Chapter 578
Chapter Title: An Awkward Awakening
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578.
When Karl opened his eyes, pitch-black darkness consumed his vision.
‘What is this?’
He held his breath, his entire body tense.
Even as a slacker, Karl had somehow managed to keep up with Lumerne’s curriculum.
As such, he was intimately familiar with the World of Heroes.
That was why he could easily tell that this was an unexpected situation.
‘The world of Master Lumerne?’
Karl remained on high alert as he quickly assessed the situation.
‘The Heroes of the Beginning definitely said they trapped Erebos within their own worlds, right? And in the process, all the Hero Records of the Heroes of the Beginning that could be used as escape routes for Erebos were destroyed.’
Only one Hero Record of the Beginning remained intact.
The world that imprisoned Erebos.
‘The fact that I’m in Master Lumerne’s world means I entered through a fragment of a discarded page.’
A cold sweat broke out on Karl’s skin.
‘Didn’t Leo say before that he was the one who caused Master Seirun to appear in the present world?’
And the fragment of Erebos that appeared then was said to be a piece that had been trying to escape the World of Heroes.
‘This place could also be used as a passage, couldn’t it?’
The memory of encountering Erebos during the summer training retreat sent a shiver down his spine.
‘First, I need to figure out where and when this is.’
Place and time.
Those were the keys to conquering a World of Heroes.
‘Anyway, why is it so dark I can’t even see in front of me? I think I’m lying in a bed, though.’
‘A prison? No, the bed feels luxurious.’
Moreover, there was none of the characteristic dampness and odor of a prison.
‘I think I can smell a pleasant fragrance from somewhere.’
It was clear he was in some kind of room.
‘The middle of the night? No, even so, for there to be this little light…’
Karl cautiously sat up.
Just then, he sensed a presence flinch beside him.
He froze.
‘A person? An enemy?’
With no idea what was going on, Karl felt all his senses sharpen.
Judging that the other person had no intention of attacking, Karl muttered a small incantation.
“Light.”
*Flash-!*
A small light flared up, driving away the darkness.
In that instant, Karl’s eyes met with those of a woman he had never seen before.
“……”
“……”
Their eyes locked, and Karl froze solid.
The other person did as well.
Karl’s mouth gaped open.
And the face of the naked woman lying in the same bed as him turned icy.
*Fwoosh-!*
The woman wrapped herself in the blanket, and like a bolt of lightning, she put distance between them. For some reason, she then snatched up a rope that was lying on the floor.
She cracked it like a whip.
*Whoosh-! Crack!*
“Ugh!”
The rope coiled around Karl’s neck, and he staggered.
The woman yanked him, pulling him out of the bed.
*Thud-! Stomp-!*
As Karl fell forward, the woman pressed her soft foot firmly onto the back of his head and spoke.
“Gah! You! A-are you Eliza? It’s me! Me! Karl Thomas! Calm down!”
At his words, the woman—Eliza—hesitated.
“Karl Thomas?”
Eliza took her foot off the back of his head.
“Blond hair…? I see. It’s a possession-type world. But how did you recognize me?”
“The look in your eyes and the way you crack a whip are a dead giveaway.”
As Karl replied slyly and tried to stand up, Eliza hastily stomped on his head again.
“Don’t lift your head!”
“Why?”
“How can you even ask that!”
Eliza’s face flushed as she growled, her shoulders trembling slightly.
*Bang, bang-*
“Cleri, what are you doing that’s so noisy in the middle of the night!”
A middle-aged woman’s voice came from outside, causing Karl and Eliza to freeze.
Eliza removed her foot from Karl’s head.
Karl looked up and met her eyes.
‘Cleri? Sounds like it could be a man’s or a woman’s name.’
‘The fact that she was alone means this is a single room.’
Judging by the size of the room and the furniture, it looked like it was meant for one person.
“Don’t tell me you’ve dragged a female student into your room again? I’ve warned you time and again that one more stunt like that and we’ll convene the disciplinary committee.”
As soon as those words ended, Eliza dashed to the wardrobe.
Karl scrambled to shove the clothes scattered on the floor under the bed and quickly got dressed.
*Creak-!*
“What’s the matter? I was sleeping, and it’s noisy.”
Karl asked in a sleepy voice.
‘Wow, she’s the very definition of a dorm mother.’
The bespectacled, middle-aged woman standing at the door exuded the classic air of a dormitory proctor.
Behind her, a male proctor also stood with a stern face.
*Step-step-*
The dorm proctor entered the room.
“Were you sleeping?”
“What else would I be doing at this hour if not sleeping?”
The proctor gave him a suspicious look.
‘Please just go. It’ll be a problem if there’s a commotion!’
Right now, Karl had no information about the person he had possessed.
He wouldn’t be able to handle any trouble that arose in this situation.
The moment the people around him suspected something was off, the conquest would get complicated.
The dorm proctor looked at Karl suspiciously, then glanced around the tidy room again and scoffed.
“Hmph, I suppose so. A punk like you, who prides himself on breaking school rules, wouldn’t hide a female student. You’d probably have her right here and brazenly protest, asking what the problem was. Didn’t you say the disciplinary committee doesn’t scare you at all?”
‘Just how much of a mess is this person I’ve possessed?’
Realizing he had taken over the body of a complete delinquent, Karl let out a dry laugh.
“But mark my words, Cleri Jessiang! Right now, students from other hero academies are visiting Lumerne, as is the Dragon of the Beginning, Lady Rodia! As the student council president, if you have even a shred of awareness, you will refrain from dragging female students into your room during this period! Absolutely!”
“Yes, I understand.”
“So obedient. Have you finally developed some awareness as the student council president? Or are you plotting something?”
“Plotting something?”
Karl adopted his characteristic sly demeanor and waved his hands dismissively.
The dorm proctor scoffed and closed the door.
Once the door was shut, Karl leaned his back against it and sank to the floor.
“I thought we were going to get into trouble.”
As he let out a sigh of relief, the wardrobe door opened, and Eliza peeked out.
“Hurry up and give me this woman’s clothes.”
“Alright.”
Karl pulled out the clothes he had shoved under the bed.
‘She didn’t even bat an eye, even in a situation that was more than enough to fluster anyone.’
Karl clicked his tongue in amazement as he recalled the recent events.
She had woken up in bed, naked, with a strange man, yet she hadn’t panicked and had instead subdued him immediately.
‘Well, the girls at our school are all terrifying.’
It would be hard to find a Lumerne student who would scream and act weak in that situation.
‘They’d probably try to beat up the other person first. Scary, the kids at our school.’
Karl let out a hollow laugh.
“A uniform? Looks like this is Lumerne Academy.”
Seeing the female student uniform, which was identical to the one from his own time, Karl identified the location. He turned his head away and handed the clothes to Eliza.
“This will come in handy.”
From behind the wardrobe door, Eliza threw something at Karl.
Catching it, Karl let out a dry laugh.
“A blindfold?”
“Put it on. If you take it off, I’ll kill you.”
“Yes, yes~”
Karl put on the blindfold.
*Rustle- thud- rustle- rustle-*
He could hear the sounds of her getting dressed.
Feeling the awkwardness, Karl tried to change the mood with a playful comment.
“Ropes and a blindfold. How embarrassing.”
“What is?”
“You know. Eliza, by any chance, do you have rope marks on your body or something?”
“How did you know?”
“……”
Karl fell silent at Eliza’s nonchalant reply.
“Hmph! Did you scan my entire body in that short amount of time?”
“No, I didn’t! I turned my head right away!”
“Then how did you know I had rope marks?”
“……”
“How vulgar.”
Though Karl felt wronged, he couldn’t say anything in response, so he kept his mouth shut.
“Anyway, I’m dressed.”
At her words, Karl took off the blindfold.
“This student’s name is Megin Shell. She’s a fifth-year in the Summoning Department.”
Eliza clicked her tongue after checking the name tag and the department insignia.
“And it seems she’s the lover of the person you’ve possessed, Cleri Jessiang.”
“Right.”
Karl scratched his head.
“So who is this Cleri person, anyway? I know he’s a reckless delinquent, but…”
“Cleri Jessiang. He was in the Magic Department and was Lumerne’s first-ever student council president. You should have learned about him in your first-year classes.”
“You sure know a lot for someone who skips class so often.”
“Hmph. This is basic common knowledge. Anyway, you’ve possessed a famous honor student who doesn’t suit you at all.”
“He seems a far cry from an honor student.”
Karl scratched his cheek.
“In any case, let’s get the situation sorted out. Before that.”
Eliza crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
Karl looked at her arrogant expression with a puzzled look.
“What happened just now.”
“Hm?”
“If you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone, I’ll chase you to the ends of hell.”
Eliza growled fiercely, her face slightly flushed.
Even though it wasn’t their own bodies, the situation was certainly awkward for both of them.
“I may have a loose tongue, but I’m not the type to go around blabbing about something like that.”
Karl shrugged as if to say she had nothing to worry about.
Eliza nodded in response.
Then she frowned and rubbed her wrist.
“By the way, I wonder what they were doing with this rope to make it hurt so much.”
Seeing Eliza’s clueless expression, Karl smiled slyly.
“You act like a thug, but you really are a young lady from a prestigious family.”
“Is that your way of saying you want to die?”
“I meant you’re innocent! Innocent!”
Karl cried out in alarm as Eliza tried to wrap the rope around his neck.
***
“What in the world is going on?”
“Why did a World of Heroes suddenly activate!”
“This wasn’t scheduled! It’s a Hero Dungeon!”
A commotion erupted at the Erec Training Grounds.
The professors who had been preparing for the match scrambled to assess the situation.
*Waaaaaaaaah-!*
The spectators, unaware of the situation, thought the match had begun and let out a roar of cheers.
Watching this, Leo narrowed his eyes and pressed his index and middle fingers to his temple.
-Melina.
-Yes, Lord Leo.
-Cut the magic broadcast streaming to the outside.
-Understood.
After contacting the distant Melina, Leo stared at the center of the Erec Training Grounds.
As he deployed his extrasensory perception, a strange chill ran down his neck.
It was a feeling as if a blade were pressed against his throat.
He’d felt this countless times before.
‘A Hero Dungeon has appeared in the very center of Lumerne.’
It was absurd.
Lumerne was the institution that conquered Hero Dungeons and recovered Hero Records.
If a Hero Record had been in the middle of the Erec Training Grounds, it would have been discovered long ago.
Leo, who had crossed the line between life and death countless times, quickly deduced the situation.
‘Tartaros? Why would they do this?’
Even if they activated a Hero Dungeon, it posed no significant threat to Lumerne.
They could conquer it anytime they wished.
Normally, it’s impossible to enter a World of Heroes that’s already in progress.
However, Leo had confirmed through experiments that it was possible for him to enter a World of Heroes currently being conquered.
It was a privilege of the owner of the Hero Record.
‘Whose Hero Record is this? What are they after?’
Just as Leo narrowed his brow.
*Fwoosh-!*
Flames erupted in the center of the Erec Training Grounds.
Leo’s eyes twitched at the sight.
‘Flames of Calamity?’
*Roooooooooar-!*
A pillar of black flame shot up into the sky.