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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Whoa, the case itself is insane. The craftsmanship…”
“That’s gotta be A-rank or higher. Worth billions, at least.”
The other students were buzzing, and understandably so.
Gold engravings adorned the case, and even a small mana stone was embedded in it.
It screamed luxury.
Unlike the others, who were practically drooling, my mind was racing.
‘Why is this here?’
It wasn’t supposed to appear for another two months.
My eyes naturally drifted towards Lee Seol.
“Wow… it’s beautiful.”
She was gazing at the case, mesmerized.
Lee Seol was out.
Then…
For a brief moment, my gaze landed on Choi Ah-hyun.
“Joo-yeon, take a picture from this angle!”
“Okay!”
She was busy taking pictures, so she was out too.
And she didn’t have that kind of money anyway.
I pulled out my phone.
[Han Yuri]
The call connected before it even rang once.
“Is this yours?”
[What the hell are you talking about?]
“Eve.”
[Eve?]
She seemed clueless.
“Never mind.”
[Hey, wait…]
I hung up.
‘What the hell…?’
This sense of déjà vu.
This inexplicable unease.
I’d felt it once before.
During the team draw.
Back then, the future had shifted drastically.
But this time, I had a suspect.
‘That dragon mother-daughter duo?’
There was no other explanation.
Money aside, no one knew the exact location of Eve except for its previous owner.
So, only a dragon could have retrieved it.
‘This is unsettling.’
I was grateful for the gift, but…
I couldn’t understand why they’d given it to me.
I was just a human.
Not someone they’d usually take an interest in.
As I pondered this, Ji-hoon clapped me on the back.
“Dude, you hit the jackpot! Getting a gift like this! Which guild did you join?”
“I didn’t join any.”
“Huh? Really? Then what’s this? They just gave it to you?”
It was a reasonable assumption.
Many students received guild offers during the festival.
He probably thought it was a recruitment gift.
“Anyway, it’s still awesome. Look at that gold! Makes my mouth water.”
Everyone was looking at me enviously.
They all seemed to assume the case was mine.
And they were right.
‘No one else sits here.’
The back row.
You couldn’t see the board properly, and the wall behind made it cramped.
Lee Seol and Choi Ah-hyun sat there occasionally, using the excuse of being class assistants, but the case was placed exactly where I always sat.
When I reached for the case…
Slap!
Someone swatted my hand away.
“Seong-hyun, don’t touch things that aren’t yours. That’s stealing.”
“Yeah, yeah. There’s no name on it. You can’t just assume it’s yours.”
Lee Jin-seok and Kim Cheol-hyeong.
Both from the first division, and both had always looked down on me.[1]
‘Even after the mental therapy, some resentment still remains.’
No matter how effective the skill, months of looking down on the second division couldn’t just disappear overnight.
I was about to retort when Ji-hoon stepped in and frowned.
“What the hell are you talking about? Seong-hyun’s the only one who sits here. Of course it’s his!”
“Huh? Why would it be his? Is his name on it?”
Jin-seok dramatically examined the case, and Cheol-hyeong burst out laughing.
“Haha! That’s hilarious! And think about it, even if a guild did give him a gift, they’d send someone to deliver it properly, especially something this expensive. They wouldn’t just leave it here.”
“Exactly! Cheol-hyeong’s right!”
They were playing good cop, bad cop.
But they had a point.
‘Who in their right mind would leave something this valuable on a desk?’
It would be easy to steal.
This further solidified my suspicion about the dragons.
They weren’t exactly known for their understanding of human social norms.
“And besides, it’s too good for a bus-riding loser like him. Cheol-hyeong or I should have it.”
“Jin-seok, stop it.”
Lee Seol finally intervened, unable to watch any longer.
Even now, she wore a strained smile.
“Seol-ah, are you taking his side? I’m just being realistic. I worked hard to reach E-rank, so I deserve it more than some leech who rode Han Yuri’s coattails to D-rank.”
“Jin-seok…”
“Honestly, it’s ridiculous that he seduced Han Yuri to get carried, and now he wants this too? A worm should know its place…”
“Jin-seok.”
“…Huh?”
She was smiling.
Lee Seol was smiling.
Her usual smile.
But it carried an unspoken pressure that silenced everyone.
I sensed things were about to escalate, so I stepped forward.
“Fine. You take it.”
“What?”
“You take it.”
Jin-seok was stunned.
He clearly hadn’t expected me to say that.
I opened the case and tossed the sword at him.
A pure white blade and a black hilt.
Sleek design and understated elegance.
Jin-seok caught the sword awkwardly and let out a nervous laugh.
“Y-yeah. Something like this should be wielded by someone with talent.”
He grabbed the hilt and swung the sword a few times.
Swish!
The sound of air being sliced brought a wide grin to his face.
“Ha! It fits perfectly! This sword has found its rightful owner… huh?”
The change was sudden.
“W-what the… this thing won’t let go!”
He tried to drop the sword, shaking his arm, but it was stuck fast, as if glued to his hand.
“Hey, hey! What’s going on?!”
“I-I can’t let go!”
He panicked.
He was losing his composure.
He slammed the sword against the floor, but it was no use.
And then, it happened.
“Gah!”
“What the…!”
A red aura emanated from the sword and slowly crawled up Jin-seok’s arm.
“Aaagh! Help me!”
A few drops of blood splattered on the floor.
But that was just the beginning.
“The… the sword is changing…!”
The pure white blade began to take on a faint red hue.
Bloodsucking.
Eve’s special ability.
“Help me! Someone help me!”
“Shit… w-what do we do?!”
Lee Seol and Choi Ah-hyun started to move.
‘That’s enough.’
They didn’t know how to handle Eve.
They’d only make things worse.
[Equivalent Exchange Activated!]
[Consuming 3% Pain Points to Enhance Physical Abilities!]
I reached Jin-seok in a flash, pulled out my dagger, and slashed downwards.
Slice–!
“Aaaaagh!”
His hand was severed cleanly.
The sword, as if it had never been attached, clattered to the floor.
“Got any potions? Heal him.”
“Huh? Oh!”
Cheol-hyeong frantically grabbed Jin-seok’s arm and sprayed it with a potion.
The clean cut would heal quickly.
I picked up Eve.
Lee Seol and Choi Ah-hyun screamed.
“Hyeon-ah!”
“Seong-hyun, what are you doing?! Put that down!”
“It’s fine.”
“Huh?”
Eve, which had just been trying to devour its wielder, was now completely docile.
“Did it acknowledge you as its owner?”
“Seems like it.”
Jin-seok’s voice, filled with disbelief, reached me.
“No way… how can that trash…!”
I walked towards him and offered him the hilt of Eve.
“Try holding it again.”
“Eek!”
His face paled, and he scrambled backwards.
‘Idiot.’
I twirled the sword, and the red aura surged.
Then it transformed into a ring.
“Whoa! That’s so pretty! Seong-hyun, let me take a picture!”
“Hey! Let me touch it!”
Ignoring Choi Ah-hyun and Ji-hoon, who were trying to grab the ring, I reached into the case.
I saw something I hadn’t noticed before.
Underneath where the sword had been resting, a single sheet of paper lay folded.
‘Ancient script?’
I’d seen it a few times in the previous timeline, but I didn’t remember much.
I barely knew English, let alone ancient languages.
But the symbol at the bottom confirmed my suspicions.
‘A dragon.’
A dragon emblem.
Specifically, the emblem of a Gold Dragon.
Like the Witches, dragons remained hidden, so I was the only one who recognized the symbol.
They probably thought I wouldn’t notice since I wasn’t supposed to know about my regression.
So the little emblem was a cute touch.
‘I should visit their shop and boost their sales sometime.’
I chuckled at the thought of teasing Yoo-cheong and tucked the case under my arm.
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On the way back from the festival.
Yoo-cheong asked her mother with her voice filled with curiosity.
“Mom, what do you think of him?”
“Of him?”
“That Oppa. Lee Seong-hyun.”
Yoo-cheol smiled wryly at her daughter’s question.
‘Cheong-ah still has a lot to learn.’
Being a hatchling, she still lacked situational awareness.
“He seems alright. But let’s observe him for a while longer.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Seong-hyun-ssi is still finding his footing. We can approach him later when things settle down. And Cheong-ah, you don’t see him as a man, do you?”
“Well… not really…”
“Then it’s fine.”
As late as possible.
As far into the future as possible.
Even after the bomb exploded, it wouldn’t be too late.
“He likes that Eve sword, right? Should we find it and give it to him as a gift?”
“That’s a good idea, but how about we make one for him ourselves? Men like handmade gifts from women.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Yoo-cheong fell into thought, probably contemplating what kind of weapon to make.
Yoo-cheol sighed in relief.
‘I’ve bought some time.’
The bomb would explode soon.
And everything around it would be reduced to ashes.
Demonic Realm.
Beings capable of destroying the world were gathered there.
Beings far more powerful than dragons.
‘Especially… that woman…’
If she hadn’t sensed the Dragon Fear, she would have attacked them.
Even though they hadn’t shown any hostility.
As she reviewed her plans, she stopped walking.
“Mom?”
“…Cheong-ah, I forgot something. Can you wait here for me?”
“Okay. Take your time.”
“Sorry. I’ll be back soon.”
Pretending to head back to the Academy, she quickly warped home.
‘My barrier was broken!’
A barrier that wouldn’t fall even to ten S-rank Hunters.
She rushed home and found…
…the courtyard filled with the corpses of A-rank Wyverns.
Brains and entrails were splattered on the walls and roof, and blood stained the windows.
And in the middle of the courtyard, a photo album.
Yoo-cheol opened it with trembling hands.
The album, which should have been filled with pictures of her and Yoo-cheong…
“…”
…was missing Yoo-cheong.
Her daughter’s face had been ripped out of every single picture.
Torn with bloody hands, leaving behind traces of flesh and blood.
It was a warning.
A final warning to leave her territory.
Yoo-cheol gritted her teeth.
And on the last page…
[Get out.]
The message was scrawled in blood.
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[1] First division and Second division students seem better than 1st rank and 2nd rank students.
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