After the weapon procurement was finished, Daehyun headed straight for the dormitory. It was not as though he had anything in particular to do outside, and above all, the sun was starting to set.
‘Well, that is not the only reason.’
Inside the bus, Daehyun was looking at the new notification window that had appeared before his eyes.
[Newly Unlocked Quest: Preliminary Preparation]
Sure enough.
A new quest had appeared without giving him any time to rest.
‘I should do this first once I get back.’
He was used to it now, so instead of complaining, Daehyun nodded. The fact that he could steadily grow stronger every day, however faintly, was clearly a good thing.
Besides, it was not as though he had anything else to do until next month.
‘Next month…….’
When he had heard it at the time, he had casually let it pass, but thinking about it now, it was an unexpectedly long period.
A whole month.
Training blindly the entire time did not sit right with him, nor could he simply spend his time idly at school. But if he tried to wander through Gates as he pleased, he did not think opportunities like today would happen often in the future.
“Hmm.”
If you wanted answers, move.
That was the iron rule of life he had learned while surviving in the Demon Realm.
Sitting around and racking his brain was not his way of doing things.
It would not be too late to think after clearing the quest.
“For now, the quest comes first.”
With that thought in mind, Daehyun nodded inside the bus.
He had already forgotten that blood was flowing from the torn pocket of his pants.
***
That evening.
After finishing the “Daily Quest” and returning to the dormitory, Daehyun quickly washed up and headed to the living room.
As usual, Kang Shinhyuk was in the living room.
—Recently, as accidents caused by Gate Backflow have been rapidly increasing, incidents caused by neglected Gates are also on the rise.
—Yes. If a Gate is left unattended for a long time, the monsters inside it will come outside…….
He was lying on the sofa and watching television as usual, but the way he said nothing felt somewhat strange, and the atmosphere was not particularly good.
“Daehyun, did you have a good outing today?”
The one who spoke first was Kang Shinhyuk.
Normally, he should have been chattering noisily by now, but for some reason, his tension seemed much lower than usual.
“Well, more or less.”
“……Must be nice. So, did you get anything out of it?”
“It was not bad.”
“I am jealous…….”
Kang Shinhyuk stretched on the sofa and let out a sigh.
“Did something happen?”
He was not curious at all, but Daehyun asked the question as his own form of goodwill.
“I went to the interview today, remember?”
“Interview?”
“The guild interview!”
“Ah. Right.”
It had definitely been Ext Guild.
It was a guild Kang Shinhyuk had taken quite an interest in.
“So? Did you fail the interview?”
“Do not even ask. If I had failed, I would not be acting like this.”
“Then you passed.”
“Do I look like someone who passed?”
“No. So which is it?”
Daehyun tilted his head with an expressionless face.
If he had neither passed nor failed, then what was it?
“I did not even get to do the interview. I was right there, too.”
“Did they look at your face and decide they did not need you?”
“……No, that is not it. They suddenly got a call, so all the interviews were canceled.”
“Hmm.”
Well, it was not a particularly unusual case.
If help was needed nearby, a guild could respond to that and go as support.
Of course, in Daehyun’s case, aside from the Crimson Witch, no one had come for him.
Apparently, some lunatic went into an unregistered Gate.”
At the words unregistered Gate, Daehyun’s body twitched slightly.
“Thanks to that, the interview was canceled, and the whole guild apparently went to rescue that bastard…… Huh, huh! Hey, it is coming on!”
As Kang Shinhyuk was speaking, his finger busily pointed toward the TV, and Daehyun’s gaze naturally turned that way.
—Earlier today, Ext Guild, led by Superhuman An Gihyeon, responded immediately after receiving a call……
—The person who made the call was Mr. Choi, in his thirties. Mr. Choi entered an unregistered Gate with his younger brother in order to monopolize Magic Stones……
Along with countless camera flashes, the caption “Ext Guild Resolves Another Incident!” appeared.
“There! There! That person is Superhuman An Gihyeon! That guy next to him must be the cause of all this today!”
The screen then changed, and three men appeared. One was Superhuman An Gihyeon. Another was Superhuman Baek Sangmin.
The remaining one had both arms restrained and his face covered by a hood, but for some reason, Daehyun felt as though he knew who it was.
‘Is that the guy I saw in the Gate?’
It might not be, but judging by his build and clothing, it felt almost certain.
‘He somehow made it out alive.’
He had probably requested support before Daehyun arrived, and after he lost consciousness, the support had arrived and rescued him.
His illegal actions had been exposed, but he had at least saved his life, so could that not be considered fortunate?
—Representative An stated that aside from Mr. Choi’s younger brother, there may be one more accomplice.
“Wow……! An accomplice, he says! Then did that person betray them?”
Kang Shinhyuk clicked his tongue and imitated an old man. If he added that the world had gone to ruin, it would have been fitting.
‘An accomplice…….’
Daehyun had seen two people.
And when he entered the Gate, one of them had already disappeared.
There should have been no room for any accomplice to get involved.
Where in the world had this remaining person come from?
‘Are they barking up the wrong tree?’
As Daehyun shook his head, the TV screen changed, and Superhuman An Gihyeon’s face appeared up close.
He cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
—When we arrived, the Gate had already been cleared.
—Pardon? Was the Gate Mr. Choi entered not a D-rank Gate?
—Or was there an error in the report?
At his one sentence, countless questions poured out from the reporters. If it had been Daehyun, he might have gotten angry, but An Gihyeon seemed accustomed to it, smiling gently at the reporters and lightly raising his hand.
—There was no issue with the report. But…… yes, that is correct. D-rank. For those lacking skill, it is a dangerous grade.
Suddenly, An Gihyeon’s expression grew serious as he spoke.
—Furthermore, clearing one alone is by no means easy.
—What rank do you believe the escaped accomplice is?
—Have you grasped the outline of the case?
Murmur, murmur—.
In an instant, the TV’s audio was filled with all sorts of noise. The interview scene was truly chaos.
—Now, now.
But An Gihyeon remained calm,
and dignified. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the majesty of an A-rank Superhuman could be glimpsed from him.
—For now, we are estimating the accomplice’s rank to be at least B-rank, and at most A-rank.
A-rank! An A-rank Superhuman!
The reporters, shocked by the sudden announcement, set off their camera flashes wildly.
—Then what will you do from now on?
—Do you plan to cooperate with other A-rank guilds? Or do you have another method? Please say a word!
As if the time had come to speak, An Gihyeon looked at Baek Sangmin beside him and nodded.
Nod—.
Understanding what that meant, Baek Sangmin grabbed the bound man’s arm and left the interview site.
—I cannot reveal the details, but we found a decisive clue.
Saying that, An Gihyeon took something out of his pocket.
—Using this, we will find him.
After showing that something, the broadcast ended there.
After that, only commercials followed.
“Kyaaah!”
Beep—.
Kang Shinhyuk let out an exclamation and turned off the TV.
“Wow! As expected of Ext. That accomplice guy is completely finished…… Why does your face look like that, Daehyun?”
“Ah.”
He was screwed.
Only now did Daehyun remember the pants pocket that had been torn in the fight.
***
The next day.
The principal’s office of the Superhuman Training School.
Principal Park Chigwon sat in his comfortable chair, looking a certain man in the eyes.
“……So, for what purpose have you come……?”
“I heard there is a student named ‘Daehyun’ at this place, that is, the Superhuman Training School.”
A composed face that suited glasses and a neat suit.
Baek Sangmin.
He was a B-rank Superhuman and one of the core members of Ext Guild.
“I would like to check that student’s detailed records.”
Baek Sangmin spoke to Park Chigwon with a serious gaze.
Unlike his usual appearance, when he smiled while recruiting guild members, this time, he was taking a rather serious attitude.
“So…… you mean the records of Student Kang Daehyun?”
“So his surname is Kang. Yes, that is correct. I would like to check that student’s records.”
Park Chigwon scratched his face with a troubled expression.
As if the sudden visit were not enough, he was now asking to see a student’s records, so it was only natural that Park Chigwon would feel flustered.
“……This is a school. And I am the principal here.”
“I know.”
“Student Kang Daehyun is our student.”
“I know.”
“…….”
Was he being bold, or did he simply lack common sense? Park Chigwon’s disbelief was starting to vanish in the face of absurdity.
When Park Chigwon continued showing hesitant words and behavior, Baek Sangmin opened his mouth.
“Did you watch yesterday’s news?”
“I have been so busy lately that I have not had time to keep up with anything.”
“Then please look at this.”
As if he had been waiting, Baek Sangmin took out a document from his coat and unfolded it.
“Around noon yesterday, we received a support request from an unregistered D-rank Gate and were dispatched.”
Inside the document were many photographs. At a rough glance, they seemed to be photos from inside the Gate.
“However, the Gate had already been cleared, and the man who had called for support was unconscious.”
Baek Sangmin lightly turned the document by one page.
“We found something strange, so we searched the inside of the Gate, and there, we discovered an important clue.”
On the page shown as a clue were two photographs of something.
I told you where it is for now, but the owner has an awful personality. Try to persuade him if possible, and if it does not work, call me. Understood, Daehyun?
On one side was the location of a workshop where a skilled Superhuman artifact craftsman lived, and on the other side, those words were written.
“One was written on the front, and one was written on the back.”
The handwriting was moderately crooked, fitting enough to think that a student had written it.
“As it happens, yesterday was apparently a period when outdoor activity was permitted.”
At Baek Sangmin’s questioning, Park Chigwon’s expression twisted.
“So what you are saying is…….”
He could understand, to some extent, why the man had come here so suddenly and was acting without courtesy.
They were both busy people, but they must have had their own circumstances as well.
However.
“Are you saying that one student entered a D-rank Gate, killed the boss, and stole the Magic Stones?”
And knocked one man unconscious on top of that!
Even if something did not make sense, this went too far. It was not an idea that could come from the head of a normal person.
‘Besides, if it is Kang Daehyun…….’
He was the student who had returned alive from the virtual Gate last time, but even so, to say he had already reached D-rank made no sense. During his long time as principal of the Superhuman Training School, Park Chigwon had never seen such a case. It could not be possible.
“Ha ha.”
It seemed he might need to inform him. Park Chigwon sighed and looked into Baek Sangmin’s eyes.
“Kang Daehyun is a Healer-Type student.”
Baek Sangmin’s pupils widened.
“A healer……? His rank, what is his rank?”
“We do not use official Superhuman ranks on our side, but if I were to assign one based on his entrance grades……”
The grades of Kang Daehyun the healer, as Park Chigwon knew them.
Those disastrous, outdated grades from the time of admission.
After roughly assigning a rank based on them, Park Chigwon spoke to Baek Sangmin.
“He would be E-rank.”