Breathing Life into Real Dolls - Chapter 68: Common Traits Of The Rankers

1.

My plan was, of course, to have Kwon Seokhyeon arm wrestle with Serena.

The outcome would undoubtedly be Serena’s victory. In front of her overwhelming strength, Kwon Seokhyeon wouldn’t last even for a moment and would face a humiliating defeat.

The scene of a muscular giant man getting effortlessly overpowered by a slender woman as if twisting a child’s wrist.

Seeing this shocking spectacle, other ability users would recognize the strength of my team and me.

If more individuals rose up against my word in the future, they could be dealt with using arm wrestling, too.

In other words, using Kwon Seokhyeon as a display of combat power, a punching bag of sorts, to warn other ability users.

It was named the “Can you feel the difference in strength?” strategy.

That was why I had provoked him into accepting an arm wrestling match with Serena, but the problem was…

The provocation worked too well.

“Kim Doha, you little punk, draw your sword right now.”

Kwon Seokhyeon spoke with clenched teeth and distorted pronunciation.

The arm wrestling wasn’t his concern at the moment.

He looked as if he wanted to settle a life-and-death battle with me right away.

The ability users standing around Kwon Seokhyeon, who had been giggling just a moment ago, were now discreetly backing away.

“Hey, calm down.”

“You’re not thinking of fighting here, are you?”

“Everyone gathered here is Grade D or above. And you want to show off your strength here?”

Ability users around Kwon Seokhyeon trying to dissuade him.

However, his eyes were completely lost, like a wild boar that only sees straight ahead. It seemed like he couldn’t hear the words of those around him, as his gaze was fixed solely on me.

Right now, it wouldn’t be strange if he attacked using his abilities.

In that case…

“Mr. Kwon Seokhyeon. How about giving my girlfriend a handicap where she uses only two fingers? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you. If not now, when will you ever win? Calm down and think about it again.”

I continued provoking him.

I thought this might actually turn out to be an opportunity.

I could just have Serena restrain him if he seemed like he was about to attack. It didn’t have to be arm wrestling, as long as we showed the difference in strength.

I initially chose arm wrestling because I thought a real power struggle could become too dangerous.

However, an opponent consumed by rage and devoid of reason became easier to subdue.

Given his current state, Serena could restrain him without any risk.

Then, Kwon Seokhyeon slowly opened his mouth.

“I’ve always disliked you, Kim Doha. Just because you’re good at locating rifts, you take the 1st rank and act so arrogant…!”

His voice was muffled, spoken as if gnashing his teeth in anger.

“Anyway, as long as I can find those rifts, I can seal them all. What’s the point of such rankings based on that? Isn’t that right?”

Kwon Seokhyeon shouted as if pleading, waving his arm emphatically.

Yes, I had anticipated that some might feel this way.

And, to be fair, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

That was why it was necessary to plainly show the difference in strength here and now.

“This is my last shred of patience. Stand up and draw your sword while I count to three. One…”

As he counted to one, the people between us scattered, creating a small circular arena.

“Two…”

I casually crossed my legs and sat down, then said to Serena, standing behind me.

“Restrain him.”

“Yes, master.”

She replied quietly.

“Three!”

Kwon Seokhyeon seemed to lunge towards me, leaning his body forward.

And in the next moment.

Bang-!

In an instant, Serena had already struck Kwon Seokhyeon’s face with a knee kick.

Good heavens…

Her knee appeared to be deeply embedded into his face, looking as if it had not only broken his nose but also swallowed his teeth and cheekbones whole.

“Insane…!”

“What, what just happened?”

“Did you see that?”

“That’s impossible…”

“What kind of speed…?”

The surrounding ability users each expressed their amazement upon seeing this.

There were some who gasped as if in pain.

It was understandable.

When she delivered that knee kick to Kwon Seokhyeon, Serena’s speed was so swift it could only be perceived as teleportation.

Could you all feel the difference in strength now?

With that, the plan had successfully concluded…

Thump-! Whump-! Boom! Crunch-!

With a blank expression, Serena continued to punch Kwon Seokhyeon.

Despite the fact that he had already fainted, she moved her arms mechanically, damaging various parts of his body.

“…”

People watched Serena’s one-sided violence with a bored expression, rendered speechless.

I quickly yelled out, feeling a bit regretful,

“Serena!”

“…”

Upon reflection, Serena had been brimming with anger from head to toe towards Kwon Seokhyeon, who had insulted me earlier.

I had briefly told her to hold back, but she exploded in rage when she was given permission to subdue him.

“Serena, stop! If you kill him, it’ll be a problem.”

“…Yes, Master. He has been subdued.”

“…Good job. Come here.”

Serena seemed annoyed by Kwon Seokhyeon’s blood on the back of her hand. She quickly wiped it off on the hem of his clothes and returned to me.

It seemed her anger hadn’t completely subsided. Instead of her usual cheerful expression, she wore a cold, emotionless face.

I muttered to myself,

“Wouldn’t he die if left like this? If I’d known this would happen, I should have brought Ciel…”

“…”

It seemed like everyone had overheard my unintentional mumble.

And why wouldn’t they? Everyone gathered here was at least a Grade D ability user, so their hearing would be excellent.

It was then that everyone cast fearful glances at me due to my calm demeanor.

At the table’s seat next to me, a woman who had been sitting quietly raised her hand.

“…?”

She looked like a career woman in her late twenties.

She smiled at me and said,

“It just needs to be enough to keep him alive, right?”

She then stood up and approached Kwon Seokhyeon.

While everyone was watching to see what she would do, she took out a thin rod from her pocket.

When she opened the cap, it turned out to be… a brush pen.

It reminded me of a brush pen I took to school for calligraphy lessons when I was younger.

“Here we go…”

She squatted down and lifted up Kwon Seokhyeon’s shirt.

Using the brush pen, she wrote on his exposed abs:

‘Heal.’

Suddenly, the characters shone brightly. Blood that had been flowing from various parts of Kwon Seokhyeon’s body began to stop gradually. Swollen and bruised areas began returning to their normal state.

While it certainly wasn’t as potent as Ciel’s [Grace of Light], it was a remarkable transformation nonetheless.

“Whoa…!”

“The wounds are healing!”

“That’s an amazing ability…!”

The woman who saved Kwon Seokhyeon capped the brush pen and put it back in her pocket. She walked over to me and extended her hand.

“I’m Hyeon Seohee, ranked 36th. I have experience in sealing C-grade rifts. Pleased to work with you, Kim Doha.”

“Oh, pleased to meet you.”

I stood up and shook her hand.

Since Hyeon Seohee had made the first move, it was now time to select the party members to seal the rift.

“If anyone else here has experience sealing a C-grade rift, please raise your hand.”

A few people quietly raised their hands.

I felt it necessary to add,

“But the truth is, it’s quite easy to lie about having experience in sealing rifts. So, for the sake of trust, please also mention your ranking.”

Most of the people who raised their hands were seated at the central table of the conference room.

The eyes of the over 100 attendees were all fixed on them.

One by one, they began to speak.

First, a short-haired man who appeared to be in his early 40s.

“I’m ranked 9th, Jang Sawoon.”

A slight commotion arose from the attendees.

“9th rank…!”

“Is that the guy?”

“He does look pretty strong.”

“Check out his muscles.”

Introductions continued one by one.

A man in his early 30s who wore gold round, thin-framed glasses.

“I’m ranked 21st, An Jiwoo.”

Another man, seemingly in his late 20s, with a pomade hairstyle and giving off a slightly laid-back vibe.

“Ranked 97th, Bae Seongjun.”

And lastly…

A woman who, at the oldest estimation, appeared to be in her early 20s.

She wore a black real sword at her waist and, interestingly, donned a black uniform reminiscent of ones worn in a Kendo dojo. Her entire attire was all-black.

The woman, who had neatly tied her long hair in a ponytail, quietly opened her mouth.

“…Ranked 3rd, Ryu Sein of Sein Kendo.”

This caused an even bigger stir than when the man ranked 9th had introduced himself.

“Sein Kendo?”

“She’s ranked 3rd?”

“That woman is…?”

“She’s definitely going to trend. Let’s take a picture…”

As a man tried to take a photo with his smartphone, a middle-aged man standing behind Ryu Sein half drew his sword.

Swooosh-

He, too, seemed to come from the same Kendo school, and was wearing a black Kendo uniform.

“Hey, don’t take photos.”

“Oh, uh… yes.”

The man with the smartphone sheepishly put it away.

Amidst the slightly subdued atmosphere, I lightly clapped my hands.

“Now, it seems we’ve selected all the party members, right? Those of you who weren’t chosen, I’m sorry, but please wait patiently while we seal off the rift. If anyone has any complaints…”

I glanced at Serena, whose face still seemed stern and unyielding.

“…Speak up now. I’ll arm-wrestle you.”

“……”

It seemed no one had any complaints.

Given that Kwon Seokhyeon, who had voiced discontent earlier, was lying over there unconscious and bloodied, it would be hard for anyone else to object unless they wanted to join him.

Everything went smoothly.

Lastly, holding the microphone, I said,

“The party composition meeting is now concluded. Disperse!”

People started to leave the conference room one by one.

2.

Now, only those who would work together to seal the rift remained in the conference room.

Ranked 1st, Kim Doha.

Ranked 3rd, Ryu Sein.

Ranked 9th, Jang Sawoon.

Ranked 21st, An Jiwoo.

Ranked 36th, Hyun Seohee.

Ranked 97th, Bae Seongjun.

Including Serena and Ciel, there were eight. Adding the two colleagues from the Kendo dojo who came with Ryu Sein, the total count was ten.

Ciel was also summoned, so currently, all ten of us were seated at the conference table.

We could’ve added a few more members, but there were no more candidates who everyone could agree were qualified, so we decided to proceed with this group.

It was a critical moment with the possibility of a power outage across the entire nation, and only six rankers out of the top 100 had come…

It was a bit disheartening, but on reflection, it seemed partly my fault, too.

Given that I, the top-ranked, had declared in the comments that I would participate, many rankers might have thought there was no need for them to join as well.

In other words, it was the “I’m just one person” mindset.

Regardless, there was no need to regret the absence of the others.

If they were not here, then we would simply seal off the rift with those who were present.

“……”

The group exchanged glances amidst the silence, seemingly gauging each other.

Eyes filled with caution directed at one another.

I understood their line of thinking.

I was a ranker, and so were all these people.

Just as I wanted to hide my abilities, these individuals might also want to conceal some extent of their powers.

Thus, we were all on the same page.

The primary reason we sent over 90 people away and kept only the rankers was due to this very sentiment.

Everyone values their capabilities, so they wouldn’t wantonly disclose another’s powers.

I was about to propose that we explicitly promise this from now on.

If anyone were to object?

Simple. They could be asked to leave, even now.