In his twenty-nine years—more like twenty-seven to be exact—Eun-Ho had met countless people. Some had treated him kindly, while others had been inexplicably hostile.

[An ancient vengeful spirit awakens at the sight of an unforgettable enemy!]

Yet never, not once, had there been anyone worthy of being called an unforgettable enemy—certainly not here, in a world that was not even Earth.

“Hey, I think you’ve got the wrong guy,” Eun-Ho said flatly.

[A breath heavy with sorrow and hate, bound by lingering grudges, halts your steps in the desert!]

“Huh?” he muttered.

Swoosh—!

Darkness, sharp as an arrow, poured toward him. A frost-chilled force, cold enough to pierce bone, streaked straight for his ankles.

“Petrify! Acceleration!” Eun-Ho shouted, leaping backward at the same time.

Arrows of shadow drifted through the air, slow to his eyes as he dodged them one by one.

Stay calm, he told himself.

He didn’t know what was happening, but he had to figure it out before time settled back into place.

I have thirty-five seconds. Would I be able to take him down?

Even after being impaled through the skull by the weapon of the gods, his enemy was still unscathed. Rather than powerful, it meant he was unkillable.

I have thirty seconds now. This person probably isn’t an ordinary human.

His garments were elaborate, embroidered with ornate patterns and woven from fine fabric. The title he bore, Corrupted Monarch, suggested that he had once held a rank of great power.

I have twenty five seconds now. No way this guy is referring to me when he says enemy.

If someone of that status had died so miserably that even death couldn’t claim him, Eun-Ho was sure he would remember.

Okay, twenty seconds to go. If he’s mistaken me for someone else, what’s his evidence?

The message said he had “discovered traces of searing resentment.” Were those traces on Eun-Ho, his soul, or perhaps an object? Besides, if it was the latter, he couldn’t tell what kind of object it was.

“Summon!” he commanded.

Thump. Thud. Thunk.

Eun-Ho spread his hands wide, pouring every item from his inventory into the desert sand. Laid out in neat rows, the items were spaced evenly apart, like a merchant setting up a roadside stall.

Tick—!

He inhaled in rhythm with the second hand of his watch. Then, when time regained its proper flow, he shouted, “Freeze!”

[Your title Ghost Butcher has been activated!]

[You will be immune to the abilities of low-tier Ghosts.]

[The low-tier Ghosts tremble in fear before the Ghost Butcher’s presence.]

Using the brief opening his title had created, he fired off his words like bullets.

“I’ve got no enemies, so speak clearly! Among these, which one carries the trace?”

The black smoke that had been hurtling toward him faltered. It quivered, hesitated for a heartbeat, and then shot forward again. This time, with clear intent, it moved toward an antique blade he had earned after slaying a chimera on the Sky Island.

[You have acquired the relics of Cho Bok!]

Woom... Woooom—!

The vengeful spirit burned with a furious black flame.

“Ah. So it was this one?” Eun-Ho said quietly.

***

When one met the enemy of one’s enemy, the first thing to do was simple: build a sense of solidarity.

“He died by my hand,” Eun-Ho said.

[The Corrupted Monarch cannot accept the early death of a hated foe, one he longed to tear apart with his own hands.]

Then, Eun-Ho might as well fess up about how much the man had suffered and how wretched his final moments had been.

“He fell to one of my teammates,” Eun-Ho continued calmly, “by the time we found him, his body was so twisted and deformed it was barely human.”

After all, nothing bonded two people quite like a shared enemy.

“By the end,” Eun-Ho said, “his body contorted, snapped and exploded. There wasn’t even a corpse left. His flesh puffed up like a balloon before bursting into shreds.”

A heavy silence followed.

[The Corrupted Monarch confirms that you are speaking the truth.]

[He finds bittersweet satisfaction in the miserable end of his mortal enemy.]

Fwoosh—!

The pale corpse, drained of all color, suddenly shone with light so brilliant that it soared toward the heavens.

Wooo—

The wind began to howl.

Wooooo—

Then, a sandstorm surged around Eun-Ho, toppling the desert itself. Beyond that swirling wall of black sand, he saw the same man now lying lifeless before him.

Eun-Ho couldn’t tell whether it was a memory or a vision, but voices echoed faintly.

“They’re all doomed anyway. I’m being generous, letting them live this long,” sneered Cho Bok, spitting contemptuously into the air.

“Your Majesty! You must survive... Please, you must live...”

“Father! Don’t—please, don’t!”

A mother and daughter, nearly identical, clung to each other even as everything faded. Then, long after they vanished, the man remained wandering the desert, screaming in madness and grief.

“... No! Please—don’t!”

Woooooo—

The wind cried like a lament.

Ding—!

[The Corrupted Monarch apologizes to you, the benefactor avenged his enemy on his behalf.]

[He expresses deep gratitude from the depths of his soul.]

Then, black marks spread across the man’s body, blooming like ink stains. Even through the thick curtain of dust, his once flawless, porcelain-like skin began to rot.

So this is it. He’s finally accepting the long-delayed decay.

In an instant, his body crossed from life to death. After holding on for centuries, the inevitable took him.

[The Corrupted Monarch enters eternal rest.]

Fwoosh—!

Watching that body crumble away, Eun-Ho thought he should’ve felt emptiness, or pity. However, the man seemed at peace, so much so that he left a parting gift.

Thunk.

A ring inlaid with a black gem fell into Eun-Ho’s palm. As he read the message floating before him, he barely noticed the sandstorm easing.

[Corrupted Monarch’s Ring]

- A ring imbued with the Monarch’s lingering grudge.

- Absorbs the target’s Stamina upon contact.

- Absorption rate: up to 0.1% of the Stamina per second depending on the target’s defense power.

[The Monarch of the Desert bestows his blessing upon the wanderer of the sands.]

A blessing granted by the Corrupted Monarch, now reborn as the Desert Monarch.

[You will not lose your way in the desert.]

[Your movement speed will not decrease in desert terrain.]

[Your chances of discovering an oasis have increased.]

[Your resistance to heat has slightly improved.]

Even as the man’s face decayed, a faint, serene smile lingered on his lips.

[Congratulations!]

[You have defeated the final monster of the Corrupted Desert.]

[Corrupted Desert purification has been completed!]

Fwoosh—!

A massive current erupted across the endless black sands. The dark grains trembled, colliding with one. Slowly, they turned white, like rice husks shedding their shells to reveal gleaming white kernels beneath.

[Progress: 50/50]

[All parasitic monsters within the desert have been eliminated.]

[You have purified the Corrupted Desert.]

It was over.

[You have completed the sub-trial of Project OJT.]

[You have been rewarded with three points and 3,000 Welfare Points.]

He earned two points for uncovering the truth behind the desert’s corruption, and three more for purifying it entirely. On top of that, he’d claimed Cheong Jeong’s keepsake pouch, the quicksand’s special effect, and a ring that drained his enemies’ strength.

What’s this pouch, though?

It was made of crimson velvet, just a little larger than his palm. He loosened the gold drawstring and slipped his hand inside. Then came a cascade of items, far too many to fit in something that small.

[Proximity Time Bomb]

[Meteor-Iron Mine]

[Shadow Snare]

The first few were familiar, as they were projectiles that Cheong Jeong had been using earlier. It was the same ones that had been buried in the sand to trap Eun-Ho’s feet.

I’ll put these to good use, Mentor.

He reached in again, sifting through the treasures that continued to pour out.

[Necklace of Ermeden]

[Ornamented Belt of Barinthos]

[Raw Blue Sapphire Gemstone]

...

Next came a dazzling assortment of valuables, each one gleaming with unmistakable worth.

Hmm.

They were too flashy for that bespectacled guy to have been using. Besides, he’d definitely had high-level Appraisal and Trade skills.

[Cheong Jeong]

[Skills]

- [Basic Spearmanship(Lv. 2)]

- [Appraisal(Lv. 11)]

- [Trade(Lv. 7)]

- [In-Person Reporting(Lv. 10)]

- [Written Reporting(Lv. 4)]

At first, Eun-Ho had dismissed it, thinking Cheong Jeong was a former merchant or something.

Or maybe, is he a fence? Someone who steals and re-sells goods?

As he inspected each item one by one, something caught both his hand and his eye. There was an item he hadn’t expected to see.

Huh?

[Office Key]

- Unlocks and locks a private office within Headquarters.

- Location: Cho Bok’s Private Office (Investigation Bureau, Building C, Room 193)

“... Huh? Why the hell does this guy have this?” Eun-Ho muttered.

***

It was 6:00 PM, and the end-of-day announcement echoed through the halls.

[Attention, all new employees currently in the company premises.]

[Day one of Project OJT has officially ended.]

[Please return to your dormitories immediately.]

Right after the desert had been purified, Eun-Ho had reunited with his manager, collected Cheong Jeong’s remains, and returned to the Investigation Bureau. They’d been alone in the office for over two hours now.

“What should we do, sir?” Eun-Ho asked.

The manager hadn’t moved an inch.

“I’ll ask you one last time, Mr. Lee Eun-Ho. You really didn’t kill him?” His eyes narrowed into their usual calm slits, the kind that feigned kindness but waited for a confession. “You do realize I’m the one grading your OJT evaluation, right? If you’re lying, it won’t end well for you. I’ll tank your attitude score and your work assessment straight to the bottom.”

“... It wasn’t me,” Eun-Ho said. “You saw it too, sir. The body was already rotting.”

“Yeah, I saw that, but still...”

The corpse they’d recovered had crumbled, with flesh blackened and brittle. Cheong Jeong’d been swept away by the Corrupted Monarch’s final sandstorm.

“It must’ve been the tentacles, sir. I’m sure of it.”

The manager exhaled a long, tired sigh.

“... So there really wasn’t anything? Nothing at all?” he asked again, voice edged with suspicion. He asked if nothing, no items nor loot, dropped at the scene.

“None, sir. There was nothing.”

“Then why were there no relics, huh? Not even one?”

Well... Because they’re all in my pocket, Eun-Ho thought.

Of course, he couldn’t say that.

Instead, Eun-Ho furrowed his brow and pretended to think deeply. “Maybe he used them all before he died? He was throwing around bombs and other gear during the fight.”

The manager rubbed his face with both hands, groaning, “Haah... What the hell happened out there?”

Then, the man waved dismissively, pulling up an invisible system window and sending rapid messages to someone unseen.

“I’m sorry,” Eun-Ho said solemnly. “If only I hadn’t been caught by those tentacles...”

He clenched his fists and bowed low, voice heavy with guilt. It was a perfect picture of grief, down to the tremor in his tone.

For a moment, the manager, distracted and frazzled, mumbled without thinking, “Forget it. That bastard got killed because he was too weak—I mean, it couldn’t be helped. Don’t blame yourself.”

He tried to retract those words, but Eun-Ho had already heard them.

Hmm. So that’s his real face behind the polite mask.

The chief, clearly wanting to end the conversation, gestured toward the door. “Anyway... Go get some rest, Eun-Ho.”

“Yes, sir,” Eun-Ho replied quickly as those were the words he’d been waiting for.

“Head straight to the dorm and be back here by 9:00 AM sharp tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And don’t go spouting nonsense anywhere, got it? You know what that’ll mean for your evaluation.”

“... Understood.”

He stood, bowed once, and left the room. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the system chimed again, echoing through the corridor.

[Day one of Project OJT has officially ended.]

[Please return to your dormitory immediately.]

Eun-Ho smirked faintly.

Going straight there would be too boring.

He pulled out Cho Bok’s relic that he’d obtained from Sky Island.

[Personal Vault Key]

- A key for a private vault.

- Cannot be copied due to a strong protective barrier.

He’d never figured out which vault it opened, so it had been sitting unused until now.

[Office Key]

- Unlocks and locks a private office within Headquarters.

- Location: Cho Bok’s Private Office (Investigation Bureau, Building C, Room 193)

Now he knew where to head over and each department’s OJT lasted only two days.

Breaking the rules on the very first night does feel risky. But who knows what might happen tomorrow night?

He glanced at the key one more time, its metallic sheen catching the dim office light.

Guess I’ll go take a look.

***

Finding Room 193 in Building C of the Investigation Bureau wasn’t difficult at all. The door’s blank nameplate all but declared its owner’s absence.

Click.

It was the second private space Eun-Ho had seen since visiting Iro’s lab.

It’s plainer than I expected...

Beyond the door lay an office that could’ve passed for a conglomerate heir’s study in a drama. Except for one odd thing: everything inside was arranged in perfect mirror symmetry.

There were two spotless leather sofas, two identical coffee tables, and even the cushions came in pairs. The narrow, rectangular office stretched long, with both side walls lined entirely with bookshelves.

Are the books identical as well?

He blinked. Every single book on the left shelf faced a copy of itself on the right, with two of each title, perfectly aligned. This guy had bought two of every book just to display them symmetrically.

But where’s the vault?

There was no obvious safe in sight.

Hmm?

That was when he noticed something faintly off.

The spacing of the shelves is kind of different.

The chandelier hung exactly in the center of the ceiling, but the distance from it to each bookshelf wasn’t equal. Perhaps it was by five centimeters but no more than that.

It was a trivial discrepancy, like a single folded towel placed upside down in an otherwise perfect stack, or one beer can turned sideways in a fridge full of forward-facing labels.

Yet, for someone who’d gone so far as to buy duplicate books just for symmetry wouldn’t misalign a shelf by five centimeters. Either someone had moved it, or there was a reason it had to be different. Either way, the conclusion was the same.

Clunk!

Eun-Ho braced his shoulder and pushed. The shelf, heavy with hundreds of thick hardcovers, groaned as it shifted.

Squeak—!

It slid aside smoothly, as if designed for that exact motion. Behind the towering wall of old books waited a stone door. Its pale gray surface gleamed faintly, and at its center was a hand-sized carving of a butterfly.

Aha. A vault hidden behind a bookshelf. How classic.

He brushed his fingers over the butterfly’s antennae until he felt the small indentation of a keyhole. Then he slid in the ornate, finger-length key.

Creak—!

It was a tight fit, but perfect.

Found it.

[Verification has been completed.]

[Lock has been disengaged!]

Clack!

As the message appeared, a faint vibration hummed through the stone. The gears seemed to turn somewhere inside.

Clack!

The carved butterfly stirred to life. Its stone wings folded inward toward the center and when they met, the door opened.

What could it be? A treasure so secret it needs both a hidden vault and a bookshelf to conceal it... What kind of item is worth that? Could it be a weapon or a rare artifact, maybe?

Heart quickening, Eun-Ho reached inside like a child opening a birthday gift. He grasped something cool and rectangular, and slowly drew it out from the dark vault.

It was a diary and the cover read, “Summer Night’s Diary.”

“Huh?”

He opened it at random.

“It was a night just like this one. Starlight pouring down. Sweat clinging to my shirt. Her hair pinned up, her pale neck exposed. She said she wished time could stop right there. So I...”

Eun-Ho blinked.

... Wait a second. What the hell is this?