The Little Witch

The semifinal round ended amid a mountain of chaos and controversy.

Although, to be precise, the problems had only occurred on our side of things.

'Apparently the match between the Sword Sect and the Magic Tower wrapped up surprisingly anticlimactic.'

Word was that the Sword Sect had absolutely steamrolled the Magic Tower.

Especially Fujiwara Manabu — the so-called Sword Demon — who had supposedly dismantled their entire roster single-handedly.

'I'll think about that later.'

Either way, thanks to this whole incident, the finals schedule had been pushed back a bit.

And thanks to that, I was enjoying a bout of rest I'd never asked for in my life.

"Not that I actually needed to be hospitalized for it."

In a VIP suite, no less.

The room's defining feature was interior décor luxurious enough to put a hotel to shame — which was a bit absurd for a hospital ward.

"Ugh, this is too much."

The Cheonseong side had insisted adamantly that I stay, despite my protests. Then my father called personally, and I ended up half-shoved into admission.

"Well, I did need the time to sort out my thoughts, at least."

The day of the semifinals.

Just as I'd expected, Park Sung-chan had an Otherworldly Fragment implanted in his body, and its side effects had turned him into a Knight.

A Corps Commander-level one, at that — the Knight of Extinction.

"So, to put it simply — an S-rank potential hunter has the capacity to become a Corps Commander-level Knight?"

That woman who appeared at the very end had called the Knight of Extinction her 'successful work.' Which meant S-ranks didn't all become Corps Commander-level Knights.

Whatever the details, the conclusion was one.

'The Advent Church's goal is probably to mass-produce Knights until the Iron Blood Monarch arrives.'

And that goal was likely intended to make the Iron Blood Monarch's future conquest all the easier.

In truth, after the Ruin-grade Gate Break, the world had collapsed at a disturbingly rapid pace.

"To think it was the Advent Church operatives pulling strings behind the scenes…."

Could it be that all those rankers who'd vanished without a trace had become Knights?

The thought alone sent chills down my spine.

And then there was that woman called Elpiros.

'Honestly, she didn't look all that strong.'

She'd been the first member of the Advent Church I'd ever faced, but I hadn't sensed anything overwhelmingly powerful about her.

Though her attacks phasing straight through me, and her ability to split space and swap positions, were certainly worth noting.

"…That's one step closer to you bastards."

Their identities were becoming clearer by the day.

Who they were, what they were doing, what they wanted.

The only question left was why they wanted to kill me so badly. What grudge did they hold against me?

And the reason for it…

"Elpiros."

I'd have to hear it from her own lips.

Unfortunately, I hadn't managed to defeat the Knight of Extinction, but I'd achieved my goal all the same.

In that final moment, it had been my superhuman mental fortitude that let me tear the ring off and hurl it away.

My previous experience with the berserk stats during the Cheonmagwi fight had played a huge role.

But it was also thanks to Flame Soul pushing the power back alongside me.

"It really is a repulsive power."

There was no denying the ring's strength, though.

It hadn't just flipped the tide of my losing battle against the Knight of Extinction —

"It let me pull off Honyeongeuk: Dance on top of everything else."

Of all the Spear God's Mad Dances, this was one of the highest-difficulty spear dances in existence.

The principle: spinning two different forces simultaneously at the spear's tip to form a spiral lance, then using that converging power to overwhelm the opponent.

'All the spear dances are absurdly hard, but Honyeongeuk is on another level.'

After all, it required wielding two distinct powers at once.

Against the Knight of Extinction, I'd used my mana and the berserk power together.

Which meant, in other words, pulling off Honyeongeuk again without the ring remained a distant dream.

"Tch."

I clicked my tongue at the waste of it.

It was true that I'd executed the spear dance successfully, and that its power had been tremendous. But I had no intention of using the ring regularly just for that.

'Let me focus on the fact that I completed the spear dance at all.'

If I kept growing without pause, the day would come when I could unleash Honyeongeuk on nothing but my own strength — no ring required.

"Claiming my reward."

Pah!

At my words, a sliver of blue metal materialized in my palm.

The Indigo Key Fragment.

I'd finally gotten my hands on the last piece.

When I pulled the other two fragments out of my subspace, they floated up into the air and slotted themselves into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place, piece by piece.

The seams between the fragments aligned perfectly as they transformed into a single key.

"Can't use it just yet, huh."

My Status Window level was still at 3.

But if I won this Guild War, I'd gain an additional 300 EXP.

That would bring me to the key's usage requirement.

'What kind of growth awaits at Level 4, I wonder?'

I didn't want to get my hopes up, but honestly, I couldn't help it. Everything I'd gained with each Status Window level so far had been off the charts.

At the next level, maybe I could beat the Knight of Extinction without the ring.

"My bones are itching."

Perhaps because the next leap was so close at hand.

Even lying in a comfortable bed, I couldn't stop fidgeting.

"…Maybe I should sneak out and get some training in."

My body had healed ages ago, anyway.

Rather than lying around here killing time, preparing for the upcoming finals was the more efficient use of my hours.

'Right. Exactly right.'

The voices within me sided with my opinion.

Two votes in favor, zero against.

Just as I moved to act on the democratically decided outcome —

Knock knock!

Someone rapped on the hospital room door, and a set of familiar faces walked in.

"Tae-hyun."

"Hyuuuuuung!"

Shin Min-woo came bounding over, sniffling, clinging to me like a lovesick puppy.

"A-are you really okay?! I was supposed to protect you, and I…!"

"Good grief. I barely got hurt at all, so quit fussing."

If anything, those two had come out of it worse than I had.

Baek Seo-ha in particular had bled so much I'd genuinely wondered if she was going to die.

"You alright?"

"…Yeah. They said I dodged the vitals."

"Good to hear."

Hunter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bodies really were something else. The recovery speed of both of them was nothing short of astonishing.

Back before my regression, a broken bone had taken months to knit back together.

"Umm…."

"Hm?"

Baek Seo-ha, who'd been shuffling awkwardly in front of me for a while now, finally forced the words out.

"Y-you haven't lost yet. I was winning…"

"What?"

"You got up out of nowhere and ambushed me… Whatever. Point is, that wasn't a loss. Got it?"

The hell is this girl on about.

…Wait.

"Is that because of your promise not to lose until you become Sect Leader?"

"………"

"…Pfft! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

God, she was adorable.

Who would've thought the great Baek Seo-ha was still carrying around a promise that trivial?

"W-why are you laughing!"

"No reason. Just because."

"Grrr…."

At some point, her ears had turned scarlet.

She pulled a small container from the bag she'd brought and tossed it at me carelessly.

"Once you're healed, hurry up and get back. The finals are coming up soon!"

With that curt parting shot, she marched out of the room.

Shin Min-woo wrapped up his farewell in short order and followed after her.

Looked like the two of them were planning to spar.

"Now, what's this?"

I opened the lid of the plastic container Baek Seo-ha had thrown at me, revealing neatly sliced apples stacked in tidy layers.

Looking closer, there was even a note stuck to the bottom of the container, scrawled on a sticky note.

The sentence was written in her unmistakable handwriting.

There was even a bizarre little doodle of a face beside it.

"Huh. You even remembered that?"

It reminded me of the time she'd peeled apples for me back in the hospital ward.

Though 'peeled for me' was generous — I'd eaten every last one.

"…She really does peel them better than I do."

I fished out a slice and took a bite.

Tart, sweet juice flooded my mouth.

Wow, these were expensive apples.

Son of a— they really WERE expensive?!

"Where does she get off casually peeling and bringing something like this?!"

Deciding to save the rest as training supplements for later, I shoved the container into my subspace.

Knock knock.

And then, the second visitor arrived.

The door swung open, and a huge pointed wizard's hat came striding boldly into the room.

"………"

"………"

"Ahem, ahem… H-how's your body holding up…?"

"………"

"Um… hello…?"

"………"

"Hey."

"………"

"HEY!! If someone calls you, you're supposed to answer!"

"Oh, you were there? Too small, didn't see you."

"EEEEEK!!"

Ah Seo-ah flew into a raging fit.

"What do you mean small?! What part of me is small?! I'm average height, I'll have you know!"

"Says the acorn."

"GYAAAAAH!!"

Have you ever seen fire shoot out of a person's mouth?

I have. Just now, in fact.

'Yeah, this is Ah Seo-ah for you.'

Given her personality, there was a decent chance she hadn't been able to say what she wanted in that stiff atmosphere a moment ago.

I wasn't nearly fond enough of the girl to accommodate that kind of thing, though.

Still, I'd heard that during the incident, Ah Seo-ah had fought alongside Baek Seo-ha against ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Park Sung-chan.

Which meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she had plenty of right to be heard.

"So? What do you want."

"Hss-hss… hoooh."

Having calmed herself down, Ah Seo-ah finally spoke.

"I… saw it."

"Saw what?"

"In that maze… someone carrying Sung-chan away. I came back to myself right at that moment."

Her eyes — uncharacteristically serious — turned to me.

"Those guys… do you know who they are?"

"I do."

"R-really?!"

"But not the details. I'm hunting for answers myself, too."

"Then tell me too! I want to help!"

That was where I shut her down flatly.

"No."

Maybe it was the complete absence of softness in my voice that startled her.

Ah Seo-ah's shoulders flinched and trembled.

"Why… why not?"

"Nothing good comes of you getting involved. You could provoke them into burrowing even deeper into hiding."

"But…!"

"No."

Being dismissed this bluntly would make just about anyone with her temperament blow their top.

But Ah Seo-ah just clutched the hem of her robe and bowed her head deep.

"I… don't have any friends."

After a long silence, she spoke as though vomiting up years of suppressed grief.

"I know it. My personality is garbage. That's why I never had a single friend. But Sung-chan… Sung-chan was the one who became my friend anyway."

"………"

"I'm not going to deny what kind of person Sung-chan is now, or defend him. And I'm not going to pretend I'm the only clean one here. So…"

A single tear traced its way down her small cheek.

"Let me help… let me save Sung-chan…"

"………"

Choking back the falling tears,

Ah Seo-ah said,

"Please accept me into Shinseong Guild…"

Fighting the Advent Church at my side, right beside me.

Would she still be able to say the same after learning who stood behind the Advent Church?

"I don't know why you'd shed a single tear for a piece of trash like that."

But I never turned away talent that came to my door.

That was one of the founding principles of Shinseong Guild.

"In exchange, there are conditions. Think of it as an entrance exam."

Still — a bare minimum of screening existed.

"Every student at the Hunter Academy you've ever tormented. And everyone Park Sung-chan crippled. Go to each and every one of them and apologize. Don't expect forgiveness — you don't have the right to beg for it."

"That's it…? You'll accept me into Shinseong Guild?"

"We'll see."

"………"

Ah Seo-ah considered it for a moment, then wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand and turned around.

"I'll be back soon."

With those words, she stepped out of the hospital room.

The news that the Little Witch had joined Shinseong Guild broke…

Exactly two weeks after that day.