The Hideout café has a chime bell on its door.  

Perhaps because of that sound, the moment we entered, Gyeon Junhwi turned to look at us.  

In the air, my gaze met his.  

“Sora, do you know him?”  

“Yes, we met during the Awakening Test. Can I go over and say hi?”  

“Go ahead.”  

Leaving the secretary behind, I walked briskly toward Gyeon Junhwi.  

As always, his beauty was radiant today.  

During the Awakening Test, his appearance stat must have taken a hit from stress and fatigue.  

Now, after sufficient rest, he practically glowed as if sprinkled with diamond dust.  

I almost let out a gasp but managed to hold it in.

‘Get a grip!’  

There was a reason I’d been coming to this café every day.  

I had an important purpose for seeking him out.  

Of course, 80% of it was personal interest, but I still had a task to accomplish.  

As I approached, Gyeon Junhwi gave me a warm, sticky smile.  

“Fancy meeting you here.”  

“Yeah, what are the chances of running into each other in a place like this?”  

That smooth smile.  

It’s the kind he wears when he switches to his scheming mode.  

I could roughly guess what he was plotting.  

After all, it was the very reason I was here.

“Sora! Have you finished saying hi?”

The secretary was glancing back and forth between me and Gyeon Junhwi with a suggestive look.  

“I’ll just sit over there. Call me when you’re done, haha.”  

As he moved, the secretary muttered something like, “Ah, youth is so nice…”  

Today, instead of taking a nap, he pulled out a book.  

‘Guess I’ll have to save the important talk for later.’  

With an eavesdropper present, I kept it casual.  

After sitting across from Gyeon Junhwi, I started chatting about trivial things.  

“So, what’ve you been up to?”  

It was a genuine question.  

What had he been doing that he only showed up now?  

Why had his actions deviated from the original story?  

But his unexpected answer caught me off guard.

“Me? Just busy with school prep and part-time work.”  

“Part-time work?”  

“I wanted to buy something, but I was a bit short on cash. I heard awakened students can work as porters, so I gave it a shot.”

That’s when it dawned on me why he hadn’t come sooner.  

It was because of me.  

In <Doomed Academy>, Gyeon Junhwi made quite a bit of money during the first Outbreak.  

He’d been diligently cutting down goblins until the rescue team arrived.  

But this time, because of my interference, he hadn’t been able to defeat as many goblins as in the original story.  

As a result, his income had dropped significantly.  

In short, my meddling had prevented him from enjoying leisure time and forced him to take on part-time jobs.  

“What’s wrong?”  

“Oh, it’s nothing. By the way, Gyeon Junhwi, where do you live?”  

“Home?”  

“The secretary said he could drop me off later. If it’s on the way, want to come along?”

This meant meeting privately after the secretary left.  

Gyeon Junhwi caught the hidden meaning immediately and smiled.

“That would be great. Where’s your house?”  

“Jeongneung-dong.”  

“What a coincidence. I live nearby too.”

Liar.  

You live in Dongdaemun… but of course, I didn’t say that.  

“Then let’s go together.”  

For the rest of our time, we exchanged light-hearted chatter for the eavesdropper’s benefit.  

It was a productive conversation.  

I learned precious tidbits like Gyeon Junhwi’s favorite color being dark gray, that he hadn’t taken an MBTI test, and that his favorite number was 3.

At exactly 6 p.m., I bid farewell to the secretary.  

“Thank you for everything. You must’ve had such a hard time…”  

“Haha…”  

The fact that he couldn’t deny it said it all.

“You’re going to make a great father someday. I’m sure when your daughter grows up…”  

“Ah, right. My daughter will be your age in four years… haha… high school girls… high school girls…”  

Don’t worry, sir.  

Your daughter won’t turn out as strange as me.  

I just hope she doesn’t get PTSD because of me.

“Shall we go?”  

I left the Tower with Gyeon Junhwi and got into the car provided by the Phoenix Guild.  

After we got out of the car, Gyeon Junhwi turned to me with a serious expression.  

“There’s something I’d like to talk about. Do you have a moment?”

Finally, the moment had arrived.  

I nodded resolutely.

#

We headed to a nearby playground.  

To avoid running into Yeom Juwan at the apartment complex, we chose a playground attached to a neighborhood park.  

With the sun setting, the area was completely deserted.  

“Shall we sit and talk?”  

“Sure.”  

I sat on the bench Gyeon Junhwi gestured to and asked casually, “What’s this about?”  

“That dream you mentioned earlier—it’s been on my mind.”  

Gyeon Junhwi’s face was serious, as if he was genuinely worried about me.  

‘My boy, you could be an actor.’  

He had the face, the height, and the acting skills.  

Once we prevent the apocalypse, let’s start a management agency.  

“If what you said is true, Sora… you’re dreaming of the future, aren’t you? This could be a serious matter.”  

“Could it?”  

“Can you tell me specifically what you saw in your dream?”

At the last part, his eyes gleamed sharply.  

‘He noticed, didn’t he?’  

I had made a small mistake during my first fake prophecy reveal.  

In Demise of an Empire, there are three types of people who see the future:  

Foreknowers, Foreseers, and Prophets.  

Each has a slightly different way of perceiving the future.

1. Foreknowers know the future.  

In the story, the Foreknower is one of the villains.  

The villain uses their foreknowledge to learn that a dangerous individual is among the new students, which leads them to trigger a wave of deadly incidents at the academy.

2. Foreseers see the future.  

They can perceive the future more accurately than Foreknowers.  

The Foreseer in the story is affiliated with the Azure Dragon Guild and is neutral.

3. Prophets hear the future.  

The Prophet is the character I’m pretending to be.  

But I’d made the rookie mistake of claiming I’d “seen” the Outbreak in my dream.  

A beginner’s slip-up.  

Haha, it’s my first time being possessed, okay?  

Still, it’s a fixable mistake.

“I didn’t see the Outbreak in my dream.”  

“Then what?”  

“Actually… no, you won’t believe me.”  

“That’s not true. Try me.”  

“You’ll think I’m crazy…”

I played coy at first, feigning hesitation like I was on the verge of confessing something outrageous, then finally spoke.  

“It’s strange, but I heard it.”  

“Heard it? Like a voice?”  

“Yes, but not in Korean… and when I hear it, I also see images, as if they’re connected…”

Let’s just go with the “voice of God” angle.  

A divine voice that comes with visualizations—sounds plausible enough.  

As a devoted fan, I can confidently say that the Prophet’s abilities were never fully explained in the story.  

I can make up the details however I like without fear of being caught.

“Isn’t that strange? Just pretend you didn’t hear anything!”

I ended with a flustered protagonist vibe.  

Explanation complete!  

Sneaking a glance at Gyeon Junhwi, I saw him resting his chin on his hand, looking deeply serious.  

‘Did he buy it?’  

His expression was hard to read, but fortunately, I didn’t need to rely on that alone.  

【Viewing character affinity levels.】  

▶ Yeom Juwan (Lvl. 99, Affinity 99%)  

▷ Gyeon Junhwi (Lvl. 99, Affinity -30%) (⇧9%)  

▷ Ha Sunwoo (Lvl. 79, Affinity 35%) (⇧3%)

It went up!  

By 9%, no less!  

This means Gyeon Junhwi trusts my words, right?  

Even Ha Sunwoo’s affinity had increased a bit.  

“Have you had any similar dreams since then?” Gyeon Junhwi asked, continuing his interrogation.  

His trust wasn’t absolute yet.  

After all, our affinity was still in the negatives.  

The next step was to raise that number.  

“I dream every day, but not all of them seem to be about the future.”  

“What kind of dreams have you had?”  

“I dreamt about eating pumpkin tarts, going on trips with my siblings, shopping… and then…”  

I listed random, inconsequential dreams, then paused with a meaningful look.  

“Actually… I dreamed about you too.”  

“Me?”  

“Hold on.”  

Instead of answering directly, I opened my inventory and took out a colorful bundle of threads.  

It was fox tail fur, which I had purchased a few days ago.  

This fur was the key material for an item Gyeon Junhwi would craft after the next deadly incident.  

I held the bundle in front of him and rotated it for him to inspect.

“In my dream, you needed this.”  

Seeing is believing.  

No matter how many times I say “I’m a prophet,” a single demonstration carries more weight.  

Gyeon Junhwi would need this fur, and I had prepared it based on my “dream.”  

Doesn’t this make me look convincing as a prophet?  

His pupils quivered slightly as he stared at the fur. It seemed to have an effect.  

Time to confirm it.  

【Viewing character affinity levels.】  

▶ Yeom Juwan (Lvl. 99, Affinity 99%)  

▷ Gyeon Junhwi (Lvl. 99, Affinity -10%) (⇧20%)  

▷ Ha Sunwoo (Lvl. 79, Affinity 35%)  

It went up again! By 20%!  

Though still in the negatives, it was progress.  

He likely believed I was a prophet but wasn’t ready to fully accept me as an ally.  

Regardless, the goal of proving my prophetic identity was achieved.  

Now to deal with the leftover fur.  

“Do you need this?”  

“…No.”  

“What?”  

“I don’t know why I would need it.”  

Rejected.  

‘As expected, my boy is cautious.’  

If he accepted it, I could ask, “What will you use it for?” which would be tricky for him to answer.  

Even if he wanted the gift, he couldn’t take it.  

It was a frustrating situation.  

Reluctantly, I put the fox tail fur back into my inventory.

“If you ever need it, let me know. I’ll hold onto it for now.”  

“Why?”  

“Why not?”  

Gyeon Junhwi looked at me as if I were some bizarre creature.  

I tilted my head, confused by his reaction.

“That stuff isn’t cheap, is it?”  

“No, it’s pretty expensive.”  

“How much was it?”  

“2.5 million coins.”  

“And… you’re just offering it to me?”  

That’s when I realized his point of confusion.  

He couldn’t fathom my mentality of casually spending money on my favorite person.  

From an outsider’s perspective, it probably seemed strange.  

“Well, you know, the Outbreak I dreamed about happened three months after I saw it.  

Even if this dream doesn’t make sense now, it might matter later.  

If I can prevent something like last time, where people die, I want to do everything I can to stop it…”

I fumbled for a plausible excuse, nervously explaining my actions.  

“Haha, should we head back? Tomorrow’s the academy entrance ceremony! Let’s get some rest and prepare.”  

I quickly wrapped up the conversation and, noticing he wasn’t familiar with the area, guided Gyeon Junhwi to the nearest bus stop.  

Waving goodbye enthusiastically, I waited at a crosswalk for the signal to change.  

〔Opening ‘Prevent Apocalypse TO-DO List.txt.’〕  

☐ Get Ha Sunwoo’s help to uncover the TMI buried in my subconscious.  

☐ Identify the grasshopper boss’s right-hand man.  

☑︎ Meet Gyeon Junhwi and finish the prophetic act.

Marking the task as complete filled me with satisfaction.

‘I’ve accomplished one thing already! You’re doing great, Seo Jooyoung! No, Yun Sora!’  

I spent a moment basking in self-praise, patting myself on the back, when I felt a strange presence.  

I turned toward it, only to see Gyeon Junhwi standing at a distance.

‘Could he… have seen something?’  

I stiffened momentarily, but judging by his turned head, he seemed to be looking at the road rather than at me.  

Thank goodness.  

I must have had a suspicious expression just now.  

Still, I should be more careful in the future.