Chapter 88.

With Kim Hajin in front of her, Yoo Yeonha was torn between fighting him or running away . Although she came into the room confident in her abilities, she didn’t expect to meet such a powerful enemy from the beginning .

“… . ”

Kim Hajin stood still, seemingly unaware of her worry . However, his relaxed attitude made Yoo Yeonha even more nervous . She couldn’t take his gaze head-on . This was the first time she had ever felt like this . It wasn’t like this before… .

Then suddenly, Kim Hajin raised his hand .

In truth, Kim Hajin was only trying to scratch an itch on the back of his neck .

“Stay, stay away!”

But Yoo Yeonha, who didn’t know this, shouted subconsciously .

Kim Hajin stared at her silently, then slowly dropped his hand .

His gun was already in his right hand . It wasn’t the Desert Eagle Yoo Yeonha gave him, but a normal cadet handgun .

However, Kim Hajin had destroyed Kim Horak’s qi reinforcement even with an ordinary gun . It was precisely why he received the attention of top-ranking guilds for a while .

“… . ”

Kim Hajin raised his gun . Yoo Yeonha could feel beads of sweat flowing down her face .

First, she calmly examined her surroundings . Behind her was a narrow, straight hallway, making it difficult for her to escape the range of his gun . She only had two choices: fight, or be beaten .

Yoo Yeonha looked down at the whip in her hand . Then, she suddenly thought of something .

‘Perhaps this is the best chance for me confirm his skills . My current estimate of his strength only comes from observation . If I fight him now, I should be able to see a glimpse of his real power… . ’

At the same time, she had a different thought . This time, it was more cowardly .

‘If I fight Kim Hajin and lose, I’ll likely be the first one to be eliminated . I don’t want that to happen, but struggling for my life doesn’t suit my style either . It’s definitely not because I hate pain . ’

After calmly weighing her options, Yoo Yeonha sighed .

Then, she opened her eyes wide as though she came to a decision .

Glaring at Kim Hajin with eyes sharper than the glare of a lynx, she swung her whip . Her whip moved fluidly like it was part of her limb, then it grabbed onto Kim Hajin’s gun .

Shweeek!

In the blink of an eye, Kim Hajin’s gun was snatched out of his hands .

Yoo Yeonha stared blankly at the gun that fell into her hand .

“I, I did it! Ha, haha!”

‘I never thought I’d succeed! Ahahaha—!’

Yoo Yeonha laughed proudly and thought, ‘maybe this person isn’t that amazing after all!’

“Even if it’s you, without a weapon…”

But in the next moment…

The gun flew back into Kim Hajin’s hand as though it was enchanted by something .

“Ah, aah! W-Where are you going!?”

Yoo Yeonha tried to grab the gun midair, but it was too late .

The ‘Aether wire’ Kim Hajin secretly shot out adhered to the gun and retrieved it . With Aether’s Detail Materialization trait, Aether wire was invisible unless one’s eyes were imbued with magic power . As a result, Yoo Yeonha thought that this phenomenon was the result of Kim Hajin’s magic power .

“… . ”

The smile on Yoo Yeonha’s face quickly disappeared . She stared at Kim Hajin even more nervously than before . Now, she was left with one choice . Since she was the one who made the first move, she believed she had to endure whatever came her way… .

Yoo Yeonha swallowed hard .

“…Haa . ”

Then, Kim Hajin let out a deep sigh and held up his gun .

He aimed it forward, and Yoo Yeonha shuddered . In front of his steel muzzle, her mind blanked out .

How should I dodge it?

Will it hurt?

Maybe I can dodge it?

All sorts of thoughts flashed by her head, but Kim Hajin didn’t fire . He smirked once, then put his gun back into his holster .

‘What?’

While Yoo Yeonha was puzzled, he trudged up to her and tapped on her shoulder .

“It’s still early, so let’s take it easy . ”

After murmuring incomprehensible words, he walked past her to the outside .

Yoo Yeonha watched him leave in a daze .

**

“Argh, it still hurts . ”

My right wrist was sore . Yoo Yeonha’s whip only lightly grazed it when she was snatching my gun, but it tore my skin and turned it red .

If it had hit me directly, it would have broken my bones for sure . As I thought, Yoo Yeonha was quite strong as well .

“Ehew, what a relief . ”

With my bluff working well, I safely went past Yoo Yeonha and entered the fourth-floor lobby .

The fourth-floor lobby was quite huge but oddly silent . There were no voices nor were there any noticeable presences .

What’s going on? Did everyone go elsewhere?

I turned on my smartwatch .

All cadets participating in the Mock Artifact Scramble were wearing ‘life-detection devices’ . These devices accurately measured the HP of each cadet, eliminating those that received critical damage .

Through the smartwatch which was connected to the laptop, I checked the GPS coordinates of these devices .

There were only ten cadets on this floor, including me and Yoo Yeonha .

Six of these ten were already traveling in teams .

“Tomer… . ”

Next, I checked Tomer’s GPS coordinate .

Currently, she was in a bathroom on the seventh floor . It seemed she was planning on killing time there, as she showed no sign of movement .

In that case, I had to chase after her .

…Then suddenly, I felt curious about what the other cadets were doing .

A fight had broken out on the third floor, the floor above me, but the big match had yet to start . In other words, Chae Nayun and Rachel had yet to meet .

However, on the fifth-floor lobby, a big match that anyone would want to see was starting . The cadets facing each other were that great .

Shin Jonghak and Kim Suho . The two cadets, who could be said to be the representatives of Team Black and Team White, had met .

I put on the CCTV watching their fight .

—I knew this day would come, Kim Suho .

Shin Jonghak muttered in a serious tone .

—… .

However, Kim Suho faced Shin Jonghak silently .

—Come . I’ll show you the difference between our level .

Kim Suho pulled out his sword in response to Shin Jonghak’s provocation . Shin Jonghak also held up his spear .

Kim Suho was the first to attack . He charged in and swung his sword . Shin Jonghak stepped back as he blocked Kim Suho’s attack . Sparks flashed at the clash between a spear and a sword . They both properly utilized the strengths and weaknesses of their weapons for offense and defense .

At that moment, someone quickly shot past me .

Stomp, stomp, stomp— A harsh stair-climbing sound rang out .

I glanced up and saw Yoo Yeonha . She was running away faster than anyone I had ever seen before .

“…Oh right . ”

Thanks to her footsteps, I snapped back to reality .

Although a marvelous, intense exchange of spear and sword was happening below me, I didn’t have the time to leisurely watch them .

I headed to the emergency stairs . As it was smaller than the staircase in the central lobby, I would be able to avoid enemy encounters .

**

“I, I surrender!”

A male cadet shouted surrender in front of Chae Nayun’s sword . The moment he said the safe word, he was blindfolded . He would now be transported to the third floor’s ‘elimination lounge’, where other cadets eliminated from the third floor would be waiting .

“Whew… easy . ”

Chae Nayun murmured proudly as she wiped off her sweat .

This was already her third kill .

“It’s only been three months since I switched to a sword and I’m already this strong . I must be really talented with the sword . ”

While Chae Nayun was brimming with confidence, someone shouted softly at her .

“Nayun—!”

Chae Nayun turned toward the direction of the voice . It was Yi Jiyoon, who was wearing a white cadet uniform . She ran toward Chae Nayun in short, quick steps .

“Whew, thank god . ”

Clinging to Chae Nayun, Yi Jiyoon let out a sigh of relief .

“Were you hiding this entire time?”

A supporter like Yi Jiyoon was weak in brawls like this . An attack-focused supporter like Yoo Yeonha would be able to shine depending on the situation, but Yi Jiyoon was a purely support-oriented supporter .

“No, I managed to defeat one with my weakening debuff . ”

“Oh really? That’s good . Anyways, it’s nice to see you . ”

Chae Nayun was also happy to see Yi Jiyoon . She was a supporter that enhanced warriors in particular . She provided various physical buffs that made warriors feel like they became Superhuman .

“Ahh, I really thought I was dead… . ”

Yi Jiyoon calmed her heart for a bit, then spoke as if she suddenly remembered it .

“Oh yeah, Rachel’s on this floor . ”

“Rachel?”

Chae Nayun’s eyes widened .

“Yeah, I was so surprised! I barely managed to escape because I ran away the moment I saw her . ”

It was then .

Stomp, stomp, stomp— Someone ran upstairs out of breath .

“Wait . ”

The two stared at the staircase nervously . Yi Jiyoon held up her bow, while Chae Nayun pointed her sword at the stairs .

However, the person who showed up was someone on their team, Yoo Yeonha .

Yoo Yeonha seemed to be relieved as well, as she let out a sigh of relief when she saw Yi Jiyoon . Chae Nayun tilted her head and asked .

“Yoo Yeonha, why are you sweating so much?”

“Huh? Uh, it’s nothing . ”

Yoo Yeonha looked haggard, unlike her usual self .

Chae Nayun asked in doubt .

“Who’s downstairs?”

Yoo Yeonha replied softly .

“…Kim Hajin . ”

“”Kim Hajin?””

Yi Jiyoon and Chae Nayun both asked back .

“Mhm . ”

“Oh, then Kim Hajin must be eliminated . ”

Yi Jiyoon asked innocently . Yoo Yeonha shook her head with a bitter smile .

“No, he didn’t get eliminated . ”

‘But I almost did . ’ Embarrassed, Yoo Yeonha didn’t say the last part out loud .

“Really?”

Chae Nayun, who was scratching her cheek and pretending to be unconcerned, asked in a casual tone .

“So, uh, what was he doing?”

“I don’t know . ”

Yoo Yeonha replied half-heartedly, but then Yi Jiyoon butt in with a strange smile .

“Maybe he’s looking for Rachel?”

At Yi Jiyoon’s remark, Chae Nayun tilted her head .

“Eh? Why Rachel?”

“Because Kim Hajin likes Rachel . ”

“…Huh?”

This time, both Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha were confused .

“What are you talking about?”

“Eh? You guys don’t know?”

“…K-Know what? What about Kim Hajin?”

Chae Nayun stuttered as she asked again . Yi Jiyoon tilted her head .

“You really don’t know? I thought everyone has heard the rumors by now . ”

“Then it’s just a stupid, groundless rumor . ”

Yoo Yeonha spoke firmly . As far as she was concerned, there were more important things to worry about at the moment than such absurd rumors . After all, this Mock Artifact Scramble held great weight in their grades .

“Anyways, did you locate the artifacts?”

“Ah, yeah, I have one on me . I ran into an NPC on my way here . ”

Yi Jiyoon took out a small box from her uniform pocket . Yoo Yeonha’s expression quickly brightened .

“I’m glad . First, let’s transport this to the first floor . ”

“Yeah . ”

“And Yi Jiyoon, you’re mistaken . That rumor probably spread because Kim Hajin and Rachel are on the same team… . ”

While Chae Nayun was murmuring somewhat seriously…

Arrows suddenly rained down . Yoo Yeonha quickly swung her whip and smacked them away .

“Who is it!?”

Chae Nayun shouted with enraged eyes . Although the rain of arrows was mostly blocked by Yoo Yeonha’s whip, Chae Nayun was still irritated by the ambush .

The three of them turned to the balcony and saw Rachel and other cadets in Team Black .

“Rachel! How can you ambush us like a coward!”

Chae Nayun trembled with anger .

However, Rachel looked down at them calmly as she pulled out her rapier .

“I’m going in . ”

At her soft voice, the members of Team Black reacted simultaneously .

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