Thorns
Professors and staff from the academy had come out in droves to greet me and the holy knights, holding welcome picket signs and beaming with wide smiles.
On the surface, it looked like a warm welcome for the hero visiting his alma mater, but their true colors—visible through my Indexer skill—were uniformly black and murky.
……………
………
…
The welcoming crowd was made up entirely of Black Sheep cultists.
"You must be exhausted from the long trip."
"……Ah. Yeah."
The woman who approached me first, flashing a dazzling smile, was the herbalism professor and my assigned advisor from the day I first entered the academy.
It was shocking enough that even my assigned advisor was a cultist, but the fact that this scholarly professor, so passionate about teaching students, was a witch hit even harder.
Thinking back now, I remembered how she always pretended to listen to my complaints, only to push me deeper into the pit.
Whenever I talked to her about the school violence from Kwak Jae-ho and his gang, the next day she'd drag me in front of them under the guise of "reconciliation" and force me to bond.
'It's fine, it's just a joke. You have to put up with that much.'
Those days when I'd sink into despair watching Kwak Jae-ho's crew snickering behind her—how many were there?
If her real goal wasn't teaching me but sprouting the black seed inside me, then all her actions were just her duty as a cultist.
"To think our academy produced a hero! What an honor! Mu-hyuk."
Professor Kim Na-eun spread her arms wide in an exaggerated gesture, trying to hug me.
I sidestepped slightly and flashed a bright smile back.
"Thank you, Advisor. For the warm welcome."
"……Uh, y-yeah."
Her eyes sharpened for a split second when I dodged, but she quickly smoothed her expression and nodded.
"As we informed you in advance regarding the purpose of your visit, we'll finalize the hero's academic records and administrative paperwork. Are the documents ready?"
Jeong Hyeon-seop, the knight order captain watching us, stepped forward. Only then did Professor Kim tear her gaze from me and reply with a bright smile.
"Oh, of course! Everything's prepared. Shall we all head to the main auditorium? We've even set up a simple graduation ceremony for Kwon Mu-hyuk, so your attendance would be appreciated."
"A… graduation ceremony?"
"Yes. Now that you've awakened, you won't be coming back to the academy while doing hero work, right? So at least let's do the graduation on your way out."
"Oh! You've prepared something our knight order overlooked. Thank you."
"Oh, no need to thank me. It's just what we had to do. Hohohoho…."
The witch, who looked to anyone like a caring professor for her students, smiled kindly and led us to the auditorium.
As we moved through the school, passing classrooms and the courtyard, one lecture hall caught my eye—unnaturally quiet.
It was still early, so the cafeteria or snack bar might be empty, but there should at least be students in class inside.
The always-bustling classrooms and hallways were ghost-town empty.
'These crazy bastards… no way.'
A bad premonition surged.
I recalled why I'd never met a single Hunter Academy professor in previous regressions.
Officially announced as an earthquake from dungeon gate-induced ground weakening, it was actually a failed large-scale necromancy ritual by the Black Sheep cult that exploded a 3km radius—Choi Ju-bong had cackled about it.
They'd tried to summon the Black Sheep directly by awakening a hidden monster under the academy for the ritual.
Of course, that happened much later than now.
If it was happening already, someone was pressured by the hero's emergence or made a reckless choice out of impatience…
'The dean did it, after all.'
The dean was missing from the welcoming professors, which nagged at me.
"……Guhk!"
Seol Yun-ji staggered, her body swaying as she cast her trait magic, Holy Lightning.
Behind her, Go Chang-seok and the classmates were vomiting blood and collapsing to the floor.
No matter where she looked, it was pitch black, like being trapped in darkness—no faint light in sight.
Her magic's glow barely let them guess they were in an underground dungeon.
"The professors said it was safe…."
That morning, when they announced a school-wide dungeon raid with all students participating, everyone had been thrilled.
It wasn't far—just an event inside the school—so they joined lightly.
Even when the supervising professors vanished, leaving only students, few grasped the severity.
They thought it was a surprise hidden camera, clear the dungeon yourselves.
But soon.
A massive vibration shook the ground, and a black-red tree monster erupted, devouring students like snacks.
Seol Yun-ji had barely escaped with Go Chang-seok and a few classmates, but she couldn't shake the feeling they'd been circling the same spot.
To make matters worse, the thorn wounds were widening, blood flowing endlessly.
"Are the professors insane? What are we supposed to do alone?!"
"Hey! Professor! Professor Kim Na-eun! Professor Lee Min-hyuk!"
They desperately called academy professors' names, but only empty echoes returned.
"I think… we've fallen into a trap."
"What? What do you mean?"
Go Chang-seok gave Seol Yun-ji a bitter smile.
"I've suspected it for a while… There are Black Sheep cultists in our academy."
"What?! Is that true? You should've told the dean sooner!"
"Well…."
Go Chang-seok trailed off, unable to continue.
'The cultist is the dean himself… how do I say that?'
Storming into the dean's office to report Kwak Jae-ho's bullying of his friend Kwon Mu-hyuk, he'd spotted the Black Sheep priest robes on the desk—shocked and terrified.
Chang-seok could only pray to graduate safely, ashamed of ignoring his beaten friend's pain every night.
"So a cultist tricked the professors and trapped us?"
"Yeah… probably."
No darker scenario imaginable for students, but reality was worse. Most professors were cultists; the non-cult ones were already dealt with.
Unaware, with surface contact cut off, they could only pray the tree monster wouldn't find them—powerlessness driving them to despair.
'If only I'd at least told Mu-hyuk….'
Go Chang-seok stared powerlessly at his thorn-pierced wounds, regretting not apologizing to his friend he'd failed to protect.
If they met again, he'd say sorry for not protecting him, that he was just scared too.
Words that were apology, complaint, or coward's excuse—now forever unsaid. He barely held back tears.
Or maybe it didn't matter if he hadn't said them.
At least Mu-hyuk had become a cool hero and escaped this hell.
That alone comforted him deeply.
'Mu-hyuk, please don't come here. Forget a coward like me and fly free.'
A single tear rolled down the cheek of the 18-year-old boy, who looked tough with his massive build but was still just a kid.
'Annoying. I just wanna bulldoze everything.'
Irritation boiled as I walked into the obvious trap, but with Chang-seok and Yun-ji still attending school, I couldn't rampage yet. So I followed to the auditorium as led.
Entering, a massive banner read: "Welcoming the Hero from Sanggye-dong to His Alma Mater." It draped over the stage.
As I and the holy knights reached the center, Professor Kim Na-eun stepped to the podium in front of it.
Her eyes locked on me.
"Hero, hero, you dogshit hero."
"…?"
The holy knights, excluding me, were puzzled by her sudden alien voice and demeanor but couldn't react in time.
"Ever since you awakened as a hero, our academy's gone to shit."
"What nonsense is this?!"
Outraged knights raised their voices at her snarling provocation.
Her eyes flashed menacingly.
BAM!
Iron bars crashed down around the auditorium center where we stood.
Layer upon layer of thick bars slammed between us and the professors with deafening booms.
"Hey! Professor Kim! You've lost it completely! How dare you…!"
"Remove these bars now!"
Amid the knights' panicked fury, Professor Kim's eyes overflowed with glee.
"Kihahahahaha!"
An inhuman, chilling laugh filled the auditorium.
"Do you filthy humans have any idea how much I suffered mingling with you? It's over now! Today, you hero and those nauseating holy knights become sacrifices for Him!"
She yanked the banner's cord.
Rip—
The banner fell with a racket, revealing the stage.
"Gasp! What is that?!"
"A… tree?!"
Dominating the stage was the tree monster that planted black seeds, like in Killopoti.
But vastly larger, grotesque with blood-red veins spiking like thorns.
Crackle!
Captain Jeong Hyeon-seop recovered first after me, punching the bars.
His peak fist strike glowed blue, denting the tightening bars.
Hiss….
But sadly, purple mist around the bars absorbed it, vanishing without trace.
"All knights, attack the bars and secure an escape route!"
"Yes, sir!"
The flustered knights snapped to and assaulted the bars en masse.
"Pointless! You'll fall into despair's maw!"
The witch's true face emerged—no longer human.
Grrr.
Grrrk.
Not just her—all the welcoming professors and staff revealed their true forms.
Crunch, cruuunch!
They approached the black seed tree, impaling themselves on thorns willingly.
The tree swallowed them via thorns, then bore their faces like fruit between spikes.
"How grotesque…!"
"What the hell is that?!"
The tree dangled professors' and staff's faces, extending branches.
"Block it all! Shields up!"
"Argh!"
Holy knights tried retreating, deploying shield skills against thorns.
But the thorns pierced shields and armor like adamantium spears, skewering bodies.
"U, uwaaaaaah!"
"Save me! Kaaaaah!"
Skewered bodies withered instantly.
Blood-red energy flowed through thorns to the trunk.
Shwick!
While eyes closed, sensing dark energy flows through the academy to locate Chang-seok and Yun-ji, I opened them and slashed a thorn in one stroke.