Somewhere in the Superhuman Academy.
Inside a grand and imposing office.
“What are you saying, brother? Necromancy and a new recruit—how does that even make sense?”
Someone spoke, a badge on his lapel marking him as a faculty member.
“What can we do? The dean insisted on assigning them to the Necromancy Department. His determination felt… unusual. I couldn’t oppose it.”
“Damn it… That old octopus bastard…”
Two faculty members were deep in conversation.
Oddly enough, their topic was a new recruit from a different department.
“What about the rights to the workshop, then?”
“What else? The current members of the Necromancy Department still exist, don’t they?”
“Wait, wait. Are you saying that a new recruit has taken the workshop rights?”
“You already know the answer. Why even ask?”
Sigh.
The man hearing the bad news let out a heavy sigh.
An old, rundown workshop.
He had gone to great lengths—unscrupulous lengths—to secure it. And now, a new recruit?
He had done everything possible to block any new students from joining. But that damned old dean…!
“So what now?”
“We stick to the plan.”
“Ha. This just got serious.”
The senior member raised his voice at those words.
“Was it ever a joke? Did it seem like a joke when we put 11 cadets into comas?”
“Well, no… But if accidents keep happening in a department with no people or resources, it’s going to look bad…”
Indeed.
Would the dean just sit back and watch?
The man couldn’t help but worry about that.
“Of course, it won’t look good. That’s why we need to make it seem like a real accident, right?”
“Ah, I see.”
“It’s just bad luck for that recruit. What was the point of having such a talent for necromancy, anyway? But hey, the timing is perfect.
Today’s the day, after all.”
“True. There’s no better day than this, with the campus in such disarray. Perfect for pulling something off.”
“There’ll be all sorts of ‘accidents.’”
The senior member declared it with certainty.
Accidents.
Today was the day when cadets scoured the Superhuman Academy in search of equipment.
It was always a chaotic day, full of events and mishaps—sometimes even major incidents.
“We’ve left it to that junkie. Let’s just wait and see.”
“Yeah, fine. Let’s do that.”
Though only two were speaking, over ten people silently rose from their seats in the office. They greeted the senior member and left the room.
The senior member turned to gaze out the window.
Click.
I opened the door to the Necromancy Workshop.
[Your spiritual energy is brimming.]
[Progress toward unlocking a new ability: 95%.]
The countdown to both ability awakening and system interface unlocking had begun.
But since I spent all of yesterday in interviews, the remaining 5% hadn’t been filled.
“Looks like I need something more stimulating.”
I went straight to the sealing chamber. The weapons stored there all focused their attention on me.
“Lu…!”
“Lu~~~!”
As usual, the first to speak was the revolver. Was it asking me to release it?
Still hanging by ropes, it truly had the worst treatment in the sealing chamber.
At the same time, there was no ominous aura emanating from the revolver. Unlike the fakes, it wasn’t hiding anything.
What exactly was its identity?
I had a vague suspicion, though.
“Well, everyone…”
Just as I was about to make an important announcement—
[Visitor detected in the department domain.]
[Administrator privileges activated automatically.]
Zap!
Suddenly, my mind connected to a perspective as if a CCTV had been installed in my head.
The scene displayed was the entrance to the workshop.
“Huh, I guess this comes with the key.”
It seemed like a special effect granted to the keyholder.
The visitor at the Necromancy Workshop entrance was peeking inside curiously, dressed rather peculiarly.
A bulletproof vest and a gas mask.
It was clear they weren’t here to ask for directions, sell newspapers, or recruit for a religious group.
The visitor’s suspicious behavior escalated when they abruptly turned into smoke and infiltrated the workshop.
“Mistification?”
My mind raced.
Mistification.
A rare talent.
At this point in time, only a handful of people at the Superhuman Academy could use it.
And judging by that military outfit…
“Is it that junkie?”
But why?
Does this have something to do with the Necromancy Department? This guy’s definitely bad news…
“Kim Seungtae, what do we do now?”
An intruder, out of the blue.
I glanced around the hall filled with all sorts of weapons.
Well, if it’s here…
This might just work in my favor.
I deliberately cleared my throat loudly.
“Squeak! I heard that…!”
The junkie, having undone his mistification, ran down the corridor. I didn’t even bother locking the door as I stepped back.
Squeak! Squeak!
The sound of rats echoed from the corridor. It was definitely him.
Bang!
The junkie, dressed like a soldier, burst through the door.
“Squeak… Krrk, squeak?”
A beastly noise came from behind the gas mask, but this guy wasn’t a beastman. He was 100% human.
Ahn Eunho. Nicknamed The Junkie.
A drug criminal hiding within the vast grounds of the Superhuman Academy.
He wasn’t supposed to show up until much later—somewhere around the middle of the story.
He would be uncovered after an investigation into a drug circulating among the cadets.
“What brings you here?”
Ahn Eunho was a slippery one.
A man who managed to live and operate within the Superhuman Academy, manufacturing and even distributing drugs.
“Squeak! It’s a job. Nothing personal, but you’re going to have to meet with an… accident. Squeak!”
Ahn Eunho, looking frustrated, removed his gas mask. Though haggard, he was undeniably human.
However, Ahn Eunho himself didn’t think so. He firmly believed he was a rat beastman.
His brain was far from normal, thanks to drugs.
How could such a fool survive in the academy, evade the professors’ watchful eyes, and keep making and selling drugs?
Even in a place as vast as the Superhuman Academy, he must have had someone powerful backing him.
But even I, who cleared hell-level difficulty, hadn’t been able to uncover his patron.
Still, he had just revealed something. He’d come here on a job.
“Well, Mr. Ahn Eunho.”
I spoke calmly.
“…I’ve been expecting you.”
“Squeak?!!”
Ahn Eunho squeaked in panic and began trembling.
“I-I’m not Ahn Eunho! Who’s that…? Squeak squeak!”
A paranoid drug addict.
While Ahn Eunho was an annoying foe, he wasn’t an invincible one.
A tricky opponent, but not a strong one.
“Come on, Mr. Ahn Eunho. I know everything. You were hired to come here, weren’t you?”
“Squeak?! No, I wasn’t! I wasn’t hired!”
Ahn Eunho’s stats were unimpressive. He was just a petty criminal surviving off his broken ability, Mistification.
Especially since his mental fortitude was the lowest of the low—so much so that he even misunderstood his own species.
By numeric standards, his mental strength was below 0.4.
For comparison, the average adult scored 1.0. That should tell you how severe it was.
Prone to confusion, panic, and fear.
Suffering from delusions, anxiety, and memory loss.
Making even simple judgments was beyond him.
These penalties were what came with a shattered mind. Manipulating him wasn’t difficult. The initiative was mine.
“Mr. Ahn Eunho, who hired you?”
This was a crisis, but also an opportunity. The elusive Ahn Eunho had walked straight into my hands.
His throat bobbed nervously.
Come on. Say it. Say it.
Simple decisions always lead you astray—that’s your penalty, isn’t it?
“Th-they’re scary! I’m scared! I can’t say! Squeak squeak! I have to finish my job!”
Damn.
“Mr. Ahn Eunho, you’re surprisingly tight-lipped. Well, then, would you mind looking inside that display case over there?”
“All right… Wait, why would I?! I’m not Ahn Eunho….”
“Hmm~ If you don’t look, you’ll miss out, Mr. Ahn Eunho~ But it’s up to you~”
Ahn Eunho hesitantly turned his head toward the glass display case.
Clatter.
He dropped his tear gas and stun gun.
“W-what is this?! Squeak! Squeak squeak!!”
Ahn Eunho pressed his face against the glass display case, his bloodshot eyes flaring as he exhaled heavily.
“Cheek! What’s this? Treasure? This too? And that? There’s so much treasure!?”
“That’s all yours, Ahn Eunho.”
For a moment, Ahn Eunho glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, his eyes filled with suspicion.
It was understandable.
The weapons displayed here appeared to be priceless treasures. At least on the surface.
Even a fool would doubt it.
“Cheek! All of this is mine? N-no way! Do I look like an idiot?”
“If you don’t want them, leave then.”
“!!!!!”
“You were hired to take me out, weren’t you? Just close your eyes and tell me their name.”
“Cheek! You’re serious?!”
Ahn Eunho, hasty and miserly, made his decision faster than anyone else.
“Their name is Triangle of Color! A terrrrrifying person, so be careful!”
Triangle of Color.
A name I’d never heard before. Was it a nickname or a trait?
Crash!
Ahn Eunho smashed the glass with his elbow and grabbed a long spear as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
The spear unleashed a murky aura in all directions, which was then absorbed into Ahn Eunho’s body.
“Kuha! Ahaha! Kuhahahaha!”
Ahn Eunho laughed wickedly, holding the spear, as if possessed by something sinister.
[Finally! Finally, I have a body! Like the heroes of chaotic times, it is time for the Long Spear to rise again!]
“Ahahaha! This feeling…! It’s incredible!”
Both the weapon and its wielder seemed elated.
Well, as long as they’re having fun….
Ahn Eunho, trembling with excitement, approached the next glass case.
Crash!
Onto the next.
Crash!
And another.
[The Demon Sword Gram has arrived! No blade on this earth can stand against me!]
[The unparalleled shield has descended! No spear can pierce me; my name is Shield of Purity!]
One by one.
Crash!
Relentlessly.
Crash!
Ahn Eunho collected the weapons.
And with each acquisition, the murky aura from the artifacts consumed him further. Soon, I couldn’t even see Ahn Eunho anymore.
Through the shrouding smoke, only his eyes shone, gleaming like those of a nocturnal rodent.
“Hehe… hihihihi!”
[Intruder detected.]
[Activating defense measures of .]
[Security systems 1 through 6 are now operational.]
[Draining intruder’s life force.]
Evil Spirit Sealing Room.
So that was the true name of this space, something the map hadn’t revealed. The dazzling treasures weren’t treasures at all—they were traps disguised as such.
“If you’d seen Indiana Jones, Ahn Eunho, you wouldn’t have fallen for this.”
Whenever something looks too good to be true, you should start doubting it.
.
.
.
<Leonidas’s Sandals>.
.
Each one screamed with delight.
“Kiiiiaaaack!”
Through Ahn Eunho’s mouth.
The self-proclaimed genuine artifacts began absorbing his life force to become truly genuine.
“They really went all out on this necromantic trap!”
These were never meant to be traps. They were just fakes who mistakenly believed they were real.
“Kraaaaahhh!”
That’s why they sought human life force—to fully realize themselves as genuine artifacts. Ahn Eunho howled in agony.
“It hurts! What’s happening?! It hurts!”
“Ahn Eunho…. Great legacies often come with curses.”
“Uuuhhh, it hurts! It really hurts!”
Of course, it would be unbearable. Those weapons are deeply cursed.
To become legendary, they must cut people down. The more they cut, the greater they become. They keep cutting to leave their name in history and establish their legacy.
Eventually, all that’s left is the curse—an ominous shadow that betrays their former glory.
“You’re not a beastman, Eunho. You’re human.”
“Graaaahhh! No, I’m a rat beastman! It hurts! It really hurts!”
Ahn Eunho was human.
But he was the only one who didn’t know that.
Just like these weapons.
They didn’t realize they were fakes.
Ignorant of their evil, they consumed Ahn Eunho.
“You… you’re the target of my contract!” Ahn Eunho shouted, stepping closer.
“Grrk… I don’t think I promised to let you live, though!”
“Wait… now, of all times? Your work ethic is way too strong!”
“Triangle of Color! They’re soooo terrifying!”
Triangle of Color. That name again. I had to remember it.
Ahn Eunho staggered forward.
But his body was already at its limit.
“We will shake the world once more!”
“We will cut flesh, burn bones, and rise again!”
No… this wasn’t even human anymore. Ahn Eunho had merged with the murky presence, becoming something else.
“Hmph. Everything’s going according to plan so far.”
The necromancers’ clever security measures were working perfectly.
But… was I forgetting something?
“Slash, conquer, triumph, dominate, ascend, become great….”
A black message appeared before my eyes, dark as the color of ruin itself.
[Destruction has descended.]
[Ahn Eunho’s durability increases.]
[Ahn Eunho’s life force surges.]
[Ahn Eunho’s presence intensifies.]
The message was simple yet horrifying.
Destruction difficulty.
This world was one of destruction difficulty.
“Damn it… couldn’t they have told me sooner?”
I looked up at the ceiling.
There hung a revolver, swaying from a rope.
“So this is the Evil Spirit Sealing Room.”
The necromancers had a reason to install such a heavy-handed trap.
Somewhere in here, an evil spirit was sealed.
- Roo
oo!!! - Roo!
Right there.
The revolver called out to me. At the same time, Ahn Eunho charged at me.
“Gyaaaaaaaahhh—!”
Though Ahn Eunho’s body was breaking down, it hadn’t completely fallen apart.
He survived curses that should have killed him several times over, buoyed by the destruction difficulty buff.
Ahn Eunho swung the Long Spear and Gram wildly.
“…How do I dodge this?”
I retreated. The weapons’ swings were deadly.
I had to evade Ahn Eunho’s relentless attacks at least once to free the revolver from its rope.
At that moment—
[You have witnessed the malice of fakes.]
[Your spiritual foundation is now enriched. You are close to an epiphany.]
[A new trait has awakened.]
[You have gained the unique trait .]
With a crackle, blue sparks burst from my eyes.
“About time!”
Ahn Eunho charged at me And so did I.
Finally, a path forward had revealed itself.
I could now see what had been hidden.
(To be continued)
