Penance
Tang Gyu-young kept parting and closing her lips repeatedly, as if finding it difficult to bring up whatever was weighing on her mind.
Rushing her won't do any good.
I decided to wait patiently until she felt ready to speak.
“……”
“……”
Walking together in silence, we found ourselves standing in front of the boys' dormitory before long. Assuming she had decided against discussing it tonight, I was about to say my goodbyes when she slowed her pace and looked up at me.
“Kim Ho.”
“Yes, noona?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
Though I nodded readily, Tang Gyu-young hesitated for quite a while before finally managing to get the words out.
“From the perspective of a legendary senior who's graduated over two hundred times… how do you see my abilities?”
“Before I answer, I'd like to hear why you're asking.”
Tang Gyu-young let out a heavy sigh.
“…It's just that things have been complicated lately. My skills barely seem to improve, yet strong enemies keep popping up one after another. Meanwhile, you're growing stronger at an absurd pace. Even this time, you ended up carrying most of the weight.”
“Simply put, you're worried about falling behind, right?”
“…Honestly, yeah.”
In truth, while Tang Gyu-young possessed decent utility like stealth and short-range spatial movement, she rarely took center stage in direct combat. In a straightforward clash, let alone against Prefect Leader Oh Se-hoon, she would struggle even against other third-year Disciplinary Committee members.
Taking down the Twin Demons of Bisan during the Gathering of Evildoers had also largely been thanks to the poison resistance I buffed her with, alongside Mystic Yin Jade Demonic Finger and Ghost Steps.
Experiencing all of that must have caused the anxiety in her heart to swell steadily.
Won't Kim Ho catch up and leave me in the dust eventually?
Will he even need me when that happens?
Will someone else end up taking my place?
And this recent subjugation battle had likely been the tipping point. Even if only for two brief exchanges, I had traded blows with the Witch of Rot and come out entirely ahead. I had done without hesitation what she couldn't even dream of attempting, meaning that in some respects, I had already surpassed her.
Her self-confidence had shaken even further, which was why she wanted my honest assessment at this juncture.
What was bound to come has finally arrived.
It was a conversation we were inevitably destined to have. Meeting her gaze with equal gravity, I spoke up.
“I'll give it to you straight, without sugarcoating.”
“…Okay.”
“If you train diligently even after graduation, reaching A-rank is possible.”
“A-rank… What about beyond that?”
“That's your ceiling.”
A shadow fell across Tang Gyu-young's face. She asked cautiously once more, her voice trembling slightly.
“And if I fought the Witch of Rot after reaching that?”
“In a one-on-one, you'd lose unconditionally.”
“……”
Her complexion dimmed further. Even if she trained herself to the bone from now until long after graduation, A-rank was her absolute limit. Worse yet, she couldn't even defeat the Witch of Rot—far too inadequate to stand by my side.
Though her vague anxieties had now solidified into harsh reality, she forced the corners of her lips upward, trying to act unfazed. But her smile looked heartbreakingly forlorn.
“Still, I need to work hard just to make it to A-rank. Thanks, Ho. I'll get going.”
“I'm not finished yet.”
She paused just as she was turning away and asked listlessly, “…What? Why?”
“I never said there was no way to break past that ceiling.”
You should always hear a person out to the end. Even if effort alone couldn't shatter the ceiling, other methods could. Just like I had told the Witch of Rot: if you lack something, all you have to do is fill in the void.
“And I happen to have a way. To be precise, I acquired it recently.”
“…What is it?”
“Before that, I have one last thing to confirm.” I looked straight into her eyes and asked in all seriousness, “It won't be an easy path by any stretch. Are you confident you won't give up?”
Tang Gyu-young didn't hesitate for long. Meeting my gaze directly, her eyes filled with resolve as she answered.
“I'll do it. Whatever it takes. I won't give up.”
“Very well.”
I activated the skill toward her.
You have activated [Penance].
Cooldown: 6 Days 23:59:58
[Stage 1 Penance] has been bestowed upon the target.
Penance was a quest-granting skill that assigned a tailored trial optimized specifically for the target. The quests ranged widely, from repetitive training and material gathering to slaying designated monsters. What truly mattered, however, was the difficulty. True to the word 'penance,' clearing it required bone-carving effort, pushing oneself to the absolute brink of endurance.
And there are even more stages.
Once Tang Gyu-young cleared Stage 1, I could use Penance again to bestow Stage 2, endlessly advancing upward. Naturally, the difficulty would spike exponentially with each subsequent tier. That was why I had asked her one last time before casting it—to make sure she possessed the resolve to see it through.
Of course, the rewards are just as guaranteed.
Stagnant skills or traits could jump ranks, or entirely new and formidable abilities could be acquired. As long as one overcame the adversity and completed the quest, growth was assured. Not the agonizing trickle of incremental progress, either, but rapid, unmistakable leaps in strength.
This skill was largely the reason I had earned the moniker 'S-Rank Hero Factory.' Heroes lacking sufficient talent could force their growth rate upward through Penance, while extraordinarily gifted prodigies could drastically shorten their cultivation time. Having raised multiple heroes with talent on par with Shin Byungchul all the way to S-rank, I anticipated that elevating an A-rank like Tang Gyu-young to EX-rank was entirely within the realm of possibility.
Though, of course, success hinged entirely on her own willpower.
“What kind of broken, ridiculous skill is this…?”
Tang Gyu-young muttered under her breath, her eyes locked onto empty air. She was probably reading through the quest's details. Then, looking back at me, she said, “This quest is seriously no joke. But I'll do it.”
“I know you can.”
We exchanged a smile. Then, as if a sudden thought struck her, Tang Gyu-young narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“…Wait a second. Did you deliberately hold back on telling me this until the end?”
“Of course not. There's a proper order to these conversations.”
“Liar! You took that dramatic pause in the middle on purpose!”
“Well, that maximizes the dramatic impact, doesn't it?”
“You totally planned this! I'm mad at you.”
Tang Gyu-young crossed her arms and whipped her head away. Anyone could tell she was blatantly feigning a sulk.
Do I really need to coax her out of it?
Feigning ignorance, I deliberately stared off into the distance in the opposite direction. A silent war of nerves dragged on for a moment.
“……”
She glanced over at me from the corner of her eye, then snapped her head away again the instant I turned back. Instead, a tendril of shadow rose from beneath her feet and tapped me lightly on the arm. Then it scrawled a few letters in midair.
[Sulking]
[Must coax me]
[Hurry up]
Isn't this basically begging for attention? Even as the thought crossed my mind, I stepped closer to her and murmured softly.
“Ggyu.”
“…Pffft.”
Her shoulders trembled faintly as she struggled to suppress a laugh, though her head remained turned away. Taking it as an invitation to keep going, I indulged her with one more line.
“Ggyu, stop being mad.”
“Bwahaha!!”
Tang Gyu-young burst into laughter, playfully swatting my shoulder over and over.
Tang Gyu-young would be plenty occupied with her Penance quest for the time being, and I had quite a few tasks of my own to handle. The most important among them was wrapping up the aftermath of the subjugation battle. So the following day, the moment I received a message from the academy administration, I headed straight to the Principal's Office.
Just as I raised my hand to knock, the office door swung open on its own as if it were an automatic sliding door. Beyond it, the Principal was waving his hand casually.
“Come on in.”
He sat in his usual disheveled attire. If there was any difference, it was that he had both feet propped up on his desk. The Vice Principal was glaring at him with intense disapproval, but he spoke nonchalantly, not paying her the slightest heed.
“I heard from the instructors. They said they let the witch slip past them once during the battle. You handled it remarkably well.”
“Yes. I anticipated she might come after me at least once, so I was prepared.”
“Well done. Still, a mistake is a mistake.”
Explaining that Lee Soo-dok and Seo Cheong-yong had admitted their fault, the Principal offered an apology on their behalf.
To be honest, it wasn't really their fault.
Strictly speaking, she had closed the distance using Blink, so it was doubtful whether they could have stopped her even if they had anticipated it. Besides, I had deliberately left an opening for her to slip in. Of course, there was no reason to bring that up and diminish my own leverage, so I chose to practice an old proverb: silence is golden.
The Principal continued, “Now then, shall we hear what that 'small favor' of yours is, as promised? Taking the instructors' slip-up into account, I'll even grant something a little unreasonable. Go ahead, lay it on me.”
Since he had gone so far as to say that, virtually any demand of mine would be granted. If I asked for new equipment, skills, or traits, they would probably hand over something up to A-rank. If I wanted, I could even gain entry to the Forbidden Item Vault—though any artifact brought out would undoubtedly come with numerous restrictions attached.
While both options sounded quite enticing, I already had my mind made up from the start. I raised a clenched fist toward him.
“What I want is this.”
“A spar? Eager for a fight, are we?” Chuckling with an amused grin, the Principal pushed himself up from his chair.
I shook my head.
“Not a spar, no.”
“…Then what?”
To the thoroughly puzzled man, I flashed an innocent smile.
“Let me hit you.”
“How many times?”
“Just ten.”
The Principal's expression twisted into something bizarre.
“I naturally assumed you wanted to spar.”
“If we sparred, I'd lose.”
Challenging a former Hero to a spar? That was practically handing over a blank check to get beaten to a pulp. I never engaged in a fight unless it was a guaranteed win or purely to my benefit.
Just then, the Vice Principal, who had been watching in silence from the side, chimed in smoothly.
“That is an exceptionally splendid idea. Please proceed.”
She was an extraordinarily strict woman—roughly 2.5 Song Cheon-hyes on the scale—yet for this instance, she seemed thoroughly delighted by my suggestion. Had she secretly been itching to smack him herself?
The Principal shot her a look of utter betrayal before turning back to me and making a counterproposal.
“I feel bad saying this after offering to grant an unreasonable request, but standing there and taking hits for free doesn't sit right with me. How about one question per punch? You answer honestly, without lies.”
I had a feeling he would pull something like that. He seemed endlessly curious about me, so no matter what favor I had asked for, he probably would have found some excuse to pry. Nodding, I threw out another condition.
“Then I'd like to add one condition as well. You cannot use any items or skills.”
“…You want to hit me that badly? Did I do something wrong to you?”
“No, it's nothing personal.”
I just want to hit you, that's all.
His expression grew even more convoluted. He stared at me intently, trying to decipher my true motives, but found nothing. In the end, he gave up and confirmed the terms.
“Fine, let's do it. No items, no skills—enduring ten hits with only traits. In exchange, one honest answer per hit. Deal?”
“Deal.”
I followed the Principal and Vice Principal as we relocated.