I Became a Raid Boss

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The silver-haired woman, Yuki, has a gymnasium she uses personally.

If someone else were to hear that…

“Are you an athlete?”

Or perhaps,

“You really love working out.”

They might react that way.

And then ninety out of a hundred would tilt their heads in confusion.

At least on the surface, Yuki did not look like someone who enjoyed physical activity.

She wasn’t so fragile that she’d snap like a twig if bumped.

Rather, she was a beauty with a decent level of healthiness.

Yet, the reason she didn’t easily give off the impression of a “fitness enthusiast” was probably due to the uniquely languid aura she exuded.

However, contrary to that image, Yuki actually enjoys moving her body.

…Although what she truly loves is fighting with others.

Anyway, moving her body is indeed accurate.

And it served as a sort of escape for Yuki, who, due to her natural talent, had become dull to ordinary competition.

In any case,

Yuki poured the prize money she earned from various competitions and saved up funds into creating a gymnasium that was small if small, and spacious if spacious.

From buying the land, building a single-story structure, to maintaining it so no issues would arise.

It was probably a good thing it was located more remotely; if it had been in the center of Seoul, acquiring land would have been impossible.

Therefore, it was a bit bothersome to get to the gymnasium.

“I’m glad I made it.”

Originally built on impulse to have a place for herself to move around, it had now become one of the best decisions Yuki ever made in her life.

To be able to fight with others using real swords!

As far as Yuki knew, places where such a thing was possible didn’t exist.

At least not within Korea.

So if Yuki were to be caught fighting with a real sword against someone, she would undoubtedly be the topic of that evening’s news.

“The girl with extraordinary athletic talent shaking up Korea… turns out to be a psychopath?”

Although she wasn’t a psychopath, Yuki knew well that her emotions were quite different from the average person’s, so she doubted she’d be too concerned if such news broke.

“…Let’s be careful.”

If caught, it was clear that she would lose her current way of life, so she resolutely steeled her resolve and opened the gymnasium door.

As soon as the door opened, a scream pierced Yuki’s ears.

“Ahhh…! Someone help…!”

“Don’t worry. People don’t die that easily.”

And then there was Kana, tilting her pink-haired head.

“…No. It seems like they died easily.”

“See! Ahh, the little brat is killing people!!”

“Little brat…?”

Unsteadily, Kana’s adorable frame stopped tilting.

And the scene that followed was described as “so horrific it couldn’t be expressed in words…”

“What do you mean by defilement?”

Even though it wasn’t close enough to be heard or said loudly.

Kana shot a glance at Yuki.

Having sensed Yuki’s presence early on, it wasn’t hard for Kana, who had unconsciously been paying attention, to hear Yuki mumbling.

Kana turned her back on the corpse sprawled on the floor.

Following Kana’s example, Yuki also looked away as the lost corpse faded sadly on the gym floor.

“I… am not dead yet….”

“Oh. You’ve revived.”

“I wasn’t dead in the first place….”

“See! People don’t die that easily.”

Yuki and Kana casually tossed back and forth remarks as the corpse—or rather, Da-eun—stumbled to her feet.

Da-eun managed to rise, but though she showed no visible injuries, her face was so pale that one might mistake her for a sickly person.

Seeing Da-eun’s face, Yuki asked,

“Is it that hard?”

Da-eun waved her hand as though to say no.

“Don’t even talk about it. I thought I was going to die.”

Their conversation flowed quite naturally.

Just a week ago, they had conversed while using polite language, but now they treated each other without formality as if they were friends of the same age.

They really were the same age, so it wouldn’t be strange to talk in a casual manner.

“Yuki, you have to try it to know….”

Da-eun, who had been complaining, suddenly halted her speech.

It was because she had realized that Yuki’s training was harsher than her own.

Yuki narrowed her eyes slightly.

“I won’t change.”

“…I never intended to make a suggestion to change.”

Yuki thought Da-eun was going to propose they swap their training methods, but the truth was that Da-eun had no such intention at all.

Even if the suggestion was made, after having watched them train with a fierce sword flying around, it could only lead to one of two possibilities.

Either Da-eun’s mind had completely gone off the rails, or someone had threatened her with a sword to say such things.

“Let’s just take a short break, okay? To be honest, we’ve done quite a bit… since morning.”

“We’re already resting.”

Kana raised her eyebrows skeptically, yet she readily agreed to Da-eun’s suggestion for a break.

As Yuki quietly observed the scene, she let out a soft hum.

“Hmm.”

“…What?”

“Nothing.”

Something, wasn’t her expression more vibrant than before?

As she had shared with Da-eun before, Yuki had rewatched Da-eun’s broadcasts many times.

From the moment she first met Kana to the moment their journey came to a close.

To get over the walls blocking her path.

And to reach the towering mountains that lay ahead, Yuki examined every detail of Kana’s actions on a near-daily basis.

From her gait to her stance, her weight distribution, and even her minor habits.

Thanks to that, Yuki was able to recognize Kana and notice her changes.

While still close to monotone, the girl’s face had become much richer compared to before.

Like a newly sprouted bud.

Or a blossom poised to bloom.

However, Yuki chose not to voice those thoughts.

After all, what was important to Yuki was the strength that Kana possessed, so other elements were not her concern.

“…Hmmm. Wouldn’t it matter more if I became softer?”

If her heart softened, wouldn’t she be more willing to accept sparring requests?

Thinking it was quite a possibility, Yuki nodded, oblivious to the fact that Kana was watching her with a skeptical gaze.

*

Over the past week, I had learned quite a bit about Yuki.

For instance, her broadcast ID ‘Yuki’ is her real name, and she is a mixed child born of Korean and Japanese parents.

She prefers meat over vegetables but isn’t particularly picky.

Also, she has dominated various sports competitions since childhood.

And, she’s crazier than I thought.

“How can you like such things?”

“That just means Kana is the weird one.”

Muttering in disbelief, Da-eun rebutted with an incredulous look.

As our eyes met, she immediately whipped her head away.

I didn’t mean to provoke her or anything, but her reaction only made me want to tease her more.

“Most people on the internet prefer meat over vegetables.”

“Well, they like it more, but not many are as extreme as Kana. How do they manage not to gain weight with that kind of diet….”

Her eyes held a mix of envy and a hint of jealousy.

Today, Yuki had once again ended up on the ground after getting beaten by me.

She sprang up.

“I feel the same way. Everything is packed with high calories and sodium. It’s fascinating.”

Considering Yuki was obsessed with excitement and fighting, I wouldn’t expect her to care too much.

It was quite unexpected.

“A healthy body allows for better fighting.”

“…Yeah. I thought so too.”

But just then.

Da-eun looked horrified at Yuki’s next response.

Since it matched my own sentiment exactly, I nodded in agreement.

On the surface, it didn’t seem wrong.

In fact, it sounded exceedingly standard.

However, if it had come from a Silian or an athlete, it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but it wasn’t something one would expect from the mouth of an ordinary citizen.

When asked why they exercise, most would answer with “for health,” not “to fight.”

However, since such blunt answers were not rare from Yuki, both Da-eun and I were accustomed to her words.

“More importantly, how long do we have to keep this up?”

“Don’t you want to do it?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to…”

As Da-eun rolled her eyes when asked casually.

“At first, we didn’t do it this way.”

“True.”

“But why are we doing it like this now?”

“…Hmm.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t told Da-eun.

Training… should I call it that?

Anyway, initially, Da-eun’s training focused on allowing her to sense the flow of mana by letting it flow through her.

While I didn’t expect much in terms of physical conditioning, I had calculated that there was no quicker way to handle mana.

It was when I began teaching Yuki that my calculations went awry.

“Like this…? Oh, it worked.”

Just a few days after I started teaching her, Yuki succeeded in moving her mana.

Though she merely accomplished the ‘movement,’ she lacked any finesse or applications, yet it was astonishing nonetheless.

With a bewildered face, Da-eun asked how she did it, and Yuki simply answered.

“Doing it similarly to how I did in Silia.”

Was this what Edel had wanted to see?

Thinking that, I changed how I’d teach Da-eun.

To think that I would exclude physical training entirely and only focus on handling mana.

I must admit, I had been a bit off in my assumptions.

“When you’re exhausted and eat chocolate, it tastes sweeter, right?”

In the same vein, I thought that when exhausted, if she let mana flow in, she’d feel more sensitive.

So, I initially rolled Da-eun to exhaustion.

I made her exercise or swing a sword until she spent all her stamina and then infused her with mana.

Whether it would yield results or not, only time would tell.

Listening quietly to my somewhat lengthy explanation, Da-eun interrupted with a rebuttal.

“…If it’s too hard, wouldn’t you actually become desensitized to the stimulation?”

“…Don’t you know?”

Tilting my head, Da-eun replied incredulously.

“No, Kana should know….”

That wasn’t really a helpful comment.