Doll Demoness
While most people were busy preparing for midterms and getting ready for the Geumgang Festival.
So Hyeyul and I were drawing reliable people in beneath the surface, planning an operation to capture the Doll Demoness, Lee Gahyeon, in one fell swoop.
And at last, the day of execution arrived.
‘By now, the Witch, Instructor Noeul, the Guardian Bureau instructor, and the others should be lying in wait after setting the trap. The Chairperson and Sieun noona should be ready too….’
Since this was a period when students were absorbed in studying for exams and didn’t wander around campus much, there was no better opportunity.
So tonight, we would strike Lee Gahyeon.
Having received word from So Hyeyul the day before that there were no changes to the operation, I steeled my resolve.
I had no intention of changing my mind.
But before that….
‘Did I apply for this for nothing? Of all times, why did the date have to be set for today….’
I had to fight a ranking match.
By sheer coincidence, while coordinating the schedules of myself, my opponent, and the Hall of Honor, it had been set for today.
For me, it was bad luck.
‘If I had my way, I’d like to postpone it….’
Unfortunately, I couldn’t.
If I postponed a ranking match, it was usually delayed by about a month.
Then not only would the waiting period become longer, but if the ranking gap between my opponent and me narrowed in the meantime, or if I ended up overtaking my opponent’s ranking instead, it could actually work against me.
I would also have to accept the possibility that the opponent who had finally accepted my challenge might cancel it.
On the other hand, withdrawing wasn’t even under consideration.
‘If I withdraw, I’ll obviously be demoted.’
In the end, as soon as afternoon classes ended, I had to head to the Hall of Honor.
My friends, including Yeon Haneul, came along to cheer me on.
“During the ranking match, don’t think about anything else and just focus on the sparring for now. Got it? It’d be rude to your opponent, and you could get caught off guard and lose.”
“I know.”
Yeon Haneul had followed me all the way to the corridor leading to the sparring arena and was earnestly reminding me.
I answered as if it were nothing and shrugged.
Then I asked playfully.
“If I win and come back, what will you do for me?”
“Hm?”
“I’m only in the 2100s, while my opponent is a third-year senior ranked 300 places higher than me. Isn’t that way too unfavorable for me? So wouldn’t it be nice if there were some kind of reward to motivate me while I fight? What do you think?”
“Well, well? You’re the one who applied for the ranking match, so what are you even saying? Look at you.”
Yeon Haneul narrowed her red eyes in disbelief.
I slowly drove her, now pouting, toward the wall.
Soon, with nowhere left to retreat, her back was pressed against it.
“So you won’t give me anything? Do you want me to lose?”
“You’re going to win anyway even if I don’t give you anything. And yet you still want something from me?”
“Of course.”
Leaning back against the wall with her hands behind her back, Yeon Haneul giggled.
The way she gazed up at me so softly made my heart feel restless.
I touched her ears and stroked her hair.
“You’re messing up my hair.”
“Do you hate it?”
“Not really.”
“So you’re not going to do anything for me?”
“What do you want?”
“Anything’s fine as long as it’s from you.”
“Mm… then three kisses. If you win and come back, I’ll kiss you wherever you want. How’s that? Ah, not on the lips. We’re… not dating yet.”
“Three kisses wherever I want? Except the lips? That’s enough.”
“Now you’re motivated— Excuse me, little Do Gyeonu? You can’t try to sneak one in like that. We agreed the kisses would be after you win and come back.”
“My kiss and your kiss are different. When did I ever promise anything? You’re the only one who promised.”
“That sounds like a total double standard, but now that you mention it….”
“My-kiss, your-kiss?”
“Pfft, don’t abbreviate it weirdly. Do you want to kiss me that badly? Do you think it’ll motivate you?”
“Wouldn’t it be weirder if it didn’t?”
“Fine. We already did it once today, but I’ll specially let you do it one more time.”
Until just a moment ago, Yeon Haneul had been weakly pushing against my chest with her hands.
Now she gave permission as if bestowing a favor.
The corners of my lips rose, and I carefully placed my hands on her body as my eyes moved.
‘Where should I do it….’
Her cheek was out, since I had kissed it at lunch.
After thinking it over, I leaned my face toward Yeon Haneul, who seemed tense as she shrank back.
Startled, she quickly shut her eyes, and I kissed one of her eyelids.
Her eyelid trembled faintly.
“…Satisfied?”
“Yeah. I’ll be going now. Watch from the spectator seats with the others.”
“You have to win. If you lose and come back, I’ll scold you. And I won’t give you that either.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Yeon Haneul shyly smiled while rubbing one eyelid.
Turning my back on her, I headed into the sparring arena.
My opponent had already arrived and was standing in the arena.
“We will now begin the ranking match. Both of you, be careful not to kill each other, and I hope you will spar fair and square. Victory or defeat will be decided when one side admits defeat first, when one side is no longer able to fight, or when the referee judges at their own discretion that the match can no longer continue.”
The ranking match began with the instructor serving as referee blowing the whistle.
I immediately charged at my opponent.
‘Sorry, senior, but I’ll end this quickly.’
So I could go subjugate Lee Gahyeon.
And more than anything, so I could receive kisses from Yeon Haneul.
I had no intention of wasting time in a sluggish ranking match.
I would finish it in one swift stroke.
Lion’s Wild Dance
* * *
Do Gyeonu was apparently fighting a ranking match.
His opponent was said to be a third-year student nearing graduation, ranked a full 300 places above him.
For Lee Gahyeon, who, based on the information she had gathered so far, suspected Do Gyeonu to be the person who had killed her clone during the entrance exam, it was only natural for her to be interested.
‘It’s already impressive for a first-year to be in the low 2000s, but he’s aiming even higher from there…. Does that mean he’s that confident in his skills?’
Perhaps this would be a chance to confirm Do Gyeonu’s abilities.
Even without that, she had been feeling unsatisfied because she couldn’t properly grasp them from morning classes alone.
She had even been considering picking a fight with him, prepared to risk exposing her identity if necessary, so this was actually convenient.
And since Yu Noeul would be away, she was scheduled to be able to move around relatively freely after evening.
Lee Gahyeon decided to use that opportunity to go watch the ranking match in person.
And so, as soon as the surveillance around her lessened and she was moving toward the Hall of Honor….
‘Huh?’
She abruptly felt a familiar aura and stopped walking.
Lee Gahyeon, whose eyes turned sharp, quickly focused her mind and traced the faint presence she could sense.
‘There’s no mistake. It’s my soul.’
Lee Gahyeon herself and her clones were able to share various elements, such as each other’s existence, emotions, and memories, through a link connected by their souls.
And yet, a link that had not functioned for some time was now activating, however faintly.
What that meant was clear.
The soul fragment she had lost during the entrance exam existed nearby.
‘It hadn’t vanished yet?’
For them, who had lamented the state of their incomplete soul, it could only be good news.
But they were not foolish enough to rejoice blindly.
An aura they had been unable to find no matter how hard they searched was suddenly being detected. It was suspicious in every way.
They had to be wary.
‘It’s a trap, isn’t it?’
‘It’s a trap.’
They exchanged opinions through the link.
Surely the other side intended to use the soul fragment as bait to lure them out.
It was a trick whose intent was obvious.
Far too blatant.
‘What should we do?’
‘What should we do?’
‘This is troublesome….’
The problem was that they also couldn’t simply ignore it and pass by.
Because in order for her to become complete, the soul fragment was absolutely necessary.
They had no choice but to agonize over it.
‘It would be nice if we could contact the captured soul fragment….’
‘We can’t. I don’t know why, but the connection doesn’t reach that far.’
‘So we can only sense its existence….’
‘They probably put up some sort of barrier.’
‘In the end, the only way is to go there and confirm it ourselves.’
They, not their enemies, were the ones in the weaker position.
They didn’t like it, but even knowing it was a trap, they had no choice but to jump in.
After agonizing over it, they came to a conclusion.
However, since they expected the other side to be waiting in full readiness, they also had to prepare.
‘What should we do? Should we send only one person in first, and have the rest wait nearby?’
‘No, it’s dangerous. If something goes wrong, we could lose part of the soul again.’
‘What about calling in outside forces? We could call the villains who infiltrated the Academy and borrow their strength.’
‘It’s not a bad idea, but… it hurts my pride.’
‘Right. It’s the same as advertising all over the neighborhood that we’re incomplete. How do you think those bastards will mock us later? I’d rather not create any dark history if possible. And what if they stab us in the back?’
It was a matter that had to be resolved as quietly as possible.
In the end, they decided on a course of action.
‘Fine, we’ll go by ourselves.’
Even if they could not guess the enemy’s strength, if all of them moved together, they should be able to respond to some extent.
Moreover, if they obtained the soul fragment, she would return to being a complete existence.
At that point, she would be able to fight back sufficiently, and if necessary, she could escape on her own.
Having aligned their thoughts, they immediately hastened toward the place where they sensed the aura.
Before long, a building came into view.
‘That place is….’
It was Dongsik Hall, which had once been used as a lodging facility and was now closed off.
Ordinarily, one would need permission to enter this specially managed area of the campus. After setting foot inside, they hid themselves and examined the exterior of the old, shabby building.
‘The soul stone is inside there.’
‘Did they deliberately lure us here to minimize damage?’
‘For now, there don’t seem to be any other presences around.’
From here on, it was enemy territory.
They could not afford to lose focus.
At length, they emerged from the bushes, carefully suppressing their presence, and moved toward the building.
‘There don’t seem to be any traps….’
However, judging by the footprints that had been made recently on the dust-covered floor, it was clear that the enemy had done something.
Perhaps they were hiding inside.
Just because there were footprints leading out of the building didn’t mean they could simply trust that.
As specialists in intelligence work, they paid close attention to see whether there might be any traps.
For now, they could not find anything particularly abnormal.
If there was anything strange.
‘It won’t be near the entrance. It’ll be deeper inside, where the soul stone is.’
That was highly likely.
The closer they got to their destination, the more vigilant they became.
But when they finally entered the room where the soul stone was, their tension loosened without them realizing it.
“Ah….”
Amid the clutter of miscellaneous supplies, the soul stone was floating in the center of the space.
It was indeed her soul stone.
A sigh escaped them as they were captivated by the multicolored radiance it emitted.
Faced with the soul fragment they had thought they would never see again, they could not help but be overwhelmed.
‘With this, we can become complete.’
The soul stone, which looked as though it had been left there all alone, was protected by various security spells.
And yet they paid no heed and reached out.
They broke the magical formulas with brute force and seized the soul stone.
The anomaly occurred immediately after.
────!!!
The explosion prepared by the instructors engulfed them where they stood.
There was no time to defend.
Their vision was dyed red by flames, their ears were deafened by the roar, and as if that weren’t enough, the heat that struck them directly began melting their bodies, starting with their hair.
Even so.
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!
Having at last regained her complete existence, Lee Gahyeon did not howl in pain, but laughed madly.
The laughter did not stop at all, even after her lips fused together.
A sound rising from her soul burst endlessly from within the flames.
At that moment.
The seed of the end is here.
A power that could not be perceived, and should not be perceived, filled her before she knew it.
Lee Gahyeon did not resist that power and obediently accepted it.
Meanwhile, through the soul stone she had absorbed, she was able to look into its memories.
—You really are my type. I want to make you part of my collection. You pass.
How her clone had met its death during the entrance exam.
Lee Gahyeon came to know the whole truth.
—Yeah, you fail.
It was Do Gyeonu of the Divine Sword Do Family.
He truly was the one who had killed her.
Having finally solved the mystery, Lee Gahyeon felt relieved.
At the same time, desire surged up within her.
Do Gyeonu, Gyeonu.
I will definitely….
I love you.
She would make him hers.
If she could not, then she would kill him and keep him in her collection.
So….
I’m coming to meet you now.
Rank 6 monster, Empress Arachne.
Using that existence as her matrix, Lee Gahyeon, now completely transformed into a fiend, emerged from the flames.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss