Book 1 Chapter 582
“Are you guys out of your minds?”
Aizonia, in the form of Aerin, and Arga, in the form of Seira, were kneeling before Seirun, the Mage of the Comet.
Runia, possessing Seirun, continued with a bewildered expression.
“You’re supposed to be sophomores. And not just any sophomores, but the valedictorian and salutatorian of Seirun and Aizonia. Are you really forgetting the situation and acting as usual?”
At the harsh reprimand, Arga and Aerin drooped their ears.
“Now, now. Calm down. Thanks to you two, we were able to figure each other out this quickly, weren’t we?”
Chen Xia, in the form of a first-year student of Seirun Academy, calmed Runia down with a smile.
Inside a classroom in Lumern, thirty-two students were gathered.
All of them were conquerors of the Hero’s World.
Runia pressed her temples.
Seeing Runia, Kal said,
“Runia and Aerin are possessing Seirun and Aizonia, right? Then who is possessing Demian?”
“Driana. She’s with Lodia in the Hero’s Tower right now.”
“Is no one possessing Lodia?”
At the question, Runia recalled Lodia punching herself in the solar plexus.
The image of the Dragon of Genesis shattered into pieces.
Of course, Runia had experienced enough great heroes.
She had been prepared for the Heroes of Genesis to be different from her imagination, so there was surprisingly no mental damage.
“It seems so.”
“This is troublesome.”
In this era, the words of a Hero of Genesis were law.
The reason why a major incident didn’t occur even during the previous commotion was that Runia and Aerin, in the forms of Seirun and Aizonia, had smoothed things over.
“If all the conquerors were Heroes of Genesis, it would be easy to resolve the situation.”
Kal licked his lips regretfully.
Conquering the Hero’s World meant overcoming the trials that hero experienced.
The conquest process didn’t matter as long as one could overcome the trials.
If one could find a conquest route that the hero themselves hadn’t even considered and achieve better results, it would be an over-fulfillment.
However, such over-fulfillment was not easy.
The Hero’s World, realized through the Hero Record, was the best outcome achieved by the protagonist of the world struggling in that situation.
As such, even if one was familiar with the conquest method, it was difficult to satisfy the conditions for over-fulfillment.
Rather, attempting over-fulfillment could lead to the distortion of the situation and failure of the conquest.
Therefore, the best conquest method for conquering the Hero’s World was to follow actual history as much as possible.
That was also why, in a possession-type world, one had to act as the possessed character.
However, once one obtained a position where they could control the situation themselves, the difficulty of conquest was greatly reduced.
“Let’s share what we’ve found first.”
Kal’s words were met with a nod from Runia.
“First, the scope of this world is limited to within Lumern Academy. We cannot go outside Lake Lumelia.”
Aerin, who had possessed Aizonia, spoke first, relaying the information she had gathered by exploring the Hero’s World the previous night.
Following that, the students shared the information they had each discovered.
“It wasn’t recorded in history.”
Arga folded his arms and fell into thought.
“We don’t even know the conquest objective right now.”
As Arga raised his head, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Conquest Objective: -]
The conquest objective, which was the most basic guide for conquering the Hero’s World, was blank.
It was a common occurrence in Hero Dungeons, but with no historical information available, it felt like the future was dark.
At that moment, one of the Aizonia students raised their hand.
“The difficulty of the Hero’s World doesn’t change depending on the hero’s rank, does it? It might not be that difficult for Lumern’s world.”
Everyone looked at the student at their words.
“The current era is a few years after the end of the Second Coming of Calamity, isn’t it? I don’t think there will be trials that are impossible to handle.”
As everyone nodded at the reasonable statement,
“No.”
Kal sighed deeply.
“This conquest will be very dangerous.”
Seeing Kal deny her opinion, the Aizonia student who had voiced her opinion looked slightly displeased and then said dismissively to Kal,
“It might be for you. You’re a weakling who could be expelled from Lumern at any moment. I don’t know what kind of idiot chose you as a representative, but you don’t seem very helpful. Please just don’t get in the way.”
As the Aizonia student’s provocative words were spoken, Kal scratched his cheek.
*Shhh—Fzzt-!*
“If you’re looking for a fight, I accept.”
Durian, in the form of an elf, had suddenly drawn his sword and held it to the Aizonia student’s neck.
It wasn’t just Durian.
Chelsea, in the form of a beastman, also pointed her staff at the opponent’s back, exuding a sharp aura.
As the two approached silently, the Aizonia student froze.
“Kal is the representative of Lumern chosen through our meeting. Please don’t insult him.”
Celia, with her arms folded, narrowed her eyes sharply.
Seeing her, a smile formed on Kal’s lips.
‘I didn’t waste my school life.’
“Only our school’s students can look down on Kal.”
However, Kal’s face crumpled at Chelsea’s subsequent words.
“Why do you think it won’t be easy?”
Abad asked with a perplexed expression.
“We usually know that the Heroes of Genesis ended the Second Coming of Calamity and brought peace. But think about it. That’s not the case, is it?”
“……Indeed.”
Abad stroked his chin.
A truth that had been unknown to the world until now.
The Heroes of Genesis did not completely eradicate the fragments of Erebus.
Erebus was sealed in the world of Genesis.
“Of course, we won’t have to fight against Erebus, who constantly resurrects. But the fact that all the Heroes of Genesis have gathered surely means it’s related to him.”
The atmosphere among the students became heavy at his words.
“Critically, the conquest of the Hero’s World itself is not the problem.”
Kal said with a serious expression.
“What do you mean?”
Durian furrowed his brow.
“Do you remember the flames of calamity appearing when Seirun had her reincarnation?”
Runia answered in their stead.
“That was because Erebus was trying to escape to the outside world through the Hero’s World.”
Everyone in the room’s faces hardened at her words.
“Whether we conquer this world or not also determines whether Erebus breaks the seal and escapes.”
As Runia spoke, everyone in the room wore a shocked expression.
*Knock-knock-*
A knock was heard.
Driana, in the form of Demian, opened the door and entered.
“Runia, Aerin. Lodia is looking for the Heroes of Genesis.”
At her words, Runia and Aerin stood up with puzzled expressions.
“And the student council president of Lumern should come along too?”
“Why me?”
Kal asked with a puzzled expression.
Seeing Kal, Driana said with a serious face,
“It seems Lumern has gone missing. She said she wanted to ask if you know anything related to that.”
***
The center of Lumern.
The very top of the Hero’s Tower.
Kal scanned the principal’s office.
As Lumern had thousands of years of history, the campus scenery was very different from Kal’s era.
However, this principal’s office remained largely unchanged.
The only difference was that where the portraits of past principals hung, only Lumern’s portrait hung.
‘Speaking of which, Lumern is missing?’
Kal’s expression turned serious.
This was Lumern’s world.
And the scope of the world was limited to Lumern Academy.
Therefore, Lumern must be somewhere within Lumern Academy.
But missing?
Kal scratched his head.
‘This is troublesome.’
Kal, with his arms folded, recalled the stories about the world of Genesis that Leo had told him.
‘You said that the masters of the world of Genesis are not fakes embodied in the Hero Record, but all living, real people, right? If so, it’s highly likely that Lumern here is himself.’
Meeting such a Lumern would not be a difficult conquest goal.
In existing Hero’s Worlds, the world would distort the moment one revealed it was fake, but this world was special.
The problem was after that.
‘If Lumern’s world has become a Hero Dungeon, it means Erebus is rampaging, doesn’t it? Like Seirun’s world.’
At that time, Seirun’s world had turned into ashes and was on the verge of becoming an exit for Erebus to escape.
‘Leo said he closed it with his own power. Perhaps we might have to do that.’
It was unavoidable that Lumern’s disappearance would be inconvenient, as they didn’t know when such a situation would arise.
‘But the world itself looks very intact.’
The conquest objective was still unknown, but judging by its current appearance, Lumern Academy seemed very peaceful.
‘Seirun’s world was said to be burning with black flames.’
If so, there might be time left until it became a portal.
‘We need to find Lumern before then.’
“Where on earth have you gone?”
Kal sighed and looked at Lumern’s portrait.
After gazing at the portrait for a moment, Kal discovered a phrase.
‘That lesson has been here since then.’
“Transcend your limits.”
A lesson left by Lumern for posterity.
‘I may not resemble him in any other way, but I can confidently say I resemble him in that regard.’
Kal gave a wry smile.
If he hadn’t continuously transcended his limits, he wouldn’t be here now.
‘I truly struggled in a pathetic and ugly way.’
Thinking that far, a certain person’s words suddenly came to Kal’s mind.
‘You are the first student in Lumern Academy’s history to not resemble Lumern at all, Kal Thomas.’
“……”
It was a sharp evaluation that pierced his heart.
He had acted nonchalant then, but.
The words of the gods were like a verdict to Kal.
A verdict that he, who did not resemble the perfect Lumern in the gods’ eyes at all, could never become a hero.
Recalling those words, Kal felt something strange.
‘Didn’t Lumern say he was someone who didn’t struggle foolishly and ugly?’
It was strange.
The Lumern that Kal knew was a human who saved the world by transcending countless limits.
However, a person who transcends limits is a foolish and ugly struggling human.
Like himself.
But if that wasn’t the case,
‘Doesn’t that mean he gave up on transcending his limits?’
It was an oxymoron.
A thought that was almost an insult.
But Kal could swear.
If nothing else, he had continued to transcend his limits without giving up.
‘Giving up on struggling and failing to transcend limits negates my efforts over the past two years at Lumern.’
Thinking that far, the conversation with Leo came to Kal’s mind.
‘What do you think of Lumern? I’ve never met him, but he’s a proud junior.’
‘As expected, that’s what you think.’
‘Well, it seems the problem was that he respected me a little too much.’
‘Looking at your records, it’s hard not to respect you.’
‘That’s right. The problem is that he tried to become like me.’
“Lumern… wanted to become like the Hero of the Beginning. But he couldn’t.”
Kal murmured softly.
“He gave up on becoming like Leo. That means he gave up on eradicating Erebus.”
He couldn’t become like Leo.
That might have been Lumern’s limit.
Kal clenched his fist.
“That’s why he found another way.”
Since he couldn’t become it himself, he entrusted it to future generations.
Hoping that someone would appear who would transcend their limits without giving up, unlike himself.
Kal clenched his fist.
‘Lumern has gone to find the gods right now.’
***
*Gooooooo-!*
Kyle stood before a pillar of fire.
“……A mere mass of power has such strength?”
The firepower intensified.
Kyle clenched and unclenched his fist.
‘It’s incomparable to the one I met in Seirun’s world before.’
Kyle’s gaze turned to the center of the black flames.
[Leo. Are the children inside the Hero’s World okay?]
With this much firepower, the inside of the Hero’s World was undoubtedly in chaos.
To Melina’s worried voice, Kyle replied,
“They’ll be fine.”
Kyle curled the corners of his mouth.
“There’s someone who won’t give up and will struggle to the end.”