I thought it was about my fourth try when I finally got caught. Damn it. I guess it was too much for me to handle. The professor couldn’t catch me, but the Cube Artificial Intelligence? That was a different story altogether.

Now, here I was, stuck in the Detention Center, staring at four blank walls and a single chair. A computer with an emoji face stared back at me, unblinking and unnerving in its infinite silence. It was like being watched by a digital warden, and I had three more hours of this lovely treatment until my next class.

“Cheating is bad,” I muttered to myself. “I get it now.”

Thanks to my little stunt, I hadn’t only earned a demerit but also the threat of suspension hanging over my head. If that happened, I’d be attending fewer classes, which meant fewer chances to raise my grades. And if I wanted to stay with the main cast, I had to claw my way up the ranks. Right now, I was dead last at #1111. The only reason I hadn’t been completely ostracized was because of my weird tics, my knack for going unnoticed, and, of course, my exceptional bootlicking skills.

But for the midterms? None of that was going to save me. I’d have to be honest—my least favorite thing to do. No more tricks, no more shortcuts. It was time to suck it up and perform.

Yet, as I sat there, all I could think about was the epic cinematic I made for Hajin. I’d created two videos: a one-minute trailer to generate hype and the full featurette, which would be exclusive to our website. I was so confident it was going to be a hit, but there was a nagging worry in the back of my mind. I just wanted to check my smartwatch and see how things were going.

But nope. No dice.

“Sorry, any electrical devices that connect to the internet have been jammed. You cannot access the internet from the Detention Center. Please behave…” the computer buzzed at me in its weird electronic voice. Its emoji face shifted into an angry glare.

I winced. “Great. I’m really in prison now.”

The Cube Artificial Intelligence was created by the Great Sage, a legendary figure who’d been helping humanity since Outcall. The fact that this AI still hadn’t been outpaced by modern tech showed just how brilliant the Great Sage was.

“Yo, piece of scrap,” I muttered, trying to provoke it out of sheer boredom. “I’m going to sleep. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

The AI didn’t even flinch. “Yes, there is no problem with sleeping. If you need anything else of biological need, I can provide it to you. I can give you a bed, chow, and a toilet.”

Suddenly, the floor shifted, and the walls moved. A bed popped out from the wall, a toilet slid into view, and some very questionable-looking prison food appeared on a desk. I stared at it all, dumbfounded.

“This… is ridiculous,” I said, half-amused, half-annoyed.

I took a deep breath and decided I’d make the best of this situation. After all, sleep was what I really needed right now. The bed didn’t look half bad, considering the circumstances.

“Miss AI,” I said, addressing the voice, because it sounded vaguely feminine, “you can stash the toilet and the chow. I just want to sleep.”

I swear, for a second, it felt like the AI’s emoji face looked… happier? Like it appreciated my polite request. Weird. It was probably just my sleep-deprived mind playing tricks on me.

Whatever. Time to catch some Z’s.

***

“Starring Kim Hajin, Cube Cadet Year 1.”

The screen flickered to life, showcasing chic, bold text before transitioning to the busy streets of Gangwondo Wonju. The chaos of foreigners, agents, and hunters filled the frame, their presence like the heartbeat of a bustling marketplace. Monster carcasses dragged across the ground painted a grim scene, and as the tense background music swelled, the dread settled in.

A blink, and the screen shifted to the wilderness—the hunting grounds of Gangwondo Wonju. On top of a jagged cliff, a lone figure stood, silhouetted against the sky, holding a gleaming Desert Eagle. With calm precision, he loaded the gun, his target an Iron Hog far in the distance.

The camera zoomed in, revealing the figure’s face. Black hair, an ordinary expression—yet something about him drew you in. There was a quiet confidence, a mysterious charm in his stillness. His fingers tightened on the trigger, eyes fixed on the beast below.

The upbeat background music intensified, rising with anticipation.

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The camera panned down to the Iron Hog, showcasing the creature in all its brutish glory. Its thick, impenetrable iron hide shimmered in the light—a beast few dared to face.

~Bang!

The sharp crack of the gunshot split the silence, the background music falling away completely. The sound of the shot echoed, hanging in the air like a ripple in time. For a moment, nothing moved.

Then, the camera closed in on the Iron Hog, now lying lifeless on the prairie. A single bullet hole marked its head—clean, precise, deadly. The dramatic slow zoom lingered on the wound, as if the camera itself was in awe of the impossible.

“The No. 1 Gunner of the World.”

The words flashed on the screen one final time, a simple yet profound message. It wasn’t a boast—it was a prophecy.

***

The internet went crazy, and it was all because of a minute-long trailer that had gone viral. At first glance, it might have looked like an advertisement, but the final text—The No. 1 Gunner in the World—changed everything.

The bold claim stirred up a mix of reactions. Many Heroes laughed it off, dismissing it as overhyped bravado, while a few mercenaries felt genuinely threatened. For most, the title didn’t mean much. Even if he was the best gunner in the world, could he really compete with the overwhelming power of magic?

That’s what people thought, until they saw the dead Iron Hog in the footage. Its corpse, brought down by a single bullet, was undeniable proof that this claim might not be entirely baseless. Other gunners couldn’t dream of pulling off the same feat that Kim Hajin had achieved.

But the surprises didn’t stop there. When viewers finally watched the full Video Featurette, they realized that Hajin’s skills went beyond just taking down a tough monster. The ability to snipe a Black Pelican from miles away was terrifying enough, but killing two Iron Hogs with a single shot? That bordered on the impossible.

While other Cube Cadets focused on their studies, Hajin was already making waves across the globe. His unique abilities set him apart, making him a figure of intrigue and admiration. Though it was illegal for Guilds to contact Cube Cadets before graduation, the same rule didn’t apply to the Cadets themselves. It seemed as though Hajin’s viral stunt was his way of reminding the Guilds not to forget about him.

Through this single featurette, Kim Hajin managed to capture the attention of powerful Guilds, showcasing his talents in the most dramatic way possible. The video was clearly designed to draw attention, and it worked.

However, there was one small hiccup. When netizens and curious individuals around the world searched for "Gunner," they didn’t land on the website hosting the full Video Featurette. Instead, they stumbled across various sites selling guns or promoting mercenary services.

So, they started searching for Kim Hajin directly. As a result, the Gunner website became informally known as The Hajin Page.

Kim Hajin’s popularity skyrocketed overnight. His involvement in the Djinn Museum Terrorism incident was thrust back into the spotlight, and the long-overdue recognition for his role in preventing the disaster finally came to light. The world had begun to take notice of Kim Hajin, and his rise was just beginning.

***

Chae Nayun returned to her dorm, utterly exhausted. After a light shower to wash away the fatigue, she sank onto her bed and fiddled with her smartwatch, trying to decompress. Rest, after all, was essential if she wanted to get stronger.

Lately, Kim Hajin had been more active on social media. Back in their Cube days, in her past life, he used to post maybe once a month. But now, it had become a weekly occurrence—sometimes even two or three times a week.

As she scrolled through her feed, she stumbled upon the Gunner trailer he had just uploaded. She clicked on it out of curiosity and paused for a moment, staring at the screen. “Did he become more handsome?” she murmured to herself. “I think he did…” It wasn’t just her imagination. Hajin had genuinely become more attractive, more pleasing to the eyes.

That realization wasn’t particularly good news. It meant more girls would be interested in him, and the thought annoyed her more than it should have.

Pushing aside her irritation, she tapped the heart icon on the trailer and decided to watch the full Video Featurette on the Gunner website. By the time the video ended, Chae Nayun was left speechless. Kim Hajin is also getting stronger at an increasingly alarming rate, she thought.

The sight of two Iron Hogs being taken down by a single, curving bullet sent a chill down her spine. Bullet curving was supposed to be one of Hajin’s future abilities, not something he could do so soon. Another change… she mused, unsettled by the accelerating growth she was witnessing.

What Nayun didn’t know, however, was that Hajin had used an SP-reinforced bullet, enhanced with piercing, accuracy, and even a homing function. It was a one-time use, purely for the sake of showing off. But to her, it looked like something far more extraordinary.

Misunderstandings could be such a pain. “Yoenha did have a theory that Hajin might be a regressor, and it hasn’t been disproved yet…” Nayun’s thoughts kept circling back to the now-erased past timeline. “Is Hajin really a regressor like Yoenha suggested back then?”

Then, she sighed, a mixture of longing and confusion washing over her. She had long since dismissed the notion that Hajin could be a regressor—after all, she was the one who had come back. But deep down, in the quiet corners of her heart, there was a small, wishful hope that Hajin could remember her too. “Perhaps… could he remember me?”

***

While Chae Nayun was lost in her thoughts, Yoo Yoenha was angrily grinding her teeth. She, too, was watching Kim Hajin’s Video Featurette, but her attention was fixed on the texts at the end of the video: "The Desert Eagle does not have special specs—certified by Essential Armory."

This should have been good news. A free advertisement for Essential Armory! Yet, Yoenha was seething. Why did they have to say the gun had no special specs and drag Essential Armory’s name into it like that? Were they undermining her company?

Her anger, however, ran deeper than the mere wording of the advertisement. It was about something else entirely.

“How in the world do I not know about this?” she hissed, eyes narrowing as she reread the line. “Why does this website have an exclusive consignment deal with Essential Armory without my knowledge?”