Luna was on top of me.
Bathed in the moonlight.
Her usually neat, pale pink hair was undone.
Her gaze was deep and unwavering.
The subtle yet searing warmth of human skin touching skin.
A pleasant fragrance filled the air, making my mind hazy.
Dawn—a time of heightened emotions.
A time when great histories are made.
And so, I pulled Luna into my arms and wrote a new chapter of history—
I forcefully expelled the lewd demon that had infiltrated my thoughts.
Writing history with Luna? Both academically and metaphorically, that was impossible.
I looked up at her, still sitting on top of me.
Why on earth was she in this position?
‘Don’t tell me… she’s trying to steal me away?’
It wasn’t entirely out of the question.
A girl realizing, out of nowhere, that she had fallen for her male friend—this kind of thing happened all the time.
And her target was me, of all people.
Even the great Luna wouldn’t be able to resist.
‘Ah, what a sinful man I am.’
Just by existing, I had unknowingly hurt the hearts of women.
What a wretched man.
But this was also my sin. I had to accept it with humility.
“…”
Suddenly, the weight on my stomach lightened slightly.
Luna had lowered her upper body, causing the shift.
As her face drew closer, her loosened hair brushed against my skin.
‘Wait… is she going to kiss me!?’
She had to know I was awake by now, right?
Was this one of those if I can have you, I don’t care about shame moments?
Did she really like me that much?
No, Luna! No matter how much you like me, this isn’t right!
‘Caron! That damn old man, where the hell is he?! How could he abandon me to this seductive feline without coming to my rescue?!’
But Caron never appeared. And, of course, Luna didn’t stop.
Her face drew even closer.
Her moonlit eyes gleamed.
Her small yet well-defined nose.
Her lips, firmly pressed together, as if she had made up her mind.
I couldn’t even think of resisting.
I wasn’t heartless enough to reject a girl’s courageous confession.
‘Ahh, so this is how my purity…’
Just as I braced myself for the softness about to press against me—
Smack!!
A blinding flash filled my vision.
A burning sensation spread across my left cheek, quickly turning into sharp pain.
“…?”
The reason wasn’t hard to figure out.
Luna had, out of nowhere, slapped me across the face.
What the hell? Did she have some kind of kinky preference for slapping before kissing?
If so, that was already bizarre, but what she muttered next was even more absurd.
“Tch, you’re still not waking up? Should I hit you again?”
“Keke, I’ve been awake for a while now.”
“Really? Hard to tell when your eyes are always half-closed.”
Oh, right. I had slit eyes.
No wonder Luna had misunderstood. My eyes were so naturally narrow that people often joked I walked around asleep.
“You should’ve just gotten up when I called you. Someone could’ve carried you off, and you wouldn’t even notice.”
Luna finally climbed off me.
Judging by her demeanor, she clearly hadn’t been trying to confess anything.
“Why are you staring like that? Hmph, I know I’m pretty. Go ahead and look all you want. Just don’t fall for me.”
Luna smirked playfully.
I had been unconsciously staring at her—or rather, at her lips.
Shaking my head, I pulled myself together.
So then, why had Luna woken me up in the middle of the night?
“Keke, were you too scared to go to the bathroom alone?”
“As if.”
Then what was it? I didn’t recall any events like this in the game.
Luna pulled something out, and I immediately recognized it.
A coat embroidered with crimson clouds and a cat-shaped mask.
The artifact I had given her—[Legendary Phantom Thief Set].
“The mastermind doesn’t stop working at night. No, now is exactly when they’re most active!”
“…?”
“Let’s go! This is the moment for us, the Dark Beast Squad, to take action!”
Luna, Luna… what the hell are you even saying?
Whether it was because of the emotionally charged dawn or the lingering shock of being slapped, my brain wasn’t functioning properly.
But soon enough, I understood her intention.
She wanted to use the cover of night to gather information.
After all, villains always moved under the veil of darkness.
It was an extremely Luna-like idea. And my answer to that was, of course—
“No.”
“Why not?”
“There are a number of reasons, but mainly, we won’t be able to avoid the instructors’ surveillance. The moment we open the door, they’ll rush over.”
That’s how it was in the game.
Once you went to bed in Trash Village, you were stuck in an ‘Inactive Until Morning’ state.
Some players had found ways to bypass it and wake up at dawn, but every time they tried opening the door, an instructor would appear, claim it was ‘dangerous,’ and shut it again.
So Luna’s plan to sneak out under the cover of darkness was impossible.
“They even monitor us at night? What are they, perverts…?”
Creaaak—
Luna slowly opened the door. First, just a tiny bit. Then a little more. And more.
“…”
“…”
…Why wasn’t anyone coming?
She even swung the door fully open, making it visible to anyone passing by, but still, no one showed up.
Luna let out a knowing, almost sinister chuckle.
“Just as I thought. The dawn of the third day. The perfect time when the instructors’ vigilance starts to wane!”
[Due to a successful deduction, the stats of party member ‘Luna’ have slightly increased.]
No, don’t raise stats for something like this! This wasn’t deduction—it was just a lucky guess!
I waved my hand in the air, dismissing the system window.
“Keke, even if we step outside, there’s a high chance we’ll run into an instructor. We’ll get stabbed on the spot. To them, we’d look more like the mastermind than the actual villain.”
“We just won’t get caught.”
A simple and straightforward answer—so very Luna.
But there was another reason we couldn’t go out. And this one was much more rational.
“It’s dangerous.”
The enemy was someone who had made a contract with a demon.
Wandering around without an instructor was far too reckless.
‘More than anything, this is an event I’ve never encountered in the game. I can’t respond perfectly.’
This wasn’t just a game anymore—it was real life. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.
“I don’t care. There’s no way we’d lose to some idiot who fell for a demon’s temptation.”
“Information gathering is going smoothly. All we need is time. There’s no reason to take reckless risks by disobeying orders.”
“It’s taking too long. What if another victim appears while we wait?”
That was unlikely.
Not only were the instructors keeping watch, but there were also a massive number of students.
With so many eyes around, the mastermind wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.
‘In fact, in this episode, only one more person is kidnapped.’
Luna didn’t know that last part, but she was well aware that the chances of an additional victim were low.
And yet, she was still being stubborn because…
“This is about Dolores, isn’t it?”
Luna avoided my gaze.
I had hit the mark.
Earlier today, while gathering information, we had come across a dazed woman.
We had met her on our first day in Trash Village, so recognizing her wasn’t difficult.
She was a mother.
The mother of the last missing person—Dolores—who had vanished the day before we arrived.
Maybe the image of her sitting helplessly, clutching a photograph in despair, was still fresh in Luna’s mind.
Luna scratched her head in frustration.
“Yeah, that’s right. She’s the last victim. She might still be alive. No, she has to be alive.”
Baron Kelven wasn’t summoning demons.
He was making a ‘contract’—paying the price of human souls to increase his power.
“We don’t know the details of the contract, but it’s clear that he’s sacrificing humans to gain strength.”
“Exactly. You know this better than I do—sacrifices can’t just be used recklessly.”
Materials, magic circles, mana, location, auspicious dates…
Not to mention the time needed to make the acquired power his own.
If he tried to consume too much too quickly, he’d end up destroying himself.
“For lower-ranked demons, the process takes at least a week.”
In other words, Luna’s claim that Dolores might still be alive was true.
“We have four days left. That’s plenty of time to try. Even if there was only one day left, I’d still go for it. As long as there’s a chance… I have to.”
“You could get demerits… No, you might even be expelled.”
“I don’t care. If saving someone ends up being a punishable offense… then I’ll be the one to leave this academy first.” S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Luna, speaking with a fiery determination, suddenly hesitated.
Her expression shifted for a moment, and she quickly raised a hand to cover her mouth.
Then she stole a glance at me.
“…Sorry. You enrolled here with a goal in mind. I shouldn’t have woken you up and put you in this situation. Just forget what I said.”
“…”
“A-actually, now that I think about it, this is something I can handle on my own. Don’t worry about it!”
Luna forced a smile, pretending like it was nothing.
As if she wasn’t the same person who had come to this academy with an even greater goal than mine.
Restoring her family’s honor.
A goal heavier than anyone else’s.
‘What an idiot.’
As I said before, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.
However.
“Keke, it can’t be helped. I’ll go with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but you must follow my instructions. I won’t accept any refusal.”
“Of course! Zero, you really are the best friend ever!”
Luna immediately threw her arms around me and jumped up and down.
The reason I changed my mind was simple.
First, we had a few safety measures in place.
And second—
‘This is an event I’ve never experienced before.’
The curiosity and excitement of a seasoned veteran.
Of course, there was a risk.
But we could avoid danger 99% of the time.
Because…
“Rezé, wake up.”
We had our very own danger radar.
“Ugh… Mmm…”
Rezé, still in her pajamas covered in carrot patterns, opened her eyes.
Her messy hair stuck up in places, and her signature idiot hair pointed straight toward the sky.
“Hehe… Luna…”
Just looking at Luna seemed to make her happy. She let out a soft giggle.
She had no idea what was coming.
“Hurry up and get dressed. We’re going out.”
“Huh? Where?”
“To hunt demons.”
“…?”
Rezé fainted.
“Keke, the air is crisp.”
“Does this coat have a warming function? I’ve noticed before, but this artifact you gave me is seriously top-tier.”
“Hiiiik! W-why am I o-o-outside…?!”
Because we dragged your unconscious body out here, obviously.
Ignoring Rezé’s screams, I fell into thought.
A question about the activation conditions for a hidden piece.
‘Is this some kind of special event exclusive to the Dark Beast Squad?’
I ran through a few variables, but no matter how much I thought about it, this was the only possibility.
A joke organization triggering a hidden piece… What a ridiculous game.
‘Though, I’m still not sure if we can actually prevent Dolores’s death.’
It wasn’t about confidence—it was about probability.
Dolores had always been found dead.
Maybe this hidden piece could change her fate. But I couldn’t say with 100% certainty that it would.
‘Because this is the first time.’
The first time this hidden piece had ever activated.
But we hadn’t come out recklessly. As I mentioned before, we had safety measures. More than one, in fact.
“Hm… I was the one who insisted on coming out, but I’m a little worried. If we look like this, anyone would be suspicious.”
Right now, we were equipped with the [Legendary Phantom Thief Set].
A cloak embroidered with crimson clouds and animal masks.
Anyone who saw us would instantly shout, ‘Those guys are the masterminds!’ and start chasing us.
“We put these on to hide our identities in case we run into instructors or bad guys, but… getting stabbed is still scary. Should we just take them off?”
Luna had a point.
Rather than getting stabbed on sight, it might be better to reveal our identities, take the demerits, and walk around openly.
However, I had to firmly reject that idea.
Because!
‘It wouldn’t be cool.’
I wasn’t a fan of the organization’s name, but the outfit? I loved it.
It’s not like I’d get many chances to wear this.
So I wanted to wear it for as long as possible.
“Keke, no need for that. We’ll move without being seen.”
“How?”
“Rabbit Mask, now is the time to unleash your power!”
“W-What?!”
I whispered something into Rezé’s ear, and her hands moved like lightning.
Soon, three boxes were placed in front of us.
Stone-shaped boxes that blended perfectly into the surrounding environment.
That’s right. This was our first safety measure—and the first secret technique of the Dark Beast Squad…
Box Camouflage!
“Kekekeke! Behold! The first secret technique of the Dark Beast Squad!”
“This is genius!”
“B-Boxes are the best!”
And so, we began moving.
With boxes over our heads.
Waddling like ducks.
–TL Notes–
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