"I have no idea!"
Arte answered crisply.
I’d been looking forward to running some experiments after all this time.
"…You say that pretty confidently, Arte."
"Well, I really don’t know anything."
Arte wiped her sticky hands with water as she spoke.
"When you blocked all your senses, did you feel anything?"
"No, I didn’t feel a thing."
"But you dodged my attack?"
"Yeah."
"…."
I averted my gaze from Arte’s disbelieving stare.
I knew it didn’t make sense.
But what could I do about what I felt?
Even if I couldn’t sense anything, I instinctively knew where the danger was.
That strange sensation I’d felt from Dorothy’s reinforcement.
I didn’t know what it was, but one thing was certain:
My ability still had room to grow.
So even though I was confused, I followed Arte’s instructions…
But she says she doesn’t know.
I was kind of hoping for something.
"Fine. Well, there’s nothing we can do. Since we’re done, you can get dressed again."
"Ah, right. I’ll go take a quick shower."
"See you when you’re back."
I headed to the bathroom to wash off the strange, sticky medicine coating my entire body.
I knew exactly why Arte found it strange.
Even now, I couldn’t feel a thing. It was like I was floating in the sky.
And yet, I was walking just fine.
"Huuu…"
Little by little, I started to feel the water pouring over my body.
Now that I thought about it, there were plenty of odd things about my ability.
I’d never told anyone, so Arte didn’t know, but…
Every time I received Dorothy’s reinforcement, I’d felt something new.
That chilling presence I’d sensed during my sparring match with Arte.
What the hell had that been? I still didn’t have a clue.
At first, I’d thought I was just imagining things, or that my ability was malfunctioning.
Dorothy’s reinforcement was so powerful that the side effects were pretty severe.
Maybe my complicated feelings toward Arte had amplified and warped my perception. That’s what I’d assumed.
But then, on the day of the ambush, I’d received that reinforcement again—and realized there was nothing wrong with me or Dorothy.
So what the hell had been the problem? Why had I felt that way about Arte?
"…Is there some kind of ghost clinging to Arte or something?"
No, that couldn’t be it.
Siwoo couldn’t explain the reason at all.
But he couldn’t exactly ask Arte about it either.
“Hey, do you have a ghost attached to you?”
If he said that, she’d probably think he was crazy.
Then again, Arte was kind-hearted, so maybe she wouldn’t say it out loud.
"Setting aside that creepy feeling…"
The second reinforcement had been even weirder.
It was beyond what could be called intuition.
Right, the first time Dorothy reinforced me, I could explain that strange sensation as intuition.
Because I’d *felt* something.
But the second time, during the ambush—that indescribable something.
That bizarre sensation, like I’d glimpsed my future self.
What the hell had that been?
"I don’t know."
Siwoo admitted it. That couldn’t be called intuition.
It wasn’t a sixth sense—it was more like…
"If I just set my mind to it..."
Yeah.
A sense of omnipotence had wrapped around him—if he just willed it, he felt like he could figure out anything.
Like he could see what lay at the end of every fork in the road and walk straight toward what he desired.
It was a disjointed explanation, but Yu Siwoo couldn’t think of a better way to describe it.
After all, he’d done it on instinct, and even recalling it now gave him a headache.
"...Maybe I should ask for another reinforcement."
His curiosity about his own ability had been piqued.
Even after being reinforced, his ability had reached someone far beyond him. What in the world was it?
"Wah, cold?!"
Yu Siwoo flinched at the sudden return of sensation and hastily turned off the water.
It seemed his senses had come back while he was lost in thought.
"Ugh, so cold..."
Maybe because he hadn’t felt anything, he’d just stood there under the cold water without a second thought.
Shivering, Yu Siwoo stepped out of the bathroom.
"...?"
What was that smell?
Somehow, the house was now filled with a pleasant aroma that stimulated his sense of smell.
"Ah, are you done showering?"
"Hwaak?! A-Arte! Why are you here?!"
"Well, I thought you might be done... Why are you so surprised?"
Because you suddenly popped out of nowhere!
Fortunately, he was fully dressed, but if he hadn’t been—
Shaking off the horrifying thought, he asked Arte,
"You scared me... So, Arte. What’s up?"
"Oh, I was just wondering if you’d eaten yet."
"I haven’t."
Why was she asking that all of a sudden?
Arte didn’t need to ask him that—she probably already knew everything he was doing.
As if confirming his suspicion, Arte immediately made her proposal.
It was as if she’d only asked out of courtesy.
"Then, would you like to have a meal?"
"...Huh?"
"I didn’t want to come empty-handed, so I cooked a little."
As Arte smiled brightly, saying, *Was it rude to use your kitchen?* it finally clicked.
She’d been cooking.
But there weren’t any ingredients in his house...
...Never mind. She must’ve brought them from somewhere.
But how did she even know where his kitchen was? Where did she get the seasonings and ingredients...?
He decided not to dwell on it.
She must’ve figured it out somehow. Arte was capable of that.
"Yeah. Sounds good."
"I’m glad!"
Please don’t tell me it’s steak again.
For some reason, Arte always made steak whenever she cooked.
It was expensive and delicious, but...
It felt odd that she made steak every single time they met.
And of all things, cube steak.
"Since it’s morning, I made scrambled eggs and toast for something easy to eat."
"Oh, that sounds great."
"You can look forward to it."
So she didn’t *only* know how to make steak.
He’d started to wonder if that was the only dish she could cook.
Ignoring Amelia’s noisy chatter in his head, Yu Siwoo made his way to the living room.
Someone cooking for him... It had been a long time since that happened.
"...Oh, this is good."
Watching Yu Siwoo’s impressed expression, I started eating the food in front of me too.
The eggs were soft, the toast crisp.
Hmm, not bad.
I’d been a little worried since I’d never seen Yu Siwoo use a toaster before.
But fortunately, it seemed to have turned out fine.
"You’re good at cooking."
"Huh? Well, yeah. A little, when I was younger..."
I see.
Yu Siwoo didn’t pry further, just returned to his meal.
Maybe that’s what makes him the protagonist.
He had a knack for avoiding sensitive topics, which made me like him more.
I didn’t want to talk about the past.
I didn’t know how he’d figured it out, but he’d smoothly sidestepped the uncomfortable subject.
I didn’t want to think about my life before coming here.
With no guarantee I could even return, dwelling on it only made me more depressed.
[In the end, we still couldn’t figure out what your Ability is...]
Yeah, no kidding.
The author had been so desperate to find out about Yu Siwoo’s Ability that they’d even raided his house.
But even the author couldn’t get a read on it.
I figured as much.
Stupid author.
Still, it wasn’t a total loss, thanks to them.
At least I’d gotten a legal look inside Yu Siwoo’s place.
It was a shame I hadn’t figured out his preferences, but...
There were limits to what I could see through a window.
His room was usually blocked by curtains anyway.
Now, if anything ever happened at his house, I could get to him faster.
"So, is that it?"
"...Hmm, well. There is something else I’d like to do."
"Something else?"
"A sparring match."
Yu Siwoo had gotten a lot stronger since the beginning, but I still didn’t know just how strong.
I was curious. I wanted to experience it firsthand. I kind of wanted to fight him at least once.
"I don’t mind."
"Great. Then after we—"
Just as I was about to suggest we take a break first, the TV I’d left on started broadcasting the news.
- Breaking news: It appears that Arachne, who had been inactive recently, has resumed operations. With reports of attacks targeting civilians rather than villains, public opinion is rapidly turning against them...
"...?"
What the hell?
For a second, I almost couldn’t process what the news was saying.
Arachne was active again?
Without telling me? That couldn’t be right.
I’d explicitly said not to touch civilians. There was no way one of them would disobey that.
Laira? Spira? Or maybe Lee Hayul?
Who was it? Who was the culprit?
"...I had a feeling this would happen sooner or later."
"Sooner or later?"
Yu Siwoo, still watching the news, took a sip of coffee and spoke.
"Well, they’re famous. I figured it was about time someone started impersonating them. All you’d have to do is leave a web-like mark at the crime scene and blame it on Arachne. Plus, Arachne’s been quiet lately."
Huh.
Right. An imposter.
I’d forgotten about that possibility.
"Sorry, but something just came up. How about we postpone the sparring for another time?"
"Sure. See you later."
Suddenly, I had something urgent to take care of.