Ervin analyzed the situation.
First, he looked at Han Joon-seong's position, considering his condition, analyzing the enemy in front of him, and the girl behind him. The conclusion was obvious.
He was completely screwed.
There was no other way to look at it. He was tired — he had run across the entire department store and back to get here. He had taken hits from the thugs in the corridor. He had just been kicked in the stomach. And worse than all of that — he was cornered. Trapped inside a small room. Not to mention, he had someone to protect.
This was the worst possible position to fight anyone, let alone an executive.
He pulled up the status window, his eyes scanning down to [Adaptation(Perfect)]. It was completely inert.
'And on top of all of this, Adaptation isn't even activating. Because it knows this woman is too strong. It can't see any way for me to adapt into an advantage here.'
He was going to lose. Badly.
'I'm going to have to start fighting and pray for an opening.'
He really, truly, didn't want to use *that*.
Slowly, he pushed himself up from the wreckage of the broken table, rising to his feet.
They stared at each other.
Then the woman moved.
One moment she was there. The next — she was gone. A blur.
Ervin focused every ounce of his mental capacity, trying to track her. He saw her — she had crossed the three meters between them in an instant. She was already turning, her leg swinging up in a devastating kick aimed at Han Joon-seong's head.
He saw the power behind it. He knew — if that kick landed, Han Joon-seong would be knocked unconscious. Maybe worse. Maybe he wouldn't wake up at all!
"DODGE!"
Every ounce of willpower he had — he poured it into the command. Han Joon-seong's body responded. Every muscle in his frame tensed, moving, pumped with every ounce of his power. And Auto Pilot woke up — working at 120% now, beyond its full capacity.
Together, they moved just in time.
The kick passed over his head, close enough to ruffle his hair, making his clothes flutter from the displaced air. A shockwave followed in its wake.
Ervin let out an imaginary sigh of relief.
He didn't waste time. He commanded Han Joon-seong to turn and throw a punch upward. Again, he poured all his strength into it — Han Joon-seong's muscles strained, his arm flexing so hard the muscle seemed to creak. Veins bulged along his forearm.
He pivoted his hips, twisted his body, and drove the punch upward with everything he had.
But the executive simply leaned her head back, and the punch passed in front of her face, missing by inches.
Ervin clicked his tongue. Han Joon-seong's face grimaced.
The punch still carried enough force to stir the air around them — but not as much as her casual kick had.
"Her casual kick was stronger than my full-power punch..."
Despair crept in. This fight was going to be impossible.
The punch continued its arc, the momentum carrying Han Joon-seong's arm upward. When he stopped the motion, the sudden halt sent a shock of stress through his shoulder socket. The joint had been pushed past its limit.
And then she struck a second time.
Her fist came down, slamming into his chest. The impact sent him flying across the room. He hit the back wall with a deafening *CRACK* — the entire room shuddered from the force.
Lee Hye-jin screamed a panicked shriek.
Han Joon-seong slid down the wall, crumpling to the floor. He coughed — blood spattering from his lips.
*Ok. Ok. Let's take this step by step.*
He thought, trying to reason the situation.
'Right now, I can fight… I can try. I can try to fight this woman.'
"But Lee Hye-jin — if she stays here, she's going to get hurt. Badly. She's going to get destroyed in the crossfire."
"First priority: get her out."
Han Joon-seong pushed himself up from the floor. His body was battered, but he forced himself to stand. He looked at Lee Hye-jin, his voice low and rough:
"Lee Hye-jin. Run."
Then he lowered his stance and charged forward, arms spread wide.
The executive saw what he was coming for. She moved to dodge, easily stepping out of the way.
But Han Joon-seong changed direction mid-charge, shifting his momentum sideways, leading with his shoulder.
She was mid-motion and hadn't expected the sudden change. the only option was raising one arm to stop him.
His shoulder slammed into her arm. She skidded backward, her feet scraping against the floor, until her back hit the wall. He pressed forward, lowering his stance even more, using his head and neck to pin her against the wall.
He looked back over his shoulder and shouted:
"RUN!"
Lee Hye-jin froze, her eyes wide, darting between the two of them.
"B-but—"
He turned his head, his eyes flashing with that cold white light.
"NOW!"
She flinched. And then she ran — sprinting out of the room, out of the doorway, and disappearing down the corridor.
Ervin let out a sigh of relief.
'Ok. She's out. Now I just have to deal with this woman.'
He turned his attention back to the executive.
Just as she raised her arm and drove her elbow down into the middle of his back — a hollow, brutal *THUD* resounded. The impact sent him crashing face-first into the floor.
The pain was overwhelming. His entire body seemed to vibrate from the force. His chest slammed against the concrete, and he coughed — blood spraying from his mouth, splattering against her shoe.
Han Joon-seong had never felt pain like this before.
And for the first time, it showed on his face. His body still had its normal instincts — the reflexive reactions of a human in pain. His face contorted. A grunt of pain escaped his lips.
Ervin watched, horrified.
He was on the ground. Blood dripped from his mouth onto her shoe.
The woman looked down at him. Her eyes were still red and bloodshot from the extinguisher blast — and in that moment, those same red eyes seemed to glow with a bloody, menacing light.
She spoke, her voice cold and mocking:
"Look. You got my shoe dirty. How rude of you."
She pulled her foot back slightly, creating space. Then she shoved it forward.
"Have some shame and clean it for me. Please."
Her shoe connected with his chin. His head snapped back, and he was thrown across the room, flipping onto his back. He hit the opposite wall and slumped down again.
More blood. He put his hand to his mouth, wiped it away, and saw the red coating his palm. He ran his tongue over his teeth, inside his cheeks. He had bitten his tongue and the inside of his mouth. That was why there was so much blood.
He looked up.
From above, Ervin watched. A tad bit of despair in his tone.
"A fair fight against this woman won't result in victory. Honestly, I'm going to die here if I keep fighting her like this. So if I want to survive — if I want even a chance — I need to sacrifice something."
Han Joon-seong's hands moved. He grabbed the torn edges of his shirt — the part she had sliced open — and ripped it completely open, tearing it off his body. The fabric gave way, revealing his torso.
As he did this, the executive paused. She watched him. Ervin caught it from the corner of his vision — for a moment, he could have sworn her eyes lingered on his chest. But he wasn't sure, and he didn't have time to worry about it.
He wrapped the shirt around his fist, tightening it, using his leg for leverage to pull it secure. He tested the grip, clenching and unclenching.
She had just watched the whole thing. It had taken maybe four seconds.
He straightened up, looked at her, and did a few small hops to loosen his stance. Then he charged.
He threw a punch. Of course, with a simple attack like that, she stepped aside easily.
But because of her overconfidence right in this moment, she failed to notice that his other hand was coming up. And in it, there was something metallic.
Truth was, when he had fallen earlier and grabbed her knives from the floor, he hadn't grabbed just one. He had grabbed two. The second had been in his pocket this whole time. He had palmed it while wrapping the shirt around his arm.
Now, he was driving it toward her arm.
She saw it at the last moment — her perception was too sharp to miss it completely. She moved, stepping back to evade. But she couldn't avoid it entirely. The blade didn't pierce her arm — but it cut it. A fairly deep slice along her forearm.
Her face contorted in pain.
*An opening!*
Han Joon-seong didn't hesitate. Her opening wasn't long enough for Ervin, or any person, to act on it, but because of Auto Pilot working at 120% — in that brief moment when her guard dropped from the pain, he swept his leg under hers. A trip. She started to fall.
But she was too fast. Even now, she was too fast. She caught herself with one hand on the ground and began to rise again.
Ervin focused. All of it. Every ounce of his willpower, he poured into a single command:
"Adaptation! Activate!!! Even for a moment. Give me something — anything — to work with!"
He strained. Han Joon-seong's body tensed, his face contorting with effort. Ervin's mental voice screamed:
"Work. Work. WORK!!!"
And then — a chime sounded. A notification appeared in his vision, but it was cut off, incomplete:
[[Adaptation(Perfect) is activat—]]
But in that half-second, it was enough. A fraction of an advantage. He pushed forward with his knee, driving her off balance, making her turn her back and fall.
As she fell, Han Joon-seong raised his elbow — pulling it up, loading all his strength into it.
The executive saw it. And for the first time, she truly observed him.
'He's interesting,' she thought. 'He makes decisions that no experienced fighter would make — but then he makes choices that someone with decades of experience would. His reaction time is good. His strength is impressive, even if he clearly lacks experience. But it's strange... he fights so well despite clearly being a novice.'
She sighed internally.
'Alright. I've seen enough. I'm ending this. I've learned what there was to learn.'
But then — she noticed something.
A small movement. Han Joon-seong's throat moved. He seemed to swallow. Once. Then twice.
And something changed. His posture shifted. His muscles seemed to... tighten? Somehow he felt stronger. More compact. More dangerous.
Then, in Ervin's vision:
[[Adaptation(Perfect) is activating.]]
Ervin allowed himself a breath of relief.
*In the end... I had to use both [Strength Strengthening] Pills.*
[[System]
Player: Ervin Mandor
Character 1; Han Joon‑seong
[Characteristics:
Adaptation(Perfect)
Talent(Perfect)
Auto Pilot(Perfect)
Money(Perfect|Middle‑class)
Intuition (Lvl. 1)
Looks(Lvl. 5)
Speed(Lvl. 4)(13/80)
Strength (Lvl. 6)(0/320)
Endurance (Lvl. 5)(60/160)
Vigor (Lvl. 5)(25/160)
Intelligence (Lvl. 3)(24/40)
[Tasks:
[Carnage — Survive the Galsaek‑pa's Executive attack — Reward: 200 Points]]]
The day he had bought the Recovery Pill, he had also purchased two Strengthening Pills for Strength. But he hadn't given them to Han Joon-seong immediately. He wanted to grind attributes first. Raising his Strength artificially would only make it harder to train later. Not to mention, he was well aware of the executive's strength, so even if he took both pills, he could just get bodied by one of them anyway. So instead of taking both pills right then and risking it, he wanted to save them for a moment when they would actually make a difference — a moment when he had an opening to land a real hit.
This was that moment.
He had been saving them, hoping he could clear the mission without using them. But now — he was in mortal danger. So he had used them.
And now, with his Strength increased by two levels, his power had quadrupled. It was still far below hers — but it was enough to close the gap just enough for Adaptation to recognize a path forward.
For a fraction of a second, the distance between them had shrunk to something manageable. And in that fraction — Adaptation activated, seeing a way to gain the advantage.
The elbow came down. Wind swirled around it, a small vortex of displaced air. And it struck her in the side of the head.
*CRACK.*
A shockwave rippled outward. The woman's brain rattled inside her skull. Her eyes went blank for an instant — flickering unfocused.
She didn't lose consciousness. But she was stunned and confused enough that she couldn't react for now. This state wouldn't last long, though. A couple seconds, maybe a minute at most.
So Han Joon-seong didn't wait. He turned and bolted — sprinting out of the room, down the corridor, away from her.
Behind him, after about ten seconds, she blinked. Her vision cleared. She looked around, disoriented, and saw the empty doorway where he had escaped.
She stared, incredulous.
"He... he just knocked me out?"