Chae Nayun’s reaction when she first heard from Kim Suho that Kim Hajin was in danger was instinctive.

“I’ll go!” She yelled without hesitation. Rationalization came a moment later. She told herself that this was her chance to repay Kim Hajin for all the times he had saved her and that she would regret it if she let this chance slip by.

Kieeeek—!

At that moment, a sharp shriek rang out. Everyone turned their gaze to the ceiling of the barrier. A huge eagle was circling above their heads.

“That’s….”

Kim Suho assumed Kim Hajin had sent the eagle, although he felt like he had seen it somewhere before.

“Chae Nayun?”

“Gotcha. Oi—! It’s me—! I’m right here—!”

At Kim Suho’s urging, Chae Nayun shouted at the eagle. The giant eagle fluttered its wings and began descending towards Chae Nayun. She realized that this eagle would take her to Kim Hajin.

Trying to put aside her worries about seeing Kim Hajin for the first time in forever, Chae Nayun grabbed Spartan’s legs.

With a smirk, the eagle picked up Chae Nayun and began to fly towards Kim Hajin.

They reached their destination in a flash through the distortion in space.

“Ah….”

Hanging on the eagle’s legs, Chae Nayun looked down from the sky. She spotted a man who she knew instinctively was Kim Hajin. He was running around like a rabbit in a black uniform.

“…”

She thought she was prepared to meet him. But when she actually saw Kim Hajin, she felt her heart stop. Unfortunately, there was no time to waste.

Kwang—! Kwang—! Kwang—!

Several explosions rang out at the same time. The attacks were all aimed at Kim Hajin. Chae Nayun realized that Kim Hajin could die right now if she didn’t jump in to save him.

Guoooooo—

Chae Nayun gathered magic power around her sword. Her magic power swirled violently and adhered to ‘Balmung’. Balmung greedily absorbed Chae Nayun’s magic power and increased in size. Chae Nayun jumped towards the ground and swung her sword that was as big as a pillar.

Balmung crashed into Yi Yeonjun.

Kwaaaaang—!

Chae Nayun cracked Yi Yeonjun’s head and made a perfect landing. And then, she turned her gaze to Kim Hajin. She could see his face clearly despite the rising smoke.

How long had it been since she last saw him?

Complicated emotions began to swell inside her. Her heart began to race and her breathing became heavier. But this was not the time to get caught up in silly feelings. Chae Nayun felt the enemy rise behind her.

“Whatcha doing down on the ground?”

“…”

Kim Hajin remained silent, with his butt attached to the ground. From his dumbfounded expression, she could see that he was confused by her sudden appearance.

With a bitter smile, Chae Nayun gestured him to get up.

“Come on. Stop being pathetic.”

Despite her urging, Kim Hajin rose only after a long moment of silence.

“…Cough cough.”

Kim Hajin let out a series of awkward coughs. This was his old habit, and Chae Nayun recognized it immediately.

Kim Hajin checked the Desert Eagle first. He then glanced at Chae Nayun.

“I’m here to save you,” said Chae Nayun, fixing her grip around the hilt of Balmung.

“…Really?” Kim Hajin answered with a cracked voice.

“Yeah. I know you asked for Kim Suho, but I told him I wanted to go instead. You and I have unfinished business, don’t we?”

Chae Nayun did her best to remain poised. Kim Hajin nodded with a faint smile, and it saddened Chae Nayun. What could possibly be the cause of this pain? She stood beside Kim Hajin, stifling her emotions.

At that moment, Yi Yeonjun stood up. He was covered in blood from head to toe by Chae Nayun’s earlier attack. But now he had a sturdy barrier around him, which unfortunately meant that there was no room left for a second surprise attack.

Chae Nayun gave Kim Hajin a broad smile.

“It feels like forever since we last fought alongside each other.”

And then she activated her flying sword technique. Clang—! The echo of magic power rang out and dozens of magic swords bloomed like a lotus flower.

Kim Hajin stared at Chae Nayun in silence, then nodded with a bitter smile.

“It sure does.”

**

[Baal’s barrier]

Baal continued to build himself. From a distance, the process of reconstruction seemed to involve lightning intertwining in the air and black fog forming strange shapes.

At present Baal was in an imperfect state due to hastening his descent.

He still emitted demonic energy from time to time. Demonic energy was a kind of waste product that was released during the reconstruction. Whenever this happened, Kim Suho wielded Misteltein and ‘erased’ the existence of demonic energy from this world.

“…Do you really expect me to believe you?”

However, Baal was the least of Jin Sahyuk’s concerns right now. She glared at Bell and hissed.

“Yes.”

Bell nodded calmly. A small smile spread across his lips.

“You have to believe me. I’m the proof of my own story. As you can see, I’m alive and well.”

Bell had just told Jin Sahyuk everything. He told her how he survived and was able to come to this world once again.

His story was about a miracle born from hundreds of coincidences, combined with the extravagant luck of a certain man.

“I came back from the void inside Baal.”

Baal had to rebuild the ‘first world’ in which he contracted with Bell in order to fully descend to Earth. It was a trick he had invented to minimize the universe’s interference and force of deterrence.

Baal reconstructed the first world and connected it to Earth via the Demon Realm Gate. By forming a pathway between the two worlds, Baal successfully weakened the universe’s force of deterrence. The next step in his plan was to destroy the first world, collect the energy that emerged during the process, and use it to finish his descent at his castle.

But the plan went awry when Baal’s castle collapsed.

When the unbreakable castle collapsed, Baal lost his means to destroy Earth. As he had no other choice, Baal hastily decided to descend to Earth while keeping the first world intact.

What he overlooked was the fact that the first world was home to the grand magician ‘Shimurin’.

Shimurin was a genius who could acquire the magic of dimensional travel in at least 30 years, assuming she survived. And when she gained the luck called Kim Hajin, this process quickened. Shimurin managed to complete the grand technique of dimensional travel in just 3 days. Indeed, Baal’s hasty decision had come back to bite him….

“Ha. So, you’re saying all this was just a matter of luck?”

“No, not all. I’m largely indebted to Kim Hajin, who you seem to like very much.”

Jin Sahyuk scowled at the sarcasm in Bell’s voice. Bell shrugged and went on.

“Anyway, my point is that I was able to come back to life because Baal made a rash decision. As such, his chances of winning have become slim. Currently, Baal is emotionally unstable. He’s overly influenced by his ‘origin of existence’.”

“The origin of existence…. You mean the novel?” Jin Sahyuk whispered. Bell nodded solemnly.

“That’s right. Baal is a transcendental being, which means he can distinguish truth from lie. It also means his ego is unbelievably large. So when he found out that he was merely a character in a novel….”

Jin Sahyuk knew what Bell was going to say next even without hearing him say it.

The fact that this world was a novel— even Jin Sahyuk found it hard to believe.

“Tsk….”

Jin Sahyuk let out a sigh of frustration. Her thoughts drifted to Kim Hajin again.

‘Should I treat Kim Hajin as a god?’ She wondered.

Probably not. Kim Hajin was clearly a human. He was an ordinary and imperfect being. A god wouldn’t let anything so trivial as Synchronization take control of him.

Synchronization.

Jin Sahyuk still hadn’t forgotten it.

“Anyways.”

Bell turned to Kim Suho with a mysterious smile. There, Kim Suho was lost in deep thought, gazing at Baal in the distance.

“Baal can’t win against the main character.”

At that moment, the veins in Jin Sahyuk’s temples swelled up.

“Main character my ass.”

“Haha. So, Sahyuk….”

Bell turned his gaze to Jin Sahyuk again. He then pointed to her chest. That was where Jin Sahyuk had kept the Dimensional Stone she received from Baal.

“When are you gonna use that?”

“…”

Jin Sahyuk did not answer. She needed more time before the final decision. She knew that she alone was not enough to help the surviving citizens of Akatrina and rebuild the country from scratch.

In other words, she needed a reliable ‘servant’ to assist her….

“All done. The analysis is complete.”

It was then a woman’s low-pitched voice rang out. Jin Sahyuk turned her head and saw Shimurin drenched in sweat. Shimurin smiled in satisfaction. It seemed she had just finished analyzing Baal’s ‘labyrinth barrier’.

“Everyone, get ready to march.”

Shimurin declared, and the 117 people gathered began to move in perfect order. Jin Sahyuk followed the crowd nonchalantly, and Bell whispered in her ear.

—If you still want Kim Hajin, I’ll help you get him. The truth is that you already know, right? About how this world can cease being a novel.

Jin Sahyuk stiffened. A chill swept over her body. But she walked on without answering Bell.

It was too early to make a decision yet.

**

[Manchurian Plain — Crevon military base]

On a bright, breezy day, Araha, the Empress of Crevon, was looking down at the view below from on top of a hill.

Iron fences surrounded the campsite where tents were lined up in an orderly fashion. The base of the Imperial Army, made up of Crevon’s finest soldiers, was impregnable.

“I believe diplomatic ties and alliances should be supported by mutual benefits,” said Araha.

She wasn’t talking to herself. The President of France, the President of China, the Prime Minister of Japan… and other heads of state filled the seats in front of her.

“Historically, there has been no partnership established without consideration of the interests of both sides.”

Araha called for a meeting the moment she arrived on Earth, and the leaders of many different countries gathered to discuss the terms of a treaty.

Summoning them from their underground bunkers was easy. She relied on the magic of the imperial magicians, who were far stronger than Earth’s magicians.

“Everyone, what do you think?”

Araha asked, and the crowd nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

The Empress gave a soft smile.

“Good.”

As obvious as it was from the way she talked, Araha did not intend to provide free aid to Earth. Her goal was to establish a diplomatic relationship with Earth and proclaim rules that would bind both worlds.

She wanted Earth to respect Crevon as a country.

“Did you all sign?”

Soon a pile of written oaths was laid before her. Currently, there were only 30 participating nations, but she expected the number to eventually rise to 190.

But really— how fragmented was this world that divided the continents into 190 countries? Araha felt both a sense of superiority and contempt.

“All set. This completes a temporary alliance treaty between Crevon and Earth. We’ll discuss the details at a later date. Oh, and I hope you will remember to abide by this treaty at all costs.”

The signing of the interim treaty was the first step towards peaceful diplomatic relations. Of course, there wasn’t much she could bring from the outside into the Tower, but if Earth and Crevon continued to interact with each other like this, Crevon could eventually exercise external deterrence on Players.

The article regarding criminal extradition was the heart of the treaty.

So far, there had been no way to catch criminals who committed crimes in Crevon and fled to Earth. But now things were different.

Araha was excited at the thought that she could finally punish the Players wanted for crimes in Crevon.

“Will Crevon’s forces be immediately dispatched onto battlefields?”

Japan’s Prime Minister asked in a hurry. Araha glanced at him and gave an elegant smile.

“You know what they say, haste makes waste.”

It was a roundabout way of saying ‘hold on’. Araha let out a dry cough and stood up. She looked down at the campsite and announced in a ringing voice.

“Line up, soldiers of Crevon.”

All the soldiers of Crevon gathered immediately. The spears, swords, and bows in their hands reflected the sun’s rays brilliantly.

“The time has come for us to offer salvation.”

The Imperial Army, made up of 30,000 of Crevon’s finest soldiers, who would have made history had they been born on Earth, cried out to their empress. The roar of loyalty shook the atmosphere.

“As soldiers of a great nation, let’s help our poor allies overcome danger.”

Araha’s speech was short but enough to move the hearts of the 30,000 soldiers. The Imperial Army began crossing the Manchurian Plain. They rode on horses and griffins and crossed the land and the sky.

The heads of state watched the scene in awe. Araha sat back in her chair with a smile.

“I heard that there are still many demons left on Earth.”

“…Pardon? Ah, yes, you’re correct,” answered the President of France.

Currently, there were more than 100 million demons rampaging across Earth. Despite the situation, Araha smiled in satisfaction.

“Well then, you may look forward to the future.”

More enemies meant greater glory.

“Because we’ll now turn things around.”

Araha and her army were confident in their victory.

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