Chapter 8: Next

One minute into the arena.

Folding her twelve radiant wings behind her, Michaela stepped into the arena alone, only to frown as a figure lunged at her from behind, forcing her to sidestep swiftly.

With a thud, a woman crashed face-first onto the ground, sticking out her tongue and whining.

“Ugh…! So mean, Ella! You won’t even hug me anymore…!”

“I’ve told you repeatedly, Gabriel, refrain from excessive contact.”

“But your wings, Ella… they’re so fluffy…!”

Dodging was pointless; Gabriel closed in, rubbing her cheek against Michaela’s.

It was her fellow deity, Gabriel, with an odd obsession for Michaela’s wings.

“So big and pretty~ Your chest too, so big and pretty~ And these hips…!”

Gabriel’s impure hands roamed, prompting a slight furrow in Michaela’s brow.

Sighing, she unsummoned her wings, and Gabriel faceplanted again with a thud.

“Eek!”

Rubbing her nose, Gabriel clearly hadn’t expected the unsummoning.

Ignoring her, Michaela snapped her fingers, conjuring an arena feed—not the public broadcast, but one exclusive to the Pantheon Administration.

Her focus was singular.

Yoo Da-hee, was it?

“The sun must be rising in the west. Ella’s watching the arena?” Gabriel teased.

Michaela, who usually dismissed the arena as a meaningless pastime for bored gods, was uncharacteristically invested.

“…There’s something I need to confirm.”

“Huh? What, what? A guy? A guy?”

Gabriel leaned in, eyes gleaming with mischief.

“Has our Ella finally opened her eyes…? No way! As long as I, Gabriel, stand guard, no one’s taking my Ella! They’d have to defeat me first! I won’t let her go! Gack!”

Michaela flicked Gabriel’s forehead, silencing her nonsense, and stared at the feed showing Yoo Da-hee.

She’d thought her unremarkable.

Just another newbie in the arena, unable to control their strength, causing a ruckus.

Hence the harsh penalty to teach her restraint.

But…

“Gabriel, my Omnipotent Sight didn’t work on her.”

“What?”

“Beyond her name, I saw nothing. Her thoughts, abilities, origins—everything.”

For a human to evade Michaela’s gaze, a key figure in the Pantheon Administration, was unthinkable nonsense.

“…Seriously?”

“Yes. Seriously.”

Gabriel couldn’t brush it off.

If Michaela were the type to joke, the Administration wouldn’t be so rigid.

“When I tried to see beyond her name, my vision filled with noise. I could’ve forced it, but honestly…”

Michaela hesitated, swallowing her words.

[I was afraid.]

It felt like touching something forbidden, like Pandora’s box, not to be opened.

Opening it might unleash something irreversible, so she settled for the penalty and moved on.

“…Never mind.”

“Hmm… Want me to peek into her future?”

As the deity of prophecy and revelation, Gabriel might succeed.

But…

“What is she?”

Gabriel grimaced, straining to use her powers.

“Wow, you’re right. Nothing’s showing. This only happens with the dead or…”

“Or when a deity beyond our handling backs them.”

“But her contracted goddess is a nobody.”

Checking the records, it was Dike Astraea, Goddess of Justice.

Contracted just yesterday, with barely any divine power to support her and a massive debt to the Dimensional Credit Bank.

[Yes! Yes! Go, Da-hee! You got this! Push, push! Top 50, let’s gooo!]

Watching Dike cheer wildly at her hologram, it was hard to believe she was the mastermind.

“Maybe her abilities are just exceptional? Like a suppression type? She’s clearly beyond SSR, but even if specialized in that direction, it’s weird… Should we take action?”

Gabriel, unusually serious, stroked her chin, but Michaela sighed and waved the feed away.

“Excessive interference with arena participants violates protocol.”

“Protocol, protocol, protocol—when will you drop that word?”

But Gabriel, not minding Michaela’s rigidity, plopped beside her, leaning on her shoulder.

“So we just watch~?”

“I said, excessive interference—”

“Yeah, yeah, just watching, just watching~”

Grinning, Gabriel patted Michaela’s back, her eyes still on Yoo Da-hee’s small feed.

—

The moment one head split like Adikia’s, the forest’s insect hum ceased.

No breeze, yet bushes rustled, branches snapped—signs of movement.

Participants were getting serious.

Or maybe snipers were targeting her.

Standing still gained nothing, so Yoo Da-hee grabbed the dagger and moved.

It felt good in her hand, its tip glistening with what seemed like poison.

Racing through the forest, she felt gazes piercing her back.

“Hm…”

Judging by sound and direction, about five pursuers.

But they weren’t allied, keeping their distance.

“Three, one, one, huh?”

Lucky—they’d be a pain if they rushed together.

Flipping the dagger, Yoo Da-hee stopped fleeing and lunged backward.

Toward the lone straggler.

She tossed the dagger—not as an attack, but as a pass—to another approaching from behind, shouting for all to hear.

“Got her! She’s alone! Let’s finish her!”

The guy who caught the dagger drew everyone’s attention, suspicion spiking.

“A trap?!”

The first to charge turned in panic, a fatal mistake.

Yoo Da-hee slipped into his blind spot.

“F*cking liar.”

Parashu brutally cleaved his side.

“Guh—!”

Despite his leather armor, the axe sliced through effortlessly, deep into his lungs, robbing him of breath as he collapsed.

The dagger-catching guy froze, unable to process the sudden chaos.

“What the…?”

A corpse flew at him. He dodged too late, the heavy body tripping him, and losing mobility sealed his fate.

An axe swung from his blind spot, aimed at his head.

“Shield!”

He barely conjured a magical barrier, thinking it blocked the axe…

“Taking this back.”

With a glint in her eyes, Yoo Da-hee’s reclaimed dagger plunged into his chest.

“F*ck…!”

The poison on the blade spread, his skin blotching as he went down.

Such fast-acting poison—almost like a curse. A graze at the start could’ve been trouble, Yoo Da-hee thought.

Two corpses in seconds, Yoo Da-hee standing over them. The three late arrivals were speechless.

What just happened?

A massacre in less than five seconds.

“Next.”

Yoo Da-hee’s voice echoed chillingly.

—

“Niceeee! That’s my Yoo Da-hee!”

Dike pumped her fists, bursting with excitement.

Yes, yes! Another axe swing, barkeep!

Yoo Da-hee’s swift takedown of two foes filled Dike with pride.

Compared to her former contractor, Malcolm, this was overwhelming strength.

Regretting her past turtle-meta grind for points, this fiery start was electrifying.

Brushing off snipers like they were nothing, Yoo Da-hee was countering her pursuers with flair.

Three kills in moments, rocketing to the lead.

The arena’s main screen replayed her highlight, stirring the crowd.

– Who’s this?

– First match…? What’s with her?

– Snipers swarming her, must be a huge bounty.

Even in U.R.F mode, kills this early were rare.

The norm was to grab gear, power up, and crush with growth stats.

Fights usually heated up after five minutes, making this an anomaly.

While grand magical battles were flashy, early brawls had their charm, and the gods watched with eager eyes.

[Next.]

Yoo Da-hee, not bothering to wipe the blood from her forehead, addressed the three remaining contractors, sending the arena’s goddesses into a frenzy.

“Kyaaa!”

Oh my, what do I do? My womb’s trembling!

Amid the squealing goddesses, Dike swelled with superiority.

“Heh.”

That’s my contractor… Yoo Da-hee!

Her eyes hadn’t failed her. Yoo Da-hee was her savior, an SSR… no, an SSSSSSR-grade contractor…!

“Next!”

Dike grinned and shouted.