Editor : Amethyst00



When Carl opened his eyes, pitch-black darkness devoured his vision.

‘What is this?’

Carl held his breath and tensed his entire body.

Even as a failing student, Carl had somehow kept up with Lumene’s curriculum.

Because of that, he was familiar enough with the world of heroes to recognize when something was off.

‘This is Lord Lumene’s world?’

Carl remained on edge as he rapidly assessed the situation.

‘They said the Heroes of Dawn trapped Erebos in their own world, didn’t they? And during that process, all the Hero Records of the Dawn heroes, which could be used as escape routes by Erebos, were destroyed.’

Only one complete Hero Record from Dawn remained intact—

The one containing the world that sealed Erebos.

‘If I’m inside Lord Lumene’s world, then that means I’ve entered one of the discarded pages.’

A cold sweat trickled down Carl’s face.

‘Didn’t Leo say that Seiren appeared in the current world before and claimed to be herself?’

And back then, the fragment of Erebos that appeared was said to be a piece of the Erebos trying to escape the hero’s world.

‘That means… this place could also be used as a gateway?’

Carl’s whole body broke out in goosebumps as he recalled the encounter with Erebos during summer training camp.

‘First, I need to figure out where this is… and when.’

Place and time—

Those were the keys to conquering a Hero’s World.

‘Still, why is it so dark that I can’t even see in front of me? I think I’m lying on a bed.’

‘A prison? No, the bed feels too luxurious.’

Besides, it didn’t have the dampness or stench typical of a cell.

‘There’s even a nice scent coming from somewhere.’

He was clearly inside a room, though he didn’t know where.

‘Midnight? No, even then, this lack of light is…’

Carl slowly began to sit up.

That’s when he felt a sudden presence beside him.

Startled, Carl froze.

‘A person? An enemy?’

He had no idea what was going on, and his senses were sharpened to the limit.

Once he determined that the person didn’t seem hostile, Carl whispered a small spell.

“Light.”

Pop—!

A small flame appeared, pushing away the darkness.

In that moment, Carl locked eyes with a woman he had never seen before.

“…”

“…” Carl froze.

The woman did too.

Carl’s lips moved awkwardly.

The naked woman lying beside him on the same bed suddenly turned cold.

Fwoosh—!

Wrapping herself in the blanket, she darted away from Carl like a lightning bolt, and for some reason, she picked up a rope lying on the floor.

Then she swung it like a whip.

Whoosh—! Snap!

“Gah!”

The rope wrapped tightly around Carl’s neck, making him stumble.

The woman pulled him down from the bed without hesitation.

Thud—! Slam—!

With Carl face-down on the floor, the woman pinned his head with a soft but firm foot.

“Kehek! You—Eliza, right? It’s me! Me! Carl Thomas! Calm down!”

At his words, the woman—Eliza—paused.

“Carl Thomas?”

She removed her foot from Carl’s head.

“Blonde…? I see. It’s a possession-type world. But how did you know it was me?”

“Your eyes… and the way you whipped me. Dead giveaway.”

As Carl tried to rise with a sly grin, Eliza quickly stomped on his head again.

“Don’t lift your head!”

“Why?”

“Is that even a question?!”

Eliza growled, her face red and her shoulders trembling slightly.

Bang, bang—

“Claric! What the hell are you doing making all this noise in the middle of the night?!”

The voice of a middle-aged woman rang out from outside, freezing both Carl and Eliza in place.

Eliza quickly removed her foot from Carl’s head.

Carl lifted his head and met her eyes.

‘Claric? Sounds like a name that could be either male or female.’

‘Being alone means this room is probably single-occupancy.’

From the size of the room and the furniture, it was clearly meant for one person.

“Don’t tell me you dragged another girl into your room again? I’ve warned you that if you pull this stunt one more time, I’ll call the disciplinary committee!”

As soon as those words were spoken, Eliza dashed toward the wardrobe.

Carl frantically shoved the scattered clothes on the floor under the bed and began dressing quickly.

Clatter—!

“What’s with all the noise when people are trying to sleep?”

Carl asked groggily, feigning a sleepy tone.

‘Wow. She’s the definition of a dorm warden.’

The middle-aged woman standing at the door with glasses gave off the exact aura of a stereotypical dorm matron.

Behind her stood a stern-faced male warden as well.

Step— Step—

The female warden walked into the room.

“Were you asleep?”

“What else would I be doing at this hour?”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

‘Please just go. If this turns into a commotion, I’m screwed!’

Carl had no idea who the person he had possessed was.

If any incident occurred, he wouldn’t be able to respond properly.

The moment he was suspected of being strange by those around him, everything would fall apart.

The dorm warden stared at Carl, glanced around the spotless room, then scoffed.

“Hmph. If it were really you, the kind who brags about breaking school rules, you wouldn’t bother hiding a girl. You’d just say ‘What’s the problem?’ and protest shamelessly. Wasn’t it you who said you weren’t afraid of the disciplinary committee at all?”

‘What kind of lunatic did I possess?’

Realizing that he was in the body of a total scumbag, Carl let out a dry laugh.

“But remember this, Claric Jessian! Right now, Lumene is hosting not just students from other hero academies but also the Dawn Dragon, Lady Rodia! As student council president, if you have even a shred of self-awareness, refrain from bringing girls into your room during this period!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So obedient. Have you finally developed some sense of responsibility as student council president? Or are you plotting something?”

“Plotting? Hardly.”

Carl waved his hands in mock innocence, his usual cheeky demeanor on display.

The warden scoffed again and closed the door.

As soon as the door shut, Carl slumped against it and sank to the floor.

“Thought I was about to be dragged into something.”

As he let out a sigh of relief, the wardrobe creaked open and Eliza peeked out.

“Hurry up and hand over this lady’s clothes.”

“Alright, alright.”

Carl pulled out the clothes he had stuffed under the bed.

‘She’s in a situation that should be utterly mortifying, yet she doesn’t even flinch.’

Carl clicked his tongue, recalling the earlier moment.

They had woken up naked in bed next to a stranger, but instead of panicking, Eliza had gone straight into subduing him.

‘Well, all our school’s girls are terrifying.’

At Lumene, it was rare to find a student who screamed and acted weak.

‘They’d probably just beat the crap out of the guy first. Scary, those girls.’

Carl chuckled.

“A school uniform? Must be Lumene Academy, huh.”

Recognizing the familiar uniform, Carl turned his head and handed Eliza her clothes.

“Here, this should work.”

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

He caught it and let out a hollow laugh.

“A blindfold?”

“Put it on. If you take it off, I’ll kill you.”

“Yes ma’am~”

Carl donned the blindfold.

Rustle— Snap— Rustle, rustle—

The sound of her getting dressed filled the room.

Feeling awkward, Carl tried to lighten the mood.

“Blindfolds and ropes. This is kinda embarrassing, you know.”

“What is?”

“You know. Eliza… do you happen to have rope marks on your body?”

“How did you know?”

“…”

Carl fell silent at her nonchalant reply.

“Hmph. So you looked me over thoroughly in that short time?”

“No, I turned away right away!”

“Then how did you know about the rope marks?”

“…”

“Pervert.”

Carl couldn’t even defend himself and clamped his mouth shut.

“Anyway, I’m dressed.”

At that, Carl removed the blindfold.

“This girl’s name is Megan Shell. 5th-year summoning major.”

Eliza clicked her tongue after checking the name tag and class emblem.

“And the guy you possessed, Claric Jessian, seems to be her lover.”

“Got it.”

Carl scratched his head.

“So who exactly is this Claric guy? I know he’s a delinquent, but what else?”

“Claric Jessian. Magic major and Lumene’s first student council president. You should’ve learned that in your first-year history class.”

“You skipped class all the time, but you sure know a lot.”

“Hmph. That’s basic knowledge. Still, you possessed someone completely unlike yourself—a famous honor student.”

“He feels nothing like an honor student, though.”

Carl scratched his cheek.

“Anyway, let’s sort out the situation. But before that…”

Eliza crossed her arms and raised her chin haughtily.

Carl looked puzzled by her smug expression.

“What happened just now.”

“Huh?”

“If you so much as breathe a word of it somewhere, I’ll chase you to the ends of hell.”

Eliza growled fiercely, her face slightly red.

Even if it wasn’t her own body, it was still an embarrassing situation for both.

“My mouth may be loose, but I’m not the type to brag about that kind of thing.”

Carl shrugged to reassure her.

Eliza nodded.

Then she frowned and rubbed her wrist.

“Still, I don’t get it. Why does my wrist hurt like this from using that rope?”

Carl grinned slyly at her baffled expression.

“You act like a street thug, but you really are a noble lady.”

“Are you saying you want to die?”

“I mean it in a pure way! Pure!”

When Eliza tried to strangle him with the rope, Carl screamed in terror.

bl

“What the hell is going on?”

“Why did the Hero’s World suddenly activate?!”

“This wasn’t scheduled! It’s a Hero Dungeon!”

Chaos erupted at the Erek training grounds.

Professors preparing for the match rushed to assess the situation.

Waaaaaaa—!

The audience, unaware of what was happening, erupted in cheers, thinking the match had begun.

Leo, observing the crowd, narrowed his eyes and touched his temple with two fingers.

["Melina."]

["Yes, Lord Leo?"]

["Cut the broadcast spell to the outside."]

["Understood."]

After contacting Melina from afar, Leo turned to face the center of the training ground.

As he activated his extrasensory perception, he felt a strange chill below his neck.

Like a blade was pressed to his throat.

He’d felt this sensation countless times.

‘A Hero Dungeon… in the very center of Lumene?’

It made no sense.

Lumene’s purpose was to conquer Hero Dungeons and recover Hero Records.

If a Hero Record had been at the center of the Erek training ground, it would’ve been discovered long ago.

Having survived countless near-death experiences, Leo quickly deduced the situation.

‘Tartaros? Did they do this? But why?’

Even if someone activated a Hero Dungeon, it posed no real threat to Lumene.

They could conquer it anytime they wanted.

Normally, entering an already-active Hero’s World was impossible.

But Leo had confirmed through experiments that entry into an active Hero’s World was indeed possible.

A privilege only the owner of the Hero Record possessed.

‘Whose Hero Record is it? What’s the goal?’

As Leo narrowed his eyes—

Fwoooosh—!

Flames erupted in the very center of the Erek grounds.

Leo’s pupils contracted.

‘Flame of Calamity?’

BOOOOM—!

A black pillar of flame shot up.