“Isn’t it a more appropriate question to ask, ‘Why did you come to me?’ rather than such a question.”
Jin Ye-Seul, who smiled and burst into laughter, gave a completely different feeling from her usual appearance.
In fact, if other people had seen her now, they might have been nervous at least for a moment because of the alien feeling.
To that extent, there was something disturbing about Jin Ye-Seul now.
“…… .”
But I was different.
Rather, I was much more familiar with her appearance now.
Jin Ye-Seul.
When it came to heterogeneity among playable characters, there was no one who could match her.
Of course, not all playable characters were as innately good as Choi Hyun-Woo or Han Soo-Young.
In the case of Lee Ye-Eun and Ahn Do-Hoon, they were sometimes involved in so-called dirty work, and in the case of Cass Lyle, his very existence was implicated in illegality and all kinds of crimes.
However, there was no character other than Jin-Ye Seul who blatantly disrespected human life, and lacked morality, making you question whether she was worthy of the word hero.
In the first place, if you were to play as her, you would be killing from the very first episode.
“As expected, you’re not surprised.”
At her words, I was able to regain my composure.
Okay.
I knew that one day she would come like this.
So I was always wary of her, and she must have felt it too.
I watched her carefully as if observing her, and thought that it was fortunate that she revealed her true nature when she was still weak and inexperienced.
“All right. Shall I change the question as you asked? Why the hell did you come to me?”
“Well, I have something to do with you.”
“That’s why you even broke the door to my personal training room?”
“Yes.”
I glanced around.
Of course, at some point, the CCTV and everything else had stopped working.
She must have cut off everything except for the training simulation so that I wouldn’t be able to feel it.
When did she do it?
Orhe Academy’s computer system boasted the highest level of security in the world, but the reality was like this.
I sighed a little.
“So why? Are you trying to confess to me? I’m sorry if you want that, but you’re not my type.”
At my words, Jin Ye-Seul burst out laughing as if she had heard a funny joke.
“Your shoulders and neck are all stiff.”
“What?”
Jin Ye-Seul looked at me with a sudden slurred sound.
“Your heart rate is the same as when you were moving your body hard earlier. No, it’s a little faster now? Yes. Your face is a little pale. Your eyelids are a little twitchy. You’re not breaking out in a cold sweat yet… Isn’t your mouth dry?”
Jin Ye-Seul, who had been only saying what she wanted to say, murmured.
“You’re pretending to be relaxed, but your body is telling me that you’re nervous.”
“… .”
I didn’t say anything.
It was because there was no benefit in mixing words with her for no reason.
But she seemed to take it in a different way.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything terrible. I just… I just wanted to ask you something.”
I glanced around.
“CCTV is down, you’ve been hiding for who knows how long, you’re stalking me in the shadows, you’re watching me like a stalker, you’re briefing me on my health like a psycho doctor, and you’re not going to do anything terrible? I’d like to give you an answer with great faith.”
She smiled at my sarcastic remarks, raising the corners of her mouth.
“If you say such useless things, it’s like you’re telling me that you’re really nervous. If it were me, I would just keep my mouth shut.”
“Because I’m not nervous.”
At my words, Jin Ye-Seul looked sulky and pouted her lips.
After making a sulking expression for a while, Jin Ye-Seul returned to her expressionless face.
“So.”
She looked at me without blinking.
To be exact, my shadow.
“Where did you get that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I see.”
You don’t want to answer.
Jin Ye-Seul, who said so, no longer asked me questions.
Instead, she lowered herself and immediately rushed straight to me with a strange movement.
‘Really, what kind of movement… !’
I knew very well what that footwork was.
It was because it was one of the fraudulent-level arts that were useful when playing as Jin Ye-Seul in the original story.
A foot technique called Flowing Snake.
In that state, no matter what attack you received, you could always avoid it and unconditionally counter the opponent.
‘Then.’
The only way to deal with it was to step back without confronting it.
As I recalled that fact, my body was already moving away from her.
“…… .”
Then Jin Ye-Seul’s eyes became even duller.
I couldn’t understand anything about people like her, but at least I knew exactly what she was thinking right now.
‘You must be dying to tear me apart and kill me.’
There was only one thing she was obsessed with.
Everything related to Shadow Walker.
It was the only thing she was obsessed with and envied, as she was circling around in society, unable to form a strong bond with her biological parents.
That was why it was obvious that she was reacting so violently to the fact that I had Henir’s Shadow, which can be said to be his greatest legacy and pronoun.
Her figure, which had been shaking like a mirage, gradually returned to normal.
It must have been about 3 seconds.
The only downside to the Flowing Snake was its short duration and long re-use time.
However, she danced straight to me without showing any signs of shaking.
“Ugh!”
It was called Capoeira.
[Note: Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music.]
Jin Ye-Seul spun her body around with her hands on the ground, throwing incessant kicks at me as if she were dancing.
Every time her leg passed by, there was an eerie pounding sound as if she was swinging a whip.
I had no choice but to keep backing away from the attack I had never encountered before.
Whoosh!
At the moment, when I held out my dagger to block her kick, I heard the sound of clanging iron.
“… Crazy.”
I looked closer and saw a blade had somehow popped out of her shoe.
Somehow, the shin of her knee socks and the part of her knee also had sharp blades.
It was fortunate that I had blocked or avoided them, but if they had hit me, I would have been badly injured.
“… .”
As the speed and rotation were reduced by what I had blocked, Jin Ye-Seul lightly bounced back, retreating backward.
She was scrutinizing me as if making an estimate.
‘Have you acquired only one legacy yet?’
It was fortunate.
I caught my breath and looked at her feet.
Something sticky was glistening on the protruding blade part.
It looked like poison was applied.
‘Which is… .’
The branch of the World Tree was still dormant.
If I had been able to use the World Tree, it would have been her best match against her, but it was just a pity.
‘Jin Ye-Seul is a typical assassin style… and she is very good at martial arts.’
However, it seemed that she had not mastered the art perfectly.
Using a unique foot technique to instantly pounce on her opponent, subdue her opponent with her fighting techniques, and catch the opponent off guard with memorization.
That was her main tactic.
I don’t know if it’s okay to call that method the assassin’s method, but..….
‘The moment you get close, it’s over.’
If it went to close combat, even Choi Hyun-Woo or Ahn Do-Hoon would have a hard time.
That also meant the moment I stuck to close combat, it would be over.
Fortunately, Jin Ye-Seul’s goal was to subdue me, not to kill me.
Of course, she’d have her hands full.
But it was the same for me who had to suppress her without killing her.
Jin Ye-Seul played a very important role in the original story, and there are stories that could only be solved with her.
She must be subdued without killing.
But how?
‘Then first… .’
Tying her feet first.
I quickly moved my hand and grabbed Banshee’s necklace.
“Heup!”
As soon as I moved, Jin Ye-Seul also moved quickly.
If I hadn’t ducked reflexively, I would be hit by something she spewed out of her mouth.
At the same time as she fired memorization at me, Jin Ye-Seul rushed in right away, but I could clearly feel that her speed or momentum had decreased compared to before.
And she clicked her tongue quietly as if she felt it herself.
“Your eyes are twitching.”
I muttered and moved Henir’s Shadow.
Jin Ye-Seul, who saw it, let out a small breath.
“Are you nervous?”
At the end of my words, Henir’s Shadow branched out like a root and rushed towards her.
The situation was completely reversed from before.
For her, who specialized in close combat, Henir’s Shadow and branch the World Tree were great counter.
“Fu… !”
Jin Ye-Seul tried to swear, but she couldn’t.
With a rattling sound, her ankles were sucked into the ground as if she had fallen into a bog.
I already knew that for her, whose specialty was close combat, the kind of skills like the branches of the World Tree and Henir’s Shadow were great counters.
“Ug… !”
Jin Ye-Seul glared at me with a burning gaze.
I was already running towards her at that moment, swinging my dagger with all my strength.
Chaeeng!
One more time the metallic sound rang out.
Before I knew it, she had stopped my attack despite her unsteady stance.
‘Where the hell are those coming out from?’
Just then, another dagger slipped out from inside the sleeve of her dress.
In a flash, I found myself exchanging a number of attacks with her.
“Keuk….. .”
A moment later, I felt a slight pain in my arm and immediately backed away from her.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that I had a long cut on my arm.
Fortunately, the wound was not deep, but tears were coming out and a lot of blood was flowing out.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and glared at her.
I knew she could use a dagger too.
Even though her feet were tied there, she was not hurt at all.
It was proof that she was far superior to me.
‘I’ll have to knock her out from a distance.’
With that in mind, I was about to move Henir’s Shadow.
As if to interrupt me, a notification window appeared in front of me.
[You have gained a large amount of proficiency in ‘Dagger Mastery’ due to a confrontation with a superior opponent.]
[Henir’s Shadow detects a strange attraction! An additional correction is added to the skill of the hidden effect ‘Dagger Mastery’!]
[Henir’s Shadow recalls nostalgic memories! Temporarily additional corrections will be added to the experience of all skills!]
[Synergy effect! Multiple effects are mixed to increase the effect of the ‘Concentration Awakening Potion’ even more!]
“…… .”
I quietly raised my dagger.
* * *
Jin Ye-Seul could feel cold sweat running down her cheek.
She couldn’t even comprehend how much she had fought with him.
Having her own feet tied up, which was the core of her mobility, was a huge shackle.
As if playing with her tied up like that, Yoo Ji-Hyuk continued to rush in and out.
“… … .”
She once more tried to pull her foot out, but she couldn’t move as if the plaster had hardened.
Even if she tried to throw hidden memorization, there was no time to do so, and even if she threw it, the shadows were lashing out like a whip.
Shadow.
Henir’s Shadow.
Shadow Walker’s Legacy.
Something she must have.
With a grinding sound, Jin-Ye-Seul bit her lip.
Blood trickled down her chin at the action, but she didn’t care.
The situation was problematic, but more than anything, her head was full of thoughts about Yoo Ji-Hyuk.
‘… What.’
The way he handled the dagger was something she had seen many times before.
And the conclusion she came to was that it was terrible.
Even if her legs were tied like this now, she would have blocked his attack even with her eyes closed.
However, her arms were now full of wounds inflicted by Yoo Ji-Hyuk.
It wasn’t fatal, but the fact that she was injured was important.
‘What is it?’
Above all, his attacks became increasingly fierce and explicit as he went on.
It was incomprehensible to her.
Even as talented as she was, she had spent years in training.
Jin Ye-Seul couldn’t accept the fact that what she had accumulated had been caught up in less than an hour.
How on earth…
Talent.
Her body trembled as her thoughts reached that point.
“No way… … .”
Could it be that he is more talented than she was?
“No… .”
Then it wasn’t she who was qualified to be his true successor, but him……
“Noooo!!!”
Jin Ye-Seul shouted like a raging dog.
And it soon became a gap.
“Keuk!”
The dagger bounced off with a dull metallic sound
She was in a hurry to take out even a small dagger, but it was already too late.
The cool touch just below her chin forced her to stop her actions.
“…… .”
When Jin Ye-Seul stared at him without saying a word, Yoo Ji-Hyuk took a breath for a moment and asked her.
In the meantime, Henir’s Shadow began to tightly bind her body.
“So, do you have any thoughts of telling me why you attacked me?”
Silence.
Despite her silent reply, he did not get annoyed or fussed.
“Oh, you won’t say anything?”
In the silence that continued, he made a look as if he was thinking about something for a moment.
Then he mumbled in a low voice as if he had made a decision.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t say anything.”
At the next words that followed, Jin Ye-Seul had no choice but to open her eyes wide.
“Because I can’t leave someone who stole my ancestor’s arts alone anyway.”
