“Yo. Kim Suho, why’d you call me?”

Inside the dark forest where Kim Suho and Hajin previously met, Kim Suho was standing there with a serious face, different from the normal gentleness that could be found before.

“...” At Hajin’s question, he just turned and looked at him for a moment with heavy eyes.

After some time in silence, he let out a deep sigh.

“Do you remember what you said last time...?” Suho said in a really serious tone.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Hajin nodded. “What about it?”

“Just like you said… I recently found a Dungeon.”

“...” Hajin just smiled, waiting for him to continue.

“It must have been formed recently since it’s small. So I was thinking about challenging it alone-”

“But it’s still a Dungeon.” Kim Hajin interrupted him while crossing his arms leisurely. “It’s a big risk to try and conquer it alone.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing...” Kim Suho nodded calmly before taking off his jacket and throwing it down. “But if I’m going to trust my back to you, I’ll need to verify your skills.”

“Huh?” Hearing Kim Suho’s murmuring in a low voice while staring at him, Kim Hajin was taken aback.

“I know the exact location of the Dungeon. So it’s okay if I determine whether you will be a help or a burden, right?”

“Right… Kuhum.” Hajin’s arms started to tremble slightly.

He knew that he was no opponent to Kim Suho, even if the latter were to be blinded and one-handed. To add more to it, Suho was a swordsman, while Hajin was a sharpshooter.

“You’re right.” Kim Hajin nodded. “But there’s one thing you haven’t considered.”

“What’s that…?” Kim Suho frowned in confusion.

“It’s not fair for a sharpshooter and a warrior to fight one-on-one in an open field. Plus, I’m a bit reliant on my weapon. Depending on the type of gun, the difference in my attack power will be like the difference between heaven and earth...”

“You don’t have to beat me.” Kim Suho quickly said, interrupting him. “And the weapon doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to test your weapon’s power.”

“Really...?” Hajin asked, taken aback at how things were turning.

“Yeah.” Suho nodded. “I’ll stop when I’m satisfied.”

Kim Suho started to take out his sword, which was a simple wooden sword for sparring. But even if it was a wooden sword, it wouldn’t make any difference with Kim Suho’s power.

His Magic Power was something that was on a different level than any other of the cadets, it could cut everything, including anti-magic.

Meanwhile, Kim Hajin started to think of a way to get out of this. And he suddenly got a great idea.

“Oh right...” Hajin nodded. “I forgot to bring my gun...”

“What’s that on your waist...?” Kim Suho asked while tilting his head.

Turning to look at his waist, Kim Hajin found his cadet gun.

“Oh… I forgot that I brought it...” He muttered while taking out his gun. “But will it be okay? Unlike a wooden sword, I won’t be able to control my gun’s strength.”

“It’s fine.” Kim Suho said.

“Also...” Hajin nodded. “Just so you know, this isn’t my real weapon. I’m using this since we’re prohibited from carrying personal weapons in Cube, but...”

While he talked, Hajin checked around him, looking for something that could help him get out of this situation.

And it was then that he found a jacket lying on the ground. Kim Suho’s jacket.

{Perfect.}

“Are you done?” Kim Suho asked as Hajin was looking at the ground.

“Hold on, someone sent me a message.” Kim Hajin said as he turned on his smartwatch and started to modify Kim Suho’s jacket with his authority.

[Cadet Jacket]

[A jacket created by Cube]

[Trap Transformation]

[When someone steps on this jacket, an unknown force will strongly push the person off. This effect lasts for 10 minutes and will disappear after one activation.]

After writing for 2 minutes and consuming 25 SP, the trap jacket was ready to be used.

“I’m ready.” Kim Hajin said as he turned off his smartwatch and looked at Kim Suho.

“Then, let’s start.” Kim Suho said with a nod.

“Yeah...” Kim Hajin nodded while looking at the man standing in front of him. He felt immense pressure from the one that was destined to become this world’s strongest character.

In a moment, Kim Suho charged towards Kim Hajin with a speed that was hard for him to follow.

As Kim Suho came closer to him, Kim Hajin used bullet time, slowing time down. He looked at the incoming wooden sword and the trap jacket, before ducking down.

Four steps to reach the jacket.

Kim Suho’s wooden sword swung past Hajin’s eyes, while the latter took the chance to shoot at Suho’s feet.

Jumping slightly to evade the bullet, Kim Suho made a backward slash which grazed Hajin’s shoulder, slightly burning him.

Holding the pain, Hajin moved two steps, but Suho’s sword quickly soared towards him with immense speed.

{Damn...} Not having any other choice, Hajin used Aether, which shot from his feet and pushed him to the side, evading Kim Suho’s sword and putting him only a step further from the jacket.

Kim Suho got surprised at Hajin evading his attack, but he still followed him, not giving him a chance to rest.

Hajin looked at Kim Suho’s amazing drill charge with his sword, which was pointed towards his shoulder.

But before he could strike, his right foot stepped on the jacket.

“!” His eyes opened wide when an unknown force pushed him back.

Thanks to him being in the middle of a charge, his center of gravity was pushed forward, and as he got caught off guard, he couldn’t make a proper landing, falling and rolling on the ground for another fifty meters.

Kim Suho tried to quickly stand up, but before he could make it, a bullet struck a rock that was next to his head.

“In a real fight, that wouldn’t have missed.” Kim Hajin said while walking towards Kim Suho.

Right now, Kim Suho had a blank, soulless face. As if he couldn’t believe what just happened.

Smiling, Kim Hajin reached out to him with his hand.

“...” Looking up, Kim Suho also smiled, before grabbing the hand and standing up.

***

Getting out of Cube’s Portal Station, Yoo Yeonha and Cristopher started walking towards their respective dorms.

“So...” Going back to Cube from the orphanage, Yoo Yeonha was walking a few steps behind me, until she decided to speak for some reason. “Do you go there all the time?”

{What the hell does she want now?} I furrowed my brows, before shrugging.

“I guess.”

“...” She nodded at my answer.

We kept walking in complete silence, until she, once again, talked again.

“May I know… Why are you training those kids?” She asked, looking at my back.

I stopped and turned to look at her with a frown, after which she looked down, color slowly leaving her face.

“...” I looked at her for a couple of seconds.

“I-I’m sorr-” She tried to apologize, not looking at my eyes, but I interrupted her.

“*Sigh…* What’s your interest all of a sudden? Mm?” I tilted my head. “I really doubt all of this is because of some supposed debt you have with me.”

“...” She didn’t answer.

“Well? I’m waiting. What is it that you’re looking for?” I crossed my arms. “Mm… Let me guess. Do you want me to enter your guild once I graduate?”

“!” She flinched at my question and averted her eyes.

“So it was that huh...” I crossed my arms. “You should stop already. I’ll tell you this right now, I’m not going to join Essence of the Strait.”

“...” Yoo Yeonha finally raised her head and looked at me. “Why? Is my Guild not enough? Is it because… Rachel?”

“Mm?” At her strange question, I tilted my head while frowning. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re going to enter the English Royal Court, right? Because of-”

“Ok, stop there.” I interrupted her weird train of thoughts. “First of all, whatever reason I may have for not joining your Guild, it’s my problem. But seeing as you helped Locket of Hope, I’ll give you a piece of information. I’m not planning on joining any Guild. Neither yours nor the English Royal Court or whatever other Guild out there.”

“...” Here eyes opened wide. “Why? Isn’t that the goal of everyone attending Cube…?”

“I don’t care about what other people’s goals are.” I shrugged. “What I want to do. What I HAVE to do, isn’t something I can do while being inside a Guild. Also, I love my freedom.”

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“...” Yoo Yeonha looked down for a moment, before staring back at me again. “I can help you.”

“Mm…?” I raised my eyebrow.

“I don’t know what your goal is, but I can help you. I have connections, money, and political power. It doesn’t matter what your goal is, I can help you.”

Her voice carried a powerful determination.

“...” I just looked at her, not answering.

“...” She frowned. “Is it… Because of your daughter?”

{What…?}

“...” I frowned while I uncrossed my arms. “What did you say?”

“I know.” She looked straight at my eyes, not even blinking. “You have a daughter, I heard Hazuki and some other girl talking about it.”

{Really, why can’t people just shut up? It’s not even their damn business.}

“Coming to Essence of the Strait is the best way for you to take care of her…”

“That’s for me to decide.” I said, before turning away from her and walking.

“People will find out about her sooner or later!” She hurriedly said.

I quickly disappeared from where I was standing, reappearing right behind her, with my sword barely inches away from her neck.

“!” She flinched and paled at the feeling of the blade so close to her neck.

With her body trembling from fear, sweat started to fall along her neck.

“Do you really dare to threaten me?” I whispered to her, making her pale even more.

“I-I-I’m… I’m not th-threatening y-you…!” She barely answered, her voice almost inaudible.

“...” My sword touched her neck, petrifying her from the fear. “Really? Because I could swear that you threatened me to tell people about her.”

“I-I-I’m not...” She tried to answer, but the fear didn’t let her.

“I’ll give you some advice.” I whispered to her ear. “Never. NEVER. Threaten me again with my daughter. Or I’ll make sure that’s the last thing you’ll ever do.”

I slowly retracted the sword, keeping it in its scabbard.

“Understood?” I asked her after I stepped back.

“...” She didn’t answer and just nodded.

“Great. Because I'd hate to kill you.” I said as I walked past her, stopping right in front of her. “It may not look like it. But I like you. You remind me of someone I once knew, she also was a hard worker. Doing whatever she could to achieve her goals.”

She didn’t look at me, her body trembling on the spot.

I looked at her for a while, before sighing.

“Look...” I said as I scratched the back of my head. “I’m sorry.”

Hearing my words, she slowly looked up.

“Something happened recently. And I’m a little bit irascible, so I may have overreacted to what you said.”

“...” She just looked at me with her pale face.

“So, yeah… I’m sorry about that.” I turned away and started to walk away towards the dorms. But just as I took a couple of steps, a voice reached me and made me stop.

“I won’t say anything…”

It was almost like a whisper, barely audible.

“...”

“Also...” She continued. “I already talked to Hazuki and that other girl… Rumors won’t spread...”

“...” I nodded. “Thanks. It seems I owe you one. If someday you need help with something, give me a call.”

Her eyes went wide at my words before she bitted her lower lip. Confusion painted all over her face.

Not waiting to hear her answer, I just walked away.

***

After his fight with Kim Hajin, Kim Suho walked through Cube’s streets towards the dormitories.

A faint smile was present on his face.

{Hajin… Cristopher… And I thought I would be the only one hiding my powers...} Suho thought for a moment.

He has never shown his true power, that was something he only kept for himself and for moments where it would be really necessary.

He thought that he was the only one doing so, but time has shown him how mistaken he was.

Turns out there were two more students that were doing the same.

Abnormal strength was something that would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention.

{Though Cristopher isn’t exactly hiding that well...} Hajin kept walking with an awkward smile, at least until he heard the sound of a sword cutting through the wind, accompanied by a small shouting sound.

He quickly walked towards the direction of the sound, only to find Chae Nayun training in the park that was near the dorms.

“Hm...?” He went towards her. “What are you doing?”

“Hyak!” Scared by the sudden voice, Chae Nayun swung her sword, which left her hands and flew towards one of the dorm's windows.

Being in Cube, the windows were sturdy enough to stop the impact of the sword without breaking. Though the cadet inside did wake up from the sound.

“Wh-What!?” Chae Nayun turned to look at Kim Suho in surprise.

“Why are you so surprised?” He asked with an awkward smile.

“...”

Instead of answering his question, she just glared at him for the scare she just got.

“Were you doing sword practice?” Noticing that she wasn’t going to answer, he just kept going.

“...” She quickly averted her eyes. “Just doing stamina training...”

Using her Magic Power, Chae Nayun called her sword back, which flew back to her hand.

She dusted off the dirt from her sword before pointing it towards Kim Suho.

“Where are you coming from?”

“Me? I met with Kim Hajin.”

“Kim Hajin?” Her eyes opened wide at his unexpected answer.

“Yep.”

“What for...?” Chae Nayun said as she tucked her hair behind her ears, looking away with an apparently calm face.

“...” While looking at her trying to act unconcerned. Kim Suho had a mischievous thought. “We were talking about you.”

“W-Wha-What? B-Bulshit!”

She reacted strongly at his provocation, at the same time that her face went red all the way to her ears.

Kim Suho just laughed while shaking his head at her reaction, her body unable to stay still as she fidgeted with her hands and feet.

“It was a joke.” Suho finally shrugged his shoulders. “We sparred.”

“Sparred…? You and Kim Hajin?” Chae Nayun asked as she frowned while tilting her head.

“Yeah.”

“Who won? No, you must have won. But why?”

“You don’t need to know that...” He answered with a smile.

Looking at his smiling face for a moment, Chae Nayun frowned. She then turned away from him and started to train with her sword once again.

Move after move, her sword swung down multiple times. The wind whistled loudly from the strength behind each one of her swings.

“Ha...” Looking at the brutish swings of Chae Nayun, Kim Suho decided to step in. “You can’t hold a sword like that.”

“What...?”

“If you put that much strength into your grip, you won’t be able to cut what you should be able to.”

As he explained, Kim Suho took out his wooden sword and started to demonstrate it to her. He held the sword lightly enough for him to change his grip at any given moment, and still firm enough so he didn’t lose his grip while swinging it.

With a swing of his sword, Kim Suho drew a clear trajectory with his sword, which created a current of wind that flew towards Chae Nayun’s hair before dissipating.

Looking at his demonstration, Chae Nayun uninterested disappeared completely, before she tried to imitate his grip on the sword.

“Like, like this...?” She asked as she tried to imitate what she just saw.

Like that, Kim Suho’s lesson started and didn’t finish until it was already past midnight.

***

Deep in the night, Chae Nayun was currently laying on her bed, thinking about the incoming group project.

“Am I going to lose again…?” She muttered while looking at her ceiling.

She just finished talking with Hazuki, her teammate and the vice-leader of her team.

Chae Nayun was preoccupied with not being able to bring Kim Hajin to her team, she just waited too long to ask, and once she finally decided to do it, there wasn’t much to do. He already had a team.

{With Rachel...} She thought before sighing.

Since the last semester, Rachel has been growing at an amazing speed, which resulted in Chae Nayun’s loss during the mid-terms and even her incapability to surpass her during the final exam.

“And those two now made a team...” She furrowed her brows before suddenly grabbing and screaming into it. “ARGH!”

She just couldn’t tolerate it.

It didn’t make any sense to her. Just what was happening? How was it that Rachel suddenly became so strong?

“And that bastard… Doesn’t he like me? Why would he suddenly go and join my enemy’s team!”

Desperate, Chae Nayun grabbed a helmet that was laying beside her bed.

It was a gaming console for VR games. It was the only way for her to relieve stress at this hour.

She put the helmet on and started the recent game she has been playing.

[Gladiator of the Century]

It was a really famous virtual reality game, to the point that it had a competitive scene that was frequently broadcasted even on public channels.

Its popularity came from the fact that it was an excellent tool for image training, thanks to its realistic combat, which was why many heroes, mercenaries, and hunters like to use it to train combat techniques in a safe environment.

[Nayunjajangman]

[98 wins - 17 losses]

She smiled at her profile’s winning rate. She played this game frequently, trying to hone her skills with the sword, even if it was only her doing some imagine training, and she found that she was quite good at it, turning it into a good way to destress herself.

Looking for someone to play against in an unranked match, she scrolled through the list of players, until she found someone that looked suitable.

The player’s nickname was Extra7 and he was in the platinum league with an even score of 43 wins and 43 losses.

“Hm.” She looked at the nickname and thought that it would be an easy victory.

[You asked Extra7 for a duel.]

[Extra7 has accepted your duel.]

“Oho… This guy’s quite bold.” She smiled while looking at the acceptance message she received less than a couple of seconds after she asked for the duel.

The scenery changed, she was currently immersed in a virtual reality coliseum. The thing that most attracted heroes and mercenaries to this game was that it didn’t have items or skills.

Players could only depend on their reflexes, battle sense, and superior control to overpower their opponent. Though they could, of course, pick any weapon of their choice.

[Start!]

The game started, and in Chae Nayun’s mind, her next actions played in sequence. She wanted to first play slow and test the water, before attacking him.

But things didn’t go as she planned, and the opponent quickly ran up to her, and before she could react, she was already flying up from one of his strikes, which was quickly followed by multiple consecutive hits.

“Eh? Wh-What!? A-Ah!”

Her vision turned red even before she could actually process what was happening. After being blasted away by a final hit, she fell to the ground.

She stood up and looked towards her opponent, who finally gave her a chance to breathe. At this point, she decided to take things seriously.

[Defeat]

But her HP was already really low, which meant that she was finally defeated after three minutes of trying to defend against the onslaught of attacks.

“Argh! This piece of crap!” She shouted while violently waving her arms on her bed.

Meanwhile, in another dorm, someone else enjoyed his time playing the same game.

[Victory]

Kim Hajin looked at the message that appeared in front of him.

He has been playing Gladiator of the Century as a way for him to keep testing his Gift Random Consolidation System.

As a result, right now the helmet used to play had a number 37 engraved on its surface.

His Gift consolidated the ‘concept’ of the item in question, and it made miracles even with this gaming device.

“I won several times in a row…”

After his first victory against Nayunjajangman, the guy started to send him rematch requests until he ended up winning seven times in a row. Against someone with an impressive winning rate of 98-to-17.

[Nayunjajangman requests a rematch]

[Nayunjajangman requests a rematch]

[Nayunjajangman requests a rematch]

“This kid sure is tenacious...” Hajin muttered while looking at the announcements that kept coming. “Well, too bad for you. I have to sleep now.”

He turned off the helmet and took it off.

“Yummy… So yummy...”

Just as he took off his helmet, a murmur reached his ears. It was Evandel, who was currently eating from a cake he had brought earlier.

“Mmm...” She kept munching on the cake, which only had half of it remaining.

“...” Looking at her, Kim Hajin decided to stand up and walk towards her, after which he just took the cake from her.

“Ah! Aaaahn! W-What ish it!?” She asked, trying to reach for the cake on Hajin hands while munching on a piece of it.

“Let’s leave the rest for later.”

“Wh-Why? Why!?” She shouted as she jumped, trying to reach for the cake.

“It’s not good for your health.” He said as he put the cake over the fridge.

“...” She frowned at him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I want more!”

She let out a strong and determined shout.

“Shh.” Hajin put his finger in front of his mouth. “You should only eat a little snack after meals. Also, you can’t be that loud at night.”

“...” She just looked at him with a frown, though she finally quieted down.

Her face trembled slightly, while she closed her fists strongly. Looking at her, Hajin just sighed and picked her up.

“Tomorrow.” He finally said while leading her to the bed. “You can eat the rest of it tomorrow. Okay?”

“Really…?” She said as the frown finally left her face.

“Of course.” Hajin said as he stroked her head softly. “Have you seen me not keep a promise?”

Evandel was finally appeased, and after she rested on the bed, it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep.

After he glanced at her sleeping figure, he finally noticed a message that had come from Kim Suho a couple of hours ago.

[Kim Suho: Second week of August, Friday. Let’s meet then.]

As he looked at the message, he let out a sigh. He did it. Now he just had to wait.