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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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Han Yuri was implanting a chip in my arm.
“What the hell are you doing…?”
“…”
She froze, as if her brain had short-circuited.
“I said, what are you doing? Are you deaf?”
Her eyes darted around, then…
Click!
…she bolted for the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Kyaaa!”
A squishy mage trying to run from a tank?
I tackled her.
She struggled violently.
“Let go! Goddammit! Let go of me!”
“Not a chance! Tell me what you were doing!”
Click!
The door opened, and Choi Ah-hyun walked in.
“What’s going on?! Oh…”
She saw us tangled on the floor, then quickly closed the door, with a mortified look on her face.
“Um… be careful… you don’t want to… make a baby…”
“We’re not fucking, dammit!”
Finally, after Choi Ah-hyun came back in, things calmed down.
Emergency Team 2 meeting.
A single chip lay on the living room table.
It had been too dark to see clearly before, but now, in the bright light, I recognized it.
‘A state-of-the-art chip that monitors and manages the user’s health.’
It cost hundreds of millions of won, at least.
An artifact combining skill and technology.
A luxury item for the rich.
The problem was, it didn’t just monitor health.
‘It also had GPS tracking and sent real-time health data to a linked phone.’
“So, what is this?”
I asked, narrowing my eyes.
Han Yuri responded brazenly.
“It’s like a wearable. It sends the wearer’s health information.”
“That’s it?”
“Heart rate, body fat percentage, and other physical data…”
“That’s it?”
“…”
She bit her lip, realizing I knew what it was.
Then she blurted out,
“Fine! It has GPS tracking and a lie detector! So what?!”
Choi Ah-hyun’s jaw dropped.
A normal reaction.
She was shocked that Han Yuri would try to implant something in my arm without my consent.
I was used to Han Yuri’s antics. Besides…
‘This was nothing compared to what she’d done in my previous life.’
This time, she’d been impulsive and sloppy.
In my first life, she’d drugged me with sleeping gas before implanting the chip.
“You think you’re in the right here?”
“Ugh…”
She glared at me, then deflated.
But only for a moment.
She chewed on her lip again and argued,
“I was just trying to ensure the health and safety of our team!”
“Health and safety my ass.”
“It’s true!”
She placed two more chips on the table.
“I was going to implant one in Ah-hyun and myself after you.”
“What?! Me too?!”
Choi Ah-hyun jumped up with a horrified expression.
Han Yuri clutched one of the chips and spoke quietly.
“This chip lets us know if someone’s alive, even inside a dungeon. Even if we’re trapped, we can still send a distress signal.”
“…”
“You have no idea how terrified we were when you were trapped in that dungeon. Not knowing if you were dead or alive, waiting anxiously for the dungeon to reopen… it was agonizing.”
She bit her lip again.
“So, Lee Seong-hyun. No, Seong-hyun-ah…”
She bowed her head.
“Please… let me do this…”
Her voice cracked with emotion.
A plea from a woman who rarely showed vulnerability.
Apparently, Han Yuri had been frantic when I was trapped.
And Lee Seol’s sudden concern for my well-being… it all stemmed from that incident.
But still…
“I’m sorry. I can’t even begin to apologize for worrying you. But…”
I picked up the chip.
“…I can’t let you implant this.”
This would ruin everything.
Especially the lie detector.
But if I refused outright, Han Yuri would just find another way to implant it.
She might drug me or force me.
It was better to offer a compromise.
“I’ll let you implant something else.”
“Something else…?”
The next day.
The three of us looked at the small dots on our arms.
“Wow, this feels weird…”
“Yeah…”
A lower-grade version of the chip Han Yuri had brought.
It only showed whether we were alive inside a dungeon.
No GPS tracking, no lie detector.
Han Yuri seemed pleased with my compromise.
A faint smile played on her lips.
“Are you happy now? After crying and begging yesterday.”
“Shut up! I didn’t cry!”
“What about your little tantrum?”
“Dammit, come here!”
I dodged her swing and waved to them.
“I have something to do, so I’ll see you guys later.”
“Hey! Get back here!”
“Nope~”
“See you later, Seong-hyun-ah~”
“Yeah.”
I left them and headed to Irena’s office.
I was there for…
‘…the disciple appointment.’
After we’d made the contract in the hospital room, she’d asked if she could officially appoint me as her disciple.
I’d readily agreed, but…
…the other professors had objected.
I leaned against the wall and waited.
The sound of approaching footsteps echoed in the hallway.
The door burst open.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No, I just got here.”
She immediately took my hand.
The gesture was so natural it almost made me laugh.
I stared at her, and she averted her gaze, her lips pursed.
“Is it… not okay…?”
“No, it’s fine. Go ahead.”
If I pulled away, she’d probably sulk.
“I apologize for the trouble.”
“It’s fine. But isn’t appointing a disciple the professor’s prerogative? Can other professors really object?”
Irena gave a wry smile.
“Yes, they can, though it rarely happens. Usually, disciples are chosen based on proven ability and potential. People everyone agrees are worthy. But the other professors don’t know your true capabilities.”
‘Wasn’t taking down Kim Seong-ho enough?’
But then again, the professors hadn’t been there.
Besides, Lee Seol and Han Yuri were in our year.
Two guaranteed S-ranks.
The professors were hesitant to invest a significant amount of the school’s resources in an unproven asset like me.
“They only want one thing.”
Irena’s eyes narrowed.
“They want you to prove your potential against Lee Seol or Han Yuri.”
Here it comes.
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My opponent had been decided.
[Lee Seol]
Han Yuri was on my team, so by process of elimination, it had to be Lee Seol.
Could I realistically beat her?
‘No.’
Lee Seol was E-rank, a rank lower than me.
But that was because she held back to accommodate her teammates.
Her true strength was likely on par with, or even greater than, Han Yuri’s.
‘Damn…’
I took a deep breath and calmly compared our strengths.
‘I can’t use Lightning God.’
The skill took too long to charge, and Lee Seol wouldn’t just stand there and wait.
My only chance…
‘…was to use Lightning God’s speed to overwhelm her.’
I was confident in my speed.
But even if I could outspeed her, I wasn’t sure if I could break through her barriers.
‘If only Eve was available…’
But the mindscape was closed, effectively sealing the sword’s power.
Objectively and subjectively, I was screwed.
‘I need to analyze her combat style.’
It was too early to give up.
I waited at a table in the cafeteria.
A few minutes later, he arrived.
Kim Ji-hoon.
The person who knew Lee Seol’s current abilities best.
“Hey! What’s up? You’re buying me lunch?”
“Just… wanted to have a meal with a friend.”
“Oh, really? What a load of bullshit. Just tell me what you want.”
I explained the situation and asked about Lee Seol’s current fighting style.
He groaned.
“Fighting style…? She doesn’t really have one. I draw aggro, she freezes them, and then kills them. That’s it.”
“Seriously? That’s all?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that her style?”
No way.
Eternal Snow was incredibly versatile.
‘She just hasn’t had a reason to use its full potential.’
E-rank monsters didn’t pose much of a challenge.
I couldn’t get any useful information from Kim Ji-hoon.
‘I’m hitting a wall.’
I knew a lot about Lee Seol.
I’d fought her countless times in my previous life. But…
‘…that was the future Lee Seol.’
I knew her future fighting style, but I knew almost nothing about her current abilities.
‘There has to be a way…’
I returned to the training grounds, lost in thought.
“Finally decided to show up?”
Han Yuri stood there, with arms crossed.
“Yeah. What are you doing here?”
“Just… because.”
Just because?
My phone buzzed with a notification.
Han Yuri had sent me a video.
I clicked on it.
“This is…”
A sparring match between Lee Seol and Han Yuri, both in their school uniforms.
And Lee Seol was fighting seriously.
Han Yuri fidgeted, avoiding my gaze.
“I’m sorry about trying to implant that chip. I got pissed off because Lee Seol was being so clingy.”
Wow.
Han Yuri apologizing?
The world must be ending.
“So, you’re giving me this video as an apology?”
“Yeah. And I have dozens more like it.”
Dozens?
My eyes widened.
Han Yuri continued, her eyes closed.
“I’ll help you beat Lee Seol. I’ll give you all the videos I have and even give you feedback. But…”
But?
“W-well…”
Han Yuri’s face flushed crimson.
She clenched and unclenched her fists, then blurted out,
“You have to do something for me!”
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