Memorize

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"Hyung, I'm sorry."

"Oppa, I deeply apologize…"

As we walked through the forest, I heard their quiet murmurs from behind me. My face twitched slightly at the sound. Although I couldn't see my own expression, I was certain it wasn't a pleasant one.

"...Sigh."

At the sound of my frustrated sigh—something they hadn't heard from me before—they grew visibly uneasy. I glanced at the two as they moved to walk beside me. Taking a deep breath, I kept my pace steady and finally spoke.

"The fight with the scorpions… it made me reflect on a lot. It wasn't three or four of them, just two, and yet it was such a struggle. I can't help but wonder if the way I've been guiding you has been wrong all along."

"O-Oppa, that's not—"

"I'm talking right now."

My quiet but sharp retort silenced Yun-Jung immediately. Her eyes trembled slightly, as though any more reproach might bring her to tears. But since I'd already committed to pushing forward until we achieved results, I had to steel myself, no matter how harsh it seemed.

"I've always tried to make the best decisions, no matter the situation. Rejecting countless offers from other clans to choose you was one such decision—because I trusted my judgment. But now, for the first time, I'm questioning that choice. I've always believed that the path I wanted for us was the one that would benefit you too. But now, I'm starting to think that belief was nothing but arrogance."

My tone carried a seriousness I rarely displayed. Seeing that I didn't want to be interrupted, they simply listened. Hyun's expression turned grave as he focused on my words, while Yun-Jung and Sol exchanged glances before lowering their eyes, sorrow written on their faces.

"I cared about you all deeply. Yun-Jung, when you said 'Let's go together' as you left the city, I was overjoyed, though I didn't show it outwardly. But I never imagined that feeling would come back to me like this—as a burden. Or maybe, deep down, I knew and ignored it. And while my persistence in this approach is partly to blame, your attitudes haven't been without fault either. The concerns I've had since the Rite of Passage are surfacing more and more now."

Hyun bit his lip and looked dejected. None of them had any words to counter me. They didn't need an explanation—they knew all too well. Letting the formation crumble and putting Sol in danger, freezing mid-spell when a tail flew their way, standing idly while a teammate fought, recklessly burning through their strength without strategy—the list went on.

I stopped walking and turned to face them. Yun-Jung and Sol looked like they were on the verge of tears. It seemed like the right time to end the lecture, at least for now. After all…

"Honestly, I feel like turning back to the city right now. Even if it means forming the bare minimum caravan and starting over from scratch. But at the same time, there's still a part of me that wants to believe in you all. Can I do that? Can you promise me you won't disappoint me anymore?"

At my question, Hyun's face showed that he was at a loss for words. But beneath his silence, I could see the flicker of frustration and determination in his expression. Unlike the other two, Hyun had something different about him. What I wanted wasn't an apology or regretful "I'm sorry," but anger—anger at himself for why things had turned out the way they had.

With a firm voice, I continued.

"From now on, we're changing to the triangle formation. Sol will be the center, forming a triangle. I'll take the lead, and Hyun and Yun-Jung, you'll take the sides."

"..."

Hyun silently stepped into position beside Sol. The way he gripped his spear suggested he was mentally steeling himself. Yun-Jung hesitated, stealing glances at my face, before quietly taking her spot on the other side. Sol, unnerved by the sudden shift to a new formation, gave me an anxious look, but I responded with a calm, unwavering expression and spoke decisively.

"I'll explain this only once, so listen carefully. The triangle formation doesn't mean there's no keeper. If anything, each person in the formation is the keeper. Every single one of you is a linchpin."

"You're saying we can't let the formation break, no matter what." Hyun said.

I turned my head slightly to glance ahead. There was a faint sound—something moving. Scanning the area carefully, I locked eyes with Hyun and gave him a subtle signal. He caught on immediately, adjusting his spear's direction ever so slightly.

Without a word, I resumed walking, stepping cautiously as the faint sound grew louder.

"Exactly. Don't just use your sensing ability to dodge—focus on reading the opponent's attack patterns, countering them, and finding openings. If this formation breaks, Sol will fall too, literally and figuratively. Be ready to die to maintain the formation. This isn't just about self-preservation; it's about working together to support each other. Otherwise, you might as well be fighting alone."

"Understood," Hyun responded firmly.

"And one more thing. The reason I'm taking the lead isn't just to act as a guide. There's another reason. Any guesses?"

"I'm not sure," Hyun replied, puzzled.

Seeing the back-and-forth between us, Yun-Jung and Sol tilted their heads in confusion. We were moving at less than half our original speed now, carefully navigating the terrain. I glanced at the trees and a large boulder we were approaching. Tightening my grip on my sword, I abruptly struck the boulder with all my might.

"It's because situations like this can happen!"

The boulder split apart with a deafening crack, and crimson blood sprayed out. Hidden within the rock was a cloaked figure who had been expertly masking their presence—skilled enough to evade the others' detection, but not mine.

"Damn it! Jong-min!"

"What the hell!"

As my sword felled one of them, three more figures dropped from the trees around us. Two men and a woman, all with ragged appearances that marked them as vagrants. They had been lying in wait for an ambush, but with one of their members down, they were forced to reveal themselves.

Yun-Jung and Sol were momentarily taken aback, but Hyun stayed composed, likely due to my earlier warning. Though they seemed startled by the realization that their opponents were fellow humans, the murderous intent radiating from the vagrants quickly pushed them into action. Yun-Jung and Sol drew their weapons without hesitation.

"You bastard! How dare you kill Jongmin! Die!"

"They said these guys were rookies! How the hell did they see through the stealth?"

"Calm down. We underestimated them," The female vagrant said, her voice sharp. She turned to me. "Hey, you. How'd you spot the stealth?"

I ignored her, my focus instead on assessing the situation. Then, I quickly relayed my findings to the team.

"These people are vagrants. Remember what you were taught in the academy—don't talk to them. Treat them like monsters. The moment you see them as fellow players, you'll hesitate. Kill them without a second thought. There's a shield-bearing swordsman, an axe-wielding warrior, and a mage. We outnumber them and have a better composition. Sol, you know what to do, right?"

"Wh-what…?" Sol stammered, still processing the sudden escalation.

"They're just fresh meat!" The axe warrior roared, charging forward with his weapon raised. The swordsman followed close behind, using his shield to guard his ally. Behind them, the female mage hesitated as if to stop them, but quickly clenched her teeth and began casting a spell.

"Focus!" I barked at the group, gripping my weapon tightly as I stepped forward to meet the charge.

I watched them with a look of disdain. It was clear these vagrants were new to Hall Plain—amateurish, clumsy, and uncoordinated. If the shield-bearer had first broken our formation and the axe warrior had followed up, there might have been cause for concern. 

Instead, they charged recklessly, just as disorganized as we had been in the beginning. They were clearly underestimating us, knowing we were novice players.

As the two charging attackers closed the distance, I noticed their eyes fluttering shut. Immediately, I called out to my team.

"Light magic incoming! Close your eyes!"

Sure enough, the female mage extended her glowing hand toward us and uttered a delicate incantation.

"Light!"

A blinding orb of light exploded before us. A basic spell, quick to cast—she had completed it faster than Sol could have. The spell was clearly meant to disrupt our vision. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea we had trained in sense skills, and their tactic would fail.

I glanced to the side and saw Hyun and Yun-Jung, eyes tightly shut, already adopting defensive stances. Sol, too, was gritting her teeth and muttering her own incantation. Good. This was exactly the response I wanted to see.

Taking a brief moment to observe my team, I turned my cold gaze toward the vagrants. The axe warrior, realizing I was still staring directly at him despite the light, hesitated and slowed his approach. Meanwhile, the shield-bearer, unaware of his companion's faltering, veered left, aiming for Yun-Jung. He seemed intent on exploiting what he assumed to be a weak point in our formation.

Pathetic.

The two charging attackers were poorly coordinated, to say the least. While the hidden assassin and the female mage showed some competence, these two were laughably untrained. They were nothing more than clumsy brutes.

As the axe warrior raised his weapon for a strike, a sudden thrust of a spear from the side interrupted his advance. Hyun, eyes still shut, executed a flawless jab, forcing the warrior to twist awkwardly mid-stride to avoid the attack.

"What the hell…? How do rookies even have sense skills?" He shouted, his face twisted in disbelief.

"It's possible." I replied coolly.

Exposing his midsection in an attempt to dodge Hyun's spear, the warrior stumbled directly into my range. I didn't hesitate. With a clean, forceful thrust, my sword pierced through his leather armor, sinking into flesh with a satisfying resistance. The dull, wet sound of tearing followed, and I felt the sword connect with his core. His eyes widened as he coughed up blood, his face a mask of disbelief. Their strategy, while reasonable in theory, had been completely undermined by their arrogance and lack of preparation.

Pulling my sword free, I glanced to the side.

Clang! Krrk!

The harsh screech of metal-on-metal filled the air. Yun-Jung had braced her dagger vertically, holding her ground against the shield-bearer's charge. She had shifted into a stable, backward stance, absorbing the impact with remarkable precision. The shield-bearer, clearly stunned that his full-force rush had been stopped, gaped at her in shock.

"Nice work, Yun-Jung." I muttered to myself, already scanning for the next threat.

"Wh…what? There's no way… I have more strength than you…!"

The shield-bearer was correct in terms of raw stats—his strength surpassed Yun-Jung's. Inch by inch, he pushed her backward, leveraging his superior physical power. However, he had grossly underestimated Yun-Jung's mastery of mana. Her eyes flashed open as she summoned her energy, her voice cutting through the clash of steel.

"Hiyaaa!"

What she lacked in strength, she compensated for with mana. This was a fundamental principle she had learned in the Player Academy and had now mastered. Channeling mana into her weapons, she not only fortified her physical strength but amplified the cutting power and durability of her daggers. They vibrated faintly, emitting a subtle hum as they glowed with a faint mana. Just as the shield-bearer attempted to draw his secondary weapon to counterattack, a long spear darted between me and Sol, slicing cleanly into the gap.

At the same moment, I twisted my sword out of the axe warrior's body with a harsh jerk, blood spurting as I followed up with a clean stroke across his neck. His head fell with a dull thud. Hyun's spear struck true as well, slicing deep into the now-exposed flank of the shield-bearer.

He froze, stunned. His eyes darted between the axe warrior's severed head at his feet and the spear protruding from his own side. Slowly, his grip on the shield slackened, and it clattered to the ground.

Yun-Jung hesitated for a moment, her expression conflicted as she stared at the defenseless shield-bearer before her. Then, with a resolute grimace, she bit her lip and thrust both her daggers deep into his chest.

"Ugh…"

The shield-bearer let out a choked gasp before collapsing, his body crumpling to the dirt.

Where had they heard we were new players? Judging from their poor coordination and lack of skill, they might as well have been new players themselves. Their combat proficiency screamed of inexperience—six months into the Hall Plain, perhaps a year at most. Their fate as vagrants spoke to their failure to adapt. They lacked talent, training, and even the drive to survive. They were, in every sense of the word, pathetic.

Yun-Jung, still gripping the daggers embedded in her foe's chest, seemed to steel herself further. Her trembling hands betrayed the emotional toll, but her expression hardened as if aware that I was watching her. She was showing me—and perhaps herself—that she was willing to go the distance.

Yet, there was no time to rest.

One enemy remained: the female mage, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout the fight. It was clear she was preparing a significant spell. Sweat streamed down her face as she clutched her staff, chanting rapidly.

Unfortunately for her, Sol had finished her own incantation first. Without hesitation, Sol raised her glowing staff, her voice ringing out with unwavering authority.

"Shackles!"

The flash of light that erupted like a burst in the forest momentarily blinded everyone. However, the female mage simply snorted in disdain and continued chanting her incantation, while simultaneously forming a sealing gesture with her other hand. At that moment, I narrowed my eyes. What she had just done was a double-casting—a technique where the caster performs two separate spells at once. While one hand weaved the spell's seals, her mouth continued chanting the incantation, and the other hand formed a seal to resist the magical interference.

Not just anyone could manage this; it required significant focus and skill. This suggested that the mage in front of me was no beginner, at least in terms of magic. Yet, she had overlooked one crucial aspect: Sol's magic power.

"Wh…what? This can't be… My magic power is over 60!"

The mage's hand, which had been forming the seal, began to tremble, and soon she screamed in frustration as she abandoned her spell and focused solely on resisting the mana interference. It was a quick decision, but it was futile. She was facing Sol, whose magic power was a solid 75.

The mage's resistance might have delayed it briefly, but Sol's "Shackle" spell continued to cling to her, relentlessly binding her with magical chains. At that point, I briefly held back Hyun and Yun-Jung, who were about to charge in. I wanted them to witness firsthand how a magic-based battle unfolded.

As the struggle continued, the female mage finally collapsed to the ground. Her body stiffened, and her face, contorted in disbelief, revealed her defeat. Despite her attempts, she had been unable to withstand the full force of Sol's magic.

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