Prologue: A Sweet Scent of Death
"*Sniff, sniff.*"
A subtle, sweet scent tickled the tip of my nose.
But the only thing running down my spine was a cold shiver.
"...How peculiar. Your scent is a bit different from the other beast-kin. It's so... sweet."
Long silver hair that shimmered as if bathed in moonlight, twitching fox ears, and golden pupils set within seductively curved eyes.
The fox beast-kin, who had closed the distance right up to my nose, curled her lips into an intrigued smile.
"I saw you slice that thing in half with my own two eyes. I thought the Masked Clan was the weakest of the weak, with bottom-tier mana and physical abilities...? Hmm..."
Past her gaze, a training 'Iron Body' lay rolling on the ground, its sliced surface as smooth as cut tofu.
It was the result of a casual downward swing with a mere wooden sword, as if shooing away an annoying fly.
...Ah, I'm screwed. Is the steel in this neighborhood made of sugar cookies or something?
Five thousand horizontal slashes, five thousand vertical slashes, until the skin of my palms peeled away in a nameless forest.
I never dreamed that those ten thousand swings, endured solely out of a mad desperation to survive, would produce such a bizarre result.
"...You must be mistaken. I merely have decent physical strength because I chopped a lot of firewood when I was young."
It was an absolute miracle that my wildly shaking eyes were hidden behind my thick white mask.
If your identity as a Human is exposed, you will die instantly.
A brutal penalty engraved upon my retina.
In this beastly academy of monsters, the moment my identity as a human—prey to these brutal predators—is exposed, my survival rate converges to zero percent.
"Heh~ Firewood? That's a bit too cute of an excuse, don't you think?"
At my shameless feigning of ignorance, the fox beast-kin giggled, her swaying silver tail lightly brushing against my shoulder.
"My name is Arin. I might not look it, but I'm a pretty popular senior here at Estel Academy, you know? Still, you're quite 'interesting,' so I'll let it slide this time... Oh, by the way, what's your name, junior?"
A name to call myself...
On the system window I had checked right after transmigrating, my identity was listed as "Baekya."
I quietly uttered the two syllables given to me.
"I am Baekya."
"Oho... Baekya. What a cool name. You're an extraordinary super-rookie, so I'll be sure to remember it."
Turning to walk away, Arin cast a devastating smile back at me over her shoulder.
"Oh, and... next time, make sure to show me the real face behind that mask, too."
Only after her figure completely vanished into the crowd did I finally let out the long breath I had been holding.
Fuck, I'm completely screwed from day one.
Dragging my trembling legs, I retreated to a secluded spot and activated the interface floating in the air.
The ruthless truth bombs from the gallery users stabbed into me like daggers.
I had caught the eye of a bizarre predator—the absolute last person I should have ever been exposed to.