In her room, Yoo Yeonha sat at her desktop, pulling up the various angles of the drone footage from today's combat training.
It was a useful habit to get into, as well as a means to train her eye for talent. After all, she was set to inherit the world's number one guild.
Yeonha had no intention of letting that rank drop while she was at the reins.
Because of that, she had pulled up the drone footage to review it from an objective angle.
"Hm... Lee must have some experience." Yeonha murmured as she watched the footage again.
There was a distinct lack of hesitation in his strides. Not only that, but the way he carried Hajin over his shoulder as he ran had allowed the worthless- Or rather, 'less valuable' team mate to keep an eye out while on the move.
It was something that illustrated either foresight, experience, or natural talent.
Yeonha knew it couldn't be talent. And it wasn't discounting Lee. No, it was honoring him. Because Yeonha could tell. His polished movements didn't come from intuition, but instead careful reflection and refinement.
Of course, it was likely he did have SOME talent. You couldn't reach Cube without being at least above average. And considering how Rachel not only got along with Lee but was clearly infatuated, it indicated he likely performed well in academics.
But that aside...
"Hm..."
Yeonha carefully watched how Lee had severed the tentacles of the Blackhumped Octopus.
"...He didn't slash with the spear's edge."
In the moment, Yeonha had assumed that Lee swung his spear to cut with the metallic edge. A blade to sever flesh, obviously.
But when looking at the footage, she clearly saw that while a portion of the spear's blade HAD cut some tentacles... the rest of the spear that was in contact with the tentacles cleanly severed them as well. As if the blade extended past the metallic edge and over the shaft.
Yeonha knew that Lee's spear was ordinary. Just a training weapon that had portability.
For one, Lee didn't give off the impression of someone who lied. Moreover, he was also someone who clearly took pride in his ability, like when he talked to Nayun.
So if he HAD been using a spear with various options included within it, he would have said so.
'Then... is this like what he did to the arrow when he was demonstrating to Nayun?'
That was the only thing that Yeonha could conclude. But even so...
'...Is mana control on this level of granularity even possible for a cadet?'
That was what bothered her. Or rather, what intrigued her about Lee.
No matter how much Yeonha replayed the footage, she saw the same thing.
Lee, slashing with his spear.
No flashing of mana or even any light. Just the tentacles, cut as if the metallic edge extended down roughly a foot past the point of the spear.
"...It isn't sword ki or something like that..."
Yeonha had seen that before. And besides, controlling magic power like that always left a tell-tale hue of color.
But Lee's had been colorless.
Which led to three conclusions.
One, it wasn't mana but instead pure speed... but Lee hadn't swung the spear fast enough for such clean slashes.
Two, it was his Gift... but Lee's official documentation and student profile proudly listed his Gift as <Lightning Thrust> so it wasn't that.
Three...
"...Ignition?"
It was a theory that researchers had bandied about when thinking about ways to make up for lack of mana.
Essentially, rather than using mana for the entire attack, you mobilize it in a split moment to generate a massive impulse. Similar to how you could snap a ruler in half if you left it on the edge of a table and covered it with a newspaper.
It was an application of physics by using mana not as a replacement, but as fuel.
And for someone like Lee who lacked the magic power to use conventional means of combat...
"That must be it."
A diligent field researcher. Someone who took what he had and refined it again and again to a polished sheen.
Yeonha chuckled, satisfied at figuring out a small secret of her teammate...
Friend?
Mm... it was a bit early to consider him a friend. But at least, friendly acquaintance.
"I suppose I can just ask him. Lee isn't the sort to keep secrets anyway... or he would at least outright refuse."
That was the one thing Yeonha enjoyed about straightforward people like Lee...
So, after making a mental note about it, she continued reviewing the footage again.
"Nayun... Hm. Lee was right. She is just artillery, isn't she?"
Standing with stiff feet and at a safe distance, Nayun waited for the opening and then fired a decisive blow... but that only worked for this scenario.
Of course, Yeonha knew her friend wasn't foolish. Nayun DID know how to move and evade. But she was very much in the habit of taking proper form before firing.
"Instinctive shooting... that thing Lee mentioned should be good for Nayun."
While the fact that Nayun had blown up the target range was a bit of a problem... that was mostly because Nayun was getting used to a new way of mobilizing her magic power.
The more important thing was that her friend, who had been stagnant for a long while, had found a way to progress.
"...She'll probably catch Rachel at this rate."
Yeonha shifted the footage to watch the last member of their team. The current number 1 rank, Rachel.
Her movements were sharp and crisp. She also had good timing and judgment, moving in tandem with Lee and having careful footing to avoid the mess that Hajin made with shooting down the smaller octopi.
But...
"Has she reached her limit?"
For some reason, Yeonha had the sense that Rachel couldn't improve much more in terms of her swordplay.
It was perfect, yes. And it was the epitome of textbook rapier usage as well as evasion.
But...
"Textbook only gets you so far... Hm."
Yeonha tapped her finger on her desk. "...No, she probably has another trump card."
Her gut was telling her that Rachel was working on something else as well. That was why her swordplay, while polished, didn't seem outstanding.
Maybe magic? Something, at least.
But in any case...
Yeonha rewound the footage one more time and looked at Hajin. That worthless gunman... or at least, the one that Yeonha had thought was worthless.
She watched the part where Hajin fired thirtysix times in the span of a single second. And she listened to how only three gunshots echoed. "...It must be his Gift. And that would explain the change in weapon."
Did he get enlightenment just before arriving in Cube?
Whatever the case was, deciding to drop the weapon that got you into Cube for a gun, which had a clear ceiling... the only rationale was that you had a way PAST that ceiling.
And it seemed that Hajin had that.
"...And Lee must see it as well."
Yeonha replayed the seen and watched Lee's reaction.
It wasn't shock. It wasn't even surprise. Instead, it was curiosity followed by understanding. A sort of 'oh, so that's how it works, huh?'
That was what Yeonha felt from observing Lee's reaction to Hajin's barrage of gunfire.
"Hm..." Yeonha watched it again. "Is it a Gift that allows firing mana bullets? ...No, Hajin's hand blurs towards the magazine, so he's reloading. Then... a sort of quick-reload ability? No, that doesn't explain the lack of sound..."
It was frustrating.
As a future guild leader... No. As the future guild leader of the number one guild, Essence of Strait, Yeonha should be able to figure this out.
...But after rewatching the video a dozen times and coming up blank, she gave up and texted Lee... and also mentally thanked her past self for convincing him to put Nayun and herself on his whitelist.
Because apparently that guy hated random callers SO MUCH that he blocked every number except the ones he purposefully added.
But anyway...
===
[To: Lee Shin]
I'm curious. I was reviewing the drone footage and couldn't figure out how Kim Hajin fired so many shots at once. But it looked like you know how. Would you give me a hint?
===
"...There. Not too formal, not too casual-"
Before Yeonha could even finish speaking, her smartwatch buzzed with a response.
===
[From: Lee Shin]
Oh, that's simple. He's leveraging the fact that time isn't actually one solid block. I don't know the exact mechanism, but his Gift appears to let him take advantage of the latency in time synching up, giving him a few moments to act where time seems either extremely slowed or stopped. In short, desynchronized time. It's not complete temporal manipulation, sadly, but it seems to be a form of divergent temporal navigation.
===
"What?"
Yeonha blinked. Then she read the text again. Then she quickly reviewed the footage.
This time, she went frame by frame.
And when she did...
"...Oh my god."
An out of character sentence.
But Yeonha couldn't help but say it.
Because Lee was right.
As Yeonha advanced the footage frame by frame, Kim Hajin seemed to be mid-action.
Frame 1, gun pointed at a target.
Frame 2, magazine in hand and gun pointed at another.
Frame 3, body turned to aim at a target on the right...
Yeonha let out a helpless laugh and said, "Are all the low rankers sandbagging?"
A ridiculous truth was in front of her eyes.
"...No wonder he switched to a gun." Yeonha shook her head.
It must be gun specific. A Gift that only gave that 'desynchronized time' that Lee mentioned when Kim Hajin was holding a gun.
Of course, that meant Kim Hajin was limited. After all, guns had a damage ceiling.
But against hordes of weak monsters...
"...That guy is a one-man army."
Yeonha could see it. A future where Kim Hajin was equipped with a masterwork machine gun or sniper rifle and then cleared out an entire invading force of monsters in one go.
"...No wonder his physical abilities declined. And no wonder Lee insisted on carrying him."
Was that why the system had categorized Hajin as 'utility?'
Because for all intents and purposes, he was a walking trump card.
Although he was weaker than every Cube Cadet in their grade... he definitely had more utility in the real world.
Various countries were always troubled by monster invasions. There were only so many Heroes and people with Gifts. Not only that, but the cost-benefit analysis simply wasn't worth it for most people to clean up the monsters.
But Kim Hajin...
If Lee's analysis of him was correct...
Then from Yeonha's analysis...
"...I can't let him go either."
Yeonha quickly jotted down a note to herself to keep an eye on Hajin and maybe get him a better weapon... if only to see if her theory was correct.
===
> Luck activates! What would have become incredible suspicion has been inverted into sincere favor!
> Luck activates! Yoo Yeonha has recategorized you as 'someone she cannot lose sight of.' You have gained a great deal of SP!
Kim Hajin paused in the middle of getting a drink at the water fountain. Reading the latest messages, he frowned and murmured, "What the hell is going on?"