Getting beaten up by mushroom tentacles for three straight hours—there’s no way that could be normal.

With exhausted eyes I watched Ami start shaking Yun’s body furiously. Yun only looked down at his younger sister without changing his expression even a little.

“He’s fine. Just tired.”

At that detached remark Ami exploded.

“What if he ends up traumatized! I’ll tell Yehyeon oppa and Personnel Director Ju about this!”

As expected, the only person I can trust is Ami.

While I was still moved by her words, Ricardo came over.

“You okay~?”

“Ah. Yes, I’m fine.”

I glanced at the man beside me and the strangers, who seemed more than a little shocked.

Ricardo didn’t wipe the smile from his face as his eyes swept me up and down.

“You look a mess....”

“A few minutes ago I looked even worse. I went wild trying to kill that thing all on my own.”

“Scared~?”

“I was annoyed, actually.”

“Really? Then maybe you’ve got some talent~.”

Ricardo’s eyes curved as he laughed.

Thinking about it, this man was unreadable in a different way from my mentor. Even the friendly words he threw at me—I couldn’t tell if they were meant sincerely or sarcastically.

Not wanting to overthink it, I just nodded slightly.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Mm~. So? You’ll have to do this kind of work for the rest of your life.... Think you can handle it~?”

Ricardo asked lightly.

I felt everyone’s eyes turning toward me. There was weight in that question. My first impression of him as someone with a nasty personality wasn’t entirely wrong.

I looked into his green eyes and answered slowly.

“I don’t really know.”

Ricardo kept smiling as he looked at me.

“Even if I tried to guess right now, it wouldn’t mean much. But since I °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° didn’t have many options anyway, I don’t think I’ll regret making this choice.”

I answered seriously, then realized how many eyes were on me.

Damn it. What I should’ve said was something like, “Of course, I’ll do my best, senior!”

As I tried to cover it with an awkward smile, a man with wide eyes suddenly broke in.

“This is the rookie everyone’s talking about?”

What? There are already rumors?

“Yep! This is Hildebert Taleb!”

“But didn’t he just get formally assigned today?”

“That’s right!”

“And he’s already living and functioning without any issues?”

I couldn’t make sense of what the man was saying.

I stared at the stranger with round eyes. He looked tired. His skin was tanned as if from the sun, and he had a faint mustache under his nose. He wore casual clothes like hiking gear: black pants, a gray anorak. At a glance he seemed early thirties.

He couldn’t hide the amazement in his voice.

“Normally it takes at least three months before the body adjusts.”

“That’s a fair point. This kid is a special case....”

“And wait, did he actually take that thing down himself? A real creature? And it hasn’t even been a full day since he officially started? Usually rookies don’t even encounter a creature until six months in!”

“That part is completely Yun oppa’s fault,” Ami pointed out.

The stranger’s eyes turned on Yun. There was still incredulity in his expression, but Yun just met his gaze without even blinking.

“Everything ended fine, so don’t make a fuss. He finished without my help, and his head’s still clear.”

“No, Yun sunbae.”

The man spoke, flustered.

Yun didn’t answer. Instead Ricardo, standing beside him, casually draped a hand on the man’s shoulder and looked at me.

“You two haven’t introduced yourselves yet—?”

I nodded awkwardly.

“No, sir.”

“This is Leeho Chang. He’s your senior~. Leeho, this is the rookie everyone’s talking about—Hildebert Taleb.”

“Hello. I’ll be in your care.”

“Uh? Uh.”

Leeho, who had been staring at Yun, turned his head to answer me.

He stared at me intently before speaking.

“But seriously, how on earth did you....”

“Ah! Hilde’s going to do his self-introduction next week!”

Hilde’s peculiarities will be explained then! Ami’s bright voice rang through the training hall.

As the senior men turned their heads, I panicked.

What the hell is she talking about now.

“But most of the explanation will be given by the Personnel Director. So don’t make that face.”

“But I’ll still have to say something, right?”

“Yep.”

Aaagh.

Beside my despair, Ricardo tilted his head.

“When exactly? I haven’t heard anything official yet.”

“Next Friday!”

Damn. That’s only a week away.

“So it’s official? The Personnel Director approved this?”

“It’s by the Commander’s orders. He wants every Black Badger who’s free to attend.”

“The Commander himself?”

Leeho was shocked. So was I. Nothing good ever comes from things blowing up like this. Even if my memories are gone, I still have this strange instinct: the higher the rank of the person getting involved, the worse it is for you. My past self must have held a job before, even if only briefly. Why else would I dread and fear this so much.

Maybe I should just fight the mushroom again instead.

“Do I have to go too?”

Yun asked dryly.

“Of course! You’re Hilde’s mentor.”

“Yun is Hilde’s mentor?!”

Leeho was horrified again.

Ami widened her eyes and nodded. Ricardo watched with amusement as the man’s jaw dropped.

Leeho glanced between Yun’s impassive figure and mine, then asked in a stunned voice:

“Are you okay?”

This one I had to answer carefully.

I gathered every ounce of strength and flashed a bright smile.

“Yes! He treats me very well.”

“Wrong. You’re already watching his mood.”

“Ah~... and you’ve only known each other a few hours and the kid’s already like this....”

“What was the Personnel Director thinking?”

Please believe me!

Or at least pretend you do, damn it. Can’t you see I’m just trying to stay on this emotionless mentor’s good side?

But contrary to my expectations, Yun didn’t seem that displeased.

He stood with his arms crossed, sullen as ever, then when his eyes met mine he jerked his chin.

“Go shower. Clothes are over there—grab a new uniform.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Oppa. You’re going to buy Hilde dinner, right?”

“He’d probably rather eat alone.”

“Hilde doesn’t have any money!”

A hit straight to the bone.

But... where exactly is “over there”? As I turned to look for the clothes, Ricardo and Leeho both stretched out their arms, pointing in the same direction. I spotted a basket sitting there, tucked against the closed door of the training hall.

I bowed my head in thanks, then hesitated.

Ami, who had just been grabbing her brother by the collar, turned her head and smiled gently.

“Out the shower room door, then right! You’ll see it right away. Go get washed up.”

“Yes. Then excuse me for a bit.”

“Good job~.”

Ricardo waved his hand lazily.

Leeho tilted his head in a nod, still scanning me.

“For someone who went through all that, you look pretty intact. Sure you don’t need a hospital?”

“Ah, I’m fine. I feel fine right now.”

I gave a sheepish smile, bowed, and turned away. My legs heavy with muscle pain, I walked toward the exit.

Behind me Ami’s voice scolded her brother: Didn’t you say you’d pick an easy creature? Oppa! That thing was poisonous! Neutralizing it doesn’t mean it’s safe!

Thump thump thump.

I ignored the sound of heavy punches and grabbed the largest clothes from the basket. Without looking back, I slipped out of the training hall.

The sun must have set by now; it felt like early evening. Golden dusk filtered into the pale hallway.

I was starving. I just wanted to wash up and eat dinner. With that thought, I headed for the showers.

***

I had dinner with my mentor.

Since I couldn’t remember what food I used to like, I got treated to something universally popular—expensive beef. We even drove to a high-end beef place in his car. Following him with his long strides, I saw a sleek black car and my jaw dropped when I recognized the brand.

That’s a crazy expensive brand.

“This car... it’s impressive.”

“Recognize the brand?” Yun asked as he got behind the wheel.

“Lamborghini.”

“So you really were human, then.”

“...Did I not look human to you?”

“I don’t even know if you’re a normal person.”

The man spoke flatly and started the car.

The pitch-black vehicle slid smoothly forward. Even though Yun didn’t touch the steering wheel, it drove cleanly out of the underground garage.

“Your recovery speed is low, but the fact you adapted to an enhanced body this smoothly is bizarre.”

“...Bizarre, huh.”

“I’ll have to open you up sometime and see.”

Yun said something extremely unsettling.

...Open me up?

Open what? How? Questions bubbled up, but I bit them back. I didn’t want to confirm whether he meant what I thought he did.

Instead I forced my mouth into a smile.

“As you saw, I’m harmless enough to get beaten up by mushrooms.”

“We’ll see.”

Yun didn’t even glance my way.

“Even you don’t know what you were.”

“...Yes.”

“You’re adjusting well, though.”

His low voice carried no real emotion.

“That’s the right attitude.”

At the restaurant over dinner, he gave me a short explanation—about tomorrow’s schedule and how Black Badger rookies are normally trained. Usually they get six months just to adapt to the enhanced body. But strangely, I was already adjusted, so they would skip that. Training would start as if I’d already finished adapting.

“There’s a mountain of things to teach, but not everyone has the stamina to throw themselves around like you did for three hours straight. And some of the reactions you showed weren’t rookie-like at all.”

“My reactions?”

“Physical reactions. A couple of them.”

What reactions did I show?

No matter how I turned it over in my head, I couldn’t figure it out. All I remembered were the writhing tentacles, the massive mushroom stalk, and the strange smell it gave off.

But Yun didn’t explain further. He changed the subject.

“Keep your self-introduction short. Since this is unprecedented, I don’t have any special advice to give.”

“Isn’t it a process every rookie goes through?”

“Normally, yes—Personnel Director runs it, rents out the auditorium, and has you greet your seniors. But this time, the Commander ordered all available Badgers to gather. That’s never happened before.”

Hearing that twisted my gut.

Yun added something even more unsettling.

“Looks like Yehyeon’s serious about this.”

Aaaagh.

The more I heard, the worse it sounded, but there was no avoiding it. Still, there was no way to prepare right now, so I shoved the looming self-introduction to the back of my mind.

After dinner we returned to HQ in his car.

Yun told me to grab my belongings, so I rushed up to the lounge and stuffed everything into a bag. I didn’t forget the packet of medicine I’d found in the shower room before being dragged off by the creature.

Once inside the smooth Lamborghini, fighting off drowsiness, I showed the packet to my mentor.

“Someone left this medicine packet in the shower. Do you know whose it is?”

And for the first time, I saw Yun surprised.

He turned his head, his indifferent gaze flicking to the packet in my hand—his eyes widening just a little.

Not a big reaction compared to others, but unmistakable. The emotion in them was faint surprise.

That surprise quickly shifted into an oddly weary, almost angry expression.

He let out a long sigh, then took the packet from my hand.

“I’ll deliver it.”

...To who?

I didn’t dare ask.

Silence fell again inside the car.

We sat in that quiet until we reached our destination.

My sweet home.

I gaped when I saw the cabin my mentor had given me for free.