Reader of the Novel’s Extra

Back in the stands of Arena 4, just before Lee and Hajin's duel. The top row, by one of the pillars.

There, Nayun, Rachel (hugging Evandel), and Yeonha settled into their seats.

Nayun plopped herself down, letting out a giddy laugh. "I KNEW betting on Lee was a great idea. If Rachel wouldn't kill me, I could kiss him for how much money he made me."

Evandel gasped and quickly crossed her arms in an 'X.' "Auntie Nayn! No kissy Daddy!"

Rachel smiled and sat down next to Nayun, making sure Evandel was comfy. Then she said, "I wouldn't kill you, Nayun." She paused and said, "I would just make sure the whole world knew all of your embarrassing secrets. That lasts longer."

Yeonha gingerly sat down next to Rachel. As she did, she stared at Rachel and said, "...You aren't still going to send that info to the tabloids, are you?"

Rachel hummed and said, "Since you were a good sport about it, I won't. This time. But no more spoiling my daughter without running it through me first." She paused. "...And me specifically. As much as I adore Lee, I question his parenting skills..."

Nayun raised an eyebrow and said, "You say that, but since the time we met her, the only times you've let go of Eva are when she's with me or Lee. I don't think Eva's even set foot on the ground in the past few days..."

Rachel nodded. "As a lovely daughter like her deserves."

Nayun blinked. Then she laughed and said, "Oh man. You are soooo going to regret that when Eva grows up. She's already more spoiled than me, Yeonha, and Jonghak combined, you know?"

Evandel tilted her head. "Auntie Nayn. What spoiled?"

Nayun booped Evandel's nose with her index finger and said, "It means you're really, really, really loved. So much that it can be a bad thing if your Mommy and Daddy aren't careful."

Rachel pursed her lips, clearly wanting to argue with it, but not being able to.

But Evandel tilted her head, considering Nayun's words. Then she nodded and said, "Kay! I be careful! No spoilt! Only goodest!"

Yeonha let out a soft smile, looking at Evandel. "I'm sure you will be the goodest girl, Eva."

Evandel let out a serious nod and said, "Hafta! Santa only gives presents to goodest girls!"

Nayun laughed and said, "Okay, who taught you about Santa?"

"Uncle Haji! He said Santa gives presents to good girls, so if I'm the goodest girl, I get bestest presents!"

Yeonha looked touched. "Hajin..."

"Oh no." Nayun teased. "Does our Yeonha have babyfever?"

Yeonha immediately blushed. "W-What?! We're not even adults yet!"

"That's not a no~"

Yeonha huffed and crossed her arms, shifting her gaze downwards. As she did, she paused and said, "...How did Suho nominate Lee for a duel anyway? I thought he already used his three nominations the other day?"

Nayun laughed. "Wow, you must really be out of it, Yeonha. Did you forget? They reset every day."

Yeonha blushed. "I-I didn't forget. Of course not. I simply..." She shifted her gaze at Evandel. Then she said, "...I was distracted. But I didn't forget!"

Evandel stared into Yeonha's eyes and said, "Really, Rich Auntie? No lie?"

Yeonha pursed her lips. Then she nodded, "...Yes. This time, it's not a lie. Because SOMEONE here made me too nervous about other things."

Rachel tilted her head, a smile on her face. "I don't know what you mean."

Nayun chuckled. "Wow. Yeah, Lee is not a good influence on you, Rachel... Or maybe he's too good of an influence? You used to be so aloof and princessy..."

Rachel shrugged, idly braiding Evandel's hair. "I still am. I just decided that Lee was right. If I'm going to cause a scandal like Princess Diana, I might as well make it so big I stay in the history books."

"..."

"..."

Evandel giggled and said, "Mommy, famous!"

"That's right, Eva." Rachel kissed Evandel's forehead and said, "Mommy's going to be the most famous Queen of Britain and give you the best throne."

"Yay!"

Yeonha stared at Rachel with a blank expression.

Rachel looked back and tilted her head. "What is it, Yeonha?"

"...Nothing."

Nayun stretched and said, "Dinner's on me~ Since your hubby made me rich... Well, richer, let's head out to Seoul for something nice. Maybe barbecue?"

Evandel's eyes sparkled and she said, "Bar-cue! Burger nom noms!"

Nayun laughed and said, "You like burgers, huh?"

Evandel focused and then squished Aether into a burger before pretending to take a bite out of it. "Burger! Nom nom!" She held up the burger over her head like a trophy, her blue eyes sparkling with joy.

At that time, the speakers crackled and then the announcer's voice echoed. "Now entering... KIM HAJIIIIIIIIIN!"

Evandel gasped and raised her burger. "Uncle Haji! Fighting!"

Rachel giggled and poked Evandel's cheek. "You're not cheering for Daddy?"

Evandel nodded. "Daddy, strongest! Uncle Haji... Um. Need help!"

Nayun clutched her stomach and doubled over, laughing. "Pft. That's... Yeonha, even the kid says your husband's going to lose..."

Yeonha wrinkled her nose. "...Hajin is strong."

Nayun wiped some tears away from her eyes and said, "Strong, yeah. But beat Lee strong? I dunno about that..."

Yeonha stared at the arena as the announcer started counting down. "...Lee is still using a sword from his duel with Kim Suho. If Hajin maintains the range-"

"FIGHT!" The announcer's voice signaled the start of the fight.

And then Lee immediately threw his sword at the ground, bouncing it up at Hajin while rushing forward at the same time.

"..."

Nayun laughed.

Rachel shook her head, hiding a smile.

And as for Evandel...

"WOW! Bouncing sword!"

...She stared at her father's fighting style, clearly inspired.

===

'fuck fuck shit fuck'

Hajin jumped in and out of bullet time to dodge Lee's crazily bouncing sword.

'How the hell is he doing that?!'

Lee laughed as he grabbed the sword after it bounced off a wall, only to turn around to whip it back at Hajin. "What's wrong, buddy? I thought you were the projectiles expert in our group?"

Hajin threw a pair of knives to try and intercept the sword, only to watch in dismay as the knives were deflected instead. Then he flicked his wrist to drop down the meteor hammer... technically, ball and chain, that he had there.

After activating bullet time again, he swung the meteor hammer to try and catch the sword to send it back at Lee.

And then he saw Lee rushing forward with a fist raised and a grin on his face.

In a panic, Hajin sprinted backwards instead and let go of the meteor hammer, letting it along with the sword fly somewhere else in the arena. Then, he grabbed his shotguns to aim them at Lee...

Only for Lee to suddenly not be there.

"What the-"

"FALCON KICK!"

"GAH?!"

Hajin was bowled over by a sudden impact on his chest, sending him sprawling and his shotguns sliding across the arena floor. As he groaned and moved back onto his feet...

"OH MY GOD."

"DID LEE JUST FALCON KICK KIM HAJIN?!"

"IS LEE REALLY JUST A SMASH CHARACTER?!"

"WHY ARE WE ALL SCREAMING?!"

...Hajin realized that he was absolutely not the crowd favorite at the moment.

Lee chuckled and said, "What's wrong, Hajin?" He kept a loose stance, hopping on the balls of his feet and throwing out a few jabs-

"ARE YOU LITERALLY TAUNTING ON ME IN REAL LIFE RIGHT NOW?!"

Lee shrugged and said, "A being engineered for perfection does not need humility."

Hajin groaned. "And now you're quoting Perfect Cell- Wait." Hajin stared at Lee.

Lee stared back. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

"...Oi." Hajin pulled out his pistols to point at Lee. "Okay, are you or are you not from Earth?"

"Obviously I'm from Earth, you dummy. Aren't all of us? Well, except for probably Suho. He seems kind of weird."

Hajin gave Lee a blank stare. "...Are you the fucking co-author?"

Lee blinked. "The what now?"

"...You know what? I don't care anymore. Since you're clearly an overtuned self-insert character of some sort that got dropped in here, I'm not going to bother holding back."

Hajin focused and entered bullet time again. But this time, just to think.

'Lee definitely got faster. <Observation> doesn't work on him so I can't read his stats, and he could sense me trying anyway. But Nayun and the others said he had magic power issues, which was why he had a low rank. So if I use magic...'

Hajin quickly opened his menu and modified his bullet to infuse them with ice mana. Then he fired a full magazine at Lee.

But-

"Huh. So even if you're doing that weird time slip thing, if I'm fast enough, I can still catch you."

-He suddenly heard Lee's voice from behind him.

"What the fu-"

*THWACK*

"Sleepytime, Hajin. Go let your wife pamper you for a bit."

Hajin groaned as his vision started to blur. But even as his consciousness started to fade, he managed to stick up his middle finger at Lee. "You mother... fucker...!"

The last thing Hajin heard was Lee's laughter and the announcer calling the fight.

...No.

The last thing Hajin experienced was...

> Modified setting: The co-author recently experienced some of the author's world and its culture, so some modern references have been imported into the setting.

...A reminder that the co-author was absolutely just doing things for an entertaining story. That goddamned...