Death Terraforming

"What? What the hell is that retard saying?"

"A worthless punk like you threatening us?!"

Kwak Jae-ho scoffed with a look of utter disbelief, completely ignoring my warning as he strutted into the dungeon.

"Yeah, I'm in. What're you gonna do about it? Huh?! What're you gonna—"

Crunch!

"Gaaahhh!"

A gruesome cracking sound exploded alongside Kwak Jae-ho's scream. The weathered gargoyle statue at the dungeon entrance had somehow appeared behind him, crushing his shoulder.

"W-what the hell?!"

The other two panicked and tried to flee through the entrance, but the dungeon gargoyles were faster. One grabbed a guy's shoulder and shattered it like a cookie crumb, while the other snapped the last one's neck.

"Arrrgh! My shoulder! My shooooulder!!"

In an instant, the gargoyles had subdued all three. They let out a low "grrr..." as they dragged the thugs over, bowing their heads submissively and awaiting my command.

"See? I told you you'd die if you came in."

"Urk... What the... hell..."

Kwak Jae-ho writhed in agony, his shoulders gripped by the dungeon gargoyles, while the surviving one was out cold, barely breathing.

"G-gargoyles...? No way, how the hell is this... Urk! Why... why aren't the gargoyles attacking you?!"

"That's because..."

I took one step forward, and space folded—suddenly I was right in front of Kwak Jae-ho.

The startled bastard tried to back away but failed, letting out a pained groan as his gripped shoulder throbbed.

"...I'm the owner of this dungeon."

I flashed a friendly smile as I explained, and his face went blank with disbelief.

"No way... A loser like you, why..."

This dungeon was a skill repository I'd left behind in an early regression loop to prepare for the next ones. Since I'd be using these skills often, I didn't want to trek far—I'd made my own personal dungeon under Hunter Academy for quick access.

That's why it was programmed to eliminate anyone who wasn't me.

"Gasp! Are you some high-level villain wearing Kwon Mu-hyuk's skin?! Who the hell are you?!"

Kwak Jae-ho's eyes darted around in confusion, finally resorting to denial.

And the irony of him calling me a villain was laughable.

"Who else? It's me, Kwon Mu-hyuk—the same guy you beat up yesterday."

"L-lies! Kwon Mu-hyuk that punk just awakened today as a level 1 mage! He couldn't command gargoyles like this! Arrrgh!"

I stared down at the raging Kwak Jae-ho with a blank expression for a while, then clicked my tongue.

"Sigh. Killing you trash outright would be the easiest anyway..."

"Wh-what?!"

Slaughtering people spikes the contamination level way higher. In past loops, my own mental corruption had me wiping out anyone who got in my way.

Ripping out throats, exploding heads, pulverizing flesh to dust...

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Each time, contamination skyrocketed exponentially, but I never had the luxury to care.

But this loop, I finally had a shot at walking the path of a normal black mage.

Plus, with my 999 Luck, I didn't know yet how much contamination I could offset—so avoiding it as much as possible was smart.

That's why I'd tried sparing these scumbags...

"Hmm? Nah. I need to kill one first to check the exact numbers."

"??!!! Y-you psycho...!"

I picked up the dagger from the guy the gargoyle had killed and approached. Kwak Jae-ho thrashed with a face pale as death. But I walked past him to the unconscious one, and he exhaled in momentary relief.

Stab!

"Eek!"

To test various scenarios, I experimented on the unconscious guy with the gargoyle's help—stabbing, slicing off limbs, you name it.

I ignored the nameless bastard's agonized screams and the stench of Kwak Jae-ho pissing himself behind me.

'Regular attacks or wounds don't affect contamination.'

So what about outright murder?

'Fireball.'

I finished off the ragdoll of a test subject(?) with a fireball. I needed to know how much contamination skill-based kills caused.

Boom!

"Gack!"

As the dying guy's final death rattle faded, a message appeared.

"Yes!! That's what I'm talking about—achoo!"

I pumped my fist in excitement. Of course! Monsters and trash like this are both just lifeforms—if killing them affected contamination differently, that'd be unfair.

I could feel Kwak Jae-ho trembling like a leaf behind my chuckling.

"P-please spare me... M-Mu-hyuk, please..."

I turned to see him shaking uncontrollably, pants soaked in filth, whipping his head side to side with a madman's terror.

"Spare you? Nope."

"Wh-what? Why..."

I casually wiped the blood off my hands on Kwak Jae-ho as I replied.

"The dead ones would feel cheated if I spared just you. Plus, I still have one more experiment."

"Ex-experiment...? Urrrgh! You psycho! You fucking madmaaaan!!!"

'Death Terraforming.'

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠granted myself instant death ability, extended my hand toward him, and activated the skill.

A line sliced across Kwak Jae-ho's howling throat. Amid the blood spraying like an explosion, his darkened face and head slowly tumbled free.

Reacting to my dark energy, black smoke rose from the dungeon floor, enveloping Kwak Jae-ho.

'Grooooar—'

With eerie sounds, the smoke forcibly reattached his severed head to his body, reconstructing him from the ground up.

[Kiiiiiaaaah—]

After a long mix of inhuman soul-screams and bone-crunching, it finally stopped.

"I, Guhroak of Noble Ruin, greet you."

The reborn, pristine Kwak Jae-ho prostrated before me.

Unlike regular magic hunters who rely on mana for skills, mine drew from the primordial darkness beyond all shadows—no limits, no capacity caps.

I could make as many dark minions like this Kwak Jae-ho as I wanted.

It was that powerful. That destructive.

To the world. And to myself.

'Even using dark energy allows full contamination reset. So dark skills need about a 10-minute cooldown?'

Great that resets are possible, but if Death Terraforming costs 10 points, future dark skills will likely rack up hefty contamination too.

'Then I should level mana and learn more white magic.'

White magic has no cooldown or contamination worries—perfect for masquerading as a normal mage hunter or emergencies.

"Kwak Jae-ho."

"Yes! Your command?"

"Subjugate them."

"Understood."

At my order, Kwak Jae-ho approached the two corpses.

He extended his hand, raising them up.

Crack, crunch!

The two risen corpses had become zombies.

The moment he turned them, Kwak Jae-ho's class shifted from warrior to zombie sorcerer.

"Go outside, cause a ruckus, then when I head back to the dorm, confess your crimes and await the academy's judgment. After that, self-destruct with those two."

"As you command."

Kwak Jae-ho bowed to me, then exited with the zombies to stir up chaos.

Seizing the chance, I slipped quietly back to the dorm and hit the bed.

Had I ever had such a peaceful first day post-regression?

I felt grateful for my Luck—and weirdly, even a twinge of thanks toward whatever god had cursed and tormented me across countless loops.

Brimming with happy anticipation for tomorrow's skills and level-ups, I drifted off to sleep.

"Kwon Mu-hyuk! Get up, you punk!"

'Chang-seok... First deep sleep in 999 regressions. Don't wake me...'

I grumbled internally and tossed in bed, but Chang-seok yanked me up.

"Zombies! Zombies are rampant!!!"

"What?!"

I bolted up and looked out the dorm window—pure chaos. In the dim dawn light, zombies pounded on the dorm building, trying to get in.

Looks like Kwak Jae-ho took "cause a ruckus" literally and made a zombie farm.

"Haa..."

My skills were apocalypse-tier from the start. They don't do "moderate." But Hunter Academy runs on awakeners, so I figured they'd handle this much—my bad.

"That psycho Kwak Jae-ho reawakened as a zombie sorcerer or some shit. Turned his buddies into zombies, then the night shift trying to stop him... Outside's a warzone. Good thing the dorm barrier's holding them out, but it might drop soon! Evacuate now!"

"Yeah, got it."

'Kwak Jae-ho.'

I sent a telepathic message to the caster while pretending to gear up for evac.

'Yes! You called, Master?'

'Come to the dorm main gate.'

'As you command!'

"Hurry! Zombies are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gonna bust in!"

Panicked Chang-seok practically hopped in place, dragging me.

"Nah, Chang-seok. You head to the shelter first. I'll hold off the zombies."

"What?! Even awakened, you're a level 1 mage—what can you do?!"

I had to step up. If "minor chaos" escalated this far, I'd clean my own mess—not out of responsibility, but to protect my bright black mage future.

Any bigger, and my black magic use could get exposed.

"I can handle it. I leveled to 5."

"For real? In less than a day... how?!"

Chang-seok's teary worry eyes went wide.

"Magic training room. Not important now—gotta stop the zombies before they break in."

"...Urk. Fine! Then I'm coming too!"

"Too dangerous."

"Don't underestimate me, punk. My stamina rivals any awakener!"

Chang-seok flexed his biceps.

"Fine. At least wrap these thick books around your arms and strap 'em tight."

I secured books on his forearms with his jacket.

"Heh~ This'll work nice."

Chang-seok patted them happily.

We rushed down the central stairs to the main gate.

Two guards protecting the dorm and Seol Yun-ji—who'd awakened as a mage like me yesterday—faced off against the zombies.

The mana-shielded glass doors cracked under the zombies' relentless body-slams.

"Oh? You guys..."

"Yun-ji, you too? What's the sitch? When's backup?"

"Association's coming soon. Hope the doors hold..."

Chang-seok and Seol Yun-ji chatted naturally—they knew each other well.

Yun-ji was here too.

At level 1, she'd get swarmed. Scratch the "prolong and skill later" plan—time to wipe them out.

I ignored Yun-ji and placed my hand on the gate.

"Hey! Student! It's dangerous—!"

The guard yelled in shock to stop me—just as—

Shatter!

The barrier broke, zombies surging in. I fired fireballs while secretly reclaiming dark energy via Death Terraforming.

Boom!

Zombies shrieked death rattles and dropped one by one—their sustaining dark energy gone.

I messaged waiting Kwak Jae-ho.

'Kwak Jae-ho, self-destruct now.'

'As you command!'

"Arrrgh! Noble Ruin!"

'Shut up! Don't say my name.'

Boom!!

Bang!

Kwak Jae-ho self-destructed screaming, and in my fluster at him calling me, I unleashed another fireball barrage on him and the two zombies.

Unlike limitless black magic, my mana pool was low—back-to-back fireballs drained it, leaving me staggering.

"Mu-hyuk!"

"Urgh..."

Chang-seok and Yun-ji rushed over, worried.

"Ugh, smoke... Cough cough..."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"Mu-hyuk, you really hit level 5!"

Chang-seok's words made Yun-ji's eyes bulge.

"What? For real? We awakened together yesterday?"

"Yup. Leveled in the magic room. That's our Mu-hyuk! Haha!"

"Whoa... You're amazing, Mu-hyuk."

Chang-seok's fussing kept Yun-ji and the guards from suspecting my magic.

'Perfect cleanup.'

I'd handled it all with a sane, uncontaminated mind.

The bright black mage future I'd dreamed of yesterday felt even clearer now.

"Student, you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"What possessed you to charge in like that? Could've been bad."

"If I'd waited longer, everyone in the dorm would've been at risk."

It was to hide my black magic, but protecting dormmates was true too—so I answered shamelessly. The guards, Chang-seok, and Yun-ji all looked at me with moved eyes.

Then a Hunter Association bus arrived, swarming with hunters.

Guards explained, staff cleaned charred zombie corpses.

"Huh? That lady... Shin Yu-ra?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah! Shin Yu-ra."

A woman in a black suit stepped off, scanning zombies coolly.

Her composed face was a honed blade; her stunning beauty screamed celebrity.

She brushed past wide-eyed Chang-seok and Yun-ji, approaching me.

"Shin Yu-ra, Team Leader of the Korean Hunter Association Special Forces."

"...Kwon Mu-hyuk."

'Dark Demon King! Killing you to save the world is my mission.'

Her Dark Detection trait had her doggedly hunting me across loops, rising to top Korean hunter—only to fall to me in the end.

Her noble death stuck with me amid countless ones. Even as my darkness drowned the world, she'd thrown herself to save it—a beacon of light.

'No matter how many times you return, I'll stake everything to stop you.'

Which loop was it? Her dying words had chilled me—did she know?

"Were you the one who took down these zombies and that villain?"

Shin Yu-ra's eyes narrowed.