[Episode 5]

[Demon Simulation Battle]

The Demon Simulation Battle had begun. Baek Yu-Seol was a bit nervous at the thought of confronting an Intermediate Demon, but there was no other choice.

He knew it was a fake simulation, so he tried hard to suppress the dread inside his heart.

Eisel slowly followed him. Somehow, the steps looked gloomy, but right now, choosing a destination was the priority, so Baek Yu-Seol opened his mouth first.

“First, we have to decide which demon to catch. I will decide this, right?”

She nodded in response.

When Eisel affirmed, Baek Yu-Seol continued.

"I'm a non-attribute, and you use ice and lightning, so it'd be nice to pick a match that suits you, but..."

Normally, a Class 1 mage could face a Level 1 Danger demon alone.

If three mages at Class 1 gathered, it was possible to destroy the Level 1 Danger Elementary demon, and if five mages at Class 1 gathered, it was possible to deal with a Level 1 danger Intermediate demon.

However, that was just a really common case.

If 'compatibility', 'experience', and 'environmental factors' were added, it was possible for him to kill a demon several levels higher than him.

In fact, one of the mages belonging to the ‘Dark Demon Slayers’, boasted the strongest one-on-one combat in the Aether World, dealing with a Level 7 Danger Dark Magician alone with only Class 3 abilities.

It was the result of the differences in compatibility and experience, as well as environmental factors.

So considering Eisel’s attributes, it was right to head for the swamp. Even though she could use lightning, that was only secondary, and her main proficiency lay in ice.

Her attributes would be offset if they rushed to the sea of ice.

And flames opposed the ice strongly.

“Then, are we going to the swamp…?”

She asked in a very reluctant voice.

Obviously, it would be very easy to kill a Level 3 Intermediate demon with two people if they chose the right match.

However, Eisel was aiming for an extra point for 'reversal'. If she won against a demon she was not compatible with, she would be rewarded with lots of extra points.

"Well. Whatever I choose, I think you'll like it a lot.”

“……?”

Eisel didn't seem to understand, but it didn't matter.

In the first place, the reason he teamed up with Eisel was not to score himself, but to help her score high.

What was the story like in the original?

Because of Hong Bi-Yeon and her faction members' suppression, Eisel couldn't train properly, and she couldn't even form her team.

Demons were one of the most important subjects.

Eisel was unable to win her scholarship because she ruined the Simulation Battle performance evaluation, and while working part-time jobs to make up for the lack of money, she suffered all sorts of humiliation and contempt.

In the process, her mentality was severely shaken, and instead of increasing her magical achievements, a catastrophe occurred that rather degenerated her.

If this was the original romance fantasy novel, she would be revived somehow with the help of a sub male lead later, but unfortunately, because of Edna’s existence, Eisel was pushed to the limit without anyone's help.

That was not good. When her mind and body were shaken while she faced those adversity, there was always a helper standing by her side.

However, everything was twisted by the intrusion of Edna and Baek Yu-Seol.

Hae Won-ryang showed a strong interest in Edna, and Mayuseong seemed to want to get closer to Baek Yu-Seol.

Although Mayuseong and Haewonryang had twisted personalities, they possessed a warm heart for their loved ones.

Without their help, Eisel would eventually walk the path of her ruin.

She would be left all alone.

On a cold winter night.

She would freeze forever like her own magic.

So, he reached out to Eisel. Because he didn’t want to leave her like that.

Eisel had the natural talent to become the 'Empress of Ice’, and if she could display that ability against the dark demons... they could get one step closer to a 'True Ending'.

Baek Yu-Seol was sure of that.

‘I never intended to intervene this far, but...'

Somehow, since they got closer, she didn’t have anything to feel uncomfortable about, so he kept helping.

“......”

The air was filled with a heavy silence as Eisel walked quietly through the valley of flames, enduring the scorching wind.

Suddenly, she broke the silence.

"Hey," she said hesitantly.

Baek Yu-Seol turned to look at her. "What happened? Are you having a hard time?"

Eisel looked around, watching the smoke swirling around them and the explosions ensuing everywhere, leaving showers of sparks high up in the air.

The structure of the canyon was either meant to train stamina or made deliberately difficult, and it was quite challenging for her. He expressed his concern, but it didn't seem important to her.

"No, I just... have a little question," she said finally.

Baek Yu-Seol raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Eisel hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes tightly and blurted out her words. "Why did you choose me as a team member?"

Baek Yu-Seol remained silent, and the more he did, the more anxious Eisel became.

Why the hell did he choose her?

She had been troubled by this question ever since hearing Hong Bi-Yeon insult earlier. Surely, there were many other magical practitioners who were more talented than her...

"As you think, there are many great mages out there."

Finally, Baek Yu-Seol spoke up.

"There will be no mage who can match Hong Bi-Yeon in terms of firepower, and there won't be a mage as talented as Edna in utility and control."

He spoke calmly, and his words made Eisel’s expression darken even more.

"Mayuseong is already the best in the first year, and Adriach, who can use curses, will be a perfect match for me."

Eisel was about to ask why Baek Yu-Seol had chosen to team up with her, but he interrupted her.

"But," he continued, without even looking at Eisel’s face, "I drew up an estimate, and it seems like working with you will be better than working with them."

Eisel was taken aback by his words. "What do you mean?"

"I just thought it would be better to work with you. There's no big reason for it," Baek Yu-Seol said nonchalantly.

Eisel couldn't help but wonder what he meant.

‘What the heck? What does that mean? Does he think that working with me is better than working with countless other geniuses?’

‘Was it just a casual remark?’

‘He must be. With Baek Yu-Seol’s skill, he can easily hunt demons with anyone in his team.’

"But what kind of demon do we need to hunt?"

In a typical demon simulation, a team of six students would face an Intermediate demon. Most students would aim for that level, but elite-level students would go after "special demons."

Thinking that far, Eisel’s eyes lit up with excitement as she asked, "Are you planning to hunt a special Intermediate demon?"

Unfortunately, Baek Yu-Seol wasn't an elite-level student capable of hunting such creatures, but he had other ways of approaching the challenge as a player.

"No, we'll hunt a Intermediate demon."

"I see."

Eisel’s defeated look didn't go unnoticed by Baek Yu-Seol, who chuckled mischievously.

"By the way, I'm not just going to hunt one demon, I'm going to hunt five at once."

"... What?"

Eisel abruptly stopped walking and looked at Baek Yu-Seol in astonishment. If it were a joke, he would take it back quickly, but it wasn’t.

"W-what do you mean...?"

"Well, I want to get a high score. This way, it's guaranteed."

"Do you even know the saying 'more haste, less achievement?' If you challenge five Intermediate demons for the sake of getting a high score and can't even hunt one, you'll end up with nothing."

"What if we defeat all five of them."

"It's easier said than done!"

Eisel, who had been sulking just a moment ago, suddenly burst into anger. But, Baek Yu-Seol just laughed it off.

"It's actually easy."

"Ugh..."

Eisel let out a deep sigh, but Baek Yu-Seol was confident. Hunting five Intermediate demons wasn’t that difficult.

In the community of gamers who played Aether World, there were those who loved unique challenges, and there were those who didn’t even pass trivial quests.

Perhaps they wanted a different challenge from everyone else because, at first, they proposed tackling two Intermediate demons simultaneously.

However, it was still the very beginning of the episode, so even if they raised their sub-characters, their stats and items were too low to successfully execute their strategy.

Even if they controlled the characters with the strongest skills and magic like Edna and Mayuseong, they judged that it was impossible to defeat two Intermediate demons with their Class 3 abilities...

One day, while another veteran player was observing their challenge, he succeeded in defeating two Intermediate demons using a very unique strategy.

After the strategy was revealed, many veteran players analyzed and modified it to their liking, ultimately succeeding in defeating as many as nine Intermediate demons at once.

Although he saved the information at that time in his Archive Folder, allowing him to defeat nine demons with ease if he ever wanted to, the preparation process was quite cumbersome and required teaming up with a few special students, so he compromised on five demons.

In other words, the fact that he could defeat nine demons made it easy to defeat just five.

Eisel, who had no idea about this, could only groan in agony.

"Well then, let's choose the first demon."

Meanwhile, Hong Bi-Yeon was wandering the Sea of Ice with Mayuseong.

"That won't work, it's an ice-attribute."

In the Sea of Ice, there were two types of Intermediate demons: ice-attribute and water-attribute.

Ice-attribute demons were weak against fire, but water-attribute ones were strong against fire.

For that reason, Hong Bi-Yeon insisted on using the reverse type.

"Do we really have to choose the reverse type?"

"Yes, we do. Baek Yu-Seol will definitely choose the opposite type. I can't afford to lose."

She thought of a demon that Baek Yu-Seol and Eisel could hunt in her head.

Baek Yu-Seol was a neutral type. If she had to categorize him, it was better to say he was a physical type that handled blades.

Thus, the result derived would be a hard-shelled demon that was difficult to penetrate would be the opposite type of Baek Yu-Seol, and since Eisel’s ice-attribute was weak against fire, only ‘Inferno Golem’ came to mind.

"Well, I don't think Baek Yu-Seol would make such a boring choice."

"Hmph, you don't know him, do you? By the way, what's your main attribute? You claim to handle three attributes, but you probably don't even have a main one."

"Hmm..."

Mayuseong handled three attributes: Earth, Lightning, and Fire. But, he had a separate real main attribute that he was hiding, and the other three were just auxiliary attributes.

Mayuseong couldn't reveal this fact, so he talked about the attribute he was most confident in.

"I think I'm an earth-attribute."

"You think? You don't even know your main attribute properly?"

He apologized. "Sorry."

"It's fine. If you're of the earth element, you'll be vulnerable in aerial battles. But it seems like you won't get any extra points for lightning in aerial battles."

She rolled her eyes as if annoyed.

"Seriously, why do you learn so many useless attributes?"

"I learned them as a hobby..."

What kind of crazy mage learns three attributes as a hobby? Anyway, Mayuseong wasn't normal.

After that, Hong Bi-Yeon struggled for a long time to find the right demon. It seemed like they spent more time searching than training.

Then, they coincidentally witnessed other students screaming and running away in terror.

"Wow, why is that thing here?"

"I-I got scared, even though I knew it was fake..."

"Ugh, let's turn back," the students reacted nervously.

However, Hong Bi-Yeon, feeling curious, approached slowly towards the source of their fear.

"Oh, that's..."

Surprisingly, Mayuseong’s eyes flickered with interest.

The demon in front of them was covered in a smooth and hard shell, with a slimy substance secreting over it. It had two wings resembling those of a fish, allowing it to soar through the sky.

It also had arms and legs, with a head resembling that of a carp, giving it a grotesque appearance.

Hong Bi-Yeon had read about this demon before in her demon encyclopaedia. It was once an intelligent species that dominated the sea with a large population, but was cursed centuries ago and lost all of its intelligence.

Now, they had become nothing more than mere demons.

"That's a Spectral Fish, one of the tough-skinned variants.”

It was an aquatic-type demon, yet could fly in the air.

Thanks to its water-attribute, it was completely immune to lightning attacks, which was considered a weakness of flying type demons.

It also had perfect inverse compatibility with all of Mayuseong's attributes.

Hong Bi-Yeon quietly turned to Mayuseong. As he
nodded silently, she raised the corners of her mouth.

Even the difficulty level of the demon itself was already brutal, and on top of that, with inverse compatibility, the process of tackling it would be extremely difficult and rough... but it would be equally rewarding.

"You are not going to back down, are you? I don't intend to lose to that commoner."

"Me neither."

Although the two had nothing in common, they felt a sense of camaraderie when they disliked something more than they liked something.

They were able to collaborate on their strange desire to crush a common enemy.