Chapter 26: An Unexpected Encounter (2)

"Come out, you motherfucker."

The woman with red hair said it in a menacing tone.

She said it with a ferocious voice that resembled a wild animal's.

"Huh? What?" KangWoo said while tilting her head.

After looking at KangWoo's attitude, the woman got even angrier.

"Why are you asking "what"? You fucking troll!"

She extended her hand toward KangWoo while shouting aggressively.

Judging by her hands, it seemed like she wanted to slap him.

KangWoo dodged her attack with a frown.

"Huh?"

After her attack just hit the air, she let out a confused exclamation.

She glared at KangWoo.

"You!"

Whish-!

KangWoo dodged all of the incoming attacks.

How he dodged all the attacks by moving the upper half of his body made him look like an acrobat.

"What..."

She couldn't believe that he was dodging all of her attacks.

It wasn't just her who was surprised.

KangWoo also looked at her, surprised.

'She's fast.'

KangWoo's expression became stiff.

She was fast. No, fast wasn't good enough to describe her speed.

Her attacks moved while drawing a line resembling an alive snake. Judging just the technical aspect, she was on an impressive level.

'She's strong...'

KangWoo moved from the chair and looked at her calmly.

She was the strongest person he had seen since returning to Earth.

Compared to her, players like Jo DeokHyun seemed insignificant.

'Probably...'

KangWoo thought that she was probably stronger than his current self.

It wasn't like they'd fought with all their might, but judging by how the mana coming out from her body made him shrug, it was quite possible.

"What are you...?"

It wasn't just KangWoo who was worried about the other person.

The red-haired woman spoke in a low voice after seeing how KangWoo dodged her attacks by moving his upper body.

"What guild sent you? Are you from the Mir guild?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't bullshit me."

She glared at him.

"There's no way someone like you isn't part of any guild."

She remembered how he had dodged all of her attacks.

She hadn't attacked him with the intent of killing him since the reason behind the brawl was a video game.

But even if she hadn't attacked seriously, it wasn't at a level that some random guy who didn't belong to any guild could have dodged.

"Is there any reason why I must belong to a guild?"

"..."

"I'm the one who wants to ask the questions. Who are you? Why are you suddenly attacking me?"

"What, are you seriously asking me that...?"

"You seem to be the person who just insulted me through the chat window."

"Of course! Who wouldn't insult you in such a situation?" She shouted angrily. What had just happened made her want to throw the keyboard.

KangWoo shrugged at her reaction.

'Is it because I stayed still in the middle of the battle?'

He had stopped playing to eat ramyeon.

"I'm sorry for suddenly stopping playing. It's just that the ramyeon I had ordered came out."

"No! I'm talking about what happened before that!"

"Huh? Are you talking about earning money?"

"No! That's not the issue!"

She looked at him, frustrated.

KangWoo really seemed confused by why she was angry.

After seeing his reaction, she spoke while frowning.

"Don't tell me... Was that your first time playing the game?"

"Yes."

"Ah... Oof."

The red-haired woman grabbed her forehead.

He didn't seem to be lying.

'That damn start package.'

She had been negatively affected by a package designed to attract new users.

"So... You really didn't know how to play the game?"

"Right."

"Ugh..."

She sighed.

* * *

Since he didn't know about the game, it didn't make sense to keep being angry at him.

"But who are you? I've never seen any report about an A-rank player that looks like you."

"That's probably because I'm not an A-rank player."

"You aren't A-rank?"

The red-haired girl looked at him in disbelief.

'There's no way...'

It wasn't like she'd fought with all her might, but seeing how he moved, it was hard to believe that he wasn't at least an A-rank.

"Don't lie to me. There's no way you aren't A-rank..."

"Here."

KangWoo gave her his player ID.

Since he hadn't received his new player ID yet, it said that he was a D-rank.

"D-rank...?"

After checking out KangWoo's player ID, she frowned as if she'd heard a bad joke.

"Are movements like those even possible at D-rank?"

She looked at him in confusion.

To be honest, she had just checked out his movements.

Basically, she'd thought that he was an A-rank player just based on his technique.

'Even so, if he's a D-rank, that means he's a newbie player.'

She was having a hard time because someone who moved like an experienced fighter was just a D-rank player.

"Then, is there anything else you need from me?"

"Ah..."

KangWoo turned around and left her behind.

It was the first free time he had gotten after returning to Earth.

—He had no intention of wasting it with a meaningless brawl.

"W..."

While still in shock, the red-haired girl extended her hand toward KangWoo.

KangWoo ignored her and walked out of the internet cafe.

"..."

She looked at the door of the internet cafe with a blank expression on her face.

She remembered the name 'Oh KangWoo' on the player ID.

The player who had shown her movements that didn't seem to belong to a D-ranked player...

'Is he hiding his strength?'

There was a chance that he was hiding his face and identity because he had committed a crime in the past.

'But that's weird, too.'

There was no chance that a criminal who had changed his identity was at an internet cafe near the player management office in broad daylight.

"If that's not the case, then..."

She looked at the place where KangWoo had been.

His place was so clean that it was hard to believe that he had dodged all of her attacks from there.

That meant that he had really only used the upper half of his body to dodge all of her attacks.

'Maybe he's a genius with an incredible talent.'

Fighting instinct varied from person to person.

He could show great movements after only a few battles if he were a real genius.

She was one of those cases. Thanks to her incredible talent, she was able to become one of the most powerful people almost instantly.

'Who is he?'

She wanted to learn more about the person named KangWoo.

She wanted to check if he really was a player with an incredible talent worthy of being called a genius.

'If that's the case...'

Her eyes shone sharply.

Maybe he could become a trump card that could help her solve that issue.

'I'll have to check him out.'

She took out her smartphone and called someone.

Click-

[Hi, my name is Park HyunWoo. I'm in charge of the Red Rose Guild's Personnel Management Team. What can I help you with?]

"Hey, HyunWoo. It's YeonJoo."

[Oh, yes. Did something happen, guild leader?]

"There's a player I want you to investigate."

[Hmm... Is it that demon worshipper you've asked me about before?]

"No, not him."

[Tell me who it is, and I'll start to investigate.]

"I'll head to the guild's office right now."

After ending the call, she trembled while thinking about Oh KangWoo.

At that moment, she saw the word "defeat" on her screen.

"Ah..."

Her anger came flowing back.

While frowning, she pressed the confirm button.

Ting-

[You've failed to ascend to Silver.]

"AAAGGGHHH! I'll definitely beat him up the next time!"

The red-haired girl, Chae YeonJoo, screamed in agony while looking at her 'Bronze' ranking.

* * *

"Oof."

KangWoo sighed in relief after leaving the internet cafe.

He thought about the red-haired girl he had just met in the internet cafe.

'She was strong.'

Although he had only dodged a few attacks, that was enough for him to know the opponent's strength.

KangWoo wasn't sure if he would be able to defeat her if he fought with all the strength he had at the moment.

'I would probably lose.'

KangWoo's expression stiffened while remembering the mana that'd come out of her body.

After completing the third awakening and getting an unexpected bonus at the Andras Guild's base, he was sure he wouldn't lose against most players.

'There's still a long way to go.'

An excessive amount of confidence could make you lower your guard, and that could become the knife that stabbed you in the back.

"I'll have to do my best from tomorrow onward."

While thinking that, KangWoo walked toward the subway.

He was planning to take a break while experiencing numerous things, but what just happened made him change his opinion.

'It's better this way.'

He took the subway to return to the house while thinking he was glad he had met her before becoming overly confident.

* * *

The next day...

After receiving the C-rank player ID, KangWoo went to the C-rank gate that was in MeokDong.

He saw an empty lot that was in the middle of an apartment complex.

"Let's see... The MeokDong C-rank gate."

KangWoo took his phone out and checked what monsters came from the MeokDong gate.

"There's some orcs and trolls."

Orcs were D-rank monsters, just like the lizardmen, but it seemed like they appeared in some higher-ranking gates as well.

After reading the information about the monsters, he walked toward the entrance.

He was walking when a soldier stopped him.

"You won't be able to access the gate today unless you're in a party with a party that consists of five C-rank players."

"Can you tell me why...?"

"A troll chief has appeared, so solo players can't access the gate while a boss monster is inside."

"..."

Troll chief...

It was a boss monster that often appeared in C-rank gates, and it was stronger than normal monsters that appeared in B-rank gates.

"Hmm."

KangWoo looked at the gate while patting his chin.

'I need to get in, no matter what.'

The rewards given by a boss monster couldn't be compared to what a normal C-rank monster gave.

He couldn't miss that opportunity.