Chapter 153

Chapter 153. The Case of the Missing Candidates (7)

“Professor! This is it! This!”

*BANG!*

A red-haired youth burst into the lab without knocking.

Professor Jade sighed deeply, looking at the student who had kicked open his lab door.

“What is it this time, Candidate Oscar?”

“Artificial Holy Mark! I’ve found a clue for the research on the Artificial Holy Mark!”

“…Sigh. Are you still obsessed with that research?”

Oscar leaned in closer to Professor Jade, who was sighing heavily.

“Obsessed? This is conviction, conviction! I became your student because of your thesis on the Artificial Holy Mark, didn’t I?”

“That thesis was discarded long ago due to safety concerns.”

“That’s exactly why! I’ve found a clue that could solve that problem!”

Oscar pounded his chest and laughed confidently.

Professor Jade shook his head as he looked at Oscar.

“…Looks like the Holy Kingdom is going to be in chaos again.”

“Haha. Isn’t that a familiar situation for you, Professor?”

“Seeing the research funding decrease every year, I can’t say I’m used to it.”

Professor Jade forced a bitter smile and pulled out the thesis on the Artificial Holy Mark from the mountain of papers.

“Alright, let’s hear what you have to say.”

“The original purpose of the Artificial Holy Mark was to artificially create and engrave a Holy Mark for those who don’t have one, right?”

“That’s correct.”

The Artificial Holy Mark.

A device that engraves a fake Holy Mark into ordinary people who haven’t received divine blessings, allowing them to wield magic power.

When this theory was first announced, it caused such a stir that the entire hero society was turned upside down.

‘Even the Holy Kingdom, which was already in turmoil, was foaming at the mouth in condemnation.’

The idea that humans could artificially create divine blessings.

It was such a bold theory that even the heroes from the Holy Kingdom, who had been quietly supporting his Holy Mark research, turned against him with fiery eyes.

‘But.’

If this theory could be realized…

“However, it’s impossible for humans to create a complete Holy Mark.”

“Right. That’s why the theory was discarded.”

“But! What if we create an ‘incomplete Holy Mark’?”

“An incomplete Holy Mark?”

“Yes. We still can’t create a perfect Holy Mark with human power. So, we create a degraded version of it.”

“…Explain in more detail.”

Oscar grinned and handed him a piece of paper filled with complex equations.

“The core of the Holy Mark is the ability to ‘wield the magic power within the Holy Mark.’ This allows heroes to possess superhuman strength.”

“But artificially created Holy Marks have a fatal flaw. The issue of magic power supply.”

“Unlike regular Holy Marks, which naturally absorb magic power from the air to replenish the magic power used, artificial Holy Marks lack this function.”

In other words.

Once the magic power is used, it cannot be replenished.

“So, I thought of using magic stones. We can supplement the magic power of the Artificial Holy Mark with low-grade magic stones that can be mass-produced.”

“…Are you suggesting creating some kind of Magic Power Auxiliary Battery?”

“Exactly! This way, not only people without Holy Marks but also heroes with Holy Marks can use Artificial Holy Marks as a magic power supplement!”

Although it’s called an ‘Artificial Holy Mark,’ in terms of effect, it’s closer to a magical tool or artifact, making it usable by anyone.

“……”

Of course.

‘If the theory holds,’ that is.

“But even if you replenish magic power from mass-produced magic stones, you’d only be able to wield a minuscule amount of magic power.”

“But that’s still something, isn’t it? If this is distributed to ordinary people, they could handle three-eyed… no, depending on the person, even four-eyed monsters!”

If that happens.

“We could drastically reduce the number of people who die every year at the hands of monsters and demons!”

Oscar spread his arms wide and laughed brightly.

“We can save people… no, we can save this world with our own hands!”

Yes.

That’s how you and I dreamed.

A dream that couldn’t be realized.

A faded dream.

* * *

With tears welling up in his wrinkled eyes.

Professor Jade’s consciousness returned from the past two years ago.

“……”

Jade looked at Sophia, who was gripping his collar.

Her red hair, just like his student’s.

The determined look in her eyes. The intense aura, as if a volcano had been sculpted into human form.

‘Just the same.’

With a bitter smile, he spoke.

“Do you know… how many heroes there are on this continent?”

“What?”

“Officially, there are 14,782. Including unofficial ones, it’s about 20,000. Not a large number.”

It couldn’t be helped.

The number of people with Holy Marks wasn’t large to begin with, and given the nature of heroes who have to fight monsters and demons their entire lives, the mortality rate was inevitably high.

“…What’s your point?”

“Compared to the mere 20,000 heroes, the population of the entire continent is in the tens of millions. If you divide the number of people each hero has to protect, it’s well over 2,000. Do you know how absurd that number is?”

“……”

Over 2,000 people to protect per hero.

It’s self-evident how ridiculous that number is.

“Even 500 years after the Devil God was sealed, people continue to suffer for no other reason. No matter how hard heroes try to protect people, their numbers are absurdly low.”

That’s why.

“We tried to mimic the gods.”

To artificially create divine blessings.

To give Holy Marks to those who don’t have them.

Even if they were incomplete, degraded versions.

We wanted to give them the power to protect themselves.

But.

“The price for daring to mimic the gods… wasn’t cheap.”

I remember that day.

The runaway Holy Mark and the screams of my student.

My helpless self, watching my student die with twisted veins.

“You…”

Sophia looked at Professor Jade with trembling eyes, unsure of what to say.

Could it be that my brother was so obsessed with the ‘Artificial Holy Mark’ for that reason?

Her mind was a tangled mess.

Sophia, with a confused expression, released her grip on Professor Jade’s collar.

And then.

*BOOM!*

“Kyaaaah!”

A blue light exploded, sending Sophia flying backward.

“Sophia, noona!”

Berald rushed over in an instant and caught Sophia.

Given the size of the explosion, he thought she would be seriously injured, but her body was unharmed.

“…Sigh.”

Professor Jade, who had sent Sophia flying, let out a deep sigh.

He pulled out a small glass bottle from his pocket.

Inside the bottle, a blue liquid swirled.

As Professor Jade formed a hand seal with his remaining hand, Rios’s unconscious body floated into the air.

“You! What are you trying to do now?”

Ignoring Sophia’s frantic cries, Professor Jade reached out toward Rios.

Light burst from Rios’s left chest and entered the glass bottle in Professor Jade’s hand.

A mere handful of magic power.

But this ‘Artificial Holy Mark,’ created by gathering the magic power of 21 Holy Marks, contained a power that couldn’t be called a mere handful.

“……”

Professor Jade’s eyes, looking at the glass bottle, were filled with conflict.

Despite two years of continuous research, he still hadn’t found a way to stabilize this ‘Artificial Holy Mark.’

Just as he was about to give up on the research entirely.

-You are… who?

-I’m Dale Han, a third-year candidate in the Warrior Department.

He met him.

Days spent living like a dead man, having given up on everything.

The dying ember in his chest flared up.

It burned brightly, singing of hope.

‘But… the world doesn’t work on hope alone.’

He immersed himself in the Artificial Holy Mark research again, but the method to stabilize it remained elusive.

As he wandered through the graveyard of research materials, searching for an invisible answer.

-Shall I make your dream come true?

A pure white snake approached him.

-If you use this magic stone, you can stabilize that Holy Mark.

The snake flicked its long tongue and whispered.

“……”

He remembers.

That day two years ago.

The moment everything fell apart.

-Why… why did you proceed with the experiment on your own! I told you it wasn’t ready for human testing!

He screamed, looking at his fallen student.

Oscar coughed up blood and looked up at him.

-I heard… the Holy Kingdom issued a research ban this time.

-That’s…!

-Professor… I…

With a faint smile on his lips.

His student continued.

-Wanted to be… a hero.

You fool.

What kind of hero are you?

-Not just a hero in name… but a real hero, like the Five Great Heroes.

So you went behind your teacher’s back and conducted the experiment alone?

-Wanted to be… that kind of hero… to save… many people.

Ha. You can’t even take care of yourself, and you want to save people?

You don’t deserve to be called a hero.

-Wanted to… build you… a shiny new lab…

Because of you, not only will there be no shiny new lab, but even the meager funding we had will be cut off.

Everything I’ve achieved in my life is about to crumble in a single day.

-Sorry…

You fool.

You fool.

You fool.

-But… Professor. Our dream… it’s not over yet, is it?

“Sigh.”

Professor Jade let out a deep sigh and looked at the blue liquid in the glass bottle.

“…Right.”

With a low murmur.

Professor Jade gulped down the blue liquid.

*Whoosh!*

Magic power surged explosively, and a burning pain spread across his right chest.

The blue light flickered precariously, as if it might scatter at any moment.

“Grrr!”

Professor Jade clenched his teeth, enduring the intense pain.

He placed a black magic stone from his pocket onto the Holy Mark engraved on his right chest.

*Crackle!*

The black magic stone shattered and was absorbed into his Artificial Holy Mark.

The unstable light instantly stabilized and emitted a powerful glow.

“Gasp, gasp, gasp!”

His breathing became ragged.

Professor Jade’s eyes turned bloodshot.

He bared his teeth and spoke.

“We will… save the world.”

As he took a step forward, his voice filled with madness and obsession.

“Well, at least right now, Professor, you don’t look like a hero saving the world.”

Dale slowly moved his feet, gripping the hilt of his sword.