Chapter 21: Tutorial (21)

“Oppa!”

Go Hyun-joon collapsed unconscious after being hit by Yang Yong-hyun’s black arrow. There were no external injuries.

But Yoon Jae-ho, the blond punk he’d been fighting, approached him.

“Ha! B@stard! You were acting all tough, and now you’re down. I’ll kill you while you’re out cold.”

Yoon Jae-ho dragged his Dane Axe towards him, a cruel smile on his face as he raised the weapon high above his head.

One swing, and this annoying swordsman would be dead.

“Don’t you dare touch him, you b@stard!”

Yoo Ha-na reacted instantly. She threw a knife with all her might and lunged at Yoon Jae-ho with Lunge.

The knife, thrown with such force that it dislocated her shoulder, flew faster and truer than ever before.

“Gah! Ugh…”

The knife struck Yoon Jae-ho in the neck. But the Berserker didn’t die immediately.

He knew he was dying. But fueled by a desperate rage, he tried to bring his axe down on Go Hyun-joon.

“Don’t do it, you b@stard!”

Yoo Ha-na was closing in with Lunge, but she wasn’t close enough to stop him.

Desperation gave her a burst of superhuman strength. Hysterical strength. Her body’s limiter broke.

Crack. She heard something snap in her leg. But her speed increased exponentially.

Thud!

She reached Yoon Jae-ho just in time, plunging her knife into him, ending his life. Go Hyun-joon was still alive.

He was unconscious, groaning occasionally. Yoo Ha-na felt a wave of relief.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

But the relief was short-lived. She went back on high alert.

Go Hyun-joon was still unconscious, and she was in bad shape. Her shoulder was dislocated, and her leg could barely support her weight.

“My, my. Very impressive.”

Yang Yong-hyun, the Dark Priest, slowly approached her. He held the knife she’d thrown at him earlier.

She’d had the upper hand before, but now, the situation was reversed. Go Hyun-joon was unconscious, and she was injured. He, on the other hand, was perfectly fine.

“Your hand is shaking.”

“None of your business.”

She was at her limit. She’d pushed herself too hard, breaking her body’s limits.

Every fiber of her being screamed in pain. But she held on, determined to protect Go Hyun-joon.

“I just had a wonderful idea. What would you do if you had to kill the man you’re so desperately trying to protect? Would you despair? Would you give up completely? How amusing would it be to turn you into a living doll?”

A black arrow materialized in Yang Yong-hyun’s hand. Yoo Ha-na instinctively knew it was dangerous. It wouldn’t cause physical harm, but even a graze would be devastating.

She would have easily dodged it if she’d been at full strength. But now, she was helpless. The arrow struck her. She didn’t feel pain, but something insidious invaded her mind.

“Ugh… Aaaaagh! What is this?! Get out of my head!”

A searing headache. Something was stirring within her, something that hadn’t existed before.

An infinite thirst for revenge. And a burning hatred for men.

It crawled through her mind, tearing at her newly healed heart.

“Aaaaagh! Get out! Get out!”

She screamed until she lost consciousness. Yang Yong-hyun smiled.

He sensed something amiss within her mind, but he’d succeeded. All he had to do now was wait.

When she woke up, she would kill the unconscious man, and he would have a beautiful, empty shell to play with. He could hardly contain his excitement.

But then…

“Squid and rice!”

The man who shouldn’t have been able to wake up sat up abruptly. The clarity in his eyes showed he was fully conscious.

Go Hyun-joon was awake.

After reliving that painful memory, I regained consciousness. How long had I been out? I quickly assessed the situation.

The blond punk was dead. A knife in his neck and a deep gash in his side. Yoo Ha-na’s handiwork.

“How…?”

A surprised voice. I knew who it belonged to. The narrow-eyed creep.

“Did you do this?”

But I ignored him. Yoo Ha-na was lying on the ground, unconscious.

She was groaning, her breathing ragged. She’d been attacked and was going through the same thing I had.

Rage surged through me. Not at him, but at myself.

Yoo Ha-na had suffered because of me. I felt guilty and frustrated.

“I asked you a question. Did you do this?”

I gently laid Yoo Ha-na down and turned to face the narrow-eyed creep. He was so startled that he’d abandoned his usual narrow-eyed act.

“I surrender. But don’t come any closer. My mind is linked to hers. If you kill me, she’ll die too.”

“Nice try, buddy.”

“Go ahead. Try it.”

He knew he was no match for me in combat, so he was using Yoo Ha-na as a shield.

I knew it was a bluff, but I couldn’t risk Yoo Ha-na’s life.

“Just undo whatever you did to her.”

“If you let me go.”

“Are you serious?”

“That’s why I’m doing this.”

He was stalling, trying to assess the situation. I didn’t like it.

Being led around like this wasn’t my style. I needed to be more aggressive.

“Three seconds. Undo it. Or I’ll cut off your leg.”

“Gah!”

“Three… two… one…”

“I… I did it! I undid it!”

I drew my sword and stepped towards him. He caved immediately.

I didn’t sheathe my sword. I looked at Yoo Ha-na.

“Ha-na. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“…”

She was standing. She must have regained consciousness when the skill wore off.

But something was wrong. She didn’t answer. A low growl emanated from her.

“Grrrr…”

“Ha-na…?”

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

The narrow-eyed creep suddenly burst out laughing.

“Ha-na, this man is your enemy. Kill him!”

He ordered her.

D@mn it! I’d pressured him with a time limit to prevent any tricks, but I should have just tortured him instead.

“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”

Yoo Ha-na screamed and lunged forward, her eyes glowing with an eerie light. She wasn’t the woman I knew.

The Revenant.

A vengeful spirit, seeking retribution. Her hair flowed wildly as she charged, a terrifying embodiment of vengeance.

I froze. I could have drawn my sword and fought, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

As she reached me, she brushed past me and…

“Gah! Why?! My spell… was perfect! Ugh! Agh!”

She pounced on the narrow-eyed creep, tearing into him with a savage fury.

She stabbed him in the chest and abdomen, broke his arms and legs, mounted him, and pummeled his face.

“Gugh… Help… No… Kill me…”

The sight was too gruesome to watch.

His limbs were twisted, his intestines spilled from his wounds, his face a bloody pulp.

She dismounted and stood over him.

“Grrrr…”

“Kill… me… No… Save me… Save me!”

Yoo Ha-na, growling like a beast, placed her foot on his neck. Crack. He died with a broken neck.

The blond punk and the narrow-eyed creep were dead. But the silence that descended between Yoo Ha-na and me was heavy with unresolved tension.

“Yoo Ha-na.”

She remained silent. But it was better than the growling.

Still, the silence was unnerving.

“Men are all trash.”

She finally spoke. Her voice was different, filled with a chilling bitterness.

“They all wanted something from me. My body, my money. They all tried to use me.”

The Revenant, her vengeance sated, was already seeking a new target.

“You’re no different. What do you want from me? My body? My money? My dignity? How much more do you want to degrade me?!”

Her dull, glowing eyes stared at me.

How did she see me? I didn’t know. And I wanted to.

Yoo Ha-na, where did your pain come from?

From the hardships you faced before we met?

Or from your past life before entering the Tower of Proof?

Or was it simply a consequence of your tragic fate?

As someone who’d been thrust into this story, I didn’t know the origins of her pain, her despair, her resentment.

I didn’t know her. I’d only read five chapters of her story. I didn’t know what kind of person she was, what she liked.

But in our short time together, I saw myself in her.

We were both broken, our hearts shattered by tragedy, yet we persevered.

“Yoo Ha-na, I just want you to be happy.”

That’s all I’d wanted since we met.

When she ate that tear-soaked soup, when she was timid after our first hunt, and even now.

I wanted her to be happy.

Perhaps, if she, a fellow sufferer, could find happiness, then maybe, just maybe, I could too.

“Lies! Men have tricked me with those sweet words time and time again!”

As if triggered by my sincerity, she lunged at me, ready to unleash her vengeance.

The two daggers in her hands gleamed with a chilling sharpness.

But I didn’t dodge or fight back. I’d already discarded my sword. What she needed now wasn’t a blade, but sincerity.

“You’re just like the rest of them!”

The daggers, held in a reverse grip, slashed towards my throat. I tried to grab her wrists, but she was too fast.

So, I sacrificed my hand.

Thud!

The blade pierced my palm and emerged on the other side. I suppressed a scream and grabbed her fists, holding the daggers in place.

“Let go! What are you trying to do to me?!”

Startled, she struggled, her frantic movements aggravating my wound. But that wasn’t important.

“Yoo Ha-na, look at me.”

“Ugh…”

“Don’t look away. Look at me.”

Her dull eyes met mine, still trembling.

Her clouded gaze meant she was lost.

“Yoo Ha-na, is this all you are? You seem to have forgotten that you owe me.”

“Ugh…”

“What did I tell you? You can repay me when you’re confident in yourself. Do you look confident now?”

She trembled at my words. She knew. She knew this was just another form of escape.

She couldn’t hide it from me. I’d been there. I’d screamed for a status window in my moldy basement, I’d wished for regression on a rooftop.

We were both pathetic.

“You promised me you’d help others. That you’d become strong enough to climb the tower with them! With that twisted face, who do you think you can help?!”

“Ugh…”

Yoo Ha-na, I didn’t know what she’d been through, but I knew the pain. She wanted to escape.

Like a child hiding under the covers after watching a scary movie, she had donned the mask of the Revenant out of fear.

“I know! You’ve been through a lot! I don’t know what happened, but I know it was bad! But that’s no reason to abandon your resolve, to give up on becoming a better person!”

“Ugh…”

But how long could she hide? Even a child hiding under the covers has to get up for school eventually.

“Yoo Ha-na, I want you to be happy! Because that’s how you’ll find confidence! I want you to be confident! Because that’s how you’ll strive to become a better person! I want you to become a better person! Because that’s what will give me strength!”

“Sob… sob…”

Yoo Ha-na, there was once a f0olish man who made a stupid choice and lost everything.

He hit rock bottom, his heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

He despaired, craving things that didn’t exist, and walked to the brink of death.

He was just like her. Broken and afraid.

So, he ran. He locked himself away, escaping into the virtual world, donning the mask of status windows and regression.

But he couldn’t run forever. He’d found the courage to remove that mask by reading a certain book.

Now, it was her turn. If she was too afraid to face her demons, I would stand by her side.

Until she could rise and become the hero she was meant to be.

“So, Ha-na, get up. I’m here. We still have a lot to do.”

“Sob… sob… Oppa…”

The vengeful glint in her eyes faded, replaced by tears.

As each tear fell, the cloudiness in her eyes dissipated.