"Jeong Haein's team, successful artifact acquisition. Ending the session."

The announcement echoed throughout the ruins, signaling the end.

Only then did I relax my grip and turn my head.

All members of the opposing main team were already sprawled on the ground, and Sion was resting her hand on the artifact.

Standing beside her were Kim Daehyun and Yoon Sanghyuk, and the three of them looked completely calm.

"It's over."

I spoke to Han Iri in front of me. He didn’t seem like he wanted to keep fighting either. With exhaustion written all over his face, he walked past me to pull Ju Han-gang out from where he was lodged into the wall.

Even if he passed out, he wouldn’t be seriously injured. All training exercises had safety measures in place.

Where the artifact once stood, a portal appeared. I started walking toward it to leave.

That’s when Sion suddenly came running toward me.

"Haein, are you okay?"

She rushed over and scanned my face and body, checking me thoroughly.

She must’ve gotten worried seeing me lower my head at the end.

"I'm fine."

"You're really fine? Nothing happened?"

"Probably just the elixir I drank last time. I guess the effects were better than expected."

"Really...?"

Sion looked me over again, then nodded and shifted her gaze to my wrist.

There, the obsidian bracelet gleamed with a dark light.

I had only just noticed it myself.

What the hell?

"Why is this doing that?"

I looked at the sparkling bracelet and asked.

"Well, maybe it’s finally kicking in? It’s a ‘Vitality Enhancement’ bracelet after all."

Sion softly brushed her fingertips across the bracelet as she muttered.

"Yeah, seems fine...."

I walked toward the portal with her.

Yoon Sanghyuk and Kim Daehyun had already gone ahead.

Just as I was about to follow them, Sion moved in close beside me.

"Want me to support you?"

"No, it’s not that ba—"

"Okay."

Sion didn’t even let me finish before linking her arm through mine.

I tried to gently pull away, but she didn’t budge, so I gave up and just walked alongside her.

Once we stepped into the portal, the scenery shifted rapidly, revealing the training ground.

All the seated students turned their attention toward us.

We must’ve been the last team to return.

With her arm still linked through mine, Sion waved at the other students.

As if she enjoyed the attention, her expression radiated confidence.

‘What is she even doing...’

Every pair of eyes was on us, and now there was even a beautiful girl clinging to me.

It felt like we were returning victorious from war—so embarrassing I could barely stand it.

I quickly headed for our seats and whispered quietly to Sion.

"Let go."

Unbothered by my request, she simply moved her lips without changing her expression.

"You’ll have to get used to it."

"What the hell are you even talking about."

She didn’t answer that one.

In the end, we made it back to our seats like that.

She used to be sweet, but she’s been doing things her own way more and more lately.

As I sat down, Han Iri emerged from the portal carrying Ju Han-gang on his back.

"He’s awake."

"Who?"

"The guy being carried—Ju Han-gang."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Yoon Sanghyuk, sitting next to me, said it casually.

Apparently too embarrassed to stick around, they both seemed to be heading straight to the infirmary.

"First mock dungeon class today. You’ve all worked hard."

The instructor stepped onto the platform and addressed us.

"Let’s give a round of applause to Team 8, who acted as the scouting party and shared their knowledge."

Clap clap clap

A brief wave of applause followed. After a few announcements about upcoming classes, the instructor shut the portal and officially ended the session.

One by one, students began leaving the training ground.

As I started to walk out, a few students passed by and spoke to me.

"Jeong Haein, right? You were good out there."

"You’d have gotten in even without a recommendation, huh?"

"Haein, can I maybe get your number...?"

I’d intended to leave, but ended up stopping and listening to their brief comments.

It was very Gaon—skill earns respect.

At the armory by the door, I returned my spear and stepped into the hallway. Sion stayed close the entire time.

She said since we were in the same class now, we might as well eat dinner together.

I had planned to just head to my dorm and rest.

‘I mean, we’re not in the same class, and this might be the only time we get to eat together...’

...So I gave in.

Once we stepped outside, I saw the sky through the windows—it was right before sunset. A lot more time had passed than I thought.

On the way to the campus cafeteria, flashy posters stuck to the wall caught our ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ attention.

We stopped to take a look.

‘Clubs...’

They were advertisements promoting different student clubs.

At Gaon, students are encouraged to join at least one club.

Although they say it’s ‘encouraged,’ the mileage points you earn from club activities basically make it mandatory.

"I do need to sign up for something..."

Because the club choices of key characters change with each playthrough in the original game, I had planned to skip the first week’s sign-up period and wait until the correction and additional application periods to see who had joined what before making my decision.

The other main characters had probably already signed up.

Starting tomorrow, I’d look into it and—

“You haven’t signed up yet, Haein? I haven’t either.”

I turned to look at her.

“No, not yet. I’ve been too out of it.”

“Then want to do this one together?”

She gestured toward one of the posters.

“Let’s sign up for this, just the two of us. Doesn’t it sound fun?”

Where was it?

Curious about the club, I read the poster she pointed at.

[We relieve your academic stress through travel.]

The club she had in mind was a travel club.

But hold on...

In the bottom right corner, next to an arrow, was a small note: See reverse side for details.

A strange feeling crept over me, so I flipped the poster around.

[Only couples may apply. With your beloved partner, enjoy—]

The message, written alongside some overly suggestive heart symbols, left little to the imagination.

“...What?”

Memories from the game I’d buried deep came flooding back.

Ah, this one.

The “X Club.”

It was one of the easter eggs.

At a glance, it seemed harmless—but even the front was already suspicious.

A club perfectly tailored to Gaon’s vibe: encouraging romance and club activities at the same time.

There was even an event in the game where, if the protagonist applied with a specific heroine, it led to an awkward and chaotic episode.

Besides, all the new students were already over 19, so there was technically no issue.

Sion seemed to have suggested it to me without knowing any of that.

I flipped the poster over and showed her the back.

For about ten seconds, Sion said nothing.

Then her face turned bright red as she frantically covered the poster.

“...I didn’t know.”

I had my doubts, but yeah—she clearly didn’t know.

We’d known each other for ten years under the same roof with her grandfather.

"Yeah, I know."

We were practically family. She would never have suggested something like that if she’d known.

Probably. No, definitely.

***

After scalding my whole body with hot water, I came out into the living room.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

It had been a long, draining day.

No one knows my body better than I do.

After ten years of training, I’ve learned one thing about it.

In terms of explosive output or short-term performance, it’s pretty solid. Even the old man acknowledged that.

But the problem is...

“Terrible stamina...”

Not that it’s awful, but it’s not exactly great either.

If I keep pushing too hard, I burn out fast.

So yeah, my biggest weakness is drawn-out battles.

I sat cross-legged in the center of my dorm room and started observing my condition.

Last time at the hospital, I’d done a basic self-diagnosis—but clearly I hadn’t caught everything.

‘Let’s really take a look.’

I closed my eyes and guided my mana more deeply.

In an instant, it surged wildly within me like a raging vortex.

It tore around inside like a beast out of control.

The elixir I drank earlier had definitely increased the total amount of mana in my body.

But at the same time, it had overinflated the flow itself, making it difficult to control and maintain.

‘So that’s the issue.’

Just as I was racking my brain on what to do next—

The obsidian bracelet on my wrist began to glow faintly.

Its distinctive sheen pulsed rhythmically, like a heartbeat, and my mana stilled in response to that light.

The bracelet began reining in the chaotic flow of mana coursing through my body, pulling it together with firm precision.

“...Huh?”

I looked down at my wrist, blinking in surprise.

The rampaging mana started following the new current formed by the bracelet, gradually settling down.

Like a violent tide turning into calm waves, the turbulence within me slowly eased into a quiet, controlled flow.

It felt like a dam expertly regulating a raging stream through finely-tuned sluice gates.

I opened my palm and lightly enveloped it in internal energy to test my senses.

The stability. The force. The clarity.

Everything was completely different from before.

“Heh.”

A laugh escaped without meaning to.

No one knows my body better than I do.

I slowly brushed my fingers across the bracelet and murmured.

“Old man, that was a damn good call.”

This was the moment my weakness disappeared.