episode_0268

Jin Ye-seo’s eyes, which had been flustered for a moment, suddenly lit up. She hesitated, then thrust the blade into my neck again.

“Hey. What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“Confirm.”

A cool voice rings in my ears.

“What do you mean by confirmation… Could you please step aside? I’m already busy.”

“You can’t get out of the way. Until you confirm that it’s the real Hyun. How would you know that the witch was disguised?”

Jinyeseo snorted and scolded. The sawtooth blade was sharp enough to cut my neck. It was the first time in a long while that I saw her cold side.

“If you answer my questions correctly, I will believe you are real.”

“Are you kidding me… ”

“First. How many duels have we had so far?”

Jin Ye-seo continued to speak as if she had no intention of listening to me. I had no choice but to follow her rhythm. Well, actually, her procedure wasn’t wrong.

“Three times. Two ranked matches and one official duel. I won them all. You lost miserably. ”

“Ugh… !”

As I spoke with a hint of emotion, Jin Ye-seo’s face turned red. Jin Ye-seo hesitated and glared at me, then thrust the blade even closer.

“Isn’t it over?”

“… I could have picked it up somewhere. It’s not hard to find out the result of a duel.”

“Just a little bit… ”

“Then here’s the second question. What size underwear do I wear?”

I spoke, holding back my mind from going blank for a moment.

“Are you kidding me? How would I know your underwear size?”

“Why? Isn’t it stranger not to know?”

Jin Ye-seo muttered calmly.

“If you’re really Hyun, this is information you absolutely must know. Every day when he practices boxing, he secretly touches my chest. Even though he obviously knows that I’m not wearing underwear under my training uniform.”

“Don’t say anything that will cause trouble. When did I touch your breast? I accidentally brushed against it… ”

“Your beating around the bush is suspicious. Answer me before I count to three. Otherwise, I’ll prove you’re fake and cut you down. One, two… ”

The green eyes become even colder. I found myself turning my head without realizing it. This is a type of knowledge I have no idea about. I don’t even know how to measure the size, let alone touch it.

Now that I think about it, I think my older sisters told me something in the past…

“Set… ”

“… E?”

I barely managed to spit out an answer, relying on my vague knowledge and the visual information I had so far. The approaching saw blade stopped, but Jin Ye-seo’s gaze became even colder.

“Huh?”

Was it bigger than that?

“Then F?”

“… ”

It must have been the right answer. Only then did the fierce gaze soften a little. However, Jin Ye-seo still did not put down the blade.

“Hey. That’s enough.”

“I might have gotten lucky. I made a mistake once, right? How does that make sense? I always touched it like that.”

“… ”

Jin Ye-seo opened her mouth after a moment of hesitation. There was a slight heat on her face.

“Then here’s the third question. Where did we… spend our first night?”

“… What?”

“This time, you really have to answer correctly. If you’re really Hyun, there’s no way you can miss this question.”

Jin Ye-seo shot back fiercely. I searched through my hazy memories again.

First night? What on earth do you mean by asking that? We’ve never even spent the night together, let alone slept together…

“… Ah.”

Finally, I remembered something. I carefully looked at the book of truth and blurted out the answer.

“A cheap motel on the outskirts of the first city.”

And the unseen happiness returned to Jin Ye-seo’s face. The blade thrust into her neck was also losing its charm.

Jin Ye-seo spoke in a voice that had clearly become softer.

“Okay. That was pretty good. Now for the last question.”

“There’s still more left… ”

“Who is my favorite person?”

“Of course it’s Yeon… ”

“… ”

A harsh wind blew through my open eyes again. I eventually had to sigh and correct my answer.

“… Me.”

“Correct answer.”

And then, as if nothing had happened, a bright smile appeared on Jin Ye-seo’s face. Only then, having completely let down her hostility, did she let down her guard and approach him.

“It’s really Hyun-i. I really thought she was a witch in disguise. She gave a weird answer in the middle.”

“The answer was weird… The question was even weirder. How do I know your underwear size? And when did you touch me… ”

“Be quiet. If I do that, you know it.”

“… ”

“Let’s go quickly. What are you doing? Without giving directions quickly.”

Jin Ye-seo cut me off and made a gesture to urge me on. I glared at her for a moment and then sighed.

***

We ran through the ruins of the residence. Jin Ye-seo, who was keeping a distance from us, asked.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Or is there anything else wrong? Do you feel dizzy or something… ”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Really? That’s fortunate… ”

Jin Ye-seo sighs in relief after hearing the answer. After hearing about my physical condition, I feel like everyone is being overprotective.

I asked her as if to change the subject.

“How did you get here?”

“While scouting the city, we were attacked by a group of demons. I sent the other scouts to join the main force and moved on my own.”

Jin Ye-seo licked her lips.

“I thought you would somehow move forward. And I moved to the milestones by the occasional loud noises, and here I came.”

“Isn’t your faith too much? What if you’re left alone? ”

“Excessive? Of course. In the end, my thoughts were right, right? Because I met you here.”

Jin Ye-seo shrugged her shoulders confidently. Then she glanced back and asked.

“But do you know what happened to the others? Like Seoyeon unnie… or Yeonminha senior… ”

“… Each of them is fighting the witches one by one. They are trying to buy time until I destroy the nest… ”

I answered heavily. Jin Ye-seo, who heard what I said, also nodded with a hardened expression.

She also seemed to have realized the source of the explosive noise that was heard sporadically, like a faint echo, from behind her.

“… I see.”

“Yeah. So let’s hurry. It seems like there’s really not much time left.”

“Okay, I’ll try my best too… !”

And at that moment, Jin Ye-seo, who was trying to burn her fighting spirit, nodded. She felt like she couldn’t breathe and a huge pressure was pressing down on her body from all sides. We were suddenly thrown flat on the floor.

-Kooong!!

“Ugh… !”

The spine and back were bearing the weight of the immense weight. The lungs were contracted and motionless, as if they had forgotten to breathe.

“Coolook… What is this…!”

Jin Ye-seo continued speaking with her soft cheeks pressed against her. I raised my head and looked around. There was no change in the surrounding atmosphere. Not even a barrage of fireballs or particle missiles flying at me.

The very situation we are in is an attack by someone.

“I can’t move my body… Did they add gravity or something?”

“That’s correct.”

And the answer came from in front of me. I barely moved my head to look for the source of the voice.

There was a woman with a muscular, stocky body and short hair. She looked more like a classic warrior than a wizard.

She walked calmly, seemingly unaffected by the oppressive pressure of the air. Then she looked down at us and spoke coldly.

“They are no different from bugs crawling on the floor. What a weakling. They can’t even withstand this level of pressure.”

“Weak… Who… !”

Jin Ye-seo sat up as if she was furious. She was barely able to support herself by planting the blade on the ground with her trembling arms.

“Wow… So it’s not like it’s completely useless waste?”

A moment of surprise crossed the witch’s face as she saw Jin Ye-seo. In return, Jin Ye-seo twisted the corners of her mouth and sneered.

“Whew, Whew… I just needed some time to get used to it. It’s… nothing… ”

Jinyeseo intentionally strengthened the field surrounding her body to disperse the pressure that was coming down on her. It was a skill that was only possible with overwhelming physical ability.

For a moment, my spine tingles. For a moment, a sense of crisis seems to pass by. When did he become so strong? If he keeps up like this, he might really lose next time.

“Whew… Hey. What are you doing, wake up quickly.”

And Jin Ye-seo, looking down at me, made a smug expression.

“Are you feeling overwhelmed?”

“… ”

At Jinyeseo’s provocation, something rose inside me. Unlike others, my body, which is a half-magician, does not have a spring that stores particles. Naturally, there is no field made up of surplus particles that have been purified from the spring.

But it wasn’t something I could complain about. Instead, I spread the power near my heart. And immediately, my contracted lungs opened up and fresh air began to rush in.

I looked around as it was. My body had regained its freedom, but unlike usual, my movements were still sluggish.

I could see that the ground within a radius of several hundred meters had been hollowed out into a circle. The point of effect of gravity was so vast that my blockade could not cover it all.

“… Huh. Not fun… Cool… !”

-Kuuung!!

Jin Ye-seo was about to stick out her lips as she watched me get up. Suddenly, a huge pressure several times greater than the one just now pressed down on us.

And unlike me, who was protected by power, Jin Ye-seo ended up spitting out blood from her mouth.

“Jin Ye-seo! Are you okay? Come to me quickly!”

However, Jinyeseo shook her head without saying anything to my words. She gritted her teeth and took out the blade that had been supporting her body, and took a stance.

She seemed to have sensed something. The witch’s eyes, looking at the truth, were filled with even more awe than before.

“This is really amazing. Most native creatures would have already been torn to pieces by this pressure.”

“Whew… I’m sorry about this. I’m not a native creature… Gulp, gulp!”

Jin Ye-seo answered with strength even while spitting out blood. A smile of deep interest appeared on the witch’s face.

The witch, who had finally shed her initial arrogance, nodded her head and gave a light greeting.

“My name is Sirius. It’s been a while since I’ve met a fellow warrior. If it’s okay, wouldn’t you like to share a match with me?”

-Oh my…

A halo of light followed the hand of the witch who revealed her name as Sirius. Soon, a blade made by hardening particles was held in her hand. The shape was exactly the same as the one Jinyeseo was holding.

“Haa, haa… What?”

And then Jin Ye-seo made a face of bewilderment for a moment.

“For someone who said he was a warrior… Isn’t that unfair? This is completely your home ground… ”

“I too am enduring the exact same weight of pressure as you. My power works equally for everyone. There are no exceptions.”

“… ”

Jin Ye-seo closed her mouth after seeing his confident attitude. She was lost in thought for a moment.

“… Okay. Let’s try it.”

And finally, a sly smile appears on Jin Ye-seo’s lips, dripping with blood.

“That’s perfect timing. I also needed someone to test my progress. Someone like you… seems like the perfect person.”

However, from a third party’s perspective, it was an absurd statement. Although she was able to withstand the gravity weighing down her body quite well, it was true that she was far inferior to that witch.

Rather than testing the performance, we would be busy blocking the attack. We had to find a way to get out of this range somehow.

“Jin Ye-seo. Stop being a guest and come to me quickly. For now… ”

“That’s right, male. Now, would you please stop bothering me and just go away?”

And instead, it was the witch who waved her hand and chased me away. I was dumbfounded and asked back.

“… What?”