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“Black Dragon! The Nesto Guild is here!”
A voice reached Hanbit’s ears as he pushed through the rain-soaked path.
It was Haneul, the girl he had spoken with in the Royal Capital.
-Isn’t that the voice from earlier?
-Nesto came again?
-Pretty dedicated for a PK guild lol
-Their revisit rate is insane.
-Info) They keep coming to PK, and keep getting wiped every time.
-A reverse-stomp regular. lol
“Nesto?”
“It seems they’ve come to interfere again.”
The moment Nesto’s name was spoken, reactions flooded in.
‘They came after all.’
Hanbit had sensed that someone would intervene.
Even setting the twins aside, he had felt several faint gazes watching from the shadows.
He just hadn’t expected it to be that girl, Haneul, who spotted them first.
Krrrrumble—!
At some point, thunder had begun mixing into the downpour.
Hanbit cut the stream audio and slipped off the sloped side path with the two who had been following him.
“I’ll draw their attention. Head to the location I described earlier. If you run into any Nesto guild members, use this.”
He reached into his inventory and handed over an item.
A Wandering Branch, purchased from the auction house.
Snapping it releases an effect that disorients the sense of direction in nearby living creatures.
Anyone caught unaware would feel the entire sky spinning around them.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we helped? How many of them are there?”
Kim Jaeha asked with concern.
But in conditions this poor, working alone was far more efficient.
“We’d more likely end up getting in the way. Black Dragon’s stats are in a completely different league from his level.”
Avant-garde shook his head and agreed, having anticipated the difficulty.
It was an honest admission — he had been acutely aware of the gap widening between them lately.
‘My stats…. have grown quite a bit, it’s true.’
[Black Dragon — Lv.84]
[Title: None]
Strength: 132
Agility: 132
Intelligence: 132
Stamina: 115
Remaining Stat Points: 0
The total of his evenly distributed stats had already reached vanguard-tier.
Factor in the effects of his weapon and title, and it was even higher.
He had no intention of calling the two of them a hindrance, but if they died, he would lose this entry opportunity.
Yes — handling this situation himself was the right call.
“Then please head out immediately, you two. Make sure you have your entry tickets on you.”
Tat—!
With that final reminder, Hanbit kicked off the ground.
The location Haneul’s voice had come from was several dozen meters ahead.
Visibility through the rain was no more than a few meters, but that wasn’t a problem.
Kwa-boom—!
A thunderous crash rang out — apparently the twin siblings had engaged in battle.
Hanbit drew his sword and advanced straight into the fray.
And the moment he crested the sloped rise—
Fwish—!
A sword shot out from the brush, flying straight for his face.
Clang—!
He deflected the blow and pressed forward, locking eyes with a masked man.
Four red lines were marked beside the man’s name.
Whoosh—!
The man lunged again, thrusting his sword forward.
Reading the motion, Hanbit tilted his head and slipped inside the man’s reach.
Shhhk—!
The blade skimmed past his cheek and sliced through empty air.
Then Hanbit’s open palm came to a stop directly in front of the man’s face.
“Fire Lance.”
Ka-boom—!
The explosion at point-blank range dealt heavy damage and blotted out the view.
Before the shockwave was washed away by the downpour, Hanbit drove his sword toward the unseen enemy’s throat.
Thud—!
The blade pierced through the center without a hair’s deviation.
The eyes of the masked man — the only part of his face visible — went wide.
When the light faded from his pupils as he registered an instant-kill, his body blurred and vanished entirely.
Ding—
[Experience points increased by 150,000.]
-Instant delete lol
-Easy, right?
-Four red lines means he’d be pretty tough though
-Gotta be at least level 150+?
-Just eats through the level gap. lol
Tat—!
As the chat blazed with excitement, Hanbit kicked off again.
Ka-boom—!
The sounds of battle continued.
He couldn’t tell whether it was only Haneul fighting, or whether the twins were engaged together.
But tracking the source of sound and vibration was effortless for Hanbit.
Fwish—!
He leapt high into the air and landed on a thick branch above.
In conditions like this, moving branch to branch was far faster than the ground.
Shhhk—!
Just then, a battle came into view on a tree a short distance away.
Through the rain, a girl with sky-blue hair.
A man standing on the ground below was thrusting a spear up at her.
Fwish—!
Whoosh—!
Haneul leapt back and forth between the branches, weaving around the attacks.
Setting aside raw ability — those eyes, that instinct, were not something someone her age should possess.
‘She’s already using the wind like that.’
The way Haneul had learned to move with the wind from Aslra was not a structured technique.
It could be wielded freely, as creatively as one’s own ability allowed.
In that sense, this girl named Haneul was strikingly exceptional.
The way she wove the wind into each and every movement was almost too natural.
Of course, the enemies were hardly standing idle either.
Fwish—!
From a blind spot above Haneul — who was busy evading — another enemy’s sword came slashing in.
At that same instant, Hanbit activated Wind Leap.
Whoosh—!
His body burst forward in a ripple of force, closing the distance in an instant.
So fast no one could have perceived it.
Slash—!
Hanbit’s drawn sword cut diagonally across the ambushing player.
Along the sharp wind-laced trajectory, the man’s upper body was cleaved from shoulder to neck.
Ding—
[Experience points increased by 180,000.]
[Level increased by 1.]
[1 Stat Point has been granted.]
-Whoa
-Insane speed lol
-How do you even react to that?
-Always going for the throat, it’s terrifying
-ㄹㅇ visibility is absolute trash right now
Even with a level gap, the difference could be bridged well enough.
The value packed into his weapon, title, and skills was immense — and his advantage in experience was overwhelming.
An ambush like that was ultimately the failure of the one who failed to account for it.
Tat-tat—!
The spearman below, having witnessed his ally’s death, quickly retreated into the brush.
As Hanbit tracked his direction, a voice reached him.
“Wow, can you actually get that fast?”
Haneul, perched on a branch, asked with sparkling eyes.
She looked as though she was simply enjoying herself.
“Get back to the Royal Capital.”
“But I was the one who found the Nesto Guild. Just give me one chance.”
“One chance for what? That looked pretty dangerous just now.”
“Ah, that was…”
Shhhk—!
In that moment, a spear wreathed in blue light came flying from directly behind Haneul.
Hanbit reached out to grab her shoulder and deflect it.
But—
Whorl—!
Haneul had already spun around, lowered her stance, and swung her sword upward.
Clang—!
A precise upward parry, timed perfectly.
The charging spear was sent veering off its trajectory and buried into a tree trunk.
“Ah, it broke.”
A large crack had split through the sword Haneul had used to block the skill.
It was evidence of just how wide the gap between her and the attacker truly was.
-??
-How did she block that??
-Kids these days are scary
-Info) If she learned Aslra’s skills, she’s already beaten Balder in a sparring match.
-Honestly kind of jealous…
-Guess there was a reason she begged to be taken as a student.
‘….Her judgment is sharp.’
Judging the direction of the attack from Hanbit’s gaze.
Judging the force of the incoming strike.
Judging not to block it head-on, but to deflect it instead.
For someone sixteen years old, this was the power of instinctive, innate sense.
It had to be called pure talent, in the truest sense of the word.
Tat—!
Hanbit activated Wind Leap and charged toward the enemy.
Beyond the brush was the man who had thrown the spear.
Whoosh—!
The man swiftly drew a dagger from his waist.
Not a bad call — but meaningless right now.
Whoosh—!
Layer upon layer of wind surged through Hanbit’s sword.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, he launched into Storm Barrage.
Fwish—!
The first strike came crashing down, unleashing a violent gust of wind.
Clang—!
The man raised his dagger to block — and was sent flying by an impact he hadn’t anticipated, his grip torn loose.
At the same instant, the second strike swung in a wide arc, conjuring another storm.
Whoosh—!
Shhk—!
The wind-edged blade arced upward and severed the man’s arm clean off.
Eyes wide, he tried to counter with his remaining hand.
But the third strike had already cut through the raindrops.
Fwish—!
Slash—!
His form blurred and vanished alongside his cleanly severed neck.
All of this had unfolded in less than five seconds.
Ding—
[Experience points increased by 200,000.]
[Level increased by 1.]
[1 Stat Point has been granted.]
-That skill is so damn cool
-3/0/0
-Come on out, the rest of you trash~
-Tried to ambush him and got wiped again?
-No sound makes it feel even more intense somehow
-Even with sound it’d probably be drowned out by the rain anyway lol
The audio was still muted, but viewers were getting plenty of visual entertainment.
“Wow, can I learn that too?”
Haneul had been watching nearby and came over, glancing around curiously.
There was no chance she’d be heading back to the Royal Capital at this point.
“Here.”
Hanbit pulled a spare sword from his inventory and handed it over.
“Wow, thank you!”
Haneul accepted it with both hands and gave it a light swing.
She was testing the feel of the weapon.
“Oh, there was also a famous person — besides the Nesto Guild.”
Just then, Haneul casually said something odd.
“A famous person?”
“That guy who wrote the guidebook — Adventurer A. He was there with them.”
“…What?”
Hanbit was taken aback.
Adventurer A, the very person he had been trying to track down through an information broker — and now that person had appeared out of nowhere, right here.
On top of that, showing up alongside the Nesto Guild was openly hostile intent.
“Where’s your brother?”
“He went to help Avant-garde and Kim Jaeha. Adventurer A ordered them to kill those two first. Two Nesto Guild members followed after them — but they should be fine.”
“Is that so?”
He had dimly noticed shadowy figures moving through the rain.
Giving those two the Wandering Branches had been the right call after all.
“And there was someone named Lucio as well.”
“…Lucio?”
Lucio, the vice-master of the Nesto Guild.
Hanbit had been estimating him as upper-vanguard tier, but almost no detailed information about him had ever come to light.
And yet that player was here alongside Adventurer A.
“That person’s aura was… dangerous somehow.”
“Dangerous?”
“Like… unsettling? A creeping chill? That kind of feeling.”
Haneul described it, as though recalling something eerie.
It seemed that her unique instinctive sense had picked up on something.
‘They’re still watching, then.’
Adventurer A and Lucio were definitely somewhere nearby.
The fact that they hadn’t attacked likely meant they were waiting to see Hanbit’s next move.
Considering that they had targeted Kim Jaeha and Avant-garde first, a simple PK wasn’t their goal.
Krrrrumble—!
The rain and thunder were only growing stronger.
The time to enter the Tower of Vortex was drawing near.
“We need to move — follow me for now.”
“Really? Thank you!”
Tat—!
Hanbit kicked off with Haneul at his side.
The two who would be pursuing were stronger than Hanbit — they’d need to be handled decisively.
Which meant drawing them toward a stage of his own choosing first.
Sending the girl in front of him back now risked splitting the enemies’ attention in a way he couldn’t afford.
And even if he did send her away, she’d just follow anyway.
Tat-tat—!
Projecting a sense of urgency, Hanbit vaulted through the trees with Haneul and climbed the mountain.
Even at a pace that left him little room to breathe, she was keeping up remarkably well.
‘They’re keeping up on their end too.’
The two in pursuit maintained their distance, matching his speed.
One of them seemed slightly less fluent, stumbling a little.
Probably Adventurer A.
“Ah, they’re here!”
“Black Dragon!”
The place they arrived at was a hollow in a sloped ridge, a sunken depression along the mountainside.
Kim Jaeha and Avant-garde were already there waiting.
“You made it safely.”
“The Nesto guys came at us one after another, just like you said. Took care of one with the branch, and this friend here helped with the other.”
Kim Jaeha gave the orange-haired boy standing beside him a light pat on the back.
Above the boy’s head, a small golden orb of light glimmered and sparkled.
‘So it is light after all.’
Seeing it up close, Hanbit was certain.
The elemental attribute that Noeul, the boy, had formed a contract with — it was light.
A truly rare case, even among spirit users.
“I’m sorry for following without permission. I genuinely wanted a chance….”
He spoke his apology without meeting Hanbit’s eyes.
Hanbit was scanning the clouds overhead. He reached into his inventory and pulled out something resembling a talisman, then handed one to each of them.
“Take one each.”
“Is this… a talisman?”
“It’s a strange-looking thing. Thank you!”
Noeul carefully examined the item, while Haneul laughed as though she found it amusing.
Hanbit shifted his gaze away from them both and turned his head.
“You two over there — why don’t you come out?”
The question was flung into empty air, cutting through the sound of rain.
The response came quickly.
“Caught after all, were we?”
“…Tch. How aggravating.”
Two voices, overlapping, drifted faintly through the air.
And a moment later—
Squelch—
Two figures stepped out of the mud, making their presence known.
