One Kick Girl — Chapter 63: "Three Seconds to Break a God Update"
For one perfect frame of time, the world held its breath.
Raon and Echo 3 launched forward simultaneously—one a streak of raw, ridiculous human power, the other a vector of engineered fury wrapped in neon algorithmic rage.
Between them, the half-formed vortex of the Ascension rumbled like a glitching black hole.
Shion, still on the opposite rooftop, screamed into her tablet:
"ETA to full Ascension: 2 minutes, 58 seconds!
You have VERY LITTLE TIME PLEASE STOP PLAYING DRAGON BALL WITH REALITY—"
The wind swallowed her voice as Raon vanished in a blur.
Echo swung first.
And then everything exploded.
---
1. Collision of Dumb Physicality vs Smart Divinity
Raon slammed into Echo's blade with a kick so sharp the air itself cracked.
The impact emitted a sound no mortal throat could mimic—a thunderclap mixed with a glitchy dubstep drop. The skyline pulsed, neon signs flickering in sympathetic panic.
Echo dug his heel into the rooftop to anchor himself.
"You are—"
He strained, energy sparking violently.
"—ridiculously unbalanced!"
Raon pushed harder mid-air.
"You're just mad my legs are overpowered!"
Another shockwave detonated. Tiles shattered. Satellite dishes ripped out and spun into the night.
Shion flailed helplessly from the other building.
"STOP BRAGGING AND STOP THE ASCENSION— WE DO NOT NEED A VERSION 3.2 OF HIM!!!"
---
2. Echo 3 Decides He's Done Holding Back
The neon circuits running across Echo's skin flared white-hot.
"Very well," he hissed.
"Processing limiters— RELEASED."
His aura expanded outward like a sonic boom frozen in time.
Then—
FLASH.
Echo disappeared.
Raon blinked.
Nobody outran her eyes.
Nobody.
But Echo's voice whispered behind her:
"Welcome to obsolescence."
A blade of compressed harmonic energy slashed across her back.
Raon gasped—more in surprise than pain—and spun with a counter kick.
Echo ducked fluidly, a digital smear across space.
"You cannot hit what updates faster than perception."
Raon scowled.
"That's cheating."
"It's optimization."
"That's what cheaters say."
Echo appeared above her.
"Adapt or perish."
---
3. Raon Perishes (Temporarily) Across a Rooftop
A point-blank sonic burst blasted Raon straight down into the roof.
Concrete split outward in a perfect one-kick-girl-shaped crater.
Dust billowed everywhere.
Shion shrieked.
"RAON!"
She paced frantically along the edge of her rooftop.
"Can she breathe?! Is she alive?! Do I need to jump over?! I can't jump over, I'll die— RAON SAY SOMETHING—"
Silence.
Echo hovered down, scanning the crater.
"Life signs: stable.
Consciousness: disrupted.
Annoyance potential:… high."
He lifted one palm toward the sky.
"Ascension at 81%."
The vortex roared louder.
Buildings trembled.
Shion's heart dropped.
"No no no no—if he reaches full 3.2, the city's physics patch will collapse. We will literally LOSE GRAVITY on odd-numbered floors—"
A cough came from the crater.
Shion froze.
Echo froze.
Raon sat up, hair a complete disaster, soot covering her hoodie, one eye twitching.
"Ow," she muttered.
"That one felt like… like being slapped by a remix DJ."
She stood, cracking her neck.
Echo's eyes widened.
"…You survived that?"
Raon glared.
"I've survived working at a convenience store during durian season. You think YOU scare me?"
Echo hesitated.
"…What is a durian season?"
Raon didn't answer.
She dashed.
---
4. Raon Stops Thinking Entirely
Raon blitzed through the dust cloud, vanishing and reappearing behind Echo faster than even his evolved algorithms could predict.
Echo spun.
Too late.
Raon's foot was already in motion.
KRA-KOOOM!!
The kick connected cleanly with Echo's ribs.
Echo's internal speakers emitted an error beep so pathetic Shion almost felt bad for him.
Almost.
Echo smashed through a ventilation tower and skidded halfway across the rooftop.
His vision glitched.
"ERROR: Unexpected force quotient— recalculating— recalcu— recal—"
Raon cracked her knuckles confidently.
"See? You can update, but you can't outpatch me."
Echo's body rebooted mid-slide.
His eyes re-lit.
"You're wrong."
He stood shakily, aura flickering.
"I am still updating."
The vortex above them spiraled dangerously.
"Ascension at 92%."
Shion screamed into her hands.
"NINETY-TWO!? Why is it going up so FAST!? Who programmed this garbage!?"
---
5. Shion Realizes Something Horrifying
Her tablet flashed red.
A new warning appeared:
ASCENSION PROTOCOL: SELF-ACCELERATING WHEN UNDER THREAT
UPDATE RATE: EXPONENTIALLY INCREASING
Shion's jaw dropped.
"Oh no."
She yelled across the street:
"RAON! Every time you hit him, the update speeds up!! It's LEARNING FROM YOU!"
Raon blinked.
"Wait… so I'm HELPING him become un-kickable?"
Shion flung both arms up.
"YES!! PLEASE STOP HELPING!!"
Raon groaned.
"This is why I hate smart enemies."
---
6. Echo Starts Winning Again (Because He's Cheating)
Echo's wounds glowed and sealed.
His aura stabilized.
His voice deepened.
"Ascension at 97%.
I am almost complete."
He lifted both hands.
"Executing: System-Wipe Crescendo."
Shion paled.
"That's an area-of-effect wipe. If he finishes charging that—"
Raon didn't wait.
She sprinted.
Echo fired.
A ring of sound condensed into a blade of pure force and shot toward her, slicing the rooftop in half.
Raon dove.
The blast cut off several meters of her hair ribbon.
"HEY!" she yelled.
"THAT WAS NEW!"
Echo appeared behind her.
"Apologies," he said.
"It will not matter shortly."
He prepared the final strike.
---
7. Raon Makes the Dumbest Smart Decision
Shion screamed:
"RAON! DON'T HIT HIM AGAIN! YOU'LL FINISH HIS UPDATE!!"
Raon pointed at Echo.
"You. Me. One kick left."
Echo smirked.
"Then you doom yourself."
Raon smirked back.
"Nope."
She crouched low.
Echo raised his blade.
Raon inhaled.
Then she turned—
AND KICKED THE ASCENSION VORTEX INSTEAD.
Shion's brain crashed.
Echo's brain blue-screened.
The vortex—an advanced, algorithmically perfect digital construct—wobbled like a jelly bowl hit by a truck.
Then it shattered.
Like glass.
Like code.
Like a corrupted MP3 file.
Echo screamed as the fragments of his upgrade scattered into pixel dust.
"NO—NO—YOU CAN'T KICK SOFTWARE— THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE—"
Raon wiped her hands.
"Everything makes sense when you kick it hard enough."
---
8. Echo 3's Meltdown Is Hilarious
His aura flickered violently.
His circuits shorted.
His update bar reversed.
"ASCENSION…
ROLLBACKING…
VERSION…
DOWNGRADING TO 2.9…
NOOOO—"
Raon tilted her head.
"Rollback? You mean like when I uninstall a bad app?"
Echo grabbed his head in glitching agony.
"I AM NOT AN APP—"
Raon shrugged.
"You act like one."
"STOP SAYING THAT—"
"Do you need to force close?"
"SHUT UP—"
"Have you tried turning yourself off and on again?"
Echo screamed into the sky.
---
9. Final Kick (Mandatory)
Echo staggered.
Raon stepped forward.
He raised one shaky arm.
"D-Do not…
Come closer…
One Kick Girl…
I warn you—"
Raon kicked him.
Echo flew.
Like a hyper-launched USB drive, he shot across several districts, trailing digital smoke, before finally vanishing with a tiny doppler "BYEEEEEEEOOOOOP—"
Silence.
Raon dusted her hands.
"And that's how you deal with updates."
---
10. Shion Arrives Late and Already Done With Life
Shion sprinted across the streets via emergency ladders and rooftop railings, wheezing like she had never exercised in her life.
She finally reached Raon, collapsed on the roof, and grabbed her in a panicked embrace.
"RAON—DON'T DO THAT AGAIN— I THOUGHT YOU DIED— YOU CAN'T KICK SOFTWARE— YOU CAN'T— YOU—"
Raon patted her head.
"But I did. And it worked."
Shion stared at her.
"…I hate how the universe bends itself around your stupidity."
Raon smiled brightly.
"Hate you too."
Shion clung tighter.
"No. You really don't."
Raon lowered her voice.
"Yeah. I don't."
---
END OF CHAPTER 63