“I have no idea!”

Arte answered cheerfully.

She had been looking forward to experimenting with various things for a while.

“… You’re answering quite bluntly, Arte.”

“Well, that’s because I really didn’t figure anything out.”

Arte said as she wiped her sticky hands with water.

“Did you feel anything when all your senses were blocked?”

“No, I didn’t feel anything.”

“But you dodged my attacks?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

Siwoo avoided her dumbfounded gaze.

He knows full well that it doesn’t make sense.

But he just knew what was happening.

He instinctively felt what was dangerous, even if he couldn’t perceive through the senses.

Similar to what he felt under Dorothy’s buff.

He’s not sure what it is, but if there’s one thing certain,

It’s that his ability had room to grow further.

He was flustered but decided to follow Arte’s instructions for now…

‘You don’t know, huh?’

He had some expectations.

“Alright. Well, it can’t be helped. Since we’re roughly done, you can put your clothes back on.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll go take a quick shower and come back.”

“Go ahead.”

He headed to the bathroom to wash off the strange medicine that had gotten smeared all over his body at some point.

Siwoo knew best the reason why Arte found it strange.

Even now, he had no sensation of his body. He was just a head floating in space.

But he was still walking properly.

“Phew…”

The sensation of water pouring all over his body started to return bit by bit.

There are more than a couple of strange things about my ability.

‘Arte probably doesn’t know since I haven’t told anyone…’

Because every time he received Dorothy’s buff, he felt something new.

That spine-chilling presence he felt when battling Arte.

‘What was that, I wonder? I still don’t know what it is.’

At first, he thought he was mistaken or his ability malfunctioned.

Since Dorothy’s enhancement is so powerful, the side effects are quite severe.

He thought maybe his complicated feelings towards Arte were amplified and strange. That’s what he was thinking,

But he felt it again during the raid on the academy.

There was no problem with him and Dorothy.

Then what was the issue? Why did he feel that sensation towards Arte?

“… It’s not like Arte has a ghost attached to her or something, right?”

No, that can’t be.

Siwoo couldn’t explain the reason at all.

But it didn’t feel right to ask Arte either.

Do you have a ghost attached to you?

Saying that might make him seem like a lunatic.

But she is kind-hearted, so she probably wouldn’t say that.

“Putting aside that unpleasant something…”

The second enhancement.

That was even weirder.

It was to the point where he couldn’t call it intuition anymore.

Yes, what he felt during Dorothy’s first enhancement could be explained as intuition.

Since he felt something.

But the second one, that inexplicable sensation during the raid…

That strange feeling as if he saw his future self.

What was that?

“I don’t know.”

Siwoo admitted. That thing back then couldn’t be called intuition.

Far from being a sixth sense, it was like…

“If I just put my mind to it…”

Right.

A sense of omnipotence enveloped his entire body as if he could figure out anything if he just put his mind to it.

Finding out what lies at the end of a forked path and walking towards where he wants to go. That kind of feeling.

It was a jumbled explanation, but Siwoo wasn’t confident he could explain it any better.

Since he had acted on instinct, even recalling it hurt his head.

“…Should I ask to be enhanced one more time?”

At that time, he had done it forcefully because he felt like he was really going to die, so it was questionable whether she would agree. Still, Siwoo decided to ask Dorothy for enhancement one more time.

It was because he became curious about his ability.

The ability to reach an existence unimaginably above him, even though it was enhanced.

‘…I feel like I’m forgetting something?’

“Eek, cold?!”

Startled by the suddenly returning sensation, Siwoo hastily turned off the water.

It seemed his senses had returned at some point while he was lost in thought.

“Brr, it’s cold…”

Perhaps it was because his senses hadn’t returned, so he had been absent-mindedly letting the cold water hit him.

Siwoo came out of the bathroom, shivering.

“…?”

‘What is it, this smell?’

At some point, a pleasant smell stimulating the sense of smell had spread throughout the house.

“Oh, are you done with your shower?”

“Gah?! Ah, Arte! Why are you here?!”

“Oh, I thought you were done with your shower… Why are you so surprised?”

‘Because you suddenly popped up!’

Fortunately, he was fully dressed, but if he hadn’t been…

Pushing the terrible imaginary scenario aside, he asked Arte,

“You startled me… So, Arte. What’s up?”

“No, I was just wondering if you had eaten.”

“I haven’t?”

Why is she suddenly asking about that?

In the first place, Arte wouldn’t need to ask him that.

Doesn’t she already know what he’s doing?

As if confirming his guess, Arte immediately made a suggestion to him.

“Then would you like to have a meal?”

“…Huh?”

“I thought it would be rude to come empty-handed. I cooked a little. I hope using the kitchen wasn’t impolite?”

Arte said with a beaming smile, and he finally realized.

Ah, she was cooking.

But there weren’t really any ingredients to cook with in the house?

‘…I don’t know. She must have gotten them from somewhere.’

…Then he realized something

‘How did she know the location of my kitchen? Where did she get the seasonings and ingredients…?’

He decided not to dwell on it.

She must have figured it out somehow. If it’s Arte, she could do that.

“Yeah. Sure.”

“That’s a relief!”

Surely it won’t be steak again today.

When Arte cooks, she always makes steak for some reason.

It’s an expensive and delicious dish, but…

He had this odd feeling because it seemed like she made steak every time they met.

And it just has to be cubed.

“Since it’s breakfast, I made scrambled eggs and toast for an easy meal.”

“I see. Sounds delicious.”

“Feel free to look forward to it.”

‘So she doesn’t just eat steak all the time.’

Since she made steak every time she cooked, he was starting to think that maybe that was all she knew how to make.

Ignoring Amelia, who was noisily chattering in his head again, Siwoo headed to the living room.

‘It’s been a really long time since someone made me a meal.’

***

“…Oh, it’s delicious.”

Watching Siwoo exclaim in admiration, I started eating the dish before me.

Soft-textured eggs and crispy toast.

Mm, it turned out well.

I was worried since I’d never seen Siwoo use the toaster.

Fortunately, it seemed to have turned out fine without any issues.

“You’re good at cooking.”

“Huh? Well, I guess so. When I was young, I cooked a little…”

“I see.”

Saying that, Siwoo didn’t pry further and started eating again.

As expected of the protagonist, should I say?

The fact that he didn’t deliberately touch on a sensitive subject was appealing.

I didn’t want to talk about things from the past.

I don’t know how he knew, but he naturally avoided an awkward topic.

I didn’t want to think about my life before coming here.

Since it only made me feel depressed the more I thought about it when it was uncertain if I could even go back.

[In the end, we couldn’t determine his ability…]

You can say that again.

The Author made me rush to Siwoo’s house to figure out his ability.

It seemed she couldn’t even get a sense of what it was.

I thought that would be the case.

Why did I expect anything different?

But well, thanks to the Author, it wasn’t like there was no gain.

Because I could legally check out the inside of Siwoo’s house.

It was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t find out his taste…

There was a limit to figuring out the interior through the window.

His bedroom was usually covered by curtains.

With this, if something happens to the house, I can rescue him faster.

“So, is that all?”

“…Hmm, I wonder. There is something more I’d like to do.”

“Something you want to do?”

“Spar with you.”

Even though Siwoo has gotten much stronger than before, I still don’t know how much stronger he’s become.

I want to experience it firsthand. I want to fight him at least once.

“I don’t mind.”

“Great. Then, after resting a bit…”

Shall we have a sparring match?

The moment I was about to say that, news flowed out from the TV that was left on.

– Breaking news. It seems Arachne, whose activities had been quiet recently, has resumed its activities. Amidst rapidly worsening public opinion for targeting civilians instead of villains…

“…?”

What is this about?

For a moment, I almost couldn’t process the content of the news.

Arachne was active?

Without telling me? There’s no way.

I told them not to touch civilians, so there can’t be anyone who violated that.

Lyla? Spira? Or Lee Ha-Yul?

Who is it? Who’s the culprit?

“…I thought it was about time for them to show up.”

“For what?”

Siwoo said while watching the news and drinking coffee.

“Well, they’re famous. Isn’t it time for copycats to appear since Arachne’s activities have been scarce lately?”

“…Copycats.”

“If someone draws the symbol on the wall and commits a crime, they can pin it on Arachne, right? Arachne’s activities have been infrequent these days too.”

Hmm.

I see. Copycats.

I had forgotten about that possibility.

“I’m sorry. I have something to take care of for a bit. How about we have that sparring match another time?”

“Sure. Take care.”

Looks like I suddenly got more work.

___________________________

Author’s Notes

Ruminas, have a good evening!