Thirty minutes after Yoojin entered the boss room alone, Kong and Aika threw themselves into the teleportation circle as soon as the time was up. They did it to save their friend and student.

However, what greeted them was…

- "Nod, nod… thud."

"……."
'What… is that?'

It was a creature of seemingly insignificant worth.

Kong and Aika’s eyes turned toward Yoojin, silently asking him about the small, cute creature that had just tried to bow and fallen over.

Yoojin, who had been frozen, finally moved. He had to warn his teacher and his friend of the terrifying nature of this little being.

"[This creature we believe to be the Saintess, can't be harmed, right? Ninomiya, could you confirm?]"
"[Yes. Step aside for a moment, my student.]"
"[But, Master, even for you…]"

- *Boom!*

"…It really didn’t cut, huh?"

Thanks to that, the other awakened individuals witnessed the traits of the “Saintess” firsthand.

Even though the world's strongest man struck her with enough force to cause a sonic boom, the Saintess merely blinked, unscathed.

The scene was so extraordinary that anyone, even without context, would find it unusual. Even Aika tilted her head, wondering if it was a ghost.

- *Step, step. Grab.*

"……Yoojin, it seems like she wants to climb up on you?"

Unlike an actual ghost, however, the Saintess could exert physical force.

Ignoring the attack, she clung tightly to Yoojin’s leg, straining as if trying to climb a tree, wrinkling and smoothing his clothes with each attempt. Everyone eventually realized this wasn’t some ordinary creature, nor a ghost.

- *Thud. Grab. Strain… thud.*

"……."

She kept slipping down, unable to muster the strength, rising only slightly before falling back again. To a civilian, it might have looked cute and brought a smile, but no one here was laughing. For the awakened ones, it was a spine-chilling sight.

- *Gulp.*

'If even Ninomiya Aika can’t harm it, yet it can attack us unhindered… could it phase partially through us, crush our brains if it wanted to? Insane.'

This was an enemy that not even Ninomiya, the top S-rank, could harm, yet it could harm them if it wished—a highly dangerous entity.

As a result, the awakened individuals silently observed the scene, swallowing nervously, unable to intervene, until a commotion broke out from behind.

- *Murmur, murmur.*

"…Saintess?!"
"Hmm?"

A loud voice echoed through the room, drawing everyone’s attention to a group of B-rank and lower non-combat personnel who had just entered.

Among them, one American awakened individual cried out with tearful joy, her voice trembling with emotion.

"Oh, my lord!"
"Selena, what's wrong with you? What's a fxxking saintess?"
"She is the blessed saintess who…"

"……."
'The Saintess? Is she a follower of the Lord God religion?'

Kong listened intently as a discussion broke out in the background.

From the context, it seemed Selena was a devout follower of the Lord God religion. As she continued talking about the Saintess, Kong decided to listen closely.

Meanwhile, Aika and Yoojin…

"[Master, they’re saying something about a saint. Do you understand?]"
"[It’s enough that I know Japanese and Korean. I don’t need English to live.]"
"[Fair enough.]"

Unable to understand, they simply blinked in confusion.

The commotion was too loud, with natives shouting in excitement. Even Yoojin, with his basic conversational English, struggled to understand. Aika didn’t speak English at all.

"[Alice, can you do telepathic communication?]"
"[Wha— Yoojin? I can hear your voice! Am I hallucinating because of my strange thoughts about us as… well… um, close friends?]"
"[I’m talking to you telepathically. Focus and imagine sending your mana toward me.]"
"[…!!!? Did you just hear my thoughts?!]"
"[Just now? No, the connection was weak, and it was in English, so I didn’t get it. But good job, Alice.]"
"[Oh, thank goodness…]"
"[Anyway, can you interpret what that woman is saying for me?]"
"[Got it…]"

And so, Alice’s translation ability kicked in, and her message reached Yoojin and Aika.

"[The Saintess has blessed us with the S-rank gate as a trial…]"

In short, her speech was this:

This tiny, adorable being is our Saintess. A few days ago, in a dream, she informed me of the S-rank gate. I saw her with my own eyes. So let us all offer prayers and reverence to the Saintess sent by the Lord God!

What? You don’t believe just a dream? Ha. There’s more proof! Look at that serene glow, like a mother’s warm embrace! Any follower of the Lord God would recognize it as divine love! As soon as she steps outside, millions of Lord God devotees will worship her without a doubt!

"[Although, she doesn’t quite compare to Saint Yoojin of Korea…]"

Compared to Yoojin, who is like the walking sun, she’s more like an LED sign under the sun. Ah, it’s you again. We worship you, Saint Yoojin.

At her habitual praise, hundreds of eyes turned to Yoojin in unison.

"……."
'Why does the Lord God religion keep dragging innocent people into this… seriously.'

Lowering his head in embarrassment, Yoojin endured the stares.

The devoted follower continued to shout around the boss room, pointing here and there.

"[Still not convinced? Look! Saint Yoojin entered the boss room alone, and yet the dungeon boss has already been defeated!!]"
"……!!!!"
"[This is surely a miracle wrought by the Saintess in cooperation with the Saint!!]"

Look around. There’s no boss here, is there? That’s because Saint Yoojin defeated it on his own, with the Saintess's blessing.

What’s that? You’re saying the Saintess is a monster, the dungeon boss? Blasphemy! If you weren’t an awakened, I’d sue you for sacrilege.

"[Anyway, you all should simply praise the Saint's accomplishment… Yoojin, is it true? Did you really clear the boss room alone?]"

At the end of her long explanation, all eyes returned to Yoojin, specifically at the small Saintess still trying to climb up his leg like a tree.

Yoojin’s expression grew complicated.

'How on earth do I explain this?'

Did he really clear it alone? No. The Transcendent woman had reduced everything to dust before he even got here.

Who’s the Transcendent? Oh, just this lady who suddenly ripped through dimensions, tossed this “Saintess” at me, and left.

'It still feels surreal. How could anyone else believe it? A Transcendent? Really?'

He couldn’t tell the truth. If he did, he’d surely end up being labeled crazy.

'If I lie and say I did it… that would also be tough. Not only would it strain my conscience, but my reputation would become overinflated.'

However, concealing the Transcendent’s involvement left only him as the one who took down the boss. In that case, he'd be known as the awakened one who soloed an S-rank gate!

The whole world would have his name splashed across the front pages, proclaiming his success at soloing an S-rank gate just seven weeks into his training.

Even for Yoojin, this was a daunting title—one that would surpass his master’s record and suggest he could even challenge the top S-rankers.

Thus, he struggled to find a solution.

'This is a mess… what do I do?'

"[Yoojin, just say you did it.]"
"[…Kong?]"

While Yoojin agonized, Kong had quickly assessed the situation and reached a conclusion.

This incident had to be covered up, even if they had to manipulate the results.

"[You’re worried because of that Transcendent woman, right? She’s the one who handled the boss, yeah?]"
"[Uh, yeah… that’s the truth, but…]"
"[We’ll talk more later. Just tell me, have you mentioned this to anyone else?]"
"[No. Not even Master yet.]"
"[Keep it that way. If your unique situation gets exposed, it’ll cause all sorts of trouble for us.]"

Kong’s reasoning was simple.

Yoojin had confessed a troubling truth: both the recent A-rank gate and this S-rank gate seemed to have spiraled out of control because of him.

If this were indeed the case, the truth had to stay hidden. The moment it went public, Yoojin would end up on the gate blacklist for making the already tough raids even more difficult.

"[If you blab about it and get caught, we’re both in trouble.]"

Kong had to keep it secret as well.

He was the one who had brought Yoojin here in the first place. If Yoojin’s unusual constitution were discovered, they’d both be implicated.

"[We don’t have time to waste, so just go with the story that you defeated it yourself.]"

Yoojin had indeed been inside alone for thirty minutes. To everyone, it looked like he’d done it on his own. Though it was the Transcendent who had actually handled the boss, no one else needed to know.

"[Youngest S-rank

 gate solo title. Enjoy the acclaim.]"
"……."

'Kong has a point….'

As Kong finished explaining, Yoojin’s face twisted slightly.

The Saintess clinging to his leg still had her unsettling eyes fixed on him.

"[Hey… can you understand telepathy?]"

"……."
-*Nod, nod.*

"[Are you planning to do anything bad? Will you kill people if I let you out?]"

"……."
-*Ding!*
"[Your upper skill '???' clutches its chest in sorrow.]"
"[The skill 'Complete Hypnosis' holds up a sign reading, 'Boo, horrible owner!' in protest.]"

'Guess I’ll have to trust my instincts.'

After a brief hesitation, Yoojin reached down to the Saintess by his leg.

"……."
-*Hop.*

With no hesitation, the Saintess climbed into his hand and, for the first time, gave him a faint smile.

Yoojin forced himself to smile back.

"…Yes, it’s true. Unbelievable as it may sound, it’s the truth."

-*Cling.*

"I defeated the dungeon boss in 30 minutes. While I had the Saintess's help, I did it alone."

Unlike the Saintess, though, his smile wasn’t exactly cheerful.