Another briefing room.
This space belonged to the instructors evaluating the cadets.
An instructor, observing the simulation room through the connected CCTV, activated the microphone.
“Next up, the final turn: Cadet Wi Seoyeon’s team begins the raid.”
It took less than three seconds for the space surrounding the cadets to transform into a dark underwater cave.
The interior of the simulation room morphed perfectly into the scenery of an underwater cavern—gently rippling water sounds, dense humidity in the air, impenetrable darkness, and massive, shadowy figures moving in sync with unidentifiable presences.
An instructor, sipping coffee while watching the screen, muttered.
“An Abyssal Dragon, huh…”
It was called an Abyssal Dragon, but it might as well have been a giant centipede.
With its powerful jaws and venom, anyone caught by its numerous legs was as good as eliminated.
In the simulation room, elimination was equivalent to death in real combat.
Another instructor continued the analysis.
“It’s a mechanic they can handle with this many people, but it’s unavoidable to feel overwhelmed at the start.”
“Let’s observe for now.”
On the screen, five cadets moved differently.
Initially, the shroud of darkness seemed to disorient everyone, but Wi Seoyeon, the team leader, reacted swiftly.
“Gather around the light!”
A sphere of light, radiating from Wi Seoyeon’s hand, illuminated a certain radius.
Only then did the cadets realize they were in a damp underwater cave.
“Seoyeon’s quick to judge, as expected. How long did it take her?”
“Less than 1.5 seconds.”
“A.”
The evaluation continued relentlessly. The instructors’ eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
As the sphere of light summoned by Wi Seoyeon lit up the underwater cave, the Abyssal Dragon awoke and let out a thunderous roar.
Rumble!
The cave reverberated as if it were alive.
Water droplets and stone debris from the ceiling rained down like a storm, causing splashes and creating water columns of varying sizes in the cave’s pools.
In the midst of a world turning upside down, with waterfalls flowing backward, the serpent that failed to become a dragon roared.
To those observing from outside the simulation, it was a spectacle.
But to those caught in it, there was no greater fear.
Moreover, the cadets still didn’t know their raid target was the Abyssal Dragon.
The unknown loomed closer.
With dozens of legs, moving at terrifying speed.
Thud, thud, thud!
The sound of hundreds of galloping horses echoed through the cave, making it impossible to determine where it was coming from due to the reverberations.
In the tremor that shook the ground, Wi Seoyeon was the first to sense the danger.
“It’s coming from the left! Spread out, front and back!”
Joo Yidam was the quickest to respond, dashing forward.
Wi Seoyeon and Yidam moved to the rear, while the remaining three stumbled awkwardly ahead.
But one cadet forgot the floor was slippery.
Thud!
“Ahh!”
A girl who had rushed forward tripped over uneven rocks and fell.
At that moment, it was inevitable that she would be crushed by the Abyssal Dragon’s body.
The operator announced the cadet’s elimination through the microphone.
“Cadet Kim Hana, exit and standby.”
The voice was only audible through personal earphones, so as not to disrupt the immersion of the remaining cadets still undergoing the test.
The eliminated cadet’s view changed to a blank, white space, separating her from the others.
Meanwhile, the battle for the remaining four continued.
Crash!
The situation split the team into two pairs, divided by the Abyssal Dragon’s massive body.
With one member eliminated prematurely, the team’s remaining members had to find a way to overcome the crisis.
The instructors silently focused their attention.
Wi Seoyeon stood still, lost in thought.
“What’s going on?”
At the point when one teammate was eliminated due to a simple mistake, the team should have been wiped out, and the raid should have ended in failure.
But somehow, the simulation hadn’t ended—it was still ongoing.
Despite the breakdown of the formation and nothing going according to plan, things were still…working out.
Wi Seoyeon turned her gaze to the cause.
“Look at me!”
Joo Yidam.
Holding a sphere of light in one hand, the girl charged fearlessly through the darkness, slashing her sword.
Slash! Slice!
Each time the sword gleamed in the darkness, the Abyssal Dragon’s thin legs were severed.
Not only that, but her light steps over the slippery rocks were nothing short of a spectacle.
“Wait, can she use magic? And why is she holding a greatsword? Last time, wasn’t she using a saber?”
Wi Seoyeon’s mind grew increasingly confused. From her meticulous research on her teammates, she recalled Joo Idam being a mid-tier ranker, proficient in multiple weapons, and recently sparring with a
Berserker.
Nothing had stood out beyond that.
Yet now, Joo Yidam was freely tearing through the boss in the darkness.
The glow from the sphere in her hand flickered like a will-o’-the-wisp, softly illuminating her surroundings.
Her jet-black hair danced wildly as the Abyssal Dragon writhed in pain, thrashing chaotically.
The scene was like a painting, magnificent in Wi Seoyeon’s eyes.
Snap out of it!
Whatever the case, Joo Yidam was the linchpin of the simulation.
The other two cadets were frozen in the darkness, overwhelmed by the Abyssal Dragon’s size, unable to unleash their full potential.
Wi Seoyeon couldn’t blame them.
Even she felt their team had drawn particularly harsh conditions.
But overcoming such adversity would yield even greater rewards.
Wi Seoyeon shouted.
“Joo Yidam! Coordinate with me! Just buy me time, and I’ll take it down!”
“Got it!”
A confident voice echoed from the other side of the Abyssal Dragon.
Wi Seoyeon steeled herself.
At this moment, she held a trump card—a wildcard that not only executed her commands flawlessly but delivered absurd, consecutive performances beyond expectation.
If she couldn’t lead the team to overcome this crisis with such an asset, she no longer deserved the title of commander.
Wi Seoyeon relayed the boss’s position every second.
Thanks to her keen spatial awareness, even when the Abyssal Dragon plunged into the cave’s pond to mitigate damage, it couldn’t escape her detection.
At that point, the real raid began.
Despite early chaos from losing a teammate, Joo Yidam’s resilience and steadfast presence had created an opportunity.
Wi Seoyeon’s swift and precise orders flew out every second, and the minor and major mistakes of the other team members were effortlessly covered by Joo Yidam alone.
It didn’t take long for each person’s individual skills to start shining.
From that moment, the Abyssal Dragon of the deep sea was no longer an object of fear.
Wi Seoyeon, looking at the dying monster, finally recalled the rules of the team assignment.
“The simulation room ultimately only summons scenarios that the participants can clear.”
If the task feels impossible, it’s merely fear taking over.
The simulation had been so vivid that it made her forget the simple principle: even in a tiger’s den, one can survive with a clear mind.
“But… it’s almost over now.”
Wi Seoyeon felt an odd sense of omnipotence.
Her hands and feet remained in place, yet her simple verbal orders created precise scenarios that played out perfectly, even dozens of meters away.
For a brief moment, she almost fell into the illusion that she was controlling the battlefield.
But Wi Seoyeon soon snapped out of it and bit her lip, casting a gaze full of defeat toward Joo Idam.
“You’re amazing.”
She had never encountered a teammate who followed her commands so well.
No—at this point, she felt like she was merely riding on Joo Yidam’s coattails.
Any sense of fairness would force her to admit as much.
Grrrooooaaarrr—!
The Abyssal Dragon, its stamina reaching its limit, let out a deep breath.
Suppressing her complex emotions, Wi Seoyeon began chanting a bombardment spell for the final blow against the boss monster.
The colossal, hideous form of the Abyssal Dragon, now reduced to a body missing most of its legs, disintegrated into dust under the bombardment from the command tower.
And with that, the team assignment came to an end.
In the briefing room, cadets who had been watching began to rise from their seats one by one.
The moment Wi Seoyeon’s team lost a member at the start, they had assumed the outcome.
The cadets, some chatting casually, began filing out in groups, their interest in the simulation already waning.
“Looks like they’re done for.”
“Two teams down today. Nice!”
“What should we eat after this?”
Before long, only a few remained in the briefing room.
Among them, one figure stayed rooted in place—Kang Han.
His gaze remained fixed on the giant screens in the room, following the simulations.
Like the moonlight illuminating a lake or sunflowers following the sun, Kang Han’s eyes, partially hidden under his messy hair, zeroed in on Joo Yidam’s movements across the many screens.
“…Ha…”
His pupils shone brightly, like starlight reflecting off water.
Love, sadism, a desire to kill, and a yearning for recognition.
Swirling with burning lust and tender affection.
If all these emotions could be lumped together and called “Heaven’s destructive love,” then his dangerous starlight shone solely for one person.
[PM: 9:30]
Joo Yidam
[Report.]
Kang Han
[I watched. You were amazing.]
[I didn’t realize you could fight so well.]
Joo Yidam
[So what? I still lost to you in three seconds.]
[Is that all you have to say?]
Kang Han
[…]
[PM: 9:31]
Joo Yidam
[Why are you calling me, you crazy bastard?]
Kang Han
[I’m slow at typing.]
[I figured it’d be faster to talk.]
[Sorry…]
Joo Yidam
[Ugh, you idiot.]
Hmm….