The next day.
Frisa sat at her desk, eyes blankly staring at the untouched whiteboard.
Since she arrived that morning, she hadn't spoken to anyone—not even Zelen, who usually greeted her first.
Her head was slightly lowered. Her hands gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, trying to stop the trembling that hadn't quite settled.
Her mind kept spinning, replaying Andress's words from that morning—about the dark organization, about his sister being mutilated, and about how he tortured the culprits slowly and coldly.
'Andress...'
The image of him covered in blood flashed in her head again. His blank expression as he spoke of his sister's tragedy. The way he described the torture without blinking. And that terrifying whisper in her ear before he walked away.
'He really did it. He tortured them... one by one...'
Frisa's body trembled. She tried to breathe steadily, but the fear still clung to her.
'Behind that calm demeanor… he was hiding something so dark…'
She shut her eyes. The memory of Andress smiling while saying 'I won't hurt you… unless you talk' echoed vividly.
'Should I just keep quiet? Can I really trust that all he wants is revenge?'
'What if… what if he ever loses control? Would he hurt other people too?'
Frisa opened her eyes and looked around the classroom. Everything seemed normal—students were starting to arrive, exchanging greetings, laughing quietly.
Not long after, the classroom door opened.
Andress walked in, his uniform clean and neat. He looked fresh, his steps relaxed and casual.
There was no trace of tension in him whatsoever.
Frisa could only watch from a distance.
'He really looks... completely normal. As if nothing ever happened.'
'If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes this morning… I would've never believed he was capable of doing all that.'
Her gaze followed Andress as he made his way to his seat. He looked so ordinary—no scary aura, no blood, no threats.
But Frisa knew... beneath that calm face was something terrifying.
'If I tell someone... would he really hurt me?'
Then suddenly...
"Hey!" Zelen's voice rang out loudly.
Frisa flinched. "A-Ah! Zelen… don't scare me like that!"
Zelen let out a small laugh. "Sorry, sorry. But you looked so serious just now. Who were you staring at?"
She turned her gaze toward Leonil. "Hmm… were you looking at Leonil?"
"No," Frisa replied flatly.
"Or… were you looking at Andress?"
"N-No! I wasn't looking at him. I was just spacing out," Frisa quickly denied.
Zelen raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I see. So you were thinking about Andress."
"I already said I wasn't!" Frisa turned her face away, her voice rising louder than usual.
Zelen just chuckled softly. "Alright, alright. I believe you."
But Zelen had known Frisa long enough to understand—
when Frisa denied something too strongly, it usually meant she was hiding something.
Frisa sighed and looked down a little. She glanced once more at Andress, who was quietly sitting at his desk. Her thoughts returned.
'Will I ever be able to see him... the same way again?'
— — —
One week later.
It had been a week since the head of the association publicly announced the possibility of reclassifying portal difficulty levels.
Now, research was underway across the globe, and the warning Andress had once given Leonil was slowly becoming a reality. Every newly appearing portal had increased in difficulty by one full level.
"Yana, how's the research going? Any progress?" asked the head of the association to his assistant.
At the moment, he was reviewing the latest reports on portal anomalies. He was located at the central headquarters of the knight research division in the country of Nurisia.
"As of now, ten rift portals have been reported across Nurisia," Yana replied.
"And the results? Is it true that every one of them increased by one level from what they should've been?"
"Yes, sir. Our findings fully align with Leonil's statement. The difficulty of every portal has risen by one level above standard."
Yana, the head's personal assistant, was no ordinary person. She was an A-rank knight with over a decade of experience. Appointed to her position at the age of twenty-five, now thirty-five, Yana was known as one of the most competent members of the association.
The head of the association fell silent, anxiety clouding his thoughts.
'So Leonil was right... The portals really are getting harder.'
Even so, he took a deep breath and shook his head slightly.
Though the initial evidence was convincing, the Knight Association couldn't act recklessly. They had to stick to established protocols and procedures.
Making hasty decisions would only open up major risks—for both the knights and the civilians involved in portal closure missions.
...
Meanwhile, Andress and his team were taking a break in the training room after an intense practice session.
"Andress, how did your strength increase so fast?" Saman asked, his face full of curiosity.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Andress looked at him, confused. He didn't feel like anything had changed significantly.
But in reality, ever since he entered the hidden portal a week ago, Andress's abilities had grown far beyond expectations. Even though he had only entered the portal once, his stats had risen rapidly—much faster than a knight's normal growth rate.
This didn't go unnoticed by Saman and the rest of the team. They were all surprised, since progress like that was nearly impossible to achieve in just a week.
『Andress's Stats – Last Week』
Strength: 33
Endurance: 23
Speed: 28
Magic: 18
Reflex: 23
Stamina: 18
『Andress's Stats – Now』
Strength: 35
Endurance: 25
Speed: 30
Magic: 20
Reflex: 25
Stamina: 20
Andress stared at the system screen, stunned. He couldn't figure out why his stats had increased so quickly.
'This is weird... All my stats went up in just one week. And I haven't even entered the hidden portal again since then.'
He squinted slightly, trying to recall everything.
'Since entering that portal, my growth has been abnormal. This doesn't make sense... It's not normal at all.'
'I just remembered... this system screen has a feature that lets me message the author. Maybe I can just ask directly.'
Without delay, Andress opened the 'Message Author' feature—a function in the system that worked like a direct messaging service. He could contact the author of the story anytime, anywhere.
Message sent:
Hey, author. Why did my stats increase so much this week? I only entered the hidden portal once, and that was last week.
A reply appeared shortly after:
『Eating green Goblin meat boosts your strength growth by three times. That's why you improved so quickly.』
Andress went silent.
'So that's the reason... I had no idea eating monster meat could have an effect like that.'
In the original Bad End novel, it was never mentioned that monster meat had any kind of special effect. The reason? No one in that world had ever tried eating it. In other words, Andress was the first to do so.
Another message popped up:
『The triple growth effect will wear off tonight. It only lasts for one week.』
'Huh, so there's a time limit too. Makes sense. An effect like this would be way too OP if it lasted forever.'
...
Meanwhile, Frisa was sitting by the edge of the field, resting after a tough training session.
Her gaze kept drifting toward one person—Andress.
Since their encounter a week ago, he had been occupying her thoughts nonstop. The haunted look on his face kept echoing in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to forget it.
But what bothered her even more was Andress's threat that day. Every time they crossed paths, she still felt nervous, tense, and uneasy.
Even now, the fear hadn't completely gone away.
'Is Andress really okay? He's been acting normal this past week...'
Andress hadn't shown any more threatening behavior since then.
To Frisa, the story about his sister's death was a tragic, heartbreaking tale.
She had even tried to secretly investigate Andress's past, hoping to understand what really happened.
'I've done everything I can to learn more about him. But the only thing I found out is—both his parents were murdered by criminals.'
Over the past week, Frisa had searched for information through various sources—even hiring a professional to help.
But the results were empty. Not a single useful piece of data could be found, as if Andress's identity had been deliberately erased.
'It's strange... I couldn't find anything beyond basic records. Whoever hid his information, they did a flawless job.'
And it was true.
Andress's real identity had been covered up by someone.
But to this day, no one knew who was behind it.
"Hey—"
Ariel suddenly approached Frisa.
"Frisa? Did you hear me?" she asked, touching Frisa's shoulder.
"Ah… um… what is it?" Frisa jumped and quickly turned to her.
"I've been calling you for a while, but you've been spacing out the whole time."
"Sorry, Ariel. I didn't hear you."
"You were staring at Andress, weren't you? Why? Is there something going on between you two?"
Frisa's expression immediately turned awkward. "It's nothing. I was just daydreaming and happened to be looking in his direction."
Ariel gave her a suspicious look. "Are you sure? You're not lying?"
Frisa tried to smile, though it looked a little forced. "Seriously, I'm not lying."
"Hmm… You and Andress have been acting weird lately. Things feel tense between you two. Usually, you're always arguing over something stupid, but now you barely talk at all."
Frisa looked a bit offended. "Do I really argue about stupid things that much?"
"Well, yeah. You're always bickering with Andress over the most ridiculous stuff."
"Okay… fair point."
Lately, Frisa and Andress had been keeping their distance.
Neither of them made an effort to start a conversation.
Everyone in the team had noticed it, but no one dared to ask—at least until Ariel brought it up.
"If there's nothing going on, that's fine. But if something's wrong, please talk to me. I hate the idea of personal conflict between teammates."
"I will… if there's really something to talk about."
— — —
A few hours later, at exactly 7 p.m., Andress was in his room, preparing to enter the hidden portal once again.
"I've learned from my mistakes last week. This time, I'm not going in empty-handed," he muttered while checking his gear.
Unlike before, Andress now made sure to prepare everything he might need.
He brought a foldable mattress for better sleep, enough food and water supplies, and even cooking tools to avoid going hungry in the portal again.
Inside his inventory were five bottles of water, five instant meals, a foldable mattress, and various other essentials.
"Alright, everything's ready."
Once he was satisfied, Andress left his room and started walking toward the academy gate.
But unbeknownst to him, someone was watching him from afar.
'Is that Andress?' Frisa had just returned from the convenience store when she happened to see Andress leaving the academy.
'Where is he going this late at night? Is he planning another massacre like last week?' Frisa thought anxiously.
'If he is, I can't let it happen. If he keeps doing things like that, he really might end up becoming a villain.'
She looked at Andress with growing concern. She knew that in the world of Bad End, many people changed after being exposed to too much violence.
There were far too many cases of knights who started out noble but became monsters after losing their way.
Not wanting to take any chances, Frisa made a quick decision. She would secretly follow Andress—just to make sure he wasn't up to anything dangerous.
But before following him, Frisa made a phone call.
"Hello, miss. What can I do for you?" asked one of her father's most trusted men.
"I just want to say… if I don't contact you within the next hour, please come find me."
"Are you in danger, miss?"
"No. But if you don't hear from me in an hour, assume that I am."
"Should I notify your father?"
"No need. This isn't a big deal. But I want you to track me from about one kilometer away. I'll turn on my phone's GPS."
"Understood, miss. But… one kilometer is quite far for proper escort."
"I'm not comfortable with you being too close. Besides, this might not even be a dangerous situation."
"Understood. My team and I will head out now."
...
Ten minutes later, Frisa began following Andress's trail. But what she didn't realize… was that Andress had known all along.
'So she really is tailing me,' Andress thought.
As he neared a corner, he suddenly stopped and slipped behind a wall. The moment Frisa came close, he stepped out from behind it, blocking her path with a strange smile.
"Hello there, Miss Stalker," he said with a sarcastic tone.
"A-Andress..." Frisa froze in shock.
"Let's just get to the point. Why are you following me all the way out here, my beautiful little stalker?" His smile was unsettling—making Frisa even more nervous.
"I-I wasn't following you! I-it's just... coincidence! We're going the same way!" she stammered, avoiding his gaze.
Andress's expression turned serious. His eyes sharpened as he looked at her.
"Cut the act, Frisa. I know you've been following me. You think I'm that clueless?"
Frisa went silent. There was no point in denying it anymore.
Deep down, Andress already understood why Frisa was following him. And because of that, he made a quick decision.
'If Frisa brought her father's men and they discover the hidden portal, this could be bad.
For safety's sake, I'd better postpone tonight's plan.'
Frisa finally spoke. "I… I'm sorry, Andress. I did follow you. But I swear, I didn't mean any harm."
Unlike before, this time she confessed right away and apologized without hesitation.
Maybe because she was genuinely scared.
Seeing her sincere, regretful expression, Andress couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
'She really does look terrified… Maybe I went a bit too far.'
Without saying much, Andress looked at her and spoke in a flat tone,
"Don't go back to the academy. Come with me."
"Where to?" Frisa asked, confused.
"Just come."
— — —
A few minutes later, Andress and Frisa stood side by side in front of the entrance to a game center at TWB Mall.
"Why are we here?" Frisa asked.
"Because this is where I was planning to go in the first place," Andress replied.
Frisa still looked uneasy. The awkwardness from being caught following him hadn't completely faded. Her movements were stiff, and her voice didn't sound like her usual self.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go in."
Andress walked ahead without looking back.
Frisa hesitated for a moment but eventually followed.
In the world of Bad End, Frisa was known as a true gamer at heart. Ever since she was a child, she had played all kinds of games—from puzzles to fighting games.
But since entering middle school, she had stopped playing altogether, forbidden by her parents who wanted her to focus on studying.
"So… what are we doing now?" Frisa asked, still a bit tense.
"Obviously, we're playing games. My treat."
A few minutes later, they began exploring the game center. Frisa still seemed uneasy at first, but gradually, her mood began to shift.
She started to enjoy the atmosphere, and little by little, her cheerful side returned.
Andress kept trying to help her feel comfortable—and he succeeded.
"Andress! Let's play again! I will win this time!" Frisa shouted excitedly, refusing to accept her repeated losses.
Before she knew it, she had forgotten why she even followed him in the first place.
All the fear, tension, and worry disappeared as she got swept up in the fun.
On the other hand, Andress was also enjoying himself more than he expected. Spending time with Frisa gave him a rare sense of peace. After being trapped in so much stress and pressure, this was a rare moment of calm.
'Frisa… She's so competitive. Even in a game like this, she refuses to lose,' Andress thought, smiling slightly.
They were playing a fast-paced fighting game that tested reflexes and strategy.
Frisa kept challenging Andress, but the result was always the same: defeat.
"Hey, let's go again," Frisa said with renewed energy.
"Sure, but don't cry if you lose again."
"Shut up, you jerk! This time I'll prove I'm better!"
Ten minutes later, Frisa lost again. And not just once—but for the 20th time in a row.
"Damn it… I lost again..." Frisa slumped into her chair.
"Haha! You lost again! Don't cry now."
"Shut up!" Frisa pouted, her cheeks slightly red from embarrassment and frustration.
Andress smiled faintly. The moment felt warm.
He hadn't felt this relaxed since the first time he entered the world of Bad End. There was something about Frisa that reminded him of someone from his past.
'For some reason… Frisa reminds me of her,' he thought.
Andress spoke up. "Let's try a different game. There's still a lot we haven't played."
Caught up in the moment, Andress instinctively grabbed Frisa's hand and pulled her toward another area.
"...!?"
Frisa froze, her face turning bright red.
It was the first time in her life that she had ever held hands with a boy. Her heart pounded so hard, she could feel it in every part of her body.
...
Before they knew it, they had spent nearly three hours at the game center.
They tried all kinds of games and enjoyed every minute.
"Want some strawberry ice cream? My treat," Andress offered.
"No thanks. I'm not really into ice cream," Frisa replied quickly.
But in truth… strawberry was her favorite flavor.
She just didn't feel comfortable letting him treat her again. Andress had already paid for all the games, and she didn't want to seem like a burden.
Andress let out a quiet sigh, then gently took her hand again.
"Come on. I know you like it."
"Andress… wa—"
"Ssh. No arguing."
...
Ten minutes later, they sat on a bench in the park near the mall. Each of them held a cone of strawberry ice cream, and the night air was calm and peaceful.
Andress glanced at Frisa, who was quietly enjoying her treat.
"So… who was it that said they didn't like strawberry ice cream?" he teased.
"Sh-shut up, Andress! Quit talking so much!" Frisa snapped, her face red with embarrassment.
But when she finished her ice cream, her expression suddenly darkened.
"Andress… once again, I'm sorry about earlier."
Andress turned toward her. His expression grew serious.
"You don't need to apologize, Frisa. In fact, I'm glad you followed me."
Frisa misunderstood. "Why glad? Don't tell me you have a fetish for stalker girls?" She looked genuinely horrified.
Andress flicked her forehead. "No, idiot. I'm glad… for another reason."
"Oww! Don't just flick me like that! That hurt!" Frisa rubbed her forehead.
Andress went quiet for a moment. He looked up at the night sky, his eyes distant.
"I'm glad… because it means someone still cares about me in this world.
I know you followed me because you were worried. And I appreciate that."
"You know… I don't have anyone left. My mom and dad were murdered. Then my little sister… was mutilated to death."
"So the fact that you still care, even after I threatened you… that means a lot to me."
His words carried pain, but also warmth.
Even though it was all a lie he had made up, his performance was so convincing that it left Frisa speechless.
'The more I get to know Andress… the more I realize how strong he is,' she thought.
'If that had happened to me, I probably would've gone insane… or even taken my own life.'
Andress looked at her again. "So from now on, don't apologize for that. I'm not mad at all."
He gently patted her head—and Frisa didn't push him away.
"Alright… I promise I won't apologize again."
...
Five minutes passed.
They sat in silence, enjoying the peaceful night.
Andress gazed at the starry sky, while Frisa stared at the softly lit park.
Andress narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling more at peace than he had in a long time.
"...Andress," Frisa finally spoke.
"Hm?"
"Promise me something."
"A promise? About what?"
"Promise me… that you'll stay a good person."
Andress turned to her, their eyes meeting.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to become some villain just because I lost my family."
Frisa looked down. "But… what about what happened last week? You looked like a… complete psycho."
Andress gave a faint smile. "Back then, I was mentally a wreck. After getting revenge, all the emotions I'd been holding in for six months just exploded."
"Without realizing it, I took it out on you. So I should be the one apologizing."
Frisa finally spoke her mind. "To be honest… I was terrified. You were covered in blood, your expression was different, and… your aura was terrifying. It felt like you were going to eat me alive."
"Haha, I didn't know the strongest girl in our year could be scared. Especially of someone weaker than her."
"Idiot! Anyone would've been scared if they saw you like that!"
Frisa turned her face away. But then she looked back at Andress, her eyes serious now.
"But promise me… don't ever become that version of yourself again. I don't like seeing you that way.
I want my normal team leader back—not the psycho version of Andress."
"I promise. I won't become a bad person. I won't kill anyone… unless I absolutely have to."
"You better keep your word. Because honestly… I'm still not sure I can fully trust you."
"Don't worry, Miss Stalker. I'll keep that promise."
"Stop calling me that! Never say 'Miss Stalker' again!"
— — —
A short while later, the two of them returned to NFS Academy. When they reached the front gate, they stopped and said their goodbyes.
"Thanks, Andress. Tonight was… really fun. I haven't played games like that in forever."
"You're welcome. I'll head back now."
They turned and walked toward their respective dorms. But once the distance between them was far enough, Andress suddenly looked back.
"Today's date was fun. Next time, you're paying. I'm totally broke now."
"I literally have no money left after tonight."
Then he walked away without waiting for a reply.
'D-d-date?'
Frisa froze in place, her face turning bright red.
Her chest tightened with embarrassment she couldn't control.
...
Elsewhere, the Author and the God of Death were watching Andress from afar—silent observers who never truly left.
"I thought he was going to the hidden portal tonight," the God of Death remarked. "But apparently not. Now I'm curious… why did he lie to Frisa about his little sister? Wasn't that unnecessary?"
The Author nodded slightly. "I wondered the same thing. But one thing I know for sure—every move Andress makes always has a deeper purpose."
"Maybe we don't know the real reason yet.
But I'm certain… sooner or later, we will."
"And when that moment comes… everything will make sense."