Before the sparring match with Arkiel even began, Yoo Do-a had a rough idea of what she was in for.
That if she treated this summoned creature carelessly, there'd be nothing left of her to bury.
【❮(A) Foresight❯: Activated!】
[ Entity: Yoo Do-a reads the future that Entity: Arkiel is drawing toward… ]
【❮(A) Acceleration❯: Activated!】
[ The flow of time as perceived by Entity: Yoo Do-a slows exponentially… ]
"…Hoo."
Do-a clearly remembered what Kim A-rin had said — that even by conservative estimates, this summoned creature was on par with an S-rank Hunter like herself.
A monstrous summoned creature that had reduced the Hunter Association's measurement chamber to dust just by releasing a fraction of its power.
True, this wasn't a fight to the death — it was a sparring match, a test of capabilities.
But even if it were a real battle instead of a spar, the odds of actually winning against Arkiel might not be all that—
———Thud-thud!
"!!"
—high, Do-a instinctively felt, the moment a fist appeared right in front of her face in an instant.
An absurd speed she'd barely registered even with her Acceleration skill slowing time to a crawl.
When she peeked at the immediate future with her Foresight skill, she saw herself taking Arkiel's fist directly to the face.
And all the while, that straight-line punch kept closing the distance.
—Crack.
She frantically crossed both arms into a guard, and the heavy fist came crashing down onto the backs of her forearms.
The faint sensation of bones being compressed.
Her body, unable to withstand Arkiel's force, was pushed back a step.
"——Ugh!"
Ridiculous. Muttering that internally, Do-a quickly swung her arms upward in a wide arc. Arkiel's fist was barely deflected away.
The moment Arkiel's center of gravity shifted ever so slightly, Do-a activated her Acceleration skill again. Time slowed immediately.
—Tick. —Tick.
The tiny clock hands that appeared in Do-a's eyes glowed and turned slowly. Time, always relative, slowed even further.
She was still the guild master of a major guild, after all. They'd only exchanged one blow — she couldn't afford to be done already.
Arkiel, whose balance had wavered for just a moment, was only now recovering her footing. Without missing that razor-thin opening, Do-a kicked off the ground and charged.
Her target: the blind spot. No matter how powerful Arkiel was, she couldn't see the back of her own head.
In the end, even Arkiel was a creature with eyes in the front.
Banking on exactly that, Do-a launched a spinning heel kick from behind Arkiel's back.
—Tick. —Tick.
"Hup——!"
Her body rotated in a wide arc, and Do-a's outstretched leg flew powerfully toward Arkiel.
A speed invisible to the naked eye of any ordinary person.
No — most Hunters probably wouldn't be able to perceive Do-a's attack either.
At its final stage, Do-a's drastically accelerated time even broke the sound barrier.
—Thwack———!
Of course, this was still a sparring match, so she hadn't attacked with the intent to kill.
She didn't even have a clear grasp of exactly how strong Arkiel was to begin with.
Right now, the goal was purely to test how far Arkiel could handle things with her bare hands.
The objective was to gauge just how skilled a combatant Arkiel was when it came to actual fighting.
—Tickle, tickle.
"Hyah?!"
That was the plan, at least — until a set of slender fingers started tickling the top of Do-a's foot.
She snapped her gaze over in bewilderment, and there it was: Arkiel's hand, wrapped around Do-a's ankle.
And below that, a pair of expressionless eyes gazing quietly down at the top of Do-a's foot.
'H-how?'
It was hard to believe.
That last attack had come from Arkiel's blind spot at tremendous speed.
And yet here she was — holding Do-a's ankle, with her other hand free enough to tickle the top of her foot.
"Hmm……"
—Flinch.
Arkiel tilted her head slowly, and Do-a felt it instinctively.
It wasn't Do-a who was testing the other party right now — it was Arkiel.
Let's see how long you can hold out.
Those eyes seemed to say exactly that as they looked at Do-a.
—Whoosh!
"——Wah!"
Arkiel yanked Do-a's ankle and pulled her in, then briefly shifted her gaze.
What she found was Lee Ji-woo, far in the distance, watching with eyes that said she had no idea what was going on.
It seemed she hadn't been able to follow the split-second exchange that had just taken place.
So Arkiel lent her master a little more of her own power.
Because some battles become great experience simply by watching.
—Ding.
【❮(A) Dragon Eyes❯: Activated!】
[ Entity: Lee Ji-woo opens her eyes. ]
"…Huh? Wait — what's going on?"
She enabled Ji-woo to follow the exchange between herself and Do-a with her own eyes.
More than anything, she wanted to show Ji-woo.
The sight of Arkiel faithfully carrying out every order her master had given.
—Bite.
"?! Eek!"
Still gripping Do-a's ankle, she pulled her in and in one swift motion sank her teeth lightly into that pale neck.
Just enough to leave a faint tooth mark.
Deliberately angled so Ji-woo could see it clearly.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?!"
"You were commanded not to be harmed."
Do-a flushed red and sputtered in shock at having her neck bitten by Arkiel, but it was of no concern.
What mattered right now was only the order Ji-woo had given Arkiel.
'Arkiel can do it. Show her the gap in power without hurting her.'
Never harm Yoo Do-a.
And at the same time, make the difference in power between Yoo Do-a and Arkiel clear and unmistakable.
—Bite.
—Bite.
—Bite.
"E-eek!"
Arkiel carried out Ji-woo's orders faithfully.
Had she been commanded to kill, she would have erased Yoo Do-a's very existence on the spot — but her master had commanded her not to cause harm.
—Snap!
—Bite.
"?! Kyaah!"
No matter where or how Do-a attacked, Arkiel deflected it with ease, and each time Do-a was thrown off guard, she left another faint tooth mark on that pale neck.
Meaning that if this had been a real fight, Do-a's throat would have been torn out as many times as there were bite marks.
And that number was roughly…
—Bite.
—Bite.
—Bite. —Bite. —Bite. —Bite………
"———O-okay! Test over!"
About thirty-seven times.
"Ugh…. I can't even…"
For some reason, Do-a stared into a small mirror with an absolutely miserable expression, but that was of no concern.
What mattered right now was only whether she had perfectly fulfilled what Ji-woo had commanded.
That, and only that, was what mattered.
—Pitter-patter!
"As you commanded, not a single drop of blood was shed."
That was why Arkiel, wearing a proud expression, sprinted straight to Ji-woo's side.
She dropped to one knee almost simultaneously, looked up at Ji-woo, and reported on what had just transpired.
Ji-woo had surely seen it all clearly.
The humiliating scene of Do-a being bitten on the neck over and over without being able to do a thing.
"How was it?"
"Uh, um……"
Ji-woo's expression was somehow a little too troubled, but she opened her mouth and spoke in the end.
"G-good job, Arkiel. …Well, saying 'good job' feels a bit weird. But you did beat Do-a, so?"
"Yes. I won."
Ji-woo hesitated and reluctantly raised a thumb, giving Arkiel a thumbs-up.
For Arkiel, that alone was more than enough.
She kept sneaking glances at Do-a on the other side for some reason, but regardless — she had been told she did well.
The swelling emotion was enough to bring Arkiel nearly to tears.
…Though the one who actually looked like she might cry was Do-a, with a set of tooth marks carved into her neck.
***
"H-hey, Do-a?"
"…Hm? What is it, Ji-woo?"
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, no, Ji-woo. I'm fine………. …Yeah, I'm fine…"
Inside the limousine heading to a nearby department store.
Do-a kept fidgeting with the patches she'd stuck on her neck and made another miserable face.
Apparently the tooth marks all over her neck were still bothering her.
Of course, I knew exactly why the tooth marks were there — but to anyone else, it was exactly the kind of thing that invited misunderstanding.
"Um, so. Hey."
"What……?"
"Can't you just go to the Haetae Guild healers and have them treat it?"
"I-if I do that, it'll be all over the guild! Absolutely not. I'll just have to insist I pulled a muscle in my neck…"
Do-a said she had no choice but to tough it out until Arkiel's tooth marks faded.
Arkiel, of course, remained completely unapologetic.
She pointed out that if the earlier sparring had been a real fight, Do-a would have had her throat torn out as many times as there were bite marks.
Of everyone in the limousine right now, Arkiel was by far the most innocent.
She seemed entirely unaware of the other meaning behind tooth marks.
"…Haah. Anyway, a deal's a deal."
Do-a eventually pulled out her phone, tapped away at something, and held it out for me to see.
"I made your Instagram. Tagged it on our guild's official account and mine too."
"Oh."
"The cake………. I'll buy it for you when we get to the department store. There's a café I go to inside."
When Do-a handed me her phone for a moment, there really was an Instagram account made for me.
HT_Jiwoo. As in Haetae Ji-woo.
The account had just been created, so no photos had been posted yet, but the follower count was already ticking up one by one.
Promoting my account on the Haetae Guild's official Instagram and Do-a's personal account was having a massive effect.
And looking at it, Do-a had posted on her personal account going on about how some incredible Hunter had appeared, and she'd even put up a silhouette of me.
───────────
HT_Do._A | 11:05
───────────
@ HT_Jiwoo
Haetae's new face
───────────
"…When did you even take this photo?"
"When Kim A-rin was messing with your hair while tying it."
A photo that somehow had an atmosphere to it.
My face was subtly obscured, giving it a slightly mysterious feel.
…Honestly, I didn't recognize myself at first glance. It was clearly my photo, but I couldn't believe it could look this pretty.
If I took a photo of myself, I'd probably just get the back of my head.
"That's what skill looks like. If you pay attention to the angle and lighting, there's no way it won't come out pretty."
So that's what it takes to have a few million Instagram followers — there really was something different about her.
Even when taking photos, she had a certain philosophy.
"Well, to be fair, you're pretty, Ji-woo, so your photos come out pretty too."
"Ahem, ahem."
"I did touch it up a little, though."
"Oh…. It's just my back, and you can still retouch that?"
"Why not? Brighten the skin a bit, clean up the stray hairs. That makes a huge difference."
Maybe it's because she was born female, unlike me — she was incredibly knowledgeable about this kind of thing.
Even Arkiel looked at the photo Do-a had posted, quietly nodded, and gave her silent approval.
Apparently even Arkiel thought it was a pretty photo.
"By the way, why do you need to buy a dress?"
"Oh, that's… I just thought it'd be nice to have one."
"Hehe. Right, it would be nice."
I couldn't exactly say it was for meeting Hidden Bosses, so I mumbled and glossed over it.
Still, thanks to Do-a, I'd been able to convert Arkiel's gems into cash.
I'd decided to use that money to buy today's dress.
Apparently, for a famous S-rank Hunter like Do-a, department store staff treat you noticeably better.
"So, hey."
"Yeah?"
"Can you do that thing at the department store?"
"That thing? What thing?"
"You know, like — 'I'll take everything from here to there,' and then just, like, sweeping your arm around. Like a rich socialite."
"Ahaha. I could, but there's no real need. Even if I buy expensive clothes, I always end up wearing the same ones anyway."
So she could do it if she wanted to.
As expected of an S-rank Hunter. She had the wealth and means to actually do things I'd only ever imagined.
The limousine we were riding in right now was hers, by the way.
Press some button and canned drinks come sliding out from between the seats with a little whirr. And they were cold, too.
It made me appreciate all over again just how rich Hunters were.
"You'll probably end up earning more than me, Ji-woo."
"But Kim A-rin said I can't enter Dungeons while I'm still a minor…"
"The thing is, Ji-woo — Hunters don't only make money in Dungeons."
"Then how?"
"Hunters are kind of like celebrities, in a way. They show up on TV all the time, right?"
"I don't know how to do broadcasts."
"It doesn't have to be broadcasting. What I mean is — Hunters are popular with people."
Saying she'd show me another way Hunters make money, Do-a took me along to the department store.
The mention of making money piqued my interest, and I found myself quietly looking forward to it.
There had to be a reason Do-a was so confident.
***
"Ji-woo, Ji-woo. I'm telling you, post just one photo and sponsorship deals will come flooding in. I guarantee it."
"…You didn't say it'd be this kind of photo."
"Trust me! I have six million followers!"
"………"
—Click!
