Chapter 7

When I opened my eyes, I saw a small halo of light. I reached out to touch it, and the light expanded before taking on the shape of a weapon. As the light faded, what was left in my hand was...

[Verifying item.]

<Ring Karambit>

Grade: E

Attack Power: 30~35

Description: A karambit with a ring at the end of its handle. Its specialty is cutting rather than stabbing.

I found it.

The karambit. Its smooth curvature was modeled after an animal’s claw. Though it looked elegant, it was a deadly weapon.

Though I hadn’t handled it often, I knew the basics. If you were to hook a monster’s body with the blade and slide it down using your entire weight, it would go crazy from the pain of having its flesh torn off.

Out of all the weapons that you can get without taking risks, it was the most effective.

As I was in the hairy insect’s territory, I did encounter a couple as I went back. But because I hid while moving, nothing bad happened. As I waited near the indoor gym to avoid the people on patrol, I activated my Unique Skill.

I felt the sensation of my body getting lighter, and when I opened my eyes, I was back in my tent…

“You’re finally back.”

“It’s late.”

...with the twins.

I quickly pointed my karambit at them. Nighttime intruders were dangerous because their intentions weren’t clear. Even more so if they had caught wind of what I had done by myself.

“Whoa, whoa, no need to get defensive!”

“We just came to talk!”

As if to prove their point, they showed me their empty hands.

Rangers without a bow...

I could take them on with my hands tied behind my back. They may be genius Rangers, but they were no match for me right now. While my stats may only be a tenth of what they were before, they were still three or four times higher than an ordinary person.

“We’ve never seen someone catch one of our arrows before.”

“Even Uncle Su-il can only move his body to avoid it.”

“Exactly.”

It was a conversation that revealed their arrogance. It proved it was their first time encountering a comparable opponent.

“I’m Yusu An.”

“And I’m Yura An.”

They introduced themselves with well-grounded confidence. It was as if they knew what kind of weight revealing your name held.

“I’m... Seoha Han.”

“We’re seventeen. What about you?”

“Nineteen. I guess I’ll be twenty in a couple of days.”

Since the Gate opened a few days before Christmas, it was probably a few days before the new year now. But what meaning did that even have now?

“Is that your Unique Skill? Appearing all of a sudden?”

“It’s close.”

“Teleportation? But that’s not a combat Skill.”

It’s not surprising that they thought that.

Like I had mentioned, Spatial Interference was more useful for industrial use since you could move loads over greater distances. It wasn’t that I couldn’t move long distances, but I was more familiar with short distances since that was what I focused on more.

When using Blink, it was important to skillfully move over short distances with less cooldowns. It was advantageous for short hit-and-run attacks, as the Skill user only moved themselves.

While I originally could use Blink without delay, my body wouldn’t be able to take it now.

“We’ll keep it a secret about you sneaking out.”

“But you’ll need to do something for us instead.”

“What is it?”

They grinned mischievously at me.

“Spar with us!”

I had not expected that at all. Spar? With them?

“We want to get stronger faster, but Teacher Woo-do is too cautious!”

“If we only fight little by little like this, when will we get stronger?”

“They’re all weaker than us, but they still try to protect us.”

“They’re all dummies.”

Their eyes sparkled. Their eyes and hair were light-colored, and if you looked closely, their facial features were not typical. Maybe that’s why the sight of them in the tent with their backs to the fire didn’t look real.

“You’re strong. We can tell.”

“So let’s fight!”

I had to think for a moment.

It wasn’t a bad option for me, and I could hide my outings. While nothing major would happen now if I got caught leaving, there was no reason to cause a disturbance. And I also wanted these two to get stronger.

Because the twins had only fought monsters, they were weak against humans. It was inevitable since there wasn’t anyone who could fight against them in this small world. This also must have been a factor as to why Woo-do died in the midst of internal division.

It wouldn’t have been easy to shoot the people they had been protecting.

Monsters were also just killed. The twins didn’t know how to fight without killing.

“Okay. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my work, I’ll do it.”

I’ll have to teach them. Who knows, maybe this could end up changing a lot of things.

***

As time passed, I turned twenty and the twins turned eighteen.

Fifteen more survivors arrived at the indoor gym, but eight of them ended up dying from severe injuries. While you could find food and drinking water here, professional medical treatment was difficult to come by.

At most, there was water to rinse your wound, ointment to apply, and bandages to wrap it in. However, with ointment running out, that part wasn’t even possible anymore.

I went out with the recon team and hunted monsters regularly. I also attended meetings where I was briefed on information gathered by other recon teams. The ones who had come with me from the mart also took on different roles.

In particular, Seongmin was practically Woo-do’s right-hand man.

It’s like we had all reached some kind of stability. As an active combatant under this kind of efficient system, I got allotted some items. However, because I only killed hairy insects, and nothing comparable to the karambit had been found, I mostly rejected them.

“Ha!”

Yusu tried to land a punch based on a martial arts technique that I’d taught him. Although he was skilled due to his natural physical abilities, he was no match for me.

I lightly pushed away his fist and naturally swung my elbow right up to his face. Yusu had closed his eyes in surprise, but then slowly opened them with a disgruntled expression.

But I knew that this was a calculated move and quickly moved out of the way.

An arrow was now in the place where I had been. From the back, Yura was holding a bow and grinning. While I couldn’t get used to their wild eyes, I did know the pattern of their moves.

“I told you.”

I dodged to avoid Yusu’s spin-kick. Then I grabbed his leg hard, causing him to lose balance and fall to the ground.

“Ow!”

“You guys are too obvious,” I said as I caught an arrow flying towards the back of my head.

Though it was just a wooden arrow barely sharpened for sparring, in the hands of a skilled archer, it was a lethal weapon. I felt it scraping the skin of my palm, but ignored it. It was because my body hadn’t recovered its durability yet.

While Yusu was lying on the ground, I quickly grabbed at Yura from behind. She tried to attack me by swinging her bow, but I was too fast for her. My fingernails brushed against Yura’s nape, and I could feel the goosebumps on her skin. Her eyes crinkled in a smile.

“Ah, really?! We can’t win against you!”

“We lost again!”

Yusu seemed to have no intention of getting up. An older lady who had been watching from the sidelines handed me a bottle of water. As I bowed slightly and took it, she smiled as though she were proud of me.

“Because of you, the twins don’t have time to be bored!”

“Those brats would play near the laundry piles and make us do twice the work. Good thing you showed them their place!” another said.

“Looking good, you rascals!” Uncle Su-il was always the happiest about their defeat.

“You’re just too strong...”

“It’s because you don’t take fighting seriously since you’ve only been up against monsters.”

I poked their foreheads as I continued talking. “I told you to use your heads while fighting.”

“It’s not that easy!”

“Seriously.”

Since these brats only thought of ways to trick people, they were quite skilled at diverting people’s attention. I had to give them props for that.

“Wait a little bit. I need to go talk to Mr. Woo-do.”

“Teacher Woo-do?”

“I think you’ll improve faster in an actual fight.”

At my words, the twins stared at each other. Their wide eyes sparkled in interest.

“How exciting!”

“A real fight!”

I was granted permission quickly. There wasn’t any reason to deny me since I said that I would train the combatants myself. Since we were the three best combatants at the indoor gym, we didn’t need backup. It was going to be an easy trip, so we packed lightly.

People said goodbye to us, and we headed outside.

“This is our first time going on recon with you, Seoha!”

“That can’t be helped since we’re on different teams!”

“Shh.”

As soon as I warned them, they fell silent. Just because we were taking a quick look instead of doing an official reconnaissance, that didn’t mean I wasn’t taking this Gate seriously.

“I see traces left behind by a monster. It looks like a new one has turned up.”

The footprints left on the ground weren’t those of a hairy insect. This area was their habitat, so hunting had been simple.

“It looks small,” Yura said as she measured a footprint with her hand.

“The smaller the size, the more likely it’s an intelligent one.”

“An intelligent monster?”

“Yes.”

While it was rare, there were monsters that were nearly as intelligent as humans. However, judging by the tracks, this monster wasn’t as dangerous as those kinds. Seeing how the mark of its back claw was distant from the front claw, it was probably... A “white-eyed goblin.”

It seems to have gotten separated from its group... That would make it perfect to use for practice.

We started following the tracks. We occasionally encountered hairy insects, but hid and let them pass us by.

Eventually, we found our target by the sound of chewing noises. It looked like it had killed a hairy insect for food. The twins, who had been following behind me, stared at it with bated breath.

“It’s a white-eyed goblin.”

“It looks like its name.”

“Seriously.”

Its most distinct characteristic was its eye, and it was impossible to tell if it had a pupil or not. It was named mostly for the horn that protruded from the top of its fluffy-haired head.

It was not something to be taken lightly. Monsters that killed in groups knew how to strategize. For the twins, who had only encountered hairy insects, it was a worthy opponent.

“I’m just going to advise from the rear. I’ll step in if it gets dangerous, but I want you guys to be the ones to catch it. Think you can do it?”

They both clenched their bows and nodded. Two Rangers with no Tanker wasn’t the best combination, but it wouldn’t be a problem. As long as they kept their distance, a ranged combatant would have an advantage over a melee fighter.

“Okay. We’ll be sure to show you our skills!”

“That’s right!”

The twins spoke with bravado before they ran out. As if they had thought of a strategy, they each took their place on either side of the monster. Up until now, the white-eyed goblin hadn’t noticed them, too busy eating the hairy insect.

The start of the fight was Yusu’s arrow, signaled by the twang of his bowstring.