[1/2]

* * *

Incheon, a Ruin

During the height of the Black Church’s power, conversations echoed within a church building in Incheon.  
Naturally, people weren’t gathering there for good reasons.  
In a location where government control didn’t reach, especially a place where a former criminal organization had risen, there could hardly be good people gathered.

The figures cloaked in black robes were monsters wrapped in dark magic.

“Your Excellency, the Archbishop. The Divine Sword Choi Si-woo continues to interfere.”

A man lamented.  
This was due to the plans to overthrow Hanseong being thwarted by Choi Si-woo, known as the second Divine Sword.  
Because of this, the Black Church struggled to rise again.  
All they had left were the cores to create monsters, but they had already used up all the inferior cores, and their monsters were being hunted down by Choi Si-woo.

“How has the Divine Sword grown stronger in such a short time?”  
“With Hunter Academies like Hanseong still around, they will be a significant obstacle for our resurrection of the Black Church.”  
“Especially since this batch isn’t easy to deal with, even excluding the Divine Sword. Yoo Eun-ha, who has the title of lightning speed, Han Su-ji with her Flame Spear, and Reina with her Spirit Arrows. They’re all representative examples, and the other classes are no less formidable.”

They had underestimated Hanseong, thinking that peace had returned.

“We must either brainwash or kill them before they become even stronger.”

If they grow stronger without being dealt with, it would become troublesome.

“Many of our followers have already died against the Divine Sword. Even that bastard Choi Si-woo has captured all the followers of the Black Church within Hanseong. Who are you sending?”  
“Then I will go myself.”

A man intruded into the conversation among the Black Church’s executives.  
He had been supplying resources to the weakened Black Church and secretly managing its strength from the shadows.  
Seeing that the Black Church he had nurtured was beginning to show signs of collapse due to Choi Si-woo’s retaliation, he decided it was time for him to step in personally.

“You?”  
“Since this Divine Sword seems to be superior to Yoo Jin-seok, wouldn’t he be a perfect vessel?”

A vessel. A necessary existence to contain the evil god that the Black Church worshipped.  
Choi Si-woo, with strong power and mental fortitude that even the Constellation of the Divine Sword would choose, was a perfect candidate for the Black Church.

“Indeed. But for our god to descend, he must be surrounded by dark magic, not light.”  
“What if we embed this SS core into Choi Si-woo?”

In the man’s hand was a purple orb glowing ominously.

“Can you do that?”  
“I will do anything to tarnish the name of the Divine Sword.”

The man, who had been laughing wickedly, quietly gathered his spear and left the church.

* * *

To promote teamwork among the students before the team battle, the academy granted them free activity time.  
While others were diligently training, we only matched our positions for a day.  
Speaking of teamwork, it was a consideration for Rosaria.  
Excluding her, we already matched our teamwork, so we had training to protect the healer.

- And Yoo Eun-ha. Don’t come to the academy until I call you.  
- What?  
- I know you’re delayed for some reason, but it’s dangerous. I’ll call you on the day of the team battle.

At those words, Reina and Han Su-ji were suspicious, but somehow they accepted, and Rosaria also had to go to the Korean Hunter Association for church matters.  
My premonition was definitely correct.  
I had to find out what was going to happen in the near future.  
At the very least, I want to survive.  
If I can only live in a place where I can’t tell if it’s a dream or reality, then I want to survive to the end here.  
So I had to ask the Akashic Record.

“Akashic Record. What happens if I change the future? For example, if Choi Si-woo knows the future and eliminates the enemies in advance?”  
[You may be able to prevent immediate threats, but altering causality will eventually give rise to new threats.]

In other words, whatever Choi Si-woo does is meaningless.  
Does that mean the event of my death will occur even bigger?

“If I’m originally destined to die, does it mean I can die again even if I prevent my death once?”  
[There is no future where 4-/_#! )4#41<4 dies. However, the events that will happen in the future will be significant for 4-/_#! )4#41<4.]

I won’t die?

“Then what about the black-clad man that haunts my eyes?”  
[It may be related to that as well.]

“Damn it.”

Is the upcoming monster attack also related to that black-clad man?  
What on earth has this body’s Yoo Eun-ha been doing?  
This isn’t my fault at all. It’s the things that the Yoo Eun-ha before me did.  
It’s not me.

“What actions will I take in the future?”  
[I cannot know. But whatever you choose will only repeat.]

“Repeat?”

The Akashic Record didn’t provide any further answers.  
If I ask, it might answer me. But I fear it might cause a brain hemorrhage.  
I decided to stop here. There’s no longer any value in listening.

[The answer exists too close. It’s just that the master isn’t searching for it.]

“I’m searching. More urgently than anyone else.”

It’s unreasonable. If I die, it’s useless, team or not. Moreover, if a disturbance in causality makes it more difficult to save this world from destruction, then I must remain alive. No, I should at least inform Choi Si-woo.  
He’s the protagonist after all. It may be a bit irresponsible, but if I let him know, he’ll grow strong on his own. Protagonists are beings like that.

“I’m feeling anxious for no reason.”

All I have is acceleration.  
I don’t know when an ambush might happen, and I can’t engage in shadow boxing with acceleration and parallel circuits.  
Even that won’t last long.  
My stamina is completely drained. My whole body itches, and even if I prescribe cigarettes, it won’t last long.

“If causality has been adjusted, then the team battle is certain.”

The grand event of the team battle and the academy’s barriers being lifted.  
Even if they say they’ll deploy hunters from the association, they wouldn’t deploy S-ranked ones, and the top hunters in the country would likely only appear in the finals.  
The blunt hammer—can I trust him?  
What if an SS-ranked monster comes?  
That’s the worst-case scenario. Choi Si-woo is definitely stronger than in the original work. Since causality has been adjusted, there’s no way they’d send in a reasonable monster. Eventually, like in the original work, a monster stronger than Choi Si-woo will come.  
Yang Ho-sensei will be a joke.  
Considering the ranks of the monsters that haven’t appeared until now, Choi Si-woo must have suppressed them. This means he is at least A-ranked.  
If we assume the final battle is before the regression, then it’s SS-ranked or higher.

“No. Before the final battle, Choi Si-woo’s hair is silver, and his eyes shine with divine awakening in golden light. The current Choi Si-woo has gray hair, and his pupils are ordinary.”

In that case, I should regard him as moderately high.  
Could it be A-ranked? If so, SS-ranked monsters might appear.  
It’s just a simple assumption, but the likelihood is high.  
In fact, the monsters that attacked back then were A-ranked.  
Even that was due to Choi Si-woo being able to synchronize with the Divine Sword for just a moment.  
So what was the catalyst for that?

“Yoo Eun-ha’s death.”

In the end, it is Yoo Eun-ha’s death that propels the story forward.  
The words of the Akashic Record were nothing more than nonsense. Even now, I can’t see my status window, yet it arrogantly boasts that it holds all the knowledge of the world.  
Then do I have to face the monster attacking the academy?

“...Damn it.”

* * *

**Internet Broadcasting Club**

A woman was rummaging through files.  
The woman, wearing dolphin shorts and a white t-shirt, was Lee Yoo-jung.  
She had been searching through the files she created for a while now.

“This is strange.”

So far, she had checked the status windows of many students.  
Even though she couldn’t become the successor of the Cheonsan Group, she had used her abilities to identify students with skills fitting the Cheonsan Group among the students at Hanseong.  
Thanks to that, she created status files for the students, and recently, she had been compiling profiles for the students as well.  
Yet, unsurprisingly, she couldn’t accurately grasp Yoo Eun-ha.

This was a humiliation for her.  
Yoo Eun-ha, who introduced her to the new world of yuri. She wanted to know her information by any means necessary.

“I have to find out somehow.”

The clue was surely a sealed character consisting of

 special symbols, not the name Yoo Eun-ha.  
Not ancient letters, but strange symbols.  
Symbols that could be entered into a computer.  
Lee Yoo-jung checked Yoo Eun-ha’s status again.  
Having seen it once and memorized it, she could feel Yoo Eun-ha’s status again just from the hair she had dropped in the gym.

**Name** – Yoo = @%[-][] [)@[-]@1<@ (Sealed)  
**Age** – ?? years  
**Gender** – Female

The name had changed.  
What on earth happened for the name to change?

“Ah, I was foolish.”

It’s not just a random character. It’s a character that needs to be ‘interpreted’ rather than emotionally assessed.  
Probably, the changed character and the previous character had the same meaning.  
What would come out if I interpreted this character?  
Lee Yoo-jung felt a surge of will.

And, after several minutes, she screamed at the sight of the interpreted letters.

* * *

**Hanseong Academy.**

The Divine Sword User Choi Si-woo, who had sent Yoo Eun-ha home, was biting his nails and pacing his feet.

“When will the monsters appear, especially since I’ve made sure Yoo Eun-ha won’t be able to come out for a while?”  
[If luck is bad, it’ll be on the day of the team battle.]  
“I wish they would come before that.”

Choi Si-woo turned his attention to Han Su-ji and Reina, who were diligently raising their specs in the simulation training room.  
Indeed, the two had become much stronger than before the regression.  
Even if monsters attacked, they wouldn’t easily be taken down.  
On the contrary, they would become a force. They would likely be stronger than the hunters currently stationed at the academy.  
Having trained them rigorously for the past three days, the team battle should be a piece of cake.

“I heard that Park Jun-hyuk, who is referred to as the best strategist in B class, is also training at the academy.”

Currently, neither the Black Church’s strength nor other monsters would aim for the team battle day at the academy.  
They had suffered considerable losses until now. So it was obvious they wouldn’t target a day when the top-tier hunters would be deployed in a team battle.

“Well then, these next few days will be critical.”

Right now, only hunters from the association and guilds were in the academy.  
There were quite a few of them, but they were mostly B-ranked or lower.  
While their numbers can’t be ignored, it’s clear that if a villain at the S-rank level appears, they would be wiped out.

[Still, S-rank is manageable.]  
“That’s true.”

But there’s another problem.  
Even if he regressed, he didn’t inherit the power he had before the regression.  
After all, he only synchronized with the Divine Sword. His body hadn’t yet evolved to accept that synchronization.  
Moreover, recently, he had been so eager to impress Yoo Eun-ha...

[Do you really want to think about that now? Let’s just focus on doing well in this event and earn some points.]  
“Yeah.”  
[Wait, I sense a strong dark magic. What is this? You can feel it too, right?]

A sinister evil that only those who have synchronized with the Divine Sword can feel.  
And an intense dark magic that even ordinary hunters could sense.  
It was undoubtedly from a monster. If it weren’t, there would be no commotion outside.

“The battle with the hunters has begun.”  
[It seems it’s not ordinary this time.]  
“I’ll have to fight it. It shouldn’t be to the point where I can’t handle it.”

There will surely be more significant events in the future, so I can’t be intimidated by just this.  
At least it’s a relief that Yoo Eun-ha isn’t here.  
Although I can’t reach her, the lack of communication from the association means that Yoo Eun-ha is still likely at home.  
In that case, I can breathe easy.  
Choi Si-woo grabbed the Divine Sword and walked out of the training room.  
And what came into his view was a man standing atop the corpses of numerous hunters.

“Why are you here?”  

Choi Si-woo’s face turned to fury, despair, and hatred as he looked at the man’s face.