Book 1 Chapter 583

Kal swallowed hard, looking at the four people before him.

'Looking at them like this, the pressure is immense, isn't it?'

There were five seats in front of him.

And everyone was seated there, except for one.

'Seirun, the Mage of the Comet; Azonia, the Great Warrior; Damian the Unyielding.'

The great heroes who saved the world again during the second coming of the calamity 3000 years ago.

'Their presence is overwhelming when they're silent.'

After briefly glancing at Runia, Eiran, and Driana, Kal's gaze lingered for a moment on the empty seat.

It was undoubtedly Lumen's empty seat.

Kal finally looked at the woman sitting in the center.

'Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis.'

If there was Lysinas, the King of Wisdom, during the era of the calamity.

There was Rodia during the second coming of the calamity.

Her achievement was not simply rallying the heroes who would defeat the fragments of Erebus.

'The First Conqueror.'

Rodia was the one who first discovered the world of heroes and then conquered it.

'With such an achievement, it's no wonder she's called the Genesis herself.'

Kal flinched under Rodia's gaze, which seemed to pierce through everything.

"Clary Jessian, Student Council President of Lumen."

"You called for me, Rodia, Dragon of Genesis."

As Kal bowed his head, Rodia spoke.

"As you know, the Twilight Knight, Lumen, is currently missing."

Rodia's eyes narrowed.

"Do you know anything about it?"

Kal hesitated, unsure how to answer.

He couldn't be sure, but Kal had a guess as to where Lumen had gone.

'The place where gods are.'

However, he couldn't tell Rodia that fact outright.

The existence of gods would only be known 3000 years from now.

Mentioning it would be twisting history.

'Perhaps the heroes of Genesis might know, but a mere student council president shouldn't be privy to such crucial information.'

It was ironic that someone as significant as the student council president of Lumen Academy was referred to as a mere student council president, but compared to the beings before him, it wasn't odd at all.

"I don't know."

"Really? That's quite disappointing."

Rodia's eyes briefly blurred before sharpening again.

'Perhaps at this point, no one even knows about the existence of gods.'

The heroes of Genesis left countless legends.

However, among them, the hero's tale most loved by people was undoubtedly Lumen's.

Not just humans.

Lumen's story was loved by all races.

The reason was simple.

After the second coming of the calamity ended.

Lumen was the one who adventured the most in the world among the heroes of Genesis.

Rodia researched the Hero Records in Dragonia and left her findings for posterity.

Seirun reinterpreted the magic of the stars and re-established it as the inherent magic of the elves, while Damian focused on collecting and restoring the divine artifacts left by Dwenoga.

Azonia, like Arion, strived to gain the ability to shapeshift into beasts at will.

Based on the knowledge passed down in that process, "The Breath of the Valiant" was derived.

But not Lumen.

If each of them had something to pass down to posterity in their respective fields.

Lumen had nothing to pass down.

'Leo said that Lumen wanted to be like him. Perhaps Lumen blamed himself.'

For not being able to become like the Hero of the Beginning.

For not being able to replace the Hero of the Beginning.

He might have considered it all his fault for not defeating Erebus.

To posterity, Lumen's adventures would have been seen as a journey to help people.

But in reality, it was likely a journey to find the key to enter Kyle's world.

A struggle to inherit Kyle's power.

'And in the process, he would have discovered a god.'

Kal clenched his fist.

'If it's the Lumen I know, he's certainly capable of that.'

Among those living in the era of heroes, everyone had a favorite hero.

Kal was no different.

His favorite hero since childhood was none other than Lumen.

A hero who started from the bottom and saved the world single-handedly.

'Because I thought he was similar to me.'

He was a natural object of admiration for a commoner boy.

There were times when he devoured anything about Lumen, whether it was folk tales or historical records.

Recalling his younger self, Kal smiled bitterly.

'I had decent talent from a young age. Just enough to be noticeable, nothing extraordinary.'

'When I was young, I was arrogant and bragged about becoming a hero.'

But after meeting someone by chance, he cleanly abandoned that thought.

'Our obnoxious prince.'

Moira is a small kingdom.

As such, it values ability regardless of social status.

'That's the biggest advantage of our kingdom.'

Thanks to that, Kal, who came from an alchemist family and showed magical talent from a young age despite being a commoner, was given the opportunity to attend Moira National School.

There, he happened to see Duran, who was visiting the school.

'Well, he probably doesn't even remember.'

Kal shook his head, briefly recalling his first meeting with Duran.

Seeing Duran, he realized.

What the possibility of becoming a hero meant.

'After that, for some reason, I couldn't like Lumen as much as before. I was too precocious from a young age.'

He stopped talking about becoming a hero from then on.

He also stopped saying he wanted to be like Lumen at some point.

'Still, I foolishly clung to getting into Lumen.'

I wanted to become someone who was even a little closer to a hero.

To Lumen.

That's why he aimed to be a supporter and stepped into Lumen.

After a moment of reminiscing, Kal shook his thoughts away.

'What's important now is finding Lumen.'

It was certain that Lumen was somewhere in the academy.

And somewhere here, a god, Lian, also exists.

"Lumen has unnecessary responsibility. Even though it's not his fault."

Rodia suddenly sighed softly.

Kal smiled bitterly at Rodia's words.

"Yes. That's why he wouldn't suddenly disappear like this."

"Mhm. That's right. He's not the type to disappear like this."

"He's definitely somewhere in the academy."

"Mhm. That's why I asked."

"Yes?"

"…"

"I thought you guys would know."

As she said that, Rodia's eyes blurred and then sharpened again.

Seeing that, Kal felt something was off.

Rodia's gaze, which seemed to pierce through everything, continued to watch Kal.

'No, it's strange from the start.'

The heroes of Genesis had greater trust and bonds with each other than anyone else.

If only considering trust and bonds, it would be no less than that of great heroes.

When Kal answered that he didn't know to Rodia's question a moment ago.

Rodia openly expressed her disappointment.

'How could a student council president know something that even the heroes of Genesis don't?'

Moreover, her reaction afterwards was also strange.

'And now. You clearly said 'you guys,' didn't you? Not just me.'

It could be referring to the entire student body of the academy.

But he couldn't shake off the sense of unease.

As his thoughts reached that point, Kal swallowed hard.

"Rodia-nim… Could it be…?"

For a moment, Rodia brought her index finger to her lips.

Seeing that, Kal was shocked.

'She knows.'

That this is the world of heroes.

That Rodia herself is a fake.

'And that I, along with the other heroes of Genesis, are conquerors! She knows everything! What on earth is going on? How is she maintaining her sanity!'

In the world of heroes, if a conqueror reveals or is discovered as a conqueror, the conquest of the world of heroes fails.

'A character within the world of heroes would have their mind collapse upon realizing they are fake, unable to accept the situation.'

But Rodia was fine.

'Is she not bound by the constraints? No, she wouldn't be, given she told me to be quiet.'

Kal wore a bewildered expression.

But he quickly took a deep breath.

"Seirun-nim, Azonia-nim, Damian-nim."

"……?"

"I have something to say to Rodia-nim only."

At those words, the three looked at Rodia.

Rodia nodded, and the three left.

They all gave Kal bewildered looks that seemed to say, 'What are you doing?'

A moment later, Rodia, left alone in the room, smiled.

"You're a clever child, aren't you?"

"I tend to be observant."

"Mhm. Thank you for letting the others out. I'm in a bit of a precarious state. Can you tell me what you want to say quickly?"

To that question, Kal replied.

"Lumen went to find the god somewhere in the academy."

'She's a clever child, though lacking in heroic qualities.'

Rodia's eyes sparkled as she looked at Kal.

She figured it out with a small clue.

'It's not that the other conquerors were lacking.'

The clue Rodia dropped was very minor.

If she interfered any more, Rodia couldn't guarantee her own mental state.

'To deduce this much from such a small detail, your observation skills are excellent.'

The moment she thought that.

[An error has occurred in the system. Restarting the record system…]

*Clang-*

The moment the message appeared.

Rodia destroyed her own mind.

Her destroyed mind immediately returned.

'So this is what people within the world of heroes were seeing.'

Within the world of heroes, only the core figures can recognize a conqueror.

The reason the conquest fails the moment they recognize the conqueror's existence is simple.

The hero's world character, whose mind has collapsed, attacks indiscriminately.

Rodia herself doesn't know the exact mechanism.

She only found out through countless experiments.

If a core figure of the world of heroes can no longer proceed with the conquest, the conquest naturally fails.

'If an error occurs, the world collapses. But if the perpetrator of the error is dealt with, the world doesn't collapse and continues as is.'

This was also something she learned from researching the Hero Records for a long time.

'First of all, I am not the owner of this world.'

Lumen, who was here yesterday, suddenly disappeared.

And the moment Seirun, Azonia, and Damian realized that Kal, not them, was the conqueror.

The three desperately searched for Lumen.

'If the target of conquest were me, there wouldn't be such desperation.'

The moment she thought that, a message appeared.

And seeing it, Rodia didn't hesitate to destroy her own consciousness.

In the worst-case scenario, she judged that even if she died in this world, the world would be maintained.

However, for some reason, Rodia did not die.

'The moment the message appears, a new consciousness is being overlaid. The consciousness I killed is me myself, who will implement the next world after this world ends.'

Rodia broke out in a cold sweat, speculating on the reason she was maintaining her consciousness.

Coincidentally, she was forcing the world to continue with her memories intact by exploiting a loophole in the system, but it was by no means easy.

What Rodia was doing now was equivalent to killing herself every time an error occurred.

'I don't know how long my mind can last.'

The shock of destroying her own consciousness remained.

'I need to conquer this world as quickly as possible before I have problems… Huh?'

Rodia wore a puzzled expression.

The conqueror was now looking out the window.

And his face had turned pale.

"What's wrong?"

"Black flames…"

"What?"

"Can't you see it? The flame of calamity?!"

"What?"

Rodia's eyes widened as she looked where Kal was pointing.

[An error has occurred in the system. Restarting the record system…]

*Clang-*

Her mind reeled from the impact of destroying it.

Gritting her teeth, Rodia barely held onto her fading consciousness.

"I can't see anything!"

Kal maintained a grim expression.

'Is it only visible to conquerors!'