Join the Fate Protection Bureau.

Becoming the top cadet was unexpected, but the recruitment offer itself was hardly surprising.

It was already well known that they sought outstanding cadets.

And the Fate Protection Bureau would hardly turn away a mere killer.

If they had wanted to screen out killers in the first place, they wouldn’t have deployed such demon beasts in the final Demon Realm.

How many among the successful candidates hadn’t gotten blood on their hands?

“Mr. Seo Kangrim?”

Gongju asked, pressing for an answer.

He was still extending his hand toward me for a handshake.

I looked down at his hand for a moment before opening my mouth.

“I apologize, but I have no intention of joining.”

Joo Sungtae flared up at my response.

“Do you have any idea what kind of opportunity this is? How dare you—!”

“Joo Sungtae. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Gongju’s voice was sharp enough that it was hard to believe it was directed at his own subordinate.

Joo Sungtae—that man seemed to harbor a deep resentment toward me.

Earlier, he had seemed reluctant about me joining, and now he was angry that I wasn’t.

“It seems I was too hasty with someone who hasn’t even fully recovered yet.”

Gongju said this as he naturally withdrew his hand.

The withdrawn hand slipped inside his jacket.

He pulled out a business card and offered it to me.

“Please get plenty of rest for a few days and then contact me. You should see your family and get some fresh air after so long.”

“I have no intention of join—”

“If you are discharged, please stop by the training room before you leave. There are matters to go over before your departure.”

He smoothly cut off my words and continued his explanation.

It seemed he had no intention of accepting my refusal even if I declined.

Left with no choice, I took the business card, and only then did Team Leader Gongju rise from his seat.

“Then I’ll take my leave. We’ll meet again.”

He left the hospital room with Joo Sungtae in tow.

Even in the moment of departure, Joo Sungtae was glaring at me.

I stared at the business card left in my hand.

I had clearly refused to join, but he had smoothly refused my refusal.

I knew full well how persistent the Fate Protection Bureau could be.

Once they learned I possessed ‘Fate Detection,’ they would be even more troublesome.

Regardless, I needed to find Shin Sooa first.

After changing clothes and stepping outside, a nurse standing in the hallway spotted me and hurried over.

“Are you all right? You really should rest more…”

“Moving around won’t be a problem.”

“Awakened individuals are certainly sturdy, I’ll give you that. Are you being discharged, then?”

“Yes. Before that, I’d like to know which room Shin Sooa is in.”

The nurse kindly directed me to Shin Sooa’s room.

I stood before the door for a moment, took a deep breath, and knocked.

……No answer came.

It wasn’t proper etiquette, but I quietly opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was a single room similar to the one I had stayed in.

I walked slowly toward the bed.

The sight of Shin Sooa sleeping peacefully caught my eye.

But no sooner had I felt a wave of relief at her sleeping face than the rest of her body came into view.

……Her arm was gone.

I had known. That the Saw Bone Room’s belt had severed her arm.

But witnessing that fact once again made my chest tighten.

She lost her arm because of me.

She’s someone who wields a sword.

I had dragged her into my misfortune and put her in danger once again.

As I stood there, unable to bring myself to say anything, only staring down at where her arm used to be—

I sensed an ominous energy emanating from Shin Sooa.

[The energy of Sal is detected from Shin Sooa’s fate.]

Sal?

Flustered, I examined her fate once more.

Indeed, the energy of Sal was present—and remarkably strong at that.

Something was wrong.

In my previous life, the energy of death hadn’t been this strong. Something had begun to change.

When, where, and how does she die?

But nothing more detailed than that could be read.

Only a vague yet unmistakable sense of Sal’s energy.

At that moment, a notification window appeared before my eyes.

[The item ‘Guide of Destiny’ is activating!]

The special item obtained from the Room of Tread—Guide of Destiny.

It was an item that guided the way when its owner’s fate was wandering.

But why was it activating now?

Before I could grasp the situation, another notification appeared.

[The item ‘Guide of Destiny’ gains the power of the Boundary, enhancing its effects!]

My vision turned pure white, and it felt as though lightning had struck inside my head.

No, not lightning—it was a panorama.

Like scenes in a film changing every second, an overwhelming flood of information poured in.

My consciousness, my brain, my skull—it felt as though they would shatter.

Amid the nauseating torrent of information, familiar and unfamiliar scenes flashed past.

Then the screen stopped.

[Keok, keoheok……]

Blood was flowing from someone’s mouth along with an agonized scream.

A shadow with one arm missing was cast upon the floor.

Shin Sooa lay crumpled on the ground, vomiting blood in apparent agony.

[Seo Kangrim isn’t coming.]

Someone standing before Shin Sooa spoke.

Noise obscured the face, but it was clear they were Shin Sooa’s enemy.

[Because Seo Kangrim doesn’t even know you’re here.]

That someone looked down at Shin Sooa quietly and spoke.

Their voice carried a tone of genuine bewilderment.

[I don’t understand you. Seo Kangrim left you the moment he exited the Education Facility. Why are you trying to die for him?]

[……]

[Even if you do, Seo Kangrim is going to die anyway.]

[Keullock, keullock…… Don’t touch him…… Don’t lay a single finger…… on Seo Kangrim……]

In a rough, breathless voice, that was what she said.

Even as she lay dying, she never once begged for her life—she only glared at her assailant with murderous defiance.

The figure looked at Shin Sooa for a moment, then slowly raised a hand.

[Then, goodbye.]

-Chwaak!

Blood splattered in every direction, and my vision turned red.

I tried to rush toward Shin Sooa, but my body wouldn’t move an inch.

What in the world was this?

Was this information about the future—a situation where Shin Sooa dies?

I couldn’t understand it.

Why was she dying so miserably?

Why was she dying for my sake in this life as well?

I needed to know more.

I needed even a fraction more information.

Gritting my teeth, I tried desperately to wrest control of the Guide of Destiny, and the screen began to shift once more.

[Kangrim, run……!]

The chaotically shifting screen stopped again.

This was a memory I recognized.

[Kangrim, it’s okay. Mom and Dad are okay. Run, quickly!]

Pinned beneath the overturned car, my mother and father were speaking to me.

The young me could do nothing but cry.

This was a memory from the past.

It was the memory of the night my parents had their accident and passed away on the way back after visiting a shaman.

The young me had sobbed and tried to lift the car by any means possible, but it was impossible.

Then my mother pushed me weakly and spoke.

[Kangrim, you can’t do it alone. There must be adults nearby. Go call them. You can do that, right?]

Even as she bled and lay dying, my mother was gentle.

The young me, who had been clinging to the car and struggling, only began to shuffle away after hearing those words.

[Mom, Dad. Just wait, just wait a little. I’ll bring people……!]

Saying that, I started running.

Not knowing that the car would explode shortly after, truly believing I could save them both.

The young me running frantically down the dark mountain road.

The young me running barefoot, not knowing that by the time I returned, my parents would already be dead.

Foolish me.

And someone was watching that foolish me.

White hair fluttered in the darkness.

It was Baekyoung.

She had been watching my dying parents from within the darkness.

[The item ‘Guide of Destiny’ is deactivating!]

Baekyoung vanished in an instant, and only the hospital room scene remained before my eyes.

My entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

What was that just now?

My head throbbed as though it would split open from the sheer volume of information.

Shin Sooa, facing death once again.

Baekyoung at the scene of my parents’ death.

The Flying Tiger Sect members being massacred by Baekyoung.

As these various memories converged, a single conclusion emerged.

Would Baekyoung murder Shin Sooa again in the future?

And—could it be that Baekyoung had also killed my parents?

The accident that had befallen my parents had indeed been strange.

The car had been driving perfectly fine on the road when it was flung off as though struck by lightning.

At the time, the adults had called it a simple traffic accident.

But what if it had actually been caused by Baekyoung’s attack?

“Eu, eum……”

At that moment, a small groan escaped Shin Sooa’s lips, and I snapped back to my senses.

Shin Sooa, lying in bed, let out a quiet moan and shifted slightly.

She didn’t seem to have woken up.

“……”

Seeing Shin Sooa’s sleeping face, I barely managed to regain my composure.

Unlike the future I had just witnessed, the Shin Sooa of the present was simply sleeping quietly.

“……Haa.”

For now, I rose from my seat and stepped outside.

It seemed my presence might wake Shin Sooa.

I clutched my throbbing head and struggled to organize the information.

The information the Guide of Destiny had just shown me.

Baekyoung had been entangled with me for a long time—since I was a child.

Baekyoung, who had been present at my most wretched moments.

Was it possible that not only my parents’ death but countless other misfortunes were connected to Baekyoung?

And furthermore, Shin Sooa would be murdered by someone in the future.

Even though I had left Shin Sooa behind.

I had believed that keeping my distance from Shin Sooa and avoiding entanglement with her was the way to save her.

But what if that had been a misjudgment on my part?

What if, because of it, I had failed to act immediately when Shin Sooa was placed in danger?

“Hello, Mr. Kangrim.”

At that moment, a voice reached me along with the scent of flowers.

I looked toward the source of the sound and found a familiar woman standing there.

“……Team Leader Seomun Yongnyeo?”

“My, you remembered me.”

Standing there was Seomun Yongnyeo, the Team 1 leader I had encountered in the Snake’s Room last time.

She was holding a large bouquet of roses.

It was easily over a hundred stems in size.

“I came to visit, but the room was empty. I thought I might miss you, so I’m glad we ran into each other.”

Seomun Yongnyeo smiled guilelessly and offered me the bouquet.

The floral scent was so cloyingly intense that my face contorted before I could stop it.

She paid no mind to my reaction and glanced toward the hospital room.

“You went looking for Ms. Sooa the moment you woke up. How devoted.”

“……”

“Well, Ms. Sooa seemed quite devoted to you as well, Mr. Kangrim.”

She hadn’t genuinely come to celebrate my recovery.

With my nerves already on edge from the Guide of Destiny, her visit was unwelcome.

As I maintained my silence, Seomun Yongnyeo flashed a bright smile and continued.

“I was honestly shocked when Ms. Sooa came out of the Demon Realm. Missing an arm, her whole body battered—and she was dragging you out, Mr. Seo Kangrim.”

Just hearing about it was enough to imagine the scene.

Truly out of her mind.

She could barely crawl out on her own, yet she had dragged me out as well.

“You were in danger, Mr. Kangrim, but Ms. Sooa was in quite critical condition herself. Actually, she only woke up recently as well.”

“……Then please go back now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. With a patient right here, I went and rambled on without meaning to.”

Seomun Yongnyeo said this in a slightly exaggerated tone.

It was an act, plain as day.

The corners of her eyes curved as she smiled.

“Then I’ll just say what I came to say and head back quickly. I’d like to make you an offer, Mr. Kangrim. One that would benefit you as well.”

What was she trying to pull now?

As I silently glared at Seomun Yongnyeo, she spoke in a breezy voice.

“Team Leader Gongju may have already told you, but I’d like to invite you to join us. Team 1, not Team 2. In exchange……”

Seomun Yongnyeo’s eyes gleamed with a sinister, serpentine light.

“I’ll restore Ms. Sooa’s arm.”