[Kill Kim Hajin on sight if you come across him.]

I used

[Hacking]

and found out that I was up against these assailants who covered the entire train in darkness. They were after me. I used a portion of stigma to obtain control of the darkness.

“But do those lunatics really think they can hijack this train? I mean, it’s full of cadets and heroes, right?” Chae Nayun asked.

Yoo Yeonha started to think after hearing what Chae Nayun said. Then she replied, “I think this darkness can eliminate sound and presence.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” I said.

I was able to look at the details of this dark veil thanks to

[Hacking]

.

[Veil of Darkness – A veil that eliminates all sound and presence of the object it covers.]

“Really…? Then, their objective must be to stall the train,” Yoo Yeonha said.

“That’s half-correct. I think I heard there was some jewel or treasure on this train. They must be after that,” I said.

“Jewel or treasure…?” Yoo Yeonha muttered and tilted her head in confusion.

I relayed what I found out after hacking the hijackers’ smartwatches.

“I think there’s a VIP that’s transporting some sort of jewel. The VIP probably thought they would be safe with all of us onboard… No, this entire test could be the doing of this VIP so they could reach their destination as safely as possible.”

“What are you talking about…?” Chae Nayun asked.

Yoo Yeonha seemed to be at a loss as well, but I had no time to convince them.

I infused mana into my gift,

[Master Sharpshooter]

. I could feel my eyes burning as I looked through the entire train.

“A total of thirty-three… there are four or five of them per cabin…” I recited the number of hijackers I saw.

Not only that, but I also identified the jewel they were looking for in the VIP cabin.

I used stigma once again and placed my hand on the veil.

[You have stolen ownership of the target.]

[Veil of Darkness has been saved in stigma.]

The veil covering the entire train was sucked into my arm and stored in stigma to be more precise.

Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha watched with visible shock on their faces, but I ignored them and continued monitoring the situation in the cabins.

— What’s going on?

— I have no idea. The veil suddenly…

— There’s no need to talk about it. We’ll retreat for now. Gather up.

It looked like they were trying to escape with a magic scroll, but a magic scroll was a very expensive item. All thirty-three of them would have to huddle together.

They started to huddle around the individual holding the magic scroll, who I assumed was their leader.

I waited until the moment all thirty-three of them gathered into a massive clump.

— We’re going.

When the leader was about to rip the magic scroll, I shot out the Veil of Darkness from inside the stigma.

The veil shot out like a net and successfully caught all thirty-three hijackers.

“What the… what’s going on?”

Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha were still flabbergasted.

I infused stigma into the veil and replied, “What else? I caught them alive. Just hurry up and go wake the others up. I won’t be able to hold them for long…”

The hijackers trapped under the net resisted to the best of their abilities to escape…

***

Kim Soohyuk, Jin Sahyuk, and the rest of the faculty appeared a bit later to capture the hijackers. One of the faculty members possessed the ability to capture people alive, so they used that ability and threw the hijackers with the cargo.

The hijacking of the train ended as a minor mishap.

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, I inspected the Veil of Darkness that had been reduced to the size of a handkerchief in my palm. On top of that, I was able to awaken a synergy between stigma and

[Hacking]

thanks to the hijackers.

[Gift Saved With Hacking]

[1. Veil of Darkness – A veil that eliminates all sound and presence of the object it covers.]

I was able to take control of an ability using

[Hacking]

and analyze it using stigma. Then I could replicate it completely in a similar manner. I would say it was one of stigma’s many variations rather than an outright ability that

[Hacking]

possessed.

Whatever it was, I knew for sure that it was a very useful ability.

“Listen up, everyone!”

Kim Soohyuk suddenly shouted after all of us got off the train and gathered at the train stop.

I stood beside Kim Suho and Chae Nayun stood on the other side of him. It felt like she took a step back from me after the incident last night.

I was sure that I wasn’t acting paranoid because whenever our eyes met, she would…

“…!”

… Flinch and lower her head to avoid my eyes.

I was certain that this was because of what Yoo Yeonha wanted to say last night.

“Your mission is to exterminate the monsters in this place. You better get used to the environment here as you will be frequenting Russia after you become a fully-fledged hero. A hero must know how to take care of their own equipment. You will find a lot of useful materials here. Now, take a look at this.”

Kim Soohyuk showed the smartwatch on his left wrist and explained how this field worked. There was no need to handle the monster corpses after hunting them down. All we had to do was send the coordinates to these people known as scavengers and they would retrieve everything for us for a thirteen percent fee.

“Wow, that’s very convenient. I think we can earn a lot in no time over here,” Kim Suho said.

That guy started to become materialistic these days for some odd reason. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure why, but I had a hunch that he was trying to bribe Evandel by showering her with gifts.

“This is a real-life situation. You will be graded according to the number of monsters you kill in the next thirty-six hours. It doesn’t matter whether you act alone or form a team as long as you do your best. Now, that’s all. Move out!”

***

I killed roughly over a dozen monsters and entered the coordinates in my smartwatch.

[Ten o’clock, northeast.]

The scavengers would come and retrieve these monster corpses and sell them off for me.

“

Sigh…”

I let out a sigh after sensing a presence behind me.

Chae Nayun was still here somewhere, but I couldn’t see her. She was probably hiding at a distance where she could run to me at a moment’s notice if something were to happen.

I really couldn’t get used to that girl’s sudden change in attitude…

“I should rest a bit…”

I walked out of the forest and continued walking until the trees around me grew shorter and shorter. I was now on elevated terrain with a vantage point of my surroundings.

It seemed like I was standing on a mound. The mound was elevated and had clear visuals over the surroundings, so I doubted I was in danger of getting ambushed and assassinated here.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I called out to Chae Nayun, who was hiding behind a tree around five hundred meters away from me.

Rustle… Rustle…

The sound of her fidgeting behind the tree was carried over by the wind.

“Come out if you have something to say,” I added.

Only then did Chae Nayun finally show herself. She awkwardly scratched the back of her neck and made her way towards me.

Thud!

She sat on the ground.

“What is it?” I asked.

Chae Nayun didn’t respond. Instead, she chewed her lower lip and hesitated to say something.

“Just say it. It’s fine.”

“…”

She looked at me and tears started welling up in her eyes as if she was about to cry at any moment.

I didn’t know what to do, so I just pinched her nose.

“

Gwuah…!”

“Aren’t you going to talk?”

Chae Nayun pouted while her nose was being pinched, but she didn’t resist or slap my hands away. It was only after a while that she finally shook my hand off and took a few steps back.

She let out a sigh and opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again.

Then, she composed herself and finally spoke, “That time… the thing Yoo Yeonha said…”

She hesitated once again before looking at me and forced, no, squeezed the words out of her mouth, “I think… Kim Sukho is really the one behind this.”

“Kim Sukho?” I muttered in response.

Chae Nayun mumbled something under her breath along the lines of,

‘I knew it. He still has no idea,’

before nodding.

“Yeah, Kim Sukho will probably find out who you really are.”

“…”

My heart dropped after hearing her say that. Did she already figure out that this world was just a novel…?

Chae Nayun asked, “You… do you know about the Kwang-Oh Incident?”

“…”

That was something I didn’t have a single inkling of, so I just remained silent. However, what she said next was something I had never heard of before in my life. I couldn’t afford to ignore it though.

After all, it was related to me. No, Kim Chundong to be more precise, the character I was currently possessing.

The Kwang-Oh Incident was a tragedy related to Kim Chundong’s past and Chae Nayun was telling me all about it.

She explained that her grandfather, Chae Joochul, was the perpetrator behind it at the behest of Kim Sukho. Their plan had been swiftly carried out without a hitch. In the end, her family was the culprit behind my life being ruined.

“So… my grandfather…” Chae Nayun said as she gritted her teeth.

She was gritting her teeth so hard that it wouldn’t be weird if one of her teeth cracked and she was clenching her fist so tightly that her nails dug into her skin.

She wiped the tears welling up in her eyes and said, “He took away everything from you… your life… your family… your future…”

Chae Nayun composed herself and continued in a voice mixed with sadness and fear, “And Kim Sukho probably realized who you are, so he’s trying to kill you to cover up that incident. That’s the only reason I can think of. If that’s the case, then… I’m sorry for telling you only now…”

I stood rooted in my spot and looked up, but I couldn’t find the answer among the stars littered across the night sky.

“…”

What should I say? How should I respond? Should I tell her that the incident she mentioned was none of my business? That I’m someone else and didn’t have any relation to that incident? Was that the right thing to say?

But why was it… why did it feel so bittersweet after hearing what happened? Did Chae Nayun fall for me only because she was trying to atone for what her family did during that incident? Was that it…?

“I’m not trying to atone for anything or pity you…” Chae Nayun said as if she read my mind.

She wiped away her tears and looked me straight in the eyes, “I didn’t fall for you because I felt sorry for you. I…”

She bit her trembling lips while looking at me. I could see from her face just how foolish my thoughts were.

“I just like you. That’s all.”

I laughed in response.

“… Why are you laughing?”

I simply shook my head.

It was quite obvious now that I thought about it. This world wasn’t built with everything calculated or predetermined, so there was no grand prerequisite for someone to like anyone else.

I was only trying to come up with a bunch of excuses and blame the politics of this world that was created out of a novel.

“…”

It was now time for me to respond to her courage.

However, that didn’t mean that I was simply going to introduce myself as a writer or the person who created this world. That was crazy talk.

That was… something I shouldn’t say and something I couldn’t say. Just like how Chae Nayun couldn’t tell me that she was a regressor… there was no need for me to say it.

Most importantly, it was something I should never utter to anyone in this world.

“It’s alright…”

In the end, the only thing I could do was reassure her. I decided to convey my honesty to her and state the facts.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

I let out a sigh and looked at her. Chae Nayun looked at me with teary eyes. I could see the surprise in her eyes as well.

I inched my face closer to hers.

Then, our lips met.

“…”

It happened in an instant without any warning, and it felt like the entire world around us turned silent.

Chae Nayun retreated and plopped on the ground with tears trickling down her cheeks.

“…”

“…”

Neither of us said anything afterwards and an awkward silence surrounded us.

I looked at her a while later and she smiled at me with swollen eyes. Her smile tugged at my heartstrings.

“I like you,” Chae Nayun confessed and slowly crawled towards me.

I could’ve evaded her if I wanted to since she was crawling at a cute pace, but I didn’t.

“… I like you,” she repeated.

I had a lot of burdens, so I couldn’t make the first move. However, if she was the one who came to me… if she continued coming to me… I could probably justify not moving away at least…

I was allowed to do that much, right…?

“…”

In the end, she was so close that our bodies tangled with each other and our noses touched.

Chae Nayun rubbed her nose against mine and whispered, “I like you.”

Our lips touched again. We pressed our lips against each other in the silence and refused to part with one another.

I opened my eyes and saw you smiling with your eyes closed as you continued to press your lips against mine.

You looked so happy. So happy that I couldn’t help but ask myself…

The small changes that would occur from now on would definitely change me, but am I allowed to like you despite knowing this?

Am I allowed to fall in love with a character I created?

However, you didn’t hesitate like I did.

I have no idea what miracles you went through to regress and love me, but I know that you didn’t hesitate.

Not only that, you didn’t want anything else from me. Maybe that’s why you were able to confidently confess your feelings?

Chae Nayun slowly opened her eyes and looked at me after our lips parted. I could feel her arms wrapped around my neck trembling and I could feel her heart wildly beating against my chest.

She looked at me with trembling eyes before burying her face in my chest.

I could feel her hot breath on my chest as she pressed her weight against me. I remained steadfast and supported her entire body. Was she heavy? No, not at all.

However…

Each of us carried a secret that was heavier than anything else in this world. We would probably have to share each other’s burdens and secrets in the near future.

I suddenly came to a realization as I was thinking…

Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad after all?