Roxana took us on a five minute walk to a snack shop off campus. As if she was afraid I’d change my mind and leave, she stuck to my side like glue, chatting lightly about the weather and the scenery, pulling in Veric or Luka when I failed to sufficiently supplement my part of the conversation.

I wasn’t familiar with the food, so I let Roxana order for me at the shop counter, choosing to sit at a table by the window while I waited for the others to finish.

When Veric sat down next to me, she said, “Don’t you feel bad making someone else pay for your snacks when you have more money than her?”

“What’s her budget for the semester?” I said. “Let’s compare.”

Veric just rolled her eyes.

Roxana sat across from me, and Luka across from Veric. Maybe out of habit, Luka and Veric placed their snacks in the middle of the table to share, and after a pause, Roxana did the same. As someone who hadn’t contributed a cent, I was more than happy to help myself to their arrangement, picking out food to try from the selection.

Our table had ordered three finger foods total: souvlaki, which were wooden skewers of charcoal-cooked meat wrapped in pita bread with sliced vegetables and a hint of lemon; loukoumades, deep-fried balls of dough coated in honey; and dolmades, vine-wrapped rolls of rice, herbs, and pine nuts.

I couldn’t say that I was entirely used to the cuisine of Iyiria, but I was happy that there was so much freely available seasoning here. Back in my world, if you didn’t live in a quantum territory, it was a struggle just to obtain salt. The settlement administrators would arbitrarily withhold resources if they felt like us bottom feeders were getting too cocky. I’d seen more than one person with a hand chopped off for daring to smuggle something that should have only come from the administrators’ hands.

Compared to those days, the poorest neighborhoods I’d seen in Nithemoore City were overflowing with prosperity. But even the Duval’s excessive way of living couldn’t match the luxuries of a full-fledged quantum territory.

Savoring the loukoumades, I listened to the other three chat, but as the conversation turned towards the Fantasm World, I was inevitably drawn in.

“Say, Acacius,” Roxana leaned across the table. “Did you earn a title from the Fantasm?”

When I nodded, she smiled. “That’s what I thought. Don’t you already have a lot of titles, too? Ah, I’m jealous.”

I didn’t actually know how many titles were normal to have. “Maybe you should try being better at more things.”

Roxana threw one of the remaining loukoumades at my head, which I caught and popped into my mouth. “We can’t all be outliers like you. Leave some titles for the rest of us!”

“Roxana is the only one here who didn’t get a title,” Luka said.

“Hey, that’s normal! You three are the weird ones for getting something new.”

I eyed Luka. “The [Final Bridge]?”

“The [Last Genesis]?” he asked in return.

We nodded at each other. I felt gratified that I wasn’t the only one who had inherited an awkward and inconvenient power. In my case, the title gave me a flashy transformation and made me blind; if he kept the [Final Bridge]’s powers, he couldn’t connect to anyone’s soul without exposing them to his crazy shadow wolf. Now I wasn’t an expert, but if he didn’t want to endanger others, it seemed like he had limited options.

“Well, don’t leave us hanging,” Roxana said. “What does that mean?”

I grabbed a roll of dolmades and took a bite to indicate that I wasn’t answering this question.

“They’re the spirits whose titles and roles we borrowed,” said Luka. “Now that we’ve solved KP-04, we’ve inherited their powers completely.”

Roxana asked, “Does that mean you kept the butterfly wings?”

Now all three of them were looking at me.

“Why?” I said. “Do you want me to take you for a flight?”

“Can you really?” Veric asked.

“He can,” said Luka.

He didn’t need to volunteer that information for me. I changed the subject and said, “What about you, Veric? What title did you get?”

Veric hesitated and gave me a careful look before answering, “[Light of Guarded Hearts].”

Uhhh… Hm. Why did she look at me like that? It’s not like it could have anything to do with me, right…?

I mean, even if I was a little suspicious of the people around me, wasn’t it ridiculous to think Veric got a title just because I decided to trust her a bit? I mean, the title said “hearts,” plural. It was probably a lifestyle title from Veric repeatedly making questionable choices, such as sticking her neck out for suspicious bastards like me.

“It sounds like a nice title,” I said. “You should watch out.”

“Why?”

“It just has such a heroic impression. I bet plenty of people would want to take advantage of a noble, giving nature like that.”

“It’s funny hearing that from you,” Roxana teased. “Your father has been giving the Shrine so much trouble these days. Aren’t you the one we should watch out for?”

What the hell was Cyprian doing? “I don’t talk to him much.”

“If it’s so hard to get ahold of you, I’m starting to wonder who you talk to at all. Do the other nobles know how to contact you?” She blinked at me with a faux-innocent expression again, so I braced myself for some kind of verbal jab. “We couldn’t even find you on Rat Row.”

The hell was that? I couldn’t figure out how offended I was supposed to be, so I drawled, “Say that name again and ask yourself why I would be there.”

“But isn’t that where all you nobles love to make your nests?”

Acacius’ former residence and Cynara’ current one was on a street called Veratrum Row. Maybe that was what she was referring to.

“Ah,” I said. “I see where your confusion is coming from. You think I’m on good terms with the other nobles and my family.”

Shouldn’t she already know otherwise? Or was she just priming me into giving her information by starting with things that didn’t matter?

Roxana widened her eyes, imitating surprise. “But where else could you be staying?”

Yeah, there it was. I narrowed my eyes. “It almost feels like you want to get in contact with me in the future, Roxana. Now why would you do that?”

“Because the Dragon Shrine would like to thank you, of course,” she replied without missing a beat. “Isn’t that what we’re here to discuss?”

“Is it? I thought you were here to ask me to do something annoying again.”

“Don’t say it like that. We want to thank you, but it’s true that you owe us, too.”

I gave her a deeply skeptical look. Roxana huffed. “Two Saintess candidates personally spearheaded the efforts to rescue you in the Fantasm World!” It felt like Luka had contributed more to that plan’s success than her, but I wasn’t in the mood to credit him with anything right now, so whatever. “Surely the noble Duval family wouldn’t fail to repay such a favor.”

I looked at Veric and raised an eyebrow to see if she felt the same.

“I’ve been worried about you,” she admitted, completely missing my real inquiry. “It would’ve been nice to have a way to contact you.”

Urgh. One person who was skilled at talking nonsense, and one person who had a way of cutting through even when I didn’t want to get close. Why did I agree to come?

Sullenly, I said, “Fine.”

Veric blinked and gave me a small smile. “Great!” Roxana cheered, thumbing a small silver disc hanging from her necklace. It projected a holographic screen in front of her, and with a few hand gestures, she pulled up a form to add a new contact. “What’s your seam number? I’ll add you to our group chat.”

A whole social life I’d been missing out on, huh. I guess it didn’t matter that much since no one had wanted to talk to Acacius before this anyways. “Don’t have one.”

She squinted at me. “What? Then what about your seammail?”

“I don’t know,” I said lazily, both because it was true and also because it seemed easy to yank her around a bit.

Roxana gave me a pointed look. “Come on now, show some sincerity. How did Professor Raoul and Artunis get in contact with you?”

“He slid a letter under my door.” I let the conversational pause drag on just long enough to inspire doubts before I elaborated. “Dormitory Building C, floor 13, room 1304. I can put out a mailbox for you.”

Roxana looked at me, exaggeratedly aghast. “You aren’t seriously living in the dorms with the rest of us commoners, are you? Surely a noble wouldn’t stoop so low.”

Then the nobles were all stuck-ups. I personally thought the dorms were great.

I polished off my dolmades and said seriously, “It’s a punishment. During the summer, I wasn’t a very good Duval.”

“But you gained the formal right to succession. How could you possibly be inadequate?”

It was so hard to resist making jokes when she kept presenting me these openings.

I narrowed my eyes and cast Luka a heated glance before turning away, curling my lip. When I spoke, I dropped the pitch of my voice, and spoke slowly with extra bite on the consonants. The perfect picture of repressed resentment.

“There was someone I didn’t properly dispose of.”

Roxana inhaled, leaning back ever so slightly. I pulled my gaze back towards her and gave her a slow and easy smile. That’s right, this was the kind of person she thought she was getting involved with.

“Still want to thank me?”

I was going to watch her squirm for a little longer, but Luka cut into our conversation.

“Do you still want to kill that person?”

Oh, so were we finally talking about that incident this summer?

I placed an elbow on the table and let a genuine sharpness slip into my smile. “Are you taking my feelings into account now, Luka? How considerate. I wish you had done that before carrying out that stupid plan of yours in KP-04.”

It would be easier to needle him if I knew how much of that incident he’d kept secret from Veric and Roxana. As it was, to preserve his privacy, I could only speak vaguely like this.

“You’re the one who decided that we can’t be friends,” Luka replied, still with that calm and level inflection that made me want to hit him. “So there’s no reason to care how you feel.”

I swallowed back an angry laugh. “Of course. By every account, it makes sense that you’d ask me. You wanted to guarantee everyone’s lives, you don’t like me, and I could carry out your plan. But so what? Just because I’m capable of doing it, does that mean I have to?” I glanced at Veric, recalling the private conversation we’d had in KP-04 while resting. “Right, Veric? Isn’t that what Roxana tells you when you get a little too selfless?”

Veric shifted uncomfortably. “This is about how you solved the Fantasm, right? If it was to save everyone, then… I think you did the right thing.”

Sure. But how would she have liked Luka asking her to put him down? It was one thing for someone you loved to sacrifice themself, but who would want to be the knife that killed them?

Before I could respond, though, Roxana said, with great magnanimity. “If you come visit the Dragon Shrine next week, then Luka is in the wrong, no matter what I learn later.”

It was such an unexpected answer, my anger subsided in favor of a surprised laugh.

“You mean it? Then I really should pay a visit.”

“So, when will you come over?”

I contemplated making digs at Luka for a while longer before I looked away. There would always be time to do that later; for now, I should arrange my schedule properly.

“If nothing unexpected occurs, I can visit tomorrow afternoon.”

“Aw, I was hoping you’d have more time today. It’d be nice to resolve things before school starts again.” Roxana groaned theatrically. “The essays I still have due are just awful. Can we petition the school for another week off?”

“Which essays?” Veric asked. “Are they from your electives?”

“Yeah, there’s the one from weather class, and I have a project due in sociology too. Do you think Professor Raoul will help me brainstorm, even if I’m not in his classes?”

Under Roxana’s chatter, the topic switched to homework and teachers, as well as the latest rumors about what the Academy was going to do about the field trip incident. Maybe she’d learned her lesson from talking to me just now, because she avoided asking me more personal questions.

It was her fault for inviting Luka along anyways.

I stayed until the snacks were gone. Then I told Roxana that the food was good, and that I’d swing by the Shrine tomorrow if I could. Veric gave me a worried look as I left. Luka’s expression was inscrutable as ever, but he didn’t take his eyes off me until I was out the door.

Despite everything that had happened, or maybe because of it, I still wasn’t sure where I stood with Luka. The only thing I was really certain of was that I had a bit of a grudge.

When I returned to my dorm room, another paper note was waiting for me.

Raising insects? Come on, the first thing you should’ve done was write to me. I can help with that! — Z

Could he really? I did need someone to help me with this badly.

After some contemplation, I wrote a response.

Come over tonight. I’ll leave the door unlocked.

Hopefully Zaire was actually free, or I’d be wasting Acacius’ commanding tone for nothing.

I unlocked the door to my dorm and took all my truly sensitive belongings with me into KP-04; namely, my money, my journals, and Acacius’ notes. Anything else in the room was something I could afford to lose.

The butterfly eggs hadn’t been eaten or disturbed in my absence, which was good. I settled down in the grass among the glowing flowers to finish reading about Iyiria’s establishment.

When the Great Dragon descended, it formed a friendship with one of Iyiria’s inhabitants, Yiannis. He was a commoner of no great background, and thus had no last name.

Because of him, the Great Dragon came to understand the suffering of the people of Iyiria. It took pity on the mortals who, under the effects of SP-01, were not even permitted their own sorrows. And so, it made a promise to Yiannis: He and any who followed him would be protected by the Great Dragon’s power, forever guaranteed the freedom to laugh and cry in accordance to the course of their lives.

With this promise, a revolution gathered under Yiannis’ command. The Great Dragon conquered SP-01 and claimed the panacaeas of that world for its own, and Yiannis’ army drove the invading empires away. SP-01 became the crowning gem of the Great Dragon’s hoard. The Great Dragon’s boundary was laid over the land, declaring the territory within which its promise was sovereign. And Yiannis, the representative of all Iyirians and the Great Dragon’s friend, was crowned the first king of Iyiria on Independence Day.

Of course, Iyiria’s government wasn’t as simple as a mere monarchy.

Yiannis was only a commoner. He had no history, no lineage. To gather power for his revolutionary army, he’d needed the support of aristocratic families, who had supplies, soldiers, and powerful legacies. But the aristocratic families had made their fortunes by acting as representatives of foreign powers. How could he sway them away from their imperial interests?

Yiannis hadn’t wanted to be a king, but the aristocrats wanted the authority of noble status.

So the constitutional monarchy of Iyiria was born. Iyiria was divided into six districts, roughly according to the territories of the aristocrats who had supported Yiannis’ revolution. The greatest aristocratic powers of the time were the Baschets of Lemiria, the Kamaras of Tizemitia, and the Sattaris of the Saivanad Empire, and they would go on to become the three Great Families. To counterbalance them, Yiannis favored three additional forces who would go on to become the three Dark Families: the Duval and Morgan families from Lemiria, and the Farzan family of the Saivanad Empire. Together, they were known as the Six Noble Families of Iyiria.

I mentally matched the Noble Families’ names to all the people I’d met at the Fellowship of the Silver Wing. Given how the book went on to talk about the nobles’ continued influence in the government, I guess it made sense that the Silver Wing was using the Student Council to practice being the shadowy hand behind the scenes.

However, the king of Iyiria wasn’t a meaningless position.

Whoever took up that ceremonial crown was the only person in Iyiria who had the right to an audience with the Great Dragon, and the only one who could negotiate with it for the miracle cures from SP-01.

So when Yiannis died without any heirs, the Noble Families seized control and formed an agreement.

Whoever sits on the throne must come from one of our families.

Apparently, to this day, many people suspected foul play, but nothing could be proved. And once enough time had passed, the Noble Families’ agreement had calcified from an ambitious power grab into tradition.

Into history.

It wasn’t an easy thing to go against the flow of history.

When I finished reading, I ate a simple meal. Then, after checking on the butterfly eggs one last time, I summoned the door to KP-04 and exited to my dorm room.

Zaire was waiting there.

“Acacius!” Eyes brightening, he jumped up from where he’d been sitting at the kitchen table, helping himself to my tea. He gave me a hug while I stood there stiffly, and then he patted me on the shoulder, looking me up and down. “How are you? No lingering injuries? Were you in the Fantasm World just now?”

I pushed his arm off, swept a glance over the table and took the seat across from him. “I’m fine. Have you been waiting long?”

“Not at all. I like your new tea collection. Your taste has really improved.”

I gave an indifferent nod.

“Let’s talk about the insects.”

Zaire instantly sat down, straight-backed and solemn. “Right. I hear the KP frame’s powers were derived from butterfly species in that world. What’s going on with you?”

I briefly introduced the Kalos butterflies’ situation and explained the task that I had been entrusted with. I also didn’t want to sound too much like I was invested in the Kalos butterflies’ survival in and of itself, so I spent time elaborating on how it would be beneficial to have a source of materials for studying the KP frame.

Thankfully, Zaire didn’t seem to suspect anything.

“You should have found me earlier,” he said with a teasing smile. “Isn’t this my specialty? And my teacher’s, too?”

“More than the Broken Kaleidoscope? I thought about reaching out to them…”

“Forget about them. Just let us take care of everything for you.”

I eyed him doubtfully. “What do you get out of it?”

“Is the pure joy of helping my good friend not enough?” Zaire laughed. “Well, there’s obviously the opportunity to study the Kaleidoscope and the lifeforms that birthed it. That’s mainly what would interest my teacher, too. Even if you can’t trust my abilities,” he gave me a faux sad look, “M’s skills are top-notch. That’s why they’re part of the Winnowing Weave, after all. Wouldn’t you rather deal with someone who’s not so entangled in Iyiria’s politics?”

I did feel rather moved by that.

“As long as you can help me raise the Kalos butterflies well and keep the Fantasm World in good condition, I don’t mind what you do. But are you sure that… M would be fine with this?” M should be his teacher’s name, right?

“They’d waltz over in a heartbeat if you gave them the chance.”

He really wanted this, huh.

“…Alright. Let’s arrange a time to meet and discuss the details.”

Zaire coughed.

“Did I say they’d waltz over? I meant that they’re still a misanthrope who doesn’t like talking to others. I can pass on any messages, though!”

“Isn’t that inconvenient?”

He waved me off. “It’s no big deal. But, well, if you want to speak to my teacher directly…” He gave me a cautious look. “The best way would be to use one of our custom seams.”

Custom? It might be a good idea to get a seam, anyways.

“How much for one?”

Zaire paused, blinking, and then an excited smile quickly came to his face. “Nothing at all! I have a few extras that I’ve been experimenting with. I’ll wipe one and give it to you.”

“…Are you sure? The cost—”

“Compared to what we’ve given each other before, what’s this little thing amount to? Just take it.”

Looking at his stubborn expression, I felt like it might hurt our relationship more to refuse again.

“…Alright. If that’s the case, then I’ll count on you.”

“Yes, definitely. Don’t worry. I promise that these seams are absolutely safe.”

Um, the fact that he’d gone out of his way to reassure me was making me nervous now. Had Acacius refused to get one before out of safety concerns? Should I avoid them too?

But seeing Zaire’s happy expression, I found it difficult to retract what I’d said.

He’d actually cared about Acacius, hadn’t he? He was the only person who’d been sincerely happy for Acacius after the ritual; he’d worried about Acacius during the duel fiasco with Linden; and now, coming to spend time with me and offer me his help…

Chen Xiarui’s face flashed through my mind. Do you intend to deceive everyone, just as you deceived him?

I looked away.

“You haven’t been in KP-04 before, have you? Let’s go on a tour. I can show you around.”

Zaire leapt to his feet. “Are you kidding me? Acacius, you are my favorite person in the world.”

He followed me through the Record of Authority’s shining door without hesitation. Just as it had in the outside world, night had fallen in KP-04. The stars glowed in their celestial river overhead.

Zaire breathed in the scent of the mountainside with great verve. He got down in the dirt to inspect the shapes of plant leaves and to do a cursory scan for invertebrate life. A veritable tide of ecological knowledge flowed out of his mouth. I couldn’t keep track of it all, but I did my best to listen as he speculated about what the KP world’s ecosystem must have been like.

The Cagzol Caverns were even more astounding to him. “Why have these flowers evolved to glow?” he wondered, stroking their petals gently, inspecting the shape of the stem and poking around the roots. “Are the Kalos butterflies their specialized pollinators? Does the light serve a similar function as in the deep sea — to lure living organisms in their direction?”

He was impressed by the makeshift camp I’d set up by the butterfly eggs. “Resourceful as ever!” he said. “But there’s a better way to keep these eggs safe. Here, I’ll show you.”

I guess Zaire had come prepared, because he took out an insect net and a few glass jars out of his bag. I helped him cut up the nets with [Caller], and he stripped some of the blue flowers’ leaves and petals to place in the jars. Zaire divided the butterfly eggs between each jar before tying the insect nets over the mouths of each jar.

“There. That should keep them safe from predators while maintaining the correct temperature and humidity levels. We can put the jars in different locations around the cave to reduce the chances of them dying in one big bunch.”

I followed Zaire around as he did just that. He chose a clump of flowers near a stream, a dim alcove near the wall of the cave, and a flower cluster by a rock formation. We marked the locations with orange ribbons that Zaire had lying in his bag from one of his previous field excursions.

It felt nice to follow the lead of someone who knew what they were doing. I’d been really worried I’d accidentally kill off those eggs.

Once we’d finished with the arrangements, I cleaned up my camp-out and returned to my dorm room with Zaire. Despite the late hour, he was full of energy, beaming and practically bouncing on his feet. When I saw him to the door, he wrapped his arms around me in a great, bracing hug.

“Thanks, Acacius,” he said. “I really can’t wait to explore this more! Plus… it’s been ages since we hung out like this. I’m so happy we got to do it again.”

I lifted my arms up, hovering over his shoulders, but couldn’t quite get myself to return his hug. After a moment, he stepped away.

“I’ll come over tomorrow night with your new seam. Make sure to look forward to it! Oh, and before I go, I also wanted to give something to you.”

With a fluorish, he presented me an envelope from the inside of his coat. Under his anticipatory gaze, I opened it to reveal an exquisitely carved wooden talisman, paper thin and yet sturdy to the touch. The symbols on it resembled the oracle script that preceded Korea’s hanja writing system.

Zaire lowered his voice and spoke with a hint of pride. “It’s a five elements substitution talisman. As long as you aren’t dealing with a conceptual power, it can block a killing blow for you once. What do you think? Useful, right?”

It took a moment to process exactly how valuable the thing in my hands was.

Then, with difficulty, I shoved the envelope back at him.

“I shouldn’t take something so precious.”

“What do you mean? You want it, don’t you? Take it.”

“This is the kind of thing you should keep for yourself.”

“I’m not the one constantly running into danger.” Zaire pushed it firmly back into my grasp. “It took a lot of work to get one for you. Don’t let my hard work go to waste, alright? Otherwise, I’ll really get angry.”

Holding the envelope silently, I stood there at a loss. Zaire took advantage of that to open the door and retreat, giving me a cheeky smile and a careless wave goodbye. “Then that’s settled. See you tomorrow!”

Zaire really treated Acacius with sincerity. It would be… so easy to take advantage of him.

Before he could make it more than a few steps down the hall, I called out impulsively.

“Zaire.”

He turned back. “Yes?”

I regretted calling him almost instantly. But since I’d already done it, I steeled myself to go all the way.

“After the coming-of-age ritual…”

“What about it?” he asked into my silence.

How could I say this without lying? I picked my words carefully and didn’t bother disguising the pauses. The appearance of emotional turmoil would help sell the story.

“It didn’t go as smoothly as some people think. I…struggled. And after the ritual, I realized… that there are certain memories I should have, but I don’t.”

“What?” Zaire quickly came back to the door, expression serious. “It was more dangerous than I thought, huh? If there’s anything you want to ask about, I can help fill in…”

It was this sincerity that made it so hard to speak.

“I’m… managing so far. But I’m also… different from what others expect from me. And I feel like… I’m not the person you know. So… Your friendship…”

It was wasted on me. Zaire looked at me, concerned, earnest. I looked away.

“I’m sorry if I’m not the friend you remember me to be.”

I tried to slam the door and end the conversation right there, but Zaire stuck his foot in the gap and caught it before it could close.

“Acacius,” he said softly. “It’s okay. I already knew you were a bit different from before.”

I flicked my gaze up to meet his and stopped pushing the door shut, but I didn’t let him open it fully either. He didn’t seem to mind.

“You’ve become calmer,” he said. “Less worried and less controlling. And clearly, more capable too. It’s a good change! Don’t worry so much about that. But… you know.”

He cleared his throat.

“I’ve known you for a long time now. I’ve already seen you change a lot. Getting older, and… getting worse. I was worried about you for a long time.”

He fell silent for a moment, lost in memories that I didn’t know. Then he raised his eyes to mine.

“…Acacius. I don’t care how much you change, or how much you don’t. Even if you are a thief or a liar, a traitor or a villain, even if you fall into the pits of hell and never intend to turn back…”

He reached out and took my right hand in his, rolling my sleeve up far enough to expose the black thorns tattooed around my wrist. A single pale rose bloomed from within the thorns.

Acacius’ title, [Flower in the Garden of Sin].

Zaire looked terribly pained.

“It doesn’t matter,” he repeated softly, fingers tracing over that flower. “Because I know who you are.”

He dropped my hand and met my eyes.

“You are the one who saved me. So I will always be your friend.”

I stared at him. There was a lump in my throat, and my mind was blank. I couldn’t think of a single word to say.

Zaire smiled at me sadly.

“So no matter what happens, I’ll always be by your side.”

Softly, he let go of my hand. This time, when he left, I didn’t call him back.

Acacius’ previous relationships had been so bad, I’d been able to ignore the fact that I was replacing him. If he’d tried to kill me and no one wanted him around anyways, why should I feel bad?

But what about Zaire?

Even if I prioritized Zaire’s happiness, treated him with all the sincerity I could give, and was a better friend to him than Acacius ever was…

It didn’t matter.

Because I wasn’t the one who saved him, but the one who killed his friend.

Suddenly, standing here with Acacius’ face, covered in Acacius’ titles, wearing Acacius’ clothes, everything felt absolutely unbearable. I slammed the door shut and ran to the bathroom and its mirror. [Honest Man’s Deception] materialized in my hands, and as I placed the mask over my face, my appearance changed.

Black hair. Leaner muscles. Calloused hands. A worn leather jacket patched too many times to count, a scuffed-up pair of jeans, and dark boots wearing out at the soles. I looked into the mirror, and for the first time since I was summoned into this world, it was Jeong Eunseok who looked back at me.

It wasn’t enough.

I tore off [Honest Man’s Deception] and threw it against the wall, as if it could be discarded so simply, and it dematerialized in a flash of light. Without it, I quickly reverted to what was now my true body: Acacius Duval.

If I ever wanted to look like myself again, I’d have to first wear the mask. It was such a bad joke, I couldn’t help but laugh.

How much acting had I done recently? When would it stop? Would I ever be strong enough to live openly as “myself”?

But if I was someone who could stop pretending so easily, this damn thing would never have become my World Proof.

I felt like I was going crazy. Something was going to break.

I ran out the dorm like I was trying to escape. Down the elevator, out the front door, into the emptying streets where the pooling gold of the street lights couldn’t chase away the thick velvet of the night. Past the prosperous downtown area, down to the river. To those run-down neighborhoods that were the closest I’d felt to home.

There, I held my hand out, and [Honest Man’s Deception] answered my call. Of course it did. I placed the mask back on and headed for a familiar road, down the riverbank to the Pearl Dive, where they wouldn’t ask for my name or age or ID. They wouldn’t care. As long as I had money to spend on their drinks, they wouldn’t care.

For this night, at least, let Jeong Eunseok exist in this world.

I didn’t go back to the dorm for a long time.

Chapter 39 Back to Index