The moment Shinnoda defeated Zhang Yichen, all of his club members stood up from their seats and got into a fighting stance.
“Is this it!”
“Meow─ Meow!”
“We trusted you!”
Isiah was proud to know someone as incredible as him.
Whenever the topic of men came up in the ‘Knights’ café group chat, everyone else was busy talking about celebrities because they supposedly didn’t even have male friends, let alone boyfriends. Isiah, however, was different.
With idol-level looks and unmatched power among his peers, Shinnoda was someone she could call a friend.
‘I’m not like you guys, just some fan. I exchange personal messages with someone like him.’
She even felt a strange sense of superiority.
Just the suspicion that Shinnoda might be the ‘Dark Knight’ grew even stronger.
“Ha ha! It’s really lucky that Shinnoda joined our club!”
Lee Sang-hyun also greatly benefited from Shinnoda.
Originally considered an ‘outsider’ in the class with no one paying him any attention, Sang-hyun was now receiving a lot of attention just because he was somehow ‘acquainted’ with Shinnoda. Moreover, his status rose after clearing dungeons, and he secured credentials that could appeal to management. He felt like praying.
“Senior, didn’t you oppose Shinnoda joining at first?”
“I remember you kept testing him to prevent his entry…”
“Meow. Hya-ak.”
The members found it amusing and added a word or two when they remembered how Sang-hyun had desperately tried to block Shinnoda’s acceptance earlier.
“Hmm, circumstances do change.”
Meanwhile, Lee Chan-hyuk, ‘Weapon Master’, who was watching the match from a somewhat distant spot, had his eyes closed but was reviewing the fight in his mind.
“When Zhang descended from the sky, that wasn’t a normal movement. So it was definitely a skill. How did Shinnoda block that?”
In Chan-hyuk’s understanding, that should’ve been an impossible-to-win situation.
“Could he be hiding another skill?”
No matter how he thought about it, the conclusion he reached was that Shinnoda must be hiding something.
“Well, we’ve only known each other for a short time, so probably the trust needed to reveal a hidden ace hasn’t developed yet.”
Among the Awakened Ones, some occasionally concealed their ultimate skills or abilities.
Still, such individuals were rare because it could lead to suspicion if something happened, especially since the agency evaluated salaries based on the abilities listed in profiles.
Chan-hyuk wanted to teach more.
“Shinnoda will soon reach S-rank, no doubt.”
He believed that with proper mentoring beginning now, Shinnoda could become a true martial deity stronger than any other S-rank. And he would become the martial deity’s master. The thought was already thrilling his heart.
‘Just waiting like this won’t suffice.’
Chan-hyuk opened his smartphone and sent a message to Shinnoda: “Congrats on the win. When would be a good time for the next lesson?”
After leaving the arena with Park Hayeon, Yang Min-seo and the team were waiting for me.
Oh Haena avoided my gaze with a startled expression as soon as our eyes met.
“To celebrate the end of the practical exam, how about our group has a dinner party?”
Yang Min-seo persuaded us, mentioning that she had reserved a deluxe restaurant for the after-party.
“Hmm. I…”
Unfortunately, Hayeon and I had just discussed having dinner with the family (?), including Laura and the kids.
It felt awkward to suddenly back out and risk disappointing Park Hayeon.
“Oh, let’s invite Hayeon too. She’s not a team member, but we’re close, right?”
“Uh? Uhh.”
Yang Min-seo, seemingly perceiving that I was looking to Hayeon for cues, interrupted me and tried to act friendly with her. Park Hayeon has a personality that can’t refuse someone who smiles while coming closer like that, so we reluctantly ended up attending the after-party.
The gathering was nothing special.
Though the high-end restaurant provided a good dining experience; Haena hardly made eye contact with me. Watching that once proud girl squirm around me was oddly endearing.
Evening passed in the blink of an eye.
“Alright, let’s part here. It’s a relief that everything we wanted to talk about has been resolved.”
A period too short, yet too long.
Thanks to Min-seo making the arrangements, we all shared quite some stories and cultivated friendships. Moreover, I somewhat broke the ice with Oh Haena, who had subtly been avoiding me.
“Bye-bye.”
“See you tomorrow.”
That’s how we wrapped up the gathering, and Hayeon and I headed home together.
Upon returning home, as soon as Park Hayeon and I opened the door, we were startled at the sight.
“I greet you, Master!”
“I greet you, Master!”
Alpha and Omega, twin siblings, knelt on one knee and bowed their heads to me. They were clad in custom outfits—Alpha in butler attire and Omega in a maid outfit. There was no hint of playfulness in this scene.
Caught completely off guard, I flustered and helped them stand up.
“Why are you doing all this?”
As I asked, Laura emerged smiling with a ‘Kukukuk’ laugh.
“How do you like my handiwork? I’ve educated them well!”
“I call this… education?”
“I applied the same treatment as what is usually given to guardians guarding the lair, but is it insufficient?”
Laura’s calm response made my head ache on one side. That wasn’t what I’d had in mind at all.
When I noticed, oddly, the butler-clad child had a noticeable bump on their chest.
On the other hand, the maid-clad child with bent legs was visibly fidgeting nervously.
I began to suspect something inappropriate was happening.
“Could you be the Omega?”
As I questioned the butler-clad child, Omega calmly nodded.
“And are you Alpha?”
Similarly, the maid-clad child turned red faced and nodded.
“What exactly have you done here?”
How had she educated them to such an extent in the short time I’d been away? Why were they calling me “Master”? Why was Alpha in women’s clothing and Omega in men’s clothing? None of it made sense to me.
Was this what’s called political correctness?
“Don’t call me Master.”
I requested the children not do so.
The twins, who thought I had made some shocking statement, dramatically pleaded in unison.
“Please don’t abandon us!”
“By all means, please!”
My head was spinning.
Glancing over, Park Hayeon was looking at me as if I were a pile of trash.
“Who’s talking about abandoning you?”
“But Lord said if we don’t listen to Master, then we’d be discarded!”
This “Lord” must be Laura…
I stared at Laura angrily with narrowed eyes.
“Mh? Is this wrong?”
Embarrassed, Laura averted her gaze from me. I placed my hand on my forehead.
“Of course, it is! I asked to educate them like normal children! And why is Alpha wearing a maid’s uniform!”
“It’s more fun when twins do stuff like that!”
“Ah…”
An involuntary sigh escaped my lips. This Dragon seemed to view the twins as nothing more than fun playthings.
“Stop pushing it. Laura is just a kid.”
Park Hayeon restrained me.
Not knowing the whole situation, it likely appeared to her that I was overreacting unnecessarily to having been left in charge of a young child.
“Absolutely not Master! Brother or Oppa instead!”
“Yes, Noda Oppa.”
“Yes, Noda Hyung.”
Though the titles and the gender of the people saying them felt somewhat inverted, I decided to let it slide.
“Phew. Alright then.”
Exhausted, I collapsed onto the sofa, turned on the TV, and just in time an urgent bulletin appeared.
“<Has the K Pharmaceutical Villain Returned?>”
At the top of the screen loomed a foreboding title.
The soldiers and police gathered in front of the National Assembly building appeared as backdrop footage.
“Starting this afternoon, masked intruders broke into the National Assembly and took control of the conference room where a meeting was in progress. They’ve taken the legislators hostage and continue their sit-in. Let’s now switch to a live report from our on-site correspondent, Yumir. Reporter Yumir.”
The news anchor delivered the emergency bulletin with a rigid expression.
“Yes, right now, heroes along with the military and police are all on the scene. The hostage-takers are all Necromancers, wearing K doll masks in committing these crimes. They initially demanded the suspension of the ‘Latent Danger Awakened Alert-e’ service. The police are thoroughly investigating whether they are followers of the ‘K Pharmaceutical Villain’…”
The reporter calmly recounted the information he had gathered, but behind him, several heroes dressed in costumes and wielding weapons were visible.
I leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought.
A mass crime by Necromancers.
This had never happened in the original story.
“What is this? If this were on the scale of a game, they would’ve mentioned it. Is this also part of the butterfly effect?”
The discrepancies between the original story and reality were increasing day by day.
“The only major change so far is the existence of Dark Knight. Anyway, I can’t completely trust the knowledge of the original world anymore.”
Still, this would be a good experience.
I went into my room to gather my things and invited Laura to come along. Since we had no idea who the villains occupying the National Assembly were, I planned to get her magical support.
“Ugh? It’s bothersome. Go alone…”
Laura was sprawled on the bed, absorbed in her smartphone.
I reached under her armpits, lifted her off the bed.
“Let’s go!”
“Ugh. Looks like I have no choice.”
Laura, after hastily getting dressed, started following me reluctantly.
“Haeyoon, Laura and I are going out and will be back later.”
“Where? Oh, you probably won’t tell me anyway. Alright. Come back safely.”
With a composed face, Park Hayeon bid us farewell.
“Safe journey Oppa!”
The twins also ran over and called out.
‘Now they both just call me Oppa.’
Both were aesthetically well-designed, so, in any case, they were cute.
*
