NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8
Chapter 8: The Damn Customer (3)
The oldest memory.
After suffering from amnesia, the first place I opened my eyes to was a dimly lit space.
On the floor, shards of glass were scattered in disarray, shattered like Eighteen’s face, and my whole body was covered in a warm liquid, as if I had just stepped out of a bathtub.
In front of me stood Director Jung Yong-jin.
Dressed in a doctor's coat, he spoke to me in an excited voice, but I couldn't quite remember what he was saying.
That was because I was staring into the air.
To be precise, at the holographic window that had appeared.
▼ List of Consumed Phantoms
▶ The Revived
An incomprehensible situation.
Even though I was like a blank slate, I recognized the unreality of it.
The decisive reason why I could not be called an ordinary person.
This hologram was visible only to me.
Because of that, I could neither die nor stay dead, and the sight of a phantom would make my mouth water in an unsettling way.
Returning to the present, I stared at the hologram intently.
▼ List of Consumed Phantoms
▶ The Revived
▶ Neck-Snapping Statue
I checked the newly added ability.
────────────────◆
▶ Neck-Snapping Statue
Rank: C
Trait: Neck Snap
Penalty: Temporary Loss of Self
▼ Neck Snap
From the user’s perspective, within a 300-meter radius,
it snaps the neck of any breathing human once.
▼ Precautions
1. This trait applies only to humans.
2. Once activated, it cannot be canceled.
3. Temporary loss of self lasts for five minutes.
...
...
Temporary loss of self—those words lingered in my mind.
There is no way to use a phantom’s abilities without a cost.
Resurrection was the same. Every action required a price.
The important thing was whether this ability would work on my enemy.
I was 100% certain it would.
I had cleaned the corners of H-I-01's room like a devoted mother.
Through more than a hundred deaths, I had learned firsthand just how powerful the statue’s neck-snapping ability was.
In terms of single-target lethality, among hazardous ranks, that thing was at the top.
I hid and waited for the right moment.
When the man pacing around the door where Naram was trapped realized that his attacks weren’t working and turned his back, I activated the ability.
System: Trait ‘Neck Snap’ has been activated.
A fog began to fill my head.
It felt like I was lying on a bed, my mind growing hazy.
The surroundings darkened like nighttime, and an eerie silence settled in.
I started walking aimlessly.
...
...
9:32 PM.
As I walked, I started feeling hungry.
Nauseous and on the verge of vomiting, yet strangely starving.
So, I picked up the bread at my feet and ate it.
...
...
9:58 PM.
I was still hungry.
Even after eating dirt.
Even after eating stones.
Even after biting into a human.
This hunger would not subside.
...
...
10:98 PM.
My head is splitting??■■??
Around■ nothing to eat ■ so I ■ tore off my ■■■■.
The hunger g■adually subsi■ed as I d■■.
...
...
16:8■■ PM.
Hungry.
Even after tearing apart my whole body■■■■ still hungry ■■.
Hungryhungryhungryhun?gry?hungryhun?gryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungry?hungryhungryhungry?hungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhun?gryhungryhungryhungryhun?gryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungryhungry
* * *
In the Kingdom of Solis, Sandrea Richmond was an extraordinary human being.
Since childhood, he had an exceptional talent for magic.
He became the disciple of a Sword Saint and reached the fifth rank—a level of mastery that even a dedicated magician might never attain in a lifetime—at the young age of thirty.
He possessed a deep understanding of physical enhancement spells and swordsmanship.
Additionally, thanks to a gift from his master, he wielded a white armor set that absorbed mana and a greatsword as his main weapons.
As an outstanding anti-magician, he became a figure of fear to those who manipulated mana.
People called Sandrea a Sword Hero.
He earned that title because, alongside his master’s other disciples, he had made significant contributions in the war against the Kingdom of Lunario.
Among the seven disciples of the Sword Saint, he adhered the most to his master’s combat style.
Having gained both honor and wealth from the war against Lunario, Sandrea was no longer just a humble country youth with magical talent.
It was around this time that signs of his downfall began to emerge.
The gleam of gold and silver treasures.
Even the arrogant nobles of the kingdom praised him as a ‘war hero.’
For a mere countryside boy, these were overwhelming stimuli.
As time passed, his arrogance grew.
Once he became ensnared in the idea that he was a ‘special human being,’ he began to change.
Under the sky, there was no one with talent like his, and he arrogantly believed that even his master would be surpassed in ten years.
So, it was only natural that a special being like himself deserved greater rights than others.
“Please, spare me. Spare me. I beg you….”
Those who even slightly displeased him faced either death or a punishment equal to it.
“I’m not a prostitute. No! Please don’t do this….”
Beautiful women were either coerced or taken under the pretense of riches and gold.
“If you successfully complete this task, I’ll have you marry my daughter and make you a noble.”
Even if he killed an innocent person, he believed he had the right to do so.
His master and fellow disciples warned him against crossing the moral boundaries of humanity, but the Sword Hero ignored them all.
To him, their words were nothing more than the jealous cries of commoners envious of his rise from peasant to noble.
“Sandrea, I can’t let you continue like this. I will stop you here.”
In the end, the Sword Hero’s rampage was halted by his own master.
To stop his arrogance, the Sword Saint challenged him to a duel.
Despite his betrayal, Sandrea had never ceased training and was convinced he could defeat his master.
But he lost.
And in the end, he fled the duel.
Surviving meant losing everything.
A man who ran from a duel paid a heavy price for his defeat.
That price was his gold, his honor, and his noble status.
For someone who had once tasted nectar from the heavens, falling to the bottom was no different from hell.
Though he had survived disgracefully, he was forced to struggle in the agony of losing everything.
He drowned himself in alcohol and wasted his days away.
His once sharp eyes lost all their vitality, leaving behind only the toxic aura of a defeated man.
He wanted to kill the master who had ruined him.
He wanted to reclaim the glory and honor of being the Sword Hero.
Then, fate granted him another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“As written in the prophecy, demons have descended upon this world. Soon, they will consume this kingdom.”
“If you slay the demons, wouldn’t you once again be remembered as a hero?”
The Holy Flame Order.
A religious sect in the Kingdom of Solis, claiming that mana was a divine blessing and that devout believers would receive even stronger mana.
To powerful magicians, it was nothing but nonsense disguised as doctrine.
However, to commoners, nobles, and weaker magicians with little magical knowledge, it had gained cult-like popularity as a rising faith.
The Sword Hero despised the Holy Flame Order, but he also saw it as his last chance.
So, he once again donned his white armor and wielded his greatsword to slay demons.
He vowed to kill them quickly and reclaim his status as a hero.
This was why the man had arrived at the Paranormal Research Facility faster than anyone else.
The demon in human form was weak.
It fell far below his expectations.
They used mysterious tools, but that was all.
Perhaps they could defeat fourth-rank magicians, but against a fifth-rank magician with a reinforced force field, they were useless.
‘Pathetic.’
The Sword Hero decapitated the demon.
Then, he moved on, searching for the next one.
“I found it.”
Before him stood a grotesque and horrifying door, as if an artist filled with malice had tried to embody all of humanity’s negative emotions.
From time to time, severed heads hanging at the top let out eerie, incomprehensible sounds.
It must be a passage to the demon realm.
“…How do I open it?”
The Sword Hero frowned.
But he didn’t think for long.
His motto was, “If your body is weak, your brain suffers.”
Since he was overwhelmingly strong, he never needed to rack his brain like other magicians.
Clang!! Clang!!
“Hiiiiiik!!”
Clang!! Clang!!
“Kuaaahhhh!!”
Clang!! Clang!!
“…Not even a scratch.”
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, the Sword Hero muttered.
Neither barriers nor walls had ever stood against him.
But this—this was a true demon’s domain.
‘I should bring someone from the Order who specializes in dispelling barriers. A smart one might figure it out.’
He sheathed his greatsword and turned around.
Then, he doubted his own eyes.
A demon had reappeared—this time, even more grotesque than before.
Its neck was twisted like a broken doll’s joint, and blood-tears streamed from its eyes.
Its sclera had been swallowed in black ink, and jagged, saw-like teeth jutted out of its gaping mouth.
“Aaaaagghh.”
The Sword Hero’s heart trembled.
But it was not from excitement or battle fervor.
For the first time in a long while, he felt fear.
The grotesque, incomprehensible form filled him with revulsion.
And the killing intent—the deepest, darkest shade of malice he had ever encountered—made his skin crawl.
Instinctively, he drew his sword.
But—
“Guuuuh?”
Before the demon, he was nothing more than a powerless man.
The force field he had layered so many times was instantly shattered.
By the time he realized it, his neck had already snapped.
This is impossible.
The Sword Hero couldn't believe it.
Even if his skills had dulled from years of drinking, could he really be defeated so easily?
Even if he had let his guard down, his force field should have been strong enough to withstand high-level magic.
And yet, the moment he unsheathed his sword, his neck broke.
The speed—it was unbelievable.
If he had been in peak condition, maybe he could have dodged.
But the demon’s ambush was in a realm beyond his reaction time.
‘The first attack was just a bluff. It lured me into letting my guard down….’
The Sword Hero stared at the demon as it tore itself apart.
Gnawing on its own flesh, it chanted in an eerie voice.
It was as if the very concept of fear had taken physical form and descended upon him.
His mind went blank.
Horrifying. Terrifying.
He wanted to run away.
But his arms and legs wouldn’t move.
“Guaaaahhh…”
‘I don’t want to die….’
‘I don’t want to die so meaninglessly here….’
‘I am a special human being….’
‘I have more talent than anyone….’
The Sword Hero’s heart stopped in vain.
* * *
“I’m sorry.”
While cleaning up the bodies of the man and myself, Naram started sobbing in anger.
So, I got on my knees and apologized sincerely.