Great Escape
Preparations were complete. Watching the 1st and 2nd-year homeroom teachers leave Park Myeong-gwan through the window, Yeom Jin-gwan flashed a sinister smile. It had been worth taking on that ill-fitting role as class president.
Thanks to the teachers' schedules provided in advance, he'd known exactly when the building would be left with only students inside. The teachers had left to finalize arrangements for the senior-junior meet-and-greet. Originally, he'd planned to have a colleague threaten the school nurse Baek Je-in using the leaked sedative incense as leverage, but since she'd lost the drugs, this lower-risk method was actually something to celebrate.
A building empty of teachers, filled only with students.
Passing through the noisy hallways, Yeom Jin-gwan headed underground. His destination was the basement auditorium—the closest spot to the secret space hidden within the ship's hull.
He recalled the cursed artifacts he'd smuggled in over the past few days, deceiving Argo's teachers and students. Three potted plants in total, placed in Class A, on the Park Myeong-gwan rooftop, and in the personal training area. No one but him knew what deadly presence lurked within them.
"Heretic's Flag."
The flat ring on his finger glowed.
-Pzzt!
Light streamed from the ring, taking form in midair. A long metal pole with a flag attached. In sparring, it was a plain blue flag and silver pole with no markings, but the spear now in Yeom Jin-gwan's hand was utterly transformed. A black flag embroidered with ominous gold-thread patterns fluttered from a crimson shaft. Far from the normal Spirit Lord Transformation manifested through a medium, a horrific aura rippled from the blade.
Its true nature was a Reverse Ethics Armament—the epitome of wicked spiritual knowledge that defied heavenly ethics by completely destroying or sealing ancestor spirits to forcibly extract their power.
-Thud.
Yeom Jin-gwan tossed aside his sealing wig, revealing the smooth scalp branded with the mark of parricide.
-Grooooowl!
The cursed energy swirling over the characters resonated with his spear. How much blood had he spilled to master this power? Only after massacring his entire Yeom clan and becoming an acquired firstborn heir could he wield the Reverse Ethics Armament freely. Cursed by his entire lineage for defying heavenly order, he could no longer sire heirs—but he'd gained strength beyond his former self's wildest dreams.
All for the recognition of "Them," to grasp even greater power. If he could open the path to Argo's depths this time, he could prove his worth once more.
"I'll dig you up from the foundations."
Muttering that, Yeom Jin-gwan pulled a small mole statue from his pocket and slammed the butt of his spear into the floor.
-Boom!
"Rise."
Like ripples in a pond, inky waves spread across the auditorium walls, ceiling, and floor, engulfing the entire Park Myeong-gwan.
* * *
-Shatter!
Vines erupted from the shattered pots, instantly sprawling inside and out, blanketing walls and ceilings.
-Thump!
The vines wrapping the concrete resembled pitch-black veins, pulsing ominously—down to the throbbing.
The terror of these waist-thick monstrous plants wasn't just skin-deep. Clinging to their surfaces were mud clumps with limbs—undeniably low-grade resentment spirits.
-Kiiiiieeeek!
The moment the vines sealed the windows in the blink of an eye, a massive wail echoed through the classroom. An army of resentment spirits had appeared without warning. Even Class A students, trained Shangju fighters, couldn't avoid falling into chaos.
"Run!!"
At the shout, students bolted for the exits in unison.
"Let's go."
I grabbed U Hyo-chung and Mun Hee-jeong, dashing outside. Naturally, I didn't forget to snag Shin Sua's collar amid the fleeing crowd.
"Hey! Let go!"
"Follow me. You need to come too."
-Groooowl!
"What the hell is this...!"
I'd forced the flailing Shin Sua to join us when the first escapees cried out in dismay.
"It's started, huh."
Gemma cut off mid-sentence, staring aghast at the scene beyond the classroom.
The Park Myeong-gwan hallway we knew was gone.
-Groooowl...
An endless chasm yawned at our feet. Combined with the towering rocky ceiling overhead, it trapped everyone inside.
"What is this place...?"
Murmurs spread among the students. Now, my fellow students and I peered outside through holes in this unidentified structure floating in the abyss—like the yolk in an egg. The cavern's distant shell-like ceiling, walls, and fathomless floor were visible far below. Maybe our foundation touched that dark bottom, but I had no desire to check. Jumping to your death was the only way to find out.
"How did this happen?"
Mun Hee-jeong clutched my sleeve, murmuring weakly.
"This creepy ancestor power—don't tell me—"
"...An Erosion Space. First time I've seen one."
U Hyo-chung and Shin Sua seemed to grasp the situation. Seeing U Hyo-chung's grim frown, it must've stirred old traumas—the only one here with prior experience in an Erosion Space.
"Even if we want out, the structure's too convoluted."
I nodded in agreement with Shin Sua. The building's layout had completely warped. Like an Escher painting, surreal and impossible. The hallway lights and speakers remained, but everything else had changed. Walls had sprouted railings into paths; bizarrely angled stairs impossible to climb dotted everywhere. Peering from a corner revealed a sideways door with baffled students clustered before it, clueless. Their gravity was exactly 90 degrees off from ours.
This nightmarish architecture was the perilous zone Jang Han-nam harped on in class—the world's underside, twisted by the dense resentment of high-grade spirits. An Erosion Space.
"Block the door!"
Once all Class A students were out, the vice class president ordered, and three vanguard-position students activated Spirit Descent and Spirit Lord Transformation to seal the auto-door against the resentment spirits inside. Futile, though.
<...They planned for this exact response, right?>
"Obviously."
After answering Gemma, I approached the tense-faced vice president scanning the surroundings. Time to start flipping Yeom Jin-gwan's scripted stage as planned.
"It won't work."
"What?"
"Open the door."
The door-blocking students glared like I was insane.
"You lost your mind, delinquent?"
"Thought the hair dye meant you'd turned over a new leaf. My bad."
They cursed me, but they were starting to sense the offness too.
"Wait. No sounds from inside?"
"Listen to Kim Taeyang. Open it."
Shin Sua, with her strong voice, jumped in during that brief hesitation.
"...Tch."
I winked thanks for the assist, but she coolly ignored it.
-Creak.
Reluctantly, two burly guys opened the Class A classroom door we'd just exited—
"...Huh?"
It was now an empty warehouse.
"What? It was definitely—"
"An Anchor Point, looks like. That potted plant by the window."
Shin Sua nodded at my words.
Anchor Point. The drop point for the anchor. Simply put, as Jang Han-nam covered in class, the reference point high-grade resentment spirits use to overlay their distorted underworld onto reality when creating an Erosion Space.
"Exposing and destroying an Anchor Point leads to the space's collapse, right?"
"Yeah. With this level of distortion rewriting Park Myeong-gwan's structure, hiding the Anchor Points for stability wouldn't be hard."
Mun Hee-jeong sidled up, having overheard us.
"Class said resentment spirits lose most intellect after corruption."
"Even high-grade ones couldn't arbitrarily relocate Anchor Points with that brainpower—"
"Not impossible. But this Erosion Space wasn't made by a high-grade resentment spirit."
If it had been a rare, powerful high-grade spirit's space, every student here would've been drained of spirit power and life force long ago.
-Groooowl...
This creepy space we were trapped in hadn't fully stabilized yet—no spirit drain had begun. Occasional vibrations and grinding stone sounds confirmed it wasn't fully operational.
"Come to think of it..."
U Hyo-chung spoke up as something clicked.
"Those things sprouting from the vines earlier—all mid-tier at best."
"Right. Mostly low-grade resentment spirits."
"Then why run if you clocked the Anchor Point? Wasn't even high-grade."
Shin Sua snapped, but I just grinned.
"Being nearby when the Erosion Space forms makes you resentment chow. And it wasn't just one or two. Planned to hunt them down inside later once they're scattered."
Destroying Anchor Points weakens the space's fixation. Class A nodded, convinced.
"So, find and smash those weird plants—the Anchor Points—and..."
"We can get out."
"Not a high-grade Erosion Space to begin with."
"One of those 'exceptions' from last week."
"Mass-releasing low- and mid-grade resentment spirits to build the resentment density for erosion."
"I remember. Same tactic as the terrorist attack four years ago!"
"Not natural—artificial Erosion Space. Explains the shifted Anchor Points. Someone's controlling the spirits."
As expected of elite Class A. One hint, and they pieced it together.
"That potted plant earlier—"
"Yeah, exploded into those vines from the windowsill."
"Who brought it?"
"Ah...!!"
Yeom Jin-gwan. The name I'd waited for spilled from the Group 2 girl who'd gossiped about me and Mun Hee-jeong last time.
"Class president brought it. For classroom decor."
"I saw it too."
There we go. I nodded, hiding a pleased smile. If the extras excluding key players were idiots, I wouldn't bother playing Gods of Ancestry, Bless Me.
"Good we know the culprit, but escape first. Time to move."
I pulled U Hyo-chung, Mun Hee-jeong, and Shin Sua close.
"This crew can hunt Anchor Points. Smash any resentment spirits you meet. Rally other classes too."
Sighs erupted everywhere. Shock and rage at their trusted classmate being a terrorist. As planned, most of Class A and other classes would now rampage against the spirits maintaining the space. Meanwhile, I'd use these three and my planted pieces to flush out the hiding Yeom Jin-gwan. Core forces and strike team, perfect.
The plan was in motion. Time for the next piece.
"Sounds good, but what if we get lost?"
"Well—"
No need for me to answer.
Ah, ah! Mic test!
Map-making Club announcement!
The speakers throughout the warped building boomed Kim Yun-ju's voice.