Chapter 131.

In a mansion lit by a dim lamp, a man was sitting on a chair reading a newspaper .

Objectively speaking, he was handsome . He had sharp, well-defined facial features that shone beautifully under the light, and his somewhat displeased expression gave him a heavy atmosphere .

“Haa… . ”

Soon, he dropped his head with a troubled sigh .

At that moment, the door on the opposite side of the room shot open, and a girl wearing a leather jacket stomped in .

“What, did something happen?”

Murmuring mockingly, she sat down next to him and sneered .

“Did you blow all your money on gambling again?”

“…Yeah . Anyways, Sahyuk, now there’s only a little scar on your forehead . It’s barely noticeable . ”

The man retorted calmly at the girl’s mocking tone . The girl reacted angrily .

“What?”

“You know, where that kid’s coin hit you? I remember you furiously trying to wash it off . ”

The memory of that day flashed by the girl’s eyes .

Although three months had passed since then, fury and humiliation surged within her whenever she thought about it . As disgrace was something she never experienced before, it remained in her mind vividly .

“Don’t make me remember it . ”

The girl, Jin Sahyuk, gritted her teeth and admonished the man . However, it seemed the man had no plans to listen to her warning .

“You should have never let it happen . Like I always say, you shouldn’t overestimate yourself . ”

Tak . The man put down the newspaper in his hands . Jin Sahyuk glared at the man without paying attention to the crumpling sound of the newspaper .

“Sahyuk, don’t misunderstand . You’re still a rookie, someone I can kill with a flick of a finger . ”

Hearing this, Jin Sahyuk’s eyebrows twitched . She forced herself to twist up the corners of her lips and spoke fearlessly .

“Then try it . ”

The man’s eyes flickered coldly .

Jin Sahyuk repeated .

“Try killing me . ”

“…Hm . ”

“Try it . ”

As expected, she was reckless .

Without a choice, the man closed his eyes and backed off with a smile .

“Sorry, I was a bit on edge today . ”

Hearing his surrender, Jin Sahyuk seemed to have been appeased somewhat, but she soon brought up the topic again .

“…I can win if I fight him again . ”

“That’s what you think . ”

“I was just underestimating him . ”

“So you lost to a single coin?”

“… . ”

Jin Sahyuk shut her mouth . She couldn’t think of any way to refute him .

Three months ago, that bearded man had used only a single coin to push her back and leave a deep mark on her forehead . She still found it hard to believe that a coin could have such destructive power . The mark she received didn’t go away for a month, making her too embarrassed to even go outside .

“Bell-ssi . ”

“Hm?”

At that moment, a woman came into the room with food .

“Are you not feeling well today?”

“…Ah . ”

The woman called the man Bell .

Bell grinned in response .

“I’m just mad at myself . An important matter went awry, but I only just found out . It seems I stayed in Pandemonium for too long . ”

He tapped on the newspaper in front of him . The woman stared at the content of the newspaper and murmured .

“Chae Jinyoon’s death… what’s this?”

“Just a little something-something . He was supposed to be alive, but someone killed him . ”

“… . ”

Jin Sahyuk stared at Bell, then shot up as she pushed her long hair behind her .

“I’m leaving . ”

“Where are you going?”

“To the arena . ”

“…Pft . ”

Bell laughed .

“What, you got a problem with that?”

“No . ”

“If you do, then let me fight those guys . ”

Ever since she suffered defeat at the hands of that bearded man, Jin Sahyuk has been throwing tantrums about wanting to go fight the two men .

Kim Suho and Kim Hajin .

It seemed she wanted to pay back the humiliation she suffered . However, Bell had no intention of giving her permission . As far as he was concerned, Kim Suho and Kim Hajin were two crucial pieces needed to perfect Jin Sahyuk in the future .

Although he only had Kim Suho in mind at first, another one ended up appearing by pure chance .

“Like I said, I don’t have a problem with it . Go to the arena and have fun . But it won’t be any of my business if you meet Satan’s Servants and get beaten up . ”

Satan’s Servants .

They were the rank 1 organization in Pandemonium . All 33 members of their organization were contracted to the infamous devil ‘Satan’ . It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Pandemonium’s laws and rules were maintained by their overwhelming strength .

“… . ”

Jin Sahyuk left the mansion silently .

The world outside was filled with the smell of alcohol and blood and sights of pleasure and entertainment .

Jin Sahyuk walked to the center of Pandemonium .

As she walked, she reminded herself of what happened .

Although it angered her whenever she thought about it, it was something she needed to do to not forget .

KWANG .

The power behind the coin .

KOONG .

The lightning-like force of the coin .

Without a doubt, he was a powerful opponent .

Just like Kim Suho, someone worthy of staying in her mind had appeared .

Wondering how strong he would get in the future, Jin Sahyuk put her hands over her face and shuddered .

“Ah… hahaa…”

I want to fight .

No, I want to kill .

I want to tear his limbs apart and kill him .

Her body shook from a powerful urge .

**

A peaceful afternoon one week before the start of school .

Essential Armory’s employee personally came to my apartment with a black envelope and a box .

“Hm . ”

The box should have the armor I asked for, but I wasn’t sure what the envelope was about .

Once I brought the packages inside, I first opened the envelope .

Inside was a black card .

[Essential Armory Special VIP card]

There was a letter to go along with it .

[If there’s anything you need, you can ask the armory directly without going through me . It’s the same card that I use so there shouldn’t be a limit .

P . S . The card can be used for other businesses owned by Essence of the Strait . ]

Yoo Yeonha’s handwriting was a work of art .

“…Now isn’t this abuse of power?”

I smiled bitterly . Even after suffering from an arrogation scandal, she had only gotten bolder . Did I help her too early?

But well, I couldn’t complain about such a nice gift .

I put the card in my wallet and opened the box . As I expected, it had the armor I asked for .

===

[Magic Crystal Armor] [Masterpiece]

[Charged Mana 2000/2000]

—Physical Body Reinforcement

*Increases stamina, vitality, and speed by 0 . 3 points .

—Intermediate-rank Durability Reinforcement

—Damage Absorption

*Absorbs damage equivalent to charged mana .

—Multirole

*Installed with a body scanner . Can be worn by non-human beings .

===

This wasn’t a wearable armor . It was a high-tech armor that projected armor to fit the body . Armors that weren’t partial artifacts couldn’t compare to it whatsoever . Still, it wasn’t perfectly to my liking .

I added a setting .

[The stat increase is tripled when equipped by a non-human target . ]

The SP cost was 150 . The word ‘non-human’ was perfect for bringing down the cost .

I summoned Fenrir who was sleeping in my chest .

“Graawr . ”

When a tiger-sized wolf suddenly appeared out of thin air, Hayang raised her tail and ran away .

“Ah! It’s my wolf . Hehe . ”

On the other hand, Evandel smiled brightly and approached the wolf .

“Grrr, grrr . ”

The wolf blissfully enjoyed Evandel’s small and soft hands .

“Fenrir, try wearing this . ”

I placed the circular armor on the wolf’s chest and infused magic power into it . Immediately, an armor shot up, covering the wolf’s chest and back . He seemed to be satisfied with it, as he growled happily .

It was then .

Woong .

My smartwatch suddenly rang .

It wasn’t just once .

Woong . Woong .

My wrist kept shaking from the repeated buzzing .

[You obtain 144 SP . ]

[Magic power of rage and obsession has formed a spell in a distant place . You have been selected as a ‘target’ . ]

[However, a miraculous luck strikes!]

[A mysterious power reverses the spell!]

[An unknown person’s Gift, ‘Targeting’, has been changed to benefit Kim Hajin!]

[Narrow Escape from Death (4/9) – A special stat, accumulation of luck, becomes partly unlocked!]

“…Huh?”

Why did my SP go up, and what was with this ‘Target’?

Did I come up with a Gift like this?

Although I wasn’t sure what was going on, I couldn’t complain about my accumulation of luck going up .

“…Ah, is it him?”

Then, I suddenly remembered .

The guy named Heuk Jeon from Dark Moon Society who tried to kill me and Rachel during the final exam .

It seemed he tried to cast some curse on me .

“…I’ll tell Boss about it later . ”

**

March 13th .

“It’s really over…”

Time flew by, and tonight was Chae Nayun’s final night on Baekdu Mountain .

As she opened her bag to pack her belongings, Chae Nayun looked around the room she stayed in for two months . Although she didn’t bring much with her, there were many precious items in this room .

“… . ”

They were the photos lined up on the shelf next to her bed .

On one photo, Chae Nayun and Chae Jinyoon were smiling together brightly .

Chae Nayun held up the frame carrying the photo and lightly caressed it .

Then, she suddenly felt something surge within her .

“…This time, I thought you’d stay with me forever . ”

Murmuring with a trembling voice, she held the frame in her embrace .

Reality still felt like a dream .

She thought multiple times that her older brother would be waiting for her in his hospital bed when she ended her training and came home .

“Sorry, Oppa . ”

She regretted it every night and faulted herself every night .

She couldn’t help but think that he would still be alive if she refused to go to Baekdu Mountain and stayed with him .

“…Sorry . ”

Even after all this time, she couldn’t help but cry .

Chae Nayun quickly wiped the tears off her face .

“Wait just a little bit, Oppa . ”

Then, she put the frame in her bag .

“I’ll get your revenge . ”

She muttered with a strong determination .

**

Two days before Cube’s 2nd year began, I came back to Cube to pick up my belongings .

“Here you go, Cadet Kim Hajin . ”

“Thank you . ”

I received my stuff from the dorm manager . I surprisingly had a lot on me: VR gaming set, shirts, coats, jeans, slacks, etc .

With a big box in my arms, I walked to the Portal .

“Eh? Hajin-ssi?”

Then suddenly, I heard a familiar voice .

Looking up, I saw Rachel .

“Rachel-ssi?”

…After meeting coincidentally, we stopped by the park we often trained in .

The grass still had signs of Rachel trying to call elementals . Rachel smiled bashfully and hopped to that spot .

“I got hit with lots of bullets here… I can’t believe that was three months ago . ”

“I feel the same way . ”

I put the box down on the ground .

Only then did Rachel look at me with curious eyes .

“What is that box for?”

“Oh, um… . ”

I smiled bitterly even at her light question .

I scratched the back of my neck as I muttered .

“I’m going to drop out of Cube . ”

“…Eh?”

Rachel widened her eyes .

“W-Why?”

“Well, I’m more comfortable becoming a mercenary . ”

“Mer… mercenary?”

Rachel muttered in shock .

“I’ll stay here for the first semester . Ah, well, I guess I’m leaving in the middle . But I should be here until the midterms . ”

There was a reason I had to stay in Cube .

The final main story element in Cube . I needed to stay here and watch ‘that incident’ unfold .

“Then, um, Hajin-ssi… about the English Royal Court guild… . ”

“I won’t be able to go . Sorry . ”

“… . ”

Rachel made a sad face . I never said I’d go to the English Royal Court guild . What was she imagining?

“But who knows? We might work together with something like a mercenary partnership . ”

“Yes?”

Mercenary partnership . Simply put, it was a way to get more manpower for conquering Dungeons or Towers .

“Ah… Hajin-ssi is always welcome… but because a partnership is done with the entire mercenary group… . ”

However, because the number of mercenaries groups that were stronger than a guild could be counted on two hands, even small guilds rarely formed mercenary partnerships .

I could understand why Rachel was hesitant, as the English Royal Court guild was the number one guild in England .

Of course, the name of the mercenary group I was in would change everything .

Jeronimo .

This seemingly lame name was always the one choosing guilds .

“You can worry about that when the time comes . ”

“Ah, yes, you’re right . ”

Rachel smiled bitterly and scratched her cheek . I stared at her for a moment, then took out the cadet handgun I kept in my pocket .

“Since it’s been a while, should I help you train?”

“Yes? Ah, kuhum . ”

She coughed proudly .

“Yes, let’s do it . I’ll show you how much I improved . ”

**

March 15th .

Springtime arrived with the falling of cherry blossoms .

Currently, I was standing in front of my new classroom . I wasn’t particularly nervous . In fact, I was quite apathetic to the whole thing .

The name of the class was Sacred Flame . Rachel, Yoo Yeonha, and Yi Yeonghan were in my class .

Chae Nayun should be in Kim Suho’s class, and Shin Jonghak should be in a class by himself .

I opened the classroom door .

There were three familiar faces . Well, since one was sleeping, I couldn’t see his face .

The sleeping one was Yi Yeonghan . Yoo Yeonha was already surrounded by many cadets . Without Chae Nayun or Kim Suho in her class, Yoo Yeonha would reign as its queen .

“Hm?”

When Yoo Yeonha met my eyes, she smiled and waved her hand . It seemed she didn’t mind interacting with me openly now that my ranking was near the top 100 .

Along with a greeting, Yoo Yeonha moved her mouth silently .

—Nayun is asking why you aren’t replying .

“… . ”

I gave her a little smile and sat down at the back of the class .

“Good morning . ”

Rachel, who was also sitting in the back, greeted me .

“Good morning . ”

I returned her greeting with a smile .

When it became 8:00 exactly, the door shot open, and the instructor walked in .

“It’s great to see you, ladies and gentlemen . ”

The enthusiastic instructor released his magic power into the air .

Yi . Yeong . Jin .

His red magic power displayed his name clearly .

“I am Sacred Flame class’ chief instructor, Yi Yeongjin . ”

I carefully listened to the male instructor’s excited introduction .

“From second year and onwards, classes will be held a bit differently . I’m sure you all know about it, but I’ll give a brief explanation . ”

Cherry blossoms fluttered through the opened windows, and an aromatic scent flowed in .

“Other than the morning class, end-of-the-day class, and the two ‘common classes’, all cadets will be trained according to the schedule they formed . ”

I didn’t have many days left in Cube .

There were plenty of painful, sad, and complicated matters, but when I thought back to Cube in the future, I was sure I would be able to say I had fun .

“Our common class is joint stamina training . You will need to get into groups of four for this training . ”

Two months .

After this short yet long period, I would disappear from Cube .

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