12 — Chapter 12

“On the screen are the Awakened who passed this year’s aptitude tests.”

“The Butcher of Bishkek and the Spear of Thunder… this year’s recruits are overflowing with talent.”

The central conference hall of the Ability Management Bureau.

Commanders and Deputy Commanders of each Division had gathered, and Ha Yeri was presenting the results of the new recruits. Soon, each would be assigned to their respective units.

This year’s atmosphere was particularly lively—the applicant pool was unusually strong.

“Even the most promising Awakened from major guilds and the Magic Tower have chosen to apply for the Special Unit.”

“It’s happened before, but never at this scale. Is there a reason?”

“They must sense it with that instinct only Awakened have—that unless we unite, the coming calamities will crush us.”

It was already known worldwide: whenever an Archduke manifested, Awakened experienced a dramatic surge in ability.

The Magic Tower interpreted it as a kind of warning—messages from the Outer Gods about beings forcing their way into this dimension.

And even if humanity managed to repel a calamity, the aftershocks were nearly impossible to erase.

In Korea alone, three “seeds of calamity” still remained. Maintaining constant surveillance of them was reason enough for the Bureau to bolster its strength as much as possible.

Fortunately, this year’s recruits already had reputations strong enough to stir excitement even outside the Bureau. And among them, one name stood out.

Park Mu-cheol eyed a profile on the monitor.

“That No Yeon-hwa at the top of the general rankings—is that the same No Yeon-hwa I know?”

“If you mean the one from Wings of the Blue Sky, yes, it’s her.”

“Hah. Never thought I’d live to see an Awakened on the cusp of the Upper Level join as a rookie.”

No Yeon-hwa had risen to fame only three years ago, when Wings of the Blue Sky was at its peak. She’d become one of the most promising Awakened in Korea.

Her ability was Word-Spirit, a power that made spoken words reality. Whether against monsters or other humans, its force was overwhelming.

She was capable of clearing Second-grade Gates alone. Yet she’d abandoned her prestigious guild position to join the Bureau. The reason was well known.

“Two years ago—she’s been searching for the one who killed her former Guild Master.”

“If you mean the previous Guild Master of Wings of the Blue Sky… that was one of the Seven Immortals.”

“Right. Alongside the multi-Gate collapse fifteen years ago, it’s still one of the unsolved mysteries.”

“So she intends to use Bureau clearance to access confidential files… or at least leverage the Special Unit’s status.”

“Either way, we’ve gained a major asset.”

“But then, why isn’t she ranked first?”

The question slipped out, and silence briefly followed before Ha Yeri corrected them.

“No Yeon-hwa is ranked first among this year’s selections. Her ability is strong enough that it wouldn’t be strange for her to claim a Deputy Commander’s seat right now.”

“No, I mean in the Division test results. This Sae Hayan managed to push her out of first place in Division 3. Everywhere else, he failed completely.”

“If he’s like the Butcher of Bishkek—combat-focused—then it’s plausible.”

“But his past scores were all zero. That’s suspicious.”

“You don’t think he’s a Division 2 internal auditor, do you?”

“Division 2 isn’t allocating manpower for that sort of thing right now.”

Ha Yeri noticed the suspicion in the room, but she answered evenly as her eyes swept over the gathered officers.

“If any of you want him despite failing in your own Division, you can always use an Oath and recruit him directly.”

The responses were mixed but mostly negative. Everyone knew the weight of an Oath.

“Come on. Unless he’s good enough for Division 1, no one would waste an Oath on someone like that.”

“His record just lists him as a simple mage. Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol must’ve been in poor condition that day.”

“Understandable, considering what she’d just gone through…”

“Or maybe he actually did win on his own merits. If he could dispel an Elder Lich’s spell, then even Yoo Se-byeol—”

“But the Division 4 test shows he couldn’t even last two minutes against the Magical Siege Turret.”

In the end, Hayan’s results were overshadowed by his failures in other units, and his Division 3 success drew little notice.

Even Ha Yeri herself couldn’t explain why his name was at the very top of the Division’s scoreboard.

How could that have happened? Even with injuries, there’s no way Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol would lose to a Lower Level mage…

Her gaze drifted to Cheon So-baek, lounging in the back with her legs crossed, idly twisting her long red hair as if amused.

Even though he had failed the Firepower Support Unit’s test, Hayan had still been given an Oath. Clearly, there was something about him others didn’t know.

In the end, he passed Division 3, but Ha Yeri’s real aim—to keep him inside the Special Unit—was achieved. She decided to keep him under close watch as she began reviewing the files of the applicants assigned to her own Division.

---

Slide—contract across the desk.

Scratch—signature on the line.

Pop—tentacle stamping down for the seal.

My fingerprints had long since worn away back in the Demon Realm, after all.

When I pressed my tentacle seal, Yoo Se-byeol finally tucked the contract into her uniform like a weight had lifted off her shoulders. Even a day after our spar, the redness in her nose suggested her emotions still hadn’t cooled.

“Ahem. That’s it. Here—your Bureau access card, Special Unit badge… and the robe I promised.”

“Thank you.”

“And, uh—about yesterday. You know what I mean. You absolutely cannot tell anyone.”

“Of course. I’ll keep it strictly secret.”

I nodded as I draped the Elder Lich’s robe over my shoulders.

By “yesterday,” she meant the moment after our spar when her sword snapped, she realized she had lost—and tears slipped down her cheeks before she could stop them.

What? Why… why am I…?

Naturally, as the Apostle of Mala-nim, lofty and composed, I was not shaken by a woman’s tears.

But her tears had contained exactly what I needed most: the Star Scar.

That was when I thought of the Oath she had mentioned. I had only passed Division 3, and she clearly wanted me in her unit—so I made my condition.

“Y-you must never tell anyone about the Oath I gave you. Especially not the details…”

“You mean how you promised I’d get to lick Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol’s feet whenever I want?”

“I never said ‘whenever’! I said ‘if you behave’! And—and why feet of all things?!”

“Think of it as my way of showing loyalty.”

In truth, it was compromise. I couldn’t make her cry on command forever, so I needed another way.

Why feet? The reason was simple.

Every time an Awakened advanced to a higher realm, their physical abilities improved to match their power—fighters gained strength and speed, trackers honed their senses.

And me, with a hundred tentacles under my control, had developed a sense far beyond any normal human: the ability to perceive every detail of someone’s body.

It wasn’t x-ray vision—I wasn’t a pervert. (Not that I’d refuse such an ability, but this one was far more practical.)

As I steadied my breath, searching for a condition to propose, my eyes had fallen on Se-byeol’s feet.

Wrapped in white socks inside her martial shoes, I could see the exact size, the shape of her ankle, the subtle curl of her toes. Even the faint sheen of sweat starting to bead across her soles was burned into my brain like a 3D rendering.

If I licked that sweat, I could obtain her Star Scar even without tears.

It was humiliating, yes—but for the Apostle of Mala-nim, lofty and composed, it was a necessary sacrifice.

“I really don’t get it. I’ve never heard of an Oath this bizarre.”

“Do you dislike it?”

“That’s not even the issue—it’s just weird! Would you honestly obey if I suddenly told you, ‘Go on, lick my feet’?”

“Order me to do anything, Deputy Commander. Starting today, if you desire it, I’ll lick your feet anytime. No—please let me.”

“What the hell kind of nonsense is that?!”

“Argh!”

A sharp pain cracked across my skull.

What hit me was a rugged wristwatch—black, round-faced, with a rubber strap. A sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I have to go meet the other recruits now, so take this!”

“A watch? Is this standard issue for the Special Unit?”

“It’s not just a watch—it’s a smartwatch. You can access the bulletin board remotely and use it for comms.”

“Oh… even with you, Deputy Commander?”

“Th-that’s not why I gave it to you! I’m your superior now…! Anyway, if the alert goes off, you’ll be deployed immediately, so keep it on at all times!”

Her ears were red all the way to the lobes as she stomped off. All I could do was smack my lips in disappointment.

She had promised, under an Oath, to let me lick her feet—but clearly it wouldn’t be easy.

“I expected her to be angry, but her resistance is stronger than I thought. Maybe I should’ve just tickled her until she cried every time instead?”

『Fear not.』

“…Excuse me? What do you mean by that?”

『Fear not.』

This time Mala-nim’s five short syllables carried far more weight than usual.

Every message through the Channel was like unraveling a spell formula—compressed meanings that had to be carefully teased apart.

But this one was so dense, and so unfamiliar, that it took me a while to interpret.

“…So what you’re saying is, Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol might already have feelings for me—and if things develop, it’ll be easier to draw out her Star Scar?”

『Fear not.』

“From the very start, she’s been sneaking glances at me, owed me her life in the Elder Lich fight, and even looked crushed at the thought she might not get me for her Division… If I push just a little harder, she’ll fall, you say?”

But I immediately shook my head, face hardening.

“No, Mala-nim. That’s impossible.”

『Fear not?』

“Someone like me could never be loved by anyone.”

『Fear…』

My memories of the Demon Realm weren’t whole, but this truth was undeniable.

At the orphanage, whenever I mentioned my parents, I got slapped.

Before I even became an adult, I was bleeding in the Gates, mining mana stones just to eat.
Not once had anyone worried about me, or shown me kindness.

Even Ha Yeri and Cheon So-baek had given me Oaths only out of curiosity about my powers—not out of genuine goodwill.

And none of the scouts who came after I escaped the Gate had recognized me as the Sae Hayan of the past.

“What matters is that your affection, Mala-nim, is enough. I survived fifteen years in the Demon Realm—like a cactus. That proves it.”

『……』

“Besides, you don’t understand people, not really. You’re the one who just suggested I bind her in tentacles and force out her Star Scar…”

『Fear not.』

Let’s leave it at that.

Cutting me off, Mala-nim coiled a small tentacle around my finger and withdrew into my sleeve, almost cautiously.

“Even if she won’t let me lick her feet right away, I already have another plan. After all, I’m now the newest recruit in the Frontline Breakthrough Unit—the lowest of the low.”

I strapped the smartwatch to my wrist. It was the first step in my wicked scheme to recover her Star Scar.

“I’ll volunteer for every bit of grunt work the seniors throw at me. Bit by bit, I’ll extend my grasp… until Deputy Commander Yoo Se-byeol’s socks are mine for the taking.”