Chapter 22
“Did you just say… you want to spar?”
“Yeah. You and me, one-on-one.”
“….”
A sparring match — completely out of nowhere.
Coming from someone I wasn’t even close with, it caught me off guard for a second.
‘Is she joking?’
I glanced at her eyes.
The calm, emotionless gaze told me right away that she wasn’t kidding.
“I don’t mind sparring, but… why the sudden challenge?”
“I’ve never met anyone my age who was around my level before.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
Soo-yi had been far stronger than even the runner-up at the academy.
Her theoretical grades were the only thing that kept the gap from looking too massive — but in terms of pure combat ability, she’d been the undisputed number one.
“So what, you think I’m on your level?”
“You’re stronger than the runner-up, so yeah, probably the strongest among our age group.”
“Stronger than you?”
“…Not sure.”
She paused for a moment, thinking it over.
Then, in that same flat, dry tone, she said,
“If your skills are the same as before… probably not.”
“….”
I didn’t take offense.
She wasn’t trying to provoke me — I could tell she genuinely meant what she said.
With that expressionless face of hers, how could anyone mistake it for mockery?
‘Come to think of it, since I’ve only been training alone instead of using the Training Room every day, I have felt a bit rusty.’
And if it was against someone like her, it wouldn’t be a bad test.
I nodded, accepting her challenge.
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
“Good.”
And just like that, the duel was set.
The moment I agreed, Soo-yi grabbed my arm.
“Then let’s go.”
“Go?”
“My guild has a dueling arena. We can use that.”
Without hesitation, she started pulling me along.
I gently pulled my arm free.
“Hold up. I still need to buy my weapon. Weren’t you here for gear too?”
“The arena’s only available right now. If we want to use it, we have to go immediately.”
She checked her phone and frowned.
Apparently short on time, she pocketed the phone again and urged,
“Your weapon’s not that urgent, right?”
“….”
Well, not really.
There was still plenty of time before I’d be entering another gate.
And honestly, I was curious to see what kind of facilities a top-tier guild had anyway.
“Fine. But after we spar, can I use your training hall for a bit?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell the seniors it’s okay.”
“Deal. Let’s go.”
I’d been borrowing Mir Guild’s training room almost every day and always felt a little self-conscious about it.
This was a nice change — and if a large guild like hers had better facilities, all the better.
A win-win situation.
So I accepted without further hesitation and followed her to her guild’s headquarters.
“Longsword?”
“Yeah, a longsword’s fine.”
We arrived at the dueling arena.
As expected of a major guild, the place was huge — clean, modern, and full of high-end equipment.
While I was still taking it in, Soo-yi handed me a long wooden practice sword.
“You always used a longsword?”
“You saw me use one when we sparred, didn’t you?”
“….”
She went quiet.
Apparently, she’d completely forgotten we’d ever fought before.
‘Knew it.’
She’d never cared much about other people to begin with, and we’d only sparred once — back in our second year at the academy, completely by chance.
“Hard to remember, huh? The match didn’t even last a full minute.”
“No, I remembered.”
“Really? Then you must remember that I had my bangs up that day too?”
“Uh… yeah, you did.”
She hesitated, then nodded awkwardly.
I chuckled.
“Liar. I’ve never worn my hair up at the academy.”
“….”
Her face didn’t change, but her ears turned faintly red.
Without saying another word, she gripped her sword.
“I’ll start.”
“Alright.”
The small talk ended.
I set my stance, pressing my foot lightly against the ground.
The color slowly drained from her ears as she focused.
The air grew still.
Neither of us said who’d go first.
We simply stared, breathing evenly, reading each other.
‘Let’s see how she moves first.’
I’d dominated the runner-up easily, but this was Han Soo-yi.
The monster who’d beaten every top student from first through second year.
If I charged in carelessly, I might suffer a humiliating defeat.
So I stayed cautious.
Just like when I fought training dummies in the Room of Trials — I observed everything.
Her footing.
Her eyes.
The angle of her elbows.
Every detail, memorized and analyzed.
Then she spoke.
“If you’re not coming, I’ll go first.”
The spark was lit.
Her steps were quick, her body like a blur as she lunged — a sharp thrust aimed at my shoulder.
Clack!
The wooden blades clashed, ringing through the arena.
I blocked it smoothly, the impact light but crisp.
‘Fast — but not beyond what I can handle.’
I’d faced this kind of speed thousands of times while training.
Still, I couldn’t drop my guard.
I’d once felt her attacks before, back in the academy — and I knew she wasn’t someone you could measure by ordinary standards.
“You blocked that pretty easily.”
She sounded a little surprised.
Maybe because the runner-up had struggled even to see an attack like that.
I met her gaze and said,
“You can go faster.”
“…Fine.”
She twisted her wrist, letting the first strike flow naturally into a sideways slash.
It was faster this time.
But I parried lightly, pushing her sword outward with no trouble.
“Haah!”
She spun the sword, reversing her direction — a clever feint that shifted the force completely.
Normally, that kind of reversal would break anyone’s balance — the momentum alone could topple an average fighter.
But—
“—Hup.”
Soo-yi adjusted instantly.
She absorbed the shift in force, jumped back, and landed smoothly.
‘Didn’t expect her to recover that quickly.’
As always, her instincts were insane.
She realized her own power had been read perfectly and redirected.
At the same time, I’d managed to take the full force of her counter without losing my stance.
We looked at each other — both quietly impressed.
“There wasn’t anyone at the academy who could fight like this.”
“Yeah. Not back then.”
I hadn’t even made the top 200 in rankings back then.
To think that now I could parry her blade and counterattack with ease — it felt surreal.
“The world’s big, you know. It’s not strange if there’s someone our age outside the academy who can handle that.”
“….”
She reset her stance, stomping the floor sharply.
Her expressionless face shifted — not quite anger, but something else, faint and unreadable.
“I think I can go all out now.”
“Oh yeah?”
“All out,” huh.
‘I’m not sure I can say the same.’
But if she wanted to go serious, that saved me the trouble of holding back.
“Come on, then.”
I lowered my body, knees bent.
She lightly hopped in place, then — boom! — launched herself forward at twice her previous speed.
‘She’s reinforcing her legs with mana.’
Her body glowed faintly — magical energy focusing in her lower body.
Her sword blurred as it shot forward.
For a normal F-rank hunter, it’d be impossible to even see that strike.
But—
Thunk!
—I could see everything.
The hiss of the blade cutting air.
The vibration through the floor as she launched.
Even without mana, every sensation painted a complete picture in my mind.
“….”
Her serious strikes flowed like water — seamless combos, fast and brutal.
I deflected each one calmly.
Every blow carried enough power to be dangerous if it landed, but my eyes followed her blade effortlessly, my arms moving like I’d trained for this exact sequence a thousand times.
“Tch…”
Her frustration began to show.
At first, she’d just been thrilled to find someone her age who could match her pace.
But now — now that every attack was being predicted and neutralized — I could feel her composure cracking.
Impatience.
Tension.
Even Soo-yi, who’d always been the embodiment of calm, was starting to lose it.
Her swordplay was brilliant, but still immature — her emotions bled into her movements.
And that created a brief, tiny gap.
“Your waist.”
I struck.
Thud!
“Guh—!”
My counter hit her side cleanly.
Not hard enough to hurt — but perfectly placed.
Her body twisted mid-air, rolling once before landing on the ground.
She’d thrown out dozens of attacks; I’d hit her once — and that one strike ended it.
“Your movement got too wide, left your midsection open. Watch that next time.”
I even pointed out the weakness out loud.
This wasn’t a duel between equals anymore.
It was a lesson.
A match between a teacher and a student.
You could tell from just that short exchange.
“…You’re way stronger than me.”
She wasn’t exaggerating.
At that level, I could probably survive even in a B-rank gate.
“Seems like it.”
For the first time, she didn’t look like the unbeatable prodigy of our generation.
“Thanks for today.”
“No need. I got to use your guild’s training hall for free.”
After the spar, we ran drills together for a while.
When the sun started to dip, I left to visit my mom at the hospital.
‘As expected, a big guild’s facilities are on another level.’
I felt a little guilty comparing it, but it was definitely more advanced than Mir Guild’s.
It felt good training in a place like that again — like back when I first entered the academy.
“You heading home now?”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t bother mentioning the hospital visit.
Then, unexpectedly, she took out her phone and held it out.
“Give me your number.”
“…My number?”
Completely out of nowhere.
I looked at her blank face, then the phone, then back again.
“Why do you want it?”
“So we can train together again.”
“….”
She hadn’t landed a single clean hit on me, yet she still wanted another match.
Well… I couldn’t blame her.
If I were in her shoes, I’d want a rematch too.
‘And I can use her guild’s facilities again, so that’s a bonus.’
Since I didn’t have many people to spar with anyway, it wasn’t a bad deal.
“Sure.”
I typed my number into her phone and handed it back.
Then we went our separate ways.
Soo-yi stared quietly at the screen.
[Jung Juhyuk]
Three simple characters — honestly entered.
It was the first phone number she’d ever saved that wasn’t family.
