'Swoooosh!'

Rain fell steadily on a desolate, old park. A man walked along the empty path, letting the downpour soak him.

He stopped when he saw a person lying on the side of the path, bleeding. The man approached and shook their shoulder, but…

They were already dead.

He gently closed the corpse's eyes, which were wide with pain, and laid it neatly on the ground. After performing a peculiar ritual—pressing on its shoulders and arms—he kissed the dead person's wrist.

His gaze then shifted to the wound. A large hole gaped in the chest. As the man traced its edges, an unreadable smile touched his lips.

"Who's there?!"

Police officers were running toward the scene, blowing their whistles. They saw the corpse next to the man and cried out in alarm.

"F-freeze! Move and I'll shoot!"

"Hands on your head!"

With the serial killer alert in effect, they immediately drew their guns. The man let out a short laugh and a sigh. "So this is how it is."

His eyes, staring down the barrels of their guns, glinted ominously.

* * *

The rain continued. It was monsoon season, so it felt like it was always raining.

The Academy was closed today. A murder had occurred nearby, a precaution taken to calm the terrified students and parents. All the local schools were closed. Everyone assumed it was the work of that mass murderer, Armin Walter.

For me, it was a relief. It would be easier to get my diploma when things were quiet. I wished they would just mail it, but identity verification required you to sign for it in person.

I took a bus from Sanggye-dong. It should have been crowded, but there were only a few passengers, including me. The streets of Seoul looked strangely empty. It was all because of the rumor that a foreign serial killer was roaming the city. People who walked around just fine when monsters were falling from the sky were now hiding because of one man. The word 'murderer' carried a terrifying power.

I got off the bus and entered the campus. It was quiet. Though officially closed, it wasn't completely deserted; students still lived in the dorms or studied for exams. The area around the gym was busy with people preparing for the Rank-5 Hunter exam, using the virtual combat machines to stay sharp.

My footsteps splashed in the puddles as I entered the main building. 'I'm soaked even with an umbrella.'

I shook off my umbrella, slipped it into a disposable plastic bag at the entrance, and went straight to the student council office on the second floor. I'd hoped to see a familiar face, but the room was empty.

'They tell me to come and then no one's here.'

I sat on a sofa and sent a message to a council member I knew.

—Yusin: Bora. No one's in the student council office.

—Bora: Oh, really? I'm sorry. I'll contact the teaching assistant.

It happens. I was bored, so I scrolled through my phone, my gaze automatically drifting to my chat with Yoonjeon.

'Shwaaaaa.'

The rain continued to fall. Focusing on the sound of it drumming against the window, my thoughts cleared, and a sense of calm washed over me. Right. I shouldn't have let her go like that.

Mustering some courage, I typed a message.

—Yusin: Yoonjeong. We need to talk.

I hit send and waited. As expected, no reply came.

'It's quiet.'

I put down my phone and stared out the window at the dark, clouded sky. It looked like it would pour all day. I'm not the type to get sentimental over rain, but I'd been feeling uneasy lately. I needed a distraction.

Closing the messenger app, I saw the icon for a mobile game Bora had forced me to install.

'Might as well give it a try.'

I launched the game. I expected cute, bouncing characters and matching blocks, but instead…

[Welcome to the world of Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Legend of Sun Ce!]

"Pfft!"

'Bora, what kind of taste do you have?'

[Exploiting the people for your evil deeds is unforgivable!]

[Gah! To think I am being pushed back!]

…This is boring.

As I waited for the game to uninstall after pressing 'Yes' on the [Remove this application?] prompt, I heard footsteps in the hallway. The teaching assistant was here sooner than I thought.

'Scrape. Scrape.'

…The sound was strange.

I muted my phone and focused.

'Scrape. Scraaaape.'

Who walks like that? Someone was dragging their feet. Classes were canceled. The only person who should have been coming here was the TA with my diploma. But…

'Scraaaape. Scrape.'

This didn't sound like the TA. I had a bad feeling. I slowly rose from my seat, gathering my mana.

'Krakroom!'

Thunder boomed, momentarily drowning out the rain. And then…

The dragging sound stopped right outside the door.

The tension was suffocating. What the hell was going on?

My senses on high alert, I raised my mana, preparing for the worst.

'Click.'

The door opened. Something bright red fell through the doorway with a thud.

"Hah…!"

It was a female student, covered in blood. Her head moved, and she looked at me. "…Kim Yusin?"

It was the fourth-year student from yesterday, the one who'd asked for my autograph. I crouched down to check on her. Other than a sprained ankle, she had no serious injuries. The blood soaking her clothes seemed to have splattered from someone else.

"I-it's really you! Please help me! Please!" Her voice trembled, her eyes wide with a nightmare she couldn't unsee.

"Okay. Calm down and tell me what happened."

"Hic! Hng! Jiyoon! My friend is hurt…!"

"Hurt?"

"S-someone's stabbing people…! The b-blood…!"

My heart sank. 'Ea! Check for mana signatures in the Academy area right now!'

-Affirmative!

I started to run, then paused and looked back at her. "Stay right here! I promise I'll save your friend, so don't worry!"

She nodded, tears streaming down her face.

I sprinted down the corridor, glancing out at the rain-swept grounds. 'What the hell is happening?'

-Tower Master! I've detected a location with an abnormal mana reaction. It appears a battle is underway!

"Lead the way!"

'Splash!'

I burst out of the building into the heavy downpour. My sneakers filled with water, but I didn't care. As I ran, my breath coming in ragged gasps, I looked up at the ashen sky. A deep anxiety twisted in my gut. 'Why do I feel so uneasy?'

-Tower Master! It's the gymnasium!

I rushed inside.

'This is…'

It was a massacre. Bodies lay strewn across the entrance, covered in blood. Their blood mingled with the rainwater, forming a crimson river.

I forced my pounding heart to steady as I stepped into the gymnasium.

It was a sea of blood. The gym's hardwood floor was slick with crimson, and the blood-soaked bodies of students were strewn about. The scene was too surreal, a nightmare that had no place within the academy walls. My gaze swept across the floor, and the number of mangled bodies seemed to multiply with every foot it traveled.

And there, standing in the middle of the gruesome carnage, was a woman holding a tormented student aloft by the neck.

'No way.'

It was a face I knew. "…Yoonjeong…?"

Her head turned toward me with the creak of a wind-up doll. Then, she grinned.

"You came, Yusin."

Her voice was distorted and hoarse, but I recognized it instantly. It was Yoonjeong. She casually tossed the man's body aside. It sailed through the air for dozens of meters before slamming into the far wall with a sickening 'thud', splattering it with a fresh coat of crimson.

One glance was enough to see she was not herself. Her entire body was covered in a grotesque, monstrous shell, and horns sprouted from her head. Fighting back the wave of shock that threatened to shatter my mind, I forced the words out. "What in the world did you…?"

"I was waiting for you." She glanced down at her new form and smiled, "Magnificent, isn't it?"

Demonkin transformation—a type of Disaster where the body, mind, and even one's very soul become monstrous. I could feel it in my bones. The being before me was fundamentally different from the Yoonjeong I knew. But even in this chaos, I had to be sure. I opened her status window.

Name: Han Yoonjeong.

Unique Ability: Coordinate Calculation.

Personal Traits: [Demonkin Transformation Lv.1], [Gravity Control Lv.1], [Destruction Lv.1], [Precision Calculation Lv.3], [Collector Lv.1]

Basic Stats: [Magic Power 146], [Strength 97], [Agility 81], [Stamina 80]

Special Stats: [Corruption 138], [Intelligence 5], [Endurance 5]

Total Stats: [552]

Demonkin Transformation had manifested as a trait. There was no denying it. Her total stats, which had never gone over 100, were now well over 500.

It was real.

Yoonjeong had become a monster.

"Well? I'm strong now, too. Just like you."

I bit my lip so hard that blood trickled down my chin. I'd heard that Demonkin Transformation befell players who were mentally broken. And the reason for her breakdown was probably…

No, it was undoubtedly because of me.

"In that case." A murderous glint filled her eyes. "Will you die for me?"

A violet beam of light shot from between her outstretched fingers. My body reacted first, jolting my stunned mind awake. Ea threw up a shield that deflected the blast, and I dodged the rest. The stray beams of mana slammed into the walls and floor, setting off a series of explosions. The power was immense. She truly meant to kill me.

"How boring." Amid the smoke, her eyes gleamed. "Stop making that shocked face and fight me properly. Otherwise, there was no point in me changing, was there?"

Every word she spoke was a dagger twisting in my chest. She raised her right hand, and shattered debris lifted into the air. I felt an overwhelming surge of mana that made every hair on my body stand on end.

Just then—

"Ugh! W-what is this? It's all blood!"

"Did a rift open nearby?"

Drawn by the commotion, Academy students began to pour in from the back of the gym. Yoonjeong's gaze shifted from me to them. This was bad.

"Yoonjeong." Even saying her name was a struggle, but I managed to force the words out. "Stop this. Let's talk. We can work this out."

She replied with a blank expression, "It's too late."

* * *

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