*CRISTOPHER’S POV*

We were out of the dungeon, and we could see everywhere all the cadets that were kind of distressed. {Of course, who would expect to be attacked for freaking real monsters? And for what I know, Chae Nayun and even Kim Suho had to fight strong monsters for a cadet, at least intermediate rank 5…}-I said while walking out with the rest of the team.

“Should we tell what happened to the instructor?”-Gary suddenly asked everyone.

“Maybe… I mean… We couldn’t even make it towards the boss room by some kind of interruption, and for what you told me, that boss monster wasn’t a mana puppet, and really strong…”-Said one of the team leaders of the guys we found while going out.

“Yes. We should do that, right, team leader?”-Ro Ji-Yun asked Choi Minseo.

“I also think the same, we should inform our instructor, what do you think, Rachel?”-Park Min-Ho asked Rachel too.

Both girls looked at me, but I just shrugged. If they tell the version I prepared, there won’t be a problem.

“Sure…”-Rachel answered shortly.

“Ok, let’s inform the instructor.”-Choi Minseo said.

We all went towards the instructor, and Rachel, Choi Minseo, and Gary informed Kim Soohyuk of what happened.

“What do you mean with the boss room changed?”-Kim Soohyuk asked.

“Well… We aren’t too clear on that too… But when we defeated the boss monster, the place suddenly went bright, and then we were in a smaller cave with a few fires here and there, totally different from that big hall we were before sir…”-Answered Choi Minseo.

“That… Shouldn’t be possible… Not unless a real dungeon suddenly appeared in there… But that’s totally impossible. Either way, well done. Sadly, the cameras started malfunctioning before any team could make it to the boss room, so we’ll grade you all with the info we could gather until then. Also… I’ll try to investigate, but I don’t think I’ll find anything… You all can go rest.”-Kim Soohyuk said while slightly frowning.

I don’t know if he believed us or not, but we still went our own way. Though, before that, I asked Choi Minseo to look for me at 8:00 PM in the same coffee shop I always go with Kim Hajin so that she could give me back those gauntlets.

After that, I went to look for Kim Hajin, and Olivia tried to go with me, but I told her that I would talk to her later, and she weirdly agreed the first time, telling me that we had to talk soon. I nodded and went my way.

Also… I may have ignored Rachel and Mark’s gazes… I know I’ll have to talk with them sooner or later. But with the warning of not saying anything, I hope they won’t spill the beans until I have the chance to talk to them.

After finally detecting Hajin, I start walking towards him, and in the way, I listen to how everyone is talking about a Lava Golem that appeared and was taken down by Chae Nayun and Sven.

{Well… They could also say how they would be out of the game if it wasn’t for Hajin… That would give him more SP… Also… Sven did get into a pact with a Devil. I should go near him, just to see if his Devil gets registered in my list.}-I thought before finally getting where Hajin was.

“Mm?”-I stopped for a second.

The guy was alone again, but he was intently looking at Chae Nayun with a face full of sadness, regret, and worry. {It’s that huh…}-I thought, reassuming my way towards him.

“‘Supp man, how went your training?”-I asked him, breaking him from his saddening looking moment towards Chae Nayun.

For the record. I wasn’t the only one that noticed that look. Yoo Yeonha did too, but she turned around once I got here, I’m pretty sure she probably thought that Kim Hajin was jealous of Kim Suho for interacting that closely with Chae Nayun or that he was in love with her.

“Hey… Well, it was chaotic, to say the least… What about you?”

“Well… Chaotic would be a nice word… Worrisome too… With that said, we really need to talk…”-I said to him while scratching my head.

“… You’re scaring me… Does it have anything to do with what happened in the Dungeon last Saturday?”-He asks with a slight frown.

“Yep… Exactly… And, well, I guess things are a little more dangerous than I originally thought. So, I better explain it to you. Do you have time?”-I ask him.

“Of course, what would I be doing if not learning how I’ll probably day sometime in the future?”

“Oh come on… You won’t die, dude. Don’t worry too much. Also, what path did you chose?”

“Oh, 6th one. I have to take care of Chae Nayun…”-He murmured.

“Mm? Wait? Did you also fight the Lava Golem?”-I ask while lifting my eyebrow.

“Did you hear about it? *sigh…* Yeah, I also helped, but somehow, people are only talking about Chae Nayun and Sven… Who, by the way… Well, I’ll tell you later. So, where are we going?”-He asked.

“The same place as usual. Come on.”-I tell him while walking ahead.

“Aroma Mocha?”-He asks while following me.

“The one and the same.”

“Is it because of the name?”

“Of course not. Well, actually yes, but not only because of the name.”-I answer.

“Then?”

“It’s almost always empty you know. It’s a great place to talk things you don’t want other people hearing.”-I said while shrugging.

“That’s true… I first thought that it would have something to do with the waitress.”-He says while smirking. “But then I remembered you already had a girlfriend.”

“Mmm… You know, I've been thinking, what's that obsession of yours with me having a girlfriend or not? It’s weird for you to keep teasing me with that dude… It’s not like it is wrong to have a girlfriend, it would do you some good actually, you loner.”-I answered without even turning to look at him. “Though I still must say that Olivia isn’t my girlfriend.”

“… It’s not like I can’t have a girlfriend… It’s just that I don’t have time for that kind of interpersonal relationship…”-He answers while averting his eyes.

“Sure, whatever you say. Loner.”

We made our way towards Aroma Mocha, and as usual, we ordered and went to the further place we could find, also the one with fewer people. Well, not like there were too many people here, honestly, counting everyone, personnel included, there were only like 8 persons in a 2-story building…

“So… With what should we start?”-I ask him while sitting down.

“I should probably go first… After all, it’s not something that long to tell.”-He said. “Sven turned into a Djinn.”-He said.

“Sven?”

“Yeah, World Class team leader. He was paired with Chae Nayun’s team.”

“Oh! Don’t know the guy. But I think that I saw him while the teams were joining together.”-I said. “So… Why did he become a Djinn? And are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure. He suddenly gained power. And… It was a planned event too… He did it because of the inferiority complex, he was the best cadet in his country, and coming here, he discovered a lot of super genius, making him unconfident. Adding to that we have the fact that he has a crush on Chae Nayun… So…”-He told the story.

“So… Basically. An overconfident guy realizing he’s not the best out there, suddenly tops with super-geniuses, becomes unconfident, and to top it all, he got a crush on one of the said super-geniuses? Yeah… I could see how that would push anyone towards becoming a Djinn.”-I said.

“Well… You could say it like that…”-Hajin shrugs. “What about you?”

“Wait, here comes our order.”-I stop him.

“Here’s your order! One black tea and one chocolate milkshake with extra chocolate and chocolate chips.”-As I said, the usual waitress came with our order in a tray, and put it on the table. “Also… Here, a little extra from the house, it’s something new in the store!”-Said the waitress with a smile before putting a small piece of chocolate cake on the table.

“Oh! Nice! Thanks!”-I answered her with my nicest smile. Free chocolate is love.

“No problem! I’ll be leaving then. Just call if you need anything.”-She said while leaving with her trait.

“…”-Hajin just stared blankly between me and the cake. “Just…”-He didn’t say anything else.

“What? Do you also want one?”-I ask him while tasting the cake. Which, by the way, wasn’t mere chocolate. It was like a cookie turned into a cake, with white and milk chocolate filling, covered in dark chocolate. “It is so great!!!”

“… It’s just… Why did she only bring one?”-He asks.

“Of course, because you only drink bitter things. And I’m obviously a chocolate lover. Also. I’m probably more handsome.”-I answer while smirking.

“As if! With that hair of yours!? *snort*”-He snorts before taking a sip of his tea.

“Don’t fret man. If you want one, just ask for it. Though, I’m sure your looks won’t make it from the house hahaha!”

“*sigh…* Whatever, so? What did you have to talk to me? You’ve been scaring the hell out of me since last Saturday…”-He asks, ending our little banter.

“Oh, right!”-I said before sipping from my drink. “Look, instead of your SP or Setting Intervention, I have something called ‘Affinity’. It’s some kind of percentage that determines how much this world is adapted to me.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean. That the more my ‘Affinity’ grows, the more this world adapts itself to me and my power.”

“Yes, I understood that part. But what do you mean with the world adapting to you?”

“Oh, that?”-I took a sip of my drink. “Well… Basically, now monsters have Natural Energy Resistance, some have greater resistance to magic power, some even acquired resistance to Spirit Energy. So yeah…”-I answered him.

“Natural Energy Resistance? Spirit Energy Resistance? More Magic Power Resistance? Just… What…? That wasn’t part of my novel! Well, maybe only the magic power resistance, but not the others! I didn’t even write about anything like Natural Energy!!”-Hajin did what could perfectly be the mix of a whisper and a shout.

“Yeah, I know man. But that’s not the worst…”-I said before grabbing a bit of my cake.

“What? What do you mean? There’s more?”

“Yes, for you see! Today in the Mock Dungeon Trial, we entered an actual Dungeon. Somehow… The concentration of mana was enough to create a new dungeon inside what should be a fake one… And what’s worse. There was a real monster. A real intelligent monster. With clear eyes, a proper weapon, and able to communicate even… And that wasn’t the first time I encountered that kind of monsters. Remember Inwangsan Mountain? Well… It was the same there. The Dungeon mutated, evolved, and the same happened with all the monsters inside, including the boss.”

“*SIGH…*”-Hajin facepalmed with both hands while reclining on the chair. “Why didn’t you tell me that before…?”

“You were already out of your mind with all the changes and stuff that had been happening. And I wasn’t sure that it would be a problem so soon. But now? I don’t have a clue… I mean. For the moments I’m sure that I have to be present for these changes to take place… But later… Well, I’m not sure…”-I say to him.

“In my trial, I didn’t find a real dungeon… Just a real monster… But that was likely some kind of mutation from a normal animal into a monster. And the Lava Golem probably was some kind of plot of a Djinn… But… *sigh…* A fake dungeon transforming into a real one… That shouldn’t be possible…”

“Well… It actually is… But it shouldn’t be in your novel… That’s why I said that it could only happen when I go inside the dungeon, as I’m the variating factor there, at least for the moments… I don’t know what would happen in the future. Also, here, look at this. It’s the proof of said transformation.”-I took out the necklace and threw it to Hajin.

“What’s this?”-He said while looking at the necklace.

It has a really simple design, a red chain holding a golden reptile eye. It didn’t seem something amazing at first glance. Though I haven’t read what specs it had, so it could be either good or trash.

“That, my friend, was the reward from the dungeon.”-I said to him.

“Wait, did you take this for yourself?”-Hajin asked while lifting his eyebrow. “What about your teammates? Didn’t they say anything?”

“Nah, I took care of the boss basically by myself. Well… Not really… They did help at first. But if it wasn’t for me, they would be as good as dead. So, I took the reward for myself, mostly because only four of them know what truly happened, the rest of them knows shit, not even about the reward.”-I said before taking a sip of my drink. “Though don’t take the wrong idea, I’ll give them something in exchange, or maybe even give part of the reward after I see what it is precisely. But I had to act fast in that place, so I couldn’t even check the items' specs…”

“You don’t know what they do?”-Hajin asks.

“Nope. I’ll see it later.”

“Mm… Well, as you wish, here, take it…”-He said as he hands the necklace back. “Was that all you needed to tell me?”

“Nope. Have you heard of Duke Zepar?”-I ask him.

“… I think I’ve heard that name somewhere…”-So he says.

“Of course you had… Ars Goetia.”

“The Lemegeton! It’s… one of the demons of King Solomon?”-He asks.

“Precisely. I thought you designed all the Devils in your novel. Didn’t you?”

“Not precisely… I did base myself partly in the Lemegeton, though, I also added other demons like Lilith… But all in all, I didn’t explain all the Devils in this novel…”-He said while rubbing his chin.

“Well, my friend. This world has 80 Devils.”-I said before eating a little bit of cake.

“Wh-what!? So many!?”-He asks alarmed.

“Yeah… The Lemegeton has 72 demons, all of them transformed into Devils here. There’s also Lilith, that would be 73, I don’t know which other Devils could be in this world. So… If something comes to mind, that would be great…”

“No… I just remember Morax, Baal, Leraje, Vassago, Asmodeus, Plucas-”

“Plucas?”-I interrupt him.

“Yes, Plucas, why?”

“Who’s that?”-I ask.

“Well, a Devil?”

“Created by you I guess, right?”

“Yes…? I mean… It sounded like a Devil’s name… So I wrote it…”

“Ok… That adds one more to the list. 74 now.”

“What list?”-He asks. I thought he never will.

“I have a list, in my laptop, called Devil’s List. It has 80 numbers. And one of them is Duke Zepar, the other ones are pretty much hidden for the moments. But I think they are the 72 demons of Salomon plus eight more demons, of which, I have Lilith and Plucas. Both aren’t part of the Lemegeton.”

“You also have a laptop!?”-He asks.

“Yes… But it isn’t that useful. That’s one of the best functions it has, apart from giving me access to Violet Banquet and synchronizing my smartwatch with it.”

“Oh…”-He answered. “You could at least tell me that, you know?”

“Man… If I’ve used like three or four times, that’s too much… Really. It wasn’t that useful until I got the new functions which are the list, Violet Banquet, and the sync. And I still don’t have the Violet Banquet account as I need like 50.000.000 won. So yeah… Not too useful.”-I said while taking a sip of my almost done milkshake. “Going back to the Devils, I have this premonition that we’ll have to fight them more than you think…”

“What…? Do you know what they are? They’re basically unkillable!”

“No. They’re not. You just have to find a way to kill them. Also. I’m pretty sure that we could take them on in a few years, at least everyone except Baal. And we’ll need to train to kill him. I’m guessing that’s the final enemy, right?”

“Well… Yeah, how did you know?”

“First demon in the Lemegeton… Obviously, you’ll pick him to be the strongest Devil. People usually take into account the number of the demon as if it was its rank. Making the first stronger than the second, and the third stronger than the fourth.”

“…”-Hajin averts his eyes.

“Don’t worry. I’m not saying it is anything bad. It’s just one way to classify demons, there’ hundreds of ways, everyone can use whichever they want to. Author’s freedom, isn’t it?”-I said before finishing my last piece of cake. “But now that I’m talking about Devils. I want to explain why I mentioned Duke Zepar.”

“*gulp…* I don’t like where this is going…”

“Well… You see. Duke Zepar has antagonized me twice. Of course. Not himself. But by his servants. Two of them. Both inside the dungeons…”-I said, before sipping my drink.

“Wait… You won’t tell me…”-He says with a little horrified face.

“Yup. Both boss monsters made a pact with him. Transforming them into some kind of Djinn. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I never read anything about monsters being able to form a pact with a Devil, right?”

“Of course not! That shouldn’t be possible!”-He said.

“But it is now. At least when certain conditions are met.”

“What are those conditions?”

“First. It can’t be any monster. It has to be a monster with intelligence. Someone that could be perfectly classified as a demi-human. Second. It has to be inside a Dungeon with a small temporary connection to the Demon Realm. Third. It has to be influenced by me. Meaning, I have to go inside the Dungeon for it to happen. At least for the moments. ”

“…”-Hajin finishes his black tea in one sip. “When you say for the moments… Do you mean that you expect it to change?”

“Precisely. As I said before, I think these changes are connected to my ‘Affinity’, so as it grows, so do the changes… You know what this means, right?”

“… We both can’t be passive anymore in this world… We don’t know what other changes could take place in the novel… Either because of the co-author or because of you.”

“Exactly. Though, don’t worry too much… I’m not expecting all 80 Devils to suddenly fall from the sky one day, some rules of your original novel are still in-game. And one of those is precisely the Devil’s Seed. Without one of those, I don’t think there are many chances of a Devil coming to this world. Their servants? That’s another thing… Maybe more Dungeons will appear, or more powerful Djinns… I don’t know. But we need to be prepared.”

“That’s why you started training… Right?”

“Exactly. I do have to apologize to you. I was the one that always told you about how you had to train or grow stronger faster. Not wasting any moment. But honestly… I didn’t do much… I was just wasting time too. So… We better change that, and start doing things right.”

“So… Are you training me?”

“No. I can’t train you directly. Not because I don’t want to. But because I can’t. You and I have a big difference in power right now. My training doesn’t work with you. But I’ll give you tips. And I’ll think about how to help you apart from using Natural Energy to recover your stamina.”

“Well… Thanks for that… Actually. The hardcore training you are making me do is already paying off… Even if I don’t want to admit it.”

“Perfect. Though, we also have to help you increase your proficiency with your gift.”

“I’m trying my best with that… Thankfully, I have a lot of luck, and it helps me a lot. But, do you have anything in mind?”

“Yes. Sparing with me.”

“…”-His face went pale.

“Don’t worry. I won’t attack you directly. It will be like what Olivia and I did. Apart from that. Prepare this Saturday. We’re going to a dungeon.”

“Really!? But didn’t you basically said that dungeons are dangerous while going with you?”

“That’s why we will go to a lower difficulty one.”

“Oh… That’s good then…”

“Still… You better not let your guard down… I don’t know how it will evolve or mutate. Sadly. The fitness center is closed for today thanks to the mess in the Mock Dungeon Trial so there’s no way to train tonight. Oh well, I’ll try to think about some things I could do to help you tonight. I’ll tell you whatever thing occurs to me.”

“Okay, thanks, man…”

“No problem… Also… About the bastard… I want to attack him. Or if possible… Kill him myself.”-I said to Hajin while finishing my drink.

“Bastard…? Oh! That bastard… Why?”

“The Devil’s List. Each time I kill a Devil’s servant, that is, a Djinn, its Devil gets registered in the list.”

“Oh… Then… Why don’t you also kill Sven?”

“Mm? I could… But… I don’t have an excuse to do it. What? I just get there and kill him, to then saying that I knew he was a Djinn? Not happening. That’s stupid.”

“*sigh…* You…”

“Hey. We’ll follow the same pattern.”

“Mm? What pattern?”

“You uncover them. And I help you kill them.”

“What?”

“What I mean is. Whenever you think the time is perfect. Give me a call. And I’ll go with you to hunt that bastard. That way you can also benefit from SP, right?”

“… That’s a good plan…”

“Of course.”

“Well, was that all?”

“Yep. Oh! one last thing. Remember the boss monster from today? He could use Natural Energy. The same energy I use.”

“… Do you mean…”

“Maybe some monsters will be able to do the same. Heck, I’m curious if Rachel is also able to do it. After all, she can use elementals, right?”

“Right. But what about the elementals? What do they have to do with Natural Energy?”

“… Man… Elementals are basically a mass of natural energy with life… They don’t use mana. Only Natural Energy. And an elementalist doesn’t only use mana all the time, depending on the type of elementalist, they are also able to use Natural Energy thanks to a pact with an elemental. All in all, elementals are like a mix between Spirit and Natural Energy. Allowing for a contract and sharing some of its power to the one who made the contract.”

“So… How can you counter Natural Energy?”

“Well… With Natural Energy Resistance.”

“…”-He stares at me blankly. “And how do you get that?”

“You either train with Natural Energy. Or pick items that let you resist them. Actually… It’s not that hard you know? Natural Energy, at least most of the time, is basically a pure form of an elemental attribute, without any mana, but with enough strength to imitate magic power attacks.”

“What does that have to do with resisting them?”

“Easy. For you at least. Just add any setting like ‘Fire resistance’ or ‘Water resistance’. That’s the usual way to counter a Natural Energy attack. Though, it would mostly give you an antagonizing type of Natural Energy.”

“Like?”

“If you put some setting about Fire resistance, the item will be imbued with Water Natural Energy, making it able to resist any attack with Fire Natural Energy. See?”

“Oh! It isn’t that fire nullifies fire?”

“No. That doesn’t work. Unless there’s a considerable difference in power. You’ll still receive damage basically the same damage. Of course, there’re exceptions, but those are on the level of authority or an inheritance. I’ll explain that later. But to give you a little resume. A fire dragon is able to stop most fires from hurting it. That’s because most fire dragons have scales that nullify fire to the level of authority, and still being an inheritance. Something that all newborn has since birth.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“*sigh…*”

“Sorry, I won’t ask…”-Hajin while averting his eyes and putting up his hands in resignation.

“No… You know… I’ll tell you. I’ve lived through a lot of things. This? This isn’t the first time. I’ve been through a lot of worlds and learned a lot. I told you. I was once like you. Powerless. That’s why I know the importance of gaining power. But also, knowledge. Both are important. To the point when knowledge is actually considered a different type of power. Though, I’ll leave that class for later.”

“Wow… I would love to hear about those adventures…”

“Maybe one day man, but right now, we don’t have time. We have a lot of stuff to do. To finish this… I told you how can you add Natural Energy Resistance with your setting modification. But… Don’t do it yet. Wait a little bit. At least until we confirm that normal monsters have that kind of attack. If it’s only bosses, there are other ways to fight them, even more with you being a sharpshooter. So, you better use your SP to empower yourself faster. Understood?”

“Fine, fine… I still have a few things in mind, so I’m not using my SP for the moment.”

“Good.”

“Well then, shall we go?”

“You go ahead.”-I answer him while reclining in my seat and calling for the waitress. “I’m waiting for someone else. You either could wait with me or leave, whatever suits you, man.”

“I’ll leave. There’re a few things I need to think about. And maybe I’ll train outside using the same routine from morning training.”

“Great. That’s a good choice. Go then, see you later. If anything happens. Just text me.”

“Sure.”-Said Hajin as he went out.

“Mm… Well, I guess that’s all that I had to say to him… But why do I feel I forgot something?”-I started pondering while rubbing my chin.

“Hi! Can I help you with something?”-The waitress came while smiling.

“Yes! Actually, I would love to have more of the usual, and another cake… That one was really great! My congratulations to the chef!”

“Hai!!! Coming Right now!!!”-She says while going back.

“Yeah… Wait…”-I started sweating… “MY SWORD!!!!!!!!”- I screamed as I abruptly stood up from the chair with my hands in my head.