Episode 30: Adjustment (1)
As soon as they found nothing in the mountains, they seemed to have decided to descend.
It wasn’t something I needed to be concerned about, so I was heading down first when, before I knew it, they had hurriedly caught up from behind.
“…Is this really okay?”
The problem was that the team members were following behind me instead of Woo Jang-hoon.
Woo Jang-hoon trailed behind, walking quietly and distantly.
“Of course~”
Before I realized it, a female hero, who appeared to be a support-type, had come up right next to me.
She had a familiar face, one I felt I had seen a few times on TV.
With her pretty features and lively energy, she stood out.
Her name… I couldn’t remember.
“We really almost died, you know? Because of someone back there…”
She subtly turned to glance behind us, glaring at Woo Jang-hoon.
Her gaze was filled with open anger and resentment.
“By the way, are you a student somewhere? Gaon? Or Kalos?”
“Gaon.”
At my response, her eyes lit up.
“I’m from Gaon too! Can I drop the formal speech?”
She grinned playfully as she spoke.
“Go ahead.”
“Thanks! But seriously, how did you make it all the way up there? There were tons of monsters, and just two days ago, it wasn’t nearly as… I mean, the energy wasn’t nearly as intense as it was today….”
She continued, her eyes filled with curiosity.
It seemed that formal speech had been holding her back.
The descent was much smoother than expected.
There were hardly any monsters.
Even when some appeared occasionally, they were all weak and posed no threat.
Before long, we reached the foot of the mountain.
There, a massive crowd had already gathered.
Broadcast reporters, guild representatives, and agents from the Hero Association.
They had all rushed here to investigate the strange phenomenon that had occurred on Baekdu Mountain.
The scene was chaotic.
Camera flashes burst from all directions, and reporters urgently thrust microphones forward.
“Did you find any fragments?”
“What are your thoughts on this incident?”
A barrage of questions rained down.
All eyes were on the Lotus team.
And thanks to that, I was able to slip away naturally.
This was my plan all along.
If someone who looked like a young student had come down alone, they would have drawn too much attention.
But by descending with the Lotus team, all focus was naturally directed at them.
‘Thanks.’
Seizing the opportunity, I silently slipped away and made my way toward the terminal.
That was when I spotted a familiar face.
‘Kim Gil-gyu?’
He was an agent from the Association—the same person who had come to pick me up during the negotiations at Iano’s Tomb.
Upon seeing me, he froze for a moment, then quickly reached out.
“Jung Haein…!”
But at that moment—
The surging crowd pushed against him.
He tried to grab me, but his hand only sliced through empty air.
The distance between us widened in an instant.
I swiftly disappeared into the crowd.
As expected of an Association agent—his instincts were sharp.
I waved at him once as I moved away, offering a smile.
Then, silently mouthing the words—
‘I’m leaving.’
For now, I had no intention of getting caught.
***
I arrived at Baekdu Mountain on Saturday and escaped on Monday.
The timeline seemed completely twisted.
Of course, that meant I was absent from school today as well.
Living the life of a truly diligent student.
So, naturally, the place I was heading to wasn’t school.
‘So many people.’
This was Yeouido. In reality and in this world, this place was always crowded.
Skyscrapers filled the streets, with various guild signs hanging from them.
But there was one thing different—right at the center.
A massive penthouse stood tall on an enormous estate, far beyond the scale of anything else around.
And I was now standing in front of it.
I reached out to press the doorbell at the grand entrance.
—Clank!
But I didn’t even need to.
The enormous iron gate vibrated softly as it opened automatically.
It seemed the internal security system had already confirmed my identity.
Passing through the entrance, a vast garden came into view.
Well-maintained walking paths and a fountain,
A small pond and a pavilion on one side.
Despite being in the heart of the city, it was a space so quiet and serene that it felt almost unreal.
A reflection of the old man’s taste.
The main building was still a bit farther ahead.
The structure was designed so that one had to pass through the garden to reach it.
Just as I was about to move forward quietly,
I spotted a silhouette lounging comfortably on a sunbed in the yard.
‘Damn.’
I tried to slip past her without waking her up, but…
“Haein…?”
Of course, her senses were as sharp as ever.
I stopped in my tracks, my expression slightly awkward.
She lifted her sunglasses slightly, looked at me for a moment, and then—
“Haein!!”
She called out in a voice full of excitement.
Then, she immediately sprang up from the sunbed and ran toward me.
—Tight squeeze.
I instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late.
Without hesitation, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into a tight hug.
“It’s been so long since I last saw you! Since you started school~ You didn’t go today?”
A familiar scent of perfume brushed past my nose.
Her name was Sung Ara.
A member of Vanquisher.
I barely managed to wriggle out of her embrace and got straight to the point.
“Is anyone inside right now?”
Sung Ara patted my shoulder with a bright smile, then playfully placed a finger to her lips.
“Hmm… Just Gwang-chul and me.”
The people I needed most were the old man and Park Gwang-chul.
‘At least Gwang-chul is here.’
“What about the old man?”
“The Association picked him up in a car a little while ago. Probably because of Baekdu Mountain. But he should be back soon.”
It seemed best to wait.
“Thanks. I’ll head inside.”
“Wait for me~”
I opened the penthouse entrance along with Sung Ara.
Inside, it was quite noisy.
“Ah… damn… Hey, Sung Ara, did you mess with my drone again?”
A frustrated voice came from across the entrance.
Park Gwang-chul.
He was coming out of the living room holding a drone when he spotted me passing through the doorway.
For a moment, he froze in place.
His eyes widened.
And he just stared at me for a long time.
Normally, he would have already cracked a joke with a big smile.
But this time, he said nothing.
It was strangely, eerily quiet.
“…Who the hell are you?”
I furrowed my brows at his words.
“Did you forget to take your meds?”
Beside me, Sung Ara looked at him in disbelief.
But Park Gwang-chul just kept staring at me, pressing his temples with a frown.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke.
“…You are Haein.”
His gaze sharpened.
“But what the hell did you do?”
It seemed he had noticed the changes in my body.
So I decided to be honest.
I could trust these people.
“I think I absorbed a Fragment.”
Their eyes widened at my words.
“…What?”
The air grew tense and cold.
***
Through the machine Park Gwang-chul had built, I completed a physical examination.
The result—there were no abnormalities in my body.
But to confirm everything else, I now stood in the middle of the underground combat training room.
A massive training dummy loomed before me.
It was a benchmark I had personally set for myself.
—Haein, are you really going to do this?
At its core, the dummy contained Dark attribute mana,
Making it difficult to inflict proper damage with standard attacks.
My plan was simple:
If Sung Siwoo absorbed a Fragment in the future and managed to destroy this dummy, it would serve as proof that he had fully assimilated the power.
And now, I was going to test that standard on myself.
—Difficulty Level 7, Acid Reaper activation.
Beyond the reinforced glass, Sung Ara and Park Gwang-chul watched me from a distance.
Their eyes were filled with concern and tension.
The dummy’s difficulty level was 7.
At least two active Rank 5 heroes would typically be needed to take it down.
Considering that the average graduate from Gaon Academy ranked around 4, this was a formidable opponent.
I had deliberately set the difficulty higher than usual.
Not just because I was stronger than Sung Siwoo,
But because I needed to confirm whether the Fragment had truly fused with my body.
—3, 2, 1.
—Begin.
The eerie silhouette of the dummy twitched.
And then—
—KIEEEEEK!
With a shrill scream, it lunged straight at me.
My vision expanded instantly.
『Univeral Perception (一體知覺)』—the evolved form of my intuition—
Allowed me to read the battlefield with even greater precision.
I dodged.
My entire body reacted instinctively.
The dummy’s attack was incredibly fast—
If this had been before, I would have taken a direct hit.
—Swish!
I closed the distance in an instant and swung my spear.
But the dummy twisted its body, deflecting my attack.
For a brief moment, the very tip of my spear grazed its body.
—Chiik…!
‘!’
The dummy’s Dark-attribute core sizzled faintly.
This confirmed it—
The energy that destroys Fragments had completely fused with my body.
‘That’s all I needed to know.’
Without hesitation, I pushed off the ground and leaped into the air.
A full-power spear throw—
The technique I was most confident in.
As I adjusted my stance to hurl my spear—
“…?”
Suddenly,
A strange impulse surged through my mind.
On reflex, I twisted my body midair.
—“Hey, what the hell are you doing?!”
I heard Park Gwang-chul’s shout.
But by then, I was already charging forward, forcing out every last drop of mana.
‘This…’
This was not a technique I should be capable of using.
Cadenaccio.
Right now, my body—
Was attempting to manifest the most advanced spear technique in the original story.
My heart pounded wildly. I didn’t know why, but—
‘I can do it.’
Strangely, I felt certain.
I released my mana in a surge,
And from it, I wove three copies of myself.
It was still rough.
I had only managed to create three clones midair.
But this would be enough.
No commands were needed.
I already knew exactly what to do and where to strike.
With my clones beside me, I charged the dummy at full power.
One real spear.
Three spears made of pure mana.
—Pabababak!
All four spears pierced the dummy simultaneously.
—Boom!
The dummy collapsed.
“Haa… haa….”
Catching my breath, I slowly raised my hand and looked at my palm.
My heart was still pounding like crazy.
‘The test…’
Was a success.