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The blade of the dagger Shin Hyeon-joo shot toward the hero broke, signaling the start of the battle.

B-Class Hero Kimchi-seung.

Though he avoided the spotlight and wasn’t widely known, within the Association, he was a renowned powerhouse.

‘There’s a rumor that he’s stronger than even the seasoned B-Class members of the four major guilds….’

Shin Hyeon-joo recalled information about Kimchi-seung, who was stretching his wrists and ankles as if loosening up.

Though Shin Hyeon-joo and Ragna were A-Class Awakened Ones, their opponent was an active hero.

Even if their abilities and magic power might be superior, they couldn’t confidently claim their skills were ahead.

Swoosh—

Ragna drew his battle axe.

Shin Hyeon-joo also pulled out the bow from her back, and the rest of the team finished their combat preparations.

Hero Kimchi-seung was a bare-handed fighter who didn’t use weapons, so he clashed his fists together as if signaling he was ready.

Thud!

Kimchi-seung moved first.

He charged straight toward Shin Hyeon-joo.

It was payback for throwing the dagger.

Moving swiftly, he unleashed a flurry of punches, filling Shin Hyeon-joo’s front with his fists.

It was an incredible speed, as if he had multiple arms.

But Shin Hyeon-joo’s body slid backward in an instant, and Ragna, who was right beside her, swung his axe toward Kimchi-seung.

Taking advantage of the opening, Shin Hyeon-joo ran to create as much distance as possible.

“Hmph!”

Kimchi-seung bent his waist, lightly dodging Ragna’s axe, and chased after Shin Hyeon-joo as if determined not to let her escape.

The flexibility from such a build made Ragna’s eyes widen, but Ragna was the Awakened One with the most combat experience among the supporting participants.

He immediately threw a hand axe toward Kimchi-seung’s back.

Whoosh whoosh!

The hand axe flew fiercely, cutting through the wind.

Kimchi-seung, who was chasing Shin Hyeon-joo, didn’t even look back, simply twisting his side.

It was a simple movement, but it perfectly matched the trajectory of the flying hand axe.

He dodged it with a grazing, almost artistic precision.

The thrown hand axe headed straight for Shin Hyeon-joo, who was running in a straight line.

“Hey, damn it!”

Ragna was known to be a battle maniac who fought on instinct.

But Shin Hyeon-joo hadn’t expected him to fight without a single thought.

Throwing a hand axe straight at Kimchi-seung, who was chasing her in a straight line, while she was also running straight?

She barely deflected the hand axe with her bow and shouted in disbelief.

“Do you even think?!”

Shin Hyeon-joo, who had always used formal speech regardless of age, found herself slipping into informal speech in the heat of the moment.

Kimchi-seung chuckled as if amused.

“Are you fighting me? If it’s a split, let me know beforehand. I don’t do unnecessary fights.”

As if in response to Kimchi-seung’s words, Shin Hyeon-joo’s arrow flew.

Again, Kimchi-seung dodged the arrow with a light movement.

The arrow flew toward Ragna.

“…What a lousy hunter!”

“Who are you to talk?!”

Ragna, who deflected the arrow with his axe, shouted at Shin Hyeon-joo.

Shin Hyeon-joo shouted back, refusing to back down.

Ragna, with a grim expression, threw his battle axe.

The trajectory of the axe wasn’t aimed at Kimchi-seung or Shin Hyeon-joo.

It flew diagonally and struck a tree.

Crack—

With the sound of breaking, the tree fell as if collapsing onto Shin Hyeon-joo.

At the same time, Shin Hyeon-joo, who had leaped up from the ground, landed on the falling tree.

She pulled her bowstring toward Ragna.

Thud— the moment the tree hit the ground.

An arrow flew through the dust.

Ragna split the arrow with his remaining hand axe.

He briefly took a stance as if to throw the hand axe, but his main weapon, the battle axe, was already gone, and he only had one of his two hand axes left.

He couldn’t bring himself to throw it.

Thanks to that, the situation calmed down for a moment.

“What are they doing now…?”

“It’s surprising enough that they’re suddenly fighting each other in this situation… but what’s with those movements? And Ragna, that guy, split an arrow that came right in front of his face without even blinking.”

The team members, baffled by the sudden Shin Hyeon-joo vs. Ragna situation, alternated glances at them, wondering what was going on.

Even Kimchi-seung stopped moving.

“Haha, should I step aside for a bit? Once their lovers’ quarrel is over, the winner can fight me.”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Still aware of her seniority, Shin Hyeon-joo used formal speech toward Kimchi-seung.

Ragna snorted with a “Hmph!”

Both seemed deeply bothered by the term “lovers’ quarrel.”

At the same time, Ragna’s hand axe and Shin Hyeon-joo’s arrow shot toward Kimchi-seung.

It was a coordinated attack the moment they heard Kimchi-seung’s nonsense.

Of course, Kimchi-seung dodged it with ease.

He wasn’t a monster that just charged blindly at its opponent, and for a Physical Category hero, dodging projectiles like this was as simple as avoiding a paper airplane.

“…Look at how perfectly in sync you two are. You’re fated.”

“Absolutely not!”

“Who are you to talk?!”

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh!

A participant leaped down from the air, charging toward Kimchi-seung.

“Whoa!”

He only noticed the blade about to touch his throat at the last moment.

“That was just a joke!”

Kimchi-seung bent his waist, flipped his body, and kicked the ambushing participant away.

At that moment, the ground beneath Kimchi-seung’s feet began to soften.

It was the ability of the one magic-category participant in Shin Hyeon-joo and Ragna’s team.

Not missing the opportunity, Ragna charged in.

Though his pride was hurt, Shin Hyeon-joo also thought it was right to attack Kimchi-seung as a team.

But…

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

Ragna, who had passed Kimchi-seung, retrieved the axe stuck in the tree.

“This is expensive.”

“…”

Shin Hyeon-joo, left awkwardly standing alone in front of Kimchi-seung, smiled awkwardly.

“Alone?”

“Yeah… seems like it.”

“Then you’re single? Then I’m grinning.”

“…”

The biggest reason Kimchi-seung avoided the spotlight.

His overwhelming dad jokes burst forth.

It was as if magic power was infused into them, enough to stop Shin Hyeon-joo’s movements.

Thanks to that, Kimchi-seung, who had escaped the softening ground, adjusted his stance.

Whoosh!

With a terrifying sound, a fist was swung.

Fists and kicks poured down, surrounding Shin Hyeon-joo from all sides.

Ragna watched with interest, while the other team members couldn’t easily join in.

At the level of ordinary people throwing punches, it might have been different.

But at the level of Awakened Ones, coordinated attacks weren’t always advantageous.

They were waiting for the right moment to intervene.

The problem was Shin Hyeon-joo.

She seemed to be dodging well at first, but she started taking hits, one or two at a time.

Gradually, she allowed more attacks.

“Tch!”

Shin Hyeon-joo clicked her tongue and drew on her magic power.

Kimchi-seung, expecting a strong counter, took a deep breath—

“Haha…”

He exhaled in disbelief.

Because Shin Hyeon-joo’s body had split into five.

It wasn’t an afterimage from speed.

Literally.

There were five Shin Hyeon-joos.

Four of the Shin Hyeon-joos lunged at Kimchi-seung.

Bang!

The clones, disregarding their own safety, unleashed fierce attacks, regardless of damage to skin, muscles, or joints.

Kimchi-seung also drew a bit more magic power from within, engaging the clones at a similar level.

Each clone moved as skillfully as Shin Hyeon-joo, but with even greater power.

Meanwhile, arrows from the distant main body Shin Hyeon-joo flew in rapid succession.

‘What kind of ability is this? It’s cheating.’

Shin Hyeon-joo’s ability usage was sloppy, and her physical abilities weren’t exceptionally strong, so he could handle it.

But if Jeong Gyeoul or Jeong Ha-yul had used this ability, it would’ve been a nightmare.

‘Five Demon Kings…?’

The strange thought made him tense up excessively.

Crash—

Though he had been following the higher-ups’ orders to drag out the fight and draw out the opponent’s full strength.

He blew away all four clones at once.

“…”

Shin Hyeon-joo, who had been pulling her bowstring, hurriedly put the arrow back into the quiver.

‘Let’s run.’

The moment Shin Hyeon-joo’s eyes met Kimchi-seung’s, she ran toward Ragna.

“Do something! Did you come here to watch?!”

“That clone technique was quite interesting.”

“I didn’t use that ability for your entertainment, so hurry up and do something!”

“Fine, since you’re begging so much, I’ll step in.”

“This bastard…”

As Ragna shrugged his shoulders with a smug expression, Kimchi-seung considered leaving them alone and fighting Ragna instead.

But they were still in the middle of the scenario, and the cameras placed everywhere were bothering him.

Muttering to himself that the bigger person should endure, he began pressuring Kimchi-seung alongside Ragna.

By the time the two were running out of steam, the team members joined in to face Kimchi-seung.

Meanwhile, the two, having recovered their stamina, charged at Kimchi-seung again.

After repeating this several times for about an hour.

Finally, Kimchi-seung declared surrender.

“Damn, I’m dead. I lost, I lost. A solo can’t stand against the power of a couple.”

“Ah, damn it! No, we’re not!”

“…”

Shin Hyeon-joo responded with informal speech, despite Kimchi-seung being her senior.

Ragna remained silent.

“…What’s with you? Why aren’t you answering?”

“For a warrior like you, it’s not a bad thought.”

“Ugh! Shut up!”

Shin Hyeon-joo, the elf girl who seemed like a calm, rational team leader.

Less than three hours into the uninhabited island scenario, her true personality was revealed.

 

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