Lodging Key and Sparring Challenge
The lodging key was smaller than the contract. Han Mi-rae placed the black card key on my palm and tapped it with her finger.
"Don't lose it. This room opens with my name."
"It's not my room."
"It's your room starting today, oppa."
"That sounds weird."
"That's how I meant it to sound."
The fluorescent lights in the underground parking lot flickered. After the Association verification field collapsed, I was almost dragged straight to the hospital. Cha Yu-ri insisted on laying me on the treatment room bed, and the Association wanted additional investigations. Han Mi-rae smiled between them and said,
That one sentence made me even more tired. Now we were standing in the underground parking lot of the Mirae Residence, owned by Mirae Group. Less than two hours had passed since the verification broadcast ended, but a few reporters were already gathered at the parking lot entrance. Han Mi-rae had sneaked the car in through the back gate to avoid them.
"The name is temporary lodging. But practically, it's a protection facility. To keep the Association from arbitrarily putting you back in the verification field, you need a registered address."
"Short explanation."
"The room next to mine."
I looked down at the card key.
"That's shorter."
The bodyguard who got out of the driver's seat avoided my gaze. The two residence staff waiting in front of the elevator coughed awkwardly in unison. Han Mi-rae laughed nonchalantly.
"Let people who want to misunderstand do so. Misunderstandings can be a shield sometimes."
"I've got enough shields."
"That's why you need more. You keep trying to block everything with just your body."
There was a bit less playfulness in her tone. Instead of answering, I hefted Gravity Hammer Muk-roe from beside the car. The heavy handle clung to my palm. The aftereffects of the verification field's overload still lingered inside me. Muk-roe hummed lower than usual. Han Mi-rae eyed my arm.
"If Cha Yu-ri sees that, she'll drag you back."
"Just don't let her see."
"Oppa, that kind of talk usually gets caught right away."
My phone buzzed. Cha Yu-ri's name lit up the screen. I ignored it. Han Mi-rae couldn't stifle her laugh.
"See?"
"I'll answer later."
"That 'later' is when you get scolded, right?"
It was right before the elevator doors slid open. Metallic footsteps echoed from deeper in the underground parking lot.
Clack. Clack. Not heels. The tip of a scabbard tapping the floor.
A woman in a black training jacket stepped out from behind a pillar. Sharp eyes gleamed beneath her shortly tied-back hair. A real sword hung at her waist.
Baek Ha-rin. The swordswoman whose name cropped up more in the sparring arena than the rankings. She'd been mentioned a few times in the verification broadcast chat too.
She froze the moment she spotted me. Her gaze raked over my face, the bandages on my arm, Muk-roe in my grip. Finally, it settled on the spare card key in Han Mi-rae's hand.
"Were you about to head in together just now?"
Han Mi-rae arched one eyebrow.
"Did it look that way?"
"That's why I asked."
"It's protection under contract."
"That sounds even more suspicious."
I stepped between them.
"What's this about?"
Baek Ha-rin's eyes snapped to me.
"Sparring request."
"Now?"
"Now."
"I'm a patient."
"Patients don't smash verification fields."
Couldn't argue with that. Baek Ha-rin nudged her scabbard up with her thumb.
"I saw you block and store. Want to check if my sword stores too."
"I don't test on people as a hobby."
"I don't spectate as a hobby."
She advanced another step. Han Mi-rae sidled naturally to my side. Still smiling, but her voice thinned.
"No reservation, huh? This is a lodging parking lot, not a sparring arena."
"That's why I waited outside. Then you two roll in together."
Baek Ha-rin's gaze flicked back to the card key.
"Gives me something to check first."
"Isn't the check about sparring order?"
"Whether you even qualify to claim first dibs."
I sighed. People could be more hassle than monsters sometimes.
Then the parking lot ceiling rumbled low.
Wooong. Every fluorescent light flickered off and on. A blue crack spiderwebbed across the wall beside the elevator doors. It started small, like an electric spark. The next instant, it raced down a pillar.
Han Mi-rae's face hardened.
"Residual gate?"
Baek Ha-rin half-drew her sword.
"Perfect. Sparring opponent's changed."
The fissure ripped across the parking lot floor. A black forepaw burst out. Long, flat claws gouged the concrete. A carapace-sheathed body followed, crawling forth. Mantis-thin arms. Boar-thick head. Too quick for low-grade gate scraps.
A staffer in the corner screamed. Another tripped, slamming his back into a car bumper. The monster's head whipped that way.
I raised Muk-roe.
"Mi-rae."
"Staff out. On it."
Han Mi-rae sprang into action. High heels and all, she seized the perimeter and shoved people back.
"Back stairs! Stairs, not elevator!"
Baek Ha-rin lunged forward meanwhile. Her sword arced in a semicircle.
Kang! The monster's forepaw ricocheted. Baek Ha-rin's arm jolted too. She held ground, replanted her foot, sword up again.
Fast moves. Stubborn as hell.
The monster lashed its second arm. She dropped low, slashed its flank. Carapace split—not deep. It bellowed, head swinging.
"Not weak."
Baek Ha-rin grinned. Then a third claw erupted from under its belly. Hidden leg. Aimed square at her side. Behind her: the prone staffer, immobile.
Baek Ha-rin's eyes flickered—just a fraction. Dodge meant shredding the guy behind. She didn't dodge. Raised her sword to block.
I liked the instinct. Method sucked.
I bulled in sideways.
"Move."
"What?"
My shoulder rammed hers. She staggered back. The claw raked my side in the same breath.
Kwajik. Bandages burned hot inside again.
Baek Ha-rin clenched her jaw.
"Why shove me?!"
"Person behind you."
Her eyes flicked back. Staffer huddled, shaking. Her mouth snapped shut.
The monster surged over me, thick head slamming my chest. Soles skidded across concrete.
Skill: Shock Absorption
Storage rate 23%
Pillar loomed at my back. Direct hit would pulverize it. People upstairs.
I drove Muk-roe into the floor. Hammer head bit concrete. I twisted the handle—the stored shock veered down.
Kwaaaang!
Shock skipped the pillar, rippled outward along the floor. Cracked concrete caved in a circle, trapping the monster's foreleg.
It thrashed to free itself. Baek Ha-rin pounced. No frontal charge this time. She flanked, snagged the staffer's arm, hauled.
"Up. Back."
Han Mi-rae took him, shoved toward stairs. No time for glances—just motion. That sliver opened the lane.
I mounted the monster's head. It gaped its jaws last gasp. Black mana coalesced in its throat.
"Tae-san!"
Baek Ha-rin's shout. Muk-roe was already cocked.
"Get back."
Hammer dropped before words finished.
Boom!
The lot shuddered once. Monster's skull cratered the floor. Carapace shattered; blue glow in the fissure winked out.
Residual force bled into the ground. Pillar held. A few car windows spiderwebbed late, raining shards.
Silence fell.
Han Mi-rae steadied her breath.
"Oppa. My building."
"Pillar's fine."
"Floor?"
"Compensation from gate management."
"I like that."
Baek Ha-rin eyed me, sword lowered. Battle-hungry grin dimmed. Mixed acknowledgment and annoyance now.
"You blocked my sword."
"Dangerous."
"Think I'm weak?"
"No."
I pressed my side's blood with my hand knuckles.
"You weren't dodging. Pushed 'cause gotta save the endurers."
Baek Ha-rin's eyes widened a beat. She whipped her head away.
"You say that to just anyone?"
"Say what."
"Forget it."
Han Mi-rae cut in front of me.
"Touched? Fine. Sparring's off. Guy's danced with death three times today."
Baek Ha-rin sheathed.
"Not off. Postponed."
"Reservations need my say."
"Who're you?"
Han Mi-rae flashed the card key.
"Lodging owner."
Baek Ha-rin's stare nailed the key again.
"Register me too then."
"Why?"
"Sparring applicant."
"No slot."
"Make one."
Sparks flew between them again. I glanced at the card key in the lull. One scrap of plastic hauling a day's worth of baggage: protection, misunderstanding, sparring, and the residual gate just neutralized.
From the stairs, the rescued staffer quavered,
"Th-thank you. Thought I was goner."
I nodded.
"Check injuries first."
Han Mi-rae signaled the bodyguard sharp. Baek Ha-rin wordlessly steadied the staffer. Gentler grip than sword-drawing.
Only then did I slump against the elevator wall. Phone buzzed again. Cha Yu-ri. Message first this time.
I blanked the screen. Han Mi-rae peeked, chuckled.
"Oppa, lodging first—healing."
Baek Ha-rin looked up.
"Can I come up?"
Han Mi-rae's laugh cut off.
"No."
"Witness statement."
"Parking lot works."
"Guy's bleeding?"
Both gazes drilled my side.
I shouldered Muk-roe.
"No big deal."
They spoke in unison:
"Banned."
The underground parking lot filled with a silence wearier than the fight. First twinge of regret. One more monster might've been easier.