The Chameleon Troupe had ties with several organizations since they couldn’t possibly manage everything alone. Of course, most of these ties only existed temporarily and the Chameleon Troupe always remained superior. Most groups they traded with didn’t even know their true identity.

Dark Moon Society was one of many private organizations in Pandemonium. If I correctly recalled, their leader came from England and they functioned like a crime syndicate similar to the mafia.

“To think even a brat has heard of us. We must’ve become quite famous, eh?”

The United Nations and several governments denounced Pandemonium, but it wasn’t the hell they made it out to be. Pandemonium had a sizable amount of residents that included humans. Dark Moon Society desperately clung to the Chameleon Troupe to elevate their own status. Having the Chameleon Troupe as a backer would give them an edge in power struggles against other organizations.

Lancaster must’ve hired the Dark Moon Society since their leader also came from England.

The fact that Dark Moon Society somewhat served the Chameleon Troupe wouldn’t change anything. I couldn’t just introduce myself as a friend of Boss. She would probably kill me.

“Then let us start.”

Heuk Jeon spoke as he gathered his daggers. I counted one, two, three… seventeen. He must be at least intermediate rank since he could skillfully control all of them.

“Come. I’ll allow you to make the first move.”

He acted like he looked down on me, but didn’t leave a single opening. His daggers thoroughly protected him like a curtain of blades.

“Fine.”

I used the third medicinal effect I memorized. [Instant Amplification] A surge of heat coursed through my body as my muscles bulged. I could feel a rush of adrenaline as my thought process also sped up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Despair is a part of death. I’ll let you experience it thoroughly.”

Click. I open my eyes and fired at the blabbering fool. Tududududu— Small explosions erupted as I emptied my 45 round magazine in a second. Heuk Jeon didn’t bat an eye against such a barrage. His daggers hovered like satellites and cut down all the bullets. Clang, clang— All the severed bullets fell to the ground and only silence remained.

“Hm… that’s it?”

Heuk Jeon leisurely smiled. Tsk. I clicked my tongue. Unfortunately, he was a bad matchup for me. I could fire bullets powerful enough to break his daggers, but he had seventeen of them.

“Huu.”

However, I couldn’t die here. Honestly, I could win whenever I wanted if I used the god-slaying bullet, but that would be like beheading a chicken with a guillotine.

“How disappointing. I’ll attack now if that’s all you have.”

He kindly announced his next move with a smile. I focused on his daggers as they flew at me.

I activated bullet time, but something felt off.

I could see a dagger accelerating towards my head before it happened. I could also see a second dagger suddenly shooting up towards my chin before it neared my heart. My bullets could change the daggers’ trajectories now that I could see them.

Clang, clang, clang.

My bullets clashed with the daggers and continued to change their directions.

My gift, Master Sharpshooter, allowed me to predict the trajectory of any long range attack.

“Tsk.”

However, actually defending against them was a different story. My eyes could follow their movements, but bullet time would only last 3 minutes. I would be in trouble once my sense of time returned to normal. Unfortunately, the flying daggers didn’t show any signs of stopping. Heuk Jeon leisurely observed me from a distance. Then I thought of the other weapon hidden in stigma’s storage.

[Awl of Weakening] [High rank – Enchant] [Poison attribute]: An awl that will weaken the pricked target. Enchanted with the high rank magic, weakening.

It was the weapon Tomer was supposed to receive from Wicked’s executive. The high rank effect should work on Heuk Jeon.

“Uk.”

A dagger grazed my shoulder as bullet time ended. I clenched my teeth in pain.

I only had to prick him once with this awl. The problem was how. Then I came up with an idea. Stigma’s magic power could turn my will into reality. It was worth trying.

I focused all my senses on stigma.

“Uk.”

Heuk Jeon’s daggers continued to cut me as I stood my ground. I wanted to stand behind him!

Stigma shone brightly through my shirt. The world seemed to turn upside down as the scenery distorted and reassembled. I found myself behind him in the blink of an eye. I didn’t miss this golden opportunity and struck his shoulder with the awl.

“What!”

He reacted fast, but it was too late. I released the ghost wolf from my chest.

“Bite!”

The wolf jumped on him.

“Uk! W-What!”

He struggled underneath the wolf as I switched to a shotgun. I barely held myself back from collapsing. Kiiik— It took two seconds to transform the gun.

“Come back.”

I called for the wolf after it suffered several deep wounds. The wolf’s only flaw was its stamina and vitality. It jumped back inside me exhausted.

“A-Argh, fucking hell.”

His relaxed demeanor had completely disappeared as he glared at me with hatred. He tried to summon magic power, but the awl of weakening made it impossible.

“Try eating this.”

I shoved the shotgun barrel at him.

“It might hurt if it doesn’t end quickly.”

“…”

Right when I was about to pull the trigger…

[12 hours have passed since the first cadet completed the tower. The exam is now over.]

The exam ended and saved Heuk Jeon’s life. A blinding light engulfed me before transporting me away. I laughed, Who knew someone could be luckier than me? Heuk Jeon was it? I would inevitably run into him again. I should tell Boss.

***

I returned to the waiting room alone and stared at my smartwatch.

“Oho.”

[Your understanding of stigma’s magic power has increased.] [A new function, Imprint Idea, has been added.] [Imprint Idea – Will store stigma’s magic power as a special idea. You can store a total of two ideas. The cost of magic power for stored ideas is halved.]

“Interesting.”

Stigma received a new ability because of how I used it during the fight. I immediately decided to store the short-distance teleportation. Moving a mere 50 meters required two and a half streaks, but teleportation was an ability unique to gifts.

“Hey, Kim Hajin!”

“Hajin!”

I busily tapped on the smartwatch keyboard when two people called me. I raised my head and saw Chae Nayun and Kim Suho running towards me.

“Ah, w-what happened to your face? How did you become so ugly? Are you okay?”

Chae Nayun rubbed my body out of concern. Was she worried or making fun of me? I found it a bit insulting.

“I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Was that bastard really an exam overseer? Did you clear the stage?”

I ignored Chae Nayun and turned to Kim Suho. She must’ve told him what happened since he looked just as worried. Chae Nayun found a deep cut on my waist.

“Wha! What’s this? It’s so deep I can see inside your flesh!”

Why did she act so anxious when I was the injured one? I calmly stared at her rubbing my arms, shoulders, and legs.

“Oh right! Kim Suho, the potion!”

“Ah, I almost forgot. Here, Hajin. It’s a potion for external injuries.”

Kim Suho handed me a potion.

“Huh? Oh… no, it’s fine.”

I slowly took a step back. I didn’t want to apply such a potion. External injury potions were especially painful.

“Ah, don’t run away.”

Chae Nayun snatched my hand and applied the potion to a gauze.

“Ah, wait.”

I felt excruciating pain as the wet gauze touched my wound.

“Ahuk, ah, hey! Go easy on me.”

“Come on, it’s not that bad.”

Chae Nayun smiled despite my pain. My smartwatch suddenly rang as she finished treating me.

[Your body has memorized 1.5% of the emergency potion’s recovery effect.]

Oh right, it also applied to potions. I forgot until now and questioned my intelligence.

“By the way, what happened to the Princess?”

“Rachel? She’s… oh, there she is.”

Rachel was desperately crying as she spoke to an instructor. I could hear her saying, Please find Kim Hajin!

Wiing—

My smartwatch rang again. It went off like overtime toda… My face suddenly stiffened.

[I talked with the other members about your request.]

It came from Boss. My heart dropped as I read the first line.

“Hey, I need to go to the restroom.”

“Huh? There’s no restroom here. Ah, hey, where are you going!”

I went to the most isolated place I could find and made sure I was alone before reading the rest of the message.

[The result was 5 yes, 5 no.]

I clenched my teeth. As expected, even the almighty Chameleon Troupe hesitated to kill Chae Jinyoon. However, the Chameleon Troupe had a total of 11 members, excluding the empty seat.

[I have yet to decide.]

Boss hadn’t voted yet.

[Yes, Boss.]

I sent her a short message. However, she didn’t reply. I didn’t know whether she simply typed slow or tried keeping me on my toes. Boss finally replied as I grew impatient.

[Little apprentice.] [You’ve already killed several people, but they were all evil and deserved to die.] [Your request is different from your missions. This time, you said you wanted to kill someone yourself. No matter the reason, your conscious will bear a heavy weight if you commit murder of your own will.]

“…”

Her message sounded solemn, but I had a strong hunch she only pretended to be kind. A small mistake in her text ruined the atmosphere. I couldn’t help but notice as a former writer.

[Will you be able to endure it?]

[Um, Boss, I’m sorry to say, but it’s conscience, not conscious.]

[If you can]

Boss paused mid-sentence. I probably shouldn’t have corrected her, but it was already too late.

[?]

Boss replied with a single question mark.

[Ah, I’m sorry.]

I quickly apologized, but she seemed to sulk and didn’t reply. I felt a bit anxious, so I called her. Thankfully, she picked up immediately.

“Hello?”

— What is it?

She sounded unenthusiastic. I sighed and apologized once again.