There Is No World For ■■

* * *

Yeomyeong and Seti began to gather their mana instead of replying.

Being familiar with who their opponent was, Seti even pulled out a small iron hammer she kept hidden in her bag.

Seeing that the atmosphere had grown tense, as if a fight could break out at any moment, Ava spoke with a bitter smile.

“Uh… There’s no need to be so wary.”

She spoke as if she was trying to calm a frightened child. And while wiping the blood dripping from her forehead, she added.

“I-I hope there’s no misunderstanding; I really just want to talk…”

Just as Ava’s tongue was about to start wagging again, Yeomyeong cut her off.

“…Enough with your wordplay. Unless the four of you want a hole in your heads.”

Yeomyeong spoke, his gaze not on Ava but at the area behind her.

Was it thanks to his growing familiarity with the Invisibility Cloak?

His senses were able to accurately detect the three other organization members hiding behind her.

“…”

Only then did Ava’s expression turn stiff.

She could vividly feel her colleagues, hiding to back her up, hold their breaths.

“…You speak of killing way too easily. Especially when we are currently in the academy.”

“Your tongue sure wags a lot for a terrorist.”

“…”

“Seeing that you’re a spy of the Secret Society that attacked the academy, I’d probably get a reward rather than punishment if I kill you here and now, wouldn’t I?”

…He even knew that?

Ava unknowingly showed a surprised expression, and she quickly hid it when she saw Seti having a similar reaction.

“Could you just give us a moment… just a few minutes of your time? I’d like a chance to prove our goodwill.”

“…Goodwill?”

As Yeomyeong’s eyes turned cold, Ava hastily gestured behind her.

One of her hidden colleagues stepped forward and threw a stack of documents.

Perhaps there was some sort of spell cast on them as the documents flew steadily through the air before landing gently at Yeomyeong’s feet.

“…What is this?”

Yeomyeong asked without even sparing a glance at the documents. Ava explained, almost defensively.

“Information about the Incheon murderer. It contains all the data gathered by Interpol over the past six months and even the files hidden by the South Korean police.”

“…”

The Incheon murderer… also known as the Player.

The moment he heard those words, Yeomyeong clicked his tongue inwardly.

“…So you’ve been digging into me.”

“I hope you don’t take it the wrong way. As you know, there isn’t a single information guild on Earth who hasn’t tried to dig into you. We… we were also just doing our job.”

“…”

“Blue Rat, that woman, hid it too well, so we almost came up empty as well… but we were somewhat lucky. After all, the Incheon black market is our territory.”

It was unclear whether it was a threat or an explanation.

Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes at Ava.

And though she was trying hard to appear calm on the surface, it wasn’t hard to see the desperation hidden underneath.

“Ah, but I hope you don’t misunderstand. We truly have no intention of using your past to threaten you.”

“…Then?”

“As I said, it’s proof of our goodwill. We didn’t sell your information, and the same can be said for the information those documents contain… it’s all a token of goodwill from our society, hoping to get closer to you.”

Ava finished speaking with a faint smile as if she had gained the upper hand.

“So… do you feel like talking now? If it’s fine with you, I’d like to move this conversation elsewhere.”

At that point, Seti realized that things were getting complicated. She picked up the documents on the ground and looked at Yeomyeong.

Yeomyeong met her blue eyes, which seemed to ask, ‘What are you going to do?’ He clenched and unclenched his fist for a moment before speaking to Ava.

“Ava.”

“Yes, have you made up your mind? If you insist, we can talk right here…”

“Your niece runs a pizza shop in Chicago, doesn’t she?”

“…”

A look of surprise flashed across Ava’s face, only to disappear in the next instant.

She controlled her expression so quickly that only a Superhuman would have noticed it.

“I’ve never had Chicago pizza before. I wonder, do they serve it at funerals too?”

“What in the world are you talking about—”

Before she could finish her question, Yeomyeong kicked the ground.

The mana from the Surging Wave technique swirling around him surged down his calf, propelling him forward in an instant.

His target was not Ava but her colleagues hiding behind her.

They tried to raise their weapons reflexively, but Yeomyeong’s punch landed in their hiding place just a bit faster.

Thud!

Yeomyeong’s fist dug deep into the side of the guy hiding between the bushes at the very front. The sensation of the man’s rib breaking passing through his knuckles.

“Gah!”

And while the man grabbed his side and collapsed, Yeomyeong was already swinging his foot toward his next target.

Stunned by the sudden ambush, the man reacted a step too late.

As he belatedly raised a dagger, Yeomyeong’s flying kick had already connected with his chin.

Smack! The second guy’s head snapped to the side, and his eyes went blank.

He didn’t even have to pay attention to the third guy.

The third man was already knocked out by the hammer Seti threw at his head.

“W-What in the world is…”

Ava stuttered, unable to comprehend what just happened.

It was understandable. To her, who wasn’t superhuman, it must have seemed like all her hidden colleagues had collapsed in the blink of an eye.

Regardless, pulling the dagger from the hand of the fallen man, Yeomyeong turned his head and spoke.

“Ava.”

“…”

“I finally feel like talking a bit… What about you?”

She didn’t reply. To be precise, she couldn’t answer.

Seti had crept up on her and grabbed her by the neck.

“Urgh…!”

The intense pressure on her carotid artery made her consciousness fade.

And just before she lost consciousness, the last thing she saw was Yeomyeong’s golden eyes drawing closer with a dagger in hand.

* * *

Secret Society was a massive information guild that divided the underworld’s intelligence business along with the Blue Rat.

However, unlike the Blue Rat, which had one foot in the legal realm, they operated solely in the shadows… or so the common(?) knowledge of the underworld went.

However, what Yeomyeong had learned about them through the ‘Author’s Note’ was a bit more complicated.

The Secret Society was not a unified organization.

It was a loose assembly of individuals, groups, and ideologies gathered under one banner.

From cultists called the Church of the Apocalypse, separatists advocating for the independence of the Empire, back-alley criminals, to activists for Beastfolk rights —anyone could be part of it.

What bound these seemingly unrelated group of people together was just one cause.

Anti-Earth.

The hatred, envy, and jealousy over what Earth had caused and accumulated over the past decades were the driving forces that held the Secret Society together.

However… not that long ago, their cohesion had visibly weakened.

There could be countless reasons, but there was just one fundamental cause.

A sense of disconnect among the members.

The hatred felt by an old man whose hometown was polluted by mercury used in gold mining could not be the same as the hatred felt by a squire who was left jobless after the dissolution of the Knight Order.

Whereas the determination of a noble who came to Earth because dollars held more value than lineage could not be the same as the resolve of a young man who lost his father to the U.S. military.

The rage of an anti-Mage who joined the organization to prevent magic from being broadcast on TV was different from that of a woman who became a spy after losing her sister.

To put it in a Korean perspective, their situation was similar to the internal conflict among the independence activists during the Japanese colonial period.

The armed resistance faction that advocated for independence through the use of force versus the self-strengthening faction that wanted to raise the nation’s level to achieve independence.

On top of that, there were now pro-Earth factions who, after experiencing Earth civilization, wanted to establish modern democracy beyond the Dimensional Portal, which only ended up complicating things even more.

“…So why did they end up attacking the academy?”

Seti asked Yeomyeong, who had been explaining for a while.

Leaning against a tree, Yeomyeong turned his head a little.

Seti was sitting cross-legged on a tree stump, staring at him with curious eyes. Beside her were Ava and the other four Secret Society members, bound and piled up like luggage.

“Aren’t you supposed to ask where and how I got this information first?”

As Yeomyeong said that, wondering how to explain the Baonic’s note, Seti arched her brow.

“Well, that’s true, but honestly, I don’t think you’d lie to me about something like this… and if it were important, you would’ve told me beforehand. Right?”

Resting her elbow on her knee and propping her chin elegantly, Seti added.

“If it’s difficult to tell me about the source of the information, you don’t have to. It feels nice at least have one secret between us.”

“…”

“Ah, right. It’s not like I keep any secrets from you now, do I, Yeomyeong? Should I make one now?”

Her eyes carried a subtle pressure. Yeomyeong cleared his throat and brought the conversation back on track.

“…The recent terror attack at the academy was an independent action carried out by the faction within the Society that advocates for war.”

“So it was just one faction acting on its own that bombed the academy and sent armed soldiers… The Society’s really a mess.”

Seti replied, the corner of her mouth rising slightly, her merciful smile suggesting she would allow this change of subject.

“…Well, from the extremists’ point of view, it was a gamble worth taking. Burn down the academy to shake up the existing system, seize internal power, and kill the Saintess in the process.”

“The Saintess? Why her? Because she has the blood of Earth mixed in her?”

“How am I supposed to know? Maybe it’s just because those cultists have gone mad.”

“Hmm…”

“But the fact that they nearly killed the Saintess became the problem… Now the Society is having a tough time internally.”

That was if things were still progressing according to the Author’s Notes.

Since he had already changed the future, there were high chances that the internal struggle in the Society was different, too.

The fact that the extremist Ava had approached him was enough proof.

I hope we can just pass by each other without getting involved any further… but it seems like it’s too late.

As Yeomyeong was lost in his thoughts, one of the unconscious members of the organization spoke up.

“…It seems that you know a lot about us.”

It was Ava who managed to wake up first. Unlike the other members who had taken a direct hit from Yeomyeong’s Superhuman attacks, only Ava was knocked out using an ordinary method.

“You know about our internal affairs, even about my niece… I would probably believe it if you say that you’re a Society executive… Did the Blue Rat tell you?”

She didn’t bother to hide the fact that she’d overheard Yeomyeong’s explanation. But Yeomyeong deliberately remained silent.

Silence, which was neither a confirmation nor a denial, stretched out for a moment.

“…Well, I can’t help it if you don’t want to tell me. Or maybe it’s for the best? It does help shorten the conversation.”

As Seti and Yeomyeong turned their gazes to her, Ava spoke while gasping.

“But Cheon Yeomyeong, I need to correct you regarding our organization’s internal affairs— the internal conflict is already over.”

“…It’s over?”

“Yes, the extremists have broken away.”

The extremists had broken away? This was another significant deviation from the storyline mentioned in Baonic’s note.

As per the original story, the extremists were supposed to win and turn the entire Secret Society into a terrorist organization, with only a handful of surviving moderates cooperating with the ‘protagonist.’

Yeomyeong furrowed his brows and asked.

“…So why did the extremists come after me?”

“To correct another misunderstanding… I’m not one of the extremists. While I did cooperate with the terrorist attack, but… I’ve quit.”

Ava’s wrinkled eyes alternated glances between Yeomyeong and Seti. She paused for a moment, then sighed and continued.

“…My niece married an Earthian.”

“…”

“She apparently fell for some good-for-nothing who frequented her pizza place. Ha, after what happened to her mother… she still ended up with an Earthian…”

Ava’s words, filled with lament, gave Yeomyeong a peculiar feeling of reflection—To give up on revenge for one’s family.

Did she target all those young students with only that level of determination? Or did it shake even that determination…

Just as his thoughts began to wander, Yeomyeong shook his head to clear them.

“…Alright, let’s just have that conversation you mentioned.”

“Right, the conversation, we should talk… Though I didn’t expect it to take place like this.”

Forcing her tightly bound to sit up halfway, Ava met Yeomyeong’s eyes.

Yeomyeong’s golden gaze reflecting on her nutbrown eyes.

“Do you know? The mastermind behind the last terror attack was a priest from the Church.”

“…The Skinwalker Priest.”

When Yeomyeong responded, Ava nodded her head.

“If you know his name, you must also be aware of his abilities too. He somehow managed to slip away during the last attack… and hid in a place even we couldn’t find.”

“…So?”

“The extremists who went their separate ways from us had given him some… additional orders.”

“Additional orders? With special teachers now involved, what can he do all by himself?”

Seti gazed at Ava with curiosity. After a moment’s pause, Ava spoke with a more serious expression.

“…He plans to open the Dimensional Portal.”

“What?”

“We don’t know the exact method that will be used; we only managed to intercept the orders.”

Yeomyeong and Seti exchanged glances. Opening the Dimensional Portal? At the academy?

What would he do by opening the Dimensional Portal? They already had a small training Dimensional Portal for upperclassmen.

No, before getting into those details…

“Is that even possible? Is he some legendary archmage who can open a Dimensional Portal by himself?”

“…A sacrificial lamb.”

“A sacrificial lamb?”

“It sounds like a kind of secret code… I haven’t figured it all out yet, but the order said that the Dimensional Portal can be opened by offering the blood of a black sheep… That’s all that was written in the order.”

Ava was about to tell them she had shamelessly come to request a deal with them because of that.

However, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold, forcing her to keep her mouth shut.

A black sheep.

The moment they heard those words, Yeomyeong and Seti’s expressions stiffened.