Chapter 81
A few days had passed since the midterm exams ended.
There had been a few happenings here and there, but for what it was, things were surprisingly peaceful.
Well, that was probably because this dungeon incident wasn’t something involving a Demon.
No complications, no casualties.
Considering that, the Academy’s capability wasn’t half bad, seeing how the commotion had been handled.
Of course, that was only in terms of the Academy’s affairs.
I had been severely scolded by the Instructors for disappearing all of a sudden during the exam.
Thanks to the testimonies of my teammates, I avoided any major punishment, though I was told to keep a low profile for a few days.
Not that I planned to.
Well, it’s not like the Instructors could really punish me anyway.
Who could’ve imagined that a mock dungeon created just for the exam would turn into a real one?
Was it really my fault for being caught up and disappearing in that situation?
There was a limit to how much they could punish someone for acting alone.
I even got some extra money as compensation for the damages caused by the dungeon incident.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
I closed my eyes tightly at the disaster unfolding before me.
Two beautiful women were facing each other, their gazes filled with wary hostility.
It was like watching a dog and a cat that couldn’t stand each other.
The first to speak was Lia.
“So, she’s the one who stole the fragment of my heart from The Groom, right?”
“Who stole what from who? If anything, I was the one who got pickpocketed. And The Groom? What are you, a kid?”
“W-What did you just say?”
Startled by Joo Sarang’s blunt words, Lia looked at me like a frightened rabbit.
To pick a fight first and then look to me for help—how typical.
Just like their exchange suggested, the two already knew a bit about each other.
And it wasn’t strange that they did.
Even if I hadn’t told them, it seemed that because of the fragment of the Heart, they could communicate to some extent.
Instead of explaining everything, I’d simply told them to meet, arranging this meeting.
I thought they could benefit from each other—certainly not harm one another.
Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried.
Lia and Joo Sarang.
Given their personalities, it was inevitable that they’d butt heads.
But right now, the one I was worried about wasn’t either of them. It was someone else entirely.
Just then, Joo Sarang gave Seo Da-hee a once-over before speaking.
“Anyway, this is surprising. So the so-called ‘ally’ is Seo Da-hee—the one I heard was dead? What kind of trick did you pull?”
“It took some effort,” I replied.
“Well, fine, but still. You’re not really what I imagined. I heard you had this mature, composed image. But this? You’re just a kid.”
Joo Sarang didn’t know about Lia.
To be precise, she thought Lia was a “concept sub-character”—a pseudonym Seo Da-hee used to act under.
Explaining the truth about Lia would’ve been too complicated, so I didn’t bother.
I figured once they met and got to know each other, I could explain everything slowly.
I hadn’t expected them to start growling the moment they met, though.
Lia snapped.
“Who are you calling a kid?”
“You, obviously.”
“You…!”
Grinding her teeth, Lia shut her eyes tightly. When she opened them again, her pupils had turned black.
Her soul had switched to Seo Da-hee’s.
“You’re Seongwoo’s childhood friend, right? Quite the foul mouth you’ve got.”
“What, are you some kind of split personality or something?”
“Something like that.”
Then, all of a sudden, her figure vanished.
Startled, Joo Sarang immediately took up a combat stance, but Seo Da-hee had already appeared behind her, grabbing the back of her neck, striking her knee joint, and collapsing her balance before pinning her down.
Joo Sarang’s face slammed into the floor of the small studio room.
“What the hell—?! What are you doing all of a sudden?!”
“First, I may have left the Academy, but I’m still your senior. Second, you’re a Demon, and you mean to tell me you don’t even know who I am?”
Ah, there it was.
I knew it would happen.
I’d brought them together, but I’d agonized over this exact situation for quite a while.
Joo Sarang, restrained by Seo Da-hee, struggled furiously.
“Let go of me right now!”
“Stay still. I’m not going to treat you as gently as Lia would.”
Right. Seo Da-hee was the one I’d been worried about.
Who was Seo Da-hee, after all?
Before the Student Council was tainted by Berid’s subordinates, she had led the charge in purging Demons.
Even back then, she had held deep resentment toward them—and ever since what happened with me, her hostility toward Pandemonium and Demons had long since turned into hatred.
And now, I’d brought Joo Sarang—a subordinate of Ha Yoon—right in front of her, and to top it off, Sarang’s attitude was like that.
Joo Sarang shouted desperately.
“Hey! Yoo Seongwoo! Do something about this woman!”
“Quiet. Don’t make a scene in someone else’s home.”
When Seo Da-hee tightened her grip, Joo Sarang’s mouth snapped shut.
After nearly dying from overusing her Power before, she probably didn’t have enough energy to use it and escape now.
She seemed sufficiently subdued—maybe it was time to step in.
“Senior, that’s enough. She’s still our guest, after all.”
“…Fine.”
Seo Da-hee reluctantly released her hold, and Joo Sarang immediately jumped up, glaring daggers at her.
But she didn’t attack again—she must have realized the difference in strength.
She shot me a resentful glare, as if to say, Why didn’t you stop her sooner?
Why didn’t I stop her?
Well, because this whole sequence was something I’d asked Seo Da-hee to do beforehand.
If something unpleasant was bound to happen anyway, I might as well make good use of it.
I did feel a bit sorry, but it was necessary.
A clear display of hierarchy.
Joo Sarang’s personality was rebellious by nature—hardly fit for teamwork.
And she was a Demon.
Knowing the iron rule of the Demons’ world—that only the strong rule—it was better to suppress her early.
Besides, Seo Da-hee could relieve a bit of her own stress toward Demons in the process.
“So, why did you bring her here?”
“She’s going to be our new teammate.”
“And you think you can trust her? You’re saying there’s no chance she’s Ha Yoon’s spy?”
Seo Da-hee still looked at Joo Sarang with a displeased expression, as if she couldn’t bring herself to like her.
“There’s almost no chance she’s Ha Yoon’s spy. On the contrary, she’ll become our spy.”
The reason I judged Joo Sarang to be useful was simple.
She could fill in the gaps of information about Pandemonium that I couldn’t cover with game knowledge alone.
For example, during the Beast Farm’s beast rampage incident, I knew that the event would occur and how to clear it—but not when it would happen.
Like that, most of the events from the game were all in my head.
But those unfilled details and small variables—those were hard for me to confirm in real time.
The most annoying thing about this possession was how frequently the difficulty changed.
Through Joo Sarang, I intended to identify and control those variables in advance.
At that, Seo Da-hee tilted her head, as if she couldn’t quite understand.
“But Seongwoo, you’re part of Pandemonium too. Why would you need a spy?”
“Because Pandemonium is still full of people, after all. Everyone has their assigned roles, and there’s a system of sorts. Most of the incidents happening in the Academy are orchestrated by Berid, so I need a channel to access Berid’s information. If I question him directly, it’ll just lead to unnecessary suspicion.”
“So, that thing will be useful?”
Seo Da-hee pointed toward her as she said that.
Joo Sarang’s face twisted in annoyance at being referred to as “that thing.”
“She’s one of Berid’s direct subordinates.”
“And how much access does that thing have to information?”
I turned my head to look at Joo Sarang.
“She might not know every personal order he gives to other Demons, but she knows enough about the major plots and operations carried out against the Academy.”
“Sounds like she’s of a higher rank than I expected.”
“She’s a high-ranking Demon, and among Berid’s subordinates, one of the strongest assets.”
Her performance in the last dungeon had been astonishing.
Material Transmutation—what an overpowered ability.
When she fully unleashed her power, aside from Berid and me, she was arguably the strongest in the entire Academy.
“This girl?”
Seo Da-hee tilted her head in disbelief, while Joo Sarang’s expression flared up.
“If only my power hadn’t been sealed!”
“Sealed? Are you still clinging to some ridiculous ‘concept’ or ‘setting’ nonsense?”
“The seal on her demonic energy is real. I put it there myself to stop her from using it.”
After hearing my explanation, Seo Da-hee nodded, seeming to understand Joo Sarang’s usefulness.
“Everything you said makes sense, Seongwoo. If she provides us with information, she could be a great help. And from the sound of it, she’s not exactly weak either.”
“Right?”
“But. There’s still one thing that matters most—we have no solid proof we can trust her.”
Ah, we were back to that problem again.
Given how Seo Da-hee had once been betrayed by a comrade she trusted, she had no reason to take Joo Sarang at her word.
Just hating Demons and despising Pandemonium wasn’t enough to serve as proof.
The only reason she trusted me was because I had already crossed the point of no return with Pandemonium.
If the things I had done were ever exposed, it wouldn’t end with a mere disciplinary action.
My role guaranteed I wouldn’t be killed, but they’d make sure I suffered every form of torture and punishment possible short of death.
But Joo Sarang had no such circumstance.
Then Joo Sarang replied,
“Isn’t the fact that I’m even meeting with you guys proof enough?”
“No. What if you take what you heard here and tell Ha Yoon or other Demons in Pandemonium?”
“If you’re gonna think like that, why bother making me part of your team? You might as well keep playing with yourselves.”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Hmm, that crossed the line a bit.
What should I do—
Just as I was about to step in before a fight broke out, one of Seo Da-hee’s eyes turned pale gray.
It was Lia, who had been quiet until now.
“Why are we fighting among ourselves? You’ll just make things harder for the Groom!”
“But she’s a Demon.”
Inside Seo Da-hee’s body, Lia and Seo Da-hee’s voices alternated sharply.
“If you’re gonna say that, then Seongwoo’s a Demon too, isn’t he? If we keep this up, it’ll never end. How can we work together when there’s no trust between us?”
“But still…”
“No ‘but stills’! Don’t you realize everything you’re saying now is just doubting the Groom? If you keep this up, what does that make him, the one who brought her here?”
At Lia’s words, Seo Da-hee closed her mouth.
Nice advice.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected Lia to step in and defuse the situation like that.
Sometimes she acted like the youngest mentally, but she was a being who had spent hundreds of years inside the fragment.
“Thanks, Lia. You’re absolutely right. I brought her here for a reason—and I have my own certainty about it. So, Senior, why don’t you try trusting her, just a little?”
“…Fine.”
Unable to resist our reasoning, Seo Da-hee reluctantly took a step back.
Seeing this, Joo Sarang muttered,
“What the hell… you people play both sides of the drum by yourselves. Are you seriously split personalities or what?”
“Pft.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at her words.
To Joo Sarang, Seo Da-hee must’ve looked like a lunatic talking and arguing with herself.
I decided to introduce Lia to her properly.
“So basically, during Seo Da-hee’s resurrection, two souls ended up sharing one body. And I barely survived thanks to the fragment of the item that revived her.”
“Exactly.”
At that, Joo Sarang let out a half-scoffed laugh.
“Still, I like the kid more than Seo Da-hee.”
“Who are you calling a kid!”
Lia flared up in anger, while Joo Sarang just laughed lightly.
Thanks to Lia, the tension in the room quickly eased.
I guess that was one crisis avoided.
There had been quite a few twists and turns, but at least the first meeting had ended without a real fight.
Now that I had reliable allies, the puzzle pieces to bring down Berid were finally starting to fall into place.
Just then, while chatting with Joo Sarang, Lia called out to me.
“Groom, that phone over there keeps ringing. Are you gonna answer it?”
I turned my head to see my phone vibrating on the desk.
Who would be calling me at this hour?
When I checked the caller ID, I felt the blood drain from my body.
【2 Missed Calls
Caller: Master.】
…Huh?
【Connecting video call.】
…Ah. I’m screwed.