***

I opened my eyes, lightly washed up, and then changed into my school uniform. There wasn't any special preparation. I wore Shadow Stalker and put on Udjat before taking my smartphone with me too. When I opened the door, I saw a girl in a court lady's attire standing in front of me. "Hi."

"..." I stared at the court lady standing at the door. She was a young girl who was familiar to me.

Wol-il High School

Level 3

Depressed, Lee Seon-ae

Although she was wearing a court lady's attire, she was still a high schooler. Very quietly, she stood exactly one and a half steps behind me without any further greetings. I turned my head slightly and looked at her for a moment. 'Ah, come to think of it, she transformed, right?' She seemed to have some sort of secret. It was pretty impressive to see her Level soaring to Level 8 upon transforming through Synthetic Mana at the moment of crisis. Also, it was pretty funny that her affiliation was still Wol-il High School even though her name was changed to Nike.

"You're back in the palace."

"That's how it turned out,” she answered somewhat brazenly before immediately shrugging and heading towards the stairs.

I looked at her and did not bother asking who she was, where she was affiliated to, what kind of power she had, the reason why the safe house was ambushed, who the traitor was, and how the situation was handled. Since I was uninterested, I thought it to be unsightly to inquire about her situation just because I had nothing else to say. Anyway, even if I was curious, it would probably be confidential information to them.

Nod. After standing next to the stairs, I walked past the court lady who bowed down and went down the stairs. It was burdensome to move past her, since her bow was angled 10 degrees deeper than usual. I left Gangnyeonjeon, the accommodation where I stayed, and headed for Gyeonghoeru Pavilion.

"Ji-hyun, are you alright?”

"I'm just a little injured, so don't overreact. It's simply fortunate that I survived through that mess."

"Have you heard the news? The Patriarch-nim stepped down from his position."

"Haha! I never imagined this to happen. Who would have thought that we would win?"

"The Imperial Princess-nim had prepared a great deal without the knowledge of The Emperor His Majesty. And, most of all, the power of the Ghost Blade was great."

"He was truly a devilish talent. If it weren't for his sacrifice, would the Lee Family win?"

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion was much noisier than usual. The people who were dining chattered loudly with those who began drinking since dawn amongst them. They all discussed the large-scale battle, an unbelievable victory, and the rage and fear of death that came about in the middle of it all. Their conversations burned like a blast furnace.

"Please give me some garak-guksu[1]. Ah, for your information, I'm a Strongman."

"Yes, yes, I know full well that you eat a lot..." The demon tribe ahjumma, who was distributing food to the ability users of the Lee Family, hesitated upon noticing me. “...”

"What's wrong?"

"That's not what you should be saying... You've still around the Lee Family, huh?" Her black eyes which were seemingly colored with crayons stared right at me.

I thought her gaze revealed a slight fear and vigilance, which made me smirk. "It's not as if I did anything wrong, so there's no reason to leave. I didn't see where he went, but I guess he saw the battle."

"Because that's the conditions of the contract. I don't have the slightest idea, either. You..."

"Just give me some noodles."

"…Alright."

I received a bowl of noodles from her. It was a menu that seemingly came out in a Time Attack Challenge; the bowl was the size of a basin and the toppings formed a mountain within. Simply and pleasantly put, it truly was garak-guksu with an udon-like presentation with many bits of ingredients. Of course, it didn't matter as long as it tasted good, so I took it and sat somewhere appropriate.

However, someone followed to sit across me. It wasn't Seon-ae, but a face that I had never seen before. "Finally, we meet. Hey, you. You're that Ghost Blade guy's brother, aren't you?" The young man who looked a year or two older than me sat in the chair across from where I was. He had a handsome appearance with attractive features, as well as a tall and sturdy body. However, he had to get back up as soon as he sat down. It was not due to his own volition but someone else’s intention. "Huh? Sunbae-nims? What are you doing right now?"

"Follow me."

"No, wait. It's not a training session, and it's not even an official occasion either… Why are you being so forceful... Keok?!" The young man who resisted was punched in the stomach by a merciless iron fist. He was being held by two men, who supported his arms to keep him in place.

"Excuse us."

"Please enjoy your meal."

They dragged the unconscious man away after speaking polite words. Only then did Seon-ae, who was standing behind me, let out a groan probably out of surprise. "No, why A4B4?"

"Is it someone you know?”

"What do you mean someone I know?! It's A4B4! Do you not know 'Good night, sleep tight' and 'Couple Day'?"

"They're idols, huh.” I shrugged, because he was a complete stranger to me. Considering that I was a high school student who pretty much lived his day-to-day life watching TV, it seems that they weren't a very famous group.

Slurpppp. I tilted the bowl of noodles, which appeared to be one meter in diameter, to drink the soup and slurp the noodles. Since training in the Brilliant Heaven Seven Lights, my basal metabolism had drastically increased, so neglecting to eat would cause me to lose my muscle. Hence, I ate like a horse. Of course, my body, which was in the Unique World, was eating during his spare time. However, that body had not fully healed due to the injury suffered from the Fist Emperor, so I had to eat more diligently in reality.

"This is ridiculous. If it's A4B4, they're not just some small-time Hwarang. They are real Hwarangs, so why are they taking care of you? And what's with that polite attitude?" Seon-ae spoke to me. Unlike her previously unenthusiastic attitude, her eyes were glistening.

I shrugged and asked back, "Are you not eating?"

"A court lady doesn't eat at Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. No, more than that."

She seemed to have a lot more questions than usual, but I cut her off to continue eating. “Well, if you say so.”

- This is an announcement to everyone. A joint funeral is scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. today in Taewonjeon Shrine[2], so if you have any questions for the bereaved families, please come to the fourth floor of the Sujeongjeon Hall[3]. It will be conducted by Monk Yeong-hwan, and the method used would be cremation.

The unexpected broadcast quietened down the entire cafeteria. However, that silence was short-lived and it soon became even louder than before.

"Wow, they're going to conduct a funeral? For real?"

"There are indeed a lot of dead bodies from the Zhu Family’s side. I can't believe they're being so courteous towards the deceased."

I lifted up the noodle bowl and slurped all the soup down. Then, I placed it on the floor with a 'thud'. It felt a little lacking perhaps due to it being a soup dish, but it was sufficient since I didn’t train early in the morning. If it was not enough, I could always get an energy bar from the Albatross. "Is it such a surprising thing to have a funeral?" I got up from my seat and asked.

Seon-ae was sulky about the development that went my way. However, she did not protest and simply explained, "Of course it's a surprising thing. The bodies of ability users that belong to an affiliation would usually be returned to that respective affiliation."

"You mean the Lee Family is blackmailing them with dead bodies?"

As I looked back with a flustered expression, Seon-ae looked at me as if she was more perplexed than I was. "You really don't know anything about the parallel world, do you?"

"There's no reason for me to know about it." After making that comment, I returned the bowl and left Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. I passed through Heungnyemun Gate, Yeongjegyo Bridge, and then through Geunjeongmun Gate. The entire process of moving from the parallel world to the surface world through the doors at Geunjeongjeon Hall happened at lightning speed.

"The bodies of the ability users hold high value. At the same time, it is also a mass of secret information about the technologies of each force. Since it was the instruction of the Great Wizard-nim, no matter what forces you join in the world, the handing over of dead bodies has to basically be transparent. If you don't want to do so, you have to pay a considerable amount of assets."

I arrived at the prepared vehicle while listening to her explanation. I saw the car and clicked my tongue. "Too much."

Seon-ae screamed as she saw the person standing next to the car. "Earth Sword!"

A limousine with a heavy-looking design was at the parking lot, and a man with his whole body covered in armor was waiting in front of it. "Don't make a big deal. The standards of a court lady have severely dropped since I last saw them, huh."

"I'm not a court lady! This is just a part-time job, so mind your own business, ahjusshi, alright?"

I let out a forced laugh at Seon-ae who was flying into a rage. "It's a part-time job?"

"Yes, I already quit looong~ ago. I'm in charge of you because the daily wage is high."

"...You bitch," Earth Sword spoke grimly as he stood next to the sedan. Seon-ae hardened her expression and made eye contact with him.

It was a volatile situation, but it was none of my concern. I simply said, "Don't spout bullshit like 'you bitch', and change the car."

"But this vehicle is Sky Palace One. It's a bulletproof limousine with a special-grade barrier installed."

"People are all looking over at me. Change it." I was annoyed, so I cut him off.

Earth Sword paused for a while and nodded. "Understood." As he answered, a black sedan entered the parking lot in less than ten seconds. It was pretty fast.

"What the hell is this." I ignored the flustered Seon-ae and got on the sedan. There was no further conversation. Seon-ae just sat next to me and opened her eyes wide. "Why?"

"What do you mean ‘why’?"

Seon-ae stuck close and whispered to me, "Why is Earth Sword so intimidated by you? I've heard that a sunbae called Sword Ghost played a remarkable part, but... I can't believe that the Lee Family's Six Swords are acting as drivers."

"The Lee Family's Six Swords?"

As I vaguely questioned the name, which I only knew as the strongest military group of the Lee Family, Seon-ae nodded and replied, "Heavenly-Earth-Human-Wind-Cloud-Rain, which make up Six Swords. It's a nickname that refers to the masters who are in charge of the Heavenly Sword, Earth Sword, and Human Sword that the Great Wizard directly bestowed to the Seven Great Households, and also the Wind Sword, Cloud Sword, and Rain Sword that contain the history of the Lee Family."

Also, the Great Wizard's distribution came into the conversation. Come to think of it, among those who came from the Zhu Family, there was also a Heavenly Sword or an Earth Sword guy among them… As I wondered, I made a casual comment, "Then there must be a level gap between Heavenly-Earth-Human and Wind-Cloud-Rain."

"Yes, I suppose so. The difference in capabilities isn't that big, but that's just what it is."

"Yeah, the overgeared equipment must be tremendous."

The Great Wizard, who was now dead, had raised the ability of the entire Earth's combat power with all his might to the point of paranoia. He created a system for the ability users to grow smoothly, adjusted the forces, and distributed Magical Weapons of enormous power to each force around.

The Giant Soul Soldier, Sejong, and Sun-shin, who was equivalent to a Human-rank Gigas simply without an Iron Heart; the Imoogi asleep deep inside Gyeonghoeru Pavilion; the outrageous large-scale spatial barrier that was expanded to exceed the size of a decent city and could last a few years in isolation; and hidden bombing traps hidden here and there; as well as the emergency supplies. Needless to say, such armaments directly bestowed by the Great Wizard was something of a different realm from the weapons created by Earth's craftsmen.

"There's also a big difference in power. The Split Cloud Sword Unit led by the Heavenly Sword, the Demon Unit led by the Earth Sword, the Hwarang group led by the Human Sword… These three are the major martial groups of the Lee Family."

I titled my head at her words and asked, "Hmm? I saw that the Heavenly Sword ordered the Demon Unit just yesterday though?" In truth, that was how it was. When the gray-haired old man gave an order in the name of the Heavenly Sword, the Were Beasts in Gyeongbokgung Palace moved.

"That's because." Seon-ae paused as if she was speechless for an instant. She soon bit her lips. "It's because their leader was so bad at playing his part properly."

The car arrived at school as our conversation reached that point. Then, when she got out of the car, Seon-ae's court lady attire turned into a school uniform like magic. I looked at Earth Sword who was in the driver's seat and said, "Pass this on to the Student Council President."

"Please speak."

I looked at Earth Sword who was bowing politely and said, "You can use me as insurance." It was the minimum duty I could do for Hyung's request, even though Hyung was no longer around.

"Insurance, is it?"

"Yes, but remember,” I said sternly. "Now there's no connection between the Lee Family and me." After saying so, I mixed with the crowd of students going to school. The children who were going to school without knowing what happened the day before and chattering loudly… 'Annoying.' Before I knew it, I felt that my stares towards them turning a little cold. I slowly headed towards school.

1. In Korean cuisine, garak-guksu (가락국수) are thick wheat noodles that may or may not be served with other dishes.

2. Taewonjeon Shrine was an ancestral shrine originally built in 1868 to house a portrait of King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty. It was used to perform rites to the deceased royalties.

3. Sujeongjeon Hall was located to the west of Geunjeongjeon Hall and to the south of Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. It was assumed to be the site where Gwollaegaksa was originally situated.