I ate dinner with Kim Suho and returned home after clearing the dungeon. Beep, beep, beep. I entered the password and opened the door. However, Evandel didn’t greet me like usual. I could hear 2 kids having fun and wondered if Evandel was mad at me for coming home late when I saw an unexpected guest. Evandel was with a girl I had never seen before.

“Hajin.”

Evandel smiled and waved. I curiously looked back and forth between Evandel and the pretty girl next to her. She introduced herself.

“Hello.”

“Uh… Hi.”

I greeted her and looked at Evandel for an explanation. Evandel simply smiled and introduced her.

“She’s my friend.”

“I’m Yun Haeyeon.”

The 2 children bowed at a 90 degree angle. I couldn’t help but smile at their adorable gesture.

“H-Hello. You must be the friend Evandel mentioned before.”

“Un! Haeyeon said her parents were busy tonight, so I told her she could eat dinner at my place!”

“Oh? What did you order?”

“Haeyeon is giving it a go!”

“Giving it a go?”

Evandel giggled as Haeyeon sheepishly looked down and scratched her cheek.

“Yep, Haeyeon says she’s never ordered food before.”

“Oh…”

Everything was a challenge for children. I had trouble ordering food when I was 5 too.

“Don’t order anything. I’ll cook tonight since your friend is here.”

“Wow, really?”

Evandel’s face turned even brighter. Cooking was one of the skills I acquired with Dexterity. I could copy what most professional chefs did on TV as long as I knew the recipe. It surprised Evandel when I first showed her.

“Alright, then wait just a bit.”

I opened the fridge. We had more than enough ingredients.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I—”

“I’m asking Haeyeon.”

“…”

Guests first. Evandel pouted, but quickly smiled again as I patted her.

“I’m… fine with anything…”

“Steak please!” Evandel’s eyes sparkled.

“Haeyeon, are you okay with steak?”

“Yes, I like it.”

“Good.”

I took out 4 pieces of beef sirloin and some seasoning. Three were for Evandel and the other was for Haeyeon and Hayang.

“Can I watch you cook?”

“Sure.”

I began to cook under the curious eyes of 2 children. Tak, tak, tak— I quickly chopped up some onions and garlic. Chwiik— Then I made a 3 star Michelin chef’s steak sauce. Tzzzz— After that, I plated the steak with garnish and topped it off with the sauce. Finally, I presented the completed dish to the awestruck children and cat.

“Here you go.”

“Whoa.”

Evandel and Haeyeon stared at the steak in anticipation as I checked my smartwatch.

[A sense of satisfaction and fatigue recovery seeps into your well-cooked dish.] [8:52 P.M.]

It was almost time for my appointment at 9 P.M.

“Alright, I’m going out for a bit. Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before you eat.”

“Un!”

“Thank you for the food.”

I left behind the 2 kids eagerly waiting to eat and arrived at a nearby park. I checked the items I obtained today while waiting.

[Egyptian Archer’s Wrist Protector] [Ancient Artifact] [Sand attribute] [Stored Mana 3000/3000] — Ancient Archer Proficiency: Will increase your proficiency with bows. — Blessing of the Desert: Will allow you to cast a sand barrier using stored mana.

The Blessed Bow of Horus and the Egyptian Archer’s Wrist Protector. These 2 items, which I called the Egyptian set, would serve me well at least until the middle stages of the story.

“Hmm…”

I couldn’t help but hesitate between a bow and a gun now. At this point, it was hard to say one was better than the other.

My gun wasn’t ordinary. As my main weapon, I had attached all sorts of additional options to the Desert Eagle. First was the attack boost for every monster I instantly killed. This effect alone made my Desert Eagle 2.2 times stronger than any other Desert Eagle. It could also transform into a shotgun, anti-material sniper rifle, assault rifle, and heavy machine gun. I could display great firepower in various situations. The only flaw was that I couldn’t use aether for defense since I fused it with the gun to change forms.

“I’ll only use a bow as an ultimate ability.”

That seemed to be the right choice. I stared at the sand-colored bow and tried attaching aether to it. Immediately, the ancient bow transformed into a more modern and elegant design.

“Is it because of its aesthetic greed? It keeps doing this.”

Even my guns took on new forms ever since aether received the aesthetic greed. I couldn’t quite describe it, but everything became more beautiful.

“Did you get a new weapon?”

The person I waited for finally arrived after about 10 minutes. Boss approached with a smile.

“You were right. Creator’s Sacred Grace failed their tower campaign. Horribly, at that.”

“Are you happy?”

“Of course, haha.”

The stock price of Creator’s Sacred Grace fell by 30% in just 4 days. It took a massive dip on the first day and steadily fell ever since.

“So, what’s your request?”

“Will you accept it?”

“As long as it’s possible.”

I requested her help for the upcoming incident in exchange for stock-related information.

“Have you heard of the Dark Moon Society?”

The Dark Moon Society would infiltrate Cube during this episode. This was Lancaster’s first real move in the original story and I already confirmed both using the Book of Truth.

“Dark Moon Society? How do you know about them?” Boss frowned suspiciously.

“Well, you see…”

I scratched my neck and awkwardly explained. I didn’t have a choice. The co-author would’ve surely made the upcoming incident messier. It was only natural to gain an ally or two to balance things out.

“They tried to kill me during the previous final exam.”

“What?”

Boss’ expression turned vicious. As expected of the Yaksha, she valued her comrades dearly. I felt proud.

***

I looked over Cube’s dropout form before class on May 1 and wondered what to put down for my reason. After much thought, I only wrote 2 words — [career change]. Then I signed the document.

“Good morning! I will announce the random teams. Remember, you will be in pairs.”

Our morning common class was more or less a walk in the park. We would train in a VR dungeon today. It was no different than the mock dungeon trial from last year, except the government sponsored it and we used VR instead.

“Team 6, Yoo Yeonha and Kim Hajin.”

Yoo Yeonha twitched in front of the VR capsule. She turned her head like a machine as our eyes met and sighed when I smiled.

“Now, sit together with your teammate.”

She slowly walked up and sat next to me.

“… Hello.”

“Hey.”

“Alright, listen up! The visual effects for this dungeon will be more realistic than the real thing, so stay on your toes! Now, put on your helmets!”

I put on my helmet after the instructor’s enthusiastic introduction. A vivid scene spread out in front of me.

— Wow, it’s like I’m in a LAN café.

I murmured.

“…”

However, Yoo Yeonha remained silent. She wasn’t even logged on from the looks of it. I took off my helmet and stared at her. She kept frowning at my right arm. I flicked her in the forehead.

“Ak.”

“Ak? What are you doing?”

“N-Nothing. Let’s start.”

Yoo Yeonha put on her helmet and walked on eggshells around me. I ignored her and put on my helmet. She was probably up to her usual delusional antics. Then we teleported into a huge cave.

— Where should we go?

— Let’s go straight.

— Okay… kyak!

[A giant bat has appeared!]

— Why are you so surprised? Oh right, you hate scary things.

Yoo Yeonha hated everything scary from ghosts to jump scares.

— N-No, I don’t.

— How should we kill it?

— … Attack its ears.

Yoo Yeonha murmured. I shot twice according to her instructions and instantly killed it.

— Next up is a zombie. Weakness?

— Head.

— Got it.

We progressed smoothly and quickly reached the end. The 30 minute course only took us 20 minutes.

“… Um.”

“Hm?”

Yoo Yeonha carefully asked.

“I… I heard you were dropping out.”

“Did Chae Nayun tell you?”

Yoo Yeonha nodded.

“She’s quite a blabbermou—”

“She was crying.”

“What?”

Yoo Yeonha’s voice became heavier.

“She was crying?”

“Yes, she said she didn’t want you to leave.”

“Uh…”

I felt a mysterious gaze and turned to the side. Then I made eye contact with Rachel. However, she quickly looked away after seeming to have overheard us.

“… It’s not something I have a say in. I believe you’ll deal with it properly.”

Yoo Yeonha murmured before leaving.

“Team 6 has finished.”

***

Lunch came after the morning class. I ate alone at Cube’s cafeteria. Rachel also ate there, but a female agent disguised as a cadet stood next to her, so we only exchanged glances.

“I’ll take the special set.”

“Alrighty.”

Someone sat next to me as I sat with my food. It was Chae Nayun.

“H-Hi.”

She awkwardly waved as I looked at her plate.

“You can eat cafeteria food?”

“O-Of course.”

Chae Nayun courageously ate a sausage. Nom, nom… However, her chewing began to slow.

“So, um… when are you leaving?” she asked without swallowing the food in her mouth.

“This week.”

Kuhuk. She loudly coughed and almost choked. Luckily, she managed to swallow before anything bad happened. Chae Nayun looked at her plate dejectedly. Then she clenched her fists and slammed on the table.

“Hey.”

“… What.”

“Can’t you stay?”

I could only shake my head.

“Ah, okay. Well, you should leave if you have to. I can… I can also find someone else to be my boyfriend,” she mumbled as she glanced at me.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“… I’m kidding. I won’t date anyone else.”

“You should.”

Chae Nayun immediately frowned. However, I quickly finished my food and stood up. She ran after me. I left the cafeteria after returning my tray and walked to a nearby park. There, a second battle began between us.

“Uuuu, it’s so infuriating the more I think about it! Don’t you know how to be tactful? You know, some lip service?”

“What?”

“I mean, didn’t you like me at first?”

“What are you talking abou—”

Shoooong— We felt a strange undulation of magic power in the middle of our conversation. I immediately froze. A sharp, yet light aura swirled near the ground and ominous magic power seemed to interfere with the earth. We looked at each other.

“Hey, what was that?”

I sighed at her question. I couldn’t find the specific date because I didn’t have enough magic power, but the day finally arrived.

“It should be a magic phenomenon.”

An extremely rare magic disaster that occurred when dragons in the depths of the East Sea touched the ocean’s keystone. This phenomenon usually happened by coincidence, but djinns had orchestrated it this time.

“Magic phenomenon? Ah, look over there.”

Chae Nayun pointed to Cube’s changing scenery. The green leaves changed colors and the cool breeze turned hot. Cube’s state-of-the-art buildings all disappeared with only a dilapidated building and forest left behind.

“Follow me.”

“O-Okay. Ah, your hand…”

I grabbed her wrist and ran towards the only building at the center of Cube.

“W-What’s happening?”

“Don’t let go of my hand!” I shouted because she kept twisting her wrist.

“S-Sorry, but you should explain what’s going on…”

“Space distortion.”

“What?”

“We learned about it in class, remember? It’s the broken mirror phenomenon.”

A magic phenomenon where space shattered into pieces like a broken mirror. I created this magic disaster using interesting random theories I heard about. Technically, this phenomenon was a barrier that formed when a dragon interfered with mana clouds that rose through convection currents. Djinns had provoked a dragon and invaded Cube to find suitable hosts for devils.

They had carefully organized this invasion. Even if I was willing to sacrifice Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak’s growth, I couldn’t stop the djinns’ plan since that required me to kill a dragon.

“What? Then…”

“Space might shatter at any moment, so stay sharp. See that building in the center? We need to get there as quickly as possible… Uk!”

The space distorted once again and forced me to let go of Chae Nayun. The scenery changed into a half-day and half-night world. The scent of blood filled the air. I ran towards the direction without hesitation and shouted as soon as I discovered the smell’s source.

“HEY!”

Twelve pairs of eyes turned to me. Ten or so djinns surrounded Rachel there.

“Hajin!”

Rachel’s expression faintly brightened. First, I checked her condition. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be the one bleeding. Rather, the blood came from the djinns she already cut down.

“Oh? What a coincidence to meet again. It’s been a while.”

A somewhat familiar man clapped his hands and revealed himself. It was Heuk Jeon, the assassin who interfered in the final exam.

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

As expected, Lancaster and the Dark Moon Society worked together in this incident.

“Yes, yes. It’s been such a long time.”

Heuk Jeon unleashed vicious killing intent as he fanned out his daggers. However, I simply tilted my head. Did he not hear the news yet?

“Hajin, run away. There are too many of them. I’ll hold them back, so you should go find reinforcements—”

I faced Heuk Jeon while ignoring the serious Rachel.

“Kim Hajin, Kim Hajin. I’ve been waiting for this day ever since you humiliated me.”

“You haven’t heard the news?”

“… News?”

I pointed to the walkie-talkie on his belt. The djinns all carried walkie-talkies that worked in this distorted space. I had also prepared something.

“Hold on.”

I sent Boss a message using a magical device. [Boss, those guys are bothering me again…] It was similar to the magic letters that Yoo Sihyuk used at his school.

“What are you doing? I advise you to take out your weapon…”

— Heuk Jeon! Where are you, you son of a bitch!

Harsh words came out of his walkie-talkie. Heuk Jeon and the djinns around him all seemed shocked.

“Eh? I’m in the middle of the miss—”

— What? You motherfucker, I told you not to do that!

Sweating profusely, Heuk Jeon lowered his walkie-talkie’s volume. He clearly didn’t want to embarrass himself.

“Um, sir. I thought we already finished our talk with the Lancasters.”

— Do you think I give a shit about Lancaster right now! That person contacted me just now. I will kill you myself if something goes wrong.

The radio message came to an end.

— I’m not kidding! I will really kill you! I’ll tear your limbs apart and feed you to the highest rank monster I can find!

Then the walkie-talkie came back on with a final warning. Heuk Jeon stared at the walkie-talkie in his trembling hands before placing it back. Then he carefully asked while sweating.

“Um, Kim, Kim Hajin? C-Can you please explain what’s going on?”

I couldn’t tell whether he was slow or just shocked.

“Well, think about it this way. I make money on the side from investing in stocks. One of my clients happens to know your group, so I asked for a favor. Who knew one of my clients would be so close with all of you?”

“…”

Heuk Jeon looked like his soul was being sucked out. He seemed to be saying, I’m being humiliated because of mere stocks? It sounded like a decent excuse considering Boss’ personality.

“What are you doing?”

I pointed at a nearby rock. It was the perfect place to kowtow.

“If I were you, my head would be kissing the ground right now.”