Kim Jin-ah
I said right now would be fine, but it seemed Kim Jin-ah felt otherwise.
She suggested, "How about this time then?" and set a new appointment. With nothing particular on my plate, I just agreed.
The meeting spot was a cafeteria a short distance from the festival's central plaza. Nothing urgent—she just wanted to chat face-to-face for a bit.
But if it's just talk, we could've done it over friend chat. Why insist on meeting in person? And why pull me aside alone? What could we possibly need to discuss just the two of us? Wait, is this a green light? Is this why Kim Min-hyung was being such a dick to me?
Nah, no way. Logically, we haven't seen each other that long. Unless I'm celebrity-level handsome or something.
I pulled a grimy mirror shard from my inventory and checked my face.
Every guy stares in the bathroom mirror and thinks, I'm not so bad, right? I'm no different. But the reflection in this random shard I grabbed without thinking looked anything but okay—it was downright alien.
"What the hell."
When did I start having eyes like these?
The tournament qualifiers still had a few matches left, but my head suddenly felt cluttered, so I just headed back to the inn.
I stared into the bathroom mirror there, messing with my hair and pulling faces. No matter how many times I tried, the image staring back felt utterly foreign. Is this really my face? When the hell did I turn into this?
It's not like I'm haggard or anything looks off. Just... awkward somehow. I've looked in mirrors since entering the Tower of Trials, but today, of all days, I felt like a stranger to myself.
"Just excited or something."
I tried to play it cool, but maybe my nerves were getting to me because I had a date with a girl. Not knowing what the hell's going through your own head sounds ridiculous at first, but it's not always that simple. It took me ages just to admit my ugly mug and call myself a loser.
Avoidant personality and defense mechanisms can fool even yourself, so I've got a duty to keep digging at my true face.
Is it just butterflies from meeting a girl making me fuss over my looks? Or is there something else?
"No clue."
They say wise folks can read minds just by looking into your eyes. I glared into mine all I wanted—drew a blank.
-Shhh.
While I was in there anyway, I turned on the water to wash off the lingering blood smell.
Killing time with pointless fiddling meant I was a bit late to our meetup. About five minutes.
Kim Jin-ah messaged that it was fine to take it slow, but I hustled anyway—couldn't shake the unease.
At the cafeteria, I spotted her amid the empty tables, sipping tea alone.
"Jin-hyeok."
In casual clothes instead of her magic gear, waving me over with a gentle hand. Same voice, same face, but the outfit made her seem like a whole different person.
"Why rush like that? I said take your time."
"Doesn't rushing make you the one who gets chewed out usually?"
"Pfft, after all you've done for me? I'd never."
I chuckled lightly and took the seat she offered. A cup of black tea sat waiting in front of me.
"I took the liberty of ordering for you. My treat, so no complaints if it's not your style?"
She grinned cheekily and pushed the cup my way. I said I eat anything and took a sip.
-Slurp.
A subtle sweetness and smooth aroma flooded my mouth. Unfamiliar taste. Not bad, though, so I took another sip and set it down.
"How is it?"
"Not bad."
She smiled awkwardly, relieved. Truth be told, I'd have said the same no matter what she gave me. I wasn't kidding about eating anything. Just days ago, I was chugging blood sap, right? Alone, I'd have probably swished this with a poison arrow first.
"Oh, the snacks are good too. Try this."
Now she handed over a jam-topped cookie. I munched it down without much thought.
This one's kinda meh. I've eaten mud cookies to boost earth spirit affinity, so I'm not picky. But damn, it's sweet. Giving sugary treats to someone whose staple was white rolls?
I grimaced without realizing, then saw her face fall and hurriedly chased it with tea.
"This one's good too."
"You don't have to force it."
"Too sweet, but it's fine."
Her sour expression flipped back quick, and she giggled.
We made small talk after that. Small talk in name only—I barely said a word.
Just listened to her ramble one-sidedly, nodding along now and then. Makes sense; after holing up so long, I've got zilch for chit-chat.
"Sorry, I talked your ear off, huh?"
She was mid-flow when she noticed my empty cup and bowed her head.
"This isn't why I called you out... but we're a bit late anyway—can we get to the point?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"It's about what happened earlier today. You know the guy you flattened is a ranker, right?"
I nodded. Choi Gil-hyun, Spear Knight—a low-floor ranker with spear skills that didn't match the class name at all.
I'd gotten curious during the tournament and searched his name on the open community boards. Not much came up.
"You probably don't know much. He's not your average ranker."
"He was pretty weak for one."
"Not that. He's... infamous in Server 1554. A total bully."
Kim Jin-ah started spilling rumors about Choi Gil-hyun from Server 1554.
Word was—he assaults challengers for stupid reasons, harasses and gropes female players daily.
More—those who push back end up crippled in back alleys all too often.
And—he's killed inside the Tower at least once, reason be damned.
All unsubstantiated gossip, but she laid it out like plain fact.
"What a piece of shit. Should've beaten him worse."
I scoffed it off, naturally. But she shook her head gravely.
"Everyone in the know gets it. No hard proof, but the rumors are mostly true."
That was weird. I'd dismissed it because I figured most were bullshit. And why not? The Tower isn't some lawless jungle.
Not fully civilized, sure, but most servers have guilds keeping the peace. Commit a crime, guilds sanction you—or the open communities expose and shame you. A low-tier hunter like that couldn't pull that crap and strut around.
"His dad's on the Hunter Association board."
She shut that down quick.
"Huge uproar, apparently. Total golden boy. Even high-floor rankers aim to exit the Tower as top hunters..."
"So no one crosses him?"
"Yeah. Minor stuff like groping gets winked at. Even major crimes get buried without evidence."
Evidence in the Tower—what a joke. With all the magic and skills, what even counts?
"Sorry... I didn't recognize he was that guy's sister. Should've stopped you."
She hung her head.
"Sorry, really, I'm so sorry."
All this drama for that? Whatever. I'm solo in Tower 2661—no big deal tangling with scum like him. Apologizing with tears over not stopping me sooner? Kim Jin-ah's either too nice or too naive.
"Sorry, sorry, I should've stopped it then, should've..."
I'm trash at communicating. Took me a while to pick consoling words. But before I could spit 'em out, she added:
"I'm from Server 1554 too...!"
-Bang!
The cafeteria door exploded inward. Two stocky guys strode in—a heavy-armored axe-wielder and a light-armored spearman.
Choi Gil-hyun and his brother, marching in like they owned the place.
Ah, guess I'm the naive one.
"What'd you dose me with?"
I pointed at my empty teacup.
"Th-that's..."
Her trembling hands placed an empty potion vial on the table.
"Strong paralysis toxin from a giant jellyfish. Should be kicking in now..."
Ah. I see. Paralysis poison in the tea. Well. Uh.
What to say to that?
"Didn't I say I wouldn't let you off? You motherfucking bastard—round two, fucker."