Omen (2): The One Who Gazed Into the Abyss
The final boss of Act 1—the one who gazed into the abyss—Shub le Ruelle. As a demon, Shub was a mage driven by a fanatical thirst for knowledge. Even in the game, meeting her meant hunting for her in a secluded corner of the library during break time, smashing through piles of books that registered as obstacles, only to be greeted with a flat little “Hmm.” You could only see her properly in cutscenes, and Alex had to flirt with the girls without ever knowing that just to clear his quests. Among all the boss characters, Shub le Ruelle was especially popular. It was the way she slowly succumbed to the polluted mana of the Otherworld while desperately trying to resist, the way her craving for knowledge gradually overpowered her, that stirred up so much sympathy. Her stunning appearance obviously helped too.
Right now, I was secretly tailing that very girl.
If anyone had caught me doing this back in modern society, I would’ve been hauled straight to the station. But this was Destin Academy. Medieval fantasy! If I don’t get caught, it doesn’t count~ —Cain.
You look like a total pervert.
Hey. Is this seriously how you live every day? You know it’s fucking creepy, right?
[Shut the hell up.]
I did my best to ignore the spirits’ constant chatter as I followed after Shub. When we had faced that gate to the Otherworld, the demons must have sensed something on the other side with their unique mana sensitivity. There was no way she could be completely fine after that.
[No way she’s okay with it. Ha… fuck.]
Is that your own dark inner voice talking?
[…]
Cain. That’s not it, right?
[Ah, no. Fuck. All of you—either stay quiet like Kasa or let me reverse summon you. Pick one.]
Hmm, well… she is kind of cute, isn’t she? If you’re interested, maybe don’t just creep behind her like—
I reverse summoned Gnome on the spot.
Fuck. She doesn’t know shit. Sob sob.
Just as I expected, Shub entered the library and began searching for her usual spot. As always, it was a deserted corner no one visited, with books stacked like a fortress wall. That was Shub’s territory.
To avoid looking like a stalker, I pretended I had wandered in by chance and glanced around. Of course, I had already brought my own reading material—the nameless book the principal had given me. Thanks to the game’s system, it was covered in so much static that even the cover was unreadable. Urd had gone through hell to obtain it, so I couldn’t help being curious. The principal had seemed pretty unhinged too. I just desperately hoped this wasn’t some kind of grimoire.
Carefully, I settled down beside the wall of books Shub had built and pulled out the suspicious tome. It buzzed and crackled like digital decay, noise rippling across its surface. I had no idea how it looked to other people, so I didn’t mention it, but the thing really didn’t look like anything I wanted to open. The second I cracked it open, was I going to get digitized and sucked into some unknown world where I’d meet my soul partner and evolve? Not that it would necessarily be bad, but surviving in this world was already more than I could handle.
“Ahem…”
I glanced past the book wall at Shub, who had her face practically buried in her own text. Didn’t that ruin her eyes? Watching her devour the pages like she wanted to eat them alive, I turned my attention back to my own book.
The moment my fingers touched the cover, noise spread outward from the point of contact. Please, just let nothing happen.
I squeezed my eyes shut and flipped it open.
With a soft rustle, the first page turned naturally.
“No… what the… fuck is this…”
I couldn’t hold back the curse. There were clearly letters on the page, but pitch-black static had been deliberately inserted between the characters, as if something was blocking the transmission of information on purpose. Fuck. What the hell? Did that principal bastard seriously call this a “service”? At least make it readable. This was just garbage.
“That… fucking… bastard…”
Yeah. If reading a book like this dragged me into some massive incident, the real incident would be the one where I beat the contract scam out of that principal—or con artist—and killed him. Let’s kill him. Yeah. Scammers deserve to be punished.
“Um…”
The moment I muttered in a voice thick with rage, a hesitant voice came from beside me. When I turned with murder in my eyes, Shub was already there, watching me with genuine worry. Wait, hadn’t she been face-deep in her book? The type who can’t concentrate properly?
When I kept staring at her with a sour expression, her cheeks flushed faintly. She averted her gaze and spoke as if making an excuse.
“N-no… it’s just… y-you were swearing so much… so I kept watching… and your face kept twisting more and more… u-um… I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Hmm?”
The 180-degree difference from the last time I’d seen her left me speechless.
“Shub le Ruelle? Last time I met you…”
You definitely weren’t like this.
“Y-yes? Ah, t-that’s… when I concentrate or… get nervous… I become really calm, so… if I made you uncomfortable, I’m truly sorry!”
“…”
Wow, fuck. This is going to take some getting used to.
The idea that this demon girl currently bowing at a perfect ninety degrees in front of me—voice hushed so she wouldn’t disturb the library—was the same person who had bound an Otherworld knight with magic and sat confidently in the principal’s office not long ago created a serious case of cognitive dissonance.
“Ah, no—then what about in the principal’s office? What was that?”
“B-back then I was so n-nervous… n-nothing would come out…”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, she really hadn’t said a single word there. So it wasn’t calm observation but… just nerves?
“Then in the cave…?”
I wasn’t even bothering with polite speech anymore. I was too thrown to filter myself.
“I-in the cave, I smelled a type of mana I had n-never encountered before… so… I was concentrating…”
“This is fucking ridiculous. Seriously.”
“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I-I was just curious about the gate!”
As Shub continued apologizing, the eyes of everyone around us slowly converged. Even the librarian was staring our way. I could already feel another bullshit incident coming.
I let out a heavy sigh and turned back to the book.
“People are starting to look over here. I’d appreciate it if you could calm down a little.”
“H-hiiiiek?! S-sorry! Sorry for being a demon who can’t calm down properly!”
Ah, fuck. This is giving me a headache.
This girl was going to get corrupted by the Otherworld’s mana later and become the final boss? This low-self-esteem demon who kept apologizing in front of me for simply being a demon?
In my head, she had been a dignified figure trying to change how people saw the demon race. In reality, she had acted that way too, and her public image matched. No… maybe this was her real self, and the version she showed at the academy and in the game had been forced acting?
The vicious, manic figure shown in Spirit Savior… if that had been artificially created?
“Something’s wrong.”
I—well, everyone who had played Spirit Savior—had different opinions, but there was one thing we all agreed on. The characters were god-tier. A game that perfectly utilized its cast. A game that understood exactly what otakus wanted. Yet it still had a story so good that men and women of all ages had cried out in emotion. Was all of that just surface-level “feeling”? Had the game intentionally…
“Ah, Cain. This book…”
Shub’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Her eyes were filled with a curiosity completely different from Eve’s, and it didn’t take long to realize it was pure thirst for knowledge.
“I-I’ve never seen a book like this before. Y-your name was Cain, right? Could I look at it? Just once? I-I swear I won’t damage it!”
Shub was breathing hard. Ah… this kid. Her voice was getting louder again. Drawing attention here was the last thing I needed.
I decided to take her outside first. Maybe I could get the book read, or at least figure out its condition.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes?”
“Volume.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t raise your voice.”
“Ah, s-sorry!”
“You look weak like that.”
I picked up the book and gestured for Shub to follow. Receiving scorching glares from every student—including the librarian—we escaped the library.
Even though many different races attended the academy, a demon who was also the top student in the magic department was rare enough that eyes followed us everywhere we went.
“Is that the guy? The one from Class D. The one who picked a fight with Sir Vermillion Vermon.”
“Crazy bastard. I heard he messed with Preston before he even enrolled.”
“Does he just go around challenging strong people like he’s breaking dojo seals?”
“Hey, hey. Don’t make eye contact. What if he starts something with us and beats the shit out of us?”
Especially since the rumor that I had picked fights with nobles even before admission had spread. Being seen with me only made it worse. No—after that I had been perfectly quiet and only attended class, hadn’t I? No… I had lived like a complete loner, only going between the dormitory, classroom, and training grounds.
Shub, who had been following quietly behind me, noticed the whispering and shrank in on herself before asking timidly.
“Um… you’re not… going to do that to me too… right…?”
“What? No, fuck.”
“Hiiiiik. Sorry!”
“No… I mean… no… sorry… I have no intention of harming you.”
For now.
If you turn into the boss later, that answer might change.
I waved the book gently in front of her eyes. Like a puppy that had spotted food, Shub’s eyes sparkled as they followed its every movement. Maybe demons were simpler than I thought. Or maybe this one was just uniquely simple.
“All right… Shub. Good girl? I’m going to show you this book now… but for the time being, you’ll have to listen to me carefully.”
“Y-yes…”
She seemed a little loose in the head in a weird way. Whatever. Let’s handle my urgent business first.