The girl stood frozen for a mont before finally asking again in disbelief, "You’re really Link?"
Link impatiently twirled the pen in his fingers and pointed at the registration form he had just filled out. "If you don’t believe , check it yourself. My na and citizen ID are right there."
The girl blinked, then lowered her head to glance at the registration form. Upon seeing the na written there, her body began to tremble slightly, and the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably.
"...What’s wrong with you?"
Seeing her react like she’d just won the lottery, Link furrowed his brows and asked with mild concern.
The girl quickly waved her hand, her expression strange. "No, no, I’m fine. It’s just—are you really that Link from Astral Nexus Academy?"
Link sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh my god, are you for real? This is Eagle Hatchling Camp. Is there another guy nad Link around here?"
"Aweso!!"
The girl suddenly squealed and grabbed Link by the shoulders as if afraid he’d disappear on her at any second.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Link imdiately stepped back and raised a defensive hand. "I’m a man of virtue and integrity. If you try to use such underhanded ans... Even if you get my body, you’ll never get my heart!"
"Wha—?!"
Startled, the girl hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, no, it’s not like that! You’ve got the wrong idea. I just want a picture with you!"
"A picture?"
Link paused, visibly confused by the request.
He let out a bitter laugh. "Miss, I think you’ve got mistaken for soone else. I’m not so kind of superstar. Why would you want a photo with ? Sure, I am pretty handso, but... this is just a bit much, isn’t it?"
But the girl ignored the second half of his sentence entirely. "Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re this humble! If you’re not a celebrity, then no one in this camp qualifies!"
"...Huh?"
Link imdiately sensed sothing was off.
After calming the girl down, he asked in a much more serious tone, "You just called a celebrity. What exactly is going on here?"
The girl took a deep breath and began speaking rapidly. "A celebrity—absolutely! You must not have heard yet. A few days ago, sothing major happened at the Northern Front. General Nate—the Bloodsoaked General—led our forces in a direct assault, shattered the moonfolk’s sche, and even took down that traitorous bastard Adamu who had been hiding in our ranks!"
"When other soldiers asked how General Nate managed to move so decisively and see through the moonfolk’s plans so precisely, he said your na. In front of the entire war zone! He publicly praised your contribution to the mission!"
"In fact, he went so far as to say, ’Without Link, there would be no stability in the Northern Front.’ He said you practically saved everyone’s lives! Now almost everyone stationed at the Northern Front worships you like a hero!"
Click!
A flash of blinding white light went off as the girl snapped a photo. Her face was now flushed red, the excitent still evident in her expression.
"Oh right... superstar, General Nate also said that tomorrow evening, there will be a formal comndation ceremony. Everyone from the entire Northern Front is expected to attend. He’ll be representing the top brass and awarding you a First-Class rit Comndation! Do you know how rare that is? So many seasoned veterans who’ve fought on the front lines for years have never earned that!"
At this point, the girl suddenly paused, flustered. "Ah—sorry! I’ve been rambling so much I forgot to introduce myself. My na’s Reyna. Please, superstar, don’t forget , okay?"
Link gave a slightly awkward smile.
At this mont, he genuinely didn’t know how to react to Reyna.
She was just a low-level logistics clerk—and even she was this excited.
He could only imagine how others in more important positions throughout the warzone viewed him.
Now, it was likely that everyone across the Northern Front knew the na "Link."
But to him, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
With rising fa ca increased attention—and it didn’t matter to Link whether that attention ca from human traitors or the moonfolk.
What he feared least... was death.
Now that news of a genius like him had spread across the front, those lurking in the shadows wouldn’t be able to stay silent much longer.
Assassination attempts? He welcod them.
Each attacker would be another opportunity—another talent ripe for the taking.
It was what people called: You might earn a little, but I’ll never lose.
He could even go a step further and use himself as bait to flush out the real threats hiding among humanity.
Two birds with one stone—it was the perfect strategy.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Link decided not to linger any longer at the logistics office—mainly because Reyna was getting far too clingy.
Her face was turning redder by the second, and her eyes were practically sparkling.
If he didn’t leave soon, this overly enthusiastic fangirl might actually pounce on him.
For the sake of his chastity, he had to go.
Barely managing to escape from Reyna’s grasp, Link walked through the warzone streets, tilting his head back to look at the sky.
Though it had all started because of a fortunate accident—him uncovering General Adamu’s connection to the Brain Swarm—the current peace at the Northern Front was still thanks to the relentless efforts of the soldiers.
His own contributions, though valuable, were small in comparison.
Yet without the intel he had provided, none of it would’ve been possible.
Before he realized it, he had arrived at the central plaza of the warzone.
Construction was already underway, with engineers setting up the basic structure of a stage.
There was no need to guess who it was for. After all, there was only one comndation ceremony happening in the entire Northern Front.
"...Seriously? They’re going this all-out?"
Link stood still, carefully observing the stage being built.
The decorations, the scale—everything about it was grander than the Awakening Ritual back at his academy.
He began to speculate about Nate’s motives and what sort of reward he might present during the ceremony.
After all, the general had also promised him a personal "welco gift"—a promise he still hadn’t fulfilled.
If the comndation gift ca on top of that, Link couldn’t even imagine how extravagant it would be.
"Hey! Isn’t that Link over there?"
"It really is! It’s Link!"
"Link! We, the engineers of Unit One, sincerely thank you for your service to the Northern Front. Here—these are so hotown specialties I brought with . You’ve got to try them!"
"Bah! What good are your dried fruits? Hero, I’ve got so liquor I’ve been saving for six months—it’s excellent. Want to give it a taste?"
"I’ve got sothing too!"
In an instant, the engineers dropped their tools and sward toward Link.
Beads of cold sweat imdiately ford on Link’s forehead. Being sward by a cute girl was still within the bounds of sanity—but by a group of sweaty, shirtless n who’d just co off manual labor?
No thanks.
Panicking, he made up an excuse on the spot and quickly escaped the crowd, making a beeline for the Eagle Hatchling Camp’s main base.
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