“What’s this?”

I hadn’t gone for my morning run the past few days, unintentionally skipping it, so today I came out earlier and increased the intensity.

‘I’m not even out of breath.’

Was it the effect of the elixir?

Normally, running at this pace would leave me winded—it would’ve been too much for a morning workout—but right now, it felt light.

Or maybe... no way...

I looked down at the vitality-boosting bracelet on my wrist.

Was it this thing? To be honest, I hadn’t felt any noticeable difference up until now, but maybe the effects were finally starting to show.

“Huu...”

Behind me, Yu Hana stopped and caught her breath, matching my pace.

Her breathing had a strangely soft rhythm to it.

She always kept herself perfectly composed, but today, she looked just a bit tighter, a little more flushed.

Her body, warmed from the run, gave off a subtle heat that contrasted with the chilly air around us.

“Your condition seems good today.”

I turned my head and looked at her as I responded.

“Yeah, not bad.”

Catching my breath, I asked her,

“By the way, were there any important classes while I was gone?”

She lightly touched her chin with her index finger, thinking.

“Mm... just theory stuff? But you’re good at that, right?”

“...Yeah.”

She wasn’t wrong, but how’d she know?

“Don’t separate theory from practice.”

That was something the old man always emphasized. I used to scoff at that.

“I’m the one who created all these settings, you ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) know?”

But that thought didn’t last long.

"Due to the dungeon break, high-density mana was released externally, causing spatial distortion. If you need to rescue civilians isolated in a phase dimension, what’s the minimum mana threshold required to extract them without collapsing the space?"

“...Excuse me?”

From that day on, I studied the settings I had made as if my life depended on it.

‘That was brutal.’

Ah, right.

Speaking of settings, something just came to mind.

“Yu Hana.”

“Yeah?”

It was about time for Yu Hana’s main storyline to unfold.

And the signs were expected to begin showing around now.

We were on good terms, and the mood wasn’t bad. Now seemed like the perfect time. I casually threw out a question.

“Hey, have you been troubled by anything lately? Any problems or concerns?”

“No, not at all?... Ah.”

She shook her head firmly, then suddenly paused. A sly little smile crept onto her face. Then she wiped away the playfulness and put on a somber expression.

“Mm... Actually, lately...”

Just as I expected. It had already started.

“My heart keeps pounding, and my face gets all hot. Do you know why that is?”

She took a step closer to me. The warmth radiating from her post-run body subtly reached me. As her face came near, her breath brushed against my ear.

‘Huh?’

I... wasn’t sure what that was about.

Originally, Yu Hana came from a prestigious martial arts family.

At this point in the story, she was supposed to start interacting with strong students, feeling a new sense of ambition and facing internal challenges.

So I assumed whatever was troubling her would be related to swordsmanship.

Now how was I supposed to answer this...

While I hesitated, replaying her words in my head, Yu Hana looked at my reaction and let out a teasing chuckle.

“Actually... that’s not it. I’ve just been thinking a lot about swordsmanship lately.”

Ah, there it is.

I nodded inwardly in relief.

“Then, instead of just running during morning exercise, how about we start doing partner training?”

I asked her directly, without beating around the bush.

It was a common training method in this world—partners practicing different martial arts or using different weapons, compensating for each other’s blind spots, and growing together through mutual sparring.

She used a sword. I used a spear. We’d be a perfect match.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

And the longer the training, the better the results. Starting early maximized its benefits—this was something I absolutely had to make happen.

She knew my identity. My alias, the “Silent Ghost,” had clearly piqued her ambition and curiosity.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be showing up for morning training every day like this.

‘Accept it.’

My inner voice urged.

Yu Hana looked like she was seriously considering it.

“Nope.”

It was the last answer I’d expected.

I started to think maybe I’d rushed things too much... but then, the corners of her lips curled slightly.

“Morning exercise time is for exercise. So...”

She tilted her head slightly and met my eyes. In those clear pupils was a dense, unmistakable intent. A gentle smile lingered on her lips.

“Let’s just meet up separately, just the two of us. As for the time...”

Her gaze grew intense.

“Late evening sounds best, don’t you think?”

***

After washing up, I checked my watch. One message notification had popped up.

[Mr. Jeong Haein, the item sent from the Japanese side has arrived. Feel free to visit anytime.]

“Already?”

Faster processing than I expected. This worked out well.

I had already planned a training regimen for the person who would inherit the Dongbaek Sword.

The problem was figuring out how to hand over a relic of immeasurable value—something essentially priceless—to Yu Hana.

If it were up to me, I’d just give it to her outright. The only question was whether someone as proud as she is would accept it.

‘I’ll think more about that later.’

I brought the warm water to my lips and switched the watch screen.

I hadn’t checked the stock price of Glory Corporation in the past few days and figured I should.

—Shkkk

As I looked at the screen, I couldn’t help but spit out the water I was drinking.

“What... What the hell?”

[Mr. Jeong Haein's Purchase Value]

[1,245,242,186 KRW]

My balance, which had stood at 1.2 billion won...

[Mr. Jeong Haein's Current Evaluation Value]

[2,132,143,167 KRW]

...had suddenly climbed to over 2.1 billion.

I quickly checked what had happened.

[Glory Hospital enters partnership with Arcadia Order... Large-scale deployment of healing specialist priests expected]

[Glory Pharmaceuticals succeeds in developing new drug... Anticipation at peak]

Turns out, the day I bought in, Glory had started churning out good news nonstop starting the very next day.

Pharmaceuticals... Hospitals... Electronics...

Every single one of them was a subsidiary currently owned by Kang Arin.

Kang Arin’s abilities weren’t limited to just combat—she excelled in management too.

Judging from the nature of the positive news, it seemed her signature drive was now in full force.

With her brother Kang Yuseong dead, it looked like her area of managerial control had expanded significantly.

“More money is always better than just money.”

This was a good thing. I couldn’t gather every elixir and artifact on my own.

Eventually, the time would come when money would be the only way forward.

In that sense, today’s situation wasn’t bad at all.

‘The time...’

I checked my watch—it was almost time to head to the academy.

“Shit.”

Still couldn’t get used to this, no matter what.

***

There was a brief theory class in the morning.

I fully intended to confront Cheon Yeoul today. Purely out of curiosity about her intentions.

But even by the end of the morning class, she hadn’t shown up.

Meanwhile, Johan—who’d been beaten up by Kang Arin—was already in the lecture hall.

‘Tough bastard, huh.’

Guess his recovery’s just as fast as you’d expect from a Hero.

The afternoon class was supposed to take place at the training grounds. Today was a joint class with another group.

I was deep in thought when I arrived at the training ground.

Maybe I’d cut it a little too close—everyone’s attention turned to me as I walked in.

‘Sion?’

Across the room in the waiting area, Sion was waving at me.

It looked like today’s joint class was with Class A, the one Sion belonged to.

She patted the empty seat next to her, gesturing for me to come over.

But thanks to her overly friendly nature, there were already plenty of people gathered around her.

‘Yeah, no way I’m getting through that crowd.’

I shook my head and took the nearest available seat. Sion immediately looked disappointed.

Shortly after, the door opened and the instructor walked in. It was someone I hadn’t seen before.

“Hello. I’m Choi Eunha, and I’ll be in charge of the mock dungeon conquest class. Nice to meet you.”

Polite clapping followed, and she continued.

“In the mock dungeon class, we’ll conduct training you’ve likely never experienced before.”

The moment she said “mock dungeon,” murmurs spread among the students.

Mock dungeons were extremely resource-intensive to create, and maintaining them was only possible at elite academies like Gaon.

So even among students here, firsthand experience was rare.

“Because of that, not everyone will participate in today’s class.”

“Instead, eight ‘seed’ students selected based on their performance in the last unit class will lead the teams through the dungeon.”

“The remaining students will observe and learn.”

Due to the high difficulty of mock dungeons, today’s session would focus on eight of the top students.

“Now, I’ll announce the seeds. For reference, Student Cheon Yeoul is absent today and has been excluded.”

“First seed, Class B, Yu Hana, Rank 5.”

“Second seed, Class B, Johan, Rank 2.”

Each time a name was called, everyone’s attention turned to the named student.

“Third seed, Class B, Kang Arin, Rank 1.”

“Fourth seed, Class A, Han Iri, Rank 13.”

The roll call continued for a few more names.

All the selected seeds were notable students with outstanding skills.

“Seventh seed, Class A, Ma Haejin, Rank 29.”

Before the final name was called, the training ground grew quiet.

“Eighth and final seed. Class B, Jeong Haein.”

A brief silence swept across the room.

Then, all eyes in the training ground turned toward me.

“There is no ranking.”

The instructor added, prompting some students to wear puzzled expressions, others to smirk, and still others to openly show displeasure.

‘Already exhausting.’

And I quietly accepted every single gaze I could feel.