The café was, as always, packed with people.

“So, let me get this straight... She looked at you, smiled, and then just burst into tears out of nowhere?”

“Yeah.”

Ha Sion rubbed her chin, deep in thought.

“Well... There are a lot of possibilities, but from a woman’s perspective...”

This. This was exactly what I needed. Consulting Sion was definitely the right call.

“She’s just crazy—I mean, she must be going through a lot. If I were in her shoes, I might’ve done the same.”

“...Would she really have something that heavy on her mind?”

At my casual response, Sion’s eyes widened.

Then, without saying another word, she pulled up something on her smartwatch and kept her eyes fixed on the screen as she spoke.

“You didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

What was I supposed to know?

—Ding.

A message notification popped up on my smartwatch.

Sion had sent me something.

I tapped on it, and a news article opened up.

[Corporate Heir Kang Yuseong, Son of ‘Glory,’ Killed in Demon Attack.]

“...What?”

What the fuck?

Kang Yuseong.

Kang Arin’s older brother.

In the original game, he was an important figure. Not as an ally, but as a villain.

He was a collaborator who worked with the demons.

“You seriously didn’t know? That’s why she couldn’t even attend the entrance ceremony.”

Sion’s words barely registered as I blinked and reread the article.

Kang Yuseong?

A character who could die a hundred times and I still wouldn’t care. In fact, his death was a good thing.

From a player’s perspective, he was nothing but a pain in the ass.

When planning my strategy, I had even considered killing him first myself.

But the problem wasn’t just that he died.

It was when he died.

In the original game, Kang Yuseong only met his end after attempting to assassinate Kang Arin.

He tried to eliminate her when her genius talent started threatening his position as heir.

That’s when he was exposed and killed by Sung Siwoo, following the standard villain arc.

"Cause of death: Multiple magic-inflicted wounds to the abdomen and forehead...."

"The Arcadia Temple, which performed the autopsy, reported finding strong traces of demonic mana at the scene."

Arcadia. The temple Cheon Yeoul belongs to.

A place specializing in healing and forensic magic. They were often involved in verifying cases like this.

But this didn’t make sense.

The demons had barely managed to sink their claws into an heir of Glory Corporation.

And now, they just decided to kill him themselves?

No way.

The demons aren’t that stupid.

There was no reason for them to dispose of such a valuable pawn.

Sion continued speaking.

“Anyway, forget about her for now—”

“Sion.”

I cut her off.

She froze, blinking at me.

A hint of red crept onto her face, and her voice turned slightly flustered.

“W-What? Why?”

“I have to go. Thanks for today.”

On my way back to the dorm, my mind spun with thoughts.

There was no way this was just a coincidence.

Too many things didn’t add up.

It was hard to believe this was the work of an individual.

And I couldn’t think of a single person capable of pulling this off alone.

That meant the culprit was either a team or a guild.

Someone powerful enough to assassinate a corporate heir, even one involved with demons.

Someone skilled enough to disguise the true cause of death and hide their tracks flawlessly.

There were only two groups capable of such a feat.

One was ‘Glory’s’ elite guild, Vanguard Team Glory.

...Yeah, right.

That made no fucking sense.

That left only one possibility.

A group I was familiar with.

A group closest to me.

I pulled out my smartwatch and scrolled to the very bottom of my contact list.

[Park Gwangcheol]

Should I call him or not?

...Yeah. I should.

If anyone knew something, it was him.

—Ring...

“Hello?”

Before the first ring even finished, the call was answered.

What, does this guy just sit around waiting for my calls?

“Well, well! The kid actually called me. I’m touched.”

“I’m not a kid.”

This was why I hated calling him.

“Hah, fine, fine. So? What’s up? Someone at school messing with you?”

“It’s not that. Hey, do you know about Kang Yuseong’s murder?”

“...Of course. I heard he got taken out by some demon.”

“That wasn’t a demon, was it?”

Silence.

A heavy, unnatural silence.

Then, finally, he spoke.

“The temple said it was a demon. What would we know?”

He wasn’t going to answer easily.

I could tell. He was hiding something.

In situations like this, vague questions don’t work.

I needed to go straight for the jugular.

“Was it the old man?”

“Ah, shit...”

A deep sigh came through the smartwatch.

Park Gwangcheol hesitated for a moment before answering.

“...I don’t know how you figured it out, but no. It wasn’t us.”

“We knew Kang Yuseong was working with them, but we didn’t think it was time to take him out yet.”

So it wasn’t them.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Park Gwangcheol might act casual, but he wasn’t loose-lipped.

If he said they didn’t do it, I believed him.

“Then do you know who did it?”

“...No clue. Seriously.”

His voice dropped slightly.

“Damn it... Kid, how the hell did you figure this out?”

This time, his tone carried a new level of seriousness.

“...It just didn’t add up. You know I have good instincts.”

“...Right. You’re a reincarnator, after all.”

“Listen, I’m only telling you this because I actually like you. Don’t tell the old man about this. Got it?”

His voice lowered with emphasis.

“Yeah, got it. The old man makes me nervous too.”

I stared blankly at my smartwatch screen.

“Alright, I’m hanging up.”

Just as Park Gwangcheol was about to end the call, I quickly spoke up.

“Wait, hold on.”

“Hm? What now?”

“Can I call you again tonight? There’s something else I need to ask.”

A brief pause.

“...We’re done talking about this. You’re still young. I can’t tell you everything.”

“No, it’s something else.”

Hearing that, he let out a small laugh.

“Oh, that’s fine then. I don’t mind. Wow, though—you actually calling me? That’s a first.”

“...Thanks.”

His teasing made me smile without thinking.

“Alright. Talk later.”

“Yeah.”

—Click.

I let out a long breath, closing my smartwatch.

So, in the end, it wasn’t them either.

And that just made things worse.

‘Shit...’

Should I just focus on the result instead of the process?

If I looked at the outcome, this was actually a win.

A dangerous sleeper agent had been eliminated before he could cause trouble.

And the old man had nothing to do with it, so there was no risk of being exposed.

Not to mention—

This was something either I or Sung Siwoo would’ve had to handle eventually.

But now? It was already done.

If I thought about it positively...

“...This is kinda lucky.”

Muttering to myself, I continued walking back to my dorm.

***

9 PM.

I was starting to feel like wrapping things up.

What had I been doing ever since I got back?

"Siwoo, do you have any idea how much effort I’m putting into this for you?"

For the sake of Sung Siwoo, who had so confidently chosen his weapon earlier today, I had been searching for a sword technique that suited him.

After digging through the lore archives, I narrowed it down to two options.

First Option: ‘Heavenly Demon Swordsmanship’

"How the hell did I end up naming this technique ‘Heavenly Demon Swordsmanship’...?"

The name might be ridiculous, but its power and risk level are anything but.

In terms of destructive potential and rarity, it was among the absolute best.

But there was a problem.

[Only those with exceptional talent can use this! If you lack talent, you’ll suffer qi deviation and die.]

That was the note I left myself ten years ago when drafting the setting.

It was literal.

This technique strictly filtered out its users.

And I still had no idea how gifted Sung Siwoo actually was. If I handed him this technique and he failed to meet the requirements... well, he’d be dead before even swinging the sword properly.

Which brought me to my second option.

Second Option: ‘Taiqing Swordsmanship’

This technique didn’t factor in talent at all.

Anyone could learn it, and it guaranteed solid results.

It was safe, reliable, and strong.

But, of course, there was a catch.

It had a ceiling.

The upper limit of growth was capped.

Still, stagnation was better than death. Besides, swordsmanship wasn’t everything.

Ideally, I’d rather have him learn the Heavenly Demon Swordsmanship.

So, I needed to find out.

Did Sung Siwoo have talent or not?

Gaon Academy had a great system.

Students could freely access recordings of their lessons through the online portal and review their own footage.

The cutting edge of education.

I searched for his name and downloaded today’s unit training footage.

[Jeong Haein]: Sung Siwoo.MP4

Then, instead of calling, I sent a message.

[Jeong Haein]: Hey, can you show this to the old man and ask what he thinks?

I debated calling but decided that a message would be better.

The old man had a knack for analyzing talent.

It sounded funny, but it was real.

He could assess a person’s potential just by watching them. That was why his team was so strong.

[Park Gwangcheol]: Huh? You could just send it yourself, and the old man would do it, right?

[Jeong Haein]: No chance.

Absolutely not.

If I asked, he’d just shower me with praise and refuse to compare me to others.

Old-fashioned bastard.

[Park Gwangcheol]: Ahaha, yeah, you’re right. All I gotta do is show him the video and ask?

[Jeong Haein]: Yeah. Please. I really need this.

[Park Gwangcheol]: Alright, alright. Anything for our youngest.

I’m not the youngest.

But I let it slide.

Time passed.

Eventually, I got a reply.

[Park Gwangcheol]: Voice Recording.mp3

...A recording?

I played the file.

It seemed like he had recorded his conversation with the old man.

- "Old man, I think I found something incredible in the Gaon database. Can you check this out?"

It was Park Gwangcheol’s voice.

Acting like a scout. Not a bad strategy.

- "...You already have Jeong Haein."

Oh.

That was kind of touching.

- "Yeah, yeah, I know. But just take a look, okay? I’m playing it now."

The sound of clashing weapons and students’ voices filled the recording.

He had started the video.

Around five minutes passed.

The audio went silent.

The silence stretched on for another ten seconds.

Then—finally—the old man spoke.

- "...Park Gwangcheol, are you fucking blind?"

...Huh?

What?

- "...Guess I must be. Did I mess up?"

- "Don’t ever show me garbage like this again. He has no real skill, but he’s full of arrogance. He’s already fundamentally broken. Why would you even consider ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ someone with no foundation like this...?"

The recording ended there.

And then, I received another message.

[Park Gwangcheol]: Haein, are you serious?

[Park Gwangcheol]: Wasn’t he at least decent? I trusted you, played the video, and got called blind for my trouble. You should’ve seen the look the old man gave me.

I couldn’t reply.

I didn’t want to.

I closed the lore archive in front of me and let out a long sigh.

“...Ah.”

There were a lot of possible outcomes.

Maybe Sung Siwoo was too reckless.

Maybe his attitude was the problem.

But there was one thing I had always assumed to be true.

The protagonist of the game always had a baseline level of talent.

That was my one unwavering belief.

And now, even that belief had crumbled.

If the old man said he had no talent—

Then he really had none.

“...Shit.”

The protagonist has no talent.