Chapter 23. First Assault (4)
“Just a meddler passing by?”
The assassin frowned at the frivolous tone that lacked any semblance of courtesy, but made no rash move.
‘His demeanor is light, but I can’t gauge his level at all.’
He hadn’t sensed anything until this man appeared. That meant his stealth was excellent. However, the energy he gave off felt oddly faint.
‘He must be suppressing his power.’
Time was of the essence. The assassin’s eyes were bloodshot, and his breathing unsteady, but his mind remained sharp.
“What’s the problem here?”
“Reina Serenia. It’d be a problem if this girl died.”
Their goals clashed. So there was only one outcome.
“Then I have no choice but to kill you!”
A massive amount of aura compressed into the assassin’s sword. But Kim Se-hyun simply smiled and set Reina down gently.
“Stay here for a bit. I’ll finish this quickly.”
Reina couldn’t understand what was happening.
Who was this man? Had he been watching all along? Why had he appeared?
But before she could ask, the assassin lunged at Kim Se-hyun.
Just as the sword was about to reach him, Kim Se-hyun drew his blade from his coat and deflected the strike.
‘He reacted in that instant?!’
The assassin swung several more times in surprise, but Kim Se-hyun didn’t take a single step back, parrying all the attacks flawlessly.
Blocking straightforward attacks like these didn’t even require focus.
Now it was Kim Se-hyun’s turn—he faked an opening, slipped in through the brief gap, and landed a solid hit.
With no aura armor, the assassin’s body was sliced cleanly by the blade.
Slice!
Twisting away quickly and putting distance between them, the assassin looked down at his chest.
A deep wound showed beneath the torn fabric.
‘A second slower and I would’ve died.’
He stared tensely at Kim Se-hyun.
His face was covered by a mask, but with such a composed demeanor, he was likely smiling underneath.
On top of that, the way he handled all the attacks as if he had foreseen them—half a beat ahead—made the assassin unknowingly clench his grip.
But retreat wasn’t an option.
Reina had lost her weapon, all her allies were subdued. If not now, there might never be another chance to kill her.
With that thought, the assassin launched himself at Kim Se-hyun with everything he had.
This time, the attacks were even fiercer, but Kim Se-hyun evaded rather than deflected them.
At a glance, it seemed like the assassin had the upper hand, but in truth, Kim Se-hyun was maintaining just enough distance to stay safe.
The assassin knew this, but he didn’t have time. He kept pushing forward, hoping for Kim Se-hyun to make a mistake.
But that assumption was his mistake.
The entire area was covered in magic circles Kim Se-hyun had prepared just before the initiation ceremony.
The spells used were only second-circle earth magic, but the scale was so large it had consumed almost all the mana potions he received from Ria Haylin.
In short, from the moment the assassin entered this third phase—from when Ban became part of Reina’s team—there was no room for mistakes.
The fact that Kim Se-hyun appeared in disguise meant he intended to secure complete victory.
Luring the assassin to the heart of the courtyard, Kim Se-hyun snapped his fingers.
Mana spread from his hand to the ground, and dozens of magic circles lit up.
All were 2nd-circle earth spells: Stone Edge.
From beneath the surface, spikes rose like the fangs of a massive predator, aiming straight for the assassin.
BOOMBOOMBOOM!
The assassin switched his aura to defense and managed to block the strikes, but couldn’t find the time to counterattack—he was too busy dodging for his life.
‘Only a sixth-circle mage or higher could coordinate spell movement like this. Could it be Devourer of Earth, a sixth-circle spell?!’
Devourer of Earth was a powerful skill that could crush even aura armor like a cracker.
‘And the casting speed—I didn’t even see it! As if it was already set up in advance!’
Of course, his guesses were all wrong.
Who would ever think they had been led into a trap after infiltrating as an assassin?
‘I won’t be able to kill Reina Serenia with this man in my way…!’
So he made a decision.
‘I didn’t want to leave a trace… but I have no choice!’
The assassin halted just as a gap appeared in the Stone Edge pattern. He lowered his stance, bringing his sword close enough to graze his cheek.
Aura flared at the tip of his blade.
The technique he prepared wasn’t even named in the game—a final, secret move for this assault.
It consumed a massive amount of aura in one go. If it didn’t kill the enemy, he would be unable to control aura for a while. A double-edged sword.
It had shattered the will of countless players who had tried to save Reina.
It couldn’t be dodged—only confronted.
But Kim Se-hyun’s stats were too low to withstand it physically, and though he had versatile magic, it lacked depth. Holy power wasn’t even an option.
For an extra without protagonist buffs, this was an impossible wall.
Yet he showed no fear.
He layered forced logic over reality, doused impossibility in reason, and left only possibility behind.
That’s how veterans played rigged games—through exploits and bugs.
“Haaah!”
With a sharp cry, the assassin vanished.
A blinding flash of speed, faster than thought, faster than reflex.
The strike hit Kim Se-hyun directly.
[■■■ activates.]
BOOOOOM!
A shockwave like a falling meteor shook the courtyard.
But the assassin’s blade hadn’t pierced Kim Se-hyun.
‘What…?!’
As he froze in disbelief, Kim Se-hyun cut him down without hesitation.
Slash!
Despite his injuries, the assassin was more shocked that his ultimate move had failed.
‘The technique was flawless…!’
He rarely used swordsmanship, but this attack had always been considered top-tier, effective even outside the game world.
Yet Kim Se-hyun took the full brunt of it—and looked completely fine.
‘Is he wearing ultra-dense aura armor while suppressing his energy…?!’
The assassin dropped to his knees in despair at a level he’d only heard about in rumors.
A master of aura untouched by a killing blow. A mage who could wield at least 6th-circle magic.
‘I can’t win….’
Defeated by the overwhelming difference, the assassin lost the will to fight.
Just then, the barrier covering the central courtyard began to dissipate.
The professors would soon arrive.
The assassin had no options left.
He threw a mana stone engraved with a smoke spell to the ground.
WHEEEEE!
Kim Se-hyun, expecting this, quickly stepped back, allowing the assassin to flee at full speed.
He could’ve chased and killed him—but didn’t.
Even in the game, the assassin was only meant to be driven off, not killed. And more importantly, the system window floating in front of him made him hesitate.
[■■■ activates.]
[Upon next hit, HP will not drop below 10.]
‘I really almost died there.’
Kim Se-hyun had assumed the system would buff his defense. But it had instead determined that the attack couldn’t be dodged or blocked, so it gave him a damage-prevention effect instead.
If anything had gone wrong, even a glancing blow might have killed him.
Now that the assault was over, he had to leave before the professors arrived.
But as he turned to go, Reina pointed a broken sword at him.
“Who are you?”
“…I saved you, and this is how you thank me?”
“I don’t want to attack someone who saved me. But I can’t guess your identity or intentions.”
“Your weapon’s broken. Keep this up and you might die.”
“You said earlier that my death would be a problem. So threats like that won’t work.”
Kim Se-hyun chuckled at her reply.
Her resolve in the face of danger. Her calm judgment amid chaos. He liked that about her.
He wanted to be strong like that. And she reminded him of someone.
He walked toward her.
Reina stood tall, pretending to be unshaken—but her hands were trembling.
Just as she thought he might kill her, Kim Se-hyun gently patted her head.
“I hope you keep that strength to the end.”
“Wait—are you…?”
Before she could finish, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed.
“See you around.”
Kim Se-hyun quickly vanished.
Reina wanted to chase after him and ask her questions—but thoughts of her friends held her back.
Friends who had risked their lives to protect her.
So she convinced herself with his parting words.
‘I can ask later.’
And so, she busied herself waking her friends.
I hurried back to the building I’d been thrown into earlier, changed clothes like I was getting ready for school, and lay down, pretending to be unconscious.
Now I just had to wait for Reina and Ridipin to arrive.
Before long, I heard footsteps rushing toward me.
Tap tap tap!
They called my name anxiously.
“Ban!”
When I felt them gather around, I opened my eyes naturally.
There were Reina and Ridipin, faces tearful and breath ragged.
Geez.
Sure, I got thrown hard enough to break a wall, but they were way too worried!
When they saw my eyes open, they gave faint, relieved smiles.
“You’re so weak. All that training for nothing…”
“I-I’m so glad you’re okay…”
I barely held back a smirk as I spoke.
“Don’t cry. Cry too much and your face will stay that way.”
“Ugh… don’t joke around in a moment like this.”
“I’m not good with emotional stuff.”
“You little…!”
Reina raised a fist. I apologized. Ridipin smiled at us. The mood lightened. Then the announcement bell rang.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
[Attention, everyone. The initiation ceremony is now over. All students must cease combat and follow their supervising professors. Once again…]
At last, the long, long ceremony had ended.
It was cut short due to the “Demon Fairy Tale” incident.
The delay in the announcement had been intentional—to prevent accidents if it aired during intense battles.
Less than two hours had passed, but it felt like a week.
[To clarify the situation…]
It turned out the “attackers” were actually disguised upperclassmen, and students earned points by defeating one another.
Shouts of relief rang out around the campus. For us, who had faced a real assassin, we only relaxed once the professors arrived and took over.
It was truly over.
We’d survived the first assault. Barely. If Ridipin hadn’t been there, it might’ve gone badly.
Still, we made it.
Now… the elixir’s side effects were kicking in…
“Hey, can I ask you guys a favor?”
“What is it?”
“Take care of me.”
“…?”
I passed out before I could hear their response.
When Ban collapsed, Reina and Ridipin called to him in panic.
“Ban!”
“P-please wake up!”
They panicked at his lack of response, but calmed at the sound of his steady breathing.
“Honestly, even to the very end…”
The area around them was calm—as if the life-or-death moment had been just a dream.
Ridipin was still catching her breath. Reina looked down at Ban’s sleeping face.
She believed Ban had the biggest impact on this battle—not herself, who attacked the most, or Ridipin, who pushed the assassin with aura.
Ban had created the opening to attack, encouraged Ridipin to shoot her arrows.
In the end, they were all overwhelmed instantly. Without Ban, neither of them would’ve stood a chance.
Reina smiled as she brushed his bangs.
‘If he hadn’t acted so weird, he might’ve been really popular.’
He had a handsome face, but his thoughts and actions were incomprehensible.
Sometimes wise, sometimes a troublemaker, sometimes like her older brother.
Taking a blow for her wasn’t normal—but it didn’t make her any less grateful.
As she watched Ban, she felt a prickling gaze. She turned—and saw Ridipin watching her.
Her usual shy expression, but Reina sensed something… a strange emotion.
Something like envy.
A possibility flickered in Reina’s mind—
‘No way…’
She quickly shook her head.
