Chapter 103…
“Student, why are you here?”
A cold, firm voice echoed inside the laboratory.
Rin-00’s body stiffened instantly.
It was Rebecca, Professor Kang Si-woo’s assistant.
“……”
“……”
A small frame, an expressionless face.
Rebecca stared at her with chilly, unwavering eyes.
Rin-00 was flustered for a moment, but she quickly began making excuses.
“Ah, hello, Assistant. I came to request a private consultation with the professor. The door was open.”
Her voice was clear, delicate—exactly the graceful, noble tone other students always heard.
But Rebecca did not react at all.
“Professor Kang said during class that he would be away for a few days.”
Her reply was concise and exact.
There was no emotional fluctuation, no hint of suspicion—just a list of cold facts.
At that, Rin-00’s expression flickered for an instant.
“Haha… was that today? I must’ve forgotten.”
A crack appeared in what had seemed like a perfectly calculated smile.
But she quickly forced another smile, trying to regain control.
“I had a deep question about whether non-Tamer classes can raise demonic beasts. I’ll come back when the professor returns.”
Leaving behind her artificial smile, she slowly stepped back.
But Rebecca never took her eyes off Rin-00’s retreating figure—not even for a second.
Her gaze was so sharp it felt like she could pierce a hole straight through Rin-00’s back.
“……”
Rebecca stood motionless, like a sentinel, until Rin-00 completely disappeared at the end of the corridor.
“Executing protocol. Analyzing statement… Result: [False].”
Creak—
Murmuring quietly, Rebecca stepped into the lab.
Once the door closed behind her, she sniffed the air like she was detecting something.
Then, a cold whisper escaped her small lips.
“Disgusting smell…”
Her voice carried a chilling disgust—completely unlike her usual emotionless tone.
She looked toward the door Rin-00 had exited, then slowly turned her head.
Her eyes stopped precisely at one spot inside the lab.
Behind the bookshelf—where no one would reasonably expect anything to be hidden.
Where Rin-00 had secretly concealed the Monster Core.
Step— Step—
Without hesitation, Rebecca walked to the bookshelf.
Then, as if she already knew exactly where it was, she reached behind it and pulled something out.
“Found it.”
The Monster Core.
A grotesque organ-like item, pulsing faintly with a sinister violet glow.
Just looking at it was enough to stir a primal sense of revulsion.
But Rebecca showed no reaction at all.
She merely examined it calmly, analyzing what it was.
“Hm. Analysis complete. Name: ‘Monster Core.’”
“Calculating possible outcomes of storing this inside the lab…”
“If left as is, probability of Guildmaster entering a dangerous situation: 94.8%. Removal required.”
Rebecca continued muttering strange, mechanical statements.
And when her whispering stopped—
Without the slightest hesitation, she brought the core to her mouth.
“Wak—”
Her mouth opened unnaturally wide—far wider than any human mouth should.
And she swallowed the Monster Core whole.
No cracking. No remains. No sound of destruction.
Only an eerie, alien sense of dread lingered in the lab.
“……”
Soon after, even the moonlight seeping through the windows seemed to fade—
As if something was swallowing the light itself, the room grew darker, quieter.
Rebecca walked out.
As though nothing had happened.
* * *
While thinking about the recently changed Rebecca, I calculated the remaining flight time and then spoke calmly.
“There is a force targeting you, Mr. Joo Gun-ryul.”
I confessed as if making a firm decision.
Gun-ryul had bought out the entire first-class cabin, so aside from the sleeping Nam Woo-jin, no one else was around.
Which meant this was the last and best moment to reveal everything.
“The Rank 1 of the 200th Floor… the master of the Ancient Tower of Magic. He wants your body.”
I didn’t say the name Gober Merlin.
His class was Wizard. Merely speaking his name risked alerting him.
But Gun-ryul would understand what I meant.
“……”
His eyes sharpened instantly—like a blade being drawn.
But only briefly. Soon, Gun-ryul let out a deep, heavy laugh.
“Hahaha! So my stubborn intuition was right after all.”
There was relief in his laughter.
As if a long-held suspicion had finally been resolved.
His reaction surprised me—he wasn’t shocked or angry, but almost calm.
“…You already sensed something was wrong?”
“I wasn’t fully certain, but I felt something off. Especially recently.”
Gun-ryul looked out the window, his gaze sinking deep.
“I was uneasy. But if you’re with me, everything changes. No matter how carefully they prepared their plan, they didn’t account for one variable.”
His voice held absolute confidence.
A trust in me so strong I momentarily lost my words.
But there were still questions.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“Anything.”
“Do you have any idea why the Tower Master wants your body?”
Knowing the reason could help us find a solution.
“….”
Gun-ryul fell silent.
His eyes drifted past the clouds outside, then back to me.
I continued carefully, using the information I knew from before my regression—without revealing the regression itself.
“According to my reliable informants, the Tower Master is waiting for his death. His lifespan is nearly exhausted.”
“Your informants seem quite impressive.”
“Their ears are everywhere. Anyway…”
I recalled Gober Merlin’s nature.
“Like all humans… he desires immortality. Especially someone with his power and knowledge.”
Before the regression, the old man constantly lamented the lack of time and craved more years for research.
Now, he was on the brink of reaching a transcendent realm.
Becoming the strongest Wizard in the tower was no exaggeration.
“The Ancient Tower of Magic—its master would know all kinds of forbidden lore. Including rejuvenation and lifespan-extension magic.”
Gun-ryul nodded—it made sense to him.
“So that’s why he wants my body.”
“Yes. I believe your body contains energy or structure that he desperately needs. Am I right?”
Gun-ryul let out a faint, weary smile.
Leaning back on the armrest, he began speaking.
“Your guess isn’t wrong. Actually… I planned to tell you someday, as someone who fights beside me. I possess a rather special body.”
“…Special how?”
“I’ll explain in detail later. But simply put—I am fundamentally different from ordinary humans. That’s why he wants me.”
His expression grew serious.
Everyone has secrets.
I had the secret of regression—so I didn’t pry further.
“The Tower Master must have discovered something unique about my body. And he plans to use it to extend his own life.”
I nodded.
Before my regression, Gober Merlin’s lifespan had suddenly increased—something I chalked up to research success.
But now I knew the ugly truth behind it.
“So this Red Gate expedition…”
“Is a trap. They want to isolate me and finish me easily.”
Gun-ryul said calmly.
But instead of fear, determination burned in his eyes.
“But they overlooked something.”
“What’s that?”
“I already told you—you.”
“……?”
Gun-ryul looked straight at me.
His clear, ox-like eyes were full of trust.
Perhaps because of his intuition, or because I defeated him in the Temple of Records.
“They think I’ll be alone. But with a variable like you at my side, their plan collapses. And they’re not even sending the Tower Master himself, are they?”
“Right. They’re sending his second disciple.”
“Then it’s even more reason they can’t guarantee victory against the two of us.”
As expected of the man who holds the Third Seat—everything he said was correct.
And I agreed.
Of course, the one who would actually handle those enemies would be me, not Gun-ryul.
“Exactly. The unseen blade is always the deadliest.”
“You understand well.”
Vrrrr—
As the aircraft engines hummed softly, the captain’s announcement played overhead.
— Ladies and gentlemen, we are now making our final…
Our conversation ended.
Gun-ryul sank into thought as he gazed at the sea of clouds outside.
I simulated the coming battle in my mind.
Soon after, we arrived at Beijing Airport.
“Welcome to China. Hahh… I can finally see my daughter again.”
A crowd of Cheonsun Guild members was waiting to greet us.
Among them were two familiar faces.
“Papa!”
“Sir, welcome back.”
A young girl sprinted toward Gun-ryul with open arms, and beside her was a man with a goatee.
His precious only daughter.
And Jegal Sang, the Deputy Guildmaster—the brain of Cheonsun Guild.
We followed Jegal Sang out of the airport.
“…Wow.”
I couldn’t help but exhale softly.
A massive building loomed in the distance, radiating overwhelming presence.
[Cheonsun Guild Headquarters]
A colossal fortress-like structure.
Its sheer size alone proved why this was China’s strongest guild.
Gun-ryul murmured beside me.
“This is the place I’ve protected all my life.”
His voice carried pride, attachment—and faint regret.
Meanwhile, my gaze drifted toward the horizon.
“……”
The sky was stained crimson.
Where the Red Gate was.
A sinister aura was already rising from that direction.
Gober Merlin’s disciple would soon arrive at that crimson hell.
And we would walk straight into it.
‘Soon.’
I clenched my fist.
It begins.
The long-delayed prologue of revenge is about to rise.
