Chapter 24
No way.
Sehyun had thought that monster was at least C-grade. It seemed she knew very little about monsters.
“Growl.”
The monster growled while Sehyun was frozen in place.
The pressure contained in that small, almost sigh-like sound was immense.
Her fingertips trembled. She had only been facing it for a moment, but the previous events flashed through her mind like a film reel.
The monsters crowding the fence. The pressure and fear she had felt from them. The overwhelming feeling that they could crush her life at any moment.
“Grrrr!”
The monster, seeing Sehyun frozen, growled lowly and raised its club.
Bang!
The club grew larger and larger in her vision. Contrary to her fear of being hit, her body reacted first.
Thanks to her well-honed survival instincts, Sehyun jumped back and stared at the monster, her legs spread apart.
Her lips moved silently.
End.
That was all it took. That single word could free her from this terrifying situation. It could allow her to escape the trauma that was weighing her down.
But what then?
Now that she had decided to become a Guard, she would have to face this creature eventually. And no one would be able to end the situation for her then.
Sehyun closed her mouth.
Then and now were different. And they had to be different.
If she didn’t overcome this, it would be no different from running away again.
Sehyun clenched her jaw so tightly that it ached and jumped forward.
The monster, anticipating her movement, raised its foot.
Got it!
As Sehyun had intended, the monster raised its foot instead of its club.
Recoil!
Sehyun focused her power on her fist. Her fist collided with the monster’s foot.
Bang!
“Ugh!”
Sehyun’s body was thrown back by the unexpected impact.
“Cough, cough.”
Sehyun quickly got up and clutched her numb fist. The monster growled and charged at her.
One hit isn’t enough, huh?
Sehyun spun around and kicked the monster’s shin.
“Groar!”
The monster flinched, seemingly in pain. Sehyun’s eyes glinted, seizing the opportunity.
The monster instinctively reached down with its fist to protect its leg. Sehyun’s fist, aimed at the monster’s forehead, shot out.
Just as it was about to connect,
The monster grabbed Sehyun and threw her effortlessly.
Bang!
Sehyun crashed into the wall and slid down.
“Ah…”
Her head throbbed. It was a relief that the wall absorbed some of the impact.
If she had been hit like that outside the training room, she would have definitely fainted.
Is this too much for me?
It’s just a program, and it’s this strong. What about a real monster?
Just as Sehyun managed to get up,
She flinched!
Sehyun rolled to the side.
Bang!
She looked at the spot where she had been standing just a moment ago. The monster’s club, the size of her body, was embedded in the floor.
If she had been hit by that…
A chill ran down her spine.
The sparring system would have probably ended immediately.
The system was supposed to shut down automatically if the trainee’s condition became critical.
And the emergency system would have been activated.
But she couldn’t continue that train of thought.
Bang! Bang! Crash!
The monster’s attacks were getting faster and faster.
“Ugh!”
Sehyun’s body crashed to the floor once again. She quickly got up and struck the back of the monster’s knee. The monster grabbed her and threw her again.
“Cough, cough.”
Sehyun coughed, feeling like she was about to throw up, and then quickly moved behind the monster.
Thwack!
She jumped up and struck the back of the monster’s neck. It was an attack she would never have been able to pull off before. The more she sparred, the more she used her skills, the faster her body reacted, as if it were adapting to being a Guard.
“Grrk!”
Sehyun lowered her body and struck the back of the monster’s knee again.
Normally, a hit to the back of the knee wouldn’t make it flinch. But the damage had accumulated from the repeated hits to its shin, so it lost its balance.
Sehyun’s eyes glinted.
As the monster’s height dropped below hers, Sehyun’s fist cut through the air. The monster blocked with its arm, as if it had anticipated her attack.
An opening!
Sehyun slipped under its arm and kicked the monster’s chin. But it was a glancing blow, and she didn’t inflict much damage. At the same time, the monster’s fist flew towards her. Sehyun twisted her body, but she couldn’t completely block it.
Thwack!
Sehyun’s body was sent tumbling to the floor as she was grazed by the blow.
“Ugh!”
Sehyun groaned, her body trembling.
She would have been dead if it weren’t for ‘Recoil.’
Sehyun barely managed to turn around and saw the monster staring at her, kneeling on one knee.
“Grrrrrr!”
It roared as if enraged.
“Gasp, gasp, gasp. Crazy.”
But it wasn’t without results.
Despite being thrown to the floor and crashing into the wall, Sehyun had consistently aimed for the monster’s leg.
She wanted to aim for the head, but it was difficult to penetrate its defenses.
Even a mindless monster would instinctively know that its head was important.
So she aimed for its legs. It was the only way to slow down a monster that was both large and fast.
Thanks to that, the monster couldn’t charge at her with its absurd speed anymore.
More than anything, the ‘Recoil’ skill was useful. Every time she was hit, the monster also took damage due to the recoil. Even if it didn’t notice at first, it must be feeling something strange now that the damage had accumulated.
Things would be fine if it stayed like this…
Bang!
The club flew through the air.
The problem was that the monster wouldn’t go down so easily.
“Ugh!”
Sehyun dodged backward and barely avoided the attack. She suddenly felt a shadow looming over her.
She was indoors. The only way it could get dark was if the lights went out. But a shadow…?
Goosebumps erupted all over her body. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Sehyun’s head tilted back.
There it was.
The monster, which she had thought had lost its mobility.
It had propelled itself to a terrifying height using one leg. As if it was going to crush her under its weight.
Why did she forget?
That this monster had jumped up to the second floor before.
The monster’s size was far beyond the range she could escape with ‘Dodge.’
Even an offensive skill like ‘Dazzling Dance’ couldn’t overcome the monster’s weight.
“End!”
Sehyun finally shouted.
She didn’t want to back down like this, but there was no other way. This was the more realistic option than getting injured needlessly. The monster, which had been flying through the air, disappeared like melting ice.
Thud!
Sehyun collapsed onto the floor and lay there, sprawled out.
It had been a short but exhausting battle.
Was this the kind of fight she would have to face regularly if she became a Guard…?
This is crazy.
“Sigh, I guess D-rank is still too much for me.”
Sehyun sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was disappointing, but it wasn’t without results.
Recoil: Level 3
Her ‘Recoil’ level had increased rapidly, perhaps thanks to her diligently repelling the force of a stronger monster.
Dodge: Level 5
She used it more often than ‘Recoil,’ but the higher the level, the lower the sensitivity. Still, the range and speed of her dodge had increased.
Divine Touch Upon You: Level 2
Sehyun thought of Jieun and pushed away the pang of guilt she felt.
A spacious hall.
Six people sat around a round table in the center of the hall. An aura of dignity emanated from each of them, all wearing the same uniform.
Five of them were looking at the man sitting at the head of the table.
He was leaning back, looking at a tablet. Or rather, the report displayed on it.
After quickly reading through the lengthy report, he closed the tablet.
“So you’re saying a Hole could appear in this training center?”
The man asked in a leisurely tone.
It was a report containing the results of the meeting the five instructors had been working on all morning. That report had been condensed into a single sentence. The five instructors nodded with grim faces.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“The basis for this is that the Hole detection device reacted.”
“That’s correct.”
“So a Hole could appear?”
“Yes.”
The man at the head of the table kept asking questions, even though he had already read the report and knew everything. As if he was questioning the importance of the matter.
The grim expressions on the faces of the five instructors didn’t change.
“So what do you want to do?”
The man at the head of the table asked. He asked again, even though it was also in the report.
As if challenging them to say it if they dared.
“We need to send the Guard trainees home.”
Jungwook spoke slowly, breaking the silence. The man at the head of the table looked at him coldly, and Jungwook continued.
“We’ve confirmed that errors have occurred in both the east instructor’s office and the video control room. The CCTV cameras have also been experiencing frequent errors, failing to record six times in the past three days. We called in experts to identify the cause, but they found no internal problems. They believe that some kind of external wave is interfering with the programs.”
“Is that a reason to send them home?”
Jungwook was speechless at the man’s words.
He wondered if this idiot was even listening to him.
Jungwook’s aura sharpened, and Dohyun looked at him, as if to tell him to calm down. Jungwook took a deep breath instead of cursing.