Awakening
The scream echoed from the summit of the mountain.
“Th-this is….”
Deborah’s face darkened the moment she heard it. From the direction of the cry, she had already pieced together what must have happened.
I placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Deborah. You go first and bring the professors. Understand?”
“B-but….”
“Hurry! I’ll head to the summit. You saw me take down that werewolf earlier, didn’t you? A saber tiger shouldn’t be any trouble. Got it?”
“…Understood. Then hold on just a little longer. I’ll bring help right away!”
With a resolute nod, Deborah sprinted toward the entrance and vanished from sight.
I lifted my gaze to the mountain peak.
“The fastest route is… right there.”
A near-vertical slope loomed ahead. The angle was so extreme that ordinary balance wouldn’t be enough to handle it, but humans use tools. I began scaling the cliff using Infinite Thread and transcendent strength.
Infinite Thread
“Aaaaaagh!”
The fierce battle had finally begun to tilt in one direction. Nidia, who had somehow dodged the saber tiger’s relentless assault, finally took a fatal wound and collapsed. With their only remaining archer gone, the saber tiger’s movements grew even freer, unleashing attacks from every angle.
“Ugh…! Look at me!”
Abel stood firm and tried to draw its attention, but unfortunately his taunts had little effect on a saber tiger driven into a frenzied rampage by demonic energy. The beast occasionally lashed out at Alissa and Kevin as well, keeping them under constant pressure. Everyone’s burden grew heavier.
As the situation dragged on, the fight flowed more and more in the saber tiger’s favor.
Scadia felt a surge of urgency.
This can’t continue.
The saber tiger corrupted by demonic energy maintained its original combat strength even after sustaining wounds. In contrast, the entire party was exhausted, teetering on the edge of collapse. If things kept going this way, they would gradually be overwhelmed and die.
To break through this crisis, they needed something new.
Let’s try it.
It was still only a theoretical construct, but there was no time to hesitate. Sometimes a gamble was necessary.
“Everyone listen carefully. I have a plan. So hold on until I finish casting. Abel, Hanson. Can you do it?”
“Yeah! Of course!”
“I don’t want to, but what choice do we have? I’m on it!”
The two who had been trading the saber tiger’s attacks now poured every ounce of strength into suppressing it. Alissa and Kevin timed their interventions perfectly, restraining its movements. Only then did Scadia begin her casting in peace.
She brought her hands close together, and frigid energy began condensing between them.
Compression. Focus only on compression. No need to worry about details yet.
What she visualized was a tiny ice crystal—fragile enough to melt at any moment, yet in truth the coldest and sharpest weapon imaginable. Scadia’s brilliant mind rapidly combined formulas, turning a purely theoretical concept into reality.
The cold energy gradually took on the shape of an ice crystal.
I think I see what was missing.
As she created this new spell, she simultaneously received feedback about herself. Originally, possessing an original magic was something only possible at the distant realm of the 8th Circle. By forcibly combining spell formulas in real time, she was discovering exactly what she lacked. Of course, only a tiny fraction of those insights could be properly understood, but even that was more than enough to advance to the next stage. After all, an ordinary person wouldn’t even glimpse a fragment of such realization.
Thanks to Scadia’s genius, the theory—though a bit crude—finally took proper magical form. The cold energy condensed between her hands clearly surpassed even 5th Circle magic in power.
Kraaak!
At that moment Hanson collapsed, and the axis suppressing the saber tiger crumbled.
—Kraaaaaang!
Watching the beast grow even more violent, Scadia launched the snowflake.
“Go. Ice Crystal.”
A terribly plain name considering the spell formula and effort that went into it. Yet it was the name that most accurately captured the magic’s essence.
The Ice Crystal shot forward at blinding speed, as if melting into the air, and pierced straight through the saber tiger’s heart.
Shuk!
A clean cutting sound rang out as a penetrating wound appeared in the beast’s chest. Before blood could even flow, the wound froze solid from the overwhelming cold. Its massive body shuddered.
“It’s over.”
That was clearly a fatal injury. Even if it didn’t die immediately, once all the blood in its heart froze, its life would end. That was the logical conclusion—but it had severely underestimated the resource known as demonic energy.
Creatures corrupted by demonic energy felt no pain. Even when their lives hung by a thread, they chose slaughter over survival.
—Kraaaaaaaaaang!
The saber tiger vomited blood from its mouth yet struck Abel’s shield with the same terrifying force as before.
Kwaaaang!
“Ugh! This thing’s still going strong!”
Caught off guard by the sudden counter, Abel slid across the ground, carving a long furrow. The section of his shield that had blocked the blow was horribly dented.
“It took that and didn’t die?”
Scadia bit her lip in shock at the unexpected development. She had used nearly all her mana to fire the Ice Crystal and could no longer fight. Could the remaining party finish the saber tiger without her?
No. Absolutely impossible.
Then how were they supposed to overcome this?
Scadia racked her brilliant mind for a solution, but nothing sharp came to mind. From then on, the battle grew unbearably difficult.
“Krrgh!”
And soon after, another casualty appeared. Kevin, who had been restraining the saber tiger alongside Alissa, failed to dodge a tail strike coming from his blind spot and took it head-on. He didn’t die instantly, but his internal organs had ruptured, leaving him unable to fight for the time being. That only increased the burden on Alissa.
Then, just as everyone had feared, the worst happened.
Kaaaang!
“Ugh…!”
Alissa, who had been checking the saber tiger before retreating, failed to deflect its counterattack and took it directly. Her depleted stamina had dulled her concentration. She managed to lower her center of gravity in time to avoid falling, but the impact still paralyzed her body.
The saber tiger would never miss such an opening.
—Kraaaang!
It leaped high, ignoring every attack around it. A shadow fell over her head. The saber tiger’s maw was aimed precisely at her throat, ready to tear her apart in one bite.
Everything was crystal clear. It felt as if time had slowed to a crawl.
“Ah….”
Staring at the approaching jaws of the beast, she thought,
This can’t be avoided.
Once that judgment was made, Alissa unconsciously let go of the sword she had been gripping. Why? She didn’t know. But if her already ruined life ended here, she didn’t think she would feel much regret.
What rose in her mind at that moment wasn’t her family or friends—it was Luan’s face.
I wanted revenge.
If she had known she would die like this, she should have just killed Luan and then taken her own life. A little regret washed over her.
Alissa closed her eyes, as if trying to shake off the last lingering attachment.
And yet… the end did not come.
What?
When the expected pain never arrived, Alissa opened her eyes in confusion. A large back stood before her, blocking the way.
Its owner was holding the saber tiger’s jaws open with both hands.
Alissa’s lips moved faintly.
“…Who are you?”
Who would jump in front of a saber tiger to save her?
He turned his head to meet her gaze. A mask hid his face, but his dazzling silver hair and golden eyes created an aura of mystery. This stranger with an unfamiliar appearance whispered with earnest, pleading eyes.
“Don’t look back. Look forward. Don’t cling to the past.”
“What do you….”
“Don’t judge your own potential so easily. Your limits are decided by you alone.”
She had no idea what the person in front of her was saying. She didn’t understand… but strangely, it felt like she had received comfort.
Thoughts like you don’t know anything about me so stop talking nonsense or spare me the empty platitudes swirled in her head, but her heart—completely opposite to those thoughts—began to beat fiercely once more with the will to live.
Only then did she realize.
I wanted to live.
She had simply been crushed by a cruel reality and given up too soon. It had always been like that.
The moment she furrowed one eyebrow—
—Kraaaang!
The saber tiger let out a savage roar. At the same time it thrashed its head wildly, swinging its claws. The mysterious man couldn’t withstand the force and lost his grip with one hand.
Crack!
The remaining hand was crushed between its teeth.
“N-no!”
Alissa’s eyes widened in horror at the sudden turn of events.
But regardless of her reaction, the man coldly stared down at the saber tiger, then slowly raised his remaining hand.
“You can’t run anymore.”
He slammed his fist down with tremendous force, smashing the saber tiger’s head. The impact was so powerful that its skull caved in instantly. The eyeballs, unable to withstand the pressure, popped out and dangled from their optic nerves.
Immediately after, the man pried open the jaws and pulled out his trapped arm. Strangely, the arm was completely unscathed, without even a scratch.
He met Alissa’s eyes once more.
“Remember this. You can become far stronger. Don’t give up.”
“…….”
Alissa’s mouth opened and closed. She wanted to deny it, to say it was impossible, but the conviction in his voice wouldn’t allow her to.
The man turned as if his business was finished and began to leave. Alissa hurriedly reached out.
“Your name!”
“…….”
“Please tell me your name. I have to repay this debt.”
In truth she simply wanted to know, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it honestly.
As she watched anxiously, he whispered softly.
“Hyun.”
“Hyun?”
“That’s all you need to know.”
Leaving that short answer, the man leaped straight off the cliff.
Having witnessed his earlier display of power, she wasn’t worried that he would get hurt.
“Hyun….”
She simply repeated the name quietly.
Hidden character 'Hyun' has appeared.
At the same moment, Ethan—who had been secretly watching from hiding using the Dark Goddess’s authority—saw the masked man disappear beyond the cliff and broke into a wide grin.
“There you were!”
He placed a hand over his chest. His heart was pounding violently. What should he call this feeling? There were many words to describe it, but if he had to define it, even “love” would not be enough.
If he claimed he had never thought this way before, it would be a lie. But the probability had been so slim that he hadn’t dared hope—yet here they were, reunited in the most unexpected place.
“Hyun.”
Ethan Gloucester.
His name on Earth had been Ursula Phantom. The only child of the prestigious European Phantom family, she had inherited all their businesses as the sole heir. Bored with everything, she had stumbled upon the Abel Chronicles—one could call it fate.
It wasn’t the only masterpiece out there, yet she had become strangely obsessed with it. She had even handed her companies over to professional managers so she could focus on the game all day. Thanks to that, she had absorbed every detail of it, claiming the top spot for fastest clear.
And just as boredom began to creep in again, he had appeared—that guy from the small country called Korea!
The player with the ID “Hyun” had shot across the rankings like a comet. In just three weeks, he had stolen first place from her.
Still, she hadn’t been too bothered. She thought she could reclaim it soon enough. And indeed, after investing another week to refine her build, she took back the top spot. But that glory lasted less than two days.
Hyun had watched her play, said he learned a thing or two, and immediately broke the record again.
The sense of defeat and helplessness she felt then still lingered inside her.
But that wasn’t the important part.
She, who had always stood above others, could not endure that humiliation. In the end, she poured in a full month of effort and finally reclaimed the summit.
Yet it meant nothing.
Because after that, he vanished without a trace.
Some said he had given up because he could no longer break the record, but she realized the truth—Hyun had simply grown tired of the competition. His playtime kept increasing, yet he sent no replies and showed no activity.
Eventually her strange obsession led her to dig up his information so she could go find him in person. That was exactly when she had been possessed by this world.
At first she had despaired. She thought she would never meet him again.
But the Dark Goddess offered to help her return to Earth if she cooperated. Thanks to that proposal, she had been able to pull herself together.
She was glad she had accepted the deal. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to reunite with Hyun like this.
She smiled slyly.
“I just had an interesting idea.”
This time, she would settle things in a slightly different way. Not a game played with keyboard and mouse, but a real fight where lives were on the line.
I will definitely win.
This time she would force him to his knees and make him admit defeat with his own mouth.