The Message at 7:30
The message came at exactly 7:30 in the morning.
Among graduates of Seoul Hunter Academy, that was, generally and tacitly, considered the start of the day.
There was no doubt Kang Han-na had sent it at that hour because of this matter.
There had always been a chance Changseong Group would reach out, and Sunwoo had expected it with near certainty.
Sihyeok Group, on the other hand, had no room to breathe.
The elf slave trade was a blue ocean for criminals too vile to be treated like human beings. And if it succeeded, it promised unimaginable profit, both tangible and intangible.
But there was a reason most people didn't dare touch it.
If they were caught, they died.
And this was Korea, where the influence of Changseong Group—especially given its close ties with the Elves—was absolute.
That was why Sihyeok Group, despite having its headquarters in Korea, had expanded overseas first.
Then, just as they had tasted a measure of success and were thinking of growing their operations at home as well, this happened.
It was only a note.
But a single line—"I know about the Elf Auction"—was enough to turn the whole company to ash.
The shocking upset of Kim Seonwoo defeating Lee Maeng-ho had ceased to matter.
This was a crisis with their lives on the line. They would be throwing everything they had into understanding the situation and solving it.
Compared to that, Changseong Group had no reason to hesitate to meet Seonwoo if there was even the slightest clue to be had.
The only thing he hadn't expected was that the person contacting him for that reason would be Kang Han-na herself.
If anything, that made things easier.
There was no reason not to meet her, so he replied at once.
After setting the appointment, Seonwoo headed to the kitchen.
He was going to help his grandmother make breakfast and eat with his family.
It was an unspoken promise, if not an actual one.
At the very least, they would share one meal a day together.
That was why Seonwoo had paused his heart-racing growth and come back out into the world beyond Elvenheim.
"Did you sleep well, Grandma? You too, Oppa?"
"Yeah, Eunseo. Looks like your cold's all better."
"Yep!"
At Eunseo's bright, lively smile so early in the morning, Seonwoo found himself smiling too.
Long, straight hair. Rabbit-like eyes. Skin as white as snow.
It wasn't just because she was his sister—she was genuinely adorable, and her personality was just as lovable.
As far as he knew, she got along well with lots of friends at school.
She had awakened, but not to the point of being admitted to Seoul Hunter Academy.
To put it bluntly, her ability as an awakened person ranked near the bottom.
Putting talent aside, she lacked the passion to grow stronger, and her personality wasn't suited to combat either.
And since there wasn't anything she particularly wanted to do, the kind of work she ended up doing changed little by little every time he used Restart.
Seonwoo didn't think that was a bad thing.
He wanted his sister to do what she wanted.
And because he thought the process of finding what she wanted mattered too.
"I'm off!"
"All right. Be careful."
"Have a good day."
"Okay!"
Eunseo left for school, and Seonwoo helped his grandmother with the dishes.
He was seventeen, but as someone who had already graduated from Seoul Hunter Academy in this place, Seonwoo was, strictly speaking... unemployed.
Ordinarily, this should have been the time for him to step into society as a hunter and be busier than ever.
But he couldn't do that.
Still, from now on, things would be different.
"Grandma."
"Hm?"
"I've got plans, so I think I'll eat lunch out."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I'll be back later."
"Wait a second, Seonwoo."
"Yes?"
"Take this."
Just as he was about to head out after finishing the dishes, his grandmother stopped him.
Wondering what it was, Seonwoo turned around, and she pressed some spending money into his hand.
One hundred thousand won.
It was a large sum—one that was still a burden for her.
Seonwoo didn't refuse it. He accepted it carefully.
"Thank you, Grandma."
"Good. Have a nice time."
"Yes."
Because he knew that even if he refused, she would find some other way to spend it on her grandchildren anyway.
And now...
He was going to make it so he no longer had to do nothing but feel sorry in silence.
That was why he accepted it instead of refusing.
Carrying that gratitude and resolve intact, he returned to Elvenheim.
Shrrr.
The World Tree rustled its branches in greeting.
"Hey."
Smiling, Seonwoo greeted it back and stood beside the tree.
Suuu.
Then, drawing a deep breath, he began training in the Body Refining Self-Overcoming Art.
This was the best thing Seonwoo could do right now.
Following the breathing method, he tempered his body in accordance with the form.
At a glance, the slow, almost limp-looking movements didn't resemble training at all.
But in truth, the opposite was true.
This Wan-gong, slow-motion training, drove the body to the very brink.
A punch thrown slowly over nearly a full minute consumed far more stamina than one snapped out in an instant.
And if that slow movement had to contain the perfect principles of martial truth without the slightest tremor, then the stamina and concentration it consumed went beyond imagination.
With a body that had only just risen above that of an ordinary person, Seonwoo couldn't even sustain it for five full minutes before reaching his limit.
Hooook!
His body had been pushed so hard steam practically burst from it, yet he forced himself to keep breathing.
It was no different from sprinting at full speed for five straight minutes.
His instincts warned him.
If he didn't stop right now and rest, his body would suffer permanent damage.
But over the course of three hundred years, Seonwoo had learned this as he kept moving forward.
As long as my will doesn't break...
A body trained in the Body Refining Self-Overcoming Art will never collapse.
With his body driven to its limit, Seonwoo took one step further.
Thoom!
He planted a fierce Jingak, an earth-stomping step.
Then, perfectly controlling and amplifying the force it generated in accordance with martial principles, he thrust out his fist.
Kuuuuung!
The burst of force made the air shudder.
E: Physical (31) has increased to E: Physical (32).
Once again, the System acknowledged a body that had surpassed its limit.
E: Skill (31) has increased to E: Skill (36).
On top of that, his Skill stat surged dramatically.
Suuu.
"...Haha."
Catching his breath as the System confirmed his progress, Seonwoo let out a small laugh.
Stats weren't something that rose this easily by nature.
There was a reason every step upward was treated as a difference in class, in rank, in fundamental level.
Without exaggeration, the rise of one's stats was equivalent to breaking through a limit.
And ordinarily, breaking through a limit was an extremely dangerous thing.
It wasn't uncommon for athletes to push past their limits and suffer permanent bodily damage.
So what about hunters, who fought with their lives on the line?
If they forced themselves past their limits without proper preparation, they often suffered injuries so severe they could no longer live normal lives at all.
That sort of tragedy had become common enough to be almost routine in the hunter industry.
But Seonwoo, who had learned the Body Refining Self-Overcoming Art...
Seonwoo, who had mastered the training method of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the art that let him advance beyond his limits...
He could break through those limits this easily.
Of course, several factors were overlapping to make that speed possible right now.
He had advanced for three hundred years through the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and reached the Path.
He was training in Elvenheim, a place more overflowing with life force than anywhere else in existence.
And his current frail body was still in a state where even the slightest stimulus could make it grow.
Especially in the case of Skill, all he had to do was carve the path of those three hundred years back into his body, and it would soar.
So yes, for a while yet, he would be able to raise his stats at an absurd rate...
But—
The road ahead is still long.
His goal lay so far beyond the horizon that even at this speed, Seonwoo didn't allow himself satisfaction. Instead, he drove himself harder.
He was used to beginning again like this.
E: Physical (32) has increased to E: Physical (33).
Again and again, he surpassed his limits.
E: Skill (36) has increased to E: Skill (45).
Into that body that kept stepping beyond the line, he engraved martial arts.
It was painful. It was grueling. But moving forward anyway—that was Seonwoo's talent.
And only when it was finally time to pause and catch his breath did he settle into place and focus fully on his breathing.
After body and skill, now came the growth of his internal energy.
Suuu.
He synchronized himself with the vast current of life flowing through Elvenheim, centered around the World Tree.
It was a current far too immense for the Seonwoo of now to dare control.
But by synchronizing with it, he could naturally become one with it.
Dooong.
An unimaginably brilliant force of life surged into his body.
It was power too great for him to bear, but because he let it flow through rather than trying to hold it, his body did not burst apart.
Only a tiny fraction soaked into him in the course of that flow.
And even that was enough.
That alone bestowed upon him a pure and powerful life force unlike anything else in the world.
That became internal energy.
It became Yeon-shin-gi, the energy accumulated through the breathing of the Body Refining Self-Overcoming Art.
He was building an internal foundation worthy of a body that repeatedly broke past its limits.
Shrrr—
As Seonwoo breathed, the World Tree's branches swayed happily beside him.
On the surface, it looked like nothing more than a giant ash tree, but by the World Tree's own standards, this was younger than a single tiny sprout.
When one spoke of a World Tree, one meant a tree that seemed capable of holding up the world itself.
The World Tree in the Elf's Forest truly was like that, its roots spread throughout the entire forest—vast enough to dwarf most kingdoms—and its trunk rising as if to touch the heavens.
This young, impossibly young World Tree was filled with the desire to grow that large.
And the human standing beside it was fulfilling that desire.
Suuu.
Shararararak.
The natural life force leaking out from the human with every breath shone brilliantly.
It had grown far stronger. It flowed far faster.
And in doing so, it accelerated the World Tree's growth as well.
It was like a drug.
The tree could hardly think straight, and its affection for Seonwoo blossomed more and more.
That was why it had offered him the title of Gardener.
The world believed the World Tree recognized only Elves as its gardeners, but that was only half true.
In reality, anyone the World Tree took a liking to could become a gardener.
It was simply that Elves were the only race that generally met even the minimum standard.
And so—
Suuu.
Shararararak—
The human and the World Tree grew together.
"I'm heading out."
Rustle.
Seonwoo, immersed in growth, had not forgotten his appointment.
Leaving the reluctant World Tree behind for a while, he stepped out of Elvenheim.
After showering, changing clothes, and passing through the Gate, he paused.
Hmm.
He recognized the car waiting for him at a glance.
A single vehicle sat by the roadside.
It was luxurious, but not ostentatious enough to draw special attention.
...At least, that was only true on the surface, so it could avoid outside scrutiny.
Seonwoo knew that it was a custom-built special vehicle made for Kang Han-na.
Its frame alone could block C-Rank magic, and with the aid of mana stones, it could protect its passenger even from the aftermath of A-Rank magic.
Considering that an ordinary A-Rank spell could reduce an entire neighborhood to ashes, it was a ridiculous piece of machinery.
Click.
The car door opened, and a girl stepped onto the pavement.
Tok.
The first thing he heard was the distinct sound of her shoes on the ground.
Then came the sight of jeans subtly outlining the line of her legs.
Swish.
Hair cut in a layered style by one of Korea's top designers swayed lightly.
A dazzling girl stood there, the kind who made the world itself look like her backdrop.
Kang Han-na.
The granddaughter of the chairman of Changseong Group, and the vice chairman's daughter.
A girl wrapped in a beauty and elegance brilliant enough to turn the world into scenery behind her.
"Hello, Senior."
The girl greeted Seonwoo politely.
Seonwoo accepted that courteous greeting naturally, with a faint smile.
"Hey. Hi, Han-na."
In the world that had followed the true course of history, Kang Han-na had been one year below him.
So he could call her by name exactly as he had in Goddess Saga.
And then—
...Hoh.
Kang Han-na's eyes flickered with curiosity as she took in just how naturally Seonwoo said her name.