Tribute to the Great Warrior
The mechanical voice rang out. The moment the two wolf statues suddenly bowed their heads, Choi Ahyeon clutched her chest in surprise.
“Whoa, my heart… Weren’t these things just statues? Why are they doing this all of a sudden?”
“The school must have prepared it. Probably a compliment, right? Just take it as a good thing.”
“Hehe. You think? Then maybe it’ll drop something like a skill as a reward?”
Choi Ahyeon opened her status window with a bright smile while Han Yuri wore a somewhat bitter expression. The two of them were a study in contrast.
“Then it’s my turn now.”
When I placed my hand on the crystal orb, water began to rise. But the speed was noticeably slower than the other two. The water crept up gradually and stopped at 5%.
“……”
“……”
A heavy silence fell, this time for an entirely different reason. The wolf statues that had just been bowing their heads returned to their original positions as if nothing had happened. Han Yuri looked at me like I was a bug.
“You fucking idiot…”
“This seems… broken, doesn’t it?”
“Disgusting. Let’s just go inside already.”
“Uh… yeah.”
Maybe because I was recognized as Choi Ahyeon’s teammate, a wolf emblem was now stamped on the back of my hand too. When I touched the transparent wall, my body naturally slipped through it.
“Oh, this is so cool!”
“Right? Looks like the school put some real effort into this.”
We chatted casually as we moved forward, eventually spotting a golden goblin sleeping on the grass.
“Han Yuri.”
She understood without needing further orders. The goblin that had spotted the incoming meteor scrambled to get up, but Han Yuri’s casting speed was faster. A boulder the size of a sedan slammed down without mercy.
Boom!
“Kerruk…”
It was only natural that the goblin turned into a bloody pulp from that single heavy blow. The girls tilted their heads in confusion.
“Huh? What? That’s it?”
“Too easy.”
The situation felt strangely anticlimactic. The two who had come in expecting an intense battle looked disappointed, smacking their lips.
‘In a way, that crystal orb itself was the real gateway.’
Knowing the truth, I felt no particular excitement.
“Well, since we killed the goblin, let’s head out. We can’t just camp here forever.”
“Yeah.”
“Sure. But it’s kind of a letdown. I thought a golden goblin would be different somehow.”
“You switched weapons and immediately climbed to the peak of stupidity. I’ll spar with you instead of Yuri soon.”
“Ugh! With Yuri, maybe… but you?”
At the sight of Choi Ahyeon’s disgusted face, Yuri and I burst into quiet laughter.
We kept chatting as we stepped outside the barrier.
“Huh? They’re gone.”
The wolves had disappeared.
“Maybe they vanished after we killed the goblin?”
“……”
“Seonghyun?”
The crystal orb… had shattered into pieces.
About five minutes after Lee Seonghyun’s team had entered, three more people emerged through the fog. One man and two women. Among them was one particularly striking girl.
She had skin as smooth and white as blank paper and an innocent, pure face. It was Lee Seol.
But regardless of their arrival, the crystal orb at the barrier entrance continued to change.
Whoooong.
The water that had been stuck at 5% began to rise again. It was no longer the clear blue it had been. Now it was stained with a murky, ominous black.
10%. 20%… 90%. The orb filled completely, and then—
Crash!
It shattered into fragments and spilled out. At the same time, the wolf statue beside it burst into flames and transformed.
D-rank. Flare Wolf.
“Grrrrr! Awooooooo!”
A roar echoed across the entire testing ground. In response, the junior wolves scattered throughout the area howled back.
“Grrrrr!”
The wolves’ rebellion had begun.
The crystal of effort has been destroyed for unknown reasons. All monsters within the testing ground have gone berserk.
In the control room, dozens of monitors displayed the testing ground. Irena, the supervisor, stared at the screens with cold eyes.
“Professor Seong, give me a briefing.”
“The ‘Crystal of Effort’ has been destroyed for unknown reasons, causing all the monsters in the testing ground to rampage.”
“What about the rescue team?”
“All units have been deployed, and we’ve requested backup from the school.”
“Well done.”
Even in the face of an unexpected crisis, her calm voice helped ease Professor Seong’s agitation.
‘As expected, Professor Jeong isn’t someone just anyone can replace.’
Despite the very real possibility of dozens of casualties, she didn’t lose her poker face. If he had been in her position, his mentality would have already shattered.
“Any other anomalies?”
“Well… we’ve lost visual connection to the deepest area of the testing ground, Sector C.”
“Lost connection?”
“Yes. Since the crystal was located there, I suspect there may be a connection…”
“All these monitors use transmission artifacts, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Irena thought for a moment before giving Professor Seong an order.
“Please identify all the students currently visible on the active monitors.”
“You want to filter out the students in Sector C?”
“Yes. It seems like a skill-nullification field has been cast over that entire area. In the worst case, we may need to request assistance from the Association.”
“Understood!”
At the mention of skill nullification, Professor Seong quickly scanned the monitors and began checking. About ten minutes later, the list of students in Sector C was ready.
“Professor, the list is ready.”
“Read it out.”
“Yes. Lee Seol, Kim Jihun, Lee Yuna, Han Yuri, Choi Ahyeon, and… Lee Seonghyun.”
Silence.
The daughter of the Korean Association president and the daughter of a world-class top-tier guild master. This was no ordinary situation.
“We should contact the Association immediately. Professor, there’s no time.”
“……”
“Professor?”
“Give me the list.”
“Here.”
Irena took the list and read through it. Then, in a trembling voice, she spoke.
“…Lee Seonghyun.”
With those words, she shot up from her seat.
“Huh? Professor?! Where are you going?!”
“I’ll go provide support myself. No need to contact anyone.”
“What?!”
Irena’s expression remained unchanged. It was the same calm face as always. Only her pupils trembled ever so slightly.
The crystal orb had shattered. Which meant…
“Aaaargh!”
Jihun’s scream. I stopped thinking and sprinted into the fog.
“Hey! Lee Seonghyun!”
“Seonghyun!”
I ran through the fog where I couldn’t even see an inch ahead. Beyond the thinning mist, on the grassland, Lee Seol’s team was engaged in combat with a single Flare Wolf.
But the situation was dire. Lee Seol had burns on her shoulder, and Kim Jihun’s shield had melted halfway down along with his arm. The remaining teammate was unconscious on the ground.
If they were ordinary F-rank first-years, they would have been slaughtered by the Flare Wolf. But Lee Seol’s team was different. With her Perpetual Snow…
‘She’s not using her ability?’
Kim Jihun was barely holding back the Flare Wolf’s attacks. Meanwhile, Lee Seol stood there, completely lost.
‘It’s not that she won’t use it—she can’t!’
Why? This had never happened in the previous round. The only thing that had changed was the crystal orb shattering into pieces. That was it.
‘A wide-area skill nullification is a real pain.’
It was a unique skill occasionally seen in variant monsters. It seemed the destruction of that crystal orb had granted the wolves this ability.
‘What now?’
With the crystal destroyed, the testing ground was probably descending into chaos. The rescue teams prepared for emergencies would be stretched thin. It would be difficult for them to reach this far end of the testing ground right away.
‘If I go…’
I could manage somehow. My unique skill, Equivalent Exchange, wasn’t affected by skill nullification, so I could handle a single D-rank monster. But—
‘I could kill Lee Seol without any noise.’
I could get rid of this nuisance without dirtying my own hands. And yet the reason I was hesitating was—
‘……’
Kim Jihun. Because of that bastard.
In the previous round, he had suffered just as much as I had because of women. Even while struggling himself, he had comforted me. In this round, I had hoped he could live a little happier…
‘For Lee Seol to die, the tank Kim Jihun has to die first.’
A debt I couldn’t repay. Even though there was only one choice, I was hesitating.
As I bit my lip in indecision—
“Cough!”
“Jihun!”
Kim Jihun collapsed to the ground, having reached his limit. My chest turned cold at the sight. There was no more time to hesitate.
‘Don’t freeze up.’
I could become stronger. Strong enough to surpass Lee Seol and Han Yuri and even devour the powers backing them. So—
‘Let’s save him.’
My one and only wicked friend.
Equivalent Exchange activated!
Consuming 3% pain to strengthen the body!
My body shot forward like a bullet. The Flare Wolf was already targeting Lee Seol. She had stepped in front of the fallen Kim Jihun to protect him.
“Graaaawr!”
Teeth sharper than any famous sword, burning with high heat that could melt flesh. The wolf opened its jaws and lunged at Lee Seol.
In two seconds, she would be turned into a bloody mess. Normally, anyone would save Lee Seol first—push her out of the way or something. But I was different.
Right before the wolf pup completely bit down on its prey, I threw Lee Seol forward as bait and charged in silently.
Just thirty centimeters. That was the distance between Lee Seol and the wolf. The wolf didn’t notice me rushing from behind.
‘Got it!’
The moment I jumped and swung my sword, I finally saw Lee Seol, who had been hidden behind the wolf. Contrary to my expectation that she would be trembling, she was looking straight at me.
Straight. Clear. Transparent. Her gaze pierced right through me.
The wolf bared its fangs. Her life was on the line. She should dodge. She should attack. And yet Lee Seol was only looking at me. As if she had known I would come. As if she was certain she wouldn’t die. She simply smiled while staring into my eyes.
“You came for me?”
A woman so white and pure that she was dangerous. The Witch of Purity welcomed me with open arms.