Instant Kill, Time-Stop Spellcaster

I took Aden out of my inventory.

“Grade A disciple has arrived!”

“Full of energy.”

“I had galbi jjim, so how could I not feel energized!”

This time, it was the same E+ grade dungeon as last time.

“Are you going to show that again today?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow!”

Thanks to the potion from Seonghwa, his mana increased to E-grade.

“If my mana increased, I should try it out.”

“Are these the same buffaloes as last time?”

“Yeah. This time the experiment is the goal, so it’ll be quick.”

“Uhh… but there are quite a few?”

The buffaloes had fierce eyes.

A total of 15.

Last time, there were only 10.

“On the plus side, they’re a bit smaller. But the difficulty is supposedly higher than last time.”

I heard this is the highest difficulty for E+ dungeons.

“Is it… alright?”

“Probably.”

She stuck her finger in her mouth and whistled.

Whistle—

Instant aggro pulled.

Scratching the ground with its front legs, the buffalo charged fiercely.

A huge cloud of dust rose up.

The intensity was as fierce as the number of them.

“Soul (靈魂). Spirit (魂魄). Soul Ritual (魄儀).”

“Ugh, are you sure this is okay?”

” Spirit rites (儀典). Decree (典令). Final decree (令終).”

“It doesn’t look okay! Last time, one didn’t die, and we almost got into big trouble!”

” Last Statement (終言). Declaration (言明). Annihilation (明滅).”

“Aaah! !”

“【Die】”

Whoosh—

The charging buffaloes all fell at once, rolling wildly on both sides.

The view was covered by dust.

“Nice shield. If not for it, I would’ve ended up choking on dust.”

“Ugh, ugh… Were any of them left alive like last time?”

“Yeah. It’s a total wipe.”

Last time, we only managed to take down 9.

This time, 15 buffaloes died in one go.

It was a truly satisfying achievement.

These weren’t just any 15 buffaloes.

‘【Die】 is fixed in mana cost regardless of the enemy’s strength.’

Even if it’s not 【Die】, with this much mana, I have definitely gotten stronger.

Once his body gets tougher, he might be able to walk around and say, ‘I’m an awakened one.’

[Perfect Clear!(Solo)]

[Incredible achievement! By clearing an E+ dungeon and completely blocking the World Tree’s invasion, you’ve made a huge accomplishment!]

[Due to your achievement, ‘Blessing’ has been bestowed upon the surrounding area! Everyone will praise your accomplishments!]

[By achieving ‘Perfect Clear!(Solo)’ in the dungeon, a special reward will be given.]

And now, the reward.

It was the same Bronze Box (+2) as last time.

“It’s about time for a mana elixir.”

“Drumroll!”

Aden cheered.

The effect burst out.

Whoosh—

Ding!

[You have obtained ‘Divine Tree Fruit’.]

[Shincheon Tree Fruit]

[If your mana is E+ grade or below, it increases your mana by 1.]

“Wow!”

“Wow?”

“It’s a mana elixir!”

“Wow! It’s here!”

He immediately gulped it down.

Oh, it’s sweet.

It’s delicious.

“My mana is now E+ grade!”

This was a big milestone.

Now he could use the techniques from his previous life.

He should probably find time to train soon.

Ding!

[A hero has completed an E+ dungeon ‘Perfect Clear!(Solo)’, fully stopping the World Tree’s invasion!]

[In honor of their achievement, ‘Blessing’ has been bestowed upon the area. Everyone, please congratulate them!]

The Perfect Clear alert echoed.

It had been a while since she checked the internet comments.

These days, Korea was so noisy.

└Oh.

└Wow!

└Why, did it go off?

└It went off!

└Thanks for the Perfect Clear again today.

└Phew… I was worried because the Perfect Clear alert didn’t go off yesterday, thinking he might have died in the dungeon.

└Me too. Please, don’t encounter any dungeon weirdness.

└Don’t speak ill, words become reality.

The country was in a turbulent mood, full of worries.

But everyone felt relieved thanks to the Perfect Clear.

└Shouldn’t we ban dungeon entries for Perfect Clear awakened ones for now?

└If that happens, the country’s really going down… At least we need the Perfect Clear to prevent the season from collapsing.

└Yeah, the pace was already slowing down, and if there’s no Perfect Clear, we really don’t know what’ll happen.

“I guess I should keep going into dungeons for now.”

These dungeon anomalies need to be dealt with soon, or it’ll be a problem.

###

Teenage Kang Subin.

She was famous for being cold even at school.

Still, she had many friends.

She was a kind person at heart.

Especially, the boys liked this about Subin.

If you’re pretty, everything becomes an advantage.

Subin sat by the window, quietly staring at her hand mirror.

More precisely, at the earrings in the mirror.

‘…They’re beautiful.’

They were truly beautiful.

She couldn’t show it at school, but at home, it was different.

When her mom opened the jewelry box and showed her a gift from her older brother, she was so surprised.

That evening, she jumped around all day long.

Of course, with the door locked, silently by herself.

Even with family, she couldn’t show that side of herself.

‘Ah…’

The blue gemstone sparkled.

She tilted her head, reflecting the sunlight, and it looked even more beautiful.

Even in the shade, it was beautiful.

It was just beautiful.

When she changed the angle of the mirror, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

She quickly corrected her expression.

She scanned her surroundings to make sure no one was watching.

How could she smile like this alone in her seat?

If anyone saw, she’d probably bite her tongue.

She went back to admiring the earrings.

‘So pretty….’

How much was this, really?

Did her brother have such great taste?

‘Unexpected.’

Although they didn’t have a big age difference, her brother had always been like an old soul.

So mature.

Even when she was being difficult during her teenage years, he would always treat her well.

She had only good memories of him from when they were younger.

Their family wasn’t very well-off.

When their parents were both working, her brother took care of her almost like a second parent.

Though sometimes clumsy and childish, he was always reliable and mature.

‘…Why can’t I be as mature as him?’

She was always so mean to her parents and brother.

Yesterday, she had snapped at her brother for no reason.

He had come home after a long time of working hard.

‘Now that I think about it, he’s changed a lot.’

No, more accurately, her brother himself hadn’t changed.

But something felt different.

She wasn’t sure what it was, but he had grown distant.

“Ah! Subin!”

“Yeah.”

“…I was trying to surprise you.”

“Wow.”

“Wow~ Thanks for the expensive reaction~”

Subin couldn’t help but smile at her best friend’s teasing.

“Subin! Your face looks good! Did something good happen today… Oh! What’s that in your ear!?”

“Huh? Ah….”

A sense of satisfaction rose.

She barely held back a smile.

“Wow, wow! What’s that!? Is it blue? Could it be from the Tiffany pop-up main event that’s been all the rage?”

“Shh, shh….”

Her best friend’s noisy reaction drew all attention.

‘…Actually, it wasn’t noisy.’

The earrings were truly that beautiful.

Her brother was amazing.

“Where did you get them? Tell me, tell me!”

“I don’t know. I got them as a gift.”

“A gift? From who? Amazing taste! Could it be from your boyfriend?”

For a moment, some of the boys in the classroom flinched.

“Only a boyfriend would give something like this! Is it from your boyfriend? Huh?”

“N-no. I got it from my brother.”

“From your brother, huh? So, from brother to ‘my love,’ huh?”

“No, really, it’s my brother.”

“Did you hear that, boys? You can relax!”

When Subin turned her head, she saw a few boys quickly look away.

“…Who are you talking to?”

“Hey, stop pretending. Didn’t you feel the heated gazes from the boys all day today?”

“…?”

“Didn’t you smile all day long? While basking in the sunlight! How pretty were you!”

Subin was usually cold, hard to approach.

Like a flower you could only admire from afar.

But today, something felt different.

She was still almost expressionless, but there was a subtle change.

Anyone watching could clearly sense that she was in a good mood.

“Aaah…”

“Wow, Subin’s face is on fire! It’s burning!”

Subin wanted to bury her face in her desk.

But she couldn’t do that.

It would be like openly showing the desire to hide.

That was hard even for a teenage girl.

She just quietly turned her head toward the window.

But she could feel the burning gaze on her flushed ears and neck.

Damn it. She was so embarrassed she wanted to kill them all.

“Subin! You’re so cute!”

“…Please be quiet.”

At that moment, there was a commotion in the hallway.

Fortunately, the attention shifted elsewhere.

Subin sighed with relief.

“Phew….”

“Oh, Yang Sujin is here.”

“…Really?”

Her best friend’s response grew cold.

Subin’s earlier excitement was suddenly dampened.

Yang Sujin, a classmate from middle school, was an awakened one.

She only appeared at school occasionally.

“Ugh, what an inferiority complex.”

“…I’m listening.”

She might have good hearing, being an awakened one.

“Let her hear it!”

But, it seemed like Sujin really heard them.

She waved her hand from the hallway.

“Hey, Subin!”

“…”

“…Hey.”

Sujin approached.

And with her, the many gazes of students who had been talking to the awakened girl.

“What are you two talking about? Talking about me?”

“No.”

“No? I know you’re talking about me. Tell me too!”

“…”

The battle for superiority began.

Yang Sujin had been a quiet person before.

But after awakening and becoming popular, she started to show animosity toward Subin.

There was an underlying jealousy.

Subin had heard the reason.

It was because their names were similar.

Sujin, Subin.

An embarrassingly childish reason.

‘…How absurd.’

What Subin didn’t know was that Sujin was also going through puberty.

For someone like Sujin, who wasn’t as pretty, popular, or successful as Subin, having a name so similar was a very painful thing.

Especially when the boy she liked called out Subin’s name with excitement instead of hers.

The happiest moment in her life turned into the most tragic moment.

A fragile girl’s heart.

It could break over something so small.

“Wow! Subin, did you get a new earring?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow~ It’s so pretty! But doesn’t it clash with your personal color?”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Your skin looks pale because you’re a cool tone, and with the blue gem, I thought you were sick.”

Subin gritted her teeth.

Today, the criticism was getting worse.

Maybe it was because she had heard her friend’s words earlier.

Especially with everyone’s attention.

Yang Sujin, who awakened a few months ago, had become a rapidly popular figure.

Around her, there was always a crowd trying to talk to her, and even now, they were all looking at her.

In the hallway. Everyone was watching her.

She had been having such a happy day.

But it was all ruined.

‘Just leave… Please just leave….’

But Sujin had finally crossed the line.

“Such a shame about your earrings~”

“…Yeah.”

“Ah! I just got the dungeon settlement money! Should I buy it? Since you’re my close friend, I’ll buy it at a high price!”

Yang Sujin snapped her fingers and tapped Subin’s brother’s earrings.

Subin felt her neck tremble.

“Would 30 be enough? How much was this—”

But then, Yang Sujin stopped talking.

She stared into space.

As if reading something only she could see.

“…!”

Sujin’s eyes widened.

“You… how do you have this…?”

“Huh?”