Well, Now I've Done It

Five shimmering arrows of pure mana manifested around Seong Yerin, their razor-sharp tips locked unwaveringly onto my chest.

"Spare me, please."

"Don't worry, little brother. You won't die."

Her right eye ignited with an uncanny, radiant golden glow.

Kiiiiing—!

"I can see every single step you're going to take," she said, her lips curving upward. "So don't even think about dodging."

The next instant, she thrust her palm forward. The five projectiles ripped through the air in unison, screaming toward me with lethal precision.

"Can't we just talk this out like civilized adults?!"

"Sure, right after I beat some manners into you."

"Hey, wait—"

Even if I had shattered her most prized possession, was executing me on the spot really the appropriate corporate response? Deny reality all I wanted, those arrows were speeding toward me with the unmistakable intent to riddle my body with holes.

Perhaps it was thanks to the monstrous talent bestowed upon me by the Heavenly Martial Physique, but the realization struck with terrifying clarity: I had no ordinary way of evading the guaranteed trajectory traced by those infallible missiles. Seong Yerin knew it, and so did I.

However, there was one crucial detail she had failed to account for: I possessed her Unique Ability as well.

A searing ache flared deep inside my right eye socket. Whether it was the natural toll of peering into the tapestry of the future or simply the backlash of my unseasoned vessel, I forced my eye wide open through the throbbing pain. The moment I glared at the incoming projectiles, their trajectories materialized in vivid crimson afterimages across the air.

Homing arrows fired along an absolute path foresighted by the Eye of Truth—yet the instant I laid eyes on that very path, it ceased to be infallible.

The sublime physical intuition granted by the Heavenly Martial Physique traced a crimson guideline across empty space. My fingers closed around the hilt of a sword. Treating the blade like a brush, I swept cold steel cleanly across that invisible seam.

Schrrrk—!

A crisp, chilling sound of severing cut through the room. In that exact breath, the incoming barrage dissolved into harmless specks of light, scattering into nothingness. The phenomenon pointed to only one conclusion.

"...You cut through the flow of mana?"

A suffocating silence crashed down between us.

Even if she had dialed down the spell's lethality to keep Baek Sihyeok from suffering critical injuries, Seong Yerin was fundamentally a 5th-Tier Mage. Even with a 1st-Tier cantrip, she was hardly an amateur whose spells could be dismantled by a novice who hadn't even awakened their mana circuits.

Her wide gaze remained pinned to the remnants of shattered starlight glittering in the empty air.

Sometimes, human beings witness something with their own two eyes and still refuse to believe it. Seong Yerin was in that exact state of disbelief.

"Baek Sihyeok."

"Yes?"

"When on earth did you awaken? It doesn't look like... pure martial arts. A sensory-detection type?"

"That's a company trade secret."

I tilted my head playfully. Why in the world would I hand over my secrets to the person who just tried to skewer me?

Seong Yerin's lips curled into an icy, razor-thin smile as she studied me. The teasing, playful woman from moments ago had vanished without a trace, replaced by the calculating sovereign who commanded one of the nation's greatest organizations.

"Oh, I think you're going to tell me."

"And why is that?"

"Because if you don't... I'm going to keep hitting you until you do."

"Now that's a little scary."

Where would her next attack land?

Paying the toll in another sharp pang of pain, the immediate future unfolded before my vision. In that fleeting foresight, someone was standing right in front of me—wearing unfamiliar attire, yet possessing a back that I knew better than anyone else's.

"...Huh?"

The very next instant, a voice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pierced the room.

"What are you two doing in here?"

I took immense pride in how razor-sharp my newly awakened senses had become, confident that I could perceive the breathing and presence of every living creature in my vicinity. Yet up until this exact second, I hadn't sensed a single wisp of life behind my back.

Who could possibly be standing behind me? I didn't even need to turn around to know the answer.

"...Yoo Seolhyeon?"

"Gasp."

Seong Yerin sucked in a sharp, involuntary breath.

Yoo Seolhyeon swept her cold gaze across the ruined, debris-strewn floor of the equipment vault before locking her eyes dead onto me.

"Baek Sihyeok."

Crackle—

The diaphanous hem of her white immortal robes brushed the floor tiles. With every single step she took, crystalline snowflakes of pure frost bloomed beneath the tips of her boots, creeping out across the polished stone. The sheer vortex of sub-zero chill radiating from her presence plummeted the room's temperature in an instant.

She wouldn't even need an air conditioner in the dead of summer, I thought absurdly, though looking into those dead, abyssal blue eyes, the words withered in my throat before they could form.

"...You poured out everything you wanted to say and ran away, only to end up here? What do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think you're doing?"

"..."

"Cat got your tongue now that you have nowhere left to run?"

"It's not that—"

"Seong Yerin. What is the meaning of this situation?"

The two women's gazes collided in midair. Under that frigid glare, there wasn't much difference between Seong Yerin and me; both of us were pinned like specimens under glass.

"..."

"Why are you quiet now, too?"

"...Because it's cold. It's too damn cold in here."

"Haaah..."

Seong Yerin and I were like two meek herbivores frozen before an apex predator, stiffened with terror and awaiting our inevitable slaughter.

Wait... I have a Unique Ability.

Now was the time to push the limits of the power I had copied from Seong Yerin. The Eye of Truth could expand its purview and pierce deeper truths if the user was willing to pay a sufficient price.

A piercing prickle flared behind my right eyeball. Clenching my teeth, I whispered my intent into the depths of my consciousness:

Show me the way out of here right now. The one path where I survive unscathed.

And as collateral, the only currency I could offer at this exact moment was simple:

Take the pain in my right eye.

In a flash, it felt as though someone had poured industrial bleach straight into my right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eye socket. A hideous sensation, like hot needles drilling violently into my cornea, tore through my skull. I couldn't help the hot tears that streamed down my cheek. If the Heavenly Martial Physique hadn't dramatically enhanced my pain tolerance, I would have collapsed onto the floor, screaming and writhing in agony.

And in exchange for that blinding agony, the path to survival revealed itself to my mind's eye.

Except...

"...Are you out of your mind?" I muttered under my breath.

The problem was that the path shown to me was one I could barely summon the courage to attempt. Was I really supposed to do that? Wouldn't she tear me limb from limb on the spot? Maxed-out affection—I still hadn't fully bought into that ridiculous status window. Was I really going to bet my life on a single string of system text?

My frantic thoughts were shattered by a thunderous tremor that rattled my eardrums.

BOOOM—!

Yoo Seolhyeon stomped her foot against the ground, unleashing a gale of howling frost that billowed outward from her frame. Yet, miraculously, not a single piece of the display equipment around her was disturbed.

"...Someone answer me right now. Before I jump to conclusions."

"N-No, seriously, nothing happened!" Seong Yerin stammered.

"Nothing happened, yet the shop looks like it was hit by armed robbers? Baek Sihyeok, when did you awaken?"

Her frigid glare locked squarely onto me. Only then did I fully comprehend just how much Yoo Seolhyeon had been holding back around me in our daily lives. The Yoo Seolhyeon who engaged in combat was an entirely different beast from the one who quietly approved documents at her desk. Crushed under a lethal aura that made me feel as if I were about to be cleaved into tens of thousands of ribbons, I made my decision.

Fine. Let's place our bets on the Eye of Truth.

"Yoo Seolhyeon."

I took a decisive stride forward, clamped my hand firmly around her slender wrist, and slammed her against the wall.

Thud—!

Her back met the cold concrete. Her eyes widened to their absolute limit, darting in utter bewilderment between her pinned wrist and my face. I didn't give her a single second to recover.

"W-What... what do you think you're..."

Her voice wavered, trembling in a way I had never heard before. Through the palm wrapped around her wrist, I could feel the violent shudder running through her entire body. My gaze remained locked unblinkingly onto her crystalline blue eyes, our stares colliding in midair.

Leaning in until my lips were inches from her ear, I whispered in a low, gentle murmur:

"...I'm heading out, Seolhyeon."

"..."

For the first time in our entire lives, I had dropped her surname and spoken her given name with absolute intimacy.

The flawless, porcelain mask of her expression cracked completely. The freezing blizzard that had been swirling around her slowly lost its momentum and dissipated into the air, while her blue pupils lost their focus, trembling frantically in utter disarray.

What is this? Is this a dream? Why is Baek Sihyeok this close?

The broad, warm hand firmly encircling her wrist. The clear, profound depth in his eyes as he looked down at her without a trace of hesitation. And his scent, invading her superhuman senses with overwhelming, unrestrained force.

"...L-Let go of me."

Biting her lower lip, Yoo Seolhyeon glared at me and pushed against my chest with all the reason she had left. Yet the peerless physical strength capable of grinding solid boulders into dust failed to produce results; my frame remained immovable, planted like a monolith thanks to the Heavenly Martial Physique.

"Oh my... oh my goodness..."

Seong Yerin's awestruck murmurs from the sidelines didn't even register in Yoo Seolhyeon's ears.

I have to shove him away.

Her mind screamed the command with absolute clarity, but her body betrayed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her, sapping its own strength with every passing heartbeat. Even as I gently released her wrist and turned to walk toward the elevator with steady, measured strides, Yoo Seolhyeon could not lift a single finger.

Long ago, she had achieved the pinnacle realm of mind-body unity, allowing her to execute any physical motion the instant she willed it. But precisely because of that harmony... the moment her mind fell into utter chaos, her body was completely paralyzed.

And all it had taken was meeting his gaze and hearing him whisper her name.

I have to catch him. I need to grab him and demand answers.

No matter how fiercely she repeated the thought, the whirlwind of chaotic emotions flooding her head locked her body in place like iron shackles. Yoo Seolhyeon buried her burning face into both palms, letting out a faint, strangled whimper.

"Ah... ugh..."

"Wow. I had no idea she was capable of making an expression like that."

All Yoo Seolhyeon could do was remain rooted to that very spot, helpless and trembling.

"Haaah... haaah..."

Gasping for breath, I turned around to look back at the towering Shinhwa Guild Headquarters. I had barely made it out alive. If I had stayed in that room any longer, who knew what gruesome fate would have awaited me? That bloodlust was definitely not something a fragile, newly awakened rookie was meant to endure.

"Well, I've really done it now..."

Those terrifyingly intense eyes burning into me still refused to leave my mind.

"Whew."

There was no turning back now. The moment I had fantasized about for so long had finally arrived right before my eyes.

Pulling out my smartphone, I fired off a quick message to Seong Yerin.

Awakening an insanely broken ability and throwing my resignation letter straight into the boss's face—it was the dream I had nurtured every single day since the moment I first joined this company.

No more soul-crushing office commutes. Now, it was time to climb the Tower of Ordeals for real.