I have yet to kill a person, but I feel no resistance toward killing.
In a battle where lives hang in the balance, hesitation is arrogance that leads to certain defeat, and nothing more than a luxury.
In order to keep oneself from dying, there is ultimately no choice but to kill the other person.
Even the strong are no exception.
To begin with, the distinction between the weak and the strong is as meaningless as the distinction between life and death.
Just as one is dead if one’s eyes are closed and alive if they are open, the dead are the weak, and those who survive are the strong.
So if one resolves to live, there is nothing one cannot do.
—It is good not to take another’s life lightly. However, in a battle fought with life and death at stake, do you truly think another’s life can weigh more heavily than your own? Remember this: if you enter battle with a mindset that does not value yourself, the one who dies may be you. There is nothing as valuable or important as your own life.
Having engraved Seo Jeongjin’s teaching into his heart, Kang Hanbyeol was prepared for the killing he would one day experience.
But that time was not now.
It would be troublesome if Do Seungwoo died here.
If only to take responsibility for this incident, he had to remain alive.
Punishment would come after that.
And for the sake of Do Gyeonwoo, who would surely bear a grudge against him, he could not die.
Do Gyeonwoo had to be given the chance to bring things to an end himself.
Thus, right before deciding the match, Kang Hanbyeol struck Lucid down with the back of his blade.
“Phew, that could’ve been dangerous.”
Do Seungwoo seemed to have been aiming for something at the very end as well, but it did not work.
Caught off guard and allowing the attack, he ultimately lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
With that, the morale of the students who followed Do Seungwoo broke.
“S-Seungwoo! D-Do Seungwoo’s down! Everyone, run!”
“N-no! Seungwoo, get up! Get up, you bastard!”
“It’s not over yet! We just have to take them down!”
“Take them down, my ass! I can’t do it! I said I can’t!”
The students from renowned swordsmanship clans, who had much to lose if Do Seungwoo’s scheme failed, did not abandon hope and tried to bring the situation under control, but it was hopeless.
Bak Sagun and Yong Haerang, having read the tide of battle, began taking them down first.
And so the people who had gathered around Do Seungwoo as their center of gravity fell apart.
It did not end there.
Whoosh!
All of a sudden, a wall of fire surged up in the direction the students were fleeing.
Beyond it, the presence of people approached in droves.
Soon the flames died down, and the woman at the front shouted in a loud voice.
“I am No Hyowon of the Crimson No Clan! Capture all the traitors!”
The Fighting Princess of the Crimson No Clan, No Hyowon.
Having suppressed Do Seungwoo’s rebellion throughout the Forest of Delusion and rallied those who followed Do Gyeonwoo, she had arrived as reinforcements.
The tide had turned completely, beyond any chance of reversal.
Only then could Kang Hanbyeol, Bak Sagun, and Yong Haerang, who had little stamina remaining, feel relieved.
‘Since they’re fighting in our place, I don’t need to step in.’
They had never formally exchanged greetings, but through Do Gyeonwoo, they knew each other’s faces.
When Kang Hanbyeol’s eyes met No Hyowon’s as she raised flames, blocked the retreat, and captured the enemies, he lightly lowered his head in greeting.
Then he approached Do Seungwoo, who lay sprawled out in the shape of the character 大.
“Let’s see… He said it was this earlier, right? Ah, there’s a label on it. Yeah, this is it.”
Kang Hanbyeol searched Do Seungwoo’s pocket and found the antidote.
But there was no telling whether he might have lied again.
Assuming the worst, he tore the entire pocket off altogether.
Then he carefully patted down his body, checking whether he had hidden anything else.
Lastly….
“Gyeonwoo said I could take it, right? I’ll be taking this.”
As expected, there was nothing quite as rewarding as taking something that belonged to someone else.
It was thrilling.
Kang Hanbyeol removed the Brooch of Wind and Waves attached to Do Seungwoo’s school uniform.
Then, after pinning the brooch to his own uniform, he smiled in satisfaction.
‘Master, I defeated someone from the Divine Sword Do Clan. Gyeonwoo hasn’t yet, though.’
* * *
The mana that an existence releases outward contains that existence’s thoughts, emotions, memories, and the like.
The more deeply those things, called remnants of the soul in mana studies, are engraved into the world, the more power mana exerts.
In particular, the mana that dissipates when an existence returns to nature affects the world even more strongly.
The beings born through that process are spirits.
Originating from the most instinctive and primal parts among the remnants of the soul, they generally have no ego and simply exist in a state of natural inaction.
Therefore, a spirit master can be said to be one who employs them and wields their power.
Naturally, a spirit master’s ability comes down to how many powerful spirits they can command.
In that respect, it was clear that Cha Eunsol possessed outstanding qualities as a spirit master.
‘In the game, there were limits to how it could be implemented, so I only thought it looked flashy, but seeing it like this, it’s really no joke.’
It is not easy to form contracts with spirits, which maintain their existence through mana as their source.
In order to be joined with those who are assimilated with nature, spirit affinity was required.
But spirit affinity usually tended to be innate, and it was difficult to strengthen as well.
So much so that spirit arts were considered the system most heavily influenced by one’s talent.
It was no wonder the Cycle Cha Clan had never once lost its place among the Ten Clans and had continued to maintain its position as the foremost renowned clan of spirit arts.
Cha Eunsol, who was called a loafer in such a clan… no, a lazy genius, was on an entirely different level.
Without a doubt, her talent and potential were evaluated as the strongest in history.
‘There’s never been a time when someone who just eats and sleeps every day felt this reassuring.’
A brown wolf turtle, a red iguana, a blue emperor penguin, and more.
Countless lowest-, low-, and mid-rank spirits had manifested around her.
They were all spirits Cha Eunsol had summoned.
They moved according to her commands and opposed the monsters.
The multicolored auras they emitted continuously lit up the darkness.
───!!
Cha Eunsol, looking almost as though she were commanding a legion, had her green eyes shining.
If spirit masters had seen the sight, they would surely have fainted on the spot.
To that extent, the way she commanded spirits without showing any particular sign of strain placed her far outside the ordinary category of a spirit master.
‘That’s all thanks to Eunsol’s Gift.’
As I cut down monsters with the Ultramarine Sword, I glanced sideways at Cha Eunsol, who was stirring up wind on one side.
Her status window appeared in my vision.
[Personal Information]
Name: Cha Eunsol (Female · 17 years old)
Alias: Lazy Genius and 1 other [+Details]
Affiliation: Geumgang Academy
[Owned Gift]
Astral Body
[Physical Abilities]
Stamina: 52
Strength: 44
Durability: 46
Agility: 52
Mana: 77
Luck: 50
Remaining Points: 0
Gift, Astral Body.
The effect of the Gift, which had only been vaguely mentioned in the game, was as follows.
[Astral Body]
◆ Gift Classification
—Always Active Type
◆ Detailed Effects
—Critical rate increases by 30% only against beings classified as spiritual bodies.
—Lowers mana consumption for all skills related to spirit arts by 30%.
—Raises acquisition efficiency for all skills related to spirit arts by 50%.
—All skills related to spirit arts are raised to Lv 3 upon acquisition.
—….
There was no need to explain further; it was an absurdly overpowered Gift.
It was understandable that the Cycle Cha Clan could not treat Cha Eunsol recklessly, and that spirit masters would envy her.
‘Though that makes it all the more terrifying if she goes berserk….’
Cha Eunsol, too, was one of the owners of a bad ending.
Knowing the world that would be destroyed because of her, I could not forget to remain vigilant.
Perhaps it would be better for both the world and for her if she simply lazed around and lived idly.
Deciding to be careful about her, I dealt with the monsters.
The enemies, who had seemed to be surging in endlessly, were gradually dwindling.
The defensive battle, where we had been unable to rest even for a moment, was now not far from ending.
‘They know there’s no hope for them either, so they’re retreating. We just have to hold out a little longer.’
I resolved to fight desperately to the very end.
I drove my body, exhausted from running through the forest all day, even harder.
Entrusting myself to the call of Evasion Instinct, I moved dazzlingly among the monsters and swung my sword.
At times, I used Hard Skin to reduce unnecessary stamina consumption.
Since I had been fighting such an intense battle, remnants of Blue Thunder were throwing off sparks all across the battlefield.
Frequently absorbing the remnants into the Ultramarine Sword, I fired blue lightning whenever an opportunity arose.
For me, who did not have many area-of-effect techniques, there was nothing more suitable than this.
───!!
A blue flash, brought down in a straight line, swept over the group of monsters ahead.
The ones at the center vanished, leaving magic stones behind, while those around them suffered heavy damage.
I immediately leaped into their midst and unleashed Attack Form Sixth Style: Lion’s Wild Dance.
It was then that the forest visible far in the distance grew bright.
It looked as if someone had set a fire.
Strangely, the fire did not spread around it, but repeatedly died down and flared up as it moved toward where we were.
And when that fire had almost reached us, familiar faces popped out.
“Do Gyeonwoooooo! We’re here!”
“Heeey! Is Haneul okay!?”
“Cerberus Unit! Bows!”
“Is everyone all right!? How is Haneul!?”
The triplets and Lisa Grace.
The four of them, making a commotion as they appeared, joined us.
But they were not the only ones who had come as reinforcements.
“It seems we arrived right on time, without being late! Well done, Bak Sagun!”
“I only served as a guide, but haha….”
“Gyeonwoo! Here’s another antidote! They said you need to give her this one too!”
Yong Haerang, Bak Sagun, and Kang Hanbyeol.
The three of them appeared from the direction the flames were approaching.
With them joining as well, the battle became even easier.
‘From the looks of it, Hanbyeol won nicely.’
With this, the first-year first-semester midterm exam episode had come to an end.
All that remained was cleaning up afterward.
I quickly sent Kang Hanbyeol, who had brought the antidote, to where Yeon Haneul was.
No Hyowon arrived with reinforcements shortly after.
“We have subdued all of Do Seungwoo’s gang. Do Gyeonwoo, have I now passed your test?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you came at just the right time to help. Thanks. You guys too. But what happened to Do Seungwoo?”
“Originally, I intended to bind them and bring them here… but Instructor Noeul and the other instructors came midway and asked us to hand them over. Instructor Noeul said you would allow it, so I accepted the request… I didn’t make a mistake, did I?”
“So Instructor Noeul moved…. No, you did well. Instructor Noeul is on our side, so there’s no need to worry.”
No Hyowon supported me in battle while reporting what had happened.
Having made a deal with Yu Noeul in advance over Do Seungwoo’s cheating, I nodded without concern.
For now, I decided to leave the details for later and focus on the battle.
Time passed after that….
“Thanks to Hanbyeol-Dubyeol bringing the antidote, we were able to cut down the time quite a bit! Haneul-Haneul is okay now, so you can relax! Then I guess I’ll go see some blood too!”
Nam Yuri, having entrusted Yeon Haneul’s care to Lisa, joined the battle along with good news.
With our morale rising and all of us fighting with all our strength, we were finally able to drive away the monsters.
* * *
When the battle ended, the area had been completely reduced to a mess.
Since Min Arin had set fires several times, and Cha Eunsol had even added her strength, it was only natural.
‘Now I can finally catch my breath.’
Riding the wind, the smell of burning stung my nose.
From time to time, the fishy smell of blood drifted over as well.
That was because on the ground, where ashes scattered in the wind, the corpses of monsters whose bodies had not vanished were piled up in large numbers.
Meanwhile, as if to announce that a large-scale battle had taken place, their magic stones lay scattered everywhere.
‘I can leave those to Hyowon.’
In order to clean up the battlefield, No Hyowon was instructing the students to gather the spoils.
Acknowledging her capability, I decided to leave it entirely to her.
There was something else more important than that.
‘I have to go see Haneul.’
That was the only thought in my head.
While giving perfunctory replies to the students who greeted me and offered words of praise, I headed toward the cave where Yeon Haneul was.
In place of Nam Yuri, who had gone to stand watch in case there were any other threats, Lisa, who had been looking after Yeon Haneul, greeted me.
“Ah, Gyeonu. Good work. You must be exhausted from fighting, right?”
“Thankfully, I can manage. How’s Haneul?”
“I think we’ll have to keep an eye on her progress, but she doesn’t seem bad. Just like Yuri said, the detoxification seems to have succeeded cleanly.”
“I see.”
Go Eunbi and Cha Eunsol were there as well.
After briefly exchanging a few words with the two of them, I sat down on the floor and looked down at Yeon Haneul.
Sure enough, perhaps because her condition had improved, she was sleeping soundly.
Even the soft sound of her breathing was pleasant to hear, with nothing labored about it.
It was then that her brow furrowed.
“Mm…”
“Ah, I think she’s coming to. Haneul, how does your body feel now?”
“Haneul, are you okay?”
“…”
Yeon Haneul opened her eyes.
Lying on the sickbed, she blinked as she looked up at me, Lisa, and the others.
It seemed her mind was still hazy, and she couldn’t grasp the situation yet.
Before long, with a blank look on her face, she turned her gaze to me and slowly parted her lips.
“Who… are you?”
“…”
At her reaction, as if she were treating me like someone she was seeing for the first time.
Not only I, but everyone around us could not help but flinch.
‘No way, she…’
I didn’t want to accept it, but the worst possibility surfaced in my mind.
My fists clenched on their own.
‘Do Seungwoo, that bastard…’
Perhaps the treatment had been too late, and Yeon Haneul had suffered side effects.
My face twisting, I chewed over Do Seungwoo’s name inwardly and cursed him.
I decided that the moment we left the Gate, I would go find that bastard at once.
Meanwhile, the others seemed to have arrived at similar thoughts as me.
Go Eunbi covered her mouth with her hand.
“Haneul, don’t tell me your memories…”
“You… know me…?”
“…”
There was no doubt.
Yeon Haneul had amnesia.
At her reaction, tilting her head in confusion, we all swallowed our breath and lost our words.
But our grief lasted only a moment.
All of a sudden, she let out a little giggle.
“Sorry, that was a lie. Of course I know who all of you are. I’m sorry for playing a prank for no reason.”
“Yeon Haneul, you…”
Yeon Haneul apologized in a soft voice.
She called out each of our names one by one, reassuring us.
After calling my name last, she looked at me and smiled bashfully.
It was truly a smile so unfair it made it impossible to get angry.
Suppressing the emotions welling up inside me, I scolded her.
“Seriously… don’t scare people like that.”
“Okay, I won’t. I’m sorry, Gyeonu. And thank you, truly.”
“No. I’m the one who should be thanking you. For staying safe.”
If there was a god, I only wanted to pray.
Thank you, truly, for saving Haneul.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss