The Purification Ritual concluded without a hitch.

Though it was called a purification ritual, in reality, it was a process to re-seal Isaac Morfran’s body, yet Hong Bi-yeon had fulfilled her role thoroughly.

Contrary to expectations, Princess Hong Bi-yeon, despite being only at the fourth class level, had flawlessly executed the Fire Spirit Formation, astonishing the nobles who, despite their shock, managed to hide their reactions.

To them, Princess Hong Bi-yeon was a figure that needed to disappear if she wanted to ascend to the throne. Recently, her reputation had been rising rapidly, stirring unease within the palace. There was no need to make waves unnecessarily.

"Thank you for your hard work, Princess."

As Hong Bi-yeon dispelled the Fire Spirit Formation and slowly caught her breath, Taeriban approached her with his characteristic unpleasant smile.

"Oh my, it seems you’ve sweated quite a bit. Do you need a handkerchief?"

"No need."

Watching him, she quickly understood why the royal chief magician would stay here, playing the role of a sacrificial offering’s overseer.

‘So he’s not planning to retire yet.’

There must have been a reason behind his sudden change of heart. She had thought he might have some hidden agenda when he announced his retirement so abruptly.

'Could he be researching perpetual ice here...?’

And the fact that he hadn’t yet returned implied that they hadn’t yet uncovered the source of the cold leaking from Isaac Morfran’s body.

‘Hong Si-hwa... It’s because of this altar that that woman is still able to walk around freely.’

After finishing the ritual and dismissing the other mages, Hong Bi-yeon climbed aboard her private airship, contemplating her thoughts.

Typically, members of the Adol Levitt family struggled to survive past their twenties. Unless they had completely abandoned magic or lacked the talent for fire, like her mother, Hong Si-hwa was neither of those cases.

‘So, she’s extending her life by absorbing cold energy...’

In other words, if that altar were removed, Hong Si-hwa’s pathetic life would naturally come to an end. But the thought of such an action left Hong Bi-yeon feeling disgusted with herself.

After all, wasn’t that the same way of thinking as Hong Si-hwa?

‘I won’t stain my hands with blood.’

Moreover, to destroy that altar would mean disposing of Isaac Morfran’s body, which... didn’t sit well with her either.

‘For Angel? No, that’s not it.’

It was simply out of respect for Isaac Morfran, whom she had once admired, that she chose to honor him until the end.

‘A man who sacrificed himself to protect his family, the world, and his daughter...’

Who could so easily make such a decision? The Isaac Morfran she had seen in the memories didn’t deserve to be treated with such contempt.

Crack!

Her clenched fist drew blood. She could not forgive Hong Si-hwa and Queen Hong Sae-ryu for insulting Isaac, but for now, she could do nothing.

She had to endure.

Endure, hold on, and persist.

Until the day she graduated from Stella Academy.

When she became queen, she would make them pay.

"I absolutely will..."

---

Hearing the instructor’s abrupt order to gather on a Monday morning naturally caused a wave of complaints.

“What are we, dogs?”

“Who do they think they are, telling us to come here?”

“Oh, this old geezer is so annoying.”

Of course, no student would dare voice these complaints in front of the instructor.

As expected.

“Everyone, quiet!”

The students of Class A and Class S, gathered in the Stella Dome, looked up at Instructor Haslon, who hovered in the air with a stern expression, hands clasped behind his back.

While they might have called him names, no one dared to challenge Instructor Haslon. He was, after all, a war hero and a renowned mage.

“I assume you all received enough practice by last week.”

Baek Yu-seol yawned as he thought to himself.

‘Did I even attend practice?’

He had dealt with real-life situations far beyond mere practice, but his only memory from recent days was of skipping classes altogether.

“Practicing any further would be pointless. You’d only get bored with the monotonous drills, and teaching staff wouldn’t enjoy the lack of progress either. So, we’ll begin assigning practical missions to you, starting with Class S.”

The students started murmuring among themselves at Haslon’s words.

They said we received ‘enough practice,’ but in reality, they hadn’t had much hands-on experience. Theory classes were packed into the first semester, but how long had it even been since the second semester started? And they were already being sent into real combat?

Yet this was Stella Academy’s way.

They planned to send out the high-ranking students from Class A and Class S first, allowing them to gain practical experience and accelerate their growth. After one or two weeks, when the students had accumulated enough training, they would start sending students from Class B and below on practical missions.

“Ugh, my brother said they didn’t have this last year...”

“I’m confident. I can hit a moving training dummy eight times out of ten now.”

“Idiot. Do you think monsters are the same as dummies?”

While it made sense to send the most skilled students from Class A and S into real combat, Baek Yu-seol figured it would be all the same in the end.

‘How did it go in the game again...?’

He thought for a moment.

‘I can’t remember...’

He’d forgotten.

As far as he remembered, it hadn’t been a particularly impactful episode.

In the original game, the League of Spirit storyline hadn’t even begun, and the appearance of dark mages was only a minor side event, not particularly dangerous.

But that was the original story. Now, with the real world so drastically different from the game, he had to be prepared, even if he knew the future.

-Practice?

As he half-listened to Haslon’s words, a clear, youthful voice echoed in his mind.

It was Ephenelle.

‘Oh, practice. You just woke up?’

-Mm-hmm. But I’m still sleepy.

Ephenelle and Baek Yu-seol were connected by heart and soul. Telepathy should have been possible a long time ago, but she had been recovering her strength until now, making it impossible.

Even when she had regained some strength, the blessing of Yeonhong Chunsamwol had intensified, completely blocking her mind.

But now, Baek Yu-seol had relaxed the blessing somewhat, allowing his mind to connect with Ephenelle’s.

Of course, it wasn’t always connected.

This process also required a lot of mental energy, and Ephenelle had to be awake for it to work.

‘How much have you recovered?’

She was still corrupted, unable to fully return to her former self.

Even recovering her strength was challenging enough, and now she had to purify her magical energy.

Though he couldn’t imagine the pain she must be going through, Ephenelle’s voice was bright and cheerful as always.

-I’m okay! Thanks to my friend for finding my heart, I’ll be fine soon!

‘…Is that so.’

She must mean Taeriban.

He’d told her countless times that they weren’t friends, but Ephenelle considered anyone who was close and helpful to be a friend. She only had two beings she could converse with, and she called them both “friends,” so he understood her perspective.

‘But still, why did he return the heart?’

Absolute Neutral Taeriban was neither good nor evil.

In some ways, he was similar to Ma Yuseong, though Ma Yuseong often leaned towards evil while Taeriban always remained neutral.

Taeriban avoided any unnecessary trouble, so why would he go out of his way to hunt a specific dark mage repeatedly while ignoring everything else?

Baek Yu-seol couldn’t understand his motives but chose to see it positively.

-Mhm! Good things are good!

‘So now you have two hearts? Like Park Ji-sung?’

-Huh? No. I need to absorb it, but it’s still too contaminated... I... uh...

‘Cleansing?’

-Yes! I’m cleansing the heart!

Since she had been away from society for so long, Ephenelle occasionally got confused with her words. Whenever that happened, Baek Yu-seol would throw out random words, and she’d smile brightly, accepting it, which was amusing but made him feel a bit guilty.

-Yawn... I’m sleepy.

‘Go back to sleep, then.’

-Mm-hmm. See you later...

Ephenelle seemed ready to fall asleep again, cutting off the mental connection as she drifted off.

Day in and day out, she worked tirelessly to purify her energy, cleanse the heart’s contamination, and strengthen the divine heart, leaving her no time to truly rest. Still, at least there was hope that once her purification was complete, she would finally be able to go outside.

Once she regained her heart, even if she couldn’t wield her former overwhelming power, she would no longer be bound to the forest and could walk freely again.

When that day would come, no one knew, but thanks to the spell cast by Kkot Seorin, an unbreakable barrier had been placed around the garden, so there would be no interference. That day was coming soon.

"Now, let’s classify the mission types."

It seemed that Haslon was wrapping up his speech and moving on to the main points.

"First, dungeon exploration. Second, persona gate destruction. Third, dark mage elimination. Fourth, monster hunting."

All four missions were tasks that any mage warrior could encounter.

"The

 dark mage elimination mission is for second-year students, so it’s off the table. You will be given the choice between the remaining three options. Teams may consist of one to six members, but remember, an assistant instructor will be monitoring each mission."

This part was still clearly remembered, even by Baek Yu-seol’s vague memory.

In the original game, Ma Yuseong would take on the persona gate mission alone, Ha Wonryang would explore a dungeon with Angel, and Flame...

‘Wind Ha-rang?’

There was a record of him teaming up with a boy from Class S named Wind Ha-rang to hunt monsters.

‘Ah, that kid existed, didn’t he?’

Being a supporting male character who only appeared prominently in the latter half of the semester, Baek Yu-seol barely remembered him, though he did recall one particular impact.

On the first day of winter break after the semester, Flame confessed to him, only to be rejected, earning him sympathy from many male players.

There was even a brief moment when the community shed tears of empathy for him.

‘What should I do?’

Had it been a game, he would’ve chosen dungeon exploration or persona gate destruction, thinking it would be interesting, but honestly, he felt it was a hassle.

‘I’ll just stick with monster hunting to finish quickly.’

"Hey, commoner.”

**“...Huh?"**

He was reading through the mission application form absentmindedly when Hong Bi-yeon approached him from behind and spoke.

With her arms crossed over her chest and her usual haughty expression, she looked down at him.

"Let’s go to the persona gate."

"...Suddenly?"

"Yes. Do you not want to?"

With an aura that said, "Refuse and you’ll regret it," he couldn’t bring himself to shake his head.

"No... I’d love to. I’ve been waiting for this."

It was an obvious lie, but Hong Bi-yeon seemed pleased nonetheless, smirking as she nodded.

"Good. Follow me quickly."

"...Yes."

All he had wanted was to pick the simplest mission, the monster hunt, to finish as soon as possible, but somehow, he ended up assigned to the most troublesome mission: persona gate destruction.