Sung Siwoo was dead.

Ah.

I wanted to ask myself from ten years ago:

“Can you kill the Evil God without the protagonist?”

He’d probably have told me to go eat shit.

In the end, ten years of planning had gone up in smoke.

The protagonist had failed to resist the demon’s temptation and corruption.

If there had been even the faintest hope left, I would’ve found a way to save him.

But even the system was destroyed.

That meant # Nоvеlight # only one thing. He could no longer be considered human.

I took a deep breath.

If something still nagged at me—

It’s too fast.

Normally, once corruption begins, the demonic energy lingers inside for months.

Then, when the timing is right, the demonification process begins.

But look at that purple arm lying on the ground. Demonification had begun simultaneously with the corruption.

That could mean two things.

The first: he failed because he lacked the mana to resist the demonic energy.

But Sung Siwoo, while lacking talent and everything else, at least had an abundance of mana. So that wasn’t it.

The second possibility... was that the Evil God had taken a deep liking to him.

Normally, Evil Gods don’t act directly. Not unless something truly interesting happens.

But this time, it had intervened so forcefully it shattered the system?

That was... strange.

“What the hell...”

The paladin muttered, stunned.

Fitting, since I was equally stunned.

“It was early-stage corruption. Legally speaking, what just happened might not differ all that much from murder.

Of course, we understood the severity, but unless we receive a conclusive diagnosis that he was beyond saving, we may not be able to avoid punishment...”

Worry clouded the paladin’s face. She wasn’t blaming me for killing Sung Siwoo.

It felt more like she was afraid I might take the fall for it.

It seemed wise to prove there had been no other way.

I wanted nothing more than to lie down and stay there, but in the end, I got to my feet.

But Cheon Yeoul, standing behind the paladin, was faster.

She approached Sung Siwoo’s corpse.

She reached out a hand.

But as if repulsed by something filthy, she curled her fingers, hesitating—

And just before touching him, she stopped.

A soft blue energy trickled from her hand.

Cheon Yeoul closed her eyes slightly.

Then, she quietly nodded.

“...That’s right.”

She turned to the paladin and continued.

“It’s too late. He’s already corrupted inside. Deeply.”

The paladin’s face hardened.

“It looks like it was already too late to bring him back. Haein’s judgment was correct.”

Cheon Yeoul gave her a faint smile, not revealing the slightest sign of our familiarity.

At her words, the paladin bowed her head in agreement. She had no intention of disputing the Saint’s opinion.

And it was true, after all.

“Besides... it looks like a fairly high-ranking demon latched onto him. That could’ve been dangerous.”

At that moment, Kang Arin stepped forward from the other side.

She glanced down at Sung Siwoo’s corpse, then raised her head and spoke to Cheon Yeoul.

“Then Haein accurately assessed the Church’s lukewarm indecision and eliminated the threat, didn’t he?”

The paladin’s shoulders twitched.

Kang Arin crossed her arms, resting her chin on one hand as she added,

“Shouldn’t that earn him a reward instead of punishment?”

The saints standing behind Cheon Yeoul showed signs of discomfort.

But Cheon Yeoul smiled at Kang Arin’s words.

She turned her gaze to Jeong Haein.

“Indeed...”

Cheon Yeoul tilted her head slightly and curled her lips.

“The Church’s reputation was almost tarnished. It would be fitting for us to reward him. Don’t you agree?”

She turned to the paladin, offering a gentle smile.

That was when I stepped in.

“Let’s talk about that later.”

I pointed to the corpse on the ground.

“First, we need to burn that body. With the Church’s sacred fire, until not a single hair remains.”

Sacred Fire.

A holy flame of the Church that burns a demon’s existence down to its core.

It wasn’t as powerful as a Fragment and not intended for combat, but it was unquestionably effective at purging the corrupted.

Until that process was complete, it was too soon to be at ease.

Demons were unpredictable creatures.

The paladin nodded.

“Of course. A priest of the Church will personally oversee the—”

A priest...

If the Church’s priest invoked the Sacred Fire directly, most demonic energy would vanish in the flames.

But only in ordinary cases.

This one couldn’t be classified as ordinary.

I felt a faint sense of unease. A bit of regret, too.

As if reading my mind, Cheon Yeoul spoke up.

“No—I’ll do it myself.”

The paladin’s eyes widened. She hurried to dissuade Cheon Yeoul.

“Saint... there’s no need for that. A priest can handle this just fine—”

“No.”

Cheon Yeoul’s voice was firm.

“A high-ranking demon seems to have been involved. I’ll personally burn him with the Church’s sacred fire.”

She drew a short breath and added,

“You know, don’t you, Paladin?”

“What happens when the demonic energy isn’t completely removed?”

At her words, the paladin took a step back without another word.

I was satisfied as well. If it was Cheon Yeoul, she would finish it for certain.

At that moment, Kang Yunhyeok stepped out from behind Kang Arin.

Just by standing there, it felt like he was dominating the entire space.

His powerful presence made everyone turn their attention toward him.

He spoke.

“They say Moras was just eliminated. Tracking the main body, however, failed as expected.”

I gave a small nod.

Letting Moras slip away was unavoidable. Even in the original story, his hiding place was never described.

He was never someone who could be caught that easily.

Perhaps word had gone out—agents from the Association, Gaon Academy, and the Church came rushing in.

They began retrieving Sung Siwoo’s remains.

“We’ll take care of this.”

A member of the Church brought out a coffin infused with divine power.

To move the body, they gently lifted Sung Siwoo’s arm.

At that moment—

—Ssssss!

Blackened marks spread into the air.

Smoke rose. His skin split open with a brittle crackle, like impurities burning away.

“......”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Sung Siwoo’s skin crumbled.

Even in death, the demonic energy still lingered within him.

I let out a short sigh and turned my head away.

It wasn’t the kind of death I’d expected.

Watching someone you were attached to—someone you’d had hopes for—die...

It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight.

***

As soon as I returned to the dorm, I collapsed onto my bed.

I stared blankly at the ceiling.

My mind was a mess.

The exam had been suspended. Temporarily, for now.

The TV I’d left on was broadcasting nonstop coverage of today’s raid incident.

—One confirmed casualty... reportedly died fighting the demon until the very end...

From an objective perspective, my handling of the raid had been successful.

Medusa’s swift elimination, followed by the seamless transition into tracking Moras.

In fact, the fact that there was only one casualty was quite a meaningful result.

But that “one person”—

“...Why the hell did it have to be you?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Still lying down, I grabbed my head with both hands.

The person I’d considered most important—I'd let him go in the most meaningless way.

I didn’t know what to do. I wondered if it was my fault.

Was there a better way to handle it?

Should I have stayed closer to Sung Siwoo?

A thousand thoughts swirled in my head.

Just then—

Beep!

A notification rang from my watch.

Still covering my face with one hand, I slowly raised the watch.

Even though the exam was suspended, the guild bidding hadn’t stopped.

The bulletin board was overflowing with footage of students who had performed well today.

This, too, was part of the academy’s strategy.

They were trying to redirect public attention from the incident to a more marketable topic.

And those clips—were starting to raise the students’ market value.

I sorted the posts by view count.

The top result:

[4 hours ago, 3,353,211 views]

At the very top—

It was the footage of me beheading Medusa.

A silhouette dashed in from the edge of the frame like lightning. The camera operator tried to track it but lost the subject.

After a shaky scramble, the lens finally found it again. The camera jerked upward in a rush.

Five clones charged Medusa.

And in a single blow—her head was severed.

—“Whoa...”

The sound of the operator gasping in awe.

The comment section was exploding.

[sdff221]: Who is this guy? He’s not even ranked?

[GrilledClams]: Look at the bids coming in—he’s Hero-tier for sure.

[alex588]: come to America.

I checked the bidding list.

“...Damn.”

[Cheongpung Guard] → [Jeong Haein] 800,000,000 KRW

[Arcadia Order] → [Jeong Haein] 1,000,000,000 KRW

[Monarch Guild] → [Jeong Haein] 1,200,000,000 KRW

[Lotus Guild] → [Jeong Haein] 1,500,000,000 KRW

It was utter chaos.

Cheongpung Guard...?

The notoriously reclusive guard unit of Yu Hana’s family.

Even they placed a bid.

But the real showstopper was this:

[Vanquisher] → [Jeong Haein] 5,000,000,000 KRW

Insane.

I let out a scoffing laugh and exhaled.

Lying around like this was a waste of time.

I sat up and walked straight to my desk.

Opened my notebook and started organizing the situation.

Let’s admit it.

The ten-year plan I’d prepared to raise Sung Siwoo like a blade—it was a failure.

I could no longer borrow someone else’s sword.

At the center of the page, the name “Sung Siwoo” was written.

Around it, arrows pointed from Yu Hana, Kang Arin, Cheon Yeoul—

And from various opportunities and martial techniques, all directed toward him.

It looked like a mind map of sorts.

I tapped my pen against the desk in thought.

I considered it, one last time. Truly, for the last time.

Then, I gripped the pen firmly.

I erased the name “Sung Siwoo” in the center.

And in its place, I wrote a new name.

Jeong Haein.

I’d absorbed the Fragment.

The only person who could bear the weight Sung Siwoo was meant to carry—was me.

I tossed the pen onto the desk.

“...I don’t even know anymore.”

This was probably the best choice I had left.