The Fate Protection Bureau maintained such stringent security that almost nothing about its interior was known to the outside world.

Visitors were permitted up to the first floor, but from the second floor onward, only Bureau personnel could enter.

Even Shin Sooa, the sect leader of one of the Five Great Sects, was said to have never set foot inside.

“Please follow me. We’ll be heading to Team Leader Gongju’s office. Stay close, please.”

The moment she finished speaking, Ahn Nabi was already in motion.

She wasn’t tall, so her stride wasn’t particularly long, and she wasn’t walking slowly by any measure—yet somehow, she was already far ahead of him.

Seo Kangrim had to walk at a near-jog just to keep pace with her.

‘Does she have a Special Ability like the Earth Shrinking Technique?’

Nothing else could explain her impossible speed.

He wanted to take his time surveying the surroundings, but keeping up with Ahn Nabi left no room for that.

He considered pretending to lose her and wandering the building as though lost, but…

‘They’ve definitely distorted the internal layout.’

At first glance, it resembled the interior of an ordinary corporate office, but there were an unusual number of corners and the corridors stretched on endlessly.

Moreover, the hallways lacked any distinguishing features, making it nearly impossible to tell one location from another.

Getting lost here offered no guarantee he would find his way anywhere useful.

‘For now, I’ll just play along.’

Seo Kangrim followed Ahn Nabi through the maze-like corridors for what felt like ages.

She finally came to a halt when they reached a dead end.

Facing the door at the end of the hallway, Ahn Nabi spoke.

“Team Leader Gongju. Training Cadet Seo Kangrim has arrived.”

“Come in.”

A stiff voice came through the door, and it swung open.

As Seo Kangrim stepped inside, a tall man stood by the window.

Gongju, who had been gazing out the window with his hands clasped behind his back, slowly turned around.

“Ah, Mr. Seo Kangrim. Welcome, please come in.”

From the very first moment he laid eyes on the man, Seo Kangrim’s instinct told him this was someone he could never afford to let his guard down around.

Gongju’s tone was warm, but the gaze behind his glasses was cold.

And then there was the commanding presence he couldn’t quite conceal.

Gongju approached with an affable smile and extended his hand.

“A pleasure to meet you. I’m Team Leader Gongju of Central Branch Team 2.”

“Hello. I’m Seo Kangrim.”

Seo Kangrim took the offered hand.

Unlike Ahn Nabi’s, it was a bare hand—no gloves.

His face was similarly uncovered.

Seo Kangrim found himself puzzled.

‘Why aren’t his face and hands covered?’

The Fate Protection Bureau always wore masks and gloves as a precaution against anyone attempting to peek at their Fortune Windows.

The primary methods for reading another’s fate were Fortune, physiognomy, palm reading, and the like.

‘In my current state, I could read his Fortune Window, but…’

Seo Kangrim completed the handshake slowly and released his grip.

Gongju smiled quietly.

‘Something feels off about this.’

Why was he exposing himself so defenselessly?

Simply to show goodwill?

That didn’t seem like the real reason.

‘I shouldn’t use Fate Detection for now. There’s a high probability his fate is protected, just like that woman I saw in the video last time.’

Seo Kangrim suppressed the urge to check Gongju’s fate and waited for him to speak.

Gongju flashed a good-natured smile and said,

“You did splendidly, just as I requested in my last message. The first clearer of an upper-level difficulty—Mr. Seo Kangrim.”

“I was just lucky.”

“Luck is a skill in its own right.”

A few rounds of polite pleasantries were exchanged.

Once the customary courtesies ran their course, Seo Kangrim cut to the chase.

“So, why was I summoned here?”

“You’re quite direct. I appreciate that, actually. We’re both busy people, after all.”

Gongju smiled faintly, as though pleased with Seo Kangrim’s demeanor.

“As I mentioned before, I promised you an additional reward for achieving the first clear of an upper-level difficulty.”

“Yes.”

“That’s all this is about.”

With that, Gongju walked over to the wall and produced something from his coat.

It was a key, engraved with an ornate pattern in bas-relief.

As Seo Kangrim watched in silence, Gongju inserted the key into the wall.

“It’s a secret, but I’ll make an exception and show you, Mr. Seo Kangrim.”

Gongju turned the key still lodged in the wall, and a section of the wall opened like a door.

A flicker of surprise crossed Seo Kangrim’s face.

‘Does he have a Special Ability like that? No, it seems like the ability is embedded in the item itself.’

As Seo Kangrim made a deliberate show of his astonishment, Gongju smiled with satisfaction.

He addressed Seo Kangrim,

“Please step inside. It’s a classified space, so we keep it secured like this under normal circumstances.”

“Impressive.”

Seo Kangrim said as much and followed Gongju through the doorway.

The space beyond was unmistakably connected to an entirely different location.

A pristine white room, far larger than Gongju’s office.

Filling the room were all manner of weapons, equipment, and items.

“What is this place…?”

“My personal armory. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve collected just about every weapon you could think of.”

Gongju said as he picked up a whip resting nearby.

Even at a glance, it was clearly a high-grade item.

Seo Kangrim glanced at him and asked,

“Is that the additional reward you’re offering?”

“No. I’m not that stingy.”

Gongju grinned and placed a hand on Seo Kangrim’s shoulder.

“You may take any one thing from this room.”

“Anything?”

“Anything at all.”

It was a far more generous reward than expected.

Even without activating Fate Detection, he could see at a glance that quite a few items were Ghost Grade or higher.

‘And that’s a Dragon Grade weapon, isn’t it?’

It was placed carelessly, but it was unmistakably a Dragon Grade weapon.

As he scanned the interior and catalogued the available items, Seo Kangrim noticed something peculiar.

‘Why are the lower-grade weapons arranged like that?’

Items with flashy appearances but low grades were displayed on pedestals and in glass cabinets.

Meanwhile, the higher-grade items were scattered about like junk.

‘Did he deliberately arrange them this way to make me pick a low-grade item?’

Seo Kangrim glanced at Gongju and Ahn Nabi.

Ahn Nabi wore a mask, making her expression unreadable, and Gongju maintained his cold smile.

‘No. If he wanted me to take a low-grade item, he wouldn’t have left the high-grade ones out or brought me here in the first place.’

Because there was a chance, however slim, that Seo Kangrim might take a high-grade item.

As he harbored these doubts, a thought flashed through his mind.

‘…Am I being suspected?’

An ordinary person would choose the most visually impressive item.

But someone with the ability to read fate would naturally pick the premium item disguised as trash.

‘He’s testing whether I have the ability to read fate.’

Now he could understand the bizarre arrangement of this room—and why Gongju was leaving his face and hands exposed.

He was openly inviting Seo Kangrim to read his Fortune Window.

‘He wanted to see my reaction.’

He didn’t know what Gongju’s Fortune Window looked like, but anyone who had risen to the position of team leader had to be a formidable individual.

If Seo Kangrim read his Fortune Window, a flicker of surprise might betray him.

Or perhaps Gongju was equipped with an item that activated when his Fortune Window was read.

‘I can’t let him discover I have Fate Detection.’

If his Fate Detection were exposed, it would derail all his future plans.

To conceal that fact, he could simply grab a decent-looking but low-stat item and leave—but…

‘I can’t pass up this opportunity.’

With a Dragon Grade item right before his eyes, walking away with a Human Grade item would be a colossal waste.

Meanwhile, Gongju smiled and pressed him.

“So, what will you choose?”

“Give me a moment to think. There are just so many items…”

“Of course. I imagine it’s quite overwhelming. Take your time.”

Gongju replied with easy confidence.

While Seo Kangrim examined the items in the display cabinets, Gongju was equally occupied with examining him.

‘Does he truly have prophecy-related abilities?’

Just as Seo Kangrim suspected, Gongju was operating on the assumption that he possessed some form of prophecy or fate-reading ability.

He also carried an item that would trigger a warning if his Fortune Window was read.

So far, it had remained silent.

‘Even with a god’s assistance, there are too many things about Seo Kangrim that demand scrutiny.’

He had discovered the Secret Area and completed a hidden mission.

On top of that, he had hatched a kirin from the Unknown Egg—an event with a natural hatching probability close to zero percent.

His exploits in the latter half were attributed to divine assistance, but Gongju found even that claim dubious.

‘If he truly has the ability to read fate, he’ll take that Dragon Grade weapon.’

Gongju looked at the Dragon Grade weapon lying among the discarded junk.

What rested there was the Royal Heirloom Saber, said to have been wielded by King Taejo Lee Seonggye1.

The very weapon that had slain Uwang, a dragon descendant impervious to all arms.

But its hilt had been deliberately replaced with a shoddy one, making it appear as an ordinary sword to any observer.

‘It would sting a bit to lose that, but if he takes it, it would confirm he has prophecy abilities.’

At that point, it would be reasonable to summon the Bureau Director to verify Seo Kangrim’s Fortune Window.

As Gongju waited for Seo Kangrim’s choice,

Seo Kangrim approached him, apparently having made his decision.

“Have you decided what to take?”

“Yes.”

“And what will that be?”

Gongju posed the question with genuine anticipation.

Seo Kangrim slowly raised his hand and pointed somewhere.

The gesture left Gongju utterly bewildered.

“…Excuse me?”

Seo Kangrim’s finger was pointing directly at Gongju himself.

Ahn Nabi, standing beside them, asked with a puzzled expression,

“Are you saying you want to take Team Leader Gongju?”

Gongju’s face went slightly blank at those words.

Take him?

What kind of nonsense was this?

“Mr. Seo Kangrim. I’ll admit I’m a desirable individual, but…”

Gongju let out a sigh and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

‘Seo Kangrim… how shrewd. To realize that the most valuable thing in this room is me.’

He was mildly pleased by Seo Kangrim’s choice, but regardless, the upper hand always needed to remain his.

Gongju composed his expression and said,

“As flattered as I am, you can’t have me. If you’re truly interested, you could always join Team 2 afterward and work under me, but…”

“I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Seo Kangrim’s face remained utterly impassive.

His deadpan reaction, in turn, left Gongju bewildered.

“Didn’t you just say you wanted to have me?”

“I’m not a human trafficker.”

“But you clearly pointed at me.”

“I was pointing at the item in your hand, Team Leader Gongju.”

Seo Kangrim was indicating Gongju’s hand.

What Gongju currently held in his hand was a key.

The key to the door that connected to Gongju’s armory.