Chapter 483: Like a Tiger (7)

"Done."

Baek Yu-Seol held up a headband with two sticks attached, and Scarlet, who had been sprawled on the floor resting, peeked up with only her head.

"A-Already?"

Baek Yu-Seol bent the ends of the sticks into star shapes and then placed the headband firmly on Scarlet’s head.

Instead of looking like an antenna, it made her resemble a middle school girl visiting an amusement park.

"Oh! I think I can feel something this time!"

"It’s not even turned on yet."

"..."

Baek Yu-Seol pressed a button on the headband, activating the receiver. Scarlet’s hair immediately stood on end, reacting to the energy.

Its official name? The ’Spinning Magic Power Receiver Headband.’

And it had only taken 30 minutes to create.

Without a rechargeable battery and with poor durability, it was a disposable item that could only last for one day.

Fortunately, Baek Yu-Seol had recently received a Portable Crafting Kit from Alterisha, allowing him to whip up tools like this on the spot.

This kit was something he had used frequently back in his online gaming days.

The ability to create disposable items suited to the situation was an incredible advantage.

Since his defense was low, his attack power wasn’t particularly high, and his long-range capabilities were practically nonexistent, survival had always depended on this kind of adaptability.

"How does it feel now?"

"Hmm... I think I can manage up to around Class 4 magic. Will that be enough?"

Of course, under normal circumstances, Class 4 magic would be ridiculously insufficient.

At Baek Yu-Seol’s current level, a sparring opponent needed to be at least Class 7 or higher.

But there was a solution.

"It’s fine. I’ll seal my Flash ability during the sparring session."

"... What? Why would you do that?"

"Because compared to Ha Tae-Ryeong, the legendary swordsman who fought Class 9 mages despite having Mana Leakage Disorder, I’m still far too weak. To truly understand his swordsmanship and strategies, I need to give up one of my own advantages."

What would it feel like to see the world through Ha Tae-Ryeong’s eyes?

A life without magic?

Baek Yu-Seol had already experienced that firsthand.

But Ha Tae-Ryeong had also fought without the ability to Flash, relying solely on his skills.

How had he seen mages?

What had he thought as he faced them—and how had he fought them?

Baek Yu-Seol was desperate to understand.

’Why—and how—could someone with such a body fight against mages?’

Baek Yu-Seol planned to begin from there. From learning Ha Tae-Ryeong’s mindset and strategies, internalizing them, and then gradually incorporating Flash techniques to develop his own style.

’...The enemies I have to face now are so far above me that I can’t even see them clearly.’

The Twelve Divine Moons, the hidden forces of the Dark Mages, and even Thirteenth Onyx Moon.

But rushing to face them would be a mistake.

’I haven’t even properly built my foundation yet.’

Ha Tae-Ryeong’s notes had certainly been helpful, but they were written in a diary format, scattered and lacking detail.

Baek Yu-Seol intended to refine and complete that knowledge through his own efforts.

"...Hmm, I don’t really get it."

"That’s fine. You don’t need to."

"Yeah, I guess... that makes sense."

Scarlet gazed into Baek Yu-Seol’s eyes for a moment. They were calm, yet shining black pupils.

His personality, appearance, and every aspect about him were completely different from Ha Tae-Ryeong.

And yet, she kept feeling inexplicably drawn to him.

This was different from what she had experienced with Ha Tae-Ryeong.

Spending time with Baek Yu-Seol had made her start to understand different emotions—emotions she was now slowly beginning to recognize.

’This feeling is...’

In the distant past, Scarlet had been born as a witch blessed with brilliant talent.

In a world ruled by absolute power, she had received every blessing imaginable.

Back then, strength was law, and power equaled authority—whether one was a witch or not didn’t matter as long as they were strong.

Because of that, Scarlet’s life might have felt boring.

Having reached the pinnacle of magic at an incredibly young age and granted an almost eternal life, what was there to be excited about?

She found the sight of talentless fools struggling to learn magic both amusing and pitiful, but that was all.

She had never felt anything deeper.

...Not until she met Ha Tae-Ryeong.

’Mana Leakage Disorder.’

It was such a bizarre and alien condition.

As if cursed by the world itself, his body was completely incapable of accepting mana, making him seem even more crippled than a person missing all their limbs.

His terrible personality only made it worse. Whenever people ridiculed him, he would lash out and throw punches, only to be stopped every time.

It was impossible to defeat magic with mere fists.

But as those encounters repeated, something began to change.

At some point, Ha Tae-Ryeong started to understand magic better than anyone else.

By observing the flow and movement of mana in the brief moment when a magic circle was activated, he developed the ability to analyze and identify spells instantly.

That was the first advantage Ha Tae-Ryeong discovered about Mana Leakage Disorder—

Although he had no mana of his own, that very deficiency made him hypersensitive to the flow of magic around him.

Once he uncovered this unique ability—something mages themselves could not replicate. Everything changed.

Ha Tae-Ryeong took this seemingly insignificant and useless trait and refined it relentlessly, using it to challenge and rival even the most gifted mages.

At first, he was completely outmatched, easily knocked down and humiliated.

But over time, mages began to realize just how difficult it was to deal with him.

And before anyone knew it—

He had learned to defeat mages with his bare hands.

Looking back, it was a laughable achievement. At least, it seemed so to Scarlet, who had been born with magic and reached the pinnacle of her craft by her early twenties.

Yet, perhaps that was precisely why she had found it so fascinating.

Unlike her, who started at 100 with everything, Ha Tae-Ryeong had started at 0—completely powerless—and struggled to climb his way to 1.

’...I see now. It was admiration.’

Every time she watched him, her heart would burn and flare with emotion.

At the time, Scarlet mistook it for love at first sight.

Or perhaps... It really was her first love.

After all, she had never felt such genuine admiration for anyone before.

Because of that mistake, Scarlet—the Witch Queen—eventually faced divine punishment for her actions.

And yet...

Even now, she did not regret admiring him.

When that frail and insignificant Ha Tae-Ryeong had finally stood equal to her—who had been perfect from birth—

She had been even more moved than he was.

Looking back now, that may have been the golden age of her life.

Ha Tae-Ryeong’s time had been short, and in the end, he could not escape death.

And after his passing, Scarlet asked herself—

’What have I done in the centuries since then?’

...Nothing.

It had been a dull and empty life.

Although she occasionally involved herself in major historical events, none of it had ever given her a true sense of purpose.

When Scarlet first reached Class 9, she had felt nothing more than, ’Ah! I’ve just done something now that I was bound to do eventually.’

That was all.

But when she saw Baek Yu-Seol again—

For the first time in ages, she felt the sensation of joy.

And when she realized that he was reaching into her heart in a completely different way from Ha Tae-Ryeong, she felt happiness.

"...Baek Yu-Seol."

"Yeah?"

"Since you’re serious about this, I’ll be serious too."

Baek Yu-Seol grinned at her words.

"Well, that’s a relief for me."

Scarlet raised her staff and pointed it at him.

The staff she had chosen during her Staff Inheritance Ceremony was made of ’Mate Metal’, a high-grade material capable of temporarily amplifying magical power.

For Baek Yu-Seol—who had sealed his Flash ability—this meant he would have no choice but to dodge or cut through her powerful magic without blinking away.

"...A wooden sword?"

Baek Yu-Seol pulled out a wooden training sword instead of a magical blade like the Teripon Sword.

Ordinary wood couldn’t conduct mana well and lacked the sharpness needed to cut through spells.

"Wouldn’t it be more fun this way?"

"...You’re not wrong."

Whoosh!

Flames ignited at the tip of Scarlet’s staff.

The way the magic circle formed and activated around her felt different from how ordinary mages cast spells.

"...Soulfire."

The moment Scarlet quietly chanted the spell, fire erupted, and Baek Yu-Seol’s eyes sparkled as he charged forward.

Thump!

Scarlet couldn’t help but smile.

It had been so long since she felt this thrill.

***

To summarize the results...

Baek Yu-Seol never won against Scarlet.

Not even once.

In fact, he couldn’t even land a single effective hit.

Even though Scarlet was only able to use Class 4 magic, her techniques were still at a Class 9 level.

And more than anything—

Without his Flash ability, Baek Yu-Seol was so weak that even calling him pathetic felt like an understatement.

However, the first to collapse from exhaustion wasn’t Baek Yu-Seol. It was Scarlet.

"Huff... Huff... I’m dying..."

"You’re already tired?"

"I-I kept winning! Let’s stop already..."

"Maybe you should work on your stamina for once?"

"..."

Scarlet flinched at Baek Yu-Seol’s words and turned her head away to avoid his gaze.

Just because she had lived for a thousand years didn’t mean she was good at everything.

Sealed away and spending most of her time lounging around, it was no surprise that her stamina was terrible.

And now, using only a projection body, she was even weaker—so much so that climbing three flights of stairs was enough to leave her out of breath.

"I-I’m a witch! I don’t need stamina, okay?"

Technically, she wasn’t wrong.

With a single snap of her fingers, she could obliterate all her enemies. So what was the point of maintaining physical fitness?

"Well... Still, this helped me a lot."

Scarlet’s magic definitely felt different and intentionally so.

She had used specific spells to teach Baek Yu-Seol Ha Tae-Ryeong’s strategies, effectively helping him grow.

’...I think I’m starting to get it.’

Baek Yu-Seol clenched and unclenched his palm, recalling the sensations from the sparring match.

In his final attempt, he had even used [Harmony of Heavenly Qi] to enchant his wooden sword with mana.

But all he managed to do was barely cut through Scarlet’s intricate magic circles.

Had he been wielding the Teripon Sword, he wouldn’t have needed Harmony of Heavenly Qi to cut through those spells.

But that was the sword’s power, not his.

To fully master a weapon of legendary caliber, he had to develop himself to the highest level first.

’I’m... still unworthy of wielding Ethereal Wind and Moonlight.’

Right now, he could barely even hold the blade when using Harmony of Heavenly Qi, let alone utilize its true power.

Sparring with Scarlet had made one thing painfully clear—

He now understood exactly where he was weak and what he was lacking.

Zzzzt!

"Ah...!"

While Baek Yu-Seol was lost in thought, replaying the battle in his mind, Scarlet’s headband sparked with static electricity and short-circuited, shutting down completely.

For a disposable item, the headband had lasted surprisingly long. But now, it had finally stopped working.

"Ah... it’s broken. I guess we can’t train anymore?"

Scarlet tried to say it casually, her eyes shifting as if she were hoping to end the session early.

Baek Yu-Seol smirked.

"Yeah. Let’s call it a day. Thanks for your help. It was really useful."

"Hehe, of course..."

"But tomorrow, I’ll ask the best expert to make a proper headband. No matter what, it won’t break next time."

"...What?"

Scarlet’s face instantly went pale.

"W-Wait, it won’t break?"

"Then we can train even longer."

"How about worrying about my durability before worrying about the headband’s?"

"Hmm..."

Baek Yu-Seol glanced at Scarlet, who was sprawled on the floor like a crumpled newspaper. Even he had to admit that she looked pitiful.

"Fine. I’ll keep that in mind."

"H-Huh?"

Before she could react, Baek Yu-Seol stepped forward and lifted her up effortlessly.

Her small frame made it surprisingly convenient to carry her.

"Wait! What are you doing...?"

"You look too tired to walk, so I’m taking you back to the dorm."

"..."

Scarlet was so stunned that she couldn’t even find the words to protest.

"This isn’t what I meant when I said to take care of me..."

"Want me to put you down?"

"..."

After a brief moment of hesitation, she decided that maybe it wasn’t so bad.

Resting her head against his shoulder, Scarlet shook her head.

"Sometimes, being treated like this isn’t so bad. Make sure to carry me carefully all the way back."

"Haha."

Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t help but chuckle.

For someone who was supposedly the Witch Queen, Scarlet had absolutely no air of dignity when she said things like that. If anything, she just seemed cute.

Carrying her felt oddly like having a younger sister for the first time, and the thought made him grin as he left the gym.

What he hadn’t anticipated, though, was that Scarlet fell asleep almost immediately.

When he finally arrived at her dorm, Baek Yu-Seol let out a deep sigh.

With Scarlet fast asleep and breathing softly, he didn’t have the heart to wake her up.

"...I really have to carry her into the girls’ dormitory, huh?"

It was an awkward situation, but what could he do?

Baek Yu-Seol had handled worse problems before. This was nothing.