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Finished a heavenly meal that stimulated all five senses.

After sipping on Butler Grundael’s black tea and having a conversation, the group, having wrapped up their day, headed to their respective rooms.

“Can you really sleep without your sister?”

“…I told you, I can.”

“Even if I come to you at night scared of ghosts, you won’t let me sleep with you?”

“Pfft, I’m not a child. Don’t worry about it.”

Ghosts? Even if my body is that of a 9-year-old, my mind is that of an adult.

There’s no way I’d be scared of something like that.

‘Lately, I feel like my mental age is catching up to my physical age.’

Jeong Ha-yul, who had twitched her eyebrows at my reaction, went into her room.

Even so, she seems to expect that I’ll come to her to sleep together.

Sorry, but that kind of thing you’re expecting isn’t going to happen.

As usual, I finished my bedtime preparations and lay down on the bed.

Oops, I shouldn’t skip training just because I’m on a trip.

‘Should I increase the weight today?’

After the Starfield terror incident, I’ve been pushing myself harder in telekinesis training.

Every night. Only after completing the maximum training within the limits of my mental and magical power do I allow myself to sleep.

There’s no guarantee that such an incident won’t happen again.

Above all, I want to avoid being a burden.

If the bald team leader hadn’t taken me to escape, Jeong Ha-yul could have been seriously injured.

Even the bald team leader got seriously injured protecting me.

I’d rather get hurt myself than have someone get hurt because of me.

I took out a round weight plate from my bag.

The weight is about 10kg. No, since it’s a weight plate for a barbell, is it exactly 10kg?

“Ugh!”

Just carrying one weight plate to the bed is hard.

Maybe I should be doing weight training instead of telekinesis training.

If I ask Jeong Ha-yul to train my physical strength when I have time, it might be a one-way ticket to hell.

Anyway. Sitting at the head of the bed, I focused my mind on the weight plate.

Floating-

Normally, my telekinesis wouldn’t hold properly, and it would wobble and shake.

But today, I managed to lift the entire weight plate without any issues.

‘Got it!’

Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing this every night without skipping.

Finally, I’ve reached the point where I can lift a 10kg weight plate.

To others, it might seem like I’m making a big deal out of lifting just 10kg.

But not long ago, even lifting a smartphone was hard.

From 100g to 10kg, it’s a huge improvement.

…

If I don’t console myself like this, I feel like I’ll go crazy.

If you were to pick the most useless ability, it would probably be mine.

My telekinesis is currently rated E-class.

E-class means it’s impossible to go one-on-one with a common monster, but it can still inflict some damage.

Common monsters weigh around 100kg to 200kg.

Their skin is like armor, so most attacks don’t even leave a scratch.

Throwing a mere 10kg weight plate is just the right ability to give them a rage buff.

And there’s no guarantee that I can even hit them; it might wobble and fall mid-air.

I feel like giving up.

Why do I have to be the one with this ability, damn it.

***

Once, I asked the ridiculously strong Demon King.

“What exactly is your ability, sister?”

“It’s a physical-type hardening ability. When I channel my magic power, my entire body becomes both a weapon and armor. Does that make it easier to understand?”

At first glance, it seems like a very minor ability.

But Jeong Ha-yul is considered one of the world’s strongest S-class heroes with that ability.

“What about Seol-hwa sister?”

“She just has the ability to become a lunatic,”

“…”

They used to be inseparable, but I wonder what drove them apart.

They fight so fiercely every time they meet that I’m afraid to ask why.

“Park Seol-hwa is an alchemist, as her title suggests. She’s the only one in the magic category, I think?”

Instead of Jeong Ha-yul, who didn’t seem willing to answer, Kang-woo stepped in to explain.

The world’s only alchemist.

She can make all kinds of potions, and her combat abilities are also top-notch.

Her alchemy not only surpasses A-class mages in power but also, when she fights using potions, she can rival Jeong Ha-yul.

“…Brother, you must be mistaken. I can kill Park Seol-hwa in one minute. Rival? What are you talking about?”

“Even though you say that, out of 12 fights, you lost 3 times to Ha-yul.”

“Wow, really? Seol-hwa sister is amazing.”

Perhaps offended by that, Jeong Ha-yul slammed the door and went into her room, and Kang-woo took her place.

He slightly opened the door and peeked at me through the gap.

I can’t tell if I’m the 9-year-old or Jeong Ha-yul is.

“What about Kim Yu-shin, the Hwarang?”

Kim Yu-shin of the Osung Guild is a physical-type like Jeong Ha-yul.

It’s as if he’s a real Hwarang from Silla; he wields swords and bows incredibly well.

They say there’s nothing his sword can’t cut and nothing his arrows can’t pierce.

It feels like he’s a weapon master often seen in games.

As for Jang Gil-yong, the Immortal of LK Guild…

“No one knows. The data at the time of measurement said he was a super-ability type. Some say they’ve seen him use magic, others say they’ve seen him use super abilities. And his physical abilities are also above A-class.”

They say even if you cut off his arm, it regenerates. Even if you cut off his head, it regenerates.

Hence his title, the Immortal.

“So, he doesn’t die?”

“Seeing how he still clings to Ha-yul despite getting beaten up all the time, I guess he doesn’t die.”

“…”

That’s impressive.

There are too many A-class abilities to list one by one, so we’ll request the data from the Association later and end it here for today.

***

S-class heroes are those with such formidable abilities, running wild.

But even if I become S-class, I feel like I won’t be much to look at.

What can a little kid with just telekinesis do?

But I won’t give up.

Jeong Ha-yul managed to achieve so much with an ability that doesn’t seem like much.

There’s no reason I can’t do the same.

Unexpectedly, I found motivation in Jeong Ha-yul.

I was in the middle of lifting and lowering the barbell repeatedly.

Squeak—

What’s that?

When training telekinesis, the magic power I pull up splashes into my ears, eyes, and everywhere.

It’s probably because my control is still lacking.

Because of that, my senses are always sharp during training.

But this squeak sound came from a bit far away.

Is it the sound of stepping on the floor? Or opening and closing a door?

I’m not sure exactly what it is.

It doesn’t seem to be from the annex, and it sounds like it came from above…

They said there’s no one on the 3rd or 4th floors.

…5th floor?

The 5th floor where Butler Grundael’s room is.

Is he working on something even at this hour?

I tried to ignore it and continue my training.

Squeak—

…4th floor?

The sound that was on the 5th floor a moment ago feels a bit closer now.

I can’t tell if it’s the 3rd or 4th floor, but it doesn’t seem to be directly above, so probably the 4th floor.

Squeak—

This time, it’s directly above.

3rd floor.

Without the sound of moving stairs.

Can you descend a floor in such a short time?

It’s starting to feel eerie.

“Even if I come to you at night scared of ghosts, you won’t let me sleep with you?”

Why is what Jeong Ha-yul said earlier coming to mind now?

I’m not scared of ghosts at all.

Really…

Squeak—

The squeak sound that was on the 3rd floor went back up to the 5th floor.

“Damn it!”

If it’s coming down, fine.

But skipping two floors at once?

If it were the sound of jumping up through the window from outside, I’d think Butler Grundael is also an Awakened One.

How can you move like that inside the house!

Squeak— Squeak— Squeak— Gurgle— Squeak—

The sound is getting faster, and strange noises are mixing in.

5th floor, 3rd floor, 4th floor, 3rd floor, 5th floor, 2nd floor, 5th floor, 1st floor.

The floor numbers are all mixed up.

Now I can’t even tell which floor it’s coming from.

It feels like the sound is echoing from every floor.

…The sound stopped.

I sense a presence.

Someone is standing in front of the door.

It’s not Jeong Ha-yul, Eun-chae, or Kang-woo.

I can’t mistake their presence, which I feel every time my senses go wild during night training.

Right now, I can feel that they’re all asleep in their rooms.

‘…’

Suddenly, my breath catches.

I feel like I shouldn’t make any sound, so I stopped all movement in my body.

But I’m holding a weight plate right now.

My body is trembling, but I couldn’t drop the weight plate.

‘Whatever it is, please go away!’

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds. Time is passing honestly, but it feels like time has stopped.

‘Damn Einstein.’

I cursed the theory of relativity in my mind and held on and held on.

At some point, the presence in front of the door disappeared.

Thud—

Only then could I release the telekinesis holding the weight plate.

My whole body is drenched in sweat.

It feels like I unintentionally broke through my limits, but let’s put that aside.

What on earth was that just now?

Grundael? Or the servants in the annex?

Could it be… a real ghost?

I put the weight plate on the floor, grabbed the pillow from the bed, and approached the door.

I slightly opened the door and peeked outside, but there was nothing.

‘…There’s no sound of the door opening?’

My room door doesn’t make a sound when opened…

If it wasn’t the sound of the door opening, then what was that sound earlier?

I got goosebumps.

I quickly ran into Jeong Ha-yul’s room across the hall and locked the door.

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh of relief and turned around.

“What are you doing?”

“Ahhh!”

Jeong Ha-yul, who had gotten up from the bed, was standing right in front of me.

Damn it. I almost punched her.

I came here scared of ghosts and almost became a ghost myself.

 

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