This isn’t going to turn into something bigger later... right?

I was tense, but the seniors seemed to think the opposite.

Especially Bobby and Asil. Their faces relaxed, bodies loosening as if they finally felt relieved.

Bobby even came up to me and asked,

“You really don’t use SNS at all?”

Honestly, I don’t even understand why people take selfies.

When I said that, Bobby blinked and studied my face.

She seemed to have recovered a bit from the earlier blow. She blinked again and clicked her tongue.

“Shame. With a face like that, you’d get plenty of followers. You’ve got that kind of face—don’t you ever feel like taking pictures?”

“Uh? Well... not really. It’s just my face, isn’t it.”

“Don’t you feel good looking at a nice picture?”

“A picture of my own face?”

I see it every day in the mirror—what’s there to feel good about?

When I looked at her in confusion, Bobby snorted.

Her tone turned regretful as she stepped back.

“A single photo of that face would’ve looked good up there.”

Why, though?

Everyone else looks decent too...

I was about to say that when the host’s voice cut in.

[Their match, the highlight of the evening, will take place last!]

Booooo!

Even with jeers pouring down, the host only laughed cheerfully. I really wanted to go up there and hit him.

Not that the audience sitting out there was any better.

I turned my gaze back to the empty arena. The host finished laughing and continued his cheerful explanation.

[And tonight’s match will be a little different than usual!]

What?

[Since our guests are all here together, it’s only fair they get to play together too! Ah, but of course, all four won’t be entering at once—that’d ruin the focus, wouldn’t it?]

A team match?

Possibility of a “Hildebert Taleb human shield strategy”? I stretched my neck forward, hope rising.

The host continued explaining in his simple, grating voice.

[The order of appearance will follow the introduction order!]

So that meant Bobby first, then Asil, then Ricardo, and me last.

[Also, any contestant can forfeit their match and pass their opponent to the next in line—if they wish!]

Perfect.

It felt like a ray of light beamed down on me. That meant my human shield plan had zero issues. Especially since I’d lucked out being placed last.

Guess I got that slot for pissing off Mick earlier.

I was so glad I’d gotten under his skin.

A smile spread across my face.

Ricardo seemed to be glaring at me, but I pretended not to notice.

[As you know, our final contestant is the bright new rookie! A young man who joined the Badgers with conviction! That’s right—we’ll get to see firsthand how much the senior Black Badgers love their junior!]

Excellent!

I cheered inwardly in sync with the crowd’s uproar.

Then turned my head—straight into Ricardo’s radiant smile.

...Terrifying.

But after working under a mentor who wanted to dissect me, I’d gotten tougher lately. And this wasn’t the time to keep quiet out of fear. The lives of the three seniors were on the line.

I smiled brightly back at him.

“Sir.”

“Mm~.”

[We’ll resume after a fifteen-minute break!]

As the announcement ended, chaotic music burst from the speakers.

Bobby and Asil, who’d been watching the arena, came closer.

Ignoring the other contestants in the room, we gathered near the bench. I pulled my still-wobbly body up and knelt on one knee beside them.

“I have a proposal.”

“Go on....”

Ricardo pulled out a lighter from his pocket.

He looked annoyed, but I didn’t care. I was in a good mood—better than before, at least.

And I didn’t bother hiding it.

“The Hildebert Taleb Human Shield Strategy!”

Whoosh.

Ricardo exhaled smoke right into my face.

How rude.

But since I was a cigar smoker myself, I didn’t even blink. Instead, I took in their faces—Asil staring blankly, Bobby’s eyes wide, and Ricardo smiling like a predator.

“If it looks dangerous out there, please pass the fight «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» to me!”

“Bold words for a half-baked rookie~.”

“With all due respect, sir, right now you’re all less than half-baked yourselves.”

I braced myself to get hit.

Thankfully, no one threw a punch. But Asil’s face twisted in disbelief.

He glared at me.

“Who’s your mentor?”

“Choi Yun.”

That shut him up for a second.

Ricardo spoke instead.

“So you’re saying you’ll have to deal with at least four of them in total...? You barely handled one. Think you can take on four at once?”

“I’ve improved a lot since then. Please trust me once.”

“You’re asking us to trust you, but you don’t plan to trust us, is that it?”

Ricardo’s tone turned icy.

I had expected that, but I wasn’t backing down.

This whole mess had started with Jaeyeon’s interference. I knew I wouldn’t die here—but their lives weren’t guaranteed.

Blinding lights, pounding EDM, the sting of smoke in the air—amid the chaos, I spoke calmly.

“I recover fastest among us. It’s the most rational choice.”

“No way your mentor taught you that.”

“Yun always told me to think rationally.”

I shot back quickly to Asil’s sharp retort.

I wasn’t about to lose this argument. I could yield anything else—but not this.

No.

I meant, please don’t throw your lives away.

“I really did think this through.”

“Bold statement.”

The tense silence broke when Bobby raised her right hand.

We all turned to look at her.

Her blonde hair, now neatly retied, caught the light.

Bobby blinked, then drawled slowly,

“I think the kid’s got a point.”

“Ma’am!”

Genius!

I shouted with joy while Asil scowled. Ricardo sighed deeply and pressed his thumb against his brow like he had a headache.

I grinned brightly at Bobby, whose expression was oddly complicated.

“Brilliant judgment, ma’am.”

“Well, I’ll hold out as long as I can, okay?”

She grabbed my shoulder, her grip faint enough to remind me how fragile reality was. Whatever happened, I had to drag these people out alive.

Whether she knew that or not, Bobby tightened her hand slightly.

“I mean it. I’ll fight till the end, but if it gets bad—handle it. I can trust you, right? Don’t you dare die and haunt my dreams after saying all this.”

“Yes. I absolutely won’t die, ma’am. No matter what.”

“Is that really up to you?”

Asil cut in, still fuming.

The exhaustion and anger in his eyes were clear. I knew I’d been pushing their patience—but I couldn’t help it.

I understood their frustration, but I had my own.

Because I knew I wouldn’t die here—and it hurt that they didn’t believe me. Were they asking me to just watch them die?

“I don’t want to see you only in dreams either.”

I said quietly. Asil pressed his lips into a line.

Victory, secured.

“This isn’t recklessness. It’s simply the most rational option. You all know that.”

Silence fell.

The room pulsed with unpleasant noise and flashing lights—blue, white, red. None of us moved for a long while.

Until Ricardo, head bowed, finally exhaled smoke.

The snake-shaped ring on his finger melted away.

“Hildebert.”

He lifted his gaze to me.

“What kind of sword do you use?”

Before his grim voice even faded, a silvery liquid flowed toward me.

I watched as it solidified at my feet, layering upon itself to form a blade—right down to the silver hilt.

A graceful longsword.

Its sleek form resembled the blades used by Ricardo and his old comrade, Jonathan Kudo.

I smiled faintly and reached for it.

“I usually use something a little thicker.”

Lifting the sword from the floor, I met the eyes of my seniors—Asil and Bobby surprised, Ricardo evaluating.

“But a longsword works just fine.”

You can’t choose your weapon on the battlefield, after all.

The Hildebert Human Shield Strategy begins.

***

They didn’t drag us out right away.

We were the main course. Only after everyone else in this waiting room was gone would it be our turn.

There were three illegal enhanced-bodies here: a woman tearing at her hair in the corner, a man inhaling something drug-like off the floor, and another sitting motionless on the bench.

Once, their fights alone would have drawn excitement.

But now they were sideshows.

We were the real event. The audience was waiting eagerly to see the Black Badgers—dulled by the Green Dream—paraded into the arena.

They hated us.

Because we didn’t die of old age.

Because Black Badgers didn’t feel the despair they did. At least, that’s what they believed. The helplessness, fear, the urgency and emptiness of a limited lifespan—Badgers were exempt from all of it.

And they couldn’t stand it.

They envied us our eternal youth.

The thing we’d grasped and carried over.

That, I knew, was going to be the problem.

“Prometheus.”

A familiar word reached my ears as I stretched in the center of the waiting room.

I snapped my head toward the man sitting on the bench.

“Let’s talk.”

I found the owner of the voice.

Tangled silver hair. Blue eyes shining faintly.

An Elder once cast out by my oldest friend.