122. My Buff is a Drug
"Well then. Since you were so eager to have your skills verified, how about showing me what you can do?"
Yoon Eun-ha looked down from the spectator's seat with bewitching composure.
She seemed very accustomed to speaking to people from a position above them.
Now that's what you call a proper young lady vibe.
'Yeah, I'd love to show you. But isn't it just us here?'
In this space with its secretive atmosphere, the only people present were Han Chae-hyun, who had brought Hye-yong; the young lady Yoon Eun-ha; the bodyguard Ahn Se-rin; and Hye-yong himself.
How exactly was she planning to verify his skills?
"The only thing I could really show you is my shield... How is this verification going to work?"
"Don't worry about that."
With a slight flick of Yoon Eun-ha's chin, the bodyguard Ahn Se-rin, stationed right beside her, moved.
She leaped lightly down from the spectator's area and stood before Hye-yong.
'What the—the bodyguard's stepping in herself?'
She still looked like a student enrolled in this facility, but if she was attached to the young lady as a personal guard, she had to be considered pretty tough.
'Can I actually block this with my current shield?'
As if she had read Hye-yong's mind, Yoon Eun-ha added a word of caution.
"We're inside the otherworld, so don't worry about any accidents that might occur. Even should an unfortunate incident happen, the Eunha Group will take full responsibility and provide compensation, so please proceed with the verification without concern."
The combat tournament exams had been held in the otherworld under similar pretenses.
'They say they'll compensate, so I guess I can relax. And the chances of something like that actually happening are slim anyway.'
As he thought that, a sharp gaze bored into his face.
The bodyguard, Se-rin, was looking at Hye-yong with blatant hatred—or something close to it.
She was openly displaying hostility, assuming the young lady couldn't see her.
Dumbfounded, Hye-yong spoke as politely as possible.
"Have we met before? If there's something I've done wrong, I'd at least like to understand it......"
"Don't talk to me."
Hah, unbelievable.
Hye-yong drew his Burst Wolf and aimed it at Ahn Se-rin's face.
'A mere gun... Is he looking down on me?'
Ahn Se-rin's expression grew even more menacing.
"Begin."
The moment Yoon Eun-ha's words fell, Hye-yong, who had received a firearm proficiency buff via holy relic, put three shots from the Burst Wolf right between Ahn Se-rin's eyes.
BANG-! BANG-! BANG-!
Ahn Se-rin didn't even bother to dodge.
Three shots, right between the eyes.
But they all deflected harmlessly, and she didn't so much as flinch.
'Whoa, tough girl.'
At the same time, a red liquid bubbled up from Ahn Se-rin's skin with a poof.
It seemed she was drawing out her own blood.
'Whoa—wait, is that a blood manipulation ability?'
He joked to himself that she was Seo Ha-yoon's hard counter.
Of course, she could probably subdue someone like Seo Ha-yoon easily even without a blood ability.
Still glaring at Hye-yong, Ahn Se-rin drew out her blood.
When she raised her right hand, the nearby droplets of blood floating and slowly rotating swirled together, gathering above her palm.
The blood orb, shaped like a fortune-teller's crystal ball, rotated ceaselessly on Ahn Se-rin's palm as if it were a halo just for her.
'What's she planning to do with that?'
He'd been curious to see just how much his shield could block anyway.
For now, he cast his shield and watched.
As he did, Ahn Se-rin gave a small flick of her finger.
With that simple movement alone, the shape of the blood orb instantly morphed into a spiked mace, then soon rippled and darkened, taking on a hardened texture.
'I don't like this. Why is the young lady showing this much interest in a pathetic man like him?'
That gunfire earlier was truly beyond belief.
Se-rin's open hostility toward Hye-yong was partly genuine dislike, but it also served as a provocation.
The fact that he'd shove a gun in her face just because of her attitude—like he had with Hwa-ra—and then all he did was fire bullets without even any mana in them.
At first, she thought he was mocking her.
But looking at it now, that didn't seem to be the case.
And the way he just stood there stupidly watching while she deliberately drew up her power slowly to see if he'd launch another attack.
It wasn't as if a Blessing Mage had no attack skills at all.
Sure, their direct damage output was minimal, but there were definitely ways to subdue an opponent by suppressing or overwhelming them with Divine Power.
Seeing him just stand there waiting even when given this much time, she was certain now.
That all Hye-yong had was a shield and a few flimsy enhancement buffs.
'The young lady is overestimating that man far too much.'
It wasn't that she couldn't understand Yoon Eun-ha's way of doing things.
Having observed her from close quarters for so long, Ahn Se-rin had grasped many things about the person named Yoon Eun-ha.
Yoon Eun-ha was truly fond of the term "joker card."
She wished to possess a hidden trump card unknown to others.
You could say that a person born special craved even greater specialness.
That was why, whenever someone suddenly distinguished themselves, she showed interest, whether large or small.
Her interest in this man called Choi Hye-yong was probably for the same reason.
It was a regular occurrence....
It was certainly a regular occurrence, but this time, the atmosphere felt different for some reason.
That he was originally F-rank.
That he suddenly began displaying his skills.
That what he had shown might not be his full power.
It seemed all of Choi Hye-yong's actions had completely seized Yoon Eun-ha's attention.
If Choi Hye-yong's abilities turned out to be exceptional, Yoon Eun-ha was seriously considering making him her personal escort.
ㅡ Se-rin, your ability is great in every way but... it seems to take a bit of time to properly draw it up.
ㅡ We can't always be in a combat-ready state, so it would be difficult to handle a sudden situation.
Whenever she said that, Se-rin could only reply that she would try harder.
Because she couldn't deny that while her ability was outstanding in both offense and defense, it did take a little time to muster her full power.
On the other hand, in Choi Hye-yong's case, just looking at the nature of his ability, it was exactly what Yoon Eun-ha wanted.
A rapid shield deployment capable of protecting someone in any urgent situation.
If its performance even met Yoon Eun-ha's satisfaction, Hye-yong might end up standing at her side.
'Hah, I have to share every single move with a filthy man? Absolutely not.'
She couldn't ignore the possibility that, in the worst case, her position could be completely taken away.
That was the one thing she could not tolerate.
She didn't want the young lady taken from her in the slightest.
To Ahn Se-rin, Yoon Eun-ha was a person more special than anyone else.
The one who had saved her when she was wandering in the back alleys on the outskirts of the city, beyond the reach of administration.
Therefore, she had wished to become a special existence to Yoon Eun-ha as well.
Even if that couldn't be, she refused to be overshadowed by a man like him.
She alone was enough to guard Yoon Eun-ha's side.
If a threat appeared, she would throw herself in front of it without hesitation.
'So I have to prove it. I'll demonstrate in front of the young lady that this man is useless.'
What mattered was performance.
If his shield shattered pathetically against her attack, Yoon Eun-ha would quickly lose interest in Choi Hye-yong.
Then, Se-rin thought, she would mock him thoroughly for having the audacity to even suggest proving his skills in front of the young lady.
'When's the attack coming?'
Meanwhile, the man himself was oblivious—perhaps not even intending to join the Eunha Group.
The blood orb on Ahn Se-rin's palm quivered.
'Oh. Something's coming.'
Fwoooosh!!
The moment she thought it, the spikes expanded and shot forward.
With a cacophony of sounds, like metal scraping concrete—KAKAK, KAK—the launched spikes hammered against the shield.
'Ooh, she's decent! This is the first time I've felt this kind of pressure outside of fighting a Virus!'
Hye-yong, weathering the attack, was impressed.
But there was no reason he couldn't endure it.
'...Unfazed?'
The spikes blocked by the shield dissolved back into droplets of blood and were absorbed into Ahn Se-rin's palm.
Then Ahn Se-rin scattered her right hand as if smearing blood across the space before her.
A curtain of blood that veiled Ahn Se-rin like a red drape.
At first, he thought she was hiding herself, but no. She was still firing spikes, but this time they came in the form of spears, not spikes.
'So they get stronger when they pass through that curtain.'
They were liquid in their red state, but by the time they were airborne, they had turned black and completely hardened.
It was as if the blood was turning into metal.
Eight spears embedded themselves in Hye-yong's shield.
The impact made his position slip back slightly with a THOOM.
'Yeah, now this feels like I'm actually blocking something.'
Still, it was manageable.
The full-cost shield was considerably sturdy.
It was exactly the kind of attack that gave you that pleasant sense of strain and the satisfying feeling of having successfully 'blocked it!'
"What you showed in the videos wasn't all you had."
Ahn Se-rin, who had glanced at Yoon Eun-ha's expression as she spoke, glared at Hye-yong again and gritted her teeth.
'The young lady is looking satisfied....'
She needed to get rid of this guy.
She didn't want to kill or seriously injure him, so she had been moderating her strength.
Not for Hye-yong's sake, but because she didn't want the Eunha Group to pay a single penny.
But now that things had come to this, there was no other choice.
She had to show this man's shield shattering miserably.
'I don't care if you die.'
Tchk!
Ahn Se-rin extended her arm.
The blood orb on her palm expanded, then soon transformed into a spear of primitive design and was shot toward Hye-yong.
KAGAGAK!
This spear didn't dissolve and disappear after being blocked once.
It rotated once, then kept stabbing at Hye-yong's shield.
And one spear wasn't the end of it.
FWOK, FWOK, FWOK!
Spears kept being drawn from the blood orb on Ahn Se-rin's palm and launched relentlessly at Hye-yong's shield.
Before long, there were thirteen blood spears floating and stabbing at Hye-yong's shield.
That was Ahn Se-rin's manipulation limit.
'You're saying he's still holding up? I have to use my finishing move on some bastard like this?'
In that moment, Ahn Se-rin felt a surge of impatience.
It felt as if Hye-yong was mocking her from inside his shield.
Was the young lady Eun-ha even looking at her at all right now?
'No. She must be watching that man.'
Surely with an expression that said she'd found a real prize.
That was the one thing she couldn't stand.
'Some nobody who crawled in from who knows where... don't get between me and the young lady!'
Ultimately, Ahn Se-rin drew up her power fully.
Fwooooshk!
The thirteen spears embedded themselves around Hye-yong's shield, maintaining an even spacing as if encircling it.
The shield wasn't pierced.
The liquid that had partially shattered off the spears enveloped Hye-yong's shield just as it was.
It took the form of a blood-shield wall, with spears jutting out from it, like a phalanx formation blocking attacks from all sides.
'Oh... this is a little scary?'
His vision was instantly covered in red.
There was something exciting about it being the blood of a pretty girl, admittedly, but a chilling feeling settled in as well.
'Die!'
Clench!
Ahn Se-rin crushed the blood orb in her palm as if grinding it to dust.
'Here it comes.'
Instinctively realizing a powerful attack was coming, Hye-yong focused on keeping his shield from breaking.
Fwishk! Fwishk!
An attack like being trapped inside a bloody iron maiden.
He felt pressure assailing the shield from almost every direction.
He could feel his Divine Power draining from his body.
This was a sign that the shield was taking damage.
'Whoa. So a full-cost shield can be penetrated after all.'
But still, no sense of crisis had set in yet.
Because he could restore it immediately by consuming Divine Power.
'I just need to hold out and it'll be over.'
Surely she wouldn't maintain this attack until his Divine Power was completely exhausted.
An attack this powerful had to consume a fair amount of her own stamina.
'And in a pinch, I've got the holy relic.'
There was a reason for his composure.
He had plenty of aces up his sleeve.
The mechanics of Divine Power consumption for the shield worked as follows. The Divine Power invested at the time of casting determined the shield's base performance. When that base-performance shield took damage, it had to be replenished with Divine Power. This base performance was actually quite efficient in terms of Divine Power. Think of it as spending 10 Divine Power to get a shield rated at 100. If that shield rated at 100 took enough damage to near breaking, then even a minor repair ended up costing more than 10 Divine Power. In that case, you might think it'd be better to just recast the shield—but normally, you couldn't do that. You couldn't overlap shields of the same type. If you tried to create a new shield, the original one would disappear. And what if an attack slipped through during that gap? That risk was precisely why repairing a broken shield cost so much Divine Power. However, using a holy relic made it possible to bypass that flaw. Hye-yong had tested it and found that the moment the old shield vanished and the new one rose were nearly simultaneous. Its performance was lower than using it raw, and the relic itself had durability limits, so he didn't use it ordinarily—but if he ever found himself in real danger, he could enjoy its base performance indefinitely. The reason this was possible was that the shield Hye-yong had placed into the holy relic was classified as a different skill, with different names and functions from the one he was using now. If the name and function were all the same, they were treated as the same skill, meaning a new shield would only be created after the existing one had completely disappeared. But if treated as a different skill, the removal of the old shield and the creation of the new one happened simultaneously. He could block attacks without showing any opening. If people in this world wanted to mimic and utilize something similar, they would need two Blessing Mages, each possessing a shield with similar performance but a different form. One would cast a new shield from beside you when your shield was about to break. Even this was tricky—if the value of the newly cast shield was too low compared to the breaking one, the buff wouldn't even apply, so the levels had to be matched precisely. To put it simply: Hye-yong essentially had a 'level-matched second Blessing Mage' wrapped around his finger, ready to overlay another shield when his own was about to break. A trick that only Hye-yong in this world could pull off. To others, it would simply look like his shield was unnaturally tough.
'The moment I feel my Divine Power running a little low, I'll just use the relic.'
Unlike Hye-yong, who was weathering the attacks with immense composure, Ahn Se-rin was pouring her strength into the assault and sweating profusely.
'Why... won't it break?!'
Fwook, fwook, fwook!!
No matter how much she maintained the pressure and intensified the stabbing force, it wouldn't budge at all.
A single thought flashed through Ahn Se-rin's mind.
'Am I... being pushed back?'
Instead of piercing the shield, she even felt like she was the one being pushed back.
Now that things had come to this, she would squeeze her ability to its very limits....
Just as she was about to draw up all her power, Yoon Eun-ha's voice rang out.
"Se-rin, that's enough."
Startled, Ahn Se-rin turned her head and shouted.
"Y-Young lady! I can still do more."
"What are you thinking? This is a skill verification. Retract your ability."
Damn it....
But no matter how she felt, it was the young lady's command; she couldn't stubbornly persist.
With a devastated heart, Ahn Se-rin withdrew the restraints of blood that had been crushing the shield.
"Oh. Is it over already?"
The casual remark Hye-yong blurted out, standing there perfectly fine inside, shattered her spirit.