Chapter 8
After burying my head on the desk for a while, drowning in self-loathing, the bell signaling 11 o’clock rang.
Ding-dong-dang-dong— ding-dong-dang-dong—.
I slowly lifted my head and looked around.
Most of the cadets had already arrived, filling almost every seat. The timing was perfect.
The initiation ceremony was about to begin.
Honestly, I wanted to forget about the ceremony and crawl back to the dorm to hide under my blanket in shame. But that wasn’t an option.
‘I seriously want to die.’
I shook off the emptiness and self-deprecation, then stretched my body slowly.
If not now, there wouldn’t be another chance.
As I grabbed my chair and twisted my waist, the hairs on my arms stood on end.
A strange flow of mana began to spread throughout the classroom.
The initiation ceremony had begun.
Some of the more sensitive cadets must have felt it too, as they started glancing around restlessly.
Everyone’s heads turning in unison reminded me of meerkats wary of predators.
And then, the change came swiftly.
Crack, craaack—.
The sound of something like glass breaking drew everyone’s attention.
The faces of the cadets hardened as they noticed fine cracks forming in the air.
“What’s that?”
The classroom grew noisy with murmurs from those who hadn’t yet grasped the situation.
Then, with an explosive sound, the space shattered like glass, revealing a black hole.
“Pandemonium!”
Someone, realizing what was happening, screamed in terror, and the color drained from the cadets’ faces.
Pandemonium.
That name alone carried an unbearable weight.
Most of the cadets looked lost, unsure of what to do.
And right now that was my cue to step up.
“Everyone, listen.”
My deliberately loud voice drew their attention toward me.
“If you don’t want to die a meaningless death, running away might be the better option, but…”
I glanced toward the classroom door.
Rattle, rattle.
I saw a cadet struggling with the handle, trying to open it.
“I-It’s locked! Must be magic! It won’t budge at all!”
At those words, the cadets who were half in doubt fell into instant panic.
“N-No way, is this really Pandemonium?”
“We—we have to get out of here!”
Of course, there were still some who managed to stay calm.
Park Si-woo, Helena.
The main characters of this game.
“Wait, everyone, calm down!”
“The instructors must have already noticed the anomaly! Please stay in your seats!”
Naturally, their words didn’t reach the cadets consumed by fear.
As the chaos spiraled out of control, Park Si-woo walked up to me.
“You… seem oddly calm. Do you have any idea how to fix this?”
“Shut up and look over there.”
I pointed toward the black crack, my expression hard.
Following my finger, Park Si-woo’s face stiffened.
From the pitch-black crack, a jet-black hand was emerging.
Now, the real instructor must be about to make their appearance.
Alright, let’s see who huh?
Wait a second.
That hand looks… familiar.
That’s..
“Devil Knight?”
The moment I said it, the killing intent seeping out of the black crack exploded, and silence fell over the classroom.
With heavy, echoing footsteps, a figure clad in black armor appeared.
Why the hell are you coming out from there?!
“So, you know of me.”
Each time the armored figure took a step, the floor trembled, and the massive greatsword dragging along the ground made a grating, unpleasant noise.
Of course, I knew him.
That appearance—I’d seen it hundreds of times in-game.
And it was the very same character I was now possessing.
Something was off.
I’d played the initiation ceremony chapter more than a hundred times, if not more.
But never had the Devil Knight appeared at this point.
I stared intently at the figure slowly approaching me.
He resembled me, but… there were differences.
The fake Devil Knight in front of me was bulkier, while my armor had been sleeker and more ornate.
Anyone who knew the villain Devil Knight even slightly would’ve noticed the distinctions. But the cadets, trapped in fear, clearly didn’t.
Don’t tell me… because of the rampage I caused recently, someone decided to disguise themselves as the Devil Knight to exploit that fear?
If that’s true… then every action I take in this world becomes a potential variable for future events.
But before I could think further, the fake Devil Knight stopped right in front of me and looked down.
Was I ever that tall in armor?
At the same time, his massive greatsword came crashing down toward me.
Boom!
The greatsword embedded itself where I’d been standing just a moment ago, cracking the marble floor.
“Kyaaahhh!”
A cadet’s shrill scream echoed through the classroom.
“So, you managed to dodge.”
I looked at the massive greatsword glowing with a cold, eerie light.
Beyond the gleaming blade, my reflection stared back at me.
Had I not instinctively dodged when I sensed that murderous intent, I’d have been split clean in half.
Was he saying he didn’t plan to go easy, even if this was all an act?
Honestly, that suited me just fine.
I gathered my mana and activated the Asura Divine Art.
Mana surged from my dantian, flooding through my body in a violent rush of heat.
The Asura Divine Art was a martial technique embodying the Asura Path, one of the Three Realms and Six Paths.
Thus, it was ferocious—seeking endless battle and strife.
Entrusting myself to the burning euphoria welling within, I threw my fist forward in a natural motion.
Clang!
The greatsword rang loudly and was flung backward.
The momentary burst of force made him drop his sword, but he quickly grabbed the greatsword again.
At the same time, the massive blade swung through the air like a whip.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
A tremendous gale tore through the classroom, throwing everything into disarray.
I hastily wrapped mana around my body to defend against the strike.
The other cadets’ screams echoed amid the chaos, but I didn’t have the luxury to care.
Piercing through the billowing smoke, I charged at him.
A blazing trail followed my path as I dashed forward.
Flames wrapped around my body, feeding off the overflowing mana.
Feeling the heat surge, I charged straight toward the fake Devil Knight.
Boom!
The flames surrounding me exploded outward, engulfing him completely.
When the thick dust settled, the voices of the cadets—filled with anticipation—could be heard.
“D-Did he win? Against a Demon?”
“Who even is that guy?”
But their hopeful whispers were short-lived.
A black hand shot out from within the swirling inferno and grabbed me by the collar.
I grabbed the arm with both hands and tried to pry it off, but the grip was so tight it wouldn’t budge.
What the hell! I am the Devil Knight! How could the Devil Knight be this strong? Isn’t this totally unbalanced?!
He slammed me down toward the floor.
Crash!
“Guh!”
A dull pain exploded through my body, but I barely held on, gripping his arm with all my strength.
Just then, Park Si-woo, who’d been waiting for an opening, charged in.
His stance glowed faintly with starlight—still unrefined, but the power in his hands couldn’t be underestimated.
A small yet radiant source of light—gathering the strength he’d been storing.
The Devil Knight, noticing it, threw me aside and tried to defend.
But I refused to let him move. I surged my mana, clinging onto him like a leech to hinder his motion.
“Hup!”
His greatsword swung toward Park Si-woo but missed its mark.
Si-woo seized the opening and dashed straight into his guard.
At the same time, he hurled the glowing light in his hand toward the armor and shouted,
“Everyone, get back!”
In an instant, everything turned white. My ears rang with a piercing beep— sound.
Then a massive shockwave swept through the classroom.
Within that explosion, I was furious.
Damn it, if you steal the spotlight now, my whole plan falls apart!
In this episode, all attention was supposed to be on me.
Any character that stood out too much here would become Pandemonium’s next target.
But I was the spy sent by Pandemonium.
So if I performed best, Pandemonium would divert its attention away from this class entirely.
And there was a bonus, too.
There were Hidden Pieces that could only be acquired by drawing the instructors’ full attention.
But now this guy just had to jump in, steal the moment, and hog the best scene?
Fine then. Time to unleash more power.
I began channeling my mana, driving the Asura Divine Art to its extreme.
Sure, Park Si-woo was a Playable Character one of the main heroes destined to protect this world.
But right now, he was just a rookie in his first episode.
That attack of his wouldn’t deal any real damage to the instructor.
So I’d need a technique even greater, more dazzling and far more powerful to capture the instructors’ attention.
As I pushed the Asura Divine Art to its limit, scorching heat erupted outward in every direction.
“Th-that crazy bastard!”
“It’s so hot!”
The cadets’ groans of pain echoed around me.
But I didn’t have the capacity to care about these useless extras, who just stood there doing nothing but panic.
A small flame ignited on my palm, quickly absorbing the surrounding heat, growing larger and larger.
In moments, a fiery sphere the size of a gym ball began to spin violently.
Asura Divine Art – Purgatory!
A flame imbued with the searing heat of hell itself fell toward the fake Devil Knight.
KWA-AAAAAANG!
The explosion was even greater than Park Si-woo’s earlier attack, shaking the entire classroom as if it were about to collapse.
The room had long since turned to ruins; most cadets were dazed and barely conscious from the blast.
I brushed aside fragments of shattered desks and stood up.
“He actually endured that…”
Even for an instructor, that was absurd.
Through the settling dust, the Devil Knight appeared, holding up a shield in a defensive stance.
He wasn’t unharmed, though.
A huge crack split his chestplate, and parts of his armor were half-melted.
Looking half-dead, he still spoke calmly.
“To unleash such an attack without regard for those around you… you look more like a Villain than a Hero.”
“Better that than dying at a Demon’s hands.”
“…Is that so.”
The next instant, his figure vanished.
A sharp pain struck my solar plexus, knocking the breath out of me.
“Gahk!”
“I’m getting tired of this.”
I collapsed to the floor, barely holding onto my fading consciousness.
The fake Devil Knight, who had subdued me in an instant, struck Park Si-woo down next.
Then he began walking toward the cadets who still had a shred of awareness left.
“So, none of you have anything worth showing me?”
Each time he moved, cadets were flung aside or dropped helplessly.
Then..
Someone stepped in front of the Devil Knight.
“You are…?”
It was Helena.
Her pupils trembled with fear, and blood dripped between her tightly clenched fingers gripping her weapon.
Barely holding herself together amidst overwhelming terror.
Of course.
In Become a Hero, the strongest ally, Helena, had a fatal flaw Demon Phobia.
“N-No more…!”
“You’ve got a bit of power, I see. Yet you’ve just been watching until now? A cowardly bystander, then.”
The Devil Knight raised his sword, his tone dripping with mockery.
“At the very least, I’ll make sure you don’t feel pain.”
The blade dropped swiftly.
Helena’s eyes widened as she stared at the greatsword falling toward her.
Then her violet eyes glowed, surging with mana.
She gasped, her voice trembling.
“Ins… Instructor?”
The fake Devil Knight’s sword froze mid-air, inches from her.
“……”
“It was… the instructor?”
Helena’s violet eyes split like a reptile’s—glowing with a radiant light.
Dragon Eyes.
The eyes of a dragon that pierced through all things—seeing through illusions and perceiving the truth.
With them, Helena shattered the illusion magic cloaking the instructor.