Inside the training hall—vast as a playing field—

roughly forty players swallowed dry, staring at one spot.

“Whoa… what’s the occasion… seeing two celebs in one day.”

Rank 9, the world’s top Mage-class Player. Emily Nancy and Ha Gangwoo, face-to-face.

Olivia was bewildered. The person she’d idolized was walking right toward her! It felt like a dream.

Curves, long wavy hair, bewitching blue eyes. Definitely the woman she’d only ever seen in photos.

“Wow!!!! She’s so gorgeous.”

Olivia clasped her hands together, eyes shining as she watched.

Before she knew it, Emily Nancy had closed the distance, stopping right in front of Olivia and Gangwoo.

Nancy’s beautiful face broke into a radiant smile as she extended her hand. Already glowing, her smile made it feel like time stopped.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve really wanted to see you.”

The handshake she offered was meant for none other than Ha Gangwoo.

“Whoa…”

Olivia’s mouth fell open, envy plain on her face.

‘Who is he, that Ms. Nancy herself comes to shake his hand? Lucky bastard.’

Just as Olivia was staring at Gangwoo with envy—

Gangwoo looked back at the beaming Emily, his expression unsettled.

‘What’s this all of a sudden?’

A Rank 9 player was approaching him like she’d been waiting for this moment.

Was there some ulterior motive? Questions raced through his mind, but pissing off a Ranker was the last thing he wanted.

‘Just play it cool.’

Gangwoo reached out naturally and accepted her handshake.

“Nice to meet you. It’s an honor.”

The moment his fingers closed around hers, goosebumps washed over his entire body.

‘A monster.’

In terms of raw Mana alone, she far surpassed Cha Yuseong.

True to her title—the world’s top Mage-class player.

As Gangwoo offered a polite greeting, Emily Nancy gave their joined hands an enthusiastic shake.

“I knew I made the right call coming here. You came to see me, right? No? I deliberately spread the rumor that I was giving a lesson just because I heard Gangwoo would be here.”

Ha Gangwoo narrowed his eyes, chewing over Emily Nancy’s words.

‘Deliberately? A Rank-9 player came all the way here just to see me? Why?’

Questions flooded his mind. No matter how he turned it over, it didn’t make sense.

Still, he probed with his Sense stat and picked up no trace of hostility or ill intent.

When he didn’t react, Emily tugged on his hand and leaned in close. She was strong enough that his body swayed.

“I’ve got so much to ask! Ah — first, since I said I’m teaching a lesson, let’s grab a meal after this. I’ll treat you to the finest course.”

“I’m fine —”

Ha Gangwoo tried to refuse, but Emily ignored him and strode toward where the trainees had gathered.

When he stood there dumbly, she gestured him over with a wave.

“What’re you doing? Hurry up. I promise you won’t regret hearing this!”

Ha Gangwoo watched her waving at him, rooted in place. Like Cha Yuseong, Emily Nancy seemed to have a good-natured personality.

‘What the hell? Out of nowhere.’

He was bewildered by the sudden turn of events. A lesson — just like that.

‘What is she going to teach?’

But curiosity pricked at him. Tips from the world’s top mage-class player — knowledge you couldn’t hear anywhere else.

‘I guess it’s worth listening to after all.’

Ordinarily, he’d have had no intention of coming, but a Ranker’s lesson changed the equation.

He was just starting to take a step toward Emily when —

“Come on, let’s go. Is Gangwoo some kind of celebrity? Wait, are you the Association President’s son or something?”

Olivia grabbed his hand and pulled him toward where Emily stood.

A barrage of questions rained down on him, but Gangwoo deflected them with vague replies.

“No. Let’s just go to the lesson.”

“Ah… I guess I got a little carried away.”

Olivia wilted slightly at his flat tone, but then she spotted Emily Nancy again, and her eyes lit up.

And so the trainees gathered around Emily Nancy.

As if she’d done this many times before, Emily began speaking with easy confidence.

“First, let me introduce myself. My name is Emily Nancy. I’m from Italy, and I’m currently Rank 9. As you all know, my class is Mage, and my position is…”

She finished with a short, crisp self-introduction.

“You’re so pretty!”

“I’m a huge fan! I’m an aspiring Mage-class player too!”

The trainees clapped and cheered for her.

An active Rank 9 player — even if she was part of the Association, she wasn’t someone you met every day.

“Then, let’s get started!”

Emily extended her index finger and gave it a light, horizontal flick.

The training dummy on the far side of the room skidded across the floor with a sickening crunch of rending wood and stopped right at Emily’s feet.

“No way… I’ve never seen a training dummy move before.”

“They said even with Strength over 1,000 that thing won’t budge… That’s insane.”

Everyone’s jaws hung open, too stunned to hold back their admiration.

Emily wore a relaxed expression as she tapped the training dummy’s shoulder and spoke.

“Everyone, please take your seats.”

“Yes ma’am!”

And so began Emily Nancy’s lesson — as intense as its opening promised. It went smoothly.

***

“Good work, everyone. After a ten-minute break, we’ll proceed with a game using the content I just taught you. There’s a reward, so practice hard.”

Emily Nancy clapped her hands once — *sharp* — and ended the lesson.

“Holy shit! The world’s number-one mage-class player lives up to the hype! That was incredible.”

“How does she even do that?”

Everyone’s faces burned with enthusiasm as they clenched both fists.

Then they summoned skills above their palms, recalling the lesson’s content.

“Wow… that’s honestly amazing.”

Beside Ha Gangwoo, Olivia created a sphere of flame over her palm and breathed out in wonder.

Ha Gangwoo felt the same.

‘I never imagined that was possible.’

What she’d explained was remarkably similar to Zenon’s Teachings.

But the application she demonstrated made him doubt his own eyes.

‘Let’s try it!’

Like the other trainees around him, Ha Gangwoo activated a skill above his palm.

‘Fireball.’

*Whoosh—*

A Fireball the size of a ping-pong ball floated above his palm.

Up to here, it was the same as his usual skill. But now he was going to test the method Nancy had just taught.

‘So I’m supposed to gather mana separately.’

Ha Gangwoo clenched his fist, snuffing out the flickering Fireball in his hand. Then he extended his index finger.

‘Concentrate as much as possible.’

He pushed his focus to the limit, channeling mana into his fingertip.

The insight from Zenon’s Teachings, the principle of Mana Materialization — the moment it all came together —

‘Fireball.’

*Whoosh—* A sphere of flame rose above his fingertip.

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Ha Gangwoo’s mouth.

‘It actually works.’

What Nancy had explained was simple.

A method for a Player to gather mana themselves, skip the activation action, and use a skill. The principle of Action Skip.

“Whoa, no way… That’s not a Fireball, is it?”

Olivia’s eyes sparkled as she leaned her upper body in.

‘No way — did he really succeed?’

Olivia — she had the Fireball skill too.

The activation word: open your palm. But the man before her was casting Fireball above his index finger.

In other words, proof he’d succeeded at the Action Skip they’d just learned. Unbelievable. To pull it off after hearing the explanation only once.

As Olivia asked with wide eyes, Ha Gangwoo answered with a flat expression.

“It’s a Fireball.”

“Really? So you succeeded after seeing Ms. Nancy’s demonstration just once?”

Olivia startled, making a fuss. Had she spoken that loudly?

“What? You succeeded on your first try?”

“Let me see!”

The other trainees’ eyes started drifting their way.

They saw the Fireball flickering to life on Ha Gangwoo’s index finger, and their own eyes lit up.

“Whoa… it’s real. That’s a Fireball, right? Guess he really is an L-Grade Player for a reason.”

“That’s insane… I guess that’s what talent looks like. So jealous…”

Everyone wore a look of envy for a moment, then scattered back to their own practice.

Olivia, hearing the trainees’ murmurs, stared at Gangwoo with a blank, stunned expression.

‘An L-Grade Player? This guy?’

This was the person who had approached and spoken to her—the man ranked ninth in the world, the man who had mastered the Action Skip Ms. Nancy taught him on his very first try.

She was only now realizing just who was standing right beside her.

Olivia’s eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together and asked.

“W-Wait… you’re the Player who got an L-Grade Player, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Wow! That’s amazing. But why did you pretend not to know when I asked earlier?”

Ha Gangwoo stopped mid-answer to Olivia and rose from his seat.

The lesson was already over anyway. No reason to stick around.

“I have things to do, so I’ll be going now.”

“Hold on! Aren’t you coming to the next session…? Ah…”

Olivia called after him, but Ha Gangwoo was already fading into the distance.

He walked on, clenching his fist tight.

‘Good thing I listened.’

So there was a way to skip actions. The implications from today’s lesson were endless.

‘Maybe I can even use it on a Straight Punch?’

A dozen good ideas flashed through his mind.

A satisfied smile tugged at his lips as he kept moving.

‘Time to work on that fullness.’

Maybe it was meeting a Ranker, but he felt like closing that gap right now.

Just being in the same space radiated violence that made her skin crawl. The gap was still enormous.

Had he taken three steps?

“Where are you going?!”

A crisp voice sounded from behind Ha Gangwoo. It was none other than Emily Nancy.

Forty-odd gazes in the training room snapped onto the two of them.

Emily Nancy walked right up to Ha Gangwoo, tilted her head, and spoke.

“Aww, I said let’s eat after this, right? You don’t want to? Building connections with a Ranker—it’s not exactly an everyday thing.”

Emily gave a faint smile and tapped her lips with her index finger.

Ha Gangwoo narrowed his eyes at her.

‘Is she serious? She really came here just for me?’

He’d thought it was a joke, but seeing her go this far, there had to be a reason.

Just as Ha Gangwoo was lost in thought, looking at Emily.

The trainees couldn’t hide their envy as they watched him.

“Whoa… I’m jealous. I want to have a meal with Ms. Nancy just once, too.”

“Eating with a beauty like that… even a triangle kimbap would taste good.”

As a Player, envy was inevitable.

A meal with Rank 9. The meaning ran deeper than just food.

Ha Gangwoo scratched the back of his head, listening to the trainees murmur.

‘Right. Rank 9 means connections to match.’

With that shift in perspective, there was no reason to refuse a meal invitation from one of the world’s top ten Players.

Who knew? Maybe he’d find a clue to the Resurrection skill through her network.

‘Let’s put it off for now.’

Ha Gangwoo decided to postpone his Scenario.

“I spoke rashly. I’d very much like to eat together.”

Ha Gangwoo dipped his head, accepting the meal. Emily Nancy beamed, clasping her hands together.

“Great! So we go after the training session?”

“Yes.”

The warm atmosphere lingered.

But Olivia Ren, watching the scene, stepped forward with her fists clenched.

“That’s so unfair! I… I want to eat with Ms. Nancy too.”

“Me too!”

“Right… no matter how L-Grade you are, give us a chance too!”

Olivia’s sentiment spread instantly to the other trainees, yet Nancy’s expression showed no change.

Still wearing a bright smile, she spoke in a calm tone.

“The world’s always been unfair. I’m only interested in L-Grade Players. I don’t have time for the rest of you.”

Was it her firm attitude? No one dared to rush forward.

In that moment, silence fell over the training room, the air growing heavy.

Emily Nancy scratched her cheek as she watched the trainees.

‘Better they learn reality fast.’

These moping kids were freshmen fresh out of their Tutorial, blind to their station.

Caught in useless hope — *I can do it if I try! I’ll be a Ranker!* — they needed a dose of reality.

Struggling in vain hope was how Players lost their lives. But then a good idea struck her.

A wicked curl tugged at the corner of Emily Nancy’s mouth.

A way to teach these rookies reality and gauge an L-Grade Player’s skill at the same time.

Emily Nancy smiled, clapped her palms together, and approached the trainees.

“Fine. Then let’s do this. Whoever places first in the next game gets my personal contact info and one favor. Ah! — and tonight’s dinner too. Is that fair enough?”

Emily didn’t think it was fair at all.

Their opponent? An L-Grade Player.

Of course Ha Gangwoo would take first.

But the trainees, blind to reality, lit up with excitement.

A spark of hope flickered: maybe they could actually take first place.

“For real?! That’s insane!”

“Whoa… I want first place so bad!”

Just as Emily had predicted, the trainees seemed to regain their drive, clenching their fists and burning with enthusiasm.

Ha Gangwoo, too, found Nancy’s extraordinary terms intriguing and licked his lips.

‘Grant a request? How far would she go?’

Gangwoo also felt the pull of what first place could mean.

Emily Nancy leaned in close, her upper body pushing forward until her sweet scent brushed the tip of his nose.

“You’re in too, right, Gangwoo?”

“Yeah. I have to be.”

There was no reason to bow out. He had to do it, no matter what.

At Gangwoo’s answer, Nancy cracked a sly smile.

“Good.”

Nancy clapped her hands with a sharp smack!, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Then we’ll start right away.”

“Yes!”

Emily Nancy explained the rules of the game.

***

[31]

In front of Emily Nancy, a number appeared on the paper in a man’s hand.

“Next.”

Emily Nancy spoke with a wide smile.

It was Olivia Ren’s turn.

Olivia, her expression dead serious, adjusted her glasses and stepped up in front of Emily Nancy.

Thump-thump—

Olivia’s heart began to race wildly. It beat so loudly that the sound seemed to echo inside her ears.

‘Hah… I can do this!’

The highest score so far was in the 81-point range. More than doable. This was the moment to prove all her effort so far.

As Olivia held up the paper, Emily Nancy beamed and said,

“Begin!”

“Yes!”

Olivia picked up a business-card-sized sheet.

[Mana Measurement Paper]

Grade: F

Description: When infused with Mana, displays the amount as a numeric value.

The content of the game was dead simple.

[Infuse the paper with Mana without using any skills.]

In other words, a straightforward exercise of wrapping the item in Mana without an Activation Word.

‘Let’s go!’

Olivia placed the paper on her palm, her face scrunching in concentration as she glared at it.

Vrrrm—

Soon, the Mana in her body stirred, and with a soft rustle, it gathered around the paper.

Ding-

[301]

A number appeared on the paper.

“Yes!!!”

The score was deeply satisfying, as if validating all the hard work she’d put in.

Olivia clenched her fist.

Higher than any other trainee so far. She was in first place.

“Whoa~! 300 points? That’s crazy.”

“No one’s even cracked 100 yet… How did she do it?”

The trainees couldn’t help but marvel at Olivia.

The highest score among the forty-plus challengers so far was the 80s. So they understood just how massive 300 points was.

But the trainees weren’t the only ones stunned by the score.

Emily Nancy also narrowed her eyes at the unexpected number, a grin curling at the corner of her lips.

‘Three hundred points. Not bad.’

Emily seemed genuinely intrigued by Olivia’s score, breaking into a wide smile as she spoke.

“You haven’t even done your Job Change yet, and you’ve already surpassed 300 points. Impressive. First place.”

Olivia’s cheeks flushed at Emily’s praise. She gave a quick bow and returned to her seat.

‘Yes! Yes! Just one more person to beat, and I get to have dinner with Ms. Nancy!!!’

Olivia’s lips kept curling up at the happy thought, but she forced herself to keep it in check as she watched the final challenger.

The one in crisp attire who’d pulled off Action Skip in a single second. The holder of L-Grade: Ha Gangwoo.

‘Please… please… let it be low…’

Olivia clasped her hands together and prayed, over and over again.

Her current score was a solid 300 points — nothing to sneeze at. Maybe that was why hope kept surging in her chest.

Just as Olivia was clasping her hands in prayer, Emily shot her a bewitching look and spoke up.

“Then, please begin.”

Ha Gangwoo set the paper in his palm and began focusing his Mana.

The other trainees around him started murmuring among themselves.

“How many points do you think he’ll get?”

“He is L-Grade, so won’t he easily clear 200?”

“Yeah, but grade and this measurement don’t really correlate, do they?”

“True… I guess they don’t.”

The trainees watched Ha Gangwoo with curious eyes.

‘How many points will he get?’

Emily Nancy was also curious about Ha Gangwoo’s score.

‘He’ll hit 400, at least.’

Emily was certain Ha Gangwoo’s score would be high.

L-Grade, as measured by the Gaia System, wasn’t handed out for nothing.

It was a rank given for talent of that caliber — and that was exactly why she had come all the way here herself.

But what kind of ability had earned him that L-Grade? She was curious.

And it was partly because she wanted to see it with her own eyes that she’d proposed this little game.

‘If he breaks 500, I’m locking him down for sure.’

Emily crossed her arms and felt the Mana flowing through Ha Gangwoo’s entire body. Just as she’d thought — his magical application was anything but ordinary.

Then, Mana seeped into the paper held in Ha Gangwoo’s hand.

A fierce light rippled across the Mana-soaked sheet.

Something impossible without incredible Mana control.

*Thrummm—*

The light on the paper in Ha Gangwoo’s hand grew steadily more intense.

Those who saw the light blinked, wondering about the score. About three seconds passed.

*Bang!*

The paper exploded on the spot.