Chapter 26: Unexpected Encounter (2)

"You'd better step outside while I'm still asking nicely, you son of a bitch," the woman with red hair said menacingly.

Her ferocious attitude resembled that of a wild animal.

"Huh? What?" Oh Kang-Woo uttered while tilting his head in confusion.

Seeing Kang-Woo's attitude made the woman even angrier.

"You know

what

, you fucking troll!" the woman shouted aggressively.

She extended her hand toward Kang-Woo, wanting to smack him on the head.

Kang-Woo dodged her attack with a frown. "Huh?"

When the woman's attack hit nothing but air, she let out a confused gasp and glared at Kang-Woo.

"You!" she exclaimed angrily.

Whish! Whoosh!

Kang-Woo dodged all of the incoming attacks. He looked like an acrobat with the way he evaded the attacks just by moving the upper half of his body agilely.

"What the…" the woman uttered.

She couldn't believe that Kang-Woo was dodging all of her attacks.

Kang-Woo was also looking at her in surprise.

'She's fast.'

His expression stiffened as he watched her hand swing toward him.

The woman was fast—no, she was more than that. Her attacks curved swiftly in unpredictable ways like a snake. Just in terms of technique, she was on an impressive level.

'She's strong.'

Kang-Woo got out of the chair and looked at the woman calmly. She was the strongest person he had met since returning to Earth. Compared to her, Players like Jo Deok-Hyun seemed pathetic.

'She might be…'

Kang-Woo thought that she might be even stronger than his current self. It wasn't like they'd fought with all their might, but judging by how the mana that she emitted intimidated him, it was quite possible that she truly was stronger than him.

"Who are you?" the red-haired woman asked.

She was wary of Kang-Woo too.

After seeing how casually Kang-Woo dodged her attacks by simply moving his upper body, the red-haired woman questioned in a low voice, "Which guild sent you? Are you from the Mir Guild?"

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

"How dare you bullshit me?" the woman said while glaring at him. "There's no way someone like you isn't part of any guild."

The red-haired woman recalled 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. However, even if she hadn't attacked seriously, her attacks weren't at a level that some random guy who didn't belong to any guild could have dodged.

"Is there a rule that I have to join a guild?"

"…"

"Rather, I'm even more curious than you are. Who are you? Why did you pick a fight with me out of the blue?"

"What? Are you kidding me right n—"

"From what I can gather, you're the person who insulted me in the chat earlier."

"Obviously! Who wouldn't insult you in such a situation?" the woman shouted angrily.

Even a saint that had managed to transcend the mundane world would be furious enough to throw their keyboard if they were in her shoes.

Kang-Woo shrugged at her reaction.

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

Upon recalling that he had stopped playing to eat ramen, Kang-Woo nodded slightly and said, "I'm sorry that I stopped playing abruptly. It's just that the noodles I'd ordered got served."

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

"Huh? Did you perhaps not know that you get money if you kill those monsters?"

"No! That's not what I mean!" The woman glared at him in frustration.

Kang-Woo seemed confused as to why she was angry.

After seeing his reaction, she spoke while frowning, "Don't tell me… Was that your first time playing the game?"

"Yeah, that was my very first match."

"Oh…

Sigh.

"

The red-haired woman rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. Kang-Woo didn't seem to be lying.

'That goddamn startup package.'

The woman had been negatively affected by the startup package, which was designed to attract new players.

"So… you didn't know how to play the game?"

"Right."

"Urgh…"

It didn't make sense for the woman to stay angry at Kang-Woo since he didn't know how to play the game.

The red-haired woman asked, "But seriously, who are you? I've never received any reports about a Player ranked A or above who looks like you."

"Well, that's because I'm not an A-rank Player."

"You aren't A-rank?"

The red-haired woman looked at Kang-Woo in disbelief.

'That's impossible.'

She hadn't fought at full power, but Kang-Woo's movements made it hard for her to believe that he wasn't at least an A-rank.

The woman said, "Don't lie to me. There's no way you aren't A-rank—"

"Here." Kang-Woo showed her his Player license.

He hadn't received his C-rank license yet, so it stated that he was still a D-rank Player.

"D-rank…?"

The red-haired woman checked Kang-Woo's Player license and frowned as if she'd heard a bad joke.

"How can a D-rank possibly move like that?" she questioned while looking at him puzzledly.

The only thing she had seen from him was his movements, so her assessment that Kang-Woo was an A-rank Player was just based on his technique.

'If he's a D-rank, that means he's a newbie Player.'

She was having a hard time accepting the situation because this person who moved like a veteran warrior was just a D-rank Player.

"Okay. We're done, right?" Kang-Woo said.

"Ah…"

Kang-Woo turned his back on the woman.

It was the first day off that he had gotten ever since returning to Earth, and he had no intention of wasting it on a meaningless brawl.

"Wait a sec—" the red-haired woman, who was still in shock, called out and extended her hand toward Kang-Woo.

However, Kang-Woo ignored her and walked out of the Internet cafe.

"…" The red-haired woman stared blankly at the door of the Internet cafe.

She recalled seeing the name 'Oh Kang-Woo' on the Player license of the Player who had displayed movements that couldn't have possibly belonged to a D-rank Player.

'Is he hiding his strength?'

There was a chance that Kang-Woo had wiped his identity clean due to having committed some heinous crime.

'But that's weird too.'

There was no chance that a criminal who had changed his identity would be in an internet cafe near the Player Management Office in broad daylight.

"If that's not the case, then…"

She looked at the spot that Kang-Woo had stood on. It was clean with no traces of a fight, so much so that it was hard to believe that he had dodged all of her attacks from there. That meant that he had truly only used the upper half of his body to dodge all of her attacks.

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

Fighting instinct varied from person to person. A true genius could develop excellent movements from just a few battles. The red-haired woman was one of those cases. She had been able to join the ranks of the powerful almost instantly thanks to her incredible talent.

'Who is he?'

Her desire to learn more about the person named Oh Kang-Woo skyrocketed. She wanted to check if he was indeed a Player gifted enough to be worthy of being called a genius.

'If that's the case…'

Her gaze turned sharp.

Maybe Kang-Woo could become a trump card that could help resolve the painful situation that she was in currently.

'I'll have to check.'

She took out her smartphone and called someone.

Click.

[This is Park Hyun-Woo, the Red Rose Guild's chief of human resources management.]

"Hyun-Woo. It's me, Yeon-Joo."

[Oh, what can I help you with, Guildmaster?]

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

[Hmm… Are they one of the demon worshipers you told me about before?]

"No, it's not about that."

[I'll start investigating as soon as you tell me their name.]

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

After ending the call, she turned around while still thinking about Oh Kang-Woo. Then she saw the word 'Defeat' on her game screen.

"Ah…"

Her anger came flowing back. She frowned and pressed the 'Confirm' button.

Riiing.

[You have failed to be promoted to Silver.]

"AAARRGGGHHH! I'll beat the crap out of him next time!"

The red-haired girl, Cha Yeon-Joo, screamed in agony as she stared at her Bronze rank in the game.

* * *

"Fuuu," Kang-Woo sighed in relief after leaving the Internet cafe.

He recalled the red-haired woman he had just met.

'She was strong.'

All he'd done was dodge a few of her attacks, but that was enough for him to have an idea of how strong she was.

Kang-Woo wasn't sure if he would be able to defeat her if he fought with all of the power that he had at present.

'I would probably lose.'

His expression stiffened when he remembered the dense mana that the woman had emitted. After getting his Third Awakening and an unexpected bonus at the Andras Guild, he had been so sure that he wouldn't lose against any run-of-the-mill Players, and yet…

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

Excessive confidence could make a person lower their guard, and that could become the knife that stabs them in the back.

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

With that in mind, Kang-Woo walked toward the subway station. He had been planning to take a break and experience numerous things, but his encounter with the red-haired woman changed his mind.

'It's better this way.'

He took the subway and returned home thinking that he was glad he had met the red-haired woman before becoming overly confident.

* * *

The next day…

After receiving his C-rank Player license, Kang-Woo went to find the C-rank Gate in Mok-dong. He saw an empty lot that was in the middle of an apartment complex.

"Let's see… The Mok-dong C-rank Gate."

Kang-Woo took his phone out and checked what monsters appeared in the Mok-dong Gate.

"A mix of Orcs and Trolls, huh?"

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

After reading the information about the monsters, Kang-Woo walked toward the entrance.

A soldier stopped him at the entrance and said, "I can't allow you to enter this Gate today unless you're in a party consisting of five C-rank Players."

"…May I ask why?"

"A Troll Chief has appeared. Solo hunting is prohibited while a boss monster is active."

"…"

Troll Chiefs were boss monsters that periodically appeared in C-rank Gates. They were stronger than even elite monsters that appeared in B-rank Gates.

"Hmm." Kang-Woo looked at the Gate while stroking his chin.

'I guess it's time to push myself.'

The rewards he could get from killing a boss monster were incomparable to what he could get from killing a normal C-rank monster.

Kang-Woo couldn't miss that opportunity.