Chapter 33 –
Current Status 

After Hayeon left, I woke up after a short sleep on the dormitory’s bed.

Now, this is happiness…

It drained my energy when I was with other people.

It had been a long time since I had a space to myself.

That was more than enough to satisfy me.

It’s been a while since I last touched my phone.

When I pressed the power button on the phone that I haven’t touched in a while…

There was a text from Shin Sihwa from an hour ago in my messages.

–There is too much interest in you right now, so please take a week off, Sijoon. The school will take care of the rest. Okay?

It was a message saying that I did not have to go to school.

Should I be happy about this or not?

There were two conflicting views inside me.

Isn’t it a good thing, since I can rest if I don’t go to school?

Episode 2 is just in front of your nose, you want to survive without training?

Outside of school, I won’t be able to train for those class times.

No matter how much I know about V. AGE like the back of my hand, that was just knowledge in my head.

For me, who was sorely lacking hands-on experience, a week without school felt like a waste.

As I was feeling regretful, a low buzz rang out in my ear.

–Agree. Human. Terribly. Weak.

“Don’t talk to me, you’re making my head hurt…”

The voice came from the subdued S-Rank monster, Fenrille.

One thing led to another, and this useless dog was able to enter the Golem’s core in my body with its ego and feeble power intact.

Was it able to enter because the Golem had no consciousness…?

I’ve been making guesses, but besides this one, it couldn’t really be explained.

Fenrille, the S-Rank monster that struck terror in Russia.

It wasn’t helpful to me whatsoever.

“Huu…”

Taking a deep breath to push down the rising irritation, I asked Fenrille, “Hey mutt, just why did you enter my body?”

–Survival. They. Will kill. Must live. Me too. Didn’t want to. Enter here.

Fenrille spoke in syllables.

I was able to interpret that it moved its ego into the Golem’s empty core because the Black Dawn was going to kill it.

“…”

But of all things, why did it have to flee into my body?

I wanted to smack it.

Since Fenrille had no form right now, I had no choice but to slowly listen to him.

–Human. Attacked first. Fight. Hate. Recover. I leave. Save. Core. You. Qualification. None.

“Humans attacked you first so you fought them. Once you recover, you’ll leave my body, so save your core. I’m not qualified because I’m weak?”

–Yes. Human.

“Hah…”

It’s a total parasite. It suddenly entered my body and was indebted to me for a while. 

A parasite which screamed to come get the core!

But maybe it was because it was an S-Rank monster, but it had high intelligence, and its hostility toward humans seems low.

Is it a good thing that we can communicate?

I felt a sense of relief and regret at the same time.

It would’ve been nice if Fenrille could be subordinated to me and share its power, but from what he said I was not qualified.

In order to use Fenrille’s power in V. AGE, the user’s magic had to be over 11.

The control to rule the S-Rank monster.

Such control did not exist for me.

“How can I trust you? That you’ll leave once you recover.”

–Lie. I can’t. Vow. That I. Can’t. Harm.

“You can’t lie, and you vow upon that. You can’t harm me? Then, when will you recover?”

–At least. One year.

One year.

By the time I advanced to the second grade, it wasn’t a bad condition to help it out of good virtue.

It still has to pay up for its dwelling.

I tried placing a condition on Fenrille.

“In return, help me when I’m in danger. I’m letting you rest in a safe place, the least you can do is that much, right?”

–Alright. I’ll help.

Fenrille readily said it would help.

I was a little doubtful, but I decided to move on. If it didn’t help, I could use Libra to destroy and dispose of it anyway.

I had made another last resort to protect my life.

In terms of outcome, it wasn’t bad.

As long as I didn’t get caught having an S-Rank monster in my body that is.

How would there even be a person to notice it? No one will be able to find out.

Fenrille’s ego and its weak mana which entered the Golem’s core.

If someone found that out, such a person would be an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

As I layed in bed with that in mind, I used Libra to check my current status.

“Libra. Show me the Status Window. I’ll give half of the Golem core’s mana.”

–Price is small. Adjusting value. Golem’s core. Taking 70% of mana. Do you consent?

“I consent.”

At that moment, the mana was drained from my body, and a slight sense of helplessness came to me.

I felt dizzy because I lost mana at once. After about two minutes, the dizziness disappeared.

And in my blurry vision, a small status window opened up.

Name: Han Sijoon

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Alignment: Good

Innate Ability: The Scale, Libra

Fate: The Fate of the S-Rank’s Childhood Friend, The Fate of the Playboy, The Fate of a Villain

Status

[Strength 3(+3)]

[Agility 3(+3)]

[Stamina 2]

[Magic 0(+3)]

[Fortitude 9]

It’s not bad.

Since I lived together with the Black Dawn, infamous for being the worst villain organization, my fortitude, which had been 8, had risen to 9. Additionally, my strength of 2 rose to 3 due to my steady consumption of nutritional supplements.

If I used the hidden piece, the Golem’s red stone… I’d get a total figure of 6, and be able to compete with other academy students.

I could see that I had grown quite strong during the span of a month.

If I didn’t account for stamina that is.

I turned my attention to the “skills” below the stats.

Skills

[The Core of Fenrille(S)]

[The Golem’s Core(A)]

[Pride(A)]

[Bravado(C)]

[Pheromone(C)]

[Marksmanship(E)]

Skills also Ability.

In V. AGE, it referred to the user’s ability. 

It could be created through one’s efforts, and its rank could be raised as well. The innate ability was also included as a skill.

A skill window where various things existed.

No matter which way I look at it, this isn’t the skill window of an academy cadet.

If I had to put it in words, it could be considered the skill window of a host working in the prostitution world.

Out of the five skills, there were two which involved combat.

Should I just stick by Hayeon’s side like a hustler?

The thought crossed my mind when my wretched skill window briefly discouraged me.

But seeing as this world could only be cleared with me as the player, thinking about stuff like becoming a hustler would have to wait till later.

Facing reality, I immediately started to do push-ups in my room.

Episode 2, which would take place shortly after my return to school…

The day when countless students died…

I had to be prepared.

 ***

At the Black Dawn hideout.

As usual, the place was full of dazzling items, but the mood was completely down.

“Mm… Tonight’s dinner is delicious, isn’t it?”

“Read the room, Vice-Cap.”

Excluding Han Yoowol, who was gracefully eating the meat with a fork…

The Black Dawn were greatly troubled because of Hana, who had shouted, “I’ll be back a bit later.”

It started with the fretful Angela.

“…Isn’t she a crazy wench? If she was there, they would have arrested her…”

“Yeah, it’s already on camera. The Black Dawn’s maknae is already caught! Haha!!”

Kim Chunsam smiled as if he was about to lose it.

Since this kind of situation had not been in his plan, his forehead had a bulging vein protruding out from the rage.

The bulky Hwang Pildu opened his mouth to speak.

“I think it’s fine to let her out at least once.”

“I agree.”

Andale said in response.

She also knew Hana’s level of intellect, so she wanted her to go see the outside world.

Angela raised her crooked glasses as she said, “Can’t you just kill that boy? That’s our main culprit right there. The thief who lured our little Hana.”

“Yeah, Boss. I don’t understand the point of keeping that punk alive. He’s no longer useful, do we have to let him live?”

Angela and Kim Chunsam had some complaints since keeping Han Sijoon, who was useless, alive resulted in Ban Hana, their spatial-ability user, to run away.

Regarding that matter, everyone was in agreement except Han Yoowol.

Their discontent voices kept pouring out during mealtime.

Shin Haeil shut their complaints with one word.

”Enough.”

He spoke calmly, but there was anger in his voice that couldn’t be concealed.

He did somewhat expect Hana to run away, but never did he expect the other factor.

That damn yellow fledgling…

For some unknown reason, the S-Rank mana stone was empty.

It was only the shell of a S-Rank mana stone, and the remaining mana in there basically amounted to the residue.

Through his insight, the traces of its whereabouts led to Sijoon.

Because the plan to revive the S-Rank monster Fenrille amounted to nothing, Haeil couldn’t help but be furious.

He parted his mouth.

“Concerning Ban Hana, it’s fine. But Han Sijoon. That child…”

He trailed off.

He was troubled by Han Sijoon.

He didn’t know if the boy had intentionally interfered, but ultimately he did end up hindering the Black Dawn.

Should he not be held accountable?

However, Haeil could not make an emotional judgment.

Through his insight, he saw Han Sijoon’s path.

If he walked the path of a hero, the Black Dawn would be destroyed by his hands.

However, if they killed him, someone else would destroy the Black Dawn.

Persuading him wouldn’t work.

He would never become a villain of his own will.

What should I do with him?

The old man already knew the answer.

“Han Sijoon. Let that child know he’ll be held accountable.”

Ruin him.

Let him unintentionally walk the villain’s path.

It was the only action Shin Haeil could take against Han Sijoon.