“Nam Yein, what are you even talking about?”

Jin Cheongryong grabbed my shoulder.

“No matter how scary the mayor is, don’t lose your mind,” Toby added.

“I’m perfectly sane.”

I kept my eyes fixed on Chun Jiwon and walked toward him.

Whoa.

The moment I took a step, I froze inside. It felt as though an invisible wall loomed before me.

And yet, Chun Jiwon hadn’t done anything. He wasn’t threatening me—instead, he simply watched with a curious expression.

Even so, goosebumps prickled across my entire body as I forced myself to keep walking until I stood before him.

Then, I took out an item from my inventory and held it up.

“What is that?” he asked.

“They called it a Weight of Phase Fixation.”

On my palm lay a cone-shaped hunk of metal with a chain attached.

“Weight of Phase Fixation? Never heard of it. What does it do?”

“If you carry it—whether in an inventory, pocket, or anywhere on your body—you can’t use movement skills. In return, no movement magic can affect you.”

“…What?”

Chun Jiwon’s eyes sharpened.

“They said it was designed to counter forced movement spells used by monsters, or dungeon teleport traps. It should also work against transference.”

“Let me see it.”

I handed the item over.

He stared at the blue glow typical of a Magic-grade artifact, then slipped his hand into his pocket.

When it came back out, smoke rippled away to reveal a ring with a green gem embedded in it.

An Escape Gem… so that ring must be a skill slot. Don’t tell me his pocket itself is an inventory?

He clenched his fist, activating the gem. The stone glowed, but nothing happened.

“It does seem to block movement magic. Who made this?”

“A craftsman I’m close with. When I told them about the transference issue, they created this immediately.”

“Tell me their name.”

“Sorry, that’s impossible. My friend insisted their identity must never be revealed.”

Of course, I was the one who had actually made it.

His expression stiffened ever so slightly—just enough to make my knees tremble again.

“But…”

I reached back into my inventory and pulled out handfuls of smoke, which quickly solidified into more of the same item.

Chun Jiwon’s eyes widened.

“All of those are Weights of Phase Fixation?”

“They prepared extras, assuming you’d want to test them properly. I still have about thirty more in my inventory.”

“…Hah.”

He stared blankly at the pile in my arms.

“So you’ll let me take these for testing, then?”

“Only if you promise to lift the dungeon ban once their effect is proven.”

“Of course. If we can prevent transference, there’s no reason to bar students from dungeons.”

I nodded and handed him an entire bundle stored in a separate inventory.

Chun Jiwon, holding the bag-shaped inventory, raised his head.

“Hunter candidates gathered here, hear me!”

His booming voice thundered through the square. I reeled, clutching my ears before dizziness knocked me over.

Seriously, couldn’t he warn us before yelling like that? I nearly collapsed on the spot.

“Thanks to Nam Yein’s item, we will begin testing whether it can prevent transference. No one knows when or where a transference will occur, so I cannot guarantee how soon results will come. But I promise testing will begin immediately. And if the item truly prevents transference, the dungeon entry ban will be lifted! So, for now, I ask you to disperse and return home!”

When he finished, Ao raised her megaphone.

“We expect the mayor to keep his word! If you don’t, we’ll gather again!”

Chun Jiwon gave a solemn nod, then turned away, pulling out his phone.

“Yes, it’s me. Assemble the entire Security Corps immediately. And send a list of guilds with Hunters over level 55 to my office.”

So, they were already moving to test the weights.

Soon after, the gathered Hunter candidates dispersed, leaving only me and the academy representatives behind.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this item?” Iris asked, glaring.

“Yeah. Why keep it a secret from us?”

“Were you just trying to hog the credit?”

Zen and Rune narrowed their eyes, suspicion dripping from their voices.

The others didn’t look much friendlier.

“Because it was a gamble.”

I spoke to them all.

“A gamble?” Ao asked.

“This item hasn’t been proven inside an actual dungeon. We don’t know if it works against transference.”

“Now that you mention it, the mayor did say testing was needed,” Jin Cheongryong muttered.

“And if no one important had shown up to this rally—if the mayor himself hadn’t come—then I had no guarantee the item would reach the right hands.”

“What do you mean by ‘right hands’?”

“It’s risky to even say this, but… if word of this item spread outside of today, someone might be tempted. They might steal it before the city knew, sell it on the black market, or use it for personal gain instead of pushing for the dungeon ban to be lifted.”

“So you mean you didn’t trust us?”

Iris folded her arms, glaring harder.

“And really, we shouldn’t trust someone who once said they wanted all the credit for themselves.”

“!!”

Iris’s face stiffened.

“Iris? What’s he talking about?” Toby asked, staring at his student council president.

“…Nonsense. I have no idea what he’s saying.”

Liar.

Back during the Vallhal incident, she’d only agreed to help on the condition that all the credit went to her, Eleanor, and Crystal.

It had been exactly what I wanted anyway, so I’d agreed. But for Iris, that reckless demand had become a weakness.

If word got out that she’d stolen all the credit from her collaborators, her carefully built reputation would collapse.

“I understand your reasoning, Yein. But I want to make one thing clear.”

Ao locked eyes with me.

“Our Alliance would never allow such corruption. If any deceit or exploitation happens, I’ll personally cut it down.”

Her hand dropped onto the hilt at her waist.

The air fell utterly silent.

“So next time, share information honestly.”

“…Understood.”

“…Then, shall we head back?”

“Y-yeah.”

Rune and Zen left first. Iris and Toby followed, then the other academy reps.

Ao bowed lightly to me, then walked away with Jin Cheongryong.

“It was shocking, but if this lifts the ban, it’ll be worth it. I’ll see you at the academy.”

Park Gwangah, the last to remain, gave me a smile before heading off.

A few moments later, I heard footsteps behind me.

“Is it over now?”

“Yes, Senior.”

I turned. Seo Yui stood there in her uniform.

Among my squadmates, she was the only one who’d come.

Lumina hadn’t decided yet, and Meiling hated crowds, so they stayed at the academy.

Yui, who had supported the city’s policy, had only come in case something happened to me.

“See? Just like I said—nothing happened. You could’ve stayed at the academy.”

“Mm… maybe. But I wanted to be here.”

She gave her usual sleepy smile.

“But at the end… everyone was glaring at you. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. They’re just sulking because I didn’t tell them beforehand.”

“Really?”

I nodded.

“Let’s head back to Gwangcheon too.”

“Mm.”

We walked toward the bus stop.

Good. Everything went according to plan.

As I walked, I reviewed the steps in my head.

If a protest happened in front of City Hall, it was obvious Chun Jiwon would come down personally. His nature was to step in whenever a problem arose.

The plan worked. I used the rally to meet him, handed over the Weights of Phase Fixation, and now all that’s left is to wait.

That wait lasted far longer than I expected.

Even by the time finals rolled around in mid-June, no word had come.

In the meantime, Meiling, Lumina, and I were rewarded for protecting our classmates during the last transference. Each of us received a semester’s tuition exemption.

Lumina was delighted. Meiling, of course, complained that it was “only one semester.”

But the ban on dungeon entry for Hunter candidates remained in place.

“Final exams were boring.”

Meiling sat on the bench with her legs crossed.

The day after exams ended, our squad had wolfed down lunch, then gathered under the shade of a tree to escape the blazing sun.

“Lumina, don’t you think so too?”

“Uh… well…”

Lumina hesitated, then answered quietly.

“Yeah. I guess it was easier than midterms. Maybe because our levels are so much higher now?”

By now, our squad had far surpassed the average and was approaching third-year level.

The mock battle exam had been nothing more than child’s play.

“And there wasn’t even a dungeon practical this time.”

“Exactly! When are they going to lift the ban already?”

Meiling shot me a glare.

“I wasn’t the one who imposed it.”

I shrugged, and she snapped back, “But you gave the mayor that anti-transference item!”

Every passing student turned to stare at us.

“The tests must not be done yet. After all, the item only works if you’re inside a transference event. That depends entirely on chance.”

“Ugh, so annoying! It’s been three weeks since I got to kill any monsters!”

“Why do you even like killing monsters so much?” Seo Yui asked, baffled.

“Because it feels amazing watching them die! Don’t you feel the same?”

“No. I don’t feel anything when I kill monsters.”

“…Lumina, what about you?”

Meiling snapped her head toward her.

“Uh, I—I don’t… I don’t really feel good about it either. Sorry.”

Lumina’s soft reply made Meiling’s face darken. She pouted, turning her head away like a sulky child.

“Well, some people enjoy the hunt. Others can’t even put a knife to a fish on the cutting board. Everyone’s different.”

I was smoothing things over when—

[“First-year Class B student Nam Yein, please report immediately to the first-floor conference room. Repeating once more, First-year Class B student Nam Yein, report to the conference room immediately.”]

“…What was that? Did you cheat on the test or something?” Meiling’s eyes gleamed with mischief.

“Of course not. I’ll be back.”

I stood and headed for the main building.

Vice Principal stood waiting outside the conference room.

“Nam Yein.”

He approached with a tense expression.

“The mayor is inside. The principal as well.”

“I see.”

“He says he has business with you. Do you know what it might be?”

“Probably about that item I gave him.”

By now, word had spread through the students about how I’d handed Chun Jiwon an anti-transference item during the rally.

That was why I’d stayed inside the academy for the past two weeks, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

“May I go in?”

“…Please be careful not to cause offense.”

“I understand.”

I knocked, opened the door, and stepped inside.

“Oh, Nam Yein!”

Chun Jiwon sprang up with a broad smile.

But no matter how friendly his face appeared, the crushing pressure rolling off him hadn’t lessened one bit.

“Well then, Principal, if you don’t mind giving us the room.”

“Very well.”

Im Seongyeon rose slowly, pausing as she passed me.

“When this talk is finished, don’t return to class. Come to my office instead.”

“Yes.”

After she left, I walked toward Chun Jiwon.

“Have the results come in?”

He nodded.

“Three separate transference events have occurred. Each time, the Hunters carrying your item were not displaced.”

“So we can return to the dungeons now?”

“Yes. But there’s still one problem left to solve.”

He reached into his pocket and drew out a Weight of Phase Fixation.

“Take me to the craftsman who made this. To safeguard against transference, we’ll need mass production. We must have the method.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible.”

His once-friendly expression hardened.

“…Nam Yein. I respect that you keep your promises to friends. But without the recipe, the dungeon ban cannot be lifted.”

“You don’t need to meet my friend to learn it.”

His eyes widened.

“What I have are the required materials. Any craftsman capable of producing Magic-grade items should be able to craft it once they know the list.”

I pulled a folded sheet of paper from my pocket—the one I’d been carrying for this moment.

“This contains the materials my friend told me.”

“I see. Then, give it to me—”

“But there’s one condition.”

I cleared my throat.

“My friend said: ‘In exchange for giving you the materials, the mayor must grant my friend Nam Yein one request, no matter what it is. If the mayor refuses…’”

I gripped the paper tightly in both hands.

“…‘then tear it up on the spot.’”

“……”

And then, for the first time, Chun Jiwon glared directly at me.

I forgot to breathe.

(End of Chapter)

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