Kaien leaned back in his chair.
"Yeah."
He looked around the table.
"...Let's see what happens."
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Selene smiled.
"You know, for someone who just joined a secret organization, you're surprisingly relaxed."
Kaien shrugged.
"I've had a weird couple of years."
"That's an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
Selene laughed.
Seraphina reached for the folder again.
"Then let's begin."
Kaien straightened.
Seraphina opened the folder and spread several photographs across the table.
A warehouse district.
Several delivery trucks.
A damaged security camera.
And finally, a photograph of a large metal container.
"Seven shipments have disappeared in the last three weeks."
Lucien leaned forward.
"Different companies. Different drivers. Different cargo."
Darius crossed his arms.
"But they all vanished in the same area."
Kaien studied the photographs.
"Any survivors?"
"None."
"Monster attacks?"
"That's what the authorities believe."
Kaien looked at the photograph again.
There wasn't a single obvious sign of a struggle.
No claw marks.
No destroyed vehicles.
No blood.
"That's strange."
Seraphina nodded.
"Exactly."
Kaien pointed at one of the photographs.
"This camera."
"The footage was corrupted."
"Convenient."
"Very."
Kaien leaned back.
"So what are we actually looking for?"
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Seraphina looked at him.
"We don't know yet."
Kaien blinked.
"You brought me here without knowing?"
"We're an information organization."
Selene smiled.
"We need information first."
Kaien stared at her.
"That feels like something you should have figured out beforehand."
"That's why we hired you."
Kaien sighed.
"Fair."
Seraphina gathered the photographs.
"You're going with Darius."
Darius nodded.
"Tomorrow night."
Kaien looked at him.
"Just us?"
"For now."
Kaien glanced around the table.
"What about everyone else?"
Lucien leaned back.
"I have another assignment."
Selene smiled.
"I have somewhere else to be."
Noah slowly raised his head.
"I'm going back to sleep."
Kaien stared at him.
"You were asleep during the entire meeting."
Noah nodded.
"Exactly."
His head dropped again.
Kaien looked at Seraphina.
"He's unbelievable."
"He gets results."
Noah's voice came from the table.
"Sometimes."
Kaien couldn't help laughing.
Maybe this organization wasn't so bad.
After the meeting, Kaien followed Seraphina through the hideout.
They stopped near a narrow hallway.
Kaien noticed several locked doors.
"What are those?"
"Private rooms."
"Everyone has one?"
"Yes."
Kaien looked toward the end of the hallway.
"And mine?"
"Not finished."
Kaien sighed.
"Of course."
Seraphina smiled.
"You joined yesterday."
"I've been here for several hours."
"Exactly."
Kaien shook his head.
As they continued walking, Seraphina suddenly stopped.
"One more thing."
Kaien turned.
"What?"
She looked at him seriously.
"The mark."
Kaien instinctively touched his side.
"What about it?"
"Don't show it to anyone."
Kaien nodded.
"I wasn't planning to."
"The public knows the Seven Sins exist."
Kaien's expression changed.
"They know?"
"Not who we are."
Seraphina continued walking.
"But recently, information about the marks has started circulating online."
Kaien followed.
"How?"
"Hacking."
"Someone hacked the government?"
"Among other things."
Kaien frowned.
"So people know what each Sin's mark looks like."
"Yes."
He thought about the mark beneath his right rib.
"If someone recognizes it..."
"They'll know you're Gluttony."
Kaien nodded slowly.
"That's bad."
"Very."
Seraphina looked back at him.
"That's why you hide it."
Kaien gave her a small nod.
"Understood."
That night, Kaien returned to the academy dormitory.
He sat on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
His room was quiet.
Too quiet.
He reached toward his side.
The mark of Gluttony was still there.
A permanent reminder that his life had become something completely different from the one he'd known.
Kaien opened his system.
[Weapon Points: 24]
[Current Mana: 82%]
[Weapon Evolution: Locked]
He frowned.
"Still locked."
He summoned his pistol.
The weapon appeared in his hand.
Simple.
Black.
Reliable.
Kaien examined it.
He had spent two years learning how to control mana.
Two years learning how to control his breathing.
Two years practicing his concentration until he could maintain mana reinforcement for hours.
He wasn't strong yet.
Not compared to the monsters and adventurers he'd seen in the original story.
But he was improving.
Kaien raised the pistol.
A small sphere of mana formed around the barrel.
He concentrated.
The mana compressed.
Then disappeared.
Kaien smiled.
"Better."
His phone suddenly vibrated.
A message.
Mira: Sheep.
Kaien stared at it.
Another message appeared.
Mira: Are you awake?
Kaien sighed.
He typed.
Kaien: Yes.
The response came instantly.
Mira: Good.
Mira: I have a question.
Kaien narrowed his eyes.
Kaien: What?
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then—
Mira: Why were you talking to that woman today?
Kaien froze.
"...What?"
Another message.
Mira: The one from yesterday.
Kaien stared at the screen.
Seraphina.
Had Mira seen her?
Impossible.
He typed.
Kaien: What woman?
The response came immediately.
Mira: The suspicious one.
Kaien stared.
Then another message appeared.
Mira: You looked like you were doing something shady.
Kaien rubbed his face.
Of course.
Kaien: I wasn't.
Mira: Mhm.
Mira: Suspicious sheep.
Kaien threw himself backward onto the bed.
"Why is this becoming a thing?"
His phone vibrated again.
Mira: Goodnight, sheep.
Kaien stared at the message.
Despite himself, he smiled.
Kaien: Goodnight.
He placed the phone beside him.
The smile slowly faded.
Tomorrow, he would investigate the missing shipments.
He didn't know what they would find.
He didn't know why the monsters were changing.
He didn't know why villains were appearing earlier than they should.
And he certainly didn't know what was happening to the story.
But one thing was becoming clear.
The world he'd reincarnated into wasn't waiting for him to catch up.
It was moving ahead.
Kaien closed his eyes.
"Guess I better keep up."
Outside the dormitory window, Seoul's lights stretched across the night.
And somewhere in that city—
someone was watching.