Chapter 578

578.

When Kal opened his eyes, his vision was consumed by an ink-black darkness.

‘What is this?’

Kal held his breath and tensed his entire body.

Even though he was a student on the verge of failing, Kal had still followed the educational process at Lumeran Academy.

As such, he was extremely familiar with Hero’s World.

Because of this, he could easily recognize that the current situation was an anomaly.

‘The world of Lord Lumeran?’

Without relaxing his tension, Kal quickly organized his thoughts.

‘Didn’t the Heroes of the Cataclysm say they imprisoned Erebus within their own world? In the process, all the Hero Records that potentially could serve as Erebus’ escape route were destroyed.’

There was only one Hero Record fully intact.

The world where Erebus was imprisoned.

‘If I’ve entered Lord Lumeran’s world, it must be via one of the fragments of the discarded pages.’

A cold sweat broke out on Kal’s forehead.

‘Leo mentioned before that Lord Seirun’s appearance in the present world was orchestrated by him, right?’

The Erebus fragment that appeared then was supposedly part of Erebus trying to escape from the Hero’s World.

‘Could this also be used as an escape route?’

Recalling the encounter with Erebus during the summer training camp, Kal’s whole body involuntarily shivered.

‘First, I need to figure out where I am and what time period this is.’

Location and time.

These were the clues for tackling Hero’s World.

‘Then again, why is it so dark that I can’t see anything? Though it seems like I’m lying in a bed…’

‘A prison? No, the sensation of the bed is definitely high quality.’

Moreover, there was none of the dampness or smells typical to a prison.

‘There’s a pleasant fragrance somewhere…’

It was evident that he was inside an unknown room.

‘The middle of the night? No, even so, this degree of darkness is…’

Kal slightly lifted his body.

Right then, a sound—some movement—came from beside him, making Kal stiffen his body.

‘Another person? An enemy?’

Since the situation was completely unclear, Kal felt all his senses heightened.

After judging that the presence had no immediate intention of attacking, Kal quietly began to chant a spell.

“Light.”

Pop!

A small light emerged, driving away the darkness.

At that moment, Kal’s eyes met those of an unfamiliar woman.

“….”

“….”

Kal froze, and his counterpart reacted the same way.

Kal’s mouth twitched.

The face of the n*ked woman lying beside him on the bed turned icy cold.

Fwoosh!

Covering herself with the blanket, the woman hastily put some distance between herself and Kal, then picked up a rope that was inexplicably scattered on the floor.

And then she swung it like a whip.

Swishh! Bam!

“Ugh!”

Caught by the rope around his neck, Kal staggered.

The woman yanked him off the bed.

Thud! Crash!

Pushing the front of Kal’s fallen head with her soft foot, the woman spoke.

“Hmph! You, are you… Eliza? It’s me! Me! Kal Thomas! Calm down!”

At his words, the woman, Eliza, paused.

“Kal Thomas?”

At that, Eliza lifted her foot off Kal’s head.

“Blond hair… So it’s an alternate world, huh? But how did you recognize me?”

“The way you look and that whip attack—are unmistakably you.”

As Kal tried to stand up, making a casual remark, Eliza immediately stomped on his head again.

“Don’t look up!”

“Why?”

“Is that even a question right now?”

As Eliza growled, her face red and her shoulders trembling slightly, a voice from outside interrupted.

“Clary! Why is it so noisy at this hour of the night?”

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

Eliza removed her foot from Kal’s head.

Kal lifted his head and met Eliza’s eyes.

‘Clary? Sounds like a name for either a boy or a girl…’

‘If she’s alone, it means this room is only used by one person.’

The size of the room and the furniture all suggested a space for a single occupant.

“Surely you haven’t brought another female student here? I’ve warned you time and again that if this happens again, we’ll convene the disciplinary committee!”

At the end of this statement, Eliza rushed to the wardrobe.

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

Bang!

“Why the noise when I’m trying to sleep?”

Kal asked with a sleepy voice.

‘Wow, she’s the epitome of a dorm supervisor.’

The middle-aged woman wearing glasses standing at the door exuded the exact atmosphere of a stereotypical dorm supervisor.

Behind her stood a male supervisor, also with a strict expression.

Clomp-clomp!

The dorm supervisor entered the room.

“Are you sleeping?”

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

The supervisor gave a suspicious look.

‘Please go. If there’s any disruption, it’d complicate things!’

Kal currently had no information about the character he had merged with.

In such a situation, if a chaos occurs, he wouldn’t know how to handle it.

The moment the people around him begin to suspect something strange, their plan would unravel.

The dorm supervisor gave Kal a suspicious look before scanning the neatly arranged room, then sniffed derisively.

“Hmph. Well, since you’re the guy who boasts about breaking the rules, you probably wouldn’t hide a female student but would brazenly protest and ask ‘What’s the problem?’ Wouldn’t you? You also said disciplinary actions never scared you, didn’t you?”

‘What kind of chaos is this person involved in?’

Kal realized he had merged into the body of a total delinquent and let out a hollow laugh.

“But remember this, Clary Jesian! Lady Rodia, the Dragon of the Cataclysm, and students from other Hero Academies are currently visiting Lumeran! As student council president, you should at least have the awareness not to do anything inappropriate during this period!”

“Yes, understood.”

“Finally acting properly, hmm? Is it because you’ve found your senses as president or have you got some schemes up your sleeve?”

“What schemes?”

Kal, putting on his usual sly demeanor, waved his hands dismissingly.

The dorm supervisor snorted before closing the door.

As soon as the door shut, Kal leaned his back against it, sitting down.

“I thought we were about to get caught.”

As he breathed a sigh of relief, the wardrobe door opened, revealing Eliza’s face.

“Give me this woman’s clothes quickly.”

“Sure.”

Kal retrieved the clothes he had hidden under the bed.

‘A situation where anyone would be startled, yet she didn’t even blink.’

Kal clicked his tongue, recalling the event.

She had been lying in bed without a stitch of clothing on when a strange man was present, yet she didn’t panic but immediately subdued him.

‘Ah, the girls in our school are indeed terrifying.’

It’s rare to find Lumeran students who would scream or act weakly in such situations.

‘She’s likely trying to neutralize her opponent first. People from our school are scary.’

Kal chuckled dryly.

“Uniform? This must be Lumeran Academy.”

As Kal identified the location upon seeing the girl’s uniform similar to their era, he turned his head away and handed the outfit to Eliza.

“Perfect timing.”

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

After catching it, Kal laughed hollowly.

“Blindfold?”

“You wear it. I’ll k*ll you if you take it off.”

“Of course, of course.”

Kal put on the blindfold.

Swoosh- Thud- Swoosh- Swoosh-

The sound of dressing came from somewhere.

While feeling somewhat embarrassed, Kal tried to lighten the atmosphere with a jest.

“With a rope and now a blindfold, it’s making it awkward.”

“What’s awkward about it?”

“Well, Eliza, do you have any marks from the ropes on your body or anything?”

“How did you know about that?”

“…”

Kal closed his mouth at Eliza’s composed response.

“Hmph! Did you check my entire body in that short moment?”

“It’s not like that! I turned away immediately!”

“But you still figured out the rope marks, how?”

“…”

“Such crudeness.”

Kal, feeling wronged but unable to defend himself further due to the blindfold, had to keep silent.

“Anyway, I’m done.”

At this, Kal took off the blindfold.

“This student’s name is Meghin Shell, she’s from the fifth year summoning department.”

Eliza clicked her tongue after confirming the nameplate and department emblem.

“And it seems this Clary Jesian you merged with is her lover.”

“Yeah.”

Kal scratched his head.

“Then, what exactly does this Clary do? I understand it’s some wild delinquent stuff.”

“Clary Jesian. Part of the Department of Magic and the first-ever student council president at Lumeran. Surely you’d have learned about her during your first-year lectures?”

“You’re knowledgeable even though you’re always cutting class, aren’t you?”

“Hmph! This is basic common knowledge. Anyway, it seems you’ve merged with a well-known top student, completely unlike your usual self.”

“Far from being a top student, it seems.”

Kal scratched his cheek.

“Alright, let’s summarize the situation. But before that…”

Eliza folded her arms, lifting her chin haughtily.

Kal looked perplexed at her proud expression.

“The incident from earlier.”

“What?”

“If you breathe a word of it, I’ll chase you to the ends of hell, got it?”

Eliza warned him with a somewhat reddened face.

Though it wasn’t technically his body, the situation had indeed been awkward.

“I may have a loose mouth, but I’m not one to broadcast such things.”

Kal shrugged as if telling her not to worry.

Eliza nodded at this.

Then she furrowed her brows and twiddled her wrist.

“Still, I don’t know why the rope left such painful marks on me.”

Eliza’s expression of confusion amused Kal, who grinned slyly.

“Although the guy you’re usually dealing with is a thug, you’re clearly a proper young lady from a noble family.”

“Do you want to d*e?”

“Meaning purity! I said purity!”

Eliza attempted to tie Kal with the rope, but Kal screamed in fright.

*

“What’s going on?”

“Why is Hero’s World being activated suddenly?”

“It’s not supposed to be! It’s a Hero Dungeon!”

A commotion broke out in Erek Training Ground.

The professors who were preparing for the competition hurried to understand the situation.

“Whooaaaaa!”

Unaware of the unfolding drama, the audience cheered, mistaking it for the beginning of the match.

Eyeing this scene, Leo narrowed his eyes and pressed his index and middle finger to his temple.

-Melina.

-Yes, Leo-sensei.

-Cut the magical live video broadcast outside.

-Understood.

Leo, after contacting Melina from afar, looked toward the center of the Erek Training Ground.

As he expanded his extrasensory perception, he inexplicably felt a chill down his neck, as if a kn*fe were pressed against it.

He felt this numerous times before.

‘A Hero Dungeon opened right at the heart of Lumeran.’

Sounds impossible.

Lumeran deals with exploring Hero Dungeons and recovering their Hero Records.

If there were a Hero Record located at the center of Erek Training Ground, it would’ve been discovered long ago.

Leo, who’d crossed countless perilous lines, quickly deduced the situation.

‘Is Tartarus behind this? Why these antics?’

Even activating a Hero Dungeon poses no major threat to Lumeran.

If they wanted, they could reclaim the dungeon anytime.

It was originally impossible to re-enter an already commenced Hero’s World.

However, Leo had successfully experimented and proven that one could even enter an ongoing Hero’s World, depending on the owner of the Hero Record’s privileges.

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

As Leo furrowed his brows,

Whoosh!

Flames erupted amidst the Erek Training Ground.

Seeing the flames, Leo’s eyes flickered.

‘Flame of Catastrophe?’

Kwaahhhhhh!

A black pillar of fire shot up into the sky.