11. A Butterfly's Dream
11. A Butterfly's Dream
11. A Butterfly's Dream
...You think she's mad?
Na Yu-na would be hiding her rage behind a blank face.
Someone vastly beneath her.
Nothing angered her more than being lectured by such a person.
Words that felt like a denial of her entire life would be hard on anyone, even her.
"As long as she doesn't kill me, I'm fine."
She wouldn't actually try to kill me over a little advice, right?
The thought crossed my mind, but knowing Na Yu-na, it actually seemed possible.
The Na Yu-na from V. AGE
was more than capable of killing someone who denied her.
So I had no choice but to put my faith in someone else.
"I'm counting on you, Yu Ha-yeon."
I shot Yu Ha-yeon a look that said "please."
You understood, right?
If things get dangerous, protect me.
Yu Ha-yeon seemed to grasp my meaning, as she waved at me with a bright face.
She was also yelling something at the top of her lungs.
What was she saying?
"Just shoot yourself in the head and come out!"
"..."
I raised a middle finger lightly and moved to the end of the arena.
Even if Kim Gi-ok had messed up, I couldn't forfeit.
It wasn't just about expulsion. Giving up was a problem of a hero's mindset.
To avoid failing, I also needed a good grade.
"Alright then. Both sides, ready...!"
Following Kang Su-ho's words, I aimed the lowered Desert Eagle at Na Yu-na.
To fire the moment it started.
At the same time, the bustling chatter of students who saw my weapon reached my ears.
"Pfft... Hey, what's that? If he was gonna do that, why didn't he just go to a police academy instead of coming here?"
"I know, right. Is he an idiot? Who picks a weapon like that...?"
Like I chose this because I wanted to.
This is the only thing I can do.
Their mockery only grew worse.
"Na Yu-na's got it good. Against an opponent like that, it's a free win."
"For real. That kind of old-fashioned weapon is for back-alley thugs."
A body without any visible muscle.
A figure that could easily be mistaken for a girl.
The intensity of their insults gradually escalated.
But for me, with a Will of 8, it barely registered.
You kids having fun?
Because I sure wasn't.
Yu Ha-yeon's expression had frozen cold.
She began approaching the students who were criticizing me.
"Quietly sit and watch the match. You're interrupting."
"W-why should I...?"
"Don't want to sit? Then shall I make you sit?"
Yu Ha-yeon's offer to force them to sit.
The student, having heard firsthand what happened to Kim Gi-ok, couldn't say another word as he returned to his seat.
"Tch..."
The brown-haired, bulky student who had insulted me regretfully took his seat.
She didn't have to step in.
I couldn't care less about those insults.
I gave Yu Ha-yeon a look of thanks with my eyes and retook my stance.
"Both sides... are ready. Then, let's begin."
Kang Su-ho began the starting count.
"One."
A tense moment.
"Two."
Na Yu-na began setting her stance properly.
"Three."
The moment I looked into her yellow eyes, I just knew.
"Start!"
Ah, she's absolutely not going to go easy on me.
Bang!
With the sound of my gunshot, Na Yu-na's figure vanished from in front of me.
Had she even been standing there to begin with?
Her movement was so swift it was deceptive.
"You're in danger!"
Yu Ha-yeon's shout.
I instinctively rolled away from the spot I was standing on.
Paaang!
The sound of air tearing apart echoed out.
Through the thin cloud of dust rising, I heard Na Yu-na's voice.
"...He dodged."
The dust settled.
Na Yu-na was looking down at me haughtily from where I had just been standing.
With eyes full of killing intent.
Her gaze was filled with the sole determination to break me.
"Instructor Kang! That's a genuine attempt to kill him!"
Yu Ha-yeon, having read Na Yu-na's intent with her sharp senses, shouted.
Good job, Yu Ha-yeon.
But Kang Su-ho showed no sign of stopping the match.
"No one ever truly dies during a spar. The match continues. I am the supervisor."
In my view, Kang Su-ho really was a psycho.
I mean, a kid's trying to kill me, and you call yourself a supervisor?
He seemed to put more faith in science and technology than in someone's murderous intent.
"...That angry, huh?"
"..."
Not even going to answer me now?
Honestly, dodging her first attack was pure luck.
Would I really be able to dodge the next one?
No way of knowing. I just have to try.
Enough pointless speculation.
I took aim again and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots echoed throughout the arena.
Shell casings clattered to the floor.
Yet, the bullets never reached Na Yu-na.
It's the worst possible matchup.
The stat that dominated Na Yu-na's profile was Agility.
In the future, it would even climb to 11, just below the maximum possible.
High dynamic vision and the speed to match it.
Gracefully deflecting most of the bullets, Na Yu-na's form soared into the air.
"Just as I expected. You're way too weak."
A view looking down from above.
It was the view she had always seen, and she likely believed it would last forever.
Holding her spear in the air, Na Yu-na's body began to be suffused with magic power.
"Bloom."
Unique Ability [Butterfly Dream (胡蝶之夢)]
A butterfly flutters across the vast blue sky.
But it is but a fleeting dream.
The caged butterfly experiences an illusion.
Ah, how transient.
Is it the dream of a caged butterfly, or the dream of a butterfly flying freely in the sky?
Yeah, I think the passage went something like that.
A unique ability that traps the opponent's soul inside an illusion.
A form that vanishes like a dream.
Na Yu-na's attack came at me without any warning.
Thwack!
The point of impact was my right shoulder.
It seemed she had struck me with the shaft of her spear.
Tricky...
I brushed the dust off my struck shoulder.
That attack just now was Na Yu-na's illusion.
If you fail to distinguish it from reality, the blow becomes real.
Well, it was mostly just guesswork.
Na Yu-na's first attack in the original game was almost always an illusion.
For a veteran player like me, reading her attack patterns was a piece of cake.
I kept pulling the trigger at Na Yu-na as she appeared and vanished.
Bang! Bang!
Only 4 bullets left.
Ah, this is really bad.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't come up with a way to win.
In the meantime, multiples of Na Yu-na were closing in on me.
"Give up."
With those words, dozens of spears rained down on me.
With the enormous gap in our stats,
naturally, I couldn't dodge that attack.
The sound of all kinds of blows echoed from my body.
Swinging, pressing, hitting.
The reckless onslaught continued, just short of deactivating the magic barrier.
I could no longer tell which attacks were illusions.
They're probably all illusions.
That was the only way to minimize the damage.
The optimal method, taking damage only from the real ones.
Why am I even doing this? It'd be so much easier to just forfeit.
Honestly, expulsion was probably meant for that Oh Gok-gok guy who got passed to Yu Ha-yeon anyway.
Haven't I done enough?
I could just stick to Yu Ha-yeon and ask her to protect me every day.
'I can't do that. To clear this world, I am absolutely necessary.'
The first step in that is stopping Na Yu-na from going insane.
If Na Yu-na is left as she is, millions of people will die.
To prevent that, I must land at least one blow on that arrogant lump of pride.
How do I land a blow on her?
No method came to mind.
'No. You already know.'
What do you mean I know?
But the moment I saw the form of the voice,
I understood what it meant.
'You already know what you have to do.'
Was it an illusion?
If not, was it a dream?
The identity of the voice was none other than 'Han Si-jun'.
'What are you hesitating for?'
...I'm scared.
I'm scared of being flung into this world and dying.
I'm scared of driving a nail into someone's heart.
I'm scared that even knowing the future, I won't be able to stop it.
This was all a result of being born with this weak body.
'You're wrong. You're not like that. You wanted to help people more than anyone.'
Right.
Even when I was just playing games in the corner of my house, I had vague dreams of helping others.
The Han Si-jun of this world also had a weak body, but he wanted to be a hero who helped people.
So who am I, carrying the memories of two 'Han Si-juns' from different worlds?
'Eh, does it matter? Just think like you always do.'
It was such a clear answer.
Words spoken as if the path I was walking was the right one.
My own existence, speaking casually as always, felt so natural.
'I am just Han Si-jun.'
I murmured quietly toward her.
"Na Yu-na."
"...Seems you still have the strength to speak. I'll end this soon."
Changing her spear stance, Na Yu-na approached as if to finish me off immediately.
Yeah, that's how you should come at me.
That's the Na Yu-na of the NAVI Family.
The arena was filled with dust from Na Yu-na's attacks.
I popped the Magic Power Nutritional Supplements I had put in my pocket into my mouth.
One wasn't enough.
Two more.
A total of three Magic Power Nutritional Supplements.
It was a complete unknown what kind of effect they would have on my body.
But it was the only way to save Na Yu-na.
"You know what? This is where I start."
Don't underestimate me.
Stats aren't everything.
The path shown to me by my illusory self.
Even if it was a harsh path, I had to walk it.
If I can't clear the world of V. AGE, there's no future for this world.
"...What? You're saying that, looking at yourself right now?"
Na Yu-na laughed as if dumbfounded.
And with those words, a faint magic power began to dwell within my body.
"I contract."
My Unique Ability [Libra (天秤宮)]
A scale.
If you place weight on one side, the other side gains that much weight.
You pay a price for what you want.
That is my unique ability.
"For 10 minutes, create a Mana Core in my body."
I really didn't want to use this.
But I have nothing to give.
There was only one thing I could offer.
"I will give you my lifespan."
—Granted.
the scale tipped into perfect balance.