Chapter 132.

On an afternoon, Chae Nayun was peeking her head into the Sacred Flame class .

“Argh, when is it ending?”

Sacred Flame’s chief instructor, Yi Yeongjin, was rumored to be overly zealous, and it seemed to be right, considering he spent 20 minutes giving the end-of-the-class announcements .

“What, is it still not over?”

“I know, right?”

Kim Suho walked up to her and asked .

Chae Nayun glared at Yi Yeongjin through the window . From the looks of it, he didn’t plan on dismissing the class until the cadets in charge of cleaning duty finished their task .

“Ah, it’s finally over . ”

At that moment, the instructor tapped his desk, and the cadets got up at the same time . The classroom’s front door opened, and a huge lump walked out .

It was the over 190 cm tall giant, Yi Yeonghan .

“Oh man, were you guys waiting for me?”

Chae Nayun responded to Yi Yeonghan with her expression .

“…What’s up with that face?”

“Shut up and move . ”

Because of Yi Yeonghan’s height, Chae Nayun couldn’t see behind him even when she tiptoed . However, even when Yi Yeonghan moved over, she couldn’t see Kim Hajin in the classroom .

“Geez, why you gotta hurt my feelings like that?”

“Oh please . Where’s Kim Hajin?”

Hearing Chae Nayun’s question, Yi Yeonghan’s face instantly turned to one of schadenfreude . His eyes formed crescent moons and his eyebrows danced up and down .

Chae Nayun held back the urge to smack him .

“What?”

“Ha, so our little Nayun is finally being honest with her feelings~”

Surprisingly, Chae Nayun didn’t overreact to Yi Yeonghan’s teasing tone .

“Yeah, I am . Do you have a problem with it?”

Because Chae Nayun spoke as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, Yi Yeonghan found himself at a loss for words .

“…Huh? Uh, no… I don’t . ”

Kim Suho, who was watching Chae Nayun with a smile on his face, cut in .

“So, where’s Hajin?”

“Over there . Look, he’s coming out now . ”

Yi Yeonghan pointed at the back door . Chae Nayun turned her gaze . Kim Hajin was walking out of the classroom .

Was it because she hadn’t seen him in two months?

Each of his movements seemed to be in slow motion .

His footsteps were light and inattentive, his clothes and hair were neat and stylish, and he was expressionless like a dead fish .

“Wait, Kim Suho, you’re also looking for Kim Hajin? What about me? Am I a livestock to you guys?”

“I’m leaving . ”

Chae Nayun quickly sped away and ran into Kim Hajin . Not expecting Chae Nayun to bump into him, Kim Hajin stopped and lowered his gaze .

Their eyes met . Chae Nayun smiled brightly .

“Hey, Kim Hajin, wanna go out for dinner together?”

As she said that, she stealthily locked her arm with Kim Hajin’s . She felt her heartbeat speeding up from her bold move . However, Kim Hajin didn’t say anything and shook her arm off .

At that moment, Chae Nayun felt another gaze and quickly turned around . A blonde girl walked out of the classroom .

It was Rachel .

“…Oh, Rachel, it’s been a while . ”

Chae Nayun waved her hand . Rachel glanced at Chae Nayun and Kim Hajin .

“Yeah . ”

With just that one word, she walked past them . Chae Nayun stared at the back of Rachel’s head, then pulled on Kim Hajin’s arm again .

However, Kim Hajin didn’t budge .

“What, you’re not going?”

Kim Hajin smiled bitterly .

“…I don’t have time today . ”

“You don’t even have time to eat?”

Chae Nayun pouted . First, he didn’t reply to her letters or messages, and now he was avoiding her? Was he playing hard to get?

“I have work to do, so I’ll be busy around dinner time . But we can eat lunch together tomorrow . ”

Lunch .

Although it wasn’t quite what she wanted, she was more than happy with it .

“Okay, then… promise . ”

Chae Nayun held up her pinky .

Kim Hajin stared at it fixedly, then put his hand on Chae Nayun’s shoulder .

“See you tomorrow . Lunch will be on me . ”

“…Eh?”

Chae Nayun’s cheeks turned red even at such a lighthearted touch . She looked up at Kim Hajin and nodded bashfully .

“U-Un . …”

**

6:00 p . m . I returned home .

Evandel who was listening to an online lecture stopped the video and ran up to me .

“Hajin, I learned subtraction today!”

She spoke proudly .

“That’s great!”

“I can subtract now . Give me a problem~!’

“Hm, then… . ”

After thinking for a moment, I gave her a problem to solve .

“What’s nine thousand eight hundred fifty-three minus two thousand six hundred fifty-six . ”

“…Eh?”

Evandel’s pupils trembled . She tried to count with her fingers, but she didn’t have ten thousand fingers .

Eventually, Evandel muttered with a trembling voice .

“I, I didn’t learn anything like that… . ”

“Okay, then what’s twenty-eight minus seventeen?”

This time, Evandel didn’t use her fingers and spoke after a little while .

“…Eleven!”

“Good! You’re a quick learner, aren’t you? You must be a genius . ”

“Ehehe . ”

I gave Evandel a pat on the head and walked into the bedroom .

After changing into my casual clothes from my cadet uniform, I ate with Evandel in the living room . Today’s menu was steak .

When it became 9 p . m . and Evandel was falling asleep, I left the room and went outside .

After walking past the dorm region, I stopped at a park .

There was someone I had to meet today, and this empty park was the meeting place .

“Haa… . ”

Sitting on a nearby bench, I let out a sigh . Being alone under the darkness, I suddenly felt depressed .

Recently, I’ve been feeling like I wasn’t myself .

It was as if my 7 . 207 points of perseverance stat was forcefully holding back my mind from crumbling .

Pssst—

At that moment, a tree on the right side rustled .

“Are you here?”

I raised my hand and greeted the person I was waiting for .

Hearing my voice, Boss walked out of the darkness .

“Yeah . ”

“Did you purchase the place I recommended?”

“I did, but… . ”

Boss asked me to set up an outpost in Seoul for Jeronimo Mercenary to be based in .

I recommended an apartment complex next to mine . It was completely out in the open, which didn’t fit Boss’ style .

“Try living there . ”

“…I asked for an outpost, how did you end up recommending a residential apartment complex? I ended up using money for nothing . ”

It seemed Boss was unhappy with how much money it took .

To be fair, the apartment complex she bought was a lot more expensive than the one I had . If I remembered correctly, it was at least twice as expensive .

“Let’s go buy some clothes later . ”

“…Clothes?”

“Yes . ”

Boss’ fashion sense wasn’t as bad as Rachel’s . Her 170 cm stature and slender figure made her look good in anything, but the problem was that her choice of clothes was too manly .

“I’ll help you pick out clothes . ”

However, Boss immediately shook her head .

“I don’t need it . ”

“Kuhum . ”

I felt a bit awkward . I was trying to get her to open up her heart .

After all, Boss had yet to even bring out anything about the Chameleon Troupe . It seemed she still wasn’t sure how to rate me .

“Boss, you bought a huge amount of Creator’s Sacred Grace’s stock, right?”

“…Hm?”

Boss twitched faintly .

Although Boss was supposed to be a bit dense, her greed for money was great . She should already be one of Creator’s Sacred Grace’s shareholders .

“I have a little . ”

“I think you should start selling it off . ”

“…What’s the reason?”

Boss’ eyes narrowed like a hawk .

When it came to money, she was stone cold .

“I don’t have a good feeling about it . ”

However, Boss seemed to have no intention of listening to my advice, as she murmured in a barely audible voice .

“But I only ate 3% so far . ”

“Don’t blame me if you pull out too late and lose all your money . ”

At my thoughtless remark, Boss frowned .

“…Kim Hajin . ”

Her voice was cold and chilling .

“Don’t be so comfortable around me . ”

“…Yes?”

“I’m telling you not to be so arrogant . The difference between you and me is like the difference between heaven and earth . ”

Her eyes were sharp and her voice was threatening .

I dropped my head quietly .

I shouldn’t have brought up money .

“Anyways, the reason I called you today… was for a proper test . ”

“Test?”

“… . ”

Boss stared at me silently .

I asked again .

“What do you mean by test?”

“…You said you wanted to become an official member of our group . ”

“Ah… yes . ”

She was right . Winning Chameleon Troupe over was indeed one of my goals . To be more exact, it was to inoculate Chameleon Troupe, who mercilessly killed both Djinns and humans in the original story .

The reason was simple . Chameleon Troupe played an important role in the middle to late stages of the story .

“But to become one of us…”

Boss unleashed her magic power, creating a human-shaped puppet about 200 meters in front of me .

“Your stats will need to meet our standards . ”

I knew what she meant . Mercenaries cared more about ‘stats’ than Heroes as they were judged by clients based on things like strength, speed, perception, and others .

“So attack that magic puppet with all you’ve got . I’ll be the judge . ”

But unlike most mercenaries, I had to take this show of power a bit more seriously . There was likely something Boss wanted to see . In fact, this could be the final test .

“You want me to attack it with full power?”

“Yes, use a gun, your main weapon . ”

Boss put a barrier around us . With a dome shrouding us, I didn’t have to worry about outside eyes .

“But my strongest attack doesn’t use a gun . ”

At my words, Boss tilted her head in confusion .

“…In that case, use whatever you need to show this strongest attack you speak of . ”

“Yes . ”

Putting on a serious face, I transformed Aether into a bow .

An elegantly designed black bow appeared in my hands, and Boss widened her eyes .

“A bow… . ”

Feeling keen interest in her eyes, I formed a magic arrow with Stigma .

I infused the attribute of explosion within .

“Could it be… an anti-magic arrow?”

“… . ”

Because it looked like Boss wanted to see anti-magic, I also added that attribute .

Sssss—

The bow emitted a cold mist as it turned bluish black . This was the color of anti-magic .

Although my arrow became a bit small in exchange, I could tell that Boss was extremely satisfied by the expression on her face .

But I wasn’t done yet .

I still had something to add .

[Medicinal effect – External Magic Amplification]

The sixth medicinal effect that my body memorized came out of my skin and seeped into the arrow . Through this doping, my arrow became sharp like a harpoon .

I nocked the arrow burning with anti-magic coloring on my bow . Feeling the fierce energy emanating from it, I pulled the bowstring .

Although I used three streaks of Stigma like the time I fought the Black Ogre, this arrow was on a different league than the one I used before thanks to using a bow formed from Aether and adding the amplification medicinal effect .

“Mmm . ”

When Boss nodded in satisfaction .

Chweeeeek—

I fired the arrow at Boss’ puppet .

The arrow shot out like a bolt of lightning, scattering magic power in all directions .

There was no difference in time between release and strike .

Kooooong—!

Not only did the arrow pierce Boss’ puppet, it erupted into a conical explosion that shook the barrier .

KOONG! KOONG!

The entire space rumbled from the giant explosion, and the arrow’s magic power thrashed against the barrier like a rising dragon .

“… . ”

Realizing the might of the arrow, Boss stepped in . Before the arrow shattered her barrier, she unleashed her magic power .

From her back, a shadow bloomed like a lotus . As the lotus closed its petals, it devoured my arrow completely .

‘Shadow Lotus’ .

It was one of Boss’ cheat-like defensive abilities .

“Haha . ”

Boss laughed as she approached me .

“It looked like it was about to destroy the barrier so I stopped it . ”

As she said that, she put her hand out .

“…Ah, yes . ”

“I’m satisfied . As I thought, my eyes weren’t wrong . ”

It seemed I passed the final test . I immediately felt dizziness overcoming me, but I mentally braced myself and grabbed her hand .

“Thank you . ”

Boss then squeezed my hand and spoke in a serious tone .

“June 1st . ”

“…Yes?”

“On June 1st, there will be a planned group meeting . ”

I immediately understood what she was implying .

“If you still want to be with me then, if you don’t mind taking on dirty tasks like me, come find me . ”

Boss stared at me, and I stared back . By exchanging gazes, I could understand her thoughts .

Soon, Boss let go of my hand .

I replied .

“…Yes . ”

“Good . ”

The moon peeked out from the clouds, shining down on Boss .

She was wearing a beautiful smile .

**

Second week of school .

Sacred Flame class was currently in the middle of its common theory class .

Sssk, sssk .

Rachel was busily jotting down the contents of the lecture on her notes . On her face was a pair of circular glasses, which had the effect of lessening the burden on one’s eyes and doing basic calculations .

“Difficult, isn’t it? Let’s take a break . ”

The professor announced a break around the time cadets were scratching their heads .

Rachel put her glasses down and leaned back against her chair . As her focus loosened, she could hear the whispering voices of her classmates .

—Hey, didn’t Kim Hajin change recently?

—Yeah, and other guys are copying his hairstyle . Though, they look better with it than he does . His face just isn’t that good .

—No, I think his face has gotten better too… .

—Rather than that, did you hear that he has something going on with Chae Nayun?

—What? Really?

—Yeah, Chae Nayun said it herself .

Kim Hajin was the topic of the conversation .

Rachel turned towards Kim Hajin . He seemed to be focused on his smartwatch .

“… . ”

This wasn’t the first time she heard the rumor that there was something going on between Kim Hajin and Chae Nayun . It didn’t seem like a groundless rumor either . After all, Kim Hajin and Chae Nayun were eating lunch together every day .

‘…It has nothing to do with me . ’

Rachel told herself that and picked her pen back up . Thinking about it more closely, she might have wanted things to turn out this way . If things went well between Kim Hajin and Chae Nayun, she would be able to treat Kim Hajin more comfortably .

“… . ”

However, she couldn’t get herself to focus on studying once more . In the end, she glanced at Kim Hajin once again .

He was still on his smartwatch . She couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing on his smartwatch that he was that focused .

He seemed to be on it the entire class period . Was he exchanging messages with Chae Nayun? Did he not care about class anymore because he was dropping out?

Rachel pouted and looked back down at her notebook .

Focus .

Focus .

Focus .

Now is the time to focus on studying .

“…Ah, why is this so hard?”

But soon, an annoyed voice came out of Rachel’s mouth .

**

“Hm . ”

Ever since last night, I was thinking deeply about a Gift .

===

[Dexterity] [Low rank] [Null attribute] [Evolving] [Grade 10]

—Dexterity

*Your hands become flexible and skilled .

===

Dexterity .

Although it didn’t look like anything special, it was classified as a Gift rather than an Art .

An ability that applied to everything that used hands, including everyday tasks like cooking, drawing, and writing to combat-oriented tasks like martial arts and swordsmanship .

Currently, I was debating between this passive Gift and another active Gift .

There was one active Gift I had in mind, and it was one that I needed to have five years in the future .

However, active Gifts couldn’t be evolving-type Gifts .

As such, it would be acceptable as long as I saved up the 10,000 SP used to create it in time, like when I created Master Sharpshooter .

In other words, it was better to create Dexterity now and create the other Gift in the future when I had enough SP saved up .

The only problem was that I didn’t know whether I could save up that much SP .

“Argh, whatever . ”

After agonizing over the matter for a long time, I just hit enter .

===

[Dexterity] [Low rank] [Null attribute] [Evolving] [Grade 10]

—Dexterity

*Your hands become flexible and skilled .

===

For a Gift that cost 2000 SP, it was rather simple . No, it was simple because it only cost 2000 SP .

It was as I always said, “simple is best” .

Simpler Gifts meant its usages weren’t as limited .

Of course, since it was only grade-10 at the moment, it should only help me with things like cooking and combing .

…However .

[Gifts become linked!]

[With great luck, the link between your Gifts become even more elaborate!]

I suddenly received unexpected alerts on my smartwatch .

[Master Sharpshooter & Dexterity]

[Master Sharpshooter is reclassified as a high-rank Gift and an unawakened ability has been added . ]

[Dexterity’s proficiency grade improves to grade-8 . ]

“What’s this…?”

An ability was added to Master Sharpshooter, and Dexterity received two proficiency grade boosts even though it was created only a minute ago .

“…Oh, right . ”

I remembered writing something about Gifts having synergy with each other .

I didn’t expect this to happen, but I couldn’t complain .

Synergy between Gifts .

I told myself to remember as I grabbed my pen to test out my new Gift .

Sssk, sssk .

I jotted down a string of words .

Although I didn’t have bad handwriting, I couldn’t call my handwriting pretty…

“…Wow . ”

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