Haru didn’t answer immediately.
“I mean, imagine having a family, friends, an entire life ahead of you… and then, out of nowhere, someone shows up and takes over your body. The people who know you still see the same face, but the person inside is someone else.”
Golden paused.
“And your family doesn’t even know.”
“In most cases, probably not.”
“Then how can anyone be sure the person standing in front of them is still the same person?”
Haru fell silent.
It was a legitimate question.
And one without a particularly reassuring answer.
Golden rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Does that mean I could become a Gamer at any moment?”
Haru turned toward him.
“Huh?”
“I mean, could someone just show up and take over my body?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?”
“Golden, if I had an answer to every question you asked me, do you think I’d have spent the last few weeks getting myself into all kinds of fucked-up situations?”
Golden let out a short laugh.
Haru continued.
“From what I understand, the transmigration process has already happened. Those who were chosen have been chosen. Those who weren’t will probably stay the way they are.”
“Probably?”
“Would you rather I lie and tell you I’m certain?”
Golden considered his answer.
“Fine. Then we’re clear.”
Haru rested his arms on the railing and looked toward the horizon. He’d been thinking about battle royales. When a match started, the participants entered the battlefield. Those who’d been left out didn’t suddenly appear halfway through the match just because they felt like it. Now, all that remained was for those already inside to finish the game.
Silence returned.
Haru took the opportunity to confirm something.
“By the way, why the hell did you electrocute me?”
Golden slowly turned toward him.
“You were literally dying.”
“You could’ve tried something else.”
“I checked to see if you were alive. You were ice-cold, you weren’t responding, and you barely seemed to be breathing. I had no idea what was happening to you. When I realized I couldn’t wake you up, I tried to do something.”
Golden paused.
“The electric shock was my last resort.”
Haru stared at him.
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“You almost killed me!”
“But you didn’t die.”
If the pact prevented them from deliberately concealing relevant information from one another, then Golden was subject to its conditions, too.
And honestly, if Golden had wanted to hurt him, he would’ve had far better opportunities than trying to revive him.
Haru crossed his arms.
“Fine. I’ll believe you.”
The two turned their attention back to the Academy.
For a few seconds, everything finally seemed peaceful. Then Haru brought a hand to his chin.
The relaxed expression disappeared from his face.
“Oh, fuck…”
Golden looked at him.
‘I’m still not sure. I need to find another Gamer who went through the update so I can compare our experiences.’
The possibility was simple. The update might have caused Haru’s body to die. After all, Haru was different from other Gamers. His case was an anomaly among anomalies. Could the peculiarities of his body have contributed to what had happened?
Was that why his body had started dying?
Haru furrowed his brow.
‘What a shitty theory…’
No, wait. It wasn’t that absurd.
Haru was a defective Gamer. If he wanted to stay alive, he needed to understand what set him apart from the others. And to do that, he’d have to find other Gamers and compare their experiences during the update.
“Fuck it. Let’s just go to sleep. I’ve got a Chapter to force into existence.”
Golden stared at him for a few seconds before nodding.
“Yeah. Force a Chapter… And to think that everything I know, everything I’ve experienced, is just a game to you people.”
He let out a short laugh, though there wasn’t much humor in it.
“That’s insane.”
Haru didn’t answer. He simply straightened his bed, trying to push the unanswered questions out of his mind.
However, just as he was getting ready to lie down, Golden began undressing to change clothes. He took off his pants and rummaged through a few items of clothing when, suddenly, his fingers brushed against something that didn’t belong among them.
A dragon scale.
Golden stopped.
He picked it up and examined it for a few moments.
The memory of the test immediately resurfaced. He remembered the dragon’s words, though he couldn’t recall the exact sentence.
‘Give it to the one who doesn’t belong here… the one who shouldn’t be…’
‘Fuck, how did it go again?’
He couldn’t remember everything. But there was one thing he was certain of: the scale had revealed something about Haru.
He turned toward him.
“Hey…”
Haru, who was already getting ready to sleep, raised his eyes.
Golden held up the scale between his fingers.
“Uh…?”
—
The sun had already sunk below the horizon, casting the lands of Baron Valtherion in the pale glow of the moon.
Standing before a massive window, the baron watched the workers moving across his estate. Some were carrying stones, others were raising wooden structures, while a group of masons worked on one of the mansion’s wings.
Although the construction appeared finished at first glance, there was still plenty of work to be done. New rooms were being added, the gardens were still under development, and one of the towers remained partially covered in scaffolding.
Valtherion crossed his arms, watching the workers continue their work on the mansion.
“If they keep working at this pace, perhaps I’ll finally…”
He never finished the sentence. A voice answered from behind him.
“If you worked as hard as you complained, we might’ve finished by now.”
The baron turned his head slightly.
A man stood by the door, holding several documents. He was Valtherion’s personal butler, the man who had recently become his most trusted subordinate.
And one of the few people who dared to speak to him that way.
This servant had no problem expressing his opinions, even when they contradicted his master’s. He was laid-back, bold, and sometimes so rude that Valtherion wondered whether hiring him had been a mistake.
Yet he continued to keep him by his side.
Perhaps because that behavior reminded him of someone…
Haru Mizuki.
Valtherion didn’t particularly like admitting it, but after what had happened to his daughter, he’d begun to look at people like Haru differently.
His former butler, Cedrick, was proof that good manners, apparent loyalty, and years of service were no guarantee of safety for those he held dear. If it hadn’t been for Haru’s intervention, his daughter might have fallen into that man’s hands.
The trust he’d placed in Cedrick had nearly cost him far too much.
Since then, Valtherion had grown a little more suspicious of those who knew how to behave perfectly in front of their superiors, paying closer attention to those who weren’t afraid to contradict them.
That didn’t mean he’d started appreciating insolence.
He’d simply learned that politeness and honesty were two different things.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, my lord.”
“That’s what I thought.”
The subordinate bowed his head, suppressing a smile, and approached the desk to place the documents on it.
However, before he could say anything, a bluish glow appeared in the corner of the room.
Valtherion looked in that direction.
A crystal orb sat atop a stone pedestal, held between two ornate metal supports. Its surface, previously transparent, had begun emitting a soft light.
“Leave,” the baron ordered.
The subordinate didn’t need to be told twice. He bowed and left, closing the door behind him.
Valtherion approached the orb.
The glow intensified, and the image of an elderly man began to take shape inside the crystal.
White hair combed back, a weathered face, and eyes that retained an unsettling sharpness.
The Emperor.
He was seated in an office in the capital, with a teacup resting on the desk. Behind him, shelves packed with books and documents covered almost an entire wall.
Valtherion straightened his posture.
“Your Majesty.”
The old man raised his eyes.
“You still call me that.”
“Should I call you something else?”
“We’re speaking through a crystal ball, not standing before the Imperial Council. You can dispense with the formalities.”
“In that case, should I ask whether your tea is still as bitter as the last time we met… Master?”
The Emperor froze for a moment.
Then he burst out laughing.
“You damn brat! It’s been so many years, and you still find ways to annoy me.”
“I learned from the best.”
The two exchanged brief smiles.
Despite the distance between them, there was an unmistakable familiarity. Valtherion didn’t look at the man appearing inside the crystal as a subject standing before his sovereign, but as a former student speaking to the master who had taught him much of what he knew.
Naturally, that didn’t mean he agreed with him on everything.
“The latest reports arrived this morning,” the Emperor began, his expression growing serious again. “Incidents involving Gamers continue to increase.”
Valtherion turned his gaze toward the window.
Outside, two workers were arguing over the position of a beam.
The Emperor set down his teacup.
“That’s why I’ve decided to ask you a question.”
Silence settled between them.
“Valtherion… are you a Gamer?”