The Primal Horror
This place, where countless students are taught and trained, is the Academy. There are swordsmen, mages, assassins, and more—plenty of roles essential to any party. But the Academy Lur attends specializes in training summoners, those who fight using their Summons.
Today is the day the students summon the Summon they will tame and train for the rest of their lives. Everyone is buzzing with excitement at the thought of meeting their lifelong companion. Everyone except Lur.
She is an F-rank summoner, possessing the lowest potential rank. Her future is a thorny path set in stone. No one needed to guess what kind of Summon someone with her level of potential would call forth.
"Next, Summoner Lur. Come up and summon your Summon."
The professor called her name with the brightest smile she could muster. But Lur could tell at a glance. It was a fake smile, devoid of any real expectation.
Even so, she harbored no ill will toward the professor.
It's my fault for having such poor potential. If only I'd been born with proper abilities... everyone would like me. The professor would be happy too.
Her self-esteem had long since hit rock bottom, rooted deep in self-loathing.
"Hey, F-rank! Hurry up and get it over with! It's not like anything decent's gonna come out anyway!"
"Kyahahahaha!"
"H-ha... haha..."
Lur forced a laugh. But her eyes held no joy—only the hollow gaze of isolation, loneliness, and endless bullying, where she'd given up on everything.
"Proceed, Summoner Lur."
Lur squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to the gods. She didn't need a powerful Summon. Any child would do. She just begged for something to appear.
Failing to summon meant expulsion from the Academy. All classes after the ritual revolved around Summons. Students without one due to low potential... had no place here anymore.
If their potential lay elsewhere, it was fine—physical prowess for swordsmen, marksmanship for archers, mana for mages. Even intelligence could lead to politics.
But Lur had chased only the dream of becoming a summoner. She knew better than anyone it offered no future. Still, it was a precious dream she'd held since childhood.
Please, any child at all. It doesn't need combat ability. I'll nurture it with love. So please...!
Did her desperate prayer reach the heavens? A black shadow swallowed the surroundings. A massive finger emerged from the darkness, pressing against the floor as its enormous upper body slowly rose.
"It worked! Thank goodne—...ss...?"
Lur realized it then. The finger was bone with only the thinnest layer of flesh clinging to it. This was no form she'd imagined. It was a monster straight out of a nightmare.
The chilling aura it exuded froze everyone nearby. It felt like the ice age had arrived.
"W-what... is that thing?"
Not just the students—the professor gasped in horror at what seemed like the devil's reincarnation.
A colossal torso rose amid black smoke, topped by a face reminiscent of a deer's skull. Its eyes, like peering into the abyss, betrayed no emotion. Pure darkness.
"Hiiik...!"
Lur's body went rigid at the sight of her own Summon. The monster scanned the room, then strode toward her. The black smoke billowing around it made it seem to float slowly, amplifying the spreading terror.
"P-please... spare me..."
Her waist-length white hair trembled at her sides in fear. Tears welled up, blurring her vision. But the killing intent from her Summon wasn't so easily veiled by tears.
A bony, icy hand landed squarely on her shaking shoulder.
"G-get away from my student right now! S-Summon! Obey your master's command!"
The professor shouted frantically at the sudden demon, while students' screams pierced the door and echoed down the hall. The classroom descended into chaos in an instant.
There can't be a more ridiculous death in this world. I ate raw oysters and caught norovirus. I was puking my guts out from both ends. Then suddenly, bright red blood started coming up. The shock knocked me out, and I died.
Haha, what would my buddies think seeing my corpse? "This guy's death is artistic as hell." "Not a stiff, but a shit-stiff lmao." They'd probably gather at my funeral, mixing soju with yukgaejang.
Fuck. This was Darwin Award material.
But hey, silver lining. God must've thought it was too much and revived me as the Demon Realm's king.
"Your Majesty! You are the primal terror, the embodiment of fear and awe itself!"
"Uh, y-yeah?"
Life in the Demon Realm was blissful. Everyone flinched at my slightest word—fun to tease. And they started offering food without me even asking? I was in heaven. Must've been my good karma.
One day, I saw my subordinates vanishing, engulfed in light.
"Where'd they go?"
"They're becoming humans' Summons, Your Majesty. No need to worry."
"Oh?"
"Those from the Demon Realm are mighty beings. Surely summoned by someone extraordinarily powerful!"
"Well, good for them. Lucky bastards."
I shrugged it off and kept stuffing my face. Then the same white light—dark smoke to me—came for me.
"H-hey! Wait, I'm the Demon Realm's king! Why am I becoming a Summon?!"
"Th-this can't be...!"
"Don't just stand there—help me!"
No! My hand's already gone! It feels like it's crossed into another dimension. The texture's like floor, but my hand's severed and I still feel it! Goosebumps!
"Uwaaaaaah! My happy Demon Realm life! I wanna stay here! I hate puny humans!"
"C-calm down, Your Majesty! Whoever summoned you must be godlike!"
I couldn't hear my subordinate anymore. My face followed my hand. There stood a cute white-haired girl. Is she my master? Pretty, adorable... not bad? Summon life might be okay.
By then, my torso and legs had emerged too. She doesn't seem that impressive, though... And why's she so scared? I haven't done anything.
Where am I? I turned my head to look around. Other students stared back, trembling in terror.
Damn... I get nervous in crowds. And for a guy whose life was all-boys school, college engineering, military—this many women? Pure hell!
Scary!!! My heart's gonna explode. O-okay! Hide behind my summoner and breathe.
I approached her amid the black smoke from my body. Why's she crying? I'm the one who wants to bawl... Hoo... haa... haa... Calm down.
"Hik...!"
I'm just breathing. Why flinch? You called me here, master.
"G-get away from my student! S-Summon! Obey your master!"
Why's that lady pointing at me?
"Student Lur! Dismiss the Summon now!"
"I-it... won't listen..."
This is a total mess. No clue what's happening.
"P-please... spare me... I-I'm sorry..."
Don't cry like that—you make me feel like the bad guy. Right! I can melt into shadows!
I used the ability I'd forgotten in panic, sinking slowly into Lur's shadow like being sucked in.
Only then did Lur relax, collapsing to the floor, wiping tears with her sleeve and sobbing.
That's when the professor approached Lur's shadow—my spot—with a weird orb. It glowed, starting the rank measurement.
...Immeasurable... Immeasurable... Danger... Danger...
The orb's voice echoed, then it shattered.
Students, professor, and Lur all stared dumbly at it.
"Im...measurable? From an F-rank?!"