The Senior's Example
"You ready?"
"That's every last drop of mana I've got!"
With my final shout, Jinny blazed pure white and shot forward in a straight line toward the Plague Doctor.
"So that's how it is..."
The Plague Doctor let out a sneer from behind his mask. Thousands of crows condensed into a colossal black scythe that came crashing down.
KWAAAAAANG—!!!
A flash like the sun exploding erupted right in the middle of the abandoned factory.
The world turned blinding white amid a roar loud enough to rupture eardrums.
I was hurled backward like a leaf caught in a storm, only stopping when I slammed into the concrete wall behind me.
"Cough!"
A metallic clump of blood rose in my throat.
The mana suppressant spreading from the injection mark on my thigh must have been binding my entire body. Every mana pathway felt numb and prickling, as if my senses had gone completely dull.
In my fading vision, I desperately looked ahead.
"Jinny...?"
Beyond the smoke, I could see her back.
The usual dazzling golden glow was gone. Her form flickered dangerously, like TV static on the verge of cutting out.
"Still breathing...?"
Jinny's voice was painfully thin.
She had lost every one of the massive golden arms she'd materialized. The corrosive poison the Plague Doctor sprayed was devouring her mana circuits, turning them pitch black.
"Jinny...!"
I gritted my teeth and tried to force strength into my lower body.
But my glute muscles convulsed and screamed in protest. The mana pathways I was desperately squeezing mana through burned like I'd swallowed a nest of thorns.
"Urgh!"
"I already told you it was pointless..."
The Plague Doctor strolled out of the thick smoke with a leisurely laugh.
"At this level of pain, your heart should have stopped from shock ages ago."
One side of his bird-beak mask had shattered, leaving a gaping black hole, yet the eerie light in his eyes only burned brighter.
He raised his staff high, tattered coat flapping.
"You had quite the stubborn life force... but this appears to be the end."
The Plague Doctor lifted his staff even higher.
"After all, a summoner who's run out of mana is nothing more than an empty shell."
Purple smoke erupted from the tip of his staff and transformed into thousands of phantom crows that swarmed over Jinny.
She wrapped her remaining arm around me and desperately raised a barrier, but the shield with no mana left tore apart like wet paper.
"Aaaagh! Run, Gangjin! This bastard is really trying to steal all your mana...!"
Jinny screamed as she plummeted to the floor. Golden particles scattered in every direction like grains of sand.
I didn't have the strength to lift a single finger. I could only watch.
Was I really about to lose my mana circuit?
In that hopeless moment, tears stung my eyes.
The Plague Doctor stood right in front of me.
"Now then, I shall collect your mana."
He raised a massive scythe wreathed in chilling energy.
"And I will be taking that Original spirit back to the organization as well."
Shuuuk—
The scythe sliced through the air, falling toward my neck.
"Kgh...!"
I instinctively closed my eyes.
What kind of S-class awakener was I? I couldn't even properly control Jinny, who had chosen to reside in my butt after seeing how much mana I possessed.
She must have been incredibly frustrated with me too.
My mind went blank. Memories of my life flashed past like a revolving lantern.
So this was how I would lose my power.
I hadn't even gotten to use it properly yet.
"This is as far as you go!"
Thud—
But the pain I expected never came.
Instead, I heard a dull, strangely anticlimactic sound.
"Haaam..."
A long, lazy yawn rang out, shattering the deadly silence and echoing through the entire abandoned factory.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The surreal scene before me left me speechless.
The Plague Doctor's vicious blue scythe—the one that had been about to sever my neck.
Someone was holding that enormous weapon with bare hands, looking thoroughly annoyed while doing so.
"Yeah, figured."
It was Choi Gangcheol, my senior.
"Hyung."
"Senior...?"
Senior Gangcheol gave the scythe a light flick, sending it flying from the Plague Doctor's grip.
"I clearly said I was just stepping out for a short break."
The Plague Doctor took one wary step back, visibly rattled.
"Some rat is bothering our freshman, huh?"
Senior Gangcheol scratched his messy hair.
"What the... Who exactly are you?"
The Plague Doctor let out a groan laced with shock from behind his mask.
"This mana... it doesn't belong to an ordinary human...?"
Senior Gangcheol smirked and began peeling off his uniform coat piece by piece.
"Who else?"
Next came the half-undone tie, then the shirt. He stripped away everything he was wearing, one item after another.
"A fucking strong character."
The discarded clothes piled up on the floor.
Soon Senior Gangcheol stood there in nothing but a pair of white boxers.
Crack—!
The moment he finished stripping, the scythe—an S-class residue's mana crystal—shattered into pieces like a dry twig.
"You all knew I'd show up at this exact timing, right?"
Senior took one casual step forward.
"Whatever. I'll wipe out both of you at once."
The Plague Doctor poured every ounce of mana he possessed into one final attack. A massive wave of purple poison capable of swallowing the entire factory surged toward Senior Gangcheol.
"Fall into hell!"
The sickening wave, thick with condensed malevolent energy, crashed over him.
But the instant it touched the transparent mana pressure radiating from Senior's body, the purple poison evaporated like water droplets on a scorching iron plate.
"Impossible! My ultimate strike—?!"
"Calling that a strike? Please."
Senior Gangcheol smirked and stomped once on the ground.
"Attacks that don't even register aren't worthy of being called strikes."
In that moment, Senior Gangcheol's mana completely dominated the abandoned factory.
"Let me show you what a real strike looks like."
He took one very slow step forward.
The ground of the entire factory sank with a heavy boom from just that single footfall.
"All right, birdbrain. Let's hear you chirp."
"Stay back! I said stay back!"
The terrified Plague Doctor frantically squeezed out his mana, flinging purple crows in a desperate frenzy.
The countless flock that would have overwhelmed both me and Jinny swarmed toward Senior.
But he didn't dodge. He didn't even seem to consider it.
Psssssh—!
The moment the crows touched the transparent wall of mana surrounding him, they disintegrated into nothing.
An S-class residue's ultimate technique couldn't even get close.
"That's it? This is all you've got?"
Senior Gangcheol released his mana with an irritated sigh.
"How boring can you be?"
KWOOOOOOOO—!
The moment his mana surged outward, an overwhelming pressure strong enough to shake space itself pressed down on everything.
The brilliant mana shining an even more radiant gold than mine or Jinny's was showing me exactly why his awakening ability was called The Emperor's New Clothes.
Right now, Senior looked like the Emperor of the battlefield, far beyond any mere king.
"S-such mana cannot exist! This is impossible!"
The Plague Doctor stumbled backward in panic.
"First time seeing it?"
Senior Gangcheol advanced with heavy steps, closing the distance the Plague Doctor tried to create.
"Better take a good look while you still can."
He gathered every ounce of mana into his powerful fist.
"Because you're about to die by my hand."
Shuk—
Senior Gangcheol threw his punch forward.
It wasn't a direct hit, but the sheer weight of the mana behind that arm felt like it could move a mountain.
KWAAAAAANG!!!
The wind pressure alone slammed into the Plague Doctor.
His coat shredded to ribbons. The rest of his mask exploded, revealing a hideous bare face.
He couldn't even scream as he flew straight through the factory wall and embedded himself in the distance.
It was pure, overwhelming physical dominance.
"Cough... hack...! Y-you monster...!"
The Plague Doctor trembled, coughing up blood where he lay embedded in the wall.
He had instinctively realized it—the being before him was a calamity he could never hope to defeat.
"This humiliation... I will repay it without fail...!"
In one last desperate act, the Plague Doctor split his main body into tens of thousands of crows.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Senior Gangcheol reached out and clenched his fist in the empty air.
Pop!
Hundreds of crows burst apart on the spot, but the Plague Doctor's core had already slipped through a spatial gap.
"Tsk."
Senior clicked his tongue.
"At least his escape skills are top-tier."
The unpleasant purple mana that had filled the factory was gradually fading away.
"I should've asked for information on those Hunter bastards who hunt S-class awakeners systematically..."
Senior Gangcheol scratched his head with clear regret.
"Well, I guess I still got something out of this, right?"
In his hand was the mana suppressant cylinder the Plague Doctor had been carrying.
"At least Dohee won't chew me out."
He walked over, casually throwing on the clothes scattered across the floor.
The overwhelming mana pressure vanished in an instant, and he returned to his usual self.
"Hey, Butt-man."
Senior approached with relaxed steps, bent down, and looked at me.
"You still alive?"
"Senior... you took your sweet time..."
I barely managed to move my lips.
Jinny was fading beside me, growing fainter by the second without a mana supply.
"You okay, Jinny?"
Senior squatted down and poked the prone Jinny with his finger.
"Ugh... everything hurts."
"Haha, if you've still got the energy to complain, you're doing just fine."
He laughed and gently stroked her head.
"I'm not joking... my whole body really aches..."
Those were her last words before she dropped her head and lost consciousness.
Senior Gangcheol moved over to me, sat down, and patted my shoulder.
"You did well holding out, Gangjin."
He offered his hand to help me up.
"For a freshman to last this long against an S-class residue is impressive. Living up to your top-new-student title."
He gave me a small, warm smile.
"Come on, let's get up and go reap some sweet rewards."
"Senior... I really..."
I tried to stand.
But the moment the tension left my body, the world spun violently.
A freezing sensation spread from my thigh all the way to my heart as the poison took hold. My vision went black.
"Hey! Stay with me!"
Senior Gangcheol's panicked voice sounded distant, fading behind my slipping consciousness.
Just as I reached for his hand, every ounce of strength left me.
I fell straight into deep darkness.
The terrible stench of the western abandoned factory vanished, and only endless shadow embraced me.