"..."
Kurose Akira found himself staring at the masked woman, momentarily lost in thought.
He was certain he had never met her before. And yet—there was an inexplicable sense of familiarity. As if, somewhere, at some time, their paths had already crossed.
Their gazes locked in midair for several seconds.
Then she turned away without a word and stepped into the adjacent waiting room.
That only deepened his confusion.
Why was she here?
Before he could dwell on it further, Cheng Lan approached him.
"Student Su—ah, Kurose," she corrected herself casually, planting her hands on her hips. Her ink-blue short hair gave her a sharp, capable aura. "You look like you're still in school. Aren't you worried that immersing yourself in a game like this every day might affect your studies?"
"?"
Kurose was caught completely off guard.
Of all things… she opened with academics?
He hesitated, unsure how to respond.
At that moment, Xu Feiyan's voice murmured softly by his ear.
"Don't be fooled by her demeanor. Cheng Lan used to be a high school teacher. She only resigned after inheriting her family's business."
"A high school teacher?" Kurose blinked, looking at Cheng Lan again in surprise.
"P.E. teacher?"
"Chinese literature."
"?"
That answer only intensified his confusion.
He looked her up and down—the sharp eyes, the no-nonsense posture, the aura of someone who could easily be mistaken for a gang leader. It was nearly impossible to associate her with the image of a gentle literature teacher.
"I haven't fallen behind in my studies," Kurose replied calmly.
It was true. Though he had been heavily immersed in the game lately, his academic performance had been steadily improving. Concepts that once took hours to memorize now stuck after a single read.
Cheng Lan raised an eyebrow.
"You're still in school?"
There was genuine disbelief in her voice.
The other women nearby looked just as surprised.
Kurose shrugged. "Only for a few more days. I'm technically already a college student."
More importantly, he had been a legal adult for several months now.
Cheng Lan reached out and flicked him lightly on the forehead.
"Then that's even more reason to study hard."
She crossed her arms and added, "I was planning to go easy on you. But now I've changed my mind. I'll send out the three strongest adventurers in my guild. Maybe that'll cure your gaming addiction and get you back to your textbooks."
"..."
Kurose raised an eyebrow.
At that moment, the system prompt echoed:
[Guild Leaders, please prepare. The battle will begin in one minute!]
Kurose and Cheng Lan each led their respective adventurer teams toward the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Xu Feiyan and the others remained in the viewing lounge to watch the promotion match.
As Kurose stepped onto the arena floor, his gaze immediately fixed on Cheng Lan in the distance.
She stood a hundred meters away.
Behind her were three adventurers:
A serpentkin woman.
A skeletal knight.
And—
A towering rock giant, over ten meters tall.
Kurose's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had never seen anyone recruit a rock giant as an adventurer before.
He checked their levels.
Rock Giant — Level 55.Serpentkin — Level 52.Skeletal Knight — Level 50.
The rock giant was clearly the core of her lineup.
"Student Kurose," Cheng Lan called out confidently, "Big sis won't hold back. You'd better use everything you've got."
As a C+ guild leader, she outranked him by two evaluation tiers. On paper, she had little reason to lose.
Her friends in the viewing room murmured among themselves.
"Cheng Lan's as confident as ever~"
"Can't she go easy on the little guy?"
"His guild only seems to have one adventurer above level fifty. The gap looks pretty big."
"Come on, kid! Don't lose to Cheng Lan!"
"..."
Because player permissions only allowed limited visibility—mostly level and race, with everything else obscured by question marks—they couldn't accurately judge Kurose's true strength.
Naturally, they were worried for him.
Hearing their commentary, Cheng Lan's expression darkened.
"Traitors," she muttered under her breath. "Completely blinded by a pretty face."
As for having the enemy's cheer squad rooting for him—
Kurose simply rubbed the tip of his nose calmly.
He hadn't expected the [Succubus Physique] to be this effective~
Then he glanced back at his own team, considering who to send first.
Before he could decide—
Loserine stepped forward on her own, sword in hand, walking toward the center of the battlefield.
Seeing this, Cheng Lan called out, "Student Kurose, are you only sending one adventurer? Confidence is good—but overconfidence becomes arrogance."
She waved her hand.
Her three adventurers moved simultaneously, advancing toward the center of the arena.
But before they could even adjust their stances—
Loserine had already drawn the Oathbound Sword at her waist.
A streak of blue lightning tore across the battlefield.
In a single blink, she was in front of them.
"So fast!"
A collective shock rippled through the spectators.
They had never witnessed such speed.
It was like lightning itself—impossible to track.
Only Petiko, standing beside Xu Feiyan, could barely follow Loserine's movement.
And even she looked stunned.
Just days ago, Loserine's speed had been nowhere near this terrifying level. And yet in such a short span of time, her strength had increased again?
"Stop her!" Cheng Lan shouted urgently to the rock giant and skeletal knight.
At the same time, she ordered the serpentkin to begin chanting magic to end the battle swiftly.
But before her command had fully left her lips—
Loserine's sword had already fallen.
A flash of light.
The ten-meter-tall rock giant was instantly cleaved into countless fragments, collapsing into rubble.
"How… how is that possible?!" Cheng Lan's eyes widened in disbelief.
Her level 55 rock giant—destroyed in a single strike?
Loserine pivoted.
The Oathbound Sword pointed toward the skeletal knight.
The knight's iron-hard bones shattered the moment the blade struck. It disintegrated into scattered fragments across the stone floor.
And in that same breath—
Loserine was already standing before the serpentkin woman.
The overwhelming pressure radiating from her presence alone caused the serpentkin to faint on the spot, collapsing without resistance.
Silence.
The battle had ended in the span of a lightning flash.
Cheng Lan stood frozen.
In the viewing room, the women stared wide-eyed, mouths hanging open.
"Th-that's it?"
"What just happened?"
"I didn't see anything!"
"He's that strong? Cheng Lan's three adventurers were just… deleted?"
"Oh my~ pretending to be a sweet puppy while devouring the sow!"
"Cheng Lan got eaten clean!"
"..."
Amid the uproar—
A crisp notification chimed in Kurose's ears.
[Congratulations. You have successfully defeated the opposing guild. Your player evaluation has advanced to C-Rank!]
[Please choose a resounding name for your guild. It will be recorded on the C-Rank Guild Leaderboard!]