Chapter 755: Blink Hedgehog (2)

Honestly, this had been predictable to some degree.

The direction of [Austerity] was either to strengthen the target’s advantages or make up for the target’s weaknesses.

And for an all-rounder mage, being unable to use ★Blink★ was an extremely fatal weakness, so a related quest was bound to appear.

If anything, Stage 1 being [Lightning Rod] had been the surprising part.

Soon, Song Cheonhye checked the quest contents one more time.

▷Maintain at least 7 ‘Lightning Rods’

“I suppose I should meet the prerequisite first.”

“That would be right.”

Then she stood in the very center of the training room and focused her mind.

CRACKLE—

Electric currents rose in strands from her entire body, condensed, and took the shape of thin rods.

One, two, three...

Then all the way to seven.

After that, the [Lightning Rods] followed Song Cheonhye’s gesture and spread forward, backward, left, and right, taking their places throughout the training room.

Now it starts.

▷Teleport to the designated location within the time limit

▷Objective: Achieve proficiency (0/100%)

But where was the “designated location”?

No sooner had that question crossed her mind than—

CRACKLE.

One of the [Lightning Rods] took on a vivid red glow.

Since nothing like that had ever happened before this [Austerity]—

That must mean I’m supposed to go there.

Through teleportation, of course.

In other words, by using ★Blink★.

Song Cheonhye focused again.

She gathered mana.

Assembled the formula.

Focused her mind.

Set the coordinates.

Focused her mind again...

So there would not be even the slightest error...

She was doing all that when Kim Ho, unable to keep watching, threw in a comment.

“How long are you planning to concentrate?”

“I-I’m almost done, you know?”

Song Cheonhye grumbled that since it was her first time, she wanted to make certain.

But just as she was about to finish casting ★Blink★—

CRACKLE.

The [Lightning Rod] that had been dyed red returned to its original color.

Apparently, that was what the time limit meant.

Kim Ho added one more comment.

“Accuracy matters, but you can’t overthink it too much. It needs to come out instinctively.”

“I have—”

She started to snap back that she had her own method, then stopped.

Because the advice she had received from the swordsman couple suddenly came to mind.

Don’t just try to win no matter what. Depending on the situation...

“...Thank you for the advice. I’ll try it.”

“You can do it.”

CRACKLE.

A moment later, another [Lightning Rod] turned red.

Song Cheonhye quickly finished her preparations and cast ★Blink★ as she was.

Her vision whipped around.

“...!”

And the training room wall was right in front of her nose.

She had left the [Lightning Rod] behind and moved to some completely wrong place.

Song Cheonhye felt her face heat with embarrassment.

He’s going to tease me and call me pathetic again...

Then she glanced sideways at Kim Ho.

But he only jerked his chin with an indifferent expression.

“Let’s keep going.”

“...Yes.”

CRACKLE.

Another [Lightning Rod] turned red.

Song Cheonhye cast ★Blink★ again.

This time, she was a little unlucky.

BANG!

She body-slammed straight into the ceiling.

Even after dropping to the floor with a thud, Song Cheonhye writhed in pain for a while.

As she did, she asked herself.

Why in the world??

Why did she end up somewhere strange every time she used ★Blink★?

She had clearly aimed forward, so why did she go sideways, backward, or upward?

Why only ★Blink★, when she was good at every other spell?

It was completely impossible to understand.

Meanwhile, Kim Ho’s expression remained as indifferent as it had been at the start.

Apparently, he was trying to refrain from teasing her while they worked on this quest.

“Keep going, please.”

“...All right.”

Feeling her heart ease somewhat, Song Cheonhye stared at the [Lightning Rod] turning red.

CRACKLE.

And inwardly, she repeated the advice she had just heard.

Accurately, but don’t think too much.

Then leave it to instinct.

Her vision whipped around again, and this time Kim Ho was standing right in front of her.

“...”

“...I’ll continue.”

Song Cheonhye turned away with her face red.

She was embarrassed by the repeated failures, but seeing him up close also brought back memories of that night.

Memories of giving and receiving pecks for the first time in her life.

She forced herself to take a deep breath and pulled herself together.

CRACKLE.

Then she cast ★Blink★ again.

She assumed she would end up somewhere strange again, but this time she landed precisely on top of the red [Lightning Rod].

Song Cheonhye’s expression brightened in an instant.

“I did it! Success!”

“Very good.”

It was also the first praise she had received since starting the quest.

But her excited mood did not last long.

▷Objective: Achieve proficiency (1/100%)

“Ninety-nine more... left, then?”

“That’s hard to say.”

Maybe it really had gone up by 1%.

Or maybe it was around 0.59% and had been rounded up.

If it was the latter, she would need to succeed dozens more times beyond that.

But Kim Ho added as if it were no big deal.

“If I did it, I’d finish this quickly. A ten-minute clear, maybe?”

“Sure, for you.”

“It’d probably be similar if I brought the others in.”

He did not mention anyone directly, but for Song Cheonhye, the first person who came to mind had to be Hong Yeonhwa, her rival.

Perhaps because of that, her expression turned sulky before she realized it.

“Are you teasing me?”

“No. I mean once you get the feel for it, it’ll be quick.”

Unexpectedly, the answer was serious, without even a hint of laughter.

Hearing it, it did sound plausible.

Right now, she only succeeded once every four or five attempts, if that.

But once she got used to it and her success rate rose, ninety-nine successes would be manageable.

The interval between skill uses would shrink too.

The problem is that getting the feel for it is hard...

But was there any other clever solution?

She just had to keep going until she could do it.

CRACKLE.

Song Cheonhye took a deep breath and cast ★Blink★ toward the [Lightning Rod] again.

...Failure.

CRACKLE.

Failed again.

CRACKLE.

And the moment she cast the next ★Blink★—

She suddenly felt as if her eye level had jumped upward.

Kim Ho’s crown was visible below her.

Somehow, she had ended up sitting on his shoulders.

“...”

“Be honest. You’re actually good at ★Blink★, aren’t you?”

“...No?”

“No matter how I look at it, that seemed intentional.”

“It just happened by chance. Really.”

“I’ll take your word for it for now. Kindly get down.”

But as she was about to do as he said, she remembered the swordsman couple’s advice again.

Be honest. Show him how you really feel...

“...Um, may I stay like this just a little longer? Since I’m already up here.”

“So you did aim for this after all. You hidden master of ★Blink★.”

“I said I really didn’t.”

Song Cheonhye pressed her knees inward and squashed Kim Ho’s cheeks between them.

Then she added in an even smaller voice.

“...I suddenly remembered the old days.”

“The old days?”

“Yes. My grandfather used to carry me like this sometimes.”

She was older now, and she was not as openly affectionate with her family as she had been before, so asking for shoulder rides was out of the question.

But she still treasured those memories.

After she told him all of this, Kim Ho asked,

“You’re kind of strange today. Did you eat ‘that’ by any chance?”

By “that,” of course, he meant T.E.B.

Song Cheonhye felt a little indignant.

She had gone out of her way to speak honestly, and he treated it like a side effect?

But she exercised patience and answered.

“I didn’t eat anything.”

“Really?”

“I heard about 002 and asked, but they said they weren’t selling it.”

“Well, they are still preparing for launch.”

Kim Ho slowly nodded.

Song Cheonhye continued speaking to him.

“I’m not acting strange. I’m making an effort. To change.”

“...”

“That night... you said there was... a possibility.”

“So that was why.”

“Yes. I’ll get down now.”

In her heart, she wanted to ride on Kim Ho’s shoulders all day, but right now, she had to continue the quest.

So Song Cheonhye resummoned the [Lightning Rods] and focused her mind.

CRACKLE.

Then, when she used ★Blink★ toward the red electric rod—

The training room wall rushed toward her at terrifying speed.

In reality, she was probably the one flying at terrifying speed.

It was too late to react, so Song Cheonhye squeezed her eyes shut.

“...!”

But what touched her face the next moment was not the training room wall.

It was a soft breeze.

WHOOOSH—

Then Kim Ho caught her and supported her so she could stand upright.

Song Cheonhye spoke, looking a little dazed.

“...Thank you.”

At the same time, she also gave thanks to the swordsman couple.

When she followed their advice, Kim Ho treated her kindly too.

Somi, thank you!

*****

The Challenge Austerity continued after that.

Song Cheonhye unintentionally flashed all over the place, and whenever a dangerous moment came, Kim Ho stepped in to block it.

Still, perhaps because she had used ★Blink★ countless times, her accuracy had improved a little.

She managed to reach the red [Lightning Rods] on time several times.

▷Objective: Achieve proficiency (6/100%)

But even taking her dreadful ★Blink★ proficiency into account, the progress was far too slow.

Feeling frustrated, Song Cheonhye glanced at Kim Ho.

I feel bad keeping him here the whole time...

Should she just tell him to go and do it alone?

But when their eyes met, Song Cheonhye realized something.

Kim Ho was expecting something from her.

And that something, of course, had to be related to the Challenge Austerity.

So she slowly repeated the quest contents in her mind.

Seven [Lightning Rods]... [Lightning Rods]...?

Now that she thought about it, something was odd.

Why did she specifically [N O V E L I G H T] have to summon and maintain [Lightning Rods]?

Seven of them, no less.

If this was a ★Blink★ quest, normally she would only have to use ★Blink★.

As for the location, marking it with a red point would be enough.

Which meant—

It was connected to [Lightning Rod] from the very beginning.

Once one thing felt suspicious, the other did too.

▷Teleport to the designated location within the time limit

It doesn’t say I have to use ★Blink★.

Instead, it used the broader term “teleport.”

That did not mean she had an alternative skill right away, but she had a strong instinct that the answer lay there.

[Lightning Rod], teleport. [Lightning Rod], teleport...

As she repeated the two words back and forth, one [Lightning Rod] soon took on a red glow.

CRACKLE.

Unlike before, Song Cheonhye focused not only on ★Blink★, but also on the [Lightning Rod].

At the same time, she recalled Kim Ho’s advice.

[Lightning Rod], teleport, instinctively...

Then an image surfaced in her mind.

As if she and the [Lightning Rods] were connected by thin threads of electric current.

As if she could reach her destination in an instant if she simply followed them.

Before she knew it, Song Cheonhye entrusted her body to that image.

And the moment she took a step, she vanished from the spot with a flash.

KRA-KOOOM!

She became a bolt of lightning and struck down where the red [Lightning Rod] stood.

▷Objective: Achieve proficiency (8/100%)

Before she could even check the notification, that familiar sound rang in her ears again.

CRACKLE.

Apparently, the [Lightning Rod] set up behind her had turned red.

But she did not need to confirm it with her eyes.

She took another step.

KRA-KOOOM!

Once again, she became a bolt of lightning and struck down.

Precisely where the target was.

▷Objective: Achieve proficiency (10/100%)

[‘Thunder Jump(F)’ has been learned.]

Only then did Song Cheonhye turn her head and look at Kim Ho.

A bright smile spread across her lips.

“I got... the feel for it.”

“Well done.”

He answered with a pleased smile as well.