The Witch’s Eye

Standing up abruptly, I drew the attention of everyone in the lecture hall. Belatedly, I scratched the back of my head and sank back into my seat.

“Ahahaha… I suddenly choked and made a scene… Hahaha…”

The students in the lecture hall turned their heads away, their expressions clearly stating they’d seen every kind of lunatic imaginable.

“……”

Even as I settled down, I glanced sidelong at the phone screen of the person next to me.

The background and the face in the video were strikingly familiar.

‘Is this a video from the Hall of Fame?’

‘How much of it was shown?’

‘Did it show me giving the massage?’

‘Surely no one would recognize me, would they?’

The reason I hadn’t bothered to check the Hall of Fame was because I had uploaded my video with my personal information set to private.

While few people bother with privacy settings these days, it was quite common in the past, so I knew the Hall of Fame was diligent about protecting personal data.

When uploaded with privacy settings, everyone else sees my appearance differently. Some might see me as a young boy, while others might perceive me as a young woman.

Knowing this, I had trusted the system and dismissed it from my mind. Yet, seeing the video now, I was consumed by an unbearable curiosity.

‘Damn it, if I’d known this, I would have watched it earlier.’

As I sat there with a strange, uneasy expression, the woman next to me, who had been amusingly observing my changing face, spoke up.

“Excuse me, you seem interested in this. Want to watch it together?”

I waved my hand dismissively.

“No, I’m not interested at all. It’s fine.”

I refused so emphatically because I didn’t want to leave even the slightest possibility that she might realize the person in the video was me. However, the woman, with her bobbed hair and large eyes, sparkled with an almost mischievous delight, as if she had discovered something entertaining.

“It’s always more fun to watch together, isn’t it? Actually, I was too lazy to watch it before, so this is my first time seeing it too.”

With that, she pulled her chair closer, placed her phone between us, and restarted the video from the beginning.

“Hmm…”

Since I was also very curious about the video’s content, I eventually leaned in to watch the screen with her.

A scene that made my legs tremble just recalling it appeared on the screen, then the video ended with an enormous roar.

Compared to other Hall of Fame videos, which typically lasted hours, my video, just over a minute long, was remarkably short. Yet, its impact was equally immense.

My overall impression after watching it could be summarized in a single phrase:

‘…It’s the devil’s editing.’

No, perhaps I should call it angelic editing? To anyone watching, it looked like the Witch and I had a massive brawl.

Far from fighting the Witch, I nearly died while giving her a massage. The old man who actually fought the Witch wasn’t even visible in the video.

The camera angle itself was ambiguous, almost cunningly so, as if hoping the old man wouldn’t appear in the footage.

A short gasp of admiration came from beside me.

“Wow… Who on earth is this person?”

“I wonder…”

“They say the Baekje Guild moved immediately after the transcendent appeared, but by the time they arrived, the two had already left behind incredible traces and vanished. This person must have known the Witch would appear and was waiting, right?”

The bob-haired woman spoke with a slightly excited voice.

That wasn’t it at all. I was just lying at home when she suddenly appeared.

“Wouldn’t that be a bit unlikely?”

“No, I have pretty good instincts. This person definitely knows something incredible!”

“Hmm…”

It seemed this woman’s instincts weren’t as good as she thought. As I remained silent, she smiled brightly and looked at me.

“I’m Lee Heejin.”

“I’m Park Minhyuk.”

She was a woman with striking dimples.

****

The training period was one week in total. On the final day, there would be a practical exam: entering a public dungeon, specifically one with the lowest difficulty.

From my perspective, the theoretical lessons were quite engaging. However, they seemed insufficient to capture Lee Heejin’s attention.

She continuously yawned with a bored expression, eventually dozing off completely.

“A Ranker, in essence, is someone whose combat power is officially recognized by the system. While some argue the precise criterion is the number of significant achievements, I believe it amounts to the same thing.”

“So, why do Awakeners want to enter the rankings? Setting aside the money, honor, and fame that come with becoming an official Ranker, there’s a fundamental reason: Rankers receive a certain amount of points every month.”

“Points are currency usable only in the Point Shop, allowing you to enhance your stats and skills, as well as purchase various items. This is why many Awakeners strive to earn points.”

“Methods for earning points include contributing to dungeon clears, contributing to named monster subjugations, boss monster subjugations, achieving accomplishments, and so on…”

The theoretical lessons, which began after lunch, continued until before dinner. Surprisingly, Lee Heejin slept soundly throughout, not waking once.

Even after class ended and other Awakeners began to trickle out, Lee Heejin remained fast asleep, oblivious to the world.

I gently took her shoulder and shook her slightly.

“Excuse me, class is over.”

“Mmm… Just five more minutes…”

“It’s not five minutes, I said class is over, didn’t I?”

“……”

“Excuse me…?”

After a little more patience, she finally stretched and woke up.

“Don’t you need to attend class? They said there’s a practical on the last day.”

“Hmm. Well, it’s all information I already know.”

Lee Heejin rubbed her eyes and rose from her seat.

“Let’s go eat.”

“Yes. Well, let’s do that.”

We left the lecture hall and headed to the dining area. The dining hall boasted high ceilings, seating for about a hundred people, and excellent food.

Over dinner, Lee Heejin and I chatted about various things. She was two years younger than me and seemed to have no concept of shyness.

After finishing dinner, we went to the accommodation where we had been guided and unpacked that morning. The room wasn’t as large as a hotel room, but it was clean and had everything necessary, leaving nothing to be desired.

After showering and lying in bed, my body grew weary, and sleep slowly crept in.

‘Should I text Areum?’

I picked up my phone, then immediately put it back down. She was probably still incredibly busy, and I didn’t want to bother her unnecessarily. I decided I’d send a message after waking up, before heading to the next lecture. My eyes slowly closed.

Tomorrow’s lecture would cover the types and grades of monsters. It was definitely a helpful lecture.

As I would be living as an Awakened from now on, this information would be invaluable.

‘But Lee Heejin had an attitude that suggested, ‘Why are they talking about such trivial things?”

After conversing with her, it seemed Lee Heejin found the process of obtaining an Awakened license incredibly bothersome. In fact, it wasn’t just Lee Heejin.

My seat was at the very back of the lecture hall, giving me a clear view, and I noticed several others, just like Lee Heejin, either dozing off, looking utterly bored, or fiddling with their phones. The training instructor didn’t seem to pay them much mind; rather, they appeared to be actively ignoring them.

If this were a normal class, I might understand, but what kind of people are Awakeners? Aren’t they individuals who put their lives on the line in daily battles? Every piece of information should be precious, so their bored attitude was honestly difficult for me to comprehend.

‘Well, it’s none of my business.’

With that thought, I tried to drift off to sleep. Having exerted my mental energy on the lecture, my head felt dizzy, suggesting I would fall asleep quickly.

‘Huh? Dizzy?’

An excessive dizziness washed over me. When I opened my eyes, sensing something amiss, the ceiling of the room seemed to undulate, so intense was the vertigo.

“Ugh…”

I felt a strange sensation in my right eye, which quickly escalated into searing pain. I urgently covered my right eye and squeezed it shut, but this only brought more extreme dizziness and intensifying agony.

Then.

[Skill ‘Witch’s Eye’ is activated.]

Suddenly, my body was pulled somewhere, and my vision went black.

****

A blue sky appeared before me. I saw birds soaring across the sky.

But those birds were quite large. No, they were significantly large.

Lowering my gaze, I saw trees. Those trees were also extraordinarily massive. How large? Perhaps five stories tall, like an apartment building? No, they seemed even bigger than that.

“…Now what is it?”

What is happening?

Why is this happening to me?

Still, I couldn’t just stand there, so with a sigh, I began to move. In the sky, something that might have been a bird or a monster still flew, and all the visible trees were terrifyingly huge.

That wasn’t the only thing that was enormous. All the creatures growing in this mysterious place seemed to be massive; even common flowers and weeds were far from their usual size.

“Come to think of it…”

Didn’t a message say the ‘Witch’s Eye’ skill had activated? I fumbled at my right eye, where the intense pain had been, but I no longer felt any pain or dizziness.

– KIEEEEE

A harsh roar, like that of a beast, echoed from the sky above my head. Looking up, I saw something similar to the first bird, now a little closer, circling directly above me.

That creature had spotted me.

‘…What if that’s a monster?’

I had no means to fight back. I had no weapon, nor any decent offensive skills.

I was in deep trouble.

[Trait ‘Endless Talent’ is activated.]

Upon realizing the gravity of the situation, the ‘Cool-headed Reason’ aspect of the ‘Endless Talent’ trait activated. That thing, whether a bird or a monster, had noticed me. Its clearly visible size and booming cry, despite the considerable distance, suggested it would be impossibly huge if I faced it up close.

I had to somehow escape this place naturally.

My thoughts spurred my steps, and I quickened my pace. Suddenly breaking into a run wouldn’t help me escape a flying creature; it would only provoke it further.

‘What should I do… How can I…?’

I walked quickly, racking my brain, but no solution came to mind. After all, I didn’t know where this place was, or why I had suddenly been brought here.

“Is this a dream?”

I pinched my cheek, but it only hurt.

I couldn’t find a way out. The only skill I could use was…

“Ah, just let me touch it!”

[Skill ‘Ah, Just Let Me Touch It’ is activated.]

…Just that kind of skill. I raised my head and looked at the gigantic bird, but I couldn’t find a palm-sized part to touch, given its incomparably massive body.

The skill had undoubtedly activated, but… well, even if I knew where to touch, I wouldn’t be able to reach it. I had just tried it on a whim.

– KIEEEEEEE!

In the meantime, the roar grew closer. The bird’s body also grew larger, allowing me to roughly estimate its immense size.

‘At least the size of these trees.’

Which meant it was over five stories tall, like an apartment building.

‘Damn it, seriously… Why is this happening to me…?’

I walked calmly, yet cold sweat streamed down my back. This was all because of that Witch. The Witch’s Eye activated, and now I’m dragged here, aren’t I? That damned Witch.

– KIEEEEEEE!

The roar was even closer. I could almost feel the vibrations from its cry. I didn’t know for sure, but with that colossal size, reaching me would be instantaneous.

‘What is it? Was there a monster that huge among the birds? Or is it not a monster? If I play dead, will it just pass by? Should I hide in a tree? No, with that size, it would probably just smash the tree.’

All sorts of thoughts flashed rapidly through my mind, and I raised my head once more to check the bird’s position. And then, I met its gaze.

My reflection seemed to be visible in the colossal bird’s eyes, which had no whites, only dark pupils.

And at that moment, a message appeared before me.

[Name – Lailaxar]

[Transcendence – ★]

[Attributes – Fire, Wind]

‘What is this now? Name? Transcendence?’

Surely this isn’t showing me information about that giant bird? Why? No, how?

Even as these thoughts raced through my mind, my steps had turned into an almost frantic run, and the bird was closing in on me in real-time.

– KIEEEEEEEEE!

There was no need to look up anymore. The area around me was already engulfed in the bird’s shadow, and I was sprinting directly beneath it.

– KIEEEEE!

The roar was too close. My eardrums felt like they would burst, and the vibrations alone made my body sway, but I couldn’t stop running. There was nothing else I could do.

– KIEEEEEEEEEEE!

And finally, the rough sound of air being torn apart reached directly behind me, almost within arm’s reach.

“Aiya, you’ve brought some interesting eyes, haven’t you? Tsk tsk…”

The old man who had fought the Witch suddenly appeared right before my eyes.

[Name – Namgoong Hyuk]

[Transcendence – ★★★★★]

[Attributes – Sword, Sky, Void, Earth, Gravity, Pressure, Speed, Lightning, Martial Arts]