Novel Full Chapter 602: Now Who’s Slow?
The next day.
The Twin Heroes of the Dang Family came back from the meeting with deeply irritated expressions.
“We heard there was a Blood Cult offensive last night.”
The targets were some of the bases we’d found—minor sects like Palun Lodge.
During the retaking process, the Blood Cult had left things behind, and since there was no way to deal with them immediately, they’d stationed people to guard them.
But the bastards attacked far earlier than expected and stole those things back.
As a result, the sects took heavy damage, and even the experts who’d been dispatched were taken out—according to Dang Ilbi.
I listened quietly, then asked a question.
“This is the first I’m hearing about there being ‘things.’”
“It’s news to us too.”
The twins’ expressions soured even further, and they took turns venting.
“There’s no way they didn’t know how important it was.”
“They hid it on purpose. Nine times out of ten, the Elder Council.”
“Looks like they really wanted to monopolize the credit.”
“Or they didn’t want us stacking any more achievements.”
“This isn’t the time for that……”
In a situation where even everyone working together wouldn’t be enough, they’d gotten greedy—and as a result, important items had ended up in enemy hands.
The loss of allied strength was a bonus.
From the twins’ perspective, it was enough to sour your stomach in every way.
I let out a bitter chuckle.
“They haven’t changed. Still, depending on how you look at it, this might actually be a good thing.”
“……Why?”
“If my guess is right, it was probably even more important than you think.”
All we’d received through the communication crystal ball was the exterior, but it wasn’t hard to infer the contents.
How deeply it was tied to the Blood Cult, how it looked like a coffin, how it was sealed with talismans plastered all over it……
A question surfaced on Dang Ilbi’s face.
“Then shouldn’t they have guarded it like a fortress?”
“It wouldn’t have been that easy.”
The Blood Cult probably poured nearly all their strength into last night’s raid.
In fact, they’d mobilized all their experts, including two elder-class figures.
Meanwhile, the defenders had no choice but to split their forces.
Because there were multiple locations where the “items” were stored.
Hearing that far, Dang Ilbi slowly nodded.
“So you’re saying they might’ve only inflated the damage for nothing.”
“Yes. Better to give what you have to give than to have the losses spiral.”
Even if that wasn’t what the Elder Council intended.
I added one more line.
“And it’s not like we only lost.”
“We got a peek at what they were preparing.”
The things the Blood Cult stole last night would be the “hidden trump card” they planned to use in the decisive battle against the Dang family.
Now that we’d identified what it was, we could also prepare countermeasures.
We spent some time discussing it, and after listening to my proposal, the twins each spoke a line.
“……Fire qi. That’s got plenty of merit.”
“Then we’ll have to go to Cheolbang.”
“Please excuse us.”
Watching the two hurry out, I thought:
What we have to do hasn’t changed.
Build up our foundation.
For the decisive battle, the best move was to raise our ranks even one step and increase our proficiency.
*****
After focusing solely on training for a while, there was major progress with Dang Gyu-young’s Challenge Austerity too.
Stage 19 cleared, and Stage 20 nearing completion.
On the surface, there was no obvious difference.
The only change was that the shadow that had been black was now slightly blacker.
“…….”
Dang Gyu-young glanced down at their feet and gave a casual wave of the hand.
The shadow surged up, transforming into a man in a lab coat. Then it inflated its upper body like a balloon and charged.
It rushed toward Ahn Jeongmi’s group, who were filling in as sparring partners in place of the twins who’d gone out.
They all opened fire on Lab Director at once.
In the blink of an eye, it turned into a beehive.
The next moment, the bloated upper body shrank down small, then swelled up again.
It endured.
Unlike before, it didn’t get destroyed.
Through Challenge Austerity, the quality of the shadow had improved, so the undead’s defense had increased too.
Meaning fewer resummons.
Which also meant fewer gaps opening in the front line each time.
Dark-Shadow Commander and the Blood Sword Squad Leader had likely been strengthened in their own ways as well.
They really did something.
I nodded with satisfaction.
Meanwhile, it looked like Seo Ye-in’s Challenge Austerity was in its finishing stage as well.
Mana BB pellets and hologram mana BB pellets poured down.
Their movements looked nearly identical, but in reality, Seo Ye-in held a slight edge.
As she fired, light gathered into one of Seo Ye-in’s hands.
She whipped the completed [Capricious Trap] forward.
In a Lucky Charm versus Lucky Charm fight, nine times out of ten the effect would be negligible—but you still couldn’t just take it to the face.
So Depresso-Depresso-Sloth stepped sideways with Featherstep.
And that was exactly what Seo Ye-in was aiming for.
She predicted the evasive path and reached out.
[Destructive Gale]
KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK—!
A massive gale swept Depresso-Depresso-Sloth up.
It lifted, flew backward—then flopped face-first onto the ground.
After a moment, Seo Ye-in approached and lightly set the pot on the thing’s head.
“……Got it.”
Depresso-Depresso-Sloth mumbled back.
Then it scattered apart, and the quest reward appeared.
An item that looked like a skillbook corner neatly cut off.
[Legendary Unique Skillbook Fragment A]
Seo Ye-in stared at it for a moment, then asked me.
“……What.”
“Literally a fragment.”
A similar example was the map fragments we made in first year.
We’d collected A, B, and C across multiple dungeons and completed the [Villains Assemble] map.
This would work the same way.
“You collect multiple pieces and make a skillbook.”
“Where B?”
“Probably the next stage.”
“…….”
“Now that it’s come to this, you don’t have a choice. You have to collect the whole set.”
“…….”
“I wanted to let you rest a bit since you’ve been suffering lately, but—of all things—the reward—”
I sighed like I was genuinely regretful.
Seo Ye-in stared at me for a long moment, then said:
“……I got played.”
*****
Back at the guest annex.
Dang Gyu-young heard the whole story and issued the verdict.
“Yeah. That’s worth sulking over.”
At that, the blanket burrito curled up in one corner of the bed twitched, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) and Seo Ye-in’s voice drifted out.
“……I got tricked.”
“The young sovereign’s fault is extremely grave.”
Of course, I didn’t even blink.
“Hoho. And how, exactly, is that my fault?”
“Not directly, but you’re guilty of being obnoxious.”
The blanket burrito twitched in agreement.
“……Very obnoxious.”
“You struggled for days to clear it. And the reward is one unusable little scrap? I’d be pissed too.”
“I’m pissed……!”
I grabbed the blanket burrito and shoved it off the bed.
Then I continued in a perfectly calm tone.
“You’re thinking too short-term. It’s a ‘Legendary’ ‘Unique’ skillbook. That means if you complete it, something insane comes out.”
“The problem is whether you can complete it. How many do you have to collect? D? E?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Map fragments were A, B, C, but skillbook fragments could end at AB—or it could keep going for a long time.
Dang Gyu-young furrowed their brows.
“So it could even go all the way to Z?”
“There’s no way they’re that shameless.”
“Even if it only goes to F, that’s still six stages.”
At that, the blanket burrito wriggling on the floor went limp.
“Motivation lost…….”
“See? This is mostly a feelings problem. Soothe her a little.”
Dang Gyu-young tried to smooth it over, but I felt a stubborn contrarian streak rising for no reason.
“I think coddling all the time causes backlash. I’m trying to raise her strong once in a while.”
And I rolled the blanket burrito back down again when it tried to climb onto the bed.
The weak cannot survive.
That is the law of the ruthless martial world.
Seo Ye-in peeked her head out and stared at me.
“Soothe me…….”
“Then will you work hard?”
“I’ll try…….”
“Good. If you have requirements, tell me.”
Those gray eyes stared into mine for a while.
Then a little exclamation mark popped up over Seo Ye-in’s head.
“Kiss.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“That kind of mood.”
“Sure. That happens.”
Not everything could be explained logically.
When I lightly kissed her cheek, the next demand came immediately.
“Other side.”
“Sure.”
I did what I was told, and this time she pointed to her forehead.
“Here.”
“Sure.”
After receiving three kisses in a row, Seo Ye-in crawled out of the blanket.
Looking oddly satisfied.
And Dang Gyu-young, who’d been watching, blinked like they couldn’t believe it.
“……I just took massive damage for no reason.”
*****
The next day.
After entering the training grounds, I stood facing Seo Ye-in.
“Ready?”
“……Complete the set.”
Seo Ye-in clenched her fist.
I immediately used Austerity and the Challenge Book.
[Stage 14 Austerity has been bestowed on the target.]
The moment the notification printed, a hologram rose up.
It would be more mirror-image nonsense again—
But this mirror image was very different from before.
No depressed look, no sleepy look—so it seemed like Dang Eunbi’s special “become diligent” potion had been applied.
It lifted its chin arrogantly.
“Where did the sad one go, and why is a fast one here?”
“Do you think that works as a reason?”
It was nonsense, but since it was saying it, it almost felt like it worked.
I let it slide and got to the point.
“What’s the objective?”
“Here.”
Seo Ye-in shared the quest content.
[Sub-Quest: Stage 14 Austerity] (In progress….)
▷Objective: Cooperate with your mirror image and win in close combat
Instead of fighting each other, it had changed to working together.
Which probably meant the difficulty was that much higher.
The next question, naturally:
Who are they supposed to beat?
That question was solved quickly.
Ahn Jeongmi was checking the notification messages.
“It is a request for me to serve as the close-combat opponent. It is not my primary specialty, but for my ladies, I will do my utmost.”
“……Confirmed.”
Ahn Jeongmi looked slightly moved as they walked to the opposite side of the training grounds.
Holding a squeaky hammer in one hand.
In contrast, the two sloths were holding pots, but Ahn Jeongmi didn’t seem to care.
They spoke in a courteous tone.
“Enter whenever you are ready.”
“…….”
Seo Ye-in and Fast-Sloth exchanged a look.
As if that alone completed their strategy meeting, they split to the left and right.
Then they approached Ahn Jeongmi from both sides.
Light lumps flew in—
Ahn Jeongmi didn’t bother to say, “Thrown weapons are cheating.”
With restrained movement, they avoided every [Capricious Trap], dodged the pots as well, and kicked off the ground.
They were already behind Seo Ye-in.
Before she could even react, it felt like the squeaky hammer had multiplied into several.
And a barrage of strikes landed at ridiculous speed.
“…….”
Seo Ye-in pressed a hand to the spot she’d been hit, exchanged a look with Fast-Sloth—
Then stared at Ahn Jeongmi.
“Just hit me once…….”
“……My apologies.”