Training Center.

Go Hyeonwoo was walking across the spacious training room.

One step at a time, calm and cautious.

As if trying to interfere with him, sword energy came slashing at him in a wild barrage.

—SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

The one firing the sword energy was Han Somi, standing on the far side of the training room.

She was busily swinging her sword in place.

“Hyut hyut! Shyut-shyut-shyut!”

The reason she was even making the sounds with her mouth was, supposedly, to improve her concentration.

At least, that was what she claimed.

Whether it really worked or not was unclear, but Han Somi’s sword energy felt stronger than her skill level alone should have allowed.

Its nature was also different from usual. The swordsmanship handed down to her by the Sword Empress had a fierce, icy edge to it, whereas what now coiled around her blade was soft as wind, yet heavy.

That was because she was receiving a special correction while helping with the Challenge Austerity quest.

“Shyut! Hyut-hyut-hyut!”

—SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

The sword energy kept pouring down.

Even while facing it head-on, not a trace of change showed on Go Hyeonwoo’s face.

He merely continued forward, steadily, softly moving both hands.

It looked as though he were wielding an invisible sword and unfolding sword forms.

—SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

Just before one strand of sword energy reached Go Hyeonwoo’s hand, it veered off and flew somewhere else.

Another vanished as if it had collided with an invisible blade.

The ones that followed were the same, either neutralized or deflected aside.

Since last week, they had been repeating training in a similar setup over and over, so by now he had become quite proficient.

The Challenge Austerity was also entering its final stage.

And if I challenge the sacred relic again.

He would likely be able to get much closer than before.

It was still too soon to grasp it in his hand, but if he kept advancing one step at a time, then someday even that would come.

Reaffirming his resolve, he continued forward, until before he knew it the distance between them had become close enough to touch.

At that, Han Somi scampered off to the opposite side of the training room again and snapped into a sword stance.

“Come on!”

Go Hyeonwoo too was just about to step forward with a faint smile, when in the next moment he paused, a strange light entering his eyes.

Then he checked his messages and said,

“It is Brother Kim.”

“Again?”

A little at a time, Han Somi’s cheeks began to puff up.

Perhaps because the list of prior offenses was so long, even hearing the words Brother Kim was enough to set off warning lights in her head now.

Whether he knew that psychology or not, Go Hyeonwoo exchanged a few more messages before saying,

“He says he is coming here. Let us take a short rest while we are at it.”

“......”

Han Somi’s cheeks swelled full.

Fortunately, Balloon Mode did not last long, because Kim Ho soon appeared in the training room.

With Seo Ye-in—

and one female student who looked like a freshman.

The first thought that crossed Go Hyeonwoo’s mind was:

She looks remarkably like Senior Dang.

She seemed like a different person from Dang Gyu-young, and yet had many similar points.

If he had to guess, perhaps a cousin.

At the same time, he let out an inward exclamation toward Kim Ho.

Indeed, Brother Kim’s breadth of spirit is something else.

There was no knowing where he kept bringing them from one by one, yet he was embracing all those women at once.

And as far as Go Hyeonwoo knew, not once so far had there even been any major uproar.

Han Somi seemed to be thinking something similar.

Though perhaps because her position on the matter was different from Go Hyeonwoo’s, she was hurling a savage denunciation with her eyes.

Total lewd demon. Number one lewd demon under heaven. Greatest lewd demon in all history.

At that, Go Hyeonwoo let out an awkward laugh and asked,

“Brother Kim, by what route did you come to know this graceful young lady?”

“Better to tell you two.”

“As if this is the kind of thing that can stay hidden anyway,” Kim Ho added.

The explanation that followed was deeply shocking.

“It’s Senior Dang Gyu-young. They re-enrolled because of various circumstances.”

At once, both Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi recoiled in alarm and bent forward.

“So it was Senior Dang. Please forgive our rudeness for failing to recognize you.”

“Gah! Senior!”

Of course, Dang Gyu-young—or rather, Dang Gyu-ri—did not seem to mind much.

They waved a hand and smiled.

“It’s fine. You wouldn’t necessarily know.”

The name and appearance were similar to the original, but disguised enough that confusion was natural.

Apparently the academy had also put a great deal of work into it, so under ordinary circumstances, not recognizing them was the normal outcome.

Then Dang Gyu-ri briefly explained how they had come to re-enroll.

Originally, they had been planning to get hired as a guard at Dragonslayer Academy, but the principal had made a rather sudden proposal.

He said they needed people who could protect the first-years from much closer up.

And Dang Gyu-young had not spent long thinking before accepting the proposal.

Of course, their goal had been separate from the academy’s.

They linked arms with Kim Ho and continued,

“Because I wanted to stay close to him~”

“Wow......!”

Han Somi let her mouth fall open slightly.

She had just witnessed the determination to endure anything if it meant staying with the person you liked.

Taking a job as a guard, re-enrolling and becoming a freshman again—neither of those could have been easy decisions, yet they had not even needed long to think it over.

With pure admiration shining in both eyes, she walked up to Dang Gyu-ri.

“I respect you, Senior!”

“Heh-heh, were they always this kind of character?”

Dang Gyu-ri giggled as if amused.

Apparently feeling that they had something in common, they huddled together with Seo Ye-in too, the three of them putting their heads together and whispering.

—Here I am going this far for him~ and that one keeps going on and on about some bus or whatever and just dragging it out~ what a disappointment, seriously~

—That’s right, that’s right! So mean, so mean!

—......Playboy.

Yet even though he had become the subject of the backbiting, Kim Ho’s expression did not change in the slightest.

He brushed it off as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then looked at Go Hyeonwoo.

“Let’s talk separately too.”

“Understood.”

Soon, the two stepped away for a moment and moved somewhere quiet.

Kim Ho was the first to speak, his attitude distinctly serious.

“This time, I ended up going after a B-rank.”

“Indeed. Your abilities have improved remarkably in the meantime.”

“That too, but Seo Ye-in got a quest.”

Apparently she was progressing through a Challenge Austerity quest just like he was.

Though the contents seemed completely different.

Go Hyeonwoo gave a light nod.

“What concerns Young Lady Seo are, in turn, my own concerns as well. If needed, I have always been willing to lend my strength.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Which dungeon are you thinking of clearing?”

“There’s something I want to ask you first.”

Kim Ho paused for just a moment, then tossed out one short line.

“I’m thinking we go to Black Serpent Fang.”

“......!”

“And this time, we push straight through the front.”

When they had been first-years, it had stopped at a diversion tactic.

While Kim Ho drew the attention of the Black Serpent Fang Lord and his gang members, Go Hyeonwoo and Shin Byeongcheol had burrowed in through a rat hole and secured the [Lord’s Black Chest].

Then they had escaped the dungeon using an [Emergency Escape Scroll].

But this time, since the goal was the clear, Kim Ho planned to personally beat down the Black Serpent Fang Lord.

As though he had realized what kind of proposal Kim Ho was about to make, Go Hyeonwoo’s eyes flashed.

“Then it would seem I shall take Senior White Serpent.”

“You don’t absolutely have to.”

White Serpent was only a hidden boss, after all.

Even if they only took down the Black Serpent Fang Lord, the main objective would still be considered achieved.

Kim Ho added one more sentence.

“What matters is what you think. Whether you want to face them again or not. If not, there are plenty of places besides Black Serpent Fang we can go.”

“Of course, I have long looked forward to a rematch. However......”

Go Hyeonwoo trailed off, uncharacteristically.

White Serpent had been a master he could not handle.

But by following the walkthrough and mentioning the ‘promise with Hyeonyang Jinin,’ he had changed what should have been a fight to the death into one where he would be let go if he endured three sword forms.

Even so, that brief exchange alone had pushed him to the very brink of life and death.

Even now, a year later, the perilous fight from back then still played vividly before his eyes.

His own sword energy scattering helplessly, White Serpent’s blade splitting and flying like a snake’s tongue......

He was incomparably stronger now than he had been then, but even so, he still could not easily find confidence.

“Brother Kim, do you truly think I have a chance of winning?”

“I didn’t see it directly, so I can’t say in detail, but at most thirty percent. Maybe even lower.”

“Thirty percent or less.......”

Go Hyeonwoo let out a bitter laugh and sighed.

“My own thoughts are much the same. I cannot help but feel it is still too early.”

“For reference, that thirty percent is if you fight as you are now.”

“......?”

“If you draw the sacred relic, it’ll change a lot.”

“The win rate would probably jump above seventy percent too,” Kim Ho added.

Even by Go Hyeonwoo’s own estimation, that seemed about right.

During the duel with White Serpent as well, the final third sword form had held a power he could not possibly endure.

What had blocked it was the sacred relic he had lifted unconsciously.

And it had still been resting peacefully inside the sheath.

If I were to draw it and enter battle with it in hand.

Then even White Serpent would be someone he could defeat.

Even so, there were still one or two sticking points that would not go away.

Go Hyeonwoo hardened his expression and said,

“It does not sit entirely well with me, using the sacred relic without going through the proper procedure....... Am I not still in the middle of the challenge?”

“The fact that you’re challenging it stays the same. The method just changes a little.”

Instead of approaching Blood Wind Sword (not) from a distance, he would simply try progressing by drawing it and bearing it directly.

Kim Ho added in a serious tone,

“It’s fine to keep clearing Challenge Austerity like this and move ahead step by step. But doesn’t a more aggressive method have its own advantages too?”

If it succeeded, it would massively raise his skill.

And if it became a fight to the death with a master like White Serpent, then the insight he gained afterward would be no small thing either.

Just as Go Hyeonwoo opened his mouth to say something else, Kim Ho cut in first, having predicted it in advance.

“You don’t have to worry about other people watching. Only Han Somi and I will move with you on that side.”

“Ahem.......”

Since that argument had more than enough merit, Go Hyeonwoo closed his mouth again.

After all, he had already let them observe the first challenge. What difference would it make if they saw it again?

After thinking in silence for a moment, he said,

“Brother Kim’s method does seem worth trying. However, the more aggressive it is, the greater the backlash will likely be.”

“It won’t just be ‘greater.’”

Even when he had challenged it the standard way, he had been struck by sword energy and left half unconscious.

And now he would draw it and swing it directly?

Kim Ho said it like a flat certainty.

“You should assume serious injury no matter what.”

“I am [N O V E L I G H T] prepared for myself to be hurt. What worries me is whether I might become a burden to the others.”

If he collapsed, then the rest of the party would suffer a domino effect.

Not only would the difficulty of the clear afterward rise, in the worst case, they might even fail.

There was also the risk that someone besides him might end up dead or wounded.

But Kim Ho casually shot back,

“Did you forget? What I did for you last time.”

“......!”

An exclamation mark practically popped over Go Hyeonwoo’s head.

What Kim Ho meant was the thing that had completely restored him after he had taken internal injuries from the sword energy during the first challenge.

[‘Retrocovery’ is granted.]

Its three-day cooldown had obviously ended long ago.

He could use it again at any time, and if he did, then this time too any serious injury would be completely healed.

From the start, Kim Ho had been talking about the “aggressive method” with Retrocovery already in mind.

Kim Ho grinned and asked,

“So? You going or not?”

To Go Hyeonwoo, it sounded somehow more like, Even with all this, you’re still not going?

And that made a helpless laugh slip out of him without meaning to.

“Brother Kim truly is impossible to beat. I shall give it a try.”