It was around 5 o’clock in the afternoon when I decided to go home.

If only I could have gone home alone.

The trials left for me were not just one or two.

“So you are Juno. The friend Adrian mentioned.”

First, when I went down to the living room, I met Adrian’s mother who had come home early from work.

Calm blonde hair and blue eyes, just like Adrian’s. On top of that, a beautiful appearance that rivals actresses, not at all looking her age.

For a moment, I mistook her for Adrian’s elder sister due to her exceptional beauty, and I blushed and stammered.

I heard that Adrian’s mother was a prominent lawyer at a famous law firm. It was also the reason why Michelle feared Adrian.

She was a mother who demanded high academic standards from her children with strict criteria, but she was kind to me.

There was no case of embarrassing me for wearing old clothes like in a tacky Hallyu drama.

The second trial came after that.

“Since Mr. Jackson is in the garage, have him drive Juno home, Adrian.”

“What? Who is Mr. Jackson?”

“He is our family’s chauffeur.”

In addition to the guest house, they had a chauffeur too.

For a moment, the back of my head felt numb. I tried to refuse by waving my hand, but Adrian nodded.

“I will. I’ll probably be back before dinner.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s okay, ma’am.”

“Go ahead. It’s okay to eat with your friend and come back.”

“Okay…”

“Yes. Then take a rest. Let’s go, Juno.”

“…”

And so, I ended up in the car driven by Mr. Jackson with Adrian. We headed to my house in a sleek, black foreign car.

But the trials did not end there.

The black foreign car slid in front of my house and I immediately got out of the car.

And as I was about to say goodbye to Adrian, suddenly the front door opened and Allen came out.

“I guess the training ended late? Juno.”

I was astounded by how familiar he looked coming out of our house. Anyone seeing it would have thought he was the son living in this house.

Then he even casually greeted me as if he had forgotten our appointment.

Adrian seemed just as baffled, staring at Allen. Then, as if realizing something, he quietly muttered to himself.

“So he was the boyfriend after all…”

“I told you he’s not!”

Wasn’t that a little too audible for a mutter directed at me?

I glared at Adrian, then immediately turned to Allen.

“Allen, why are you here?”

We clearly hadn’t had any notable contact since the mining dungeon, and didn’t we agree that he would only come to our house when he had business to attend to?

But he broke the promise right away?

The feeling of betrayal was momentary, as someone popped out from behind Allen before he could open his mouth.

My eyes widened.

“Juno! Long time no see. Has it been almost two months?”

“Elder brother? Eek!”

Timothy tried to hug me tightly and I narrowly avoided it by turning my body to the side. I detested being lifted up in front of everyone like last time.

Allen exhaled a long breath through his nose, watching Timothy and I bickering.

“I just came to Connecticut because Timothy asked to meet. I met and greeted Uncle and Auntie, but I hadn’t seen Timothy. That’s a good enough reason to come here, right?”

Allen said, raising an eyebrow.

Seeing that, I was at a loss for words. I had nothing to say.

Eventually, Allen’s gaze turned to Adrian.

“By the way, it seems you two were together until now.”

“Yeah. We were doing homework together at my house.”

“At your house?”

The two stared at each other for a moment.

No one was frowning, but somehow it felt like I was watching the confrontation between Victor and Allen at the football stadium again.

By the way, what a strange combination of Adrian, Allen, and Timothy arriving in front of our house.

I tried hard to change the subject.

“But what about Mom and Dad? Are they both at home?”

“No, they’re both working late today. So I thought I’d make dinner with Allen. You’re Coleman, right?”

Timothy suddenly asked, looking at Adrian. It seemed Adrian was famous enough at school for Timothy, who graduated not long ago, to know him.

Adrian smiled slightly and shook hands with Timothy.

“Yes, I’m Adrian Coleman. I’m closing dungeons together with Juno.”

“Wow, I heard you were student council president. Dungeons too? You must be quite busy. Lots of things to do.”

“It’s not that busy because Juno helps me out well. Rather, it’s enjoyable.”

At Adrian’s words, Allen gave him a sharp look.

Whatever was bothering him, he had a fierce expression the whole time.

Timothy stared at Adrian for a moment before asking.

“Then, since Juno’s friend is here too, should the four of us go out to eat? Juno rarely brings friends home other than Allen. If that’s the case, it must mean Coleman is a good friend, right? It’s my treat, so let’s go together!”

“You’re overreacting. And what do you mean, eating out? Adrian will go back right away.”

“We can just send the car back. Juno’s friend, and also an Awakened closing dungeons together, wouldn’t it be fun to chat?”

Timothy spoke to Adrian in a friendly manner, seeming to like him.

Adrian also seemed to be in a dilemma at that. Well, Adrian’s mother did say it was okay to eat and come back.

“What will you do, Adrian? My elder brother will probably buy expensive stuff.”

“If you’re inviting me, I’m grateful.”

Adrian responded with a faint smile.

Then Allen, who had been quietly observing Adrian, spoke up.

“Yeah, you need to learn some skill utilization from Timothy.”

Our gazes all turned to Allen at once.

Allen looked at Adrian with a dry face.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I saw you three teaming up and taking out monsters in the mining dungeon. Your teamwork is pretty good, but you’re not even properly using half of your abilities, Coleman.”

At those words, Adrian’s face became a little puzzled.

“Uh… Why do you think so?”

“What you’re doing is laying the groundwork for Juno and the others to easily smash monsters. But there are far more possibilities for what an Ice Mage can do. If I were an Ice Mage like you, I would freeze the monster’s blood to kill it or pierce its head with an icicle to finish it off in one go. No need to waste time.”

“…”

“But seeing your stable and conservative skill utilization, I can tell how cautious you are.”

“Allen… What are you trying to say?”

I asked, frowning.

“Coleman is the same rank as Timothy. You need skills that can quickly take care of lower-level monsters, like a barrage. In that sense, you’re too careful.”

Allen’s eyes slowly scanned over Adrian.

“I guess such words are too cruel for a high school student? I’m saying your capacity is too lacking to contain your abilities.”

The guy who was busy smiling and acting nice in front of our parents gave Adrian a cold look.

“You really have a lot to learn, Coleman. Otherwise, all your high stats will become trash.”

I looked at Allen with a dumbfounded face.

With that pretty face, what kind of thorny words was he saying?

Allen had practically insulted the talent of our team.

I frowned and confronted Allen.

“Allen, what are you saying? Both Adrian and I have only been training for a short time. We’ve already been training in various aspects today. Adrian can create ice walls and is trying to utilize them in multiple ways.”

Then Allen retorted.

“Well, I think you’re going in the wrong direction. The only skills I saw from Coleman were freezing monsters or tying their feet. There were options to use them more aggressively, but he avoided them instead. Creating ice walls? Leave the defense to that guy named McQueen. You guys are on the wrong path.”

“…”

“Is it right to entrust the team’s entire attack to an A-rank sniper when you have an S-rank Ice Mage? I’m talking about efficiency. Meaning, do what you’re worth.”

Then he muttered darkly.

“I don’t know how you awakened your skills in the first place.”

“Allen.”

“You need to hone them from the start. It’ll be troublesome if you’re like this already.”

“…”

I quietly glared at Allen.

Then Adrian, who had been listening to the conversation quietly, spoke up.

“Yeah, I think it would be good to ask Mr. Huntington about attack skills and his experiences, as you said. My skill utilization is lacking.”

“Adrian.”

I glanced at Adrian with a slightly worried face.

Adrian smiled at me as usual, then approached Timothy.

“I can join for dinner too, right? I think it will be a good time.”

“Oh, of course. Order whatever you want to eat. Since you’re my sister’s pretty friends!”

Timothy spoke cheerfully, then insisted on going downtown.

In the end, Adrian sent Mr. Jackson back. The four of us decided to have dinner at a prominent place in the bustling area.

Timothy asked Adrian this and that, treating him warmly as they met for the first time. With his extremely sociable and friendly personality, the atmosphere seemed comfortable with Adrian as well.

As we walked together towards the city center, I glanced back at Allen following behind.

Unlike Timothy and Adrian who were talking and walking ahead, Allen seemed lost in his own thoughts, falling behind.

Seeing that, I quietly slowed my pace.

Before I knew it, I was walking side by side with Allen.

I looked at Allen with an uneasy face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Allen asked bluntly, gazing forward.

“Actually, there are about two things I want to ask you.”

Then Allen glanced at me, moving only his eyes.

I thought he would answer coolly to ask, but he grumbled with his hands in his pockets.

“If you have something to ask, you should contact me or think about calling me to your house. But when I suddenly came to your house, you were acting all distant.”

“Hey, are you grumbling now? You too, only acting nice in front of adults, and last time in the mine, you didn’t even catch me…”

“What’s your question? Ask.”

“Since you saw our team, tell me about your team’s power too. I heard your team is also an elite team?”

“Curious?”

“Yeah.”

Allen, who seemed like he would refuse once, explained in a gentle voice.

“Our team consists of me, who uses Sword Magic, then one healer, one who takes shields at the front, and one who provides support and spatial movement. They’re all A-rank.”

At that, I frowned.

“What? You told Adrian not to let me attack alone. Your team isn’t much different.”

When I tried to criticize him, Allen immediately retorted.

“It’s different. I personally formed our team, and in the team I belong to, I can show more than that if I bet everything on myself, the sole cannon.”

“…”

“But Coleman is not like that.”

At those words, I raised an eyebrow.