Inside Suwon Devil’s Nest, Kim Hajin and Kim Suho traversed through the cavernous path of the hidden stage.

The place was full of monsters, albeit weaker ones, which Hajin easily took care of with his Desert Eagle.

“Oh!” Kim Suho let out a surprised voice when the heads of 6 ghouls blew up after being impacted by Hajin’s bullets. “Should I say as expected?”

Hajin smiled awkwardly while looking at the collapsed corpses of the ghouls that were slowly becoming light.

“Let’s hurry. We don’t have time.” He said after he confirmed the kill, urging Kim Suho.

They both kept running towards the boss room, not stopping for any monster, as Hajin easily dispatched them with his Desert Eagle.

After running for a while, killing any zombie, ghoul, or even ghost that appeared in front of them, they finally reached a giant stone.

The wall, which looked like a dead-end, had some kind of writing on it. An ancient language that appeared in every Dungeon.

Thankfully, it was possible to translate this language thanks to modern technology, and that’s how Kim Suho originally did in the novel.

Turning on his smartwatch, Kim Hajin scanned the symbols and started to translate them.

[‘This’ and ‘That’ always accompany each other.]

[Observed from a close distance, ‘This’ and ‘That’ feel simultaneous.]

[But from afar, ‘This’ comes before ‘That’.]

[What is ‘This’?]

“Ah… It must be a riddle.” Kim Suho said as he read the translation from Kim Hajin’s smartwatch. “I heard there are Dungeons like this.”

“Lightning.” Hajin muttered.

Being the Dungeon where Suho obtains his main weapon, he worked on it, and knew the answer to this riddle, even if he made it half-heartedly.

At his answer, the wall started to tremble, the symbols shined with a bright light and soon disappeared into particles of light. The trembling intensified, and soon the wall sunk underground and gave way to a new path.

“What?” Suho titled his head. “The answer was lightning?”

“Yeah.” Hajin shrugged.

“How did you figure that out so fast? Wow… You really are a genius.” Suho said with a surprised face.

“I’ll tell you how I found out later. For now, let’s clear the Dungeon before anyone else arrives.” Hajin said as he pushed Suho towards the recently opened path.

Inadvertent to them, someone else was watching all of this happen.

From an inconspicuous shadow on the floor, a black human-resembling figure slowly raised from the ground, transforming into a beautiful black-haired woman with drowsy eyes and pale skin.

“...” Boss watched as the cadets walked into the path leading towards the boss room.

Decisiveness, drive, boldness, and even intelligence. In just 10 minutes Hajin has come this far into the Dungeon, it was a surprising feat even if it was a mere hidden stage, it wasn’t something just anyone could do.

“Truly extraordinary...” Boss muttered subconsciously.

Those were the exact same words someone else told her before.

{What did Master see in me to say that…?} She suddenly wondered before letting out a deep sigh.

She was sure now. Kim Hajin was the cadet she was looking for. She had to recruit him.

But before that, there was something else he had to prove.

“Argh, it’s a maze.” Someone’s voice came from far behind her. “Why is a hidden stage so complicated?”

Boss turned around.

“Quiet.” Another voice spoke to the complaining man.

A smile appeared on Boss’s face.

Hajin didn’t know they were Djinns. It was a perfect coincidence, and she was going to make use of that.

Her body once again liquified, fusing with the darkness of the cave.

***

Finally walking all the way into the Dungeon, Hajin and Suho found the boss room.

An empty cave with a throne made of stone rooted in the middle of it. Someone sat on the throne, leaning back, eyes filled with boredom.

Completely covered with black armor, the Swordmaster of Destruction stared down at them with slumbering eyes.

His eyes scanned the two intruders before they suddenly shined in a ghastly blue light as they met Kim Suho’s eyes.

[What an interesting kid...] A voice could be heard from the monster.

The chilling sound resounded all around the cave. Kim Suho’s face froze at that moment. A monster that could speak wasn’t something common, not at all. It was something only those of (High) Intermediate rank and above could do, and even then, it was extremely rare and only reserved for humanoid monsters.

{Cristopher said that most of the monsters he has faced in the Dungeons were able to speak… Just what kind of Dungeons does that guy go to…} Hajin thought for a moment. Being the first time he encountered this kind of monster.

Still nervous. Kim Suho took out his sword, while Hajin just looked at him.

The words from his novel suddenly came to his mind. The exact moment Kim Suho stood in front of the Swordsman of Destruction, the thoughts, and feelings he had at the time.

“There should be no reason for you to lose.” Hajin said with a smile.

“!” Startled, Kim Suho turned to look at him.

“His real body is his sword.” Hajin said as he nodded towards the sword in the hands of the Swordsman of Destruction.

“Sword…” Suho looked at it.

A crimson sword qi was currently surrounding the black blade of the boss sword.

Originally, in the novel, Kim Suho would discover this as he fought with the monster, but Hajin was not going to let things happen like that.

“The voice just now came from that sword.” He said.

At his words, the Swordsman of Destruction raised his sword and the blade vibrated.

[Come… It’s been a long time since I obtained a new body.] The voice of the sword once again resonated inside the otherwise empty cave.

Kim Suho stepped up while Hajin took out his Desert Eagle.

“You don’t need to attack his body.” Kim Hajin said in a serious tone. “Just hit the sword. I’ll support you from the back.”

“I trust you...” Kim Suho said as the Magic Power of the Sword Saint rose from his sword, a High-ranked sword he took loans to buy.

The Swordsman of Destruction rushed towards Kim Suho and slashed down at him, while Kim Suho raised his own sword to block it and Kim Hajin jumped back to win distance.

KWANG!

The sound of swords clashing ran through the cave each time the Swordsman of Destruction slashed down at Kim Suho’s sword, trying its best to break it.

Though he failed to do so. Even if Suho’s sword would normally be broken already, his Sword Saint Magic Power protected it and stopped it from breaking.

Meanwhile, Hajin raised his gun and took aim.

While he would get more power with the shotgun or the sniper rifle mode, the circumstances weren’t good for that, so he had to go with the handgun mode.

As he looked at the fast-paced fight, Hajin waited for the perfect moment to attack.

And just as the blade of the Swordsman of Destruction clashed against Suho’s blade in a stalemate of strength, the specially made light bullet shot out of Hajin’s Desert Eagle and flew straight to the side of the blade.

A gentle coating of reddish-gold energy covered the white bullet, leaving a trail of blinding white light as it flew like a comet.

In an instant, the bullet made contact with the side of the blade, and the previously gentle energy that coated the bullet burst into a thunderous roar that blasted away part of the crimson sword qi that covered the blade of the Swordsman of Destruction with a mix of white and reddish-gold light.

Frozen in place for an instant, the monster tried to retract his sword, but contrary to his intention, a current of electricity flowed through the body of the blade and extended all the way to the undead handling the sword. Stopping him from moving or even recovering the sword qi it lost from that attack.

With a perfect opportunity in front. Kim Suho moved, golden sword qi covering his sword like a tornado. He unleashed a barrage of slashes against the sword, focusing on the part where the crimson sword qi had weakened.

Attack after attack, Kim Suho took advantage and stopped his opponent from counterattacking, even after recovering its mobility.

With each slash, cracks appeared on the sword, and the body of the undead slowly crumbled, even when the one being attacked was the sword.

“HUAAAP!” Not even 10 seconds passed when Kim Suho increased the amount of golden sword qi on his sword and with an invigorating shout he slashed one last time towards the Swordsman of Destruction.

The blade shattered on the point where the bullet impacted, and with it, the undead’s body finally crumbled in pieces before both turned into dust, including the armor worn by the monster.

“Eh…?” Kim Suho was dumbfounded. “W-What’s this…?”

In the place where the body of the monster turned to dust, just the branch of a tree remained.

He turned to look around, searching for anything else just in case he was missing something. But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find any other reward, not a weapon, and not even an armor or another type of item.

“This is it…?” He looked at the branch, completely dumbstruck.

Letting out a deep sigh, Kim Suho fell on the ground, right in front of the branch.

As he looked at him, Kim Hajin got close.

“Hey, this branch is-”

“Who are you?”

Just as he was going to explain that the branch was Misteltein, a deep voice interrupted him, coming from the entrance to the boss room.

Hajin quickly turned around to look for the owner of the voice.

“Shoot...” He muttered while biting his lip.

In front of them, there were the two Djinns that were part of Packhorse Master.

{Weren’t they going back? How are they here so quickly?} He thought as he looked at them.

One was holding a greatsword, while the other was holding a big double-edged ax that looked as tall as him.

Kim Suho, tired from the previous fight, stayed there, sitting on the ground while catching his breath. He was looking at the newcomers warily.

“Oy.” The one with the ax, a bald guy, spoke with a scowl. “We just asked who you were. How did you get here?”

He was going to walk closer, but the caucasian guy who wielded the greatsword stopped him and then turned to us.

“Our Packhorse Master guild put in an official declaration to take this Dungeon. Who are you guys?”

“Ah…? Is that so?” Hajin smiled awkwardly as he stepped forward, pretending to answer while he secretly kicked the branch to the corner of the cave. “We didn’t know. There was another pathway in here. That’s where we came from.”

“Another pathway?”

“Yes.”

“...” The caucasian stiffened for a moment, before he took a look behind Hajin. “What did you do here?”

“We hunted a monster.” Hajin answered as he scratched the back of his head.

“And the reward?”

“As you can see...” Hajin then raised his hands and showed around him. “There was nothing...”

“Wait.” The baldy then interrupted and whispered to the other guy, nodding towards Kim Suho. “Isn’t that... Kim Suho? You know? The one that was ranked first in Cube last semester.”

“Hm...” The caucasian nodded before turning on his smartwatch. “Yes, this is James. Yes, something came up. There are two Cube cadets here. One of them is-”

Before he could finish giving the report, a cold voice interrupted him.

[Kill them.]

A chill went up Hajin’s back when he heard the voice coming from the smartwatch.

“...Are you sure?” The caucasian man asked again.

[Kill them.]

After receiving the same answer twice. The caucasian nodded while gripping his greatsword, while the baldy just grinned as he held up his ax.

“Blame your curiosity...” The caucasian muttered, and the surroundings changed.

An enormous tide of darkness shot up between Hajin and Kim Suho, swallowing Suho and the caucasian guy in an isolation barrier, while another barrier swallowed Hajin and the baldy.

“Haha...” The baldy spoke, standing in front of Hajin. “Big bro always leaves me with the boring work.”

Hajin looked at the ax-wielding man and noticed the two golden axes engraved on the chest area of his armor.

{Intermediate Rank.} Hajin thought.

That engraving was a way for Heroes to show their rank and grade, the two golden weapons meant that he was an Intermediate Rank, while at the same time, signifying that he was a grade 9 Intermediate Rank Hero, noting that the golden axes were alone with no other engravings.

“Why is an Intermediate Rank Hero doing something like this to a cadet?” Hajin asked.

The baldy just smiled at him and started to collect his Magic Power silently. The space around his ax started to heat up as Magic Power rose up around it.

A cold sweat started to run down Hajin’s spine.

{I can’t win in a direct confrontation...} He thought, scanning his surroundings. But he was trapped.

It was then that an idea popped up in Hajin’s head. He looked at the baldy and noticed that his barbaric looks were the perfect description of a belligerent, prideful, and reckless character.

It was the look of a typical cliché character. The kind of guys that looked down on others and that usually appeared multiple times in a novel.

Hajin let out a sigh almost subconsciously before he bent down and feigned to pick up a rock, a rock molded by 95% of Aether. The remaining 5% was turned into a thin, invisible thread that was attached to the rock.

“Scan...” He muttered in a low voice, giving an awkward smile inside.

The result was 33%, not bad, but not the greatest.

{Well, this will be enough.} He thought with a sigh.

“What are you going to do with that?” The baldy finally said as he looked at the rock in Hajin’s hand.

After a little consideration, Hajin spoke.

“I just thought this would be enough...” He said with a smirk.

The veins on the bald head popped up in anger. It was a bet, and now it was time to see if it resulted.

“Where’s your confidence coming from?” The baldy answered with a scowl as he searched around looking for any hidden weapon or trap, but there wasn’t anything like that.

There wasn’t even Magic Power moving around me.

It worked.

“You little brat...” The guy frowned as he talked to Hajin condescendingly, looking at how the latter fiddled with the rock on his hand. Even then, the baldy didn’t move. He stood still with his ax held up.

“I’m gonna throw this.” Hajin said as he took the chance given.

With all his strength, Hajin threw the rock, which flew quickly and accurately.

But just as it was about to reach the baldy’s head, the barbaric-looking guy grinned and tilted his head, letting the seemingly normal rock fly past him.

{Got you.} Hajin, still calm and collected, took the chance of the baldy dropping his guard.

Two streaks of Stigma’s Magic Power flowed into the invisible thread of Aether that connected his wrist to the rock.

The baldy's eyes opened wide and his smile faded at the sudden outburst of Magic Power, trying to put up his qi reinforcement, but before he could do it, Hajin had already yanked the thread back with all his strength.

Like lightning, the rock that had flown past him suddenly came back with a power incomparable to before.

A dull sound resonated inside the isolation barrier, followed by the characteristic sound of something cracking.

Life left the eyes of the baldy as he fell forwards.

Another dull sound resonated inside the barrier as the big, burly body of the barbaric-looking man fell flat on the ground. Blood flowing from the back of his head, body twitching and slightly convulsing.

Without wasting time, Hajin took out his Desert Eagle and shot twice towards the baldy’s head, bursting the injury made by Aether even more, and turning the Djinn into dust.

Only then, Hajin let out a deep sigh as he fell on the floor, completely exhausted.

{Fuck… If it wasn’t for Cristopher, I would be dead right now...} He thought as he let out another sigh.

He then recollected Aether and looked at it with an awkward smile.

{You saved me…}

[Aether – Awakened / Enhanced]

[A corporeal, but formless, weapon. Adheres to its master or their weapon, reinforcing its strength. A portion of its potential was awakened through a mystical elemental’s power, and was further evolved and enhanced by an imposing will.]

[Mystic – Formless. Evolving.]

[- Master Selection (enhanced): will not adhere to another being once its master is chosen and will protect its owner with all its might.

- Physical Body Reinforcement (enhanced): increases all variable stats of its owner by 1.2 points.

- Weapon Reinforcement (enhanced): adheres to its master’s weapon and strengthens the weapon’s attack power and amplifies its properties. Aether itself can also form a weapon. (Current weapon-form Aether rank – ‘Treasured Rank’).

- Detail Materialization: Aether can manifest color and texture (cannot be too complex).

- Transcendence: helps its owner to transcend his limits and grow further than what's originally possible. All of the above functions evolve alongside Aether's owner. Depending on the state of Aether’s awakening and the chosen path of the owner, other functions and abilities can develop.

- Aspect of the Tree of Life: Aether's now imbued with the powerful energy of nature, increasing its owner's vitality and defenses and amplifying his powers.

- Breath of Eldrun: Eldrun's breath commands over nature, increasing Aether's owner's defenses against elements, also improving his growth rate and granting Rejuvenescence.

- Rejuvenescence: grants minor regeneration and slightly increases the lifespan. It also increases your stamina and fatigue recovery.]

{This is too overpowered now...} Hajin chuckled as he stood up, color returning to his face.

He then stretched, but just as he was about to look for a way out of the isolation barrier, someone else entered it.

The silhouette of a woman rose up from the shadows, and Boss of Chameleon Troup stood right beside the place where the baldy turned to dust moments ago.

Hajin stared at her with dumbfounded eyes.

“*Kuhum* Nice to meet you.” She spoke after a little while before she looked at the place where the baldy died with a slightly surprised face. “I must admit… I didn’t expect you to be able to kill that guy.”

“...Huh?”

“I was going to move after seeing what you did, but I guess it wasn’t necessary...” She spoke as she turned to look at Hajin.

“...” Hajin stared at her for a moment, before he finally spoke. “We’re running into each other rather often, huh.”

“Of course.” Boss answered without hesitation. “Because I was watching over you.”

“What...?”

Boss approached him calmly, her steps not making any sound. She extended her hand and gave him a business card.

It wasn’t Li Xiaopoeng’s business card.

[Jeronimo Mercenary - Yi Saeyeon]

This time it was Jeronimo Mercenary’s business card.

Hajin’s eyes went wide went he saw the business card.

Jeronimo Mercenary, a mercenary group second only to The Vast Expanse. And most importantly, Chameleon Troupe’s facade. In truth, Jeronimo Mercenary was Chameleon Troupe.

“Jeronimo…?” Hajin muttered subconsciously.

In his mind, a scene from his novel playing out. The moment where Boss appeared in front of Shin Jonghak, saying the same words she said right now to him, and also giving him Jeronimo’s business card.

It was the moment where Shin Jonghak was officially invited to join Chameleon Troupe.