Sonne frowned.
But he was already walking away.
She turned around to face eden.
"Are you alright?"
Eden was gone.
Sonne blinked.
She looked around.
Nothing.
"...What???"
The desk was empty.
Eden had vanished without saying a word.
She stared toward the doorway.
’Did he leave without thanking me???’
Her eyebrows furrowed.
’Or was he scared?’
She shook her head.
"No..."
That didn’t seem right either.
He had stood there completely calm while Luvian threatened him.
’Maybe he was just arrogant.’
Sonne sighed.
"What a strange guy."
The main hall was already packed.
Hundreds of students filled the seats.
Teachers stood along the walls.
Awakened students naturally gathered closer to the front, curious about why the Association had suddenly decided to hold a lecture.
At the far end of the enormous hall stood a raised podium.
Behind it was a single man.
Messy brown hair.
Dark eyes.
Expensive suit.
Loose tie.
And the permanently exhausted expression of someone who had not enjoyed a full night’s sleep in years.
Choi.
He adjusted the microphone.
"Good afternoon."
The hall slowly quieted.
"My name is Choi. I’m the Assistant Manager of the Awakened Association."
A few students murmured.
Some recognized him immediately.
Others had only heard rumors.
Choi waited until the room became silent.
"I’m here today for two reasons."
He raised one finger.
"First, I want to apologize."
The atmosphere shifted.
"The recent Dungeon Break near this college was handled poorly."
Students became noticeably more attentive.
"We failed to respond quickly enough. Several Awakened were injured, property was damaged, and the situation escalated far beyond what should have been possible for a Gate of that rank."
Choi lowered his hand.
"On behalf of the Association, I apologize."
There was genuine sincerity in his voice.
At least on the surface.
Internally, however, Choi had another reason for being here.
His gaze moved across the crowd.
’I’m here to find talent.’
Choi possessed a unique skill.
Observer’s Eye.
It didn’t simply measure someone’s current strength.
It estimated their future potential.
Growth rate.
Attributes.
Skill quality.
Combat compatibility.
Everything the skill could interpret was converted into a single number.
A rough estimate of how far that person could eventually climb.
Choi activated it.
The world changed.
Numbers began appearing above people’s heads.
Unawakened students showed:
0
Exactly as expected.
Most Awakened students were somewhere between 100 and 500.
Some were higher.
One student caught his attention with a number around 900.
’Not bad.’
But Choi kept looking.
His eyes eventually stopped.
Above a blonde-haired girl stood a number.
3110.
Choi’s eyebrows rose.
Sonne.
’That’s impressive.’
’Extremely impressive.’
’A future S-Rank, perhaps.’
Then his eyes moved.
They landed on a familiar young man with dark red hair.
’...!’
4420.
Choi’s expression changed.
Luvian.
That number was absurd.
For comparison, Choi remembered Apollo’s estimated talent.
Roughly the same range.
An S-Rank level ceiling.
His eyes narrowed.
’The son of an S-Rank really is something, huh.’
Choi mentally made his decision.
’Both of them are coming to the Tryouts.’
He would send them invitations personally if necessary.
Then his gaze continued.
More numbers.
Until his eyes suddenly stopped.
Choi’s face went completely still.
There was nothing above the young man’s head.
Nothing.
Not even zero.
Eden.
Choi stared.
’Impossible.’
He blinked.
Nothing changed.
His skill had never failed like this.
Unawakened people showed zero.
Weak Awakened people showed small numbers.
Monsters showed massive numbers.
Potential wasn’t the issue.
He had tested his skill on Neville before.
Neville’s number had been 7890.
The skill could measure monsters.
It could measure S-Ranks.
It could measure absurd talent.
So why couldn’t it measure Eden?
Choi deactivated Observer’s Eye.
Then activated it again.
He focused entirely on Eden.
The System immediately responded.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Warning]
An unknown force is interfering with Observer’s Eye.
Usage of this skill on the selected individual has been blocked.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Choi’s pupils contracted.
’What?!’
His heart skipped.
’An unknown force?’
His gaze remained fixed on Eden.
’Does he have some kind of skill?’
’That’s the only explanation.’
’A skill capable of blocking insight.’
’Possibly even debuff-type abilities.’
’Those skills are extraordinarily rare.’
’And they almost always belong to people with tremendous potential.’
Choi’s mind raced.
’Who exactly are you?’
Eden stood among the students as though nothing unusual had happened.
He wasn’t paying attention to Choi.
He wasn’t looking for recognition.
He simply looked bored.
Choi smiled faintly.
His decision was immediate.
’You’re getting an invitation.’
Not just that.
He would personally recommend Eden to Apollo.
’If there was even a small possibility that his Observer’s Eye had been blocked by an ability of that caliber...’
’The Association needed to know about him.’
The lecture continued from there, though Eden didn’t particularly pay attention.
His mind was elsewhere.
Later that afternoon, Eden sat alone in the library.
Several books were spread across the table.
Ancient Abyss records.
Historical documents.
Books about System theory.
Research papers concerning Authorities.
Accounts of strange Skills.
Everything he could find.
Eden rubbed his temples.
"Nothing."
He flipped another page.
Nothing.
Another book.
Nothing.
"Mendax."
He stared at the word he had written in his notebook.
"Who the hell are you?"
No answer.
He had searched for references to the name.
Nothing.
He searched for beings associated with the title of King.
Nothing.
Rulers.
Authorities.
Gluttony.
Nothing.
Even the word itself seemed strangely absent.
Eden leaned back.
’And what exactly is this Gluttony authority?’
It had given him Devour.
It had apparently caused his regression.
It had somehow allowed him to survive circumstances that should have been impossible.
And yet there was no record.
Not one.
Eden slammed the book shut.
"This is getting ridiculous."
A few students nearby glanced at him.
He lowered his voice.
"...I need better sources."
He began gathering the books.
That’s when three students approached his table.
"Eden."
He looked up.
"What?"
"Luvian wants you to meet him in the main hall."
"Tell him to go fuck himself."
One of them hesitated.
"Are you sure?"
"Yup."
They looked at one another.
Then one of them smiled.
"He said you’d probably say that."
Eden paused.
The student continued.
"So he told us to give you another message."
Eden’s eyes narrowed.
"What message?"
The student’s smile disappeared.
"He said..."
He swallowed.
"...that if you don’t come, he’ll take his frustrations out on that pink haired sister of yours."
Eden went completely still.
The student continued.
"Mihui, was it?"
Silence.
Something inside Eden changed.
The three students didn’t even have time to react.
The next five seconds became a blur.
A chair overturned.
A fist struck flesh.
A head slammed against the floor.
Another body crashed into a bookshelf.
A third student tried to run.
He didn’t get three steps.
When the librarian finally looked over, all three were lying unconscious on the floor.
Blood stained the polished tiles.
Several teeth were scattered nearby.
Eden stood in the middle of the wreckage.
His fists were clenched.
His breathing was unusually steady considering his enraged state.
The books he’d spent hours searching through were forgotten.
The frustration was gone.
The curiosity was gone.
There was only one thought left.
’Mihui.’
Luvian had just made a very serious mistake.
Eden walked out of the library.
His footsteps echoed through the corridor.
Each one sounded strangely calm.
There were many things he could tolerate.
Insults.
Threats.
Pain.
Death.
He could even tolerate people trying to kill him.
But Mihui?
That was different.
Nobody touched her.
Nobody threatened her.
Nobody used her as leverage.
Not again.
Eden’s expression became colder with every step.
’Luvian.’
His hands slowly relaxed.
A faint trace of red Essence stirred beneath his skin.
’Let’s see how strong you really are.’