Episode 6: The Sky Without You
*
“Even while fighting, you seemed so composed the entire time. Just how long have you been here? Doesn’t seem like it’s been a month.”
You’ve got sharp eyes.
“15 years.”
She paused for a moment and then burst out laughing.
“Hahahahaha!!! You’re not just good at fighting, you’re funny too!”
…Well, that reaction is understandable.
In a place like this with zero entertainment, who would believe some lunatic lasted fifteen years? I wouldn’t believe it either.
‘But someone did, right?’
“I’m not joking. It really has been 15 years.”
Maybe it was the sincerity in my tone, but she looked surprised.
“Uh… Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
She clapped her hands loudly and looked genuinely amazed, like she’d never seen someone this crazy before.
“Wow… You’re seriously incredible. I was already going nuts after just three months here. How did you endure it?”
‘Intermediate level spear skills in just three months? She’s a natural, way beyond me.’
She’s not quite on Yu Soeun’s level, but she’s definitely a genius. Her spear technique had already seemed extraordinary.
“My guardian angel is incredibly beautiful. I endured it just by looking at her face.”
“What kind of…”
I cut myself off before the explanation got too long. I half-assed an excuse, but Estelle gave me a look like, “Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?”
‘What can I say? She really is beautiful.’
The silver-haired woman gave Estelle a glance and nodded.
\\“Fair enough. She really is stunning. Never seen anyone prettier than me before.”
She was a knockout herself—probably turned heads wherever she walked. But compared to Estelle, she didn’t stand a chance.
Angels are just cheat codes by nature. I’ve never seen an ugly one.
Especially Estelle, a high-ranking archangel—her beauty is in a league of its own.
I chuckled inwardly and smoothly shifted the topic. Come to think of it, there was something I hadn’t asked yet.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
We sparred, chatted this much, and I still didn’t even know her name. That was kind of ridiculous.
She seemed to realize it too. She opened her palm and lightly smacked her fist into it.
“Ah, what a slip-up. I got so hyped up the moment I saw you, I forgot to introduce myself.”
Then she smiled brightly and extended her hand.
“My name’s Baek Ran. By any chance… have we met before?”
At first I thought it was a cheesy pick-up line, but judging by her expression, she wasn’t joking. It felt like she was hoping for something.
‘If I’d seen a woman like her, I definitely wouldn’t have forgotten.’
She had one of those unforgettable faces. As I dug into my memories, I finally recalled where I’d seen her.
“Ah! I think I saw you in a movie once?”
“Of course! That’s me.”
I couldn’t remember the plot since it was fifteen years ago, but that face was unforgettable.
“Wow… Life’s weird. Didn’t think I’d meet an actress here. If we were back on Earth, I’d have asked for your autograph right away.”
“Hoohoo. I’ll give you one anytime you want. By the way, what’s your name?”
I took her extended hand and replied.
“My name is Han Yeomyeong. I was just a regular college student back on Earth, so I’m not famous like you.”
After finishing my military service, I started college—then one day, I just got pulled into this place. The only people who’d remember me were a few friends from school and some guys from the army. I worked part-time like crazy back then.
“You’re really handsome, though. I bet you’d make a great actor too. Never got scouted?”
She let go of my hand and started complimenting me out of nowhere. This woman… she’s surprisingly good at flattery.
“Flattery won’t get you anything out of me.”
‘Or maybe it should… should I make her some equipment or something?’
Truth is, it might actually get her something.
“I’m not flattering you, I mean it… Anyway, Yeomyeong—would you mind teaching me a bit? I’ll make sure to repay you once we’re out of here. Or even now, if possible.”
She threw in a wink.
‘Wouldn’t hurt to teach her…’
She had talent. Once she got into the Tower, she’d probably rise fast. And her bold, outgoing nature meant she wouldn’t ghost me like that person did after promising to repay me.
‘Man, I really liked that soccer player…’
After their no-show, I switched allegiance to a new soccer god.
Anyway, teaching her might even help me refine what I’ve built up so far. So yeah, seemed like a good idea.
“I got it. But the teaching will only be five hours a day. That should be enough, right?”
“Alright then. I’ll be in your care, Yeomyeong?”
She confidently reached out her hand. I grasped it firmly.
Fifteen years in the tutorial.
It was the first time I had a ‘disciple.’
*
A year passed.
Swish. Shlak.
Baek Ran now displayed a much faster and sharper spear technique. She even faintly wrapped her spear energy around it—getting hit bare-bodied would leave you full of holes.
“You really gets stronger by the day. It’s unfair for the talentless.”
“Then take at least one hit before you complain!”
I’m not an idiot—why would I willingly get hit by that dangerous spear?
[Level of ‘Heaven-Defying Cloud Steps’ has increased.]
‘As expected, real combat boosts growth much faster.’
The higher the level of a skill, the more time you need to reflect and understand it. But in the lower levels, just getting familiar with the movements through battle raised the level quickly.
Crackle!
Unable to keep up with the speed of Heaven-Defying Cloud Steps, she activated her body using lightning energy to move even faster.
‘Heavenly Thunder Divine Art.’
The movement technique she had been mastering since the moment she entered the tutorial. It was on a completely different level to the three-element cultivation method.
It was a’technique made to resemble a bolt of lightning. After learning under me, she had recently gained the ability to directly manipulate lightning energy.
With both internal energy enhancement and body activation through lightning energy, she could now move faster than me using Heaven-Defying Cloud Steps.
Clang!
Her spear energy and my fist technique collided with a metallic sound.
Whether she had warmed up or not, her spear now stabbed from every direction at speeds hard to follow with the eye. I was defending with both hands, but little by little, wounds were appearing all over my body.
It was fine for now, but as the injuries accumulated, the bleeding would put me in a tough spot.
‘To beat someone faster than me…’
I had to become just as fast—or exploit an opening. But becoming faster immediately was impossible, and she currently had no real openings.
So I had to turn a non-opening into one.
Something she must do to attack me: approach, thrust her spear, retrieve it, and exit the attack range. Among these, the actions of thrusting and retrieving leave her unable to perform other movements.
‘Now!’
Just because I couldn’t see it didn’t mean I couldn’t sense it. I sharpened my senses like a blade. The vibrations from her steps, the wind and sound from her body’s motion—
I could feel them all vividly.
At the moment she thrust her spear, I deliberately leaned toward it, getting stabbed before it gained full momentum, and launched a Emperor-Crushing Fist in that direction.
If she kept pushing forward, she’d be hit directly by the Emperor-Crushing Fist, so she aborted the attack and tried to retreat. But canceling her action midway made her movements larger than usual.
‘Which means… an opening.’
“Got you.”
I opened the right hand I had used for the Emperor-Crushing Fist and grabbed her wrist—still in the middle of retrieval—and yanked her forward.
Though her close-combat skills had improved significantly over the past year, she couldn’t yet match my depth. She couldn’t break free of my grip.
As my left fist shot toward her face, she quickly spoke.
“Surrender!”
I stopped my punch, but my hand trembled.
“Hey… You beat me up like that and surrender just to avoid one hit?”
I was bleeding like crazy all over, but except for the red mark on her wrist where I grabbed her, she had no visible injuries. Anyone would think I lost the spar.
“Because it hurts when I get hit? Ow!”
She winked, which irritated me, so I flicked her forehead.
‘To think she could become this strong just from that ascension method… it’s tempting.’
Heavenly Thunder Divine Art—a cultivation method made to resemble lightning. Then what should I strive to resemble?
That thought would have to wait. I focused on Baek Ran standing in front of me.
“You said you’re leaving today?”
She nodded.
“I wanted to wait for my sister to arrive, but I figured it’d be better to head up the tower first and secure a spot. In case someone named Baek Ryeon enters…”
“Got it. If I meet her, I’ll look after her for you. If she’s your sister, she’s practically mine too. I wouldn’t treat her poorly.”
Over the past year, we had grown very close. I didn’t particularly have romantic feelings, but she was one of my few friends. If I met her sister, I’d treat her well.
“But you’re really heartless, you know that? Not even confessing until the last day? If you had, I might’ve stayed behind.”
“Again with that? Why would I confess?”
“How often will you meet someone as pretty and kind as me again? I swear, every guy who met me more than three times confessed. Weird…”
Honestly, she was rare. Beautiful, kind, and someone whose personality matched mine well. I could understand why those guys confessed.
‘But it’s just not the right time for me.’
Honestly, if I said I didn’t feel anything after spending a year with her, that would be a lie. I’m not impotent, and she’s so pretty—how could I not be swayed when she shows interest?
But if I fall in love, if I settle down, if I grow attached to the present… I don’t think I’ll be able to keep running like I am now. I still have a long way to go, but it feels like I’d stop here if I gave in.
“Do people usually say stuff like that about themselves? Anyway, there’s someone else you know.”
“You mean that childhood friend, Yoo Soeun?”
“Yeah.”
After spending more than five hours a day together for a year, we naturally shared a lot of stories.
Things like her younger sibling or Yoo Soeun came up, and we got to know each other quite well.
“You said you’re not dating her though. Even if you were, I heard that in Korea people fall out of love after a year and a half. By now, wouldn’t she have a boyfriend or something?”
That could be true. Just because she hasn’t dated yet doesn’t mean she won’t in the future.
“Whether she has a boyfriend or not, I’m not going to confess to you, so don’t worry.”
Baek Ran puffed up her cheeks.
“Ugh. That’s why you’re a virgin loser. Just stay like that forever.”
“Cough…”
She wasn’t wrong, so I had nothing to say. The reason I’ve never been in a relationship is probably because of my indecisive personality.
“Ahem. Anyway, thanks a lot for the past year. Thanks to you, I got to talk freely again and feel like I’ve gotten stronger.”
She was definitely the second-strongest person I’d met in the tutorial.
At this level, she should be able to survive in the tower just fine.
“Same here. I made a good friend, and thanks to you, I feel like I can get even stronger.”
The techniques and breathing method I learned from her Heavenly Thunder Divine Art would be a huge help in the remaining tutorial stages.
My spear mastery had also improved a lot, and I felt like I could integrate it with my martial arts.
“That’s good to hear.”
“Hey, wait here for a sec.”
I left her and went into the dorm to grab something I had prepared.
“What’s this?”
Baek Ran tilted her head and asked.
“A spear I made for you. It felt wrong to just let you go without anything. I thought this might make climbing the tower a bit easier.”
[Spear for Baek Ran (Heroic)]
Made from the materials of the strongest monster I could defeat in the tutorial, and with the heartfelt intention of creating it for her—somehow, it came out as a grade of spear I’d never seen before.
Baek Ran froze as she accepted the spear.
Then—drip.
Tears started to fall.
“Hey… why are you crying all of a sudden?”
“It’s the first time someone’s ever given me something like this.”
She wiped her tears and smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in her expression.
“A gift that wasn’t meant to impress me, but was given sincerely.”
There was one thing I learned from talking to her.
Everyone around Baek Ran tried to flatter her, tried to win her favor.
But among them, not a single person had treated her like a true friend.
“I’ll make you something even better once we get up the tower. Just use that one for now and toss it later.”
She shook her head firmly.
“No, I’m going to keep this forever.”
She looked at me with serious eyes and said,
“Even if you become an amazing artisan in the future and start making mythical-grade gear, this is the one I’ll show first.”
Baek Ran hugged the spear tightly.
“Because it’s the first thing you ever made for me.”
‘…Why is it that all the girls around me just want to teabag me?’
I swear, I’ve lived a good life.
We laughed and chatted until it was time for her to go.
The entrance to the tower appeared before us. Baek Ran pouted sadly.
“So it’s time to go. I thought I’d be able to leave without regrets, but now I don’t really want to.”
Without thinking, I blurted something out.
“Then… don’t go?”
Her eyes widened.
“Really? Then are you going to take responsibility for me?”
…That’s not something I can promise.
I couldn’t ruin her life just because of a moment of bravado.
“Not right now. Maybe once I’m stronger.
Right now, I’m not in a position to take responsibility for someone else.”
Baek Ran let out a small chuckle, as if she couldn’t help herself.
“You’re supposed to say something like ‘I’ll take responsibility’ in moments like this. Seriously, you’re such a herbivore guy.”
Every word she spoke struck me right in the chest.
“Well then, I’m going?”
“Yeah. Let’s meet again at the tower.”
Just as I was about to see her off—
Baek Ran suddenly turned around and acted on impulse.
“Take this!”
Smack.
She pulled me by the collar, stood on tiptoe, and kissed me.
‘…Huh? What was that?’
My mind went completely blank.
With a playful smile, Baek Ran whispered,
“Next time we meet, I’ll make sure you fall for me. Consider this a gift to remember me by until then.”
And with that, she disappeared into the dimensional gate.
“…Huh?”
I stood there in a daze.
My mind was blank, and my heart was pounding like crazy.
“W-What just happened…?”
Including the tutorial, I’ve lived for forty years.
This was the first time someone had ever stolen a kiss from me.
In the tower’s waiting room, Baek Ran sat deep in thought, reflecting on her memories with Han Yeomyeong.
‘Everyone always thought I was perfect.’
Everyone believed Baek Ran was a genius. Someone who wasn’t allowed to fail.
She wanted to breathe. She didn’t want to keep running anymore.
Her chest felt tight. But she couldn’t stop.
‘The moment I stop, everyone will be disappointed in me.’
Because she was born to shine, she had to meet everyone’s expectations. She worked herself to the bone, but no one acknowledged it.
Everyone took it for granted. Even after arriving at the tutorial, it was the same. She had to be flawless.
‘And that’s when I met you.’
A man she couldn’t beat no matter what she tried. The first man to ever defeat her. The first man who ever caught her interest.
She had never once been interested in men—until Han Yeomyeong.
The more she saw of him, the more attractive he became.
‘Kindness was second nature to you, and you put your all into everything.’
Even when he taught her, he never slacked. Whatever he did, he gave it his all.
He was someone who didn’t know how to stop trying. Baek Ran thought she tried hard too, but she could never keep up with Han Yeomyeong.
Seeing someone ahead of her still working so hard motivated her to push herself even more.
“I just left, but I already miss him.”
She felt no fear toward the tower’s trials. Right now, she just missed Han Yeomyeong.
‘He was so cute.’
His completely flustered expression when she kissed him was still vivid in her mind.
“Don’t think it’s a waste, okay? It was my first kiss too.”
It was her first kiss with the first man she ever liked. She hoped he’d understand her feelings.
He was the one who showed her a world beyond the cage of attention and expectations she had lived in all her life. For the first time, she felt free.
She didn’t need to be perfect anymore. She could soar through the skies as she pleased. Still, if possible, she wanted to fly with him.
Because the sky meant nothing without him.
‘I’ll wait.’
Until you climb up. Until we meet again. Baek Ran promised herself she would become someone worthy of him.
While holding the spear that Han Yeomyeong had made for her—preciously close to her heart.
****
Check out the other novels.
• The Son-in-Law of a Prestigious Family Wants a Divorce
• The King of the Underworld is Tired
• The Heroines Stole My Regression
• I Took the Female Lead’s First Time in a Romance Fantasy
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Next chapter when?
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