Book 1 Chapter 578

When Kal opened his eyes, pitch-black darkness engulfed his vision.

'What is this?'

Kal held his breath and tensed his entire body.

Even as a failing student, Kal had somehow kept up with Lumen’s educational curriculum.

As such, he was quite familiar with the world of heroes.

That’s why he could easily tell that the current situation was an unexpected one.

'Lord Lumen's world?'

Kal quickly assessed the situation without letting his guard down.

'The heroes of the Genesis are said to have trapped Erebus within their worlds, right? In the process, the Hero Records of the Genesis heroes that could be used as an escape route for Erebus were all discarded.'

Only one Genesis Hero Record remained intact.

They said it was only the world that imprisoned Erebus.

'If I'm in Lord Lumen's world, it means I came in as a piece of a discarded page.'

Kal broke into a cold sweat.

'Leo said before that Lord Seirune appeared in the present world because it was him, didn't he?'

And at that time, the fragment of Erebus that appeared was a part of Erebus trying to escape the hero's world.

'This place can also be used as a passage, right?'

Recalling Erebus, whom he encountered during the summer vacation training camp, Kal shivered involuntarily.

'The priority is to figure out where and when this is.'

Place and time.

That was the key to conquering the hero’s world.

'By the way, why is it so dark that I can't see anything? I think I'm lying in bed, though.'

'A prison? No, the feel of the bed is high quality.'

Moreover, the dampness and smell characteristic of a prison were absent.

'I think I can smell a nice scent from somewhere.'

It was clear that he was in a room somewhere.

'Midnight? No, even then, the absence of light to this extent….'

Kal slowly sat up.

At that moment, he felt a faint rustle of movement beside him.

Kal froze.

'Person? Enemy?'

Since he had no idea what the situation was, Kal felt all his senses sharpen.

Judging that the other party had no intention of attacking, Kal softly chanted a spell.

"Light."

*Pop-!*

A small light appeared, dispelling the darkness.

At that moment, Kal's eyes met those of a woman he had never seen before.

"…"

"…"

Kal froze as their eyes met.

The same was true for the other person.

Kal's lips moved.

Then, the face of the naked woman lying in the same bed as Kal turned icy.

*Fwaa-!*

The woman, wrapping herself in the blanket, put distance between herself and Kal like lightning and, for some reason, picked up a rope lying on the floor.

And she swung it like a whip.

*Whirrrrrr-! Thwack!*

"Kghk!"

Kal, his neck caught, stumbled.

The woman pulled Kal and dragged him off the bed.

*Splat-! Thud-!*

The woman, pressing down on Kal's back as he fell forward with a soft foot, spoke.

"Gah! You! Are, are you Eliza? It's me! It's me! Kal Thomas! Calm down!"

At those words, the woman, Eliza, paused.

"Kal Thomas?"

At those words, Eliza removed her foot from Kal's back.

"Blond hair…? I see. It's an possession world. But how did you recognize me?"

"Your eyes and the way you whip, it was just like you."

Kal replied slyly and tried to stand up, but Eliza quickly stepped on his head.

"Don't look up!"

"Why?"

"Are you asking that now!"

As Eliza trembled slightly with a flushed face and growled.

*Bang bang-*

"Cleri. What are you doing, making so much noise in the middle of the night!"

At the voice of a middle-aged woman from outside, Kal and Eliza froze.

Eliza removed her foot from Kal's head.

Kal looked up and met Eliza's eyes.

'Cleri? It sounds like a man's name, but also like a woman's name.'

'Being alone means this room is for one person.'

Judging by the size of the room and the furniture, it was the size for one person to live in.

"Did you bring another female student into your room? I warned you repeatedly that if you do that one more time, I'll convene the disciplinary committee?"

As soon as those words were finished, Eliza ran to the wardrobe.

Kal hastily shoved the scattered clothes on the floor under the bed and quickly got dressed.

*Creeak-!*

"What's all the noise? I was sleeping."

Kal asked groggily.

'Wow, she's like a dorm supervisor.'

The middle-aged woman wearing glasses, standing at the door, exuded the air of a typical dormitory supervisor.

Behind her, a male supervisor stood with a stern expression.

*Tap-tap-tap-*

The dormitory supervisor entered the room.

"Were you sleeping?"

"What else would I be doing at this hour?"

The other person gave a suspicious look.

'Please leave. It would be troublesome if this caused a commotion!'

Kal had no information about the person he had possessed.

If a commotion occurred in such a situation, he couldn't handle it.

The moment he aroused suspicion from those around him that he had become strange, the plan would be ruined.

The dormitory supervisor looked at Kal suspiciously, then scoffed at the neat interior of the room.

"Hmph, well. If it's you, who takes pride in breaking school rules, you wouldn't hide a female student but would shamelessly protest, asking what the problem is. Didn't you say you weren't afraid of the disciplinary committee at all?"

'How messed up is the person I've possessed?'

Kal realized he had possessed the body of a reckless degenerate and let out a hollow laugh.

"But remember this, Cleri Jessian! Not only students from other hero academies but also Lord Rhodia, the Dragon of Genesis, are visiting Lumen! As student council president, if you have at least some self-awareness, you must absolutely refrain from bringing female students into your room during this period!"

"Yes, I understand."

"You're obedient. Have you gained self-awareness as student council president? Or do you have something up your sleeve?"

"What do you mean, up my sleeve?"

Kal showed his usual sly demeanor and waved his hand.

The dormitory supervisor scoffed and closed the door.

As the door closed, Kal leaned against it and sank to the floor.

"I thought I was going to get caught up in trouble."

As he let out a sigh of relief, the wardrobe door opened, and Eliza poked her head out.

"Hurry and give me this woman's clothes."

"Alright."

Kal took out the clothes he had pushed under the bed.

'It's a situation that would make anyone flustered, but she didn't bat an eye.'

Recalling the situation from a moment ago, Kal clicked his tongue.

She was lying naked in bed with a man she didn't know, and instead of being flustered, she subdued him first.

'Well, the girls at our school are all terrifying.'

It would be rare to find a Lumen student screaming and acting weak there.

'They'd probably try to crush the opponent first. They're scary, our students.'

Kal let out a hollow laugh.

"A school uniform? It seems to be Lumen Academy."

Seeing the female school uniform, identical to the one from their era, Kal identified the location and turned his head to hand the clothes to Eliza.

"Here, I have something good."

From behind the wardrobe door, Eliza threw something at Kal.

Kal, catching it, let out a hollow laugh.

"An eyepatch?"

"Wear it. If you take it off, I'll kill you."

"Yes~ yes~"

Kal put on the eyepatch.

*Swish-* *Click-* *Swish-* *Swish-*

The sound of clothes being put on could be heard.

Feeling awkward for no reason, Kal spoke playfully to change the mood.

"A rope and an eyepatch. It's a bit embarrassing."

"What is?"

"You know, Eliza, do you have any rope marks on your body?"

"How did you know?"

"…"

Kal shut his mouth at Eliza's calm response.

"Hmph! Did you undress me in that short time?"

"No! I looked straight ahead!"

"Then how did you know about the rope marks?"

"…"

"How vulgar."

Although Kal felt wronged, he had no choice but to remain silent.

"Anyway, I'm done dressing."

At those words, Kal removed the eyepatch.

"This girl's name is Megan Shell. She's a 5th-year Summoning major."

After checking the name tag and the major emblem, Eliza clicked her tongue.

"And she seems to be the lover of Cleri Jessian, the person you've possessed."

"Yeah."

Kal scratched his head.

"Then what does this Cleri person do? I know he's a reckless degenerate."

"Cleri Jessian. He's a Magic major and was the first student council president of Lumen. You should have learned about him in your first-year classes."

"You skip class often, yet you know so much?"

"Hmph. This is common knowledge. By the way, you've possessed a famous honor student who doesn't suit you at all."

"He seems very far from being an honor student."

Kal scratched his cheek.

"Anyway, let's sort out the situation. Before that."

Eliza crossed her arms and lifted her chin.

Seeing Eliza's arrogant expression, Kal looked puzzled.

"What happened just now."

"Yeah?"

"If you so much as open your mouth anywhere, I'll chase you to the ends of hell."

With a slightly flushed face, Eliza growled fiercely.

Even though it wasn't her own body, it was certainly an awkward situation for both of them.

"Even though I'm notoriously loose-lipped, I'm not the type to blab about things like that."

Kal shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'Don't worry.'

Eliza nodded.

Then, she furrowed her brow and rubbed her wrist.

"By the way, I don't know what you did with the rope to hurt so much."

Seeing Eliza look bewildered, Kal smiled slyly.

"You act like a delinquent thug, but you're definitely from a prestigious family."

"Are you saying you want to die?"

"I mean pure! I mean pure!"

As Eliza tried to tie her neck with the rope, Kal shouted in panic.

***

"What in the world is going on?"

"Why did the hero's world suddenly activate?"

"It's not planned! It's a hero dungeon!"

A commotion erupted at the Erek training ground.

Professors preparing for the match rushed to assess the situation.

*Roar roar roar-!*

The uninformed spectators cheered, thinking the match had begun.

Leo, watching the scene, narrowed his eyes and brought his index and middle fingers to his temples.

-Melina.

-Yes, Lord Leo.

- Cut off the live broadcast magic.

-Understood.

Leo, contacting Melina from afar, looked at the center of the Erek training ground.

As he deployed his super senses, he felt a chill below his neck for some reason.

It felt as if a knife was at his throat.

He had felt this countless times.

'A hero dungeon has appeared in the center of Lumen.'

It was an impossible story.

Lumen's job was to conquer hero dungeons and retrieve Hero Records.

If a Hero Record had been in the middle of the Erek training ground, it would have been discovered long ago.

Leo, who had survived countless life-or-death situations, quickly reasoned the situation.

'Is it Tartarus? Why would they do something like this?'

Even if they activated a hero dungeon, it posed no significant threat to Lumen.

They could conquer it anytime they wished.

Normally, additional entry into the hero's world would be impossible.

However, Leo had confirmed through experiments that entry was possible even into a hero's world that was being conquered.

The privilege of the owner of the Hero Record.

'Whose Hero Record is it? What are they aiming for?'

As Leo furrowed his brow.

*Whoosh-*

Flames erupted in the center of the Erek training ground.

Seeing that, Leo's eyes twitched.

'Flames of calamity?'

*ROOOOAR-*

A pillar of black fire shot up.