Chapter 244

Shin Han-sol still vividly remembered what happened in the tutorial.

The group she ran away with from the starting point.

She and two young men were relatively lucky.

After all, they hadn’t encountered any monsters for a while after escaping outside the building.

‘…Sigh.’

But the problem was her thinking that monsters were the only danger in such a place.

Was it because their food and water were stolen by another group?

After losing their food and water and constantly running from monsters, the group she was with turned on her.

‘…Or maybe they didn’t like my attitude.’

Seeing how they attacked her, yelling about her attitude and why she was so quiet, it must have been her attitude that was the issue.

When the two men tried to assault her, she unknowingly manifested magic as she gained her job.

It wasn’t something she consciously activated. Her body instinctively moved mana and cast the spell.

‘…Separation Magic.’

The magic she activated was Separation Magic.

In an instant, the space occupied by the two men was split, and their bodies were torn apart.

The blood-soaked floor and the sensation of committing murder for the first time.

Even though it wasn’t her intention, she had killed them in a horrifying way.

But she didn’t feel much about it.

‘It didn’t bother me much.’

She wasn’t particularly angry at the two men, nor did she resent them.

Humans are creatures who live by hurting others, after all.

She just didn’t want to be victimized by them.

The two men probably died without even understanding what happened. It was all over in an instant.

Since there were no witnesses, she hid her ability appropriately and, though she wasn’t part of the main strategy team, managed to clear the tutorial.

Life at the training facility was quite satisfying.

‘Honestly, it’s so different from the tutorial.’

Unlike being chased by monsters or other people just a while ago, it was a reassuring environment.

Not only were shelter and meals provided, but the instructors also didn’t act coercively, at least toward the trainees who listened.

During the time to write down her job and abilities, she deliberately hid most of her powers.

The words written on her paper were “General Grade Mage.”

‘I can reveal my abilities whenever I want.’

She knew it herself. This ability to use spatial magic wasn’t ordinary.

‘If I reveal it, most clans would probably try to recruit me.’

But that would just be exhausting.

People only show their true selves when dealing with those they consider beneath them.

While treatment was important, she needed to join a trustworthy clan.

Since she was a mana-type user, she ended up attending a lecture taught by a woman named Ha Yu-ri from the Mardan Clan.

She definitely remembered seeing her face on stage before.

Even as a fellow woman, she was momentarily captivated by her beauty.

As expected of someone leading one of the four major clans, her lectures were flawless.

‘Or maybe that’s just my standard?’

Though some people seemed to struggle to keep up, so maybe the lectures were just difficult.

Then one day, while attending the lectures, she saw a man.

Instructor Lee Yun-seong from the Eternity Clan.

She definitely remembered seeing him on stage too.

Standing next to Ha Yu-ri, they looked like a perfect pair, like a scene from a masterpiece painting.

The male trainees couldn’t stop staring at Instructor Ha Yu-ri, and the female trainees couldn’t take their eyes off Instructor Lee Yun-seong.

During a practice session while Instructor Lee Yun-seong was observing, she managed to hide her abilities well, but…

She couldn’t help but flinch under his gaze.

‘…His eyes.’

For a brief moment, the look in Lee Yun-seong’s eyes felt like they were piercing through her.

But whether it was her imagination or not, he just stared at her for a while before eventually leaving without saying anything.

A few days later, for some reason, the woman known as the master of the Eternity Clan came to find her, which was quite startling.

‘…The legend of this continent.’

There were many titles to describe her.

Genius, youngest ranker, master of the Eternity Clan, golden spear wielder.

The achievements she had made in just two years were countless.

The stories of Seo Yoo-ju and Instructor Lee Yun-seong were incredibly famous among the trainees.

They had cleared the tutorial in the shortest time and were the ones who revived the fallen Eternity Clan.

And now, they were key figures in one of the four major clans.

‘But why?’

She couldn’t help but wonder why the Eternity Clan wanted to recruit her.

After all, she hadn’t revealed her abilities.

On the surface, she was just an ordinary trainee.

After talking with Seo Yoo-ju, she didn’t sense any malice or discomfort from her, but she still didn’t want to hastily accept the recruitment offer.

When she replied that she would think about it, Seo Yoo-ju walked away with a somewhat disappointed expression, her figure still vivid in her mind.

‘…She’s so different from what I imagined.’

She had expected someone so successful to be arrogant or overly confident, but Seo Yoo-ju didn’t seem like that at all.

But then, Instructor Lee Yun-seong came to see her.

As expected, the purpose was recruitment.

At first, she was wary.

While Seo Yoo-ju was straightforward with her emotions, this man in front of her was skilled at hiding his feelings.

‘He’s hard to deal with.’

His face was hard to read, making it difficult to guess what he was thinking.

He said that Eternity really wanted to recruit her and started listing all the benefits they could offer, how much support they could provide, and how they understood the concerns of trainees.

‘The things they’re offering are excessive.’

Listening to what Eternity could do for her, her jaw almost dropped.

So she couldn’t help but ask why they were going this far.

‘…Because I see potential in you.’

His answer was that he saw potential in her.

When she met his gaze, there didn’t seem to be a hint of deceit.

She even tested him by acting a bit, but…

‘I have no intention of threatening or coercing you. At least…’

At the very least, there was no sense that he was trying to use her.

The way he looked at her wasn’t sinister like the two men from the tutorial. It was just the look of someone who wanted talent.

When he logically explained that this was like a mutual transaction, she actually felt reassured.

In fact, his smooth talk…

He seemed more honest than the people trying to sweet-talk me with words.

Actually… I was curious about the stories surrounding the man in front of me, so I looked them up.

Surprisingly, it was easy to find stories related to Eternity, and thanks to that, I learned a lot of facts.

Like how most of the things he did ended up benefiting a lot of people.

He caught drug traffickers and dismantled a criminal organization called the Execution Society.

‘He doesn’t exactly come off as just a good person…’

But I liked how he tried to persuade me by laying out the logical side first.

Still, I couldn’t help the headache. There was another issue besides Eternity.

‘…The Hwan-Young Clan.’

Recently, a clan had been trying to recruit me.

The fact that they were trying to recruit me wasn’t the problem, but something else was.

Namely, the instructor from the Hwan-Young Clan was approaching me with impure intentions.

Maybe that’s why I eventually decided to join Eternity.

The clan’s reputation was great, and both the Clan Master and Instructor Lee Yun-seong seemed like decent people.

But I did set a condition.

******

‘What kind of request is this?’

I thought he’d ask for items or a higher salary, but this was unexpected.

‘Another clan’s instructor is approaching me…’

Looks like there’s at least one clan keeping an eye on Shin Han-sol.

‘Well, even if Shin Han-sol’s skills are average, she’s still worth recruiting for a regular clan.’

“Understood. That’s easy enough. But I have one question.”

“Yes, what is it…?”

“Then why don’t you just tell that instructor you’ve decided to join Eternity?”

“Well… even if I told them I’m joining Eternity based on my grades, the Hwan-Young Clan probably wouldn’t believe me. And…”

‘Is there something else?’

“Um, the instructor from the Hwan-Young Clan… while talking, he’d grab my waist and stuff… so, it felt like he had some impure intentions toward me…”

“Ah…”

I understood what she meant.

What Shin Han-sol was going through was something that happened quite often at the training facility.

Higher-ups in larger clans had a lot of power, and it was easy for them to slot someone into the clan using their authority.

In other words, that instructor was subtly touching Shin Han-sol while making his offer.

‘He’s basically saying, “I can get you into the clan, so show me some physical gratitude.”’

And surprisingly, that method works quite often.

Most trainees can only dream of joining a large clan.

So, some instructors take advantage of that and make moves on trainees they like.

There’s an unwritten rule that you shouldn’t mess with trainees, but as long as you don’t get caught, it’s fine.

‘And some desperate trainees even make the first move.’

“I understand what you’re saying. I’ll handle it. It’s a pretty simple problem to solve.”

That instructor probably has no idea that Shin Han-sol isn’t just some average trainee.

‘That’s why he’s acting like that.’

If Shin Han-sol showed her true skills, the tables would turn.

He’d be the one begging her to join the clan.

‘Tsk tsk, trying to pull something. But don’t worry, we’re clanmates now.’

She’s the kind of rookie you’d expect for a first-timer.

At the very least, I need to show her what kind of clan she’s joining and how much power I have.

‘Damn, who does he think he is, messing with our rookie?’

******

In the end, Shin Han-sol joining Eternity was pretty much a done deal.

I needed to let Yoo Ju know, so I headed to her office.

‘…Damn, is it just me, or does it feel creepy?’

It might just be my imagination, but as I walked down the hallway, the atmosphere felt eerie.

‘Is it because there’s no one around?’

It felt like I was walking into one of those places in horror movies where you shouldn’t go.

I knocked on the office door and called her name.

“Yoo Ju?”

– Huh?

As soon as Yoo Ju’s voice responded, I heard some rustling sounds from inside.

– J-Just a second! Yoon Seong, wait a moment!

‘Is the room a mess or something?’

‘……’

After waiting a bit, Yoo Ju opened the door with an awkward expression.

“Ahaha… W-Want to come in?”

“What’s wrong? Something going on?”

“N-No, nothing’s wrong.”

She looked suspicious no matter how I looked at it.

“Want to sit down? I’ll make some coffee!”

I nodded slightly and looked around.

The inside was a bit messy.

‘What’s up with that wall?’

There were traces of something erased on one side of the wall.

“Yoon Seong, here…!”

“Ah, thanks.”

As I took the coffee Yoo Ju handed me, she asked me a question with a fidgety expression.

“Um, hey… did you see anyone on your way here?”

“What do you mean?”

‘Was she with someone just now?’

Her fidgeting made it look like she was hiding something, like she’d been caught cheating.

“I didn’t see anyone, why? Were you with someone else just now?”

“Huh? Oh, no, I was alone, right?”

I teased her with a slightly suspicious look.

“What’s wrong? You’re acting like you got caught cheating. Wait, seriously?”

“Huh? Oh, no! It’s not like that! Really, Yoon Seong!”

‘Oh my.’

I was just messing with her, but her reaction was so intense it surprised me.

Honestly, I’m the one with complicated relationships, but…

“Wait, I’m just kidding. Just a joke. I came to tell you some good news, so calm down.”