Class 0, which had many students refusing to come to school, was actually relatively early arriving that day.

Despite personal hardships, Kwon Rena was considerate of the students who arrived later, taking care of them, and the class liked her for it.

So when Rena revealed everything, everyone listened intently and sympathized.

She explained how she came to be entrusted to foster parents, who were the biological parents of Jared and Rena’s own biological parents, who had died in the Otherworld raid.

She described attending the Dream Auction.

Though difficult to explain, Rena spoke openly without hiding anything.

“Aunt Kwon Je-in only learned that I attended the Dream Auction after she returned to the country. So...”

Some students already knew or guessed Rena’s situation, but when the Dream Auction topic came up, some grew distressed.

Sawol Seyum bore a bitter expression but endured, while Mingreen lowered her head with tears welling up.

Because of this, Song Daeseok nearly blurted out, “Wait, didn’t they say the Dark Blue Veil isn’t related to you by blood? Then why do you call Jared uncle?” but swallowed it to comfort Mingreen.

Of course, some students were burning with fighting spirit, like Dokgo Miro, who clenched his fist wanting to smash the heads of the foster parents, or Maeng Hyodon, who showed signs of anger.

Especially, the self-proclaimed Phantom Thief partners Ong Gildong and Guseulbi sent me signals, indicating they would fight if needed.

I decided to ignore the signals from those attention seekers.

“...Thank you for listening. That’s all for my story.”

Having finished, Rena seemed weak and staggered.

Then Mok U-ram, who had been watching her without blinking, shouted “Rena!” and rushed out, but Kwon Je-in moved faster.

Je-in was much closer and also superior as a player, so Mok U-ram didn’t need to intervene.

Still, Mok U-ram hadn’t thought that far.

Seeing Je-in support Rena, Mok U-ram hurried to stop her but knocked over several desks and fell to the floor.

Even if Rena had collapsed, it wouldn’t have been as miserable as that.

Yet Mok U-ram got up as if nothing had happened and first checked on Rena.

“Is that bastard not hurt?”

“He’s probably numb because he’s focused on Rena now. I worry he might suddenly say he’s hurt and buy strange medicine later.”

“I’m fine. I’m more worried about Rena, who must be tired from talking so long.”

Though covered in dust, Mok U-ram was relieved Rena didn’t fall.

Supporting Rena’s shoulder, Kwon Je-in said,

“Thank you for listening to Rena. And I’m sorry. If you know I have blood relations, those targeting me will also target Rena. Then you all could get caught up.”

Ah, no need to worry about that.

Almost all of our class was already targeted by the dark forces.

Not to mention the tigers, but thieves trying to steal the dark forces’ plans, incarnations of magnolia filled with madness, the overlord of Eungwang District who smashed the police station and security firms linked indirectly to the dark forces, the last herald’s clan, technicians approaching the secrets of the player satellite, and martial artists fighting the demon gods—all of us were targeted.

‘If anything, In Sun-o might be the only one left as a victim.’

All were somehow tied to or about to be tangled with the dark forces, except In Sun-o.

Still, the nightmare was dangerous too, so In Sun-o was like a bomb waiting to explode.

Anyway, many classmates, including Kwon Je-in’s niece Kwon Rena, already had dangerous elements enough not to lose to her.

“Hmm, then many must be targeting me too. Not counting what only some know about my situation, since I’m affiliated with the Hwangmyeong Group.”

“That’s right. When a kidnapping threat arises, you handle it alone somewhere no one is. Oh, I also dragged kids into trouble over the orphanage last time.”

Starting with the tigers, everyone began sharing their situations.

Not to brag about their misfortunes, but to reduce the chance of classmates getting caught up.

Naturally, family matters came up.

“My family has some special blood. Someone might try to kidnap me.”

“Kidnap? Is that something to talk about lightly?”

“Daeseok isn’t in a position to judge either. Though less now, he was bullied because he’s the grandson of Grandpa Song. And now he even gets some protection from the association due to the satellite, right?”

Mingreen, who suffered the most due to being the grandchild of the great hero Song Man-seok, spoke those words, leaving Song Daeseok speechless.

Sawol Seyum and Song Daeseok had potential threats related to their families but grew up in harmonious homes.

Besides them, Kim Yu-ri, Dokgo Miro, Mingreen, and Ong Gildong all had complete family members and showed no signs of family conflict.

‘So Ong Gildong doesn’t have a tragic backstory for being a thief after all.’

Kim Yu-ri’s family kept moving repeatedly to avoid a high-level water-associated being who was after her.

Dokgo Miro’s family supported her dream of becoming an idol.

Mingreen’s family believed and waited patiently for her while she hid in her room due to trauma.

Ong Gildong’s family cheered and supported him despite his thief activities worldwide.

Though none could fully protect their children from the dark forces’ plots or the tides of time, they were all good families.

However, some students truly had no parents or were better off without them.

For example, Guseulbi.

“If anyone approaches pretending to be my parents, just ignore them! Got it? They probably don’t know I go to Eungwang High, but if they find out, they’ll come to extort money!”

The closer we got, the more we needed to know about each other to stay safe.

We lived in a dangerous society, with some directly targeted by the dark forces.

Guseulbi instinctively knew this and spoke accordingly.

For a moment, Ong Gildong looked at Guseulbi with very sad eyes, but quickly hid it.

When the possibility of parents coming up, Maeng Hyodon, who had directly experienced it before, said,

“Uh... someone once came all the way to the school gate, seemed to know everything, but ended up in jail. If they come again...”

“Don’t worry. They won’t come back.”

“Really? Thanks.”

Hwang Ji-ho’s blunt words made Maeng Hyodon look a bit relieved.

The scene where a biological father threatened with the remains of a deceased mother to extort money wouldn’t easily fade from memory.

Also, Mok U-ram, upon hearing talk of money, seemed to recall something and said,

“My parents are deceased. My father-in-law took me in as an orphan. But I might have relatives. Someone once claimed to be my distant relative and asked for support...”

“Oh, you mean those who pretended to be relatives trying to extort money from U-ram. If such people appear looking for U-ram, report them to the self-governing body.”

Kim Yu-ri seemed to have already met fraudsters trying to extort money.

As classmates shared family stories, the atmosphere lightened, and Kwon Rena’s expression brightened slightly.

That didn’t mean the heavy secret of Rena’s birth became lighter.

Rather, sharing the burden made it feel relatively lighter.

“Do parents or relatives often visit the school without permission?”

“Quite often. Some come urgently without permission after hearing about a student’s injury, like Maeng Hyodon just now.”

It seemed worrying that parents or relatives might come to Eungwang High.

In fact, earlier Jin Jeong-muk said,

—We who share the same purpose and sharpen swords consider everyone as brothers. The student does not lack family.

Hearing that, I thought, like Mok U-ram, that the student was taken in by Heukrim the Sword Saint, but maybe there was another story.

Jin Jeong-muk’s eyes shone through his naturally brown hair, though he had dyed it black on purpose.

“If someone claiming to be the student’s parent comes, notify Jeolheukpoongrim immediately.”

“Why? Do your parents come to extort money too? Uh, uh...”

Kim Yu-ri grabbed Maeng Hyodon’s shoulder hastily, and his words trailed off, but it was too late.

Maeng Hyodon asked a raw, blunt question.

If anyone but the experienced Maeng Hyodon had asked, it could have caused trouble.

Fortunately, Jin Jeong-muk didn’t seem to care.

“I wish money could solve it.”

I didn’t know exactly what the problem was, but Jin Jeong-muk’s situation couldn’t be fixed with money.

He spoke heavily.

“The student’s parents are cultists and targets for extermination. Jeolheukpoongrim has taken a hard stance against the cult. Though they gave up on coaxing, hearing this, I worry they might target students at the school. Don’t be fooled by their sly tongues into joining the cult.”

Few classmates fully understood Jin Jeong-muk’s martial arts language, but all knew what the cult was.

The cult worshipped demon gods.

There were several demon gods, but only a few were widely known and powerful enough to affect the human world.

Namely, the Seven Deadly Sins demon god and the god of death.

Some humans followed these eight demon ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) gods.

‘It’s almost better to believe in a false religion. Following those eight demons means becoming humanity’s enemy.’

There was overwhelming evidence that higher beings existed in this world, and cultists worshipped them.

Cultists boldly declared holy wars on false religions that dared to use the names of higher beings to erase them from existence.

Still, false religions exploited human weaknesses and survived infamously.

The cult Jin Jeong-muk spoke of was the worst of all.

Even some classmates who hadn’t been shocked by all kinds of family issues were speechless listening to this.

Then In Sun-o spoke.

“So your parents believe in demon gods. There are many demon gods—who do they believe in?”

In Sun-o had always been quiet or gave brief remarks, so it was the first time he asked so directly.

Since it was already revealed that the parents belonged to the cult, which demon god they followed wasn’t so important, so Jin Jeong-muk answered straightforwardly.

“They follow Superbia of pride. They overestimate their own and the demon god’s power, as pride’s doctrine says.”

Pride is the first and worst of the seven deadly sins.

Superbia of pride is the leader of the seven deadly sins demon gods, wielding the heaviest and most terrible power.

One reason Jin Jeong-muk joined Jeolheukpoongrim young and called for exterminating the cult, besides loving the martial artist’s life, was because of his parents.

While Kim Yu-ri whispered a simple explanation of demon gods for classmates who didn’t know, In Sun-o, deep in thought, said,

“Ah, so they believe in a different demon god than my parents.”

“A different demon god? In Sojeo, what did you say just now?”

“My parents worship the god of death. If anyone claiming to be my family approaches,”

In Sun-o finished with a half-smile, neither fully knowing nor ignoring.

“Run away.”