The next day, a letter arrived at Cheong-Am Euthanasia Center.
The words CHALLENGE TO A DUEL were written on bright, cute stationery that looked like something a teenage girl would use.
Everyone who had been waiting at the Center because of what had happened the previous day came rushing outside to look.
"What the hell is this?" Alice asked.
The actual message contained only a single line:
Check my livestream!
Yi Rang, surprisingly the sensible one, stared blankly at the challenge letter.
"No, if she only writes 'my livestream,' how is anyone supposed to know what she means...? She didn't even write down the time!"
"Still, I think it's obvious who sent it," Alice said.
Just then, a call came directly into Alice's head.
Calls to the office were routed straight into Alice's communication module.
Alice opened a holographic screen, answered the call, and simultaneously pulled up Yuna's livestream.
Yuna sat leaning arrogantly against the back of a prop throne, smiling.
[Hello~? Everyone at Cheong-Am? You've checked the gift I sent you, right?]
"But if you were going to contact us like this, why did you send a challenge letter?" Alice asked.
[Hah!? Don't you understand analog charm?
If I contacted you right away, there wouldn't be any atmosphere or flair to it!!
You really are a machine with a dried-up soul, aren't you?]
At that, Alice grumbled under her breath, clearly displeased.
[More importantly, Kim Ga-Eun from your office!!
I can't forgive the humiliation she inflicted on me, so I challenge her to a duel to the death!!]
Alice objected.
"Still, trying to kill someone just because she insulted you once is going too far, isn't it?"
[Of course! That would make me look far too narrow-minded, wouldn't it?
So the pure-hearted and magnanimous me will give you a chance!
Everyone at your office will prostrate themselves before the entire nation right now, apologize, and then pay me a settlement for defamation! Hee-hee!]
"I understand apologizing, but you want us to do it while prostrating ourselves...?
And now you're bringing up defamation charges?"
As Alice was about to argue, Kim Ga-Eun quietly stepped forward.
"Alice C. Why are we even arguing about that when we haven't done anything wrong?
Basically, if I kill that bitch, there won't be any problem, right?"
[...You really don't have any morals, do you? Your metacognition is pretty poor, too.]
Alice felt that Ga-Eun's eyes had gone completely unhinged as she stared at Yuna.
Unable to stand the sight any longer, Yu Han stepped forward.
"I'll accept the duel."
[Who the hell are you to butt in!? Outsiders stay out of this!]
On paper, Yu Han had no connection to Cheong-Am Center.
After thinking it over, Yu Han made the only choice available to him.
"I'm not an outsider. I'm... the true Deputy Director of Cheong-Am Center, you know? And I'm also this kid's guardian, so I do bear some responsibility."
Yuna looked slightly surprised, but then seemed to remember something.
[Come to think of it, aren't you the boyfriend who was standing beside her back then?
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure you insulted me quite a lot too!
Fine! It should be incredibly painful to watch me kill someone you love right in front of you, don't you think?]
"Just to correct you, I'm not her boyfriend."
[Tomorrow at six in the evening! I'll see you at New Jamsil Soccer Stadium!
You'd better think of some last words!
That's it for this announcement stream! Bye, everyone~!]
Yuna's livestream ended.
"Yu Han C. Why did you stop me? Do you think I can't even handle someone like her?"
Ga-Eun, who was sulking at Yu Han, confronted him with a murderous look in her eyes.
For some reason, Alice made an excuse for him.
"Ga-Eun... maybe it's because this bastard still cares about you in his own way?
He's trying to be your knight!"
Yi Rang repeatedly nodded in agreement.
After hearing that, Ga-Eun's expression seemed to soften.
Yu Han, however, refused to leave the misunderstanding alone.
"Don't get the wrong idea. If this monster mutt wins, a festival of blood and guts will be broadcast live across the entire country.
What would happen to the Center's image?"
This time, murderous intent appeared in the eyes of all three women at once.
Yu Han sighed at the sight.
'Why is there not a single normal person around me?'
---
The next day, at New Jamsil Soccer Stadium.
Korean soccer had gone into decline because it was so terrible, so the stadium had been easy to rent.
Standing confidently in the middle of the field, Yuna addressed the audience.
"All right! Today's content is all about teaching trash couples a lesson!
But where is my opponent~?"
Up in the stands, Yi Rang tore into a fried chicken drumstick and asked Alice, who was sitting beside her.
"But what's that Yu Han bastard doing? Why isn't he here yet? Is he constipated?"
"He said he needed to prepare something. I haven't seen him since last night," Alice answered.
As six o'clock approached, Yuna snorted and declared:
"Oh dear! It looks like my opponent got scared and ran away!
I expected it, but what a boring ending!"
Watching from the stands, Kim Ga-Eun snorted as well.
"Ha! Stupid bitch. You think Yu Han C would run away from someone like you?"
Ga-Eun was completely decked out in cheering gear printed with Yu Han's name and photograph.
Alice asked her in disbelief.
"...You already forgave that bastard after hearing him say all that?"
"You can't control love, you know. Hehe."
Either way, only one minute remained until six o'clock.
Yuna clicked her tongue at the thought of missing out on the views she had hoped to milk from the duel.
Yu Han, however, had already been there for quite some time.
Inside her heart.
Literally.
"Hi. I'm not late, am I?"
Yu Han greeted her cheerfully, but something was strange.
He was standing behind Yuna, having driven a carbon-coated blade through her chest near the heart.
"Gah! Wh-what the hell...!? Pulling a cowardly trick like this...!"
"There wasn't any rule saying where or how I had to appear!"
Yu Han kicked Yuna in the ass, knocking her off the blade.
Instead of dying, Yuna merely looked filled with rage and murderous intent.
"Kids these days don't even die when you stick a blade through their heart? Generation gaps really are terrifying."
"You motherfucker...!!"
Yuna wanted to unleash a torrent of profanity at him, but because she was in front of the camera, she forced herself to calm down and remain professional.
Instead... she cast her secret magic.
"You dishonorable piece of trash! I'll judge you myself!"
In an instant, Yuna's entire body was enveloped in mana.
Mana Armor.
It was an applied form of Mana Avatar—a spell that allowed its user to instantly create clothing and weapons by projecting their own soul.
"Oh no! Are you about to transform into a magical girl!?"
As he shouted, Yu Han threw carbon-coated blades from a distance, striking Yuna near her vital points during her transformation.
After completing her transformation, Yuna looked like a blue angel in frilled magical-girl attire, aside from the carbon-coated blades lodged in her shoulder and abdomen.
"You! Don't you know the rule that you're not supposed to attack someone during their transformation!?"
"The rule I know is, 'Don't carelessly use a technique that takes more than one second to prepare at close range'..."
After hearing that, Yuna pulled out the blades with her bare hands and summoned her weapon, a magic wand.
The wand, which had a blue gemstone embedded in it, was made of tungsten alloy.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
Yuna swung the blunt weapon—no, the magic wand—at Yu Han with gusto.
Yu Han gave up trying to block the attacks with his blade and slipped away from each blow like a loach.
'Ghk. What the hell is she? Why is she so damn strong?
She even has regenerative abilities... This is annoying as hell.'
While thinking that, Yu Han suddenly shouted.
"I have no choice!! Take this, electro magic!!"
"!?"
Yuna instantly deployed a mana barrier to block the electro magic.
But that was a mistake.
As though he had been waiting for it, Yu Han activated water magic and trapped Yuna inside a gigantic bubble of water.
"SSIBAL!! You cowardly bastard!!"
"You tricked a woman, and you still have a dick!?"
Boos directed at Yu Han erupted from the audience.
Yu Han smiled good-naturedly and calmed them down.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, everyone. When did I ever deceive her?
I said I was going to use electro magic.
Right now."
Yu Han mercilessly discharged electro magic into the water surrounding Yuna.
Unable to endure the electric shocks any longer, Yuna used her magic shockwave to blast the water away.
"I wasn't going to use this... You're really annoying!!"
Pink mana gathered around Yuna so densely that it became visible to the naked eye.
The audience fell into a panic when they saw it.
"Damn it! Yuna Nim is about to use 'that'!
Everyone, get out of Yuna Nim's line of fire!!"
Watching the audience flee, Yu Han instinctively realized that her finishing move was coming.
'Normally, I could just dodge it or interrupt it...
But I need to counter it head-on and break her mentally as well.'
At last, Yuna completed the technique and fired an enormous pink beam.
"JUSTICE SUPERNOVA!!!"
The pink beam tore through the ground as it rushed toward Yu Han.
"Honestly. Kids really do like giving names to their techniques..."
Yu Han covered his blade with pure white mana energy and swung it.
A mana-infused slash flew from the blade in the form of a beam and collided with Yuna's attack.
"No... How can an ordinary human possibly...!?"
Yuna was shocked that Yu Han's beam could stand against hers.
No, her own beam was even being pushed back little by little.
Once her beam began to give way, it was forced back faster and faster, until Yu Han's attack finally reached Yuna and burned her entire body.
A short while later, a battered Yuna lay collapsed on the ground.
Yu Han approached her to force her to declare defeat.
"How could... someone like you... defeat me...?"
"You were obsessed with receiving other people's love. That was your weakness."
Yu Han raised a carbon-coated blade, intending to finish her off cleanly.
At that moment, Alice dragged Kim Ga-Eun down from the stands and stopped Yu Han.
"That's enough!" Alice shouted.
"Move. We need to finish this, or she'll cause trouble later."
"There's no need to go that far..."
"I won that right fair and square in the duel."
"Fair and square!? After using that many cowardly tricks!?
And what about this!?"
Alice stretched open the collar of Yu Han's clothes and showed what was underneath.
Stickers printed with simple magic circles covered Yu Han's skin like barnacles clinging to the underside of a ship.
Mana-storage magic circles.
They were disposable, and the mana stored within them would dissipate within a few hours.
However, because the duel had a fixed starting time, Yu Han had been able to use them.
"The rules were just full of loopholes, that's all... Heh."
"What the hell...?
You beat me with garbage like that, and then lectured me about love and everything!?"
Yu Han tried to smooth things over by making a comical expression.
Yuna looked as though her insides were boiling.
"Everyone," Alice said. "There's something wrong with a society where people try to kill each other over a mere argument!
None of this would be necessary if you settled things peacefully!
Come on, Ga-Eun. Apologize."
"Sorry I called you a cyber whore."
"Is that supposed to be an apology!?" Yuna shouted.
Yuna was on the verge of losing her mind over Ga-Eun's insincere apology.
In the end, the wise Yu Han had no choice but to step forward again.
"Ga-Eun, you shouldn't bully people weaker than you, okay?
And! You shouldn't feed an attention seeker. Got it?"
"Yes, Yu Han C!"
The two of them delivered their moral lesson with bright smiles.
"You fuckers... I'll kill you...
I swear I'll kill you!!"
"Puhaha! How are you going to kill me in that condition?
You look like you're having trouble moving. Why don't you just stay right where you are?"
At last, Yuna's anger crossed its breaking point.
A shadow fell across Yu Han's mocking face.
A physical shadow.
A gigantic creature more than twenty meters tall was blocking the light above Yu Han, Alice, and Kim Ga-Eun.
Two horns, wings, and blue scales.
This creature was clearly...
"A dragon," Yu Han said.
"That's a dragon, isn't it?" Alice said.
"It's obviously a dragon," Kim Ga-Eun said.
Only then did the three of them understand why Yuna had been able to compete with Kim Ga-Eun in strength and why she possessed such abnormal durability.
"Grrrrrr..."
"Everyone, run!!" Alice shouted.
At Alice's shout, the audience began fleeing in terror.
The dragon began burning and destroying everything it could see.
It spotted Kim Ga-Eun and brought its foot down on her, only for Ga-Eun to transform into a monster and lift the dragon's foot.
"Damn it... I have no choice but to summon it!"
The only thing capable of opposing the legendary creature known as a dragon would be another legendary divine beast.
Alice recited a spell and summoned the phoenix at the maximum output she could manage.
When the phoenix appeared, the rampaging dragon stopped.
"As expected of a legendary divine beast! What kind of magic did it use?" Alice exclaimed.
The phoenix, however, appeared to have no interest in fighting.
[At last... I found you.]
In response to the phoenix's telepathic voice, the gigantic dragon slowly opened its mouth.
"M-Mama...?"