Veltebray barely supported himself with his longsword as he spoke.

“I... I lost! Don't disgrace me—just kill me cleanly!”

“Haah... How many times has it been now?”

“What are you talking about?!”

“The number of times you've come to defeat me.”

“143 times... No, 145 times... No, was it 146? Ah! I remember now! It’s the 148th time!”

“Phew... Yeah, by the 148th time, you should’ve understood by now. I don’t want to kill you, so just go back.”

“I am a hero! A hero does not retreat! I will never run away!”

“This is the kind of foolishness that no hero would commit.”

“The kind of foolishness that no hero would commit…?”

Veltebray pondered for a moment, then shook his head wildly.

“Hah… As expected of the Demon King. To plant a moment of doubt in my heart… But it’s useless! As long as the Divine Lord protects me, even more so!”

“You’d be surprised if you knew the true nature of that Divine Lord.”

“Blasphemy! I won’t forgive this! Hyaaaaah!”

Veltebray charged forward with all his might. Seo-jun easily dodged his attacks, simply waiting for him to exhaust himself and collapse.

How much time had passed like that?

“Huff… Huff, huff!”

After swinging his sword for days, Veltebray finally gasped for breath and collapsed onto the ground.

Seo-jun shook his head.

“What a fool.”

“And at this very moment, the Demon King, Kim Cheol-jun, has successfully broken the barrier! The once-hidden 12-K98 Gate is now fully revealed!”

Waaaaaah!

Waaaaaaaah!

“Kim Cheol-jun! Kim Cheol-jun! Kim Cheol-jun!”

Amidst the roaring cheers, Seo-jun looked up.

He saw Kim Cheol-jun, drenched in sweat, sitting on the ground, panting heavily.

“Hey! Hey, Demon King!”

“Hmm? Ah, yeah.”

“I don’t know where your mind has wandered off to. If I had my Ketalan’s Sword in hand, I would have cut you down right now. You know my Ketalan’s Sword…”

“Was shattered in my hands.”

“...That was Tsrunck’s Axe!”

“No. On the 83rd time you came after me, Ketalan’s Sword was also shattered. Into tiny little pieces.”

“Then when was Hedius’s Shield?”

“The 97th time.”

“And Mircus’s Dagger?”

“The 122nd.”

“Damn… The fact that you remember so clearly must mean it’s true.”

“Anyway, why did you call me?”

“I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you remove the barrier?”

Seo-jun looked at Kim Cheol-jun, who was still sitting on the ground with one hand raised, and answered.

“I was reminded of an old fool I met a long time ago.”

“A fool?”

“A fool who kept challenging something, even knowing it was impossible.”

“Hmm… Well, I can’t say you’re wrong. A barrier like that would be impossible to break unless it was a hero of my caliber. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Seo-jun nodded, and Park Yeon smiled in satisfaction.

“Anyway, if you’re done watching, let’s go. We need to get that ID or whatever sorted out.”

“An ID isn’t something you can just get in a day.”

“Which is exactly why we need to hurry. The sooner we start, the sooner we get it.”

“Didn’t I tell you before? You should’ve gotten it in advance. Then we wouldn’t have to deal with all this hassle.”

“Who would have thought I’d meet my destined love on Earth?”

“…”

“Speaking of which, since we’re on the topic, I have a question.”

“What is it this time?”

“How do people propose on Earth?”

Seo-jun was puzzled.

Did Park Yeon have someone he was seeing?

After some thought, he shook his head.

Park Yeon barely left the house. Lately, he occasionally met up with Doo-shik, but he had never seen him with a woman.

“Why… are you asking about proposals?”

“Why else? You might not know, but on the continent, commoners usually propose with a simple flower ring. If they have some wealth, they give livestock or iron farming tools to the bride’s family.”

“…”

“For nobles, they throw a grand party and propose publicly at a banquet. I was wondering if it’s the same here.”

“If you tried proposing like that here…”

Seo-jun trailed off.

Because Park Yeon was already getting ahead of himself.

“Ah! Now that I think about it, I’ve seen something similar in dramas. I guess people are the same everywhere. Then, where would be a good place for the proposal? There doesn’t seem to be a banquet hall here, so maybe—”

Seo-jun shook his head.

There was no point in saying anything to Park Yeon, who was already planning out his rosy future with Lee Ra-hee—down to their children and even their grandchildren.

Hwang Tae-su’s office.

“Boss, you seem to be in a really good mood.”

Hearing this, Hwang Tae-su, who was lounging on the sofa with his legs propped up, smirked.

“You think so?”

“Yes. Did something good happen?”

“Yeah. So good that I feel like there’s never been a happier day in my life.”

“What is it? Let me in on it too.”

“Heh heh. You haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

“Never mind. It’s better if you don’t know. Anyway, you’ve all been working hard lately.”

“Not at all, sir. Thanks to you, our work has been much easier.”

The Hwang Tae-su Scholarship Foundation had been a brilliant move.

Thanks to it, Hwang Tae-su’s popularity had skyrocketed—at least in District 12. Business dealings had also become significantly smoother.

“Is that so? That’s good to hear.”

“Boss, at this rate, you might actually run for city council.”

“City council? Don’t be ridiculous…”

Hwang Tae-su waved his hand dismissively.

“But everywhere you go, people keep telling you to run.”

“That’s true.”

Just as his subordinate said, every resident he met on the street was enthusiastically recommending he run for city council.

Of course, every time he was told, “I will be an honest businessman who contributes to the local community,” Hwang Tae-su would say...

‘A city councilor, huh... Kuhuhuhu.’

After all, there’s an old saying.

Is there such a thing as noble blood for kings and generals?

‘Yeah. If there’s no special bloodline for kings and generals, why would there be one for city councilors? If I do things right, getting into the city council would be a piece of cake. Huhuhu.’

The image formed in his mind.

A dignified, splendid office.

A nameplate sits on the desk.

The sound of knocking, and a city hall staff member enters.

- Councilor, Councilor Park has arrived.

- Let him in quickly.

- Hey! Councilor Hwang!

- I should have come to see you first. My apologies.

- No need. Everyone knows how busy you are. I should have come to you instead. Anyway, about the nomination rights you mentioned...

- Yes.

- The party leadership has determined that there’s no better candidate than you.

- Then...?

- Congratulations. Hahaha.

- Thank you! I will do my best!

- No need for thanks... It's all your ability, Councilor Hwang. Do well from now on. Hahaha.

Just as he was soaring in his daydreams...

“Looks like you're in a good mood.”

“I told you. These days, I haven’t seen— Huh! B-boss, you’re here?”

After telling his subordinate to leave, Hwang Tae-su quickly grabbed a Vita500.

“You switched.”

“Pardon?”

“It used to be Bacchus.”

“Shall I bring you Bacchus instead?”

“No need. You seem busy, so let’s keep it brief.”

That was exactly what he wanted.

...Not that he dared to say it out loud.

“Please, tell me anything.”

“Can you make an ID?”

“An ID?”

At that moment.

Park Yeon, who had been busy looking around the office, spoke up.

“I hear that to get married, one absolutely needs an ID. There’s also a marriage registration that must be done.”

“And this gentleman is...?”

“A store employee.”

The explanation was given indifferently, but Hwang Tae-su was certain this person was no ordinary employee.

After all, how could someone who follows an extraordinary person be ordinary?

‘I heard there are assassins who only target Awakeners in Hong Kong and Tokyo... Is he one of them? Or maybe an unregistered Awakener? But what does he mean by doing this for marriage? It sounds metaphorical...’

While speculating, Hwang Tae-su shook his head and brushed away his thoughts.

In this world, curiosity was a fast track to an early grave.

“You’re asking to make one for this gentleman here, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“Creating an ID itself isn’t difficult. His appearance is clearly Korean, and he speaks fluent Korean as well.”

“Really? That’s surprising.”

After the Great Cataclysm, many people had died or gone missing.

With society in chaos, filing death or missing person reports was no easy task.

Because of that, there were quite a few unclaimed IDs available.

“However, the fee is quite steep.”

“How much?”

“Last month, the one I worked on cost about three hundred million. That includes my commission, of course.”

“So, I should expect around three hundred million?”

“The last client was Chinese. They insisted on using their real name.”

“Their real name?”

“Yes. In such cases, additional forgery work is required, which raises the price. That’s why it cost three hundred million. But if you simply use the identity of an existing missing person, it would be about one hundred million.”

Park Yeon, who had already finished his Vita500, grumbled.

“So I have to choose between living under someone else’s name or my own? I’ll live under my own name.”

“But Park Yeon isn’t your real name either.”

“But I’ve lived as Park Yeon up until now. Seo-woo and Yeon-jun know me as Park Yeon too. And I’ve already introduced myself as Park Yeon to the Lady. So I should live as Park Yeon.”

As the two bickered, Hwang Tae-su quietly clasped his hands together.

‘As expected, he’s not an ordinary person.’

Who was the "Lady" he mentioned?

The head of an assassin group?

Or a secret society like the Freemasons?

He had no idea. But at the very least, he knew that staying quiet was the best choice.

Unaware of Hwang Tae-su’s inner turmoil, Seo-jun sighed.

“So three hundred million, then?”

“Yes!”

“Is there anything else to prepare?”

“A photo. We need a picture for the ID.”

“I’ll prepare one and bring it.”

“Um...!”

“What now?”

“You also need to decide which Park clan you’ll use and which ‘Yeon’ character for your name...”

With that single question, Park Yeon agonized for an entire hour over which ancestral origin to choose and which Chinese character for ‘Yeon’ to use.

After an hour, he finally settled on the Miryang Park clan and...

“This one will do. ‘Yeon (戀)’ as in ‘longing.’ I quite like it.”

It was the usual stone chamber.

In the center stood two figures—not quite "people," but beings that merely resembled humans, perhaps belonging to an entirely different species.

“How much longer do we have to wait? Just how much longer?!”

A woman with striking red lips spoke.

“There’s no benefit in rushing, Meruths.”

“And there’s no benefit in being too slow, Kadalan.”

“It’s not that I want to take my time. What can I do when the flow of time is different between our world and this one? We’ve only waited ten years so far. Just a little more...”

“Only ten years? Maybe for you, but we’ve been waiting a thousand years! The others are starting to suspect you might have ulterior motives!”

“What are you talking about?”

“This should have been over long ago. Since it’s still not done, it’s only natural for them to be suspicious.”

“Haa... I already told you, there was just an unforeseen complication.”

“And the others sent you here precisely to make sure those damn complications wouldn’t be a problem!”

“...”

Meruths glared sharply at Kadalan before speaking again.

“You’d better finish this as soon as possible. Before Hakamus arrives as your replacement.”