Inside a quiet, dark room, the sound of a woman talking on the phone echoed angrily as she stood in front of a mirror.
"Hey! How the hell did those two dangerous girls end up there!?"
"They weren't supposed to be involved at all, so WHY WAS SHE THERE AND ATTACKED ME RIGHT AWAY!?"
"I was lucky to survive."
The voice on the other end of the phone only told her to calm down and stay quiet, saying everything would be taken care of quickly.
The call ended, leaving the room even more silent and heavy.
"How long am I going to keep doing this… when will that damn promise finally be fulfilled…"
Annoyed, she stared at her reflection. Her irritation only grew, and she began scratching her face until it bled.
---
Elsewhere, at a house with a massive ranch.
Miko was looking at her cows when she noticed one whose eyes looked sad every single day. She felt sorry for it.
"This cow… its eyes always look sad. Why is that?"
Curious, Miko asked the workers at her house, but all of them said they didn't know—clearly hiding something.
"That's impossible… there's no way they don't know," Miko thought.
"Should I ask Father? …No, I'm scared."
Unable to do anything, Miko stayed silent—until one worker finally decided to tell her the truth.
He approached Miko and whispered, begging her not to say he was the one who leaked the information.
After hearing the truth, Miko was shocked.
"W-why!?"
"Sshh! Please, Miko, don't tell anyone I told you," the worker pleaded.
"If I get found out, I'll be fired."
Miko nodded quickly.
"Don't worry, sir. Thank you for telling me! I'm going to eat now—I'm hungry."
Relieved, the worker returned to his job.
But the innocent-looking Miko wasn't going to eat. She was preparing to go somewhere.
"I can't accept this… they sold that calf for experiments!? How cruel!"
Miko ran out of the house.
Without fear, the naive Miko headed alone into the dangerous forest.
She still remembered the location, but when she stopped at the forest entrance, she hesitated for a moment, shivering.
"I have to find my calf… and bring it home."
The truth was, the calf from Miko's family ranch had been sold for experiments inside this dangerous forest.
When Miko entered the forest, she easily found her calf wandering around. Its eyes were completely white.
"Ugh… what happened to my calf?"
"I'll heal you after I bring you home!"
Miko approached the calf.
Suddenly—
A gun was pressed against Miko's head.
"Who are you?" a tall man in a suit asked coldly.
Miko remained calm and relaxed, not suspecting the man at all. She thought he must be a good person because he looked neat and well-dressed.
"Oh, I'm here to take my calf back!" Miko said cheerfully.
"Can you help me get it?"
The suited man fell silent, staring at the calf.
Without warning, he seemed about to help—but when Miko relaxed and lowered her guard, he moved to knock her unconscious—
Bugh!!
The suited man was suddenly slammed to the ground, shocking Miko.
She realized it was Nic—who was already holding her calf.
"Y-you… Mr. Botanist!?"
"Wait!! What are you doing!?" Miko panicked.
"I'm just saving you," Nic said calmly.
"Here's your calf. Now get away from here."
But Miko's thoughts spiraled out of control.
"NO! You must be a smuggler at the academy!?"
"You became a botanist on purpose to gather information! When I told you I liked raising animals, you realized I had lots of them, so you targeted my livestock for your crazy experiments, right!?"
"You even tried to kill this well-dressed man!"
"What are you talking about… your imagination is going too far," Nic replied calmly.
Nic handed over the calf, but Miko became terrified when she saw how unnaturally white its eyes were.
She ran away, shouting that she would spread this information all over the school.
Nic stayed silent.
For a moment, he considered using Cupid Arsenal to force Miko to keep quiet—but he stopped himself.
"If it's come to this… let's see what happens."
Nic gently stroked the calf and healed it using the potion he had prepared.
The calf fully recovered and immediately clung to Nic.
Nic activated God of Animal.
"Cute little cow… you don't know the way home?"
"Well, stay by my side for now."
"Thank you, kind sir… but there are many wild animals here. Am I safe?" the calf asked.
"You're safe," Nic replied.
"I'll heal all of them soon."
Nic then moved deeper into the forest to look for Kyu Kazumi and Shin Meilin, before more of those suited men appeared.
He found Kazumi and Meilin lying lazily on top of a tree, bored.
"Hey, you two," Nic called out.
They woke up and jumped down.
"Yaaawn… we're seriously bored, Nic," Kazumi said.
"That weird person hasn't shown up again… or maybe they moved to a different area?"
"Seems like they didn't show up because they're afraid of you," Nic replied.
"But earlier, I saw a man in a suit. Looks like he was sent to deal with you."
"Haha, relax, Nic. You know who we are," Meilin said confidently.
"They're nothing to us."
"I know," Nic said firmly, patting their shoulders.
"But I still don't want anything to happen to you. For now, go home. The situation isn't good—it could get dangerous."
"I'm not underestimating you. I just want you safe and healthy."
Their cheeks turned red, and they reluctantly nodded.
"Well, if you put it like that… fine, we'll withdraw for now," Kazumi said.
"But are you sure? Won't that strange person come back?"
"I'll handle all of them," Nic replied, pulling out his glowing potions.
"I'll heal all the animals here and find whoever's behind this."
From afar, someone was watching—and quickly contacted their boss.
After Kazumi and Meilin left, more suited men began arriving, secretly taking photos of Nic.
Nic noticed them and smiled.
The suited men shouted accusations, claiming Nic was the reason the forest became dangerous and why the animals turned violent.
"Release that cow, you cruel bastard!" one shouted, aiming his rifle.
"Your face has been captured and marked by everyone!"
"Did your boss spend all his money just to buy this cute little cow?" Nic replied coldly.
"How poor."
They froze—confused as to how Nic knew the cow had been bought.
Suddenly, all of them attacked Nic with various weapons.
Meanwhile, the cloaked figure secretly reappeared, trying to sneak deeper inside.
Nic whispered to the calf to run as he began moving.
The calf understood.
Nic activated Fusion Combat.
All God-mode combat skills activated at once—his aura became terrifying.
"ATTACK!" the suited men shouted.
They attacked brutally, the noise echoing outside the forest.
People nearby thought officials were fighting dangerous beasts.
But their attacks couldn't even touch Nic.
With incredible speed, Nic destroyed all their weapons effortlessly.
"What the hell!?"
"Where did he go!?" the suited men panicked as Nic vanished from sight.
The cloaked figure watched in shock.
"Why can't they capture him!?"
Suddenly—
Nic appeared right behind her.
"!?!?"
Panicking, she tried to run—but it was useless.
Nic grabbed her cloak. She fell, slipping out of it as the cloak remained in Nic's hand.
She was a woman.
"A woman, huh… what's wrong with that pretty face of yours?" Nic asked calmly.
She covered her face.
"Don't talk about my face!! Damn you!!"
She whistled sharply, summoning animals, and fled.
Nic let her go.
The suited men also fled in fear, worried the wild animals would tear them apart.
"That whistle was beautiful enough for all the animals to recognize it," Nic thought.
When all the animals gathered—including the tiger who acted as the forest's strongest guardian—Nic poured his potion over them.
The tiger, who was about to claw Nic, suddenly stopped and collapsed.
Their eyes returned to normal.
Nic activated God of Animal again.
"Weren't you the tiger who stayed with me when I passed out?" Nic asked.
"You were normal when you were with me, right?"
"…You saved me?" the tiger replied.
"Thank you. I was normal back then, but that cloaked figure appeared and showed me a strange plant. Its smell seeped into me and made my mind feel distorted."
A cobra joined in,
"That figure often comes here and turns animals into that state."
"Hm… why is she still doing this even now?" Nic wondered.
Suddenly, Noctis appeared and landed on Nic's shoulder.
"KRAKHH!! Master Nic, so you're here!"
"I found something strange in the Xinyikawa area!!"
"Explain quickly," Nic said.
"When I passed through a narrow alley, I saw people making a deal," Noctis reported.
"Two of them looked like Southern or Northern people."
"Wait—Southern?" Nic asked.
"And how do you know what Northern people look like? Have you been there?"
"It's because their skin was extremely pale," Noctis explained.
"Only people from the Northern regions have skin like that—they live in extreme cold. It looked like a dangerous illegal transaction."
Nic understood and handed Noctis a potion.
"Huh? What's this, Master Nic?" Noctis asked, holding the small bottle with his wings.
"Just drink it. You'll like it," Nic smiled.
Without hesitation, Noctis drank it.
His eyes immediately glowed red, and he started flying in circles.
"KRAKHHHH WHAT IS THIS!? IT'S SO GOOD!!!"
He flew faster and faster—until he was almost invisible.
A bear watching got dizzy.
"Hey, crow, stop it!"
"That crow's gone crazy," the wild boar muttered.
Noctis then flew straight toward a small tree.
"Hey, that's dangerous!" the tiger warned.
But the tree was smashed instantly—and Noctis was completely fine, landing back on Nic's shoulder.
"KRAKHH WHAT KIND OF POTION IS THIS, MASTER NIC!? THIS IS INSANE!! MY BODY FEELS AS STRONG AS AN ELEPHANT!!!"
"That's a special potion for someone who works hard like you," Nic said, gently patting his head.
Noctis thanked him and prepared to fly off again.
The tiger looked at Nic.
"What is he doing? Gathering information?"
Nic nodded.
"Yeah. He gathers intel for me—and I give him proper compensation."
The tiger lowered his head.
"We are willing too… if you wish for us to submit. You saved our lives, strong one."
Other tigers followed, then all the animals bowed as well.
Nic smiled.
"That's not necessary. You don't need to submit to me."
"If you want, you can become my partners and help me like Noctis. How about that?"
Without hesitation, they agreed.
Nic activated Forbidden Love System, affecting all the animals.
They immediately felt affection toward Nic as their master.
They swore loyalty and promised to help him however they could.
Everything was going smoothly for Nic—
But there was one problem.
---
Late at night, Miko sneaked into Qwelin Academy, putting up posters she had prepared.
The posters read:
"THERE IS A CRUEL INTRUDER IN THIS SCHOOL!
HE IS THE PERSON IN THE BOTANY ROOM!
HE IS THE CAUSE OF THE DANGEROUS FOREST!
I SAW HIM TAKING MY COW FOR EXPERIMENTS!
BE CAREFUL OF HIM!"
The posters were placed all over the academy.
Tomorrow, chaos would erupt.
To be continued…