As it fell, the steel sword reflected the faded Antarctic sun and the flames that had enveloped the land.

It was beautiful. But not the sword itself.

‘The light…’ 

A long ray of light captured Gong Ju-Ha’s eyes, looking as if it would make the world anew.

‘It’s pretty.’ 

This was the first time she admired the beauty of an opponent’s sword. Of course, it wasn’t as beautiful as the sight of the Sword Saint’s blade that she had seen from a distance a few years ago.

But this sword was falling toward her, which meant that she was that much more captivated than back then.

‘Wait, it’s coming!’ 

Oh right! She had to dodge!

But by the time she realized this, it was too late.

Woosh! 

The sword came down on her head.

“...!”

She felt a tremor go down her spine and spread across her body. And it wasn’t just because of the cold. It was because she knew that the fierce, powerful sword would cut her in half. She knew that this was merely a match and that she wouldn’t get hurt, but her body reacted first.

‘I’m gonna lose? This pathetically…?’ 

She bit down on her lip. She forced her eyes to stay open for the sake of pride.

Woosh! 

Should she be relieved? The sword stopped. Right in front of her nose.

“...Why?” she asked, her voice tight. Her opponent didn’t say anything and merely looked at her with unreadable eyes. They pulled back the sword, returning to their original position.

‘Are they… Giving me another chance? Because I let my guard down? Because it wouldn’t be fun if it ended like this?’ 

She let out a low laugh. She didn’t like that a level 76 Player had gotten the better of her, but the fact that they were giving her a handicap was even worse.

‘I am a Team Leader of the Goblin Guild.’

Her actions reflected her Guild, which meant that her mistakes and misconduct would also be attributed to it.

‘But that’s not what I’m the angriest about.’ 

She was angry at herself. She had been bedazzled by her opponent’s sword and stood there like an idiot, unable to do anything.

Of course, the reason Seo Jun-Ho gave her another chance wasn’t because of stupid pity.

“Contractor. You did not let her go just because you know each other, right?” the Frost Queen asked.

“Of course not. I know how to separate my public and private lives.” He merely wanted to take advantage of such a great opportunity. From the moment she created her flames, both he and the Frost Queen realized that they were facing Gong Ju-Ha. Looking at the petite frame of the flame user in front of them, they had to be Gong Ju-Ha.

“This is an unexpected stroke of luck.” Seo Jun-Ho didn’t hate her. If he had to choose, he would actually say that he felt favorable toward her.

‘But I’ve always wondered how strong the elites of the Big 6 Players are.’

Not only was Gong Ju-Ha a Ranker, but she was also a High Ranker, which only existed among 10,000 Players. She was one of the strongest Players in this era.

“I want to see her skills,” Seo Jun-Ho explained. When he went to the Cinder Fox Gate after he broke out of the ice, he had been disappointed in the skills of the modern Players.

‘I heard that the basic standards for Players had shot up, so I’d been looking forward to it.’

His high expectations had caused him to be even more disappointed.

But the Players on the 1st floor were all at the lowest of the pack. After coming up to the 2nd floor, however, Seo Jun-Ho met many talented Players. Starting with Baek Geon-Woo, the man who had never given up, he also met other talented Players during the kobold hunting competition.

However, he was merely looking forward to their futures. They didn’t meet his standards at the moment.

‘But she’s different...’ 

Gong Ju-Ha was already a High Ranker. He thought that her power might satisfy him, so he couldn’t just end it with one blow.

“...Show me what you’ve got, Team Leader Gong.”

Otherwise, there would’ve been no point in sparing her.

***

“It was a mistake to spare me,” Gong Ju-Ha muttered, tying her hair back with an elastic band. Even though it was embarrassing enough that she wanted to bury her head in the snow, the truth was that her opponent had spared her. And on one hand, she was glad for it. She wanted to pay them back for showing her the beautiful sight by showing off her skills.

“So I’m gonna give it my all.” She didn’t really think that she had let her guard down earlier, but she discovered a newfound determination. She wouldn’t arrogantly try to teach them a lesson as a sunbae anymore.

‘I’m just gonna fight.’ 

She would consider them as an opponent. She would take ‘Newbie 76’ as a real enemy.

Fwoosh! 

The wall of flames behind her started to condense. One, two, three, four… In an instant, the flames condensed into thirty fireballs, each one as big as five basketballs.

“I’ll show you what real fire looks like.” She kicked off the surface of the glacier and charged, her feet were light like a squirrel’s. The fireballs followed right behind her like she was a pied piper.

‘Is she not gonna attack me right away?’ 

Seo Jun-Ho narrowed his eyes. Was she still underestimating him? He shook his head.

‘No. It’s the opposite.’ 

Apparently, he had stoked her desire to win.

“Hm…” The Frost Queen nodded as she watched Gong Ju-Ha dash toward Seo Jun-Ho with great vigor. “Good luck, Contractor. I shall support you from all the way over there.”

Intimidated by Gong Ju-Ha’s determination, the Frost Queen quickly abandoned her Contractor and flew elsewhere.

“Geez, you’re throwing me away?” He shook his head, exasperated, before watching closely.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen her fight before.’ 

He hadn’t been able to see it in Las Vegas. He had been far away, so all he saw was a great pillar of fire shooting into the sky.

‘I thought she was just a flame-user, but her physical abilities are also impressive.’ 

It made sense. No Player could become a High Ranker just with a single elemental skill. Gong Ju-Ha’s skills were slightly below that of powerful physical-enforcement types. As such, she probably went through hellish training to reach where she was today.

“Not bad.” With that brief note, Seo Jun-Ho summoned his magic and gripped his sword. At the same time, Gong Ju-Ha reached his vicinity and swung her arm.

Fwoosh! 

Two fireballs came to greet him, flying forward at a fearsome speed. Once he cut through the two condensed fireballs and they fizzled out, Gong Ju-Ha’s small foot came flying. Despite her size, her magic-enhanced strikes could do serious damage.

‘But she’s not as fast as I expected.’ 

He snatched her ankle, about to throw her to the ground. But then, he felt something hot near his head.

“Hup!” He let go and retreated, but Gong Ju-Ha didn’t let him go. She closed the distance, following him like a rabbit chasing a carrot.

‘Those fireballs are more annoying than I thought.’ 

Frankly, Gong Ju-Ha’s physical fighting abilities weren’t that outstanding. Among all the Players in the world, she would probably only fall in the top 25%

‘...But she’s a flame-user.’ 

She was able to overcome the weaknesses of Ruler of Flames (S). It wasn’t common for elemental ability users to have close-combat fighting styles, but those who had only had a single goal in mind.

‘To fight like me.’ 

Specter had been the one to master that style. In other words, Seo Jun-Ho was both their goal and their guide. Of course, this also meant that he could see every single one of her weak points.

‘Hm, I suppose it would be okay to teach her a bit.’ 

He could clearly see all the weaknesses that even Gong Ju-Ha herself couldn’t see as he watched her from the top of the mountain he was standing on as she struggled to climb up and catch up to him.

Seo Jun-Ho’s sword started to swing wildly in the air.

‘I can do this!’

Despite her initial confidence, she noticed that something was off as time passed. Her limbs started to get tangled up. She had only managed to corner him for a second, and now, the scales had tipped back to the way they were at the beginning of the battle.

‘Huh…Huh? This can’t be happening.’ 

She trembled. There weren’t many people who fought like her, using ever-changing tactics along with elemental abilities. Those who fought someone with her fighting style for the first time shouldn’t be able to even perceive, let alone keep up with the quick changes she was making to her style.

‘And they’re only level 76...’ 

Her opponent should have no experience fighting people like her. So why was this happening? Frustratingly enough, Newbie 76 had always made the right moves—they even made choices that Ju-Ha herself hadn’t considered.

“Ow!” Her opponent landed a low kick on her ankle, making her small body fly through the air. In her defenseless state, they pushed her face back.

“Ack!” Gong Ju-Ha cried out as she landed ungainly on the ice. She rubbed her aching nose and stood up. With her thoughts still jumbled, she could only ask one question, “How? How can you see all the openings in my attacks…”

She cut herself off instead of admitting her own stupidity.

‘You idiot, don’t ask something so stupid.’ 

How? They simply saw through all her attacks. In other words, Newbie 76 had better fighting instinct than she did. It shocked her when she realized this.

‘...I’ve never felt this way before.’ 

All her life, she had been praised as a prodigy. Because of that, she had been able to join the Big 6 at a young age and had the honor of becoming a Team Leader at the young age of twenty-four. But even she could see how special Newbie 76 was.

‘This person… They’re not a genius.’ 

They were a monster. She could feel the massive wall between them, the same one she felt when she saw Shin Sung-Hyun and Kim Woo-Joong, she saw that same thing from a Player who was merely level 76.

“...Sigh.” 

The strength left her body as she realized their difference in talent. How had she been at level 76? Well, her skin had been better…

Her opponent approached her as she got lost in her thoughts. “You’re strong.” Their voice was masked by the Unknown System, and they sounded like an old gentleman. “As expected of the Red Lotus Princess. You are the strongest opponent I’ve encountered in the matching system.”

“A-ahem.” Gong Ju-Ha shrugged her shoulders, seemingly flattered. Even though she was using the Unknown System, she seemed to have no intentions of hiding her identity.

Seo Jun-Ho cleared his throat before he spoke again, “Do you know Specter?”

“How could I not? He’s the Player I admire the most.” Her eyes started to sparkle at the mention of his name. “But why are you asking me that in the middle of a battle? Let’s do this. C’mon.”

“Well, seeing your fighting style, it seems like you’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from him…”

“Huh? Really? You can see that?”

Well, others might not be able to see it, but it would be weirder if Specter himself couldn’t recognize his own fighting style. Not only that, but her weak points were very similar to the ones he had in the past.

‘It’s all a part of the journey.’ 

It was a lonely road, without someone else’s guidance. Not many people had taken the path he took, but the ones who did all went through these growing pains.

‘But the moment she’s able to overcome her weaknesses…’

She would be able to cross the wall and reach a new level.

“First of all, I saw seventeen weak points,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“D-do I really have that many…?”

He launched into a patient explanation as if he was a private tutor. Gong Ju-Ha nodded along like an eager student, taking note of everything he said.

“Oh…” Once he finished the lecture, her jaw dropped. She had been vaguely aware of every aspect he had mentioned.

‘But I have no idea how he was able to explain why I was doing those things.’ 

This was priceless advice that not even money could buy. Plus, Newbie 76 was a total stranger, not someone in her Guild.

She looked up at her opponent, confused. “Why… Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Hm, well…”

The biggest reason was that she was a fellow Player. If Seo Jun-Ho wanted to topple the powerful fiends, he need many skilled Players. Other than that, he was familiar with her.

However, he couldn’t just tell her these things.

‘Well, if I had to pick a third reason…’ 

Seo Jun-Ho grinned. He knew that Gong Ju-Ha was a fan of his, but he didn’t expect that he had influenced her fighting style as well. How should he say this? When he saw Gong Ju-Ha, he felt like he was looking at a hubae from the same school…

“Because you’re cute?”

“W-what’re you saying?!” Gong Ju-Ha bit her tongue in surprise. Eyes watering, she quickly pressed on the System window.

[The opponent has forfeited.]

[You have won.]

[You have received 180,000 points.]

[You will be returned to the waiting room.]

“I-I paid you back, alright?!” she said, flustered.

“...I don’t think it’s enough to cover everything I taught you, though?”

“I-I’ll pay you back for real sometime!” Before she ran away to the waiting room, she looked back to give him a warning. “And once I fix all my mistakes, we’re gonna have a rematch, so watch out! And thank you for the advice!”

She even bowed politely before she disappeared.

Seo Jun-Ho scratched his head as he was left alone on the glacier. “Hm. Her face was a little red. Is it because she’s a fire elemental user?” he muttered.

“Again, with the idiotic talk.”

“...What do you mean? Why are you insulting me when I just got 800,000 PP?” he complained.

The Frost Queen shook her head and sighed. “Goodness… You would not understand it even if I told you.” He really wouldn’t understand it.