my side. Dress him up. If I get bored… he’d make a perfect addition to my collection.’
Yes. This was the true prize.
For him alone, it was worth getting out alive.
She pushed through the forest, and soon—yes, finally—the gate came into view.
Squeak squeak!
‘Just a little further!’
The night was beginning to brighten.
She tensed her rabbit legs and leapt for the gate.
That was when she saw the girl.
Squeak squeak!
‘Out of the way!’
Long hair. Not an evaluator. An examinee.
Nothing to fear.
She darted to slip past her—
And made five critical mistakes.
She hadn’t been paying attention, too fixated on escape.
…Squeak?
‘…Huh?’
First: the girl stood alone in a forest swarming with monsters.
Second: around her lay corpses—and mana crystals.
Third: that meant she was powerful.
Fourth: she looked very, very annoyed, like someone who hadn’t slept.
And fifth:
She was Cha Eun-sol.
Only when the girl turned her emerald eyes toward her did Lee Ga-hyeon realize who she was facing.
Her thoughts froze.
Cha Eun-sol asked softly, “So it’s you, huh?”
But she didn’t wait for an answer.
She already knew.
The spirits of the forest had told her everything.
Her words were only a warning.
────!!
Wind exploded behind her, her hair whipping as she unleashed the gale upon Lee Ga-hyeon.
Squeak squeak!
The small body couldn’t withstand it.
Lee Ga-hyeon crashed to the ground, barely surviving.
She looked up, trembling.
“You’re noisy.”
Cha Eun-sol was approaching.
There was murder in her eyes.
Squeak…
‘Is this it…?’
There was no escape. Not from a Spirit Master. Not with a body like this.
She had resigned herself to death—
Squeak?
‘…Ah.’
A presence overhead.
A colossal pressure.
Lee Ga-hyeon glanced upward.
Past the dimming stars and pale moonlight of dawn—
From the sky above…
Lion’s Elegy
Do Gyeon-woo of the Shin Sword Do clan came crashing down.
His lips moved.
As if to say—
‘Found you.’
His smile was radiant—infuriatingly serene.
It made her want to torment him.
No, to be tormented by him.
Squeak…
‘Ah…’
A perfect blend of sadism and submission.
He was exactly her type.
If she was going to die—better by someone so beautiful.
She leapt.
Using the last of her strength, she sent him a telepathic message:
“You’re exactly my type. I want you in my collection. You pass.”
“…!”
Do Gyeon-woo flinched.
His expression hardened.
But only for a second.
He struck.
“You fail.”
A bolt of blue lightning tore the sky—
And Lee Ga-hyeon vanished, leaving behind only a soulstone.
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