Shadows of Suspicion
Because Kate had shouted her surrender at the very end, the victory ultimately went to her. Yet not a single cheer rose from the stands. Everyone sat with stunned expressions.
“Senior. Did you see that?”
“...Yeah. I saw it.”
“That movement wasn’t something from the guy who scored dead last in the physical test, was it?”
“.....”
The way Nam Doyun had just dodged Kate’s spells was anything but ordinary. It was far beyond the physical capabilities of someone who had placed last in the fitness evaluation.
“So he was hiding his strength back then…? But why?”
Jin Hyewon couldn’t understand it. The student who had ranked lowest in the physical test had suddenly displayed the abilities of an entirely different person. Such rapid growth was impossible. That meant he must have been forced to conceal his true strength during the test.
A single thought flashed through her mind.
“An elixir?”
An elixir could amplify physical abilities in a short time. But no elixir existed that could transform someone who had scored at the very bottom into the level Doyun had just shown. Even if such a thing existed, it would be impossible for an ordinary student to obtain.
“Senior.”
“Yeah. What is it?”
“What were you thinking so hard about?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“If Kate had gone all out from the start, what do you think would’ve happened?”
“Nam Doyun wouldn’t have stood a chance. If she’d just spammed 2nd Circle spells, he wouldn’t have lasted ten seconds.”
“So she lost because of her own arrogance.”
“Arrogance… You could call it that. She promised to only use 1st Circle magic, then went ahead and deployed a 2nd Circle shield anyway.”
“Why do you think Kate agreed to use only 1st Circle spells in the first place?”
“Only someone who already knows the exact gap between themselves and their opponent would make that kind of promise. She must have calculated that she could win with just 1st Circle magic.”
“What would she even gain from that?”
“She gets to show everyone here the difference in their levels. She could flaunt that she could win using only 1st Circle spells… Wait, hold on.”
Jin Hyewon fell into deep thought. Kate had only agreed to use 1st Circle magic because she already understood the gap between herself and her opponent. That meant she had probably looked up Nam Doyun’s records. That was the only way she could have been so certain of her superiority.
In the end, the reason Kate had been able to act so arrogantly was because she had checked his scores. And that was exactly why Nam Doyun had been able to win. Which raised another possibility…
Could Nam Doyun have known that Kate would look up his records? It sounded ridiculous, but if that were true, everything fit together. He had deliberately scored last in the physical test to make Kate lower her guard, and it had worked.
But why go that far just to lower her guard? Was there some massive reward waiting for the winner of this match…?
“Rookie.”
“Yes?”
“Thoroughly investigate whether any shady deals were made regarding this match.”
“Huh? Investigate shady deals? Why all of a sudden?”
****
“The next match will be between first-year Lee Hojin and second-year Kim Minseong.”
The two students faced each other. From the stands, I watched Lee Hojin’s hands. They were trembling nonstop. The demonic energy was already eroding him. At this rate, he would lose control any moment now.
“Hey. Who do you think’s gonna win?”
“Obviously the second-year, Kim Minseong. Lee Hojin? I’ve never even heard his name before.”
“Alright, let the match begin!”
The moment the announcer’s voice rang out, Lee Hojin exploded forward. Second-year Kim Minseong tried to roll aside to dodge the sudden leap, but he was too late.
Thud—
Lee Hojin’s wooden sword slammed into Kim Minseong’s face. The second-year collapsed without even a sound.
A heavy silence fell over the stands.
A complete unknown from the first-years had just crushed a second-year that easily? The result was shocking.
“H-Hey… Did you just see that? What the hell happened?”
“Lee Hojin? Was he always that strong?”
“Did he take some kind of drug?”
His physical abilities must have surged dramatically as the demonic energy eroded him. I needed to prepare countermeasures as soon as possible.
****
Lee Hojin clutched his head, which felt like it was about to split open, and somehow dragged himself toward the dorms.
“Whoa, Hojin, that was amazing!”
“Dude, you were like a completely different person back there!”
None of the voices reached him. All he could hear was the chilling voice echoing inside his skull.
—You want Jeong Hayeon, don’t you? Then just do as I say. If you do, she’ll be yours.
—You can’t do it with your own power. Take my hand. Then you can have everything.
Lee Hojin’s hands began to tremble even more violently.
****
The night the first- and second-year matches ended.
Creak—
A luxury car stopped in front of one of the countless buildings in Gangnam. The driver hurried around to open the rear door. A woman stepped out and gave him a polite nod.
“Representative, you’ve arrived.”
Dozens of employees were already lined up in front of the building.
“...Yes. It’s good to see you all.”
It was Cha Jiyun. The place she had come to today was the headquarters of the Oriental Guild.
“...Let’s head inside first.”
Cha Jiyun walked into the building, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
“Representative, which department would you like to visit first?”
“I’ll start with the scouting team.”
She made her way toward the scouting office. She was curious whether they had discovered any promising talents during today’s first- versus second-year matches.
“Welcome, Representative.”
The moment she entered, every employee who had been working stood up and bowed their heads.
“...You don’t have to do that. More importantly, let’s hear your report.”
“Yes. Please take a look at this first.”
He brought up a large presentation on the screen.
“Then I’ll begin the explanation. Naturally, our top recruitment priority is Radeon.”
The screen displayed footage of Radeon’s overwhelming victory in the matches.
“And the next student is…”
The introductions of noteworthy students continued.
“And… we spent a lot of time debating whether to include this student or not.”
“...Who is it?”
“...It’s a student named Nam Doyun.”
As he spoke, he played the footage of Nam Doyun’s match against Kate. Cha Jiyun hadn’t been able to watch his match earlier because of her own preparations.
As time passed, her expression grew increasingly puzzled.
“Representative?”
“..Yes?”
“Is something bothering you?”
“Ah… No, it’s nothing. Please continue.”
Cha Jiyun furrowed her brows. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He had scored last in the physical test. But the movements shown in the video were nothing like someone who had placed last. He had dodged Kate’s fire arrows with ridiculous ease.
She had known he possessed exceptional information-gathering skills. But his physical abilities had clearly been lacking. So what was this?
And that wasn’t the only strange thing. The moment he extended his hand, the shield magic had shattered instantly. It was the same action he had used against the lich. That meant it really had been Nam Doyun who destroyed the lich’s barrier.
Then… did that mean the foreign mana she had sensed back then really belonged to him?
“Scout.”
Cha Jiyun looked at him and spoke.
“Yes?”
“How many people in our guild possess transparent mana?”
“About two.”
“...Could you summon them for a moment?”
“Understood.”
Soon, two guild members arrived at the headquarters in a hurry.
“Representative, may I ask what this is about?”
“...I’m sorry for calling you so late.”
She bowed her head slightly.
“Ah… No, there’s no need for you to bow to us.”
“...The reason I called you is simple. Could you show me your transparent mana?”
“Huh? That’s easy enough. But what’s this about all of a sudden?”
“...There’s something I need to confirm.”
“Understood. Then let’s head to the training hall first.”
Inside the training hall, numerous targets were set up.
“I’ll start by destroying that target over there.”
He aimed his hand toward one of the targets.
“I’ll begin now.”
At his words, the target shattered. Cha Jiyun tilted her head. The color of the mana was exactly the same as what Nam Doyun had used. But something felt different. She had sensed something deeply foreign from Nam Doyun’s mana. She couldn’t put it into words, but his mana was simply… different.
“Now the next person. Could you show me as well?”
“Of course.”
He also destroyed a target using transparent mana, but the result was the same. It felt different from Nam Doyun’s. There was no trace of that foreign quality.
“Then may we head back now?”
“..Yes, thank you for your time.”
Cha Jiyun returned to the scouting office. Something was definitely wrong. He knew about dungeons that even the Samhwa Group’s intelligence division had no information on. Not only that—according to the footage Jeong Hayeon had shown her, Nam Doyun had stopped a Demonic Human’s movements. That would have been impossible without extensive knowledge of demonic energy.
And then there was that foreign mana she had sensed from him. It felt as though it didn’t belong to this world at all.
Cha Jiyun recalled what Jeong Hayeon had said. That Nam Doyun was hiding something. After watching the footage today, she finally understood. The movements he had displayed today couldn’t be explained unless he had been concealing his true strength during the physical test.
She had briefly considered the possibility of an elixir, but dismissed it. No elixir capable of boosting physical abilities to that degree had ever been announced by the academic community.
When she put everything together, only one conclusion remained.
…Could he be a Demonic Human?
It sounded absurd, but it would explain everything. Demons possessed knowledge that humans didn’t. And if they had shared that knowledge with the human they had contracted with… then it would explain how he had known about the dungeon.
Furthermore, if the source of that foreign mana was the demon he had contracted with, then everything made sense.
“......”
But she didn’t want to believe it.
“Jiyun, is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
The scouting team leader asked.
“..Ah..”
She hadn’t realized she had been frowning. Cha Jiyun quickly smoothed her expression.
“It’s nothing. More importantly, you said you were considering Nam Doyun as a potential recruit for our guild, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“...Let’s put that on hold for now.”
“Pardon?”
“...Just for the time being.”
“May I ask why you suddenly made that decision?”
“.....I’ll explain once I’m certain.”