ã€ŠThe Author is an Extra, The MC is a Reincarnatorã€‹


 Chapter 1 Creating An Extra

    ''I want to make my Main Character suffer through all kinds of trials.''

    Sometimes such thoughts would pass through my mind.

    I wanted to make the main character of my novel go through despair.

    Writing an Overpowered Main Character was boring, so I wanted to make my main character depressed.

    I shared my thoughts with the readers.

    They loved it.

    So I wrote my main character as a gloomy guy. A gloomy but handsome guy.

    It made the reader anticipate what my main character did next.

    They wanted to see what kind of despair he would experience in his quest to save the world.

    How would he strive to stay sane as the main character in a world full of monsters, dungeons, and more importantly, a system?

    The answer was¡­ nothing.

    He couldn''t do anything.

    "Huahahaha, more! I want to make him fall deeper! Fall into despair, Zaiden!" A crazyugh echoed in a small room of an apartment.

    Theugh was filled with madness.

    Tack tack tack tack!

    A ticky sound of a keyboard being pressed repeatedly apanied the crazedugh.

    "Hahaha, what should I add next? I had written the locations of the hidden items, hidden dungeons, and even the tower that will appear in the future."

    The man who let out such a crazedugh while muttering to himself was me.

    "Hmm, the organization that opposed the protagonist is too weak. I should add an extra character to make it bnced." I leaned against my chair as I stroked my beardless chin while looking at the two monitors of myputer.

    I was troubled thinking about what I should do to make my MC feel despair.

    Adding a character before the end of the story seemed to be a stupid idea.

    Not only would the reader not feel anything from a rushed character, but they would also usually give my novel a 1-star rating because of it.

    But, my mind was already tempered after receiving many hatements.

    There was onement from someone called DoomGuy who hates depressed Main Characters. He said that my Main Character was a dumb idiot who couldn''t save his own loved ones.

    But then, that was the main plot of my novel, ''The Awakener''s Dead Harem.''

    He had a lot of girls, but they all died.

    That was why I had decided about it.

    "Tsk, I will just do that. If I remember correctly, there should be a character that I made in volume 1¡­."

    My right hand moved the mouse and opened the folder on myputer that I used to note all characters that appeared in my novel.

    "Where is the document?" I scrolled through the folder, and I finally found a document named ''Extra characters, not Important!''

    "Found it!" I shouted loudly; then I opened the document.

    The document was about an extra character around the same age as the main character. I described the extra as a boy with a handsome face surrounded by many girls.

    He was the main character''s ssmate in Academy right before the main character became an Awakener.

    Awakener was the term that I gave to the people chosen by the system in my novel. And if someone became an Awakener when that person studied in an Academy, they could decide to graduate early.

    Because Awakener was needed to protect the civilians from monsters'' attacks, they were also needed to raid the dungeons before it spewed monsters to the world.

    Awakener would gain 3 Talents. It was decided upon when they had awakened. That was the reason why they could kill the monsters that were feared by the world.

    "I never described his backstory, but I mentioned that he looked at the MC with a gaze full of envy. I can use this Extra."

    What I was writing right now was thest volume of my novel.

    I was proud that I managed to write it so wonderfully  that it could be read by both male and female audiences.

    The setting of my novel was in the modern world, but dungeons and monsters changed it. The world became dangerous, but people then awakened one after the others and became Awakener to stop the monsters.

    "What kind of power should I give him? He has S-Rank Talent in Sharpshooting and A-Rank Talent in both Swordsmanship and Magic. I should mention that he hides his S-Rank Talent and bes the unknown master sharpshooter I mentioned a few times in thest volume."

    Tack tack tack tack tack!

    My hands danced on the keyboard without stopping.

    Inspiration flowed inside my head, and it won''t stop.

    "Huahahahaha, good thing that I prepared a lot of Extras and wrote a lot of foreshadows for a case like this! I am a genius!"

    This time, the plot that I wrote would put the main character into the corner.

    The novel almost ended in 30th volumes; it had been a long journey for me.

    A few heroines appeared throughout the story, but I killed all of them just to make my main character suffer.

    It was an exhrating feeling. I loved it when my main character suffered.

    I never thought about having him go through an easy journey.

    My main character was indeed overpowered with his S-Rank Talent in Swordsmanship, Magic, and Martial Arts. But, he was a human.

    There was a limit to being human. Humans had weaknesses that no other had called Trait.<sub> </sub>

    If someone had a caring Trait, he wouldn''t be able to abandon hisrade and would try to save them even though it would cost his life.

    A Human with a heartless Trait would not care about others and would be able to kill others without much care.

    The Main Character of my story had a Loving Trait. He would care for his loved ones.

    That was the reason why I killed all the heroines that got close to him.

    But as this was thest volume, I thought it would be enough. I should give the protagonist a saving grace.

    "The Main Character, Zaiden, was on the edge of his sanity. I should at least make him able to save hisst heroine, his childhood friend. Then I will reveal why I made my MC go through such a journey. The reason behind why I made him despair."

    Even as an author who loved to torment my own Main Character, I still had a heart. I loved a happy ending too.

    It was not like I was afraid of the hatements that I would get if I wrote a bad ending for my Main Character.

    "Hmm, the name of the extra is Vincent, huh? Hmm? He''s an orphan? Zaiden is an introvert, so it''s as expected if they never interact with each other in the Academy. If only I made him talk to Vincent, maybe they would be friends."

    Zaiden was a cold guy. He was the type of protagonist that didn''t care about a stranger. He only showed his kind and loving personality in front of his friends and loved ones.

    So, he had almost no interaction with someone from the Academy, even the heroines that would appear in the future volumes.

    He only met those heroines in his journey through the Dungeons. He met them, bonding with them, and eventually fell in love with the heroines only to lose them.

    I typed and typed without stopping. It has been a few hours since I began typing thest volume of my novel.

    Unexpectedly, the idea that came into my head didn''t stop. That was why I kept typing without stopping.

    If I stopped typing right now, I felt like the idea would disappear from my head, and I was afraid of that.

    So, even though I was hungry and tired from typing for a few hours, I didn''t stop.

    The night became morning, and the morning turned into the afternoon. Atst, after more than 14 hours of typing without stopping, I managed to write the end of my novel.

    "Aah! This feels good! It''s finally over!"

    I stretched my hands up to loosen my stiff body.

    "Uuh! Finally, I can fall asleep without any problem now."

    Dragging my tired body to the bed, I couldn''t think of anything but sleep.

    "Uggh, I am curious how they would react."

    My eyelids were heavy from theck of sleep.

    "I hope¡­ it will be¡­ great¡­" Muttering myst sentence, I then fell into a deep sleep.

    ***

    "¡­cent!"

    I felt a hand on my back, shaking my body, trying to get me up.

    "...incent!"

    Now it felt like someone was calling out someone in my room. It was strange; why did someone call the other''s name in my room?

    "Vincent!" Finally, I was hit on my back, and I jolted up in pain.

    "Fuck! That hurts!" I shouted at someone who hit my back.

    Tap tap tap tap-

    A bald man wearing sses red at me with crossed arms while tapping the ground with his feet.

    He looked angry, and I felt a lot of gazes around me.

    I was confused. I tried to look around and noticed that this was not my room.

    My small room was not this big, and certainly, there was no one in my room beside me. There was only aputer desk and chair in my room. However, this room had a lot of desks and a big whiteboard in front of the room.

    In short, this looked like a ssroom in a school.

    So how? Why did I sit in a room that looked like a ssroom while being surrounded by teenagers wearing simr clothes to a school uniform?

    "Huh?! You dare to say that to your teacher? Who do you think you are, Vincent Dihart? Do you think you are the owner of this Academy, huh?" The bald man seems to be talking to me.

    I was confused; why did he look at me when he called Vincent.

    But, that name was simr to the Extra that I just wrote earlier.

    Confused by his words, I decided to ask him. "Who is Vincent?"

    His expression turned strange, and then he hit me on my back again with his hand as he shouted, "You are Vincent Dihart! Did you hit your head when you slept? That''s why you are called a delinquent. Try to learn some manners from Zaiden! Although he''s a famous yboy with many girlfriends, he never sleeps in the ss like you!"

    He then pointed at a boy that sat on thest row of the seat beside the window.

    Laughter from the teenagers followed the bald man''s words. Theyughed at me while covering their mouths.

    When I heard the name Zaiden, something clicked in my mind. I slowly followed the bald man''s finger and saw a handsome boy who was looking at me with a sweet smile.

    His appearance was familiar¡ªa handsome boy with short ck hair and blue eyes.

    The name that the bald man called me was familiar too.

    Then I realized it.

    ''I was transmigrated to my novel as an Extra?!''

 Chapter 2 Vincent Dihart

    I had be Vincent Dihart.

    The bald man, apparently the teacher that I just mentioned once, resumed the ss after he was done with me.

    The ss ended after a few minutes, and now I was sitting at my desk, wondering what had happened.

    ''How?''

    Why am I here?

    What happened? I remember that I slept on my bed after writing the ending of my novel.

    Yet, I was here.

    Did I die? As expected, pushing myself to write for 14 hours straight was a bad idea.

    Transmigrating into my novel was confusing enough, but I couldn''t understand anything. However, I knew that I needed to remain calm. Getting confused wouldn''t help me in this situation.

    I looked at the main character of my story, Zaiden, with a confused gaze.

    He was surrounded by four Heroines that attended the Academy. They were talking happily; even Zaiden was smiling brightly.

    ''Somehow¡­''

    Looking at his smile, I knew that something was wrong.

    p ''It''s strange.''</anda>

    "Hey, Zaiden. Isn''t today my turn to go on a date with you?" Asked a blond-haired girl.

    She was the first heroine of my story, Mirana Kostova. A cute twin-tailed girl with a clinging personality.

    "Mirana, sorry. But, I have a n with Lisa today." Zaiden sped his hands and apologized to Mirana.

    "Ah! Sorry Mirana, I don''t know that it''s your turn today." Lisa, the girl with short ck hair, apologized to Mirana, "I asked him to apany me to the bookstore."

    She was the second heroine that I wrote. Lisa Manrosa, a bookworm and a strategist who leads a guild called Schr House in the future.

    Mirana pouted, but she didn''t look angry, "Then I will have Zaiden tomorrow."

    "Ah¡­ about that." Zaiden turned his gaze towards a blue-haired girl with a ponytail beside him and scratched his cheek.

    "Don''t tell me¡­ you have a n with Zaiden tomorrow, Ao?"

    "Yup! Sorry but I reserved him for tomorrow." Said Ao with a smug smile.

    This girl was the third heroine and one of the strongest characters in my novel. Ao Yukina, she had a harsh personality, it was supposed to be like that, but¡­ I couldn''t see that anywhere right now.

    Mirana pouted her cheeks even further before turning to thest girl who wore a sses; she had long ck hair.

    "Shina, what about you?"

    "E-eh. I-I don''t have any particr n with him. You can go on a date with him the day after tomorrow, Mirana!"

    Mirana''s face brightened as she jumped towards Shina and hugged her.

    Shina Mayuki was the fourth heroine. She had a shy personality and was favored by a lot of people.

    "You''re the best, Shina!"

    Seeing the scene in front of me, I was lost in thought.

    ''It''s really strange.''

    Girls flocking around was nothing unusual in the ss.

    ''How can Zaiden be in the middle of those four?''

    But the story was different when they were all happily talking about their n to go on a date with the same guy.

    ''He was supposed to be an introvert right now.''

    We were still in the Academy.

    I took a quick peek at the phone that I took from my pocket to see the date. The smartphone was locked by fingerprint, and I could open the lock easily.

    The date shown on the was 23 March 2023, a month before Zaiden''s awakening.

    We were in our first Year in this Academy. The semester started in August and ended in June, so we were now in the middle of the second semester.

    And yet¡­

    I nced at Zaiden again. He was joking around with the heroines that were supposed to be dead in the future.

    He had a smile on his face while he was supposed to be a gloomy guy who couldn''t even talk to others because he was afraid of his Trait.

    ''What is this bullshit?''

    I don''t like it.

    The main character was like a stranger to me.

    He was not supposed to be like this.

    ''How will he save the world if he''s this happy?''

    His motivation to save the world would disappear.

    Although he was not awakened yet, he knew his Trait from the ident in his childhood.

    His childhood friend died in front of him from a monster outbreak. That event drove my Main Character into a pit of despair.

    If that happened in this world too, he wouldn''tugh like that. Did he have a different Trait in this world?

    Seeing him like that, I was pissed.

    ''As I expected, I can''t take this.''<sub> </sub>

    They wereughing and joking as if the world was theirs. He didn''t seem to care about the future or his dead childhood friend who died in front of him.

    He was not my main character if he acted like this.

    Bam!

    "Tsk! Shut the fuck up, you motherfuckers!" I shouted at Zaiden and the heroines and mmed the table in front of me before I walked out of the ssroom.

    I could feel the gazes of the students behind me alongside their murmur.

    "What''s with him?" Asked a male student.

    "Just ignore him. After all, he''s a delinquent." Answered another one.

    "Yeah, you''re right."

    ''I could hear you, idiots.''

    I mmed the door open, nced behind a little, and saw Zaiden''s surprised face. Was he surprised that I mmed the table and shouted at them?

    ''Fuck it. I don''t care about them.''

    How could the introverted and gloomy main character have a Harem while the one who was supposed to have a harem, Vincent Dihart, turned into a delinquent?

    "Tsk!" I clicked my tongue again, mmed the door, and walked away from the ssroom.

    ''This is the worst.''

    Not only had I be Vincent Dihart, but Zaiden also acted like that.

    ''I can''t stand it.''

    As the author, I couldn''t see my character act out of their character. It was something that I despised.

    If something fortunate happened to me, the body I was transmigrated into, Vincent Dihart, was talented. So I could at least survive if I trained myself.

    But, did Vincent awaken yet at this time?

    "Status," I muttered quietly, and a translucent blue screen appeared in front of me.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Vincent Dihart

    Rank: F

    Strength: F+

    Agility: F+

    Endurance: F

    Mana: E

    Luck: S

    Talent:

    - Sharpshooting (S)

    - Enhancement (S)

    - Swordsmanship (A)

    - Magic (A)

    Trait:

    - Deceitful

    -----

    ''Oh?'' So this body had awakened. Not only that, the status seems good for a F-Rank Awakener.

    I should thank myself for adding Vincent''s backstory in thest volume; I was able to have a headstart from Zaiden with this.

    The backstory was simple, like any other support character. I just mentioned his back story in a few paragraphs, nothing tooplicated.

    The trait that I had was not too bad either. No, this was perfect for me.

    ''Good job, me!''

    What was this Enhancement (S)? Wasn''t this a broken talent?

    The Enhancement was an extra talent that I didn''t know of nor written in the novel that appeared on the status screen.

    I specified that Awakener could only have three Talents, so this was strange. Something to think over, but a happy development nheless.. I could always find out where my extra Talent came from in the future.

    ''My Luck is also S, neat! I should learn Enhancement as fast as I can. This is a broken technique that those with Talent could only learn.''

    For now, I need to organize my thoughts and n something for the future. Of course, there was the thing about Zaiden that was different from one that I wrote, but I was sure of one thing.

    This was my story. The novel that I wrote.

    I knew the hidden pieces;bined with my Talent, I should be able to survive until the end of the story.

    ''After organizing my thoughts, I should investigate why Zaiden is so different from the original story.''

    This would be troublesome and I had a lot to do.

    ''But still, I want to make him suffer¡­I want to see him fall into despair'' I thought as I exited the academy building, ''Because he''s the main character in my novel.''

 Chapter 3 Mana Breathing Method

    The Academy had no name; it was only called Academy due to myziness to give it a name. It was located in California, United States. The students also came from a lot of different countries because this Academy was famous for its education and its headmaster. Most students here were those who wanted to be Awakeners.

    I did exin all the buildings of the Academy. There was one main building where the students took a ss. The students were divided into three years, and the system was like a regr high school from Earth.

    There was a big beautiful garden in front of the main building, a hall for an event and a dorm on the west side of the Academy. The dorm had five floors because almost all students lived in the dorm due to various reasons. It now became the home for 1500 students ranging between 17 to 19 years old.

    Vincent Dihart was an extra; he was also an orphan. Because he had some presence in the novel, I mentioned that he lived in the dorm. He was a womanizer and brought a girl into his room every night.

    But, in this world, Vincent was a delinquent, not a womanizer.

    Surprisingly, for Vincent, my room was tidy. It was located at the end of the hallway on the third floor.

    The furniture in my room was simple. A bed, a study desk and chair, and a closet. There was aptop on the desk, which the Academy gave to their students for studying. We didn''t use books at this age because there was something godly called the Inte.

    There was also an air conditioner, which was a lifesaver considering that I couldn''t stand the heat.

    Entering my room, I jumped onto the bed, staring at the white ceiling.

    "So, how did I get here?"

    There were a lot of questions. But, I had a few hypotheses.

    "Did I die and get transmigrated as Vincent? Or was there a higher being who hated a depressed MC and decided to transfer me to this world to see a happy Zaiden?"

    The first option was usible because I worked myself to death before opening my eyes as Vincent.

    The second option was also possible, but I didn''t think that was the case.

    Because if they were a higher being, they must''ve seen the ending that I wrote. There was a reason why Zaiden went through all his suffering.

    So, I could scratch that from my list.

    "Let''s say that I had died and transmigrated as Vincent. That much is okay but¡­ why did Zaiden''s personality change 180 degrees?"

    There were also two possibilities for that. But, before I could answer that, I should look at it a bit deeper.

    For now, my priority was to get stronger while not being noticed as an Awakener.

    There were a lot of hidden pieces in this Academy, so I wanted to get it before I announced myself as an Awakener.

    Not only that, because I had awakened a month ahead of the main character and a few months ahead of the heroines, I should be able to surpass their strength in the future if he didn''t have the plot armor.

    Although I did write Vincent to appear as the unknown master sharpshooter in thest volume to stop Zaiden, he didn''t have much screen time.

    As the protagonist was too strong in thest volume, Vincent''s role was to be that guy who was killed as soon as he appeared and told the protagonist about his backstory.

    In other words, he was an Extra that died after he told the angry Zaiden his boring backstory as an Extra.

    For now, I was confident that he had no plot armor. As proof, the heroines were still alive even though they were close to Zaiden. If plot armor existed, then those heroines would die when they got close to Zaiden.

    There were three ways for an Awakener to get stronger in this world.

    First was the mostmon but slowest way to get stronger. That was by training.

    It was boring, and you could only get stronger a little.

    The second way was to hunt monsters. Awakener would absorb the Mana from the Dead monsters. If they had a party with other people, the Mana would be divided equally, and all would get the same amount of Mana.

    Those Mana would enhance the Awakaner''s body, making them stronger than before. This method was known as the fastest way to get stronger right now.

    The third was Mana Breathing. It absorbed Mana from the environment by doing a specific routine. This method was not found yet right now.

    The ce that introduced this method would appear three years from now, so no one was supposed to know about this method right now.

    Well, no one except me.

    As the novel''s Author himself, I knew the best Mana Breathing method that suited Vincent''s body. I wrote this in thest volume of the novel that had yet to be released.<sub> </sub>

    A grin stered on my face as I raised my body, sitting in a crossed legs position with my hands rested on top of my thighs.

    ? "Now then, let''s do it." I closed my eyes and began to breathe while following a certain rhythm.

    Breathe in, breathe out¡ªlong, long, short.

    That was the rhythm that I followed while trying to feel the Mana inside my body.

    Unexpectedly, I could feel the Mana in my body with no problem. Maybe it was because I was in Vincent''s body, but I was able to move it while following a specific path to match my breathing.

    It started at my heart, the center of my Mana, then went to my stomach and continued to my brain before I spread it to my entire body.

    "Grr-" I let out a pained grunt as I moved my Mana.

    Directly moving my Mana to my entire body hurts more than I thought. Mainly because I used this unique Mana Breathing method called Heavenly Breathing.

    It fit Vincent''s body the best, and I could feel Mana from the atmosphere being absorbed into my body. My lips grinned even wider when I felt my body was changing little by little.

    When someone who just awakened used the Mana Breathing method that suited their body, their strength would increase exponentially, and their body would be reformed to suit their Talents.

    It was after 5 minutes after I moved the Mana inside my body, it came to me. The reformation of my body.

    Crack- Thud- Creak-

    I could hear it, the sound of my bones being reformed. I was attacked by unbearable pain, and I screamed loudly.

    "Urghhh Gaaaaa!!!"

    Fortunately, no one was in the dorm except for the Dorm Manager on the first floor.

    My room also had soundproof installed, so no one could hear my screams.

    It started from my shoulders to my arms.

    "It fucking hurts!"

    The reform started from my upper body. After a few minutes, my upper body had been reformed. My arms were being reformed next, and my legs were reformed.

    Creak¨C Crack¨C Crackle¨C

    The reformation was still ongoing, but I managed to handle the pain to some extent.

    "Fuck!"

    Usually, it wouldst for 5 minutes. I should be able to handle it.

    The pain that I felt became worse at thest minute. I clenched my teeth harder to avoid biting my tongue. At this rate I felt like I would die from the pain.

    ''Why did I write this bullshit in my novel! It fucking hurts!''

    Then 5 minutes had passed, and the reformation was done.

    The pain that urred all over my body was gone. My shirt was wet from the sweat that dripped from my body.

    However, I now felt refreshed, and then I opened my eyes before letting out a satisfied sigh.

    "Sigh- It''s done. That was hell."

    There was a quote said by someone. ''What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger.''

    I didn''t die from the unbearable pain, and I got stronger as a result. I thought that what I did earlier was proof of that quote?

    "I guess that''s true. Because¡­I now feel stronger than before. If only I knew I would be transmigrated to this novel, I wouldn''t write the bullshit things about being in pain when your body was reformed." I muttered to myself followed with a dryugh.

 Chapter 4 Reincarnator

    "But well¡­ I guess I could say that it will serve as my training." I muttered as I stood up and looked at my body to see the change that urred from the reformation.

    The reformation of the body would only ur once in a lifetime. Only F-Rank Awakener had this privilege to reform their body using the Mana Breathing method because their body was still pure and not used to Mana yet.

    I walked to the closet and looked at the mirror ced on its door. The one who looked back in the mirror was a handsome boy with ck hair and red eyes.

    He was around 185cm tall with a toned body looking back at me with a small smile.

    "Hou, my face is better than I thought. Maybe I am more handsome than Zaiden?"

    Because I never ordered an Illustration for an Extra, I didn''t really specify his appearance. However, this was better than I thought.

    "Well, let''s take a look at my status. I bet it will have some change in strength and agility."

    I opened my status window.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Vincent Dihart

    Rank: E

    Strength: E-

    Agility: E

    Endurance: E

    Mana: D-

    Luck: S

    Talent:

    - Sharpshooting (S)

    - Enhancement (S)

    p - Swordsmanship (A)</anda>

    - Magic (A)

    Trait:

    - Deceitful

    -----

    When I saw my status, I couldn''t help but grin.

    "Damn! This is nuts! I have be an E-Rank Awakener in an instant!"

    The highest Rank of Talent and Awakener Rank were S-Rank.

    However, the status was different. It had no limit.

    In thest Volume, Zaiden had SS Rank Strength and Agility while his Mana was Ranked S. Of course, he had E-Rank luck, and that was his only weakness.

    Luck couldn''t be increased from training; you need an Artifact that could be excavated from a hidden dungeon to Increase your Luck.

    That was why I was confident that he wouldn''t be able to find the hidden pieces in the Academy. Because, without knowledge or Luck, he wouldn''t be able to enter that ce.

    There was no way he would know that ce. Only I and the reader of my novel knew the existence of that ce in the Academy.

    "Well then, let''s find that item." I licked my lips as I thought about the item I wanted to get.

    Before that, I pulled the wet cor of my clothes and muttered, "I need to change my clothes first."

    ***

    "It''s not here!"

    I shouted at the top of my lungs as I parted the bush in front of me.

    Right now, I was in the woods behind the Academy. I was deep inside the woods that no one ever steps their feet in here.

    The woods were owned by the academy. The size of the woods was a rather small onepared to the Angeles National Forest, but it was huge enough that people could actually get lost here.

    There was supposed to be a hidden item here, right in front of me, hidden in the small opening behind the bushes.

    However, when I went to the spot where the item was hidden, it was already gone.

    "What is this shit? This item is supposed to be here!"

    The item that I hid was supposed to be hidden before being found by the fourth heroine, Shina, when she awakened her ability.

    She had awakened Detection Talent, and it ranked A, so she was able to find the hidden artifact in the Academy right before she left.<sub> </sub>

    "What happened here?" I tried to look for a clue by looking around the area.

    There was no noticeable footprint, but I noticed something important after I parted the bushes around the small opening.

    The small rock that was supposed to hide the small opening was moved to the right, buried slightly under the ground. I cautiously took the small rock and observed it.

    This was my only clue to finding the one who took the item.

    However, this was useless. The item that was hidden here had no special ability, but it was useful to reach a higher rank faster.

    It had the ability to increase the efficiency of Mana Absorption when killing monsters.

    The Mana Breathing Method had a limit, I could only do it around once a day, and the efficiency would decrease when an Awakener reached C-Rank.

    It appeared to make me stronger at a fast speed, but I had no skill to apany my growth. Hence, the other two methods were also important.

    The item that I tried to get was special. It purified the mana that was absorbed from monsters. Because the mana was pure, the Awakener would get extra benefits and could get stronger faster.

    With my Enhancement Talent, I could make such an item by myself in the future. However, I had no knowledge about enhancing an item, and more importantly.

    ''I''m broke.''

    As an orphan, Vincent had almost no money. That was one of the reasons why he became a womanizer. He was hoping to live by making those girls pay for him.

    So I wanted to get the hidden items in the Academy to be sold to a shop for money.

    I didn''t need the item for myself. I still had something to do in this Academy, so I couldn''t hunt in the dungeon even if I wanted to. And, when I needed the item with an effect to purify Mana, I could always create one myself with Enhancement.

    I also didn''t register yet in the Awakener Association; this made everythingplicated.

    ''Tsk!'' I clicked my tongue.

    There were around three more items that could be found in this Academy, and there would be one opportunity to get stronger at a faster rate that would happen in two months.

    "Let''s just find the item first. If those items are also gone, I guess that thing could happen too."

    I had one spection about why the item could be gone even when it was not supposed to be found yet.

    "Tsk! There is someone with the knowledge of my novel lurking in this Academy."

    I was not a fool. I was the Author of this world himself.

    No one could find the items unless they had knowledge, Luck, or opportunity.

    Because I wrote it so.

    If there was someone who had knowledge of my novel, there was one suspicious person. I bet that guy was either reincarnated here or transmigrated like me.

    But reincarnation was more usible, as that guy changed a lot of things already.

    Because thest volume where everything was revealed had yet to be released, I bet that guy didn''t know anything and wanted to live a good life.

    "Fucking idiot." I gnashed my teeth as I remembered that guy''s smiling face.

    He didn''t know.

    "If he''s really a reincarnator¡­ then I guess I need to make a move now instead of waiting for the future plot."

    He didn''t know the ending of my novel.

    "I will make that guy suffer. How dare he live a good life."

    He needed to suffer. The main character of this novel needs to suffer.

    "I guess I need to be a viin, eh? That''s not too bad." I sneered at myself.

    An Extra that I wrote as thest viin. Who thought that I would be transmigrated into that Extra and need to make my move even before the start of my story.

    "A month. The story will begin in a month, and the opportunity will arrive in this Academy in three months."

    To get that opportunity, I couldn''t leave this Academy.

    Now, after knowing that guy was either a reincarnator or just someone with knowledge of my novel, I need to move right now.

    I would make sure of whether he was a reincarnator or transmigrator in the future. The best way to confirm that was by finding his childhood friend, thest heroine.

    "Knowing the usual action of a reincarnator, I bet he will leave the Academy in a month after he awakens to get stronger. Mana Breathing was hard, so he will also find a method that suited himself."

    He wouldn''t risk the change in the plot. So he would try to grab every opportunity that he knew.

    Vincent would attend the Academy. At least I needed to stay for three months. If I stayed for three months without hunting at all, that guy would undoubtedly get stronger than me in that meantime, especially if he had the novel''s knowledge.

    That was why, "Well then, I guess a second identity is needed. As I need not to interact with them without breaking my delinquent persona."

    Having the brand of delinquent would help me greatly in this case. No one would try to approach me actively.

    And I began to make a concrete n for the future. "Let''s torment him until he''s strong enough to save the world."

 Chapter 5 Easiest Money Of My Life!

    For once, I was confident that the reincarnator, Zaiden, won''t try to steal the opportunity that I was waiting for.

    I only wrote about the opportunity in thest chapter, so I would be fine. At least, I could confirm whether he was a reincarnator once he awakened.

    The opportunity was reserved for Vincent, and it was the key to make me stronger than the protagonist.

    If he tried to find a method of Mana Breathing to get stronger, then he was definitely a reincarnator. But, if he chose to stay in the Academy, I couldn''t confirm whether he was a reincarnator or just Zaiden with memories of my story.

    His act¡­ he was absolutely suspicious and had a heroplex. So for now, the chance of him being the former is higher.

    When I walked back to my room in the dorm, I tried to find the three other items and found out that they had gone too.

    It only strengthened my belief that Zaiden was, in fact, a reincarnator that had memories from his past life, and more importantly¡­he read my novel.

    I nned to gain funds with those items, but it couldn''t be helped if they were already taken.

    The reason why I needed money was simple. It was to make a second identity for me. To do that, I need to learn about how to Enhance items and make a costume to hide my face and my Talents.

    Learning about Enhancement was a bit easy. However, securing the materials needed to enhance the items was troublesome.

    Then, it left me with the other way to gain funds for my n¡­

    "Let''s go to the gambling parlor," I muttered quietly in my room as I changed my clothes into a suit.

    Every male student had a suit to attend a formal ceremony of the Academy. Of course, I had one too. I tried to make myself look older by slicking my hair back and putting on a gel to keep it in ce.

    ***

    [7:30 PM]

    Sometimes I wondered why those guys who were transmigrated choose to stay in that world?

    Earth was peaceful. It was in the modern era where anything could be fulfilled with just a press on a smartphone.

    Even when I was transmigrated, I still couldn''t understand.

    If I was asked whether I wanted to go back to Earth or not, then my choice right now was¡­ I wanted to go back to my Earth. I needed to know what happened to me over there. If I indeed died in that world, then only at that moment would I give up and do my best to live in this world.

    This world was fucked up. However, at least the first half of the novel had no real danger; it was rtively peaceful, with many guilds running around to clear the dungeons.

    It was also peaceful right now. Standing in front of a big building with a lot of light, I smiled slightly. The atmosphere in this ce was really different from the Academy.

    However, I at least wanted to find out who transmigrated me here and for whatever reason he reincarnated someone to be my protagonist, Zaiden.

    But that was not too important now. I had business tonight.

    A lot of people in suits and dresses were going in and out of the building whileughing. Some had a grim expression as if they had lost everything.

    It was natural.

    I now stood in front of a casino in Las Vegas to make money by gambling. It took 5 hours to get to Las Vegas by riding a bus, and it took me 80 USD just to get here.

    I only had 500 USD left in my pocket, and it was all the money that I had left in my bank.

    If I lostter, then I wouldn''t have money to go back to the Academy.

    ''Well, I will trust my S-Rank Luck.''

    I entered the casino with a grin on my face and exchanged 500 USD worth of chips. The casino didn''t ask for my age, maybe because I was tall and wore a suit to match the atmosphere.

    After getting my chips, I went to the ckjack game. It was the most effortless y in this ce, and I could rely on my Luck on the ckjack.

    I also learned a trick called card counting on Earth, mainly because I used it in my novel. It was rather easy for me, who had a great memory, so I could learn it rather quickly.

    After walking for a while, I found a ckjack table. I sat on the remaining empty seat without greeting the people around me.

    On my left was a blondedy with a blue dress and an old man in a suit. Both of them were smiling, and there were a lot of chips in front of them.

    A man in his twenties sat on my right; his expression wasn''t exactly good. I didn''t care, though, as I nned to get his money too.

    The dealer who saw me sitting in front of him didn''t even have a change in his expression. He gestured to us to ce our bet.

    This time I just put 200 USD worth of chips while the blondedy and the old man threw a thousand USD worth of chips.

    ''Woah, that''s a lot of money they put in one game!''

    I whistled at them, and they squinted their eyes as they turned at me.

    "What are you looking at?" The old man asked me with an irritated tone.

    I didn''t even do anything to him. I shrugged my shoulders, "Nah, you put a lot in one game, old man. I was just amazed by the amount that you put out."

    He raised his eyebrows and clicked his tongue, "Tsk! This is not much. It''s normal to gamble this much."<sub> </sub>

    "That''s right. Could it be that you are poor? I suggest you leave this ce before you go bankrupt like that man beside you." Thedy added as she nced at the man beside me.

    The man shuddered when thedy addressed him out of nowhere, "I-I am not bankrupt yet!"

    He said while stammering.

    ''No no no, you are clearly bankrupt. There is only 10 USD worth of chips in front of you!''

    I wanted to deny him, but the dealer had given us our card. Two cardsnded in front of me.

    Without lifting the card, I took a quick nce without changing my expression.

    While in ckjack, it wasn''t necessary to have a poker face. Because the dealer could only put a card on the table, and the yers couldn''t outy each other.

    However, I put on a poker face to contain my happiness.

    I got a ckjack right off the bat.

    "Hit or stand?" The dealer asked the man beside me.

    I nced at his card, and he only got 15.

    ''He will hit.''

    His bet was 5 USD, so he could at least hit once.

    "H-Hit."

    As expected, he chose to hit. The dealer gave him a card, and it was seven hearts¡ªa bust.

    The dealer didn''t even ask me because I got ckjack, while thedy and the old man chose to stand as they got 19 and 18 respectively.

    The dealer revealed his card, and it turned out to be 20.

    Only I won, and the dealer gave me 200 USD worth of chips.

    ''This is good.''

    I couldn''t contain my smile anymore, and I put out a 500 USD chip as my bet right now.

    "Let''s continue the game."

    The old man and thedy were not satisfied after losing a thousand USD each, and they put two thousand USD as their next bet.

    Good. Go for it. If this was poker, I would be rich. However, I wasn''t skillful enough to y poker, so I chose ckjack.

    It didn''t change though. I was doing well. Slowly but surely, I made a lot of money from just ckjack.

    ''It''s the easiest money in my life!''

    ***

    Time passed, and I went back to the Academy with a newly made bank card after I had deposited all the money that I got from the casino.

    I was kicked out of the casino once I made 20 thousand USD, and I was forced to relocate. Last night, I went around the casino in Las Vegas until 2 AM before going back to the Academy by taking a Taxi.

    I got no sleepst night, but I was happy because I made a lot of money.

    ''Crazy, I got more than three hundred thousand USD in just a night.''

    The amount that I got was enough to get the material to create my second identity. I never expected to get this much in one night. I now realized the power of my S-Rank Luck.

    Sitting in the ssroom, I hide the grin on my face with my hands.

    ''I should go to that ce after school.''

    Now I could carry out my n earlier than I nned.

    I nced at Zaiden, and he was already surrounded by four heroines even when the ss hadn''t started yet. They came from different sses, so I was wondering what they did before the ss started. But it turned out¡­ they were surrounding Zaiden just the same¡­

    ''Just wait.''

    My grin turned wider.

    ''One month, I will allow you to get one month''s worth of peace.''

    After that, my n would bepleted. And if he was a reincarnator, he would be confused and scared.

    ''This will be an interesting month.''

 Chapter 6 Problematic Reincarnator

    [11:30 AM]

    The school was boring.

    It had nothing special on it; it was outright boring.

    I was sitting in the cafeteria alone, chomping down food for lunch.

    There were a lot of students who came to the cafeteria. The food here was cheap and delicious. That was the only reason why students chose to eat at the cafeteria instead of the restaurant outside the Academy.

    We were free to eat outside. The Academy was ratherx in rules.

    Also, as I had expected¡­

    ''I was avoided, huh?''

    No one sat at the table with me even though there were five empty chairs.

    The students nced at me once or twice, but no one was willing to sit near me. That was until that guy appeared.

    "Hey! Can we sit here?" A cheerful voice greeted me from behind.

    I nced back over and saw Zaiden brought a bowl of food, and there was the first heroine, Mirana, beside him.

    "Hey, Zaiden. Are you sure you want to sit here? You know that he''s a delinquent, right?" Mirana whispered to Zaiden, but I could hear her because my hearing was enhanced when my body was reformed.

    "He''s not that bad, Mirana. Maybe the rumor about him was false? I mean, he looks like a friendly guy." Said Zaiden.

    My mood turned sour. Once again, I was reminded that this guy was not my real main character.

    I wanted tosh at him and punch him for being close to the heroines, but I couldn''t do that. My n required me to be friendly with him as Vincent.

    If he had changed the damn personality of the main character, he wouldn''t get suspicious if I, an Extra, were friendly towards him.

    "Yeah, sure. You can sit there." I pointed at the chairs in front of me with my thumb.

    "Ah! Thank you. I can''t find an empty seat, so it''s a lifesaver." Zaiden sat in front of me and put his bowl down on the table.

    Mirana seemed to be a bit hesitant, but she ultimately sat beside Zaiden while ring at me.

    "You, are you always like this?" She asked me suspiciously.

    "What do you mean?" I asked her back, "No one ever talked to me and just branded me as a delinquent when what I did in school was limited to sleeping in the ss."

    Mirana didn''t seem to believe me, "But there is a rumor about you. Something like you sent people who made you mad to the hospital."

    Hmm? Was there really a rumor like that?

    I didn''t know anything as I had no memories of Vincent. I really wanted to know the past behavior of Vincent too, for god''s sake. But my information now was limited, and seeing the backstory that I wrote for Vincent.

    There was no way he would send people to hospitals.

    "That''s not true," I answered Mirana and continued eating.

    Vincent was an unfortunate guy in the backstory that I wrote for him. He lost his parents at the same time the protagonist lost his childhood friend.

    Not only that, he lost them in the same monster outbreak too.

    I wanted to add some rtion between Vincent and Zaiden, which would be why Vincent wished to stop the main character from saving thest heroine.

    "That''s not true? Then why do the rumors about you never stop?"

    Even though I wrote about her personality as a curious one, she was rather annoying in the real world. So I decided to ignore her.

    "Hey, I am talking to you!"

    "Mirana, maybe you should stop at that. You are bothering Vincent." Said Zaiden.

    "If you say so¡­" Muttered Mirana meekly.

    He then turned to me and smiled, "My apologies for that, Vincent. Please forgive Mirana. She was just curious."

    "No offense taken," I answered Zaiden shortly before continuing to eat my meal.

    Mirana stopped bothering me after Zaiden stopped her; it was good. The calm atmosphere was back. Zaiden and Mirana were talking to each other, ignoring my presence.

    Because I was a bit irritated when seeing them like that, I wolfed down my meal and stood up in less than five minutes.

    "Ah!" Zaiden let out a gasp when I stood up. I didn''t know why he did it, but I began to walk out of the cafeteria with my hands in my pocket.

    I had a frown on my face; it was irritating after all. Even though I tried to be as friendly as possible towards Zaiden, I couldn''t do it with sincerity.

    If only he was my real main character, maybe I would help him save the world. But, his look was that of a clueless person right now, and I somehow hated it.

    ''Tsk! Should I just kill him and save the world myself?''

    That was the fastest way to do it, but I can''t do that.

    The reason was simple; I was not the main character.

    When I was lost in my thoughts and exited the cafeteria, I heard a clear voice from my side.

    "Hey! There you are, Zaiden!"

    From the edge of my sight, I saw the owner of that voice.

    A clear blond hair danced in the sky, and amethyst eyes shone like a gem. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the owner of the voice with my mouth gaped.

    ''No way¡­''

    The voice owner was a girl, a truly beautiful girl with a big smile on her face, waving her hand towards Zaiden.

    "Ah, Lily, here!" Zaiden''s shout followed; he was calling a name that was too familiar to me.<sub> </sub>

    I couldn''t help but be surprised.

    ''Why is she here?!''

    My eyes widened as I couldn''t understand what had happened right now.

    The girl, Lily, seemed to notice my gaze as she turned her head to me, "Hmm? Do I know you?" she asked.

    ''No, that appearance. And that name, there is no way she''s here at this time.''

    "No, I am just surprised by your shout," I answered her as calmly as possible.

    Her mouth opened a little, and she put her hand in front of it, "Ah! I''m sorry for shouting near you."

    "It''s no problem. Just be careful next time."

    "Yes, once again, sorry!" She pped her hand to me before running towards Zaiden.

    I left the cafeteria hastily while my mind raced, trying to find out why she was there.

    ''That bastard. Did he gain his memories when he was a child?!''

    The possibility was so slim that I never thought about it. From what I saw on the intest night while going around the casino, the world still hadn''t changed at all.

    A lot of guilds were still trying to clear the dungeons, there was no news about the organization that opposed the main character yet. So I thought that Zaiden just formed a harem in the Academy without changing the story too much.

    If she was really here, then the story was already derailed from the original one from the start.

    ''I can''t waste any more time.''

    She was here.

    The one who was supposed to die was here.

    The key to the story was somehow alive, and it made my hypothesis of Zaiden being a reincarnator to be true.

    "Fuck!" I shouted in the hallway that was filled with students. They turned to look at me, but I ignored them and walked faster.

    He was a reincarnator.

    Zaiden had his memories of the story since he was a child.

    He did something foolish. He saved thest heroine, the only reason why he wanted to get stronger.

    Maybe the reincarnator read until volume 29, where I exined about the monster outbreak that happened when he was a child. He may have thought that he would at least save the girl close to him in his childhood without realizing that she was thest heroine.

    Lily Sonava. Thest heroine in my novel ''The Awakener''s Dead Harem.''

    She was Zaiden''s childhood friend as well as the key character for the ending of the novel.

    ''I can''t really waste my time again. I need to get my second identity faster.''

    If I didn''t make a move right now, then the future would be problematic.

    ''Fuck you, Zaiden.''

    I just wanted to enjoy this world while ying around at first. Then I saw him having fun. I thought of ying with him and gave him some despair to make him stronger.

    However, the story was different when thest heroine was still alive and close to Zaiden.

    That girl, without her being there, then that ce would move faster. Except¡­

    ''Someone else takes her ce. And I don''t know who that someone is.''

    The only thing I could do right now was to create my second identity faster and look for information from all around the world.

    ''I swear I will get back at you when you leave this Academy, Zaiden. I will make you work hard¡­ hard enough that you wish you didn''t change the original story.''

    ***

    "Zaiden, who was that boy earlier? He looked surprised when he saw me." Lily asked Zaiden as she sat in front of him.

    "Hmm? He''s Vincent Dihart, our ssmate." Answered Zaiden as he looked at Lily.

    "Your ssmates?" Asked Lily, interested in Vincent that she passed, "He seems interesting." She smiled.

    "Lily, it''s better if you don''t get close to him." Said Mirana seriously.

    "Why?" Asked Lily as she tilted her head, "He doesn''t seem to be a problem?"

    "You didn''t hear rumors about him yet? He''s a delinquent!" Eximed Mirana.

    "Mirana, I told you that the rumors may be false, right?" Said Zaiden seriously.

    "Yeah, but¡­"

    "Hmm, that''s interesting." Muttered Lily.

    Zaiden heard what Lily muttered about and looked at the exit of the cafeteria.

    ''Vincent? Who is he? If he''s my ssmate, then he''s an Extra in Awakener''s Dead Harem? I never heard of him after all.''

    Zaiden was confused. He didn''t remember such a character appearing in the novel. He was already here for a long time, and he had general knowledge about this world.

    ''I managed to save Lily thanks to the knowledge of the novel. I also managed to get close to the others thanks to that.''

    He felt Lily''s gaze on him and smiled at her. Lily pursed her lips a little before she smiled again and talked with Mirana.

    ''I will save them all. I will not let them die¡­After all¡­ I am a reincarnator. And it''s my duty to save them.''

 Chapter 7 A Money-Grubber Merchant

    [12:05 PM]

    My novel started when the main character, Zaiden, awakened.

    However, that was not the true start of the story.

    To be honest, the story had started when Zaiden lost his childhood friend, Lily, to a monster outbreak. That day, a me of determination was lit, and Zaiden swore that he would not let the others feel the same way he felt.

    If he was a reincarnator, he surely understood that. He might be thinking of saving the heroines. But he missed one thing.

    I named my novel ''Awakener''s Dead Harem.''

    The title told the story. The Awakener''s Harem, in this case, Zaiden, were dead. However, throughout the story, Zaiden only stays with one girl each time.

    That was not a harem. Someone who followed my story would be able to guess the ending from the title and the story until volume 29.

    They wouldn''t try to change the story because it was necessary for the heroines to die. Because¡­ the story would end up a harem even though the heroines were fated to die.

    So, it left one thing.

    This person that was reincarnated as Zaiden hated my story, or he had a disease called heroplex and wanted to save the heroines that would die in the future.

    He didn''t follow my novel seriously, and from what I saw today, he was really childish.

    "Tsk! I wanted to live leisurely while trying to find someone who transmigrated me here and a way back to Earth, but my n needs to be changed with Lily being alive."

    I was walking on the street of Los Angeles that was often called the Walk of Fame, trying to find a store that met my requirements. While I was walking, I saw a few people bringing weapons with them and dressed in armor, seemingly in a hurry. At first nce, I knew that they were Awakeners

    They passed me with serious faces, and they were running hastily. Not only were awakeners running towards somece, I saw a big humvee speeding up toward the same direction where the people ran.

    I stopped on my track at the intersection and looked at the billboard that was on the building on my right.

    The big billboard was broadcasting the appearance of a new dungeon that was found near the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles.

    "Oh¡­" I realized something, "The dungeon is only found today? I never specified it, so I thought it was found long before."

    In my novel, the dungeon below the Hollywood sign was often known as Beginner Dungeon. Because it was called Beginner Dungeon, I never specified when the dungeon was found.

    So it was today? Just 29 days before Zaiden''s awakening.

    But I couldn''t care less about the dungeon. I needed a second identity and artifact that could hide my Talent before my debut in the dungeon.

    Usually, the Awakener Association or guilds strictly controlled the dungeon; that was why to enter a dungeon, Awakener needed something called Awakener ID or join a guild. The ID could be made in the Association building.

    Other than the dungeons controlled by the Association, there were private dungeons that bigpanies owned.

    They didn''t ask an Awakener from the guilds to clear the dungeons. Instead, they usually hired Mercenaries because they were more trustworthy and cheap.

    When an Awakener made an ID, their identity would be recorded alongside their Talent. The Awakener Association had a special tool to know Awakener''s Talent.

    This was why I needed to enhance an item with an effect to hide my Talent before I made my Awakener ID with my second identity.

    Well, who knew what would happen in the future? Maybe I didn''t even need Awakener ID because I knew the hidden dungeons that the Association or the Guilds didn''t manage.

    However, for now, I needed a second identity because I couldn''t leave the Academy yet, that was for sure.

    Looking around the intersection, I found the store that I was looking for. I walked towards the store and put my hand on my hips.

    "There it is."

    It was hidden behind a movie studio store, so it was a bit hard to find it. Even when I relied on the description in my novel, I needed to look around before finding it.

    Good thing I had great memories. I remembered all the things that I wrote, from volume 1 to volume 30. Even though I was confident with my memories, I should write down some important things.

    The story in my novelsted for at least eight years, from Zaiden being 17 years old until he became 25. It was a long ride, but there were some time skips in the middle of the story.

    Because the story itself was already derailed, I only needed to write the hidden pieces and dungeons that I needed to raid and the important viins in my notebook. It was impossible to fix unless I went back to 9 years ago and killed Lily myself.<sub> </sub>

    The rest of the story? I should say goodbye to them¡ªone more reason to hate the reincarnated Zaiden.

    ''Because the story was already a mess, should I save my favorite character too? I didn''t fucking care about the story now. Screw the story; I will do my best to survive while trying to find my way back. That''s enough for me right now.''

    With a new resolution, I opened the door in front of me, and the bell chimed in.

    Ting¨C

    The store was exactly like I described it. It was like an abandoned warehouse rather than a store because of the messy interior filled with stuff on the shelves lined up against the wall.

    The only way people knew this was a store was the sign ''All-Purpose Store'' above the old man sitting on a rocking chair behind a cashier that was located across the entrance.

    Even though he looked old on the outside, that was actually just a disguise. His name was Park Injun, a Korean.

    He was one of the side characters in my novel, and he was an important character that helped Zaiden get his item.

    When he heard the chime of the bell that chimed each time a customer came in, he turned to me with a warm smile.

    "Hello, young student. Is there anything that you seek from the store of his old man?"

    "Yeah, there is something that I need. Maybe you have it in this store?"

    I walked toward Park Injun and stopped in front of the cashier.

    Because he was one of the important side characters, I put a little more effortpared to other side characters. When I wrote his character, I imagined an evil merchant that didn''t care about anything other than money.

    In other words¨C

    "Hohoho, tell me about the item that you seek, young student. Because you entered this store without hesitation and answered me confidently, surely you know about this store. Then, you must know something that I love."

    "¡­Of course. Everyone who knows this store knows that Park Injun loves money."

    ¨CHe was the most influential money-grubber in this world.

    "Oh? You know my name too. Although almost every Awakener in the big guilds knows my existence, only a few know my name." Park Injun''s tone changed.

    He talked like an old man earlier, but now he talked like a young man who had just hit his twenties. His appearance also changed as the windows at the entrance were covered in a ck veil.

    The atmosphere turned heavy all of a sudden, and now the one who sat in front of me was a young man with ck hair wearing a monocle on his right eye.

    "Tell me, young student. How did you find out my name?"

    This was one of my ns. Or rather, I needed to make a connection with Park Injun before I could start my n.

    He was the biggest ck merchant I knew who could be found rather easily in Los Angeles.

    I had decided not to follow the actual plot because of that reincarnator. So getting connected with Park Injun, Zaiden''s biggest supporter, was essential for my n to make Zaiden suffer.

    Calling him by his name was a big gamble on my part, but I knew something that Park Injun loved other than money.

    "It''s a secret." I replied confidently, "I will be grateful if you don''t ask that. In exchange, I will tell you the location of [Napoleon''s Sword]."

    He loved artifacts more than money.

    The legendary weapons in the world had turned into an artifact when the dungeons appeared on Earth. Mythology weapons such as Gungnir and the others had also materialized and could be found in dungeons.

    Because [Napoleon''s Sword] was a legendary sword itself, it also turned into an artifact, but it hasn''t been found yet. It was still hidden in a dungeon and waiting to be found by someone.

    Park Injun''s eyes widened a little, and then a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

    "Looks like the customer right now is my favorite kind. Alright, I will take that offer, but at least tell me your name."

    "Vincent Dihart, a student of the Academy."

 Chapter 8 Fakers Earring

    "So, Vincent Dihart, a student of the Academy. What do you want from my shop?"

    From his tone, I knew that he was interested in me. Not a romantic way of interest, but he was curious about my identity and about how I found out his name.

    Although he was a money-grubber, I could trust him with a secret. If I couldn''t trust him to guard a secret of my real identity, I could trust no one in this world.

    He was such a man. When he was told a secret by someone that he showed interest in, he would guard that secret.

    There was only one way to make him spill the secret, and that was to give him information about a certain artifact that he had sought for a long time.

    Currently, only I knew the location of that artifact, and I had no n to tell him until at least five years. And in those five years, I would be strong enough that he wouldn''t even think of crossing his path with me.

    "I need a few things from this shop. Firstly, a mask that covers the lower half of my face. Secondly, I need a book to learn about Enhancement. Thirdly, give me Enhancement dust. Also, give me the Faker''s Earring."

    When I told him thest item that I wanted to get, Park Injun''s expression changed into a surprised one. He certainly had never thought that I wanted Faker''s Earring.

    It was an earring that could hide one''s status as an Awakener. It worked by hiding Awakener''s Mana from the other Awakener, so the one who wore the Earring would feel like a normal person if checked by the other Awakener.

    A high-ranking Awakener could sense Mana in person.

    This Earring was rare to the point that even a high-rank Awakener wasn''t able to secure this Earring. However, Park Injun managed to get one of this Faker''s Earring.

    "You are truly¡­ mysterious. How did you know that I have this Earring? I guess it''s also a secret?"

    "Correct. Don''t worry, though. I will put the Earring to great use."

    "Hmm¡­" Park Injun put his hand on his chin, "I don''t know whether you are telling the truth or just a confident scammer. But¡­ I will trust you this one time." He then smiled before rummaging the shelf behind him.

    When he touched the shelf behind him, the space distorted a little, and Park Injun''s hand was sucked inside the shelf.

    ''Woah, being able to see that with my own eyes is truly amazing.''

    The shelf that was located behind Park Injun''s chair was called Greed Shelf. It was an artifact that could store anything inside another space.

    At first, I wrote about Park Injun having a warehouse that was erged by space magic behind a door behind his chair or a magic bag that could store anything that was hung behind him.

    However, those were clich¨¦s. So I made the shelf itself that was enhanced with space magic around it to store things in another space. And vo, it looked amazing.

    After moving his hands for a few seconds, Park Injun then smiled and pulled his hand. He pulled out a book that was around 100 pages at first nce with the words ''How to enhance items for an idiot.''

    He then put his hand inside the distorted space again before pulling a ck earring and a ck mask that was made from metal.

    With a grin on his face, he put the items on the table before extending his hand that was holding a paper.

    "That''s 50 grand in total. Transfer it to my ount here."

    "Sure."

    I snatched the paper from his hand, pulled out my phone, and transferred the exact amount of money that he told me about.

    "Also, where is¨C"

    Ting¡ª!

    <o>,m I was about to ask where the Enhancement Dust was, but a notification sound from Park Injun''s pocket interrupted me.</o>

    He put his hand in the pocket and pulled out a phone before grinning happily.

    "I got the money." He turned to me, "d to have business with you. Because you looked like a loyal customer, I will throw an expansion bag for free. The Enhancement Dust is also in that bag, I will give you 250g of it for free."

    He put a ck cross bag on the table without saying anything more.

    That was nice of him. An expansion bag was a bag that was enhanced with space ergement. Usually, it was used by Awakener to store their loot from the dungeon.

    The one that he gave me was the lowest-ranked one, but it was still worth around five grand. Not only that, he gave the Enhancement Dust that cost roughly around 100 USD each 50g for free.

    "What a thoughtful person. I will dly take this present. Thank you."

    "Hahaha, it''s not a problem. However, don''t forget to text me about the location of [Napoleon''s Sword]. Here is my business card."

    He handed me a ck business card with a white lining. I took the bag and the business card before shoving all the items that I bought earlier inside the bag.

    To be honest, I never thought that he would give me his business card this fast. He was known as a person who only gave his phone number to the customers that he liked the most.

    ''Well, it''s a good thing for me.''

    "I will text youter. Thanks for everything."

    "You''re wee. Come again!" As he said that, the ck veil that covered the window of the store was lifted, and the scenery turned normal again.

    Because I had nothing else to do here, I walked out to the store.

    ''Well, let''s learn Enhancement first.''

    ***<sub> </sub>

    "Vincent Dihart, a student from the Academy, huh?" Park Injun muttered as he looked at the door that had just been closed by his customer, a boy named Vincent.

    There was a strange smile on his face. He then pulled out a phone from his pocket and turned it on before searching a ''Merchant Store'' website.

    It was a hidden website that was only known by some awakeners. Someone with an unknown identity operated the website. No one knew the website''s designer or something; it just popped up out of nowhere.

    However, this website was the safest and the most trustworthy ce to find something. From Assassination, bounty, hidden dungeon auction, selling items, and even information. All of those activities could be done on this website.

    Park Injun was one of the website''s members with the highest rank.

    He immediately visited one of a certain thread on the website. It was a thread posted by someone with the nickname ''Darkest Secret'' that sold information on this website.

    "Hmm, should I do it or not?" Park Injun hesitated a bit to contact the Darkest Secret.

    "If I investigate him and he finds out about it, then his trust toward me will plummet to the ground¡­"

    The boy that he met earlier intrigued his interest. He wanted to know where the boy had found his name that even Thomas Evan, the guild master of rank 1 guild in the world Sacred Relic, didn''t know.

    "Hmm¡­" He grunted. But then, he put his phone on the table again before surrendering his back on the chair''s backrest.

    "Let''s just ask himter. Maybe if I give him some item, he will tell me about it? That way¡­ I can forge a rtionship with an interesting boy too."

    His lips curved into a smile, then Park Injun''s figure changed back into the old man that Vincent saw when he first entered the store.

    ***

    [01.00 PM.]

    [Dorm, Vincent''s Room]

    "Kukuku, let''s get to work. First, the Faker''s Earring."

    I took out the Faker''s Earring from my bag that was given by Park Injun and looked at its description.

    _____

    [Faker''s Earring]

    [Null Attribute]

    Effect:

    ¨C Fake

    Hides Mana of an Awakener.

    _____

    The Faker''s Earring only hid Mana, but my purpose was not that. I wanted to hide my Talent and if possible my status, not only my Mana.

    So, for now, I took out the book ''How to enhance items for an idiot.''

    When I read the title again, I frowned a little.

    "I know that this book teaches me how to enhance because I mentioned this book once, but¡­ the title is too much."

    Although the title sounded stupid, the book did its job.

    "Well, let''s not think about the title. I need to learn enhancement today, then I can fiddle around with Faker''s Earring effect."

    S-Rank Enhancement Talent was the highest one, and I didn''t know how far I could go. My novel had no character with this Talent because even A-Rank Enhancement Talent was already broken.

    "Let''s get to work. I only have a month before Zaiden got awakened. I need to make my second identity known to the world by the time he leaves the Academy."

    Reincarnator or not, he was still Zaiden, the protagonist of my novel.

    He was destined for greatness. An Extra like Vincent, like me, had no ce in the story. However, I had no intention to stay silent.

    For once, I wanted to go back to my own world. This world was fucked up, so I wanted to go back to my peaceful Earth.

    Because he had already got an item in the Academy, he was already stronger in this half-first of the story. So I could ignore him for a while. However, that didn''t mean I would let him get all the hidden items.

    I needed those items to stay alive myself.

    Saving the world was important, but that would mean nothing if I died while trying to make Zaiden stronger.

    Setting those aside, I didn''t know what would happen in the future as the story had already derailed from the original one.

    I needed to get stronger to survive in case Zaiden couldn''t save the world.

    "Sorry, Zaiden¡­ but I have no intention to die."

 Chapter 9 Second Identity

    [04:00 PM]

    "Good, I am ready."

    Bam¨C¨C!

    I closed the book and put it back in my bag.

    After reading the book for three hours, I understood how to enhance an item. The theory was easy; I just needed to infuse a specific attribute of Mana into the item while sprinkling the Enhancement Dust on top of it while thinking of the effect that I wanted to put in the item.

    It sounded simple, but turning Mana into a specific attribute and infusing it into an item was moreplicated than it sounded.

    While enchanting, not only did I need to make sure I infused the Mana correctly, I needed to be careful not to destroy the item. After that¡­ it was left to Luck. Whether it would seed or not, Luck was the important decision.

    That was why having S-Rank Luck on top of S-Rank Talent in Enhancement was a brokenbination.

    Now, I needed to try enhancing the Faker''s Earring.

    After putting the Faker''s Earring on the desk, I took the Enhancement Dust that was ced inside a leather bag out of my magic bag.

    The Enhancement Dust was purplish-white; it looked beautiful. However, it was expensive, so I couldn''t waste it.

    "Hmm, I need to infuse Null Attribute Mana  to Faker''s Earring, then sprinkle the Enhancement Dust at the same time."

    I infused the Faker''s Earring with Mana through my left hand while pinching a few bits of Enhancement Dust. Only around 1g of Dust was needed for an item as small as the Faker''s Earring.

    Because the Mana attribute that I used was null-attribute, the process was fast. Each Awakener only had a specific attribute that they could use. However, with my Talent in Magic and Enhancement¡­

    "I could use all attributes with no problem."

    My Mana seeped into the Faker''s Earring as I thought about the effect I wanted to put into it while sprinkling the Enhancement Dust.

    As soon as the dust made contact with Faker''s Earring, it glowed a faint blue light and absorbed the dust.

    [Your Luck has miraculously helped in the enhancement.]

    [Faker''s Earring enhancement sessful. The effect of the enhancement has been amplified.]

    [Faker''s Earring turned into Faker''s Earring +1]

    A few seconds passed before the light disappeared, and I looked at the Faker''s Earring description again.

    _____

    [Faker''s Earring +1]

    [Null Attribute]

    Enhanced by Vincent Dihart

    Effect:

    ¨C Status Camouge

    You can freely customize your status.

    _____

    I smiled at the effect of the Earring.

    At first, I just wanted to add the effect to hide one of my Talents, but¡­ the enhancement turned out better than I had expected.

    The effect of the earring became camouging my status, and I could even customize my status. My name was even written on the item description, which meant the system recognized that I was the one who did the enhancement.

    After knowing that I was better than I thought, I then took out the mask that I had bought from Park Injun from my magic bag.

    "Let''s continue," I muttered as I licked my lips.

    ***

    [25 March 2023, 12:30 PM]

    [Awakener Association''s Building]

    Not only were newly awakened people gathering in the lobby, but some guild officials were also waiting to recruit new talents to their ranks.

    One of the guild officials belonged to Sacred Relic, the number one guild in the world. She was a beautifuldy called Rosa, and now she was looking around under her sunsses. She then noticed another guild official approached her from a distance.

    The man who approached her was a bulky man and waved his hand to her with a smile. "Look who we have here, Rosa from the Sacred Relic."

    "Jonathan¡­" Grumbled Rosa.

    He was a guild official from Street Road, the rival guild of Sacred Relic as well as the second-ranked guild.

    "It''s rare for the Sacred Relic to be spotted here. Is there any newbie that catches your eyes?" Jonathan asked curiously as he looked around the lobby.

    They were standing out because of their suit and sunsses, and the newly Awakeners had spotted them already.

    "No, there is no one special among them." Answered Rosa calmly.

    The newbies, those who had just registered to get their awakener ID, were nothing special. At best, they only had D or C Rank Talents, and none of them were as powerful as Swordsmanship and Magic.

    "Is that so? The newbies today are so different from ten years ago." he stated with a lonely smile.

    "Right. It''s so different from our times." Added Rosa.

    They had been active as an awakener for ten years, and now they had retired for some reason and became guild officials as a recruiter.

    Rosa then looked at Jonathan curiously, "How about you? Did you find some talents for your guild?"<sub> </sub>

    "Meh, nothing so far. I got one newbie with B-Rank Talent in Gunmanship though." Jonathan smirked at Rosa as if he had won apetition against her.

    "What?!"

    Rosa was surprised when she heard Jonathan. Gunmanship Talent was a rare talent among the newbies. Right now, guns were the most popr weapon that Awakener used. With technology and magicbined, researchers managed to make a Magic Gun that shot Mana instead of a physical bullet.

    The destructive power of the gun depended on the amount of Mana that an Awakener held, but without the Talent to use the gun, an Awakener wouldn''t be able to shoot urately.

    That was why Awakeners with Gunmanship Talent were coveted by Guilds as sharpshooters. Archery Talent was also coveted, but because mastering Archery was more difficult than mastering a gun that only needed to pull a trigger to shoot, most Guilds chose a Gunner over an Archer.

    However, Archers who had achieved a certain point of Archery were more destructive than a Gunner, but those Archers were so rare that only one woman had achieved that level of skill.

    That archer in question was called Robin, an Awakener with A-Rank Archery Talent who was affiliated with the Association.

    "Are you serious, Jonathan?"

    "Of course. I am here to apany him to get his ID. Oh, he''s there. Just look at his Talent."

    Jonathan pointed at a young man who was talking with the receptionist to get his name and his Talent checked with an artifact recovered from a Tower. Rosa looked at the boy and waited.

    There was a big screen above the receptionist''s table that showed an Awakener''s Talent after they put their hand on the said artifact.

    When the young man put his hand on the artifact, the screen changed.

    There were words written on the screen.

    -----

    Paul Marino

    Gunmanship (B)

    Mana Maniption (C)

    Boxing (D)

    -----

    A B-Rank Gunmanship Talent, along with two othermon Talents, appeared on the screen, and it caused a stir among the people who watched it.

    "Woah! That guy will enter the big guild for sure!"

    "I envy him! How could he have B-Rank Talent in Gunmanship?! That''s a guaranteed sess in life!"

    They made a fuss among themselves, and only one person in a hoodie was calm.

    Rosa couldn''t hide her jealousy either.

    Jonathan noticed that and patted her shoulder.

    "Don''t mind it. I believe you will find a good newbieter."

    He then walked over to Paul and waved his hand at him.

    Paul, who had received his ID, met up with Jonathan, and they left the lobby under the jealous gaze of the newbies.

    The process of receiving the ID was simple like that. Rosa leaned her back against the wall and let out a tired sigh.

    "Haa¨C¨C"

    She was not lucky enough to meet Paul faster. If she had met him earlier, then she would have given Paul a better condition if she joined Sacred Relic.

    "Well, there is nothing I can do. I just need to wait here like usual and hope that there will at least be someone with B-Rank Talent."

    Rosa then focused on the receptionist''s counter back. This time, someone with a hoodie stood in front of the receptionist. Rosa recognized him from earlier; after all, he was the only one who had no reaction to Paul''s Talent.

    "Hmm, what kind of Talents does he have to be able to stay calm when he sees B-Rank Gunmanship Talent?"

    Rosa was a bit curious about the man, and so she watched over him carefully.

    She couldn''t see his face from her position, but he was clearly a man because of how he dressed. She then saw him move his hand on top of the artifact, and then his Talents were disyed.

    -----

    Rai

    - Sharpshooting (S)

    - Magic (A)

    - Swordsmanship (A)

    -----

    When his Talents were disyed, the lobby turned silent all of a sudden.

    S-Rank Talent. That was something beyond rare; it was something that was considered a legend.

    Not only that, it was Sharpshooting Talent which was even rarer than Gunmanship Talent. Because Sharpshooting Talent meant he could wield a Gun or Bow with no problem.

    His other Talents were also good. He was a gem that needed to be recruited.

    Rosa''s mouth fell, but she quickly recovered. She paced toward the man named Rai in front of the receptionist and called out to him.

    "Hey! Do you want to join the Sacred Relic Guild?"

 Chapter 10 Arash Bow

    The result that came out of the examination was exactly what I wanted. The Faker''s Earring did its job to hide my Enhancement Talent, and I now have my Awakener ID without any problems.

    However, I was a bit confused. The previous guy who had B-Rank Gunmanship Talent got a lot of cheers, but there was not even a single noise when my S-Rank Talent showed up on the screen.

    ''They must be surprised.''

    As I thought that and was about to leave, I heard a loud yell from the side.

    "Hey! Do you want to join the Sacred Relic Guild?"

    There were murmurs among the people in the lobby as soon as the yell broke the silence.

    I stopped my track and looked at the source of the voice. There, I saw a beautiful Caucasian woman looking at me as she took off her sunsses.

    I recognized her. She was Rosa Pquen, an A-Rank Awakener from the Sacred Relic Guild. She was also a recruiter from the Sacred Relic Guild and would invite Zaiden to her Guild in a month when he registered himself.

    So she was already here at this time? And she somehow became interested in me because of my Talent.

    Telling her to screw off would harm my image. So I slowly turned around to her and pulled down my hood.

    "Yes?"

    "Oh¡­" She let out a surprised voice as she covered her mouth.

    I knew the reason why she was surprised. It was because I was too handsome, even though my lower face was hidden with a mask.

    ''The mask is doing its job wonderfully.''

    -----

    [Mask of Deceit]

    [Null Attribute]

    Mask Enhanced by Vincent Dihart

    Effect:

    - Veil of Deceit

    Put an illusion to mask your face.

    - Voice Changer

    Change your voice.

    -----

    I didn''t change my face too much, just enough to be recognized as a different person from Vincent. If I changed my face too much, many strong people would notice the illusion.

    My voice had be deeper too. Looking at the frozen Rosa in front of me, I asked worriedly.

    "Are you okay?"

    "Oh yes. I''m sorry for that."

    "It''s okay. For your invitation earlier¡­" I was about to say I would think about it, but she interrupted me.

    "Right! Do you want to join the Sacred Relic Guild? As you know, we are the best Guild in the world. The benefit of joining us is huge, so I can guarantee that you will be satisfied with it!"

    She was a bit desperate to invite me to her guild. There was a reason for that, though; the Sacred Relic Guild was nowcking in active Awakeners.

    In my novel, they would fall from grace after a certain incident, but that was still a year in the future.

    Joining them was not bad, but I had already decided on what I would do as Rai.

    "I will think about it. To be honest¡­ I am still thinking about what I want to do in the future."

    <o>,m "Oh, that''s fine!" Rosa pulled out a business card from her pocket and handed it to me. "I will leave my business card with you. Please contact me when you have decided on it. I will be waiting for great news from you."</o>

    I took her business card. It was a white card adorned with a blue rose, the logo of the Sacred Relic Guild.

    "Yes. I will. Please excuse me; I have an appointment with my friend after this."

    "Sure. I will be waiting for the great news."

    After putting the business card in my pocket, I nodded my head at Rosa and left the building.

    As expected from Rosa, she wasn''t pushy and knew when to back down. She knew that she would gain my dissatisfaction if she pushed her invitation, and that would lead me to turn her down.

    For now, I should really leave this ce. I felt a lot of people were gazing at me from behind.

    I entered an alley near the Association building, changed my clothes back to the Academy uniform, and took off my mask.

    My appearance changed back to Vincent, and I walked out of the alley rxedly. As I walked out, I was greeted by five people in suits who looked around suspiciously.

    From their behaviors, I knew that they were trying to find me to recruit me to their guilds. But I had no intention of joining their guild.

    When I tried to walk away, one of them stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder.<sub> </sub>

    "Hey! Did you see someone in a ck hoodie walking through this alley?"

    He didn''t recognize me. I grinned and pointed to the alley.

    "Yeah, he ran away in that direction."

    "Oh! Thank you, young man!"

    "Let''s go! He will not be able to run that fast!"

    Those people then ran toward the direction that I pointed. They were fast as all of them were Awakeners.

    After losing my pursuer(?), I put my hands in my pocket and walked away while whistling.

    "Let''s visit Park Injun again. I hope he can get me that weapon."

    ***

    [Park Injun''s Store]

    "You are here again¡­"

    Park Injun greeted me in his old man disguise while grumbling. "What do you want now?"

    "Something. I had sent the location of [Napoleon''s Sword]. Did you get it?"

    I changed the conversation a little to make sure about Park Injun''s ability to confirm my information. If he could confirm the location that I told him about yesterday and somehow be able to retrieve the artifact, I would be able to ask him for a weapon in exchange for information instead of money.

    The weapon was too expensive for my current pocket. I only had around three hundred thousand USD left, and I needed that to buy something else from the Awakener Store.

    "Yeah, your information is certainly credible. To think that [Napoleon''s Sword] is hidden in a dungeon near the Amazon River. It makes me question, how do you know about that hidden dungeon?"

    "Hahahaha, I have my way."

    He had confirmed it. That was good news for me.

    "More importantly, can you get me a weapon? I will pay you with information about another artifact."

    A lot of artifacts were of no use to me, so it was better if I sold the information to Park Injun, a collector of artifacts.

    If, by chance, I needed the artifacts that were in Park Injun''s possession, I could always buy them from him. I was confident that I would have a lot of money at that time.

    "Yeah, sure. But I will decide whether I agree to your request or not after hearing what kind of information you give me."

    If that were the case, then it would be easy.

    I knew a lot of Artifacts that Park Injun wanted to get. Some Artifacts were important to him, but he also wanted to collect some other Artifacts even if he had no use for them.

    Among them was an item that was located near Los Angeles.

    "Elizabeth Painting," I said calmly, and Park Injun''s eyes widened once again.

    "You now have my attention¡­" He smiled and raised his body, "What kind of weapon do you want to get?"

    He asked without changing his expression.

    [Elizabeth Painting] was a rather useless Artifact, but it held a lot of value for a collector like Park Injun. That was why he was interested in it.

    "A bow and arrows. I want to get the [Arash Bow] and Dark Arrows. If the arrow is not possible, then the bow alone is enough."

    Park Injun''s expression changed once again.

    "You are really strange. That bow is no different from a normal bow because¡­"

    "The wielder will die after they use the special ability of the bow once. I know."

    Arash, the hero of Ancient Persia. He was the legendary hero who was known as the strongest Archer and brought an end to the war between Persia and Turan.

    His bow was a strong Artifact, but it was famous for its special ability that drove the Archer to death when he activated the Artifact''s special ability.

    "You know about it, and yet you still want it? You are strange. You seem to be hiding something."

    "Hahahaha, that''s who I am."

    I decided tough it off, but then Park Injun nodded his head.

    "Very well. That bow''s value is less than [Elizabeth Painting]. I will give it to you."

    "Thanks for that. Also¡­ I hope you can keep my secret from the other people for at least three years."

    "That''s not a problem. I am not a person who sells my customer''s identities. Especially customers like you."

    This was why I could always trust the money-grubbing merchants. He then raised two fingers.

    "Two days, give me two days to get that bow."

    "Sure, I can wait for two days. Now, the location of the [Elizabeth Painting]¡­"

 Chapter 11 Normal Day In Academy

    [26 March 2023, 05:20 AM]

    [Academy]

    I spentst night going around the street to refresh myself.

    Without me realizing it, I had a lot of stress building up from everything that had happened to me. It was now morning. I did light exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups before going for a jog.

    Putting on my sweatshirt, I ran out of the dorm. The Academy was big, so I intended to run around the Academy and go to the forest to train my movement.

    Even though I had high-ranked Talents and stats, all of it was useless without proper training.

    "Good. Let''s get going."

    I ran lightly at first and picked up my pace as soon as I reached the main building where sses were held. Because I was already Awakened, my Endurance was at a superhuman level. I had run around the Academy three times, but I could still keep up my pace just fine.

    "Should I try to run faster?"

    Apanied by such a thought, I sped up a little bit. I limited myself to a normal human level as I wanted to keep attending the Academy.

    After running for around 20 minutes, a lot of male students began to exercise too. Some of them were running behind me, and among them was Zaiden. When he saw me, he unexpectedly smiled and waved his hand at me.

    Although I was somehow irritated by him, a reincarnator, for changing my story, I couldn''t bring myself to hate him, who was also the main character of my story.

    Reincarnator or not, Zaiden was a character that I created. It was a strange feeling that I couldn''t understand. I had a lot of reasons to hate him. But I somehow couldn''t hate him even though I wanted to.

    I did n to be a viin to make him suffer, but after I calmed down, I thought that idea was really bad. There would be no way for me to be a viin, I had no guts to be one.

    "Tsk!"

    I clicked my tongue and fastened my pace, leaving the other students behind. Zaiden had a disappointed look because I ignored him.

    ***

    My body was drenched in sweat from the exercise. Running in the forest was a bit harder than I thought. The forest had aplicated terrain with a lot of rocks and trees, so I needed to watch my step when I maneuvered inside it.

    Because I used all my strength without holding back when moving around in the forest, I now got used to my superhuman speed and reactions.

    I took a quick shower before putting on my school uniform and heading to ss. If I skipped all my sses, I would be expelled from the Academy, which obviously something I would like to avoid. I needed to stay for at least three month in this Academy to get what I wanted.

    Zaiden and the heroines were not here yet. I sat quietly on my seat and rested my head on the table, pretending to sleep. The students nced at me a little before continuing their chat.

    Because I was interested in what they were talking about, I strained my ears to hear them.

    "Hey, did you hear the news about that?"

    "Yeah! I heard that news! They said that an Awakener with S-RankTalent had appeared?"

    "Totally! And it''s not the usual Talent. That guy has Sharpshooting Talent!"

    "Woah! That''s crazy!"

    It seemed like they were talking about me, or rather, Rai. My lips curved into a small smile as I heard the content of their conversation.

    My appearance as Rai had even been spread to normal people. There would be amotion with the appearance of S-Rank Talent, and the guilds should start investigating Rai''s background.

    I imagined the time when they found nothing and got frustrated before going to the information broker, Darkest Secret, in the Merchant Store. He would find nothing, too, as Rai was an artificial persona that I created to push my n forward.

    That would be funny.

    ''Do your best. I will just pluck the result in a few days.''

    A few minutes after I pretended to be sleeping, Zaiden and Lisa, the only heroine who was in this ss, entered while being followed by our teacher.

    "Alright! Take your seat. We will begin our first lesson!" The teacher shouted and started the ss.

    Of course, I ignored him as I stealthy circted Mana in my body. I just realized that the ss was the perfect ce for me to use the Mana Breathing Method.

    I could use the Mana Breathing Method as long as I was in afortable position. Not only that, no one in this Academy could feel Mana, so I was free to train during the ss without anyone realizing it.

    ***

    [03:00 PM]

    "Alright! The ss is over today!"

    The teacher dismissed the ss and exited the ssroom.

    The sses in the Academy onlysted until 3 PM. It was short, but it was normal in this world.

    After the ss was dismissed, the students went to the gym to train themselves.

    In the dangerous world filled with dungeons and monsters, the civilians were advised to train themselves to keep their bodies in shape so that they could run when wild monsters appeared.

    For that reason, the school changed its schedule to allow the students to train themselves in the morning and afternoon.

    As the ss had been dismissed, the students began to leave the ss. Lisa also rose from her seat and approached Zaiden.

    "Good work for today, Zaiden."

    She greeted him with a smile.

    "Lisa! Good work for today." He replied with a bright smile.<sub> </sub>

    "Do you have any ns after this?"

    "Hmm, well. I have a n with Mirana to hit the gym." He scratched his cheek with his finger embarrassedly.

    "Oh, right. It''s Mirana''s turn to have a date with you today."

    "Yeah."

    At that moment, an energetic greeting came from the doorway.

    "Yahoo~ Zaiden, let''s go!" Mirana appeared and skipped over to Zaiden.

    She then noticed Lisa, who stood beside Zaiden and greeted her.

    "Lisa! Hello~"

    "Ah, yes. Hello, Mirana." Lisa replied with a smile.

    Zaiden smiled wryly at Mirana''s energetic greeting. However, he then noticed that there was still a boy in the ssroom who had yet to leave. It was Vincent.

    He was still sleeping, and he felt bad about Mirana making a ruckus when Vincent was still sleeping.

    "Hey, Mirana. Can you lower your voice a little? Vincent is still sleeping."

    "¡­Huh?" Mirana let out a confused sound and nced back. There, she saw Vincent was still sleeping soundly with his head on his desk. "That guy is still sleeping? What did he do at night? I bet he''s hanging around with shady people every night. So hecked sleep and chose to sleep in the ss."

    Zaiden felt like Mirana was going too far. They didn''t know what Vincent didst night or the other nights.

    "We don''t know what he did at night, so don''t use him, Mirana." Rebuked Zaiden.

    "But¡­" Mirana said weakly.

    "No but." Zaiden denied as he rose from his seat. "More importantly, let''s go to the gym."

    "Oh right!" Eximed Mirana. She then turned to Lisa. "Well then, Lisa! We will take our leave now! I can''t wait to hang around together on Saturday!"

    Lisa nodded her head, "Yes, I can''t wait either. Have a nice date, you two." She waved her hand at them.

    They waved back at Lisa and left the ssroom.

    When they left, Lisa''s smile fell as she sighed.

    "I wanted to be with him all day¡­" She muttered quietly.

    "Then why don''t you just take him for yourself?"

    She thought that no one would hear her, but an unexpected reply came from the boy who she thought was sleeping.

    "Eh?!" Lisa let out a surprised sound as she looked at the boy, Vincent, who slowly raised his head and ruffled his hair.

    He looked at her with his deep red eyes. She was a bit afraid of him. Even though he was handsome, his eyes felt like he was able to see deep inside her and it scared her.

    "As I said, why don''t you take that guy for yourself? I mean, you love him, and you want him for yourself, right? So why do you share your boyfriend with the other girls?"

    Vincent''s words rang in the ssroom. Boyfriend. Lisa focused on that word.

    She was indeed hanging around Zaiden. It was also clear that the other girls liked him too.

    Including her, five girls in total hung around Zaiden. They looked like his lovers, but the truth was not like that.

    "He''s not my boyfriend." Denied Lisa.

    Lisa could see Vincent''s eyes shook a little bit. Maybe he also thought that they were all Zaiden''s girlfriends?

    But she knew that Zaiden never treated them as girlfriends, even though they liked him. He only saw them as close friends at best.

    After all, Zaiden was kind toward everyone and never denied the rumors. So the other students misunderstood the situation and thought that they were his girlfriends.

    "I see¡­" Vincent let out a small sound. He sounded relieved. "Well, it doesn''t concern me a bit, so I won''t bother you any longer."

    He picked up his bag and held it over his shoulder before he walked to the exit.

    ''Did he perhaps listen to our conversation before and pretend to be asleep to not disturb us?'' She then knew.

    His actions were simr to those of a delinquent, but Lisa somehow thought that he was kind. Not only did he not poke around at her problem, he even gave her a piece of advice.

    He was not even mad, even though Mirana used him earlier.

    ''He''s¡­ kind?'' Lisa couldn''t find a word to describe the boy, Vincent. ''No, he''s thoughtful.''

    After talking with him a little, she noticed that she was not scared of him anymore.

    Although the advice that he gave was a bit impossible.

    "Well, have a good day, Lisa." Vincent then left the ssroom without looking back.

    "Have a good day too."

    After he left, she then noticed that Vincent called her by her name.

 Chapter 12 Dungeon

    That was close. My heart was about to burst from fear.

    When I finished my training with the Mana Breathing Method at that time, I noticed that the ss was still ongoing. Because I didn''t feel a need and was toozy to attend the ss, I decided to close my eyes just for a second, pretending to be sleeping.

    However, who would''ve thought that I would really fall asleep!

    When I opened my eyes again, I heard a conversation between Zaiden and Mirana. I also heard Lisa''s voice, so I kept my position and eavesdropped on them.

    Zaiden left the room first, so I thought that I would be safe to leave. So I raised my head a little, but then Lisa muttered something that took me by surprise.

    Among the heroines, I was a bit afraid of Lisa. The reason for that was simple.

    ''She''s a bit crazy. Her love knows no bounds, as her Trait is Crazy in Love. Or at least that was my setting in the novel.''

    That was why I gave her a little advice to save myself and left the room as soon as possible.

    Even if I was an Awakener and she was a normal person, being alone with her was scary.

    But, I gained some nice information from her.

    "So they are not lovers, huh. That guy is really ying around too much."

    He should''ve known Lisa''s Trait. If she Awakened her Talents, and the awakening strengthened her Trait in the future, I would only hope that Zaiden would be safe from her.

    But then, that was Zaiden''s problem, not mine.

    For now, I had something to do.

    "It''s shopping time~"

    ***

    Leaving the Academy, I changed my clothes into a hoodie and shirt before putting on the Mask of Deceit.

    My destination was the Awakeners Store. It was a store that sold normal weapons, such as the Iron Sword and other kinds of weapons.

    Not only that, but the Awakeners Store also sold things such as grenades or smoke bombs to use in the dungeon.

    That was my goal today. I wanted to get some grenades and smoke bombs to be used in an emergency. I also wanted to get myself a bow and a sword.

    Rai was talented in both Sharpshooting and Swordsmanship. I wanted to show the world that I was that strong. It was the first phase of my n.

    I needed at least a month for this first phase, and it was a perfect time. After getting recognition from the world, I would then proceed to the second, which involved Zaiden directly.

    Now, I was looking around the Awakener Store that was located in the middle of Los Angeles, a bit away from Park Injun''s store.

    The grenade sold in the Awakener Store would be able to kill F-Rank monsters with no problem and even injure E-Rank monsters.

    It was a useful tool, but then¡­

    "It''s expensive!" I raised my voice when I saw the price of the grenade on the shelf of the store.

    It cost 500 USD for each grenade, which was ridiculouspared to the effect of the bomb. However, I still bought it.

    I bought four grenades and two smoke bombs, which cost the same as the grenades. Then, I bought a bow that a newbie often used with ten arrows and a quiver as a bonus for ten grand.

    The sword cost five grand, but I still bought it as I needed it too.

    The reason I bought a bow, even though I requested [Arash Bow] was to train with it. I could always use [Arash Bow] to train myselfter, but I didn''t want to waste a precious two days just waiting for it.

    I intended to train myself in the dungeon after this.

    "Thank you for your purchase!"

    I put the items in my magic bag while strapping the quiver and bow on my back. The sword was also in my magic bag, as I had no scabbard and belt to strap it on my waist.

    Then, I left the Awakener Store and headed to the nearby F-Ranked Dungeon.

    ***

    Dungeons were divided by Rank, simr to Awakeners. F-Rank was the lowest, and S-Rank was the highest.

    Three F-Rank Awakeners could clear the F-Ranked Dungeon. It was rmended to form a party to tackle the dungeon, even if it was the lowest-ranked one.

    Many monsters inhabited the dungeons, but there was also a field where monsters roamed. Monsters inhabited those fields because the dungeon was overflowing with monsters.

    The monsters inside the dungeons would multiply after a certain amount of time. The researchers called the urrence ''Breeding''.<sub> </sub>

    Putting that aside, a lot of F-Rank and E-Rank Awakeners crowded near the dungeon.

    The dungeon entrance was shaped like a normal cave entrance, but it was formed in an abandonednd.

    A person from the Awakener Association managed the entry of the Awakeners near the dungeon entrance.

    At first, I was thinking of trying to hit the field, but it was too risky for me, who had nobat experience.

    A low-ranked dungeon such as this one was perfect for training.

    "Well, let''s try it solo first. This is just a one-floor dungeon with F-Rank monsters, so it should be easy with my status."

    I then walked toward the entrance of the dungeon. A lot of Awakeners were calling out to the others to form a party.

    Some even called out to me, but I refused them by raising my hand; I tried to act cool when I was acting as Rai.

    When I was about to enter the dungeon entrance, the person from the Awakener Association stopped me and asked me to show my ID.

    He was a bit shocked when I showed him my ID. My Talents were written there, so it was natural if he was shocked.

    However, he kept his professionalism and just allowed me to go inside without any problem.

    Even though it was my first time entering a dungeon, I wasn''t that impressed or something. Because, it was somehow disappointing.

    "This is¡­"

    The dungeon that I entered was disappointing. It was simr to a cave¡­ with monsters fighting the Awakeners.

    "Well, it''s just an F-Ranked Dungeon after all," I muttered in a low voice.

    Because this area was full of Awakeners already, I decided to go deeper into the dungeon.

    I met a lone monster after walking for a few minutes. Stopping on my track, I hid behind the nearby rock and held the bow that I bought with my left hand.

    Taking an arrow from the quiver on my back, I nocked it to the bowstring and aimed at the monster.

    Maybe because I had S-Rank Sharpshooting Talent, I immediately knew how to hold the bow correctly.

    Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

    My heart was beating fast. This was the first time I''d had a serious fight in my life. When I was on Earth, I lived peacefully, away from most dangers.

    The only fighting experience that I had was when I was in military service for a year, and that too was just a spar.

    "Fuu¨C"

    Taking a deep breath to calm my loud heartbeat, I aimed my arrow toward the green monster in the distance. It was a monster known as ''Goblin''.

    The arrowhead let out a faint blue glow. The Mana that was infused in the arrowhead increased its piercing power. The faint glow was proof that I had sessfully infused the mana into the arrowhead.

    A few seconds passed in silence. After I was sure that my arrow would pierce its head, I then released the bowstring as I exhaled.

    "Ha¨C!"

    Swoosh¨C!

    The arrow flew at a fast speed, leaving a faint blue trail of mana. It then pierced the goblin''s head cleanly.

    "K¨CKi..." The goblin let out ast cry before lifelessly falling to the ground.

    "I did it¡­" I muttered as I approached the goblin.

    My confidence increased after I killed the goblin easily. I looked at my hand and clenched my fist.

    "I can do it¡­ I can get stronger."

    My lips curled into a smile that was hidden by my mask. I then crouched and took the fang of the goblin that could be sold for a few bucks.

    Putting the fang in my magic bag, I then took back the arrow that pierced the goblin earlier. It was a precious arrow, and it could still be used a few times.

    "Let''s continue a little. It''s a good ce to train my uracy."

    I continued training Archery in the dungeon. I also learned how to move stealthily while I was at it.

    Surprisingly, I could learn all of them easily. All of that was thanks to my S-Rank Talent.

 Chapter 13 A New Friend And A New Weapon

    [27 March 2023, 12:30 PM]

    [Cafeteria]

    Today my [Arash Bow] arrived, and I got confirmation from Park Injun that he had recovered the [Elizabeth Painting] from the location that I told him.

    The ce where the [Elizabeth Painting] was hidden away was a famous one, so he had to wait for people to leave before recovering it. It was hidden at the Santa Monica Pier, a famous ce that was crowded all day.

    Now I was sitting in the cafeteria trying to enjoy my meal. However, for some reason, Zaiden sat in front of me again.

    This time, he was alone. It had been a minute since then. A silence was formed between us, and the students who ate in the cafeteria nced at us every now and then.

    I couldn''t stand the silence, so I spoke.

    "What do you want?"

    Imitating a delinquent tone, I red at Zaiden. His fork stopped midway. He then put it on his te and smiled at me.

    "Well¡­ I want to apologize for what Mirana did yesterday. I heard from Lisa that you were listening to what she said yesterday."

    This guy. Was he serious?

    I didn''t ask for it. Not only that, I believe that Lisa had told her that I didn''t need any apologies. Heck, I even ignored Mirana because I knew her personality. She hated delinquents because they had made her grandmother hospitalized in the past.

    It was natural for her to hate me, as she thought that I was a delinquent.

    "I don''t care about that. You don''t need to apologize." I answered him without changing my expression and continued eating my meal.

    The meals in this cafeteria were delicious. I liked it.

    "I also want to know more about you, Vincent."

    When he said that, I stopped moving and nced at him. He was smiling.

    This guy, was he crazy? Lisa said he never thought of them as his girlfriends.

    Could it be? Did this guy swing that way?

    I needed to be careful around him.

    Zaiden''s face paled a little, and he quickly waved his hands in an attempt to make himself clear.

    "Ah, no. I mean, I want to be your friend."

    Oh, were my thoughts written on my face? My expression must''ve changed unconsciously.

    This guy wanted to be my friend? There was nothing wrong with that.

    It has been my goal from the beginning. I nned to act with him as Vincent to make him stronger. Also, Rai would guide him as well as make him go through suffering.

    That way, he would get stronger faster, and I would leave it to him to save the world when that time had arrived.

    "Sure, I don''t mind. Then let''s do this from the start. I am Vincent Dihart."

    Zaiden''s face brightened with my answer.

    "Really? I thought you would refuse. Oh, right. My name is Zaiden Archman. Nice to meet you!" A relieved smile formed on his face. "I''m d that you didn''t mind bing my friend."

    Archman. Zaiden''s family name.

    In the novel, only he survived the monster outbreak. He did, however, save Lily in this world. So it''s notpletely unthinkable for him to do the same for his family.

    After all, he was not the Zaiden that I wrote.

    While I couldn''t care less about that as I had thrown away the idea of knowing the past, as it had changed from the backstory that I wrote after I saw Lily, I must investigate the past by myself.

    "When I think about it again. I think I will refuse¡­ you are too creepy."

    "Eh? Don''t say that! You agreed to it, so you can''t refuse!"

    Unexpectedly, I could talk with him normally. He was kind, just as Lisa said, too kind that he even approached me, who was branded as a delinquent.

    After I knew his personality, I realized how stupid it was¡ªboth me and him. We were just stupid people who knew the future of this world.

    However, if there was something that made us different, then it was my knowledge of the ending.

    I knew the ending of my novel, but he didn''t.

    It was that simple. For such a simple thing, it made me troubled for a day, thinking about whether Zaiden was a reincarnator or not.

    In the end, it didn''t matter. I just needed to guide him, like in my original n. As long as he was the protagonist, he would be able to save the world. He had no plot armor, but he had me, the author himself. Iughed at the thought.

    "Hahahaha."

    Zaiden looked confused, even the students in the cafeteria were looking at me strangely. I, on the other hand, paid no attention to them andughed even louder.

    ***

    [03:20 PM]

    The sses had ended. Our ssmates were confused when Zaiden suddenly approached and invited me to hang out with him.

    They couldn''t believe that Zaiden was talking to me in a friendly tone.

    But I had something to do today, so I refused Zaiden''s invitation before exiting the ss. He looked disappointed, but he beamed into a smile after I promised to hang out with him tomorrow.

    Like that, I made a promise to hang out with him.

    I was now inside Park Injun''s store, looking at the ck bow with an borate red design on the table. The bow had no string, but I quickly knew why after I looked at its status.

    "Woah!" I eximed loudly because the bow''s specs were amazing.

    -----

    [Arash Bow] [Artifact]<sub> </sub>

    [Composite Attribute: Light and Dark]

    The bow was used by the Persian Hero, Arash, to end the war between Persia and Turan.

    Special Skill:

    - [Ster] Lone Meteor

    Fire a single arrow that can travel anywhere on Earth. Enhanced with Mana, the arrow will be divided into five and destroy any single enemy in its path.

    Activation Cost: You will die.

    Effect:

    - Mana Arrow

    Create a mana arrow.

    - Mana Bowstring

    Create a mana bowstring. It''s more durable than a normal bowstring.

    -----

    The bow was amazing. I loved it already.

    An artifact would have one special skill rted to its legend. For [Arash Bow], it was rted to the legend where Arash stopped a war by firing a single arrow. However, his body shattered, and he lost his life because this special move exceeded the limits of human beings.

    But that would be no problem. I nned to enhance this bow before using it. I should be able to at least reduce the penalty of using its Special Skill.

    "Are you satisfied?" Asked Park Injun with a smile.

    He didn''t even look at me. He was busy admiring [Elizabeth Painting] that he hung on the wall across from his chair.

    "Yeah, thanks. It should do." I put the [Arash Bow] into my magic bag. "How about the dark arrow? Do you have it?"

    "No, I don''t. But, what do you need the dark arrow for? That bow can create a Mana Arrow, which is more destructive than a physical arrow."

    "Are you kidding me?" I asked seriously. He must be joking.

    However, Park Injun didn''t seem to be joking. He was serious about thinking that the Mana Arrow was more destructive than a physical arrow.

    "Hey, Park Injun. As thanks, I will tell you something."

    "What is it? Another Artifact''s location?" He was interested, but I wouldn''t tell him Artifact''s location that easily.

    "No. The Physical arrow is more destructive than the Mana Arrow. I mean, it can be enhanced and imbued with Mana. The power is two times more destructive than the usual Mana Arrow, and it can achieve more if the enhancement that is put into the arrow is good."

    When I said that, Park Injun looked at me as if he was looking at an idiot.

    "I know that."

    "Then why do you say that Mana Arrow is more destructive?"

    "Well, everyone will say that. I mean, why bother enhancing an arrow that you use for one-time only? Only an idiot would do that."

    I now understood what he meant by that.

    It was my fault after all. I misunderstood him. Of course, everyone knew about it.

    Even I knew that. But I never thought about the enhancement.

    In the novel, I made many Awakaners use guns instead of Bows and Arrows. Some Awakeners used Bows and Arrows, but they used Mana Arrows instead of Physical Arrows.

    Only one person used Physical Arrows. She was the best Archer in this world. She took the name of the famous huntress, Atnta, and she even had an Artifact rted to Atnta, her bow [Atnta''s Bow].

    Even though Physical Arrows needed no Mana to be fired, Mana Arrows were more widespread because of its convenience and its power.

    It was normal for Park Injun to think that I would use Mana Arrow even though I asked for Dark Arrow alongside the bow. Maybe he thought that I didn''t know that the Bow already had an effect on making Mana Arrow.

    "My bad. I forgot that most Archers used Mana Arrow. But, Park Injun..."

    It was indeed my fault, but only partially. Park Injun was at fault too.

    "I requested Dark Arrow because I intend to use Physical Arrows. Do you have it or not?"

    "Sigh¨C You are really a difficult customer." Sighed Park Injun.

    "But I am the most profitable customer too." I replied to him with a grin.

    Realizing that I was serious,he then pulled a quiver with ten Dark Arrows in it from the shelf behind him.

    "Here. I only have ten of them."

    "Good. d to have business with you."

    "Yes yes, just go. I can''t deal with you anymore today; there is another guest who wille shortly."

    Another guest?

    He must be someone influential enough to be able to make an appointment with Park Injun.

    "Sure. I will go without you asking me to. Thanks for this. I wille again in the future."

    Park Injun waved his hand, gesturing for me to leave. "Shoo¨C Shoo¨C"

    This was unusual. The guest that he was expecting must have been really important then.

    If that was the case¡­

    ''Let''s take a look. I wonder who Park Injun''s customer is.''

    I then entered the back alley near Park Injun''s store and changed into Rai''s clothes.

 Chapter 14 Scammer

    I jumped onto the building beside Park Injun''s store from the back alley. It was easy for me, who had superhuman strength, and I arrived on the roof of the said building easily.

    Now I just needed to wait for Park Injun''s customer to arrive.

    From what I knew, Park Injun never epted any appointment unless it was something rted to an Artifact.

    Surely, the meeting with a customer this time would also be rted to an Artifact.

    At this time, around three weeks before Zaiden''s awakening, fake artifacts were in cirction.

    Those artifacts would even fool Park Injun, and it was rted to the first arc where Zaiden would meet Park Injun.

    This first arc was the start of his story, and I wrote in the setting book on myputer that Park Injun was fooled around a month before Zaiden''s awakening.

    The timing matched. The one who visited him was, without a doubt, the scammer who sold fake artifacts.

    ''What an unexpected find. He shows up when I still need a lot of money.''

    The scammer''s identity was never revealed until the end of the first Arc. His identity was nothing special, so I could take care of him right now and take the sweet result for myself.

    Although this would mean that what happened in this world was a bit different from the original one, the general setting and plot have not deviated too much yet. Only one main key was missing.

    I could use this to my advantage.

    Now I only needed to wait.

    ***

    [06:15 PM]

    Park Injun was sitting on his chair while looking at the Merchant Store.

    He was trying to find information about the one who contacted him yesterday, asking for a meeting because he had an artifact in which he took an interest.

    ''Monalisa Painting, huh? After I got Elizabeth Painting, I became more greedy and even trusted someone who contacted me out of nowhere.''

    Right now, he had no idea about the person who just contacted him. He only knew that he was an Awakener from Sacred Relic and that he was here to sell Monalisa Painting.

    It was not strange if an Awakener from Sacred Relic knew about his existence. A lot of Awakeners from big guilds often sold their Artifacts to him after all.

    However, that didn''t mean he would trust that someone. They indeed knew about him, but he didn''t know about them.

    With that as a reason, he always investigated his customers. It was something like a rule that he would always follow. In his life, there was only one exception to this rule, and that was Vincent Dihart.

    ''He''s amusing. Not only that, he has the same eyes as me.''

    The eyes of a greedy bastard. Someone like that would not betray you as long as you were useful to them. So their feelings were mutual, and hence, he trusted Vincent more than any of his customers right now.

    Concerning his new customer, who was supposed to arrive any minute now, he actually got something from Merchant Store''s best information broker, Darkest Secret.

    His new customer was an Awakener who joined Sacred Relic a year ago, and he just recently came back from Europa after clearing a newly formed dungeon.

    That meant the credibility of him having [Monalisa Painting] was high. The fact that he had recently cleared a dungeon added to his usibility of possessing an Artifact.

    "It seems that I have no need to worry about today''s transaction." He muttered in a low voice as he put his phone in his pants pocket.

    He was using his old man persona. It made his customer trust him, as he appeared to be an experienced merchant because of his age.

    Not so long after, the customer that he was waiting for arrived.

    Ting¨C

    The bell chimed in as the door was pushed open, revealing a man. It was already dark outside, and his brown hair and average face were lit by artificial light in the store.

    The man was holding an object wrapped in cloth in his hand. From its shape, Park Injun presumed it to be the mentioned painting.

    "Umm, are you the Artifact Dealer?" Asked the man cautiously.

    Artifact Dealer. That was what Park Injun was known to the big guilds. Only a few people who were trusted by him knew his real name.

    "Yes." Park Injun answered with a smile. "I believe you are Mr. Raymond, who contacted me yesterday?"

    The man known as Raymond nodded his head with a smile.

    "Yes, you''re correct."

    He approached Park Injun and held the square-shaped object in front of his chest.

    "Will you buy this from me? I¡­ I need a lot of money, and I can''t sell this anywhere due to¡­ you know what."

    "I understand." Park Injun nodded his head as he looked at Raymond.

    A lot of Awakeners stole an Artifact or two from their guilds after expeditions. This urrence was not rare at all.

    Some of them were desperate for money to buy new equipment, while some of them wanted money for their greed.

    Humans were creatures born of greed. And Park Injun was a merchant who took care of that greed.

    "Can I see the good first? I will see whether it is the real one or a fake one."

    "Of course!"

    The man put the object on the table to let Park Injun inspect it.

    With an experienced hand, Park Injun unwrapped the cloth and looked at the object hidden beneath. It was the [Monalisa Painting].<sub> </sub>

    He then inspected it with his discerning eyes.

    Park Injun was also an Awakener. He had an A-Ranked Talent called Inspection.

    He could know the credibility of an object or even Humans.

    With his Inspection Talent, he quickly climbed his way up thedder as a Merchant, and now he was one of the biggest ones in the world.

    Telling a fake Artifact from a real one was easy for him; it didn''t take long. Only a few seconds were needed for him to know whether the Artifact in his hand was a fake or a real one.

    -----

    [Monalisa Painting][Artifact]

    [Null Attribute]

    A painting of Mona Lisa.

    ? Special Effect:

    - Mental Healing

    Looking at this painting will calm your heart.

    -----

    "This is a real one." He eximed happily. "I can give you a billion for this. Any more than that, I won''t be able to afford it."

    "A billion!" Raymond eximed in surprise. "Yes! I will sell it to you!"

    "May I have your bank number? I will send the payment as soon as possible."

    "Of course. Here is my bank ount."

    Raymond gave Park Injun his bank ount without thinking too much.

    After receiving the bank ount from Raymond, Park Injun quickly sent a billion USD to it. Such a big transaction was normal for him, and the amount was not too much for an Artifact such as the [Monalisa Painting].

    He gained more than that in a month, so it was a good trade for Park Injun.

    "I have received it. Thank you!"

    "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

    Raymond then left Park Injun store with a big smile on his face.

    ***

    "As expected, it''s that scammer," I muttered as I saw a brown-haired man leaving Park Injun''s store.

    He was a famous scammer who used the guild that he joined, Sacred Relic, to boost his credibility.

    No one knew that he was a scammer. The fake Artifacts that he sold to the broker were simr to the real ones. Even Park Injun couldn''t tell the difference between the fake Artifacts and the real one..

    "Well, I will let him do as he pleases right now. The first Arc started around a month after Zaiden awakened. There is still a lot of time before he gets caught, so I will let him grow his wealth for now."

    Taking care of him was easy. But I wouldn''t do that.

    He was literally walking cash. He would continue to amass his wealth if I didn''t interfere. It would be a waste to catch him right now.

    "Be a good walking cash and make a lot of money for me. I will certainly make use of you in the future."

    Now I still had something to do. Enhancing [Arash Bow] to change its penalties would be difficult even for me. I needed to secure something to aid my Enhancement.

    "It''s time to look for Lich''s blood."

    Liches were undead creatures known for their rotten bodies and dried flesh as well as their mastery of magic.

    It was a known fact that this undead was skinny and had no blood in its body. It would be ridiculous to hear a Lich having blood left in their body; even I questioned my sanity when I wrote this part.

    However, Lich actually had blood. In the area around his heart, a tiny bit of frozen blood was left in its decaying heart. It was rare and only appeared in a few Lich, but it certainly existed.

    Lich''s blood was rich in mana. It could be used to make a potion, among other things. But, its specialty lies in its ability to aid an Enhancement and reduce the  side effects of an Artifact.

    No one knew about it at this moment, as it would be found by Lisa in the future. The Talent that she awakened was A-Rank Research Talent.

    She would be a famous researcher in the future, and she was supposed to meet with Zaiden again when he visited the research facility she was in. But that would never happen in this world. They had already met, and Lisa even liked him.

    Putting that aside, there was one problem. Lich was a C-Ranked Monster that could use magic.

    Because its use was unknown and no one bothered to extract Lich''s blood from its heart, there was no Lich''s blood on the market right now.

    I could ask an Awakener to get it for me, but he then would be suspicious as to why I asked him to get Lich''s blood.

    I couldn''t risk it. Awakeners who were hungry for money would realize that Lich''s blood was important and they would attempt to sell it.

    Having Lich''s blood in cirction right now was dangerous. Not only would the technology progress faster than in the story, but the enemies hiding in the dark would also benefit from Lich''s blood.

    That only left me with one choice. I must get it myself.

    "Well, I can only train in that case."

    Pulling my body up, I stretched a little as I found  my body sore from crouching for over an hour, then I jumped down from the building before changing my clothes back to the uniform and began to walk back to the Academy.

 Chapter 15 News And Hanging Out

    [28 March 2023, 07:00 AM]

    I did my daily routine first thing in the morning.

    My training routine consisted of 300 push-ups, 300 sit-ups before going on a run for around 30 KM, and some movement training in the forest.

    Since I got my bow already, I added some light archery training with [Arash Bow] to increase my uracy.

    For Mana Breathing, it was done at night, before I went to sleep. I was now used to such a daily routine.

    Making a Magic Bowstring was easier than Enhancing an item. All I needed to do was infuse my Mana into the bow, and the Magic Bowstring appeared with a pale blue glow.

    To train my archery, I used Magic Arrow from the effect of my bow. I could adjust its power by controlling my Mana.

    The Magic Arrow that I made for training was only strong enough to pierce the bark of a tree. What Icked the most right now was experience, so I focused on hitting a target instead of destroying it.

    I only needed to add more Mana to my arrow to destroy a target. However, uracy had to be trained manually.

    My usual training started at 5:00 AM and continued until 6:30 AM.

    Today, I made a promise to hang out with Zaiden. So he asked me to meet him at Santa Monica Pier at 7:00 AM, but¡­

    "He''ste¡­" I grumbled in displeasure as I watched people walking on the pier.

    Opening my smartphone, I tried to see any news on what was happening in the world right now.

    The news about the Awakeners always became a sensation, so it was not too hard to find some news.

    [Sacred Relic has conquered the Hollywood Dungeon! It''s recorded as E-Rank Dungeon!]

    [Street Road has a new member?! Wee Paul Marino, an Awakener with B-Rank Gunmanship Talent!]

    [Mysterious Awakener named Rai with S-Rank Sharpshooting Talent?!]

    [Wood Essence offered a Billion USD for Rai, but they got refused!]

    Well, the news was interesting. There were some hoaxes here and there.

    "Tsk! What is this shit about a Billion USD? I got no such offer."

    They used my name to get an audience.

    This Wood Essence guild was ranked 9th among the other guilds in the world. They always made up such fake news to attract new members to their guild.

    Although there were some hoaxes in the news, there was also real news.

    "So the dungeon is named Hollywood Dungeon? Talk about simple naming sense."

    The news was about the guild Sacred Relic conquering a newbie dungeon. They worked fast, as expected from the Rank 1 guild.

    Thepetition between guilds was fierce. Theypete with each other to get sponsors and raise their stock values.

    "Should I invest some in stocks?"

    Some guilds would be on the rise in the future. Investing some of my money in stocks would benefit me in the long run.

    This novel wouldst for eight years. It would be a long journey.

    I had no n to stay for that long, but there should be a clue for me to go back to my world after the story ended.

    At least I should think about the future for a little while. Preparing for the worst in case I wouldn''t be able to return to my original world was not wrong.

    I pressed the news about the Sacred Relic and read the news. However, not long after I read the news on my phone, a familiar voice shouted at me.

    "Why is he here?!"

    I raised my head and saw Mirana in her casual clothes pointing her index finger at me.

    When I saw her, I was confused for a moment. I tried to analyze the situation, then I saw Zaiden and the other heroines, including Lily, walking toward me in the distance.

    Lily waved her hand at me while the other girls, excluding Lisa, who smiled at me, were confused.

    Zaiden smiled wryly in the middle of them and moved his lips, saying, "Sorry!"

    I let out a sigh before putting my phone back in my pocket.

    Mirana gnashed her teeth and pouted at me. Her actions reminded me of a hamster that had its food stolen. She was kind of cute to be honest.

    I ignored her for now and looked at Zaiden.

    "You arete. And, you bring a lot of people with you¡­"

    "Ha-hahaha. I already made a promise to them too, so¡­ I think it will be no problem if we hang out together?" Zaidenughed wryly as she scratched his cheek.

    "Don''t ask me. Ask the girls."

    "Hanging out with him?" Asked Mirana. "Zaiden, what are you thinking? He''s a delinquent!"

    "Mirana¡­ Vincent is a good guy, you know? The rumors about him are false. If you know him better, then you will know that he is a good guy." Zaiden exined to Mirana.

    This was a bit troublesome. The looks that the girls were giving me were also strange.

    Ao looked at me with a small smile. Shina looked at me shyly. Lisa looked at me with a grateful gaze, and Mirana sent a death stare at me.<sub> </sub>

    The strangest one came from Lily. When I looked at her, she smiled at me with a strange gaze. She seemed to be interested in me.

    ''Troublesome indeed¡­ I should just leave and train myself rather than waste my time watching them argue with each other.''

    As I was thinking about leaving this ce, Lily suddenly spoke.

    "Well, I don''t mind, you know? He doesn''t look like a bad boy to me. It seems the rumors about him are all wrong."

    I was a bit surprised when she said that. The Lily I knew was someone cold, because of her experience in the past.

    This Lily, however¡­ She was friendly, much like Zaiden. Of course, Zaiden''s personality might influence her, but I didn''t think that was the case.

    This was her personality if she was saved from her horrible past. The real Lily.

    "I agree with Lily. I don''t believe a single rumor in the Academy. A lot of people are jealous of each other, so the rumors might be false." Added Ao.

    Because of her personality as well as her Trait, she wouldn''t believe any rumors unless she saw them by herself.

    She was the strictest character in my novel, as well as the future Vice-Master of the Sacred Relic guild.

    Although she had a japanese name, in truth, she was the daughter of Thomas Evan, the guild master of the Sacred Relic guild.

    No one knew it right now, but it would be revealed when she Awakened in the future.

    "I also don''t mind hanging out with Vincent. I mean, all he did was sleep in the ss. I don''t know why he''s called a delinquent."

    "I-I also don''t mind. I-I think Vincent is a good guy too."

    Lisa and Shina expressed their opinions.

    This was really strange. I knew that the heroines were good girls, but they wouldn''t be this kind. Especially Ao, she was supposed to be strict.

    Did she perhaps know my identity as Rai and was asked to bring me to Sacred Relic? No, that shouldn''t be possible.

    "Are you guys for real?" Asked Mirana, with a bit of anger in her tone.

    The conversation had gone on for too long. I only nned to hang out with Zaiden to be closer to him. I could always do it in the future.

    Mirana still had some problems with delinquents. I, who was branded as a delinquent, was bad in her eyes. Unfortunately, this was not the time for me to talk to her yet.

    Slowly, I need to make a good impression on her.

    So that I could make use of her when she was sessful in the future.

    "If you have a problem with me being here, I will leave then. Please enjoy your day."

    So I chose to back away. I was about to walk away to leave the Pier, but Lily''s voice stopped me.

    "How about we do it like this? Let''s just hang out for an hour, and you will decide for yourself whether Vincent is a good man or a delinquent. I believe an hour is not a problem for you, Mirana?"

    "Eh?" Mirana let out a yelp.

    When I turned to Lily, she had a sly smile struck on her face. She was definitely nning something.

    Did Zaiden know about it?

    I nced at Zaiden, only to see a bright smile.

    "That''s a good idea!" Like any protagonist in a story, he put his hands on Mirana''s shoulder. "I promise you, Mirana! Vincent is a good guy! I even told you about it two days ago, right?"

    "But¡­" Mirana was about to refute Zaiden, but she stopped when she saw his bright smile. "Fine! Let''s hang out for an hour!"

    She then turned to me and pointed her index finger again. "You!"

    "Me?" I instinctively answered her as I pointed at myself.

    "I will make sure to break away your mask! I know that you are a delinquent!"

    Mirana smiled smugly as she dered.

    This girl¡­

    I was wrong by thinking that she was cute, like a hamster. She was not a hamster; she was a rat.

    However, this was also my chance. Despite my intention not to interact with them in order to maintain my delinquent persona in the Academy, I too should maintain their positive impression of me.

    ''It couldn''t be helped. I need to slightly change my n. Having a good rtionship with them will only benefit me after all.''

    They would all be influential figures in the future, so having a good rtionship with them this early would benefit me greatly.

    So I answered Mirana with a confident smile.

    "Fine. Just see it for yourself."

    "Alright! Then it''s decided!" Shouted Zaiden happily.

    Come to think of it, I didn''t know where we would hang out today. I looked at Zaiden and asked.

    "So, where are we going?"

    Zaiden smiled at me and said, "We will y some bowling and darts."

 Chapter 16 Forging A New Bond

    [Bowling Alley ¨C Lucky Strike Live]

    I was overjoyed when I heard that we were going to go bowling and darts.

    Thanks to my Talents, bowling and darts were really easy for me. Sharpshooting Talent worked for anything rted to long-range.

    My sight and hearing improved. My uracy improved. It had a diverse use; my Talent even improved my throwing.

    That was why¡­ bowling was easy.

    "Strike!"

    I got another strike, and Mirana red at me while gritting her teeth in frustration.

    "He''s too good¡­" Muttered Ao.

    "Yeah¡­" added Lily. "It''s as expected from him."

    She answered Ao confidently, as if she knew me.

    I dusted my hands and looked at Marina with a smug smile.

    Her re intensified. She couldn''t even hit a strike once, so herpetitive spirit was lifted.

    "Woah, you got another strike. You are too good at this, Vincent."

    Zaiden approached me with a bowling ball in his hand. It was now his turn.

    "It''s nothing. I am good at this."

    "Hahahaha. You are. Look at me. I will get a strike too."

    "Show me then. I doubt you will be able to get a strike."

    "You can do it, Zaiden! Defeat that guy!" Encouraged Mirana.

    Zaiden smirked a little and got into a pose. His pose was good, and he threw his ball.

    It was easy for him to get a strike with his body spec. However, there was a factor that made him unable to get a strike.

    When the ball was in the middle of thene, it made a sudden turn and left thene.

    Surprised, Mirana eximed. "Ah!"

    "Oh?" Zaiden was not too surprised. He was a reincarnator, so he knew about that.

    The bowling ball left the line without hitting any pins.

    "I think I''m unlucky today." Muttered Zaiden. He scratched the back of his head as he turned to Mirana.

    Unlucky. That was it; Zaiden''s E-Rank Luck had made him unable to get a strike.

    He knew about it even before his Awakening because of his memories.

    After seeing that he couldn''t get a strike, I smirked before sitting in our seat.

    The girls other than Mirana also sat in our seats, so I purposely sat on the edge.

    The seats wereposed of two couches. The seat arrangement was me, Ao, and Lily on the first couch, while Lisa and Shina sat on the couch across from us.

    When I sat beside her, Ao suddenly spoke.

    "You are really good at bowling, Vincent."

    I looked at her with a surprised expression. I never expected that she would start a conversation with me.

    She also looked surprised.

    "Ah, I forgot. Can I call you Vincent? You can call me Ao."

    It seemed like she misunderstood my surprise. I didn''t bother to correct her and nodded my head.

    "That''s good. Also, are you good at bowling because you exercise every day? I saw you running in the forest every morning."

    Oh. I understood why she was willing to talk to me.

    While Ao was strict with the others, she was someone who respected those who worked hard. Not only that, but she also respected someone who wanted to be an Awakener.

    She saw me training in the forest each morning, so she thought that I was someone who worked hard in order to increase my chance of being an Awakener.

    I could use this¡­

    "Yeah. I always trained myself in the morning at night to increase my chance of bing an Awakener to the point Icked sleep. That''s why I always sleep in the ssroom."

    Not only did I exin why I slept in the ss, but I could also gain her respect with this.

    Ao''s reaction was as I had expected. She smiled brightly.

    "I see! So the rumors about you hanging out with shady peoplete at night are just that¡ªrumors! It''s false!"

    She raised her voice. It was loud enough that everyone in the room could hear her. She certainly did that on purpose.

    Mirana''s body twitched a little. She heard Ao, huh? Even Zaiden looked at me with respect now.

    I looked at Ao to guess her intention. She just smiled at me without showing her intention.

    Lily also smiled beside her before murmuring something.

    "So he''s training at night? I know that he''s a kind person."

    I could hear her thanks to my enhanced hearing.

    "Oh! So you want to be an Awakener too, Vincent?" Asked Lily. "Zaiden and I wanted to be one too."

    "Yeah¡­" I answered her weakly.

    My Trait, Deceitful, allowed me to lie easily. It also made other people believe what I said more easily; even the most cautious people would believe me if what I said was reasonable for them.

    I somehow knew what I should do to gain what I wanted from the other people.

    This time, I wanted them to feel sympathy for me, and I knew what I should do.

    "As an Orphan, I have nothing worth mentioning from my childhood. Living in an orphanage is hard. We are desperate to live, and we only have a little to eat."

    I paused a little to see their reactions. They were hooked on my story.

    I then clenched my fist and spoke with a determined tone. "I will be a strong Awakener. I will be strong enough to make a lot of money."

    My story contained no lies. They were all the truth.

    By mixing vague words in my sentences, the others would think about what I wanted to do with that money. Combined with my previous story, they would arrive at one conclusion.

    "I see¡­ The Academy students are wrong about you¡­"

    "U-umm, I-I''m sorry¡­ I never knew that you had such intentions."<sub> </sub>

    "Is that so? I don''t know if you are such a good person."

    Lisa, Shina, and Ao looked at me with a sad gaze.

    Lily, however, looked at me suspiciously.

    "Hmm¡­"

    "¡­?"

    I looked back at her confusedly. She was the only girl that I couldn''t understand. She was full of mystery.

    "I see¡­ you have a hard past, huh?"

    I nodded my head and answered her. "It''s nothing."

    After I answered Lily, Zaiden and Mirana approached us from a distance.

    Mirana looked guilty. Her hands squirmed around, and she nced at me now and then. Zaiden pushed her from behind.

    "You can do it, Mirana." He encouraged her.

    She nodded a little, then looked at me. No, she tried to look at me.

    The atmosphere turned awkward. No one said anything, they just looked at us.

    "Umm¡­" She tried to say something, but all that came from her mouth was a small mumble.

    "What?" I urged her. Zaiden pushed her lightly with a smile.

    "I-I am sorry for what I said!"

    I blinked my eyes a few times. Did she apologize just like that? Wasn''t it too easy?

    It was good for me, but it was too sudden. I expected to at least hang around with them for a few days before getting Mirana to apologize to me.

    "No problem," I answered her with a knowing smile. "A lot of people think I am a delinquent. It doesn''t bother me anymore."

    Mirana looked at me with a gaze full of guilt. Seeing her gaze, I understood that this world was not my novel, and she was not the character that I wrote.

    Her personality and past were the same, but this world was the real world.

    "Don''t feel guilty about it."

    "But I said mean things to you."

    She was a good girl. She was a bright and energetic girl. Sometimes she acted childishly, but it was the normal childishness of a teenager.

    "Don''t worry about it. As I said, I am used to it. So don''t mind it again. I will be happy to be your friend¡­ As you know, I have no friends because of the rumors."

    "Then what about me?" Zaiden suddenly interrupted me. "Am I not your friend?"

    I looked at him and smirked. "Well, I guess you are a friend. Although you are a bit creepy."

    "Hey! What part of me is creepy!" Shouted Zaiden.

    The girls wereughing at our exchange. Mirana also had a bright smile again. We were joking around for a while, and the atmosphere turned normal withughter.

    "Because we are done with bowling, let''s go y darts!" So shouted Mirana, who had just regained her energy.

    "Yeah!"

    We then changed to the ce to y darts.

    Needless to say, I hit bullseyes without missing a single throw. The victory today belongs to me.

    ***

    [07:00 PM]

    [Academy]

    Zaiden sat on the bench in Academy''s park while looking at the sky. He was exhausted after ying with his friends all day long.

    "Vincent Dihart." He muttered the name of a boy who had just be his friend. "I can''t remember him in the story. This world is real, so I know that not everything is the same with the novel. But¡­ at least the location of the artifacts and what happened in the world is still the same as in the novel."

    He had been in this world fifteen years ago and made a lot of friends.

    When he was a year old, he suddenly regained the memories from his previous life. He knew this world as it was the world within one of the novels that he read, ''Awakener''s Dead Harem.''

    He knew that he was the main character from his name, and he had saved his childhood friend from the monster outbreak. Not only that, he had secured the Artifacts hidden in the Academy ground.

    However, the real story hasn''t started yet. In three weeks, he would be awakened as an Awakener. The main story would start, and he would face a lot of trials.

    There was one thing that he hated in the novel called ''Awakener''s Dead Harem.'' They were the heroines.

    They all died in the story because they were involved with the protagonist.

    That was why the first thought that he had when he realized that he had reincarnated in this world was to save them.

    "It''s my responsibility to save them." He clenched his fist. He had a determined look as he lowered his face.

    At that moment, a familiar voice called out to him from the side.

    "Oh, Zaiden?"

    Zaiden looked up and saw Vincent in a tracksuit. His body was drenched in sweat, as he made a small running motion while looking at him.

    "Vincent? Are you always training at this hour? We were just back from hanging out; why don''t you take it easy for now?"

    "Nah, I can''t do that." Answered Vincent with a smile. "I can''t rest easily because I need to get stronger."

    Zaiden smiled back at Vincent. "I see."

    He understood the desire to get stronger. He also wanted to get stronger, as only he could save the world from danger in the future.

    That was why he trained hard in the morning.

    But, seeing Vincent, who trained himself even at night, a desire to train harder was lit within him.

    He stood up and stretched his arms.

    "I guess I will run too. Can I join you?"

    "Feel free too. I still have 10ps left."

    "Well then, I will join you on yourst 10ps."

    "Then, let''s go. We can talk while we are running." Vincent then ran first, leaving Zaiden behind.

    Without wasting a second, Zaiden followed Vincent, and they ran side by side.

 Chapter 17 Waterflow Training Facility

    [4 April 2023, 09.00 AM]

    [F-Rank Dungeon]

    It has been a week since I hung out with Zaiden. The days passed with nothing noteworthy happening.

    I just attended the ss at the Academy as usual. If something had changed, then it was the fact that Zaiden and the other heroines often ate together with me in the cafeteria.

    Mirana was still avoiding me a little bit, but the other girls were talking to me normally. They also said that they were not Zaiden''s girlfriends themselves, to make me feel better about hanging out with them.

    They were asking to hang out again today as it was Saturday and the Academy was off, but I refused because I wanted to train in the dungeon. It seemed that Ao also refused them, because I watched her refuse Zaiden''s offer.

    I was now in the F-Rank Dungeon that I visited a week ago. With Arash Bow in my hand, I killed the goblins with no problem.

    "Hap!" Letting go of the Mana Bowstring, the Mana Arrow flew straight at a fast speed.

    Swoosh¨C!

    It pierced the head of the goblin cleanly and killed it in an instant. However, the mana arrow didn''t stop. It flew past the goblin''s head and hit the dungeon''s wall, creating a small hole in it before disappearing.

    "Kieek!"

    "That made it 50¡­ My efficiency in killing goblins has increased."

    I had visited this dungeon for a week straight now. It was time for me to leave.

    Within an hour, I managed to kill 50 goblins. I was now confident enough to take on a stronger monster and took the artifact from that ce.

    Not only that, I needed to train my swordsmanship too. The sword that I bought stayed in my bag without the chance of being used because I was too focused on my archery.

    "I need to head to that training facility," I muttered as I walked out of the dungeon with my loot inside my magic bag.

    ***

    I changed my clothes back to the Academy Uniform. Walking as Rai on the street was troublesome.

    In thest week, guild executives stopped me a few times when I was walking back from the Dungeon. I was able to lose them a few times by changing back to my uniform in the back alleys. However, I was annoyed after being stopped a few times by the guild executives. Now, I was only dressed as Rai when I went to the dungeon.

    The training facility that I was about to visit this time was a bit special. It taught Swordsmanship to Awakener or Non-Awakener equally.

    Usually, a training facility only trains either Awakener or Non-Awakener. Only this training facility taught both.

    It was called ''Waterflow Training Facility.''

    The name sounded like something from a novel, but the training facility was a real deal. The trainer was a retired S-Rank Awakener named Smith Anderson. He was famous enough that he was called ''Sword Saint'' when he was an active Awakener fifty years ago. Now that he was old, he wanted to find a sessor to whom he could pass his technique.

    No one knew his real identity, though. That was why the training facility was devoid of people. In the setting, only Ao and Zaiden were trained by Smith, and ultimately, they inherited Smith''s technique and became strong.

    After walking for a while, I arrived in front of the Waterflow Training Facility. The training facility was located near the Academy, so the uniform was perfect for visiting it. Not only that, visiting in Rai''s clothes would create some trouble if I somehow met Ao or Zaiden in that ce.

    From the outside, the training facility looked old and unattended. It was small, and there was only a sign ''Waterflow'' above its door. No one would think that the former Sword Saint was teaching people in this shabby ce.

    "Let''s enter it, shall we~" Muttering in a low voice, I opened the door of the training facility. Because no one greeted me when I opened the door, I decided to shout loudly. "Hello! Is there anyone here?"

    As soon as I shouted, a voice belonging to an old man howled from inside.

    "Hey! Look who is at the entrance! If it''s the newspaper guy, tell him to fuck off!"

    He sounded a bit pissed. Then a familiar voice replied to the man. It belonged to a certain girl I knew well.

    "Yes, teacher. I will look at whoes here and politely send him off if he tries to sell something."

    "Good!"

    ''So she''s here, huh.''

    That voice belonged to Ao. As I had expected, she had already undergone training in this ce.

    A few secondster, she came from inside the training facility. She wore clothes that looked like a hakama from Japan.

    "I''m sorry! But we don''t need newspapers!" She shouted at me without even looking at me.

    "Oh, I am not selling newspapers. My acquaintance told me about this ce, and I want to join this training facility to learn about swordsmanship. However, I must say something before that... It''s a surprise seeing you here, Ao." My mouth curved into a yful smile.

    With a fast movement, Ao turned to me and asked curiously. "Vincent?"

    She didn''t expect to meet me in this ce. Confusion was written on her face. "Why are you here? No, more importantly, you said you want to join? Do you know what kind of ce this is?"

    "Yeah, I know. As I said, I found this ce from my acquaintance when I asked him about the best training facility in Los Angeles. He answered that this ce was the best, so I visited. Well, I was about to leave when I saw this ce''s condition, but it seems that he told me the truth."<sub> </sub>

    "Why did you think that he''s telling the truth that this ce is the best training facility?" Asked Ao suspiciously.

    Of course, she would be suspicious. I mentioned that I was about to leave but changed my mind midway and decided to believe ''my acquaintance'' who actually didn''t exist at all. Well, he did exist, but he didn''t tell me anything. If Smith asked who my acquaintance was, I would answer him that the Artifact Dealer introduced me to this ce.

    Dealing with Park Injun wouldeter, but I doubt he would mind if I used his name for something this trivial.

    "I decided to trust him because I saw you. There is no way you will train in this ce if this ce is not the best."

    "That doesn''t answer the question. Also, what makes sure that I only use the best training facility? There is a chance that I can only afford this ce because I am too poor, you know?" Ao smiled yfully as she crossed her arms.

    It seemed like she was trying to test me.

    "Hahahaha. There is no way that''s true." Iughed at her attempt. There was no way she was poor.

    As the daughter of Thomas Evan, she lived surrounded by luxuries. A person like that trying to use wealth as an excuse?

    If that was her best excuse, then I had a card to y.

    "Well, even if you only attend this training facility because you are too poor to pay for a better one, then I came to the right ce. You see, as an orphan, I have no money to spend on attending a good training facility."

    "Ah!" Ao eximed in realization. "I''m sorry." She then apologized while looking sad.

    "Don''t be sorry. So, umm." I purposely paused my sentence and looked at her seriously. "Can I join this training facility? If there is a fee to join, I will pay for it."

    Because she knew that I was serious about joining this training facility, she became confused about how to answer me.

    I knew that she wanted to let me join this training facility from her expression. However, she was only a trainee here; she had no power to ept me in this training facility.

    She looked at me awkwardly. "Umm, you see, about that¡­"

    A deafening voice came from inside and interrupted her when she was about to answer me.

    "Oi, Ao! What takes you so long, huh?! It''s just a goddamn newspaper guy. Just kick him away if he''s annoying!"

    Apanying the voice, an old man appeared from inside the building. He was wearing the same clothes as Ao and brought a wooden sword in his hand. He was Smith Anderson, the guy who bore the title Sword Saint.

    He looked at Ao with an irritated expression before looking at me. "Huh, who is that? Is he not a newspaper guy?"

    "Master!" Ao looked at the old man and shouted. For some reason, she had a smile on her face. "He''s Vincent, my friend from the Academy. He said that he wants to join this training facility." She exined to Smith hastily.

    "Huh, he wants to join this training facility?" He approached me with steady steps that didn''t belong to an old man and narrowed his eyes.

    This was his way of observing someone. If he deemed that I was not talented enough to be his disciple, then he would refuse me without caring where I came from.

    Ao looked at me worriedly because she was afraid that Smith would refuse me. She was someone who cared for her friend, and I was her friend; she introduced me as such to Smith.

    I gulped out of nervousness. Although I knew that I was talented with the sword because I had A-Rank Swordsmanship Talent, I couldn''t help but be nervous in front of someone like Smith. He was so strong that even big guilds such as Sacred Relic tried their best not to offend him.

    "Hmm¡­" He muttered in a low voice as he stroked his bearded chin. "You¡­ Who told you about this ce?"

    His first question was who told me about this ce. Did that mean he had acknowledged my Talent?

    I answered him with the name that I had prepared before. "An old man who called himself  Artifact Dealer told me to visit this ce. He said that this ce will allow me to get stronger and is the best training ce in Los Angeles."

    Smith took a step back, then he said, "That guy, eh? So he told you toe to this ce?"

    "Yes." I answered him with a nod.

    It was as expected from him. He knew of Park Injun''s existence even though he was retired.

    "Fine! I will take you as my second disciple. Come to this ce if you are free. I will train you how to wield a sword."

    Hearing his answer, my lips curled into a big smile.

    "Yes!" I shouted happily.

    This was the best. I had gotten myself the best teacher in swordsmanship.

    With this, I would be able to grow faster. Not to mention, Smith said that I was his second disciple. Zaiden had yet to train under Smith. That meant¡­

    ''I will have the chance to master swordsmanship and match Zaiden''s level in the future.''

    Ao smiled behind Smith.

    Smith patted my shoulder and grinned. "Now, because you are already here, let''s not waste any time and start your training."

    "Yes!"

 Chapter 18 Accepted As A Disciple

    [Waterflow Training Facility]

    I was invited to the training all of a sudden. I changed my clothes to the training uniform of this ce. Surprisingly, there were a lot of clean clothes in the changing room.

    The training uniform was simr to those used by Kendo practitioners in Japan. Could it be that Ao provided the clothes? She was half-Japanese, after all.

    After changing the clothes into the training uniform, I went to the hall where the training would be conducted.

    "I am done," I announced my presence as I fixed the clothes. Wearing an unfamiliar training uniform for the first time was really ufortable.

    Smith was already in the hall, looking at Ao. She was swinging her sword with a stern gaze.

    When I announced my presence, Smith turned to me.

    "Oh, you are here. Take a sword and begin to swing it beside Ao. Do it 300 times." He pointed at the wooden swords at the side of the hall.

    I nodded my head and picked up the wooden sword that was simr to the sword in my magic bag. I found one with no problem, and then I took a stance beside Ao.

    Without waiting for Smith''s instruction to swing my sword, I began to train while matching Ao''s movements. I also matched her stepping movement. Although I was not used to the wooden floor, it was easy because I had trained my movement in the forest.

    Smith''s mouth curled into a small smile from the edge of my sight. He was satisfied with my decision to match Ao''s movement.

    His personality was simple. He loved talented individuals and had the drive to teach them. In one of the training arcs of Zaiden and Smith, I wrote something like, Smith asked Zaiden to match Ao''s movement to train their coordination.

    Smith''s swordsmanship was all about rhythm and coordination, which was why he wanted to train his disciple about coordination first. I matched Ao''s movements for that reason. Ao nced at me with a surprised expression, but I just smiled at her.

    ''This is not easy at all.''

    I kept swinging the sword with Ao. It was hard, harder than when I practiced archery. When I made a little mistake with my swing, Smith would correct me.

    "Swing it as if you want to kill your opponent! Swing it straight, don''t deviate from the lines!"

    "Yes!"

    I didn''t know what he was talking about, but I tried to make my swing as straight as possible. I was just an author of a novel, not a martial artist.

    If I had no Talent, if I was not in Vincent''s body, I certainly wouldn''t be able to even catch Smith''s eyes.

    Smith was not only fixing me. He also gave Ao some advice to make her swing even smoother.

    Even with my inexperienced eyes, I could see that Ao''s swing was better than mine.

    She is the only heroine that uses a sword; it''s natural if she''s better than me. Such a thought flew past my mind, but I shook my head to dismiss it.

    I shouldn''t act that weak. I should continue to train until I am strong enough to survive in this world and then go back to my own world.

    Finally, after we swung the wooden swords 300 times, Smith stopped us.

    "Stop! That''s enough."

    My body was now drenched in sweat. It dripped from my face to my neckline, wetting the cor of the training clothes.

    Strangely, even when I ran 30ps around the Academy, I was not this tired.

    However, I could feel the difference. My muscles were screaming; they had gotten stronger as I pushed myself.

    I smiled while looking at my clenched fist.

    "You are better than I thought,d!" Smith approached me with a steady step.

    Although his steps were steady, he didn''t even make a sound. He had a grin on his face as he observed me from all angles. He then stopped in front of me and stroked his beard.

    "You, what is your name?" Asked Smith.

    I was about to shout at him when he asked that. Ao had introduced me at the entrance, and he asked again?

    ''Be patient¡­ He''s your teacher, and he''s old. So you should calm yourself¡­''

    I looked at Smith with resolute eyes.

    "My name is Vincent Dihart, sir!"

    "Don''t call me sir! We are not in the military! Call me Master!"

    When he answered me back, my anger immediately calmed down.

    He asked me to call him master, which meant that he had entirely epted me as his disciple.

    In my novel, there was a case when he taught someone besides Ao and Zaiden because he was pressured by those with authority. However, he didn''t allow them to call him Master as he never thought of them as his real disciple.

    He did teach them swordsmanship, but he didn''t teach them his technique.

    Only when Smith epted someone as his disciple would he teach them his technique.

    And I was epted by him. It made me happy.

    "Yes, Master!" I shouted with all my might, with a big grin on my face.

    Ao smiled at my side and congratted me. "Congrattions!"

    I nodded my head at her.

    "Good! Then both of you continue your training. This time, do 300 horizontal shes!"

    Both of us turned to Smith at the same time and shouted. "Yes, Master!"

    ***<sub> </sub>

    [08.00 PM]

    [Park Injun Store]

    The atmosphere inside the store was calm as usual.

    On his seat, Park Injun admired the two painting Artifacts that he hung side by side with a big smile on his face. Sometimes, he hummed happily while saying some iprehensible things.

    "Hmm~ They are as beautiful as usual."

    As a collector, Park Injun''s taste was a bit strange. He was obsessed with the Artifacts that had the effect of calming one''s mind.

    That effect was often found in Art that had be an Artifact: vases, sculpture, knitwork, and painting. Amongst them, a painting was the most expensive one, as its effect on calming one''s mind was the strongest.

    One artifact painting usually was sold for around 3 Billion USD. That was the reason why he didn''t hesitate to send a Billion USD to Raymond.

    He trusted Vincent and threw 10 Dark Arrows that cost a million USD each for free because he told him the location of [Elizabeth Painting]. The cost of [Arash Bow], the Artifact with a special effect that couldn''t be used, was only around a billion USD. In a way, he made a lot of profit from his transaction with Vincent.

    "Fufufu. I really want to investigate him, but I can''t risk that. What if he stopsing to this store? I will be the one at a disadvantage in that case. I can''t let him go to another Merchant and let them profit from him."

    For such a reason, he decided not to investigate Vincent. He told him that he was a student at the Academy. For now, that was enough. He also held Vincent''s secret. For whatever reason, he hid the fact that he was an Awakener.

    "That guy is really interesting. How long has it been since I got such a new customer? Ten years? Maybe more." Muttered Park Injun with a smile.

    Park Injun had lived a long time. He was the first generation of the Awakeners that started to appear 78 years ago, after world war two was forcefully ended by the Outbreak.

    That incident shook the world and put them in a panic. Following this event, things called monsters, dungeons and Awakeners started to appear in the world. Because the humans were too busy dealing with monsters and dungeons, they stopped the war and signed a peace treaty. That time was the darkest time that humanity ever faced.

    Park Injun had witnessed all of that. In a way, he was a veteran Awakener.

    When he was still active as an Awakener, he was one of the best Magicians who had A-Rank Magic Talent. However, even an Awakener like him would grow old. The reason why he was able to keep his youth was an Artifact.

    That Artifact was the reason why he was so obsessed with Artifact. Ultimately, he decided to retire from his activity as an Awakener and became a Merchant as well as an Artifact collector.

    As he was admiring the paintings and enjoying their calming effect, the bell of his store rang.

    Ting¨C!

    Park Injun turned his head to the door, and he greeted the old man who entered the shop with a grin.

    "Oh? Who do we have here? Why does the Sword Saint visit this humble store of mine?" Asked Park Injun with a yful tone.

    "Hah!" Scoffed Smith. "Is that your way of greeting your old pal, Injun? It seems that you have got new collections of your favorite Artifacts." Smith grinned at Park Injun as he called him by his name.

    He was one of the few Awakeners who knew Park Injun''s real name. They had some rtionships back in the day when they were still active. To describe their rtionship, they were friends.

    Of course, Vincent knew about their rtionship. That was the reason why he mentioned Park Injun when he was questioned by Smith.

    "Hahahaha, well, yes. It''s been a long time since west met, after all. So, what brings you here, old pal?" Park Injun put off his disguise and turned back to his original self. He smiled at Smith and put his hand on the table.

    "I am here to confirm something." Answered Smith as he leaned against the table. "It''s about a kid. He said that you rmended him to join my ce. Is that true?"

    "Hmm, a kid?" Confused, Park Injun asked Smith.

    He didn''t know any kids, and he never introduced anyone to Smith''s ce.

    "Bah! As expected, he lied, huh?" Smith scoffed, but he didn''t look unhappy about it. "An Academy student who''s my disciple''s friend suddenly came to my ce and said that you introduced him. That kid, he dares to lie to his Master?"

    "You took him as your student?"

    "Well, yeah." Smith scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "He''s talented, so I took him under my wing."

    Park Injun was surprised when Smith grumbled about being lied to by an academy student. But the biggest surprise was that he epted the kid who lied to him as his disciple.

    It was surprising for Park Injun because he knew Smith''s personality, and he knew that he hated being lied to more than anything.

    However, he got a clue from Smith.

    ''An Academy student? Could it be?''

    He was confident that there was only one academy student who knew him. But he was not sure, so he asked Smith.

    "By the way, who is the name of your new student?"

    "Hmm, his name is Vincent Dihart."

    As soon as he heard the name, Park Injun''s smile was gone from his face. It was reced by a frown, and he let out a sigh.

    "Haa¨C It''s that guy, huh."

    "Hmm?" Smith red at Park Injun. "So you do know something about that kid."

    "Yeah. It''s better if you ask him yourself, though."

    "Hahahaha. Interesting. So even you know that kid, huh?"

    "Something like that."

    "If that''s the case, then good. If you trust him, then I can trust him too. I believe in your eyes." Smith grinned at Park Injun. "As my matter is done, how about we have some drinks in a nearby pub?" Smith made a gesture of drinking with his hand.

    Park Injun smiled wryly before he stood up. "I don''t mind. It''s your treat, though."

    "Buahahaha. Still as stingy as ever, huh? Fine! Just this once."

 Chapter 19 Sparring [1]

    ?

    [6 April 2023, 08:00 AM]

    [Academy]

    Two days had passed, and it was now Monday. The Academy was open, and it was time to take sses again.

    Yesterday, I spent my time training at Smith''s ce from morning to evening. Using a Training Facility and being trained require money.

    I asked Smith about how much I should pay, but he brushed it off by saying that I should show results in a week to pay for his lessons.

    I was really grateful to him for not asking for money for the lesson, as I wanted to save my money. Not to mention, being trained by a Sword Saint himself should''ve cost a lot.

    When I came to the training facility, Smith greeted me wholeheartedly. It was strange, but he told me that the Artifact Dealer, Park Injun, had vouched for my integrity. He was also told that I was an Awakener. He promised to keep silent about it even from Ao, at least until I revealed it myself.

    He taught me how to grip a sword and some footwork. After that, the rest of the day was spent by me swinging the wooden sword. I could use all my strength in the training this time because Ao was not with me.

    Ao didn''te yesterday because she was hanging out with Zaiden and the others.

    After training in Smith''s ce, I went to the Park Injun store to thank him for the favor while giving him a bottle of liquor that I bought from some stores. The rest of the night was spent with me doing the Mana Breathing Method.

    As usual, I did my exercise this morning before heading to ss.

    There was a Physical Education ss today, and the students were expected to spar with each other. The students were excited by the ss that was only held once a month. Although it was called Physical Education in the paper, the students and the teacher called it Sparring Tournament.

    This ss would be held in the Academy''s hall together with the other sses. The sparring itself was also held together. So someone from my ss could be met with the students from a different ss.

    For that reason, no one exercised this morning besides me. Even Zaiden didn''t jog today.

    I was a bit tired from the training yesterday, but I pushed myself to exercise this morning. Entering my ssroom, I flopped down on my desk while looking at the excited students who talked among themselves.

    They ignored mepletely. They didn''t even talk about me behind my back anymore after they saw Zaiden and the other girls talking to me in the Academy.

    ''Well¡­ At least I can do Mana Breathing quietly in the ss.''

    At that time, the door of the ssroom was opened, and two people entered. They were Zaiden and Lisa.

    Seeing me already flopped down on my desk, they stopped beside my desk and greeted me.

    "Morning, Vincent."

    "Good morning, Vincent."

    I raised my head to look at them. As it was rude to leave them hanging, I greeted them back.

    "Yo, morning."

    In an instant, they beamed into a smile and started speaking.

    "Today is the day to spar, right? I am excited for today that I didn''t exercise this morning to conserve my energy!" Eximed Zaiden.

    "Me too! Vincent, do you have someone that you want to have a spar with today?" Asked Lisa.

    For Zaiden, I could understand his enthusiasm. However, I never expected that Lisa would be excited by today''s spar.

    The story in the Academy was cut short only for Zaiden''s awakening without introducing the heroines too deeply. So this was new even to me.

    The heroines that appeared in the novel had already matured. Their personalities were a bit different from the ones that I knew and interacted with in this world.

    Honestly, I was not too surprised, considering they were still in their teens. By Interacting with them, I could understand their personality better. It was fun to discover a new side of the heroines that I wrote.

    All of that were for the sake of my n in the future.

    Talking about today''s spar. To be honest, I wanted to spar with Zaiden or Ao. As far as I knew, in this Academy, only the two of them could give me a good fight. So I wanted to spar with either of them on this asion.

    ¡­Well, it was not like I knew anyone besides them.

    "Hmm¡­ I don''t really care who my opponent is. I just want to have an opponent that''s not afraid of me."

    Although the students'' view of me had changed a little after Zaiden and the others interacted with me, some of the students were still afraid of me. They still believed in the rumors of me being a delinquent.

    "I see. Let''s hope that we will get a good opponent." Zaiden shed his smile at me.

    Lisa nodded her head and added, "Me too. I hope I get a good opponent too."

    We talked for a while as we were waiting for the teacher to call us. Lisa was unexpectedly a bit aggressive and always agreed with Zaiden.

    The ss suddenly became quiet as the teacher entered the ssroom after a few minutes. The teacher was the bald man who hit me when I first transmigrated.

    I had spent a week in this world, and only recently I found out he was called Doel McJohn.

    The teacher, Doel, looked around the ss before shouting.

    "Go to the hall now! Change your uniform into a tracksuit, don''t bete!"

    As soon as he said that, the teacher left the ssroom. Zaiden patted my shoulder and pointed at the exit.

    "Let''s go, Vincent! We should go to the hall before it''s too crowded."

    "Yeah, let''s go. How about Lisa?" I asked as I turned to Lisa.

    "Don''t worry about me. I will follow you shortly." Answered Lisa.

    "You heard her."

    It seemed like it was no problem.

    I certainly didn''t ask her because I was a bit scared of her re when Zaiden acted too friendly towards me. I meant, girl¡­ I was still normal, so don''t re at me as if I was trying to steal your man.

    Without wasting any seconds longer, I picked up my school bag and walked out of the ssroom. My school bag was light because I had put everything in my magic bag. By the way, I put my magic bag inside my school bag to serve as a camouge.

    Zaiden followed behind me shortly after saying goodbye to Lisa. Talk about being dramatic. Why bother saying goodbye now when we''d meet againter?

    ***

    The hall that was used for sparring was big. It was smaller than a football court, but it was big enough to hold more than a thousand students from the Academy.

    The seating arrangement was simr to the football court. There were three arenas for sparring in the middle of the hall, divided by year, while the spectators were on the second floor.<sub> </sub>

    Although the Sparring Tournament was an annual event of the Academy, only a few people were actually seen sparring. There was no way for more than a thousand students to have a sparring match in a day; it was just impossible.

    It was not divided by gender. Two winners from each year would face the other year''s winners in the final.

    Hence, the Academy allowed some leeway for the spar. The students could register themselves if they wanted to spar today. Only four people could register for each ss. Two boys and two girls.

    Naturally, the people who represented our sses were Zaiden and me. Lisa and one of my ssmates, who introduced herself as Maria, were the girls who joined the spar from our ss.

    Maria was a cheerful girl with long brown hair and brown eyes. She was often talking with the others in my ss. As my ssmate, she was a bit afraid of me, but she was still able to talk to me, unlike the others.

    Currently, we were in a waiting room reserved for the first years. There were ten sses for each year in the Academy, so the waiting room was a bit crowded. Surprisingly, no other heroines joined the sparring match. I only recognized Zaiden and Lisa among the students who were in the waiting room.

    "It''s surprising¡­ I never thought that you would join the sparring, Vincent." Maria said to me with a smile.

    She was alreadyfortable with me after she saw Lisa and Zaiden talking to me when we registered ourselves.

    "Well, I am aiming to be an Awakener one day. The fastest way to awaken, ording to the researchers, is to train our bodies and have good fighting experience. This is a chance to have thetter." I answered.

    "Hahahaha. That''s true, isn''t it? Also, I just came to understand that you are not the person that the rumor said you were. How do I put this? You are calmer and more sensible from the rumor." Maria

    "He''s also kind." Added Lisa.

    "He''s also good at bowling and darts." Zaiden unexpectedly joined to praise me.

    I was not used to being praised openly like this. Even though it was my Talent that made me good at bowling and darts, I was still embarrassed when I was praised openly.

    "You guys¡­" I muttered in a low voice while scratching my cheek. "More importantly, it seems that the other sses are looking at us strangely."

    I couldn''t help but be conscious of their stares, thanks to my enhanced senses. They were looking at us with hostile gazes.

    "Umm¡­" Maria opened her mouth, but she hesitated to talk.

    "Well¡­ about that¡­" Lisa also seemed to hesitate to speak what was in her mind.

    "They are not looking at us, Vincent. They are looking at you." Finally, Zaiden said the reason.

    I sighed at the truth that he had told me. While I had some idea about that, I thought that my reputation had improved when I decided not to continue my n to act like a delinquent.

    Scratch that, my reputation did actually improve. But some students still believe the old rumors about me sending some people to the hospital.

    "Haa¨C It can''t be helped." I could only sigh when faced with such a situation. "Well, I don''t really care about their gazes. It''s already normal for me to receive such a look."

    "Vincent¡­ you have it hard, huh?" Maria looked at me with a sad gaze. Did she misunderstand what I said?

    "See? Vincent is pitiful. Even though they know nothing about it, their mouths run around arbitrarily! Look at him! He''s kind. He forgives them for what they did to him!" Lisa recounted to Maria with a passionate gaze.

    These girls really misunderstood it.

    Zaiden nodded his head repeatedly, as if he agreed with Lisa.

    Well, it was convenient for me to be seen in a good light, so I would not bother to correct them.

    The atmosphere around our table was light, unlike the tense atmosphere that radiated from the other table. We were talking while smiling.

    Finally, after we had been waiting for around 5 minutes, a teacher entered the room and stood near the entrance while holding a stack of paper in his hand.

    "Attention!" He shouted to attract the attention of the students. "The roster has been decided! I will now distribute them!"

    The students were excited to see the sparring roster.

    The teacher began to distribute the paper to each table. When the teacher arrived at our table, he nced at me and said, "Don''t go too far. Although we have hired an Awakener to heal the injury, even he can''t fix someone if someone is crippled."

    I just nodded my head obediently and answered, "Yes."

    I did know why the teacher acted like that. I even mmed the table and cursed when I first arrived in this world. As it was partly caused because I was confused by what happened and got irritated by Zaiden''s sudden change, it did make my image worse in the eyes of the teachers.

    When the teacher was away, Lisa muttered, "What''s with that teacher?"

    "That''s right! He only said that to Vincent!" Maria added.

    "Now, don''t say it like that. Even so, I also didn''t like it when he suddenly said that to my friend." Zaiden had a smile on his face, but his eyes were narrowed while ncing at the teacher.

    This guy¡­ because of the Trait that he had, he was even overprotective toward his friend. Thankfully, I had agreed to hang out with him at that time.

    I smiled at them to show that I was not offended at all and said, "Well, let''s look at the roster. I hope I won''t meet any of you until it''s the final."

    We looked at the paper.

    [Academy Sparring!]

    Zaiden Archman vs Kiri Yanma

    .

    .

    Lisa Manrosa vs Mona Lopez

    Maria Octavia vs Zeke Mansira

    .

    .

    .

    Vincent Dihart vs Muz Lima

    Zaiden had a smile on his face as he said.

    "It seems that we will meet in the finals, Vincent."

    "Yeah."

    Although the students were Non-Awakener, they had trained since childhood, so their techniques were at least good. I could use this chance to see how skilled I was.

 Chapter 20 Sparring [2]

    The Academy allowed the students to use weapons in this sparring. They had even prepared wooden weapons on the side of the arenas for the students to use.

    There were swords, spears, rapiers, and even a whip that was made from leather. The whip was still more lethalpared to other weapons, but as the students couldn''t imbue mana into the whip, it was still allowed to be used in the sparring.

    Long-range weapons were not permitted in the sparring. The reasoning was that the arena was too small and the projectiles could go astray and injure the spectators.

    It didn''t matter to me as I had nned to use a sword during this spar. I couldn''t let the others see me using a bow.

    In the future, when Zaiden would work as an Awakener, I was nning to go along with him using a sword, while doing some work in the dark as Rai the sharpshooter.

    Ao had seen me in the Waterflow Training Facility. She even knew that Smith had epted me as his disciple. So it would be strange if I didn''t use a sword in this sparring match.

    As my turn was thest, I went to the spectator seats with Lisa. Maria said that she would sit with our ssmates, so she went the other way.

    It seemed like the other heroines had already reserved seats for us. It was located on the west wing of the spectator seat.

    "Hey, here!" Lily waved her hand as she called out to us. They were sitting in the first row of the seat, which had the best viewpoint. We approached them.

    "Thanks for reserving our seat, Lily." Lisa thanked Lily.

    "No problem!"

    Ao smiled and nodded her head when she saw me. I nodded back and sat on the furthest seat as Lisa sat beside me. The seat arrangements beside me were Lisa, Lily, Shina, Ao, and Mirana.

    "Hey, you go in the third round, right, Lisa?" Asked Mirana with a cheerful voice. She didn''t mind my presence now. After interacting with me for a week, she understood that I was not the same as I was in the rumors.

    I didn''t know the full extent of the rumors that were flying around about me, but it seemed like the way I acted was really different from the rumors, so Mirana was now acting normally around me.

    "How about you, Vincent? You are goingst, right? Are you confident that you are going to win?"

    Lily suddenly asked me when I was in thought. The others also looked at me curiously.

    Ao had a confident look. She knew that I at least had enough strength and Talent to be recognized by Smith.

    I, too, was confident in my strength. I was an Awakener; there was no way I would lose to Non-Awakener. Even if it was Zaiden, a reincarnated person, I wouldn''t lose to him. So I grinned.

    "I am afraid¡­"

    When the girls heard my answer, they were dumbfounded. Ao''s expression fell; she must never have expected my answer. However, I was not finished yet.

    "I am afraid that I will win easily. I hope someone will give me a good fightter."

    "O-ooh¡­ you are confident, huh?" Lily asked me while blinking her eyes. "Zaiden is strong, you know? Maybe you don''t know this, but I have already been with Zaiden since I was a child. And he was always training in his family''s training facility in his spare time since he was six years old."

    I had expected that. Almost all reincarnated people were like that in the stories.

    Unfortunately for Lily, I was confident that I would win against Zaiden. And I was not the only one who thought so, because Ao also thought that I would win.

    "I''m sorry, Lily. I know that Zaiden is strong but¡­" She looked at me with a proud look. "I think Vincent is stronger than him."

    "Hmm? Really?" Asked Lily, in disbelief. "You were so confident when you said that, Ao. How do you know that Vincent is stronger? We never see them fighting against each other."

    Shina nodded her head at Lily''s words. "I-I also curious. How do you know that Vincent is stronger?"

    "Well¡­" Ao looked at me with uncertainty.

    She sent a signal that I took as something like, ''Is it okay to tell them about us attending the same training facility?'' and I nodded my head to give her affirmation.

    Training in the same training facility was no big deal. Surely Ao wouldn''t tell them that we were, in fact, training under Sword Saint in a shabby training facility near this Academy.

    "Vincent just joined the training facility that I am in. My teacher is impressed with his strength."

    "..."

    Why did she add something unnecessary?

    Anyway, the girls looked at me with impressed gazes.

    "Really? No way!"

    "Is that true?"

    Mirana and Lily had different reactions. Mirana didn''t believe what Ao said, but Lily was only seeking confirmation.

    "That''s true. Right, Vincent?"

    "Yeah, but I didn''t remember Master being impressed with my strength."

    "Fufufu, he is a bit shy, so he didn''t tell you. But I could tell that he was impressed by you from his expression. I think he put a lot of expectations on you."

    "Is that so? Then I guess I need to train harder to live up to his expectations."

    All of a sudden, the students cheered loudly. They raised their hands to cheer and focused their gaze on the arena.

    "It seems the first spar will begin shortly." I muttered as I looked at the arena.

    Zaiden walked out of the tunnel on the right side while waving his hand at the crowd.

    That guy oozed confidence as he walked. His opponent, on the other hand, looked worried when he saw Zaiden.

    There was a rumor about Zaiden flying around the Academy too. The first rumor was the most famous one; it was about him being a yboy. The second was not too famous but still well-known among the students.

    It was said that his family owned a training facility, and he had been trained by them since he was a kid. To be honest, I only knew about it when I investigated Zaiden in my spare timest week. He was better in every waypared to Zaiden in my novel.

    Maybe that was the reason why he wasn''t in Smith''s training facility. The Archman family was not too famous in the world, but they had their own sword technique.

    It would not be an exaggeration if Ipared their swordsmanship with Smith''s technique, Waterflow Swordsmanship; they were equal.

    In thetter part of the novel, Zaiden learned about the existence of Archman Swordsmanship and chose to use his family technique over the Waterflow technique as it fitted him more.

    As a reincarnator, he surely knew about that, and that was the only reason he hadn''te to the Waterflow Training Facility.

    Naturally, the weapon that Zaiden chose was a sword. His opponent also used a sword, as it was the mostmon weapon used by Awakeners.

    Both of them entered the square arena and faced each other. A teacher with a stout figure stood between them to act as a referee.

    "Will Zaiden win? His opponent doesn''t look that strong, but¡­ I am still worried." Said Mirana.

    "Don''t worry! Zaiden will win." Reassured Lily. "As I said, he is strong."<sub> </sub>

    The atmosphere in the area tensed. The cheering of the spectators suddenly stopped as the fighters got ready.

    The students'' attention was focused on Zaiden. He was famous in the Academy; it was natural for him to stand out with his handsome look.

    "Kyaa!! Zaiden!!"

    "Zaiden! Do your best!"

    Some girls shrieked to encourage him. But, Zaiden paid no heed to them.

    He only concentrated on his opponent, as he looked at him with a serious look.

    Even though they were Non-Awakeners, he didn''t let his guard down and respected his opponent.

    The fighters were briefed by the teacher about the rules. At that time, the headmaster of the Academy appeared in the middle of the arena while holding a microphone.

    He was an old man with white hair, wearing a white suit. His beard was trimmed neatly, and his body was stout.

    This old man''s name was Jack Ashborn, the only named character in the Academy besides Zaiden and the heroines. He was a former active Awakener who was famous for his support magic.

    After he retired, he established this Academy with the hope of nurturing the next generations.

    "Hello, my beloved students! The time for this year''s Spar Tournament is here! Raise your voice if you are fired up!"

    "Ooooh!!!"

    The students shouted at once, following Jack''s order. Even the girls shouted excitedly beside me.

    "It''s nice to see that you are fired up for the tournament! Without further ado, let me exin the rules!"

    At that moment, a hologram screen appeared in the middle of the arena.

    The technology of this era had advanced significantly because of Mana. The people in charge of researching were Awakeners who had Talents to back it up. As a result, something such as a hologram screen was sessfully developed.

    On the screen were the rules of this sparring tournament. Unexpectedly, it was simple, as there were only three rules.

    "First, you are not allowed to kill your opponent! Second, you can only use the weapons provided by the Academy! Third, no one is allowed to use a Magic Pill! Is that clear?"

    "Yes!!" The students answered excitedly.

    Magic Pill to boost strength or agility wasmon in this society. It could be concocted by someone with a Brewing Talent. Magic pills were not rare, but they were quite expensive. Also, it was avable in the Awakener Store.

    "Good, then let''s start the Spar Tournament!"

    With Jack''s shout to start the tournament, the referee swung their hands down while he quietly exited the arena through the tunnel.

    ? Immediately, the fighters kicked off the ground and started to fight.

    "Woah!!"

    "He''s fast!"

    The students were amazed by him.

    Zaiden''s movements were fast. Untrained eyes would not be able to follow his movements.

    But, for someone with trained eyes and Sharpshooting Talent like me, Zaiden''s movement was like a turtle. I could see his movements clearly.

    His opponent was confused and panicked when he saw Zaiden''s movement. He swung his sword towards Zaiden without any technique. The move was clumsy and slow.

    Zaiden easily dodged the sword and struck his opponent on the chin with his sword. His opponent couldn''t handle such a sudden strike. As a result, he stumbled behind and fell to the ground.

    Using this chance, Zaiden put his sword near his opponent''s neck.

    The referee stopped the spar immediately, resulting in Zaiden''s victory.

    "Yeah! Good job, Zaiden!"

    "He won!"

    "It''s natural¡­"

    Mirana, Lisa, and Lily jumped up and shouted as soon as Zaiden won, while Shina smiled as she made guts pose with her hands.

    I nodded my head in satisfaction. Seeing the skill level that he had now, I must admit it was not bad for a Non-Awakener. Maybe he was getting stronger faster because he was surrounded by the heroines that he loved?

    If that was indeed true, then I didn''t need to make him separate from those girls. I also didn''t need to do something that I would surely regret in the future. Honestly, I was a bit happy when I saw his growth going smoothly.

    He was the only hope that I had to save the world in the future. It couldn''t be me, it was only possible because it was him.

    However, it still fell shortpared to me. I could pull off those moves easily without breaking a sweat.

    The match continued. The second round was someone from another ss that I didn''t recognize. The fight was not as exciting as before, but they were still good enough for Academy students. It alsosted longer as both sides were equal, and both of them used a sword.

    The student with short ck hair won in the end. And the third match would begin in a few minutes. It wasn''t her turn yet, but she should be ready in the waiting room in case someone called her.

    "Wish me luck, girls."

    She stood up and walked to the waiting room to prepare for her match.

    "Break a leg, Lisa!"

    "You can do it!"

    "D-Do your best!"

    Lily, Mirana, and Shina encouraged her. Lisa nodded in the distance; she heard them even amidst the rowdy crowd.

    I also looked forward to Lisa''s fight. My mouth curled into a grin as I crossed my arms. Finally, I would be able to see the heroine fighting someone.

    Although she was not Awakened yet, I was still excited to see her fighting with my own eyes.

    What kind of fight would she show me, I wonder?

    Lisa was not a fighter; she was more of a researcher. In the novel, she was a famous alchemist who made high-grade Magic Pills and had a sessful business.

    So, as the author, I was looking forward to her fight.

 Chapter 21 Sparring [3]

    The third match was not worth seeing. The fighters were girls, but they were just pping and wing each other in the arena, which was painful to see.

    The referee decided to stop the match midway and continue on to the fourth match.

    "It''s Lisa''s turn," Ao muttered as she looked at the arena.

    "Is she strong?"

    I asked Ao curiously, and she shook her head.

    "Lisa is not much of a fighter. I think she only wants to try what she can do in this sparring tournament."

    "I see¡­"

    That much was expected. Lisa was not a martial artist at all; she was more like a researcher and a businesswoman.

    She walked out of the tunnel and went to the arena. The weapon that she chose to use was, unexpectedly, a staff.

    "Staff?" Asked Lily.

    She didn''t know Lisa''s weapon? I thought that she knew about it because they were always together.

    "It''s my first time seeing her in a fight, so I don''t really know that she uses a staff."

    "Me too¡­"

    Ao and Mirana didn''t seem to know either. That showed one thing to me. Their rtionship with each other was not too great; it only revolved around Zaiden.

    However, someone was still bound to know one thing or two about the other.

    "U-umm¡­ S-she said that she uses a staff because she''s afraid of ded weapons." Exined Shina.

    There was indeed that setting about Lisa. She was afraid of ded weapons. That was why, when she was Awakened and saw that her Talentys in brewing and business, she quickly took a turn and decided to join her family business.

    Her family had a smallpany that manufactured Magic Pills and sold them in their own store. It is only a smallpany right now, but it would be one of the biggest manufacturers of Magic Pills after Lisa joined.

    Putting that aside, Lisa''s match had started. Her enemy was a girl who chose a whip as her weapon. From this, I knew that the match was purposely arranged to have a girl fight another girl.

    It was not like it was necessary for them to do so, as they would meet a guy whether they wanted to or not.

    Lisa was the one who took the initiative to close the distance with her opponent. She held the shaft of the staff in her right hand.

    Her enemy was calm. She held her whip, and thenshed it towards Lisa.

    With a swift movement, Lisa lowered her body and dodged the whip. However, she was too na?ve.

    The whip curved in mid-air as her opponent flexed her hand. It changed its course with elegance and caught Lisa''s left arm.

    She was clearly confused, but she didn''t stop her advance. She knew that closing the distance right now was the best thing she could do.

    Her opponent was panicking and clearly didn''t expect Lisa to be calm when the whip caught her hand. Her steps became unsteady, and she made a mistake. She pulled her whip to take it back, but it was toote.

    Lisa grabbed the whip with her left hand and pulled it toward her. Her opponent was caught off guard and stumbled forward.

    "Eh? She pulled the whip in that state?!"Mirana eximed, surprised .

    It was a good move in a spar, but it wouldn''t work in a real fight between Awakeners where Mana was used.

    If she tried to pull a whip infused with mana, her hand would be greatly injured. Mana would make the whip as sharp as a sword.

    But¡­ pulling the whip was the correct move in this case. Her opponent had faltered, and she swung her staff, aiming at her opponent''s neck.

    The staff knocked the back of her opponent''s neck, and she fell to the ground.

    Thud!

    "Stop! The winner is Lisa Manrosa!"

    The referee stopped the match, and Lisa won the match.

    She looked in our direction with a big smile and waved her hand happily.

    "She won!"

    "Yeah! Way to go, Lisa!"

    "That''s a good match."

    "Nice job, Lisa!"

    The girls eximed one after another. As the match went faster than I thought, it seemed like my turn woulde faster too.

    I decided to go to the waiting room as there was nothing to see anymore.

    "I will go to the waiting room first."

    "Eh, you are going now?" Asked Lily.

    "Yeah. The match was a bit too boring for my taste. Only Zaiden seems to be strong."

    "Is that so? I think you are underestimating them too much. Or¡­ you are confident of winning this sparring tournament?"

    "¡­ I am."

    I walked away after answering Lily. If the students were that strong, then winning this tournament would be easy.

    ***

    Lisa was directed to the first-year winner''s waiting room after she won the sparring match. It was separated from the fighter waiting room, and only three people were inside. There were tables and chairs inside the room. On the wall, there was a big TV that connected to the camera outside to see the match.

    When she entered the room, she was greeted by Zaiden.

    "Lisa! I saw your match. Congrattions on winning!"

    Lisa smiled when she saw Zaiden. The only reason she joined the sparring tournament, even though the other girls didn''t, was to get closer to Zaiden.

    And now, her goal was achieved as she had a chance to be with Zaiden for a while. The other students in the room didn''t matter to her, as they believed the rumors about their rtionship.

    "Yes. Somehow I managed to win. My opponent was strong."

    Zaiden smiled at her. "I know that. The whip was fast, and it had unpredictable movement. To be honest, I was surprised when I saw you grabbing the whip. Is your hand okay?"

    "It''s okay, my hand is just bruised a little." She touched her hand that was used to pull the whip earlier and smiled wryly at Zaiden.

    Zaiden looked at Lisa''s hand worriedly.

    "I think it''s better if you get it checked. The healer that the Academy hired is standing by in the infirmary. You can ask him to heal you."<sub> </sub>

    "No, it''s nothing. Anyway, it''s Maria''s turn, right? Let''s watch it together."

    "O-oh¡­"

    Lisa grabbed Zaiden''s arm and pulled him to the nearby chair. He was surprised, but he went along and sat beside Lisa, watching the TV that showed the first year match between Maria and a girl named Zeke.

    Both of them didn''t use any weapons; instead, they wore gloves that were often used in MMA on their hands.

    "She''s going bare-handed, huh?" Muttered Zaiden as he looked at the screen.

    "Maria is trained in martial arts. She even joined a training facility to learn hand-to-handbat."

    "I see¡­ So she''s strong?"

    "I hate to admit it, but she''s stronger than me¡­"

    Lisa muttered thest sentence in a low voice. Zaiden looked at her worriedly, but then he smiled and patted her head.

    "You are already strong, Lisa."

    He knew that Lisa''s Talent wasn''t rted to fighting. He didn''t have high hopes for Lisa''s match earlier.

    She had surprised him because she was able to win, although her method was a bit reckless. It could have injured her if her opponent was not panicking and used the whip as skillfully as before.

    Putting those aside, he was happy that Lisa won.

    "Zaiden¡­ Thank you." Lisa smiled.

    The match on the TV had now started. Both fighters closed the distance and punched. Their fists connected with each other, but nothing special happened.

    Tak!

    From their stance, both of them used the same technique. Zaiden didn''t know who would win this match, but he hoped that someone from his ss would win.

    The match continued. Both fighters exchanged moves at a fast speed. They were punching, dodging, and blocking each other''s attacks.

    It was the fiercest match today. The fighters had bruises all over their bodies. After exchanging punches for a while, Zeke saw an opening in Maria''s stomach and used this chance to deliver a kick.

    Thud!

    The kick connected, and Maria was blown away. Because of her injuries and thest kick, she immediately passed out, and the referee stopped the match with Zeke''s victory.

    "She lost¡­"

    "Yeah¡­"

    It was a shame that Maria lost in the first round. Lisa felt down because her friend was eliminated.

    Zaiden quickly cheered her up.

    "B-but, there is still Vincent! If he wins, then three people from our ss will go to the second round!"

    And it worked. Lisa smiled and nodded her head. "That''s true."

    The match continued quickly. The students were all strong for Non-Awakeners. Zaiden watched the match seriously, while Lisa stole a nce at him a few times. She always got embarrassed when she saw Zaiden''s serious face and shook her head each time.

    There were a total of 20 matches in the first round. The students had different ways of fighting. Some used spears, some used swords, and some used their fists like Maria. Most of them had joined training facilities to learn some martial arts.

    The whip and staff were rarely used. Only Lisa used a staff in all her matches, and only two girls used a whip, including Lisa''s opponent earlier.

    The winner entered the room they were in with a satisfied smile and full ofpetitive spirit. They were looking at their opponent for the second match while trying to gauge their strength.

    After a while, it was finally the final match.

    The fighters entered the arena; it was Vincent and Muz Lima, a guy from the middle-east with tanned skin.

    While Vincent had a bored look, Muz Lima was ring at Vincent as if he was his enemy from his previous life.

    Both of them took wooden swords as their weapons.

    When they entered the ring, Vincent yawned and made Muz Lima even angrier. His expression twisted, as he gritted his teeth while gripping the wooden sword in his hand.

    Zaiden looked at the screen with a wry smile.

    "As usual, that guy didn''t bother to hide his bored look. He always has that look whenever he''s not interested in something."

    "Ha-hahaha, you are right. He even had that look when he watched the second match."

    "Really? Then I guess Vincent is confident of winning, huh?"

    "I guess so too."

    Both of them then went silent and watched the screen with a smile. It was their friend''s turn. Naturally, they would support him.

    Although the same couldn''t be said for the other students in the waiting room. They were excited to see Vincent get beat up by Muz Lima.

    "It''s starting." Said Zaiden.

    When the referee started the match, Muz Lima made the first move immediately. He raised his sword and rushed toward Vincent while yelling.

    "Haaa!!!"

    His spirit was admirable, but Vincent only looked at him without making any move. It irritated Muz Lima even more. He put his strength in his hands and swung his sword down at Vincent''s head.

    "Die!!" He yelled with all his might.

    Vincent calmly analyzed the situation. He took a step to the side, parried Muz Lima''s sword, then kicked him on his chin.

    His movement was so fluid and fast that even Zaiden couldn''t follow him. As soon as he realized it, Muz Lima was already on the ground without moving.

    The match ended instantly, and the referee announced Vincent''s victory.

    "Wha?!" Lisa let out a surprised sound. "Zaiden¡­ did you see that?" She turned to Zaiden only to see him having an excited grin on his face.

    "Zaiden?" She called out to him, and Zaiden snapped out of it instantly.

    "O-oh. Yeah. Vincent is strong."

    His eyes were glued to the screen, following Vincent''s back.

    ''So there is someone that strong in the Academy? Why did I never hear of Vincent in the novel? No, I remember him now. He''s the yboy mentioned in chapter 1 but never appeared again. Could it be that he''s killed in the novel?''

    Zaiden''s thoughts went wild. He made a wild assumption about the possibility of Vincent getting killed. Finally, he arrived at a conclusion.

    ''If he was killed in the novel, then I will save him this time... I won''t allow my friend to be killed.''

 Chapter 22 Consoling Lisa

    My opponent was weak.

    Even though I tried my best to keep my strength at a Non-Awakener''s level, he was knocked out by just one kick.

    I was told to go to the winner''s waiting room to wait for the second round. While I was walking in the hallway, Zaiden exited the waiting room and closed the door behind him.

    "Yo, good luck in your second match." I greeted him, and he turned to me.

    "Oh, Vincent. Yeah, thank you."

    He was looking at me oddly. It was like he was sad and determined. Anyway, he was strange.

    Did he eat something wrong?

    "What''s wrong?" Concerned, I asked him.

    He shook his head and smiled. "No, nothing. It''s just¡­ I hope you can go to the final to meet me."

    He was confident in his ability, unlike the Zaiden in my story, an introvert with low self-esteem. He always med himself until thetter half of the story.

    With him having such confidence, I could rest easy and leave this world to him. Of course, it didn''t change my n to make him suffer in the future. It was a necessary step to make him stronger.

    "Look at you, being confident, huh? Do you think you can beat me?"

    "Hahahaha, well¡­ We won''t know until we fightter."

    "That''s right. That''s how it should be."

    We looked at each other for a few seconds before Zaiden shrugged his shoulders.

    "Well, it''s time for my second match. See youter."

    "Yeah."

    Zaiden walked past me with his usual confidence. It seemed like his burden was lifted after talking to me. Whatever that was, only he knew about it.

    The most important thing was that Zaiden gained his confidence back and wanted to get stronger. If he read my novel until thetest release, he surely knew that he needed to get stronger.

    Though he didn''t know that he couldn''t get stronger easily just by training and hunting, I considered giving him the Mana Breathing Method that suited him the most.

    When I found out that he was a reincarnator, that was the first thing that shed in my mind. However, there was one problem¡­

    ''I didn''t write about how to use the Mana Breathing Method other than the Heavenly Breathing. I remembered that I only wrote Heavenly Breathing in detail because I made Vincent boast about his breathing to Zaiden in thest volume.''

    The other breathing methods were exined vaguely in my novel, such as how he took a deep breath while moving his mana or something. So even though Zaiden knew about the Mana Breathing Method, he wouldn''t be able to try it until he got his hands on the manual.

    Whether I liked it or not, I couldn''t teach him about the Mana Breathing Method.

    "Well, he should be okay. He didn''t need the Mana Breathing Method to get a head start. He will get stronger even without one."

    I entered the waiting room after sending Zaiden off.

    "Vincent! Here!" Lisa shouted at me and patted the chair beside her.

    As usual, the students stared at me. This time, the stare was mixed with fear. They had seen what I did to my opponent and judged that they couldn''t beat me even if they wanted to. The look that they gave me was really different from the one that Zaiden received.

    Even though I was more handsome than he was.

    I smirked at them and sat beside Lisa. They flinched and looked away instantly.

    "I''m d that you are here in time. Did you by any chance meet Zaiden in the hallway?"

    "Yeah, we were talking for a bit."

    "I see¡­"

    Our conversation ended just like that.

    In the first ce, we were not that close to having a personal conversation. I kept my distance from her, and she only talked to me because I was Zaiden''s friend and knew her secret that she muttered in the ssroom.

    "Oh, there he is." Lisa pointed at the screen.

    Zaiden had exited the tunnel and made his way to the arena. He took a training sword and stood proudly in the middle of the arena.

    His opponent was nowhere to be seen. The crowd made a noise to call out his opponent, but he didn''t show himself.

    Finally, a teacher exited the tunnel where his opponent was supposed toe out. He whispered something to the referee before going away again.

    "It seems that the student who is supposed to fight has surrendered. With this, the winner is Zaiden Archman!"

    Well, there it goes.

    ***

    It was disappointing.

    Zaiden came back while feeling down because his opponent surrendered when he was ready to fight. Lisaforted him for a few seconds before going to the arena; it was her turn to fight.

    "Don''t worry about it. Aren''t you happy that your strength is recognized to the point where your opponent surrendered before fighting?"

    "I know, but¡­ you know? I felt betrayed! I am going to the arena with confidence and spirit to fight, only to find my opponent surrendered even before the match. Can you imagine my disappointment?"

    "¡­"

    I didn''t give him any answers because I didn''t know how to answer him. I was only a normal guy two weeks ago, yet I was thrown into this world by something I didn''t understand.

    Unlike Zaiden, who had reincarnated here since he was a child, I was transmigrated here as an adult. I had no time to get used to this world because time was a luxury. I needed to spend it wisely to get stronger; all of it was needed to survive future events.

    Fortunately, Zaiden didn''t seek my answer. Instead, his eyes were now glued to the screen, watching Lisa enter the arena.

    Her opponent was a girl who fought by wing at each other in the first round. However, that girl was now holding a spear and had a confident smile on her face.

    When I saw her, I instantly knew that she was strong. Maybe, she only fought the first girl by wing at her due to some circumstances. It could be a personal grudge or something else; I didn''t know or care. And now, after finishing her personal grudge, she decided to fight seriously.<sub> </sub>

    "It seems she will lose in this match, Zaiden. You better console herter."

    I told Zaiden the result of my observation, and he just nodded his head in agreement. His gaze was focused on the screen.

    If he had observed enough, he should''ve known that Lisa''s enemy this time was skilled. Their weapons were also simr, but a spear had more advantages than a staff.

    The referee started the match immediately. Simr to before, Lisa was the one who made the first move while her opponent was watching her while spinning her spear. She took a low stance and was ready to counterattack at any time.

    However, Lisa was not skilled enough to know that. She plunged herself as she made a stab motion with her staff.

    Her opponent was ready and parried the attack with her spear. She then spun it around skillfully, ying around with Lisa''s staff before kicking her away.

    Thud!

    The sound was clear because of the microphone that was installed near the arena. At least I could hear their exchanges through the TV.

    Lisa immediately lost her cool. She attacked her opponent without any technique; she was angry at her opponent.

    Her opponent skillfully manipted Lisa''s attack. Unlike Lisa, she was calm. From my perspective, her opponent was¡­

    "She''s ying around," Zaiden muttered beside me.

    His expression didn''t change, but he was clearly worried about Lisa.

    The match continued for a few minutes. Lisa managed to regain her calm after her attacks were blocked a few times. When Lisa tried to make a distance, her opponent intentionally taunted her by waving her finger, but she was rather calm now. Her attack was now more coordinated than before.

    Tak! Tak! Swoosh!

    The sound of wooden staff meeting a wooden spear rang in the arena. This match was the longest, yet it didn''t show any sign of ending.

    The two fighters exchanged moves, but it was clear which one was winning. Lisa pushed her opponent, but she was able to dodge and parry Lisa''s attack without any problem. Heck, she was purposely getting pushed by Lisa to y with her.

    The match continued for a few minutes until, finally, Lisa was too exhausted to even hold her staff. The referee judged that the match couldn''t be continued, and he announced the winner.

    "Lisa Manrosa is too exhausted, and I judged that she can''t continue the match! Hence, the winner is Emma Brown!"

    Lisa clearly looked worn out and down under the cheers of the crowds. After the match was announced to be done, Zaiden rose from his seat and slowly walked out of the room. I just looked at his back without saying anything. I knew he was going to the arena to help Lisa.

    I slowly rose from my seat too and exited the room.

    ***

    Zaiden went to the arena as Vincent expected. He approached Lisa, who sat idly in the middle of the arena. She didn''t even budge when the referee asked her to leave.

    He let out a sigh when she saw Lisa. He never thought that she would be so down like this. He knew that this was not her fault; she was not a fighter. Her opponent was too strong for her.

    "Lisa." Zaiden called out to Lisa.

    The referee looked at Zaiden and nodded his head before walking away to prepare for the next match. He trusted Zaiden to get Lisa away from the arena. Almost all the teachers knew about Zaiden. He was famous because of the rumors about him.

    Lisa turned her head slowly toward Zaiden and muttered, "Zaiden¡­ I¡­"

    "Shh¨C" Zaiden stopped her and crouched beside her. "For now, let''s just go to the infirmary. You need to rest."

    Lisa nodded her head weakly. With Zaiden''s help, she stood up and walked away from the arena. Her hand was on Zaiden''s shoulder; she was too exhausted to walk by herself.

    They walked through the hallway, and Lisa started to tear up.

    "Why¡­ Why am I so weak?"

    Lisa started to cry. Zaiden supported her as they stopped on their track.

    "Sob¨C¡­ My opponent yed me¡­ She only yed around, but I couldn''t hit her!"

    She buried her face in Zaiden''s chest.

    "Why?" Asked Lisa with a hoarse voice. She was sobbing, and tears dripped from her eyes.

    "It''s not your fault, Lisa." Answered Zaiden. "It''s not wrong with being weak¡­ Everyone has something that they excel at. Aren''t your grades better than mine?"

    "But¡­"

    "No but¡­ You are smart, Lisa. If you are worried about being weak, then I will help you. Being weak is not a sin. We can help each other."

    Lisa looked at Zaiden while trying to keep her eyes open. She was already exhausted from the match. Added to her crying earlier, her energy was already depleted.

    Zaiden smiled at her and patted her head. "You can rest for now. Let''s talk again after you wake up, okay?"

    "¡­Yes." Answered Lisa weakly as she shut her eyes.

    Zaiden caught her body before she fell and carried her in his arms. Looking at Lisa in his arms, Zaiden had a serious look as he muttered.

    "I did promise to save you, so I will do my best. You don''t need to worry about being weak, Lisa."

    He then walked to the infirmary, which was located right beside the waiting room. When he was passing the waiting room, he saw Vincent leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked at him, then at Lisa.

    He narrowed his eyes and asked.

    "She fainted?"

    Zaiden shook his head.

    "No, she''s just sleeping. She''s exhausted from the match and¡­ nevermind." He didn''t think it was wise to tell Vincent that Lisa had cried earlier.

    Vincent shrugged his shoulders as if he didn''t care. In truth, he had noticed Lisa''s eyes were swollen from crying.

    "Take her to the infirmary then. You can apany her if you want to."

    "I will."

 Chapter 23 Letting Out My Stress

    Zaiden walked past and entered the infirmary with Lisa in his arms. I looked at the ceiling with no one in the hallway. The flickering light from the light bulb in the hallway made a humming noise of electricity.

    Bzt¨C¨C hum¨C¨C

    It was quiet with no one talking. The electricity noise calmed me, for some reason.

    "Damn it¡­ Now I feel bad for not giving her some fighting ability."

    I had heard everything with my sharp ears. I heard how Lisa asked Zaiden why she was too weak.

    Lisa was an expert in Brewing and Business. But now, after living in this world for two weeks, I have realized something that I never specified in my novel.

    "This world is too harsh for someone without strength."

    Even with her monstrous Talent in Brewing, she would still be looked down upon if she had no strength to protect herself. That story would only be true for now, as no one would dare to touch Lisa when she was sessful.

    However, that road to sess was hard. I even wrote about Lisa being depressed for quite some time in her backstory before she met Zaiden.

    In this world, she had Zaiden. So I wasn''t too worried about her. Even so, looking at her like that still made me feel bad.

    "Let''s just take my frustration to my opponent. I hope he can take my hits. I really need to control my stress level¡­"

    A lot had happened, and now, seeing the character that I wrote break down with my own eyes, it made me feel sick. If I had never interacted with her, then maybe my reaction would be, ''Oh? She cried?''

    But I had interacted with her. Even though our rtionship was not too close to be called friends, I still knew her personally.

    My stress level had reached an intolerable degree. I had a lot on my mind; I wanted to let it out in this spar.

    "Hum, hmm~." I hummed as I walked through the hallway to find a quiet ce. I was supposed to gost, but I would have had a lot to think about if I was sitting alone in the waiting room.

    Also, the stares from the other students would make me irritated if I stayed for too long. It was bearable because Zaiden was with me, but now he was in the infirmary, so I couldn''t go back to the waiting room.

    That was why I decided to train myself.

    Finding a quiet corner in the hallway, I sat down and closed my eyes. I decided to use the Mana Breathing Method as I had nothing to do until I was called.

    "I hope my turn wille faster."

    I muttered to myself before sinking into my subconscious. It always happened when I used Heavenly Breathing.

    Even though I was in this state, I could still hear the situation in the arena, so I would know when it was my turn. Then I waited...

    ***

    It turned out that I didn''t need to wait too long. Thirty minutes after I did Mana Breathing, I heard the voice from the referee that the ninth match was done.

    It was now my turn. I opened my eyes and stood up.

    My body was in good condition after doing Mana Breathing.

    I walked toward the Arena and picked up the wooden sword that was prepared on the side of the arena.

    My opponent was ready in the arena. He was a blonde boy with sharp eyes. When I saw him, I wondered.

    ''He looks more like a delinquent than me.''

    It was a silly thought.

    He was holding a wooden sword in his hand and patted it against his shoulder. He looked confident, with a smirk on his face.

    "Oi." He suddenly spoke all of a sudden. "Let me tell you something. I am not afraid of you."

    His smirk irritated me somehow. Before this, I felt bad for my opponent because I was nning to beat him to release my stress.

    "Also, I am stronger than you. I even attend a prestigious training facility for Non-Awakener!"

    But after seeing his cocky attitude, my guilt was gone immediately. He¡­ I wanted to beat him and erase that smirk from his face.

    I ignored him and looked at the referee.

    "Can you start the match immediately?"

    The referee nodded his head.

    "Are both sides ready?"

    My opponent swung his wooden sword and shouted. "Yeah!"

    I nodded my head in affirmation, and the referee started the match.

    "Then, begin!"

    My opponent propelled himself and rushed toward me. His movement was fast for a Non-Awakener. He was as fast as the girl who yed Lisa around.

    Maybe he was also as skillful as she was? Then I could use this to show my strength to the students.

    At first, I was fine with being called a delinquent. But after I changed my mind, being called a delinquent when I was not one was a bit irritating.

    That was why. Why shouldn''t I act like a delinquent for real? Zaiden was kind. He was fine with me no matter what the public called me.

    I could also make some excuses to the otherster. Something like this guy was looking down on me. That should be enough.

    My opponent was indeed fast, but he was still too slow for me. With my eyes, I could see him moving like a snail.

    Even when I had various thoughts in my head, he was still not halfway to me.

    "Tsk!" Irritated, I clicked my tongue. Then I kicked the ground and arrived in front of him in less than a second.

    This move was still within the limits of Non-Awakener. I only used the footwork that Smith taught me yesterday. It was footwork to move fast, or so he exined. Who knew that it was this effective? It was my first time using it in a real fight.

    He was surprised when I suddenly appeared in front of him.

    "Wha?"

    He immediately stopped in his tracks and was about to swing his sword.

    However, I gave him no time for that. My wooden sword was already in front of his face. He panicked and tried to dodge, but it was still useless.

    Thud¨C!

    I hit him right on his face, and he tumbled backward. His nose was broken, and blood poured out from it.

    "Argh!" He screamed in pain and blocked his nose with his left hand.

    I didn''t stop there. I quickly shortened my distance with him and kicked his legs.

    Thud! Crash¨C!<sub> </sub>

    "Guh!"

    He fell to the ground, and I put my right feet on his chest. Then, using my weight, I grounded my feet on his chest.

    "Augh!"

    "Oi." I called out to him. "What did you say earlier? I am weak?"

    "Ghh, Grr! Release me!"

    He tried to lift my leg with his hands, but it was useless.

    But, if I continued this, the referee would surely stop the match. So I jumped back to create a distance between us. It was still not enough. I still wanted to hit someone. I was not satisfied yet.

    My primary target was Zaiden because I was still a bit irritated with him. He saved Lily and jeopardized the story. But he was my friend, so I couldn''t hit him. I needed to wait until he became an Awakener so I could hit him as Rai.

    The guy in front of me was a different story, though. He was the perfect target for me to hit. He was an extra, just like me.

    He stood while holding his chest in pain. His expression was twisted in anger as he red at me.

    "You! I will kill you!"

    "Really?" I asked with a mocking tone. "You will be thrown into jail if you do that."

    "You!!"

    Once again, he rushed at me while brandishing his sword.

    The distance between us was not that far. It was only around 5 meters. I could close this distance in less than a second, but he needed more than that because his legs were injured from my kick earlier.

    They were swollen, but he kept charging at me.

    From his movements, it was clear that he was skilled at swordy. He swung his sword downward, aimed at my neck. His attack was sharp; it was too different from the way I swung my sword two days ago.

    Indeed, two days ago. Due to Smith''s trainingbined with my A-Rank Talent, I became skilled at handling a sword in a matter of two days. Being an Awakener with an A-Rank Swordsmanship Talent was truly a cheat.

    I stepped to the right to dodge his swing and kneed him in the stomach.

    Tak!

    "Eheuk!" The air in his lungs was pushed out, and he copsed on his knees in front of me.

    "Say it again, bastard. I am weaker than you?"

    He raised his head to re at me. As soon as he red at me, I pped him on his cheek.

    p!

    pping someone was not my style, but who cares about that right now? The crowds were booing me, but I was still not satisfied.

    The referee was also looking at me while gritting his teeth. I red back at him before looking back at my opponent.

    "Hey, I will let you off if you apologize to me. It''s simple, right?"

    "Y-You fucker!"

    He lunged at me with a stab motion. I quickly swung my sword and parried his attack.

    His grip was too weak. His sword bounced off his hand and flew out of the arena. Now he had no weapon, so his only option was to punch me from his kneeling position.

    With his right fist clenched hard, he sent a fast jab aimed at my stomach.

    I took his fist with my left hand and grinned.

    "You see?"

    I slowly twisted his wrist, and he grunted in pain.

    "Ugh! L-Let me go!"

    My personality hadn''t changed even a little. On Earth, I was someone who was proud of my work. Even though I was used to receiving hatements on my novel, I was not used to one thing.

    And that was¡­

    ''I am someone who hates being looked down on.''

    I threw my sword away to hit him directly. I realized, after pping him, that hitting him directly with my hand was more refreshing.

    I punched him in the face while letting go of his hand, and he was blown three meters away.

    He rolled on the ground a few times before stopping. His face was bruised with blood poured out from his nose and mouth.

    I was about to approach him again, but the referee quickly stepped in and blocked my way.

    "Move," I said coldly.

    "It''s enough. He has passed out."

    "Is that so? You have yet to announce my win, so I thought the match was still not over." When I mentioned that, the referee noticed his blunder.

    He nodded his head and announced the end of the match.

    "Obara Zain can''t continue the match! The winner of the second round is Vincent Dihart!"

    The crowd was silent. There was no cheer or anything.

    My fight was too brutal and too one-sided. In the first round, I quickly ended the match because I was bored.

    ? However, in this match, I purposely yed around with my opponent to release my stress.

    My exit from the arena was apanied by silence. The medical team brought a stretcher to take my opponent, Obara Zain, away.

    I walked into the hallway once again. I had managed to release some of my stress; it was refreshing.

    My mouth curled into a small smile.

    The third round would be held in thirty minutes.

    ''What should I do now?''

    There were only five people for the third round. Usually, only the strongest four were picked at this point, or the Academy would choose one person amongst the remaining contestants to be given a pass to the final.

    From the match today, it was clear that Zaiden or I was the strongest one and got the pass, but there was also that girl who yed Lisa around.

    "Well, I don''t need to worry about it. I should go to the spectators'' seat to meet with the others for now."

 Chapter 24 Third And Final Match

    [Spectator Seats]

    I was able to find the girls quickly.

    They were chatting about myst match earlier.

    As expected, Mirana was the one who made a fuss about it. However, Lily has unexpectedly exined a reason to her.

    "Listen, Mirana. In a fight, something like that happens often. I remember Zaiden being beaten to a pulp by his dad, and that was only training."

    "I-is that so? I thought he beat his opponent because he hated him."

    "No. Something like that often happens in a fight."

    "But¡­ he looked like he was enjoying the fight." Mirana made an excuse again.

    This time I was the one who answered her.

    "My bad. I was a bit pissed off earlier."

    Hearing my voice, the girls looked at me.

    "Oh, Vincent. Good job earlier. You won, huh?" Lily congratted me.

    I nodded my head at her, then Mirana asked something.

    "What do you mean by pissed off? Aren''t you going too far earlier? Your opponent even has his nose broken, from what I heard. You even tried to approach him when he was already on the floor."

    I had already expected this and prepared my answer.

    "Well, to be honest¡­ Lisa was crying earlier. Her opponent only yed her and never intended to give a proper fight. When I saw her, I was a bit pissed off, so I went too far in my fight. Also, the referee had yet to stop the fight, so I think he''s just faking it. It''s my fault."

    The other went silent. Mirana looked at me with guilt. She was supposed to be a cheery person, but why did she always look guilty when she looked at me?

    "I-I see¡­ In other words, you got pissed because that girl was ying around with Lisa?"

    "Something like that."

    I sat on the empty seat beside Lily and leaned my back against the chair rest.

    Lily then eximed. "See? I told you that he has his reason!"

    "M-my bad," Mirana muttered as she looked apologetic.

    "As I said a few times already, I don''t mind. People often misunderstand me."

    "Y-yeah."

    The atmosphere then bes awkward. I wonder how Zaiden was doing with Lisa.

    ***

    [Infirmary]

    The infirmary was simr to the usual school infirmary.

    The wall was painted white. On the side of the wall, three beds with white sheets were separated from each other with white curtains.

    Behind a curtain, a girl was lying on one of the beds; she was Lisa.

    She squirmed and let out a low grunt, "Ugh¡­"

    She was trying to remember what happened before she fainted, then her face turned red when she remembered crying in front of Zaiden; she even hugged him.

    With her hands to cover her red face, she muttered.

    "What have I done?"

    She calmed herself down. After a while, she looked around. "Where is this?"

    Her eyes then stopped at the sight of Zaiden, who stared at her.

    Both of them looked at each other awkwardly. Lisa''s mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

    "D-did you hear that?"

    "Umm¡­ yeah. Sorry." Zaiden scratched his cheek with a wry smile.

    Once again, Lisa''s face turned red, and she looked away from Zaiden to hide it.

    "He heard it¡­ he heard it¡­" Lisa muttered the same words a few times in a low voice.

    Zaiden looked at her with a small smile. He was d that Lisa acted like usual again, but he was still worried about her.

    Lisa turned to Zaiden shyly and asked.

    "Umm¡­ please forget what happened earlier. Also, please don''t tell anyone."

    Sensing the mood, Zaiden nodded his head.

    "Don''t worry. I will not tell anyone. But¡­ Vincent seems to know that you cried because of your swollen eyes. He was worried about you. He even waited in front of the waiting room earlier."

    "R-really? W-well, I don''t think it will be a problem if it''s Vincent. I know he can keep a secret." Lisa responded with a smile.

    "Is that so? More importantly, are you okay now? The Awakener had healed the bruises on your body, and he said you just needed some rest to get your energy back."

    Lisa turned her body around to show Zaiden as she replied. "Yes, it''s not a problem. I was just too exhausted."

    "Really?"

    "Really."

    "Then it''s good." Zaiden smiled at Lisa.

    Zaiden wanted Lisa to stop fighting, as her Talent wasn''t suited to fighting.

    He knew that the future Lisa was a sessful businesswoman, but she didn''t know about the future. She would also create a new Magic Pill that increased Mana called Mana Magic Pill.

    For that reason, Zaiden wanted to tell her to try Brewing Magic Pills starting now. But he couldn''t bring himself to do that. Even though he was still not Awakened yet, his Loving Trait didn''t allow him to hurt Lisa, whom he loved.

    Although he refused to call them his girlfriends, he loved all of them. He hade to love them, even though his intention at first was to save them.

    However, his love for them was not the kind of romantic love; he loved them as friends. He cared for them, his friends.

    His Loving Trait didn''t differentiate between romantic love or friendship love. He was affected by both. So he couldn''t do something that made them sad.

    It was at that moment that he understood the feelings of Zaiden in the novel. He always wondered why Zaiden didn''t hate his friends, even when they betrayed him. It turned out that his Trait restricted him. However, each betrayal and suffering made Zaiden in the novel stronger. He didn''t know his reason, as he was reincarnated before he read thest volume.

    "Zaiden." Lisa called out to him and snapped him out of his thoughts.

    "Oh, what?"<sub> </sub>

    "Vincent''s match.. how did it turn out? Did he win?"

    Zaiden smiled proudly at Lisa. "He won."

    Although the match was brutal and Vincent took it too far, in the end, he won. Zaiden learned about it from his parents.

    "I see¡­ How about you? When is your next match?"

    "It''s in 30 minutes. The referee gave us time to rest."

    "30 minutes, huh? Your next opponent is that girl, right?" Asked Lisa worriedly. "Will you be okay? I know that you are strong, but¡­" She couldn''t finish her sentence as Zaiden interrupted her.

    "Ah, about that. I heard from the Awakener who healed you that the third match will be held differently. The fighter will be selected randomly, so I won''t know my opponent before the match starts."

    "Oh, so that''s how it is. It''s different fromst month, huh?"

    "Yeah. The third match is always different each month. Last month was a battle royale. It was a miracle that I won in the end."

    "Hahahaha. Your body was full of bruises, though."

    "Hahahaha."

    Zaiden managed to win the previous month''s tournament. That was the main reason why his opponent surrendered in the second match.

    Vincent never participated in any tournaments. When he decided to join this month, Zaiden was surprised as well as happy at the same time.

    He had heard the rumors about Vincent too. How he beat some delinquents from other schools and how he sent people to hospitals before the entrance ceremony of the Academy.

    But he never believed them. He was sure that there was a reason for that.

    After seeing Vincent''s match in the first round, Zaiden was excited to fight him. Vincent was strong, maybe even stronger than him.

    "Good luck, Zaiden." Encouraged Lisa.

    "Yeah, I will win this time too."

    ***

    The third match started after a 30 minute break.

    I never expected that the fighter would be randomly selected by the Academy headmaster, Jack, who sat on the teacher''s spectator seat. How could he randomly select the fighters? Was he crazy?

    I nced at him only to see him grinning widely; he was excited by this match. Because why not?

    The first fighter that was chosen was me. Maybe it was due to my S-Rank Luck or because of his E-Rank luck, my opponent was Zaiden.

    The positive was that I was given a chance to punch Zaiden legally without him being suspicious of me. The negative was that he would know that I was stronger than him, and he would certainly bother me to fight with him again in the future. Well, the negative was not too important as I would have a chance to hit him again, which served as a good stress reliever for me.

    "I never thought that I would meet you this fast, Vincent."

    Zaiden warmed up in front of me by stretching his arms and legs. He had chosen a wooden sword again as his weapon.

    "Yeah, me too." I was swinging the wooden sword in my hand to loosen my wrist.

    "Let''s have a nice duel, Vincent. Promise me no hate or something, whoever wins."

    "Don''t worry about that. I am confident that I will win."

    "Hahahaha. We won''t know until we try."

    Zaiden took a stances with the tip of his sword pointed at me.

    I didn''t take any stance. The tip of my sword faced the ground.

    We faced each other with a grin. There was a serious atmosphere around us, but it was also friendly.

    Unlike the matches before, which had a serious atmosphere like an actual tournament. The fight between Zaiden and me was simr to a friendly spar.

    The crowd looked at us with interest. I just found out from the girls earlier that Zaiden was actually the winner of the previous tournament.

    It was natural that the crowd would be interested. They knew that Zaiden was strong, and they certainly wanted to see him beat me, the famous delinquent of the Academy.

    "Are both sides ready?" The referee asked us while looking at us alternatively.

    "Yes!" Zaiden gave an energetic answer.

    I nodded my head in affirmation.

    "Then, begin!"

    We moved at the same time. We met in the middle of the arena while swinging our swords at the same time.

    Tak¨C!

    Zaiden''s swordsmanship was great; he was able to keep up with my movements even though he was a Non-Awakener.

    While I was not moving at my top speed, I was still faster than normal people.

    "As expected, you are good, Vincent."

    "Nah, you are the one that''s too weak." I mocked him and used this chance to kick him in the stomach.

    However, Zaiden had expected it. He immediately jumped back to dodge my kick. As soon as hended, he rushed toward me again. He swung his sword sharply, aiming at my temple.

    With a smooth movement, I moved my sword to parry his. Our swords bounced off each other when they met , but I quickly gripped mine back and sent a thrust toward Zaiden.

    He quickly stepped to the side, dodging my thrust. He couldn''t entirely avoid it as it grazed his shoulder, tearing his uniform and leaving a bruise mark.

    Swoosh¨C!

    The crowd gasped in surprise. They must have been surprised that I could get the upper hand in this fight.

    Zaiden created distance between us and stared at me with an excited look. He looked like a child that had found a new toy to y with.

    "Vincent! I know that you are still holding back. You don''t need to worry about me; attack me with all your strength!"

    Uh, no. I would refrain from that. If I attacked him with all my strength, he would die.

    But to respect his bravery, I replied to him.

    "Fine! Don''t regret this." I pointed the tip of my sword at him.

    "Hahahaha. Don''t worry about me! There is a healer in the infirmary in case something happens!"

    If he was that determined, then I guess I could break one or two bones in his body, right?

    After all, he was the one who said that. So I would take his offer happily.

    "Then, here I go!"

 Chapter 25 Promise And Guild Official

    I closed our distance at a faster speed.

    In less than a second, I was already in front of Zaiden and swung my sword. He was clearly surprised, as he had reacted quitete. He moved his sword to parry mine with much difficulty.

    He was lucky to be able to move. His sword parried my sword that was aimed at his head, changing its direction a little, making it hit his shoulder.

    Tak¨C!

    "Ugh!" He grunted in pain.

    His bnce was disturbed by that. I used this chance to kick him in the stomach, and he was pushed back around a meter.

    The people that I kicked earlier got blown away easily, but he was just pushed back. Once again I realized how much of a cheat he was.

    "Hahaha¡­ that hurts." Zaiden let out a smallugh as he patted his stomach with his hand, trying to relieve the pain from my kick.

    "You are the strongest Non-Awakener that I ever met, Vincent. It''s the first time I was pushed back like that."

    "And it''s the first time someone has not been blown away by my kick in this tournament," I answered him with a smirk.

    He chuckled and said, "I guess this is our first time for everything, huh?"

    "I think so too!" I replied to him as I leaped.

    I swung my sword down, and Zaiden blocked it with his sword. I then sent a barrage of furry shes toward Zaiden. He had a hard time blocking and parrying my sword.

    Slowly, he was pushed back, and his breath became shorter  and harder.

    After a while, Zaiden panted for air.

    "Pant¨C Pant¨C"

    After a few minutes of fiery exchanges of shes, I finally found an opening in Zaiden''s defense.

    "There you are, you little shit!" I shouted as I sent a thrust toward his throat.

    "Wha!?" Zaiden couldn''t react in time, and my sword hit his throat. This time, he was blown away by a meter and crashed to the ground.

    Thud¨C Crash¨C!

    However, with his athletic reflect, he quickly got up and held his throat that I hit earlier. It became red and swollen. It seemed to be painful. Did I do it?

    He also had a hard time breathing. He was trying to gasp for air.

    "Guh¡­ Gah¡­" He tried to cough to clear his throat, but it was useless.

    "Just surr-" As I was about to tell Zaiden to surrender, the referee suddenly shouted.

    "Foul!"

    "Hah?!" I scoffed at the referee. Annoyed, my eyebrows raised and I red at him.

    If I was to describe myself, then I would look like a delinquent right now. I was so annoyed that my old habit from Earth resurfaced again.

    "Stabbing a throat is a dangerous move! It''s a foul and you are disqualified from the tournament." Exined the referee.

    "The rules never stated that!" I tried to object, but the referee insisted.

    "It is stated. You can''t kill your opponent."

    "And I didn''t fucking kill Zaiden! Look, he''s fine!" I pointed at Zaiden only to see him gasping for breath.

    I froze when I saw him. Did I go too far?

    I quietly lowered my hand when I saw his condition. Did I possibly put more strength in my thrust than I wanted to? What if he died here? Vincent, you are a fool!

    "See?" As if mocking me, the referee only said one word.

    "Tsk!" I only clicked my tongue in response.

    From the tunnel, the medical team appeared, bringing a first aid box. There was a blond-haired middle-aged man who wore a whiteb coat among them. I felt mana from him, the sign that he was an Awakener.

    So he was the one hired by the Academy.

    They looked at Zaiden to see his condition. Zaiden tried to push them away, thinking that his fight with me was not over yet.

    "Tsk! Troublesome kid." I clicked my tongue once again and approached Zaiden.

    I admit that I had gone too far. I failed to control my strength due to my inexperience. As a result, I almost killed him. It was my biggest blunder.

    If he died, who would save the world? There was still that girl, Hero, in this world. But she couldn''t do it. She suffered enough; I wanted her to feel happy in this world.

    Her role in my novel was to make Zaiden stronger than her. However, in this world, I would take that role. As Zaiden had saved Lily, I would save her too, even if that meant Zaiden would need to suffer more to get stronger.

    She was my favorite character in my novel, after all. I cried a little when I wrote about her being killed by Zaiden.

    The medical team tried to stop me, but the Awakener that the Academy hired stopped them.

    "Let him pass."

    "B-but¡­"

    "Just let him pass. This boy will refuse to be healed if you stop him."

    I guess he had his share of experience when dealing with someone like Zaiden, a battle junkie.

    As thanks, I nodded my head to him, and he nodded back.

    I crouched in front of Zaiden, who was on his knees, and stared straight at his eyes.

    "Oi, the match is over."

    "N¡­ot¡­yet¡­" His words didn''t even form properly because his throat was injured. I sighed when I saw him being stubborn like this.

    What''s wrong with giving up? It was natural for humans to give up when they couldn''t do something after trying a few times.

    "Look here, Zaiden. I went too far and almost crushed your throat. As a result, I am disqualified. If you want to fight again, just tell me anytime. But, for now, let him heal you." I pointed at the healer who stood beside me, looking at Zaiden.

    Zaiden had a small smile when he heard that. "P¡­ro¡­mise?"

    I chuckled at him. "Yeah, only if you are ready to lose again."

    "Ha-hahaha." He replied with augh; then, he looked at the healer. "P¡­lease."

    The referee then announced that I was disqualified and Zaiden won the match.

    My role was done. I stood up and walked away to let the healer do his job. <sub> </sub>

    "At least let''s make him stronger before he gets Awakened. And, I will be able to control my strength better if I have someone to spar with. Besides¡­ I will get a free sandbag to relieve my stress~"

    I chuckled as I walked out of the arena. Two weeks was the time left before the main story started.

    With Zaiden''s personality that I have observed in thest two weeks, I knew that he would challenge me to spar at least twice a week.

    I had no reason to refuse, as it would serve as good training for me too. He was better than me in swordsmanship.

    The reason I won today was because of my pure strength. I was an Awakener, while he was not. Although I did limit my strength to match Non-Awakener, my stamina was different from theirs.

    "Well, it looks like I will be busy for the next two weeks¡­"

    Although I grumbled, a smile formed on my face. After hitting Zaiden earlier, I felt really refreshed. My stress went away in an instant, and I felt like I would be able to keep this exhrating feeling for the next two weeks as I had been given a chance to hit him again.

    "You better prepare yourself, Mr. Reincarnator~ As a reward for taking over Zaiden''s body, I will hit you hard with my fist~"

    ***

    I had nothing left to do at the Academy, so I decided to go to the Awakener Store in Rai''s clothes. I wanted to find some primer on how to use Magic.

    However, I met someone unexpected on my way and was dragged to the nearby coffee shop.

    "I was waiting for your contact, you know? Do you know how anxious I am, staring at my phone all day, waiting for you to contact me? However, it seems thatdy luck is still on my side. To think that I will be able to meet you when I was tasked to go out. So, what''s your answer to my invitation ten days ago, Rai?"

    That someone was the guild officer of Sacred Relic, Rosa, who invited me to join Sacred Relic when I registered with the Awakener Association.

    The way she said her sentences was ambiguous. If someone heard her, they would think that she was waiting for an answer to her love confession. However, it was not that. She was waiting for my answer to her invitation to join Sacred Relic.

    "I''m sorry for that, Mrs. Rosa."

    "Miss." She interjected, as she sipped her coffee.

    "Miss Rosa. I''m sorry, I was busy, and I had no chance to contact you."

    While being busy was the truth, the reason why I didn''t contact her was simple. I had no phone to use yet.

    The usual phone that I used was Vincent''s. If I contacted her with that phone, then she would know that Rai was, in fact, Vincent Dihart.

    I knew that I needed a new phone, but I kept forgetting to buy one because of my stress. I was also busy with training and Academy''s sses. Now that I feel refreshed after hitting Zaiden, I n to continue my preparation for the future.

    "Is that so? May I know what made you busy to the point you can''t send a simple message of yes or no to me?" Rosa''s mouth curled into a smile, but her eyes were certainly not.

    Although I was a precious asset to have in a guild, I had ignored her for more than a week. In her eyes, I must have looked conceited. Maylooked down on Sacred Relic to the point I could ignore their invitation.

    If, by chance, she really saw me like that and reported it to her Guild, my n for the future would run into some trouble.

    I nned to act as a Mercenary who epted requests from guilds in the future. There were quite a few sessful Mercenary groups, such as Big Wolf Mercenary from the US and Sooyeon Army from South Korea.

    To make a sessful mercenary group, I needed connections. That was why I decided to go along with Rosa when she spotted me in the street.

    "Unfortunately, I am busy because of my training. My Master ordered me to train my archery in the mountains and dungeons while he only allowed me to go to the city to buy some food and refreshments. He also confiscated my phonest week, so I''m sorry for not being able to contact you."

    After I exined the story that I made up at thest second, Rosa''s smile turned genuine.

    "Oh? Is that so? I thought that you had forgotten about my invitation. So you have a master¡­ I never knew about that."

    Thankfully, she believed my bullshit. So I continued.

    "Yes, my Master is a strict person, so I am not allowed to even touch my phone during my training."

    "Hahahaha. I can understand that. My Master, who taught me when I was just Awakened, was used to being like that. He forbids me to use my phone too."

    "Is that true? I guess we have our share of problems, huh?"

    "I guess so. Then about my invitation." Rosa put her elbows on the table while having a business smile.

    So it came up again. I tried to stall for some time to make her forget about it, but I guess that was for naught, huh?

    She was experienced in this, so I needed to give my answer right now. It had been more than a week since she invited me; it would be rude if I stalled for more time.

    So I gave her my answer.

    "I''m really sorry. After thinking about it for a week, I don''t think I can join Sacred Relic."

    The disappointment was written on Rosa''s face. She looked at me in surprise before it turned into worry.

    "By any chance, did another guild invite you too?"

    Oh, so she was worried about that.

    "Ah, no. They did try to invite me, but I could always get away from them."

    "Oh!" She then sighed in relief. "Then, why did you refuse my invitation? I am not bragging, but with Sacred Relic''s support, you will be able to get Artifact easily, and Sacred Relic also manages an exclusive dungeon."

    "Well, to answer that, I actually want to create my own Mercenary group. I already have some people that I n to invite. So, I am sorry, but I can''t join a guild."

    "Mercenary group? But that''s¡­"

    "Hard, I know. But I got someone to support me, so I think I am fine."

    Rosa looked at me with a serious gaze, and I returned it calmly. My mouth was hidden behind my mask, so she had a hard time reading my expression.

    "Is that so?" She finally gave up. "Well, if you change your mind, you can contact me anytime. Just know that the Sacred Relic will always have a slot open for you."

    "Thank you. But I want to do my best first. Maybe I will contact you in the future to ask if there is a job for my Mercenary group."

    "Hahahaha. If you managed to gain a name for your group, then surely we will be the ones reaching out to you. Well then, please excuse me. I need to go to the Academy right now."

    "Oh, Academy?" I asked curiously.

    Rosa rose from her seat and answered me with a smile. "Fufufu, yes. I will tell you my reason if you decide to join Sacred Relic."

    "Unfortunately, I need to refuse."

    "What a shame."

    Rosa walked away after that.

    I was curious as to why she would go to the Academy, but I couldn''t ask her directly due to my position. If Sacred Relic asked Rosa to go to the Academy, then it surely was an important matter.

    Whether it was to meet with Jack or maybe she was asked to invite some talented students who won the tournament today, only she knew about it.

    "Well, it doesn''t involve me, so I don''t really care about it."

    I muttered as I stood up.

 Chapter 26 Introduction To Magic

    [Academy]

    The sparring tournament ended with Zaiden being the winner.

    After he was healed by the Awakener that the school hired, he was able to defeat his opponent easily. He fought the girl that yed Lisa around and paid her back for what she did.

    Lisa had also made a full recovery after resting for a while. She was happy when she saw Zaiden defeat the opponent who yed around with her easily.

    After the tournament, Zaiden went back to the dorm to rest while the girl went in a separate direction. Lily went to the city to get some cake. Shina went to a mall to shop with her family. Lisa went back to the female dorm to get some rest too.

    Meanwhile, Ao went to the entrance of the academy to meet someone. She was already waiting for a few minutes now, but the person that asked to meet her had not arrived yet.

    "Where is she?" Mumbled Ao.

    She tapped her feet repeatedly impatiently as she looked around. Finally, she saw the woman that asked to meet her running from the distance while shouting.

    "Ao! I''m sorry! I amte!"

    She was Rosa, and she ran as fast as she could without creating a fuss in the neighborhood.

    As an Awakener, she was fast. That was why she needed to be careful not to cause some wind.

    "You arete," Ao said to Rosa, who stopped in front of her.

    "I am sorry for that. I met someone who I wanted to recruit to the guild, so I was talking to him earlier."

    "Hmm? You wanted to recruit someone? Who is it?" Asked Ao curiously.

    It was famous in Sacred Relic that Rosa was strict when recruiting a new person to join Sacred Relic. However, when she invited someone, that person was always guaranteed to gain sess.

    "He''s a new Awakener who just registered in the guild around two weeks ago. At that time, there was even news about him. Did you hear about Rai?"

    "Rai?!" Ao raised her voice in surprise. "Of course, I heard about him. He has S-Rank Sharpshooting Talent. Who didn''t know about such an Awakener? S-so, did he agree to join Sacred Relic?"

    Rosa shook her head. "Unfortunately, he refused."

    "What? He refused? Is there any way to coax him to join Sacred Relic?"

    "Yes. He refused because he said that he would make a Mercenary Group. As a way to coax him¡­ I believe it will be hard."

    "Is that so?" Muttered Ao as she looked around. She realized they had received a lot of attention from the students that went out of the academy. "For now, let''s go to a nearby caf¨¦. Tell me about it in detail."

    "Yes."

    ***

    [Cafe]

    After ordering drinks, Ao asked Rosa once again.

    "So Rai will make Mercenary Group¡­ Let''s say that he makes one. Do you think the other groups will allow his group to grow?"

    Making a Mercenary group was difficult. It was not a matter of gettingmission from the government or guilds, but thepetition between each group was strict.

    The other Mercenary groups would try to sabotage the new one to crush them before making a name. The reason was simple; mercenaries loved money more than anything. With fewer groups, there was lesspetition, and the already big groups would receive moremission from the other.

    "I believe it will be hard even if he has no support. But, he was confident that he would seed. He said that he has someone who supports him. From the way he talks, I think that someone is his Master that he mentioned to me."

    "Master?"

    "Yes. He said that he couldn''t contact me for a week because he trained in a mountain and dungeons. His phone was confiscated by his Master at that time."

    "Did you know this Master''s identity? If Rai, someone with S-Rank Sharpshooting Talent, takes this person as his master, surely this Master is someone amazing."

    Rosa nodded her head in agreement. "I think so too. There is only one person who could possibly be his Master with his Talent."

    Then Ao muttered seriously. "Atnta, huh. I heard that she''s a mercenary too."

    "That''s correct. Maybe the reason why Rai wanted to make a Mercenary Group is because of his Master too."

    "I guess it can''t be helped. If Atnta is his Master, then it will be something troublesome if we try to force him. Then let''s continue with our main topic."

    "About recruiting the Academy student, right?"

    Ao nodded her head.

    The real purpose of Rosa meeting with Ao today was to recruit talented students from the Academy. Everyone in this world had a chance to get Awakened, but some people had a higher chance than others.

    Those people were the one who was stronger than the other Non-Awakener. That was why Rosa would find Ao to ask for information about the students every time the sparringpetition had finished.

    The meeting was a secret from the others. Even Vincent didn''t know about this meeting because the main story hadn''t started yet. He didn''t even write about such a thing happening in his novel.

    "The winner this time is Zaiden again."

    "As expected of him. He always won the tournament, so we put him high on the list for now."

    "Yes. But¡­ There is a student that you must recruit no matter what. Zaiden will be the second priority of our recruitment." Said Ao seriously.

    "Huh? But you said Zaiden is the one who won."

    "Zaiden indeed won, but that was because his opponent in third was disqualified. He was stronger than Zaiden, and more importantly¡­"

    "More importantly?" Rosa asked curiously.

    "He joined the Waterflow Training Facility three days ago and was epted by Master in just a day."

    "A-Are you telling the truth, Ao?"

    Rosa raised her voice in surprise.

    Knowing Atnta''s being Rai''s Master was not too surprising as he had S-Rank Sharpshooting Talent. However, the Sword Saint was a different case.

    A Non-Awakener student was epted by the Sword Saint in just a day was just absurd. Even Ao needed a month before she was epted as his disciple, and she was the most talented person among the young generation in Sacred Relic.

    "Yes. I was there when he came to the training facility. I must say that I was surprised. He learned everything at a fast speed as if he was absorbing the technique like a sponge absorbing water."<sub> </sub>

    "That is¡­ W-what is his name?"

    Ao smiled at Rosa as if she was proud to utter his name. "Vincent. Vincent Dihart¡­ He was the one who managed to defeat even Zaiden, the most talented student in the Academy, and be the student of the Sword Saint in just a day."

    ***

    [07:00 PM]

    [Dorm, Vincent''s Room]

    I was reading a book about how to use magic while gritting my teeth. My hands were on the edge of ripping the book into two.

    The Awakener Store was really ripping me off. I even wanted to rename them to Con Store due to how high the price was.

    Even though I gained around fifty grand from hunting goblins in a week, it was pale inparison to the price of the items in the Awakener Store.

    Why not? Because a book about introduction to Basic magic that I bought from the store cost me a hundred thousand USD!

    When I tried to look at the higher grade book, I found that the introduction to Intermediate magic cost five hundred thousand USD and there was not a single book that exined how to use Advance magic.

    The magic in this world had been divided into four sses. Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master.

    The basic magic that was in the introduction to Basic magic was filled with how to make a small fire or a water ball. That was why I called the Awakener Store a rip-off.

    They sold something like that for a hundred thousand USD, fuck them. But I still bought it because I needed it.

    "This can''t do. I can''t use something like this in a real battle. I will be branded as a clown if I make a small fire in the fight between Awakeners."

    I ultimately closed the book and sighed.

    The book indeed served its purpose to introduce magic to beginners. I even gained new knowledge on how to use magic from the book.

    It was written in the book about how to change mana attributes and change the mana into a phenomenon in the world, such as fire or water, depending on the attribute.

    After knowing how to use magic, I tried to create a small fire from the tip of my index finger. I had some experience in changing mana attributes due to enhancing Faker''s Earring and Mask of Deceit, so it was easy for me.

    Mana began to move to my finger; it has a fire attribute. After that, I tried to change the mana into a phenomenon, a small flickering fire simr to a match.

    As soon as I tried to change it, a small fire appeared on the tip of my finger.

    "Oh! This is fun!"

    Once again, I realized the cheat of having high-ranked Talent.

    I had A-Rank Magic Talent. In terms of Magic, it could be said that I was one of the best because I had Magic Talent and not Fire Magic Talent.

    Magic Talent came together with Mana Maniption Talent and all attributes of Magic Talent. Combined with my Enhancement that also came together with Mana Maniption Talent, such a thing was a piece of cake for me.

    From then on, I tried to use the earth attribute, wind attribute, and water attribute. I sessfully did all of them.

    Earth attribute was a strange one as it only moved earth or dirt and didn''t create something like the others attribute.

    I still tried two more attributes: the so-called Light and Dark attributes. Both of them were so rare that only a few Awakeners had them.

    Of course, the Main Character, Zaiden, has the Light attribute; it was the attribute that he had since he was born in this world, not the one he gained from his Talent. The Hero of this world also has a Light attribute.

    The Awakeners that could use Dark attribute mana were the organization''s leader, who tried to stop Zaiden, and Lily, thest heroine. Only those two used Dark attribute mana in a fight. At least, that''s what I wrote in my novel.

    No other Awakeners were reported to have the dark attribute to fight, as this attribute was usually found in Demons and monsters, the natural enemies of Humans.

    That organization has existed since the Awakener Association was established around 50 years ago.

    At first, they were just a normal Mercenary Group, but because they even epted missions from Dark Guilds, they were now on the Association''s cklist as a dangerous organization.

    Surprisingly, I could use Light and Dark attributes with no problem. Even Zaiden, who had S-Rank Magic Talent, couldn''t use this attribute due to his light attribute.

    But I had two Talents that supported each other greatly, Magic and Enhancement. Magic Talent allowed me to use four attributes, while Enhancement Talent allowed me to use Light and Dark attributes mana.

    "This is good. I can at least fight Zaiden in the future with this."

    The Enhancers also had Dark attributes, but they usually were afraid of it and never used the dark attribute mana to enhance items. So with that as a reason, all enhancers didn''t know that they could use Dark attribute mana.

    Their minds were already indoctrinated that the Dark attribute was bad and only used by Demons.

    There was even an event in the past where a weapon with a Dark attribute made its wielder lose his mind. That was why only a few were brave enough to Enhance an item with Dark attribute, and even so, they had nobat ability as they were full-time Enhancers.

    However, I was not afraid to use this attribute. The Dark attribute mana was convenient to use against those with Light attributes.

    Why? Because they canceled against each other.

    "Great. With this, I only need the Lich''s blood before my preparation ispleted."

    Two weeks.

    I was able to get my preparation done before the main story.

    After the main story started, I had two things that I needed to do.

    Firstly, Zaiden would leave this Academy in two weeks. I needed to go to the first dungeon with him to get a certain item.

    Secondly, I needed to create a Mercenary Group. To create one, I need a member. And I already have someone in my mind.

    "It''s time to make a connection with the Hero."

    Coincidentally, I read some interesting news on my phone today.

    [The Hero, Chloe, will visit New York to clear C-Rank Dungeon tomorrow!]

    As always, my Luck is good.

    My lips curled into a small smile as I muttered. "Wait for me, Hero. I will give you the happiness that you want this time."

 Chapter 27 Hero And Contract

    [7 April 2023, 11:00 AM]

    [New York]

    The Hero, Chloe, was the character with the most potential in my novel.

    She was not called a Hero for nothing; her talents and traits earned her the title. Her Talents were ridiculous.

    3 S-Rank Talents simr to Zaiden, and her Trait made her stronger than anyone else when she helped someone. The reason for that was simple.

    She has the Hero Trait. She was someone who was born to be a Hero in this world.

    She appeared in the story 3 years after Zaiden became an Awakener.

    At that time, she was already 22 years old. That meant Chloe was only 19 years old this time.

    Even though she was only 19 years old, she was already a B-Rank Awakener.

    But, even though she was the character with the most potential, she couldn''t fulfil that potential due to people who wanted to use her. Mainly the Awakener Association, which wanted to make use of her strength to clear dungeons all over the world.

    They misunderstood the real meaning of her Trait, and that would lead them to ruin one day.

    Because dungeons needed to be cleared periodically, Chloe had no time to rest, and she became depressed as time went on.

    And nobody knew about that¡ªnobody except the Reincarnator Zaiden and me.

    From what I knew about Zaiden, he was content with saving the heroines. But I was not content with that. He had saved his favorite character, which created a headache for me. However, I had yet to save my favorite character.

    This time, I would not let her be depressed and suffer alone. I always thought that I should not kill Chloe in thetter half of my story. I honestly regret it.

    That was why, right now, I was in a caf¨¦ across from the dungeon that was nned to be raided by Chloe in Rai''s clothes.

    The news about me rejecting Sacred Relic to create a Mercenary Group had spread on the inte. It seemed like there was someone who was recording my conversation with Rosa.

    And surprisingly, that ''someone'' was a student called Vincent Dihart. He had uploaded the recording to the inte after cutting some parts. Yes, I had recorded my conversation and spread it because it was the best way to refuse all guilds simultaneously without me repeating myself.

    The news spread rapidly. Almost all the guilds knew that I had no n to join them. As a result, I could enjoy a cold coffee in the caf¨¦ without being bothered. Of course, I drank the coffee through the straw because I was using the Mask of Deceit right now.

    "It''s delicious. Chloe really takes her time arriving." I mumbled as I turned my attention to the dungeon.

    The dungeon across from this caf¨¦ was a famous one. It was called Cemetery, as the dungeon was filled with undead monsters. It had three floors, and each floor had different monsters.

    The first floor was filled with zombies, the second floor was filled with skeletons, and the third floor was filled with Liches.

    I only found out about it when I tried to investigate the dungeon that Chloe raided. Maybe I was blessed with my Luck again, as I can get Lich''s blood in this dungeon. I nned to sneak into the dungeon when Chloe entered it.

    There was a crowd forming around the dungeon. They were Awakeners and Non-Awakeners who were fans of Chloe.

    Four people from the Association were standing in front of the dungeon to stop anyone who tried to enter. All of them were at least C-Rank Awakeners, so they would be hard to pass by.

    Honestly, sneaking into this dungeon would be difficult for me. But I had a n to sneak in under surveince. Well, calling it sneaking in was wrong, as I n to bulldoze it.

    Chloe was famous for being a cold girl who never talked to anyone. She even hated it when someone entered the dungeon when she was clearing it.

    She clearly stated to the Association that she would clear the monsters in the dungeons by herself even though it was hard.

    Periodically, the dungeon would give birth to a strong monster that caused the monsters to multiply faster. Due to the effect that this monster has on the dungeon, the strong monster was called the Boss Monster by the Association.

    That Boss Monster had appeared in this dungeon, and Chloe was called to clear it as she could destroy undead easily with Light attribute mana.

    After a few minutes, a ck car with an A on its door approached the dungeon slowly. Two people from the Association that stood in front of the dungeon yelled to the crowd to make way.

    "Hey! Make ways! Don''t block the way!"

    "Make way for the car!"

    The crowd parted, and the car drove by. It stopped right in front of the dungeon, and a man got out of the car.

    He was a bald man wearing sunsses. As soon as he came out of the car, he went to open the backseat door.

    A girl with long ck hair exited the car as soon as it was opened. She was extremely beautiful and looked exactly like I described her.

    She wore a ck sleeveless crop top and a short skirtbined with ck knee-high boots. There was a cross bag around her waist; it was a magic bag that she used to keep her weapon and other equipments, such as Magic Pills.

    For a Hero, her appearance was really dark. There was even a ck bag under her eyes, a sign that she hadn''t had enough sleep.

    After I saw her with my own eyes, I had an urge to kidnap her and let her live as she liked in some countryside. However, I needed her cooperation.

    I had prepared something to make sure that she would agree to help me. Something that she really wanted.

    "It''s time to go." I rose from my seat as Chloe made her way to the dungeon. The crowd cheered loudly as she walked past them.

    I approached the crowd while pulling my hood lower. I tried to be as normal as possible while approaching the crowd.

    My preparation for today''s n waspleted. I had prepared the Arash Bow and the thing that I nned to use to bring the Hero to my side is in my magic bag.

    My n was actually simple. I just needed to enter the dungeon at the time Chloe was about to enter it. I just needed to pass her by and say the magic word near her ear.

    It would definitely work, remembering her Trait was a Hero.

    She was now talking with the Association''s people. She looked ufortable and wanted to escape from this ce, but the Association''s people were talking with a big smile without noticing that.

    I couldn''t me them for not noticing it, though. I only noticed it because I knew her personality and my Deceitful Trait.

    It also made it easier for me to detect lies. I became better at guessing anything rted to lying and deceiving.

    And Chloe was currently deceiving the Association people with a fake smile.

    ''Fools. Just smile right now. You won''t be able to have a smile on your face when shees out of that dungeon.''

    They were done after a few minutes, and finally, Chloe was about to enter the dungeon. The people from the Association stepped aside as she walked calmly toward the dungeon.

    At that time, I dashed toward the dungeon while pushing the crowd away. My movement was fast, but the Association people reacted almost immediately.

    "Hey, wait!"

    Four of them moved toward me at the same time, trying to stop me. Chloe also stopped in her tracks, looking at me.

    I dodged all of their attempts with the footwork that Smith taught me and dashed to the dungeon at my full speed.

    I was able to escape from the Association''s people. And when I passed by her, I said the magic word.

    "Help me."

    I stared at her, and she stared back with widened eyes. She made a small nod and allowed me to pass easily before chasing after me from behind while shouting.

    "Don''t follow me. It''s fine!"<sub> </sub>

    The people who were about to follow me to the dungeon stopped. They trusted Chloe, so they followed her orders.

    And so, I managed to sneak into the dungeon with just a little problem.

    ***

    [C-Rank Dungeon - Cemetery]

    The dungeon was different from the goblin dungeon that I frequently visited. It was still a cave, but the atmosphere was darker.

    I stood near the entrance while waiting for Chloe to arrive. I didn''t need to wait too long for that.

    From the entrance, Chloe appeared and looked at me with narrowed eyes.

    Although I said the magic word that would certainly move her, she was still wary of me.

    "Who are you?" That was the first question that she asked. "Take off your hood and mask." And she ordered.

    I was nning to work with her from the start, so I have no problem with that. I slowly pulled my mask off and put my hood down. My face turned back to Vincent, and I looked at her with a smile.

    "I am Vincent Dihart, an Academy student. Well, because of some circumstances, I registered as an Awakener named Rai."

    "You used a fake identity to register?"

    "Yes, due to some circumstances."

    "I see. What is your goal? Why did you say ''help me'' when you passed me earlier?"

    "About that¡­" I stopped my sentence midway and looked at her seriously. "¡­because I need your help for something big."

    "And that is?"

    As usual, she onlymented on something that interested her. And all of her sentences were short.

    I tried my best to smile in front of her. Showing my weakness would only make her doubt me.

    Her eyes were sharp and red straight into mine. Her velvet eyes carried fiery spirit even though she was tired.

    My n to make Zaiden save this world needed Chloe by all means. I needed her help, and she needed a reason to help me escape from the Association.

    Hero Trait was troublesome, both for Chloe herself and for me.

    She wouldn''t be able to ignore a call for help, and it could expose any lie. It worked like an intuition of a certain superhero from a big movie. She would have a tingling in her head when someone lied in front of her.

    But I was someone with a Deceitful Trait. Telling her a lie by twisting the truth was easy for me.

    "I need your help to save the world."

    I technically didn''t lie. I did n to save the world so I would be able to survive until the end of the story. Well, my way of saving the world was to make Zaiden suffer, though.

    "Save the world?" Asked Chloe, confusedly. "The world is in danger?"

    She asked more questions, which meant she believed me.

    "That''s right." I nodded my head. "That''s why help me."

    "I can''t." She shook her head. "I am helping the Association now."

    I had expected that. In the story, she was bound to the Association because she promised to help them when she was Awakened.

    They twisted their words like a snake and made her promise something that bound her to the Association.

    But I had prepared an item to counter that.

    "Then, let''s make a contract." I pulled a paper from my magic bag.

    It was a contract that stated only two things.

    "Contract?"

    "Yes, the uses are simple."

    However, this was not a simple contract. This was a Magic Contract that I created this morning that used all my Enhancement Dust.

    I threw it at her, and she read the contract carefully.

    _____

    [Magic Contract +3]

    [Null Attribute]

    A Magic Contract created by a Genius Enhancer to bind two people.

    Effect:

    - Binding

    Binding two people with uses stated below.

    use 1

    The Hero, Chloe, will help Vincent Dihart and join his Mercenary Group.

    use 2

    Vincent Dihart will help the Hero, Chloe, and will treat her normally.

    If a side doesn''t uphold the use, he/she will be penalized.

    Penalty: Death

    ______

    It was simple, but I was confident that Chloe would ept it.

    I managed to get the effect that I wanted after I enhanced it three times; hence it had +3 in its name.

    "If you help me, then I will help you. If you join my Mercenary Group to save the world, then I will treat you normally."

    Chloe''s biggest wish was to be treated normally. I would be there for her and grant her wish. I would treat her normally, as she deserved that.

    Her eyes were trembling. They were teary. She understood that I was seriously asking for her help after she read the penalty for breaking the use.

    "So, will you help me?"

 Chapter 28 The Hero, Chloe

    "I¡­" Chloe hesitated a little.

    She gulped and looked me straight into my eyes. She couldn''t hide her happy expression. Her lips curled up a little. She didn''t seem to believe me as she asked.

    "Are you serious?"

    "I am. As stated in the contract, I will die if I treat you as a Hero. I will treat you normally, like a normal girl of our age."

    Maybe she was still hesitant because of the words ''normally.''

    For her, words normally indicated her as a Hero. It was normal for her to clear dungeons. It was also normal for her to help people.

    But with the contract, she would be bound to me; she would only help me.

    My ambition was great; it was to save the world. She wouldn''t and couldn''t refuse it. If someone else asked for help, she would prioritize helping me to save the world and could reject their request.

    In other words¡­

    "If you sign that contract, you will be free from your duty as a Hero. You will only need to help me to save this world. Your Hero Trait will allow you to prioritize helping me. In return, I will help you. If you ask me for help to teach you how to live normally like the others, then I will help and teach you how to live normally."

    "This¡­" Tears began to drip from her eyes as she gripped the magic contract. "This is not a dream, right?"

    "It is not." I approached her and patted her shoulder. "I''m sorry, but¡­ I know your hardships. I have investigated all of it. I can''t say where I learned about it, but trust me. You can ask me for help anytime. I promise that you will have a different life than this one. I won''t ask for anything unreasonable from you."

    The Hero''s emotions then broke out like a breached dam with my words. The bottle that contained her emotions had shattered. I forcefully shatter it.

    Her legs wobbled, and she sat on the ground as she cried while crumpling the magic contract. Her face faced down, looking at the contract and she shouted, wailed, letting all of herints out with a scream inside this lonely dungeon. No one but me heard her, and she screamed on top of her lungs.

    The Association didn''t deserve this girl. She was not the cold girl that everyone knew. She was only a lonely girl who was forced to walk upon the path of a Hero by unfair adults.

    The Contract that I offered could help her. It would make her bound to me, and she could always ask ''help'' from me if she didn''t want to do something.

    In other words, this was her ticket to freedom.

    As she had ascertained that I didn''t lie when I said I wanted to save this world, she had no reason to refuse me.

    A Hero''s role was to defeat the Evil that woulde into this world. Therefore, a Hero only appeared when there would be an Evil that would invade this world, Earth.

    The first Hero appeared at the same time as the dungeons. He defeated the Demon King, who lies in the deepest dungeon called the Abyss.

    He left the words to the public that the Abyss would appear again. At that time, a new Hero would be born in this world to conquer the Abyss and save the world.

    The second Hero appeared 40 years ago. Once again, the Abyss and the Demon King appeared. The Hero at that time died together with the Demon King and managed to save this world.

    Then it came to this time: the third Hero, Chloe.

    Her appearance was a sign that the Demon King would be revived and try to conquer this world once again. The Association thought that it would be good to train the Hero from the moment she was found.

    And five years ago, when Chloe was 14 years old, she was Awakened. She registered in the Awakener Association, simr to the others, and the Awakener Association found her Hero Trait when she na?vely told the receptionist about it.

    "I¡­ I never thought that I would be able to be freed from that promise¡­"

    The Awakener Association then made her promise one thing. She would help them to clear the dungeons.

    I made such a sad backstory so the readers would sympathize with Chloe''s fate. She had already worked hard for five years. This time, Zaiden would need to work harder in her ce. I would still ask her to prepare for the Abyss, though, but I would not force her.

    And, for the first time in her life, the Hero asked for help.

    "T¡­Thank you¡­ I¡­ I will agree to the contract. Please¡­ help me¡­ Please help me to live normally."

    "I will." I crouched over her. It was sad when looking at her like this.

    I genuinely wanted to help this girl. At first, I wanted to help her because I thought that I would save my favorite character. But this world was real.

    The strong Hero was crying in front of me, asking for help. If I didn''t help her, then I would be disqualified from being a human.

    "I will take responsibility for all of it. If the Awakener Association tries to get you back, I will stop them together with you."

    Chloe gave a small nod. She wiped the tears with her hand and asked.

    "How do I sign this?"

    "Just infuse a little bit of your mana into the Magic Contract. I had already infused mine when I made the contract, so it will bind us as soon as you infuse yours."

    Once again, she nodded. She then infused her mana into the contract before itbusted into the fire.

    The Magic Contract waspleted with that. I extended my hand to her and smiled.

    "I hope to get along with you well, Chloe." And I called her by name.

    She smiled back at me and shook my hand. "Me too, Vincent."

    ***

    I waited for Chloe to calm herself down again. Now that she had signed the contract, she officially became the first member of my mercenary group.

    The next thing that we should do is to clear this dungeon.

    "Chloe¡­ I can call you that, right?"

    Chloe, who had calmed down considerably, nodded her head. "Yes. I will call you Vincent."

    "Only when there are only two of us. When I wear a mask, call me Rai, okay?"

    "Understood."

    "Alright. Then shall we clear the dungeon?" I asked her as I pulled out my [Arash Bow] from my magic bag. "My main weapon is this. What is yours?"

    I did know about her main weapon. However, it was best to ask her as I was not supposed to know about it.

    Her weapon remained a mystery to normal people or Awakeners. Only she and the Awakeners from the Association knew the weapon that she used.

    The reason for that was simple; her weapon was an Artifact.

    She took out a dark blue spear from her magic bag. Its shaft was serrated with a snake scale pattern, and the de was thin but deadly.

    That spear was a cursed spear from mythology; it was famous even in my old world because some novels'' main characters used this spear as their main weapon.

    "My weapon is this spear, Gae Bolg."

    "Oh! That''s really nice!"

    Honestly, I never expected her to use Gae Bolg at this time. It was different from the weapon that she used when she first made her appearance.<sub> </sub>

    Gae Bolg was her secondary weapon. I guess she hadn''t gotten her hand on that weapon yet.

    "Let''s clear the dungeon then. I will support you from behind. Also, can you please match my speed? I''m just an E-Rank Awakener right now. It''s only been two weeks since I was Awakened."

    Chloe nodded her head before dashing into the dungeon without answering me. She was fast, but she purposely slowed down considerably due to my request.

    I smiled a little before following her from behind.

    As this dungeon was filled with undead, I nned to use Mana Arrow with Light attribute. Arash Bow was a bow with Composite attributes of Light and Dark, so I could directly infuse Light or Dark attribute into the Mana Arrow fired from this bow without changing the Mana attribute myself.

    Chloe had also infused her Gae Bolg with Light attribute Mana, as it let out a faint white and golden glow, unlike the Null attribute that let out a faint blue glow.

    She did it by herself, unlike me, who was counting on my weapon''s attributes. It was indeed stronger as she directly infused her own Mana attribute in the weapon, but it was considerably hard to use in an actual battle, as one needed to concentrate to infuse Mana attribute into their weapon.

    As we went deeper into the dungeon, zombies started to appear. However, as soon as the zombies appeared, Chloe immediately lunged forward and decimated them with her Gae Bolg.

    Swoosh¨C!

    Her movement was smooth, and the way she handled her spear was like a dancing fairy who danced with a pole.

    The Gae Bolg pierced the zombies'' heads, and then its de severed the zombies'' limbs and bodies.

    I was amazed. She was amazing. I didn''t even have a chance to fire my arrow from my bow.

    "Damn. She''s good."

    We quickly advanced to the second floor. The enemies were skeletons, and once again, Chloe decimated them by herself. The enemies were too weak for her, and we went to the third floor.

    The enemies this time were Liches. They were C-Rank monsters that could use Magic. I didn''t know whether Chloe would be able to kill them easily, but I could only count on her.

    She stopped as soon as we stepped onto the third floor and looked at me.

    "Will you be okay?" She asked worriedly. "It''s dangerous for an E-Rank Awakener."

    "Don''t worry about me. I can protect myself."

    Although I was a bit afraid when facing monsters with higher rank than me, I would be at a safe distance. I was also confident that I would be fine because I had a dependable vanguard with me.

    "Okay. I will kill them fast."

    She had turned back to her aloof demeanor after she calmed down. But her expression was softer than before.

    She spun her spear a few times before dashing in once again. She had no experience of working with other people, so she didn''t know how to make a signal. It was not a problem for me, who knew her, but she wouldn''t be able to work with the others like this.

    I should teach her about ying a role in a party. It would be wrong to let her do all the work by herself.

    ''I will talk with herter.''

    We entered a big room where the Liches were.

    Unlike the first and second floors, the number of Liches on the third floor was only three. All of them were in the same room as the Boss Monster, Great Lich, a B-Rank Monster.

    This time, my assistance would prove useful to Chloe. Even for her, fighting against four monsters that could use Magic would be difficult.

    Or so I thought¡­

    "Crazy!" I involuntarily shouted as I saw Chloe kill the Great Lich and three Liches as if they were the first-floor zombies.

    I honestly thought that she was joking when she said she would kill them fast. But I was proven to be wrong.

    As soon as we entered the room earlier, Chloe immediately made a throwing motion before the monsters spotted us. Her Gae Bolg then let out a dark red glow mixed with the white glow from the Light attribute Mana.

    She activated the special effect of her Gae Bolg and threw it.

    Swoosh¨C!

    The wind was severed by Gae Bolg as it made its way to the Liches.

    It then pierced three Liches'' Hearts that were acting as their core and shattered them, defeating them immediately.

    The Great Lich noticed us at that moment, but Chloe had already moved. Her fists were covered with Light attribute mana, and she then pierced the Great Lich''s body right at where its heart was located.

    Pierce¨C!

    Her hand prated through its body, and she held a blue heart of the Great Lich before she pulled it.

    The monsters that I was afraid of were killed just like that. She was about to throw the Great Lich''s heart to the ground, but I quickly stopped her after I snapped out of my amazement.

    "Wait! Let me have that heart!"

    She stopped and looked at me while tilting her head. "Why? Undead bodies are useless."

    "Not for me. I need that heart for Enhancement." More specifically, the blood that was congested in the heart.

    Although she was confused, she handed the heart to me obediently. "Here."

    I never expected to get my hands on it this fast. Great Lich''s blood was better than Lich''s blood for Enhancement.

    But, as it was rarer than Lich''s blood, I thought that I would never get my hand on it before I found out that Chloe nned to raid this dungeon.

    If there was something that I regret, then it was that I didn''t form a party with Chloe before raiding this dungeon.

    What a shame... I could absorb some Mana from those monsters if I formed a party with her.

    The way to form a party was simple. Someone just needed to wear a special bracelet that allowed Mana to be divided equally. Unfortunately, I forgot to prepare that bracelet before I came here.

    Well, I was still happy with the loot itself.

    "Thank you." I put the Great Lich''s heart in my magic bag.

    Chloe answered me with a big nod. She was excited after finally gaining her freedom back from the promise that she na?vely made five years ago.

    The other Liches'' Hearts were useless now because Gae Bolg had pierced and shattered them. She pulled her Gae Bolg and stuffed it in her Magic Bag before she called out to me.

    "Let''s get out." She then smiled.

    I smiled back at her before putting on my mask again. It was time to act as Rai again.

    "Let''s go."

 Chapter 29 Hoaxes

    We exited the dungeon together, with me walking in the front.

    As soon as we came out, we were surrounded by 10 Awakeners from the Association. All of them were wielding weapons and red at me before looking at Chloe with the same gaze.

    Were they crazy? I really thought they were crazy for looking at Chloe like that. Were they confident that she wouldn''t kill them because she promised the Association?

    The person who led the ten Awakeners was a man with blonde hair. I recognized this man; he was a B-Rank Awakener from the Association, Frank. In the story, he led a team of ten Awakeners; I guess they were the ones behind him.

    The crowd had already been dispersed, and there were only us in front of the dungeon.

    "Are you the one who entered the dungeon without permission?"

    "And?" I asked him with a displeased tone. "Any problem with that?"

    "Of course. Your actions made the Hero ufortable." Frank said confidently.

    I wonder about that. His gaze was darting to Chloe, who stood behind me without saying anything. He was looking at her with a greedy gaze.

    This guy really had the nerve to do that. He must be thinking that Chloe would help him. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn''t happen.

    Chloe took a step forward and stood beside me.

    "No." She said to Frank. She then stared at Frank with her sharp eyes. "I quit."

    Her words surprised the Awakeners from the Association.

    "What do you mean by that, Hero?" Asked Frank.

    The Association never called Chloe by her name. They emphasized that she was a Hero; hence they called her Hero even in her daily life from the day they discovered her.

    The Association was not wrong in calling her that, but¡­ She was just 14 years old at that time. It was my fault for writing about that, but I just realized how messed up it was when I actually lived in this world.

    They were by no means bad. On the contrary, the Association helped a lot of Awakeners. They just¡­ didn''t know about a girl''s feelings and only focused on training her as a Hero, a savior of the world.

    "I will not help the Association anymore." Chloe answered firmly.

    "What do you mean by that?" Frank repeated his question, but his tone this time was filled with malice.

    Chloe narrowed her eyes as she stared back at Frank. "I will not help the Association anymore.."

    "But you had promised us."

    "And it''s enough."

    They knew about Chloe''s promise to the Association. They nned to use that to control Chloe.

    However, the contract overruled the promise that she made with the Association. Chloe needed to fulfill her contract with me. It was not easy, though.

    Chloe''s promise to the Association was to help them clear the dungeons to save the world. But, it was limited to clearing the dungeons. Her promise held value.

    If her promise with the Association had been valued at 8 points as they asked for her help to clear the dungeons, then her contract with me was valued at 10 points because I needed her help to save the world.

    That was why she needed to prioritize her contract with me because it held more value to the world.

    "Let''s go, Rai." Chloe then pulled my hand to leave the area after she told Frank that it was enough.

    "Wai-" Frank tried to stop us, but I red and warned him.

    "If you stop us, then you are our enemy. And if you are our enemy¡­ I don''t need to tell you what will happen."

    Chloe was ready to pull her spear from her magic bag as she released my hand.

    Frank knew what would happen if Chloe marked him as her enemy. He couldn''t fight Chloe no matter how much he hated her, as it would put him in a bad spot.

    Even though she was like this and the Association tried to use her, she was still the Hero. She was the only one who could kill the Demon King.

    If he attacked her, he would be hunted by the Association''s dogs.

    We then walked away without being stopped by anyone.

    "Tsk!" Frank could only click his tongue as he watched us leave.

    ***

    "Leader, is it okay to let them leave like that? Weren''t we ordered to punish Rai and force him to join the Association because he entered the dungeon without permission?" Asked one of the Awakeners under Frank.

    "Are you a fool?" Frank shouted at him. "He said, OUR enemy. That Rai¡­ he somehow managed to persuade Hero join his side. She even grabbed his hand to pull him away from us! And did you look at the Hero''s eyes when we stopped them? She fucking red at us!"

    "But how?" The Awakener was confused. "The Hero is bound by her promise, right? She can''t break her promise due to her Trait."

    "I don''t fucking know about it! Also, report it to the higher-ups. I don''t want to deal with it." Frank then walked away while kicking the pebble on the ground.

    "¡­"

    The Awakener couldn''t say anything more.

    He only looked at Frank, who was gritting his teeth in anger as he walked away. Finally, he sighed in his heart and muttered.

    "How should I report this to the higher-ups?"

    ***

    [8 April 2023, 05:30 AM]

    [Park Injun''s Store]

    It had been a day since I left with Chloe. We were now in Los Angeles again after I took a flight back with her. She slept when we were on the flight, so she felt refreshed enough to have a small smile on her face.

    Because I had skipped going to the Academy yesterday, I needed to attend today if I wanted to stay in the Academy for two more months.

    But, there was one problem. I wondered where I should have Chloe stay when I attended the ss.

    I thought about asking her to stay in the hotel, but that idea was quickly scrapped. When I thought about it, staying in the hotel was not safe as a lot of people recognized her. It would cost me a lot of money.

    Besides, I needed a base for my new Mercenary Group. So getting a new house would be preferred.

    That was why I visited Park Injun Store again.

    I briefly exined it to him, then asked him.

    "It''s like that, so give me a house which I can use as a base for my Mercenary Group."

    "Are you by any chance going crazy after kidnapping the Hero from the Association?" Park Injun looked at me in disbelief. He was not in his disguise even though Chloe was with me. He knew that Hero wouldn''t spread his identity.

    He trusted her when I exined that she would join me as the first member of my Mercenary Group.

    But I was confused by something.

    "Huh, kidnapping?"

    "Yeah, it''s all over the inte." He then showed me his phone.<sub> </sub>

    I looked at it, and my mouth was about to fall from my face. There was news about me pulling Chloe''s hand and dragging her away from the Awakeners from the Association, while in truth it was Chloe who pulled my hand.

    The image was flipped so that it appeared otherwise. Someone had edited the picture.

    Chloe also peeked at the phone from over my shoulder. Her expression turned unpleasant when she read the news.

    "It''s false."

    "Yeah, it''s a hoax. It''s really troublesome."

    That was a problem. A lot of people had seen the news, and they believed it. A lot ofments were badmouthing Rai for being too overconfident with his Talents and such.

    If this went on, then my image would be shattered. My Mercenary Group wouldn''t getmissions due to its bad image then.

    Who spread this fake news? If I ever found the guy, then I would make him apologize after giving him a little gift in the form of pain.

    "You need to settle this quickly, you know? Even I believed this news when I saw you entering my store with her." Park Injun grinned at me as he put his phone away.

    Chloe stepped aside from me and stood silently beside me, like a hen who was waiting for its mother. She looked at Park Injun curiously but didn''t say anything. She was cautious of him, probably because she knew that he was dangerous.

    "I know. But, give me a house first. It looks like I need to skip going to the Academy again to settle this case."

    "Hahahaha. It sure is hard being a student, huh? Well then, a house that can also serve as the Mercenary Group''s base will cost you 50 million USD. This is a picture of the house."

    He then showed me the picture of the house. It was enough for the two of us, and there was even an underground training area and warehouse.

    However, the amount of money that he asked for was the problem... My money was not that much.

    I looked at my phone to check my money, and it was only around two hundred thousand USD.

    "Tsk! Can I pay with installments?"

    "You can''t." Answered Park Injun with his sly smile.

    Right¡­ there was no way a money-grubber like him would ept installments.

    At the same time, the sleeve of my shirt was pulled. Chloe was looking at me.

    "Do you need money?" She asked.

    "As embarrassed as I am to say it, yes. I don''t have not enough money to buy a house for us."

    "Then I will pay for it. 50 million USD?"

    "Huh? You will pay for it?"

    Chloe nodded her head. "It will be our house, right?"

    "Well, that''s true, but¡­"

    "Then it''s fine. I have a lot of money." Answered Chloe confidently as she puffed her chest.

    Of course, she had a lot of money. She had been active as an Awakener and cleared dungeons here and there.

    "Then¡­ I will take your offer¡­"

    She nodded her head and talked to Park Injun. She then pulled a phone from her magic bag and transferred the money to him.

    He had a big smile on his face as he rose from his seat.

    "Well, follow me. I will show you the house."

    ***

    The house was located in the center of Los Angeles. It was a bit far from the Academy and Park Injun''s Store, but it served its purpose as a base for the Mercenary Group. Well, even if I said that there were only two of us in our Mercenary Group, I had no n to add more members.

    The house was big; it had a garden in the backyard and a big garage that could fit three cars. The interior was also nice and furnished.

    It was a two-story building. The first floor wasposed of a living room, a guest room, a recreational room, a kitchen that wasbined with the dining room, and a toilet.

    There was also a television in the living room, alongside two couches and a table.

    The second floor had three bedrooms with a shower and bathroom installed inside each room.

    It was better than I thought.

    The underground area was locked by a steel door that was secured by a fingerprint lock. We opened the door after registering our fingerprints.

    The training area was filled with gym equipment to train our bodies. The warehouse was also big enough to store anything valuable. As it was a ce to store something valuable, it had a door that was made to only open to a specific person''s Mana.

    Park Injun told us how to open it, and we registered our Mana at the door. We set it so that no one would be able to register their mana again, and Park Injun even deleted his own Mana signature so he couldn''t open the door again.

    "Enjoy your stay~ You can use the house already. All of it is prepared. Also, there is magic that''s used to preserve the house''s condition!." Park Injun left us after giving us a message.

    I sat on the couch in the living room with Chloe; then, we looked at each other.

    "I need to deal with something first."

    "Yes. I will stay in the house. Do you want something for breakfast? I will make them for you."

    I couldn''t process what she said for a few seconds.

    She asked me what I wanted for breakfast. And she would make them for me?

    Chloe, in my novel, didn''t act like this. But then, she was chained to the Association with her promise and couldn''t live like a normal girl.

    So that meant this was her real personality. She was able to express herself betterpared to the time she was in the Association.

    I knew that she was not someone who didn''t know how the world worked after I saw her use her phone to pay Park Injun, but I didn''t expect her to ask such questions on the second day after she met me. Did she trust me that much?

    However, I was d that she could quickly adapt to the new life. She must''ve suffered alone all this time that she was happy by just asking me something like this.

    I then smiled at her.

    "Scrambled eggs and bacon are enough for me."

    She then nodded her head in confirmation. "Take care. Dealing with the media is a pain, so be careful."

    I nodded my head. "Yeah, I will. Also, maybe I will need you to attend a press conference with me."

    "I know." She answered shortly.

    After hearing her answer, I walked away. I stopped when I was about to open the door and turned back to Chloe.

    "See youter." I said as I waved my hand.

    She smiled happily and waved her hand back.

    "See youter."

 Chapter 30 Memento Mori And Ally

    [Awakener Association Headquarters, New York]

    [50th Floor, Meeting Room]

    The Association''s head, Mark Linz, called a sudden meeting for the Six Devas.

    The Six Devas were the six strongest Awakeners from the Association. They were A-Rank Awakeners, and each had three B-Rank Awakeners under them.

    A S-Rank Awakener was considered a legend, and only a few people in history had managed to reach it. That was why the strongest force in a Guild or the Association were only A-Rank Awakeners.

    And now, a meeting has been called for the six of them. Because the members of Six Devas were scattered all around the world, they could only arrive this morning.

    All of them were currently seated in a meeting room around a square table, waiting for Mark to arrive.

    Although they were called Six Devas and affiliated with the Association, they had their own interests and didn''t really get along with one another. They only followed the Association''s head order because their interests aligned with each other.

    For example, the Awakener, who looked like a high school girl with short blonde hair and dressed in short pants and tube top, grumbled in annoyance.

    "Why did that old man call us here?"

    The one who answered her was a man with spiky blue hair and sharp teeth.

    "Kah! Maybe it''s about the Hero being kidnapped? That old man really cares about having the Hero in our ranks."

    "Tsk! What''s so special about that girl?"

    "Right~?"

    Both of them pursed their lips, clearly annoyed by the situation.

    Seeing their behavior, a man with long ck hair and a neat appearance looked at them. He sighed and then reprimanded them.

    "Natasha, Jaro, please don''t say that in front of Mr. Mark. Both of you know that things will get messy if you disrespect him."

    "Hah?!" The man with spiky hair, Jaro, scoffed at the neat man. "You are as stiff as ever, Arthur. Be a little flexible like this shorty, will ya?" He pointed at Natasha.

    After being called shorty by Jaro, Natasha frowned and red at him. "Oi. Who are you calling shorty, ah?! You want to fight, punk?"

    "Oh? You dare to challenge me? I think you better think twice, shorty."

    "Who''s afraid of you, jaggy teeth?"

    Sparks seemed to fly as they red at each other.

    Arthur could only sigh while shaking his head. It had always been like this when the two of them met with each other. The other three Devas were only looking at them with amusement.

    After a while, Mark finally arrived in the room. He was a stout man with brown hair and a beard. From his appearance, he looked like a man in his forties.

    However, he was actually sixty years old. He was one of the Awakeners who managed to reach S-Rank.

    As soon as he entered the room, the atmosphere turned tense. Natasha and Jaro also stopped fighting as they sat quietly.

    "Sorry for beingte. I only got new information regarding the topic that we need to address today."

    Mark sat on the chair in front of the room as he looked at the Six Devas.

    "If I may, Mr. Mark." Arthur raised his hand and asked politely.

    "Yes, Arthur?"

    "May I know the reason for calling us today? The call for the meeting was so sudden that we even left our posts for our subordinates to attend the meeting. If possible, may we talk about the main topic right away?"

    "Of course. After all, we can''t let you away from your post for a long time. Each of you guards the most important dungeons that the Association is in charge of."

    As the strongest Awakeners from the Association, the Six Devas had a duty to protect the A-Rank dungeons that the Association owned.

    There were a total of six A-rank dungeons that the Association was in charge of. For that reason, there were only Six Devas instead of seven or eight, even when they had more A-Rank Awakeners in the Association.

    "Let''s cut to the chase." As Mark said that, a hologram screen appeared in front of Six Devas, showing a picture of Chloe and Rai.

    "The Hero, Chloe, is now not a part of the Association. A new Awakener called Rai somehow nullified the promise that bound her to the Association."

    "Is that really a big deal that we needed to hold a meeting?" Asked Jaro in a displeased tone.

    "It''s not. I only addressed that as it''s rted to the main topic." Answered Mark.

    "Then, what made you gather us? If something that happened to the Hero was not important to you, surely there is another topic that requires our direct actions." Said Arthur.

    "That''s correct." Mark replied, with a firm nod. "There was some strange movement from Memento Mori around the same time the Hero''s promise with us was nullified."

    As soon as they heard Memento Mori, the Six Devas'' faces turned into frowns.

    Memento Mori was the name of the organization that tried to stop and kill Zaiden in the novel. They were a bunch of lunatics that worked only for money and their own interests.

    Their members were mostly unknown, but one thing was for sure.

    They were strong.

    "Are you serious, Mr. Mark?" Asked Arthur nervously.

    "Yes, it seems that they saw the news on the inte about the Hero being kidnapped by Rai. We know that the news is not true, but it''s not important to them. They now know that the Hero is not affiliated with the Association again, and maybe¡­ it''s just my spection, but I think they will try to recruit her."

    The meeting room turned quiet as Mark said that.

    The Hero was a valuable asset to any organization. Even Memento Mori would surely be interested in recruiting her into their ranks.

    One of the reasons why the Association wanted to keep the Hero was to show that the Hero is currently affiliated with an organization.

    Now that the news about the Hero being kidnapped by Rai had been spread on the inte, those who sought her would begin to move.

    "Then, what should we do?" Asked Natasha. "Should we just beat up that Rai guy and take the Hero back?"

    "No." Mark denied. "We will do nothing. I gathered all of you today to say that."

    Bam!

    Jaro mmed the table, pointed his finger at Mark, and shouted. "Why?! Are you chickening out, old man?!"

    Mark red at Jaro as his Mana seeped out of his body, pressuring everybody in the room. His Mana was heavy, and Jaro was forced to sit.

    "Jaro, you know that I am not afraid of anyone."

    "Tsk!" Jaro clicked his tongue. "My bad. But at least tell us the reason why you want us to do nothing."

    "Fine." Mark retracted his Mana, and the atmosphere turned normal once again. "Memento Mori will try to recruit the Hero, possibly even Rai. However, Rai will definitely refuse their invitation."

    "How do you know?" Asked Arthur. "No, what did you find out, Mr. Mark?"<sub> </sub>

    "That guy managed to steal the Hero from the Association. Why do you think he will join Memento Mori? He clearly said that he will make the Mercenary Group, and I think the Hero will join his Mercenary Group based on her action yesterday."

    "So we can rest easy?" Asked one of the Six Devas.

    Mark grinned and replied.

    "Yes, for now, let''s watch and do nothing. I have a feeling that something interesting will happenter. I am more willing to let the Hero join a Mercenary Group instead of some random guild or Memento Mori. That way, we can still ask her to do something through the Mercenary Group she is part of. There will be nothing that has changed from before."

    The room went silent, then Mark continued.

    "Well, even so, I hope one of you can go to Los Angeles where Rai was spotted for thest time to make sure that nothing happened."

    At his words, Jaro raised his hand. "I will go."

    He grinned and continued, "I want to see this guy thates from Memento Mori."

    "Don''t make a mess, Jaro. Just watch from afar." Said Mark.

    "Yeah, don''t make a mess, jagged teeth." Natasha added, with a smirk.

    "I know that! You don''t need to tell me!"

    ***

    [06:30 AM]

    [Caf¨¦]

    I was sitting in the caf¨¦ where I had a talk with Rosa.

    To deal with the media and fake news, I was thinking of using the generosity of a person that I was acquainted with while promising something in exchange.

    So I contacted my only acquaintance who could possibly gather the media to form a press conference or introduce me to a trustworthy reporter with my newly bought phone.

    However, that acquaintance showed up with the girl that I was familiar with.

    "Nice to meet you, Rai. My name is Ao Yukina, Sacred Relic guild master, Thomas Evan''s daughter." She extended her hand at me.

    Why did she introduce herself as Thomas Evan''s daughter?

    I thought that she hid her identity as the daughter of Thomas Evan from the others?

    No, more importantly, what was her purpose foring here? I couldn''t even understand her train of thought, even though I was the one who technically created her.

    She was supposed to be in a freaking Academy right now!

    My heart was beating because I was surprised to see her showing up with Rosa, but thankfully, my Deceitful Trait was working well today too.

    "Nice to meet you too. I am Rai." I took her hand and shook it. It onlysted a few seconds before we both released it.

    She smiled at me and sat silently while Rosa asked me.

    "I was surprised when I got your call, but¡­ May I ask you the reason why you contacted me in the early morning?"

    They definitely saw the news about Chloe and me on the inte. And they knew that the news was true after I called them.

    She only asked my reason to confirm it, while in truth, she had some idea why I called her.

    "The truth is, I wanted to ask something."

    "Ask something?"

    "Yes, do you perhaps know a trustworthy reporter that''s willing to make rification news?"

    I changed my mind after seeing Ao. It was too much to ask Rosa to gather the press to make a press conferenc.

    To begin with, I wasn''t that famous, so I doubt that the media would be willing to gather for me to say something like, ''I will make a new Mercenary Group with Chloe. I hope you understand it!''

    If I did say so in the press conference, I would only make a fool of myself and further damage the reputation of the Mercenary Group that I had yet to build.

    "Hmm, reporter, is it?" Mumbled Rosa. She then turned to Ao and asked. "What do you think, Ao?"

    From her tone, I knew that they had already nned this after receiving my call.

    "I think it''s possible. However, if you don''t mind, Rai. I need to ask something." Ao put her elbow on the table and smiled brightly at me.

    "Please do ask anything, Miss Yukina."

    "Don''t be so polite, Rai. I am still a first-year student."

    "Then, Miss Ao."

    "Well, I suppose I can let it slide." Mumbled Ao. "My question is, why do you want to make rification news, Rai? I suppose it''s rted to the news that''s been spread on the inte?"

    I nodded my head in confirmation. They already knew about my intention, so I didn''t need to hide it.

    "I see. Then we will help you." Said Ao.

    "Huh?" I let out a stupid sound.

    "Hmm? Perhaps you don''t like it?" Asked Ao with a yful tone.

    Could it be that this girl is secretly a sadist? She smiles brightly on the outside, but I can feel a sadistic auraing out from her. Or was it just my imagination?

    She must have wanted something in exchange. There was nothing free in this world, especially from someone that you had just met for the first time.

    Though I had met her a few times, and we were even learning under the same Master. But that wasn''t important. Vincent had met her, but Rai had never met her before this.

    "What do you want from me?" I asked Ao seriously.

    Her smile was still on her face, but her eyes were looking at me as if she was trying to judge whether I was worthy or not.

    Finally, she lowered her hands from the table and said.

    "Nothing. I would be d if you thought of us, Sacred Relic, as your ally in the future. That''s enough for me."

    I see. So she wanted to be my ally, or rather, my Mercenary Group''s ally.

    When I thought about it, it was a normal request. Having a connection with a Mercenary Group that the Hero might be a part of was important in the future, especially when Abyss appeared.

    "Very well. My Mercenary Group will cooperate with Sacred Relic in the future as their ally." I agreed to her request because I had nothing to lose by cooperating with Sacred Relic.

    We then talked about the details of the rification news. In the end, we agreed that an interview would be more credible than just writing some news on the inte, and we then scheduled the interview to be held tonight, in my new house.

 Chapter 31 Extracting Great Lichâ€™s Blood

    [07:00 AM]

    [Mercenary Group House]

    I went home after talking with Rosa and Ao. Well¡­ Calling it home was a bit strange because the house was our Mercenary Group''s base.

    But, well¡­ I guess I could call it home because I n to stay in this house from now on.

    More importantly, I promised Ao that my Mercenary Group would be Sacred Relic''s ally. It was a good thing for me, as in my ns, a lot of them would involve Sacred Relic. By being their ally, they would reach out to us first if they needed mercenaries in the future.

    Zaiden would also join Sacred Relic in the future. He would definitely join them if he knew the future.

    Sacred Relic had a lot of Artifacts. In the story, Zaiden got a lot of help from the guild in the form of Artifacts and Magic Pills, which helped him to get stronger faster than normal Awakeners.

    By allying with Sacred Relic, I would be able to attend all events that involved Zayden in the future as Rai.

    Well, none of that matters right now. I just wanted to eat the breakfast that Chloe cooked for me.

    Honestly, I was looking forward to it as I had no one to cook for me back on Earth. I didn''t know whether Chloe was a good cook or not, as she never did it before in the novel, but I appreciated the thought.

    Upon arriving at the new house, I entered without knocking.

    "I am back."

    "Wee back."

    A voice replied to my greeting from inside. Then Chloe appeared, smiling.

    "Wee back." Repeated Chloe.

    I stood idly as I looked at her as I took off my mask. She had changed her clothes into a one-piece white underneath a ck camisole. Her hair fluttered in the air as her head tilted a little. She looked rather cute in her new clothes. The aura of the Hero that I felt when we first met was gone; she only looked like a normal girl now.

    "W-why are you staring at me like that?" Asked Chloe bashfully.

    This girl adapted to her new life too fast.

    "Could it be that my clothes are strange?"

    I shook my head at her question. "No, I am just amazed by how beautiful you are. It looks good on you."

    "I see. I am d." She smiled brightly. "Oh, right! Breakfast is ready. Let''s eat together!"

    "Alright."

    I went to the dining room with Chloe. There was already food prepared on the te and it was already arranged on the table.

    It was scrambled eggs and bacon, as I requested. There were two tes that were ced across from each other.

    Chloe sat on the chair behind the table and gestured to me.

    "You can sit there, Vincent."

    I sat on the seat across from her.

    "This is my first time cooking. But don''t worry! I followed a recipe on the inte."

    As expected, huh. She never had a chance to do something like this while in the Association, so it was not a surprise.

    I smiled at her yfully and said. "Then it''s my honor to be able to try your first cooking ever, Hero."

    When I called her Hero, Chloe frowned a little. She seemed to hate to be called that. I was just joking, but it seemed like she was really displeased by that.

    "My bad, Chloe."

    "¡­Nn." She nodded her head. "It''s okay. But¡­ Just call me Chloe."

    "Yeah, sure. Let''s eat."

    All the utensils were already prepared on the table too. I guess she bought them alongside the grocery when I dealt with Ao and Rosa.

    I took a fork and tried the scrambled eggs first. The texture was soft, but I didn''t know how it tasted yet. I put it into my mouth, and my eyes widened.

    "H-How is it? Is it good?" Asked Chloe nervously.

    I raised my thumb at her to show that I was satisfied with the meal. She smiled brightly and began to eat. As soon as she put the scrambled eggs into her mouth, her expression melted with happiness.

    "Hmn~"

    When I saw her for the first time, she had the aura of a cold, beautiful girl. However, right now, that aura was gone and was reced by a cute and warm aura that fit her better.

    I was d that I asked her to go with me.

    ***

    After we were done with our meal, I helped Chloe wash the dishes. We then sat on the couch in the living room and turned the TV on.

    The TV was filled with news about The Hero and Rai. Never once it was mentioned that the one kidnapped was only Chloe; it was always The Hero, or Hero Chloe.

    Chloe switched the channel a few times, but it was still filled with news about Rai kidnapping The Hero. Finally, she got tired of the news and turned the TV off.

    With her sharp eyes, she stared at me.

    "Hey¡­"

    "What?"

    "Your face¡­ Why do you have two faces?" Asked Chloe curiously.

    "Oh, about that."

    I took the [Mask of Deceit] out of my magic bag and handed it to Chloe for her to see the effect.

    "It''s because of this."

    She took the mask in hand, and her face quickly turned to a surprise. She looked at me with her eyes shining brilliantly.

    "Can you find one more for me?"

    "Huh? You want one?"

    "Yes, I want to be with Vincent too."

    Oh. Right, we could do that too.

    Chloe could act with Rai as a member of his Mercenary Group, but she could also make a new identity like me to act with Vincent.

    It was also safe if she used her new identity while living with me in this house, in case Zaiden or someone else wanted to raid my house when I moved out of my dormitory. But I would make some excuses if they wanted to visit this house. I wouldn''t allow him to step in this house, not yet.

    "Then let''s make you one. I also n to enhance some items today."

    "Eh?" Chloe let out a surprised sound. "You are an enhancer?"

    "Hmm? I never told you?"

    Chloe shook her head.

    Come to think of it, I never told her about my Talent. I only said to her that I used a bow as my main weapon.

    This won''t do. We wouldn''t be able to cooperate with each other at this rate.

    "I can enhance items. I will tell you the details about my Talentter."

    "Un. I will tell you my Talent too." She said as she handed me back my mask.<sub> </sub>

    I smiled at her, took my mask back, and picked my body up from the couch.

    "Then let''s do some shopping."

    ***

    Talking about shopping for Enhancement ingredients, there were only two stores that fit the requirement.

    The first one was the rip-off store that used the name Awakener Store. Then the second one was Park Injun''s store.

    We went to Park Injun''s store to secure 200g of Enhancement Dust and a silver ne that was shaped like a moon. It cost me a hundred thousand USD for both items.

    The reason I bought a ne instead of a mask was simple. It was Chloe''s preference.

    When I asked her to choose any item that she wanted to be used as a base for the enhancement, she said that she wanted a ne without a second thought.

    After getting the item that we needed, we went back to our house, as I entered the underground training area after taking a ss from the kitchen. I needed to concentrate on enhancing the item, so Chloe didn''t follow me to the underground.

    While I was at it, I nned to extract the blood from Great Lich''s heart that we got yesterday. The extracting process was simple. I just needed to boil the heart with fire created by Magic for a minute. That way, the frozen blood that congested the heart would flow again and drip out of the heart.

    I just needed to pray that I would get a lot of blood from this heart.

    "Let''s enhance Chloe''s ne first."

    I took the ne out of my magic bag andid it on the floor. Next, I took out the Enhancement Dust and sprinkled it on the ne while infusing it with Null Attribute Mana and thinking about the effect that I wanted to put on the ne.

    The effect I wanted was simr to [Mask of Deceit], but I nned to change it a bit. It was just a simple illusion to change a person''s face when Mana was infused instead of when it was worn. That way, Chloe could wear this ne anytime she wanted to.

    After a while, the ne glowed a blue light and dimmed the next second. The notifications followed suit.

    [Silver Ne enhancement was sessful. The effect of the enhancement has been amplified.]

    [Silver Ne turned into Veil Ne.]

    The enhancement was sessful. Though my Luck was not triggered, it was still good. At least the Enhancement was a sess.

    I checked the ne and smiled.

    _____

    [Veil Ne]

    [Null Attribute]

    Ne Enhanced by a genius enhancer

    Effect:

    - Illusion Veil

    Put an illusion on to mask your face when Mana is infused into the ne.

    _____

    There was no  voice changing effect, but this was enough. Only a few people had heard Chloe''s voice, so no one would recognize her even if she didn''t change her voice.

    I put the ne in my magic bag for now and took out the Great Lich''s heart. The size of the heart was only around my fist; it was quite small considering it held a lot of Mana that the Great Lich had.

    The size was convenient for me as it fit the ss that I took from the kitchen perfectly. I put the ss on the floor and put the heart on top of the ss. It stayed on top of the ss like a lid because the ss was too small for the heart.

    Next, I created fire with Magic and burned the heart while being careful not to damage it too badly. I held my breath because I concentrated too hard and didn''t want to mess with this. It was my first time using Magic to do something like this.

    The fire engulfed the Great Lich''s heart, but it didn''t shear it even a little. The heart was still intact. I was able to let go of the breath that I held.

    "Fuu¨C"

    I sweated from nervousness. If the fire sheared the heart even a little, then the amount of blood that I could extract from it would decrease.

    While I only needed one drop to decrease the penalty from using [Arash Bow]''s special effect, I did want to keep some of the blood for future use.

    That was why I was relieved when I managed to control the fire without shearing the Great Lich''s heart.

    After a few seconds, blood started dripping from the heart. The color of the blood was dark red, and it contained a lot of Mana.

    My lips curled into a smile.

    "Good!"

    The process thensted for a minute. After the blood dripped six times, it didn''t drip anymore, and the Mana inside the heart had beenpletely washed-up.

    I stopped the fire, raised the ss, and looked at the Great Lich''s blood on the bottom of the ss.

    "Six drops of the Great Lich''s blood! I can at least decrease six side-effects of using Artifact''s special skill with this."

    I was satisfied with the result.

    It was as if I had hit a jackpot on Earth. Great Lich''s blood would be able to decrease the side-effects of an Artifact better than Lich''s blood. This was a rare item that only appeared on the market three times in the future. At least the future that I knew.

    I was itching to erase [Arash Bow]''s side effect at once, but then I heard someone ring the bell of our house.

    Ding Dong¨C!

    There was a speaker built in the underground to notify if there was a guest who rang the bell. And now, someone rang the bell of our house.

    No one except Park Injun, Rosa, and Ao knew about me to the point that they would actively seek me. So that meant¡­

    "The guest came for Chloe, huh?"

    Creak¨C

    As I muttered that, the door of the underground training area was opened, and Chloe appeared from beyond the door.

    "There is a guest." Said Chloe.

    I stood up and answered her.

    "I know. I think that guest is here for you."

    Chloe nodded her head. "I think so too. What should we do?"

    "Hmm¡­ Let''s meet him. If he''s ringing the doorbell, then surely he has no intention of hurting us, but¡­ Let''s see the inte first to make sure of that."

    "Alright."

    Both of us then went upstairs to see the inte before opening the door. There was a camera installed on the door, and we could see the other side through the inte.

    The inte was located in the living room, and we watched the appearance of the one who rang the doorbell.

    He was wearing a ck cloak. Its cor was so high that it hid the lower half of his face. His hair was ck and short, parted in the middle like a K-Pop idol.

    When he moved a little, I could see his left hand. He was holding a ck book with a skull on the cover. Maybe he noticed that we were watching through the camera; his ck eyes were staring right at it.

    "Hello. I am not here to cause harm; I only want to talk. Maybe you don''t know me, but you should know that I am one of Memento Mori''s members." He spoke with a hoarse voice.

    This guy¡­ I recognized him. His outfit stood out even among Memento Mori''s members.

    He was a member of that organization, Memento Mori. His name was¡­

    "Chun Dong¡­ We have a troublesome guy visiting us." I muttered with a wry smile.

 Chapter 32 Chun Dong

    [Guest Room]

    Memento Mori. That organization was willing to ept any request as long as the pay was worth the work. The number of Memento Mori''s members was unknown to the world, but I knew that they had five people, including their leader.

    However, their numbers appeared to berger than what the guilds and Association knew because some used Artifacts to change their faces, like what I did.

    It was the organization that chased after Zaiden to stop him due to someone''s request in thest part of the story in my novel.

    They were by no means evil; that was why I was willing to talk to them.

    Chun Dong was especially holding that book and used his real face to visit this house. That was enough to show that he had no ill intentions toward Chloe or me.

    Although Memento Mori took requests for money, they still had some rules. One of them was a rule that stated that one should visit a client or member candidate while using their real faces and carrying a book of Naturom Demonto.

    That showed courtesy as whenever they took a job, it always involved the death of someone. He carried the book to show that he had already brought death and wanted some peace, so one shouldn''t be afraid of him.

    However, it was still scary.

    "First of all, let me introduce myself. I am Chun Dong from Memento Mori." Chun Dong spoke while sitting on the couch in front of me. He introduced himself casually as if he was not a part of an organization that was listed on the Association''s cklist.

    Chloe sat beside me and stared at Chun Dong suspiciously. Of course, I was sitting beside Chloe while wearing my mask to hide my identity as Vincent.

    She was against it when I told her I would talk with him. But, it was a good chance. Memento Mori always hid in their base, so finding or even talking to one of their members was difficult.

    I didn''t want to throw away such an opportunity. I assured her that nothing would happen until she eventually agreed to open the door.

    "I am Rai. And she is¡­"

    "Chloe."

    Chun Dong nodded his head. "It''s nice to meet you. I wanted to talk a lot with you guys, but¡­ Because it will create some trouble if I stay here for too long, I will cut into the case." Chun Dong stared at Chloe with his nted eyes.

    "I am here to invite The He-" A voice interrupted Chun Dong when he was speaking.

    "Chloe." She said with a firm tone, making Chun Dong nod his head again.

    As expected, he was here to invite Chloe. The news of Chloe severing her bond with the Association has spread all over the world.

    But¡­

    ''He''s too fast.''

    Did hee here as fast as he could after hearing the news yesterday? We just moved to this house this morning; how did he find us?

    All of that didn''t matter. They must''ve asked Darkest Secret for information about us. That guy knew almost everything, after all.

    Chun Dong then repeated it after realizing his mistake.

    "Excuse me. I am here to invite Chloe to join our organization, Memento Mori. Can you give me your answer now? My leader is very much interested in having you join our organization."

    At Chun Dong''s question, Chloe shook her head.

    "No. I will join Rai''s Mercenary Group."

    "Hmm?" Chun Dong''s eyes widened a little. He never expected that answer.

    The others would''ve thought that the Hero would join a better guild or would act by herself. No one would expect the Hero to join something like a Mercenary Group.

    "Mercenary Group, is it?" Chun Dong turned to me with an interested gaze. His mouth was hidden behind his high cor, but I saw it curled up a little bit.

    "What an amusing answer. I see; if that''s so, then I have nothing to worry about."

    It was then that I noticed something. The real reason Memento Mori invited Chloe to their group.

    "I see¡­ So that''s how it is." I smiled under my mask. My eyes were staring at Chun Dong.

    "Rai?" Chloe said worriedly. I nodded my head a little at her to reassure her that nothing was wrong.

    "Memento Mori''s goal of inviting Chloe is to find out where she stands right now, huh? It would be troublesome for you guys if she decided to join a guild that actively hunts or hates Memento Mori, right?"

    Chun Dong''s shoulders dropped as his eyes turned back to normal. "That''s correct. But who would have thought that she would join a Mercenary Group? Also, it seems you know about us despite being just a newly Awakened."

    "It''s nothing. I just have some connection with some artifact maniac."

    "Oh! Then it''s nothing unusual. But then, the Hero will join a Mercenary Group, huh? Maybe that''s the best for all the guilds and dark guilds out there. You are truly interesting. Now I am interested in how you managed to make her join your Mercenary Group."

    "It''s nothing, truly. More importantly, I will say this before you misunderstand something. I have no intention of making Memento Mori into an enemy. You can convey this to Livyatan if you want to."

    When I uttered that name, Chun Dong opened his eyes once again.

    Memento Mori worked on a code name. They only have five members now, but they used to have seven.

    Two of them died, and they had yet to find their recements. I guess that''s why they wanted to invite Chloe, to fill the empty seats.

    ''I think the empty seats are Lucifer and Mammon.''

    Mana began to leak out of Chun Dong''s body and made the atmosphere heavy. I felt like I was being pushed down, but I did my best to keep staring at him calmly.

    Chloe''s hand made its way to her Magic Bag, ready to take Gae Bolg out of it. I stopped her by raising my hand. She was confused, but I shook my head once again.

    We wouldn''t be able to win against Chun Dong if we fought. He was strong enough to defeat a member of the Six Devas from the Association with some leeway.

    "How did you know that name?" He said ominously. He was clearly wary of me right now.

    Livyatan was the codename of Memento Mori''s leader. Although that name was often rted to a female devil, the leader of Memento Mori is a man. I used the seven princes of hell as their code names because I thought it would be cool.

    Right, there were no other reasons. I gave them those codenames because I thought it would be cool. It was as simple as that.

    But, in this world, there was supposed to be no one who knew the leader''s code names except for the members of Memento Mori themselves.

    So I understand why Chun Dong became wary and tried to intimidate me right now.

    "As I said, I have some connections. You can trust me not to spread that name because¡­ I am hoping for Memento Mori''s cooperation in the future."

    Chun Dong was still staring at me. I guess that was not enough to convince him.

    "Let''s put it like this: If you need Chloe or my help, you can always ask us. She will not join Memento Mori, but she can help with the request that you take¡­ That''s if Chloe agrees with it. In other words, I want my Mercenary Group to have a friendly rtionship with Memento Mori, helping each other if we need to."

    "How does that rte to you knowing our leader''s codename?" Asked Chun Dong suspiciously.

    "I mentioned that to tell you something. I have a lot of information that no one knows. But, that information is only limited to a few things. I am not Darkest Secret, whose Talent allowed him to know almost everything in the world after all."

    He stared at me for a while before finally pulling his Mana back.

    The atmosphere turned back to normal, and I breathed in relief.

    ''Thankfully, he''s still reasonable. If that guy was the one who came here, then I would have been screwed.''

    "I will trust you for now. But¡­ I warn you. If that name is spread by chance, then I will hunt you first."

    "You can trust me that I will not spread that name without the permission of the person himself."

    Chun Dong nodded his head and stood up.

    "I will take my leave first then. You don''t need to see me off, as there is an ant who has followed me since this morning."

    "I see¡­ Then have a nice day."<sub> </sub>

    He then walked out of the house.

    As soon as he was gone, I took off my mask and let out a long breath.

    "Haa¨C That was exhausting¡­"

    Chloe didn''t seem to be sure of what to say as her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she finally said, "Good work?"

    "Yeah, thank god we can survive that. The pressure was no joke." I grumbled as I pinched the bridge of my nose. My head was hurting from the pressure that Chun Dong had leaked out.

    Although he was holding back, that was still too much for an E-Rank Awakener like me.

    "Umm, can I ask something?" Asked Chloe curiously.

    "Yeah?" I then lowered my hand and turned to her.

    "Why did you say that?"

    "Said what?"

    "The one that made him angry."

    "Oh, that name?"

    Chloe nodded her head in response.

    "That''s to show my capability. Right now, he''s only interested in you, not our Mercenary Group. That''s why I deliberately showed him that I have something in my sleeves that''s as valuable as your power as a Hero."

    She didn''t seem to understand as she asked again.

    "Then why did you choose to say that name? Isn''t there something that you can show? Like¡­ Enhancement?"

    "Nah, Chloe. That''s the best move that I had. You know¡­ that guy, Chun Dong, is someone who likes brave people. So I showed him that I have the guts to back up my confidence."

    "I see?" Confused, Chloe tilted her head cutely.

    I chuckled when I saw her. She didn''t understand but answered as if she understood it.

    "Well, you will know someday."

    I stood up from the couch and stretched my body, which had turned stiff from enduring the pressure earlier.

    "Ugh¨C Then, I will go to the underground again to enhance my items. Feel free to do anything that you want to in the meantime. Just don''t forget that we will have reportersing over in the evening."

    Chloe smiled. "Then I will go to school."

    "Huh? School?"

    "Yes, cooking school. I like cooking."

    I smiled at her answer. So she liked cooking. I was d that she found a hobby.

    "I see. Call me if you need anything."

    "Sure. See youter."

    "Yeah,ter."

    ***

    Chun Dong, who had just left Vincent''s house, walked through an empty alleyway and suddenly stopped on his track. He put his book inside his magic bag and turned around, looking at the intersections behind him.

    "Come out. You suck at hiding."

    A man then appeared from an intersection in the alleyway. He was Jaro, one of the Six Devas from the Association.

    "Hah! I purposely let you know of my presence."

    "Or so you say. What do you need from me, Dog from the Association?"

    "Hah?!" Jaro, obviously mad at being called a dog, shouted, "You want to fight, punk?"

    "It will not be a fight; it will be a massacre." Mana began to leak from Chun Dong''s body, which surrounded his body like an aura.

    Its color was cyan, a proof of the Ice attribute Mana, the result of theposite attributes between Wind and Water. Chun Dong''s specialty was Ice Magic, and he was one of the best in the field.

    The objective of leaking Mana was to pressure the opponent. However, it wouldn''t work if the opponent was at the same level. That was why it was usually only used to Taunt the others and show that one was ready to fight.

    "You!!" Mana began to leak out of Jaro''s body to counter Chun Dong''s. The color of his Mana was red, which was proof of the Fire attribute Mana. "I will fucking burn you to ash!"

    Chun Dong was not afraid of Jaro, even if he was one of the Six Devas. He knew that he was stronger than him.

    "Try it."

    Both of them were ready to fight. The atmosphere in the alleyway turned heavy. Some of the strong Awakeners who were sensitive to Mana had noticed them. But then a new presence made them stop.

    Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!

    There were footsteps walking toward them. If it were a normal person''s footsteps, then both of them wouldn''t have stopped their fights.

    They felt the Mana signature of the person that was closing in. They knew whose signature it belonged to. It belonged to someone that they didn''t want to fight.

    If he joined the fight, then the scale of destruction caused by the fight would be too great and the guilds would be forced to move to check what happened.

    The source of those footsteps then appeared from the intersections behind Jaro. He was Smith, the Sword Saint. His presence was enough to make both of them disperse their Mana.

    He calmly looked over at Jaro and Chun Dong and spoke.

    "Don''t make a fuss, young ones. Especially in this area, my house is just around the corner, you see?"

    "Tsk!" Jaro clicked his tongue and left without saying anything more after he saw Smith. He jumped up between the buildings andnded on the roof. He looked down with a displeased frown for a while before jumping away from one building to the others.

    "Young ones these days have no manners at all, don''t you think so too?" Smith said to Chun Dong.

    "I don''t think so. Maybe you only met some crazy ones because of your reputation."

    "Hahaha. That may be true. However, you have manners, no? Then, why don''t you apany me for a while?"

    Chun Dong''s eyes narrowed cautiously as he asked. "Why should I?"

    "Hmm, because why not? Come on, apany this old man for a while. Or, you don''t want to visit this old man''s house? You even visited this old man''s disciple house before him."

    His words managed to rouse Chun Dong''s curiosity.

    Smith clearly said his disciple''s house. So that meant one of the two people that he visited today was Sword Saint''s sessor.

    After thinking for a while, Chun Dong finally nodded his head.

    "Alright... I will apany you for a while, Sword Saint."

    "Bahahaha, just call me Smith! I am already retired. You don''t have to call me by my former title."

    "Well then¡­ Smith."

    "Good. Then, let''s go."

 Chapter 33 Enhancing Arash Bow

    [9:00 AM]

    [Underground Training Area]

    I gave Chloe the [Veil Ne] that I had enhanced earlier and taught her how to use it. Surprisingly, she was able to use it easily. Her face changed only a little, but that was enough.

    People who saw her right now wouldn''t even try to link her to Hero Chloe; she would only be Chloe like she wanted to be. Her eyes were a bit bigger than her usual face, and she became cuter.

    After changing her face, she then left the house to go to a cooking school, while I went to the underground to enhance my [Arash Bow].

    I took out the necessary things to enhance the [Arash Bow], the Great Lich''s blood.

    "Let''s start"

    The process of enhancing an Artifact with the Great Lich''s blood was not too different from enhancing a normal item. Only the ingredient was changed from dust to blood.

    First of all, I held the ss that I used to keep the Lich''s blood in my left hand. I held it carefully because I didn''t want to mess this up. I only needed one drop of blood; that was all.

    "Make it work, please. At least reduce the side-effects¡­ I don''t hope for too much, but at least let me use the special effect of the bow without dying."

    My hand sweated out of nervousness. If this doesn''t work, I could only find a new weapon.

    As much as I loved the effect of [Arash Bow], I didn''t want to die while using its special effect. It was indeed powerful, but there were still a lot of mythological bows out there.

    There was also the bow used by Heracles or Tristan. I knew both locations of the bows in case this enhancement failed to reduce the side-effect.

    The attribute of Mana that I used in this enhancement was the fire attribute.

    From the name of the special effect, [Ster] Lone Meteor, I knew that it was rted to fire, so I chose the fire attribute for this enhancement.

    It would be good if an additional effect also appeared. But I shouldn''t hope for too much.

    "Please work¡­" I muttered as I infused fire attribute mana to the bow and dripped a single drop of Great Lich''s blood on the bow.

    The blood seemed to drip slowly from the ss. It was at such a time that having heightened senses was killing me. I wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

    It seemed like forever for the drop to touch the bow because of my heightened senses. Something that could be over in a few seconds seemed tost more than a minute.

    ''Ah, it''s so slow.''

    Finally, the blood touched the bow. The bow let out a brilliant shine of red light at that moment.

    "Guh!"

    I covered my eyes with my hand out of reflex. The light was so bright, unlike the items that I enhanced before.

    I quickly put the remaining Great Lich''s blood inside my magic bag to secure it. I would cry for at least a few hours if it fell over when I panicked.

    Usually, the light would begin to dim in a few seconds, but the bow was still as bright as before.

    "It''s not over yet?"

    The red light that covered the bow suddenly turned blue after 30 seconds. I couldn''tprehend what had happened. I never wrote the Enhancement in detail in the novel, so I didn''t know that something like this would happen.

    The lightsted for a minute before it finally dimmed. The bow''s appearance was still the same, but the pattern on it glowed slightly, like a burning fire.

    Then the notification that I was waiting for arrived.

    [Your Luck has miraculously helped in the enhancement.]

    [Arash Bow enhancement was sessful. The effect of the enhancement has been amplified.]

    [The side-effects of the Arash Bow are reduced.]

    [Miraculous Luck appeared again! The side-effect is further reduced.]

    [Arash Bow turned into Arash Bow +2.]

    The notifications seemed to be promising. I had high hopes for this.

    My hand reached out to [Arash Bow] and opened its description.

    -----

    [Arash Bow +2] [Artifact]

    [Composite Attribute: Fire, Light, and Dark]

    The bow was used by the Persian Hero, Arash, to end the war between Persia and Turan.

    Special Skill:

    - [Ster] Lone Meteor

    Fire a single arrow that can travel anywhere on Earth.

    Enhanced with Mana, the arrow will be divided into nine and destroy any single enemy in its path.

    Activation Cost: Use all of your remaining Mana.

    Effect:

    - Mana Arrow

    Create a mana arrow.

    - Mana Bowstring

    Create a mana bowstring. It''s more durable than a normal bowstring.

    - Small Meteor

    Create an exploding mana arrow.

    -----

    The side-effect for activation was reduced to the point where I only needed all my remaining Mana to use its special effect. Not only that, there was also a new effect.

    "Fuck yeah!" I shouted as I raised the bow to the sky. This was the best result that I could hope for.

    Next, I got down on my knees and worshiped the goddess of luck.

    "Oh, my S-Rank Luck! I really love you!"

    No one answered me, but that didn''t stop me from worshiping my Luck.

    After a few seconds, I realized that I probably looked like a fool.

    "Cough." I let out an awkward cough and sat with crossed legs.

    There was still a lot of time before the interview.

    "Let''s just train with Mana Breathing," I muttered to myself as I put Arash Bow in my magic bag.I also set the rm on my smartphone at 4 PM, as I needed to prepare for the interview that was held at 6 PM.

    Then I closed my eyes and did Mana Breathing.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    Chloe walked along the street after she found the ce that teaches how to cook. She looked up on the inte and finally found a ce called ''Cordon''s Kitchen'' located near their house in the middle of Los Angeles.

    She smiled as she walked. Everything she needed for the ss was already prepared in her magic bag.

    For a long time, she wanted to live freely like this. She had a lot of hobbies that she couldn''t do; one of them was cooking.

    Furthermore, she had someone who would eat her meals in the house.

    "I hope Vincent will love the meal that I cooked for him." She smiled when she thought of her savior¡ªthe one who nullified her promise with the Association.

    Although she lived a good life when she was still in the Association and was paid when she cleared a dungeon, her freedom was still restricted due to how busy she was.

    She couldn''t even walk in the city like she did right now.

    After walking for a few minutes, she arrived at the ce that taught people how to cook¡ªa cooking ss. The building was big, around five stories tall. A big screen above the door showed an ad for the cooking ss.

    There was a man in his forties who was cursing at a man who presented him with a dish.

    Chloe was confused, but then she knew the reason for that. The man''s dish was terrible, and the man cursed at him because he was a terrible cook and told him how to improve it.

    When she saw that, she became more interested in joining. The teacher taught their students seriously.

    "I think I will be able to improve my cooking skills here."

    She didn''t care about whether the teacher was strict or not. The only thing that was important to her was that the teacher did his job properly.

    And the ad showed that the teacher did his job properly by giving the terrible cooking advice.

    "I will join this ce!" She eximed with a big smile.

    ***

    [10:30 AM]

    [New York]

    Jaro arrived at the Association''s headquarters after jumping and running at full speed for three hours.

    The distance between Los Angeles and New York was by no means close. But, with his physical strength, running from Los Angeles to New York was easy.

    He was even faster than most nes due to his Artifact called Hermes Boots, which allowed him to run faster.

    The reason why he returned to the headquarters as fast as he could was due to the appearance of Smith. The appearance of the Sword Saint in Los Angeles was more important than Memento Mori.

    He had hidden himself from the secr world for a while now, but he showed himself in front of one of the Six Devas only because their sh of Mana disturbed him.

    Usually, the Sword Saint wouldn''t even care about something like that. A sh between Awakeners happened a few times in Los Angeles, but the Sword Saint never showed himself.

    "Damn it!" Jaro cursed as he paced inside the building.

    The employees were confused by Jaro''s sudden outburst. They didn''t want to look at him because his expression was scary. They looked away when he walked past them.

    "Why did that old man interfere with our fight? Shit! I could gain some achievement if I managed to catch that bastard. However, meeting him was not bad at all. I can at least make the old man who sits above me give me some bonus."

    ? He entered the elevator and pressed the button to go to Mark''s office on the top floor. The door of the elevator then closed before it made a mechanical sound, pulling the elevator up.

    Creak¨C Shwoomp¨C

    After the elevator went up, the employees on the ground floor let out a sigh that they held.

    "Why is that person able to be one of the Six Devas?" Asked one of the employees.

    "I don''t know. Even though Lady Aura is better than him." Answered another employee.

    "Shh! Don''t say that! We all know about that, but we never talk about it!"

    "Oops! My bad."

    "Tsk!" Jaro clicked his tongue inside the elevator. He heard them thanks to his sharp hearing. "It''s obvious because I am better than that woman, fool!" He grumbled.

    The elevator stopped after a few seconds, and the door opened.

    The top floor was only used for the offices of important people, such as Mark, the directors, and the meeting room.

    He immediately exited the elevator and went to Mark''s office.

    The door of Mark''s office was enhanced to stop any intruders. It was also enhanced with a magical lock so that no one could enter without Mark''s permission.

    Jaro stopped in front of it and shouted, "Oi, old man! I have some information for you! Let me enter the room!"

    "You may enter," Mark answered from inside, and the office door opened automatically due to Mark''smand.

    Mark was sitting behind a wooden table, working on documents that created a pile on top of it. He was also wearing reading sses, which he took off as he looked at Jaro.

    "What is the information that you have got? You met with a member of Memento Mori, right?"

    "Yeah, right." Jaro entered the room.

    Screech¨C

    The door closed as soon as Jaro entered the room. Then he sat on the couch that was located in front of the work table.

    "And I met another person that''s more important than the members of Memento Mori."

    "Who? There are only a few people who are more important than the members of Memento Mori. They are the highest criminals on our cklist."

    "Hah! This person is definitely more important than that nted-eyed bastard." Scoffed Jaro as he leaned his back against the backrest.

    He looked at Mark with a serious expression and said, "I met the Sword Saint."

    Mark''s expression turned serious when he heard that. "Are you sure?"

    "Yeah, I am sure." Jaro''s body trembled as he answered. "Even though he had turned old, the pressure from him was enough to make me shiver in fear. I had no chance to win against him."

    "Is that so¡­" Mark rubbed his temples. "So the Sword Saint is hiding in Los Angeles¡­ He''s been so close all this time."

    "What will you do? This is different from the appearance of Memento Mori''s members." Asked Jaro.

    Mark leaned his back against the chair''s backrest and looked at the ceiling. He stayed silent for a while, thinking about the next move that the Association should take.

    Sword Saint''s appearance in front of Jaro, who was clearly a member of the Six Devas, was a sign that he was done hiding.

    "What a troublesome situation." Muttered Mark.

    He straightened his sitting position, put his elbow on the table, and ordered, "Jaro, keep this secret from the others. We can''t let the others know that the Sword Saint is hiding in Los Angeles. Not only will the Awakeners try to visit him, but his enemies will also make their way to Los Angeles to find him¡­ We can''t allow that."

    "I thought so, old man." Answered Jaro. "Should I stay in Los Angeles to observe him?"

    "Yes, I''m counting on you."

    "No problem, old man." Jaro stood up from the couch. "I need to settle something in that ce too." He then walked out of the office. Once again, the door opened automatically, and as soon as he left the room, it closed by itself.

    Once again, Mark looked at the ceiling and mumbled. "Smith¡­ What are you nning? Why did you show yourself at such a time?"

 Chapter 34 Interview

    [04:00 PM]

    At exactly 4 PM, the rm that I had set earlier rang out; it was quite loud.

    Riririri Ring

    "Fuu¨C"

    I exhaled as I opened my eyes. The first thing that I did was to stop the rm before I stood up and stretched my sore body.

    "Ugh¡­ I''ve been sitting for too long."

    After stretching for a while, I went upstairs to start preparing for the interview. Chloe said that she went to the cooking ss. I wonder if she has alreadye back?

    I got my answer as soon as I stepped into the living room. Chloe was sitting on the couch, watching TV while snacking on potato chips. She wore the ne that I enhanced. Surprisingly, it looked good on her.

    She faced me when she noticed me entering the living room as she put a single potato chip into her mouth.

    "Are you done with your training?"

    "Huh? How did you know that I was training?"

    No one should''ve known about the Mana Breathing Method at this time. Even if someone saw me, they would normally think that I was only meditating to calm my mind.

    "Mana moved in your body, so I thought you were training." Answered Chloe.

    "I see."

    Her senses were more sensitive than I thought. If she was able to feel the Mana that moved inside my body, that meant her senses were at an absurd level.

    That would put her at an advantage when fighting less skilled magicians, as she would know what kind of Magic would be used even before the magicians fired the Magic at her.

    "It is as you say. I need to stop my training because it''s time to prepare for the interview."

    "Un. I know. By the way, did you have lunch already?"

    "Not yet. Why?"

    "I made you some. It''s in the fridge. You just need to microwave it if you want it hot."

    "Really?"

    I made my way to the fridge and opened it. There were three ham sandwiches wrapped in stic on top of a te. I took them and closed the fridge before going to the couch and sitting beside Chloe. I put the te of sandwiches on the table in front of us.

    "Did you make this in your cooking ss?"

    She nodded her head. "The teacher didn''t curse at me, so the food is definitely delicious."

    "Is that so?"

    Once again, she proudly nodded her head. "Yes, that''s how it works."

    I was confused about what she meant by that. The teacher didn''t curse at her, so the food is delicious?

    I unwrapped the stic, took one of the sandwiches, and bit into it to find out about it. The sandwich was cold because it was put inside the fridge, but it was still delicious.

    "It''s good."

    "I am d." Chloe smiled happily. "Eat quickly; I think the people from Sacred Relic will arrive before the interview starts."

    "Right. I think so too."

    As much as I wanted to enjoy the sandwiches, an important appointment was waiting for me. I wolfed down the sandwiches.

    It was not even a second after I was done with the sandwiches that the bell of our house rang.

    ¨CDing Dong

    "They are finally here¡­" I muttered to myself.

    "Should I open the door for you? You still need time to prepare, right?"

    "Nah." I rose up from the couch as I pulled the mask from my magic bag and put it on my face. Changing into Rai was that easy, and I wanted to get the interview done as fast as I could. "I will open the door myself. You can use that time to change your clothes if you want to."

    "Huh? Is this not good enough?" Asked Chloe as she tilted her head. "You said that I looked good in this." She muttered.

    "You are, but¡­ You want to wear casual clothes for an interview?"

    "Yes, It''s not a problem, right?"

    "I guess not."

    "Then I will use this. I am okay with these clothes."

    I was a bit confused. Usually, a girl would like to look as beautiful as possible when they are interviewed. However, Chloe was content with wearing casual clothes, and she didn''t even use any makeup.

    "I see. Then I will greet them first."

    "Yes, I will wait here."

    I hadn''t talked about it with Chloe, but I had decided on the Mercenary Group''s name. It was something that could be rted to the two of us, so I thought she wouldn''t mind it.

    Before opening the door, I made sure that the person who rang the bell was someone that I knew from the inte.

    The ones in front of our door were Ao, Rosa, and a guy with a goatee who looked like a reporter. He held a big camera in his hand and a big bag on his back.

    This guy appeared a few times in my novel as a reporter affiliated with Sacred Relic. His name was Christoper. He was one of the best in his field. I never thought that they would ask this guy to do the interview.

    After making sure that they were the people I was waiting for, I opened the door and greeted them.

    "Hello. Wee to my house."

    "Thank you," Ao answered with a smile. "It''s quite a nice house you have here. Does the Hero also live here?"

    "Yes, she is. However, please don''t call her Hero. Just call her by her name."

    "Hmm? Is that okay? I think that it would be rude to suddenly call her by name." Asked Ao.

    "Please, I insist."

    There was one thing that I noticed after knowing Chloe for a day. She hated her title. Even when Chun Dong, someone who was supposed to be the Association''s enemy, called her The Hero, she frowned and asked him to call her by name.

    So, as not to make her ufortable again, I should make sure that they call her by name instead of her title.

    "Very well. If you insist, then we will call her by name."

    "Thank you." Next, I looked at the man. "By the way, can you please introduce this gentleman with a nice goatee here?"

    "Oh?! You understand that my goatee is nice?"

    "Of course. It looks good on you, mister?"<sub> </sub>

    "Christoper. You can call me Chris, my bud!" He shed a smile as he pointed at himself with his thumb.

    "Nice to meet you, Chris. You can call me Rai. I hope we can get along well."

    "Hahahaha. I hope so too!"

    "It seems the introduction is over. Rai, can we enter the house and start the preparations? We need to set up some lighting and the others. Do you have a room that''srge enough to fit the shooting equipment?" Said Rosa.

    "Sure. Let''s do the interview in my underground training area. I believe it''srge enough to conduct an interview."

    "Perfect! Let''s do that." Rosa happily eximed as she pped her hands.

    "Well then, please enter."

    I guided them to enter the house. To enter the underground area, we needed to pass the living room where Chloe was currently in. It was perfect as I could tell her about it.

    Upon entering the living room, we were greeted by Chloe.

    "Wee." It was a short greeting, but Rosa and Ao smiled at her.

    Even when they met a famous person, Hero Chloe, they were still able to keep theirposure. Honestly, that was amazing.

    With a perfect business smile, Rosa introduced herself, followed by the others.

    "It''s nice to meet you, Miss Chloe. I am Rosa Pquen, one of the Sacred Relic guild recruiters."

    "My name is Christoper, the reporter that''s been given this wonderful chance to interview the new Mercenary Group. It''s nice to meet you."

    "And I am Ao Yukina, Sacred Relic''s guild master, Thomas Evan''s daughter, currently a first-year student at the Academy. It''s nice to meet you."

    Chloe nced at me, asking with her eyes, ''Does she know?''

    I shook my head at her. No one knew my identity as Rai except for Chloe, Park Injun, and probably Smith.

    She nodded her head a little at me before smiling, seemingly satisfied that everyone called her by name, not her title.

    Then she bowed her head a little and said, "It''s nice to meet you too. I hope for your cooperation for today''s interview."

    "We will do our best." Answered Rosa.

    "Well then, as both have finished introducing themselves, please follow me to the underground area. Let''s start preparing for the interview."

    "Yes."

    ***

    As soon as I took them to my underground training area, Christoper quickly prepared the setup for the interview. He skillfully took the lighting set from his bag and set it up. The camera was put on a tripod, facing the wall of the training area that would be used as a background.

    The interview was simple, and it would be Christoper himself who interviewed Chloe and me. At the same time, Ao and Rosa were watching from the side.

    Rosa took out three small chairs for us to sit on, and then, after everything was ready, the interview started.

    Christoper started to ask some simple questions first, like our names. Chloe answered without adding her title, and I also briefly introduced myself.

    Next, he asked about the news that was spread on the inte. I answered that the news was fake, and Chloe even backed me up by saying that she followed me of her own will. We didn''t talk about the contract, as that was our secret that we wouldn''t share.

    And not to my surprise, he began to talk about the leak of my conversation with Rosa about creating a Mercenary Group. The leak that I purposely uploaded to the inte.

    "ording to the recording, you are going to create a Mercenary Group. Are you, by chance, joining the Mercenary Group, Miss Chloe?" Christoper asked Chloe as he grinned.

    "Yes, I am. I will join Rai''s Mercenary Group as the first member."

    "Is that so? Can you tell me the reason?"

    "Because I want to help more people. And I can help more people herepared to when I was in the Association."

    "I see, so your motivation to join is to save more people. Are you confident that by joining the Mercenary Group, you will be able to save more people?"

    "I am. And I swore on my name."

    Her name was enough to make her trustworthy. People trust the Hero, and she couldn''t lie if she swore on her name.

    Hence, Christoper nodded his head, satisfied with the result.

    "Last question. This time, it''s for Rai."

    "Alright. Please ask anything."

    "What is your Mercenary Group''s name?"

    This is it. The question that I was waiting for.

    I grinned under my mask and said, "It''s Annihtor. Our Mercenary Group''s name is Annihtor. We n to take any requests involving clearing dungeons, annihting monsters, or killing Demons."

    Demons were different from normal or boss monsters. They were entities that were born in the Abyss, and they had intelligence. They could make ns, and their appearance was not too different from humans, aside from their purple skin and the horns on their heads.

    A lot of Demons had been exterminated since thest Abyss appeared, but some cunning ones were still hiding in the world, persuading humans to do evil. They were waiting for the reappearance of the Abyss and the revival of the Demon King while chipping away at humanity''s strength little by little.

    In other words, they were humanity''s enemy and the most dangerous entities that the Awakeners discovered.

    "Killing Demons, was it? I see. Thank you for your time. The interview ended with thatst question."

    "You''re wee."

    ***

    Unexpectedly, the interviewsted around two hours. The three of them left immediately after they cleaned their equipment. Rosa said that the interview would be aired on TV tomorrow morning, so I could look forward to it.

    It was alreadyte. Chloe cooked a simple dinner for us. We ate together and talked a little before she went to her bedroom. I was also exhausted from everything that happened today. I also decided to hit the bed early.

    There were less than two weeks until Zaiden''s Awakening. I needed to train harder before that time came. There was also a promise to spar with Zaiden.

    Iy on my bed in my pajamas. My hands were under my head as I stared at the ceiling.

    "Let''s go to the Academy tomorrow and spar with Zaiden. Then I will go to Smith''s ce to train¡­ Maybe some training with Chloe at night." I muttered to myself as I recounted the n for tomorrow.

    "It will be a busy day." I chuckled to myself.

    I was originally not a hard worker. However, I must work hard if I want to survive. The urgency kicked in, and I worked myself to the bone to get stronger.

    "It''s ironic. I created this world in hard mode because I enjoyed toying with my Main Character, but¡­ Who knew that I would be transmigrated? I should''ve created a more peaceful world."

    Useless thoughts began to fill my head. It seemed like my stress was notpletely gone yet.

    "Damn it. I should go to sleep rather than think about such things. I will lose my motivation if I keep thinking about it."

    I tucked the nket over my body and closed my eyes.

    "Good night, my wrecked world."

 Chapter 35 History Lecture

    [9 April 2023, 07:50 AM]

    [House]

    The Sacred Relic delivered their promise. The interview yesterday was already aired on TV, and all the hoaxes about me kidnapping Chloe were immediately shot down, reced by the news about the New Mercenary Group, the Annihtor.

    I was able to rest easy for now and enjoy the food that Chloe cooked for me.

    "Thanks for the food. It was delicious."

    "Yes, I''m d that you liked it."

    The weather was good today. It was a perfect day to attend the ss. It was Thursday, and there was a history ss today; that was why I was looking forward to it.

    Hearing the history of this world that I created would be interesting. I knew some crucial points in the past, such as the first Cmity, but other than that, I knew almost nothing.

    "Then, I will go to the Academy. I might be back around 6 PM after hitting the training facility. So feel free to eat lunch without me."

    "I know. I n to have lunch in the cooking ss; you don''t have to worry about me." Chloe answered as she tidied the dishes on the table and brought them to the sink. "You better go now, or you will bete for ss, Vincent. The Academy is a bit far from here."

    Was it because I was used to being alone that I found thepany of another person to beforting? Even going to the Academy didn''t seem to be troublesome when I knew that someone was waiting for me in the house.

    I smiled a little while looking at Chloe, who washed the dishes and said, "Then I am off."

    "Un."

    ***

    [08:30 AM]

    [Academy]

    As soon as I arrived at the Academy, I instantly regretted what shed in my mind earlier.

    The Academy wasn''t on the level of troublesome; it was higher than that.

    My reputation seemed to hit rock bottom after the Sparring Tournament because I attacked Zaiden to the point he had a hard time breathing. Not only that, I skipped two days after that. The students even gossiped when they saw me entering the school gate.

    "Hey, he still has the nerve to show himself?" Whispered one of the male students to his friend.

    "I don''t know, man. Not only did he fight brutally in the spar, he almost killed Zaiden on top of that." Answered his friend.

    "That''s right. If it''s me, then I will not show myself in front of others again."

    Two girls also gossiped on the side. They nced at me a little before turning their heads away and whispering to each other.

    "The delinquent is here!"

    "Right! Don''t you think that he''s so cool? He''s even stronger than that, Zaiden!"

    "I agree! When I looked at him earlier, I wanted to be pinned under those sharp eyes of his! He''s really different from the kind of Zaiden, like¡­ He''s like a wild man!"

    "I know it! I thought so."

    When I heard them, I stopped in my tracks and looked at them in disbelief. Our eyes met each other before they both turned away and shrieked.

    "Kyaa! He''s looking at us!"

    "I-I can''t! I almost fainted!"

    I see. Now I understand. While my reputation hit rock bottom among the boys, the girls'' opinions of me changed after they saw my strength.

    In a simr fashion to Earth, where girls loved someone rich, the girls in this world loved a boy who had strength. Coupled with my handsome look, the girls became fans immediately, while the boys were jealous of me.

    ''That''s so easy to understand.''

    Maybe the Academy wouldn''t be so bad if the students acted like that from now on. At least I would be able to keep attending for two more months.

    I smiled a little and was about to walk again, but someone''s shout stopped me.

    "Ah! There he is!"

    I looked over my shoulder and saw Mirana and the other girls walking in the direction of the boy''s dorm with Zaiden. It was their usual group of six.

    "Vincent!" Shouted Zaiden as he waved his hand.

    "Yo!" I raised my right hand and greeted them back.

    They approached me and began to ask questions.

    "Where have you been for thest two days, Vincent? I asked the dorm manager, and he said that you didn''t even enter the dorm after the Sparring Tournament." Asked Zaiden worriedly.

    "Are you okay? You are not being bullied after hitting Zaiden, aren''t you?" Asked Lily with a yful smile.

    "I heard from Master that you got caught up in trouble. If you need help, you can always ask me, Vincent." Said Ao.

    "A-Are you okay?" Shina asked as she looked at me worriedly.

    Lisa didn''t ask anything, but she also looked worried as her hand moved restlessly.

    "I am fine. I was preparing to move out of the dorm; that''s why I was absent for two days. Also, I am not in trouble at all."

    "You moved out?" Lisa eximed, surprised.

    "Yes, I have got enough money to buy my own house, so I moved out to live with someone."

    Technically, I was not lying. Only¡­ Ao would be troublesome. She had visited my house before, and now she looked at me suspiciously.

    "I thought you had no money to even attend a decent training facility? Or did I hear it wrong at that time?" Asked Ao as she crossed her arms. The thing that she hated the most was a liar.

    However, I shouldn''t hide the fact that I moved out of the dorm. They had found that I was not in the dorm thest two days, and I probably wouldn''t even stay in the dorm again starting today after I took theptop and my clothes.

    So it was important to tell them that I had moved to a new house.

    "My friend¡­ She''s a bit rich, so she lent me some money to buy a house. It''s just a small house on the outskirts of Los Angeles."<sub> </sub>

    The only thing I needed to do was to keep them from discovering my real house, and it would be easy.

    "I see." Muttered Ao.

    The atmosphere became a bit awkward. It was because I didn''t tell them that I had bought a new house beforehand. But, as usual, Zaiden could handle such an awkward atmosphere as if he was born to deal with it.

    "That''s great, isn''t it? Congrattions, Vincent."

    "Thanks, anyway, shouldn''t we go to ss now? It will be bad if we arete." I pointed at the main building with my thumb.

    "You''re right. Let''s just go to ss! We can talk about his new houseter at the cafeteria. I will be chewed by my teacher if I amte again!" Mirana agreed to my suggestion as she began to run toward the main building.

    "Well, it can''t be helped. I will ask you for the detailster, Vincent. Also, visit Masterter; he has something to say to you." She then turned to Shina. "Let''s go, Shina." Said Ao before she walked away with Shina.

    Shina bowed her head to us before she walked away, following Ao, leaving the four of us standing in the middle of the road.

    Smith had something to say to me? I should pay him a visit then. If he even asked Ao to convey it to me, then it was probably something important.

    I could also ask why he said to Ao that I was in trouble. I never remember myself being involved in any trouble. Or did he know about the visit from Memento Mori''s member, Chun Dong?

    Well, I will know when I visit himter.

    I then turned to the three of them, more specifically Lily, who was swaying around beside Zaiden with a smile. She was still too mysterious for me; I couldn''t reallyprehend her actions at all.

    At times, she was wary of me. And at other times, she acted like a normal girl. I needed to investigate her as soon as possible. To do that, I needed a lot of money.

    She noticed that I was staring at her and asked. "Is there something on my face? You are staring at me quite passionately."

    "Nothing. I was just wondering why you didn''t go to the ss with Ao or Mirana. You are in a different ss from us." I pointed at Zaiden and Lisa, who were my ssmates.

    "Ah! You didn''t know Lily''s ss, huh?" Asked Zaiden.

    "Come to think of it, I never told him." Said Lily as she giggled, as if amused that I didn''t know her ss. "My ss is located right beside yours, so we are headed in the same direction."

    "I see. Then let''s go." I walked away without waiting for them.

    The three of them followed shortly, and we then walked together side by side. The three of them were talking as I only listened to them while asionally answering the questions thrown at me.

    There was one thing that I noticed when I was with Zaiden. The stares from the other students were not as annoying as before.

    ''What a good shield you are.''

    While thinking that, I was able to reach the ssroom safely.

    ***

    [9:30 AM]

    [ssroom]

    The ss started a bitte because the teachers apparently had a morning meeting today. But now the ss was starting with the teacher exining the history of this world energetically.

    "As you''ve known, 78 years ago, in 1945, the dungeons started to appear in the world, stopping the World War Two that was still ongoing at that time."

    The students were seriously listening to the lecture, including me. I was not doing Mana Breathing this time to hear the lectures. This invited some curious nces that I asionally felt from the other students. Even Zaiden seemed surprised that I was not sleeping, but I couldn''t care less as I was interested in the teacher''s exnation.

    The teacher who gave the lecture right now was someone from India named Ali, invited directly by Jack to teach history. He was an expert in history, and his exnation was easy to understand. He appeared happy when all the students, including me, listened to his exnation.

    "The incident was called the Outbreak and was soon followed by another important historical point a monthter. That important historical point was the appearance of the Awakeners. They are humans who have Awokened Mana and Talents. Awakeners could do something that was not humanly possible, and they helped the military to clear the dungeons one by one."

    I already knew about that. I wrote that when Zaiden first entered the dungeon in my novel.

    "Not long after that, around three years after the first Outbreak, the situation had calmed down considerably. The Awakeners and the military managed to clear most of the dungeons and push the monsters to the desert. Until now, the deserts around the world, such as in the Middle-East and the African continent, were still filled with monsters and became danger zones."

    The monsters could live as long as there was Mana and food. They didn''t need water, and the Awakeners''st resort, since they were not strong enough at that time, was to push the monster to uninhabitable zones. The desert became the best choice because almost no humans lived in the desert area.

    ''Because of that, the monsters that were in Africa and the Middle East now became too strong and too many for humans to reim thend. Hence, it turned into a barrennd filled with strong monsters.''

    "The second Outbreak happened not long after the situation calmed down. In 1950, the biggest and deepest dungeon appeared in Africa, which became the home of monsters. Does anyone know the name of that deepest dungeon and the boss that appeared in the deepest part of that dungeon?"

    Ali asked the students as he looked around to see if there were any students who raised their hands. As expected from someone who loved books, Lisa was the only student who raised their hand.

    "Yes, Lisa. You may answer."

    "The dungeon is called the Abyss, and the boss is the Demon King, a special monster that someone with a Hero Trait can only defeat."

    "That''s correct." Ali nodded his head, satisfied with the answer. "Let''s continue."

    He began to exin what happened next, about how the first Hero killed the Demon King with hispanion. Then he suddenly jumped to the third Outbreak, the reappearance of the Abyss and the Demon King.

    The second Hero managed to y the revived Demon King while sacrificing himself in the process. I never described how the second Hero died. Heck, I never mentioned him at all in the novel, so I was curious about him.

    The lectures continued until how the Awakeners started to create guilds. Countries also made their own Awakeners organization.

    Most countries used the name Awakener Association because it was simple, but some countries used different names. For example, Awakened Knight in the UK; Murim Alliance in Korea; Cultivator n in China.

    I found out a lot from this lecture. However, some parts of the history were still missing, including why the second Hero sacrificed himself and how the news about his sacrifice reached the surface. It seems I needed to investigate them myself.

    Without me realizing it, the ss had gone by more than an hour, and it had almost ended.

    "Before the ss ends, is there any question?" Ali observed the students, but none of them raised their hands. "Good. I see that there is no question for today''s lecture as it is amon history that everyone knows." He was satisfied that no one asked a question about his lecture.

    "I guess we can end the ss now. Have a nice day, and don''t forget to review what you learned today."

    He tidied the books that he brought to the ss before walking out. The next ss was math; I hated it. Math sucks.

    ''I guess I will do Mana Breathing again today.''

    I put my head on the table and did Mana Breathing. With my sharp hearing, I could hear Lisa muttering from her seat.

    "Huh? I guess he will sleep again."

 Chapter 36 Smithâ€™s Request

    [03:05 PM]

    Zaiden and the girls immediately surrounded me before being pulled to the cafeteria at lunch break. They interrogated me about my new house and wanted to visit it.

    I told them that mypanion was ufortable with strangers, so I couldn''t take them to my house for now. They were satisfied when I told them that I would introduce mypanion to them at ater date.

    For now, that was enough to keep them from discovering my house. The ss continued after that, and as usual, I didn''t pay attention to the ss and did Mana Breathing instead.

    The ss ended at 3 PM like usual. Because Smith was looking for me, I left the ss without talking to Zaiden or the others. They understood that I was in a hurry from our conversation at lunch break with Ao, so they just said goodbye to me without stopping me.

    I exited the main building immediately, following the merry students toward the entrance gate. They were joking and talking with their friends and seemingly had no worries about what was happening in the world. Such was the privilege of the ignorant.

    For someone like me, who knew what would happen to the world, time seemed to flow faster and was chasing after me. Even now, Smith suddenly called me for a reason that I didn''t know.

    ''Ao didn''t know what Smith wanted from me either. That means it''s something rted to Rai or Awakener things.''

    I tried to guess Smith''s reason for calling me when I noticed a crowd that had formed near the entrance gate. The students were flocking to one ce, creating a semi-circle around one side of the wall near the entrance gate.

    With my sharp hearing, I was able to pick up a few things from the crowd.

    "You''re so pretty!" Asked one of the female students.

    "Hey! Do you have a boyfriend?" Asked a yboy that was not as popr as Zaiden or me.

    "May I ask who you are, miss?" Asked a student with sses who looked strict.

    As expected, they had a lot of spare time that they even stopped to crowd around a girl.

    "What a stupid thing to do," I muttered to myself as I put my hands inside my pants pocket and walked past the crowd.

    However, when I walked past the crowd, a familiar voice stopped me from the middle of the crowd.

    "Vincent, wait."

    I stopped on my track and followed the source of the voice. Because of the people that crowded around me, I was not able to see her figure, but I knew who had called me earlier.

    "Chloe?" I asked while facing the crowd.

    The crowd suddenly turned their attention to me. I scowled at them, and they immediately turned their heads away. They were terrified of just that. My reputation as a delinquent was still working nicely.

    A secondter, the owner of the voice that called me out earlier spoke.

    <o>,m "Yeah, It''s me."</o>

    She jumped from the middle of the crowd andnded beside me. It was really Chloe, and she wore clothes that were simr to our uniform. The effect of her ne changed her face, so no one recognized her as the Hero. Even so, she still gathered a lot of attention because she was pretty.

    I turned to her and asked, "Why are you here?"

    "I just finished my cooking ss, so I thought of walking home together with you."

    The students around us began to murmur with the people around them. Some even took pictures of us without even hiding their attempts.

    ''Fuck.''

    This could be bad for me. But I couldn''t do anything to them. My expression worsened, and Chloe noticed it.

    "What''s wrong?" She asked worriedly.

    "Nothing." I shook my head at her.

    Ah, fuck. I couldn''t even me Chloe for what she did, as she even went to the length of using the ne to change her face when she visited me. The only thing that I could do right now was one.

    I red at the crowd of students and cautioned them, "Oi. If I find my picture spread on the inte, get ready to be beaten, you bastards."

    Their bodies flinched as they kept their phones back in their pockets. Some of them were sweating as they averted their gazes, avoiding direct eye contact with me. Finally, the crowd began to disperse at the instruction of the strict sses-wearing boy earlier. At least with this, I could minimize the leak of information.

    Although no one would connect me to Rai, some would still be suspicious if suddenly a girl with the name of Chloe appeared in the Academy to find me. I clicked my tongue at a blunder that I had made. Unfortunately, I forgot to warn Chloe about it.

    "Tsk!"

    However, what had happened couldn''t be changed. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and smiled at Chloe.

    "My bad, Chloe. I showed you something rather unbing of me."

    She shook her head; her eyes held a hint of guilt. "No, it''s fine. I''m sorry, Vincent. It looks like I made a mistake bying here."

    "You''re not. It''s just¡­ I wanted toy low for a while. If a beautiful girl like you suddenly appeared in the Academy to find me, the rumors about me would go wild, and I wouldn''t be able to keep a low profile. I already talked about having apanion that lived with me with my friends, so it''s not a problem."

    ''Well, it''s not like I ever managed to keep a low profile in the first ce.'' I added in my head.

    I was only hoping that Zaiden and the girls wouldn''t bother me tomorrow after they heard about Chloe from the rumors. That would be troublesome, and I wanted to avoid that at all costs. But¡­ It seems that I couldn''t avoid being bothered, huh?

    Chloe smiled. "I see¡­ Then, should we go home?"

    "Ah, about that¡­ I need to make a stop somewhere first."

    "Huh?" She tilted her head cutely. There was curiosity mixed in her voice. "Where?"

    "My Master''s ce."

    ***

    [03:20 PM]

    [Waterflow Training Facility]

    We arrived at the training facility after walking for a while. On the way, I told Chloe about my Master, Smith. She was surprised when she heard that he was the Sword Saint.

    Even someone like her knew the story about Smith, the Sword Saint. He was famous for clearing an S-Rank Dungeon with the headmaster of the Academy, Jack, and an anonymous Awakener when they were still active. Those old men were really active when they were in their prime.

    In front of the training facility, Chloe was looking around the area curiously, mixed with excitement, as this would be the first time she met the Sword Saint.

    I knocked on the training center''s door and called out to Smith. "Master, I am here."

    A few secondster, a voice answered me from inside.

    "Just enter,d! Go to the training area and wait for me there with the otherd."

    "He noticed me¡­" Chloe whispered, surprised that Smith noticed her presence.<sub> </sub>

    "It''s not a surprise. He''s the freaking Sword Saint."

    "I guess so."

    I opened the door and entered with Chloe. As Smith instructed before, we went to the training area, a dojo located at the end of the hallway. Because there were no chairs, we sat adjacent on the wooden floor.

    "Vincent, I wanted to ask something. Is it okay?" Asked Chloe hesitantly.

    I smiled kindly at her and answered, "Just ask me anything. We are partners. Don''t hesitate to ask anything, even if it''s a bit sensitive and personal. I won''t mind about it, and I will answer you as much as I can."

    "Then¡­ How did you be the Sword Saint''s disciple? I-I mean¡­ Sword Saint had hidden himself after he retired. How did you find him?"

    "Hmm. That''s a rather hard question." I mumbled as I touched my chin. "Let''s say that I found him coincidentally, and he was impressed by my swordsmanship talent. That''s why he decided to make me his disciple." I smirked proudly at Chloe.

    I was just joking in order to avoid the question, but Chloe unexpectedly believed what I said as she nodded her head. "I see... You didn''t tell me your Talents yet¡­" Her voice was a little down when she said thest part of the sentence.

    "Oh¡­ right¡­" I forgot to tell her because we retreated early yesterday. I looked at Chloe seriously and said, "Please don''t tell anyone about this."

    Sensing that I was serious, she narrowed her eyes slightly.

    "Alright."

    After coughing a little to clear my throat, I told her my secret that no one knew before, "I have 4 Talents."

    Her eyes slightly widened as she asked, "Really?"

    I nodded my head, "Yes, I have S-Rank in Enhancement and Sharpshooting Talents. Also, A-Rank in Swordsmanship and Magic Talent."

    Chloe''s mouth gaped. She tried to say something, but it seemed to be stuck in her throat. At that moment, I heard footstepsing from the hallway. I quickly pped my hands to snap Chloe out of her thoughts.

    "Master is here, Chloe."

    She gasped a little before looking at me.

    "Sorry¡­ I¡­ I couldn''t say anything because it was surprising."

    "I know. I would be surprised too if someone told me that they had something absurd."

    "Yes, I will tell you my Talentster, at home."

    "Okay."

    At that time, the door of the training area was opened, and Smith appeared from beyond with his right arm put inside his training clothes.

    "Thanks foring,ds."

    "It''s not a problem, Master. I heard from Ao that you called me, Is there anything that... you possibly need from me, Master?" I asked Smith with a careful tone.

    In the novel, he was famous for asking Zaiden to do something impossible at short notice. I had prepared myself to hear something a bit absurd from him today.

    "Hahahaha. Don''t be too tense. I won''t ask something impossible out of you." Heughed and walked toward me. He sat down right in front of me and looked at Chloe. "Hou? What a wonderful mask." He muttered as he stroked his beard.

    Chloe was immediately on guard, but that only made Smith chuckle in amusement.

    "Kukuku, what an amusing brat. Don''t worry; my mouth will not spread your real identity. The same goes with my disciple."

    "Hahahaha. Thank you for that¡­"

    He could see through the illusion made by the ne. As expected from the former S-Rank Awakener, he was a monster under human skin.

    "More importantly,d. I was thinking of asking you something else, but I changed my mind after I heard your Talents." A smirk formed on his face.

    I somehow had a bad feeling about this. All the requests from Smith were always troublesome ones, but the reward frompleting his request was really appealing.

    "What is it, Master?"

    "You¡­ Make me an item with an effect like that brat''s. I prefer the one that I couldn''t see through, not a lousy illusion like that." He said as he pointed at Chloe''s ne.

    At that moment, the first thing that came to my mind was a thought that said, ''Are you crazy?'' but I kept it in my mind.

    He wanted me to create an item to change someone''s mask without being able to be seen through him, S-Rank Awakener?

    He was asking for something troublesome, for sure. The materials needed to make such items would only be avable in A-Ranked Dungeons from a monster called Dark Chameleon, which specialized in camouge.

    An item made from normal materials, such as Chloe''s ne, wouldn''t do. The material used to make a special item like that was an extremely important factor in getting the effect that Smith wanted. A material from a monster adept at illusion or camouge would be perfect to create an item with an Illusion effect.

    It would further strengthen the effect of the enhancement. But it was too troublesome to secure those materials and make the item from scratch.

    "About that¨C" I was about to refuse Smith''s request, but he suddenly interrupted me.

    "I think I will give my treasured Brahmastra to the one who managed to make that mask¡­" He pretended to talk to the air as he nced at me.

    "Of course, I will take your request dly, Master!"

    But no matter how troublesome the request was, if the reward of that request was a sword artifact wielded by Rama in the mythology, then it would be worth it. After all, that sword Artifact was Smith''s main weapon when he was in his prime.

    I smiled brightly at Smith with my hand on my chest to show sincerity.

    "Is that so?! This Master is d that you epted it, my student!"

    "Don''t worry about it, Master! I will deliver the mask as soon as possible!"

    "I am d to have such a promising student. Hahahahaha."

    "Of course! I am the best student that you can hope for, Master. Hahahahaha."

    Both of usughed loudly with evil smiles as our voices echoed inside this wrecked building.

    Chloe was looking at us on the sideline with a confused gaze. She couldn''t understand what happened, but then she joined us,ughing loudly while putting on an evil expression.

    "Fufufufufu."

    We looked like the members of an evil society that nned the destruction of the world.

    That day, everyone who passed the Waterflow Training Facility was confused by the loudugh. They reported a ghost-type monster haunting the wrecked building to the local authorities. But that is a story for another time.

 Chapter 37 New Determination

    [16 April 2023, 04:15 PM]

    [Academy Hall]

    "Hap!"

    Swoosh! Tak! Tak! Tang!

    The sound of wooden swords hitting each other rang in the Academy hall, which was opened after school on Zaiden''s request to train himself.

    He was sparring with someone in the Academy hall, and that someone was obviously me.

    "Too slow!" I shouted and struck Zaiden''s sword.

    Due to my sudden and sharp strike, his sword wasunched from his hand. With no weapon in his hand, I defeated him easily by putting my wooden sword near his neck.

    "Ouch¡­I surrender." Zaiden stated as he raised both hands. A satisfied smile on his face made me think that he was a masochist who loved to be bullied.

    "How many times have you lost already?" I smirked as I pulled my wooden sword back and held it with my left hand near my waist.

    "Thirty times with this."

    "And yet, you still asked for a spar. Let''s end this for today."

    "Yeah."

    I walked toward the piles of wooden weapons while Zaiden went to pick up the wooden sword that I had knocked out earlier. I put back the wooden sword, and Zaiden walked toward me.

    It had been a week since Smith made his request, and as expected, the rumors about me living with a beautiful girl had spread around the Academy. Thankfully, the news only circted among the students, so I didn''t need to take the measure of asking someone from the Merchant Store to delete the news.

    Some of the rumors were just the fantasies of the students. There was even a rumor that Chloe was, in fact, my sister. That rumor was spread due to the simrities of our hair and eye color, which were ck and red, respectively.

    Chloe had also told me about her Talent after we went home from Smith''s ce. I already knew about it, so I was never curious about it. Her Talents were simr to Zaiden''s, but instead of Swordsmanship, she had Polemanship Talent, which allowed her to use any pole-shaped weapons, including a spear,nce, or halberd.

    A day after I met with Smith, Zaiden came to me for a spar. As promised, I sparred with him almost every day after the sses ended. I went to Smith''s ce at the weekend and built my strength to hunt some monsters that were adept at illusion on a field located in Japan.

    Fortunately, Smith didn''t give me a deadline, which meant his request was not that urgent. I could rest easy a bit.

    Chloe also trained herself at night in the underground area. I taught her the Heavenly Breathing Method, hoping that it would suit her, and it did. She was able to make fast progress with her strength, and she said that she was almost advancing to A-Rank.

    "But Vincent, I never thought that you lived with someone that beautiful." Zaiden spoke while getting a towel from his bag, located near the pile of wooden weapons. He wiped the sweat off his face as he looked at me with a bright smile.

    "Look who was talking about a beautiful girl. Aren''t you surrounded by many?" I picked up my bag that I put near Zaiden''s.

    "Hahahaha. Well, that''s true. Anyway, thanks for sparring with me today too."

    "No problem. Don''t forget to put ointment on the bruises on your body."

    "I will." He answered shortly. There was a hint of loneliness in his eyes.

    Come to think of it, he would be an Awakener in five days. He needed to leave the Academy at that time if he wanted to get stronger to face future events.

    "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him, and he scratched his cheek.

    "Hahaha¡­ Nothing. It''s just¡­ If one of us ever Awakens in the future, do you think we can still spar like this?"

    "Hah?" I huffed. "What are you talking about, you bastard? If we Awaken in the future, I will be able to beat you easily. Why are you talking as if we will never see each other again?"

    Whether you like it or not, I will be by your side, Zaiden. You didn''t need to worry about me going missing or something. If I was not by your side, who would make you stronger? Who would make you suffer?

    You are a fucking cheat character. Combined with your knowledge from your previous life memories, you were technically unbeatable until thetter half of the story.

    I hoped I could tell him all of that.

    However, I was Vincent. I was an Extra. I was not supposed to know anything.

    "Don''t ever think of beating me even after you Awaken as an Awakener. At that time, I will remind you how you lost against me and won''t hold back like today. Remember that."

    "Yeah..You''re right. I see¡­ So I can do that too. I don''t need to disappear even after I am Awakened. I can stay while having a spar with you again." Zaiden began to mutter something iprehensible.

    This guy. What did he n? He wasn''t thinking of staying at the academy, right?

    I shouldn''t run my mouth like that. This fucker must''ve thought that he didn''t need to leave the girls. Feeling that he would dere something unnecessary, I quickly added.

    "However, Zaiden."

    "Yes?" He asked. His face had a hit of newfound determination.

    "If you choose to stay at the Academy even after you are Awakened, I will fucking hate you. If you be an Awakened, you should build your strength by training yourself or raiding some dungeons. You know that the Hero appears at this age, right?"

    "¡­"

    His face changed once again. He fell into deep thought. I didn''t know what he was thinking about, but I bet it was something along the lines of saving the world or something. After all¡­ this Zaiden was a kind man who had a heroplex.

    Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked away as I waved at him with my free hand.

    "Well, I will leave it to you when that timees. But, I will leave this Academy as soon as I be an Awakener."

    Then I walked away, leaving Zaiden behind in the hall.

    ***

    Zaiden stood alone in the hall whileplementing what his friend said earlier.

    "Of course, I know about it." He muttered to himself as he clenched his fist that held the towel. "How can I not know about it?"

    In fact, he also knew about something far more dangerous than a mere Demon King. He was always anxious about that.

    "I know that I need to get stronger as fast as I can, Vincent."

    He put his towel back into his bag after he wiped his sweat clean. There was a determined gaze burning in his eyes.

    "You will leave the decision to me, huh?"

    Picking up his back, he then started to walk out of the hall.

    "Then, isn''t the answer obvious?" His lips curled into a grin. "Five days¡­ I will use that time wisely to live my life to the fullest."

    Because after five days, he would be Awakened as an Awakener. Starting from that, various incidents involving him would happen. He didn''t know when he would be able to meet with his friends again.

    The responsibility that the man called Zaiden held was big. He was the supposed Savior of this world, though the world didn''t know about him¡­ yet.

    "Don''t worry. I will work hard, and I won''t fall into despair." He said confidently. "Because I am strong."<sub> </sub>

    That day, Zaiden gained another motivation to get stronger thanks to his friend. Even so, he didn''t know about the creeping shadow that nned to interfere in the future events involving him. The shadow called Rai.

    "Also¡­ I don''t want to disappoint my friend."

    ***

    [House]

    [05:00 PM]

    "I am home!" I eximed loudly as I closed the door behind me.

    This had be my routine ever since I lived with her. For some reason, she wanted me to announce my arrival because she wanted to greet me back. And so, I started to look forward to her greeting.

    "Wee back!" Answered Chloe. Her voice came from inside, more specifically, the Kitchen.

    I walked through the hallway, passed the living room, and arrived at the kitchen. Chloe was standing in front of a stove while wearing an apron. There was a pot on the stove; it was closed by a tight ss lid, and Chloe was looking at it intensely. She opened the lid, and immediately, a pleasing aroma of spice hit my nose. I instantly knew what she was trying to make.

    "Oh? You''re making curry?"

    "Yes, how do you know?" Asked Chloe as she scooped a little bit of brown substance from the pot. She smelled it a little before putting it into her mouth. "Hn~" A small moan of delight escaped her mouth.

    "I made a lot of curry in the past, so I knew about it."

    "Really? Then I hope this one fits your taste." Said Chloe. She turned the stove off and turned to me; her lips were curled in a smile.

    "I hope so. Let me help you with serving."

    I approached the shelf where the tes were stored and took two long tes and two spoons that were usually used to serve curry rice. I used the skill that I sharpened when I lived alone and threw the te on the dining table. It flew smoothly andnded on the table gently without making a sound.

    "Perfect." I nodded satisfyingly and turned to Chloe.

    She was holding the pot while using the potholder in both hands. She put the pot in the middle of the table before throwing the potholder inside her magic bag that she always wore around her waist.

    "Vincent, can you bring the rice cooker to the table?"

    "On it."

    I went to the kitchen, opened the rice cooker, pulled out the pot that was filled with rice, and brought it to the table beside the steaming hot pot filled with curry.

    It had now be a daily routine as Chloe became morefortable with me. We were doing anything while knowing what each other needed, as if we had lived under the same roof for a long time. Maybe it was because I created Chloe based on my fantasy of an ideal girlfriend? But I was alsofortable living together with her.

    Chloe scooped the rice onto her te without saying anything, and I did the same to my te. She then put the curry on my te first before putting it on her te.

    "Thank you." I smiled at her.

    "No problem. I love doing this." She replied back with a bright smile.

    At the time, I was thinking that maybe living like this might not be bad; it might be better to hide somewhere and live peacefully. However, this kind of life would onlyst for five more days, as the first act would start after Zaiden Awakened, in five days.

    As we ate our curry rice in delight, I spoke in a low voice. "Chloe¡­ Let''s hit the field tomorrow."

    "Hmm?" She mumbled. Her mouth was filled with rice to the brim. She swallowed the rice in her mouth before asking. "Do you need money?"

    "No, I want to get stronger. I feel like I am getting close to advancing to D-Rank. At least I want to advance to D-Rank in three days."

    "I see. What field do you want to visit? The D-Rank Forest Wolves in New York or the C-Rank Kobold Field in Chicago?"

    "I was thinking of going to the Forest Wolves one. You are about to advance to A-Rank too, right? Maybe you can advance after we kill some Forest Wolves. Though the mana gained from killing monsters is not as efficient as using the Mana Breathing Method."

    She nodded her head as she stuffed her mouth with another spoonful of curry. "Un. I know that. I also don''t mind going to the New York one."

    "Good." I smiled, stuffed my mouth with a spoonful of rice and curry before swallowing it.

    "Let''s get [Party Bracelet] at Park Injun''s ce tomorrow before going to New York. I need to secure an Artifact from the Forest Wolves Field while we are hunting, so we can kill two birds with one stone."

    "Hmm? An Artifact?"

    "Yup. This one is a nasty Artifact that''s perfect for a sharpshooter like me."

    I then opened my status to see the change after training for three weeks.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Vincent Dihart

    Rank: E

    Strength: D-

    Agility: D-

    Endurance: D-

    Mana: D+

    Luck: S

    Talent:

    - Sharpshooting (S)

    - Enhancement (S)

    - Swordsmanship (A)

    - Magic (A)

    Trait:

    - Deceitful

    -----

    I grinned while looking at the translucent screen in front of me.

    ''Come at me, main story. I will be ready as soon as I get my hands on that Artifact.''

 Chapter 38 Party Bracelet

    [07:00 PM]

    After having an early dinner and washing the dishes clean, Chloe went to the underground area to do Mana Breathing while I went out for a stroll.

    My destination was Park Injun''s shop. I wanted to secure a set of [Party Bracelet] for Chloe and me. The Awakener Store sold them, but as usual, they sold them at a high price that was on the edge of ripping their customers.

    The effect of every [Party Bracelet] was the same. It was sharing Mana that Awakeners got from the monster that they killed. The set of [Party Bracelet] had the same marking that made each set unique. Also, a set of [Party Bracelet] consisted of six bracelets, so each party had a maximum number of six people.

    The Mana that was shared would be lesser the more people in the party. So if one were in a party of two, the Mana they got from killing a monster would be half of the usual. If someone were in a party of three, the Mana that they got would only be a third of the usual, and so on.

    Usually, that would be enough for a normal Awakener, but I wouldn''t be satisfied. I had a perfect Enhancement material with me, Great Lich''s blood, and I was willing to make a bit of sacrifice in order to get stronger, even if it was a little.

    Tinkle¨C Ring¨C

    I opened the door of Park Injun''s store and announced my presence. "Are you there, artifact pervert?"

    For some reason, I had a feeling that he wouldn''t be offended by my small joke, and I called him a pervert on purpose. The fake [Monalisa Painting] was still hung beside [Elizabeth Painting] on the wall near the table.

    Park Injun was sitting on his rocking chair in his old man disguise. He was holding today''s newspaper in his hand. When I called out to him, he raised his head and frowned.

    "You are quite rude, huh? So, what does this rude customer of mine want from me this time? Let me tell you; I can''t take information as payment for now."

    "I know." I approached him while looking around the store. There was nothing that changed from the first time I visited. "I am here for a small item. Do you have [Party Bracelet] in your stock?"

    "[Party Bracelet] is it? I do have it. But, why bother yourself with visiting me to get it? You can get that item at the Awakener Store."

    What was he talking about? Awakener Store? Was a store that ripped off its customers the best ce that one could visit?

    Seeing my expression that changed from my usual smile to a disgusted one, Park Injun quickly added.

    "¡­ or not. Hahahaha, what did you buy from them, and for how much?"

    "¡­ Introduction of Basic Magic. A hundred thousand USD."

    Park Injun looked at me while repeatedly blinking before bursting out inughter.

    "Hahahahaha! Y-You what?!"

    I gritted my teeth in anger as I threw my face away and clicked my tongue.

    "Tsk! It''s fucking useless. It only exined about how to use small Magic like creating a small fire and such. I still read it because it taught me how to use magic, but I will never buy anything from that store again."

    "Hahahahaha! Did you really buy that book? You can read it for free from the library!"

    I turned to Park Injun after I heard his sentence. No, I must have heard it wrong.

    "Excuse me, can you repeat what you said again?"

    "Huh?! Ah, you can read the introduction to basic magic for free from the library located in the center of Los Angeles. You can even see the library from the front of this store. So you didn''t know about it?"

    "I don''t." I shook my head. "Those bastards!" My anger almost reached its peak because of the fact that I heard from Park Injun.

    So that meant I just spent a fucking hundred thousand USD for a useless book that could be read for free in the library?

    How the fuck I was supposed to know that! I never wrote anything about such a thing!

    "Fuck!" I cursed loudly, and Park Injun justughed it off as if it was amusing.

    "Hahahaha. It''s been a long time since Iughed like this. You are too good, kid."

    "Yeah, yeah. Justugh at it. Shit! I will fuck those guyster! I will empty their savings after I deal with that scammer!"

    Due to my anger, I identally blurted out information that I wanted to keep from Park Injun. But fortunately, he didn''t react to it. Maybe he thought that the scammer was the one who operated the Awakener Store.

    "Good luck with that, kid. The Awakener Store is a shop under Awakener Association''s authority."

    "I don''t really care. Do you think I care about the Awakener Association after I snatched Chloe from them?"

    "Fair point. Well, youe here for [Party Bracelet], right? Let me get it for you."

    He reached out to the shelves behind him and moved his hand around. He pulled a metal box a few secondster and put it on the table.

    "Here. Check it. The password is 5223."

    I input the password of the box and opened the box after it was unlocked. Inside the box, six ck bracelets were put in two rows. I took one of them and inspected it.

    _____

    [Party Bracelet #3171]

    [Null Attribute]

    Effect:

    - Mana Sharing

    Sharing a Mana gotten from killing a monster to other people with the same bracelet code. The effectiveness will decrease with more people in one party.

    2 People: 50 percent Mana each person

    3 People: 33 percent Mana each person

    4 People: 25 percent Mana each person

    5 People: 20 percent Mana each person

    6 People: 16 percent Mana each person

    _____

    The name of the bracelet was written alongside the code that showed its set. Only a bracelet with code #3171 would share a Mana of the monster killed by someone who wore the bracelet with the same code.

    "How much is it?"

    "Fifty grand. No discount."

    I pulled out my smartphone from my pocket and transferred the exact amount of money to Park Injun. His bank ount was saved on my phone, so transferring money was easy.

    "Thanks." I took the box and put it into my magic bag. "Also, Park Injun."

    "Yeah?"

    "If a boy named Zaidenes here in the future, I hope you can help him. He''s an Archman."

    Park Injun''s eyes widened a little when he heard Zaiden''s family name. His lips curled up, and he stroked his chin.

    "Hou... Archman, huh. So that''s why that old man took a disciple. And he unexpectedly chose you, who asked for a bow from me, to be his disciple. How amusing."

    As expected, the reason why Smith took a disciple was Archman''s family. Their swordsmanship was equal to Smith''s, so it was no wonder if he was rted in some way to them.<sub> </sub>

    Smith''s backstory was not too fleshed out in the novel, but he acted rather suspiciously when he heard about Zaiden, and he ultimately chose Ao to inherit his secret technique instead of the more talented Zaiden.

    "There is another girl who studied under him beside me. There is nothing set in stone yet."

    "I know about that. Fine, I will help the one named Zaiden if he visits this store. Of course, that only applies if he pays for my help, though."

    "That''s enough. Thanks." I turned around and walked to the exit.

    "You''re wee. Come again with more money next time!"

    I raised my hand to tell him that I got it and closed the door behind me.

    ***

    [08:30 PM]

    I went home after walking around a little. Chloe had done with her training and was waiting for me in front of the house. She sat on a chair that she had brought from inside the house.

    When she saw me approaching the house, she smiled and greeted me.

    "Wee back, Vincent."

    "Yeah, I am back. I got the bracelets already."

    "I see. When should we go to New York?"

    "Hmm, I was thinking of going tomorrow at dawn. I need to enhance the bracelets to get a better effect." I grinned at Chloe, and she nodded her head.

    "Then I will order our ticket to fly to New York. Is first ss okay with you?"

    This girl¡­ Asked whether the first ss was okay as if she had never been sitting in an economy ss. Was she mocking me?

    In my entire two lives, I had never sat on a first-ss flight before!

    However, I still put on the air and nodded my head confidently.

    "That''s alright. I will begin my work immediately in the underground area. If you want to sleep first, then feel free too."

    "Un. I know." She pulled out her phone and raised it. "I will sleepter after watching some cat videos."

    "Cat videos? Alright."

    Unexpectedly, she had a cute side of her. A girl who watched cat videos was cute, without a doubt.

    I caught sight of her smiling while looking at her phone before I entered the house.

    ''She loves cats, huh?''

    Closing the door behind me, I went to the underground area to enhance the bracelets.

    "I hope to get a better percentage."

    I sat in the center of the underground training area as I pulled out the box with six [Party Bracelets] from my magic bag.

    Even if there were six bracelets inside the box, their effect was shared. Meaning, if the effect on one bracelet was changed, the other''s bracelet effect would also be changed.

    That was why I only needed to enhance one bracelet this time.

    I took one bracelet from the bag and pulled out Great Lich''s blood from my magic bag.

    The attribute of the bracelet was Null; I didn''t need to change it. I held the bracelet in my left hand as I infused Null attribute mana into it. The color of the Mana was blue, almost simr to the water attribute Mana.

    My right hand trembled a little as I carefully tilted the ss with Great Lich''s blood. This was an expensive investment, so I hope my Luck would miraculously be triggered again this time.

    A drop of Great Lich''s blood dripped from the edge of the ss onto the bracelet. As soon as the blood touched the bracelet, it shined brightly with white light.

    The light didn''tst for too long, unlike when I was enhancing [Arash Bow], but a row of notifications that followed suit told me that the Enhancement process was a sess.

    [Party Bracelet enhancement was sessful. The effect of the item has been amplified.]

    [Party Bracelet turned into Party Bracelet +1]

    My Luck was not triggered, but I was not panicked as the notification said the effect of the item has been amplified.

    Calmly, I inspected the [Party Bracelet] in my hand.

    _____

    [Party Bracelet #3171 +1]

    [Null Attribute]

    Effect:

    - Mana Sharing

    Sharing a Mana gotten from killing a monster to another person with the same bracelet. The effectiveness will decrease with more people in one party.

    2 People: 53 percent Mana each person

    3 People: 35 percent Mana each person

    4 People: 26 percent Mana each person

    5 People: 21 percent Mana each person

    6 People: 17 percent Mana each person

    _____

    The increase was just a little; it was not even worth mentioning. However, it was still an increment nheless, and I was quite happy with the result. It even increased the Mana we absorbed from the monster from 50 percent to 53 percent when we wore the bracelet, an increment of 6 percent in total.

    "Good. It''s good enough."

    Maybe it was only 3 percent, but it would certainly be a good investment for the future. The effect wouldn''t show too much when we killed a small fry monster, but if we killed a high-rank monster, the effect of the increment would be tremendous.

    "Next, I just need that item, and it will be perfect."

    The Artifact that I nned to recover tomorrow. It wouldn''t increase my strength, but it would be useful for a sharpshooter like me.

    "Maybe I will look for a Dark Chameleon skin while we are at it. I don''t need a sword for at least two months, and Smith isn''t rushing me to finish the request, but there is nothing wrong with finishing his request a bit early. That way, I can get used to the sword before announcing my Awakening."

    I put the bracelet back into its box before stuffing it into my magic bag alongside the Great Lich''s blood. I stood up and dusted my butt.

    "It''s going to be a busy day tomorrow."

 Chapter 39 Forest Wolves Field

    New cover on work, featuring our lovely Hero xD (Image in thement, I hope I can put it on time.)

    ***

    [17 April 2023, 11:30 AM]

    [New York, Pelham Bay Park]

    Pelham Bay Park was New York City''srgest park, or so it was supposed to be on Earth. Thirty years ago, the dungeon located in this park overflowed, and this park became the home of D-Rank Forest Wolves ever since.

    The area around it was surrounded by a lightning fence that kept the wolves inside. In the field, the trees had grown more than 5 meters high because of the influence of Mana. It became a small jungle in the middle of the city.

    This field was not toomon due to how fast the wolves moved around, so only a few people who specialized in hunting wolves were currently hunting inside the field.

    We just needed to show our Awakener ID to the guards at the entrance to enter the field. The entrance was only a small steel door behind the guards.

    And now, we were waiting for my turn to enter the field as Chloe peered at me and asked. "Are you nervous, Rai?"

    "Nah, not really."

    Chloe wore a suit that matched mine. A sleeveless ck hoodie with a skin-tight full bodysuit underneath it. She also wore a carbon chest armor and mini-skirtbined with knee-highbat boots. Her magic bag was strapped on her waist, and the [Party Bracelet] was secured on her left wrist,pleting her fashion.

    "I see. I thought you were nervous because this is the first time you are hunting in the field, but it''s good if you are okay."

    Due to Chloe''s clothing or people recognizing her as the Hero, we got a lot of stares since we arrived. Fortunately, I was wearing a mask and put my hood on, so no one noticed that I was ring at them.

    "I have been hunting alone since I was first Awakened, so I was used to it," I answered Chloe and looked at the guards in front of me. "Anyway, how long do we have to wait until we can enter the field?"

    "Because thest party entered five minutes ago, then five more minutes until we can enter."

    To avoid two parties bumping into each other in the field, the Awakener Association made a rule that a party needed to wait 10 minutes to enter the previous party. This rule seemed annoying, but it was needed to make the Awakeners feel secure.

    Some Awakeners died because another party attacked them in the field after they were finished for the day. Apparently, the party that attacked the other was tailing them since they entered the field and were waiting for them to kill many monsters before killing them.

    The Awakener Association had managed to catch the perpetrator a month after the incident, but five more parties had be victims before they were caught.

    As the field was bigger than a dungeon, the Awakeners that patrolled inside the field couldn''t cover much area. That was why this rule was enforced, so no one could feel safe when they entered the field.

    "Even so, it''s too long. I want to advance to D-Rank as fast as I can."

    The people behind me seemed to hear what I said as some of them gasped in surprise.

    "D-Rank?! Isn''t he Awakened like¡­ three weeks ago?" Asked one of the Awakeners.

    "That''s right! I remembered the news about that!" Answered a female Awakener.

    "What kind of training did he go through to advance that fast?" Queried another Awakener.

    "I don''t know. But one thing is for sure¡­"

    "Yeah¡­"

    "He''s too talented." Agreed all Awakeners. They even said it at the same time.

    ''Hmm. It''s kind of embarrassing being praised in public like this.''

    I scratched my head underneath my hood as Chloe chuckled.

    "Fufufu, are you embarrassed, Rai?"

    "What are you talking about?" I tried to hide my embarrassment by acting cool.

    "Nothing." She answered lightly while smiling happily.

    Because the conversation stopped with that, she pulled out wireless earphones and plugged them into her ears. She then took out her phone from her magic bag and watched a video.

    I was curious about what she watched and peeked over her shoulder. Unsurprisingly, she was watching a cat video. It was a video about a white cat rolling around the field, chasing a dragonfly around.

    She noticed that I peeked into her phone and turned to me.

    "Do you want to watch it together?" She moved her phone closer to me and pulled the earphone from her left ear, and handed it to me.

    "Yeah. Why not? I have nothing to do." I took the earphone and put it in my left ear. There was calming music apanying a soft purr of the cat.

    Honestly, it was rather addicting. I now understand why she loved watching cat videos.

    "Cute, isn''t it?" Asked Chloe as she giggled happily, watching the cat rolling to the right in the video.

    "It is¡­"

    ***

    As I watched the cat videos with Chloe, five minutes had passed without me realizing it. The guards opened the door and urged us to enter the field.

    I handed the earphone back to Chloe, and we entered the field. As soon as we entered, the door was closed, and we were left in the field. The exit of this field was through the same entrance. We just needed to knock on the door five times, and the guards would open it for us.

    The previous party could possibly ambush us, so we took out our weapons and put our guard up. Chloe took out Gae Bolg while I took out Arash Bow. My job as the Sharpshooter was to make sure that the area around us was clear, so I looked around as I sharpened my senses.

    We were surrounded by forest as soon as we entered the field; it was the perfect ce to ambush someone. However, even after I sharpened my senses, I felt no one around us, not even Forest Wolves. It should be the previous party; they had cleared the area around us.

    After everything was clear, I looked at Chloe and informed her. "All clear."

    "Okay. Where should we go?"

    "First, let''s get the Artifact that I n to recover. It''s located in the tallest tree right in the middle of the field."

    Hearing the information, Chloe nodded her head. "I will leave the path to you."

    "No problem. Follow me."

    I began to walk into the forest with Chloe walking right behind me. I was a bit nervous because the enemies were D-Rank monsters, but I should be fine with Chloe with me. She almost hit A-Rank, so D-Rank monsters were only small fries to her.

    We walked for a minute with our guard up, so our pace was a little slow. We didn''t even cover a fourth of the distance from our goal, but it was at this time the first enemy showed up. I heard a movement from the area on my left; the footsteps were light and fast.

    I stopped in my track and raised my right hand, and spoke.

    "It''s a Forest Wolf."<sub> </sub>

    "How many?" Asked Chloe calmly.

    "From the footsteps, I guess there are around five of them. Ten seconds before we made contact. I can get two of them from this distance. I will leave the rest to you."

    "Roger."

    I held the Arash Bow tightly and began to infuse Mana into it. Next, the Mana bowstring appeared, and I pulled it. Two Mana arrows appeared after I pulled the bowstring and infused Mana into the bow.

    Currently, two Mana Arrows are my limit. I tried to do three arrows at once, but the uracy was so bad that I needed more training before I could actually do it in a real fight.

    However, there was a downside to using two Mana Arrows at once. The piercing power of the arrow was reduced. But, it was not a problem this time, especially with the new effect of the [Arash Bow].

    I could see a pack of five Forest Wolves that approached us from a distance. I locked onto two of them before releasing the arrows.

    Swoosh¨C

    It flew straightly at a fast speed, severing the wind on its way. The wolves were still approaching without knowing that I had released my arrow. To my surprise, Chloe started to run toward the wolves right after my arrows flew toward them.

    My arrows were still faster than her. They flew through the trees and hit the bodies of two wolves simultaneously before exploding, instantly killing them.

    Boom!

    The new effect of [Arash Bow], Exploding Arrow, was as good as I thought. I tried it against the tree a while ago, but the explosion still amazed me. I never thought that I would be able to kill a D-Rank monster instantly, even when I was not D-Rank yet.

    That meant I could kill a monster with a Rank higher than me with this Explosive Arrow. An Artifact was indeed a cheat in this world.

    "Wow!" Chloe let out an amazed sound as she reached the remaining wolves. The wolves tried to run from her, but her spear had already moved. It pierced three wolves'' heads almost simultaneously while leaving a golden trail.

    Five wolves died just like that, almost like a joke.

    "Good job, Chloe." I approached Chloe and praised her.

    "Un. It''s easy." She answered me as she pulled the wolves'' fangs from the corpses. The ones that I killed were almost unrecognizable due to the explosions, so we couldn''t recover the fangs from them.

    It was a shame. The fangs could fetch a good price in the market. Today, I learned something. I shouldn''t use an explosive arrow recklessly while hunting.

    After securing all fangs from the corpses and putting them into her magic bag, Chloe smiled and said, "Hunting together is fun."

    "That''s right. This is my first time hunting with other people too. It''s fun."

    "Un!" She nodded her head energetically. "Let''s get that Artifact and continue our hunt, Vi- Rai!"

    She was so happy that she almost blurted out my real name while I was in Rai''s clothes. Fortunately, she was able to call me by my persona name. Not like anyone could hear us in the middle of the field.

    "Yes."

    ***

    After walking for a few minutes and killing a few more wolves, we arrived at the tallest tree in the field. It looked like a pine tree. The tree stood more than 20 meters tall, and we needed to look up to see the tip.

    "We arrived!" Eximed Chloe. She expressed her emotion more clearly as the days passed.

    "Yeah, we have arrived! Next, I just need to climb this tree real quick." I became excited like a child, maybe I was infected by Chloe''s energy? However, this was not so bad at times.

    "Huh? Climb the tree?" Chloe asked curiously as she tilted her head. She then looked at the tree and pointed at it. "This tree?"

    "Yup. It should be easy. The branches are big, so I can jump on them."

    "Why?" She asked again.

    "Because the Artifact is located at a hole near the tip of this tree."

    The Artifact was small and was hidden in a hole on the top of the tree. That was the reason why no one ever found it.

    "Not that. I mean... I can jump to the top easily. Why do you want to climb it?"

    Now that she mentioned it, that was true. As someone who was about to advance to A-Rank, she should be able to jump 20 meters easily. Could it be that I was an idiot? I still had the same mindset when I was on Earth.

    ''I really am an idiot.'' I facepalmed as I realized what I had said.

    "Please¡­ I am counting on you to get the Artifact, Chloe."

    "No problem."

    She crouched a little and jumped highly, reaching the top of the tree in almost no time. She grabbed one of the branches to stay on the top while searching for the hole that I mentioned. After looking for a few seconds, her expression brightened. It seemed like she had found it.

    She moved swiftly before reaching out to the hole and taking the Artifact. Her expression turned into a confused one as she looked at the item in her hand. She should''ve never expected the Artifact to look like that.

    After getting satisfied with inspecting the Artifact, or maybe she didn''t understand it, she jumped down by stepping on the branches skillfully andnded in front of me.

    "I am back."

    "Wee back. So, how is the Artifact?"

    "Un, I got it. But¡­ is this real?" Chloe asked as she raised her hand that held the artifact. In her hand, there were sunsses with a ck frame.

    "Yup, that''s the Artifact."

    "Ugh¡­ I thought so. I never expected that there would be an Artifact like this¡­ Here, take it." She handed the sunsses to me, and I took them gratefully.

    "Thanks. It helps a lot¡­ You did see the name and the effect of this Artifact, right?"

    "Yes. But I never expected that an Artifact could look like¡­ this." She looked at the sunsses in my hand.

    "Hahahaha. Of course. No one would ever think that these sunsses are an Artifact. Also, no one ever thinks that this Artifact held such an effect." I said as I tightly clutched the sunsses in my hand.

    "That''s true¡­ I will stop thinking about it. Artifacts are strange after all."

    With this, my preparations wereplete. I smiled under my mask and looked at Chloe.

    "Let''s raise our rank in five days, Chloe!"

    "Yes!" She replied energetically.

 Chapter 40 Gossip

    [17 April 2023, 12:05 PM]

    [Cafeteria]

    Zaiden and the others were sitting in the cafeteria and eating their lunches. Usually, they would joke with each other, but today''s atmosphere was unusually gloomy.

    The cause of such gloominess was Zaiden. He was only poking at his meal with a spoon without saying anything. But, since this morning, he had been strange, and the girls didn''t know why. They looked at each other confusedly before finally, Lily couldn''t take it anymore.

    Bam!

    She mmed the table with her hand and shouted, "Oh, for god''s sake! Zaiden! What''s wrong with you?"

    The other students nced at them momentarily before continuing to eat their meals. They were interested in a matter concerning Zaiden, but they didn''t want to be involved in it. The rtionship between Zaiden and the girls wasplicated; only a fool would concern themselves with them.

    And that fool skipped the sses again; that was the main reason why Zaiden feeling down. He wondered whether what he asked yesterday was the reason why Vincent didn''t go to the Academy today. He was worried about spoiling their friendship because he asked such questions to him.

    Zaiden looked at Lily with the best smile he could muster.

    "What do you mean, Lily? There is nothing wrong with me."

    "Cut out the crap, Zaiden! There is no way nothing is wrong with you! Look! You didn''t even touch your favorite food!" She pointed at the te of curry in front of Zaiden. "Also, wipe that fake smile off your face. Do you think you can fool me with that?"

    After she pointed it out, the smile on Zaiden''s face was gone, and he scratched his cheek.

    "My bad¡­ there is still something in my mind."

    "Is it about Vincent?" Asked Ao.

    His body flinched when he heard the name. Ao sighed because her intuition was correct.

    "As expected, huh? So what did that guy say to you?"

    "Nothing. It''s just¡­ I thought. Why did that guy not show up in the Academy today?"

    "Isn''t it normal for him to skip the ss?" Asked Mirana curiously. "I mean¡­ I did know that he''s not a delinquent, but didn''t he skip a ss a lot?"

    "T-That''s right! I-I think it''s normal? Eh, wait? Is skipping a ss a normal thing to do?" Shina was confused by herself. She only went with the flow, but skipping a ss was not normal at all when she thought about it again.

    "It''s not normal at all, Shina. It''s only normal for Vincent." Said Lisa.

    "Eh, is that so?" For a 17-years-old girl, Shina was really clueless and gullible. She believed things told by her friends easily.

    "Yeah, it''s only normal for Vincent." Said Ao. She then turned to Zaiden. "So you did or said something to him, right?"

    "Yes¡­" Answered Zaiden shortly as he put the spoon on the te. "Actually¡­"

    Zaiden began to tell the girls about what happened at his spar with Vincent yesterday. He told them everything, even his question that made him distracted today. He was afraid that his question was the one that made Vincent skip the sses today.

    "I see." Nodded Lily. "Are you stupid, Zaiden? Of course he wanted you to go pursue your career and get stronger, idiot. Think about it a little. What would you do if you were in his position? What if he suddenly asked you about it?"

    He tried to put himself in Vincent''s ce. What if Vincent suddenly asked him whether he should stay at the academy or should he go pursue his career as an Awakener when he was Awakened? After trying to imagine it, Zaiden understood what Lily meant.

    "Yeah, my bad. I now understand why he said that."

    If Vincent suddenly asked him, he would surely ask him to pursue his career, to get stronger. He knew about the future, about what would happen to the world. He knew he needed to get stronger. And yet, he asked such a stupid question to his friend, who was willing to spar with him even though he sacrificed his training time.

    "Good. Also, I don''t think that guy is the one who would be offended by your question. I mean¡­ Wasn''t Mirana saying a lot of bad things about him, and he wasn''t even offended by it?" Lily smirked at Mirana as she said it.

    "Ugh¡­ I have learned my lesson already¡­" Mirana grumbled after getting a light jab in the form of words from Lily. "Also, I never said bad things about him!"

    "ssroom." Mentioned Lisa.

    "¡­ Fine! Maybe one or two bad things!" epted Mirana.

    The girls giggled together while Mirana blushed in embarrassment. Zaiden also chuckled a little after he realized that it was not his fault that Vincent didn''t attend the Academy today.

    ''Right¡­ It''s normal for Vincent not to go to the Academy. So why did I think too deeply about it? Also, today is Friday. Maybe he wanted to have a long break? I don''t know, but I shouldn''t be too worried about it.'' Thought Zaiden.

    "M-Maybe he''s still on a date with his¡­ roommate? Ha-hahaha¡­" Asked Shina, trying to add a joke to liven the atmosphere.

    However, the result was not what she expected. Everyone froze at the same time and looked at Shina in surprise.

    "¡­Just kidding?" Shina quickly added, but she was toote.

    "That''s¡­" Lisa thought deeply while rubbing her chin. "Actually possible."

    "So all this time, when he skipped sses, he actually went on a date?!" Eximed Mirana.

    "Actually, that''s really a possible reason for him to skip sses. She even revisited him a few dayster, and I had a chance to see her. The girl that was waiting for him that day was really beautiful." Said Lily.

    "I see¡­" Ao muttered as she had a serious face.

    "Eh¡­. Eh?" Shina, who started the conversation, was confused. She intended to start a joke, but everyone was reacting to it seriously.

    "Come on, girls. There is no way he would skip the sses to go on a date." Zaidenughed the conversation off as a joke, but then Ao retorted.

    "No, Zaiden. There is a chance that guy will skip the sses to go on a date."

    Lily nodded her head, agreeing with Ao''s words. "That''s right, Zaiden. Do you know what the girl who lived with him looked like?"

    "Uh¡­ no?" Answered Zaiden.

    "Haa- This was why you said that." Lily sighed. "Listen. The girl who lived with him¡­ I hate to admit it, but she''s more beautiful than any girls in this Academy."

    The other girls, including Shina, nodded their heads in agreement. Even the most beautiful girls in the Academy praised the beauty of the girl who lived with Vincent.

    ''Huh?'' Zaiden was confused. At first, he thought that Vincent was different from the one that he remembered from the novel. But, now, he found the reason why Vincent acted differently from the novel. ''So he wasn''t womanizing because he has a girlfriend?''

    "Is she really that beautiful?" Asked Zaiden.

    "Yes." A quick answer from Lily. "Her name is apparently Chloe, simr to the Hero. However, she has big eyes, and her face is different from hers. If I must describe her, then she looked like a girl version of Vincent?"

    "That''s right. Even their eyes'' color is simr!" Added Mirana.

    The girls loved rumors. They had heard and talked about the newest rumors, the girl who waited for Vincent at the entrance gate, and they all knew the girl''s features.

    That was why they responded to Shina''s joke seriously. Even though there were rumors that the girl was Vincent''s sister, the girls didn''t want to believe that, especially Lily.<sub> </sub>

    "She''s no way Vincent''s sister. He''s an orphan who grew up at an orphanage. So the only option left is¡­ She''s his girlfriend!"

    "That makes sense." Zaiden nodded his head. "I really should''ve not felt bad, huh. Thanks for cheering me up."

    "No problem!" Eximed Lily. "Rather¡­ let''s continue this talk about Vincent''s girlfriend hypothesis. I am interested in it." She continued.

    The girls nodded their heads excitedly.

    "I am also interested." Answered Ao.

    Zaiden looked at them with a wry smile. Even though he managed to cheer up again after hearing about the possibility of Vincent skipping sses to go on a date, he felt bad that his friend became the topic of the gossip between the girls.

    Four more days until his Awakening. His determination now couldn''t be changed.

    ''In the end, nothing has changed. I will follow the Main Story for now, and I will change themter to save them.''

    ***

    [20 April 2023, 09:00 AM]

    [Forest Wolves Field]

    "And, done!" I shouted excitedly as thest Mana Arrow that I released killed thest Forest Wolf.

    It had been three days since then, and we visited the field every day to hunt the Forest Wolves. After hunting crazily for three days, from dawn to dusk, I had finally advanced to D-Rank.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Vincent Dihart

    Rank: D

    Strength: D-

    Agility: D

    Endurance: D

    Mana: C-

    Luck: S

    Talent:

    - Sharpshooting (S)

    - Enhancement (S)

    - Swordsmanship (A)

    - Magic (A)

    Trait:

    - Deceitful

    -----

    To reach D-Rank, the four statuses should have an average of D. The way they worked was simple. I assigned a point for the stat. D- was 1 point, D was 2 points, D+ was 3 points, and then C- was 4 points. If the average of the four statuses were 2 points, then an Awakener''s Rank would advance. It worked like that until an Awakener reached S-Rank, and then they would be stuck without any means to advance, as S was the highest Rank a Human could reach.

    My strength was slightly behind my agility and endurance because I wasn''t using my strength too much. All this time, I always stayed behind and sniped some monsters from a distance. The sword in my Magic Bag was still untouched; it was not the time yet to use it.

    Chloe was more than enough to be the vanguard, so I could rest easy and leave everything to her.

    "Did you advance to D-Rank already, Rai?" Chloe asked as she approached me after pulling out the wolves'' fangs.

    "I am."

    "Congrattions. I still need a few more days before advancing, but¡­ do we need to go back today?"

    "Yeah, tomorrow is a special day, and I want to be present at it."

    "A special day, is it? Can I ask what the day is about?"

    "The day where the savior is Awakened," I answered Chloe with a yful tone.

    I intended to crack a little joke, but I didn''t expect her reaction. I forgot that in this world, Hero was kind of being praised as the savior of the world.

    "The savior? Vincent, what are you talking about?... No, who are you talking about?" Her voice mixed with a hint of curiosity as she looked at me seriously. She even called me by my name.

    "Someone who will save this world¡­" I put Arash Bow back in my magic bag. "¡­But I can''t tell you yet, Chloe. You will meet him in the future; trust me for now."

    "I have always trusted you, Vincent. But¡­ This one, I can''t let it slide. Do you want to make this Savior save the world in my ce? You know that I don''t like that idea."

    I see. So that was the problem. She misunderstood what I said.

    I shook my head at her question. "No, Chloe. He can''t beat the Demon King. He has his own enemy that he must face in the future."

    "¡­" Her face turned grim.

    Demon King could only be defeated by the Hero, Chloe. She thought that this Savior, Zaiden, was destined to kill the Demon King to take over her ce. That was what I got from her expression.

    But, his enemy was not the Demon King. His enemy was far more terrifyingpared to the Demon King.

    "As I said, please trust me. The help that I asked from you was not limited to killing the Demon King. It''s to save the world."

    She gritted her teeth at the realization. "So the danger that threatens the world in the future is not limited to Demon King. That''s what you wanted to say, right?"

    "Unfortunately, yes. And, this guy is the only one who can save the world."

    "Then, tell me, Vincent. Tell me the name of this guy and what kind of enemy that he will face. At least¡­ We are going to help him, right? I wanted to know the name of the man who shoulders the fate of the world like me."

    "Well, if you insist." I looked at her seriously and said his name. The name of the protagonist of my novel, the depressed savior. "Zaiden Archman. He''s the only one who can save this world."

 Chapter 41 The Future Danger

    [20 April 2023, 12.15 PM]

    [In a ne, Private Room]

    ''He''s so strange.'' Thought Chloe as he looked at the boy in front of her.

    He exined about the savior that she asked about. She was curious about the savior that Vincent had told her about this morning.

    She heard his exnation with interest. In the middle of the exnation, she found something strange.

    "¡­and so, a seed called Witch Factor existed inside some girls'' bodies. This seed will change the girl''s body slowly and turn them into a witch with the ambition to destroy humanity. The seed usually needs around a year to ten years to turn a girl into a witch."

    After pausing a little, Vincent continued.

    "Their ambitions are even stronger than the Demon King. Among them exist an existence called the strongest witch, Bathory. She was really dangerous, and she was even stronger than the Demon King. Only this guy named Zaiden could defeat her because of his Trait."

    Witch Factor. She had never heard that thing in her life. He exined about the Witch Factor as if he had known about it beforehand.

    However, that was strange. How did he know about it? Also, why was he so confident when he told her about it?

    ''Vincent is strange, after all. But¡­ He''s not a liar.''

    Due to her Trait, she could know whenever a person lies to her. What Vincent exined to her was the truth. His exnation continued for ten minutes before he stopped and asked.

    "Is there anything that you don''t understand yet?"

    Chloe nodded her head, "How does this Witch Factor enter a girl''s body? Also, is there a chance that Witch Factor can enter my body?"

    She was worried about the second question that she asked. If the Witch Factor took over her body, then the world would really be in danger. Bathory''s existence also couldn''t be underestimated if what Vincent said was true.

    From what she heard from him, the witches were possibly women who were killed unfairly or horribly in history. There was a chance that they were also strong women figures who caused ruckus in the history or mythology.

    She was prepared with all kinds of answers from Vincent, but what he said next surprised her.

    "No. The Witch Factor only enters a girl''s body when they die."

    "Huh?"

    "There is a chance that the Witch Factor enters girls'' dead bodies. The chance of a Witch Factor entering their bodies is slim, but Awakeners'' bodies tend to have a higher chance of being invaded by the Witch Factor as they are used to Mana."

    Chloe''s body shuddered. If what he said was true, then¡­

    "The girls whose bodies are invaded by the Witch Factors are being revived?" Chloe asked in disbelief. Her face was pale, and her heartbeat quickened from the absurdity of the information she had heard from Vincent.

    "Yes. They will be revived. However, most of them will know that the Witch Factor invades their bodies as it will show in their status, if they are an Awakener, that is."

    She couldn''t say anything. If someone knew that they were being revived by Witch Factor, why did an incident involving a witch never happen before? And why was the existence of the Witch Factor never known to the public or even the Association? She was about to ask Vincent about that, but then she realized.

    "¡­ I see. They wanted to live, right? The girls."

    "Yes. If they spread the existence called a Witch Factor that essentially saved their lives, they will certainly be hunted out of fear. They are still human before they turn into a witch. And a Witch is smart; they go into hiding as soon as the host is fully transformed."

    "So that''s why¡­ That''s what you meant by saving the world¡­"

    "¡­"

    "I understand, Vincent. Thank you for telling me about this."

    "I¡­ You don''t have to thank me. I lied to you¡­" muttered Vincent.

    "No, you are not." Chloe shook her head. "You need help to save the world, not to kill the Demon King. And I promised you to help you save the world. You are not lying."

    Vincent smiled wryly at her. He looked rather sad; she couldn''t understand him at all. But then, he said, "Thanks."

    "Un. We are partners. No need to thank me."

    It didn''t matter to her. Even if Vincent essentially lied to her, he was doing it for her own good. She could understand why he hid that information from her. But, one thing was for sure. He was her partner, the one who gave her freedom.

    ''Partners will help each other.'' Chloe thought as she smiled at Vincent.

    "I see¡­ you''re correct." Nodded Vincent. "I will sleep for a while, Chloe. Please wake me up when we have arrived in Los Angeles."

    "Have a nice dream."

    "Yeah." Answered Vincent as he closed his eyes and cuddled his body into a ball.

    She looked at him and remembered something. His sleeping figure looked like a sleeping cat that she loved. She quietly took out her phone and took a picture of him.

    ''Fufufufu. I will make this my wallpaper.''

    ***

    [20 April 2023, 03.00 PM]

    [House]

    Chloe was curious about Zaiden after I told her about him. She wanted to get details about him, so I exined who Zaiden was to her on our flight back to Los Angeles.

    To be clear, she was not interested in him in a romantic way. She was interested in him because I called him a savior. I was forced to exin the existence of Witches to her to make her trust me. I couldn''t afford to be doubted by Chloe; she was the help that I needed the most to survive in this world.

    I was d that she believed me without asking anything strange. After we arrived in Los Angeles, I was woken up by Chloe, and we went home afterward. We were currently sitting on the couch in the living room, adjacent to each other.

    I just wanted to rest; I was tired. Chloe was also silent since we arrived in Los Angeles. Honestly, it was so awkward that I wanted to close my eyes again and sleep.

    ''Say something, damn it! The atmosphere is so awkward!''

    This was the first time this had happened since we lived together. Usually, it was lively even when we didn''t say anything. But this was awkward as hell. I nced at her and saw her smiling while looking at her phone. She noticed my gaze and hurriedly put her phone away and asked.

    "Is there something that you need from me, Vincent?"<sub> </sub>

    Strange¡­ Really strange. Her smile was not genuine, as if she was hiding something from me. Should I confront her about it? I was afraid to invade her privacy as I also kept a lot of secrets. I couldn''t help but try to peek at her phone, but before I had a chance to peek at her phone, she looked at me and asked curiously.

    "¡­ What happened? You are looking at me intensely."

    It seemed like I stared too long at her again. I shook my head and stared at her worriedly.

    "Ah, nothing. It''s just¡­ Are you angry that I keep a secret about the witches from you?"

    "No." She shook her head. "As I said, there is nothing wrong with keeping a secret by yourself. I will help you as your partner." She smiled brightly as she put her phone away.

    "Thanks." I couldn''t hope for more. As long as I could get her help, then it was enough.

    Chloe stood up and stretched her arms. "Then, Vincent. Do you want to go out for a walk? Please show me who Zaiden is."

    I blinked my eyes a few times when I heard what Chloe said.

    "Excuse me?"

    "Zaiden. The savior that you are talking about. Let''s meet him." Answered Chloe.

    What was she talking about? She wanted to meet Zaiden?

    Her face then changed; she used the ne''s effect. Ah, I understood. When we were on the flight, I exined my n to act with Zaiden as Vincent.

    "You want to introduce yourself to him? Why?" I asked her, confused as to why he wanted to meet Zaiden.

    "Why not?" Chloe asked back. "He''s your friend, right?"

    "Well, yeah." If someone described our rtionship right now, then a friend was the right word.

    "Then, let''s meet him. How about you call him?"

    Why the fuck?

    I still couldn''tprehend what had happened. The atmosphere between us was a bit awkward earlier, but she suddenly wanted to meet Zaiden? I could understand her curiosity, but why?

    Ring ring ring¡ª!

    But, as if the timing couldn''t be better, my phone rang. I had a really bad feeling about it. The phone that was ringing was the one that I used as Vincent. And, there were only a few people who knew my phone number.

    Zaiden, the girls, Chloe, and Park Injun. Only those people knew my phone number. Chloe gestured to me to take the call. Ignoring the call was not an option either. Who knew that the call was actually important?

    I took out my phone and looked at the screen. I frowned when I saw the caller''s name.

    ''Fuck, why does he call me at such a time?''

    Chloe peeked at my phone screen and grinned, "What nice timing. Tell him that I want to meet him too."

    "Haa¨C" I let out a long sigh. I knew that Chloe was only curious about Zaiden; she had no other meaning for meeting him. Maybe she wanted to tell him to have good luck.

    But I was worried; still, I took the call, put it on speaker so Chloe could hear him, and greeted him.

    "Hello?"

    [Ah! Vincent! Umm¡­ Do you have time right now?] There was a bit of impatience in his voice. It felt like he was in a hurry or something. I frowned a little and answered.

    "Why?"

    [You see? Can youe to my house? I have something to say to you. Lily and the others are also here.]

    Could it be¡­ Was he Awakened today? If the others were in his house, there must be something important that had happened. I looked at Chloe seriously, and she nodded her head.

    "Alright. Send me the address. But, I will go there with someone else, is that okay with you?"

    [No problem! You can bring your girlfriend with you!]

    I froze when Zaiden said girlfriend. I nced at Chloe, and her reaction was not unexpected. She only tilted her head as if she was clueless. She was only confused as to why I suddenly froze.

    ''I tend to forget that Chloe hasn''t fully assimted herself into the society. Maybe she only thought that Girlfriend is the same as girl friend with space.''

    "I will ask her."

    [Hahahaha, you don''t have to be shy! I will send my address through the message.]

    "Sure. See youter!"

    [Yeah!]

    I ended the call and put my phone away.

    "You win, Chloe. Let''s go and meet him. There are other people with him, though; all of them are girls."

    "Really? Then¡­ Do you think they will be happy to meet me?"

    "I think they will be happy to meet you. Maybe you can also befriend them?"

    "Yes! Now that you mention it, I will ask them to be my girl friends!" She happily eximed.

    As expected, she misunderstood it. I only smiled at her. She was better like this. Clueless, yet optimist. I could help her slowly integrate into society, though I didn''t think she needed my help except for something like earlier.

    "Yeah. I hope they will agree to be your friends. They are only two years younger than you, after all."

    ''Though it will be good if you don''t get attached to them.'' I added quietly inside my mind.

    "Un!" nodded Chloe energetically.

 Chapter 42 House Visit

    [20 April 2023, 03:30 PM]

    [Zaiden''s House]

    Zaiden messaged me the address of his house. It was unexpectedly located near the Santa Monica Pier. It was a perfect ce to open a training facility as many people passed the area, which made his family''s training area filled with Non-Awakeners who wanted to train their bodies.

    Before going to Zaiden''s house, I changed my clothes into casual ones. ck pants and a white shirt; I also didn''t forget my Faker Earring on my left ear.

    Chloe also changed her clothes into a white one-piece dress and ck stockings. As an Awakener, she didn''t forget to bring her magic bag. I also brought mine and disguised it as a normal cross bag on my waist.

    She was a bit anxious to meet new people, my ''friends'' from the Academy. But I assured her that they were good girls, even though some of them were annoying. Like,¡­ really annoying. Which led me thinking twice to bring her with me to Zaiden''s house.

    We ended up spending around 10 minutes changing our clothes and me going through some doubt before we finally went to Zaiden''s house. We walked to his house because we didn''t have any vehicles. His house was a normal three story house, which was a bit taller than ours but still smaller in size.

    Beside the house was a big building, a training facility owned by Zaiden''s family. The training facility had a sign ''Archman Training Facility'' on a big billboard above the building.

    Arrived, I pressed the doorbell beside the door, and the bell rang, followed by a voice immediately.

    Ding Dong¨C

    "Yes!" It was a familiar voice of Lily, which I heard almost every day at the Academy.

    The door then opened and Lily, who wore a pink shirt and a short blue skirt, appeared and greeted us.

    "Wee, Vincent." She then noticed Chloe, who stood beside me. "Ah! You must be Vincent''s housemate! Nice to meet you! My name is Lily Sonava!"

    "It''s nice to meet you too. I am Chloe Dihart."

    When Chloe introduced herself, Lily''s eyes bulged a little. It was as expected, as Chloe used myst name in her introduction.

    Honestly, I was a bit surprised too, because we never talked about this. I looked at her and caught her smiling sweetly at my surprised expression. I leaned against her ear and whispered.

    "Hey, why did you use myst name?!"

    "Just because. I have no family name." Whispered Chloe back.

    ''Just because?!'' I screamed inside my mind.

    This girl had made things moreplicated. How did I exin it to Lily, who froze in her ce? Well, let''s just bullshit things like usual.

    Because it seemed like Lily wouldn''t be able to recover by herself, I pped my hands loudly and called out to her. "Hey, Lily. Snap out of it and let us in already."

    "Ah!" Lily raised her voice in surprise. "M-My bad¡­ Let''s enter first. The others have been waiting inside." Then she gestured for us to enter the house.

    "Yeah."

    Lily then entered first to show us the way inside the house. We followed her from behind while looking around the entrance. I noticed a family picture of Zaiden and Lily along with two middle-aged people, near the entrance.

    In the picture, Zaiden was smiling with Lily by his side. They wore the Academy''s uniform; the picture must''ve been taken when they first entered the Academy. Behind them stood a man and woman that looked simr to Zaiden. The man had wrinkles around his eyes and brown hair that turned white in some parts.

    The woman looked like a beautiful aunt. She had long ck hair and a smile that looked simr to Zaiden''s.

    ''So he did save his parents too. I guess so, knowing his personality. But¡­ I never expected that they would move with him to Los Angeles instead of staying in Texas.''

    But, seeing Lily in the picture was strange.

    "Hey, Lily. Are you living together with Zaiden?" I asked her as she brought us inside the house, to the second floor by the stairs that were located beside the hallway near the entrance.

    "Hmm? What made you say so?" Asked Lily without looking at me.

    "I mean, in the picture at the entrance, you are there with Zaiden and his parents."

    Lily stopped in her tracks and looked at me over her shoulder when I mentioned it.

    "Well, yes. I have lived with Zaiden since we moved to Los Angeles. It''s been around a year, I guess?"

    "I see."

    "Let''s talk in the room, shall we? The others have been waiting to¡­ chew you out, you know?" Lily smirked a little as she nced at Chloe. "I mean¡­ they will really be surprised when Chloe introduces herself. I can call you that, right?" She asked.

    "Yes. Please call me Chloe." Answered Chloe.

    "Nice! They are on the third floor right now, inside Zaiden''s room. Follow me!"

    "Zaiden''s room?!" How could they enter his room¡­ But, once again¡­ He wouldn''t even touch them even if they offered themselves.

    "Fufufu. You will be surprised. His room is the biggest in the house, so I asked the girls to hang out inside."

    She didn''t say anything more and continued walking upstairs. We arrived at the third floor, and there were only three doors on this floor. All of them led to a bedroom because, in front of each door, there was a sign hung with the names of each person that lived in the house.

    On the left side of the hallway was Lily''s room. On the right side was Zaiden''s, while at the end of the hallway was the Master''s bedroom, where Zaiden''s parents slept.

    Without any hesitation, Lily opened the door on the right and yelled. "I am back!"

    "Wee back, Lily."

    "Did Vincent bring his housemate too? Please call them here!"

    "W-wee back."

    A few voices answered her back. They belonged to Zaiden, Lisa, and Shina, respectively. I didn''t hear Ao and Mirana''s voices, but when I peeked into the room, I saw them looking at each other seriously while holding cards. Mirana held one card while Ao held two cards. All of them were wearing casual clothes.

    "Guh, wee. Please don''t talk to me for now. I need to concentrate." Mirana grunted as she tried to choose one of the cards that Ao held in her hand.

    Ao stayed silent and only smiled at Mirana. She nodded her head slightly to gesture that she also couldn''t talk right now.

    It seemed like they were ying some kind of game in the corner of the room, on a chair around a long table with the other girls. There were a total of ten chairs, five chairs on each side of the table.

    Zaiden''s room was unexpectedly simple, but it was big. There was a bed in the corner of the room and a bookshelf beside the bed. Toplete the room, a closet was ced right across the bed. There were various snacks and beverages on the table.<sub> </sub>

    Lily entered the room and sat on the chair beside Zaiden''s, and conversed with Shina and Lisa.

    Zaiden noticed me peeking from the hallway and approached me. "Wee, Vincent! Thanks foring to my house!"

    "Yeah. I am here. I was surprised because you suddenly called me and asked me to visit your house. You didn''t even tell me the reason."

    "Hahahaha, my bad. But, where is your housemate? You said that she would tag along."

    "She''s here." I pointed at Chloe as I stepped to the left to give her space.

    She then greeted Zaiden. "Hello. It''s nice to meet you."

    Zaiden looked at her and smiled. "It''s nice to meet you too. My name is Zaiden Archman, Vincent''s friend."

    "I see. So you are Zaiden, huh?" Chloe asked curiously. She observed Zaiden from head to toe before nodding her head a little. "You are strong, but¡­ you are still weak."

    "Huh?" Zaiden let out a surprised one and looked at me.

    I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. "Shepared you to me. She''s an Awakener, so she could somehow judge your strength."

    There was no other exnation for it, and there was no reason to hide it. As long as he didn''t link Chloe''s identity with the Hero, I had nothing to hide about her.

    "Eh, really?" Asked Zaiden.

    "Yeah. So¡­ How long do you make me wait? Or, am I not supposed to enter?" I smirked and said it yfully.

    "Hahaha, no. Please enter. We have been waiting for you." Zaiden stepped aside and made way for us to enter his room. "You can sit anywhere in the empty chair."

    "Alright." I entered the room with Chloe followed from behind. As usual, I sat on the seat farthest from the girl.

    I had expected Chloe to sit beside me, but she chose the chair beside Lily, the one that Zaiden used earlier. As his seat was used, he then sat on the seat in front of me. Well, she could do what she wanted to do. I had something to ask Zaiden.

    I looked at him and spoke.

    "Y-" But, when I was about to ask him, a scream from the side interrupted me.

    "Ah! I am done!" Mirana shouted as she smiled brightly. "Fufufu, Ao. I won!"

    "Congrattions." Said Ao.

    "Fufufu! I am the best at card games!" At that moment, she noticed Chloe, who was looking at her curiously. "Ah! You must be Vincent''s girlfriend!" She eximed.

    Chloe, who misunderstood the term girlfriend with a normal friend, nodded her head. "My name is Chloe."

    Lily looked at her strangely before turning at me with a gaze that said, ''Are you dating her? Really?''

    I didn''t answer her and only shrugged my shoulders as the girls started to ask Chloe about almost everything. Lily was also dragged with the question and didn''t have time to ask me anymore.

    "Hahaha. They are really curious about your housemate." Zaidenughed as he looked at the girls.

    "I can see that. More importantly, why did you call me here? You never called me before unless you wanted to have a spar."

    "My bad. But, I called you here mainly because of two reasons." Answered Zaiden. "First, they want to see your housemate." He said as he looked at the girls, who somehow got along with Chloe in no time at all.

    Chloe also chuckled a little when she was listening to the girls'' stories about what I did at the Academy. They were talking about the rumors about me that spread in the Academy from what I gathered from their conversation.

    ''¡­ Why must they talk about that?''

    Because I didn''t understand the girls'' conversation at all and why they wereughing at my rumors, I turned to Zaiden. "Then the second reason?"

    "This is the most important reason, actually." Answered Zaiden seriously. "I¡­ I am thinking of leaving the Academy tomorrow." When Zaiden said that, silence suddenly descended into the room, and the girls''ughing stopped as they looked at Zaiden at the same time.

    "Huh?" Mirana let out a confused sound.

    Zaiden smiled wryly and scratched his cheek. "I called you here because I want to tell you that."

    I narrowed my eyes on him.

    Mirana recovered from her shock, stood up, mmed the table, and shouted.

    Bam!

    "Why?! Why are you leaving the Academy?!"

    The others nodded their heads as they waited for Zaiden''s reply.

    "I¡­" Zaiden seemed to be hesitant. Maybe because he was not Awakened yet, he couldn''t tell them that he was leaving the Academy because he wanted to get stronger and prepare for future chapters.

    "I¡­" He was still hesitating. I decided to help him.

    "If you can''t tell us your reason, then don''t tell us. But, I hope you will tell us in the future."

    "But!" Mirana tried to chime in, but I stopped her with my gaze.

    "He must have his reason," I said seriously.

    "Ugh¡­" She finally backed down and sat again. "I-I''m sorry for my outburst."

    Zaiden smiled and nodded his head. "I will. Thank you."

    "No problem."

    So he did arrive at the same conclusion as the original Zaiden. No, he might be forced to make such a decision because if he didn''t follow the original track, he wouldn''t be able to save the girls. He was afraid to change the future events, although he had changed the story when he was a child.

    But, my n was ready too. I would make sure that he would be able to save the world¡­ Even if it meant that I would be needed to kill the ones that I called my ''friends'' in this world.

    ''It begins, the main story.''

 Chapter 43 Awakening

    I was thankful to Vincent.

    He listened and gave me advice when I needed it the most. Thanks to him, I was able to make my decision to leave the Academy that I was attached to for the past month.

    When we were in the third year of middle school, I had already met the other girls. It made me so attached to them that I hesitated to leave.

    However, I was supposed to leave the Academy. I couldn''t stay any longer if I wanted to save them. Vincent was correct. If I wanted to get stronger, I needed to raid dungeons and join a guild. It would also be good if I could get my hands on the Mana Breathing Method as fast as I could.

    If I followed the story in the novel, the Mana Breathing Method would appear in a year or two. My memories were a bit blurry because it had been more than 17 years since I read the novel, but thankfully, I had written every arc in detail, except thest one.

    I felt bad for my friends that I announced my decision to leave the Academy tonight. But, as I announced my decision, I felt refreshed. I was expecting some outburst, especially from Mirana, and she did. However, it quickly died down because Vincent helped me.

    He probably understood my reason as I asked him about it a few days ago. Once again, he saved me. He was really cool, unlike me, who always hesitated. After my announcement, Lily and the others told me that they were waiting for me to tell them in the future, but they also said that I could take my time until I was ready.

    I really didn''t deserve them. I knew they loved me romantically, but I couldn''t bring myself to love them back. For me, they were only friends. I was afraid to get closer to them, only to be left alone if I couldn''t change their fate. So I purposely denied it. I denied their feelings toward me and pretended to be a dense guy.

    The things that happened after my announcement was basically a mess; it was the so-called girls'' talk. They were basically interrogating the girl who came with Vincent. Her name was apparently Chloe Dihart; she had the same family name as Vincent. However, she called herself Vincent''s girlfriend, which made me wonder.

    ''Is he dating his own sister?!''

    Vincent quickly solved the misunderstanding. He exined that Chloe came from the same orphanage as him, so their family name was the same. Apparently, they used their guardian''s family name as theirs.

    The interrogationsted until midnight. Everyone was having fun, and I was enjoying chatting with Vincent as we were the only boys in this room. At that time, my heart was suddenly beating faster, and my body felt like it was changed from inside as a sudden pain assaulted me. I had a bad feeling about this.

    ''Could it be, I am about to Awaken?!''

    I quickly stood up and made an excuse.

    "Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom." I walked out of the room without waiting for their answer. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I ran toward the exit of my house and went to the empty beach.

    The pain that assaulted my body increased, and I felt like I was about to burst. I really wanted to scream to release the pain that I felt.

    ''Please let me reach the beach first!''

    ***

    Zaiden was acting strange. He suddenly stood up and ran with an expression that I was familiar with.

    ''He''s experiencing terrible pain.''

    It made me suspicious. I only exined an Awakening scene once; it was when a child suddenly Awakened when he was being protected by Zaiden.

    I remembered that the Awakening process was painful enough to rival the body reformation''s pain when one used the Mana Breathing Method at F-Rank.

    ''Is he going to Awaken?''

    I couldn''t miss it if he was going to Awaken. Chloe could serve as a diversion as the girls looked like they wanted to talk to her more. I gestured to her with my eyes that I wanted to get out for a while, and she nodded her head.

    "I need to go to the bathroom too," I said as I stood up quietly.

    "Oh? Are you going topare your sword with Zaiden?" Lily giggled yfully as she nced at me.

    "Nah, no." I walked to the door. "I don''t need topare the obvious." I closed the door behind me and went downstairs.

    From what I hear from Zaiden, it seemed like his parents would stay outside today. They had the night dates that they always did once a month. So, they wouldn''te home tonight.

    That was why Zaiden invited the girls and talked about his n to leave the Academy. Though he expected the girl to go home before midnight, they ended up stayingte because they interrogated Chloe about her rtionship with me.

    Reaching outside the house, I looked around to find Zaiden. We were near the Santa Monica Pier and the beach, so there was a high chance that Zaiden would go to the beach to find a deserted ce where no one was there.

    Looking around, I could see a track that led to the beach from the house.

    ''So he went to the beach as expected.''

    I didn''t want to miss the moment he screamed out from his lungs, so I jumped through the roof to arrive at the beach as fast as I could.

    Although it was midnight, there were still people on the beach. It was not strange, considering that today was Sunday. Inded on the beach and looked around to find a possible area to hide. Before long, I noticed a rock formation in the distance and heard a muffled scream from that direction.

    I grinned widely when I heard the muffled scream, ''There he is.''

    I leisurely walked to the rock formation with my hands inside my pocket. He would be suspicious of me if I suddenly appeared, so I nned to pretend to be walking around the beach and found him coincidentally.

    Zaiden was a bit slow in the head, and he trusted someone easily. He would certainly believe me if I said that I was running away from the girls and went to the beach to find some air. After all, I always looked ufortable around Lily and the others, so it was not strange if I ran away when he was not there.

    I could also say that I was looking for him because he was not in the bathroom when I went there.

    ''No matter what I say, I think he will believe me.''

    I arrived near the rock formation and could hear his scream clearly.

    "Ugh!! It hurts!! Is Awakening always this painful? Aaaarrgghh!! Why does the Author write such a thing!!" Even when he screamed, he couldin about what I wrote.

    As expected of a reincarnator.<sub> </sub>

    ''It is. Congrattions, you have awakened. Also, I write such things to make Zaiden suffer. Which somehow involved me because I was transmigrated to this fucking world.'' I thought while snickering.

    He was still trying to be as quiet as possible by covering his mouth with his hand. Because the Awakening process usuallysted for a few minutes, I took it easy by leaning against one of the boulders in the rock formation.

    Because I never specified when Zaiden Awakened, I thought I would need to stalk him all day to see his Awakening. But who would have thought he would Awaken right after midnight? Was it a blessing for me? Or was it because I only specified that he would be Awakened on 21st April?

    However, it saved me. I didn''t need to stalk a guy all day long only to see his suffering like this.

    Tak! Thud!

    "Ugh! H¡­How long will thisst." Zaiden grunted as I heard the sound of rock being punched.

    The pain must be unbearable for him. I was thankful that I didn''t need to go through the Awakening process, though I felt the same amount of pain when I used the Mana Breathing Method for the first time.

    "Arrgghh!!!" Finally, after three minutes, a beastly roar came from Zaiden''s ce.

    People who walked near this rock information quickly turned away when they heard the scream. They were looking at me strangely, as if they thought that I was the cause of the scream. I red at them, and they turned away while pretending they didn''t see anything.

    The area became empty, and I nced at the rock on my right. Just beyond that rock, Zaiden was suffering in pain.

    ''It''s almost done.''

    The pain became stronger at the end of the process.

    When I heard his scream of pain, a thought shed in my mind.

    ''Am I secretly a sadist? I enjoyed seeing him suffer.''

    <o>,m I quickly shook my head, denying my idle thought.</o>

    ''No, I am not. I only enjoy tormenting my main character in my novel.''

    A few seconds passed after hisst scream. The area suddenly became quiet. It was as if he had passed out from the pain. But I knew better than anyone that he was fine because I could hear him muttering to himself.

    "I did it¡­ I am now an Awakener! With this¡­ I can save them¡­ Including Vincent."

    For some reason, he muttered my name, saying that he would save me. Was he crazy? I didn''t need anyone to save me. Did he misunderstand that the fact Vincent didn''t appear in the novel was because he died?

    Well, I couldn''t do anything if he misunderstood it. I could exploit it to lure him into a trap in the future.

    "For now, I should go back. I bet they are worried about me."

    It was time. I began to walk slowly to the beach, matching my timing with Zaiden. I stopped right at the ce where the wave stopped and looked at the sea with longing eyes, the eyes of someone who had lost something.

    My Trait helped me once again. Even though this Deceitful Trait couldn''t make me stronger like Zaiden''s Loving Trait or Chloe''s Hero Trait, this Trait of mine has been useful several times. Not only that, it didn''t have nasty side effects like their Traits where they couldn''t hurt their loved ones, or they must help someone in need.

    When I stopped on my track and looked at the sea, Zaiden stepped out from the rock formation. I noticed her surprised expression from the edge of my sight, but I purposely ignored him. Until¡­

    "Vincent?" He called out to me.

    "Huh?" I let out a fake surprised voice and looked at Zaiden. "Zaiden? What are you doing here? Did you take a piss behind the rocks?" I asked.

    "Huh? Ah! N-no! I- am¡­ More importantly, what are you doing here?" He was confused that he didn''t even answer my question smoothly.

    "Did you just dodge my question? Could it be that you are doing the big one? Behind that rock?! Outside? Zaiden¡­ Are you¡­ exhibitionist?" I raised my voice.

    "I am not! I am just¡­ Taking the small one!"

    It seemed that he couldn''t even think of any other excuses.

    "Hahahaha. I was just joking. But¡­ I don''t think that you actually took a piss behind that rock."

    "I have no other choice. The toilet in my house is clogged, so I went to this ce. What about you?"

    "I wanted to say that I am here to take a piss too. But, unfortunately, I only want to run away from the girls. It''s awkward without you being there."

    "Ha-hahaha, my bad. Then, should we go back already? I bet they are searching for us now."

    "Well, yeah. Let''s go back. I need to go home too. I am sleepy."

    "Is that so? Sorry for the girls. They are curious about yourpanion."

    "Nah, it''s not a problem. Chloe also enjoyed herself, which I am thankful for."

    I walked back first, and Zaiden followed afterward.

    He was safely Awakened, the first step of the main story was done.

    ''Tomorrow, he will go to the Awakener Association for sure. It''s time for him to meet Rai.''

    And so, my n also started. I will be busier in the future. However, I should do this. To save myself, and to save this world.

 Chapter 44 First Job [1]

    [21 April 2023, 06:00 AM]

    [House]

    We went back home right after I arrived at Zaiden''s home. More specifically, I dragged Chloe home because I needed sleep like I told Zaiden a few hours ago.

    I managed to get 5 hours of sleep. Today, I nned to go to the Awakener Association to officialize our Mercenary Group. I only hoped that the Awakener Association didn''t make it difficult for us.

    The only thing we needed to do was to get a Mercenary Tag from the receptionist. At the same time, I nned to watch over Zaiden. Knowing his personality, I knew that he would register in the Awakener Association''s office as soon as it opened at 8 AM.

    If he wanted to get stronger faster than the original one from the novel, he needed to get a headstart. The best option for that was to join a guild, and I coincidentally had the contact of the Sacred Relic guild recruiter.

    "Hello, sorry to disturb you this morning, Miss Rosa."

    [Hahahaha, please don''t be sorry, Rai. Also, you can call me Rosa without Miss.]

    "How can I? We are allies now, so I must give my respect to you, the one who made this alliance possible."

    [Please be casual with me, Rai. I am ufortable with you using politenguage. Because we are allies, we should talkfortably.]

    "Is that so? Then I will do just that."

    Her request was understandable. We are allies, and to make both of usfortable, using a casual tone would be preferred. Though we didn''t know each other that long, we should be able to deepen our rtionship if we were talkingfortably.

    Because I understood her feelings, I switched my way to talk back to how I used to be. It was also convenient for me as I was not used to talking in a polite tone.

    [Yes. So, why are you suddenly calling me this morning?]

    "About that, I have a small favor to ask. Can you apany us to the Awakener Association''s office to get our Mercenary Tag? I believe that having someone from the Sacred Relic with us will make the process¡­ easier."

    [Ah, about the Hero, right? I almost forgot about that. I don''t mind. When and where should we meetter?]

    "We can meet at the Awakener Association office at 8 AM. The faster, the better, no?"

    [You''re correct. Then, see youter. I will be waiting for you.]

    "See youter. Thank you."

    [You''re wee.]

    I ended the call and put my phone into my pocket.

    I still had around two hours before going to the Awakener Association, so I took it easy and went to the living room.

    There, Chloe was sitting on the couch while holding her phone. She smiled as her fingers danced on the screen of her phone. Was she texting with Lisa or the other girls? I saw them exchanging phone numbers yesterday.

    It didn''t seem that she noticed me, so I greeted her first.

    "Good morning, Chloe. What is today''s breakfast?" I sat next to her on the couch and turned the TV on to watch the news.

    Chloe raised her head to look at me with a surprised expression. "I¡­" Her words seemed to be stuck in her throat as she looked around in a panic.

    It was just my imagination, but¡­

    "Could it be¡­ You have no idea what to cook this morning?"

    ? "Ugh¡­ Yes¡­ I-I have been texting with the girls, you know? It''s my first time having a friend, so¡­" She looked rather guilty and hid the lower half of his face behind her phone while peeking at me with an upturned gaze.

    If she said it like that, even I couldn''t refute it. I was too used to Chloe preparing breakfast for me that I took it as a given. However, I should''ve expected that she would not be able to cook once in a while. I shouldn''t bother her too much, especially when she was happy after getting a new friend.

    ''However, it''s also a problem. How should I exin this to Chloe in the future?''

    As I couldn''t exin it to her right now, I shrugged my shoulders and then pulled out my phone.

    "Shall we order a takeout?"

    Chloe nodded her head softly before she went back to her phone, her fingers danced on the screen again, and a small smile appeared on her face.

    ''Well, whatever. I will leave exining about the necessary things to the future me.''

    I opened the application to order some food and then asked her again.

    "What do you want for breakfast?"

    "Umm, maybe some sd? Or some soup. Maybe something a bit heavier is okay too." She answered me while her eyes glued to her phone''s screen.

    "Alright, how about Mapo Tofu from a Chinese restaurant?"

    "Yes! Please make it spicy!" Finally, she raised her head and jumped excitedly. So she liked spicy food? That was why the curry that she made was spicy.

    I ordered two spicy Mapo Tofu from the nearby Chinese restaurant and waited. While waiting, I tried to find something interesting on the TV, but the programs aired in the morning were cartoons or some news about an Idol that recently broke up with his girlfriend, which I had no interest in.

    ''Hmm, nothing is interesting.''

    I turned the TV off and opened a certain website on my phone. If there was a Merchant Store, a dark website that only a few Awakeners knew about, then a website that all Awakeners knew also existed. It was called ''Awakener''s Longue'', a specific website for Awakeners to put in some requests for Mercenaries or to find a party to raid a dungeon together.

    In the novel, Zaiden entered a party with an instructor to raid a dungeon right after he registered as an Awakener. The dungeon was an F-Rank dungeon, the one under Hollywood Sign, atop Mount Lee.

    It was a way to introduce a dungeon in the novel, but as usual, there was some problem to spice things up so the reader would be excited.

    ''The instructor at the first dungeon is a mercenary. So there should be someone who posted the request about it somewhere on the website.''

    I managed to find the recruitment for an instructor to raid the Hollywood dungeon as soon as I scrolled down the thread about mercenary requests. Without wasting any time, I posted a reply that we, Annihtor, would ept the request.

    The thread starter directly messaged me as soon as I posted the reply. We talked about where and when we should meet before finally agreeing to meet in the dungeon at 08:30 AM. I put my phone back in my pocket and looked at Chloe, who had just put her phone on the table.

    "Hey, Chloe."

    "Yes?" She answered and turned to me.<sub> </sub>

    "We got a request."

    "Huh?"

    She tilted her head to the right, confused.

    "Our Mercenary Group. We got the first request."

    "Really? When?" She asked excitedly.

    "At 08:30 AM. The request is from a new Awakener. He needs an instructor to instruct him and his party to reach the Hollywood dungeon''s deepest part."

    "Hollywood dungeon? Isn''t that F-Rank dungeon? Why does he need an instructor?"

    "Of course he needs it. Everyone needs an instructor to raid the dungeon safely. A few things are not covered in the books, like how the monsters react and such. They need an instructor to tell them about it directly on the field."

    At least there was no sane person who entered the dungeon for the first time without a party. The one who raided a dungeon alone without a party for their first raid was a madman, for example, me. Or, this girl here.

    "But I raided my first dungeon alone? There is no other person except me in the dungeon. While you also raided your first dungeon without a party, right?"

    "I was, but there are a few people inside the dungeon that I entered. However, this Hollywood dungeon is reserved to train new Awakeners. So there is not a single human soul in the dungeon."

    "I see¡­ So we need to instruct them on how to kill the monster and such? We don''t need to kill the monsters for them, right?"

    "Yes. But we need to interfere if the situation looks dangerous."

    "I understand." She nodded her head. "This is our debut, huh."

    "Yup. Then, get ready to go to the Awakener Association to get our tag."

    "Alr¨C" Chloe was about to answer me, but her sentence was cut off by the sound of the doorbell, followed by a shout of a man.

    Ding Dong¨C!

    "Delivery!"

    After the shout, there was a sound that came from Chloe.

    Growl~

    I looked at her, and her face turned red in embarrassment. The sound that followed shortly after the shout was her stomach sound.

    She tried to look away from me, but ultimately, she scratched her cheek and said, "Uhh¡­ Shall we eat first?"

    "Yeah." I answered with a nod.

    ***

    [21 April 2023, 07:40 AM]

    [Awakener Association Office]

    After eating the Mapo Tofu that we ordered in delight, we went to the Awakener Association''s office fully geared up. Chloe was not using her ne as we were going there to get our Mercenary tag. While I, as usual, gearing up with my hoodie and mask, the usual Rai''s gear.

    I should enhance my gear so that I could change into it by just pouring a Mana, but¡­ I didn''t really think it was too necessary now. Maybe I would enhance my equipment when I got better gears. Using the Enhancement Dust on normal clothes like the one I wore right now seemed wasteful.

    We arrived right on time. There were queues in front of the office. Two employees were trying to keep them from entering the office as the rest of them were opening the door and preparing to open the office.

    Chloe and I stood a little distance away from the crowd in order not to get caught in it. We were waiting for Rosa to get us inside, away from anyone''s sight. However, we were still drawing some attention due to Chloe''s fame as the Hero.

    Almost every Awakener who tried to go to the office nced in our direction while whispering something to their friends. Some of them even waved their hands toward us, or more specifically Chloe, but she ignored them as she stared at one person among the crowd.

    Of course, the person she stared at was the girl apanying our protagonist, Zaiden. He stood like a sore thumb with his Academy uniform and sword strapped to his waist, talking with a girl wearing the Academy uniform. That girl was Lily, and Chloe was on the verge of approaching her to greet her.

    "Don''t go there, Chloe. You are not wearing your disguise right now."

    "I know. I am just watching her. In the group chat that I was invited in, she said that she would be absent from the Academy today. So she''s apanying Zaiden to register, huh?"

    "Well, she''s his childhood friend. It''s natural for her to apany him on his big day."

    "I see¡­ So Lily sees Zaiden as her important one?" Chloe asked, unsure of what she said herself. She was holding her chin, analyzing Lily with an amused smile.

    "You''re not wrong, but you''re not right either," I answered. Even I wasn''t sure how Lily saw Zaiden. Scratch that; I was not sure of anyone''s feelings right now.

    Even Ao, who was the most predictable, made an unpredictable move by announcing her identity as Thomas Evan''s daughter. She was supposed to keep it a secret from anyone and climb up the rank in Sacred Relic Guild by her own strength.

    "Hmm¡­ Human''s feelings areplicated." Muttered Chloe.

    I nodded my head in agreement. "You''re correct."

    We continued waiting for Rosa as we watched new Awakeners arrive one after the other. The crowd quickly becamerge, and most of them were talking about us. Even Zaiden and Lily stole a nce in our direction a few times.

    Zaiden was confused, as he must''ve never thought that he would see the Hero, Chloe, on his first day of being an Awakener. My presence here was confusing for him too. Although the interview that I recorded with Christoper that night was aired on the TV, I wasn''t sure if Zaiden watched that.

    Seeing his expression after he saw me, I guess he didn''t watch the interview.

    ''Well, step one is done. Next, I need to finish the instructor''s job wlessly.''

    There were a few reasons why I took this instructor''s job request. First of all, Zaiden would certainly join the party to get used to dungeons. And the most important reason was the requester.

    ''He has a lot of influence in the future, so this job will be the fastest way to gain a connection with him.''

    After a few minutes of waiting, Rosa finally appeared. She was running from the distance while shouting.

    "I am sorry! The traffic was jammed, so I was a bitte!"

 Chapter 45 First Job [2]

    Rosa stopped in front of me and panted for breath.

    "It''s not a problem. The office is not open yet. They are still sorting the people."

    Rosa let out a sigh of relief as she patted her chest. "Thank god! I thought that I waste!"

    "Well, you are right on time." I pointed at the office. The crowd began to enter one by one, following the instructions of the employees. "Shall we enter too?"

    "Yes. I will take you directly to the one who will give you your tag. I have made an appointment already." She boasted with a big smile.

    "That''s reassuring. As expected from the Sacred Relic, you could even contact the Awakener Association''s employees." I chuckled as I teased Rosa.

    However, she wasn''t aware that I was just joking. She was proud of her connection as she puffed her chest and boasted.

    "Of course we are! Do you change your mind after seeing our connection? Do you want to join us?"

    "Nah, no." I waved my hand at her. "Let''s just go in. I bet you will get a good member today."

    I walked to the office with Chloe following from behind. Rosa was confused by my words, but she ultimately followed us inside the office.

    ***

    "Here is your Mercenary Tag. Please keep them safe. It will be used as your identification when you ept a request from the guilds. Some guilds only hire a mercenary who has this tag. Please do note that."

    The receptionist handed a small star-shaped badge with a logo of two swords crossing in the middle, and Annihtor was written below the swords. It indicated that the Association had officially acknowledged the Mercenary Group.

    A Mercenary Group could operate without this tag, but some guilds only trust a Mercenary Group that had this tag. One of those guilds was Sacred Relic, so I was forced to get this tag because of our rtionship with them.

    Well, it was also thanks to Rosa that the process to get this tag was simple. I only needed to go to the receptionist, and she gave it to me in less than a minute.

    Chloe was looking at the tag curiously, so I handed it to her. "Here. You can hold it, Chloe."

    "Are you sure?" She asked as she took the tag from my hand.

    "You are more trustworthy than me. So I am counting on you to hold this tag."

    "What he said is correct. I am about to suggest letting Chloe hold the tag too. A lot of guilds have already trust Chloe, considering her previous position, as... you know?" Rosa chimed from behind. She was watching the new Awakeners that registered one by one on the counter adjacent to this one.

    "Alright." Answered Chloe. There was a smile on her face; it seemed like she was happy because Rosa and I trusted her. She carefully put the tag inside her magic bag.

    Rosa smiled when she saw what Chloe had done.

    "Anyway, there is someone your age this time. It''s honestly rare. Usually, people are Awakened in theirte 19 or early 20." She turned to Zaiden, who sat in the front seat.

    I also turned to him. He was staring at the receptionist excitedly.

    "That guy, huh?" I muttered. I felt Chloe''s gaze from behind. I nced back and winked my eyes at her.

    She nodded her head slightly to answer.

    "Yes. He''s wearing an Academy uniform, and I do know him from Miss Ao." Said Rosa. "Oops. I am taking dibs on him, you know? Don''t invite him to join your Mercenary Group. Hahahaha. I never thought that he would be Awakened today! What a lucky day." Sheughed, but her tone was not a joking one.

    So she had heard about Zaiden? It was not strange, considering that he won the Academy sparring tournament twice.

    Ao must''ve rmended him to the Sacred Relic guild through Rosa. As proof, Rosa knew about his existence even before he was Awakened.

    "It seems like you have high hopes for him." I nced at Rosa, hinting that I was curious about why she was interested in Zaiden.

    "I am. He won the famous Academy sparring tournament two times in a row. So I do have high hopes for his Talents." Rosa answered without trying to hide the fact about Zaiden.

    "Is that so?" I turned my gaze to Zaiden once again.

    We didn''t need to move from our spot or be afraid of disturbing the work of the receptionist beside us as this counter only opened when they had an appointment. Rosa had dealt with my appointment this morning, and it seemed there was no other appointment as the receptionist closed the counter.

    At that time, the guy who registered had finished. He was amon Awakener with 2 C-Rank Talent and 1 D-Rank Talent. Maybe he would make some bucks hunting in C-Rank Dungeon all his life. My condolence, you were not talented enough.

    "Next!" The receptionist called out, and this time, Zaiden stood up.

    "Yes!" He answered excitedly.

    Lily made guts pose and muttered, "I hope you have good Talents!" to Zaiden, to which he replied with a confident grin.

    He knew his Talent, a cheat character with triple S-Talent that only ever appeared to someone with a Hero Trait such as Chloe in the story. He registered swiftly, and then he put his hand on top of the Artifact that read the Talent of someone.

    Then, the same sight when I was registered happened once again. The room went quiet all of a sudden when Zaiden''s Talents appeared on the screen.

    -----

    Zaiden Archman

    Swordsmanship (S)

    Magic (S)

    Martial Arts (S)

    ----

    I mean, who wouldn''t be surprised when they saw Talents like that? Even my Talents were surprising enough to shut their mouths, so how about triple S-Rank Talents?

    "Triple S! Please excuse me!" Rosa shouted excitedly. She dashed to Zaiden, simr to what she did when we first met after Zaiden got his Awakener ID.

    I guess I could leave them be. I knew that Zaiden would join Sacred Relic.

    "Shall we go first, Chloe? We will bete if we stay here any longer." I called out to Chloe, who was watching the screen that showed Zaiden''s Talents.

    She turned to me and nodded. "Yes. Let''s go."

    We then exited the office, and a loud shout burst out from within as we closed the door behind us.

    ***

    Hollywood Dungeon was not too far from the Awakener Association''s office, so we were walking to get there. We still had around 5 minutes; it would be enough time to get there.

    I could guess that they would bete because of Zaiden, though. They should be flocking in the office right now as I saw some Awakeners run past us without even ncing at Chloe. It was an unusual sight. No one ever ignored Chloe.

    Even Chloe was silent when she saw Zaiden''s Talents. I had told her that he was a savior, so she should''ve guessed his triple S Talents to some extent.

    "Rai¡­ Zaiden''s Talents¡­ They are very simr to mine. Is his Trait also?" She asked in a low voice as we were walking adjacent to each other.

    "No. He''s not a Hero like you." I quickly shot down her question.

    Maybe she still couldn''t believe that someone like Zaiden was not a Hero. He was fit to be a Hero with his Talents, as it mirrored Chloe''s Talent to a T. The only difference was he had Swordsmanship instead of Polemanship.

    "His Trait is a rare one, but it''s also dangerous, simr to your Hero Trait. However, I can assure you that he''s not a Hero. He''s a guy far from that."

    At least, the Zaiden in my novel was a guy who was far from the word Hero. He was more fit with a description of a Viin instead of a Hero, seeing how he was willing to sacrifice the world to save his loved one.

    I was not too sure about this Zaiden, though. He had some Heroplex in his action, but I wonder, would he be willing to sacrifice the world to save his loved one like the original Zaiden?

    ''I am looking forward to his choice at that time.''

    "I see¡­"

    "Yes. No one but you will ever take the spot of Hero. However, your role will be done in a few years, Chloe. Please just bear it until then."

    "Un." She gave me a nod. "But you will help me, right? In my role."

    "I will. That''s why I created this Mercenary Group."

    She smiled sweetly at me, "I know." Her walking pace became faster; she left me behind. She stopped at the intersection and turned to me with a wide smile.

    "And I am thankful for that!" She muttered in a low voice. However, I could hear her due to my superior hearing.

    ''That girl¡­ Is she trying to make me fall for her?'' I thought as I took my pace.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    [08:30 AM]

    [Hollywood Dungeon''s Entrance]

    We arrived at the meeting''s location on time, but as expected¡­

    "They arete¡­" Chloe grumbled; her face turned into a slight frown.

    The one who requested us to be the instructor waste. Only two guards from the Esper Association were in the area, guarding the dungeon''s entrance. As this dungeon was a low-ranked one, the entrance was simr to a normal cave.

    We were sitting in the waiting area not far from the entrance, the supposed meeting location with our requester. If the flow was simr to my novel, our requester should''ve met with Zaiden on his way to this ce and invited him to join his party for today''s raid.

    He should have onepanion with him, so when he heard a new Awakener with triple S Talents appeared, he approached him with good intentions to make a connection with him.

    "Well, they should be here at any minute. Be patient, Chloe." I answered Chloe as I pulled out the sunsses Artifact from my magic bag.

    Chloe was watching me with interest. She tilted her head and asked, "You are going to wear that?"

    "Yup. You did see the effect, no?" I replied with a smile and put the sses on.

    This Artifact had a nasty effect. At first, I wrote about this Artifact to make a joke item with crazy effects. Who would''ve expected that I would be transmigrated here? This item would help me a lot in this world.

    I quietly opened the item''s description.

    -----

    [Horus'' Sunsses] [Artifact]

    [Null Attribute]

    The sunsses created to imitate the eyes of the famed god, Horus.

    Special Skill:

    - [Horus Eyes] Mighty Eyes

    You can see your target no matter where they are.

    Activation Cost: One of your eyes will be blind for three days after activation.

    Effect:

    - Enhanced Sight

    Your eyesight is enhanced.

    - Pry

    You can see Awakener''s status by infusing mana into the sunsses.

    -----

    ''I should praise my genius self for writing about this item in my novel.''

    Although the special effect was simple, it would help me greatly bybining it with my [Arash Bow], where the special effect was firing nine arrows that could reach anywhere in the world.

    The best part of this sunsses was the Pry effect, as I could see someone''s status by infusing mana into it. I tried to look at Chloe and infuse some mana into the sunsses. Her status was then disyed in my eyes.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Chloe

    Rank: B

    Strength: A

    Agility: A

    Endurance: A-

    Mana: A

    Luck: A

    Talent:

    - Magic (S)

    - Martial Arts (S)

    - Polemanship (S)

    Trait:

    - Hero

    -----

    She was really on the verge of advancing to A-Rank. She only needed to increase her Endurance or any stat a rank above, and she would advance to A-Rank.

    "Rai? Why are you looking at me like that?"

    "My bad. I tried to use one of the sunsses effects, you see?"

    "Ah, the Pry one?"

    "Yes. It seems that you are still not able to advance to A-Rank?"

    "Yeah," Chloe answered dejectedly. "But I believe I will be able to advance soon. I n to raid an A-Rank dungeon when I am free."

    "Good luck with that." I cheered her up.

    At that time, I felt someone approaching from a distance and looked in that direction. Chloe also noticed the new presence that approached us, so she also turned at the same time as I.

    "It seems they are here." I muttered and stood up, followed by Chloe.

    In the distance, three boys, one of them I was familiar with, appeared. The leader, a long cyan-haired boy, pointed in my direction. I would surely mistake him for a girl if I didn''t know that he was a boy, considering how cute he was.

    But, I knew about him, as I created him myself to satisfy my readers'' love for traps.

    The familiar face within the group was surprised when he saw us. I smirked under my mask as I managed to surprise him twice today.

    ''You would''ve never expected this, aren''t you, Zaiden?''

    I approached them while Chloe followed from behind and greeted them.

    "Nice to meet you guys. I am Rai from Annihtor, and she''s Chloe." Chloe nodded her head at my introduction.

    "Ah, yes! Thank you for epting my request umm¡­ Mr. Rai? I am Vane Yard, the one who put on the request in the Awakener''s Longue. Please take care of me!" The cyan-haired trap bowed his head cutely. I felt like my heart was being pierced by something when I saw acted cutely.

    This¡­ This was bad. Where did I order his illustration that day? The illustrator did a fucking good job to the point Vane became really simr to a girl.

    Remember Vincent! He''s a boy. He''s a fucking boy!

    I came back to my senses and cleared my throat with a cough.

    "Nice to meet you too. Are you ready to raid the dungeon today?"

    The trap, Vane, raised his head and answered excitedly. "Yes!"

    The man beside him nodded his head sagely. While Zaiden was still frozen like a statue.

 Chapter 46 Im An Instructor [1]

    We went to the waiting area to introduce ourselves to each other.

    "I will reintroduce myself. I am Rai, a Sharpshooter. My main weapon is a bow. Nice to meet you."

    Following my introduction was Chloe.

    "My name is Chloe. My weapon is a spear. Nice to meet you."

    Introducing ourselves to the others in the party before raiding a dungeon was necessary, especially for a newly made party like this one.

    Firstly, we would be closer to each other. Secondly, knowing what our specialty was would be crucial to assign a role to the party member.

    For example, my weapon was a bow, so I would be watching from the rear and scanning the enemy. Chloe, with her spear, would be in the middle. Her job would be to deliver a strong blow to the enemy.

    The swordsman or those with blunt weapons usually became a vanguard. Their job was to meet the monster first, creating a way for the damage dealer or the rear attacker as well as protecting Magicians or Sharpshooters.

    Gunner was a versatile role; they were usually assigned in the middle as a damage dealer or the rear as a sharpshooter, depending on what weapon they used.

    And this feminine guy was one of the gunners.

    "My name is Vane Yard! I am using a Mana Sub-Machine gun as my weapon. Nice to meet you too!" He introduced himself energetically with his girlish voice. I couldn''t see him as a boy. How could there be a 19 years old boy this cute? This was a sin. Even some of the heroines were lost to him in terms of cuteness.

    His weapon was nowhere to be seen, but seeing that there was a bag on his waist, I quickly knew that he already had a magic bag, which was supposed to be expensive for a beginner like him.

    The next one who introduced himself was a man with brown hair. He was a head taller than Vane Yard, and he had short brown hair. He looked like he was in his early twenties. He wasn''t holding any weapon; even his clothes looked casual, and he had no magic bag with him.

    But, there was no way Vane Yard would allow anybody to join his party. Even if he looked cute on the outside, this boy was one of the important characters in my novel. If I chose a person to join my Mercenary Group besides Chloe, he would be the first person that I reached out to.

    "I am Alba Misani. My specialty is Wind Magic. Nice to meet you."

    As expected, a magician. The wand that Magician used was expensive, around five times the price of a normal sword in the Awakener Store. That was why beginner Magicians usually didn''t bring anything with them.

    Also, as a beginner who had no money, even buying defensive types of equipment was too much for them. So I could at least understand if he didn''t bring anything with him when he introduced himself as Magician.

    Thest to introduce himself was our boy, Zaiden. He had recovered from his shock and put on a gentle expression as always.

    "My name is Zaiden Archman. I just registered today, but please take care of me in this dungeon raid. Also, my weapon is a sword." He tapped the sword that was strapped on his waist. It was just a normal steel sword, and from its look, it seems that the sword had been used a few times. Maybe he had tried a real sword when he was training in his own training facility.

    "I know about you. I saw you when you registered earlier. You are the second person that I know of who has triple S Rank Talents." I said to Zaiden as I pointed at Chloe.

    He appeared to be embarrassed for beingpared to Chloe, but that didn''t matter. I looked at our requester, Vane, and pped my hands.

    "Alright. As we have introduced ourselves, let me tell you what you need to prepare before raiding the dungeons."

    The atmosphere suddenly turned serious as they nodded their heads.

    "Firstly, all of you must follow my or Chloe''smand without asking anything. Having a leader in the party is crucial when raiding an empty dungeon as there will be no other people inside."

    "Secondly, don''t ever think of attacking a monster by yourself. Have teamwork and talk to each other."

    "Thirdly, don''t ever expect us to rescue you unless the situation is really dire. We are instructors, not babysitters. Do you understand?"

    "Yes!"

    "Understood."

    Vane and Zaiden answered loudly while Alba nodded his head. He was a man without many words, huh.

    "Alright, then let me tell you the party lineups. Zaiden will be in the front as the vanguard, followed by Vane in the middle, andstly, Alba as the magician will look at the rear, okay?"

    "Alright!"

    Unexpectedly, they didn''t even question my instructions. I was a new Awakener who only had registered a month ago. It was a bit strange, but Vane somehow looked at me with a gaze full of respect.

    I thought that he chose Annihtor because Chloe was a member of my Mercenary Group, but¡­ it seemed like I was wrong?

    "Is there anyone who''d like to ask a question?" I nced over the three of them, and all of them shook their heads.

    "Alright, then, as a sharpshooter, take this, Vane." I took out a grenade and a smoke bomb that I bought from the Awakener Store that day and handed them to Vane.

    "This is?" He asked me while he took the bombs.

    "A grenade and a smoke bomb. Only use them when necessary."

    "Ah! Yes!" His face brightened up, and he put the bombs in his magic bag. He looked at me with sparkly eyes. "This is for emergency retreat, right?!"

    I nodded my head. "Yeah. As a sharpshooter, you are the one who can judge the situation better than anyone. Whatever your Talent was, Gunmanship or Archery, both of them increased your dynamic vision and your senses. My Talent is abination from both, so my senses were better than someone with just Gunmanship or Archery Talent. So you must stay alert, even more than your party members."

    "Alright, instructor! Thank you!" He eximed as he smiled brightly.

    I then turned to Zaiden next.

    "Also, Zaiden, was it?"

    "Yes." He answered with a nod.

    "I am watching you. You should be able to clear this dungeon easily with your Talents. I know about it because I also have good Talents, and I am confident of clearing a dungeon with the same rank as me alone." I put more force in my words. Of all the three, Zaiden stood out the most.

    How could I say it? I didn''t feel it before he was Awakened or when we sparred, but¡­ his motivation was nowhere to be seen. I knew that he wanted to save the heroines, but there seemed to be hesitation in his eyes when he was standing here right now.

    ''This guy is fucking troublesome when I think about it again.''

    I clearly said that I wouldn''t help them if the situation was not dire, andter, the situation would turn dire.

    "Huh? Yes. I will not be careless." He replied to me with a confused tone. Did he think that I was jealous of his Talents? That was far from the truth.

    In the novel, there were a lot of people with a personality simr to what I personalized right now. Rai was someone prideful, as well as merciless. I was Rai now, so I acted like my character.

    "Alright. Vane, did you bring the [Party Bracelets]?"

    "Of course!" He dug his hand in his magic bag and took out five [Party Bracelets] with the same code. "I have prepared it."

    "Good. Then give it to your party member. As we are instructors, we will not wear your [Party Bracelet], so we won''t get a share of Mana of the monster that you guys killter."

    "Are you sure?" Vane asked curiously.

    "Yeah. I have already reached D-Rank, so I don''t need Mana from F-Rank monsters. It''s useless for us, right, Chloe?"<sub> </sub>

    "Yes. It''s better if the three of you wear it yourself and get more Mana from killing monsters. So you guys can advance faster." Added Chloe.

    "Uuhh¡­ Alright, if you say so." Vane then handed the bracelet to Alba and Zaiden before putting back the rest into his magic bag.

    They wore it without saying anything, and we were ready to raid the dungeon.

    "Then, let''s go!"

    "Yes!" This time the three of them answered at the same time.

    ***

    The Hollywood dungeon''s interior was like a cave and had only one floor, but it was bigger than the goblin dungeon that I often visited. The three new Awakeners were proceeding carefully as soon as we entered the dungeon.

    Chloe and I were watching them from behind. We were just at the entrance, but they were already stiff from nervousness.

    Even Zaiden, a reincarnator, was shaking in his feet. However, I knew why he was nervous and scared. I was a sadistic author. Yes, I came to terms with that. So, I always put Zaiden in a difficult position, even when in his first dungeon raid.

    So he was expecting the first difficulty that he would faceter. Even if Chloe and I were here, he was still scared of his first real battle.

    My role in this raid was as an instructor. So I would only watch, at least, I wouldn''t do anything until he was begging for help and on the verge of death. But, because I was an instructor, it was also my job to reassure them.

    "Don''t worry. The monsters in this dungeon are only Goblins; it will be an easy enemy for F-Rank Awakeners."

    They answered me with a nervous nod. This couldn''t do; should I give them an example? I really should, didn''t I? In the novel, even the instructor killed one goblin to show them how to hunt a goblin.

    "It seems that you are still nervous." I shook my head, disappointed.

    Vane turned to me, crestfallen. But that was natural. The news always told the citizens that the dungeons were dangerous, and the citizens who had never entered a dungeon before still had that way of thinking. I couldn''t me them.

    "Well, then let us show you an example of how to hunt goblins when we meet one, okay? For now, just go inside and look around your surroundings."

    "Alright." Answered Vane.

    Their nervousness lessened after I told them that we would show them an example. We began to proceed inside the dungeon carefully. Our walking speed was slow because they were cautious of their surroundings.

    Zaiden unsheathed his sword after they began to walk, and Vane took out his Mana Sub-Machine gun that somehow looked like an MP5 from Earth. The bullets of that gun was Mana, created thanks to the Magic-Science. The magazine was made from something called Mana Crystal, a crystallization of Mana that could only be found inside B-Rank dungeons or above. I wasn''t really sure how it worked, but at least, Awakener''s Mana would be siphoned when they pushed the trigger and that created a Mana Bullet that flew at fast speed.

    That made the Mana Gun''s price soar, but many still used them because it was convenient and strong.

    After walking for a few minutes, I spotted two goblins walking in the distance.

    "Chloe," I whispered at Chloe and pointed in the direction of the goblins.

    "Yes. I noticed them too. Shall we kill them first?"

    "No, wait a minute. Let''s wait until they notice it."

    A few seconds after I shut my mouth, Vane raised his voice.

    "Stop." He gave out amand and stopped in his tracks.

    Because he was the leader of the party, Zaiden and Alba followed hismand and stopped. They looked at him questioningly.

    "There are two goblins ahead." He informed them.

    "He''s good." I praised him quietly. For an F-Rank Awakener, he had good senses.

    I noticed the goblins earlier because of my sunsses too. Even though it was sunsses, I could see inside the dark with no problem thanks to its effect, which was cool.

    Vane turned toward me and asked, "What should we do, instructor? Are you going to give us an example first?"

    This was time. I nodded my head at him and answered. "Yes."

    I took out [Arash Bow] from my magic bag and held it in my left hand. It was mainly to flex in front of Zaiden and make him question his decision as well as give him a hint.

    ''You should know, for now, Zaiden. I mentioned an Unknown Master Sharpshooter a few times in the novel already.''

    I nced at him and caught him narrowing his eyes curiously. Well, at least he was not a fool.

    "Let me show you how to deal with a goblin." I took a stance and pointed my bow at the goblin on the right. "As a sharpshooter, you must deal the damage first and trust yourpanion to do the rest while supporting them from the back."

    I pulled the bowstring and created a Mana Arrow. It was a small arrow that focused on speed and piercing ability as my enemy was just a goblin. Well, even though I said that, it was normal Mana Arrow with only a little bit of Mana infused into it.

    "If you trust yourpanion¡­ and they respond to your trust¡­" I paused a little as Chloe took out Gae Bolg from her magic bag. She nodded her head at me, and I released the arrow. "You can do this."

    Tang¨C Swoosh!

    At the same time I released my arrow, Chloe dashed toward the goblin, following my arrow from behind.

    The arrow flew at a fast speed and pierced the first goblin''s head without giving it a chance to react.

    "Keuhk?!" The second goblin yelped when it saw the first goblin die. It turned toward me, but it was toote.

    Chloe had already made her move and thrust her spear toward its head. It pierced cleanly even when she didn''t infuse Mana into her spear, killing the goblin instantly.

    "Kurr¡­"

    She swung her spear to clean the blood that stuck into it before walking back to me.

    "It''s done." She dered with a small smile.

    "That''s how you hunt a goblin, easy, right?" I smiled at them, though they couldn''t see it because of my mask.

    They had disbelief expressions, especially Alba and Zaiden. Their faces were a sight to behold. But, Vane, he was a strange one. His eyes sparkled, and then he eximed.

    "Amazing! You''re so amazing, instructor!"

    This guy understood, huh. Should I just invite him to my Mercenary Group? I quite like a guy that understood my good points.

    "Of course. I am hoping you can show me a simr resultter."

    "Yes, instructor! I will not disappoint you!" Vane answered as he saluted at me with a bright smile.

    It seemed like I gained my first fan.

 Chapter 47 Im An Instructor [2]

    After a brief example from us, I asked the new Awakener to continue raiding the dungeon.

    The monsters in this dungeon were only a few, maybe around 20 to 30 goblins, and the dungeon was only around 500 meters deep.

    It was just a small dungeon, and I believed that the three of them could clear it with no problem, especially when one of those three guys was Zaiden.

    And as I had expected, they were good.

    They found a group of goblins. Also, maybe because I was here with my S-Rank Luck, and Zaiden with his E-Rank Luck was also here, the number of goblins that appeared was different from those in my novel.

    In my novel, the first goblin group that appeared were two, and the instructor also gave them an example like what I did. However, the second group of goblins that appeared was supposed to be a group of five due to Zaiden E-Rank Luck.

    But, this world was real, and it wasn''t my novel. So, it seemed like my Luck also affected the encounter with the second group of goblins.

    Instead of a group of five goblins, the group that they found was a group of ten goblins. Twice asrge as the one in the novel. It was a lucky thing for me as I wanted Zaiden to suffer and gain more experience to get stronger.

    Zaiden''s eyes bulged in surprise. His body jolted a little, and he stopped in his tracks even before Vane stopped them. No¨CVane had no time to stop them as they had stopped at the same time when they noticed the goblins that blocked their paths.

    "What should we do?" Unexpectedly, Alba was the first one to open his mouth. He looked at his team member as his hands moved around, getting ready to fire his wind Magic.

    Vane was nervous; it was obvious from his expression. He bit his lower lips and nced at me. But, once he did that, he immediately shook his hand and readied his gun.

    "Zaiden, are you confident to take on around five goblins at once?" He asked.

    Zaiden smiled confidently as he tightened the grip on his sword. "I will try."

    Sweat dripped from his face, and I looked at him from the back while crossing my arms. I didn''t need to help them unless the situation was dire. My bow was in my bag as I could get it anytime. However, Chloe was anxious and held her spear in her hand even though it was not too necessary.

    I could understand her, though. She knew the danger of dungeons better than anyone here. So, even though this was only an F-Ranked dungeon, she didn''t even lower her guard. Because I knew that, I wasn''t afraid of something going wrong even though I knew that something would surely go wrong.

    She was looking at them seriously, ready to dash in when I called for it. But, she wouldn''t do that without my signal. I had told her that we would only help them if the situation was dire.

    Vane smiled as he pointed his gun at the goblin. "Alba, attack them with Wind Magic first, then I will follow up by shooting some bullets toward them. I will be counting on you to deal with the rest, Zaiden. I am not confident not to hit you yet."

    "Alright. At least kill 7 of them if you can. I will take care of the rest." The de of Zaiden''s sword let out a faint blue glow as he said those.

    Alba nodded his head and extended his palms toward the goblin. I felt Mana gathered slowly in front of Alba''s hand, and two small balls of wind that swirled around appeared. They let out a faint pale green glow and looked like they were dancing in front of his palms.

    "I am ready anytime." Alba signaled, which Vane answered with a nod.

    "Shoot them now!" Vane shouted.

    "Wind des!"

    Two balls of wind des were fired toward the group of goblins right after Alba shouted. It became bigger as it traversed and engulfed two clueless goblins in the front. Small cuts appeared over their bodies, and blood dripped out from their wounds. As the cut was deep, the two goblins were killed instantly and fell to the ground.

    Thud!

    The other goblins noticed the group, turned toward them, and cried loudly.

    "Kieek!!"

    "Kaaaarrkk!!!"

    The goblins were not armed. They raised their hands with w-like fingers and ran toward the group. However, Vane had already prepared his gun. He pulled the trigger, and Mana Bullets, which glowed blue, shot out from the barrel of his Sub-Machine gun.

    There were around ten bullets that traveled almost at the same time. They flew quickly and reached the goblins in less than a second. Three goblins in the front took the bullets directly with their body and fell lifelessly.

    Only four goblins were left, and they had reached the party''s location while swinging their hands. There were bullets wound in their bodies, but it was not enough to kill them. His Mana as F-Rank Awakener was too weak to kill eight goblins at once.

    "Kieek!!"

    "Zaiden!" Vane shouted as he jumped back, creating a distance between him and the goblins.

    Alba also jumped back almost at the same time as Vane, leaving Zaiden with four goblins alone.

    "I am fine!" Zaiden shouted as he swung his sword. His movement was smooth and fast. It was two times faster than the time west spared with each other, showing the capability of an Awakener with triple S-Rank Talents.

    Swoosh¨C!

    The sword severed two goblins at the same time, but the other two ducked and managed to avoid his sh. They wed at Zaiden while screaming. He couldn''t see them due to the bodies of the goblins that he killed earlier obstructing his vision.

    "Kraakkk!!"

    "Kiiiee!!"

    He was taken by surprise, but his party member, Vane, pulled the trigger of his gun again. Only two bullets flew out of the barrel this time, but only one bullet managed to hit one of the goblin''s head, while the other bullet missed slightly, only injuring the other goblin''s ear.

    "Shit!" Vane cursed loudly.

    Thud!

    The goblin that got shot in the head fell lifelessly, while the other goblin''s w reached Zaiden''s body, injuring him on his side.

    "Kuh!" He grunted in pain. The wound was not too deep, and he noticed the goblin that had attacked him thanks to that.

    He quickly swung his sword and decapitated the goblin in one clean sweep. After making sure that the situation was safe, he put his hand on his wound and grunted.

    "Ugh, it hurts."

    So this was his limit for now. He was still careless and had no awareness of a real battle. But still, he did better than the Zaiden in my story.

    ''He only got hurt one time in his first fight. Impressive. Even I trained myself to get used to a real battle in a dungeon with one rank lowerpared to mine. But¡­ there is still that enemy. The first trial that I made for him. If he''s like this when he faces that, he certainly would be killed.''

    "Are you alright, Zaiden?" Vane approached him worriedly. His face was a bit pale as he saw blood trickling down Zaiden''s wound.

    "I-it''s alright. I have been injured far worse than this, in my throat."

    My eyes twitched a little when he mentioned the injury in his throat. It was my fault for not controlling my strength properly, but I didn''t regret it in the slightest. Instead, I was happy that I injured him at that time because I could hit him until I was satisfied when we were sparring.

    Alba also approached Zaiden worriedly and checked on the wound.<sub> </sub>

    Vane, whose expression was really bad as if he thought Zaiden''s wound was his fault, looked at him and asked.

    "Should we end the raid here? You are wounded."

    I stepped in as it looked like the kind boy Vane wanted to stop due to Zaiden''s injury.

    "No, you don''t need to stop."

    The three of them looked at me, but I ignored them and nced at Chloe.

    "Can you heal him, Chloe?"

    "Yes. It''s easy."

    She approached Zaiden and bent down a little as she said. "Show me your wound."

    Zaiden obediently put his hand away and let Chloe look at his wound.

    As the one with Magic Talent, Chloe could use all kinds of Magics, including Support Magic that was used to heal wounds.

    Support Magic used Null Attribute instead of the others. The healing Magic used the Null Attribute Magic to rouse the growth of the cell and heal the wound that way.

    Anyway, Chloe put her hand on Zaiden''s wound and healed him as her hand let out a pale blue glow. Zaiden grimaced as the healing process was painful. He tried his best to ignore it, but he couldn''t.

    Using this chance, when Chloe healed Zaiden, I looked at Vane and the other.

    "Honestly, that''s not a bad fight for your first time. Good job, especially Vane."

    When I praised him, his expression brightened considerably as he replied. "Yes!"

    "The magic that you use is also spot on, Alba. But I think it will be better if you fire one Wind de first and wait for the goblin to run before firing another one. That way, you can hit the goblin that''s running first and make the other stumble because of his corpse. Zaiden can take care of the goblin that''s trying to get up easier that way."

    "I see. I will keep that in mind." He nodded his head without changing his stoic expression.

    "Andstly, Zaiden."

    He looked at me after thanking Chloe. She had already healed him, and his wound was already gone as if he was never injured in the first ce. Her control over mana was great, so the healing process was also fast.

    Chloe returned to my side and looked at Zaiden with me.

    "You''re terrible." I paused a little and red at him.

    Vane and Alba were surprised by my harsh words, but I should get this conveyed. This guy had no time to rest after he was Awakened. Maybe a day or two days of rest would be avable for him in the future, but that was because he was injured so badly that he needed to rest on the bed.

    So, to minimize his rest on the bed, I would scold him harshly. He was already injured from carelessness, so this was the perfect time.

    His expression fell, and he looked at the ground.

    "I understand that your sword skill is good. Honestly, it''s too good for F-Rank Awakener. You may be even better than an active D-Rank Awakener in terms of pure sword skill."

    He looked a bit better after I praised his sword skill. He looked at me straight in my eyes with a wry smile. "I am not that good yet."

    "You do understand that. Do you know what you did wrong earlier?"

    "I was too happy when I sessfully killed two goblins and let my guard down after killing two goblins without noticing the two that ducked under me because my vision was blocked." He answered with confidence.

    "Yes. And you are an idiot for doing that. If Vane didn''t cover you earlier, you might lose an arm or even your life. Do you understand?"

    "Yes. I am sorry." He bowed his head and apologized.

    "I will let it slide for this one. Don''t ever let your guard down. If you kill monsters and your vision is blocked, immediately create a distance and put on a defensive position. Are you not taught by your teacher? You have a teacher, right?"

    "I have. It''s my carelessness this time, and I won''t repeat it again."

    "Good." I nodded my head, satisfied.

    Having to scold Zaiden like this was¡­ refreshing? He looked like a kid that did something wrong; it was a sight that I couldn''t see as Vincent.

    This guy was too confident. It was a dangerous thing to be confident in a dungeon. His party was good, and I was also here with Chloe. He was also confident to clear the dungeon because the original Zaiden wasn''t even injured in the slightest before encountering that thing.

    Unless that dungeon was a rank lower than an Awakener, they shouldn''t be confident to take care of the dungeon by themselves. Indeed he was with a party member right now, and his party member, especially Vane, killed the goblins easily.

    But he shouldn''t underestimate those F-Rank monsters. He needed to understand that fighting against a group of monsters as a sole vanguard was not that easy.

    Of course, there were some exceptions. Zaiden was also an exception, but that would only apply when he was experienced.

    "Then, let''s cont¨C"

    Right before I continued my sentence, I felt a presence that came from the deep of the dungeon, slowly walking toward us.

    ''So it''s here. It''s faster than I thought, but it''s the perfect timing.''

    I slowly backed away while ncing at Chloe.

    "Be careful¡­ Something is there." I warned the three as I looked at the caveway that led inside the dungeon.

    Zaiden suddenly took a stance while ring his Mana around his de as if he knew about that something. No, he did know about it. That was why he suddenly turned serious.

    Chloe also gripped her spear, but she was not too worried. The mana of the presence that approached us was weaker than the current her. It was also a bit weaker than me, so I wasn''t too worried.

    Vane prepared his gun after hearing my words. He understood that the current situation was serious, and the one that approached us was not a mere goblin. Alba also prepared his magic.

    The presence that approached us then finally showed itself from the darkness. It was a creature with dark purple skin. It''s a monster with a body three times bigger than a goblin, a wider face, and a strong looking jaw. He also held a big sword in his hand.

    This creature was the first trial that I made for Zaiden. A monster that was not supposed to appear in F-Rank Dungeon. It was an irregr D-Rank monster called¡­

    "Mutated Hobgoblin¡­" Zaiden muttered in horror.

 Chapter 48 Im An Instructor [3]

    Mutated monster. It referred to a monster that appeared in a dungeon where they were not supposed to be and had higher fighting powerpared to theirmon species.

    Usually, their appearance was also differentpared to theirmon species. Take the example of the Mutated Hobgoblin in front of us. It had dark purple skin instead of its usual dark green, and it was bigger than a normal hobgoblin.

    The normal hobgoblin was an E-Rank monster with a height of around 150 to 160 cm. However, the Mutated one in front of us had the Manaparable to those D-Rank monsters, and it was easily 250 cm tall. A monster, in short.

    Some Awakeners would piss their pants when they faced a monster with a monster 2 Rank above them, but surprisingly, Zaiden and the others were still able to face it without pissing their pants.

    Alba was shaking in fear. Zaiden was a bit scared, seeing that he was biting his lip. But, surprisingly, Vane was the calmest one among them, which was a plus point for a sharpshooter and the leader of the party as he needed to observe the situation and give order in case of emergency.

    "I-instructor! W-what should we do?!" Vane turned his head to me while pointing his gun at the mutated hobgoblin that walked slowly toward them.

    It was still around 20 meters from where the party stood, and its walking speed was slow, as if it was mocking the party members.

    Chloe nced at me worriedly. Her eyes were asking me whether we should kill the Mutated Hobgoblin or not.

    It was her first time being an instructor, and it was also my first time too. But, I had a reason for being the instructor in this one. It was my first time to mess with Zaiden, to make him suffer. So I raised my hand to stop Chloe and answered Vane.

    "Try to kill it alone without our help. With what I saw earlier, I do believe you can at least injure it or even kill it. Believe in yourself and your vanguard. Cover him from behind while he faces the enemy."

    ''So push Zaiden toward that monster and let him fight him alone in the front.'' I added quietly inside my mind.

    "A-Are you not going to help us?" Alba asked. His voice was shaking, clearly scared facing the Mutated Hobgoblin.

    "Nope. As I said before we started, I am an instructor, not a babysitter. Do your best, and don''t worry about dying. The least I will do is to keep your lives. Consider this as training to handle an unexpected situation. Also¡­" I paused a little and pointed at the Mutated Hobgoblin that snickered while swinging its sword.

    It was now close to the party, and in five more steps, it would reach them. "Are you sure you are going to waste your time by talking to me?"

    "E-Everyone! Keep your focus! We can do this!"

    As if waiting for me to end my speech, Zaiden suddenly shouted to encourage his party members. His expression was truly the embodiment of confidence, but his voice was shaking from fear.

    He knew that he couldn''t face the Mutated Hobgoblin alone. Even the Zaiden in the novel got injured badly in his attempt to kill the Mutated Hobgoblin.

    The original instructor died in the hand of the Mutated Hobgoblin because he couldn''t feel it when it was approaching him. So, the party members were left alone facing the hobgoblin. But, this time was different.

    Chloe and I were here. Maybe that was why he was confident to take on the hobgoblin.

    "Alright! Alba, how is your mana?" Asked Vane. He had the aura and charisma of a leader. As expected of him, he knew what to do even when he was afraid and had no experience. Maybe he had watched some dungeon raid on the inte. Or read some books in the library.

    "I am alright. I can fire five or more wind des with no problem."

    "Good. My mana had been depleted by more than half due to shooting a lot of goblins earlier. Zaiden, how about you? Can you at least hold the hobgoblin for a few seconds for Alba to prepare his magic?"

    "I will try. No promise though." Zaiden answered with a wry smile.

    "It''s fine. Wait until my bullet hits him." Vane pointed his gun at the hobgoblin''s head.

    His hand was shaking, but he did his best to stay calm. After a second, his shaking stopped. He pulled the trigger, and a bullet was fired through his gun''s barrel.

    Swoosh! Tang!

    The bullet flew at a fast speed and hit the hobgoblin''s head, creating a slight dent in his skull before the bullet disappeared in the mote of light. Blood dripped from the wound, but it was not enough to kill it. The power behind the bullet was too weak, considering that it used an F-Rank Awakener''s Mana, Vane''s Mana.

    If I was the one who shot the gun, it would certainly pierce through the hobgoblin''s skull. s, Vane was too weak to create such a powerful bullet.

    The hobgoblin flinched and touched the wound in its head. Realizing that there was blood trickling down its face, it raised its sword and roared.

    "Graaaahh!!!"

    The cave shook due to the loud roar. The pebbles on the ground were rattling around. Zaiden and the others were surprised and plugged their ears. That was a bad move. Even Chloe and I didn''t plug our ears even though it was loud; we couldn''t afford to do it.

    Vane, being a sharpshooter with enhanced senses, took the most damage from the roar among the three of them. "Argh!" He grunted in pain, but his sight was still nted on the hobgoblin.

    The hobgoblin used the chance to dash in, closing the distance between it and Zaiden in an instant. It swung its big sword, aiming to cleave Zaiden in half. The only one who realized its movement was Vane, and he shouted.

    "Watch out!"

    Zaiden snapped out instantly and realized that the hobgoblin was already in front of him. He gripped his sword tightly with both hands and blocked the hobgoblin''s attack.

    ng!

    ''Oh?'' I was a bit amazed as Zaiden was able to block the attack. He was pushed back, yes, but he was not blown away.

    His training in his family''s training facility must''ve been focused to build his foundation. He had strong limbs that were crucial for a swordsman.

    ''He was also not blown away by my kick in that tournament.''

    Though he was able to block the first attack, it was clear that he was struggling.

    "Vane! Alba!" He called out to his party members.

    "Wind de!" Alba shouted loudly.

    They immediately understood, and Alba fired a wind de at the hobgoblin. Due to the height difference, Alba had an easy time to aim at the hobgoblin''s head. They learned a little from their first battle. Not the best, but good enough.

    Meanwhile, Vane jumped backward to create some space and fired his gun. Five bullets came out of the barrel, and his body flinched before putting his fingers away from the trigger.

    "Huh?" Vane sounded confused. His bnce was broken and he stumbled a little. He could only stand because of his sheer will.

    The bullets and wind de hit the hobgoblin, injuring it. Using that chance, Zaiden pushed the hobgoblin back with a kick and swung his sword, injuring the hobgoblin''s arm in the process.

    "Graahhh!!" The hobgoblin roared in anger. It was mad and charged at Zaiden.

    "Hey! Care to assist me?!"

    Vane nodded his head, but his expression was clearly worsened, and his skin turned pale. He tried to fire his gun, but no bullet came out. Finally, he slumped to the ground, and Alba noticed that.

    "Vane!"

    ''He has exhausted his Mana.'' I narrowed my eyes as I nced at Vane.

    It was normal for the new Awakener to exhaust their Mana, as they had yet to know their limit.

    Alba assisted Vane in worry, leaving Zaiden to cope with the hobgoblin alone.

    ''Beginner mistake. He should focus on the monster instead of helping his teammates. The situation is dangerous now.''

    Zaiden noticed Alba''s worried tone and realized that something was wrong with Vane. He nced at them, but the hobgoblin attacked him before he had a chance to look at their situation.

    Swoosh!

    The hobgoblin swung its sword horizontally. It was fast and swift, considering his size. Zaiden was right in front of the hobgoblin, and he couldn''t avoid its attack.

    "Oh no!" He gasped and readied his sword to block the attack.

    ng!

    He was able to block the attack in time, but it was too strong, and his sword snapped in half. His body was blown away and crashed into the wall.

    Crash! Thud! Crack!

    It looked painful. The cave''s wall cracked from the crash, and Zaiden fell to the ground. He tried to stand up immediately, but he couldn''t. His right leg was bent in the wrong way, and his body was injured to the point that he couldn''t move. Blood trickled down his face, but he didn''t seem to bother with it.

    "Ugh! M-Move!" He desperately tried to move. But still, he couldn''t.<sub> </sub>

    ''This damned guy!'' I screamed inside my mind.

    I knew that he was worried about Vane, but how could he look away in an important battle?! He must''ve had a few broken ribs from that attack earlier.

    "Chloe, let''s interfere. You protect Alba and Vane." I quietly muttered and readied my bow.

    "Alright." She answered and walked toward Alba and Vane.

    Vane was still on the ground, looking at the hobgoblin with mixed expression. Mana exhaustion was fatal in a dungeon raid. One would feel weak when his Mana depleted, some higher Rank Awakener would immediately faint due to it.

    They would feel sluggish, and their visions would turn around like someone who was drunk. A bad headache would also attack them, so they wouldn''t be able to make sound decisions, even recovering Mana would need at least a few hours for them.

    Alba was standing in front of Vane, trying to protect him from the hobgoblin as wind des danced in front of his palm. That was a good decision in case one couldn''t run, but not in this case. He should''ve carried Vane and ran to get help before Zaiden died. Points deduction for him.

    ''Points deduction, huh? Am I an instructor of the Academy?''

    Chuckling at my thought, I looked at the hobgoblin that approached Zaiden while snickering. Alba was about to attack the hobgoblin but was stopped by Chloe, who suddenly appeared in front of him.

    "It will be fine." She said, "Rai will take care of that." She then pointed at me.

    I was d that you believed me, but that word wouldn''t be enough to calm him down. Or so I thought.

    Alba nodded his head and erased his magic. He crouched while facing Vane, trying to help him to stand up.

    "Are you okay?" Asked Alba.

    "Y-Yeah." Answered Vane. He looked at me and smiled. "S-so instructor will help us?"

    "Un." Chloe answered shortly.

    Well, it seemed like that side was fine. Also, Zaiden had been roughed up by the hobgoblin. This would be enough to make him realize that his strength wouldn''t be enough to survive, even more so if he wanted to save the heroines.

    ''I hope you will change a little with this.''

    I pointed my bow at the hobgoblin and pulled the bowstring, creating a normal Mana Arrow that I used to hunt Forest Wolves. It should be enough to kill this guy, considering his face had been roughed up by Vane and Alba.

    "Hey, ugly bastard!" I shouted at the hobgoblin to gain his attention.

    Monsters couldn''t understand human speech, but they could at least feel the emotion behind the words. And I mocked it, so it could feel that I was looking down on it.

    Slowly, the hobgoblin stopped and turned its head at me. I couldn''t read its expression, but it was clearly raging. Its face was covered in blood from the wound created by the wind des and bullets earlier, making it look scary.

    It only looked scary, though; its strength was not something worth mentioning. At least not for me.

    As it had stopped in its tracks, I grinned under my mask and released the bowstring.

    Swoosh!

    My arrow severed the wind and nted itself on the hobgoblin''s head, right between its eyes, killing it instantly.

    Thud!

    It fell to the ground lifelessly, and silence descended before I muttered.

    "Bullseye," I lowered my arrow and looked at the hobgoblin''s corpse. I approached it before pulling its fangs and put its sword in my magic bag.

    Even a small loot was valuable, but I guess, I would give some part of the money to Vane and the others, as they were the one who fought it before I killed it. Just a little bit though.

    "Woah¡­" Vane muttered in admiration.

    "This is¡­" Alba lost his words as if it was stuck in his throat. But the way he looked at me was filled with admiration.

    Meanwhile, Zaiden was looking at me without saying anything. His gaze was full of confusion, and I red at him while raising my chin a little, showing my supremacy. I then looked at Vane, the leader of the party, and said.

    "Let''s wrap it up. You guys did well for your first time, even when there was an abnormality."

    "Ah, yes." Vane tried to stand up, but he stumbled again.

    "Whoa! There..." Alba caught Vane''s body and propped him up by linking his hand on his shoulder.

    "A-ahaha, thanks, Alba."

    "No problem."

    Vane looked at me with a pale expression and said.

    "I-I also think that it''s enough for today, besides¡­" He then turned to Zaiden, who was roughed up badly. "I think someone needs to see a doctor."

    Zaiden, despite his injuries, chuckled. "Ha-hahaha¡­ C-Can you carry me, please?" He asked as he turned to me.

    He was unexpectedly able to handle pain. I realized it when I hit him on his throat and when he was only screaming without thrashing around when he was Awakened.

    Without much choice, I nodded my head.

    "It will cost you, though." I was only joking, but Vane unexpectedly answered seriously.

    "I-I will pay for it."

    "Thanks for your patronage."

    I looked at him and nodded my head. Who wouldn''t want free money? At least I loved free money. So I didn''t bother to say that I was joking and approached Zaiden, carrying me on my back.

    "Argh! P-please be gentle with me. I am a patient."

    "No."

    He grumbled a little after I refused him tly.

    Were you a girl? I wouldn''t be gentle even if you pay me. When Zaiden shut his mouth, Chloe approached me and asked.

    "Rai, should I clear the dungeon?" She gripped her spear before adding, "It will be easy."

    "No, Chloe. We are leaving for now. It''s enough for today."

    "Alright."

    I then turned at Vane, who was standing with the help of Alba.

    "Are you going to be okay? We will leave the dungeon now." I asked them, to which Vane replied with a nod.

    "I will be okay." He then patted his magic bag. "I have put all my belongings, including my gun, inside."

    "Alright. Let''s get out of here." I then turned to Chloe. "I will be counting on you to heal Zaiden on our way out, Chloe."

    "Un."

    With that, we walked slowly toward the exit of the dungeon. With this, the first event concluded with Zaiden getting injured though it deviated a bit from my n.

    ''The introduction phase is over. The next event, the first arc, will be that, huh? I still have a lot of time then. I should check my walking piggy bank while waiting.''

    Zaiden had already suffered physically in the introduction. In the first arc, his second trial wouldn''t be as easy as this one.

    ''After that, I think I should finish Smith''s request too. I have been neglecting it for too long.''

 Chapter 49 Black Market [1]

    [21 April 2023, 10:40 AM]

    [Outside the Dungeon]

    After leaving the dungeon, Vane and Alba rested in the waiting area. The trap was calling someone with his phone, telling the person on the other side of the phone that he had Mana Exhaustion and asked for a car to pick him up and his friend.

    Zaiden''s external wound had also been healed by Chloe, but his bones were not put in ce yet. Although healing magic was convenient, bones needed to be ced back first before they could be healed by magic. Hence, we couldn''t heal him as both Chloe, and I were not well-versed in medical knowledge.

    So, I was forced to bring him to the hospital. Chloe went back home first because she wanted to cook for lunch. She never expected to get this job in the first ce, so I didn''t mind her leaving first. Before leaving, she waved her hand and asked me to look forward to lunchter.

    I also got my payment from Vane, which was 200 thousand USD. A big number for my first job. We also exchanged numbers as I told him to contact me whenever he needed help in the future, and he replied with a smile.

    After all things with Vane were over, I called a Taxi to get Zaiden to the hospital.

    I was indeed taking my time, but I didn''t really care. He could handle some pain if he was a man. In the taxi, we sat on the back seat.

    "To the hospital, please," I told the middle-aged driver our destination.

    "Alright. Both of you have just raided a dungeon, huh?" The driver asked as he started the car''s engine. He drove smoothly because he saw that Zaiden''s leg was bent in the wrong direction.

    A lot of Taxi drivers had taken injured Awakeners to the hospital. This was normal in today''s society. Hence, he instantly knew that we were just done raiding a dungeon.

    "Yes." I just answered shortly as I had nothing more to say.

    "Well then, I will drive a bit fast, seeing that the guy beside you has been injured. Hahahaha."

    While the driver was concentrating on the road, I felt a gaze from my side and turned around. Zaiden was looking at me, trying to judge me with his gaze.

    "What?" I asked in a cold tone.

    He was shaken and let out a short gasp. "Ah! N-No. It''s just¡­ I wanted to ask something. But¡­ I am afraid to offend you with my question."

    Ah, that was it. He must be curious about my identity and used this chance of us being together to ask something. Chloe was not here, so he could ask some sensitive questions with no hesitation.

    He must''ve been terrified of Chloe. She was the only one with the hope of defeating Zaiden in thetter part of the story. When facing Chloe, Zaiden was injured to the point he almost lost his life. Her strength was also amplified when facing thetter part of Zaiden, as he was considered a threat to the world.

    ''Should I answer his question?''

    I was a bit hesitant, but finally, I crossed my arms and spoke.

    "Do ask me anything. I have something to ask you too."

    Zaiden was confused, but he smiled as I was willing to answer his question.

    "Umm, then¡­ Can I ask you how you meet with the Hero¨C"

    "Chloe." I cut off his sentence and emphasized Chloe''s name. "Don''t call her Hero, as that girl deserves something better than that measly title."

    She had the right to be called by her name, not only her title. The driver noticed that we were talking about something rather private, so he pushed a button that closed the sutter between the back seat and the driver seat. He did that to avoid some trouble with Awakener; what a good move. The sutter blocked the sound from the backseat, so we could talkfortably.

    "I see. I am sorry." Zaiden apologized. From his look, he truly was sorry.

    "No problem. Just don''t call her Hero again. As for your question, you asked me how I met with Chloe, right?"

    "Ah, yes. I-If you don''t mind, can I hear it? I have watched your interview and read the article about you pulling Miss Chloe by hand."

    "About that. It was Chloe who pulled me by hand, and I met her when we were just a child." I narrowed my eyes as I narrated.

    Zaiden changed the story by saving his family and Lily. They lived in Texas at that time when a monster from the nearby field rampaged and created an outbreak. That incident happened when they were children, maybe ten years ago from today''s date.

    Chloe had be Awakener five years ago, and she was only nine years old when the Outbreak happened. Her backstory was notplete. Because in the novel, Chloe was emotionless when she met Zaiden. She had been depressed for too long and became unable to express her emotion after she killed the Demon King.

    Her duty was finished, and she turned into something like a living doll with the sole purpose of defending Humanity. That was messed up. I med myself for writing something like that at that time.

    Fortunately, I managed to pull her out from her misery in time in this world. I wouldn''t allow her to be like that. Although my first intention to save her was because she was my favorite character, I became attached to her after living with her for three weeks.

    So, it was time for bullshit. To make this fucker felt guilty and confused.

    "Ten years ago, we met in a shelter during the monster outbreak in Texas. We were separated when she became Awakener five years ago. We met again right before that hoax article was spread, and we decided to create a Mercenary Group for a living."

    "Huh?" He let out a surprised sound. His pale face turned into a surprised one, which looked a bit stupid. "That means both of you have been friends since childhood?"

    "Yes. Now, I have answered your question. I can ask mine, no?"

    "Yes, please ask anything." He said with a painful smile. I guess a few broken ribs and a broken leg were really painful, huh? He was a bit amazing because he could act like normal even in his condition.<sub> </sub>

    I have created Rai''s identity meticulously and added a backstory of mine with Chloe. There was one more thing that I wanted to add to Rai''s identity so my action in the future would look normal to Zaiden. This question would be the most important one in my n, and I never thought that I would get the chance this quick.

    I put off my sunsses, put them in my magic bag, and red at Zaiden.

    "It''s a strange question, but¡­ Do you know something about Bathory?"

    When I asked that, I noticed Zaiden''s body flinched, and his hand moved a little. He was on guard and red at me. There was a slight Manaing out from his body. Was it anger? Or was it wariness? None of that mattered. More importantly, he did react to my question.

    "Who are you?" He asked in a tone lower than usual. So he was able to talk like that.

    I snickered under my mask at his question.

    Rai would be a person who stopped Zaiden, who hindered him, and who would make him suffer through all trials. He was the character that I created in this world and my second identity, based on the real me before I transmigrated to this world.

    There was a crucial part that I needed to add so that Zaiden would be angry at Rai and possibly even Chloe. It was the fact that Rai knew the future too.

    So, I deliberately asked him this question about the strongest witch, Bathory.

    "Lily Sonava, quite a good name, no? No one ever believes that such a girl will be the one who turns into the most heinous witch in existence, hated by all. And no one ever believes that Zaiden Archman, the most talented person in the world with 3 S-Rank Talents, will try to save that heinous witch. What a scary thing, the future is." I chuckled at the end of my sentence and paused a little.

    Zaiden''s expression was now mixed with wariness, curiosity, as well as slight anger.

    At the end of volume 29, I made Bathory utter the name of her host, Lily Sonava, Zaiden''s childhood friend that was killed in the monster outbreak ten years ago and was revived by Bathory''s Witch Factor. In this world, though, she had survived the monster outbreak.

    That meant Bathory''s Witch Factor was in an unknown location now, and that was the one who made me mad when I met Lily for the first time.

    This fucker, the reincarnator, let the strongest Witch Factor reside in another girl''s body because he saved Lily. Maybe he didn''t realize that this world was inside ''Awakener''s Dead Harem'' when he was a child, but¡­ it seemed like he realized what he did after realizing where he actually was and vowed to save the other girls.

    I wouldn''t let that happen. The unknown factor was the scariest thing in this world. I wouldn''t let his whim get me killed.

    "You...! Who are you?!" He raised his voice, yelling at me.

    "Hmm? Why are you asking me that? Aren''t you the same as me? Or are you not?" I asked him yfully.

    The n that I created for Rai''s identity, a certain key that motivated Zaiden, and this n would make Rai''s future action normal in Zaiden''s eyes.

    "Didn''t you fail to save that witch? That''s why you regressed, right? Or, are you not?"

    Regression.

    Rai was a regressed person who knew the future of this world. The Hero''s childhood friend as well as someone who hated Zaiden for killing his loved one. That was the setting that I made for my second identity.

    "¡­" Zaiden couldn''t say anything. His eyes widened, and Iughed.

    "Ah, I see. So that''s why your personality is different from what I remember. Even if you regressed, your personality should''ve stayed the same. The cold murderer who will do anything to save the witch. The hope of humanity who turned his back from humanity to save the witch, Zaiden Archman. But¡­ you are different. You don''t know me. I am a bit hurt, considering our close rtionship." I paused and chuckled.

    I was not wrong calling me close to Zaiden, as he was the character that I created. I was the closest one to him, as I was his creator. I knew all about him, better than anyone else. His suffering, his depression, his goal, and his end.

    "So you are not a regressor¡­ But you seem to know what will happen, so¡­ I see. How amusing."

    "¡­" He kept staying silent, but I knew that he had connected the dots from his expression. I had thrown some hints, and he should''ve known it.

    The taxi stopped at the perfect time, and the sutter was brought up again. We had arrived in the hospital. The driver looked back at us, confused. But I quickly handed the money to him. "Can you help him get inside the hospital? I will give you a bonus."

    "Uh, sure¡­" The driver replied, still confused.

    I opened the door and stepped out of the taxi. Before I went away, I looked at the confused Zaiden and waved my hand at him.

    "See you in the future, Hijacker. I hope you can do better than him." I emphasized the word Hijacker and went on my way.

    ''I bet Zaiden will try to guess who Rai is beforeing to the conclusion that Rai was a Regressor, someone who came back to the past from the future. And Rai is someone who hates him and probably will try to stop him in the future. Lastly¡­ He will connect Rai with the Unknown Sharpshooter, which I mentioned a lot of times in the novel.''

    With this, it wouldn''t be strange when Rai suddenly appeared in all events that would happen in the future. ''Rai is a Regressor, so he knows the future, probably more than me.'' He would think something like that. His surprised expression was such a good reward for me. I did admit that he was kind, but I didn''t give the fuck about it.

    He needed to save the world, and my job was to make him stronger. I didn''t know whether Lily would still be Bathory in the future, but I already had the Artifact that I needed to find the Witch Factor. The next thing I needed to do was to prepare for Vincent''s Awakening. To prepare for Vicent''s Awakening, I needed a suitable sword.

    For the sword, my lovely old Master had prepared that for me. So, it was time to finish his request to get my reward. As I had no time to hunt the Dark Chameleon, there was only one ce that I could visit to get it.

    ''The next stop is the ck Market.''

    I hummed as I walked away from the hospital.

 Chapter 50 Black Market [2]

    Zaiden, who was lying on the bed in the hospital, was deep in thought.

    Because of his request, he had been given a private room, and currently, he was in deep thought. From what he gathered from their conversation, he found out that Rai knew Zaiden. Not him, but the real Zaiden in the novel.

    He also found out that Rai was, in fact, someone who knew the future like him. Maybe like him was not a correct definition, because from what Rai''s said, he was someone who came back from the future. He was also someone with a rtionship with the Hero, Chloe.

    Not only that, he just found out that Rai and Chloe were also the survivors of the monster outbreak ten years ago. The same monster outbreak where he saved Lily and his family.

    ''There is nothing like that in the novel. Does that mean I have changed the story from the start? Is it because I saved Lily?''

    He raised his body on his hospital bed and looked out of the window. Ten years ago, he only had a good intention of saving his childhood friend from the monster. He absolutely didn''t know that his childhood friend was the one mentioned in thest volume, Lily Sonova.

    And before he knew it, the story had changed a lot. Starting from Vincent, who strangely had a girlfriend. Then the appearance of Rai, who revealed that he was a regressor, and the new Mercenary Group Annihtor.

    ''Regressor¡­ He''s someone who returned from the future with his memory intact. He knows about the future¡­ But I don''t know him. Is he someone who appears in Volume 30? In that case¡­ This is dangerous. Lily is in danger!''

    Zaiden bit his lower lip as he held his head.

    ''What should I do? If he''s from the future, he surely knows that the protagonist kills Chloe¡­ Then¡­ Why did he say he was hurt because he had a close rtionship with Zaiden? I don''t know. What''s going on in this world?''

    He just wanted to live with his loved one. He thought that saving Lily wouldn''t be a problem. There shouldn''t be a problem after looking at the possibility in the novel, but¡­ Who knew that there would be a regressor like Rai.

    "I¡­ What should I do? My action has changed the story¡­ I-I don''t know what will happen in the future¡­"

    His biggest advantage in saving the heroines, the knowledge of the future, was now not his biggest advantage anymore, seeing that there was another one like him. However, he guessed that another one''s goal was different from his goal.

    If he was trying to save his loved one, that person was trying to kill his loved one, Lily. His Trait kicked in, whispering that he should protect his loved one. It was the first time he felt the urge to protect the one that he loved clearly. Was this the influence of his Awakening? He felt like he knew Zaiden''s feelings in the novel.

    "That''s right¡­" He muttered as he raised his head. His expression became apparent as the fire of determination zed in his eyes. "I have changed the story."

    He had realized it. Maybe because he was confused before, he didn''t think about it deeply. "I have changed the story!" He repeated at a louder volume.

    ''I have changed it! I¡­ I sessfully changed it! Right, why did I ignore the fact that I saved Lily?!''

    He had managed to save Lily. Maybe because it had been too long, he just took her survival as a given. But he did it. He had changed the story; he saved Lily.

    "That means¡­ I can save them too. No, I will save them! I will not allow him to stop me from saving them."

    He clenched his fists hard as he made his new resolution. "I will save them all. I will do whatever it takes to save them all! I will not abandon humanity too. I am different from the indifferent Zaiden. I will not fall into despair."

    Repeating the simr sentences a few times, Zaiden''s lips curled up, smiling. In his heart, he thanked Rai for opening his eyes. At the same time, he began to feel a rivalry with Rai, and he vowed.

    ''I will not let him get on my way. If he''s trying to stop me, I will do whatever it takes to defeat him.''

    At that time, the door of the room was opened, and Lily appeared with a worried expression.

    "Zaiden! A-Are you okay?!" She strode in, looking at her with a worried expression.

    "I am fine," Zaiden replied as he smiled at her. He flexed his arm to show that he could move with no problem. "Thanks for worrying about me."

    Lily breathed out the breath that she held. Her worry was gone after seeing Zaiden could move with no problem.

    "Sigh, I thought my heart would stop when I heard the hospital calling the home that you have a few broken ribs and a broken leg aftering back from the dungeon."

    "Hahaha¡­ Well¡­ The instructors saved us, so there was no casualty. Also, something like broken bones is a normal thing for Awakener. You already know that, no?"

    "I know¡­ I know, but¡­ Seeing someone close to you got broken bones is just¡­ hard, you see? I am worried." Lily''s voice cracked as if she was about to cry. She was perturbed about Zaiden and even rushed to the hospital when she got the call and informed Zaiden''s parents.

    "My bad, Lily. But as you can see, I am fine." He gave her a bright smile. "Also, I n to be active as an Awakener. If you are sad when I am only injured this much, how would you react if I got my arm torn or something?" He asked with a yful tone, but Lily''s reaction was not as he expected.

    She instead stayed silent while looking at him. Her eyes glistened with tears, and she suddenly said, "I won''t allow that, Zaiden. I won''t allow you to endanger yourself. If I am Awakened in the future, I will surely protect you."

    Zaiden couldn''t say anything, and they looked at each other quietly. After looking at each other for a few seconds, Zaiden noticed that Lily wasn''t joking.

    "Thanks, Lily. But, you don''t need to protect me. I am happy that you thought so. I will only ept your feelings."

    ''As I will be the one to protect you.'' he thought inside his mind.<sub> </sub>

    "Said someone who lies on the bed." Lily chuckled; her feelings improved after seeing that Zaiden was fine.

    The atmosphere around them turned normal like usual. There were no strangled feelings like before, and they joked around like usual. But, Zaiden was not the same. He had a new determination and a new reason to get stronger. All was to realize his goal of protecting his loved ones.

    ***

    ck Market. As its name suggested, it was a Market that operated illegally without any permission from the states.

    However, its existence was known by almost all Awakeners, except for some new ones, and was left alone. The reason was simple; The ck Market provided a lot of monsters'' materials and sold them at a lower price thanmissioning them directly from Mercenary or Awakener.

    Those items ended up in ck Market because the official store of Awakeners refused to buy them. Mostly, because of the bad quality of the material or the material was secured through illegal means, such as unregistered dungeons.

    Hence, this became the perfect ce for me to find the Dark Chameleon''s skin which was needed to make the item requested by my Master. And more importantly, the location of the ck Market was in the middle of Los Angeles, more specifically in Beverly Hills.

    Right, it was the location where many Hollywood stars lived. Though, in this world, it became the location where High-Rank Awakeners lived instead. So, it was the perfect ce for the ck Market to operate.

    There was a caf¨¦ right near Beverly Gardens Park. The name of that caf¨¦ was Montage ck, and it was always filled with many people. However, this caf¨¦ was just a disguise. The ck Market''s entrance was located inside the caf¨¦, and the people who drank coffee on the terrace were, in fact, the ck Market''s employed Mercenary.

    I entered the caf¨¦ confidently, went to the bar to order, and was greeted by a female employee in a ck and white uniform.

    "Good afternoon. Wee to Montage ck! Have you decided on your order?"

    Even when I wore a hoodie and a mask, she didn''t even bat an eyelid and kept maintaining her professionalism. Well, it might be because a lot of Awakeners had rather¡­ hideous clothing that she didn''t even mind my suspicious clothes.

    Anyway, to enter the ck Market, one needed a keyword. Fortunately, the keyword never changed until the end of my novel.

    "One ck Key Coffee, please. Make it cold."

    It was a rather simple keyword, but still, it served its purpose of turning away some ignorant people.

    The female cashier smiled as she put a key on top of the bar.

    "Please head inside and hand this key to the man at the entrance! Have a good day!" She pointed at the door on the side of the caf¨¦.

    "Thanks."

    I took the key and headed to the door. The security may have looked ratherx in people''s opinion, but there was a reason for it. She said to hand the key to the man at the entrance, and this key was the only one that could open the door that I was about to enter.

    The door and the key were enhanced so that a person could only enter and leave through it with the same key. The man that he mentioned was also a B-Rank Awakener, a High-Rank Awakener just a rank below A.

    The security was good enough for the ck Market. The mercenaries also sat outside, so no one ever thought of forcing themselves to enter. If they wanted to leave, they also needed to go through the security in the caf¨¦, which was almost impossible to be breached unless someone was an A-Rank Awakener.

    Setting that aside, I opened the door with the key given by the cashierdy and entered. On the other side of the door were stairs that led me to the underground room, where the ck Market was located. At the end of the stairs, a bald man in a suit and sunsses stood menacingly, staring at me, who walked downstairs. A steel door behind him looked strong and exuded some Mana.

    It was another enhanced door. The security of the ck Market wasprehensive, as some items being sold inside had a value of more than 5 Billion USD.

    ''Typical guard.'' I snickered in my mind when I saw the man. Bald and suit, I thought that I gave him a decent appearance in the novel, but it looked rather menacing in real life.

    When I arrived at the end of the stairs, the bald man extended his hand and said, "The key."

    "Here." I obediently handed the key to the man, and he opened the steel door behind him.

    After opening the steel door with his Mana, the bald man stepped to the side and smiled. "Wee to the ck Market. Have fun finding your item."

    The ce beyond the door was, in a word, magical. The space was bigger than the caf¨¦ outside, and there were a lot of stalls and small stores which sell Magic Items, monsters'' materials, and even Artifacts. They were engaging in some sort of transaction with an Awakener wearing a mask.

    Almost all Awakeners who were in the ck Market used a mask to hide their identity. But I wasn''t worried about my identity being found. Rather, it would be good if rumors about Rai entering ck Market to be spread. The guilds and the others who heard the rumors would believe in my information gathering ability in that case.

    Some ck Markets in other states were untrustworthy and some stores cheat their customers, but because I knew who controlled this ce, I knew that this ck Market was trustworthy.

    I entered the underground area, and the bald man closed the door behind me. I didn''t look back. Instead, I grinned while looking at the bustling market in front of me.

    ''Well, looking at this directly is interesting. But, this ce is also dangerous. Let''s get the Dark Chameleon skin quickly and head to Smith''s ce.''

 Chapter 51 Fake Artifacts [1]

    Author Note:

    Finally the contract is approved!

    Golden Tickets can be sent to this novel from now on, and I appreciate a single one of it xD

    Please do sent me those tickets or power stones to support me, thanks!

    ***

    [21 April 2023, 11:00 AM]

    [House]

    Chloe arrived at the house after she had bought groceries from the store. She put down the groceries in the fridge before walking upstairs to change her clothes to casual ones. She wore a white shirt and short ck pants because they werefortable, and she could move freely while wearing them.

    She had nned to make some seafood soup for lunch because she remembered that there was shrimp in the fridge. However, when she was about to take out the shrimp, she noticed that the shrimp had gone bad for whatever reason.

    "Huh? What happened?" She muttered as she smelled the shrimp. As expected, the smell was unbearable, and there was an acid smile on it. "Yikes! It''s nasty!"

    Maybe because her cooking teacher always cursed whenever he didn''t like any food, Chloe unconsciously developed a bad habit whenever she found something that she didn''t like. She threw the bad shrimp into the trash and sighed.

    "I should go back to the supermarket¡­"

    She took her magic back and disguised herself using the Ne enhanced by Vincent before going out of the house. She didn''t forget to lock it and put the key in the magic bag. The supermarket was located near the house, but she still needed around 10 minutes of walk to reach it.

    She walked through a crowded street, and as usual, a lot of people were stealing a nce at her with interest. Their nces were a bit ufortable for her; she was not a show. It never happened whenever she was with Vincent for some reason.

    ''Maybe because they are afraid of Vincent? Or, Vincent did something to make them look away from me.'' Such thought shed in her mind as she kept walking to the supermarket.

    ***

    [Supermarket]

    The supermarket was big. A first-timer would be lost if they were bad with directions. But, Chloe had visited this supermarket a few times, and even some housewives recognized her immediately.

    "My, isn''t this Chloe?" The housewife who entered the supermarket at the same time as Chloe greeted her. She was also one of the students in the cooking school that Chloe attended.

    The housewife had a kind smile. She wore a cream dress and sses. Her hair was done in a bun, and overall she looked like the usual kind housewife from the neighborhood.

    "Mrs. Marita. Good afternoon." Chloe greeted back with a smile.

    "Good afternoon. Are you here to shop for ingredients for cooking?" Asked the housewife, Mrs. Marita.

    "Yes. When I was about to cook seafood soup, I noticed that the shrimp had gone bad, so I am here to buy some shrimp."

    "Oh! Seafood Soup! That''s a good choice for lunch. Is that your boyfriend''s request?" Mrs. Marita asked in a teasing tone, clearly enjoying teasing Chloe, who looked innocent.

    "Umm, no. Vincent didn''t request anything, but¡­ I think having some soup will be good for lunch, especially because we ate Mapo Tofu this morning."

    Mrs. Marita looked at her in surprise as she eximed, "Mapo Tofu?! For breakfast?"

    Chloe nodded her head. "Yes. Is there anything wrong with it?"

    "Umm, nothing. Anyway, do you want me to help you with cooking the seafood soup? I have a secret recipe that can make any seafood soup delicious!"

    "Really?!" Chloe''s eyes glittered in anticipation after she heard the special recipe. "Please teach me!"

    "Fufufu. Then let''s shop for the ingredients first! We need some oysters and some shrimp!"

    "Yes!"

    Both of them entered the area where the supermarket sold fish and anything rted to the sea with high spirits. Chloe chose the ingredients for the seafood soup, while Mrs. Marita gave her tips on how to choose the fresh ingredients.

    They spent around 30 minutes looking for ingredients before finally going to the cashier to pay for them. The queue at the cashier was long, so Chloe chatted with Mrs. Marita for a bit.

    Mrs. Marita told her the secret recipe to make the soup delicious and took note in her mind. Surprisingly, the secret ingredient Mrs. Marita talked about was the Oyster, more specifically, Oyster sauce.

    As Chloe learned the secret ingredient, the queue kept moving. When she was busy taking a note of the secret ingredient, someone suddenly called her from behind the line.

    "Eh, Chloe?"

    She looked at the source of the voice and found Lisa walking to them before stopping behind Mrs. Marita while holding a cart full of ingredients.

    "Lisa?" Chloe asked, confused by Lisa''s sudden appearance.<sub> </sub>

    Lisa was supposed to be in the Academy today, but why was she here?

    Mrs. Marita turned around and looked at Lisa before turning back to Chloe. "Your friend?"

    Chloe nodded her head. "Un." She then turned to Lisa and asked. "You''re not in the Academy?"

    Lisa scratched her cheek in embarrassment as she answered. "Ha-hahaha. I-I can''t seem to concentrate on studying, so I left early."

    Chloe couldn''t understand her, but she knew that it was rted to Zaiden. Vincent told her that Lisa and the others loved Zaiden, and as proof, when Zaiden told them that he would leave the Academy, they were in shock, and even Marina got angry at him.

    So she didn''t me her for leaving early as she knew that some feelings couldn''t be forced. She only learned that after living with Vincent, and she knew one more thing.

    "I see. Then, do you want toe over to our house? I n to make some seafood soup." Offered Chloe.

    Lisa smiled and asked in a higher voice. "Is that okay?"

    "Of course!" Answered Chloe. "Let me text Vincent real quick. Even Mrs. Marita ising to help cook the seafood soup!" She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Vincent.

    "Mrs. Marita?" Lisa asked, puzzled.

    "I am Mrs. Marita, my dear. Nice to meet you."

    "U-umm, nice to meet you too."

    The three of them chatted as they were waiting for their turn to pay for them to pay at the cashier. However, when it was their turn, for better or worse, there was a man who had just paid for his groceries, took a phone call right in front of the cashier, and didn''t want to budge even though the cashier told him politely not to block the path.

    The man stayed silent for a moment, a few minutes to be exact. As he didn''t seem to want to leave, Lisa stepped in and called out to the man.

    "Excuse me, can you move from our way? We want to pay the cashier."

    The cashierdy seemed to be sorry as she looked at Lisa, but then, the man suddenly turned to Lisa.

    "Shut the fuck up, bitch! You don''t know what happened!" He shouted angrily andshed out at her.

    "Excuse me, but what?" Lisa asked, confused as to why the man suddenly shouted at her.

    "I told you to shut the fuck up!" The man raised his hand and was about to hit Lisa. His hand was covered in a blue light, a sign that he used mana and was an Awakener.

    It was so sudden that Lisa froze in her ce. However, Chloe was different. She moved between Lisa and the man in an instant and caught the man''s hand with her free hand before throwing him to the ground. Although she was holding a tray full of ingredients, there was not even one ingredient in her tray that moved.

    She proceeded to pin down the man on the ground and handed the tray that she held to Lisa, which she took with shaking hands.

    The man tried to move away but couldn''t do anything against Chloe''s strength. He then looked at her and screamed.

    "Release me, you slut!"

    In all her life, she was never called that. She knew that the man was calling her something bad, so she put more strength into pinning down the man and hit the back of his head with a chop, causing him to groan in pain before losing consciousness. She stood up and turned to the cashierdy after that.

    "Can you call the police?" She asked without changing her stoic expression.

    "Y-yes!"

    The cashierdy hurriedly nodded her head and pulled out her phone from her pocket, and called the police.

    "Wow! That''s incredible, Chloe!" Eximed Mrs. Marita.

    "It''s nothing."

    Lisa walked up to Chloe nervously and said, "U-umm, thank you. If it''s not for you, then¡­" Before Lisa finished her sentence, Chloe smiled at her and repeated.

    "It''s nothing, Lisa. I''m d that you are safe."

    Lisa returned her smile and said, "Yes. Thank you, Chloe."

    The police arrived shortly after. Chloe and the others were asked some questions regarding the incident by the police, but they stopped after a word from Mrs. Marita. They seemed terrified by her for whatever reason.

    The girls were confused by what happened, but Mrs. Marita told them that they were her husband''s co-workers, and they were satisfied with Mrs. Marita''s exnation. They left the supermarket after paying for the ingredients that they bought, but Chloe had something in mind.

    ''That man¡­ He''s talking about Fake Artifacts or something on the phone. The one on the other side of the phone is asking why his Artifact didn''t work, I think.''

    It was the reason why Chloe didn''t ask the man to leave. She was curious about the man''s conversation with someone on the other side of the phone.

    ''I should tell Vincent about itter. For now¡­ I need to make delicious seafood for lunch!''

 Chapter 52 Fake Artifacts [2]

    [21 April 2023, 11:30 AM]

    [Park Injun''s Store]

    I got the Dark Chameleon skin rather easily right after I entered the ck Market. It was a bit surprising because this material was sought after for making [Stealth Robe] for most Sharpshooters, but then, maybe it was not popr yet, or my S Rank Luck allowed me to secure this material easily.

    It cost me a hundred thousand USD, but I didn''t mind it too much as I could make a cape for myself too from the excess material.

    After getting what I needed, I went to Park Injun''s store. I scratched the idea of going to Smith''s ce as the Dark Chameleon skin still needed some work. I was thinking of making the item myself, but then again, I was only an Enhancer, not some artisan whose job was to make some items.

    Considering this was Smith''s request, and he wanted the utmost secrecy, then Park Injun, his friend and someone with tight lips, was the best person I could ask to make the item.

    Ting

    I opened the door of his shop and said, "Park Injun, are you here?"

    I surveyed the shop, and Park Injun was sitting on his usual chair behind the desk without his disguise. There was a strange air around him. He had his elbows on the desk as he red at the painting in front of him. The painting was the Fake Monalisa Painting that he bought from my walking Piggy Bank.

    He seemed to hear my greeting as he nced at me and asked, "What? I am in a bad mood, so quickly tell me your business, or you can just leave for today."

    I guess he had found out about the fake painting Artifact. Maybe he contacted Darkest Secret, or some rumors about the Fake Artifacts had been spread around.

    Park Injun knew about my strange knowledge. He wouldn''t be surprised if I somehow knew something that he didn''t even know. This could be my chance to make him owe me something, and I would use this chance wisely.

    "You got in a bad mood because you bought a fake painting?" As I said that, he raised his head quickly and stared at me curiously.

    "You know something?"

    "I do know something." I approached him and took a look at the Fake Painting. Without waiting for him, I pulled the painting frame and revealed words behind the snapped frame. "Look at this." I pointed at the words.

    He didn''t get mad at me because he already knew that it was a fake painting and only stared at the words curiously.

    "Got you! Thanks for the money!?"

    However, after he read the words behind the frame that I showed him, Mana began to leak out from his body. The pressure of his Mana was immense, and I had a hard time standing in front of him. He had shown his power from his prime as the best Mage in the past.

    "How dare he!" Park Injun muttered ominously, but because he knew that getting mad wouldn''t get him anywhere, he pulled his Mana and took a long sigh.

    "You." He pointed at me. "You know where he is, right?"

    "Of course." I nodded my head and gave him my sweetest smile. I smelled some moneying from him, which made my mood soar to the sky. "How much are you willing to pay for the information? And, I am curious, but¡­ What are you going to do to that scammer?"

    "Is that even a question?" Park Injun frowned. "I will make him regret living his life. And, I will do something for you once, anything you want me to do for you."

    "Really?" I never expected that he would go so far, to the point of giving me anything that I wanted. My grin widened from ear to ear, and I spread my arms. "Then, let''s find him tonight. I will take you to him, but¡­ promise me one thing."

    "What is it?"

    "You take back what''s yours, but I will take the rest of his ware."

    He slowly nodded his head. "I don''t mind. As long as he dies painfullyter." He took the fake painting and burned it to a crisp. The ash fell to the table, but Park Injun didn''t seem to mind it.

    "That''s good," I replied, satisfied with his promise.

    I got unexpected help. I was expecting to deal with the scammer and his friend by myself, but then, I could appreciate some help from Park Injun.

    "So¡­ why are you visiting me today?" He asked me, his mood was considerably lifted because he got information from me. "Depending on your request, I will make it very cheap for you."

    Very cheap, huh. He was still as stingy as ever. But I didn''t mind. He said he would fulfill one request of mine in the future if I told him where the scammer was. However, I wouldn''t waste this opportunity to save some money, even though I loved money.

    "It''s actually Smith''s request, but whatever." I took out the Dark Chameleon skin from my magic bag and put it on the table after cleaning off the ash by blowing it with Wind Magic. "Can you make a half mask and a cape out of this? I don''t know any trusted tailor."

    The skin was colored ck and had some scales like the ones reptiles had. It was around two meters wide, which was enough to be used for a mask and a cape. I decided on a mask for Smith to further hide his identity; though it would only hide half of his face, it was still better than an item that only made an illusion without hiding one''s face like the Ne that Chloe wore.

    "A mask? What is that guy trying to do?" Park Injun muttered as he picked the Dark Chameleon skin. "A Dark Chameleon skin, huh? Is that guy trying to be active again by hiding his identity?"

    "I don''t know. I just took his request to enhance it after hearing the reward from him."

    "Does he still remember that time?" He muttered in a low voice before throwing the Dark Chameleon skin into the magical Shelf behind him. "Alright, I will make a mask and a coat for you. Just give me ten grand; it will be enough. I will take care of this job myself."

    I caught something interesting from his mutter.

    ''That time¡­ He should be talking about when Smith is defeated in a swordsmanship sparring.'' That incident was something that made Smith go into hiding in the first ce.

    But I didn''t care about that. It wasn''t directly rted to me, not now, at least. I should hear it directly from Smith because I didn''t want to trash our rtionship by being insensitive. Though, I already knew the person who won against him in pure swordsmanship.

    "Sure." I pulled out my phone and saw a message from Chloe before I could transfer the money to Park Injun.

    ''Huh? Lisa will visit our house to eat lunch together? Also, who is this, Mrs. Marita?'' I was a bit confused and froze.

    "What''s up? Are you low on cash?" Park Injun asked with a hint of amusement in his tone.

    "No, it''s just¡­ There is something going on with my housemate." I shook my head and transferred the money to Park Injun. "There."

    Ding!

    Park Injun''s phone got a notification, and he smiled. "Thanks."

    "No problem. While I am here, can I change my clothes? I don''t want to change in an alleyway again."

    "Hahahaha! Sure! You can change on that corner. Just take this." He pulled out a portable changing room from the Magical Shelf and tossed it to me.

    "Thanks."

    I went to the corner and changed my clothes behind the portable changing room. I changed into the Academy''s uniform before leaving Park Injun''s store. Of course, I gave the portable changing room back to him. It was not even an Artifact, so I was not interested in it.<sub> </sub>

    More importantly, there was an urgent matter¡­

    ''Why did Chloe invite Lisa?! Didn''t I tell her not to invite anyone to our house?''

    ***

    [House]

    I arrived at the house in just five minutes because I was running back with all my might. I should be inside the house so Lisa wouldn''t suspect anything. Not that being outside the house suspicious, it was just¡­ I was trying to make sure of leaving no trace of suspicion.

    When I thought about it again, having Lisa visiting us was a plus, though there was a danger of us being discovered if she revealed our house location to Ao. But, I could use her as our alibi in case Zaiden suspected something about Chloe or me.

    The house was still empty; Chloe had yet to arrive. It was perfect. I entered the house, took a drink from the fridge, and sat on the living room couch, watching the TV news while crossing my legs. I also had my phone in my hand, browsing some news, mainly about Fake Artifacts, as I waited for Chloe.

    There was a bag full of groceries in the fridge, so I guess Chloe only bought something that she forgot, or she changed her mind and tried to make something different from lunch; hence, she returned to the market.

    Anyway, that didn''t matter now. She had invited Lisa to the house, and due to her Trait, she couldn''t take back her words. I should have just made Lisa shut her mouth when she was here. I racked my brain to create some excuses while my hand was scrolling my phone, trying to make myself appear to be busy.

    Though, I was still reading the news that I looked up on my phone. The ones on the TV were all about Awakener doing this, or that, or die, which is honestly boring. However, when I thought about what kind of excuses I should tell Lisa, I found some interesting news on my phone.

    The news was about Fake Artifacts and a warning. The warning was that we should be careful if we wanted to buy Artifact for now. This was the reason why Park Injun was in a bad mood earlier.

    ''So he read this news. As expected, he didn''t ask Darkest Secret, huh? The cost of his information is astronomically high after all.''

    The culprit of the one who made the Fake Artifact was not found yet, but there was one suspect. The suspect was the guy who visited Park Injun''s store at that time, Raymond. A few of his colleagues had been caught by the police, but the main culprit was still hiding in his safe house, or so the news was about.

    ''And I know where his safe house is. Though there will be many D and C Rank Awakeners, and he himself is a B Rank Awakener, inside his safe house, I have a reliable paw¨C ally with me.'' I mused as my lips curled into a grin.

    However, the news spread fast, as if someone had purposely spread it. I should investigate it further after raiding the safe house.

    ''I should visit that guy after taking care of Raymond. I need to investigate that matter too. He should know something about it.''

    Getting the fund collected by the scammer was of the utmost importance for now. I would be able to upgrade my gear with that fund, and I should raid the Lich Dungeon again with Chloe to get some Lich Blood.

    While I was lost in my thoughts, a shout from the entrance brought me back to reality.

    "I am home!"

    "I am sorry for intruding."

    "Excuse me¡­"

    It was Chloe''s voice, followed by two others.

    I looked over my shoulder and saw Chloe apanied by a middle-aged woman, and Lisa entering the living room. The woman held a stic grocery back in her hand, which was a bit strange, considering her luxurious outfit.

    I didn''t recognize the woman, but she should be Mrs. Marita, whom Chloe told me about in her message.

    Seeing them, I smiled and said, "Wee. Please just think of this as your own home."

    ''But don''t mess around too much.'' I added inside my mind.

    The woman, Mrs. Marita, returned my smile and put her hand on her cheek.

    "My, how polite. You havended yourself a good man, Chloe."

    "Un. Vincent is kind."

    "Hahaha. How lucky." Mrs. Marita chuckled.

    Lisa nced at me and nodded her head. Why, though? I couldn''t understand, but I would leave it at that.

    "Chloe, you are going to cook, right? Should I help with ting like usual?" I asked and stood up, about to go to the dining room to prepare the te on the table. But, before I could take a step, Mrs. Marita spoke.

    "You don''t need to do anything, young man. Please just leave it to us, girls. Just rx and watch TV, okay?"

    "Huh? Are you sure?"

    "Of course. Please leave it to us, right, Chloe?"

    "Yes. Vincent, you rest for now."

    Making a guest, though uninvited by me, do something I usually did make me ufortable. But, because she was the one who offered, and Chloe backed her, I couldn''t do anything but follow her wish.

    "Alright. What about Lisa? Are you going to wait with me?" I asked, ncing at Lisa.

    I had another question in my mind. Why was she here? Wasn''t the Academy having ss today? I didn''t attend because of my job, but she should be in the Academy right now. It was strange that the honor student skipped a ss, different from me who was branded as a delinquent. But then, I remembered.

    ''She''s skipping the ss because Zaiden is not there, huh.'' My expression turned into a skeptical look as I waited for her answer.

    "I-I will help them. I want to learn how to cook for¡­ the future." She muttered thest part quietly.

    Without her telling me, I knew the future that she talked about was the one with Zaiden. As expected of the craziest one among the heroines.

    "Well, I will leave the food for you girls then." I smiled at them. "While you are at it, let me buy some drinks from the nearby convenience store." I turned around and went to the entrance.

    "Be careful, Vincent." Chloe waved her hand as I walked out of the house.

    I closed the door behind me and heard them talking excitedly inside the house. Unsurprisingly, the content of their talk was about me, and somehow, Chloe called Zaiden''s name a few times when Lisa wanted to talk about me. Girls would be girls, no matter where and who they were. They loved to talk about love stories.

    Even Chloe, who I thought didn''t understand something about love, was immersed in the talk. Were the heroines the ones who corrupted her?

    ''Well, at least she got the normal girl life she wanted. I don''t know whether I should thank the heroine for introducing love to Chloe or hate them for it.''

 Chapter 53 Fake Artifacts [3]

    [21 April 2023, 01:10 PM]

    "Thanks for the meal, Chloe. I will be leaving first because my husband has contacted me."

    "I will take my leave too. Thanks for teaching me how to cook."

    Mrs. Marita and Lisa left after they helped us to clean the dishes. After all of that, I didn''t even need to tell Lisa to keep our house''s location a secret because she wanted to keeping to learn how to cook from Chloe without being found out by the others.

    I allowed her after I gave her a certain condition. She would only be allowed to visit when I was at home, and she couldn''t tell anyone, even Zaiden, about our house''s location. That way, I could use her as an alibi, and Zaiden would certainly trust her, considering she never told a lie to him.

    Chloe also understood that I was ufortable and didn''t want Lisa or the others to visit, so she apologized to me when the guests were busy cleaning the dishes earlier.

    I forgave her because it was a part of my fault for not telling her and we finally agreed not to invite other people without informing the other first.

    "Yes. See you again." Chloe waved her hand toward them and saw them left.

    Chloe then approached me, sat beside me, and spoke.

    "Vincent. I need to tell you something."

    "What is it?" I turned to her, curious about what she wanted to tell me.

    She had a serious expression as she looked straight into my eyes. There was something different about her right now.

    "I heard a talk from a man in the supermarket earlier. He was talking about Fake Artifacts. Was the Fake Artifact that he meant was the one in the newstely?"

    "A man? Wait, what happened after we parted ways?"

    If he was talking about a Fake Artifact, then he was most likely Raymond or his subordinate. That guy had no special features and looked like a normal guy.

    There was also a chance that the man Chloe talked about was a victim of Raymond and his gang.

    I didn''t expect Chloe to know the news about the Fake Artifacts, though. I didn''t tell her yet because I was worried she would stop me from raiding Raymond''s base. But my worries were unnecessary, huh? She looked like she was about to¡­ get angry, which was an unexpected reaction from someone with Hero Trait, Chloe.

    "That man was about to hit Lisa with his hand coated in Mana to strengthen his hit. If his hand hit her, Lisa would have been injured badly. I¡­ I got angry and put him unconscious."

    "Then, what happened to that man?" I asked.

    "He was brought to the police station. Mrs. Marita''s husband seems to be someone from the government. We were released after being asked some questions thanks to her."

    Mrs. Marita''s husband, huh? I guess I should thank her for helping Chloe.

    Chloe was in disguise and had no official Awakener ID. If she were taken to the police station, she would have to show the police her real ID, which would make the situation troublesome. Lisa was also with Chloe. If she showed her real ID, Lisa would find out that Chloe was, in fact, the Hero Chloe. With that, my identity as Rai would be disclosed too.

    "That''s good. Anyway, do you know the man''s identity?"

    "ording to the police, the man''s name is Marcell. They found out about it from his ID in his pocket."

    So he was indeed a victim. I could rest easy with this.

    If the one caught by the police was Raymond or one of his subordinates, my raid this night would prove to be a bit troublesome. They surely would increase their guard in order to keep their identity safe.

    From my estimation, they should''ve sold more than thirty Fake Artifacts until this day. That was only my estimation considering they at least sold an Artifact each day to a different person.

    "I see. Good job, Chloe. Thanks for telling me."

    "Un. I thought that I should tell you about it." She said with a bright smile.

    "Yes. You are a great help."

    For some reason, my hand moved to her head, patting her. She looked really adorable, and I couldn''t stop myself.

    When I came to my senses, I quickly pulled my hand.

    "M-My bad." I apologized to her.

    ''What''s wrong with me?'' I thought.

    I was expecting Chloe to get angry at me or at least looked confused. However, her reaction was different from what I had expected. She instead looked disappointed and asked.

    "Why did you stop?"

    "Huh? I thought you were ufortable with me suddenly patting you."

    "No." She shook her head. "Your hand is¡­forting me. I don''t mind."

    Did she indirectly say that I could pat her anytime I wanted to?

    How do I say it? Chloe was sometimes a bit childish, but she could act mature when the time was right too. This time, her childish side was really apparent. Usually, an adult would be ufortable if someone younger than them patted their head. But Chloe didn''t feel ufortable. Instead, she said that my hand wasforting.

    "Then, may I?"

    "Yes." She leaned her head closer to me.

    I was a bit hesitant, but then I reached out to her head again and patted her. This time, I moved slowly and she closed her eyes when I stroked her. She also let out a happy low noise, simr to a purr.

    When I looked at her acting like this, an image came into my mind.

    ''She''s like a cat.''

    Then, we spent the afternoon in each other''spany. I stopped patting her after some time, and we watched someedy TV shows after that. I also told her that I had a job tonight.

    She wanted toe with me at first, but I prevented her not to. I told her that tonight''s job would be easy as I would go with Park Injun, and she finally backed away after I promised her to bring some ice cream on my way home.

    ***

    [08:00 PM]

    [Park Injun''s Store]<sub> </sub>

    Ting¨C!

    I entered Park Injun''s store in Rai''s appearance, and Park Injun was ready and waiting for me in his red and ck robe with glowing purple strikes in his real appearance. In his hand was a luxurious purple wand with a red gem embedded on the tip.

    This guy had gone all out just because he was scammed, maybe around a billion USD. That kind of money was actually nothing for him, but as a stingy money-grubber, a scammer was his most hated enemy.

    "You''re here?" He turned at me, his voice held a hint of confidence in his power and was heavy. "And I see you are in your disguise, huh?"

    Even in my story, Park Injun only wore his full equipment one time. It was when he and Smith went to fight Bathory, and I must admit, he was fucking strong.

    The anonymous Awakener who cleared the S-Rank dungeon with Smith and the Academy''s headmaster, Jack, was Park Injun. He was the Mage who, with hisbination of Talents, managed to reach the peak of Magic.

    His Talents were A-Rank Inspection, A-Rank Magic and A-Rank Weaving. Thebinations of his Talents made him able to be an S-Rank Awakener by killingrge numbers of monsters with his Magic that utilized his eyes that could see the movement of Mana and his precise control over it due to his Weaving Talent.

    He weaved Mana into Magic, unlike the usual Mage, who only condensed Mana. That was the reason why he managed to reach the pinnacle of Magic with only his triple A-Rank Talents. He was not too talented whenpared to Smith, but his Talents supported each other, creating wonderful chemistry with each other.

    "Yeah. Also, it seems you are eager to go. You even use a ratherplete set of your outfit." I smirked at him, looking at his outfit from toes to head.

    The robe and the wand that he had were an Artifact. If there was an Artifact derived from King Arthur''s story, there was also an Artifact that derived from his trusted Mage. And the robe and staff that Park Injun used belonged to that famous Mage, Merlin.

    He didn''t wear his usual monocle. Instead, his eyes color were different from his usual one. He now had blue irises whereas before they had been ck.

    "Of course. The one who stole my money is my enemy. I shall not hold back to destroy them." Park Injun grinned evilly as he let out a rather strangeugh.

    His figure was now like a dark mage who experimented with humans, doing some strange nasty ritual inside a dark room. If I didn''t know for sure that the one he hated the most was people who stole his money, I probably would have been surprised to see him doing something that was out of his character like this.

    However, Park Injun was a man of words. If he said he would make the scammer pay, then he would certainly deliver his words; no one could stop him. That was why no one ever scammed him, not until Raymond scammed him that day.

    "Well, do as you please. Anyway, it''s the perfect time to raid them. We can also get witnesses to justify our actions."

    Park Injun stoppedughing and looked at me curiously. "What made you say that?"

    "It''s simple." I raised my index finger and grinned at him, though he couldn''t see my grin because of my mask. "Their hideout is inside a nightclub. At this time, the nightclub in Los Angeles is busy and crowded. So we can get a lot of witnesses, no?"

    "So that''s how it is." Park Injun''s eyes shone a dangerous light as he clutched his staff tightly. "And, where is this nightclub that you are talking about."

    "Of course, it''s located in the most famous ce in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills."

    ***

    [Beverly Hills - In front of ''Awaken Night'' Nightclub]

    Park Injun and I went to Beverly Hills right after I told him the location of the nightclub where Raymond and his subordinates produced the Fake Artifacts.

    The nightclub they were in was not too famous in Beverly Hills; it was called ''Awaken Night.'' I did admit that I sucked at naming ces and was toozy when I wrote the first and second volumes due to the unpoprity of my novel.

    However, after volumes five forward, I got better at giving names. I should call that character development for me.

    Anyway, enough of that. We were now standing on top of a roof of a building located across from the ''Awaken Night'' nightclub. The nightclub was bustling with people who exited luxurious cars and entered the establishment.

    "So they are inside?" Park Injun, who stood beside me, asked while narrowing his glowing eyes. His eyes glowed due to one of his Artifacts, [See-Through Lenses], which could see through any magical Enhancement. "There is nothing special outside the building." He reported as his eyes stopped glowing.

    As expected of the Artifact Dealer. He had a ton of Artifacts ranging from useless to really useful. The Artifact that he used this time was categorized as the useful one, as it could see through any Enhancement without even opening the item''s description.

    Even without his Artifact, I knew that there was no Enhancement ced outside of the building or even inside. There was a slight problem, though.

    "The people inside the nightclub will prove to be a problem." Park Injun muttered.

    "Yeah. Most of them are Awakeners who live in Beverly Hills. Though I doubt famous Awakeners will visit this nightclub." I answered while running my eyes through the area around the nightclub.

    I had already thought about the presence of the guests inside. The problem was whether Park Injun would agree to my n. I looked at Park Injun and asked.

    "Hey, you didn''t mind getting people to notice your presence, right?"

    He turned to me, answering, "Didn''t I tell you? I don''t care as long as I can pay the one who scammed me back. Also, I think those Awakeners inside had heard about the Artifact Dealer. Don''t tell them about my name, though."

    "Then good. Please make some noise after I make some hole on the roof of the nightclub." I took out my [Arash Bow] from my magic bag and pointed it at the roof of the nightclub. Our location was higher than the nightclub so it was easy to see my target.

    Park Injun noticed my n and looked at me in horror. "You are crazy. I know you are talking about having witnesses, but your n is crazy."

    "Nah, not really. I am not afraid of anything when an S-Rank Awakener is beside me."

    "Now I understand why Smith took you as his disciple. Both of you are crazy." He muttered, his voice held a hint of amusement.

    "I will take that as apliment. Also, if someone asks, I will say that you are the one who hired me to take you to the scammer''s hideout."

    "Fair enough." He nodded.

    The Mana Arrow began to condense when I pulled the Mana Bowstring. I added the Fire attribute to the Arrow and activated the effect of [Arash Bow], Small Meteor, so the Mana Arrow was zing red, unlike the usual blue Mana Arrow that I used.

    Park Injun noticed my n and prepared his Magic. He pointed his wand toward the sky, and Mana started to move into the gem on the tip of his wand. Shortly after, a whirlwind appeared around us.

    The Magic that he used was a defensive Magic utilizing the wind attribute Mana. The whirlwind around us would protect us from any projectiles; how kind of him to protect me when I wanted to get some attention from the other Awakeners.

    The Awakeners in the nightclub began to stir.

    Some of them, who were sensitive to Mana, exited the establishment first and looked in our direction. That was perfect; it went as nned. Surely, when S-Rank Awakener appeared out of nowhere and began to control the Mana in the area, they would be freaked out and try to find out what happened.

    Many Awakeners soon exited the nightclub. After seeing that a lot of people had exited, I released the arrow that I held, and it flew toward the back side of the nightclub and created a medium explosion that blew a part of its roof.

    Boom!

    The ce that I blew up was the secret room where Raymond and his subordinates made the Fake Artifact. As our entrance had been secured, I happily stated, "Let''s start our heist,"

    This would be my first time in a real battle against humans, but I couldn''t help but get excited about the idea of a heist.

 Chapter 54 Fake Artifacts [4]

    "Hey! What are you doing!" One of the Awakeners who looked in our direction shouted. He was around C-Rank Awakener, I guess. He looked like any normal guy that could be found anywhere. Maybe I should greet him as we were both Extras? I guess no, Vincent had a more important role than him.

    "Not your business." Park Injun said calmly, but his voice was transmitted to everyone in the area. "Go away if you don''t want to get involved in this."

    As I looked at the situation, I put the [Arash Bow] back inside my magic bag. The rest of the Awakeners inside the nightclub ran outside after they heard the loud explosion from the back. Some of them were still looking at us, but those with quick wit ran away right after they felt Park Injun''s Mana.

    Those Awakeners who ran away were mostly the ones who were sensitive to Magic. Park Injun erased the whirlwind around us and began to re his pure Mana, oppressing the Awakeners in front of the nightclub.

    "I will count to three. If you don''t run after I am done counting, then don''t me me if you get caught up in my Magic." He pointed his wand in the direction of the nightclub.

    The Mana that he red began to condense around the gem on top of his wand, creating a red light, the sign that he used Fire Attribute Mana, and he began counting. "One!"

    He intended to blow the nightclub away even though I only asked him to make some noise. But it did work. The Awakeners in front of the nightclub began to yell and scream in horror. C-Rank Awakeners who visited the ''Awaken Night'' nightclub were not the enemy of Park Injun.

    The higher Rank Awakeners wouldn''t visit such a nightclub in Los Angeles. They would choose Las Vegas nightclubs because the facility and the drink there were way better than this ce. The price was also astronomically high though.

    Anyway, it was my turn to find Raymond. I took out [Horus'' Sunsses] and activated its special effect, [Horus Eyes] Mighty Eyes. I chose my left eye as the target of the effect. As soon as I activated the effect, my left eye stopped working. My vision was cut in half; it was a bit strange as I was not used to it.

    But, a secondter, from my left eye, I could see Raymond sitting in the corner of a room filled with Fake Artifacts ranging from weapons to paintings, terrified. His subordinates were also walking around the room; their faces were pale and twisted in horror as some of them pulled their hair in fear. The room was located underground in the nightclub, right below the roof that I destroyed.

    After just a second, my left eye couldn''t see anything again; only ck filled my vision. I shut it down and chuckled a little. The information about Raymond''s location was like being sent straight to my brain, and I still remember the details and the path that I should take to get to that location.

    This was the special effect of [Horus'' Sunsses]. It would blind one of my eyes, in this case, my left eye, for three days. But as a result, I could see where my target was. A convenient ability. I already knew where Raymond and his subordinates were located, but I used this chance to test the effect of this Artifact.

    There was no harm in trying the Artifact now, as Zaiden was still recovering, and I had nothing to do except attend Academy and use Mana Breathing to train myself in the next three days.

    ''Well, I now know the effect and how long itsts. A second, huh? But the information about my target''s location is being sent to my brain. That''s enough to use [Arash Bow] special effects. After all, the arrow will hit any target as long as I know their location.''

    I took off the [Horus'' Sunsses], turned to Park Injun with my left eye shut, and I put the [Horus'' Sunsses] back into my magic bag as I said, "I found him."

    "That''s fast. I have yet to say two. Well, you used an Artifact, so it''s not surprising."

    "Well yeah. Also, they already ran away, so you don''t need to continue your count. I told you to make some noise, not to scare our witnesses."

    There was not even a single soul in front of the nightclub. The Awakeners had run away to save their life. They were afraid of Park Injun, and couldn''t handle the pressure from his Mana. So, there went our witness, gone.

    "It can''t be helped. I am too amazing." Park Injun mussed as he dispersed the Mana that was condensed around his wand. "But, we still have one witness over there." He pointed at the roof of a building around a hundred meters away from here.

    Even with just one eye, I could see the shadow of a person standing on the roof of the building that Park Injun pointed at. When I saw that person, I raised my eyebrows in surprise. How could I not be surprised? One of the Six Devas of the Association who should be managing A-Rank Dungeon was standing there, looking at us with his scary face.

    Not only that, the one who was standing there was the one who was called the Mad Dog of the Association, the most loyal person to the Association''s leader, Mark. That man had spiky hair and was known as Jaro.

    ''Why is he here?''

    He seemed to notice that we were looking at him as his mouth moved. I tried to read his lips movement and caught him saying something toward us. "Don''t make a mess, huh?" I repeated in a low voice.

    "Hmm? You know that person?" Park Injun asked.

    "Yeah. But as you said, he will serve as a good witness." I answered him.

    One of the Six Devas was in Los Angeles. What caused it? Was he here for Chloe? But why didn''t he make any move until now? This was dangerous. An irregr factor suddenly popped up at an unexpected time. I was not ready to deal with him. I was still too weak.

    "Then, what are we waiting for? Let''s go."

    That was right. For now, I should focus on the heist. Jaro said nothing except ''Don''t make a mess.'' That meant he allowed us to do whatever we wanted to do as long as we didn''t bring the others into our mess.

    Such confidence, even in front of Park Injun, S-Rank Awakener, should be praised. As expected from the Mad Dog of the Association.

    "Alright. We need to enter through the hole that I made. They are underground, and the entrance is the secret room which I blew earlier."

    "Good. That means I can torture them without any worry. Their voices will not leak outside if it''s underground."

    "Do as you please, but let me finish looting their piggy bank first."

    "I don''t mind. Take my money back while you are at it."

    We jumped down the roof and made our way to the nightclub. We entered through the hole that I made on their roof. The room that we entered was small, around 3x3 meters. It had no door or window, and there was not even a single piece of furniture; truly a secret room. The walls of the room were painted in a checkered pattern of ck and white, like a chess board.

    This room could only be entered through a certain means because the real entrance was an enhanced hidden door.<sub> </sub>

    In the novel, Zaiden identally found the entrance by following Raymond, but I didn''t need to do that here. Why bother finding the secret entrance when I could make another entrance myself? I didn''t need to fear anything because I had a reliable ally.

    Zaiden couldn''t make a mess because there were many Awakeners who visited the nightclub. There were even Raymond''s subordinates who acted as securities in the nightclub. They were at least D or C-Rank Awakeners, and Raymond himself was a B-Rank Awakener.

    ''But most of them had fled because they were scared, leaving only a few D-Rank Awakeners who worked in the secret room behind.''

    However, even though we managed to enter this secret room, the entrance to the underground was also hidden. That didn''t hinder me a bit, though. I knew the way to open the entrance to the underground.

    "What now?" Park Injun asked. "Do you know how to get to the underground? Or should I blow the ground and bury them?" He said yfully as he created a fireball on top of his palm.

    "If you do that, I will not be able to loot them." I shrugged my shoulders at his joke and walked to the corner of the room. I traced my hand at the corner of the room until I found a bump hidden behind a ck cloth at one of the checkered patterns.

    "Found it." I pulled the cloth and found a small button embedded into the wall behind it. I pressed the button, and the earth began to move.

    Squeak¨C Dododo¨C

    A path to the underground appeared in the middle of the room as the secret door was opened. Park Injun looked at the newly made staircase from the front, which led to the underground, and said.

    "Hidden button, huh? But, how careless of them. cing the button behind a simple cloth."

    I approached him and stopped on his side as I looked down the stairs.

    "They are confident that their hideout will not be found. I guess that''s the reason why they put the hidden button in such a ce?"

    The path was narrow, but not too narrow to the point I couldn''t use my sword. I just couldn''t use my bow in this ce because I would be attacked before I was able to attack my enemy, so I pulled out the iron sword that I bought from the Awakener Sword and held it tightly in my right hand.

    "Please cover me. There are around five people underground, and each one of them is at least D-Rank Awakeners. Someone frail like me will just be killed immediately if I fight all of them at once."

    "Say someone who reached D-Rank in just a month when the other needs at least a year to get to D-Rank."

    "Well, even so, I am just a D-Rank. Anyway, are you ready?"

    Park Injun tapped the tip of his wand against the floor.

    Tak!

    "I am."

    His wand let out a blue glow, and he created a barrier around my body. From just the amount of Mana he used to create the barrier around me, I estimated it could block five serious attacks from A-Rank Awakener.

    Even though he said some sarcasm, he still protected me with his Magic. To be honest, I was a bit worried about fighting against humans.

    Before I transmigrated, I was just a simple author who always stayed in my room, writing novels. But, I knew to survive in this world, I needed to kill humans in the future.

    In this world where the strong would survive, I should adapt and not hesitate.

    "Let''s go. It''s time to kill some scammers."

    ''It''s time to kill some scammers. Do your best, my Trait. I will be counting on you to keep me sane. So deceive yourself, Vincent. You are strong, and you should be okay with killing humans.''

    I went downstairs as I gripped my sword tighter. Park Injun followed me right from behind.

    While we were walking downstairs, I kept deceiving myself.

    ''You are the one who created this fucking wrecked world. So adapt yourself to the world, and kill your enemy. This is just a quest, an event. You will get money after you kill your enemy, so don''t hesitate.''

    I tried my best to smile under my mask, but my hand that held the sword was shaking. Pak Injun noticed it and asked.

    "Are you okay?"

    "..."

    I didn''t answer him. Instead, I kept doing the same thing as before inside my mind as I walked down step by step.

    ''I am basically the one who created this world, the author. I have killed many, hundreds, thousands people in this wrecked world of mine with just my fingers. Killing some other extras won''t change anything. It''s just¡­ the method is different one.''

    After a while, I saw the exit of the stairway. At that point, I was done deceiving myself. My hands stopped shaking and I muttered in a low voice. "I am ready."

 Chapter 55 Fake Artifacts [5]

    [Underground ¨C Nightclub ''Awaken Night'']

    Right after we exited the stairs, we were greeted by five people holding their weapons. Four of them were in the front, holding iron swords in their hands. While there was a man who stood behind them with a terrified expression while holding a sword with his shaking hand, he was Raymond.

    When he saw us, he pointed at us and shouted.

    "Who are you?! Why did you attack us?!"

    "You are asking who we are?" Park Injun answered him as he took a step forward.

    Usually, it would be foolish if a Mage stood in the front line. The story would be different if the said mage was an A-Rank Awakener or even S-Rank Awakener. They could use Magic faster and stronger than normal Mage, so distance was not a problem for them.

    However, it was still ill-advised for a Mage to stand in the front line. But in this situation where the Mage is an S-Rank, and the enemies were only D-Rank Awakeners, it didn''t matter even if he stood right in front of them. The Mage, Park Injun, would still be fine even if he was attacked. Hell, the enemy would die first, even before they could move.

    "Of course, he''s asking. You took off your disguise." I chimed in, reminding him.

    "Oh, right. How about this." Park Injun put on his disguise again. His face turned into an old man that I always see in his store, and his robe turned into casual clothes.

    When he put on his disguise, Raymond''s eyes widened, and his hand that pointed at us was trembling uncontrobly.

    "Y-You! Artifact Dealer! How?! How did you find me?!" He shouted frantically.

    "I have my way. Do you think you could run from me when you took my money?" Park Injun turned back into his real form and took a step forward.

    I also took a step forward as I infused Mana into my sword, making it let out a blue glow. Seeing what I did, the four men in front of Raymond gripped their swords tightly. Their de also let out a faint blue glow, but it was thinner and cruder than mine.

    "Park Injun, let me deal with the four in the front," I said as I patted his shoulder with my free hand.

    "Are you sure?" He asked, his voice mixed with a hint of concern. Although he had only known me for a month, he was concerned about it. I was a bit happy knowing that he was concerned about me. That meant he wouldn''t let me die easily.

    "Yeah. I can take care of them." I answered confidently. "After all, you know who my Swordsmanship teacher is."

    "Fine. But, take this." He tapped his wand once again. This time, my body let out a green glow as I felt stronger and lighter than before. I nced at him, and he smiled. "Just a small buff. I will take care of the guy behind. I have a feud with him."

    ? "Sure. He''s yours."

    I then walked toward the four men while Park Injun circled the four men, approaching Raymond, who backed away to the corner of the room.

    My opponents were around D-Rank Awakeners at best, but they were four men. Not only that, my left eye was blind.

    ''I am in a bit of a bind, no?''

    However, this was all within my n. I already nned to use this as my training to get used to fighting against a lot of opponents at once with just an eye. Although I got a buff from Park Injun, it wouldn''t do much to my status.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Vincent Dihart

    Rank: D

    Strength: D (D+)

    Agility: D (D+)

    Endurance: D (D)

    Mana: C- (C)

    Luck: S (S)

    Talent:

    - Sharpshooting (S)

    - Enhancement (S)

    - Swordsmanship (A)

    - Magic (A)

    Trait:

    - Deceitful

    -----

    There was a new word beside my old status, showing my status after getting buffed by Park Injun. I was still in the realm of D-Rank, so fighting the four D-Rank Awakeners in front of me would still pose a bit of a problem for me. They would be a problem only if their Talents were fit forbat and were higher Ranked than mine. But that was impossible. I had four Talents, and all of them were higher than A.

    I took a step forward, ring my C Rank Mana. It was by far my highest Status except for Luck. Their bodies jolted after they felt my Mana.

    Usually, the way to know an Awakener''s Rank was from their Mana. The Mana that the four men had in front of me were equivalent to those of D-Rank. I could''ve always looked at their status with [Horus'' Sunsses], but that wouldn''t be training for me. Today''s training was to see how I cope against Awakeners without seeing their status.

    I could also at least estimate it because I have felt D-Rank Awakener''s Mana, and I knew how much and how strong D-Rank Mana was.

    They should''ve known about it too, and currently, the Mana that I red was C-Rank. It was natural for them to think that I was a C-Rank Awakener based on my Mana.

    "What''s wrong?" I asked calmly. "Are you afraid?"

    I surveyed the state of the four men. They looked at me warily. Behind them, Park Injun had already worked on Raymond, but the four men chose to focus on me. Maybe they knew that Park Injun wouldn''t do anything to them?

    Anyway, they didn''t seem to be willing to make a move first. In that case¡­

    "I will make the first move, then." I lunged into the nearest man, the one on the right.

    Using the footwork that Smith taught me, I instantly crossed the distance between the man and me. Then, I ducked a little and sent a sh above.

    "Wha?!"

    The man was surprised to see me moving instantly and couldn''t react to my timely sh. He moved his sword, trying to stop mine, but it was toote. My Mana-d sword severed him from below his arm to his shoulder, killing him instantly.

    "Ugh." I grunted a little.<sub> </sub>

    Even if I deceived myself using my Trait, I was still conscious that the one I killed was a human. It was my first time taking life, and I stopped moving for a second.

    That second was crucial, though. The three men who froze, surprised, earlier began to move toward me while shouting.

    "How dare you!" The second man, who stood beside the man I killed earlier, swung his sword from above.

    ''Move!'' I shouted inside my mind.

    Clenching my teeth, I brushed off the feeling of guilt and blocked the second man''s strike with my sword.

    ng!

    Our swords shed with each other; then, I noticed the rest of the men attacking me from two sides from the edge of my sight.

    "Die!"

    "I will kill you!"

    I quickly pushed the man in front of me by kicking him. He was blown three meters away, and I quickly ducked to dodge the strikeing from my sides.

    Swoosh!

    Two swords passed on top of my head by a hairbreadth. Luckily I was able to dodge it in time. Although I knew that Park Injun had put a barrier around my body, being hit by a sword was still terrifying. Not to mention, I wanted to end this as clean as possible.

    "How?!" The third man shouted loudly, surprised by my agile reaction.

    Because of the big swings, the two men on my side were full of openings. I used this chance to make a big swing from below. My sword moved in a sh, severing the legs of the men, causing them to stumble and scream in pain.

    "Gyaa!!"

    "Aarrghh!!"

    Blood spurted from their severed legs as they tried their best to stop it with their hands.

    The second man who attacked me earlier looked at hisrade in horror.

    "Y-You!!" His scream was filled with terror as he dashed toward me. "I will fucking kill you and make you regret it!"

    There was something that I had yet to try in this battle. Magic.

    I created a fireball in my free hand and sent it toward the man who swung his sword toward me, aiming at my neck. He surely was caught in surprise as he only looked at the fireball that came toward him with widened eyes.

    The fireball struck his face cleanly, burned him, and he screamed.

    "It hurts!!" He tried to put out the fire that burned his face, but I used this chance to approach him and stabbed my sword right through his heart.

    Stab! Thud!

    He fell to the ground lifelessly, and I pulled my sword, swinging it to clean it from bloodstains. My clothes were stained by blood too, but the battle was not done yet. I turned toward the two men on the floor.

    Their eyes were filled with fear, and tears began to form.

    "W-wait! P-please! I-I beg you. Spare us! No! Please spare me!"

    "No, wait! P-Please spare me! I will do anything you want!"

    I looked at them with a gaze of pity. Were the characters in my novel always looked like this? Or was it because they were Extras who were destined to die that they begged like animals?

    Anyway, they were too one-dimensional. They were like typical viins that only exist to die in the Main Character''s hand. However, my guilt decreased after seeing them for some reason.

    Was my Trait kicked in? That didn''t matter. Now I knew that I would still be fine after killing people. At least, I wouldn''t break from it. I approached them without words and swung my sword two times, severing their heads.

    When I was done with them, I heard a voice calling out from the side.

    "Are you done?"

    I turned toward the voice, and Park Injun was looking at me worriedly.

    "How is it, your first time killing people?" He asked. "It must be suck, right?"

    "Yeah¡­" I answered without much energy. I still needed to loot Raymond''s money, but my motivation was gone for some reason. Was I really still affected by killing them?

    I forced myself to calm down and looked at Park Injun straight into his eyes.

    "Are you done yet?" I asked him.

    "As you can see." He pointed at Raymond, or rather Raymond''s corpse, whose face had turned ck and blue. There was not a sign of life in his body; even his chest stopped moving. "I am quite done by him. I also secured his fund while I was at it. I will transfer itter to your ount, but¡­ I think you need to clean yourself for now."

    He approached me and tapped his wand against my shoulder. Because I knew that he wouldn''t do anything malicious to me, I kept silent and let him do whatever he pleased.

    The next thing that happened was surely magical. Blue light washed over my body. The bloodstain on my clothes was gone, and I felt refreshed, more than before.

    "There you go."

    "What is that?" I asked him curiously. That Magic was not in my novel. I didn''t remember creating a Magic like that, no. More specifically, I never wrote anything like that.

    "So you have something you don''t know too, huh?" Park Injun answered me with a question. He smirked and raised his wand slightly. "That''s a Support Magic to make one feel refreshed, and the other was a Support Magic to clean clothes. Those were Magics that I created to aid me in my daily lives."

    "I see."

    Once again, I realized the usefulness of Magic and found out that not everything was the same as in my novel. Right, this was the real-world, not my novel.

    "Hey, let''s get out of here," I said, to which Park Injun answered with a nod.

    "Yeah."

    We then got out of the nightclub. I looked around to look for Jaro and noticed that he had gone from the roof.

    So he was indeed only looking at us and didn''t interfere.

    ''Anyway, I have secured my fund. I should rest for today and meet with that guy tomorrow.''

 Chapter 56 Darkest Secret [1]

    [09:15 PM]

    [Awakener Prison]

    Inside the prison made for Awakeners below C-Rank, the man caught by the police for making a mess in the Supermarket was looking at the moon through the small window.

    The prison was special. The bar, the walls, and even the toilet were made from materials that couldn''t be destroyed easily.

    "They died, huh?" He muttered as if he knew something that he shouldn''t have. "Well, that''s to be expected from humans. Kukukuku."

    His face contorted into something ugly as he let out a sickeningugh. His skin turned purple, and a small horn jutted out from his head. His body turned muscr as his clothes were ripped off, showing his bare body.

    He was something humanity would call a Demon, the one who spread terror under the Demon King''s name.

    "I guess I should leave. To think that they would be caught this fast. I intended to spread the Fake Artifacts more, but¡­ How useless." He clenched his fist and punched the wall in front of him.

    Boom!

    When his fist collided with the wall, it exploded, instantly pulverizing it. Shortly after, the rm of the jail red uncontrobly, but the Demon didn''t seem to mind it as he leaned forward a little.

    "Urrgh!!" He grunted a little as his back moved strangely. Next, a pair of purple wings emerged from his back and he pped them a few times, seemingly satisfied, "Good."

    The prison warden who heard the explosion ran toward the cell, shouting.

    "What happened!"

    However, when he arrived in front of the Demon''s cell, he stopped moving, and cold sweat poured down his body.

    "A-A a-¡­" His mouth pped around as his words were stuck in his throat. His hand pointed at the Demon, who was preparing to fly and shouted.

    "A Dem-"

    Bam! Thud!

    But his sentence was interrupted by the Demon''s Mana Bullet, which destroyed his head instantly. The Demon snickered as his body fell to the ground lifelessly.

    "Hah! Weak!" The Demon turned toward the sky. "Now, I should return. But¡­ I will remember that girl. How dare she hit me when I pretended to be a human and shop in the Supermarket! I will make her pay when I find her!" He pped his wings as he roared. His body slowly floated as a raging wind twirling around him with each p.

    His body shot out to the sky after the third p, flying away from the prison, toward the direction of the moon.

    The prisoners were surprised beyond words. All of them were so afraid of the Demon that they pretended to be sleeping, praying, or begging in the corner of the room.

    Among them, the only girl prisoner red at the cell where the Demon was gritting her teeth in excitement, unlike the other prisoners.

    She looked around 16 years old and had short dirty tinum hair and amethyst eyes that shone in the dark prison. Like the other prisoners, she was wearing orange prisoner clothes with a number 42 on her left chest which bulged due to her big assets.

    Her hands were clenching the bars that separated her cell from the hallway tightly, creating a slight dent in it.

    "Demon!" She shouted excitedly as she watched the Demon flying away from the hole he created. There was a crazed smile on her face. "Cool! So they are hiding among the humans as expected! This is some good information! I should tell pops about this!"

    Next, the girl backed away from the bar and went to the corner of the cell while rotating around in happiness with her right leg as a pivot. Then she flopped down on the crude bed and raised her head..

    "How long have I been here? Three days? I really need a good shower." She muttered as she looked at the ceiling. "I got unexpected information, but¡­ Why is pops sote! He should be here today to get me out of this cell, but he''s nowhere to be seen!"

    She grumbled loudly in prison, which was filled with terror. There was not a hint of fear in her voice. Instead, she seemed to be happy to see a Demon and got some information about it.

    "Well, I guess he wille tomorrow, eh? Maybe he''s still busy with some clients. It can''t be helped. He''s busy after all. Let''s just sleep while waiting for him~" She jumped onto her bed and closed her eyes, sleeping.

    ***

    [09:30 PM]

    [House]

    "I am home."

    I arrived at my home after I put off my disguise and changed into casual clothes in Park Injun''s store. He also transferred the money that he got from Raymond to me. The money that he transferred was astronomically high. 17 billion USD.

    Right, I just got 17 billion USD after raiding a nightclub.

    Park Injun took 2 billion because he wanted to get twice back from the amount that he scammed. I didn''t mind because he was a big help in this raid, considering that he scared the Awakeners in the nightclub and made them leave the scene.

    When I closed the door behind me, Chloe appeared from the hallway wearing her ck and red pajamas and greeted me.

    "Wee back."

    I have never been at ease to hear such words. Once again, I appreciated Chloe''s existence in this world. I didn''t know what would happen to me if she wasn''t here. I had to deceive myself into killing humans, but it was still longing inside my mind.

    She approached me with a concerned look and asked.

    "Vincent¡­ Are you okay? Your eyes!" She peered right into my eyes, seemingly gazing right into me.

    I tried my best to give her a smile as I didn''t want to make her worry about me.

    "Yeah. I am okay. The job is just rough. I used the [Horus'' Sunsses] special effect, so my left eye is blind for now."

    However, as I answered, she pouted her cheek. "Liar. I don''t want to hear a lie. You''re lying about being okay."

    My mouth twitched a bit hearing her words. As expected from her, someone with Hero Trait, who could differ between the lie and truth.

    Even if I had Deceitful Trait, I was not in my best condition after killing four people, so she could look into my lie easily.<sub> </sub>

    I smiled wryly at her and brushed it off. "I will be fine. I am not lying. Rather than that, is there any leftover meal? I am hungry."

    Chloe looked at me with a judging gaze before letting out a sigh. "For now, let''s enter. I will cook something for you."

    She turned around and went inside. Shortly after, I followed her from behind.

    "You don''t need to cook a new dish. I am content with just anything in the fridge."

    "There is nothing in the fridge. I haven''t cooked any dinner yet."

    She didn''t seem to be lying.

    We entered the dining room, where the kitchen was also located, and I looked around. There were no dishes, and everything seemed to be in ce. I looked at the fridge when Chloe opened it to take out eggs, slices of bacon, and some bread. Everything was still the same as before.

    ''So she''s waiting for me?''

    Somehow, I was happy. She also cooked something that I requested for her for the first time when we bought this house. I approached her, who cooked the egg and said.

    "Thanks, Chloe."

    She flipped the egg and looked at me. "Un. Well¡­ Get better, Vincent. I¡­ I am worried when you are feeling down like that."

    Feeling down, was it? So it was indeed written in my expression.

    "Yeah. Thanks."

    "No problem. We are partners." She smiled as she delivered the same answer that she had told me a few times.

    Right, partner. We were partners, and we were counting on each other.

    I nned to meet with that guy tomorrow. He surely already knew about me and what I did, considering hiswork information and Talent. I needed him to do something for me.

    Hopefully, he would agree. I even had a lot of money, but¡­ I could only hope. I needed to know whether that girl was still alive or not. Also about Vincent''s past, if possible. As usual, I nned to bullshit the thing through. However, if he somehow connected the dot between me and Rai, then I could only use that card.

    The question was, should I bring Chloe with me? If I brought her there with me, then would it make any difference?

    ''No. I will bring her with me, so I can gain his trust.''

    "Chloe¡­ Are you free tomorrow?" I asked.

    "Huh? Is there a job again?"

    "No. It''s just¡­ There is a guy that I wanted to visit."

    "I see. I am free tomorrow. Also, who is the guy that you want to visit?" She asked curiously, tilting her head to the left cutely as she turned off the stove.

    "Well, you surely know him. He''s called Darkest Secret, the best informant in the Merchant Store."

    "Darkest Secret?!" Chloe raised her voice, surprised. "You are going to meet him? Why? Also, how? If I am not wrong, no one knows his identity."

    "No one except me." I looked at her seriously. "Also, I want to find someone using his informationwork."

    "Who is that?" She asked. "There is someone you wanted to find?"

    Someone who was rted to me, or rather Vincent.

    "I have someone that I wanted to find¡­ She''s¡­" I looked at Chloe while thinking of the possibility inside my head.

    I thought of a possibility, a rather absurd one.

    Zaiden saved Lily and his family from the outbreak ten years ago. As a result, he changed the story altogether. He was also a yboy in the Academy, being surrounded by the heroines.

    That much was normal, considering that he was a Reincarnator. However, what wasn''t normal was Vincent, the body I transmigrated into.

    He was a famous womanizer, not a delinquent. Even if Vincent didn''t seduce the heroines, surely some girls would be attracted to him, considering his handsome look. But no, everyone was afraid of me. They were afraid of Vincent.

    The most important point that I noticed here was the rumors. There was a rumor floating around the Academy that Vincent sent some people to the hospital. After investigating it in my spare timest month, I discovered the rumor was true.

    Vincent had sent some people to the hospital. But why? He had no reason to be a delinquent. Then I looked back at his backstory and why he became a womanizer in the first ce.

    He became a womanizer to curb his loneliness from losing his little sister, who died in the same monster outbreak at the same time as Lily.

    The reason why he wanted to stop Zaiden in thest volume was simple. He thought Elizabeth Dorothy''s vessel was his little sister because their appearance was simr. So, he stopped Zaiden, the one who was famous for killing witches at that time, from reaching Elizabeth Dorothy.

    So, I arrived at a conclusion¡­

    ''Vincent''s little sister is still alive. The reason why he sent some people to the hospital surely is to protect his little sister.''

    "I want to find my little sister."

    Chloe''s eyes widened in surprise as her mouth gaped, "Your little sister?" She muttered.

    I nodded my head. "Will youe with me?"

    "Of course!" She answered without missing a beat as she leaned closer to me. "It''s your family! We need to find her!"

    I smiled wryly at her. I couldn''t tell her that there was a possibility that the said little sister had already died. But, then. At least this was what I could do for transmigrating into this body was to find out what happened. This would also bring me to find what had changed in this worldpared to my novel.

    "Yeah." I answered Chloe with a smile.

 Chapter 57 Darkest Secret [2]

    [22 April 2023, 08:00 AM]

    [House]

    A day passed after I told Chloe that I wanted to find my little sister, or rather, Vincent''s little sister.

    As today''s matter was to meet someone, I wore a ck shirt and red vestbined with ck pants instead of using casual clothes to appear more mature and formal. I didn''t forget to change my face to Rai and put on a mask. Of course, I also didn''t forget about my magic bag. It was strapped on my waist.

    My left eye was changing into pure ck without white sclera because of the side-effect of using [Horus'' Sunsses], but I had nothing to hide it, so I just let it be. I only found out about it when I took a shower this morning. That was why Chloe freaked out a bit when she saw my eye yesterday.

    ''But, should I cover it up? This looks rather ominous.''

    While I thought about whether I should cover my eyes or not, a voice called out to me from the direction of the stairs that led to the second floor.

    "Vincent, I am ready."

    From the second floor, Chloe stepped out while wearing a ck sleeveless shirt and some kind of ck gloves that went up to her elbow. She also wore a red miniskirt with a ck belt, andpleted her fashion were tights-high ck socks. Her magic bag was strapped on her left waist, simr to mine. Her [Veil Ne] was hanging around her neck, which added more color to her fashion.

    When I saw her dressed like that, my eyes bulged a little. Usually, she dressed modestly. Her pajamas were all long-sleeved, and herbat clothes even covered all her skin. The casual clothes that she often wore at home at least covered most of her skin too, but this¡­ She wore something a bit revealing from the usual. More revealing than the first clothes that she wore when I saw her raiding the Lich Dungeon.

    "Umm, Chloe? Are you sure you are going to dress like that?" I asked her as she stopped in front of me.

    "Hmm? Is it strange?" She asked, checking her clothes by rotating around in front of me. She stopped and looked at me while tilting her head. "I did my research yesterday and thought that all Mercenaries dressed like this?"

    "Well, it looks good on you, but¡­ Are you sure you are going to wear that?"

    "I will wear this. It looks good on me, no?" She smiled teasingly as she leaned closer to me with her hands behind her back.

    "Yeah, it looks good on you. Honestly, you look stunning." Iplimented her, to which she answered with a cute giggle.

    "Thanks." She stepped back a little. "Oh, right. I have something for you." She rummaged in her magic bag and took something ck in her hand.

    When I noticed what was in her hand, I looked at her with a surprised expression. "You prepared that for me?"

    "Un. That will be¡­ rather drawing some unwanted attention, right?" She pointed at my left eye as she handed the thing in her hand to me.

    "Thanks." I took the ck thing from her. I wanted to give her a smile, but I had already used my mask, so I just nodded my head slightly to show my gratitude.

    The ck thing was, not unexpectedly, an eyepatch like those used by a captain in a pirate cartoon. I was wondering how I should cover my left eye and was about to use [Horus'' Sunsses] to hide it, but¡­ this should be better.

    I wore the eyepatch to cover my left eye and asked. "How is it?"

    "You look cool." She answered as she went around me with judging eyes. "Un. Better than anyone that I ever met."

    That was enough. Her honest opinion was enough for me, as she was someone who had never told a lie. If she said I was cool, then I was indeed cool. No one could argue with her.

    I nodded my head, satisfied, and said. "Let''s go then."

    ***

    [10:15 AM]

    [Las Vegas]

    We took a ne to fly to Las Vegas, where the man that I wanted to meet lived. It was surprising, but not too much.

    The guy that I wanted to meet took secrecy to the utmost level; hence, he hid in the world''s most popr gambling ce. He had a lot of money from selling information, so he chose a ce where the money circted the most to blend himself in.

    For an informant that worked in the Merchant Store, he seemed to be a bit sloppy if he wanted to hide in Las Vegas, but no. Actually, his hiding ce was perfect, and no one had ever found a clue about him because they never expected where he lived.

    Chloe and I arrived in Las Vegas after an hour of flight. The ne was faster than the one from Earth, once again due to Mana Technology, and so we arrived faster. I had prepared our flight ticket yesterday, and we were currently at North Las Vegas Airport.

    When we stepped out of the airport, Chloe looked around curiously and eximed. "This is Las Vegas? I thought the state would be filled with neon lights, considering what I saw on the news."

    I chuckled, hearing her words. A lot of people also looked at Chloe before chuckling. A few of them even whispered something like, ''Look at that girl! She thought Las Vegas is always full of Neon Light!'' while pointing at us, which made Chloe''s face flushed red in embarrassment.

    Surely, the news about Las Vegas was always about its nightlife, gambling, and entertainment. It was normal for Chloe to mistake Las Vegas for being all shiny and such from the neon lights.

    There was almost no dungeon in Las Vegas for some reason. There were only low Ranked dungeons that existed in this ce. In total, there were three F Rank and two E Rank.

    Los Angeles had five F Rank, including the Hollywood Dungeons, two E Rank, three C Rank, and one B Rank. That was a lot of dungeons in one state, but it was normal, considering Los Angeles was the first state where Zaiden would train himself until Arc 2.

    However, I had no n to make him stay until Arc 2. Those three arcs were filled with dungeon diving and collecting some money. I had taken care of the main enemy of Arc 1, Raymond, so he should be able to focus on training himself instead of caring for the Scammer.

    I guess he would need around three months to train, which would be perfect for me as I needed two months to get the opportunity that would present in the Academy. After that, Vincent would Awaken and join Zaiden''s party to guide him to danger.

    Enough of that; Chloe pouted because I chuckled at her words.

    "What''s so funny, Rai?!" Her voice raised a little as she red at me.

    "Hahaha, my bad. It''s just¡­ you are not wrong saying that Las Vegas is filled with neon lights. I will show youter at night."

    "Really?" She asked, her mood seemed to recover as she smiled widely.

    "Yup! Though, we need to meet that man for now. The faster we take care of our main objective, the better it is, right?"<sub> </sub>

    "Of course! So, where are we going?" Chloe asked. She must''ve been wondering where the world''s current greatest informant hid.

    "Where do you think he is hiding?" I asked back to her, trying to be mysterious.

    Fortunately, Chloe was ying along with me as she put her index finger on her chin and looked up to the sky, thinking about her answer. After a while, she tilted her head while her finger was still on her chin and said.

    "Maybe some casino or some gambling ce?"

    I made an X mark with my arms and announced while imitating the famous TV show called Something Feud.

    "Boo boo~ You''re wrong. Try again!"

    Once again, Chloe fell into deep thought with her head lowered. This time, it only took her three seconds before she raised her head and guessed.

    "Then, a mansion? Or a bar?"

    "That would be eye-catching." I retorted with a wry smile, not that she could see it. "Are you giving up?" I asked.

    She shrugged her shoulders and said. "Yes¡­ It''s too hard. In the first ce, I don''t know the possible ce where an informant set their operation."

    "Well, at least you are trying." I said, "Let me give you a hint. He''s hiding in a ce where no one thought he would be. That means the ce is unusual for an informant to stay at."

    Chloe listened quietly as she nodded her head repeatedly at my words.

    "So, what kind of ce in Las Vegas that''s less connected to Las Vegas'' name?"

    "What kind of ce in Las Vegas that''s less connected to the Vegas'' name?" Chloe repeated my words carefully. "Las Vegas is famous for its neon lights, gambling parlor, and its entertainment. So what kind of ce is less connected to Las Vegas in Las Vegas?"

    Chloe''s eyes widened a little. Finally, it seemed like she had some clue about where Darkest Secret was hiding in this city after I gave her some hints.

    "Is it school?" She asked.

    That was not a bad deduction. School, a ce to learn, was not connected to Las Vegas'' name at all. However, her answer was a bit wrong. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

    "It''s close. It''s also a kind of school, but not exactly a school." For Chloe, I must''ve sounded disappointed by her answer, but I was only teasing her with it. Somehow, I developed some disease where I loved teasing her to escape from my worry and stress.

    When she heard my answer, her shoulders slumped a little. She looked disappointed because she answered it wrong.

    "H-hey, Chloe. Don''t be disappointed, okay? Your answer is correct, but not exactly it."

    She looked at me with upturned eyes and asked, "Then, what''s the correct answer?"

    "The correct answer is¡­ orphanage. Darkest Secret is hiding in an orphanage called Hart Child Care." I answered.

    ***

    [A certain office]

    In a certain room that looked like an office room with a working desk, two couches, and a table between the couches, a gray middle-aged man wearing round sses was sitting behind the working desk while typing furiously on theptop in front of him.

    He was wearing a dark blue priest cloth and a golden rosary ne. His expression seemed to be serious as he focused on hisptop''s screen.

    Knock, knock, knock.

    When he heard the knock on the door, he stopped typing and put off his sses before he raised his head, nced at the door, and said.

    "Enter." His voice conveyed a hint of wisdom, which was expected for someone his age.

    Right after the middle-aged priest spoke, the door was opened, and an energetic girl with short tinum hair entered the room. She was wearing some kind of baggy pink jacket with a ck cor on top of a ck shirt with three pink stripes and short ck pants.

    On her side was a pink cross bag, and her socks were colorful stripesbination of pink, pale green, and white, hugging her feet to the knees.

    Right after barging into the room, the girl shouted.

    "Father Richard! How could you forget to bail me out of jail! Because of you, I must contact Chris to make her bail me out." She pouted her cheek as she approached the couch, jumping on the one on the right before continuing. "I also almost died because of that! I saw a Demon there yesterday, a freaking Demon! He was two meters big!" She spread her arms wide and threw her back to the backrest.

    "Hmm, a Demon?" The man muttered. He looked at the girl with an amused look. "That''s a word that I haven''t heard for a while.

    "Right?!" The girl eximed. "They are hiding among humans as expected!" She put her hand inside her pink cross bag and pulled a lollipop out; it had the word ''Strawberry vored'' on its wrapper. "Anyway, that information will be worth a lot, no? I also heard that the Demon said something about Fake Artifacts and such."

    "Oh, that will be interesting." The man grinned widely. "Talking about Fake Artifacts, it seems that the Artifact Dealer and a person, who certainly will interest you, have taken care of the mastermind."

    "Hmm?" The girl looked at the man curiously as she put the strawberry-vored lollipop inside her mouth. "The person that certainly will interest me? Who is that, pops?"

    "Why are you asking me that? Isn''t there only a person who will get your interest?" The priest-looking man put his elbows on the desk and put his head in his hands. His grin turned wider as he closed his eyes. "It''s your brother, Vincent Dihart."

    "Brother?!" The tinum-haired girl stood up and smiled brightly. She approached the man and mmed her hands on the desk.

    Bam!

    "H-Hey! Do you think he wille back here, to this orphanage? It''s been a long time since I met him!" She leaned against the man, interrogating him with an excited voice. Her expression was that of delight and happiness, showing that she was really excited to meet her brother again.

    "He will, Tina." The man answered. "And it will be sooner than you thought." His sses shed the glint of sunlight that came from the window behind him.

 Chapter 58 Darkest Secret [3]

    [10:30 AM]

    [Road to Hart Child Care]

    Because I didn''t know anything about Darkest Secret, and it was our first visit to his orphanage, I stopped at a store first to get something for the kids in the orphanage.

    At least I wanted to leave a good impression on him and the kids.

    Speaking about an orphanage, I was thinking about finding the orphanage where Vincent came from. Surely, I would like to visit it to give some gifts because that was what was expected from someone who was taken care of in their childhood.

    Although I had no memories of Vincent, I still wanted to know more about the world I had created and Vincent''splete backstory.

    The gifts I bought from the store at the airport were two full bags of candies and snacks. It was a typical gift to be bought when one visited an orphanage.

    I had some experience with it because I was also an orphan and lived in an orphanage until I could make money myself on Earth. That was also one of the reasons why I made a lot of important characters in my novel an orphan.

    "Are you sure we should bring just candies and snacks, Vi- Rai?" Chloe asked me as she raised the bag that she held in her hand.

    We were walking toward the orphanage because it was not too far from the airport. From the map that I looked up on my phone, the orphanage was only 10 minutes away.

    "It will be okay. We will also make donations using my money in the orphanageter. So the children will be happy with the snacks and candies, while the adults will be happy with the money." I exined. "The money will be used to fix some damage in the orphanage or to buy meals for the children, at least that''s what an orphanage usually does, except somece where the director is corrupt, I think."

    "Corrupt?" Chloe asked.

    "Yes. Unfortunately, not all people are like you, Chloe. Some of them moved for their own benefits, such as money, fame, honor, and others. That''s why the remaining Demons from the second Abyss entice people to do something for them instead of doing it themselves. The corrupt part of the Humans is what made them fall to Demon''s enticement."

    In this world, Demons blended with humans. They enticed people to do evil by promising them something that they wanted. The mostmon promise was a promise of power to an Awakener.

    Unlike Witches who decided to keep their strength quietly while waiting for the perfect time to strike, Demons moved individually with the goal of decreasing humanity''s strength by making them fight with each other. Hence, their target mainly was Awakeners.

    "Demon¡­" Chloe muttered. "How many Demons are still roaming the world as of now, I wonder."

    "I myself don''t know about it."

    The number of Demons was a mystery even for me. I often wrote ''a certain Awakener had defeated something like a Demon in this ce'' or ''two Demons were found dead in Egypt'' or something.

    I couldn''t write a lot of details because they were not too important of an event and didn''t involve Zaiden directly, but I couldn''t ignore them in this world. After all, Demons were free real estate to make Zaiden suffer.

    After walking for a few minutes, we finally arrived in front of a big building with a big gate. On top of the gate was a big sign with the words ''Hart Child Care,'' and it seemed to wee visitors. The main building of the orphanage was like a typical school building, but it had five floors.

    The yard was also big, with a few children running around. The left side of the yard, right beside the gate, was unexpectedly a ser field, while the right side of the yard was a mini baseball field. The fields were filled with children who yed around.

    Among them, I noticed a girl with an appearance that I wouldn''t ever forget. How could I forget about it? The girl''s appearance was simr to Lily''s, with her tinum hair and amethyst-colored eyes. Only, the girl who yed baseball with children on the field was a bit shorter in height and hair and had bigger assets than her.

    She was wearing some kind of oversized jacket and in her left hand was a baseball glove. She became a pitcher for the kid and threw the ball with a cute yell.

    "Ei!"

    "Is she Lily''s sister?"

    Chloe seemed to notice the girl, too, as she muttered while looking at the tinum-haired girl.

    "No." I answered confidently while shaking my head.

    This¡­ What kind of bullshit was this? I often bullshited in this world, but I never got bullshited like this.

    This couldn''t be a mere coincidence. I always wrote something that rted to each other without leaving a plot hole, at least a big one. But I just noticed a plot hole in my novel right now.

    That was right; I never specified the orphanage where Vincent came from and how he could be the Unknown Sharpshooter with just his background. His Talents and Luck were indeed great, but he couldn''t just be strong without anyone''s backing.

    My memory seemed to fail me as I forgot about something important. Maybe the stress had gotten into me again? I should do something about it before it became too bad and made me do something too far again.

    ''I almost forgot about it. I made Darkest Secret and Unknown Sharpshooter had some rtionship in my setting. So it became real, huh. Then that means¡­ All my settings in my documents also turned real? If that''s the case¡­ then she''s the real one.''

    I entered the gate of the orphanage without hesitating.

    "Rai?!" Chloe called out to me, surprised by my sudden movement. However, she still trailed behind me, following me close. "What happened so suddenly?"

    "I found her," I answered Chloe without giving her much context.

    Even without much context, Chloe was smart. She didn''t need many hints from me. She quickly ced what I said and realized it herself.

    "Could it be?"

    "Yeah. She''s the one." I smiled under my mask.

    I didn''t expect to find her in this ce, but all pieces now came together.

    Zaiden''s interference seemed to be bigger than I thought. Just by saving Lily and his family, he also saved other''s families, including Vincent''s.

    That was why Vincent didn''t be a womanizer. His little sister was indeed still alive. But now, that led me to one problem.

    ''How did Vincent usually act?''

    Should I just use that card, the one often used by the Transmigration novel''s protagonist? The one called ''Amnesia Card'' where he just suddenly lost his memories? Or should I act just like usual?

    Of all the characters in my novel, Vincent resembled me a lot, in a bad way.

    If Zaiden was a character that I created to be tortured, then Vincent was an Extra that I used as a self-insert. He was one of the first characters that I wrote in the first volume, and he resembled me a lot at that point.

    I didn''t let him make an appearance again due to me cringing with self-insert, but then I decided to make him thest Extra I made in the novel. If I needed to describe Vincent, then he was a lonely person who wanted to seekpany and then fell into a temptation that he couldn''t escape from¡­ women.<sub> </sub>

    Thankfully, I was able to escape from being a womanizer after writing my novel. That was why Vincent was the character that was closer to my real self.

    Finally, I decided on something.

    ''Let''s act like usual and bullshit things through if it goes awry.''

    The girl who yed with the kids, my little sister in this world, noticed me, and her eyes went wide. It was like I thought she knew about me being Rai. It was no surprise, considering the director of this ce is the Darkest Secret, someone who knew all secrets in this world.

    If she lived in this ce, the director surely had told her about me. Though I was not sure why the Darkest Secret told her about my secret identity. Maybe he was considerate? Or my little sister had some sort of cooperation with the Darkest Secret so he told her about it? I had a lot to question myself.

    I never wrote anything about Vincent''s little sister because she had died in the monster outbreak. How could I know something about someone who never appeared in my novel because she had died? She was an Extra''s little sister, so she was not too important in my novel. She only served to add some backstory to an Extra.

    Anyway, when she saw me, she threw the baseball glove in her left hand to the ground and began to sprint in my direction shortly. I was expecting her to be happy to meet me, but her eyes betrayed that expectation. Instead of a happy expression with a bright smile, she was frowning as she sprinted at a fast speed toward my direction.

    She suddenly jumped and shouted when she was ten meters away from me.

    "You fucking shitty brother! How dare you disappear for two months without telling me!"

    Her legs were put together as she flew in the sky. From the direction of her legs, she seemed to have an intention to kick me straight in my face.

    Chloe moved in front of me when she saw what the girl did, but I stopped her by giving her the bag that I held in my hand. The girl was indeed fast; I never expected her to be an Awakener too.

    But, even though she was fast, it was not to the point I couldn''t avoid it. I tried to put myself in Vincent''s position and found the best way to deal with this situation.

    I stepped to the left, dodging her kick, then I grabbed her legs and yeeted her away.

    "There you go."

    She flew away beautifully to the ser field. She bnced herself in the sky andnded like a professional gymnast with her arms while dodging the kids. The kids who yed ser were amazed and pped their hands in admiration.

    "Woah! That''s neat." I put my hand above my eyes and let out an amazed voice. It seemed like what I did was something that Vincent always did because from what I see from my little sister''s expression, she was used to something like what I did before.

    "You shitty brother!" She shouted, but her loud voice betrayed her happy expression.

    She was all smiles as she ran toward me again. This time though, she didn''t try to kick me and just stopped in front of me while looking at me.

    "I thought you were going to die before meeting this amazing little sister of yours again."

    "Hahaha, do you really think so?" I answered with augh as I looked at her. She was way shorter than me, so I lowered my head to see her.

    "Nah, not really. Considering how you always disappeared every now and then, I know that you will be back here someday. You even showed up with a mask and such, using your fake identity. I guess you are here for business, no?" She shed a smile as she put her hand behind her.

    Then, she leaned to the side, peeking at Chloe over my body. "Anyway, she''s the Hero?"

    "Yeah, she''s Chloe. Go introduce yourself." I said as I stepped to the side and pointed at Chloe.

    "Hmm~ So she''s the one¡­" My little sister muttered as she approached Chloe.

    "Nice to meet you. I am Tina Dihart, you can call me Tina! I hope I can get along with my brother''s girlfriend." She giggled as she nced at me.

    As expected, she was a little devil. I knew that from what she did earlier. I couldn''t expect any less from the little sister of a character that was based on myself.

    But, she underestimated Chloe''s clueless attitude. She must''ve expected Chloe to correct what she said and embarrass me, but Chloe did exactly what I thought. She did correct her and nodded her head, but the correction was not exactly what she expected.

    "Un. I am Vincent''s partner, Chloe. Just call me Chloe, Tina."

    "Huh?" My little sister, Tina, let out a confused voice. "Really?

    She looked at me, and I just gave her a look of ''You got used to it''. She nced at Chloe once again before turning to me. It was good enough that Chloe didn''t introduce herself as Chloe Dihart again. It would make thingsplicated if she did.

    "Ah, right. Pops told me to take you to his office when you arrived." She eximed.

    "Pops did?" I asked.

    "Yup. He has some information for you, I think. Something rted to the Fake Artifacts incident yesterday."

    I narrowed my eyes when she mentioned the Fake Artifacts incident. The pops that she talked about must be the Darkest Secret, and apparently, he already knew about yesterday''s incident. And now, he wanted to see me? So he also knew that I had nned to visit him today. What a terrifying man.

    Honestly, I was fortunate that Vincent actually was rted directly to Darkest Secret. That meant I would be able to use his informationwork in the future if I needed it.

    "Alright. Can you take me there?" I asked her.

    "Sure! I also have some information that may interest you." She said with a grin. She began to walk to the main building of the orphanage and I followed her from behind with Chloe.

    At that moment, I realized. My little sister, Tina, was actually a smart and cunning girl. I could ask for her assistance in the future. Furthermore, she was also an Awakener.

    ''I will check her Talents using [Horus'' Sunsses]ter.'' I thought to myself as I entered the orphanage building.

    ''Now, though. It seemed like my initial n to find my little sister was finished. But, there might be some problem with yesterday''s Fake Artifacts incident.''

    I didn''t know what the problem was. I had rooted the mastermind, Raymond. There shouldn''t be any more problems, but¡­

    ''Considering it''s the Darkest Secret that we are talking about, he might know something that I didn''t know. But I think I know the information that he''s about to tell me. It must be about a hint rted to the second arc.''

    The first arc and the second arc were connected. The Fake Artifacts were only the start of a big conspiracy. And it was clear who the perpetrator was.

    ''It must be about the Demon''s re-appearance.''

 Chapter 59 Darkest Secret [4]

    [22 April 2023, 10.45 AM]

    [Hart Child Care''s Main Building - Hallway]

    As Chloe and I were led to the director''s room, where the Darkest Secret was by Tina, I looked around the condition of the orphanage and it was not as bad as I thought. The director''s room was located on the fifth floor, the topmost one, so we needed to walk a bit to get there.

    Maybe because the Darkest Secret had a lot of money, he invested some of it in the orphanage to make his life earlier, or he didn''t want to raise some suspicion and decided to make the orphanage a proper one. Either of those was maybe his reason.

    I found another thing about her when Tina led us. She was incredibly energetic and had a loud mouth.

    "Huh~ So my brother worked as an instructor yesterday? I can''t imagine that."

    Even now, she was chatting with Chloe on friendly terms while walking by her side with a smile, which surprised me, considering Chloe had a hard time opening up to someone new. Mainly because of her Trait, I only knew some people that actually talked to Chloe.

    Those people were the heroines, who were basically nice girls, and Mrs. Marita, the middle-ageddy who came to eat together with us a few days earlier.

    "Yes. Vincent is unexpectedly good at being an instructor." Chloe answered her, looking down slightly due to their height difference.

    While Chloe was only a few centimeters shorter than me, Tina was a head shorter than Chloe. My height was 185cm, which meant Chloe was around 180cm while Tina was only 160cm, a shorty.

    We went through the third floor and arrived at the fourth floor when the conversation got to this point.

    "Good instructor, huh?" Tina had a mischievous smile as she nced at me. "I bet he let his students do everything while he''s chilling in the back, no? I can imagine him being, ''I am not here to babysit you, do your shit by yourself.'' Or something like that."

    And that was another strange thing that I found out after knowing this girl for a while. She could urately guess what I did.

    Whatever it was, it must be rted to the reason why I was transmigrated here in Vincent''s body. I had no clue about what happened to me prior to my transmigration nor who actually sent me to this ce. But, whoever it was, purposely put me in Vincent''s body, who had a simr personality to me, considering that Tina could guess what I did perfectly.

    "He did say that. However, he saved the Awakeners before they were badly injured. Only a person had broken bones, but he was perfectly fine."

    To think that she said broken bones were perfectly fine. Or was it actually perfectly fine in this world? Should I just let the mutated Hobgoblin hurt Zaiden more at that time? It seemed like I was still a bit na?ve in terms of torturing people in the real world. I should look at the ''100 Ways to Torture People'' book if there were any.

    Anyway, they continued talking and sometimesughing until we arrived in front of a room with a wooden door. The room was surrounded by Mana, thicker than the Mana in our surrounding, a sign that an Enhancement was used to secure it. I could see through it because I was adept in Enhancement and did it a few times, but I bet even Chloe couldn''t see the Enhancement ced in the room.

    I did see through that there was an Enhancement done in the room itself, but I couldn''t guess what kind of Enhancement was ced in it. I could see it if I used the Artifact that Park Injun used in our heist, but unfortunately, that Artifact was rare, and only he had it.

    ''Anyone who ced the Enhancement must be a real expert.''

    Knock, knock, knock.

    Tina approached the door without hesitation, knocked on it thrice in a certain rhythm, and shouted. "Hey, pops! My brother is here!"

    "Enter." I heard a deep voice of a man in his middle age from beyond the door.

    "Alright. Let''s enter, brother. Pops has been waiting for you since this morning."

    She opened the door, and behind it was a magnificent office room that came straight from a movie, or rather novel in this case. She entered first and jumped on the couch on the right. She made herselffortable and pulled a lollipop from the bag on her waist, probably a magic bag because her hand could enter

    I surveyed the room a little and noticed the guy in dark blue priest clothes looking at me with a kind smile.

    "Wee, Rai. Or rather. Wee back, Vincent." He greeted me while pulling off his sses. He massaged his temple before standing up and approaching me. When he stood in front of me, he patted my shoulder and said, "d to have you back, my son."

    My body was stoned. My brain was running at a faster speed than usual, thinking about how I should answer him. My instinct that I got from thebination of my Talents told me that this guy was dangerous.

    This guy was the Darkest Secret. Even without any knowledge before, I knew that he was the Darkest Secret. His Mana that surrounded his body was hiding his strength; it worked in a simr fashion to Faker''s Earring that I wore before I enhanced it.

    He was hiding his strength. That was the reason why he couldn''t be found, and people only thought of him as a kind director. However, beneath his veil was a terrifying strength that maybe rivaled those Six Devas of the Association. He was not as strong as Park Injun or Smith, but he was certainly a strength to be reckoned with.

    "Vincent?" He asked me in a lower tone, seemingly confused as to why I didn''t answer him.

    However, I was still thinking about my answer and questioning my decision toe here. What if he knew that I was not the real Vincent? He could find any secret in the world, including the existence of the Witch. In fact, he was the one who spread about the Witch''s existence in the future, which made the world plunge into chaos.

    But, I needed his informationwork for my goal. So I answered.

    "Yeah, pops. I am back." I pulled off my mask, put it inside my magic bag and smiled at him as my face changed back to the usual.

    "Hahaha, it''s nice to see you, my son!" He hugged me tightly as he patted my back a few times.

    Chloe was watching us with a smile, probably misunderstanding this as a lovely reunion between a foster father and a son, but I was sweating inside.

    After a few pats on my back, he pulled away and asked.

    "It''s been two months since you left this orphanage. How is it, the Academy?"

    "Nah, it''s not interesting at all. Just the usual."

    From what I have observed so far, it seems like I made the right choice so far. I only acted like how I originally was instead of bullshit things through, and it worked.

    "Hahaha, I see. Well, just sit down for now. I will finish my job real quick, and we can talkter."

    "Sure."

    He then returned to his desk and put on his sses again, working on hisptop while Chloe and I sat on the couch across from Tina. When I sat beside Chloe, Tina pouted her cheeks and muttered.

    "So you choose your girlfriend over your sister, shitty brother?"

    "Huh, what are you talking about?" I asked her while smirking. "I won''t sit beside you before you talk about the mess that you caused recently."

    When I said that, I heard augh from the Darkest Secret. "Hahahaha, he got you good, Tina.<sub> </sub>

    "Pops! Did you tell him about that already?" Tina eximed as she raised her voice slightly at the Darkest Secret.

    "No. But you underestimated your brother too much." He said without looking at us and kept typing on hisptop. "Did you forget why he left in the first ce? Because he found out about that."

    "Of course, I know about it! There is no way my shitty brother, who loves me so much to the point of sending a lot of people to the hospital, left without any reason!" Tina confidently shouted back at the man.

    It was amazing that she could say that his brother loved her so much, but my investigation was on point. Vincent really sent people to the hospital to protect his sister. However, one thing was still bothering me.

    ''That?'' I questioned inside my mind. What was ''that'' that he meant? And it was rted to why Vincent left the orphanage in the first ce.

    ''Could it be he''s talking about the opportunity that wille in two months?! In that case, how could Vincent¡­ No¡­ Darkest Secret must''ve told him some hint about it. Because that opportunity is purposely left for Vincent.''

    It was at that moment I noticed something. My novel indeed had no plot hole, that was until volume 29 that had been edited by my editor. However, the opportunity that I talked about was exined in volume 30 when Vincent faced Zaiden. I didn''t exin why Vincent came to the Academy in the first ce.

    I also found out that this body had been Awakened since I was first transmigrated.

    ''That means Vincent knew about the opportunity and purposely attended the Academy to get it.''

    The pieces hade together now. Unexpectedly, the plot hole that I made in volume 30 had connected me to the Darkest Secret, the best informant in the world. Should I call this fortunate? Or should I be mad because I made a plot hole?

    Anyway, this was truly fortunate.

    "So, my little sister, what mess did you make when I was away?" I asked her yfully.

    Chloe didn''t say anything earlier, and I nced at her only to find her smiling as she looked at me. It seemed like she was trying to be considerate when I was talking with Tina. She didn''t need to do that, though.

    "Ugh." Tina grunted as if she had been found guilty before averting her gaze at me. "I just entered a dungeon illegally to get some clue about Demons and got caught while I was at it. So I spent some time in the Awakener Prison..."

    ''Excuse me, what?'' I was surprised when I heard her. ''She''s trying to find a clue about the Demon? Why? And she got caught because of that?''

    This girl seemed to be more troublesome than I thought earlier. Even Chloe''s mouth gaped when she heard what Tina said. But, my expectation was shattered the next moment Chloe spoke.

    "You did exactly like what Vincent did when he met me the first time. I guess you are really his sister!" She eximed happily.

    I wanted to scream at her that she shouldn''t tell Tina about that, but it was toote. Instead, I crossed my arms and grinned.

    "But I didn''t get caught. Unlike a certain girl." I narrowed my eyes at Tina, making her shriek like a small animal.

    "Alright, it''s my bad, okay? I won''t do it again! I will not get caught next time!" She yelled at me, but her face betrayed her bravado. She was pouting while throwing her face away as her legs moved back and forth like a little child.

    What was this? Teasing Tina was fun. And it seemed like she was used to being teased. Maybe Vincent also teased her? I didn''t care; it was fun. I felt refreshed, and I felt like my stress left me because of it.

    "Forgive her for it, Vincent. You shouldn''t tease your sister too much." The Darkest Secret spoke. I nced at him and noticed that he had taken off his sses.

    "You are done?" I asked.

    "Yes." He stood up from his seat and made his way to Tina, sitting beside her. "Tina, you shouldpose yourself again. How can you be an information gatherer if you always got your emotions ahead of you? Learn a little from Vincent. He''s good at concealing his emotions."

    "Ugh, but Father Richard! He..." She answered, seemingly dejected and was about toin, but quickly shut her mouth when she heard what Darkest Secret, Richard, said next.

    "No, but. If you want to get back at him, just tell him about the information that you get. Maybe he will stop teasing you with that."

    "Oh right!" She eximed happily. How fast. Her recovery was quick as if her sad and happy expression could be turned on and off with a single button.

    She turned at me and puffed her chest before eximing.

    "Listen here, brother! You have taken care of the Fake Artifacts'' mastermind, right?"

    Although her tone was filled with happiness and sounded as if she was bragging, the atmosphere turned serious all of a sudden. Even Richard gave me a look that I should listen to Tina seriously.

    Sensing the atmosphere, Chloe put on a serious face, and I asked.

    "Yeah, what about it?"

    "Don''t be surprised, but he was not the true mastermind! There is someone else behind that scam!" She exined.

    I knew that the Demon was behind Raymond, but it was surprising that they found out about it in less than a day. However, I shouldn''t have known about that information, so I put on a surprised face.

    "What?"

    "Yeah! To tell you the short story, I heard a Demon in the prison that I was in talking about the Fake Artifacts thing and paying back the girl who hit him in the Supermarket when he was pretending to be a human. So, the true mastermind behind the Fake Artifacts is actually a Demon! A Demon, I said!" She repeated the name Demon to show how important it was.

    I did know about it, but then again, my attention was focused on something entirely different from what she wanted to tell me.

    ''A girl who hit him in the Supermarket? Is that¡­'' A person came into my mind when she mentioned about a girl who hit a person that was dragged into a prison because he made a mess in a Supermarket. I nced at Chloe, and she looked back at me.

    "I think the Demon was the person that I hit. What do you think, Vincent?" She asked innocently.

    ''So it was indeed her!'' I screamed inside my mind while facepalmed.

    Richard and Tina looked at Chloe in confusion. Shortly after, Richard burst intoughter.

    "HAHAHAHA! How funny. This situation is so funny! So the Demon wanted to defeat the Hero? That''s just suicide!"

    I never thought that the second arc would be started by a mere coincidence where a Hero identally put the Demon unconscious and made him put in prison.

    ''Ah, I made a lot of retorts today. Why do things never follow what I intended? I am the fucking Author! Fuck you, Zaiden! If only you didn''t change the story, it will still follow the path that I intended it to be!''

 Chapter 60 Darkest Secret [5]

    We spent a few more minutes talking about the Demon. From the intel that Tina gathered while running around Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas, she managed to reduce the possibility of the Demon''s base to two.

    ''B-Rank Metal Gnoll Dungeon in Los Angeles or C-Rank Mermen Dungeon in San Diego, huh?''

    The second arc, the Demon re-appearance, was set in San Diego. Another party raided the Demon''s base when the Demon was out of it because the Demon was dealing with the Fake Artifacts thing.

    The Demon was furious when he found that Awakeners raided his base, and that was the beginning of the second arc.

    However, from what Tina said, something strange didn''t add up to the story I remembered.

    ''The Demon''s appearance that she saw in the Prison is different from the one that I described in the novel.''

    Demons were put into a few different ssifications based on their strength and intelligence. The bottom of the tier was the Low Demon; it had the appearance of a wild beast and couldn''t speak. Usually, low Demon had strength equal to D to C-Rank monsters.

    Next to it was Mid Demon; they had the appearance of a human and could speak. However, they couldn''t transform themselves and hid between the humans. Their strength was equivalent to that of C-Rank monsters, not too different from low Demons. However, their intelligence made them more dangerous than low Demons.

    The third one was probably the Demon that Tina saw in prison. A high Demon; this Demon''s appearance and intelligence were simr to humans, making them the most dangerous among the Demons.

    Furthermore, they could shapeshift to hide among us. Their strength was simr to those of the B-Rank Awakeners. They were dangerous.

    This type of Demon''s loyalty toward the Demon King was immense; they even made the revival of the Demon King their priority and were not afraid to throw their lives in the process.

    There were still two more ssifications above high Demon: Noble Demon and Arch Demon. Those two ssifications of Demons had been eliminated after the second Hero killed the Demon King. Or at least based on history.

    Some of those Noble Demons and Arch Demons still exist in the empty second Abyss. They were waiting for the perfect time to make an appearance and throw Humanity into chaos once again.

    After we had finished talking, Richard suddenly said, "Ah, right. Can I have time with Vincent alone? I have something that I need to tell him. Just the two of us." His tone was serious, to which Tina replied with a nod.

    "Alright, pops. Don''t take too long this time. I will be waiting outside." She stood up and looked at Chloe. "Chloe! Let''s go y with the kids while we wait for my brother, shall we?" She eximed.

    Chloe looked at me, and I answered her with a nod. "Go y with her. It will not be long."

    "Un." She nodded her head and stood up before exiting the room with Tina.

    They were on friendly terms, which I was thankful for. After seeing Tina, I had decided on something. Hence, I epted the risk of being alone with Darkest Secret in his office.

    After the door was closed, the atmosphere within the room suddenly turned cold and serious. Darkest Secret, Richard, fixed his posture and crossed his legs.

    "Let''s get into business, Vincent. I know you have some business with me, but hear me first." He said. His blue eyes, which contained wisdom that he cultivated through years of being an informant, were peering right into me.

    "Yeah, go ahead." I said, throwing my back onto the couch''s backrest as I looked back at him. I also crossed my legs and put my arms on top of my tights to appear professional.

    This was a negotiation, a start of my real meeting with the Darkest Secret. Earlier, it was a meeting between Vincent and his foster father, and my little sister, Tina who gave me new information.

    However, this time, he was acting as the informant, Darkest Secret, not Father Richard.

    "Take Tina with you. She shouldn''t be here." He suddenly said, surprising me.

    "Did something happen?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows, trying to judge his intention.

    "I used my Talent, you see." He smiled while ncing at hisptop on the work desk.

    Darkest Secret''s Talents. They were one of the mysteries in the world that no one but him knew about. But, from how he talked, I assumed that Vincent knew about Darkest Secret''s Talent. That was why Darkest Secret just said he used his Talent instead of exining what he did to avoid some information leak.

    Of course, I knew about his Talent too; I was the author. As someone who was called the best informant, his Talents were actually something normal. But, like Park Injun, his Talents correspond to each other well and create something absurd.

    He had Talents that no one would think of. B-Rank Divinity, A-Rank Hacking, and S-Rank Information Gathering. Divinity was not the Talent to make someone divine or something like a priest.

    It was a Talent that allowed someone to guess the future. Combined with his Information Gathering Talent and Hacking, he could get all the information he wanted in this age of Mana and Technology. Then, he could guess the future with Divinity after he got all the information he needed with greater uracy.

    "What did you see?" I asked seriously.

    "The Demon that Tina talked about earlier. He''s not the only one. There is another Demon hiding in the ce she talked about, the C-Rank Mermen Dungeon in San Diego, to be precise."<sub> </sub>

    It was as I had expected. From Tina''s description of the Demon, he had a stout and bulky figure, looking like a close-ranged fighter, whereas the Demon that was supposed to appear in the second arc had a lean body and was a Demon that used Dark Magic.

    ''Maybe I can use this chance to make that guy get a bit stronger. With their early appearance like this, maybe it only takes them a month at most to prepare? That would be a perfect time for Zaiden to recover. I need to make a move this time as Vincent, to take him to San Diego before the actual second arc starts.''

    I grinned after I heard the information from Darkest Secret. Truly, this world had been so different from my novel, but the obstacles hindering Zaiden seemed to get stronger and stronger at a faster rate.

    But what was the rtionship between the Demons and me taking Tina?

    "And, why did you ask me to take Tina with me?"

    "Because you will need her Talents." He said mysteriously. "She''s the most talented Information Gatherer among the ones that I have under me, and you do know that, no?"

    ''No, I actually don''t.'' I thought, but my head responded to Darkest Secret with a nod.

    "That''s why take her into your Mercenary Group. She will help you greatly with your goal."

    "But¡­" I tried to interject, but Darkest Secret interrupted me.

    "Don''t worry. She''s not the girl that you need to protect anymore. She can protect herself." His lips curled into a kind smile of a father proud of his daughter.

    It was within my n to take Tina with me at first, but he gave me an easy time. I thought he wouldn''t be willing to part with Tina. I had been thinking of a few ways to take Tina with me after hearing that she could gather a lot of information and was seemingly good at her feet, so I was thankful that he offered to take her without needing to persuade him.

    I put my hand on my chin and faked a reluctant expression, as if I was thinking deeply about whether I should take Tina in or not.

    "How is it? I think she''ll be happy to stay with you. She won''t hinder your n either. For now, you just need to wait, no? Also, if you are worried about her, just make her that thing. Surely you can do it." He smirked.

    n, again. The n he talked about was undoubtedly rted to something that would happen in two months. The key to making me stronger and grow faster than Zaiden. The appearance of the Dungeon Shop in the Academy, an event that I set up for Vincent in thest chapter.

    The Dungeon Shop was a shop that would appear once every few years and only served one customer.

    That was why I needed money and stayed in the Academy even though I didn''t need to. I got more money than I needed, and an item that fit Vincent perfectly was sold in the Dungeon Shop. The one who operated the Dungeon Shop was a Goblin, indeed, but he was a Goblin Trader.

    They only took some kind of precious metals as currency, so I actually needed to exchange my money for the metal that the Goblin Trader loved, which was gold.

    ''And I know the perfect ce to exchange gold. ck Market.''

    Darkest Secret must''ve seen it with his Divinity and told Vincent about it. Maybe that was the reason why Vincent went to the Academy in the first ce.

    Vincent in the story used his womanizing ways to get more money from women. While it was true that he started to be a womanizer because of the loss of his sister, he also noticed that he could gain a lot of money by doing it, so he continued until he had enough money to get what he wanted from the Dungeon Shop.

    ''The cause of his womanizing ways ended up bing the way to gain money for him. It also made him forget about his sister for a while and made him focus on money. Vincent admitted those before he took hisst breath.''

    After a few seconds, I nodded and answered. "Alright. I will take Tina with me. That''s my intention in the first ce foring here. I have a person who can protect her from dangers in my base. She will be safe there."

    "Good." He answered, and the atmosphere in the room turned normal again as Richard stood up. He walked to his working desk but suddenly stopped and turned to me.

    "Ah, also. Many guilds, Mercenaries, and Dark Guilds have been reaching out to me to ask about Rai. Be careful out there. Even Memento Mori is investigating Rai. Also¡­ Sacred Relic is investigating Vincent''s background. I have taken care of that because I already have the file ready since you were raised in this ce. You are clean if you want to enter the Sacred Relic."

    My eyes widened a little as he told me about it. Darkest Secret was famous for not disclosing his clients'' names, but shockingly, he told me all about them. That was the reason why he was called Darkest Secret in the first ce. No secret came out of his mouth, and he would bury it in the darkest ce.

    He knew a lot, maybe almost all the secrets that he had heard from his clients. However, he never once disclosed his clients'' information to someone else.

    I couldn''t help but smile at the information, as it seemed like the presence of Rai had gotten big and attracted the big names. I was also grateful to Richard for telling me the information and doing me a favor by guaranteeing Vincent''s background. I stood up from the couch and said,

    "Thanks, pops."

    "It''s nothing. My family is more important than money, no?" He winked and sat on his seat before the working desk. "Anyway, you can go now. I need to continue my work."

    "Sure. See you again." I walked out to the exit and closed the door behind me. As I closed the door, I heard a low voice from him saying, ''See you again.''

 Chapter 61 Intense Training [1]

    I walked down the first-floor hallway and found two kids sitting on the bench near the entrance while holding a handful of sweets and snacks. They looked happy, and then I remembered that I had yet to give the sweets and snacks that I handed to Chloe to the kids.

    However, it seemed like Chloe had handed them to the kids, and she probably asked Tina to help her.

    When I passed the kids, they unexpectedly turned at me and smiled brightly.

    "Ah! Brother Vincent!" The shorter girl shouted, followed by the taller girl.

    "You were right! You''vee back, brother Vincent!"

    When I heard their squeals, I realized that I had yet to put my mask back on. I quickly put my index finger on my mouth and said, "Shh! It''s a secret that I am here, okay?"

    "Un! We can keep a secret, right!"

    "Yeah!"

    The two of them nodded their heads excitedly.

    "Alright. Enjoy the snacks, kids. I need to go right now." I pulled on the mask from my magic bag and held it in my hand.

    They were only kids. It shouldn''t be a problem. Well, those kids were protected by the Darkest Secret and were probably trained to be his hands and legs in the future.

    This world was not too kind after all. Those kids were fortunate enough to be picked up by Richard, as he was still kind toward the kids under him. If the Dark Guilds picked them up, no one would know about their fate.

    "Yes, brother Vincent! W-We will miss you a lot! So¡­ you wille back again, right?"

    "We can y at that time, right?"

    The kids looked at me with upturned eyes, and I replied with a smile. "Of course, I will visit again soon."

    I spent a few seconds putting the kids at ease before walking away and putting on my mask. While I was at it, I also wore [Horus'' Sunsses] because I needed to look at Tina''s status. Although it looked weird because I also had a ck eyepatch on my left eye, I couldn''t help it. I needed to use it to use the Pry effect.

    I spotted Tina and Chloe ying with the kids on the ser field. Although they were on the ser field, they yed tag instead of ser. It seemed like Tina was the one who became ''IT'' and Chloe was the one she chased.

    Using this chance, I used Pry on Tina and looked at her status.

    -----

    Status

    Name: Tina Dihart

    Rank: E

    Strength: E+

    Agility: D

    Endurance: D-

    Mana: E+

    Luck: C

    Talent:

    - Parkour (A)

    - Acting (C)

    - Stealth (B)

    Trait:

    - Easy-going

    -----

    When I looked at her status, my lips curled into an evil grin as I began to make a slight change in my n.

    ''She''s good. Her Talents, and especially her Trait, are amazing. So that''s why Richard said that she would be useful to me, for my Mercenary Group.''

    She was a real information gatherer and a perfect Assassin material. With her Parkour Talent, she could run through any kind of environment with no problem. Even entering a building should be no problem for her.

    Though she had no battle Talents, she could still train herself to some point. She would be average, but that was fine; an average skill level was enough.

    As I approached them, I took off the [Horus'' Sunsses] and put it back into my magic bag.

    "Hey! We are leaving, Chloe! Take Tina with you too. She will go with us!" I shouted at them, causing them to stop in their tracks.

    Chloe looked at me and nodded, but Tina had a confused expression.

    "Huh? How can Ie with you? I still need to work for pops!"

    "Father Richard is the one who asked me to take you. Why? Are you dissatisfied with me? Do you want to stay here instead of staying with your brother? I am sad, Tina."

    "Huh¡­ No, of course not! No, you shitty brother! If you put it like that, I look like a bad person here! I, of course, would like to stay with you!" She shouted as she approached me with Chloe. Her hands were moving in front of her, waving around, betraying her happy expression.

    ''Easy.'' I thought.

    I knew Vincent loved his sister, but the opposite was also true. Tina loved Vincent too.

    "So we are going back, Vincent? Will Tina alsoe with us?" Chloe asked, ncing at Tina.

    "Yeah, Pops said that I could take Tina with me. Do you want toe with me, Tina?"

    "Of course! If Pops asked me toe with you, he surely has some kind of¡­ vision, right?" She asked, looking straight into my eyes.

    "You''re correct." I nodded.

    "In that case, I wille with you. No, I will follow you even if you refuse it."

    "Then that''s decided," I said. "But, we need to stop somewhere first before going back."

    "Where?" Chloe asked. "I thought we were just here to find your little sister?"

    "That''s indeed my intention, but¡­ We need to get strong fast. After hiding for a few years, demons begin to make their move again."

    "I see." Chloe knew what I meant by just that. "I will follow your decision."

    Tina looked between Chloe and me repeatedly before raising her voice. "C''mon! Don''t say something that only the two of you understand. Where are we stopping before returning to your¡­ whatever ce it is?!"

    "Well, it''s simple. We hit the dungeon first." I said as I crossed my arms. "It''s time for intense training."

    ***

    [The Orphanage Director''s Office]<sub> </sub>

    Left alone, Richard looked at Vincent and the others leaving the orphanage''s grounds while bidding farewell to the kids through an open window in his office room. He had the kind expression of a father looking at his children who had left their nest.

    "They left, huh¡­" He muttered, a hint of sadness mixed in his tone. "Chris, good job." He said to no one in particr.

    No one else was near him, but as soon as he said that, a person appeared on the roof, right above his room. The person was wearing a typical nun''s habit while wearing a golden rosary, simr to Richard.

    She looked to be in her twenties, had short blond hair, and was kneeling on the roof, hidden from the entrance of the orphanage by a shadow of the window.

    "Yes, Father Richard."

    "Hahaha. This is a bit sad. My two favorite kids have left us and probably will note back soon."

    "You did it for their sake, Father. However, are you sure you will allow Tina to tag along with Vincent? Didn''t you say¨C" She asked curiously but was interrupted before she finished her sentence.

    "I know you consider Tina your little sister, but she also needs to grow up. Besides, she will be safe there. The Hero is with them." Richard narrowed his eyes as he nced to the side where Chris was.

    "My apologies. I am just worried." Chris apologized, bowing her head. "The Hero, huh. I wonder how Vincent managed to ask her to stay with him."

    "That, I don''t know either," Richard answered, with an amused smile. "However, that proves one thing: Vincent is growing without our knowledge. I can''t help but be proud of him as his father."

    "I am also proud of them as their sister. I still remember when they came to the orphanage ten years ago. Vincent is trying his best to protect Tina. He even attacked you, Father Richard." Chris chuckled, remembering the day when Vincent arrived at the orphanage ten years ago.

    "That''s true. He was like a wild dog protecting a puppy. But, he has be dependable." Richard said, reminiscing while looking at the sky. "I just hope he won''t encounter a strong enemy soon. He still needs some training."

    Richard then looked at the side where Chris was kneeling and said, "Anyway, Chris. Any further information about those Witches?"

    "Yes, I found a clue about them."

    "Good." He nodded. "Keep it a secret for now. The world is not ready to know about their existence. Not yet¡­"

    "Yes, Father Richard."

    ***

    [22 April 2023, 02:10 PM]

    [C-Rank in Orc Dungeon, Los Angeles]

    After we left the orphanage, we boarded the ne and returned to Los Angeles. As soon as we arrived, we didn''t return to our house. Instead, we went to Mount Olympus, where a C-Rank in Orc Dungeon was located.

    The in Orc was different from the normal Orc. They were considered C-Rank because they were bigger and stronger. On top of that, they were also deadlier and smarter than normal Orc, which was considered a D-Rank monster.

    The dungeon was located in Manhattan Beach. More specifically, it was located on the south end of the pier on Manhattan Beach. Some fences were built surrounding the dungeon''s entrance to keep the civilians from identally entering the dungeon, as the beach was crowded during the day.

    Tina had also been registered as an Awakener in the Association, so we could enter the dungeon easily.

    Unlike the cave scenery like F-Rank Goblin Dungeon and the Trial Dungeon, where the mutated Hobgoblin beat up Zaiden, this Orc Dungeon was a in. The Orc also didn''t bring any weapons except for a wooden club.

    It had only a floor, but it was big, and the area was spread into two sections. Firstly, there was a in where most Awakeners hunted the Orcs. It was located on the left side of the entrance.

    The other was a prairie located on the right side of the entrance. Few Awakeners hunted in this section, mainly because of the uneven terrain. They wanted to avoid some idents because the terrain made it so one could easily be tumbled if they were not careful.

    However, that didn''t matter to us, considering our party and Talentsposition.

    Swoosh!

    My arrow severed the wind and hit an Orc''s leg that stood on top of a prairie, causing it to fall on its knee and shout.

    "Graaa!!"

    "Tina!" I shouted.

    "On it!"

    Tina sped up from a distance and lunged at the Orc with an iron sword I gave her before entering the dungeon. She also wore the enhanced [Party Bracelet], so we could share the Mana we got from killing the monsters.

    Her speed was impressive for an E-Rank Awakener, and she wasn''t scared of the Orc, which stood 2 meters tall.

    I could rest easy asChloe followed closely behind her, ready to strike the Orc after Tinanded a blow on it.

    I wanted to see Tina in action. Surprisingly, Tina was able to fight rather decently, considering her age and Rank.

    She swung the sword horizontally, aiming at the Orc''s neck.

    Swish¨C Splurt!

    The sword severed the neck cleanly, making the Orc bleed, but the wound was not deep enough to kill it. Shecked the strength to kill it in one swing, considering the in Orc was a C-Rank monster, but it was good enough. Her movement was swift, and she didn''t hesitate to swing her sword to kill monsters.

    "Grr! Gaaa!" The Orc shouted, picking itself up and raising its club, aiming to smash Tina.

    However, before the Orc could swing its club, Tina smiled and said, "Chloe, switch!"

    Did she think it was a game? She even said ''switch'' before stepping to the left, allowing Chloe to pierce the Orc''s head with her Gae Bolg. She was so easy-going. Well, that was her Trait, after all.

    Thud!

    The dead body of the Orc fell to the ground heavily, and Tina approached Chloe for a high five.

    "Nice one!"

    "Un. Good job, Tina."

    They had rather good chemistry and managed to work together after just a few hunts. I approached them while looking around the area to make sure it was safe.

    "Oh, brother! Is this our fifth Orc?" Tina shouted as she crouched near the Orc, pulling its fangs, which could be sold for money.

    "Yeah, you are unexpectedly good at this even withoutbat Talent."

    "Fufufu! Chris has trained me in swordsmanship! So even without Talent, I know how to swing a sword!" She proudly puffed out her chest, causing them to bounce.

    "Yeah yeah, you are good." I praised her half-heartedly, making her pout at me.

    The training had gone smoothly. If we did something like this for a week or two, I believed Tina would be able to advance to D-Rank in no time. I''d like to give her a Mana Breathing Method too, but sadly, I didn''t think she could do Mana Breathing Method, considering she had no Talent in Magic or Mana Maniption.

    Either Talent was necessary to avoid some incident. The Mana Breathing Method was hard for those without Talent and caused a lot of incidents in my novel. The worst of them made a person unable to use Mana for the rest of their lives, which I would like to avoid. One of the reasons why Zaiden didn''t try to explore Mana Breathing, I guess.

    But, even without the Mana Breathing Method, I believe Tina would be able to grow at a fast rate. Because¡­ We had an overpowered Hero with us.

    "Let''s continue our hunt. We will stop after 6 PM. Is there any objection?" I asked, looking at Tina and Chloe, respectively.

    "None here!" Tina raised her hand as she answered, while Chloe just shook her head and muttered, "No."

    "Alright. Let''s kill those Orcs." I announced while grinning under my mask.

    "Yes!" Both of them answered at the same time, full of spirit.

 Chapter 62 Intense Training [2]

    [22 April 2023, 06:30 PM]

    [House]

    We hunted more in Orcs than I originally expected. As a result, Tina''s Mana increased by a Rank, from E+ to D- Mana. After her Mana increased, we decided to call it a day and returned home.

    Tina''s reaction was a sight to behold when we arrived at our house.

    "Woah! This is your house, brother?" She asked, amazed by the size of our house.

    While it was not a mansion, it was still bigger than an average house and was located in Central LA, which was an expensive area.

    I nodded my head. "Yeah."

    While the one who paid for the house was Chloe, it was signed under my name, so it was technically mine. Of course, I could pay the money back because I currently had a lot of money, but Chloe didn''t ask me to, so I kept silent about it.

    Tina ran around the area around the house curiously. Finally, after a while, she came back to us in front of the house.

    "There is also a garden in the back!" She eximed. "Hey! Can I like¡­ nt something in the garden?"

    Chloe giggled when she looked at her and answered. "Yes. Feel free to."

    "Yay!" Tina shouted loudly as she hugged Chloe. "You''re the best, Chloe!"

    "No, it''s normal. Should I show you your room? I believe the one beside me is still empty." Chloe said, looking at Tina.

    Tina broke the hug; her eyes were shining. She looked happy as she answered.

    "Sure!"

    They should be okay. I could leave Tina to Chloe for now as I had something to do.

    "Chloe." I called out, gaining her attention. "I will visit the Artifact Dealer. I will be back in an hour or so. If you want to have an early dinner, you can have it without me."

    "Un. Be careful." She waved her hand while smiling.

    Tina appeared to be confused as she tilted her head, but she didn''t ask anything.

    I waved back to Chloe before walking away to Park Injun''s store. I had two purposes for visiting him. Firstly was about Smith''s equipment. He should''ve been done with it, considering his Talent in weaving.

    Park Injun said he would make the mask and the coat himself, so I was expecting something good from him. At least something worth enhancing.

    Secondly, I wanted to get an Intermediate and Advanced Magic Book. He should''ve one in his inventory, considering that he was a Mage. The Awakener Store was a no-go, considering their price was basically ripping off their customers.

    If possible, I would like to borrow it instead of buying it. I only needed to read it once to understand it, so buying the book seemed like a waste. Of course, if I bought the book, I could read it again or give them to someone else, but¡­ why should I?

    Anyway, I needed to train my Magic. My control over my Mana was fine; I only didn''t know the detailed principle yet.

    ''It will be better if Park Injun teaches me his trick, though. That way, my Magic will be stronger than anyone. Some tricks rted to Magic will be fine. I don''t need the trick to weave Mana because I am confident that I will not be able to do it.'' I grumbled inside my mind as I kept walking in Los Angeles'' street toward Park Injun''s Store.

    ''Well, let''s just hope he has the Magic Book.''

    ***

    [Park Injun''s store]

    Ting¨C

    I entered the store and closed the door behind me. Park Injun, as usual, greeted me while sitting on his rocking chair.

    "You''re here. I have been waiting for you." He said as he plunged his hand into his magic shelf.

    "Oh, you''ve been waiting for me? Is the item done?" I asked, approaching him.

    "Yeah. I am done. Will you enhance them in this ce? Or do you prefer to do it in your home?" He asked as he pulled a ck coat with a scale pattern on the tip and a lower-half ck mask from the magic shelf, putting them on the table.

    "Hmm¡­" I grunted, looking at the item on the table.

    I could''ve done the Enhancement in my house as I knew that no one would disturb me. However, Tina was also there. I didn''t know whether she knew Vincent could do Enhancement or not. I could lock the room, but how could I exin the Mana that I used when Enhancing?

    Also, I nned to do something a bit dangerous, so doing it in this ce would be better.

    Park Injun''s offer to do the Enhancement in his store was tempting. He could protect me while I concentrated on Enhancing the items if anything went wrong.

    ''At least I need to hide my fourth Talent from Tina until I visit the Dungeon Shop. I can''t exin anything unless I do that. Better safe than sorry.''

    "Well, I will take your offer. I will Enhance those items here. But¡­ keep a secret of my method, will you?"

    I nned to make use of my Great Lich blood to Enhance those items. Firstly, I had some ns for using the coat. It was rted to the second arc, and it was an item I needed to make Zaiden suffer in the future.

    For Smith''s item, his request was the one that needed me to use the Great Lich''s blood. Unless I Enhanced the item using the blood, the effect would be half-assed, like the illusion from Chloe''s ne that Smith could see through.

    "Sure. Let me do this."

    Park Injun snapped his fingers, and the store was surrounded by a ck veil, simr to the one he used when I first uttered his name. He also put off his disguise and grinned.

    "This much space is enough, no?" He asked.

    "More than enough."

    Firstly, I took the coat and put it away in my magic bag. I couldn''t risk it being Enhanced identally because the blood sttered into it a little.

    Now, only the mask was on the table. I pulled the ss containing Great Lich''s blood from my magic bag and held it in my left hand. While I was at it, I took off my mask to be able to breathe easier and put it in my magic bag.

    When Park Injun looked at what I pulled out, he made a curious expression and asked. "Are you going to Enhance with that instead of Enhancement Dust?"

    "Yeah. This is truly useful, better than Enhancement Dust due to its property of having Mana. I can tell you this has better efficiency as it conducts Mana more easily."

    "And, what is that? The appearance looked like blood."

    "It is blood," I answered in a mysterious way while grinning. "The information will cost you though." I put my thumb and index finger together while raising them in front of Park Injun.

    "Tsk! You money-grubber."

    "You are the one who talks." I retorted. "Anyway, let me concentrate. I want to get the best effect from the Enhancement."

    "Yeah, yeah. Do your job. I will stay silent." He answered, clearly a bit pissed because I refused to tell him for free.

    Knowing him, he would only stay like that for a few seconds, and his mood would be better after watching the Enhancement process.

    I looked at the mask on the table and touched it with my hand to look at its information. Because the mask was made from the monster''s material and was created by someone like Park Injun, it already had its basic effect like Faker''s Earring.

    -----

    [Dark Mask]

    [Null Attribute]

    A Mask created by an Experienced Weaver

    Effect:

    - Distortion

    The wearer''s identity will be rather obscure for those who look at him.

    -----

    Look at that. The effect was already something that Smith desired. However, it was not enough. His request was to be able to put on an illusion like the Artifact in Park Injun''s possession.

    ''Let''s get to work.''

    I began to infuse Null Attribute Mana carefully into the mask.

    I noticed Park Injun''s whistled as he eximed in a low voice. "That''s some nice control." But I ignored him.

    My concentration was now entirely on Enhancing the item. The effect that I wanted was an illusion, a strong illusion that could mask one''s appearance without being found out by S-Rank Awakener.

    After putting my mind to it, I carefully dropped a single drop of Great Lich''s blood onto the item. Because I knew the effect would be blinding, I averted my eyes slightly and did not look into it directly.

    And as I had expected, the mask let out a bright light. Park Injun, who never expected the light to be so bright, averted his face immediately without saying anything.

    After a while, the light dimmed, and the notification flocked in my head.

    [Your Luck has miraculously helped in the enhancement.]

    [Dark Mask enhancement was sessful. The effect of the enhancement has been amplified.]<sub> </sub>

    [Because of your luck, an additional effect was added to Dark Mask.]

    [Dark Mask turned into Dark Mask +1.]

    Oh? My luck was¡­ doing something again.

    I was hoping it wouldn''t do something extra to the mask, but I couldn''t control it. It was still +1 instead of +2 like my [Arash Bow], but it was still better than the usual.

    "Is it done?" Park Injun asked, looking at the [Dark Mask]. There was no change in its appearance, but the Enhancement was definitely a sess.

    "Yeah," I answered as I looked at the mask''s new description.

    -----

    [Dark Mask +1]

    [Null Attribute]

    A Mask created by an Experienced Weaver and Enhanced by a Genius Enhancer.

    Effect:

    - Distortion

    The wearer''s identity will be wrapped by a thinyer of distortion, making them unrecognizable. The effect can be controlled freely by the wearer.

    - Chameleon Skin

    The wearer can use an illusion that is wrapped around their body to change their appearance by infusing Mana into Dark Mask.

    -----

    The mask''s Distortion effect had been upgraded slightly. Rather than making the wearer obscure, it made them be wrapped by a thinyer of distortion and became unrecognizable. On top of that, the effect could be controlled freely.

    There was also the new effect of using an illusion to change one''s appearance.

    "That''s quite an upgrade¡­" Park Injun muttered in amazement. "Your Talent in Enhancement is insane." He looked at me with a gaze full of envy. It seemed like he looked at the [Dark Mask] description.

    "I am not that good yet," I said while smirking. "Next is my coat." I took out the coat from my magic bag while putting the mask into my magic bag.

    Before starting the Enhancement, Iid the coat on the table and looked at its description.

    -----

    [Stealth Coat]

    [Null Attribute]

    A Coat created by an Experienced Weaver.

    Effect:

    - Stealth

    Masking the wearer''s presence.

    -----

    The coat itself wasn''t bad. It also had the effect that I wanted.

    "It''s good, no? Honestly, considering that I didn''t use any other material, the coat came out pretty good. It has a Stealth effect too." Park Injun exined.

    "Yeah, it''s not bad," I answered before putting my right hand on top of it. "However, I will make it better."

    This coat would be my main equipment for both Vincent and Rai. So I nned to make it able to turn transparent or shapeshift and give it another effect that I had in mind.

    I had three Great Lich''s blood left. I wanted to save one for the sword that I got from Smith, so I could use two drops of the blood for this coat.

    First of all, my choice leaned more to the shapeshift effect so I could turn it between Rai''s hoodie and Vincent''s coat anytime. Not only that, the shapeshift effect would further help the main effect that I thought of in my mind.

    So I infused the Null Attribute Mana while thinking about the effect on the coat. After that, I dropped one Great Lich''s blood, and it began to glow again.

    I was used to it, and it dimmed a whileter, faster than when I Enhanced the [Dark Mask]. The notifications then followed suit.

    [Stealth Coat enhancement was sessful. The effect of the enhancement has been amplified.]

    [An additional effect is added.]

    [Stealth Coat turned into Stealth Coat +1.]

    My luck wasn''t triggered this time, but I didn''t mind. It was just a shapeshifting effect, and I checked the coat''s description.

    -----

    [Stealth Coat +1]

    [Null Attribute]

    A Coat created by an Experienced Weaver and Enhanced by a Genius Enhancer.

    Effect:

    - Stealth

    Masking the wearer''s presence. The wearer can fully erase his presence and turn invisible if Mana is infused into the coat. (Only apply in the original form of the coat)

    - Shapeshift

    Infuse Mana into the coat to turn it into a different shape.

    -----

    "Shapeshift? Why did you add such a useless effect?" Park Injun asked, wondering why I added such an effect.

    But I wasn''t done yet. I didn''t answer him and continued my Enhancement.

    From my right hand, ck Mana appeared and infused it into the coat slowly. It was my first time using this Mana attribute, and it was hard.

    When Park Injun saw what I did, he shouted loudly. "Are you fucking insane?! Stop what you are doing right now! Do you want to ruin the Coat by making it cursed with Dark Attribute Mana, Vincent!"

    He even shouted my name. What a worrywart. However, his worry wasn''t without a base. Dark Attribute Mana was dangerous, and all items Enhanced by this Attribute became cursed.

    However, [Arash Bow] also had Dark Attribute. I was confident in making this Enhancement a sess without ruining this Coat.

    Without hesitation, I dropped the Great Lich''s blood, ignoring Park Injun''s shout. The blood touched the coat, and it let out a blinding light? No, rather, Darkness came out from the coat.

    Unlike the bright blue light that appeared when I infused the item with Null Attribute Mana, the light that came out from the Enhancement with Dark Attribute Mana wasn''t blinding. It was like the darkness was sucking everything into the void.

    "You did it¡­" Park Injun muttered in horror. "Why did you use Dark Attribute Mana?"

    "There is an effect that I wanted," I answered while putting thest drop of the Great Lich''s blood into my magic bag. "I just hope I will get it. I put all my Luck into this."

    The effect that I wanted would help me in the long run. The darkness stayed for a while, even longer than when I enhanced my [Arash Bow]. It was understandable; this was the second Enhancement that I did to the [Stealth Coat].

    However, the result didn''t betray my expectations. After a while, the notifications rang out, and my lips curled into a big grin.

    [Your Luck has miraculously helped in the enhancement.]

    [Stealth Coat +1 enhancement was sessful. The effect of the enhancement has been amplified.]

    [Because of your luck, a Cursed status is removed from the Enhancement.]

    [A new effect is added.]

    [Miraculous Luck appeared again! The effect is further enhanced.]

    [Stealth Coat +1 turned into Stealth Coat +2.]

    Hearing the notification, I couldn''t hold back anymore and checked the coat''s description before shouting in excitement.

    "Fuck yeah! I fucking did it!"

    Park Injun even shook his head and said, "I can''t believe this. You are indeed crazy. And you are crazy good at this."

 Chapter 63 Intense Training [3]

    [22 April 2023, 07:20 PM]

    [House]

    After Enhancing my Coat, I ended up staying in Park Injun''s store for a while to ask him about the Intermediate and the Advanced Magic book. He had both of them, but in exchange for it, he wanted me to tell him what kind of blood I used for Enhancement.

    Of course, I didn''t tell him about what blood I used for the Enhancement. That information wouldn''te up in a few months, maybe years, depending on when Lisa decided to dabble into research to find it.

    Although Park Injun might be able to find what blood I used in exchange for the Dust Enhancement for Enhancing item, it would need some time, maybe months, which he couldn''t afford.

    Time was essentially money, so he added some extra payment in exchange for my information. He offered to give me a Master Fire Magic Book. Unlike the Basic to Advanced one, the Master Magic book was divided by each attribute.

    The one that he offered, Master Fire Magic Book, was one of them. It was tempting, and so I decided to tell him that the blood I used was from Lich in exchange for the three Magic Books. He was surprised and asked how I got Lich''s blood. Because I got a nice haul, I happily exined how to get it.

    Afterward, I left the shop while humming in happiness and arrived at home.

    "I am back." I greeted while closing the door behind me.

    "Wee back!" A distant voice answered me. It belonged to Tina.

    I entered the living room and found that she was watching TV while sitting on the couch, hugging her legs while licking a pink lollipop. She had already made herselffortable as if she had been living here for a while.

    I sat beside her and looked at the TV that she was watching. Unexpectedly, she was watching the news.

    "What''s the news about?" I asked as I pulled off my mask and put it inside my magic bag.

    "Hmm, just some strange monsters'' activities in Mermen Dungeon in San Diego. The Demon I saw yesterday has returned to his base and caused the Mermen to act strangely. Maybe the Demon killed some of the monsters? Who knows." Tina answered, turning at me.

    "How do you n to deal with those Demons, brother? Will you ask Chloe to take care of them?"

    "No." I shook my head. "There is no need for Chloe to step up this time. I want to get stronger as soon as possible, so I will take care of one of them."

    "One of them?" Tina asked, curious. There were at least two Demons in the Mermen Dungeon in San Diego, however, Tina only saw one in prison. So she didn''t know the existence of the second Demon that originally appeared in the novel.

    "Yeah. There are two Demons, at least. I will kill one of them while I have another person to take care of the other one. I want Chloe to focus on getting stronger and sit this one out. It would be troublesome if she joined this one. I n on doing something a bit¡­ reckless." I said.

    My n would include something that surely would hurt Chloe, so I didn''t want her to participate this time. Also, if she participated in the second arc and killed the Demons before they did something to Zaiden, he would lose his chance to get stronger.

    If he followed the plot or maybe even pushed himself, I estimated that his stat would reach E+ Rank in a month. His growth rate was unnatural, but I didn''t n to fall behind.

    I set a goal for myself to reach D+ or C- in a month. If that was not possible, then I wanted my Mana to reach C+. That was the minimum requirement if I wanted to kill the Demon and take advantage of the situation to make Zaiden suffer.

    Although it seemed to be impossible to get C+ Rank in a month, considering my growth rate had decreased after I hit D-Rank, I could only push myself.

    Furthermore, because Zaiden was kind, I couldn''t make him suffer by stealing the heroines from him or something. It just didn''t work. He would definitely say, ''Please take good care of her,'' with a stupid smile on his face.

    He didn''t even have romantic feelings toward them. He only wanted to save them.

    So, how to make such a kind person despaired? It was simple. Just show him that he couldn''t do anything even though he was supposed to change something.

    ''I probably will need to use [Arash Bow] special effects this time.'' I thought.

    "Hmm¡­ is that so? Do you need my help?" Tina asked, peering into my face.

    "Actually, yes," I answered her as I grinned. "I need you to do something for me."

    I then exined what she needed to do. When she heard my exnation, her expression changed a few times.

    It was a sight to behold; she put on a disgusted, excited, and then turned into a disgusted expression once again before she asked.

    "For real?" She asked in disbelief. "I need to do that? Yuck¡­"

    "C''mon, Tina. I will give you something good if you agree to this n after you are done."

    "Really? Promise?"

    "Yeah. I promise." I nodded my head.

    "Then I will try. Don''t expect me to seed, though."

    "Don''t worry. You will seed."

    As Darkest Secret said, Tina was useful. She had been trained to act and collect information when working under him. So, that job was perfect for her¡ªan Espionage for that guy''s movement.

    Tina returned her attention to the TV, and I leaned my back against the couch''s backrest.

    ''This will take care of that thing. Next, I will need to train my Magic and increase my Mana.''

    A few minutes passed in silence until Chloe entered the living room and said. "Dinner is ready."<sub> </sub>

    ***

    [09:00 PM]

    [Bedroom]

    After eating dinner, I went to my bedroom and sat on the chair in front of my study desk. I also changed into a white sweatshirt and ck track pants that I often wore to sleep. It wasfortable for me.

    Anyway, it was time for me to study Magic, so I pulled the Intermediate Magic Book from my magic bag on my desk and began reading it.

    Unlike the Basic Magic Book, the Intermediate Magic Book started with the general knowledge of Mana.

    It exined about how Mana was present anywhere in the atmosphere. However, the Mana in the atmosphere couldn''t be used for Magic directly. Awakeners needed to use the Mana inside their body to use Magic.

    Putting it in simple terms, ''It''s like the Mana in the atmosphere is a recharger, while the Awakener''s body is a phone. An application couldn''t be used with just a recharger. It needed a phone to process it.''

    The next page talked about the rank of Awakener''s Mana. The Rank of the Awakener''s Mana represented the quantity of Mana that they could hold in their bodies. It depended on their skill on how to control those Mana to turn them into Magic.

    For example, if two people had the same Rank in their Mana faced each other and used the same Magic such as Fireball, the one with better control over their Mana would be able to create a bigger and hotter Fireballpared to the other one.

    Also, on top of quantity, the Rank also represented the weight of an Awakener''s Mana. That was why the pressure of Awakener with high-Rank Mana would feel heavy and force someone to be down on their knees.

    After reading the first and second pages, I nodded my head, satisfied because it was still the same as the setting I wrote.

    I opened the third page, and it was finally the Intermediate Magic introduction. The Magic that was listed as Intermediate Magic was a Magic that could destroy a big boulder. For example, Ice Lance, Fire Lance, Explosion etc. It wasbat Magic, to put it bluntly.

    The damage it caused was not as big as Advanced Magic, which could destroy a house or two with no problem, but it was useful Magic to use in a narrow space like a cave Dungeon.

    The principle of using the Intermediate Magic was simr to the basic one. Just imagine, that was the key. However, the Mana must be condensed before releasing the Intermediate Magic, and the image must beplete.

    The system was simple and looked like it was designed by azy person, but what I could say, I was the one who designed the Magic System.

    I read the Intermediate Magic Book until thest page and remembered most Magic written in the book.

    "Next is the Advanced Magic Book."

    I picked the Advanced Magic Book next and put the Intermediate one back into my magic bag.

    The content of the Advanced Magic Book started with the introduction of theposite attributes of Magic.

    "Finally, it''s here," I muttered in excitement.

    Composite attributes Magic. As its name implied, it was a Magic thatbined two or more Attributes into one. There were a few knownposite Magic.

    For example was Chun Dong, the guy from Memento Mori that visited my house a few weeks ago. His specialty was Ice Magic, the result of theposite attributes between Wind and Water Attributes Mana.

    There was also Lightning Attribute, which resulted from Wind and Earth Attributes Mana. Mud from thebination of Water and Earth. Then Metal from thebination of Earth and Fire.

    The otherposite attributes existed but were not as popr as the one mentioned above.

    Putting the unknownposite Attributes aside, Fire and Water Attributes Mana couldn''t bebined. In my setting, only those two Attributes couldn''t bebined because they greatly opposed each other, unlike the other Attributes.

    The best Archer at this time, Atnta, also usedposite attributes of Wind and Fire, which created Tempest. It allowed her arrow to travel fast while leaving a fire trail that burned any enemy in its path, and explode upon impact. That was simr to the effect of my [Arash Bow], but she did all of that with her Magic.

    The way to use aposite Attribute Mana was to make a perfect ratio between two Attributes andbine them while condensing them into Magic. The principle was simple, but one needed precise control over their Mana tobine two different Attributes.

    "I should train theposite Attribute. Mainly the Fire and Darkposite Attributes to create Hell me. A me which burns anything until the Mana supplied to the me is cut off."

    That would be perfect for a Sharpshooter like me. I could destroy the enemy using the Hell me arrow that I could shoot from a distance. But, there was one problem with theseposite Attributes.

    "The Mana needed to use Hell me is ten times that of normal Fire. That''s counting the help from [Arash Bow], which has Fire and Dark Attribute and makes it use less Mana than usual. It''s insane."

    A Demon had an unusually high regeneration rate. They wouldn''t die unless they were killed cleanly. Either destroy their heart, which was their core, or behead them cleanly. Demons were tenacious bastards; hence, I wanted to burn them to ash with Hell me.

    I could kill Demons easily with Light Attribute Mana, which was their weakness, but¡­ My goal was not only killing them but it was to make Zaiden freaked out.

    Anyposite Attributes involving Light or Dark Attributes Mana usually required more Mana than the otherposite Attributes.

    The reason why I wanted to get my Mana to C+ Rank was to use Hell me to freak Zaiden out. After all¡­

    "Hell me or anyposite Attributebined with Dark Attribute Mana are often used by the Witches."

    It would give him a wake-up call, and I nned to shoot it from a distance, so he wouldn''t be able to see me.

    "Well, I will need to go to the Academy tomorrow, so let''s get it done with the Advanced Magic Book and sleep. The Master Fire Magic Book needs to wait until tomorrow."

 Chapter 64 Lntense Training [4]

    [23 April 2023, 08:00 AM]

    [House]

    "Alright, I will leave for a while. I need to visit the Waterflow Training Center to give Smith his thing and attend the Academy, so I will be back before sunset." Saying so, my brother left the house.

    For some reason, the Hero, Chloe, woke me up in the morning to see him off with her.

    "Be careful!" She waved her hand at my brother while I rubbed my sleepy eyes in my pajamas, hugging my favorite white pillow.

    It seemed like, prior to this, they also had their breakfast together. What were they? A newlywed? But the brother that I knew wouldn''t do something like this.

    Because of some reason, my brother had a hard time trusting anyone and only trusted me. If he was close to a person, then he must''ve some n to use that person. It wouldn''t be any different with Chloe.

    So that meant he had something more in his mind by living with Chloe.

    ''Is it rted to the guy that he asked me to tail? He sounded serious yesterday.''

    Anyway, his n was always mysterious to me. Maybe only pops and he knew about his entire n? However, I doubted that pops would tell me if I asked him. His lips were tights, after all.

    Another strange thing was Chloe. Why did she follow my brother? She must''ve known that he hid a lot of things from her. However, she seemed to trust my brother. Why?

    After seeing my brother off, Chloe turned to me with a kind smile and asked, "Do you want to eat breakfast, Tina? I cooked a scrambled egg and toast earlier."

    "Yawn~ Yeah¡­ I will eat it." I answered groggily. My brain had yet to fully function, but I did my best to think about strange things about my brother.

    "Fufufu, let''s go to the dining room then."

    We went to the dining room, and she prepared breakfast for me. Scrambled egg and toast as she said earlier.

    For some reason, she sat across from me while I was eating. After I put the scrambled egg into my mouth, my brain began to fully function again, and I noticed the chance to talk to Chloe alone.

    ''Isn''t this my chance to ask her?''

    Thinking so, I gulped and looked at Chloe.

    "Chloe, can I ask something?" I asked.

    "Hmm? Sure. I will be happy to answer!"

    "Well¡­ then, I will cut into the case," I said seriously as I pointed a fork I held to her.

    "Why did you choose to stay with my brother? Don''t give me bullshit about whether you want to help him or he needs help. I know about your Trait, considering that I worked under pops for a while. My brother also knew about you, but why did you decide to stick around with a person you met for the first time?"

    No matter how I thought about it, it was strange. Why did the Hero go along with my brother, scum of society like me, and trust him? I trusted my brother because I had known him for as long as I could remember.

    However, from what Chloe said when we were in the pop''s office, my brother entered the dungeon illegally to meet him. That meant my brother met Chloe for the first time as a criminal.

    Even if she was a Hero, she wouldn''t be that na?ve, wasn''t she?

    To my surprise, Chloe''s lips curled into a lonely smile.

    "I have trusted him since I first met him because of my Trait and my personal feelings. I will tell you because you are Vincent''s little sister, but please keep it a secret." She said.

    "Sure." I answered without much thought.

    It was for my personal indulgence; I was curious why the Hero stuck around with my brother. But, if Chloe''s exnation endangered my brother, I would tell him about it. Call me a brocon or something. I didn''t care.

    All this time, there were only two of us living our lives. My brother had protected me from thugs in my childhood, now I could help protect him from malicious intent by collecting information before the danger struck him.

    "After I Awakener as a Hero, there was always this noise inside my head each time someone asked for help from me. The noise told me to help them. If I refused, I would get a bad headache." She said.

    That was new information. While I knew that someone with Hero Trait couldn''t refuse any request for help, I had never heard about the side-effect of getting a bad headache. But she hadn''t done talking yet, so I just nodded my head to urge her to continue.

    "It continued for five years. I have helped a lot of people, but no one helped me. To be honest, I am lonely. Strange, right? For a Hero to be lonely? But, Vincent was the only one who reached out to me to help me. He even used a Magic Contract to bind the two of us. The content of the contract was to help each other. At that time, the voice inside my head told me to go with him. It''s strange, but I followed it." She exined.

    When I heard her story, I remembered something familiar. She was simr to us. Maybe that was why my brother took her in? No, he must''ve some other n, but maybe that was also his reason to take the Hero in. We were simr to her before pops took us in, wandering with no ce to call home and no one to help us.

    A Hero was a lonely existence. The second Hero was also famous for doing anything by himself before finally, people helped him to y Demon King.

    The existence of the Hero was one and only. By binding the Hero with a Magic Contract, my brother essentially obtained the Hero''s power. However, he also needed to help her, but that was easy. Why? Because the Hero had never asked for help.

    ''I think I understand his n now. So he wanted to use the Hero for his own gain, as expected.''

    I was satisfied with Chloe''s exnation. Her exnation was short, but I got what she meant.

    ''She''s lonely and depressed. No one had ever helped her even once in her five years in the Association. However, my brother, who suddenly appeared, gave her a Magic Contract and offered help to her. She''s at her lowest point in life. Of course, she will feel dependent on him now.''

    The help from my brother was something that she needed desperately at that moment. I imagine she cried and wailed in front of him when he offered her help.

    But as time passed, she became natural with his presence and trusted him unconditionally. But, my brother was also careful enough not to lose her trust. That was why he trusted me to follow that guy and keep Chloe out of his way to kill the Demon.

    ''He will do something big, I guess. Maybe some people would get killed. That''s why he wanted to keep her away in the meantime.''

    If that was his n, then¡­

    ''I will follow along, brother.''

    "Thank you for telling me, Chloe!" I eximed as I took her hands. "It must be hard¡­ But, you can also count on me! Ask me anything. I will also answer it for you!"

    Chloe''s expression brightened as she said, "Thank you. I-I think I will ask a lot of things from you in the future."

    "Sure! Leave it to me!"

    "Then let''s talk about fashion and cooking!" Chloe eximed excitedly.

    ***

    [08:30 AM]

    [Waterflow Training Facility]

    I had some feeling that Tina was doing something useless with Chloe as of right now. I hoped she would get along with Chloe, as I would need both of them in the future.

    ''But, I don''t think I need to worry. Maybe Tina will misunderstand something, but I think I can leave it alone.''<sub> </sub>

    Brushing those thoughts aside, I arrived in front of the Waterflow Training Facility in my Academy uniform. I nned to attend the Academy after this; hence, the uniform. I may bete for the first ss, but it was betterte than never.

    I was also still wearing the ck eyepatch given by Chloe. My eye had yet to turn to normal, so it would freak the students out if I showed my ck sclera to them. It would turn back to normal tomorrow night, so I was forced to wear this eyepatch.

    I knocked on the door of the training facility and shouted, "Master! I am here with the item of your request!"

    A secondter, I heard Smith''s voiceing from inside.

    "Just enter! I am in the training area!"

    "Alright!" I answered and opened the door to head to the training area.

    The training area he talked about was where I usually trained in this training facility. I opened the door of the training area only to see my old Master''s shirtless figure as he held a wooden sword, simr to the shape of a Japanese sword, while sweating profusely.

    A faint blue Mana was dancing around his body, making the atmosphere inside the training room to be heavy. My breath stopped when I looked at him. He slowly raised his wooden sword above his head.

    Swish¨C

    Each movement was slow, but I heard the wind severed with each movement of his wooden sword.

    It was a beautiful movement, and then, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and swung the wooden sword down fast while shouting.

    "Hah!"

    Swoosh! Bam!

    His swing generated a shockwave that pushed everything backward. It even forced me to use my hand to protect my eyes.

    The floor under Smith cracked, and in front of him, a rift appeared. The sliced floor disyed his strength and mastery of the sword.

    He did use Mana, but I couldn''t hope to slice a sword with a wooden sword without even touching it at my level.

    His disy surprised me for more than one reason, but it quickly disappeared from my head as Smith turned at me with a smirk.

    "How is it? Do you think you can reach my level?" He asked, clearly provoking me.

    "I will reach that level someday," I answered as I entered the training area, approaching him. "Anyway, your request is ready. Do you want to try it?"

    I pulled the [Dark Mask] from my magic bag and showed it to him. "Don''t forget the Brahmastra that you promised me." I waved around the mask in front of him.

    "Tsk, ungrateful student. Wait here for a minute. I will take the sword from my warehouse." He left without even waiting for my answer.

    Without much choice, I waited in the training room. However, I didn''t sit and stay silent while waiting. Instead, I took a wooden sword from the shelf after putting the [Dark Mask] back into my magic bag and got into my stance.

    Smith''s figure earlier made me want to try to swing a sword. Unfortunately, I couldn''t produce such a shockwave from a single swing, even with a normal sword.

    What was his trick? I remembered his figure earlier and copied his stance.

    Imitating every single movement of Smith, I began to move. Raising the sword above my head, I began to infuse Mana into it. However, as soon as I infused my Mana, the wooden sword began to make a creaking sound and break afterward.

    Bam!

    It exploded due to the excessive Mana that I infused, and the splinter hit my body and the training area, leaving only the handle that I held in my hand.

    "What''s wrong with it? I even use less Mana than usual." I grumbled, looking at the handle of the wooden sword in my hand. "Did I do something wrong?"

    I scratched the back of my head, confused about what was wrong with my method. It was simr to what Smith did earlier, and the Mana control was perfect too.

    "Is there some trick that he used?"

    It had been two weeks since Ist met Smith. In the meantime, I only did basic Swordsmanship that Smith taught me and focused on my n instead.

    ''I should ask him to teach me how to do it. I just realized that my Swordsmanship is still a messpared to the Sword Saint. It''sughable that I thought I could imitate what he did after training under him for a month.''

    I still had a long way to go. Evenpared to Zaiden, my Swordsmanship was still a level below. This wouldn''t be enough if I wanted to make him suffer and survive in this world.

    ''But my Archery is top ss. I am confident in that.'' I sat with crossed legs in the section where the floor was not destroyed to wait for Smith.

    I put the handle of the destroyed wooden sword in my magic bag, so Smith wouldn''t notice it. The splinters that were spread across the room were fine because the room was a mess after Smith destroyed the wooden floor. So it wouldn''t be noticed by him.

    After a while, Smith returned while holding a red sword with a zing red de in his hand. It was a one-sided de, and the overall shape of the sword was like a gun. The handle of the sword was ck, with a fire decoration on the tip of the handle.

    ''That''s Brahmastra Sword?'' I thought as my eyes were glued to the sword.

    "This is the promised sword. Now, my student, care to give me the mask?" Smith asked, sitting in front of me as he stabbed the sword on the floor.

    It easily cut through the wooden floor without resistance, showing its de''s sharpness.

    Seeing the sword, my heart was beating so fast. The sword in front of me was [Brahmastra], a sword used to y Demons and Rakshasa King in mythology.

    That meant it would have some effect rted to Demon, which would be really useful for the future.

    Without any hesitation, I pulled the [Dark Mask] from my magic bag and put it in front of me, on the floor.

    "Here, you can check the effect by yourself."

    "Hmm¡­" Smith hummed, picking the [Dark Mask] and raising it in front of him. "This is¡­ Is that guy the one who made it?"

    He recognized it, as expected. I nodded and said, "Yeah, I asked the Artifact Dealer to help me make the mask after I got the material. I can only Enhance, so I need someone to make the mask for me."

    "Well, it can''t be helped, I guess. The effect is satisfactory too. Here." He picked the sword that he stabbed on the floor and gave it to me. "It''s yours now. You can leave for now, but I hope you visit me this afternoon." He said.

    I was confused by what he said, but I took the sword regardless and put it inside my magic bag. I also nned to train under him more, so I guess the time was perfect.

    "Sure. I will return at 3 PM."

    "That''s perfect. Now go." He waved his hand, chasing me away.

    "Yeah yeah," I answered half-heartedly and stood up, walking toward the exit.

    I didn''t know why he was in a hurry to chase me away, but that was not my business. More importantly¡­

    ''I got a good sword.'' I thought as I grinned.

 Chapter 65 Lntense Training [5]

    Inside the Waterflow Training Center''s training room, Smith looked at the mask given by Vincent before he said to the thin air.

    "You cane out now."

    From the entrance of the training room, a guy with ck coat and hair that looked like a K-Pop singer stepped out from the shadows.

    He was Chun Dong, a member of the Memento Mori. His hand held the book with a skull cover, showing that he had no hostile intention.

    He looked at Smith with an uncertain gaze.

    "Are you sure you want to join us?"

    "What are you saying, Satan? I have pulled you to this ce and talked to you about it for a while."

    "I remember that." Chun Dong answered as he approached Smith and sat in front of him.

    Satan was his codename in Memento Mori. He was the wrath of Memento Mori, and he was called that because he seldom got angry. However, once he got angry, he would definitely destroy the area around him.

    "You suddenly said you wanted to join us without telling your exact reason."

    "Hahahaha. But, your leader approved my application, right?" Smith smirked as he leaned his face to Chun Dong.

    "Indeed. I informed the other members of their approval as soon as I returned two weeks ago, and three of us were in favor, while the two of us decided not to vote."

    "That means all members don''t mind me joining your group. That''s good." Smith said. "Then, let''s go to your base. Introduce me to them." Smith stood up, and put on the [Dark Mask.]

    As soon as he put the mask on, his appearance changed. His white hair turned ck, and her beard disappeared. The mask also disappeared and showed Smith''s youth figure.

    Because the [Dark Mask] used illusion to mask his appearance, his training cloth also turned into a ck coat simr to Chun Dong.

    "That''s amazing. Where did your disciple get that item, Sword Saint?" Chun Dong asked as he stood up. He was genuinely amazed by the item because he couldn''t see through the illusion.

    "That''s a secret, apparently," Smirk smirked. "Also, please don''t call me Smith. Call me Lucifer."

    Chun Dong smiled when Smith said to call him Lucifer. That meant he had already epted himself as part of the Memento Mori.

    It was a name that Chun Dong suggested to him, as Smith seemed to be a prideful man, especially with his Swordsmanship. He was the best one to bear the name of Lucifer, which was the symbol of pride.

    "Then I, Satan, wee you, Lucifer, to our group."

    "Sure, hahahaha! Let''s meet the other members. I must return before 3 PM because my disciple wants to trainter."

    "Sure, let''s go. I will escort you to our base."

    Saying so, Chun Dong put his hand inside his coat and took out a ck stone. Smith''s lips curled up as he recognized the stone.

    "Hoh? Teleportation Stone? That''s something rare."

    "Indeed. This item only drops from a monster in S-Rank Dungeon. However, this one has a fixed coordinate that leads to our base and could only be used once a week."

    "That''s still convenient, though. So we use that to get to your base? Can I go back here?"

    "You can. But, we will use this to get there instantly. We have a member that can use Unique Composite Magic to teleport around. So don''t worry, she will send you home."

    "Neat. Let''s go then." Smith said.

    "Sure."

    Chun Dong put his hand on Smith''s shoulder and activated the [Teleportation Stone]. Their bodies were engulfed in blue light before disappearing from the training room.

    ***

    [23 April 2023, 09:00 AM]

    [Academy]

    The first ss was over by the time I arrived, and the teacher of the second ss entered the ssroom simultaneously. Of course, he reminded me not to bete next time and asked me what was wrong with my eye.

    I told him that I got into an ident yesterday and just returned from hospital this morning. Lisa, who was in the same ss as me, looked at me worriedly when I exined to the teacher that I had gotten into an ident.

    Well, two days ago, I didn''t use the eyepatch, so it was natural for her to be curious and worried.

    More importantly, the teacher just told me to sit on my seat after he grumbled a little, saying that I surely fought someone and got injured in my eye instead of getting involved in an ident.

    I mean, he was not wrong. I did get blinded when I raided Raymond''s nightclub. It even aired on the news that night, but I didn''t really care about the news because I was too busy with other things.

    The ss in the Academy proceeded like usual, and time passed as I did Mana Breathing training while pretending to be sleeping like usual.

    Without me noticing, lunchtime had arrived, and I went to the cafeteria. The heroines ate together like usual on the nearby table, even without Zaiden being there. They invited me to be with them, but I refused, saying that I wanted to eat alone for today.

    They didn''t force me and were satisfied with me being near them and didn''t dodge them. Anyway, I ate at the table beside them and sometimes nced at the heroines.

    Looking at them made me realize that their feelings for Zaiden were not too strong, and they actually enjoyed being together more.

    ''They still need to be developed. I will stick to the plot, for now, as it seems that being together in the Academy only made them closer faster instead of making them fall for Zaiden. That''s except for that girl¡­''

    I looked at Lisa, whose Trait made her a bit obsessive. From all heroines, I noticed that her feelings toward Zaiden were real and closer to love instead of like. There was also another girl close to Zaiden, but her actions sometimes confused me. That girl was Lily, the true enigma in this world.

    I didn''t know how to deal with that girl. She sometimes acted as if she knew me, and sometimes she acted like a girl of her age. Furthermore, Zaiden was the closest to Lilypared to anyone else.

    ''But that also means he will despair more when he loses herpared to the other girls. Let''s just wait and see for now.''

    I wolfed down the meal and finished in just five minutes. As I finished my meal, Ao suddenly stood up and approached me, sitting across from me. The other girls didn''t seem to mind her as they continued talking.

    "Vincent, can we talk?" She asked.

    "Do you need something from me?"

    "Yes, well¡­ Did you visit Master in thest two weeks?"

    "I did. Why?"<sub> </sub>

    Why did she suddenly ask if I visited Smith suddenly? To begin with, did she not visit Smith in thest two weeks?

    She was strict and a girl who followed the principle of discipline. It would have been weird if she didn''t visit Smith to train.

    "Umm¡­ well¡­ Can you tell Master that I won''t be able to train in a week? I have some¡­ family business going on."

    Oh. I see.

    When she said family business, I instantly understood what she meant.

    Rosa had invited Zaiden to the Sacred Relic guild; surely, Zaiden wouldn''t refuse her invitation if he wanted to get stronger. I also let him get bashed until he broke a lot of his bones when he fought against the mutated Hobgoblin.

    He must''ve realized that he should get stronger fast if she wanted to keep his loved one safe.

    The fastest way to get stronger was to join a guild. And Sacred Relic was the best ce to do that. Hence, as Zaiden''s friend, Ao must''ve been requested to take care of him for a while, to get him used to the ce.

    "Sure." I smiled. "In exchange, can you tell the principal or the teacher that I won''t be able to attend the Academy for a week? I have some family business too." I winked at her.

    To be honest, I cringed at myself for winking, but well¡­ I couldn''t redo what I did.

    Even Ao became dumbfounded because I winked at her. Though it didn''t appear to be a wink because I wore an eyepatch. But well, a wink was a wink.

    "Cough, forget about that. Can you make some reason, so I don''t need to attend the Academy for a week?"

    Thomas Evan surely had some connection with Jack. However, I shouldn''t be too obvious when asking, so I added.

    "You are from a rich family, no? Seeing you have a family business and anything. Surely, you can ask the Academy to let me stay at home for a week or more."

    Hearing my words, Ao smiled slightly. "You''re correct. My family is rich and has a connection with the Academy''s director." She said.

    "However, I must know what this family business that you have. If I remember correctly, you are from the orphanage, no?" She smirked, acting as if she had used the reverse card to counter my earlier words.

    "I am indeed from an orphanage. My family business is with Smith, my Master. They said that a Master is a second father, no?"

    "Oh! Indeed. So Master needs something from you again, huh¡­" She looked rather sad as she cast her gaze down.

    If I was an insensitive and dense bastard from a novel, I surely wouldn''t notice her looking sad, as she only looked down a little. However, I was also not some protagonist who helped every girl who looked sad. So I ignored her and continued.

    "Something like that."

    While it was me who needed something from Smith, I didn''t need to tell everything to her.

    "I see¡­ Well, I will arrange it. A week, right?"

    "Yes. Thanks."

    "No problem." She answered as she stood up. "Don''t forget to tell Master, though." She walked back to the others and sat beside Lily.

    I could hear them asking Ao about what she talked about with me. Ao yed it well by saying that she wanted me to tell Smith that she would be absent from training for a week.

    Their conversation returned to normal after a while, and I stood up as I had finished my meal. While I was walking away, exiting the cafeteria, I could feel a gaze cast on my back.

    I felt a chill running down my spine and turned around immediately, but the feeling of being watched disappeared as soon as I surveyed the cafeteria.

    ''Was it my imagination?'' I thought as I turned around, walking faster than before.

    ''No, such thought would get me killed. That was not my imagination. Someone was staring dagger at me with some intent to kill.''

    I quickly left the cafeteria and walked back to my ssroom. I wanted to get away from the cafeteria as soon as possible. I had some bad feelings about it.

    ''That feeling¡­ that killing intent was simr to a monster instead of a human.''

    I had felt that kind of killing intent in the dungeons many times. However, the killing intent that I felt earlier was enough to send a chill down my spine. That meant, whatever it was, it had enough strength to make me stop for a while.

    The Academy hadn''t been explored in my novel. It was only mentioned as the setting where Zaiden and the heroines came from. So I didn''t specify any problem or arc rted to the Academy.

    But, there was a killing intent enough to make me stop for a while and put my guard up. From what I felt, the killing intent was imbued by Mana, and it was around D Rank at most.

    There was one possibility that I could think of.

    ''There is a Mid Demon hidden in the Academy.''

    Mid Demon could take a Human form to disguise themselves. It was not strange that it could disguise itself as a student in the Academy. How careless of me.

    However, it was strange.

    I never felt the Demon''s energy before, and it didn''t attack me before it sent the killing intent earlier. Jack, the headmaster, also didn''t make any move when he visited the Academy at the time we held the Sparring Tournament.

    Which meant the Demon only infiltrated the Academy after the Sparring Tournament. He also only had D Rank Mana, but he was still Mid Demon, a Demon equivalent to C-Rank monster, so I shouldn''t underestimate it.

    Mid Demon got its Rank from its intelligence, so he must be nning something in the Academy.

    ''I will ask Tina to investigate it.''

    For now, I should focus on training. I had a week off from the Academy because of Ao. While Tina investigated the Demon that infiltrated the Academy, I should make myself stronger under Smith''s guidance and stay under radar.

    I didn''t need to worry about the students'' safety, as the Demon wouldn''t do anything that made it get found out. If he showed himself and killed the students without mercy, a strong Awakener would surely arrive and destroy it instantly.

    So, I had time to train before killing the Demon. As it was only one Mid Demon, I was confident of killing it alone. So, it was a blessing for me.

    ''I never thought that a free Mana source woulde to me.''

    By killing the Demon, my Mana would surely increase a little. I wasn''t hoping for a massive jump of a rank, but it would make me closer to a C Rank Mana.

    I had hunted a lot of monsters, so it should be close to rising before finally it stagnated, as raising from C to C+ was simr to raising F Rank Mana to C Rank Mana. But, killing a Demon would give me a good amount of progress in my overall status.

    ''Once again, I worship my S Rank Luck. It must be thanks to my luck that the Demon is not proficient in Magic, considering he only had D Rank Mana. I can snipe it from a distance without him noticing me.''

 Chapter 66 Lntense Training [6]

    [03:00 PM]

    [Academy]

    After I noticed the Demon this afternoon, I kept my guard inside the ssroom.

    I tried to find who the Demon was, but it was useless. I even stayed awake in the ssroom, which confused my ssmate and the teacher.

    The Demon''s disguise was almost perfect. Unfortunately, D-Rank Awakener like me couldn''t see through it without using any item. Even Chloe didn''t notice the Demon in front of her even after she hit the Demon and sent it to prison.

    If only the Demon let out some Mana or acted unnaturally, I would definitely be able to see through it. However, the Demon was intelligent and cautious. It even infiltrated the Academy after the Sparring Competition, knowing that Jack would be too busy to even stay in the Academy.

    He surely only judged me by sending his killing intent, thinking that I was only a student who had just been Awakened due to my Faker Earring. He surely thought that the Mana he felt from me was me being Awakened in the ssroom.

    That meant I made a mistake when I hurriedly left the cafeteria earlier. But it didn''t seem like the Demon actually cared about me. Due to Faker Earring''s effect, I appeared to be like a normal person.

    The Demon may have judged that I wasn''t a threat and ignored me.

    ''It''s actually perfect if that''s the case.''

    Then I disappeared from the Academy in a week and would surely keep him in check. He would just stay silent and keep doing what he nned to do.

    ''For now, I should focus on my training.''

    I took my bag and left the ssroom.

    ***

    [Waterflow Training Facility]

    [03:30]

    After stopping in the nearby wine shop, I arrived at the training facility, bringing a gift for Smith so he would train me seriously for the next week.

    From the setting that I wrote for him, he loved wine. So I purposely brought the decent one. Although it cost more than a grand, it would be a good investment for me.

    I knocked on the door and shouted.

    "Master, I am here!"

    "Oh, enter! I am at the usual ce." He shouted from inside like usual.

    I opened the door and went inside, going to the training room where Smith was waiting. As I reached the training room, I noticed that the room had been repaired.

    The floor looked brand new and shiny. Even the wooden sword that I destroyed earlier seemed to be reced by a new one on the shelf.

    Inside, Smith was sitting in the middle of the room on his knees. I recognized the position he was in was called Seiza in Japan.

    "Sit in front of me,d." He said seriously.

    He called me d'' again¡­ But I followed his instruction and sat in front of him, imitating his posture. It was hard to sit like this.

    "Is there something, Master?" I asked curiously.

    It was unlike him to be serious all of a sudden. Usually, someone like him turned serious because there was something important he wanted to tell me about.

    "Indeed. There is something I must ask before you start your training." He looked straight into my eyes.

    "Yes, Master."

    "It sounds cheesy, but I must ask this if you really want to learn my Swordsmanship. What is your reason for getting stronger?" He asked seriously. The aura inside the training room turned heavy and serious.

    Did he say it correctly? He would teach me his Swordsmanship if I answered his question? If he would teach me his Swordsmanship if I answered his question, what did I learn all this time? Swordy?

    But, because Smith asked seriously, then I answered seriously too. My only reason for getting stronger.

    "I want to survive."

    It was not a grand desire like the protagonist of a novel or a goal like Zaiden. My only reason for getting stronger was simple. To survive.

    This world was messed up. Dangerous Demons lingered among humans. A Demon even infiltrated the Academy that was supposed to be safe when the Headmaster was away.

    If danger could get close to me, I couldn''t depend on another person or the protagonist of this world, Zaiden.

    Keeping Chloe close to me was also to survive. I would do anything to increase my chance of survival.

    "I don''t want to die. That''s why I need to get stronger." I answered seriously while looking back at Smith''s eyes.

    "Need, not want, huh? That''s a good answer,d. That''s right. You need to be strong to survive. You can''t get stronger if you want to get stronger. That mentality is not enough. You need to push yourself and think that strength is a necessity to get stronger." Smith smirked as he stood up slowly.

    His figure was big for an old man, and a strong aura seemed to radiate from his body. His veins swelled all over his arms. He seemed to be different from Smith, whom I met this morning.

    ''What happened?'' I asked inside my mind.

    "Alright. I will teach you my personal Swordsmanship. It will be hard training. Are you ready?" He smirked, provoking me.

    I rose up and straightened my posture, mirroring his smirk as I answered. "Yeah. Bring it on."

    ***

    [06:00 PM]

    [House]

    Because the day was short, Smith only gave me a sheet of paper with my training menu written on it.

    I was expected to follow the training menu in the morning, then go to the Training Center to be taught his technique at 01:00 PM in the afternoon. I answered him confidently, but when I saw the training menu, I was about to scream out of anger.

    ''What the fuck with that training menu? Is he trying to kill me?''

    The menu written on the paper he gave me was filled with nonsense.

    ''1000 swing with Brahmastra. It was continued by a 30 KM run with full speed. Then a 30-minute spar with Chloe. After that, the usual body training of 500 push-ups, 500 sit-ups, 500 squats, and 500 times weight-lifting with at least 150KG weight.''

    All of that was still doable. However, the note written below the list of the training menu made me think Smith had gone insane.

    ''Double it on the second day while using your Mana to do all of that. Is he fucking gone senile? Even with Mana, my stamina wouldn''t be able to hold up if I doubled those kinds of training. I would be exhausted after sparring with Chloe.''<sub> </sub>

    Grumbling inside my mind, I opened the door of my house. "I am home."

    Usually, at this moment, Chloe would say wee back. However, there was no answer at all, and it made me rather confused.

    ''Is she away?'' I thought as I walked down the hallway to the living room.

    When I entered the living room, hell was the only thing I thought of.

    "What the fuck happened here?" I identally raised my voice out of surprise. I thought that a tornado had hit the house or something.

    Female clothes were lying around the living room. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there was no underwear, just casual clothes, and some dresses.

    I surveyed the room a bit more and noticed Chloe was sleeping on the couch with Tina with a blissful expression. They wore a simr white t-shirt and short pants. It was the so-called matching outfit, I guess.

    They looked rather satisfied, and somehow they were sleeping against each other''s shoulders.

    ''What happened while I was in the Academy?''

    I recognized some of the clothes on the ground belonged to Chloe, and they fit her size, but some clothes were a size lower, which obviously belonged to Tina.

    From the situation, I could somehow conclude one thing.

    ''They wereparing their clothes? Or Chloe asked for Tina''s opinion on fashion. I remember that Chloe really takes attention to her appearance.''

    I approached the two of them, who slept on the couch. When I stopped near the couch, Chloe moved slightly and then opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and rubbed them before looking at me groggily.

    "Umm, Vincent?" She asked, still rubbing her eyes. "You''re back." Her lips curled up slightly as she tilted her head, and her hair fell to the front.

    Tina, who lost something to lean her head at, jolted up and looked around. Finally, her gaze met mine, and she raised her voice. "Brother, you''re back!"

    "Yeah. Anyway, what happened here?" I pointed at the mess behind me with my thumb.

    Chloe and Tina looked at each other before smiling wryly and turning at me simultaneously.

    "About that¡­" Chloe spoke first, then Tina continued.

    "We went too far matching our outfits¡­" Tina scratched the back of her head as her lips curled up into a shy smile.

    "Then both of you fell asleep?" I asked, to which they answered with a nod.

    "Haa¡­" I sighed. "It''s not like I can get angry about that. But¡­ At least tidy them up. I will go to the underground room to train."

    "Aye sir!" Tina jumped from the couch and saluted before running past me, picking all her clothes on the ground and putting them in her magic bag.

    Her movement was swift, thanks to her Talent. She had finished 1/5 of the mess when I turned around.

    Chloe also began to move and tidied the mess. Seeing them begin moving, I went to the entrance that led to the underground area. However, before I opened the door, Chloe stopped me.

    "Ah, Vincent. What about dinner?" She asked.

    "Just cook me whatever, Chloe. I will eat it after training."

    "Alright." She nodded, and I opened the door to go downstairs.

    ''Let''s get an hour of basic training and some target training. I can''t ck off anymore.'' Thinking so, I arrived at the end of the stairs and entered the underground training room.

    ***

    [07:00 PM]

    [Underground Training Room]

    It had been an hour. I did some basic training such as push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups using the equipment in the training room.

    I also did some target training using the square wall of the training room. I tried to hit the same ce a few times using Mana Arrow created by [Arash Bow], and I missed only two out of 99 shots. It was a satisfying result.

    I aimed at the wall with the three holes because I missed two shots and aimed at the middle hole. It was myst shot for today, and I released the bowstring without hesitation.

    Swoosh¨C!

    The arrow flew like a bullet. But, no, it was faster than a bullet and embedded right into the middle hole before disappearing into a mote of blue light.

    "Fuu¡­" I sighed as I lowered my bow, and the bowstring disappeared as I stopped the supply of Mana. "Alright. I can do it consistently." I smiled in satisfaction as I put [Arash Bow] back into my magic bag.

    My training for today was enough. So I went back upstairs and was greeted by the smell of soup.

    Naturally, I went to the kitchen, thinking that dinner would be served shortly. However, when I entered the kitchen, Tina, who helped Chloe to set the table, frowned at me and shouted.

    "Hey, shitty brother! Don''te here while being drenched in sweat! Wash yourself first! Take a shower!"

    "Hah?" I raised my voice against her. But then, I looked at my body, which was drenched in sweat. Because I didn''t change earlier, my uniform was wet and nasty.

    "You''re right. I will take a quick shower and change." I took my shirt off and turned around.

    Tina didn''t say anything and was frozen in her ce, holding a te, when I suddenly took my clothes off. I guess that even my little sister couldn''t handle my ripped body, huh? It didn''t work for Chloe, though. She didn''t even nce at me.

    I shrugged my shoulders, disappointed for not getting her reaction, and went upstairs. Before going downstairs to eat dinner, I took a quick shower and changed my clothes into my usual home wear, ck track pants and a white shirt.

    Next, I went back to the kitchen to eat dinner. When we ate together, Tina berated me a bit for suddenly taking off my clothes. I only smirked at her and called them a child for blushing when seeing her brother''s body.

    Her face went red when I replied. However, all in all, it was a peaceful dinner.

    "It''s delicious as usual," I said as Chloe tidied the table.

    "I''m d. Let me wash the dish. You are tired, no?" She replied.

    "Yeah, thanks," I answered her as I looked at her walking to the kitchen.

    "I will help, Chloe." Tina rose from her seat and was about to go to the kitchen, but I stopped her.

    "Wait, Tina. I have something to talk about."

    She stopped and turned at me. "Huh?"

    "It''s about what we were talking about yesterday. There is a slight change in the n."

 Chapter 67 Lntense Training [7]

    [24 April 2023, 08:00 AM]

    [House]

    I was in the backyard of the house, swinging [Brahmastra] that I got from Smith yesterday.

    After talking about the change of n to Tina yesterday, obviously, without Chloe''s knowledge, I checked the details of [Brahmastra], and it shocked me.

    -----

    [Brahmastra +1] [Artifact]

    [Composite Attribute: Fire, Light]

    The Immortal de that slew Rakshasa King Ravana. Originally an arrow to be nocked on a bow shot by Rama.

    Special Skill:

    - [Immortal Piercer] Transformation

    Transform the de into an arrow to be shot. The arrow will pierce anything and everything.

    Activation Cost: 20% wielder''s remaining Mana

    - [Immortal yer] Grieving Wound

    Coat the de in white Holy me. The wound caused by the de will burn with Holy mes that negate any regeneration.

    Activation Cost: 1% Mana will be consumed each 1 minute

    Effect:

    - Demon yer

    Cut Demons easier.

    - Rakshasa yer

    Cut anything bigger than the wielder easier.

    - Holy me

    Create a white Holy me from the edge of Brahmastra''s de to inflict a burn to anything it cuts. The me will disappear in 3 seconds unless it''s supplied by a constant supply of Mana by the wielder.

    -----

    As expected, it had been Enhanced. Honestly, this de was already top-notch without any further Enhancement from me. But, itcked one thing that I needed the most, so I would still enhance this de.

    It also had two special effects, one of which would prove to be really useful for me in the future. One of the special effects was useless in Smith''s hand; maybe that was why he handed his prized sword to me.

    The de was a bit heavy, considering its size. I was in my 970 swings even after one hour of doing this continuously.

    Chloe was watching from the balcony on the second floor that connected to her room. I told her I wanted to have some spar after this, and she agreed.

    Tina was out because I asked her to collect information about the Demon so that I could focus on my training.

    "And that''s it," I said as I swung the sword for the 1000th.

    My body was drenched in sweat, and my track pants were wet from it.

    "You''re done?" Chloe asked from above, looking down at my bare body.

    Because I was a bitzy from doingundry, I chose to train without my clothes. I had nothing to be ashamed of, and because Chloe didn''t seem to mind it, I just did what I was supposed to do when training. Be shirtless.

    "Yeah," I answered Chloe as I took out a towel from my magic bag on my waist. "Let''s go to the underground room and have a spar. You have a wooden spear or something, right?"

    "I have a wooden pole," Chloe answered as she took a wooden pole, around 2 meters in length, from her magic bag and smiled. "I believe this is sufficient?"

    "Perfect!"

    ***

    [Underground Area]

    We moved to the underground training area. Chloe was wearing easy to move clothes, a tube top, and knee-length jogging pants. Her magic bag was still on her waist, because this item was important for all Awakeners.

    She held a wooden pole as she stretched her arms in the air.

    "How much strength should I use, Vincent?" She asked as she bent her body to the right, warming up.

    "Somewhere around C-Rank if you don''t mind. Don''t make it too easy for me, but don''t use too much strength too." I answered as I held a wooden sword in my hand. I got this from Smith''s ce yesterday for sparring with Chloe.

    It felt so lightpared to the [Brahmastra] earlier. Maybe its weight was only 1 KG? While [Brahmastra] earlier felt like 5 to 6 KG.

    After a few seconds, Chloe gripped the wooden pole tightly as she pointed it at me.

    "Anytime you are ready." She smirked, provoking me.

    So she also had this side of her? It was good that she didn''t shy away from fighting even when she was obviously tired of them after being forced to clear dungeons for five years straight.

    "Yeah, I am ready." I put into a normal sword stance that I always did and lunged into Chloe, who stood 3 meters from me.

    I used Mana to strengthen my physical abilities. I noticed that my body was stronger when I tried to imitate Smith yesterday, so I did it again today, but even better because I got some tips from him when he exined my training menu yesterday.

    Chloe reacted to my speed rather rxed. She moved her pole to intercept me, but I had already guessed that.

    Swoosh¨C Step¨C

    Stepping to the right, I dodged her attack and swung my sword from below, aiming at her stomach.

    Swish¨C

    However, Chloe could respond to my attack easily. Although she limited her strength to match C-Rank Awakener, her senses and reflex were amazing, to the point she could deflect my sword after pulling her attack.

    My sword was deflected to the right, making my bnce crumble due to an awkward position. She quickly swept my feet, and I fell to the ground, head first. To end the spar, she pointed her pole at my face and said.<sub> </sub>

    "That''s one." She smiled, pulling her pole away and extending her left hand.

    "Hahaha¡­ You''re quite strong." I took her hand, and she pulled me up as Iughed wryly.

    Chloe was indeed strong. Even with me trying my slightly best, she could easily incapacitate me.

    I knew the reason, though. I had only a little fighting experience with the sword. Mainly, I used a bow and arrow in the dungeon.

    Hence, my Swordsmanship was shitpared to my Archery. Smith''s official training also didn''t start yet, and I only knew a little bit of footwork from him.

    If I rated it, my Swordsmanship would be 3 out of 10, while my Archery would be 7 out of 10.

    As I stood up, Chloe spoke.

    "Your movement is too simple, Vincent." She said, "Try to go from my side or behind. Use a bit of feint or something."

    "Hmm, I know about that. However, I wanted to try how I fare against experienced fighters by only charging from the front once." I shrugged my shoulders. "It seems it will not work."

    "Un. It''s too easy to predict." She answered with a nod. "Also, the way you use Mana to strengthen your body is a bit crude too. It should be like this."

    As Chloe said that, a faint blue glow danced around her body. It was simr to what Smith did, only a bit rough, and she didn''t have the aura that made the atmosphere be heavy.

    Unlike when someone red their Mana, I didn''t even feel any pressure from Chloe. Her Mana only surrounded her body, enhancing her physical ability.

    "Condense your Mana and let it flow inside your body. Don''t control it, but guide it. Just let it move naturally." She exined.

    "Hmm, alright. I will try." I answered, closing my eyes to concentrate.

    She exined that I should guide it, not control it. All this time, I tried to control the Mana, so this time, I tried to follow what she said.

    ''Let''s try to guide it a little bit.''

    Following Chloe''s instruction, I tried to ''guide'' the Mana in my body instead of ''control'' it. However, it was harder than it sounded. I didn''t know how to ''guide'' the Mana.

    I could feel it, but I just couldn''t make it move by guiding it. Each time my Mana moved, it was because I controlled it.

    I opened my eyes and sighed. "It''s hard."

    Guiding was almost simr to controlling. What was the difference between the two? I was confused, but I should try doing what Chloe suggested. I didn''t really specify how to control Mana in the novel, so it was a bit hard for me to do it.

    "Un. It took me three days to master it. You are doing fine, Vincent!" Chloe clenched her fists in front of her chest to encourage me.

    "I appreciate the gesture, Chloe." I smiled at her and patted my wooden sword against my shoulder. "Anyway, shall we continue our spar for now? I can train to guide Mana at night."

    "Yes. dly."

    We continued our spar for the next 30 minutes. Chloe gave me some tips to dodge and attack in our spar, and it helped me greatly to fix my movement.

    I didn''t try to enhance my body with Mana when sparring because I found out that I did it wrong and focused on my movement.

    I became more ustomed to fighting in a close range by just sparring against Chloe seriously for 30 minutes. I felt like I did better than before.

    After we finished our spar, Chloe told me that my attack was unnaturally heavy for D-Rank Awakeners.

    It seemed like the training menu given by Smith and the training he drilled into me every time I visited the training center had worked.

    After knowing that I made some progress, although only a little bit, I continued to train in the underground training area to finish my training menu while Chloe went upstairs to prepare some snacks for me.

    ***

    [09:00 AM]

    [Academy]

    "That shitty brother of mine. How could he suddenly ask me to infiltrate the Academy!" Tina grumbled as she put her hand on her cheek and leaned against the wall behind the Academy''s main building.

    No students visited the ce because right behind the main building was surrounded by a fence, so she wasn''t worried about being found.

    Normally, she would feel the soft skin of her cheek, but what she felt when she put her hand on her cheek was a cold touch of metal. Surprised, she put her hand away and grumbled.

    "Oh right, I used his [Mask of Deceit]."

    Tina infiltrated the Academy at Vincent''s request and was given [Mask of Deceit] to mask her face and change her hair color from tinum to brown. Her eyes also changed from amethyst tomon blue. She even put on an Academy uniform, so she appeared to be a normal Academy student.

    While looking at her reflection in the window on her side, Tina was wondering. ''It''s so strange. The [Mask of Deceit] masked my face and hair color, even its look. However, when I touched it earlier, I could still feel that it was made from metal.''

    The mask looked like a normal mask used by people when they were sick in the reflection.

    Even though she was confused by the strange mask given by her brother, Tina was a professional information gatherer that once worked under the Darkest Secret.

    So she quickly brushed her thoughts and focused.

    ''The Demon is in ss 2-C, located on the second floor. My brother''s ss is on the first floor. The stairs are a bit away from my brother''s ss, so the Demon shouldn''t have been able to feel the subtle Mana that leaked out from my brother''s body during training.''

    Tina quickly analyzed the information that she got after she went around the Academy for two hours. If she were asked to pick a strange thing from the information she collected, it would be this.

    ''They shouldn''t have met each other because the stairs are located in the opposite direction of the first-year hallway. So, how could the Demon notice my brother Mana? He hid it well, and said that he was found out when training in the ssroom. Or maybe, that shitty brother of mine was wrong?''

    She hummed, looking at the blue sky. ''Unfortunately, I stillck some information. But there is no way that shitty brother is wrong about it. After all, his senses are like a beast.''

    Tina chuckled at her thoughts. Calling Vincent''s senses simr to a beast was not wrong, considering his Sharpshooter Talent increased his senses to the maximum.

    She knew about it. Hence, she trusted her brother.

    ''So the Demon must''ve visited the first-year hallway for something. Especially the area around my brother''s ssroom, so it noticed my brother''s Mana. I need to investigate it further.''

    Stepping forward, Tina fixed her mask that moved slightly when she touched it earlier.

    ''I hope the reward that my brother talked about isparable to the work that I put in. He better be grateful to me!''

    Tina jumped across the fence andnded nicely on the other side before walking like a regr student of the Academy.

 Chapter 68 Demon Re-Appearance [1]

    [27 April 2023, 09:00 AM]

    [Underground Training Area]

    "Let''s stop here for today," Chloe said as she helped me get up.

    It had been three days since I first started training seriously, and in that meantime, Chloe always beat me up in the spar. My eye had also turned to normal, so the eyepatch had been lying in my magic bag since then.

    ''But I made progress. Now I can fight her for five minutes straight before she knocks me down.''

    From five seconds to five minutes. It was a significant improvement if I needed to say so myself.

    Some part of this happened to be because of Smith''s guidance. For three days, he taught me how to face a single opponent and how to hold a sword.

    He didn''t teach me some grand technique yet, but I managed to guide the Mana, as Chloe said, instead of controlling it. The effect was different, so I understood what she was talking about three days ago.

    "Yeah. Good idea." I smiled at her and put my wooden sword back into my magic bag.

    After that, I cracked my back, which was sore from being thrashed around by Chloe. As I did so, Chloe put a towel around my neck.

    "Thanks," I said, wiping the sweat dripping off my body. She nodded and put her hand on my shoulder.

    "You are bruised all over. Stay still. Let me heal it." Mana began to appear around her hand, and I felt it covering my body, healing the bruise that I got all over my body.

    "You don''t need to do that. It will heal in a few hours." I chuckled wryly as I continued to wipe my body with the towel she gave me.

    "It''s better to heal it right now rather thanter. Anyway, I will make some meals after this. I will also prepare Tina''s part so she can eat it when she wakes up."

    "Please do that."

    Tina had been investigating the Demon in the Academy for thest three days. At first, I expected her to return when the Academy was over to rest and eat with us, but no. Instead, she stayed around the Academy for the past three days to collect information.

    She just returned this morning and groggily said she was tired before going upstairs to her room to sleep.

    Of course, Chloe asked me where Tina was, but all I could say was she had returned to the Orphanage to help Pops with something.

    Because she found out that Pops was the Darkest Secret when we visited the Orphanage, she didn''t question further because she knew all things rted to the Darkest Secret must be kept a secret.

    "Alright, it''s done," Chloe said, looking at my healed body.

    The healing was amazing. I had experienced it for thest three days, and I must say it helped a lot.

    Although my wounds heal fast because I was an Awakener, healing them with Healing Magic was way faster. I could heal it myself, but I was not too good at Healing Magic for some reason. I was only subpar.

    I could see my wounds began to heal each time she used her Healing Magic because I was shirtless when I trained or had a spar with her.

    "Thanks, Chloe."

    "Un. Good luck with your training. I will prepare some snacks like usual."

    "Yeah."

    Chloe went upstairs, and then I continued my training like usual, finishing the menu Smith gave me.

    "Let''s do this. I still need to wait for Tina for any information she has about the Demon. And¡­ I should visit that guy too. ording to Lisa, he had been discharged from the hospital. It''s been a while since I have sparred with him." I smirked, thinking about Zaiden.

    After a week, he was finally discharged from the hospital and made a full recovery. The doctor of the hospital couldn''t use the advanced Healing Magic simr to Chloe, so his recovery was a bit slow.

    Even though they could connect his bones like usual and kept them together with Magic, he still needed some rest to fully recover.

    Even so, having a full recovery in just a week after getting a few broken ribs and a leg was still amazing. It would be unthinkable and would be considered a miracle if it happened on my Earth.

    ''Well, I will visit that guy''s house after I finish my training with Smith.''

    Thinking so, I continued my training to finish today''s quota.

    ***

    [12:35 PM]

    [Goblin Dungeon]

    Inside the cave-like dungeon, a ck-haired boy with blue eyes could be seen exchanging blows with two goblins. That boy was Zaiden, and he was hunting to get his body back in shape.

    He wore leather armor covering her left chest area on top of his white shirt. His ck pants lookedfortable to wear, and his ckbat military boots were perfect for a ce like a cave.

    He pointed his Mana-d iron sword at the goblins, and his face had a serious expression. He spared no opening for his opponents from his stance alone, unlike what he foolishly did in his first dungeon attack.

    Because of the previous incident where he was injured badly, he had learned that he shouldn''t face his opponent lightly, even if his opponents were just F-Rank monsters.

    The goblins were charging at the boy with their wooden club, trying to attack Zaiden from both sides. They swung their clubs horizontally simultaneously, leaving no room for Zaiden to dodge.

    However, he didn''t intend to dodge all of the attacks in the first ce. Because the goblins came from a different direction, he decided to take care of one goblin first before dealing with the other one.

    His sword moved at a fast speed, leaving a faint trail of blue light as it pierced the head of the goblin in his right while he ducked to dodge the second goblin''s club. The club passed right on top of his head.

    "Graaa!" Seeing that its attack failed, the goblin raised a war cry and tried to attack Zaiden again.

    But, he had seen iting from his experience. A grin stered on his face as he quickly pulled his sword and swung it horizontally, slicing the second goblin in two before it could swing its club.

    Satisfied with the result, Zaiden stopped his supply of Mana to the sword, and the blue glow disappeared.<sub> </sub>

    "Fuu¨C" He sighed as he looked at the corpses of the goblins that he just slew. "That makes it twenty." He said as he crouched, picking the goblin''s fangs that could be sold for money.

    "Even so, hunting in the dungeon alone is tiring. Is it because I am only an F Rank Awakener, or was I only discharged from the hospital yesterday?" Zaiden muttered to himself as he put the goblin''s fangs inside the magic bag on his waist.

    ''Maybe both. But, this magic bag is convenient. It''s like an inventory in RPG games. I should thank Lily for buying me this bag with her allowance.'' He smiled.

    Then, he stood up and looked around the area to ensure it was safe. After he was sure that no goblins came out from nowhere, he sighed and muttered.

    "Let''s head back."

    He walked out of the dungeon. On his way back, he met a few Awakeners who went deeper into the dungeon. He greeted each one of them with a smile. He didn''t care if they answered him or not. He just greeted them out of courtesy.

    After walking for a while, he was finally outside of the dungeon.

    Some Awakeners lined up to enter the goblin dungeon. Even though it was an F-Rank Dungeon, a lot of Awakeners wanted to hunt inside.

    Considering it was the weekend, a lot of them were part-time Awakeners who had stable jobs and hunted only for fun. Hence, they only raided F-Rank Dungeon, which only had weak F-Rank monsters.

    ''I should go home. Mom must''ve prepared lunch by now.''

    Thinking so, Zaiden put his sword inside his magic bag as he didn''t need it anymore and began to walk in the direction of his home.

    His home was near the Santa Monica Pier, a bit far from the Goblin Dungeon he was in earlier. On his way, he would need to pass the Academy, and Shina and Mirana stayed in the dorm even though it was the weekend.

    Because Zaiden thought it would be awkward if he bumped into them, he decided to take a detour. In thest week, the only one who contacted him was Lily and Ao.

    He was surprised when she contacted him to talk about his enlistment to the Sacred Relic guild. He never expected that Ao would tell him about her being the Sacred Relic guild master''s daughter.

    ''I have changed the story and am close to her, so maybe she''s just being honest with her friend? Ao seems to be focusing on taking over the guild, unlike in the novel. Should I be happy to have her backing, or should I be careful?''

    Zaiden kept walking as he was lost in his thoughts.

    ''I should be careful, I think. I will be introduced to the others in the Sacred Relic guild in a week. I will climb into the rank without Ao''s help as much as possible. I need to make use of the Sacred Relic''s support to get stronger.''

    He stopped and clenched his fists in determination as he thought about the future. He looked ahead on the road and got embarrassed when he saw many pedestrians watching him strangely when he suddenly stopped and clenched his fist.

    In a panic, he scratched his head andughed wryly. The pedestrians didn''t care about him, though, as they continued walking without minding him anymore.

    He shrugged his shoulders and thought, ''What did I do? I embarrass myself in public.''

    At the same time as he thought that, he heard a voice calling out from behind.

    "What are you doing, Zaiden? Do you have a stomach ache? Or do you need to take a piss? There is a good rock on the roadside. You can take a piss there, like what you did on the beach that time. Hahahaha."

    The voice that sounded to be looking down at him was all too familiar. He hadn''t heard that voice in a week, but it was still fresh in his mind.

    He turned around and saw his friend standing there, all with his usual smirk that looked down on other people. He was wearing a casual white t-shirt and ck denim pants.

    "Vincent?" Zaiden said, a smile appearing on his face after meeting his friend.

    "Yo. Looking at your clothes, it seems you just got back from a dungeon, huh?" Vincent said, looking at the dirty leather armor that Zaiden wore.

    "Hahaha, yes. I just returned from the dungeon. What about you? What are you doing here?"

    "I am about to visit my training center to have some training. In fact, we are right in front of it." Vincent said, pointing at a building in the alleyway, hidden behind some high building.

    Zaiden turned to look at the building that Vincent pointed at. It was an old building that looked like it could copse at any time. However, his eyes widened when he saw the sign on top of the building''s door.

    ''Waterfall Training Facility?! Come to think of it, Ao said Vincent joined this training facility. Is he my recement? Because I didn''t join the training facility, the Sword Saint then took him as his disciple?'' Zaiden''s thoughts race at a fast speed.

    He then turned to Vincent again, still with his surprised expression.

    "What? Do you think the building is bad?" Vincent asked.

    "N-no. It''s just¡­ I never thought that you would train in such a ce."

    ''It''s not strange if the Sword Saint took Vincent as his disciple, though. Vincent is strong, and he can beat me in Swordsmanship easily.'' He thought as he tried to smile.

    "Well, it''s cheap, and the teacher is good. I don''t mind as long as I can get stronger." Vincent replied.

    "You''re correct. The most important thing is to get stronger." Zaiden nodded. He agreed with Vincent''s words.

    The most important thing in this world was to get stronger to survive. The weak had almost no chance to survive, considering the future event that would happen with certainty.

    "Right?" Vincent grinned. "So, why don''t we have another spar? It''s been a week since we sparred."

    "Huh? But, I am now an Awakener." Zaiden answered, blinking in confusion.

    He never thought that Vincent would ask him for a spar, even though he knew that he was an Awakener. He was afraid to hurt his friend, so he was about to refuse, but Vincent spoke first.

    "So what? Are you scared that I will beat the shit out of you? It doesn''t matter if you are an Awakener or not. You are still you, the one that never wins against me." Vincent provoked haughtily as he raised his chin, looking down at Zaiden.

    Hearing Vincent''s provocation, Zaiden''spetitive spirit was lit. Even though he acted humble and kind, he was also a man. And he certainly didn''t want to be looked down upon, even by his friend.

    So he answered.

    "Alright. Let''s have a spar."

 Chapter 69 Demon Re-Appearance [2]

    [12:50 PM]

    [Waterflow Training Facility]

    When I thought of having another spar with Zaiden, I never thought that I would meet him right in front of the alleyway where the training facility was located.

    He looked rather exhausted and dirty, a sign of him just returned from raiding a dungeon. On his waist, a magic bag was strapped. Where did he get it?

    The magic bag was expensive, around 5-10 million USD, depending on where you buy it. An ordinary Awakener usually needed to get that much money. Was his family secretly rich? I heard a training facility made a lot of money.

    Anyway, that wasn''t important. It was perfect that Zaiden was exhausted. So even if I won against him, I could say that I was lucky and he couldn''t do his best because he was exhausted.

    If he was somehow still able to get the upper hand while I was holding back, I could hit him a few times to at least relieve my stress before faking my defeat.

    Zaiden followed me to the Waterflow Training Facility, and as usual, I knocked on the door and shouted.

    "Master! I am here!"

    I was expecting him to shout from inside to tell me to enter like usual. However, no shout came from inside even after a while, so I shouted again.

    "Hey! Master! Your genius disciple is here!"

    I could feel Zaiden''s questionable gaze from behind. He muttered something like, ''He called himself a genius? It''s not wrong, but¡­'' I ignored him and tried to feel Smith''s presence inside the building.

    ''Strange¡­ There is no one inside. Am I too early? I arrived 10 minutes early because Chloe had a cooking ss today, and we exited the house together. Is he still out?'' I thought as I touched my chin.

    While I was thinking, I felt a touch on my shoulder, and I turned back, looking at the owner of the hand.

    "Umm, Vincent. It seems there is no one there?" Zaiden asked with his usual kind smile.

    "It seems so," I answered, looking at the door with confusion.

    ''Should I just enter and use the training room like usual?'' I was contemting my decision.

    Would Smith get angry if I let Zaiden enter the training center?

    Smith was like a grumpy old man, and he certainly wasn''t kind enough to let strangers enter his ce without his knowledge. However, contemting my decision was a waste of time.

    Tak tak tak¨C

    I heard footsteps from the main street entering the alleyway where we were in, followed by a familiar voice.

    "What are you doing over there,d?" I turned around and saw Smith appear from the street while holding a brown paper bag. "Who is that otherd?" He asked, turning to Zaiden.

    Zaiden, being the man that he was, smiled and answered politely.

    "My name is Zaiden Archman. It''s nice to meet you, sir."

    Hearing Zaiden''s introduction, Smith''s face changed. He frowned and asked, "Archman, you said?"

    I had a bad feeling about Smith''s sudden change of expression. Smith had some rtionship with the Archman family, and I didn''t flesh it out in the novel, so I didn''t know how they were rted.

    Were they his enemy? Or did he have a grudge against them?

    Considering the Archman family had a Swordsmanship technique that could rival Smith, it wouldn''t be strange if Smith had sparred with Zaiden''s father or grandfather before.

    But Smith quickly smirked as if his frown earlier was just my imagination.

    "Are you Zayn''s son?" He asked Zaiden.

    "Huh? Ah! Yes. Zayn is my father."

    "I see¡­" Smith muttered as he approached us, stopping right in front of me. "So, why is he here,d?" He asked me seriously in a low voice.

    "I invited him for a spar. We have sparred together a few times, and I thought I wanted to have a spar with him again after a week." I answered, smirking slightly.

    "Hoo?" Smith sounded interested as he smiled. "So, who won?" He nced at Zaiden.

    This Master of mine was secretly a sadist, huh? It was clear that I had always won from my expression, but he asked about it anyway.

    "Ha¡­hahaha. Unfortunately, I always lost against Vincent. But, I am confident I can defeat him today!" Zaiden eximed,pletely oblivious of Smith''s hidden meaning.

    "I see." Smith nodded, "Then, why don''t you show me? I will be the referee to make sure anything is safe." He said.

    "Really? Thank you very much!" Zaiden answered with a big smile. He closed his eyes and didn''t notice the evil smile on Smith''s face that was directed at me.

    ''This Master of mine. He wants me to beat the shit out of Zaiden, huh? Fine, I will dly do so.''

    ***

    [Waterflow Training Facility ¨C Training Area]

    I changed into my training clothes and went to the training area where Smith and Zaiden were.

    Smith was standing in the center of the training room, crossing his arms, and looked like a strict teacher. On the other hand, Zaiden was standing on the side of the training room with a wooden sword in his hand.

    He took off his leather armor and stood proudly while looking at me when I exited the changing room.

    Without saying a word, I grabbed a wooden sword from the side of the training room and stood right across from Zaiden.

    As soon as I was in position, Smith turned to Zaiden and me alternatively.

    "Alright. Are both sides ready?" Smith asked, stepping back to the edge of the arena.

    "I am ready."

    "Yeah."

    Zaiden and I answered at the same time.

    It reminded me of our spar back then in the Academy. The atmosphere around us was heavy.

    Thump thump!

    My heart beat at a fast speed, excited about being able to beat the shit out of this guy again. At the same time, I would make him get stronger.

    Smith taught me some tricks, and I would certainly like to try them on my sandbag. I couldn''t even pull one trick against Chloe because she was too fast and strong.

    That was the reason why I tried to find Zaiden for a spar. Although I was forced to hold back to a normal human level, it would still be beneficial for me to try the trick Smith taught me.

    So, I waited for Smith''s signal and held my sword, facing downward.

    "Then start!"<sub> </sub>

    I instantly crossed the distance between Zaiden and me before swinging my sword above. I didn''t do any fancy feint or try to attack him from the side because I wanted to try his capability to cope with my attack.

    All this time in our spar, he only used normal Swordsmanship and didn''t use any of his family''s techniques. My intention today was to see how far he mastered his family''s technique, so I would actively attack him.

    My sword closed in at a fast speed, causing Zaiden''s eyes to widen in surprise. However, he quickly stepped back with unique footwork, dodging my attack and creating a distance at the same time.

    The one he used earlier must be the footwork from his family''s Swordsmanship. It was the first time I saw it, but I was sure he used his family''s technique.

    "Oh?" I muttered as I straightened my position. "So you can move like that?" I asked curiously.

    "Ahahaha, yes. I wille at you seriously, Vincent. I don''t want to stay weak all the time." Zaiden answered. His nonchnt expression turned serious as he gripped his sword tightly. "Here Ie."

    He shot out from where he was and closed our distance instantly. He was faster than thest time we had a spar, and his movement was more precise, unlike the awkward movements he did when he was beaten by the Mutated Hobgoblin a week ago.

    ''He''s growing, I see. However, it''s not only him who got stronger.'' I thought as Zaiden stopped in front of me, swinging his sword horizontally.

    Swoosh!

    His attack was straightforward, a simple swing with a wooden sword. However, with my enhanced vision, I could see the trajectory of his sword clearly.

    I stepped back slightly to dodge his attack. It passed me by a hairsbreadth, and Zaiden was clearly surprised. My heart was beating in excitement seeing how Zaiden gradually became stronger.

    If it was him a week ago, he wouldn''t even be able to get close to me. His growth was truly magical; it was even faster than mine. But, it was still not enough. He had yet to use his full strength.

    I didn''t let this chance slip by. My sword moved toward his stomach andnded, making him grunt in pain.

    "Ugh!"

    He quickly took a step back before swinging his sword down. I could still see its movement, but it was faster than before.

    I intercepted it with my sword, creating a loud sound inside the training room. I grinned when our swords interlocked. His swing was stronger and sharper than what I had expected. My hands trembled a little bit when I caught his attack.

    Despite the difference in our Rank, his precise swing made his attack stronger.

    "You got stronger, huh, bastard," I said.

    "It''s thanks to being an Awakener. You will also get stronger if you get Awakened as one." He answered with an excited smile. "And I am still not done yet!"

    He put more strength into his sword and pushed me back as he shouted. Because I was holding back, I faked being pushed back, and my sword bounced up.

    I noticed Smith making a weird expression from the corner of my vision, but I ignored him.

    Zaiden didn''t wait for me to recover and used the opening in my defense to attack. He thrust his sword toward my chest, trying to end the spar here and now.

    However, I got the trick Smith taught me. I let myself fall to the back to dodge his attack, and it worked.

    Thud!

    My body hit the ground, while Zaiden''s thrust passed above me, piercing the air. He looked down at me in confusion, but I grinned and sent a kick to his stomach. Itnded and lifted his body a little.

    Thud!

    "UGH!" He grunted as he clenched his teeth to handle the pain. Despite that, he quickly recovered and created some distance between us.

    I used this chance to stand up and recover my stance.

    "Is that it?" I asked as I cracked my neck. "For an Awakener, you are weak."

    I quickly reduced the distance between us again. My wooden sword flew toward his shoulder, but he was able to dodge it somehow, using his unique but strange footwork.

    Following that, I attacked continuously, like an endless heavy waterfall. It was another trick that Smith taught me. Just attack your opponent endlessly like a waterfall and give him no room to recover.

    That was the essence of Smith''s Swordsmanship.

    Zaiden parried and dodged my wooden swords while retreating slowly.

    "How is it, Zaiden? I am not an Awakener. Are you sure you are going to keep retreating like a coward?!" I provoked him as I kept attacking.

    "Ugh, no. I am trying to find this opening!"

    Zaiden shouted loudly as he ducked suddenly, dodging my attack cleanly. Following this, he squeezed the handle of his wooden sword tightly and counterattacked from below.

    His sword shot toward my neck. I quickly tilted my head to dodge it, but it was still able to graze my right ear and bruise it.

    He was finally getting a bit serious. Although he did it unconsciously, his body was d with Mana, letting out a pale blue glow.

    ''Fucking cheat protagonist.'' I cursed inside my head. Even I needed three days, simr to Chloe, to be able to enhance my physique with Mana.

    However, he was able to do it, albeit unconsciously, as if it was an easy thing to do.

    "Tsk!" I clicked my tongue as I felt the pain in my ear. I quickly swung my sword to make him retreat, and he jumped back,nding 3 meters away.

    We had a short staredown. Smith looked rather interested in the move that Zaiden pulled earlier.

    Zaiden didn''t do any fancy movement or a secret technique yet. It was understandable, considering Zaiden''s age and some other things. But, I guessed that his movement was part of Archman Swordsmanship.

    His lips curled up in a rather excited grin. He was like a beast who enjoyed the spar.

    Without any agreement, we moved at the same time and met in the middle of the training room. He sent a barrage of fury shes aimed all over my body.

    I parried, dodged, and attacked Zaiden when I saw the gap between his defense. We exchanged blows for a while until I finally saw a big opening in his defense.

    "Got you!"

    I thrust my sword at his neck, the same ce where I hit him in the sparring tournament.

    He was surprised by my attack but managed to block it at thest moment with his wooden sword. But I bet he didn''t expect one thing.

    Snap! Tak!

    Zaiden''s wooden sword snapped, and my sword hit his neck cleanly. Even so, Zaiden wasn''t blown away like that time.

    He was just pushed back a little.

    Of course, it was only like that. I only used strengthpared to a normal person and used a wooden sword, while Zaiden had his physical abilities and defense increased by Mana.

    It would be strange if I blew him away. It would blow my cover of not being an Awakener too.

    "I won," I announced calmly, looking down as I tapped my wooden sword against his neck.

    "Yeah¡­" Zaiden answered as he rubbed his neck where my wooden sword hit him. "I lost again."

 Chapter 70 Demon Re-Appearance [3]

    [01:40 PM]

    The sound of wooden swords shing against each other echoed inside the training room of the Waterflow Training Facility.

    I have continued to spar with Zaiden and managed to beat the shit out of him three times.

    It was now our fourth spar, and I nned to lose this one. So, when he attacked my opening, I pretended to get hit badly andunched myself back.

    "Agh!" I faked a pained shout as I let go of my wooden sword.

    "Haa¡­ Haa.. I won this time." Zaiden dered as he put his wooden sword against my neck. His breathing was rough; he was exhausted.

    He had a satisfied smile that was somehow irritating. Did I do wrong by faking my defeat? I should''ve just beat the shit out of him again. However, it was necessary. So I guess I would allow him this time only.

    ''He won''t be able to smile for a while after the second arc, after all.'' I thought as I picked my body up.

    "Yeah, good job. You won once after being beaten up by a Non-Awakener three times." I smirked as I brushed the dust off my clothes.

    Smith approached us from the side with a satisfied grin. His lips split his face from ear to ear, seemingly happy because I beat Zaiden roughly three times.

    "You''re done?" He asked as he adjusted his expression.

    "Yeah," I answered and turned to him. "Master, may I go home after this? I am exhausted from the spar already." I said.

    "Hmm. Fine. But stay here for a minute. I have something to give you." He then turned to Zaiden. "Also, you." He pointed at him.

    "Yes?" Zaiden answered. He managed to catch his breath and looked at Smith rather calmly.

    "You go home for now. Ask Zayn to train you further with that footwork of yours. You are so sloppy." Smith scoffed, then swore under his breath. "That fucking guy."

    "Umm, yes. I will train harder from now on to defeat Vincent on even ground." Zaiden replied honestly and smiled.

    "Do what you do." Smith brushed his answer and waved his hand, gesturing for Zaiden to get away.

    Zaiden smiled wryly and put the wooden sword he used back in its ce. He then left the training center after giving the word to Smith.

    Now, it was only the two of us. Smith suddenly changed his expression into a big grin and burst intoughter.

    "Buahahahaha! You really beat the shit out of him. Look at his clothes and body. It was full of bruises!"

    Unlike when Zaiden was here, Smith showed his real nasty personality that didn''t fit the title of Sword Saint. He was just a grumpy old man who managed to be the strongest swordsman ever.

    "However, you still hide the fact that you are an Awakener from him? Why?" He asked.

    "It''s not the time yet," I answered. "He has yet to suffer from anything. He would depend on me if he got a reliable ally right now."

    I walked to the side of the training room and put the wooden sword that I used earlier in its ce before turning to Smith.

    "So I will continue to act as Rai for now."

    "Tsk!" He clicked his tongue. "I never know what your n is. But I am satisfied by seeing that fucker''s son be beaten up by my disciple. You are really fucking simr to that bastard, the owner of the pawn shop."

    The owner of the pawn shop? Was he talking about Park Injun?

    He must be. Both of them had some rtionship in the past. It was not strange that they were still talking to each other until today.

    "And that bastard said I was simr to you. In terms of my personality." I approached Smith and stopped in front of him.

    He was really ufortable when I told him that Park Injun said I was simr to him. But that wasn''t important right now.

    "So, Master. Why did you ask me to stay?" I asked.

    "Ah, right. I almost forgot." He said, looking at me straight in my eyes as he crossed his arms. "It''s time for you to learn about the Waterflow Technique." He grinned.

    My eyes widened, and my heart was thumping out with excitement.

    ''Fucking finally!'' I screamed inside my mind.

    After dedicating my time to training for three days, he was finally going to teach me some techniques.

    "Really, Master?"

    "Yes. Seeing what you did earlier, I realized that you are ready to receive the training. Your body has gotten used to the essence of my technique. You can swing your sword without stopping." He exined.

    I see. I thought of something like that when I heard him exin the essence of his technique to me.

    That was why he asked me to swing my sword when I first entered the training facility and gave me that ridiculous training menu where I needed to swing [Brahmastra] more than 1000 times a day.

    All of that was to make my body ustomed to swinging the sword without stopping.

    "Understandable, Master. So, what''s the first technique that you will teach me?" I asked excitedly.

    With the technique taught by Smith, I would definitely be able to get stronger faster than now.

    Having a strong technique as my trump card would also be useful in a critical situation.

    "I will tell you tomorrow. So, don''t do any training in the morning. Your body will be too exhausted and won''t be able to follow my example tomorrow."

    "Yes."

    "Good. Now, go back and rest. Come back at the same time tomorrow."

    "Then, I will take my leave, Master!" I said as I stormed inside the changing room.

    ''I wonder what kind of technique he will teach me? The first move? Or the second move? I can''t wait to use that technique.'' I thought as I changed my clothes.

    ***

    [02:10 PM]

    [House]

    After being chased away by Smith, I returned home. As he had said, I needed rest to train the technique tomorrow.<sub> </sub>

    When I arrived home, I did the usual greeting and heard that the TV was turned on. The one who watched TV at this time was only Tina.

    And I was right. When I entered the living room, Tina was sitting on the couch, watching the news on TV.

    "You have woken up, Tina," I called out from behind and approached her, leaning my hands against the couch''s backrest right beside Tina.

    "Hmm? Yes. I sleep for like, 7 hours? Yeah, I really need those." She answered me rather groggily. Her eyes were nted on the news, and I looked at the TV to see what the news was.

    To my surprise, the news was about the strange activity in the Mermen Dungeon in San Diego. The monsters ran amok and tried to leave the dungeon.

    As for now, the Awakener from the Association had taken care of the monsters. I recognized one of the Awakeners from the Association as Frank, the one who stopped me when I was about to leave with Chloe in New York.

    I narrowed my eyes and asked Tina.

    "What actually happened?"

    "The Demon. They have made their move."

    "This fast?" I turned to her and frowned.

    "Yes," Tina answered as she put on a serious expression. "The Demon in the Academy seems to have found something. He ryed the message to the one in San Diego and left yesterday. So I aborted the mission and told Pops about it, and he gave me his answer just after I woke up earlier."

    Tina took a piece of paper from her pocket and gave it to me. I was a bit disappointed because she told the Darkest Secret about the Demon in the Academy, but it couldn''t be helped. I appreciated his help and swallowed my disappointment against Tina.

    I took the paper given by Tina and read the content. My eyes widened as I read what was written on it one by one.

    "Are you sure?" I asked Tina, to which she answered with a simple nod.

    She bit her lips in frustration and said. "Hey, shitty brother. Is there anything you can do? It¡­ frustrated me to get that information from pops."

    "I will try," I answered as I burned the paper in my hand with Fire Magic.

    Chloe shouldn''t know this information. We couldn''t tell her about this.

    "My mask," I said as I extended my hand to Tina.

    She quietly took it out from her magic bag and gave my [Mask of Deceit] back, and I wore it without any question. I turned my face and voice to match Rai and then took out [Stealth Coat +2] and wore it.

    It fit me perfectly, and I slicked my hair back and wore [Horus'' Sunsses]. It was time for me to move as Rai.

    The n was a bit different due to the information given by the Darkest Secret, but I couldn''t afford to think about Zaiden for now.

    ''If I let this go, not only will Zaiden die and fail to save the world, there is a chance I will be in danger too. However, this is also a perfect chance to show that fucker how this world work.''

    "I will be gone for a day. Don''t watch any TV." I said as I walked away.

    When I was about to leave the house, Tina suddenly jumped from the couch and shouted.

    "What are you going to do, shitty brother!" Her voice sounded desperate.

    I turned around and saw tears built up in the corner of her eyes.

    "Nothing. Just the obvious thing to do." I answered and left the house. The information from the Darkest Secret hit her worse than I.

    It was natural, considering how this wrecked world that I created worked. Nothing would go ording to the protagonist''s n.

    ''This shit. He fucking makes trouble again.'' I jumped onto the roof and made my way toward Zaiden''s house. I used the stealth effect of the [Stealth Coat] to hide myself from the other''s eyes.

    ording to the information collected by Tina, the Demon found someone that they thought to be a Demon King''s vessel. She heard the Demon contact the other Demon about it.

    And not to my surprise, that someone they found was Lily.

    How? Why did the Demon think Lily was the Demon King''s vessel? That girl wasn''t an Awakener yet. Was there some key that I missed?

    As I jumped around the building, I noticed something.

    ''The key!''

    I now understood. Someone had told the Demons that Lily was the Demon King''s vessel, while she was actually not. Lily was the perfect vessel for the witch, Bathory. From that, I could assume that someone who told, or rather lied, to the Demons was a Witch.

    And now, the second arc has been messed up by the intervention of the Witch. There was supposed to be only a Demon, but I confirmed three Demons in just a few days.

    Furthermore, ording to the Darkest Secret, those Demons nned to create a monster outbreak in two days.

    ''Fucker! I will bring you with me to see what you have done. The arc happened three weeks faster than it should be!''

    After jumping for a while, I arrived at Zaiden''s house. I knew his room, so I climbed onto the second floor from the roof and stood in front of the window of his room.

    Inside, Zaiden was lying on the bed, reading a Basic Magic book. He was wearing a gray tracksuit and track pants. Knowing he was inside, I destroyed the window and entered by jumping in.

    Crash!

    "W-what happened?" Zaiden jumped from his bed and turned to me. His eyes widened when he saw me as he shouted. "Rai?!"

    "Yo! Come with me fucker. Let me show you what you have done." Without waiting for his answer, I quickly closed the distance between us and punched him on the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

    I carried him over my shoulder and took his magic bag that was on the table.

    ''I think he will need him to defend himself.''

    As I had taken his magic bag and strapped it onto my waist, I heard footsteps and shoutsing from below.

    ''I need to go now.''

    I jumped out of the window with Zaiden on my shoulder and used the Shapeshift effect of my [Stealth Coat] to hide his body before using the Stealth effect to disappear.

    ''Time to get this motherfucker to suffer because of what he did.''

    Though my training with Smith would be postponed, this thing was more important than that.

 Chapter 71 Demon Re-Appearance [4]

    [27 April 2023, 02:30 PM]

    [Road to San Diego]

    After kidnapping Zaiden, I bought a Jeep car and shoved Zaiden inside the passenger seat before taking off to San Diego.

    Because the city was close to Los Angeles, I took a car instead of going by public transportation to avoid some suspicion and to be able to avoid some necessary trouble.

    I couldn''t rent one because I had no Driving License, so I chose to buy one instead. It only cost me less than 200 thousand USD. It was cheap as this car ran on gas instead of using a Mana stone as its energy.

    We currently drove on the main road connecting LA and San Diego. ording to the GPS, driving from LA to San Diego would take me two hours, and it was enough time for me to reach the city before Zaiden woke up.

    While driving, I once again thought about the witch that could be the one who told the Demon about Lily and used them for her own benefit.

    At this time, only a few Witches had managed to take over their host body after the Witch Factor bloomed.

    ''But all of them are still in hiding. So who''s the most active Witch at the moment?''

    The only possibility was that Witch that appeared in the third arc, but was it really her? Anyway, a Witch had made a move at the same time as Demons. The clock was ticking, and this guy was still an F-Rank Awakener.

    ''I can only hope his eyes will be opened with tomorrow''s incident and get him actively involved in it. Or, I can make him move using the city as bait.''

    And I must get ready too. I should prepare for the worst.

    If a Witch was indeed involved in tomorrow''s incident, then the Demon''s target must be not only limited to Lily. The reason why they wanted to create a monster outbreak was simple.

    ''The Witch ns to use this chance to kill a lot of girls and take the ones who had Witch Factor invading their corpses.''

    If that was indeed the case, I might have to kill many people. However, I was prepared for this.

    ''I can kill them. No one will know my involvement except for Zaiden if I shoot my attack from a distance. And that will show him true despair, seeing me killing many ''normal girls'' without him being able to stop me.''

    For that reason, I couldn''t bring Chloe with me. I couldn''t let her participate in what happened tomorrow.

    If I brought Chloe with me, her Trait would make her storm down the dungeon by herself, and I would lose a clue about someone who contacted the Demons and gave them information about Lily and the chance to make Zaiden stronger.

    ''She needs to focus on reaching A-Rank first instead of going with me right now.''

    ***

    [03:45 PM]

    [San Diego ¨C Lake Hodges]

    The Mermen Dungeon in San Diego was located on the shore of a beautifulke called Lake Hodges. More specifically, near the bridge, often called Lake Hodges Bridge, west of Lake Hodges Bridge.

    To get a full view of the dungeon, I went to the Bernando Mountain Peak, located across theke from the dungeon.

    Due to the rocky condition of the path, I couldn''t bring my car up and was forced to carry Zaiden on my shoulder once again.

    I found a good spot at the mountain top where I could see the building built by the Association near the dungeon.

    From here, I could see the Awakeners who flocked the dungeons, pushing monsters that looked like abination of a fish and a man back to the dungeon located in the Lake.

    Unlike normal dungeons, the entrance of Mermen Dungeon was half-submerged in the water.

    The Mermen wasn''t a monster with fish legs and men''s bodies like the one in the female fantasy story. No. Instead, they were disgusting monsters with blue scales covering their whole body and had a literal fish face instead of a human face.

    Only their bodies were simr to muscr men, but other than that; they were fish. They had gills around their neck and a fin on their back. They fought using their ws and teeth. Sometimes the stronger one used a trident made from corals and rocks.

    As C-Rank Monsters, they were a little bit strong due to the environment they lived in. The Awakeners had a hard time fighting in a half-submerged area where the water reached their waist.

    Among the Awakeners, I noticed Frankmanding his subordinates to kill the Mermen that tried to escape to theke.

    "They worked really hard," I muttered, putting my hand above my eyes to make a shade.

    The Awakeners from the Association wore armor made from monster''s material underneath their ck suits, and they did their job wonderfully by not letting the Mermen escape from the dungeon.

    "The Mermen started acting strangely after the Demons returned, no? So it has been around three days since that time. They held on pretty well." I praised the Awakeners from the Association.

    Although they kept the dungeon by shift, they must always be exhausted from fighting the Mermen, even more so for Frank, whomanded the Awakeners without any rest.

    However, among the Awakeners who killed the Mermen who exited the dungeons, a man stood out among the rest. He didn''t kill any Mermen before him, and the Mermen didn''t attack him.

    I became rather suspicious of him and used the Pry effect of [Horus'' Sunsses] and hit the jackpot.

    ''Got one. Where is the other?''

    The reason why I could confidently think of him as a Demon was simple. A demon had no status, so his status wouldn''t show up if I used the Pry effect on the Demon.

    And, the guy who didn''t kill any Mermen had no status. It didn''t show up when I used Pry on him. So, he was the Demon.

    I tried to look at the other Awakeners'' status, even those from the Association, and their statuses showed up before me. That meant only one Demon infiltrated the rank of the Awakeners.

    Possibly, that was the same one as the one who infiltrated the Academy.

    I didn''t detect any movement from them yet, so it was not the time for me to move. Furthermore, I needed to ensure they did everything correctly and triggered the monster outbreak first.

    That way, I could shove Zaiden in the middle of the chaos and kill some Demons that pose a problem while finding the Witch simultaneously.<sub> </sub>

    "Now we wait."

    I sat on the rock beside the unconscious Zaiden thatid on the ground and kept observing the situation around the Mermen Dungeon. If I saw the Witch one, I could say it was my victory.

    So, my goal was to find the Witch and make Zaiden get stronger than the original.

    I didn''t need to do anything for my second goal, as he would surely storm the battlefield when he saw the monsters killing civilians. Hence, I could focus on finding the Witch and killing the Demon.

    ''It will be a long night.'' I thought inside my mind as I rested my head on my hand.

    ***

    [07:10 PM]

    "Ugh¡­" Zaiden grunted in pain and confusion as he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that he saw was darkness filled with small glitter as if they were stars.

    ''No! They are indeed stars!''

    After blinking his eyes for a while, he remembered what happened before he lost consciousness. He suddenly raised his body, causing a sharp pain to attack his head.

    "Guh!" He held his head. Then he heard a deep voice from his side.

    "You have woken up? That''s fast."

    The familiar deep voice that carried something ominous was something he couldn''t forget. His existence was like an enigma for him, a reincarnator who used his knowledge to n to save his loved one.

    He turned to the left, and his eyes met red eyes that looked like they were glowing in the dark. He wore a ck coat, blending in the darkness.

    "You!" Zaiden jumped away as soon as he saw that person. Landing a few meters away from him, he frowned and shouted. "What did you do to me?! Where is this?!"

    As he confronted the man in the ck coat before him, he looked around to analyze his situation. He could see artificial light in the distance, which meant he was near a city. In the worst scenario, he could run to the city to get a phone and call the Sacred Relic guild for help.

    However, he also wanted to know why Rai suddenly visited his house, kidnapped him, and brought him to the middle of nowhere. No, in the first ce, he had one question.

    ''How did he find my house?'' Zaiden asked himself.

    "Rx, Zaiden. Just sit still and rest. You will need that energy for something elseter." Rai said calmly as he stood up and threw a bag at Zaiden.

    Zaiden immediately recognized the bag and caught it with both hands. He looked at his hand and mumbled, "My magic bag?"

    He then turned to Rai and narrowed his eyes. "What is your n?" He asked as he took out his sword from his magic bag.

    "Should I tell you? Or should I not tell you?" Rai asked yfully as he spread his arms confidently. "No matter what, you know what will happen, no? You are the one who told me about the incident in San Diego, after all."

    "Then! We are in San Diego?!"

    Zaiden''s eyes widened as he heard the words incident and San Diego. He quickly connected the dot and thought about the second arc of the novel¡ªthe Demon Re-Appearance.

    However, the timing was too fast. He thought he would have around two weeks or a month left to train before the second arc.

    ''What''s going on?!'' He screamed inside his mind.

    "Indeed. I thought it would be fun to get you involved in the incident once again. You are fucking too weak that to the point it isughable. You are weaker than the Zaiden that I know at this point."

    Zaiden bit his lips in frustration. What Rai said wasn''t wrong. The original Zaiden, in the novel, had a slow start at first, but he certainly was stronger at this point.

    But, he was determined to get stronger. To save Lily and the others. So he raised his head, ring daggers right at Rai''s eyes, and said, "I¨C"

    However, before he could finish his sentence, Rai interrupted him.

    "That''s why I will give you an opportunity."

    Zaiden stopped moving, seemingly interested in what Rai said. He focused on him.

    "Continue." He said. His gaze was still nted on Rai, observing him carefully.

    "Tomorrow, there will be a monster outbreak. A lot of Awakeners will be recruited. And here is the thing, Zaiden." Rai sat on the rock that he sat on before and crossed his legs.

    His back hunched a little bit, giving him an intimidating presence.

    "I will have you participate in the defense. Kill the monsters, get stronger. Maybe you will lose your life in the process. Who knows? However, if you do follow my instructions and survive tomorrow''s monster outbreak¡­" Rai paused a little.

    Even with a mask on his face, Zaiden somehow knew that Rai was grinning. Then, after a second, he continued.

    "You wille out stronger than before. How is it? Are you interested in the San Diego city defense game?" He asked.

    Zaiden nned to follow the plot. He couldn''t turn away from it because he wanted to make sure that he knew what the future had for him.

    The city defense tomorrow would be the perfect chance for him to get stronger, as the enemy were C-Rank Monsters. Furthermore, he couldn''t stand still when he knew that the city was in danger from the monster outbreak.

    So, his answer was clear.

    "I will participate," Zaiden said seriously. "Tell me what I have to do."

    With those words, his fate was sealed in Rai''s hand.

    "Good!" Rai eximed happily. "Don''t worry. I will keep you alive." He continued as heughed.

 Chapter 72 Demon Re-Appearance [5]

    [27 April 2023, 08:00 PM]

    [House]

    Tina was sitting at the dining table rather restlessly as Chloe stared dagger at her.

    She had told Chloe about Vincent being away for a while, but when she was faced with the question of ''Where?'' she could only think of something rather silly.

    ''Why did I say he''s going to a party earlier?!''

    For some reason, Tina felt like Chloe''s gaze hurts. She had been staring at her since dinner without saying anything.

    "So Tina¡­ Do you know where Vincent is? Please don''t lie to me again." Chloe said, looking rather disappointed at Tina.

    "Umm, well¡­ Sorry. But my brother didn''t say where he was going to go. I swear that''s the case!" Tina raised her hands as she answered.

    She knew where he roughly went, but he didn''t know his exact location. So, she technically wasn''t lying by saying that she didn''t know Vincent''s location.

    However, Tina underestimated Chloe''s Trait. Unless someone was as proficient as Vincent in lying and twisting their words, Chloe would definitely catch them.

    Vincent was able to take advantage of his Trait and his knowledge of the novel to twist the truth, so he could make a real lie, unlike other people.

    "Tina¡­" Chloe said shortly to make Tina know she was aware of her lying.

    "Ugh¡­" Tina let out a low grunt. "Fine¡­ But please don''t go to where he is. He left some messages for you." She finally gave up and shrugged my shoulders, looking down at the floor.

    ''My bad, brother. But, lying against a Hero is not as easy as you think. I am amazed he could lie to her many times before.'' She thought as she nced at Chloe.

    "Hmm, message? What is his message?" Chloe asked. She sounded interested in the message that Tina talked about.

    Knowing that Chloe bit the bite, Tina''s lips curled into a small smile as she raised her head.

    "It''s like this. He said he needs you to reach A-Rank as soon as you can. That''s his message!"

    ''I didn''t lie! I really didn''t tell a single lie, Chloe.'' Tina hoped that Chloe would believe her.

    "He said that?" Chloe asked seriously. "I see. So it began sooner than he thought?" She muttered.

    Tina''s ear perked when she heard what Chloe had said.

    ''Begun? What has begun? Is that shitty brother keeping some secrets from me again?''

    She was curious as she was looking at Chloe intensely. Chloe looked back at her and smiled.

    "Thank you for rying the message. I think I will start to prepare for tomorrow too." Chloe said as she stood up.

    "Prepare?" Tina asked curiously.

    "Yes. Vincent said the evil of the world begins to move, so¡­ As a Hero, I need to be stronger. I still have the duty to defeat the Demon King." Chloe said as she smiled wryly.

    "Well then, I will go to the underground training room." She then left while leaving those words.

    Seeing Chloe like this made Tina feel weird. She had always seen Chloe as a cheerful girl who was passionate about cooking and fashion.

    But now, looking at her again, she knew that Chloe was a Hero through and through. She was the only one. No one could rece her.

    So, why did her brother and Chloe act strange? They acted as if the Demon King wasn''t a threat.

    From the time her brother asked her to investigate the Demon in the Academy, it was as if he was trying to find something else.

    He acted strange when she told her that someone might be involved with the Demon.

    ''What actually happened, shitty brother?''

    ***

    [28 April 2023, 05:30 AM]

    [Bernanto Mountain Peak]

    Last night, I managed to get Zaiden to cooperate with me in dealing with the monster outbreak.

    I didn''t mention anything about Witch and Demons yesterday, but he surely knew about the Demon''s existence in San Diego.

    After our short conversation yesterday, I gave him a roundabout of my n. And currently, Zaiden was in the inn near Lake Hodges to join the other Awakeners to push the Mermen back.

    I also told him when the monster outbreak would begin, so he would be fine.

    My job was to thin out monsters and kill any girls who had Witch Factor even though it was still in its seed form. Those would give me a good amount of Mana and lessen the Witch''s numbers.

    I remembered all the important Witches that would be essential for my survival in the future, so I wouldn''t kill them. However, I was confident that those Witches wouldn''t enter any girls in this area, so I could kill all girls who had Witch Factor.

    This was my reason for getting [Horus'' Sunsses] first before anything else. I could find the Witch Factor by looking at their statuses.

    ''It will take a while, but well, I need to work hard for my survival.''

    This way, I wouldn''t take Zaiden''s original bonus of defeating the Demons while still being able to get stronger by defeating the Witches.

    At least three Demons were present this time, unlike the original, which only had one Demon attacking San Diego.

    The Mana gained from defeating two Demons would make Zaiden stronger than the original one. It would make him a step closer to being able to save the world.

    However, the amount of suffering to get that strength was also twice bigger as he needed to defeat three Demons instead of one.

    If he followed my instructions quietly, he would be able to survive as I would cover his ass, but knowing him, he wouldn''t follow all my instructions quietly. Why was I so sure? Because I knew he would try to save the people in danger.

    I looked up at the horizon in the east. The sun had slowly made its appearance, giving the dark world a shine of its light. It was my first time watching the sunrise in this world.

    I have always woken up at six or eight after the sun had fully made its appearance, but this time, I managed to be awake at the perfect time.

    "It''s beautiful," I muttered, putting my hands on my hips.

    The light from the sun slowly hit my face and gradually lit the dungeon that was surrounded by around 30 Awakeners, working together to push the Mermen back to the dungeon sincest night.

    The Association had made their move and dispatched ten B-Rank Awakeners to this area, so the process of killing the Mermen became easier. The other twenty C-Rank Awakeners also helped them kill the Mermen.

    However¡­<sub> </sub>

    "The numbers of the Mermen that came out of the dungeon never decreased," I muttered as I turned my eyes to the dungeon.

    The Association must''ve thought it was a normal monster ''Breeding'' that made the number of the Mermen explode. But they were wrong.

    Indeed, monsters'' numbers could suddenly increase if the dungeon was in a Breeding session. But, it could also be artificially created by Demons.

    Of course, the Association didn''t know about it as Demons didn''t even make their appearance for a few years, so they just thought of it as normal Breeding instead of a monster outbreak caused by Demons inside the dungeon.

    Their decision to send ten B-Rank Awakeners was praiseworthy enough. That meant they took the situation rather seriously.

    "It''s also perfect for me." I grinned under my mask as I took out my [Arash Bow].

    ording to Richard, the Darkest Secret, the monster outbreak would happen around 6 to 7 AM.

    So it would happen in either 30 minutes or an hour. I surveyed the area around the dungeon and found Zaiden standing on the roof of a building around 200 meters from the dungeon.

    ''He''s ready, huh?''

    From my position, I couldn''t see his face clearly, but he had aplete set of equipment. His sword was strapped into his was, and he put his left hand on its hilt, ready to storm in anytime.

    Around his right wrist, he wore a party bracelet that I gave him yesterday.

    Did you think I would let him get all the Mana from killing the monster? Of course not. It would be better if he shared the Mana of the monster he killed with me.

    By killing three Demons, he would still get stronger than the original Zaiden. It was still enough for him. I also wanted to get part of this. I was not an idiot who just gave Zaiden all things needed for him to get stronger.

    I would''ve worked him to the ground and let me get the benefit too. But, I didn''t wear my party bracelet yet. I needed to do something before that.

    He would be riding my bus too, but it couldn''t be helped, no? If he got stronger, I would be able to ride his bus when I acted with him as Vincent. Though I would still let him get hit a few times and see me killing the girls who had Witch Factors.

    "I will invest in you this time. Suffer as you watch me kill the girls and get stronger from being part of this, Zaiden."

    As I said that, I noticed that the numbers of Mermen that exited the dungeons began to increase.

    The Awakeners who guarded the dungeon were confused, but they quickly arranged their ranks with ten B-Rank Awakeners in the front to kill the Mermen as fast as they could.

    Even Frank joined the rank to drive the Mermen away.

    Seeing that, I pulled out my phone that I used as Rai and called Zaiden. A secondter, Zaiden picked up the phone, and I said, "It''s being. Get ready. Just focus on dealing a killing blow to some low-ranked monsters that came out of the dungeon."

    [I know. There will be an E-Rank River Goblin, E-Rank Sahuagin, and D-Rank Swordfish, right?]

    "Hoh, you know it? As expected of a Hijacker." I snickered in a low tone.

    [Please stop calling me that.] Zaiden said in an angry tone. [Anyway, I will go to the dungeon now to join their ranks. I hope they will believe what I said.]

    "They won''t" I quickly shot him down. As I had expected, he wanted to tell the other Awakener about the monster outbreak.

    But it would be better if he didn''t tell them.

    "They will think of you as crazy and handcuff you. So don''t do what you think of going unless you just want to watch the monster outbreak happening without being able to do anything." I warned him clearly.

    [¡­]

    Zaiden paused for a while before saying, [Alright.]

    After saying that, he ended the call, and I noticed him running toward the dungeon at full speed.

    As Zaiden ran toward the dungeon, the other kind of monster Zaiden talked about earlier began to exit from the dungeon.

    The Awakeners who were in front of the dungeons were confused, but Frank quickly ordered his subordinates with a hand signal to retreat.

    He knew that something was weird and pulled out a telmunication device from his pocket and contacted someone.

    Using this chance amidst their confusion, I aimed my bow at the monsters that began to pour out of the dungeon.

    I used a Mana Arrow with Fire Attribute as well as activated the exploding effect, Small Meteor, of my [Arash Bow].

    I was around 1 to 2KM away from the dungeon, but I thought it would be doable with Mana Arrow. I even trained hard for this time.

    The Mana I used to make this Mana Arrow was around 10% of what I had. The zing red Mana Arrow became big as I pulled the bowstring, around 1 meter long and 30cm in diameter.

    After I pulled the bowstring to the limit and was ready, I released it directly, and the arrow flew toward the dungeon at a fast speed.

    Swoosh!

    It flew faster than a sniper rifle bullet that I saw on a video streaming site on Earth. As it flew in the sky, it left a zing red trail of me. Anyone who saw this arrow would think it was shot by the best Archer in the world, Atnta, as a zing red arrow was her specialty.

    However, I didn''t n to make her take my glory. So I created another arrow right away. This time, the attribute that I infused to the Mana Arrow was Ice. It was smaller than before, as it only used 1% of my Mana, but it was enough to do what I wanted to do.

    Swish!

    The second arrow flew following the trail created by the first arrow. A few secondster, the first arrownded right in the middle of the monsters that began to pour out of the dungeons and created a big explosion, burning all the monsters.

    E and D-Rank monsters died immediately, but some of the C-Rank Mermen managed to survive the st.

    The burning effect didn''t do much as the dungeon was half-submerged into theke. But, the effect of the explosion was clear. It got the attention of the Awakeners.

    They immediately turned in my direction by following the me trail. However, as they turned, my second arrow arrived and pierced the ground in front of the dungeon, freezing the water in the diameter of 20 meters with the arrow in the center.

    It created a foothold made from ice, connecting the ground to the dungeon as well as freezing the legs of the monsters around it.

    Looking at the spectacle, Frank turned in my direction and nodded. I took that as a gesture of thanks.

    He immediately turned around and began approaching the dungeon with the other Awakeners.

    I lowered my bow, put on my party bracelet, and sighed, "Now, my job is half-done. My game of Hide and Seek with the Witch has just begun."

    ***

    Special note for someone.

    I write this trash novel of mine seriously. So, appreciate my work please.

    That''s it.

 Chapter 73 Monster Outbreak [1]

    Special Note:

    Raizar the trash maker is here.

    If you find this novel anywhere other than Webnovel then congrattions, you are reading in some pirated site.

    Anyway, just... use fast pass. I don''t mind. But, please don''t read in pirate sites. I hate those sites. And I certainly never allowed my novel to be posted there.

    Maybe you said "Oh, this author only write for money!"

    No, I said. You can just use fast pass. If you want to join my privileges, then I am happy to get some penny from your support. I only uploaded a day, you can use fast pass to open it. It''s free.

    Raizar out, thanks for reading this.

    ***

    [28 April 2023, 06:00 AM]

    [Lake Hodges ¨C In front of Mermen Dungeon]

    Zaiden could be seen running on the grass, making his way toward the Rank of the Awakeners that fought above the frozenke in the distance.

    While running, he was amazed by the ranged attack that passed his head earlier.

    ''Is that Rai''s true power? How could he be that strong even though he was only Awakened a month before me?'' He thought.

    The arrows that Rai possibly shot obliterated almost all D and E-Rank monsters. The ming trail that looked like a meteor crashing down from the sky was burned inside his mind.

    He couldn''t help but wonder how Rai could possibly achieve more than what he could.

    ''Is he perhaps using the Mana Breathing Method?'' He asked himself. ''But that still doesn''t exin why he''s so strong. Although he called himself a Regressor with future knowledge, his growth should still be slower than mine.''

    As he kept lost in his thoughts, he arrived at the frozenke. ''Let''s forget about that for now. I need to concentrate on this.''

    "Let me help!" He shouted loudly to get the attention of the Awakeners who fought the monsters.

    One of the Awakeners heard his shout, turning to him, then answered. "Sure! You should just do whatever you can! Don''t push yourself! We don''t want to take care of the injured!"

    "Yes!" Zaiden answered as he pulled his sword, dding it in Mana as he shot toward the nearest E-Rank monster, a Sahuagin.

    The monster looked like a Mermenbined with Goblin. It was a green monster that walked on two legs and had a fish head.

    Zaiden immediately swung his sword without mercy at the Sahuagin and decapitated its head, killing it instantly.

    Without stopping, he rushed toward the other monsters and killed the weakest monsters one by one, making the Awakeners around him surprised. But, they were more than happy to get help from someone with skill, so they focused back on pushing the monsters back.

    Frank, themander of those Awakeners, noticed that someone else had helped, issuing amand.

    "Awakeners from the Association will be on the front line, pushing the monsters back! We just need to stall for time. One of the Six Devas, Jaro, has received my request for reinforcement! The Association has also issued a warning. Reinforcement from the guilds will arrive soon! We just need to hang on!"

    ? His voice rang on the battlefield. The 30 Awakeners from the Association gripped their weapons tightly as they answered.

    "Yes!"

    The monsters slowly pushed back. A lot more Awakeners arrived to help after they heard themotion.

    Zaiden began to step on the frozenke, killing monsters in his way. With each monster he killed, he felt stronger than before. A grin appeared on his face, thinking that the damage caused by the monsters might not be as big as he thought previously.

    ''We can do it!''

    However, as the Awakeners killed the monsters slowly, more monsters poured out of the dungeon.

    The situation suddenly worsened when around 50 Mermen came out of the dungeon at once. Those C-Rank monsters were not something that they could kill easily, so Frank once again issued amand.

    "Retreat! Attack them using Magic."

    Zaiden was confused as to why the front line suddenly issued a retreatmand, but he jumped back regardless.

    As he had a higher elevation than before, he noticed why Frank suddenly issued a retreatmand.

    "The dungeon entrance be bigger?!" He shouted in surprise.

    The dungeon entrance that was previously only 2x3 meters wide now became around 6x8 meters. More monsters poured out of the dungeon at a faster rate than before.

    ''How?'' He questioned. ''Demons shouldn''t be able to increase the size of the dungeon entrance! The only one who can do that is¡­''

    His thoughts trailed when he realized what had happened. He turned his head in the direction of Bernando Mountain Peak and made a gesture of a hat above his head before pointing at the dungeon.

    He couldn''t see Rai, who stood at the mountain peak, but Rai surely could see him from that distance. So, he was hoping that he understood his gesture, ''There is a Witch in the dungeon!''

    ***

    [Bernando Mountain Peak]

    As I looked at the battlefield from above the mountain peak, I noticed Zaiden suddenly made a strange gesture using his hands.

    He created a triangle above his head before pointing at the dungeon. Then, he stopped doing that after three times and joined the other Awakeners who had just arrived to kill more E-Rank monsters that came out of the dungeon.

    "What is he doing?"

    Was he trying to tell me a Witch was inside the dungeon?

    "Hahaha. What a funny guy."

    He tried to inform me about the Witch.

    I thought he hated me because of the harsh words that I spewed at him, but it turned out that wasn''t enough. He did follow my instructions quietly, but it would be different from now on.

    The Witch had messed with the dungeon by feeding it Dark Attribute Mana, making its entrance be bigger, and the Demons increased the number of monsters by artificially creating them with their power.

    The Demons could do that as monsters were originally a creature that was born from their Mana. Of course, something else was needed to breed the monsters artificially, but¡­

    ''The original Demon in the novel has the monster breeder.''

    I guess it was still the same as the original. Only, the scale was bigger due to the involvement of the Witch.

    "Now then¡­" I looked at the Demon that was trying to pass as an Awakener from the Association and pointed my bow at him. "Let''s spice the thing a little bit." I grinned under my mask.

    The Awakeners from the Association and the newly arrived Awakeners were now mixed up. Zaiden was in the back of the battlefield, cooperating with the other Awakeners to deal with the monsters that escaped the front line.

    The Demon was also on the back of the battlefield, only 20 meters away from Zaiden. It was the perfect time for me to reveal its identity.

    So I pulled the bowstring and created a small Mana Arrow with Light Attribute Mana. This arrow was focused on piercing, to travel a long distance, instead of destructive power. So, the arrow looked thin and long and only used a slight amount of Mana to create.

    The Demon did a good job posing as a Human until now. It even saved an Awakener from being attacked by D-Rank Swordfish, a fish monster with a sword-like mouth, simr to a sawfish on Earth.

    Now that I have seen what he did, I could roughly guess their n.

    ''The Demon that hides between the Awakeners is tasked to secure the revived girls and take them to their second hiding ce.''

    I could''ve let them take all the girls to their hiding ce and destroy them at once using [Arash Bow] special effect, [Ster] Lone Meteor, but¡­ Zaiden wouldn''t know what I did in that case.

    The best way was still to kill the revived girls blindly without exining anything. So, good luck, Zaiden.

    I released my bowstring and let my arrow fly toward the Demon that saved Zaiden from Swordfish that jumped out of theke.

    Zaiden seemed to introduce himself to the Demon, but well¡­ that rtionship would onlyst a few seconds at best.

    ***<sub> </sub>

    "Haa¡­ Haa¡­" Zaiden tried to catch his breath as he went to a safe ce.

    However, before he could arrive at a safe ce, a Swordfish suddenly jumped from theke and flew toward him.

    He noticed the Swordfish and was about to intercept it with his sword, but it was a little bit toote.

    "Shit!"

    With immediate thinking, he decided to put his left hand to guard his face from the Swordfish and prepared for the pain that followed suit.

    However, no matter how long he waited, the pain didn''t arrive. Instead, he heard a hoarse voice of a man from his side.

    "Hey, are you okay?"

    Zaiden lowered his hand and looked at his left. He was greeted by a face of a man in his thirties who smiled at him. The man was holding a sword d in blue light.

    "It seems you are okay." He said.

    "Ah, yes. Thank you for saving me." Zaiden replied.

    "It''s no problem! Right, my name is Borba, by the way. What is yours?"

    "I am Zaiden Archman. Nice to meet you."

    "Oh! It''s nice to meet you too! More importantly, stand up, young man. Try to look at your surroundings more!"

    "Yes. I will."

    "Well then, I will kill more monsters on that side. Do your best to survive!" As he said that, Borba walked away to the front line.

    Zaiden looked at him and felt gratitude inside his heart. A man had saved him.

    ''He''s kind.'' He thought as he looked at Borba''s back.

    However, as soon as he thought of that, a white arrow flew past his head and made its way toward Borba''s back.

    Seeing the arrow, Zaiden extended his hand to try to reach Borba, who was already in the distance, before shouting.

    "Be careful!"

    Borba heard Zaiden''s voice and turned around. As soon as he turned, his face met with the white arrow.

    Bam!

    "Borba!" Zaiden shouted and approached Borba, who was blown away by the arrow.

    While running toward Borba, his mind was racing, thinking about who had shot the arrow only for it to miss? He had one suspect in mind, but he didn''t want to believe it.

    ''There is no way that''s Rai, right?''

    The arrow was too small and too weak for it to be Rai''s. But no other people used arrows near the dungeon. A lot of people used guns as their weapons instead.

    ''Let''s think about thatter. More importantly¡­''

    He had reached Borba, whoy on the ground, and crouched to check his condition.

    "Hey, are you ok-"

    However, before he finished his sentence, he noticed something unusual about Borba.

    The ce where he was hit by the arrow earlier looked cracked and turned purple. A slight bump appeared on his head, and he was not injured.

    ''This...!''

    Looking at Borba''s condition, Zaiden d his sword in Light Attribute Mana without hesitation and swung it at Borba''s neck.

    s, Zaiden was an F-Rank Awakener. He was weak. Borba noticed Zaiden''s attack and parried it with the sword in his hand.

    ng!

    Zaiden was pushed back and was forced to retreat a few meters away. Landing on the ground, Zaiden gripped his sword tightly and muttered. "A Demon¡­"

    "Ah, fuckers. I never thought there would be someone who can use Light Attribute Magic here. Is that arrow your doing?" Borba raised his, no, its body, and asked.

    Its skin turned purple as a horn grew from the middle of its forehead. The horn looked sharp, simr to a sword, jutting up.

    "Your name is Zaiden Archman? You are a dangerous boy. But, I think they will like it if I take you alive instead. A Light Attribute User is rare. You will prove to be useful to us." It said, with a voice hoarser than before as if distorted by noise.

    "What is your n here, Demon?!" Zaiden asked, his voice was loud as he tried to intimidate the Demon.

    The Demon, previously known as Borba, snickered, as if he was facing something funny.

    Of course, he was. In front of him was F-Rank Awakener, not someone strong. It would be in danger if the other Awakeners surrounded him. But, they were a bit far away from the main battlefield.

    "My n?" The Demon asked in an amused tone.

    At that moment, a few Awakeners noticed its presence and shouted.

    "Hey look! That! Is that a Demon?!" Shouted one Awakener.

    The other besides him followed suit as his voice drew them.

    "Demon! There is a Demon!"

    "A Demon is here!"

    Zaiden heaved a sigh of relief as a lot of people began to notice. But then, he saw the Demon smiling in happiness and realized it.

    His eyes widened, "No!" He shouted loudly, turning to five Awakeners who ran toward the Demon. "Turn back now!"

    "It''s toote." The Demon said as it extended its hand toward the Awakeners who approached them.

    A dark purple ball appeared in front of the Demon''s hand. It crackled with ck lightning as it grew bigger at a fast rate, stopping once it became as big as a ser ball.

    The Awakeners in the distance noticed that something dangerous would happen if they came closer. One man in the front stopped on his track and shouted.

    "Jump!"

    As soon as the Awakener shouted, the Demon grinned. Then, the ball in its hand shot toward the five Awakeners.

    The ball flew as lightning crackled around it. Shortly, it hit the ground right in the middle of the five Awakeners and exploded, sending purple lightning all over the ce, engulfing the five Awakeners.

    Boom!

    The ones inside the area of the attack became charred immediately, turning ck as they slowly copsed to the ground, lifeless.

    "Boom! Hahahaha! Weak! Humans are weak!" The Demonughed maniacally. It held its stomach with its left hand as he raised its head to the sky, savoring the feeling of killing humans.

    "Noo!!" Zaiden shouted in horror, hoping that the ones in the front line noticed the Demon. "You! I will kill you! If I can''t, the other Awakeners will! You will not be able to do anything alone!"

    The Demon stoppedughing as it turned its head toward Zaiden. "Huh? Are you stupid?" It asked.

    Next, the Demon''s face contorted into a ridiculing look as it said, "The Awakeners will not be able to help you." It pointed at the dungeon.

    At that moment, two explosions followed suit right in front of the dungeon, blowing the Awakeners away as a scream of horror followed suit.

    "It''s just you and me alone." The Demon grinned. "So, what will you do?"

 Chapter 74 Monster Outbreak [2]

    "Demons! Two Demons are exiting the Dungeon!" Frank shouted. "Retreat! We can''t fight them! Retreat!"

    Two purple-skinned Demons that easily towered more than 2 meters exited the dungeons, followed by more than 50 C-Rank monsters, Mermen. The Demons shot Mana Bullets everywhere, killing low-ranked Awakener with each Magic easily.

    Seeing the situation behind him, Frank clicked his tongue and stopped on his track. He knew that his decision to retreat was a mistake, so he quickly sent out another order.

    "Fuck! Stop! Let''s kill those fucking things! We can''t even run away! It''s do or die!" Frank raised his weapon, a spear, and shouted. "Follow me!" He charged toward the Demon alone.

    As he charged in, he remembered the arrow that was shot at the beginning of the monster outbreak earlier.

    ''Whoever it is, please fucking help us!'' He begged inside his mind.

    Finally, the Awakeners, who Frank inspired, followed suit and charged at two Demons at the same time. Some of them fought Mermen, and only a few managed to reach the Demons. s, they were injured, so they had a hard time fighting against the Demons.

    "Take this!" One Awakener sent a Wind de toward the Demon, injuring its arm. But, its arm was healed the next moment, and it turned to the Awakener who injured it, sending the same Wind de back. "Wha?!"

    The Awakener couldn''t react in time, and his left arm was severed. "Arrgghh!" A scream of pain echoed on the battlefield.

    Another Awakener attacked the Demon, but his fate was simr to or worse than the previous ones. However, they didn''t give up. Because they knew that if they gave up, that would spell the end for them and San Diego City. So they pressed on to survive.

    Seeing the gruesome sight, Zaiden''s eyes widened. Was he so na?ve? He thought he would be able to save a lot of people, but he was wrong.

    ''What am I doing?!'' He gritted his teeth as he squeezed his sword tighter. ''There is no way I can save anyone! I am weak!''

    Once again, he cursed his weakness. He hated himself for being weak.

    Saving everyone? Saving the girls? He couldn''t do anything. He couldn''t even fight for himself.

    "You¡­" He growled, looking at the Demon with hate.

    It was the first time he hated someone in this world. He couldn''t really hate anyone due to his Trait, but he hated the Demon in front of him. He knew it.

    The boiling rage in his heart screamed at him to kill the Demon. His kind self couldn''t help but to be sad when someone died in front of him. He wanted to take revenge for the five Awakeners that the Demon killed.

    "I will kill you!" And he dered. "I will do it. I swear!"

    "Thene at me!" The Demon provoked. "Light Attribute user. I will show you what despair is. After that, I will let you choose! Submit to us and serve the Demon King, or die in my hand. Before that, I will kill those Awakeners, right in front of your eyes!" It spread its arms, ignoring the battle that took ce behind its back.

    "Never!" Zaiden shouted. The light around his de intensified due to his conviction. His Loving Trait took effect. There were a lot of people he wanted to protect in this ce. He knew that his loved one would be in danger if he didn''t finish the Demon here.

    His conviction then made him stronger. "I will not bend to you!"

    He lunged at the Demon and swung his sword, aiming at the Demon''s neck. He knew that he was at a disadvantage in a long-range fight as he had yet to learn any magic, so the only thing he could do was to keep the fight at close range.

    However, the Demon was also skilled with swordy. It parried Zaiden''s slow attack rxedly. The Demon seemed like ridiculing Zaiden by purposely not attacking.

    "Kukuku, is this your best, Light Attribute bearer?" The Demon asked. "If that''s all, then I think we don''t need you after all."

    As it said that, its sword immediately was d in purple light, and he swung it widely.

    Zaiden immediately blocked the strike. However, it was too strong. His body wasunched back 20 meters away, only stopping after he crashed against a big rock.

    Crash! Thud!

    "Ack!" Air was pushed out of his lungs from the collision, but he had no time to rest. The Demon quickly closed their distance and punched him on his stomach.

    Bam!

    "Gah!" He coughed blood as the Demon''s fist hit his stomach.

    The rock behind him got destroyed, and he gotunched away again. He felt like his bone was cracking, possibly broken, but he gritted his teeth to regain his bnce.

    He couldn''t die here. If he died, then who would save the heroines?

    Ultimately, he managed to regain his bnce andnded on his feet. He quickly raised his head to look at the Demon, but to his surprise, the Demon surprisingly stopped on its track, looking in the direction of the dungeon while frowning.

    It was his chance to attack the Demon. Enduring the pain he felt in his body, Zaidenunched himself toward the Demon while thrusting his sword.

    He quickly reached the Demon with his battered body that was full of bruises and blood. Once again, he gritted his teeth to endure the pain he felt and thrust his sword at the Demon''s heart, their power source.

    But, the Demon noticed him.

    "Don''t bother me for now." It said as it swung its sword, blocking Zaiden''s thrust and shattering his sword.

    "You are a nuisance for a small fry." The Demon pointed its finger at Zaiden without looking at him.

    From his finger, a small purple ball simr to what he made to kill the five Awakeners earlier was shot toward Zaiden.

    The ball hit Zaiden''s body, creating a small explosion that blew him away. His clothes burned, and he crashed to the ground 3 meters away.

    "Weakling." The Demon muttered, ncing at Zaiden.

    Zaiden''s eyes were closed. He was unconscious. His chest was moving up and down, a sign that his life had yet to be forfeit.

    "Oh? He survived that st?" The Demon muttered in an amused tone. It turned around, approaching Zaiden''s body, and raised its sword, about to swing it down to deal a finishing blow. "You are too dangerous, Light Attribute bearer. All for the Demon King."

    As the Demon swung its sword, it grinned. An Awakener who possessed a Light Attribute Mana would be a problem for Demons, who were weak against Light Attribute Mana. So, killing him in this ce would be beneficial for its race.

    However, as its sword was about to behead Zaiden, a white arrow knocked its sword and shattered it instantly.<sub> </sub>

    Clink¨C Shatter!

    The Demon immediately looked in the direction where the arrow came from. It recognized the arrow. It was an arrow that revealed its identity.

    In the distance, atop a hill 100 meters away, a man in ck attire and mask lowered his bow that was used to shoot the earlier arrow.

    The Demon went mad when it saw the man. Its face contorted into something ugly as it roared.

    "Who are you?! How are there 2 Light Attribute bearers at the same ce?!"

    An Awakener who could use Light Attribute Mana was rare. For that reason, the Demon didn''t expect there to be two Awakeners who used Light Attribute Mana near the dungeon.

    It thought the arrow earlier was made from Magic by Zaiden, who was lying on the ground unconscious.

    But, it guessed wrong. The one who shot the arrow was the man in ck in the distance.

    The man seemed to sneer at the Demon as he raised his bow again. As soon as he raised his bow and pulled the bowstring made from Mana, a big Mana Arrow covered in ck me formed in his hand.

    The Mana Arrow seemed to be more dangerous than the previous two that hit the Demon. Seeing that, dread washed over its body as it roared wildly.

    "Graaaa!!! Like I will allow you!" Two purple wings sprouted from the Demon''s back.

    It immediately pped them wildly, pushing the dirt away, creating a cloud of dust that hid its body.

    A secondter, it shot out toward the sky before diving straight into the man holding the bow. Its speed increased as the gravity pulled its body.

    It had no sword anymore, but it still had Magic. It covered its body in a dark purple Mana to increase its defense.

    But, the man below him didn''t seem to care about it. Slowly, his right hand moved and released the arrow he had been holding while muttering in a lower voice.

    "Well, at least that fucker tried."

    The arrow he released became bigger as it shot toward the Demon. It became something like a meteor that approached it without mercy while leaving a ming ck trail. Seeing the arrow, the Demon questioned his decision ofing closer.

    ''That will kill me instantly!'' The Demon thought as it quickly dived down, trying to dodge the arrow. It desperately tried to increase its speed by pping its wings vigorously.

    However, the arrow had no mercy. It became bigger again and grazed the Demon before it could evade it. The lower half body of the Demon got engulfed in the ck me that trailed behind the arrow, instantly turning it into dust.

    The arrow immediately vanished into thin air, but the me that burned the Demon''s body still slowly ate its body away. The Demon recognized what kind of me it was, and its eyes widened.

    "How?! How could a lowly Human use this me?!" It shouted as it fell to the ground.

    Thud!

    The Demon fell right beside the man. It raised its head, ring at the man in disbelief.

    "Tell me, Human! How can you use Hell me?! No Human could survive if they used a Dark Attribute Mana without protection! They will be cursed forever! So how! How are you still fine after using that?!"

    The Man looked down at the Demon as it pointed its bow at its heart. A bright white Mana Arrow appeared in his hand as he pulled the bowstring.

    Usually, the Demon would be afraid when they faced death. But not now.

    The Demon''s head was filled with curiosity. It didn''t even care about missing its lower body and the me that slowly burned his body to a crisp.

    No human had ever survived after they used Dark Attributed Mana. At worst, they would die on the spot, and at best, they would be cursed.

    But, the human in front of it was fine. He wasn''t cursed, and he was clearly alive. So, the Demon made an assumption in the absurd situation it was in.

    ''I found him!'' The Demon thought excitedly. It tried to send a signal to itsrade.

    Demons were connected by a connection since they were born, as they had been born with one goal, to serve the Demon King.

    Hence, it couldmunicate with itsrade from a certain distance by imbuing its voice with Mana.

    "I found hi¨C" As the Demon was about to say something, the man released the bowstring, and the arrow pierced the Demon''s heart, killing it instantly as it turned into dust.

    "You talk too much shit." The man said as he turned to Zaiden who was lying on the ground. "I think that''s a pass for him. He''s holding on better than the original." His voice carried a hint of amusement, as if he was happy that Zaideny unconscious with a battered body on the ground.

    "Now then¡­" He moved slowly toward Zaiden. "I guess there are enough victims." He said.

    The Awakeners that died from the monsters and the Demons'' attack were not only men. Some of them were women, and they were the prime target for the Witch Factor. The man, Rai, crouched in front of Zaiden and looked at his situation.

    "Alright, he''s still fine. If he died from this much, he would not be able to save the world." He picked him up, carrying him on his shoulder.

    No Awakeners looked at them, and Rai''s coat moved, engulfing them in the darkness.

    "It''s time for some target practice." Then both of them disappeared from the spot.

    ***

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 Chapter 75 Monster Outbreak [3]

    At first, I thought that the Demon who tried to pass itself as a Human was either the Demon that Tina saw in prison or the one who infiltrated the Academy, but¡­ I was wrong.

    After the Demon got hit by my Light Attribute Mana Arrow, it turned back to its real appearance. I observed the Demon''s transformation and realized that the Demon was, in fact, the original Demon that appeared in the novel.

    That Demon was strong. Zaiden wouldn''t be able to take care of it himself. If he tried to fight it with his current strength, he would be trashed or insta-killed.

    I looked around again and noticed two Demons exiting the dungeon. Once again, the Demon described by Tina wasn''t among them.

    ''Is it hiding inside the dungeon?'' If that was so, then he was the one who controlled the monster using a monster breeder. Possibly, he also controlled the boss monster, if there was any, that was.

    Five Awakeners noticed the Demon on the back line. They ran toward Zaiden, trying to help him to y the Demon.

    ''Oh? Are they going to¡­''

    s, right before I finished saying something inside my mind, the Demon fired a single Magic Ball that exploded, creating a surge of lightning that instantly killed the five Awakeners.

    ''Nevermind. They died¡­ But, that will serve as a little trauma for Zaiden. I bet it''s the first time he saw people die on the battlefield.''

    As I thought, Zaiden suddenly was enraged and lunged into the Demon without any n. His movement was faster than when he had a spar with me, but it was too simple.

    He was blinded with rage. If the Demon was serious, Zaiden would be defeated under a minute or possibly longer, if he was lucky.

    Seeing his fight, I quickly descend from the mounting while maintaining Stealth by using the effect of my coat.

    I traversed through the forest without following the path down; it was too slow. I quickly reached the hill located near the ce Zaiden fought the Demon.

    Unexpectedly, Zaiden could hold his ground for a while. When I stood atop the hill, Zaiden''s body had been battered too much. His body was full of bruises, and blood dripped from his mouth.

    He was desperate, and he frowned. His usual kind smile was nowhere to be seen. Looking at him like that, my lips curved into a smile behind my mask. I took off [Horus'' Sunsses] and put it inside my magic bag.

    It was not within my n, but¡­ Zaiden seemed to understand this world better. He wasn''t like the original Zaiden that I created. He was not the introverted Zaiden who only cared for his loved one.

    This Zaiden cared for everyone. He was kind.

    ''So what I thought was correct. He will, no matter what, try to save everyone even more so because of his Trait. He will be forced to save and grieve those who he cared for. Even for a stranger.''

    Realizing it, I was d that I found this side of him. My n was to make the people he cared for disappear from his life. I n to take things rather slowly. But I didn''t need to do that. I would save his loved one for thest.

    As my mind wandered in thoughts about my future n, the Demon put Zaiden unconscious. It was about to end Zaiden as it raised its sword.

    I couldn''t let that happen. If that bastard died here, who would stop those terrifying Witches? I was afraid to fight those things from a close distance. I would leave them to him.

    So I fired an arrow toward the Demon''s sword, shattering it. Of course, I used Light Attribute Mana Arrow to get his attention. Demon''s natural enemy was the Hero and Awakeners who could use Light Attribute Mana.

    Hence, they would try to get rid of anyone who could use Light Attribute Mana.

    I lifted the Stealth effect and showed myself as the Demon traced my arrow trajectory. I prepared another arrow as it saw me. It quickly flew toward me, trying to get close. However, I fired a Mana Arrow made of Hell me that I learned just a few days ago.

    I read the Master Fire Magic Book when Zaiden was sleeping yesterday. Written in the Master Fire Magic Book was a way to reduce Mana consumption.

    The way to reduce Mana consumption was different for each Attribute, as it needed an Artifact with that certain attribute to reduce a Mana consumption needed to use Magic.

    Thankfully, [Arash Bow] was an Artifact with threeposite Attributes, and that was: Light, Fire, and Dark.

    Hell me was aposite Magic of Fire and Dark Attribute Mana, and because of [Arash Bow], it was possible for me to use Hell me in battle even when my Mana had yet to reach C Rank.

    The Demon was fast. It managed to avoid getting hit directly by my arrow, but it was still hit nevertheless. It fell in front of me, and I intended to end its life directly.

    However, the Demon looked at me with no fear. No, instead, it looked at me with surprise? and some respect was written on its face.

    Strange. Was it because no Human could ever use Dark Attribute Magic? Thanks to my Talents and knowledge to avoid the curses, I was fine, but I knew that no Human ever managed to use Dark Attribute Magic without being cursed.

    Next, the Demon suddenly raised its head and shouted, "I found h-!" But I quickly released Light Attribute Mana Arrow to pierce its heart.

    I had a feeling that it would be bad to allow the Demon to finish its sentence. Probably, it was about to tell itsrade about my existence, a Human who could use Dark Attribute Magic without being cursed.

    It probably misunderstood what I was, so it was best to shut its mouth before it became troublesome.

    After killing the Demon, I approached Zaiden and picked him up. I then used the Shapeshift effect of my coat to cover Zaiden before using the Stealth effect.

    Running, I made my way back toward Mountain Peak. I could cross a 1KM distance in around 1 to 2 minutes. I put Zaiden down before deactivating the Stealth. I wore [Horus'' Sunsses] again, as I needed it this time.

    Zaiden''s wound was severe, so I used Healing Magic on him to at least keep him alive before sending him to the hospitalter when the monster outbreak was over.

    My mastery of Healing Magic was the worst, so the wound healed slowly. In the meantime, I observed the situation on the battlefield around the dungeon, scanning the corpses of female Awakeners to find the Witch Factor.

    I found some and proceeded to observe the battlefield.

    The Awakeners managed to take one Demon down, and now they were focusing on defeating the other Demon. Frank was the only Awakener I was familiar with, and he had injuries all over his body.

    Blood dripped from his right hand as he confronted the Demon face to face. It had already been a few minutes after the monster outbreak, maybe 15 minutes after they asked for reinforcement.

    I guessed that the reinforcement would arrive in five minutes, and they would start to attack the dungeon.

    The reinforcement that would arrive was probably Jaro himself, as he was in Los Angeles. If it was him, then he would be able to kill the Demon, who hid inside the dungeon, with no problem.

    "I guess this is enough," I muttered as I looked at Zaiden.

    His bruises were healed, and his expression became better. However, I didn''t fix his broken bone.

    ''Well, the next stop is the hospital again. Poor him, he just got discharged yesterday, yet he needs to go to hospital again. Not that I care, though.''

    Next, I created a ball of water using Magic and dropped it on Zaiden''s face.

    Ssh!

    As soon as the water hit his face, Zaiden''s eyes opened, and his body jolted.

    "No!!" He shouted loudly as he raised his body, only to be met by pain. "Ugh!" He grunted as he held his stomach, where the damage was the most severe.<sub> </sub>

    "You have been roughed up by the Demon, huh? Why are you so weak, Zaiden?" I asked with a mocking tone.

    Zaiden turned to me slowly with a pained look. "T-This is? You saved me?"

    "Indeed I am." I nodded, standing up to look down on him.

    "Why?" He asked, clearly confused. "Why did¡­" Before he finished his sentence, I cut him off.

    "I saved you?"

    He nodded. Each time I met with Zaiden in Rai''s clothes, I gave him the impression that I hated him. It was no wonder he was confused about me saving him.

    It would be better if I left him dead, or so he would think. Na?ve, Zaiden. You were too na?ve.

    If I really wanted you to die, you wouldn''t be able to breathe from the first day I transmigrated to this world. But I needed him if I wanted to survive in this world. Saving the world was his job, not mine.

    At this point, I did admit that his growth was faster than the original Zaiden, but I didn''t forget the Artifacts in the Academy that he secured.

    Maybe he didn''t wear it because I suddenly kidnapped him, but if he did wear those Artifacts, his growth would be explosive.

    I knew he wanted to keep the plot the same as the original and didn''t wear the Artifacts in fear of changing the plot any further, but he should''ve known today that the plot had been turned into a mess because he saved Lily. It became nonexistent.

    "Funny question, Zaiden. I saved you because I hate you." I answered with a lowugh, befitting a viin. "Don''t you think it''s too early for you to die? I will slowly kill all future Witches. Let''s see¡­" I took out a notebook that I used to write about important events and pretended to read it.

    "Oh!" I eximed loudly. "I found it. The name of the Witch that I will kill is¡­"

    Zaiden looked at me in horror. He shook his head slowly as he muttered. "No¡­ P-please don''t tell me about it!"

    "The first on the list kill is¡­" I said slowly as I leaned toward him.

    "Fortunately, they are not rted to you. Hahahaha, so you do know about it, the future! What are you trying to do, Hijacker? With that puny strength of yours. I bet you won''t be able to do anything to stop me." Iughed loudly as I put my notebook back into my magic bag.

    "I¡­" Zaiden muttered.

    "I,... What?" I asked, putting my hand behind my ear as I crouched in front of him. "I can''t hear it!"

    "I will save them! I will definitely not let them die!"

    "Really?!" I said in a shocked voice as I rose up, taking five steps away from him, holding [Arash Bow] in my left hand.

    Without saying anything, I turned around and pointed my bow toward the dungeon.

    I found a total of seven Awakeners below C-Rank who carried the Witch Factor. All of them had already woken up, and their faces were pale, realizing the change in their statuses. In other words, they were vulnerable.

    I pulled my bowstring, creating three Hell me Mana Arrows as I targeted the nearest three that unexpectedly stood near each other.

    Knowing what I did, Zaiden shouted.

    "It can''t be?! No! Please stop! We can still save them!!" He desperately tried to stand up to stop me.

    Indeed, those with Witch Factor still could be saved. But, the sacrifice needed to save the girl was immense. A permanent loss of the ability to use Mana.

    Of course, there was an item that could extract the Witch Factor too. But, it wouldn''t show up until the Demon King was revived. The only ones who could use that item were Demons, who were hostile toward Mankind.

    I certainly would choose to kill the girls who carried Witch Factor instead of sacrificing myself or trying to ask a Demon for help. My goal was to survive and find a way to return to Earth.

    Fuck this world. This trash world that I made was dangerous. I love the peaceful Earth more.

    So, I paid no heed to Zaiden''s attempt to stop me and released the bowstring. Following this, I created two more Hell me Mana Arrows and shot them toward the other target. It didn''t end there, though, two more Hell me Mana Arrows followed suit, and seven arrows flew toward the direction of the Awakeners who carried Witch Factor.

    The arrownded right on the Awakeners'' bodies, right on their chest. The Hell me immediately burned them to ash, as no normal Awakeners could handle the curse of Dark Attribute Mana, leaving no evidence behind except some witnesses, who certainly wouldn''t believe what they saw.

    I didn''t feel a single bit of guilt as what I killed was not Humans, they were corpses of Humans that the Witches used to revive themselves.

    I could deal with themter, but for now¡­ I had more pressing matters.

    "Nooo!!!!" A shrill scream resounded on the mountain peak.

    I turned around and saw Zaiden slumped down on the ground, seemingly lifeless. I noticed a trail of tears on his face.

    ''Hmm, perfect.'' I thought.

    He had fallen into a little despair. I called it little because it would be the start. He would definitely crawl up, and he would be stronger than before.

    So, as Rai, I would act as his nemesis. His rival and his worst enemy. To aplish that, I would be the worst viin in his life.

    "See?" I said yfully as I put [Arash Bow] back into my magic bag. "You can do nothing."

    Zaiden didn''t say anything. It seemed like what I did earlier hit him harder than I thought.

    As one of my objectives wasplete, I approached Zaiden, took my Party Bracelet back from his wrist, and walked away, leaving him alone on the ground as I had found the rat that I searched for.

    ''Time to hunt a Witch. But well, before that¡­''

    I took my phone out of my magic bag and called someone. As usual, a secondter, the other party picked up my phone call.

    "Ah, hello? Can I ask you for something, Miss Rosa? It''s rted to Sacred Gear golden chick."

    ***

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 Chapter 76 Monster Outbreak [4]

    [28 April 2023, 06:15 AM]

    [Los Angeles - Sacred Relic Headquarters Cafeteria]

    Rosa and Ao were eating in the Headquarters'' cafeteria together. They sat around a round table across from each other.

    The cafeteria was bustling with the normal employees and Awakeners affiliated with the Sacred Relics. They were enjoying the food in the cafeteria of the Sacred Relic Headquarters because an Awakener made it with high-rank Cooking Talent.

    Rosa and Ao were not the exceptions. They also loved the food here and always had their breakfast together before Ao went to the Academy.

    It was a quiet morning like usual, but then their phone rang at the same time. The sound of the notification was unique; they stopped eating simultaneously to check their phone.

    When they opened their phone, their eyes widened. Mainly it was because of the message that they received directly from Thomas. It was a call and an urgent one at that.

    They raised their heads and looked at each other.

    "Did you get it too, Rosa?" Ao asked, her tone containing concern.

    "Yes. The Guild Master called me. What could it be for him to call the two of us, Ao?"

    "Probably something important," Ao answered, looking around. "Because it seems that only us who received the message, then¡­"

    "It''s about something of utmost secrecy or utmost priority." Rosa finished. "Then let''s go, Ao." Before standing up, she used a napkin on the table to clean her pte.

    "Yes." Ao did the same, and both of them went toward the elevator located right outside the cafeteria.

    Rosa pressed the elevator button and waited for the door to open. As they were waiting, a voice of a man called out to them.

    "Oh! Are you getting the call from the Guild Master too, Rosa? Young Lady Ao?"

    The two girls looked in the direction of the voice almost simultaneously.

    A kind-looking blonde man with brown eyes was walking toward them. He wore a set of ck te armor around his chest on top of his white shirt and a greave on top of his brown pants. On his waist was a brown magic bag.

    They recognized the man, and Rosa smiled when she saw him.

    "Oh, Andy! Did you get the message too?"

    "Indeed, I am." The man called Andy stopped beside Rosa, smiling at her.

    "Mr. Andy. Do you know why my father suddenly sent an urgent message to us?" Ao asked politely.

    Although she was the daughter of Thomas Evan, the Guild Master of Sacred Relic, the man in front of her was also someone of an important position.

    He was often called the face of the Sacred Relic Guild, the icon of strength, Andy Orza, an A-Rank Awakener who had strength rivaling or even stronger than Association''s Six Devas and someone who was called to be closest to advance to S-Rank.

    "I have some guesses about it, but¡­ I am not sure." He answered. His voice was soothing and carried something that made Rosa and Ao calm.

    Rosa''s cheek turned a little red, and it didn''t escape Ao''s sight. Seeing that, Ao let out a low chuckle but turned serious again the next moment as she asked, "And, can you please tell us about your guess? We arepletely blind about this."

    "Of course, Young Lady," Andy answered.

    "Last night, there was news about a strange activity in Mermen Dungeon. The Association had sent some people to take care of it, but there was no further news about it being cleared yet." He started exining as he raised his index finger.

    "The Mermen Dungeon is a C-Rank Dungeon. It''s strange for it to have some strange movement unless the Boss Monster appeared. But this is where it got strange." He paused a little, clearing his throat before continuing in a low voice that could only be heard by the three of them.

    "The Association sent more people this morning, and the monster poured out of the dungeon increased. I got this from my friend who lived in San Diego. It seems that the dungeon is in the Breeding period or even possibly..."

    Ting!

    The elevator door opened at the perfect moment, but Andy still continued.

    "¡­ there might be a monster outbreak from the Mermen Dungeon."

    ***

    [Sacred Relic Headquarters ¨C Topmost floor ¨C Guild Master Office]

    The Guild Master office of the Sacred Relic guild was massive. Bookshelves were lined up against the wall on the right and the left.

    In the center of the room was a marble table with two couches and two sofas around it. At the end of the room was a wooden working desk with stacked documents and a single picture on a frame on the side on top of it.

    The picture was of the man working behind the desk and a beautifuldy with ck hair holding a blue-haired little girl in her white sundress while smiling. The man in question appeared to be younger, but it was unmistakably him.

    The man was middle-aged with blue hair. He was the Guild Master of the Sacred Relic, Thomas Evan, and currently, he looked at the screen of theptop in front of him seriously.

    "Why so suddenly?" Thomas muttered in a crisp voice. His voice was so deep that it looked like he was a ghost that had returned from hell.

    "Why does the monster outbreak happen after the monster acted strangely?" He questioned himself.

    Usually, a monster outbreak happened without any sign. However, this monster outbreak happened after the monster acted strangely. So something was strange.

    ''What''s going on?'' Thomas frowned, looking at the live feed from one of the Awakener''s body cameras.

    The Awakener was Frank, the one who contacted all guilds to ask for reinforcement. At the same time, he sent them a live feed from a hidden camera on his suit''s button to prove the situation was severe.

    Thomas had seen the scene about the Awakeners storming into the frozenke, but he didn''t see who froze theke. The live feed started after theke had been frozen.

    But that wasn''t important. What was important was two purple-skinned beings that appeared from the dungeon.

    ''Demons?! I see, so they are the ones who caused the monster outbreak.'' Thomas nodded in understanding.

    There had been a case where Demons caused a monster outbreak when the Abyss was still active, so it wasn''t strange if some Demons could cause a monster outbreak. However, there was one problem.

    ''It''s been a few years since the Demon appeared. Is this the sign that the Demon King is about to revive? Then, our guild needs to prepare.''

    As he thought of that, on theptop''s screen, Frank and the other Awakeners attacked the Demons and fought against them bravely. At the same time, a knock was heard from the door, and Thomas raised his head, saying. "You may enter."

    He didn''t need to hear who was on the other side, as he had remembered their Mana, excluding one person, since they stepped out of the elevator a bit away from his office.<sub> </sub>

    As Sacred Relic''s Guild Master, his strength couldn''t be underestimated. He may not be the strongest person in the world, but he was strong enough to make the world recognize him as the Guild Master of the rank 1 Guild.

    The door of the office was opened, and the one who entered first was Andy, followed by Rosa and Ao.

    "You are here. You may sit first." Thomas said, gesturing for the three of them to sit on the couch in front of the working desk as he stood up, walking toward the sofa in front of his working desk.

    He brought hisptop with him and put it on the table as the other three sat on the couches. Ao and Rosa sat on the couch on his right, while Andy sat on his left.

    As they sat, Ao suddenly asked, "Why are you calling us here, father? Is there something urgent that needs to be taken care of immediately?"

    "Indeed, it is," Thomas answered, turning hisptop around so the three of them could see what had transpired in San Diego. "It is a monster outbreak." He said.

    Rosa and Ao frowned when they heard the information, while Andy analyzed the situation quickly.

    "So, Guild Master. Is it my team''s turn?" Andy asked seriously.

    "No. I called you here to inform you that we will not send any reinforcement there." Thomas said firmly, surprising the three people.

    "Why?" Ao asked, raising her voice a little. A hint of anger mixed in her tone. "There is a monster outbreak in the city just an hour from here with a car!"

    It was no surprise that Ao was a bit angry. She never thought that her father would choose not to send anyone to help with the monster outbreak.

    Rosa tried to hold her down before she could

    "Calm down, Ao," Thomas said, staring at Ao.

    "The Demons have appeared. Probably, they are the cause of the monster outbreak this time. As such, we can''t leave for San Diego. Instead, prepare the investigation squad. I will leave them to you, Rosa. Investigate every nook and cranny of the dungeons in Los Angeles. Make sure no Demons were present in this city."

    "Yes!" Rosa quickly answered.

    Demons were always bad news, not because of their strength but because of their intelligence.

    Unlike monsters, they could plot against humans. So, Thomas'' decision not to send any people from his guild to help the monster outbreak in San Diego was correct. That was if he wanted to protect his people and the city they were in.

    San Diego was close to Los Angeles. There could also be a Demon hiding in Los Angeles and plotting the same thing, so sending some people away would be a bad move as the force in Los Angeles would decrease in that case.

    Ao immediately calmed down after she heard the information from his father. Then, she looked at theptop screen once again and noticed that the purple-skinned enemies were actually Demons, not some monsters.

    One of them had already been taken care of, and only one was left.

    "I see¡­ I''m sorry, father." Ao apologized, bowing her head to Thomas.

    "Don''t be sorry, Ao. I know you want to help them, but¡­ We have our priorities." Answered Thomas.

    "Yes, father." She answered, turning her attention to theptop screen again.

    Many corpses were lying around near the Demons, showing how fearful the Demon was. She didn''t want to miss the terror of the Demon. She wanted to remember it.

    So that when she encountered one in the future, she could fight it without hesitation.

    He then turned to Andy and said, "Andy. I am counting on you to prepare your squad in case the investigation team finds a Demon. We need to take care of it as quickly as possible."

    "Consider it done, Guild Master. I will ask them to gear up so they can move anytime."

    "Good. Now, Ao. Can you please do me a favor?"

    "Yes?" Ao answered, confused.

    "Can you please tell the Sword Saint about the incident? I know that he wants to take it easy, but I think he needs to know about the reappearance of the Demon."

    "Of cou¨C" Ao was about to answer her father, but right before she could finish her sentence, a loud sound came from theptop speaker, taking her attention.

    The screen showed a bright, maybe bright wasn''t the correct word, because the light was ck. It onlysted for a second, but Frank''s camera managed to catch a figure of a man holding a bow atop a hill, pointing a white arrow against a Demon''s hopeless figure.

    Among the four people in the room, Rosa immediately recognized the figure before the camera turned around once again, focusing on a Demon in front of it.

    "Is that Rai?!" She raised her voice in surprise.

    "Rai? Do you mean Rai from the mercenary group Annihtor?" Asked Thomas.

    "Yes. I am positive about it."

    "I see." Thomas nodded his head. "Maybe he answered the reinforcement request."

    "That might be true." Rosa nodded.

    They continued discussing the n for the future without looking at theptop to focus on the matter in hand, but another interruption arrived. This time, it was in the form of a ringtone sound, and it came from Rosa''s phone.

    "Who called you at such a time?" Thomas asked curiously. He wasn''t angry or anything, as he knew that Rosa only activated her phone notification for something important.

    Rosa pulled out her phone and looked at the name, surprised. "Rai?" She said.

    "Oh? Good timing. You may answer the call, Rosa. Ask him about the situation there." Thomas said, gesturing for Rosa to answer the call.

    ? Rosa immediately answered the call and activated the speaker mode. Right after she answered, Rai''s voice rang from the speaker, dropping the bomb.

    [Ah, hello? Can I ask you for something, Miss Rosa? It''s rted to Sacred Relic golden chick.]

    ***

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 Chapter 77 Monster Outbreak [5]

    "Golden chick?" Rosa asked, confused.

    [Hmm, yes. I thought that you said you would dib on the kid with triple S Rank Talents? Am I wrong calling him Sacred Gear''s golden chick?] Rai mused, chuckling lightly.

    The four people in the room were confused, but then Thomas nced at Rosa, nodding his head.

    Rosa knew what his gesture meant. Rai wasn''t wrong in calling Zaiden the golden chick of the Sacred Relic guild. Heck, they had prepared to wee him by counting on Ao, who had a close rtionship with Zaiden.

    So, Rosa said, "Indeed. We did have a n to invite him. But, why did you suddenly call me to talk about him?"

    [How do I say it? I am in San Diego to watch the monster outbreak right now. When I was about to join the battle, I found your golden chick fighting a Demon. So I helped him, and he''s injured badly righ-]

    "Wait!" Ao suddenly shouted and interrupted Rai before he could finish. "Did you just say Zaiden is in San Diego?"

    [Ah, Miss Ao. Hello. As the answer to your question, yes, he is. We had a chance to raid a dungeon together, with me acting as his instructor. When I heard he was discharged, we had a ride together. Who knows that he would be caught in the middle of a monster outbreak when he bought some water for us, no? I have no excuses for that. Thankfully I managed to kill the Demon before it killed him.]

    Ao frowned, hearing Rai''s exnation. It was like he was trying to find an excuse, but¡­ They did raid a dungeon together, with Rai being Zaiden''s instructor.

    The strange thing was that he always got injured whenever Zaiden was with Rai.

    ''Is it just a coincidence? Or was Rai purposely making Zaiden get injured? Then, for what reason? Jealousy?'' Ao asked herself before stopping herself as she felt Thomas ring at her.

    Thomas then looked at the phone in Rosa''s hand and asked, "Rai, is it?"

    [Yes, I am.]

    "Nice to meet you. I am Thomas Evan, the Guild Master of Sacred Relic guild."

    [Oh! It''s an honor, Guild Master. As you know, I am Rai from Annihtor Mercenary Group.]

    "Indeed, I know. May I request something from you? I want you to save Zaiden Archman and bring him to safety." Thomas said with a firm tone.

    [Unfortunately, Guild Master. I must refuse that request as I only got a more important request from a famous person. But please don''t worry, Zaiden Archman is in a safe ce, away from the Mermen Dungeon. You just need to send a person to fetch him.]

    "Is that so? It''s quite unfortunate. But, we can''t afford to send any people to San Diego." Thomas shook his head, feeling unfortunate.

    Ao gritted her teeth on the side. She thought that her friend, Zaiden, would be okay, and his affiliation with the Sacred Relic could be finished as soon as possible. But, an incident happened once again. She asked herself once again, ''Is it truly a coincidence?''

    But, not all hope was lost. As Rai suddenly said,

    [Are you worried that a Demon will infiltrate Los Angeles if you send people to San Diego?]

    It got everyone''s attention.

    "Indeed, I am," Thomas answered without beating around the bush. "It will be bad if a monster outbreak caused by Demons also happens in Los Angeles. If someone leaves for San Diego, I am afraid we will not have enough manpower tobat it."

    [Please don''t worry about that. I assure you that there is no Demon in Los Angeles. Even if there is any, please don''t worry about it, too, as mypanion is quite reliable when ites to Demon Hunting. Also, to assure you something¡­]

    Rai suddenly paused a little as a sound of a car engine being revved roared from the phone speaker. After the sound had calmed down, Rai continued.

    [Darkest Secret said that the Demons'' base is in San Diego. Anyway, I should go for now. I only intended to inform the Sacred Relic about their golden chick. Just think of it as a gesture of our alliance. He''s at the peak of Bernando Mountain. See you again sometime.]

    "Wa-" Rosa was about to stop Rai to ask another question, but he ended the call before she could get a chance to.

    "He''s quite¡­ arrogant for a new Awakener." Andy frowned. He didn''t like Rai''s attitude. In his opinion, Rai was quite arrogant.

    Even if Rai was Sacred Relic''s ally that Rosa managed to sign with, his attitude wasn''t too good, and he seemingly looked down on Sacred Relic.

    "I don''t think so." Thomas disagreed. "From his tone, I noticed that he''s in a hurry. He also mentioned he got a request from someone important. Although he was the one who brought our golden chick to San Diego, at least he''s responsible enough to save him and put him in a safe location."

    "Also, it seems he can contact Darkest Secret too¡­" Rosa muttered, gaining everyone''s nod.

    Even Ao knew who the Darkest Secret was because of her position. He was the current greatest informant in the world who seemingly knew all kinds of information, even some secrets of their Guild.

    So, the information from him was surely reliable.

    It left one question, though.

    "Was he telling the truth about it?" Andy asked.

    "We don''t know," Thomas answered as he rotated hisptop again to face him. Thest thing he saw in the live feed was a man burning thest Demon with Fire Magic before going to the dungeon alone.

    Thomas recognized the man as one of the Six Devas, so he closed the live feed and opened the Merchant Store and said, "But we will find out now."

    ***

    "That''s one done," I muttered as I looked at the road in front of me.

    ''Thomas Evan being there surprised me a little bit, but¡­well, I know someone like him will find the truth by asking for a credible one, for example, the Darkest Secret.''

    I was not worried about that end. Richard will surely help me with this one, as he was the one who informed me about the Demon''s existence. He even covered me once, and I could count on him.

    The road was packed with cars trying to flee from the monster outbreak zone, while the other side was empty with only a few trucks filled with Awakeners passing by a few times. I questioned my decision to take a car instead of running, but it was toote.<sub> </sub>

    I was already on the road, and I couldn''t turn back. I could only wait for the next intersection to turn around and park my car somewhere.

    ''How could I make such an obvious mistake?'' I grumbled inside my car as I pressed the horn a few times, ring the car in front of me and urging it to move faster.

    I was hoping for the cars in front of me to start moving, but what I got from pressing the horn was a yell.

    "Fuck you! Don''t you see that we are trying to go as fast as we can? Hey, the ones in the front, get the fuck off my way!"

    "Don''t fucking yell at me, you bastard! me the fucking monsters for causing the outbreak!"

    Shouts after shouts followed suit, each filled with curses, and some med the monsters for causing the panic.

    After a few minutes, the traffic began to move normally, and I was able to turn around to park my car near the sidewalk. Maybe I would be fined, but well, it was an emergency.

    I exited my car and ran toward a ce called Lake Hodges Hike, located north of Lake Hodges.

    I had found the Witch after I killed the Demon earlier. She disguised herself among the Awakeners and ran away while pretending to be injured.

    She ran to the north of Lake Hodges, so I could somehow guess where she went. Even if I couldn''t, Lake Hodges Hike had a rather tall mount that I could climb to get a view of the top.

    I didn''t want to kill the Witch to extract the information from her, but it was better to kill her if I couldn''t catch her. So, I had already prepared to use [Arash Bow] special effect in case the Witch had gone too far or had already returned to her base.

    It would be better if thetter was true. That way, I could destroy her alongside the other Witches that hid in their base.

    I quickly jumped around the tallest mountain in Lake Hodges Hike and arrived at the peak in less than 3 minutes. It was faster than using a car. I was really stupid.

    Even after living in this world for more than a month, I still had a mindset from Earth left. Though, I didn''t want to throw all my Earth mindset away because I nned to return as soon as I found the way to.

    Arriving at the peak, I looked around with my enhanced sight while preparing[Arash Bow] in my hand with a Dark Arrow instead of the Mana Arrow that I usually used. Added by the Enhanced Sight effect from [Horus'' Sunsses], I was able to see clearly in a 2 KM radius.

    Calling it a cheat was an understatement, but some obstacles still limited me; that was the reason why I tried to get a high ce.

    I couldn''t stay at Bernando Mountain Peak because of Zaiden, so this ce was the second best as I could get a good view of the area around Lake Hodges.

    The Witch had run away around 5 to 10 minutes ago. I couldn''t remember for sure because I didn''t look at the time.

    I meant, who would look at the time when they were fighting against a Demon that was stronger than them? It was better to concentrate on the fight.

    Anyway, I only had around 10% of my Mana left; my body was a bit heavy, thanks to that. Using Hell me took a lot of Mana, and I meant a lot.

    Thest seven shots to kill those revived Awakeners alone took 14% of my Mana, 2% with each shot. Meanwhile, the big arrow that I used to kill the Demon took around half of my Mana, which was crazy.

    Inparison, the ming arrow that I shot at first to kill many monsters only took 3% of my Mana. But well,posite attribute Magic really took more Mana than normal Magic.

    Back to the Witch location, I couldn''t find her even though I looked around 2 KM around me.

    "She had run away, huh?" I muttered.

    It was as expected. The Witch''s strength was at leastparable to C-Rank Awakener at worst. There was a chance the strength of the Witch that informed the Demon was higher than that.

    So, I made the best move that I could use currently. I used Horus Eyes to find out where the Witch was. I had seen her figure, so all requirements were fulfilled.

    At least I should know my target to be able to find them. If I didn''t know my target, then how could I hope to find them?

    I infused my Mana into it to prepare [Ster] Lone Meteor, the special effect of [Arash Bow].

    I might pass out after I shot the arrow, so I made sure no one was near again. As soon as I knew that my area was clear, I used Horus Eyes to find where the Witch was.

    My left eye suddenly turned ck before an image shed into my mind. It was inside a cave, outside of a dungeon, surrounded by a canyon.

    Remembering the map of San Diego, I found where she was. It was a cave around Annie''s Canyon Trail. The ce was a bit away from Lake Hodges and nowhere near the north direction.

    "Found you," I muttered while channeling more Mana to activate [Ster].

    I didn''t stop until I infused all my Mana into the bow. Next, the Dark Arrow glowed white and red. The effect had activated, and I released the bowstring while shouting, "[Ster]!"

    The arrow left a long trail imitating the name of [Arash Bow] special effect, Lone Meteor. At first, it only went up and pierced the cloud. However, as soon as it was above the cloud, it suddenly turned around and went in the direction of Annie''s Canyon Trail.

    At the same time, I felt sluggish, and my strength left me. I quickly put [Arash Bow] into my magic bag and thought, ''Ah, fuck¡­'' before I lost consciousness. However, I wasn''t worried that the arrow would hit the wrong ce. As it would definitely hit the Witch straight on her head.

    ***

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 Chapter 78 The Turning Gear [1]

    An incident was never away from Jaro.

    He was one of the Six Devas from the Association. Facing dungeon Breeding or monster outbreak was like having a meal for him.

    However, Demon was a strange thing for him. He had never faced one before as they had suddenly disappeared a few years ago.

    Who would''ve thought that they would show themselves again? By causing a grand thing such as causing a monster outbreak in C-Rank Dungeon on top of that.

    As soon as Jaro received the call for reinforcement, he immediately ran toward San Diego at top speed with his [Hermes Shoes], allowing him to run around twice faster than his maximum speed. He wore ck jeans and a ck jacket with a white t-shirt underneath.

    Car was nothing to him, he passed all of them, and he was faster than it as he could dodge some obstacles by jumping over them, allowing him to arrive in San Diego after running for only 20 minutes.

    He arrived at Lake Rodes and took a good look from a distance away to find the location of the monster outbreak.

    "Now, now, where are they?" He said with his hand above his eyes, eyeing the area around theke.

    As he looked around, he saw a purple dot fly into the sky. He squinted his eyes, and his lips curled into a big grin.

    "That''s where the dungeon is."

    He crouched and was about to jump toward the purple thing that he saw in the sky. However, an arrow was shot from the ground before he could jump at the purple thing.

    The arrow left a ck trail that burned like a me. He was familiar with it as Fire Magic was his specialty.

    "ck Fire? What the fuck is that?" He eximed in surprise.

    As someone who had read the Magic Book until the Master Book of Fire Magic, he never read anything about the ck fire.

    The only possibility associated with the color ck was one.

    "Dark Attribute Magicposite?!" Jaro shouted excitedly. "That''s so sick! And an arrow¡­ arrow, huh¡­"

    He remembered the guy that he saw in Los Angeles.

    ''That guy uses an arrow too, right? To blow up that roof.''

    A slight possibility of the guy he saw in Los Angeles being the one who fired the arrow was slim, though, as the guy that he saw was weak, only around D-Rank Awakener.

    However, the arrow that the guy fired was stronger than that.

    "Fuck. It''s useless thinking about it. Let''s just deal with the monster outbreak first."

    Finally, he ran toward the direction of where the arrow was fired, thinking that the monster outbreak was focused on that spot.

    He wasn''t wrong. He jumped around the hill and mountain and finally arrived at the monster outbreak area. Many Awakenersy on the ground, dead, but he didn''t care about that.

    His attention was stolen by a big purple guy with a horn who fought a man in a suit. The man in the suit was covered in blood, and his breathing was rough.

    He quickly red his Mana to get the big guy''s attention, and he did.

    The big guy, the Demon, stopped for a second. That was enough for Jaro to quickly send a torrent of fire to burn the Demon entirely.

    "Got ya." He said, approaching the man who fought the Demon and patting him on the shoulder. "You did good, pal. What''s your name?"

    "Sir Jaro. My name is Frank, sir."

    "Good job, just leave the rest to me."

    Frank nodded and walked away. He trusted the person that had just arrived, as he was one of the strongest people in the Awakener Association. One of the Six Devas, a Fire Mage called the wild dog of the Association, Jaro.

    "Now then, that''s not enough, huh?" Jaro mused, looking at the burning figure of the Demon.

    The burned part of its body slowly mended itself as the fire disappeared. It stood high and mighty, looking down at Jaro as it sneered.

    "That''s hot, human." Its voice was deep and hoarse.

    "Oh?! You can speak! So you are Mid Demon, huh? This is interesting." Jaro raised his hand. From his palm, a blue fire burst forth.

    It was hotter than the fire that he used to burn the Demon earlier. He covered his body and clothes with his Mana to avoid being burned by the fire.

    "But, can you handle this, fucker?" He immediately sted the fire to the Demon''s head, charred it, and turned it into ash.

    Jaro didn''t stop there. He read a book about Demons and how to defeat them. Unless their hearts were destroyed, they would keeping back with their insane regenerative ability.

    So Jaro created three blue Fire Spears around his body as he put his hands on his pants pocket. With a slight gesture of raising his chin, the three Fire Spear impaled the Demon''s heart, killing the Demon immediately as its body fell to the ground.

    "Hah! Just a big talk." Jaro sneered as he saw the Demon''s body turning into dust. "Oh, right. Unlike monsters, they disappear when they die."

    As Demon was actually a creature created by the Demon King and only appeared when the Demon King was revived, their biology was still a mystery to humans.

    Every Demon was almost unique, especially the High-Rank above; none of them was the same as each other.

    "Meh, let''s just forget about that. The monsters still poured out of the fucking dungeon. That means¡­" A feral grin appeared on Jaro''s face. "There is still a Demon inside."

    Fire erupted from his body, covering the area around him. He spotted a few Awakeners nearby, right in front of the dungeon. Some were injured badly, so he shouted.

    "Anyone who doesn''t want to get hurt gets the fuck outta here immediately!"

    His voice beamed alongside a pir of red fire that appeared in a few spots, immediately burning the monsters into ash.

    He didn''t use his Blue Fire as it was overkill. Also, the normal Fire Magic took less Mana, so he preferred to use the normal fire when he fought against normal monsters.

    The Awakeners who saw the pir of fire saw hopes. Their faces brightened, and they ran away from the battlefield, ignoring their injuries.

    "Thank you, Sir Jaro!"

    "You have saved us!"

    As most Awakeners came from the Association, most of them recognized Jaro and shouted their gratitude.

    ? "Don''t mind it. You fuckers just better take a nap at home or hospital. Get your ass checked while you are at it!"

    He lunged inside the dozens of monsters that tried to follow the retreating Awakeners. Stopping right in front of the monster, he nted his feet on the ground.

    Bam!

    A loud explosion was created as the ground sunk into a big crater around 2 meters deep. Although he was a Mage, his strength was also nothing to scoff at as he was an A-Rank Awakener. He did all of that while his hands were still in his pants pocket.

    The monster fell to the crater, and a wall of fire erupted from the ground, circling the dungeon.

    Only the path behind Jaro was not covered by a firewall. But then, the monster needed to pass Jaro if they wanted to cross it.<sub> </sub>

    "Now, let''s exterminate some small fries."

    Even in the face of more than 50 C-Rank monsters, around a hundred D and E-Rank monstersbined, and more still poured out of the dungeon, Jaro didn''t show any sign of fear.

    It was the confidence that he had in his strength that allowed him to stand without fear in front of such small fries.

    A monster below B-Rank was no longer his enemy once he became an A-Rank Awakener. Only a B-Rank monster could give him a fight or maybe injure him.

    So, he took a step forward, ring his Mana to intimidate the monster.

    "Come here, fuckers!"

    ***

    "That''s incredible." Frank let out an exmation as he watched Jaro burn down the monsters easily. "Even as a B-Rank Awakener, I can''t kill C-Rank monsters easily at the same time. I need to cut them down one by one." He said.

    He was sitting with the other injured Awakeners to get healed by an Awakener who could use Healing Magic.

    Unexpectedly, the one who could use Healing Magic was more than he thought, so the healing process was fast.

    "Indeed, leader. Even if he looks unruly, Sir Jaro is indeed part of the Six Devas." Frank''s subordinate answered. He looked at Jaro with respect.

    "Hah!" Frank scoffed. "It''s natural that he''s strong as the Association''s head was the one who installed Sir Jaro to Six Devas. And certainly, he didn''t do so without reason."

    As much as Frank wanted to get a high position in the Association, he still respected his higher-ups, especially the strong Awakeners with a high position, including Mark and Jaro.

    Although he often got angry at them, he would still praise them secretly.

    "Alright, done." The Awakener who healed Frank said, tapping his shoulder. "You''re good to go again after resting a little bit."

    "Thank you," Frank said, standing up and brushing dust from his pants.

    He then looked around a little bit, only to find that Jaro had already gotten rid of all the monsters outside the dungeon and proceeded inside.

    "It''s over, huh? Only one A-Rank Awakener needed to end something that we put our lives on." He said disdainfully.

    Once again, he discovered the importance of an individual''s strengthpared to a group''s strength.

    Thankfully, that someone who ended the monster outbreak alone was his ally, so he put on a smile and turned to his subordinate.

    "Alright! We are done here!" He shouted. "I need five people to stay here to wait for Sir Jaro. The rest will rest, and we will change shifts every hour. Understand?!" He asked.

    "Yes!" His subordinate answered simultaneously, even the one who had not been healed yet.

    "Good. The¨C" Before he finished his sentence, he noticed a surge of Manaing from a bit distance away from him.

    The sudden surge of Mana stole Frank and almost all Awakeners'' attention, and they looked in a certain direction.

    As soon as they turned their heads, they saw a zing white trail parting the cloud.

    "What is that?!" Shouted one of the Awakeners.

    Frank narrowed his eyes as he observed carefully.

    "Is that¡­ an arrow?" He asked as to which the other Awakeners, who could see the spearhead of the mysterious thing, answered with a silent nod.

    The arrow suddenly stopped and made a nosedive to the southwest. As it changed its direction, the arrow divided into nine, each looking like a meteor from space, intending to crush the Earth.

    The Awakeners could only look as the nine Meteors-like things crashed into Earth, creating loud explosions that could be heard from their location.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    It repeated nine times, and Frank immediately shouted.

    "That''s bad! Sent some people to the ce those things crashed into! Three people who can run, follow me immediately!"

    Frank ran toward the direction where he saw the arrow was firstunched. Three of his subordinates followed him, and they ran at a fast speed, almost as fast as a car.

    ''Who the fuck is this? Is it the same person who fired the arrow to assist us earlier?'' He asked himself, but it was to no avail.

    He concentrated on running, and after a few minutes, he arrived at the peak of a mountain.

    "Search the ce! Find someone suspicious and report it to me!"

    He had no hope of finding someone as they surely could run away, but it was proven wrong as his subordinate reported immediately after he sent out his order.

    "Leader! I found someone unconscious here!"

    Frank turned toward his subordinate, "Where?"

    He approached him and his subordinate pointed at the ground.

    Following his subordinate''s finger, he saw someone unexpected lying on the ground, unconscious.

    "Isn''t he¡­ Rai?" He muttered.

    "What should we do, Leader?" His subordinate asked.

    Frank fell into deep thought. Rai was someone who got him into trouble because the guy poached the Hero from the Association.

    But, at the same time, Rai was the only clue he had to the one who fired the meteor-like arrow earlier.

    "Tsk! Frank clicked his tongue. "Take him somewhere safe. We will question himter."

    "Yes!" His subordinate answered and picked up Rai, carrying him over his shoulder.

    Seeing his subordinate left with Rai on his shoulder, Frank once again thought.

    ''Why the fuck is this fucking Mercenaryy unconscious here? Did he know something that we don''t?''

    ***

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 Chapter 79 The Turning Gear [2]

    A woman with long blonde hair wearing a light purple dress could be seen inside a cave with nothing but a single chair and a table in it.

    She sat on the chair, facing the table while doing something on theptop in front of her. She looked out of ce wearing her dress, but s, the dress was sort of a uniform that established her identity as a Witch.

    Theptop''s screen was turned on, and a ck silhouette of another woman appeared. Her face and body were ck, but her pink lips were visible for some reason.

    The silhouette wore a pointy hat, which was another distinctive clothing feature of a Witch.

    "Greetings, Alo." The Witch spoke with a smile.

    [Greetings, Rave. How is the n?] A voice leaked out from theptop''s speaker; it was sweet and seducing.

    "I could say the n is only half-sess. The Demon did manage to find the existence of the strongest witch''s vessel, but¡­"

    [But what?]

    "The Demon didn''t do anything to her because it found something more important to its race instead." The Witch''s face turned grim as she continued. "They found a clue about the Demon King''s vessel instead of taking the strongest witch''s vessel."

    The silhouette, Alo, on the screen appeared to be frowning from the information.

    [This couldn''t be a good sign. If the Demon King revived before the strongest witch bore to existence, then¡­ Our n will be thrown into jeopardy. Our revenge will be for naught, as the Demon King will ravage Humankind before us.]

    "That''s tru¨C" Suddenly, Rave switched her attention to the cave''s ceiling, confusing Alo on the screen.

    [What happened?] She asked.

    "There is a source of Mana that makes its way over here," Rave said, waving her hand. Then, a in brown staff appeared in her hand. She gripped it tightly and brought it closer to her chest before tapping it on the ground.

    A faint blue spherical barrier covered the diameter of 1 meter with the Witch as the center.

    [Are you attacked?] Alo asked, concerned.

    However, Rave didn''t answer her. Instead, she strengthened her grip against her staff with both hands and muttered, "It''sing."

    As soon as she said that, the cave''s ceiling copsed, and the ground shook as if being hit by an earthquake.

    Following this, nine seemingly simr objects with a diameter of 1 meter breached through the ceiling. Seeing those objects, Rave''s eyes widened.

    "Alo! Convey my message! The strongest witch''s vessel is in Los Angeles!" She quickly shouted as the objects, or it would be better to call them attacks, hit her barrier.

    Boom!

    The barrier cracked after receiving the first attack.

    "Ugh!" She grunted as she put more Mana into the barrier, trying to mend it.

    However, the second attack followed suit as soon as the barrier was mended. It was stronger than before, and the crack became bigger.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    [Rave!!] Alo shouted, but the third attack hit the barrier, destroying it and sending theptop flying away. It crashed on the wall and destroyed it.

    Rave was left alone in the cave, looking at the six white attacks that kepting to her.

    "I won''t die this easily!" She tapped her staff against the ground three times as the fourth attack hit her, sending her flying and crashing into the wall away from the attack.

    Boom! Crash!

    "Guak!"

    Miraculously, her body wasn''t too injured. The Magic that she used earlier strengthened her body, and she could avoid some bad injuries thanks to that. "Hahaha¡­ I am alive."

    She had beenunched away from the area of the attacks. Thinking that she was saved, she pulled her body from the ground.

    But, she immediately realized that her expectation was far from the truth.

    The rest of the attacks suddenly bent midway,ing toward her at the same time, each stronger than the first four attacks.

    As a Witch that had a vast knowledge of Magic, Rave immediately knew the nature of the attack.

    "Grr! It''s homing!"

    She quickly pointed her staff at the remaining attacks and activated her Magic. A giant Fireball appeared from the tip of the staff, and she immediatelyunched it, hoping to stop the attack by shing them against her.

    "Fireball!"

    The Fireball made its way toward the attack, only to be engulfed in it and made the attack stronger than before.

    "How can this be?!!" Her shout resounded in the cave, followed by five explosions as the attacks hit her.

    Boom Boom Boom!

    A few seconds after the explosions, the cave was destroyed entirely. Debris and dust filled the area. One area visibly got roughed up more than the others.

    A pale, slender hand slowly crawled out from the pile of debris. The hand was covered in blood, and it slowly pushed away the debris that covered it.

    The owner of the hand was surprisingly Rave. One way or another, she managed to survive the attack due to the Magic that she used earlier.

    After trying a few times to push the debris away, she finally managed to crawl out entirely.

    Her dress was ripped, and her body was covered in cuts and injuries. Her staff was destroyed, and her left arm was reduced to a stump.

    "Guh. Tsk!" She clicked her tongue and spat the blood in her mouth. Her pretty face was half-destroyed, charred beyond recognition. "Who dares to attack me?!"

    Her base was supposed to be secure without anyone knowing about it. Heck, the world probably was ignorant of their existence. But, someone had purposely sent an attack toward her base, even leaving her to be half-dead.

    If not for her attempt to defend herself and her perception of Mana, she would surely die in the surprise attack.

    "I need to get out of here fast." She muttered, holding her left hand with her remaining hand to prevent blood loss.

    Her legs were fractured, but she kept dragging them to leave the ce. It would be bad if someone saw her in her state, especially someone who had attacked her earlier.

    ''If only I am as skilled in Healing Magic as Alo¡­ Damn it!''

    Each Witch had its own specialty in Magic, much like Awakeners. And Rave''s specialty was unsurprisingly Magic that used Null Attribute Mana such as Mana Bullet and Barrier like earlier. That was the only reason why she managed to survive the attack.

    She could use other Magic, but not as skillful as Magic with Null Attribute Mana.

    "This is really a mess¡­" Rave muttered as she kept walking to the forest in the distance.

    ***

    [28 April 2023, 01:10 PM]

    [Hospital ¨C San Diego]

    I felt like floating in the middle of darkness as soon as I lost my consciousness. I didn''t know what had happened, but I knew one thing that I should do. And that was to open my eyes, and I did.

    The first thing I did was open my eyes slowly, and suddenly, I felt a bad headache attacking my head.

    "Ugh." I grunted in pain in response and held my head with my hand.

    Only then did I notice that I was sitting on a chair in the middle of a hallway with white walls. A few people wearing hospital gowns walked past me, and I noticed a person with ab coat in the distance.

    ''Am I in hospital?''

    As I thought that, a voice called out to me from my side.

    "You are awake?"

    I looked to my side and noticed someone familiar wearing a rather tattered suit sitting beside me.<sub> </sub>

    "You are¡­ the one that I met that time," I said, pretending to be ignorant of his identity.

    "Indeed. Our first meeting couldn''t be any worse, but let me introduce myself. I am a captain of Squad 4 from the Association. My name is Frank William. I already know yours, so you don''t need to introduce yourself." Frank said.

    I nodded while secretly checking all my belongings.

    My [Horus'' Sunsses] was still on my face, and I still had my mask on, so they didn''t take all of them.

    Usually, when someone fainted, the doctors or others with some medical knowledge would open that someone''s mask to allow fresh air to move easier. But, there was no sign that my mask was removed.

    Frank sneered, seemingly realizing that I was checking my mask. Then he said, "Don''t worry. I didn''t remove your mask. I stopped my subordinate from opening your mask because I know you want to keep your privacy."

    "How thoughtful of you," I spoke. "But¡­" I stopped for a while.

    Anything in this world had some cost. So, in exchange for honoring my privacy, Frank must''ve something in mind.

    I had some guesses in my mind, but most probably, ''He either wanted to ask me about what I did on that mountain, or he wanted to ask me about who shot the arrow that froze theke.''

    Because I was here, I bet he also sent someone to check the ce where my Sternded. I hoped to get some information about the Witch too. Maybe they also found Zaiden too

    If she was somehow skilled in making a Barrier, she might survive against Ster. I couldn''t be sure before I was sure she had died.

    "Tell me what you need from me," I asked seriously.

    My Mana had yet to recover fully, so I was still a bit dizzy andnguid, but I needed to take care of Frank first before resting.

    "I am d that you are smart," Frank said, taking his phone from his suit pocket.

    He then operated his phone before showing the screen to me. What he showed me was a broken Dark Arrow, or rather, a part of its arrowhead.

    "My subordinate found this in a ce where an unknown attacknded. For your information, the ce was an absolute mess. It destroyed a part of a canyon, but we found nothing in that ce that could serve as a clue beside this dark thing and¡­"

    Frank swiped the phone screen, changing the image to another. This time, it was an image of a destroyedptop.

    "Thisptop. There is also a trace of blood among the debris of the destroyed canyon. Do you know something about it?"

    So they did indeed check the canyon where the Witch hid. And, the worst happened as they didn''t find the Witch anywhere, but they did find the blood trace, huh?

    I couldn''t tell the Association about the Witch''s existence, not yet at least. The world wasn''t ready for the knowledge about the Witch''s existence yet, especially when the Demon had just re-appeared.

    At the same time, I didn''t want to hide what I was capable of. I certainly hated being looked down upon. So I answered.

    "I do know something."

    Frank''s lips curled into a smile as he put his phone back in his pocket.

    "So you did know something. Do you mind telling me about it? I did APPRECIATE your privacy, so you don''t mind telling me about who the fuck used that big attack in the middle of a city, no? Also¡­."

    Frank suddenly bowed his head slightly. "I heard from a boy that you were the one who fired the arrow that froze theke. A lot of my subordinates were saved because of you. Thank you."

    At least he was a decent human being who knew how to thank you. Also, they had found Zaiden as expected, huh. That took care of one of my worries.

    "Don''t mind it. I just did what I requested." I answered.

    He raised his head and looked at me with narrowed eyes.

    "Request? So someone did ask you toe to help us? Or, you helped us after hearing my request for reinforcement?"

    "I fired the two arrows to help with the monster outbreak. But, the request that I received was different." I raised my index finger. "Unfortunately, I can''t tell you about it, but¡­ I can tell you something that you asked."

    "That''s reasonable." Frank nodded.

    I stood up from the chair and stretched my arms before turning to Frank.

    "That ck thing in the picture is an arrow. And, I was the one who fired that ridiculous attack."

    If only I didn''t wear my mask, Frank surely would see my big grin. Flexing my power as Rai was something that I needed to do to get trust as a Mercenary.

    Also, Frank''s expression was a sight to behold. His smile froze, and then he chuckled lightly.

    "Hahaha, there is no way you are the one who fired that ridiculous attack, right?"

    "It is I who fired it," I answered seriously as I took off my sunsses, showing him my ckened left eye. "I sacrificed my eye to use that attack."

    I technically didn''t lie. To use Ster, I must know my target''s location. And to find out my target''s location, I used Horus Eyes, which blinded my left eye.

    Frank frowned as he looked at me seriously. It seemed like he believed what I said.

    Even if I was only D-Rank Awakener, an Artifact allowed people to use a big attack like what I did if they sacrificed something. So, my excuse was reasonable for him.

    "I had said that it was reasonable for you to hide the request that you took, but¡­ I must ask this, seeing that you are willing to sacrifice your eye to finish the request."

    "Go ahead. I might not answer, though."

    "Who requested you?" Frank asked.

    "Ah, that. I can''t really tell you. But, I guess you would be anxious if I said that, right?" I sneered. "Don''t worry. The request is not something illegal. It''s to kill something that''s not a Human. That''s what I can say to you."

    "Something that''s not a Human?"

    "That''s right. I hope that satisfies you." I turned around and began to walk away while waving my hand.

    "Well then, I must take my leave because it seems that something is still alive."

    "Wait!" Frank shouted from behind, trying to stop me.

    I ignored him and used the Stealth effect from my coat to disappear from his sight.

    The Witch had survived my attack, and now she knew that someone had noticed the Witch''s existence.

    She would most likely visit a Witch that could heal her injury and convey her message to the other Witches.

    ''This is turning a little bit troublesome.'' I thought. ''But well, I can''t do anything in this state. Let''s just rest and prepare for the future.''

    I exited the hospital and looked at the sky. The sun had passed my head, leaning over to the west.

    ''On the bright side, the Witch will move actively. If they approached Lily, then that meant Bathory''s Witch Factor had yet to settle on anybody. Or, she had been awakened and tried to move into the most fitting vessel.''

    "Tsk!" I clicked my tongue as I walked away. I couldn''t even try to find the surviving Witch until three days to use Horus Eyes again when my eye was healed. It was the worst situation as of now¡­ for Zaiden, that was.

    ''This situation will prove to be troublesome no matter what. I will definitely get caught in it too. No doubt about it.''

    Once again, I hoped that fucker snapped out of his dream about saving heroines and started to get stronger real quick. I, myself, couldn''t stop the Witch alone.

    A mere lie couldn''t stop their hate against betrayal and the world; they had long since they threw their trust against Humankind.

    They could only be stopped by someone with an honest feeling or someone with a fucking Loving Trait like Zaiden. Those Witches could tell our emotions after all, unlike Chloe, who could only tell a lie.

    "Now then, I should prepare my ally too. I need my little sister and my clueless Hero to get stronger. In order for me to survive in this world." I muttered in a low voice.

    ***

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