Do they know each other?
Judging by their reactions, it seems likely. Seonyul was calmly watching Jin Suhyun with deep, steady eyes. But the emotion in her gaze wasn’t one of warmth or happiness. It was more like looking at a former comrade—detached and indifferent.
In contrast, Jin Suhyun’s demeanor was completely different. She stood frozen, stiff as a stone statue. Only her lips trembled slightly, as if she wanted to say something but was holding back—or maybe just couldn’t find the words.
“Why are you just standing there? Come sit here.”
“…Noona.”
“Now that I think about it, it’s been ages. But I have to say, I’m a little disappointed. We’ve been at the same academy all this time, and you never once—”
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, Jin Suhyun’s face twisted in pain or frustration. She bowed her head deeply and dashed forward, quickly disappearing through the door.
Seonyul, who had been tapping her chair lightly, turned to us with a blank expression. She shrugged her shoulders as if nothing had happened and then resumed eating with relish.
I immediately spoke up.
“Why did she act like that all of a sudden? Do you know each other?”
“Hmm~?”
With a spoon still in her mouth, Seonyul tilted her head playfully and sucked her spoon loudly.
“Why? You want to know?”
“Yes. I’m curious. She’s someone I’ve been getting close to lately.”
But Seonyul just kept teasing, sucking on her spoon with a mischievous grin. In fact, she nodded as if pleased.
“Ohhh, I see. But what can I say? I’m not planning to tell you anything. Just ignore me like before and have your little chat. Ssshh.”
“Magic Tower Lord.”
…Did she sneak a shot of soju before dinner or something?
I couldn’t help but frown. This is exactly why I hate talking with Seonyul. She’s not a bad person, but conversations with her always veer off into nonsense before I even realize it. In short, she’s completely unpredictable.
Maybe sensing my mood, Seonyul finally stopped shaking her head from side to side.
Then she scooped up a generous amount of sauce with her spoon, pretending to bring it to her mouth—but suddenly, she flipped the spoon over. The sauce dripped down, tracing a long line across her exposed cleavage.
“Hic.”
Kim Deokpil hastily covered his mouth. Seonyul shot him a sultry smile, then gave me a teasing wink.
“Oh my, I accidentally got some sauce on me.”
“Just wipe it off.”
“That’s true. But with two gentlemen here, does the lady really have to move her hands?”
“Don’t say that when your hands are perfectly fine. Enough nonsense—hurry up and—”
Just as I was about to demand some information about Jin Suhyun, Seonyul shook her head vigorously.
“Ah, no, no. Do whatever you want. Who knows? Maybe if some charming someone over there kindly wipes it off, my frozen heart might just melt.”
In other words, she was saying she’d talk if someone wiped the sauce off her chest.
I stared at Seonyul for a moment. Just once, I thought, it’d feel good to smack that mischievous face of hers. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I reluctantly reached for a napkin.
“Ah, that’s cheating. I’ll only accept a hand wipe.”
I bit my lip hard.
“Are you really going to do this?”
“Yes. I really am.”
Right then—
Just as my blood pressure was about to spike, I noticed Kim Deokpil sitting beside me. He looked unbearably tense, but kept moving his lips as if trying to say something.
Eat, huh?
Eat what?
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
I spoke quietly.
“…Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Pff.”
Seonyul chuckled lightly and leaned forward.
Glancing down, I caught sight of her delicate shoulders and the hollow of her collarbone. Below that, her dress was pulled tight, emphasizing the full curves of her breasts, pressing them together so the sauce couldn’t seep inward and instead pooled in a rather suggestive way.
After a moment, I calmly raised my hand.
Then, as quickly as I could, I grabbed Kim Deokpil’s wrist on the table. His eyes widened in surprise, but I gave him no chance to react. I lifted his hand and guided it straight between Seonyul’s cleavage.
Not my hand—Kim Deokpil’s.
“Ouch?”
Caught off guard, Seonyul winced slightly. At the same time, a strange shriek came from beside me.
“Uhhheeek?!”
I twisted the corner of my mouth into a smirk and looked at Seonyul.
But soon, I felt a twinge of disappointment. I’d borrowed Kim Deokpil’s hand to spite her, but she just stared down silently, showing no reaction.
“Oh my, damn it. I didn’t think of this method.”
Her voice was calm, almost indifferent. She pulled her hand away with a casual flick and sighed thinly at me.
“I really came prepared today… and lost again. Hey, Mercenary Lord, I think I asked you before—are you impotent? Or maybe gay?”
I pressed my forehead.
“Neither.”
“Liar.”
“Stop with the nonsense.”
“It’s just that if you’re a guy, you should be able to close your eyes and touch, like this guy here.”
Seonyul raised her pretty index finger and pointed sideways. Though I thought this was getting ridiculous, I followed her gaze. There was Kim Deokpil, trembling with a goofy grin. When our eyes met briefly, he bowed deeply, a scruffy fellow.
“I swear here and now: User Kim Deokpil will become Mercenary Lord’s personal shuttle from this day forward. Please grant me your permission.”
I thought that was sweet but shook my head with a smile.
“Sorry, but I’m not really interested in touching that chest. Honestly, it’s not that impressive. There are plenty of women around who are way better than the Magic Tower Lord.”
It was true. Like Ko Yeonju, Im Hanna, and others…
Seonyul crossed her arms, pretending to be offended.
“I can’t just let that slide. That comment seriously wounded a woman’s pride.”
I shrugged.
“But it’s true.”
“…Who’s that?”
“None of your business.”
“I’ll bother you about it until you die.”
“Fine. Then I’ll tell the Shadow Queen myself.”
“Ah, damn it. I surrender.”
Not daring to face Ko Yeonju, Seonyul shook her head in panic. Muttering things like “That’s unfair,” and “How am I supposed to deal with the Shadow Queen?” she picked up her spoon. Thankfully, this time she ate normally without any antics.
I pressed my forehead again. Thinking it over, I realized I’d gotten dragged into this mess once more. Before I knew it, the conversation had veered off into nonsense again. I should’ve just followed Jin Suhyun out earlier.
I sighed and spoke weakly.
“So, what exactly is your relationship?”
“Former comrades.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation in her answer.
Seonyul continued.
“I just thought she looked somewhat promising, so I helped her a bit at first. If she showed potential, I planned to recruit her to the Magic Tower. But in the end, we disagreed and parted ways.”
The Magic Tower Lord, just a mere comrade.
I felt my eyes narrow. Come to think of it, Seraph said she manipulated everything around Jin Suhyun. That means she could even manipulate her comrades.
So there was only one answer.
If what she said was true, Seonyul was one of the users sent by the angels to infiltrate Jin Suhyun’s circle.
At that moment, Kim Deokpil, who had been quietly listening, poked Seonyul’s side.
“For someone like that, your reaction is weird. Didn’t you part on bad terms?”
“Hmm… I think we parted cleanly on my end. But she might feel differently. Actually…”
Seonyul glanced sharply at me for a moment, then quickly looked away and resumed eating.
“Anyway, that’s the story. I can’t go into details for personal reasons.”
“Come on, it’s okay. Just tell us the truth. Did you two have a thing? Maybe that’s why you broke up and she’s acting like that.”
“No way. Even if we did, it was only a few times. You can’t get attached from just that.”
“…R-Really?”
A moment later, I heard Sunyul’s voice say, “I’m just kidding.”
And I found myself recalling Jinsu-hyun’s tendency toward helplessness. At the same time, I realized there was nothing more to gain from Sunyul, so I stood up immediately.
Of course, I still didn’t know the full story. But my gut told me something important had just surfaced—like a crucial choice appearing in a game. It was still vague, barely visible…
Anyway, since there was nothing left to do here, I needed to leave.
“Want me to follow you?”
“Yes.”
“You’d be better off not paying attention to her. I’m seriously advising you.”
“That’s my choice.”
Sunyul shrugged as if to say, “Fair enough,” then stuffed her mouth full of food, nodding. Chewing thoughtfully, she muttered in a calm voice, “This situation’s interesting. The dead Suhyun chasing the living Suhyun.”
I frowned, not quite understanding what she meant. She glanced down briefly, and I caught her eyes fixated exactly where my crotch was.
Finding Jinsu-hyun wasn’t as hard as I thought. Following the trail she left, I spotted her sitting alone at a table just outside the entrance, eating by herself.
Her face looked incredibly lonely, taking a bite of food, then sighing repeatedly.
“Wow. That’s seriously pathetic,” Kim Deok-pil said, sounding incredulous. Honestly, I agreed with him completely, but since I had my own agenda, I gave his back a little shove.
“Yeah, it is. But why did you come out here?”
“Thought it might be interesting. Am I bothering you?”
“Yes. You are. So why don’t you go back inside and buddy up with the Magic Tower Road crowd?”
“I was going to, but I guess I’m not needed. The moment you showed up, she got up and left.”
He said it so matter-of-factly, but it sounded like a sad story.
“Anyway, I’m not needed either. So stop bothering us and just go.”
“Fine. Who’s ordering me around? I’ll be savoring that feeling from earlier, so call me when you’re done talking. Heh heh.”
Kim Deok-pil grinned widely, turned around, raised the hand he’d been messing with earlier, licked it greedily, and hopped away. Honestly, it was a pretty ridiculous sight.
Anyway.
Jinsu-hyun was still wallowing in self-pity, plain as day. She looked like she was struggling just to get by. But at the same time, seeing her like that stirred a feeling of sympathy in me. I could somewhat understand why she was like this.
I didn’t think the angels had been careless in managing her. On the contrary, they must have been meticulous, orchestrating every detail—her companions, the incidents—like events in a game.
Their goal was simple: to create a second Kim Suhyun who would obey orders without question.
And that’s how this naive, clueless Jinsu-hyun came to be. Even if her user data was decent, in every other way she was still like a child.
So.
Before recruiting her, the part I needed to dig into was exactly that.
With that in mind, I stepped closer and lightly tapped her shoulder. Slowly, Jinsu-hyun turned her face toward me and gave a weak smile.
“Ah… hyung.”
I spoke quietly.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Recruiting Jinsu-hyun…
xxx (spoiler) makes an appearance…
Flirting with Han So-young…
Ahn Hyun and Cha Hee-young…
And the wrap-up…
The User Academy arc is finally reaching its peak.
Honestly, as this part draws to a close, I’m feeling a bit strange. Just… something’s gradually coming together. :)