Where should I begin the story?
Every superhuman possesses a specialized skill—what we call a “branch.” In the past, there were 21 branches.
They were once referred to as the 21 Great Schools.
However…
In the modern era, only 12—no, 13—of these schools remain.
You might think, Wow, the Necromancy Branch survived? It’s better than I expected.
And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
Historically speaking, the Necromancy School was the strongest among the 21 branches.
It had a long-standing tradition of taking the frontline whenever the world was in peril.
The Necromancy Department at the Superhuman Academy was also, at one point, a prestigious organization.
…That’s just the lore, though.
Lore is lore. Reality is something else. Anyone who’s played Superhuman Chronicles even once would know—
In modern times, the Necromancy Branch is nothing but a punching bag.
The inheritors of traditions have disappeared.
No one is left to explore the legends.
Today, necromancy is seen as an outdated, obsolete field of study.
A laughingstock.
A group of fools wasting money like water.
Shopaholics who do nothing but buy overpriced artifacts.
“Wow! You actually know the Necromancy Department? It’s absolutely terrible…”
Maybe my mind broke after all the shocks I’ve endured. Muttering to myself, I wandered off.
The Superhuman Academy’s campus was several times larger than an ordinary university’s.
I was heading to the department’s main building.
Other students were likely being guided by their mentors, but…
Not me.
I was my own guide.
My own mentor.
And my own freshman student.
The sole member of the Necromancy Branch—yup, just me.
“I’m amazing, aren’t I?”
Top of the class on my first day of enrollment.
I’m even acting as a substitute professor.
What an absurd career. No wonder it feels absurd.
Is this really okay?
Well, the dean must think so, since they entrusted me with this key.
A short while later, I arrived in front of a building.
The ivy-covered walls bore an old nameplate.
[Necromancy Workshop]
This was the main building of the Necromancy Branch.
It wasn’t small, but for a department’s headquarters, it felt modest.
“Is this really all there is to the Necromancy Branch?”
Probably. I’d never heard of or seen any affiliated facilities.
“Sigh.”
Whether I liked it or not, I stood before the door of the Necromancy Workshop.
The grand entrance, exuding a faint air of past glory, awaited.
I inserted the golden key.
[Key owner confirmed.]
[The Necromancy Workshop welcomes you.]
Creak!
The door opened with a haunting, eerie sound.
Huh, cleared stage one. I glanced at the key.
[Key to the Necromancy Workshop]
- Category: 13 Great Schools / Representative
- Description: Grants rights to manage the Necromancy Workshop’s finances, inventory, patents, and land. Lost items are not the academy’s responsibility.
- Current Owner: Kim Seungtae
No further explanation needed. This key essentially made the entire Necromancy Branch mine.
Of course, it’s not something a mere freshman student should be holding.
But leaving it with Professor Seirin, whose spirit is probably floating around somewhere, wasn’t an option either.
She’ll be stuck in the hospital for the next six years.
I cautiously wandered through the workshop. Past a faded hallway, I arrived at a spacious gallery.
My first impression?
“Why is there so much dust? Ugh, cough!”
Cough, cough! I regretted speaking aloud. My mouth filled with dust.
It was easy to imagine Necromancy Branch members falling into comas from respiratory issues.
“Just my luck…”
Rolling up my sleeves, I began to clean.
The cleaning didn’t take long. How?
Was I a genius at cleaning?
Of course not.
I deemed cleaning the entire workshop insane and settled for tidying the reception room.
“How long has this place been neglected?”
I flopped onto a sofa. At least the reception room had less dust after I gave it a quick mop.
Looking around, I saw:
- A worn-out porcelain vase.
- A decrepit fireplace.
- An old portrait.
- A threadbare carpet.
Everything was old.
This building, sinking along with the glory of its past, made me feel like I was aging in real time.
Superhuman Chronicles. Necromancy Branch.
I sank deeper into the couch.
To sum it up:
Good news:
I’d been accepted into the Superhuman Academy, where getting in was like plucking stars from the sky.
Bad news:
I never wanted this in the first place.
The username Otherworld_123 popped into my head.
That shady player, likely someone from the dev team, seemed tied to all of this.
“They recommended Destruction Difficulty?”
In hindsight, even their username felt suspicious.
I’d like to grab them by the collar, but…
“For now, I’ll pass.”
There was no way to find them, and I had more pressing matters at hand.
“I need to set some action plans.”
Who knew how long I’d be stuck in Superhuman Chronicles?
It could end up being a very long time.
At the academy entrance ceremony, freshman Kim Seungtae had no guardian present.
A convenient setup implying I was an orphan.
“Guess I’ll need a way to make a living.”
I glanced at a faded nameplate on the desk.
[Head of the Legendary Necromancy Department’s Office]
So this wasn’t just the reception room—it doubled as the department head’s office.
Legendary Necromancy Department?
That’s a relic of a name.
Just a relic. The word legendary had been claimed by another department.
The Necromancy Branch had lost more than just buildings; they’d been stripped of their glory too.
So what was I supposed to do here?
With almost nothing left…
“…Actually, this isn’t so bad.”
Looking on the bright side,
Having almost nothing means…
At least it’s not completely gone.
“Let’s see what resources are still here.”
The Necromancy Branch—or rather, the Legendary Necromancy Department—used to be a colossal school.
Time to pick apart the remnants like a hyena scavenging a dinosaur carcass.
Kim Seungtae had the authority, after all.
Click.
As if in agreement, the workshop key gleamed.
And I had information—knowledge about what’s to come.
Which means I need to act quickly.
Because I know just how dirty Superhuman Chronicles can get.
“Do you really think this massive building is only filled with dust?”
Click.
The key sparkled once more.
Ugh, I’m seriously worried!
“Let’s start by organizing the early events.”
Scratch, scratch.
I grabbed paper and pen, jotting down a timeline of the upcoming events—Details that would help me survive.
- Today: Han Taepyeong’s tutorial begins.
- Tomorrow: Classes start, followed by a mission for all first-year students.
The tutorial today would feature that guy.
The tutorial was textbook stuff:
An event where you brawl with Rowdy Delinquent C to learn action mechanics.
“The real problem is tomorrow.”
In tomorrow’s mission for the first-year cadets, the true essence of the Superhuman Academy will be unveiled.
Make no mistake—this isn’t just an exceptional specialized high school.
It’s a training institution created for one grand purpose: preparing for the end.
From the moment you enroll, you’re already considered a fully-fledged superhuman.
Which is why tomorrow, cadets deemed unfit for the Superhuman Academy will be immediately expelled.
The first mission is as ruthless as it gets.
The mission keyword: Search.
The first-years must thoroughly explore the Superhuman Academy to find something.
Something every superhuman must possess—a partner in the truest sense of the word.
There are two ways to obtain it:
- Convince a professor or senior.
- Or find it on your own through skill and wit.
“As long as Han Taepyeong’s fine, I just need to handle my part well.”
Yeah. That’s the truth.
I cleared my timeline.
Since it’s still the freshman orientation and I need to prepare for tomorrow’s mission, it’s time to search the workshop a bit more.
“Where should I start looking?”
I unfolded the Map of the Necromancy Workshop that I’d found in the lounge. Looking at it now, there were quite a few rooms.
Was there spatial distortion involved?
I didn’t want to waste time.
[Lu…]
Then, I heard something.
When I focused, the sound grew louder and clearer.
[Lu…]
[Lu…]
“A creepy voice saying ‘Lu’ in an empty mansion?”
I was speechless. The sound came from the hallway.
What on earth?
I had a hunch, though. After all, what kind of building is this?
Ghosts? Sure, at least one or two. Honestly, even a whole truckload wouldn’t be surprising.
Creak.
When I opened the door and stepped into the hallway, the sound of “Lu~ Lu~” echoed from the far end.
On the map, the location was marked as ◈◈ Sealed Room.
The ◈◈ part was too worn to read properly.
A mysterious sealed room, huh.
This felt… ominous.
I cautiously crept down the hallway.
[Lu~]
[Lu~]
Even if I was scared, I had no choice.
Sooner or later, I had to explore the workshop anyway.
[Lu… Lu!]
Besides, it’s my workshop.
If I couldn’t even stand my own place, where else could I go?
“Not like I’m going to die, right?”
Clink.
The key responded with a faint glow, almost mocking me. My resolve wavered.
“Great… now I’m worried sick!”
Finally, I stood before the Sealed Room. The strange sound grew louder. I gripped the doorknob tightly.
“Well… here I go!”
…Oops. My nerves made me stumble over my words.
[Administrator access confirmed.]
[Sealed Room unlocked.]
“…No way.”
The so-called Sealed Room…
Its interior left me dumbfounded.
It wasn’t a room but a massive hall. Glass display cases were scattered everywhere, like in a museum.
Each case contained items that looked like treasures from myths and legends.
From a serpentine spear to a massive cross-shaped greatsword, a sinister glowing bow, and a shield with a painted eye—each artifact was an incredible masterpiece.
But what left me truly speechless was something else.
Creak. Creak.
A rope hung in the center of the hall, swinging rhythmically.
Creak. Creak.
The pendulum-like sound was unsettling, conjuring the worst possibilities.
A rope alone can’t make that noise. Something had to be hanging from it.
The rope’s end formed a loop, swaying periodically.
The worst-case scenario.
I covered my mouth in shock.
“This… can’t be…”
Hanging from the rope was—
[Lu~]
[Lu!]
—a single revolver.
Not a modern handgun but an old-style revolver straight out of a Western film.
“Creepy as hell!”
Why on earth was a revolver dangling like dried fish on a string?
The other artifacts were neatly displayed in glass cases.
[Lu!]
[Lu~! Welcome!]
Creak, creak!
The revolver writhed, making the rope sway more. That mournful “Lu~” sound came from the gun itself.
Well, I couldn’t blame it for being upset.
Anyone would be, hanging like that. Even someone as stoic as Kim Seungtae wouldn’t last 30 minutes here. He’d probably start bawling.
“Hmm. Is it super dangerous or something?”
[Lu?]
[Lu! Incorrect! Amazing!]
“Uh… sure.”
What does that even mean?
I looked away from the bizarre revolver to examine the other artifacts.
The sheer quality of the weapons was overwhelming. Each looked like an ultimate treasure.
From tankers to archers to swordsmen, anyone would covet these.
But something felt… off.
It was all too much. Too alluring. Too powerful.
Too excessive.
This place, ◈◈ Sealed Room, began to make sense.
A message appeared.
[Choose your weapon.]
[There are no limits on what you can take.]
No limits, huh.
Each of these could buy a skyscraper, yet I could take as many as I wanted.
“Let’s see if this is for real.”
I tapped the pen on the desk in the center of the hall.
“Well then, everyone! I’ll give you a chance. First come, first served! Only one of you gets to leave with me!”
No response at first.
So I pushed further.
“If you stay silent, you’re automatically disqualified!”
Before I even finished speaking—
- Pick me!
- Choose me, human!
- Great one, come here!
- I’ve been waiting for this moment!
- Hero, I…
Every legendary treasure started yelling.
Of course.
They could talk all along.
I slumped into the chair at the central desk. A pen and paper were conveniently provided.
“Alright… Guess we’re holding interviews now?”
The hall echoed with the sound of the pen tapping against the desk.
“You there! The snake-like spear? Your voice is impressive. Confident, I see. Care to introduce yourself?”
The spear eagerly hissed out its introduction, its sly tone sharp and persuasive.
And so began the interviews for my starter weapon.
(To be continued…)
