It was closing time at the Seo-An-Dang Center.
As always, Yu Seo-Yeon gave her colleagues a warm farewell and prepared to head home.
However, for some reason, her co-workers were all gathered in one spot.
"What is it, everyone? Why haven't you gone home yet...?"
"Manager Yu! Look at this! Those Cheong-Am guys are dueling the Red Chasers this time!"
"What are you talking about...!? What kind of trouble are they causing now?"
Yu Seo-Yeon rushed over to check, and sure enough, the faces of the Cheong-Am Center employees were being broadcast live on the hologram screen.
Since monitoring the Cheong-Am Center was her job, the pile of reports she had to write had just gotten a lot bigger...
Meanwhile, Yang Su-Hyeon, lounging lazily at home while browsing U-Tube, also stumbled upon the live broadcast.
"That moron... is he going around picking fights with every woman in the world?"
She muttered, utterly dumbfounded...
Though Yu-Han would probably find that accusation unfair.
***
The location of the friendly sparring match was a stadium in New Jamsil.
"Really... I don't get it. Why are they so eager to humiliate themselves in front of the whole country?"
The elf, Eurel, grumbled.
However, Chae Da-Seon spoke as if something about the situation bothered her.
"What bothers me is that we still have absolutely zero intel on their combat styles."
"You, of all people, are worried about that? If they were any real threat, we'd have heard of them by now. They're just frogs in a well—nobodies who don't know their place."
Shim Yun-Seol commented indifferently.
Chae Da-Seon nodded in agreement.
They had cleared dungeons all over the world, fighting countless battles against both monsters and looters gunning for Relics.
So they would definitely be fine.
Chae Da-Seon reassured herself.
"Hey. What are you three whispering about without me again?"
Sitting on the bench, Son Min-Hyeok asked the three women.
Chae Da-Seon answered him soothingly.
"Nothing you need to worry about~ Just a little strategy meeting."
"A strategy? Ha! Better not cook up some grand plan only to lose."
"As if! We'll wrap this up quick, so why don't you catch some shut-eye, Captain?"
Chae Da-Seon winked at Son Min-Hyeok and confidently strode out to the center of the stadium.
The first round was between her and Yi Rang.
Yi Rang was quietly glaring at Chae Da-Seon.
"Yi Rang... I'm sorry. You must be furious. But..."
"Save your breath! You ain't ever gonna tell me what's really in your heart anyway."
After speaking coldly, Yi Rang readied her stance.
Chae Da-Seon gave up on talking and took her starting position.
[Well then, let the first match of the friendly spar begin!]
Light flooded the stadium as a realm began to form.
Before they knew it, Yi Rang and Chae Da-Seon were separated somewhere deep in the mountains, far beyond the actual size of the stadium.
Any damage taken inside this realm would not carry over to their actual bodies.
Since they could not kill each other in a friendly spar, it was only natural to have that safety measure.
"Alright then, shall we go find our cute little Yi Rang...?"
At that moment, a massive tiger pounced from behind Chae Da-Seon.
Chae Da-Seon instantly crushed its skull with a single punch.
However, this tiger was not Yi Rang.
"...An environmental NPC? Talk about confusing."
It seemed to be an environmental NPC with realistic animal AI to enhance the realism.
But Chae Da-Seon did not miss the next movement.
It had aimed for the exact moment she looked away.
"Then... the real one must be over here!"
Having already entered Full Beast Mode, Yi Rang began throwing punches at Chae Da-Seon.
Chae Da-Seon exchanged blows with Yi Rang in close-quarters combat.
"Hmm~ Your movements do seem a bit more careful now, but... you're still lacking, aren't you?"
"We'll see about that...!"
Yi Rang grinned and shifted into a peculiar stance.
Chae Da-Seon inwardly scoffed at the wildly inefficient movement.
But before she could even react, a punch laced with bright yellow magic slammed into her side.
"...!?"
Chae Da-Seon tasted an entirely unexpected level of pain.
Yi Rang immediately followed up with a second and third hit.
Chae Da-Seon barely blocked the second with her arm and dodged the third.
"That actually hurt a bit, Yi Rang...!"
Slightly annoyed, Chae Da-Seon looked around, but Yi Rang had already vanished...
***
"Yu-Han, what the hell was that just now!?"
Alice, who was spectating, asked Yu-Han.
"It's a technique that uses movement as the trigger for casting magic, landing a physical and magical blow at the exact same time... A technique passed down through Chinese history under the name of kung fu."
"Did you teach her that?"
"I didn't really teach her. It looked like someone else had already drilled it into her. I just helped her dig up that muscle memory."
"Then who in the world...?"
Even Yu-Han had no clue.
Currently, China had long since been reborn as a corporate federation called Feilong.
He could not fathom how Feilong's combat techniques—advanced enough to rival K&R—had made their way to Yi Rang.
***
'That's definitely Feilong's kung fu...'
Chae Da-Seon had already figured out Yi Rang's technique and strategy.
In pure hand-to-hand combat, that style held an overwhelming advantage.
It seemed Yi Rang's strategy was to hide, ambush from close range, and steadily wear her down.
'So that's why that motherfucking Yu-Han banned Relics and weapons... huh...'
Chae Da-Seon felt irritation surge up as she realized Yu-Han's setup.
However, she was not the type to give up easily just because the conditions were unfavorable.
"Just how much are you looking down on me!!"
Chae Da-Seon's mana spread thinly and widely around her.
Having a knack for fluid magic, she infused the air with mana, allowing her to detect every moving object within range.
How to deal with hiding enemies...
You either blow away every possible hiding spot, or you pinpoint them all.
Preferring a more refined approach, Chae Da-Seon chose the latter.
"Yi Rang! Are we really playing hide-and-seek at our age?! Fine, let's play!"
Chae Da-Seon began locating and eliminating everything detected that was larger than a human.
Not long after, only one suspiciously dressed tiger remained.
"Looks like it's over. Yi Rang, what's with that look?"
Standing on all fours, the tiger looked up at Chae Da-Seon and growled.
Was her plan to ambush her while pretending to be an animal NPC?
But as far as Chae Da-Seon was concerned, any tiger wearing clothes would be impossible to miss.
"Well, bears are naturally superior to tigers... Even in the Dangun myth, the bear endured to the end and became human, while the tiger ran away... You should've just stayed by my side too."
As Chae Da-Seon sneered, the tiger lunged fiercely.
However, Chae Da-Seon literally pulverized that predictable, linear attack...!
"...?"
But something felt strange.
The tiger disappeared, leaving only the clothes behind.
And from behind her, the real Yi Rang sprang out.
"Why're ya talkin' to yourself in front of an animal?"
Yi Rang's mana-infused kung fu strike slammed dead center into Chae Da-Seon's back.
Taking that strike without a proper guard delivered a critical pain.
Even through the blinding pain, Chae Da-Seon figured out what had happened.
"You dressed up an NPC in your clothes...! I know you're in full beast mode, but have you no shame!?"
"If I didn't go this far, ya never would've dropped your guard!"
The longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would get for Yi Rang.
So she planned to keep up the pressure and end it as fast as possible.
Besides, Full Beast Form or not, running around naked was still embarrassing.
"Cut the crap... You're always like this...!!"
Completely enraged, Chae Da-Seon's face and body transformed into the form of a bear.
There was no room for precise magic in a close-quarters brawl like this anyway.
She abandoned everything except physical enhancement and basic defensive magic, focusing entirely on a pure slugfest.
Chae Da-Seon began trading blows wildly with Yi Rang.
Even after taking several brutal hits, neither side showed any signs of going down.
However, Chae Da-Seon, who had already taken a massive hit earlier, was nearing her limit first.
Of course, Yi Rang was also moving much more sluggishly than when they had started.
'Now's my chance...! If I just use this, it's over!'
Chae Da-Seon generated countless blades of air using magic.
It was a fearsome technique designed to shred the enemy to pieces like a blender.
However, in the midst of it all, her eyes met Yi Rang's.
Those eyes, staring straight at her without a single ounce of fear or hesitation...
'I...'
As Chae Da-Seon hesitated, Yi Rang's strike landed cleanly.
The barrier disappeared, and the two returned to the center of the stadium.
Both snapped out of it as if waking from a long dream.
"Da-Seon, why did ya just...?"
Yi Rang asked, completely forgetting to celebrate her victory.
Because she knew full well that if Chae Da-Seon had followed through with that attack, Chae Da-Seon would have won.
"I'd never use that kind of magic on a friend."
Chae Da-Seon said only that and returned to her team.
"You stupid bear, losing so pathetically! And why the hell did you choke at the very end!"
As Son Min-Hyeok barked at her, murderous intent swirled in Chae Da-Seon's eyes for a split second.
Son Min-Hyeok flinched momentarily.
But Chae Da-Seon soon returned to her poker face.
"Sorry~ Captain. Guess I let my guard down because I was playing around too much! Well, the other two will pull through for us, right? I'm counting on you guys."
***
"Deputy! Did ya see that!? I won!"
Yi Rang boasted to Yu-Han, but he remained utterly unimpressed.
"To think you'd actually win... Honestly, I didn't think you had a ghost of a chance."
"What!? Ya really gotta be like that...! Can't ya even give me one word of praise!?"
Sitting next to Yu-Han, Kim Ga-Eun asked.
"But... was that clothes-on-an-NPC trick Yu-Han C's idea?"
"Why would I teach someone to strip in the middle of a fight? This isn't a strip show."
"Don't go makin' my brilliant, creative idea sound so vulgar! You asshole!"
While Yi Rang was getting fired up and arguing, Alice brought up a more pressing matter.
"It's great that Yi Rang won, but Yu-Han, who's up for the next match? You haven't said a word to me or Ga-Eun."
"Well, you two aren't the ones fighting. I can't waste valuable human resources on child's play like this. I hired an outside contractor."
"Hey! So ya sayin' it's perfectly fine if I get wasted!?"
As Yi Rang was about to throw another fit, someone approached.
An elf man sporting silver hair, pointy ears, and his trademark arrogant smirk...
It was Lee Sang-Deok.
"Hey, Yu-Han. I heard there's an arrogant elf bitch who needs humbling."