I Can't Do This Without You

"Yuri!"

Choi Ahyeon lurched forward as if to catch Han Yuri, who was sprinting away. "Ugh…!" But the girl had just emerged from a brutal fight. There was no way her body would listen to her now.

"Calm down. Your treatment comes first. We can talk afterward. It won't be too late."

"But…"

"Listen to me. What if you delay treatment and end up with aftereffects?"

"…Okay."

I dragged the restless Choi Ahyeon to the infirmary and made sure she received proper care. The moment it was done, I raced straight to the dormitory.

"She's not here…"

"…Let's wait until evening for now."

One hour passed. Then two. The sunset bled across the sky and still Han Yuri didn't show her face.

"Hng. What do we do…? She's not answering her phone either."

Choi Ahyeon poked at her phone with a miserable expression. My own head was spinning.

What the hell is she thinking?

This kind of impulsive behavior hadn't appeared even in the previous round. Because of it, I still couldn't get a grip on the situation.

If Han Yuri didn't come back like this… the team would literally disintegrate. Everything I'd built up until now would vanish like foam on water. There hadn't been a single case of a first-year team disbanding yet. Which meant there was no substitute for Han Yuri.

Since the assignment challenge required a three-person team, I wouldn't be able to attempt it at all.

I'd be culled from the academy and become no different from a civilian. The thought made my vision swim.

I need to grab at least some kind of clue.

"Ahyeon. We did apply to record the test footage, right?"

"Yeah. We submitted it for feedback… Wait, no way!"

She finally caught on to what I was thinking and immediately logged into the school cloud through her phone. Videos only our team could access were stored there.

The moment I clicked the file, the footage began to play.

—Haa…….

The instant Han Yuri stepped into the examination room, she kept taking deep breaths. It was completely unlike her usual cold, collected self.

Then the summoning circle activated. The monster that emerged made me spit out a curse.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me…!"

A monster that straddled D-rank and C-rank. And on top of that, its special ability was a nightmare.

Physical attack absorption.

Golems already had terrible synergy with Meteor. Add that grotesque ability on top and it was the ultimate hard counter to Han Yuri.

They could've at least gone easy on her…! What kind of bullshit matchup is this?

The academy had judged her suitable for C-rank. That made sense, since she'd challenged the D-rank test in a short period with me and Choi Ahyeon. Still, this was too harsh.

And sure enough—

—This is actually insane.

Han Yuri let out a hollow laugh and activated her skill. Dozens of meteors flew toward the golem.

BOOM! CRASH!

The resounding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠impacts shook the air. But that was all.

—GRRRRAAAAAHH!

The golem was completely fine. Aside from a few scratches on its torso, it was perfectly fine. At the absurd sight, Han Yuri bit her lip hard.

—Meteor!

She activated the skill again. This time she seemed to have poured everything into mass. The meteor grew as large as a car, then kept compressing. She packed it tighter and tighter, like stuffing a rice bowl to the brim. The result was a meteor the size of an entire house.

That massive, heavy lump of destruction hurtled toward the golem. Even though the attack was enough to make one's blood run cold, the golem casually swung its fist.

KWAAAAAANG!

The impact was so powerful the entire testing room shook. Smoke filled the air, making it impossible to see anything. About ten seconds passed. The smoke gradually thinned, revealing the scene inside.

"……"

"……"

Neither Choi Ahyeon nor I could speak.

The meteor had shattered into pieces. And standing there completely unharmed—

—GRAAAAAHHH!

—the Ancient Golem.

The outcome was obvious. So was the reason for defeat.

—…….

Her pupils shook without pause. Her mouth wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠close. It was the face of someone whose soul had left their body. An expression I'd never seen before. Today was the first time I learned that Han Yuri—that Han Yuri of all people—could make a face like that.

"Yuri…"

Maybe she looked pitiful. Choi Ahyeon reached out and gently stroked the screen where Han Yuri appeared. In the footage, Han Yuri picked up a fragment of stone that had rolled to her feet and stared at it blankly. Her face was completely out of it. Like that, she trudged out of the examination room.

End of footage.

At least now I knew why she'd run off. The only thing left was to go find her.

"Ahyeon."

"Yeah?"

"Stay in the dormitory and wait for Han Yuri. I'll go look outside and come back."

"Okay. Got it."

Her room was untouched. That meant all her clothes and belongings were still here.

She'll have to crawl back eventually.

I'd have to wait for that moment. If she'd run off to a hotel or somewhere, there'd be no way to find her, but for now I moved.

I left the dormitory and searched the academy like a bloodhound. Library, lecture halls, training rooms. But Han Yuri was nowhere to be seen.

Where the hell did that bitch go?!

It would be even harder to search once night fell. Even as my breath reached the top of my throat, I didn't stop moving my legs. All the while, my brain spun at full speed.

Did I push her too hard?

The forced march through the D-rank dungeon and the rushed rank-up test. I'd pushed so hard that even Lee Seol's team couldn't keep up. So how heavy must the burden on Han Yuri have been? That lack of mental leeway must have driven her to this.

Find her first.

That was the priority.

Even after searching for several more hours, I couldn't find a single strand of Han Yuri's hair. The next day. And the day after that, too.

When I was halfway to giving up, I received a call. It was from Professor Irena.

My teeth clenched on their own. I could see the team disintegrating right before my eyes.

"Wait… you said she challenged the test how many times?"

"Yes. You didn't know?"

I had searched everywhere except the examination room. I never imagined she would challenge it again without saying anything.

"Professor, I have something to check. I'll call you back."

"Understood."

I hurriedly entered the cloud and clicked on Han Yuri's tab. What I saw made my blood run cold.

Insane… Looking at the timestamps and count, it seemed she hadn't slept at all and kept challenging the test nonstop. And the footage itself was even more shocking.

—Just die…!

Please just die already! Why? Why won't you die?! Whyyyyy!

She was crying. That Han Yuri was crying.

I had seen this sight only once before.

Her father's funeral hall.

That was the only time Han Yuri had shed tears. Of course, back then it had been uncontrollable sobbing that couldn't even compare to this, but even now it wasn't much better.

And whether it was good luck or bad, a memory I had completely forgotten rose to the surface. At the same time, an outline of a solution appeared.

But.

The risk is huge.

It was a dangerous gamble that could cause the Witch's seed to germinate. Even so, I was already moving my feet. Even if the seed sprouted a little, I had to do it. If the team exploded like this, we'd be like ducks stranded on the Nakdong River.

Let's trust in her father's shield.

The largest part of Han Yuri's heart was occupied by her father. As long as I didn't touch that, the seed probably wouldn't grow too much. Having made that judgment, I headed toward a place I had visited once in the past.

I am a genius. No—I have to be a genius.

The daughter of the Portan Guild Master.

To some it looked like an endlessly shining position. To others, it was a shackle they had to drag behind them for life. A common story. Children being compared to their fathers were everywhere.

Mediocre talent. That only inflated the expectations of my father and everyone around me. If my talent had been truly terrible, they would have told me to give up and walk a different path.

Because of that, I had been acting as a half-baked genius. Hanbus—the nickname Choi Ahyeon gave me. At first I only found it unpleasant, but I couldn't remember exactly when it started sounding nice.

Probably… because of Lee Seonghyun.

Expectation. That faint glimmer of expectation hidden within sticky hatred pushed me to overwork myself even more. When ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠facing the D-rank monster Worm. When facing the golem. Even when mana backlash made me want to vomit, I wore the mask. I kept acting like nothing was wrong, like this much was easy.

My only value for existence lay in killing monsters. I couldn't say kind words like Choi Ahyeon, nor could I flash bright smiles like Lee Seol. For me—for me, there was nothing but killing monsters.

Maybe that was why I could see his smile. He always treated me casually, yet the implicit disgust in his eyes would surface. But every time I fulfilled the goals he wanted, every time his wishes came true, it was different.

A small smile. The tiny laugh he made while looking at a fallen monster had, before I knew it, become my sense of accomplishment.

The determination to follow my father. The goal of becoming an S-rank hunter had long since eroded away after two years of pointless labor.

I.

I…

Can't do it without you.

The only reason I can endure these hamster-wheel days. The only reason I can overcome the expectations and pressure from the people around me. All of it.

I can't do it without you.

So I worked even harder. I studied even more. But what always came back was the same place. My skill showed no sign of moving past D-rank, and there was no room for derivative skills to grow.

After living every day in such anxiety, the time finally arrived.

The time when I become useless.

Failing the test. It felt like a death sentence. A death sentence delivered to the mental strength I had barely been sustaining.

I can't do it anymore.

Now I can't stand beside him. I can't satisfy his expectations. Now I can't gain any sense of accomplishment. Now…

There's only hatred left.

I don't have the confidence to endure his contemptuous gaze. So I shut myself away. In my own secret hideout. In this officetel that neither my father nor my mother knew about. I ran away into this sealed room where not a single ray of light could enter.

This is enough.

I did everything I could. I did nothing wrong. I…

When that hellish self-justification was about to swallow me again—

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"……?"

The door lock password began to be entered. The tempo was completely confident, without the slightest hesitation. It was as if the person had visited many times before.

Beep.

The lock released. Bright light flooded in, stinging my eyes. A man stood there, backlit by the glow.

"Hey. Are you crying?"

Lee Seonghyun stood there, wearing a bitter smile.