Black Badger

I came out of the research building, still in shock.

The fact that he had made a game like that was astonishing. No, he must have gotten help from someone who knew how to develop one. Kairos was not someone who could handle such things.

He wasn’t the kind to leave messages and wait for me, like Eve.

At least, that’s what I knew.

“Who was it.”

As soon as I got in the car heading back to the cabin, Yun asked.

I sat blankly in the passenger seat and muttered,

“The Summoner.”

“A Titan? Then why are you so surprised.”

“I mean, for a lot of reasons....”

While the car drove out of the underground parking lot, I dug through my memories.

Then I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I turned to Yun and reached out my hand.

“Listen to this.”

“Yeah.”

“He was such a freak, you see....”

Kairos had been the Empire’s greatest Summoner.

He was from Kyle’s tribe—the only tribesman to have received immortality alongside Kyle. I think he even got some medal or honor from the Emperor. Ever since childhood, he had been unusually fond of Monsters, and after coming to the Empire, his talent bloomed.

He was the only one who ever managed to tame a Dragon as his familiar.

He was a truly eccentric man.

“He was crazy about Monsters. Had almost no interest in humans.”

“There are plenty like that in the research building.”

“He was also a maniac for battle.”

The citizens of the Empire loved watching matches between Summoners.

It was the most popular form of entertainment at the time—like Earth’s World ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Cup. The winner gained immense wealth and fame. Even the Imperial family sometimes watched in person. It was wildly popular and extremely profitable.

Kairos won every single tournament.

He didn’t participate for the money. He shared his winnings with his tribesmen. You could say he was the greatest contributor to pulling Kyle’s people out of their crushing poverty.

But that was only a secondary reason he entered the matches.

When he stood on the stage, there were only two things he craved.

The intoxicated cheers of the crowd.

And an opponent powerful enough to devour him.

‘The body grows too accustomed to victory,’ he once muttered.

‘Before this victory streak ends, give me something stronger.’

“But he wasn’t as conscienceless as you, Senior.”

Yun raised one eyebrow.

I ignored the silent accusation and continued.

“In everyday life, he was gentle and considerate.”

“Sounds like just another adrenaline addict.”

“The problem is, he wasn’t an ordinary one. It’s hard to explain but....”

I paused, searching for words, then widened my eyes and looked at Yun with the most harmless expression I could muster.

Ignoring my mentor’s stare that said, What the hell are you doing, I added,

“He always had those unreadable eyes. A battle junkie with eyes like that.”

I held that bright gaze until Yun reacted.

Clear, vivid eyes.

Kairos had truly beautiful eyes.

His followers adored them—long lashes framing radiant eyes, the color of a sunlit orange sky.

Yun said,

“Sounds like the Personnel Director.”

“Ah, yes! Kind of like that.”

Yun clicked his tongue.

“He wasn’t born evil. But when he fought, his eyes completely changed. Cold and merciless—comparable to yours, Senior.”

“You keep bringing me up.”

It was hard to tell which face was the real one.

Though, if you asked me, the Personnel Director was far easier to handle than Kairos. Scattering romantic scandals everywhere was better than causing large-scale disasters with Monsters, wasn’t it?

“You’ve no idea how many messes I had to clean up after that man.”

During match season, he was quiet, but once it ended, boredom made him reckless.

I recalled the times I’d had to cover his chaos. Just remembering was exhausting. Whenever I rushed to him in panic, he’d greet me with a bright smile, scratching his head and saying, “Ah, Commander! My apologies!”

A man rumored to be able to overpower even a Swordmaster if he wanted to.

A man who tamed the untamable as if it were natural.

Why hadn’t he sided with Kyle?

No—

And really...

I looked out the window, thinking of my kin, those I could never quite get close to.

What kind of message could he possibly have left for me?

***

If Kairos were still alive, he’d surely be around Creatures—or rather, Monsters.

But I had no energy to care about a comrade whose life or death was uncertain. First things first.

As soon as I got home, I searched for portal accident reports.

That same site where I’d once looked up information on Yehyeon.

Typing “portal accident” brought up posts immediately.

• Increased cancer risk among frequent portal users

• Errors in coordinate settings

•Entered portal but never returned

•Emerged outside the Core and went missing

•Emerged outside the Core and was killed by a Creature

•Emerged over or under water and drowned

•Emerged midair and fell to death

•Emerged in unsafe locations and died

• Entered portal meant for inanimate transport

•Emerged dead

•Emerged missing body parts

•Entered and never returned

•Died of heart attack before entry completed

•Partial disappearance of body upon entry

• Entered before authorization approved

•Entered but never arrived

•Emerged dead

•Emerged missing body parts

•Partial disappearance upon entry

•Emerged with brain damage

•Entered and arrived after time delay

•Emerged with partial loss of senses

Ah.

My eyes stopped on one particular line.

‘Emerged from portal with brain damage.’

The next line caught my attention too.

‘Entered portal but arrived after a time delay.’

Isn’t that... me?

My heart started pounding. I sat dazed on the beanbag, staring at those two sentences.

Both were links.

With a trembling finger, I clicked the one about brain damage.

The screen changed to a case summary.

I quickly read through the report.

• Male, 45, from Center Core. Ignored administrator’s warning and entered portal; suffered hippocampal damage and lost ability to form new memories. Lived the rest of his life only recalling memories from before the entry.

• Male, 23, from Core 8. Ignored administrator’s warning and entered portal; blood vessel to occipital lobe blocked, losing visual function.

• Female, 30, from Center Core. Activated portal unsupervised; entered and suffered temporal lobe seizures, experienced severe hallucinations.

Memory problems, yes—but no cases of total memory loss.

I rubbed my chin.

Still, it sounded like I fit in there somewhere.

I kept reading the notes at the end, but there wasn’t much useful information.

Researchers still hadn’t figured out why these issues happened. It wasn’t surprising—both portals and the human brain remained vast unknowns.

Were the other entries similar?

Trying to calm my racing heart, I clicked the one about time delay.

A single photo immediately drew my eyes.

A man with sleek black hair brushed back, blue eyes raised sharply, grinning like a delinquent.

Unlike the previous category, there was only one recorded case. His name was printed beneath the photo.

My eyes traced the letters.

Simon...

Simon Diamond.

I stared at the name for a long time.

Simon Diamond. Thirty-five at the time of the incident. He entered a portal and arrived at his destination eight years later.

He’d rushed in because he’d heard his wife had been in an accident. They’d told him it would take two months to get approval to use the portal to Center Core, where she was.

But he’d jumped in secretly—and arrived only after his wife had already died.

His daughter had believed he was dead.

His only daughter.

Could that be Shu?

It had to be Shu.

I fought the urge to call her right away.

Calling at this hour to ask out of the blue would be rude. She said she’d tell me after she was discharged—so I should just leave a message.

Ignoring the pounding of my heart, I opened the messaging app.

Just then, my phone rang. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

[Hilde!]

It was Tom.

Startled by his urgent tone, I widened my eyes.

“Tom? What’s wrong?”

[Are you okay?]

“Huh? Me?”

I pointed at my own chest.

“I’m at home?”

Did something happen?

His uneven breathing came through the speaker.

I jumped to my feet.

I was about to put on my shoes and rush out when Tom spoke.

[Didn’t the seniors say something to you?]

“Huh? No?”

I couldn’t follow what he was saying.

“What did they say?”

[They said you were nowhere to be seen during the Recapture Operation....]

His fading voice carried uncharacteristic frustration.

[They’re saying you hid in the barracks pretending to be injured, that you didn’t fight properly.]

Ah, come on.

Nothing serious then.

I stopped lacing my shoes, set them back neatly, and smiled as I returned to the beanbag.

“Jeez, you scared me. You sounded so upset.”

[It’s not just one or two of them. Several seniors believe it. No matter how I try to correct them, they won’t listen.]

“Just let it go. Don’t bother defending me.”

[They’re about to call you out and confront you....]

“I’ll handle it.”

So he’d already told them it wasn’t true.

Now I just felt sorry for Tom. He could’ve just nodded along, but that wasn’t his nature. He seemed gentle, but deep down he was stubborn—he couldn’t stand to leave falsehoods unchallenged.

I really did like that about him.

But still—this was one of those times when a little flexibility would’ve been fine.

“Next time, don’t bother explaining. It’ll only hurt your standing. And they wouldn’t believe you anyway.”

[But it’s not true. How can I just sit and listen? They don’t even know you. I don’t understand why they talk like that.]

“Don’t let it get to you. Ah—tell Hesh to ignore it too. I don’t want rumors about him starting another insubordination incident.”

[He already snapped.]

Huh?

[He grabbed the senior who said it by the collar.]

...Great.

A wave of weary déjà vu washed over me. My old knights used to do the same thing—charging at anyone who insulted me, even when I didn’t care.

If I’d been there, I could’ve stopped it.

I pressed my thumb against my forehead.

“They’re not still fighting, right?”

[No. Thankfully, Senior Leeho handled it.]

“Good. Let’s have dinner together this week, the three of us.”

I’d have to tell them face-to-face.

That I didn’t care what rumors spread—and they shouldn’t react either. Tom might listen over the phone, but Hesh definitely wouldn’t.

Tom’s calmer voice came through.

[Alright. Post the time in the group chat. We’ll match schedules.]

Then his tone wavered again.

[If the seniors call you out, don’t go. Tell us first.]

I smiled faintly.

Because his worry was genuine. Tom had grown into such an upright man.

Sinking back into the beanbag, I lowered my gaze and stretched lazily.

“Okay. I’ll do that. Don’t worry.”

Of course, it was a harmless lie.

***

I finally got a meeting scheduled with Shu.

Unfortunately, it would be after the party. She was on patrol near the outskirts of Center Core. Shu promised to contact me as soon as she got back to headquarters.

In the meantime, I reported everything I’d found to Yun.

He didn’t look particularly impressed.

“So you’re saying your entering the portal might be the root cause of all this.”

“Hildebert.”

He called my name in a tone that said he was tired of dealing with idiots.

“Yes?”

“If you came out of a portal, obviously you went in first.”

His gaze was full of exasperation.

“Do you think you just popped out of it without entering?”

...Right.

I rubbed my neck awkwardly, smiling weakly.

The hum of the engine filled the car, streetlights staining Yun’s suit in shifting gold.

He sighed and continued,

“The real question is when, how, and what kind of portal you entered.”

“Yes. Now that you say it, that’s true. But at least we’ve figured out where I was during the blank period, haven’t we? No matter how I think about it, Shu’s theory makes sense. I must have been inside the portal all that time.”

“That would explain a lot, but it’s not something that happens often.”

Arms folded, my mentor sank into thought.

Unfortunately, we were on our way to a party.

The one personally hosted by Erich Erhart.

A gathering of Center Core’s elite and celebrities.

I really hated it.

“Let’s grab the game and get out of there right away.”

“Sure,” Yun said, without unfolding his arms.

“If that’s even possible.”

Why wouldn’t it be?