After hanging up the phone, he leaned against the wall and absentmindedly stared out the window.

The sun was setting, but the sunlight was still dazzling.

"What a truly hectic person..."

Imagining Alterisha getting worked up and blushing at this moment, Baek Yu-Seol chuckled and sighed quietly.

Suddenly, the recent events flashed through his mind like a panorama.

Soul Chess.

Honestly, he was a little nervous.

Would the performance of the virtual reality glasses actually work in reality?

Perhaps it was limited to abilities within the computer's NPC.

That was a slight concern because of the spec’s performance.

But it seemed that such worries were groundless as the cheap spec boasted an incredible performance, completely tearing apart the Soul Chess prodigy named Edmon Atalek.

Well, how would a human defeat artificial intelligence?

Unless it was Lee Sedol, the 9-dan player. Anyway, discovering that the cheap glasses' performance exceeded expectations was a good harvest in itself.

{TN:- Lee Sedol is a professional Go player from South Korea. He is considered one of the greatest Go players in history. Lee Sedol achieved international fame for his match against the artificial intelligence program AlphaGo developed by DeepMind, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet. In the game of Go, players are ranked based on their skill level using a system called dan and kyu. The dan ranks indicate higher skill levels, with 1 dan being the lowest dan rank and 9 dan being the highest.}

By the way, obtaining a pass to the "Aslan Seminar" was great, but the problem was that it seemed useless.

The main characters would naturally be among the rising stars within the Twelve Constellations, so they wouldn't need it.

"Hmm, what should I do?"

While he was lost in thought, someone spoke.

"Commoner."

"Yeah?"

When Baek Yu-Seol turned to the side, Hong Bi-Yeon was leaning against the wall, gazing at him with a mysterious aura.

The gentle sunset rays filtered through, colliding with her silver hair, creating an illusion as if stardust was scattering.

Although he had never seen a real fairy, she seemed more like a fairy than an actual fairy. Her red eyes were even more captivating than the sunset, and she had a smile full of contentment.

"Why, is there another problem?"

Anyway, he had already finished the contract with Hong Bi-Yeon.

Was there any reason for her to come separately?

While Baek Yu-Seol was contemplating such worries, she hesitated for a moment and swept her hair behind her shoulder.

"......... This time, I owe you greatly. Thank you."

Wow, he thought.

Managing to receive words of gratitude from her was…

He could expect to live for a long time with encounters like this. She looked at him intently and spoke cautiously.

"You said it before. That there was a price for helping me... If you tell me what that price is now, I'll give you an immediate answer."
"Um..."

The price.

In truth, the price that Baek Yu-Seol desired was quite simple.

It was for her to stay untainted by evil and stand on the side of goodness, building a 'happy ending' together with him.

That was the only price Baek Yu-Seol wished for.

However, it would be inappropriate to outright say, "I hope you become a good person."

So, drawing from 29 years of life experience, he provided the most appropriate and exemplary response for the situation.

"Buy me a meal."

"... What?"

"I mean, since you're a princess, why don't you treat me to a proper meal where I can eat until I'm full?"

"..."

Hong Bi-Yeon made a dumbfounded expression, not expecting such an answer from Baek Yu-Seol. Then, she burst into laughter and nodded her head.

"Alright. I can treat you to a meal, no matter how extravagant."

She gestured for him to follow. It may sound outdated and even comical in this era, but the Stella Academy had a parking lot.

If cars existed in this world, it was only natural.

While cars themselves were much rarer than in modern times and mainly used by the wealthy, the majority of Stella's students had money, and the parking lot was filled with various luxury cars.

Among them, Hong Bi-Yeon's car stood out prominently, clearly indicating its exorbitant price to anyone who saw it.
Originally, the escort mage would have been sitting in the passenger seat, but they were not present today.

When the elderly driver respectfully opened the car door, Hong Bi-Yeon gracefully stepped into the car, with Baek Yu-Seol awkwardly joining her in the seat, then the car smoothly started moving.

Indeed, the sensation of riding in the car was similar to modern cars, so Baek Yu-Seol couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

He raised the corner of his mouth at the thought of enjoying expensive food.

"Hehe, what should I eat?"

While he had eaten black pork before, honestly, it seemed like a bit of a wasted menu to savor in front of Princess Adolveit.

With her wealth, she could even feed him the grandest delicacies of Aether World until his stomach burst.

However, in truth, Hong Bi-Yeon had already decided what to eat the moment she received the dinner proposal.

She didn't know much about the person named Baek Yu-Seol. He was a mysterious being with many secrets.

Suddenly, she recalled the times when he had disregarded various sponsorship offers and love calls from the famous Magic Tower.

At that time, she thought of him as an arrogant commoner who didn't know his place.

Well, it was a simple way of thinking.

But he already had a plan.

He didn't want to follow the predetermined path of the "Adolveit royal family."

He had his own path to pave.

Yesterday was despair, today was accepting that despair, and tomorrow he had to face another despair.

Baek Yu-Seol’s past, which was filled with wounds, was now revealed.

What was the most painful thing in his memories? People breathed oxygen to live, while he lived by breathing pain.

What do people do when they feel that their emotions have become too worn out and barren?

They search for something beautiful and radiant within themselves.

No precious and expensive jewels or dishes held any value to Baek Yu-Seol.

If there was one thing that had any value and could heal his torn and broken heart, it would be jajangmyeon (black bean noodles).

Perhaps... there was no one else who understood that.

[Jajangmyeon Restaurant]

They arrived at the place.

"Is it for real?"

"Yes."

Baek Yu-Seol looked at Hong Bi-Yeon and the shop alternately, unable to believe, but she walked in with confidence.

He followed her with a desolate gaze.

‘Is it really...?’

‘My foie gras entier? Caviar canapé? Black truffle cream risotto...?’

He, who had expected to taste all kinds of luxurious delicacies, weakly followed Hong Bi-Yeon into the restaurant.

"Welcome!"

Hong Bi-Yeon's elegance was enough to overwhelm ordinary people, and the owner of the jajangmyeon restaurant, who had been yawning, approached with a surprised expression.

"Menu."

"H-Here it is!"

She confidently sat down and stared at the menu board intently.

She didn't know any of the dishes.

However, there was one thing she knew for sure: jajangmyeon.

"I'll have this," Hong Bi-Yeon said as she placed her order.

She then looked at Baek Yu-Seol, who was sitting across from her.

He, too, was reading the menu board, but his expression didn't look too good.

'Why?'

Baek Yu-Seol contemplated for a while, struggling to make his choice, and finally managed to utter his words.

"Um, three bowls of jjamppong and one order of tangsuyuk."

"... Huh?"

That order puzzled Hong Bi-Yeon.

"Why? Can't you have three bowls?"

"Well... it's not that... I..."

She hesitated and quickly shut her mouth before asking why he didn't order jajangmyeon. He realized the reason.

'Could it be...?'

Hong Bi-Yeon realized her mistake.

'Why did I think that he, a commoner, overcame his past...?'

Why did he write about his mother and jajangmyeon in the assignment about his own past?

Why were all those words and writings filled with sadness?

Baek Yu-Seol... he was still haunted by that past. His mother, who had a thin and frail body, scraped and saved every penny she had and spent it all on a bowl of jajangmyeon for her son.

Baek Yu-Seol realized his mother's grace only as he grew older.

However, it was already too late.

Before he could show his filial piety... she had already left this world.

He was clearly focused on the future, otherwise he wouldn't be able to live so desperately.

But... Baek Yu-Seol was still struggling, bound by the chains of the past.

When he was young, his favorite food was jajangmyeon.

However, now the dish had become a symbol of regret for Baek Yu-Seol.

She realized this fact only now. She felt so ashamed and sorry that her cheeks turned red, and she lowered her head.

"I'm sorry. Treating you to a meal in a place like this."

"Huh? No, it's fine."

Hong Bi-Yeon lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers.

'She's such a strange friend. But seeing that she knows that I feel sorry, maybe she understood that I must have had financial difficulties,' he thought as he chewed on the pickled radish.

'Hmm...'

‘No matter what, it should be okay to make an additional order since she’s a princess, right?’

With that thought in mind, Baek Yu-Seol shouted to the kitchen.

"Sir, we'd like to have some fried dumplings as well!"

"Fried dumplings are on the way, sir!"

"Oh."

Today, luck seemed to be on their side, at least to some extent.