Bits and pieces of obsidian and concrete rained from the sky. Koong. Koong. The ground shook and smoke rose as the tower fell apart.

“Haha.”

Cheok Jungyeong and Jin Yohan laughed at the chaos. A tower that stood just 3 seconds ago completely collapsed and it only took a single arrow. The two of them couldn’t be more satisfied.

“Looks like we made the right choice.”

“See, I told you. My eyes are never wrong.”

They had achieved their first goal. Now, it was up to them. Cheok Jungyeong equipped his gauntlets as Jin Yohan held up his spear. Then they walked towards the fallen tower.

“Don’t forget. We’re only killing the executives. Boss is watching.”

“I know. Oh look, there’s one there.”

Cheok Jungyeong quickly found a person to kill. The man had jumped from the crumbling building and lightly landed. Cheok Jungyeong wasn’t sure who he was, but his gut feeling told him this man was an executive, so he gathered his strength and shot forward.

“Huup!”

A small crater appeared as he kicked the ground and leaped away like a cannonball.

“What!”

“Caught you—!”

Cheok Jungyeong grabbed the man’s head and slammed him to the ground. The man’s bones instantly broke and sheer strength crushed his head. Cheok Jungyeong’s eyes flashed after his first kill. He looked like a predator hunting for prey. It didn’t take long before he shot towards someone else running away. KOONG!

“Are you sure you’re not a beast?”

Jin Yohan mumbled as he shook his head. Meanwhile, Cheok Jungyeong already charged at another enemy. He seemed like an agile ogre.

“Fuck! Who is he?”

Jin Yohan heard someone shouting and turned to see a Caucasian man in his early 30s pointing at Cheok Jungyeong.

It was the third executive of Hatred’s End, Slavan.

Slavan also discovered the smiling Jin Yohan, who suddenly shot forward with a spear.

“Dammit!”

Slavan took out the sword from his waist. His sharp blade met Jin Yohan’s seemingly simple spear strikes.

Crack—

It seemed like a light clash, but the result was overwhelmingly one-sided. Jin Yohan’s serpent spear changed its weight to 10 tons and instantly crushed Slavan’s body and sword.

“I got one.”

Jin Yohan reported with a smile.

***

I contacted Khalifa as soon as I finished. He quickly appeared and opened a portal for me to return.

Our hideout appeared quite different now. Of course, only 2 weeks had passed since I began remodeling it, so I hadn’t even finished 10% of the project. However, the cave felt much better now with separate rooms.

I turned it into a dome-like structure with a central lobby. The dome had doors that led to each member’s room, a workshop, a research lab, and other facilities.

“I’m back.”

“Good work.”

Boss sat on the only couch in the lobby.

“You did well. The other members will take care of the rest.”

Boss and I smiled at each other. Then she suddenly made a shooing gesture.

“Now move.”

“Pardon?”

Droon’s video projected behind me. Jin Yohan and Cheok Jungyeong were in the middle of a battle.

“Ah, yes.”

It didn’t feel right sitting next to Boss, so I stood behind the couch. I could see Boss’ head right in front of me.

“…”

I noticed her hair looked quite disheveled. She had a few split ends as well. An unbearable urge rose in my heart, a side effect from aether’s aesthetic greed.

“B-Boss, do you want me to comb your hair?”

“Hmm?”

Boss tilted her head and turned around.

“Hair?”

“Yes.”

“… No.”

“It’ll feel good.”

“I’m fine.”

“… But I’m not.”

I transformed aether into a comb and pulled Boss’ long black hair. I began combing her hair before she could resist.

“Didn’t I tell you… I don’t… need… nyaa.”

She stopped talking and joyfully hummed. She couldn’t resist the pleasure. Not only was the aether comb a hundred times better than most, but my Dexterity also made me an expert.

“Mmm.”

Soon, she relaxed and her eyelids twitched whenever she felt strong pleasure. I tied up her hair into a ponytail after combing it for about 5 minutes.

“There.”

“…”

Boss opened her eyes and looked somewhat unsatisfied.

“Cough, you don’t have to do this to show your loyalty.”

“No, I’m doing this because I want to.”

“…”

Boss silently caressed her hair.

“What is this?”

“Oh, I thought you’d look good in it. Do you want a mirror?”

“No.”

Knowing Boss, I still formed a mirror with aether. She carefully looked at her reflection, turning here and there as though she found her wagging pony tail interesting. Then she suddenly twisted her head back.

“Oh, little apprentice. When will you officially enter Jeronimo Mercenary?”

“Oh right.”

For my disguise, I requested to join as a member of Jeronimo Mercenary. The official reason I dropped out of Cube was to become a mercenary. Plus, doing missions for Jeronimo Mercenary would help me gain SP.

“Mmm… let’s set the date to March of next year.”

“Alright, I’ll let Jain know.”

“Thank you.”

Soon, Fenrir would join Jeronimo. He would be a gunner and his specialty would be djinn assassination and monster slaughter. Jain would surely take care of everything else.

***

The Hero Association resided at the Hero Tower in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, the tallest building in the world at 900 meters.

[Temple of Justice Meeting Room]

It was also known as the foundation of modern civilization and consisted of 15 departments. Among them, the one tasked with the most dangerous and important duties was the Temple of Justice.

“I’m here, geez.”

Naturally, it only included the most elite members. Today, the group met for a round table discussion.

“Where is everyone?”

Aileen, one of the members, grumbled with her arms crossed. No one could blame her. Only 4 other members had shown up. The other 8 were busy with their respective missions.

“Good morning, Aileen.”

The 31 year old Yi Yongha greeted her. He was a high rank hero and also their youngest member.

“Good morning? Where is everyone!”

“Didn’t you hear what happened in Southwest Asia? They’re busy running around and putting out the fire.”

The chairman, Park Hanho, tried to calm her down with a tired expression.

“But shouldn’t they at least attend the meeting!”

“Give them a break. They’ll be notified of what we talk about anyways.”

“Hmph, they live in Seoul too. Also… why couldn’t they send me there instead? I’d only need a week to solve everything!”

Aileen had a lot to complain about since she felt displeased with her job as a hero. They kept her out of moderately dangerous incidents as a trump card. They also kept her out of not-so-dangerous situations and told her a guillotine couldn’t be used to behead a chicken. Everyone agreed she was one of the strongest members, but she had only been deployed 5 times in the past 5 years.

“Like we always say, you’re our ultimate weapon… Wait, Aileen. Did you get taller?”

“E-Eh?”

Park Hanho tried to appease her with sweet talk.

“… You’re doing this again! I’m 31 years old now, you know?”

“No, no, I’m not making it up. Maybe your bones grew longer.”

“B-Bones? Mmm… Maybe…? N-No!”

Park Hanho tensed up with nervousness. So the day finally came when telling her that she grew taller didn’t work!

“Maybe it’s because it’s morning. You know, they say you’re 2-3 centimeters taller in the morning.”

However, Aileen’s trembling lips declared that she felt extremely pleased.

“No, I think your bones did grow longer. Didn’t you say you stopped wearing high heels recently? Maybe that’s why.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Haha, I’m pretty sure you did, so get it checked out later.”

Clearly appeased, Aileen sat without complaining.

“Now, let’s start the meeting.”

“Yes!”

“Uun.”

Hearing Yi Yongha’s enthusiastic shout, Nicholas, the fourth hero woke up from his nap.

“Why are you always sleeping?”

Aileen blurted in disappointment, but Nicholas only leisurely laughed.

“Maybe that’s why I’m tall.”

“…”

Aileen gritted her teeth without replying.

“Now, now, quiet down. Terrorist attacks simultaneously occurred in Pandemonium yesterday at around 8 P.M.”

Holographic pictures shot up from the round table, showing destroyed buildings and corpses.

“As you can see, an entire tower was obliterated and a hideout was destroyed.”

“Isn’t it good that they’re fighting among themselves?”

“No.”

Park Hanho shook his head at Aileen’s words. Then he played a video taken last night in Pandemonium.

Shoooong—

An arrow flew across the sky like a shooting star. The sheer strength of it warped the atmosphere.

KWANG—!

A single shot obliterated the tower. Yi Yonghan dropped his jaw and Nicholas slightly widened his eyes.

“Wow! Amazing, amazing!”

Aileen sarcastically applauded. She could obliterate a building with her eyes closed.

“That isn’t the important part. Look at this picture.”

A man stood on top of the Pandemonium clocktower.

“Is he an assassin?”

He wore all black with a hooded cape that resembled an eagle and a mask that covered his mouth. He also held an elegant, black bow.

“It looks like he’s a new member of that group.”

Aileen’s face stiffened. Even the Hero Association only knew this mysterious group as that group. Park Sangho, the Temple of Justice’s chairman, had been chasing them since he was 20 years old and even Aileen had a history with them.

“A new member?”

“Yep, you’ve seen this before, right?”

Park Hanho displayed another picture of a black symbol engraved on the ground. Indeed, Aileen recognized the lotus symbol.

“Yeah, 7 years ago, but I don’t think they’re the same person.”

The person Aileen met back then didn’t use a bow.

“That’s why he’s a new member.”

“Mmm…”

Click. Aileen snapped her fingers.

“Okay, leave the investigation to me. I’ll look into them.”

“Hm? No, you don’t need to do it yourself.”

“No, I have to. We fought to a draw last time.”

“What?”

“I met him before. About 8-9 years ago.”

“What?”

Park Hanho pressed his forehead and sighed.

“Why haven’t you said anything until now. Well, it looks like that’s a different person.”

“Even if he’s not the same person, he should be just as strong if he’s the old one’s replacement, right?”

Aileen grinned and infused magic power into her voice.

“So give me those files.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to use that on me?”

Aileen’s spirit speech moved Park Hanho’s arm. However, he didn’t resist since that would only make things more exhausting.

“Thank you.”

“Sigh. Whatever… Ah, wait! Where are you going? The meeting isn’t over yet!”

Aileen scurried out while whistling after she got what she wanted.

***

July came around in the blink of an eye. Springtime long disappeared under the blazing sun. Chirp— chirp— Birds sang and the hot breeze signaled the start of summer. Cube finished its first semester and cadets regained their energy after the finals. Many things had happened in the past few months. First, most of Cube’s executives resigned after the previous djinn invasion and a few even went on trial. Second, active heroes began to patrol Cube for security measures. They also abolished midterms, which left only the character assessment and final exam to determine cadet rankings.

Ding—

Chae Nayun entered Cube’s most popular coffee shop, Angel on Earth.

“Yo, Chae Nayun.”

Yi Yeonghan called her. She thoughtlessly approached, but soon recognized an unusual face present. Kim Suho, Yi Yeonghan, Yoo Yeonha, and Rachel. Rachel? For now, Chae Nayun simply sat.

“How’d you do on your exam?” Yi Yeonghan asked.

“So-so.”

She replied half-heartedly while staring at Rachel, who sat next to Yoo Yeonha. Chae Nayun couldn’t understand why Rachel was there.

“Oh, we’re in the same class. We got close while talking about our guilds.”

Yoo Yeonha noticed her curious gaze and explained.

“Yep.” Rachel smiled and nodded.

“I see.”

Chae Nayun slurped the coffee in front of her without saying much. Sniff, sniff. Then Yi Yeonghan began to suddenly sniff.

“Mmm, I smell something weird. Chae Nayun, did you—”

“What.”

She glared at Yi Yeonghan with killing intent and he couldn’t finish his sentence.

“N-No, nothing.”

“You better not mess with me. Oh right.”

Chae Nayun set her coffee mug down and spoke, “I’m going to Baekdu Mountain over break. Do you want to come with me, Kim Suho?”

“Hmm?”

Kim Suho widened his eyes.

“That’s pretty sudden.”

“Shin Jonghak’s coming too.”

“Aah, no. Suho can’t go.” Yi Yeonghan bravely interrupted, “Suho has a little something-something going on with that person. He has to spend time with her.”

“W-What are you talking about?”

Kim Suho quickly covered Yi Yeonghan’s snickering mouth. However, Chae Nayun only stared at them emotionlessly, causing them to awkwardly scratch their necks.

“W-What?”

“Having fun?”

“…”

“So? Are you coming or not?”

“I…”

Kim Suho hesitated. Yun Seung-Ah had called him last week and they had been frequently talking since…

“If I can, then I will. It’s a good opportunity.”

“Okay, good.”

That was all Chae Nayun had to say. She gulped down her coffee and shot up. Yoo Yeonha quickly held her back.

“Are you leaving already, Nayun?”

“Yeah, I have a sparring appointment with some guy named Yohei. I’ll see you later.”

Chae Nayun rejected her gesture and left.

“You should stay a bit more…”

Yoo Yeonha meekly murmured and sadly watched her leave. Tiriring— Then she suddenly received a message. Yoo Yeonha’s gaze fell on her watch.

[Jeronimo’s apprentice will become an official member in March.]

“Oh?”

She received some interesting news. Yoo Yeonha also saw Rachel reading the text when she turned off her watch and looked up.

“Oho.”

Like Yoo Yeonha, she also exclaimed with interest and raised her head.