Chapter 33

               

All the first-year students gathered in the main auditorium.

The buzzing voices of teenagers filled the hall.

Meanwhile, associate professors and teaching assistants came out to prepare for the lesson.

Once everything was ready, one of the associate professors spoke.

“Everyone, please quiet down. The lesson will begin soon!”

“Yes.”

The students responded to the assistants.

The noise lessened a bit, but it didn’t disappear entirely.

Teenagers at this age weren’t the kind to fall silent just because one adult asked.

The associate professors knew this, but didn’t say anything more.

Today’s lesson would be led by none other than Artianne Niere.

“Everyone! Sorry for being late!”

Professor Artianne entered the auditorium and climbed up to the podium, apologizing.

Thud!

“Ouch!”

She tripped and fell.

At that, the entire student body straightened up and quieted down.

Wearing an embarrassed look, Professor Artianne rubbed her knee and walked to the center of the podium.

Artianne Niere.

The professor most feared by the first-years.

The reason was simple.

If you made noise in her class, physical punishment would fly your way immediately.

Of course, it wasn’t her own doing, but that of the quick-tempered spirits contracted to Professor Artianne.

So when she appeared, the students would tense up.

Artianne clapped her hands and beamed.

“You really are good students! To get this quiet in front of your professor!”

Ever optimistic, Artianne just thought the students were well-behaved.

“In the last lesson, we talked about Heroic Houses, right? Before we start today’s lesson, let’s review what we learned.”

Artianne started the lesson.

“Who can tell us why Heroic Houses came to exist after the appearance of the [Hero Record]?”

Students all over raised their hands.

Fear aside, she was a good professor.

Her lessons were easy to follow and she graded generously.

Considering that there were some strict professors who’d not only grade harshly but even dock points, there was no downside to participating actively in Artianne’s class.

Even Carr raised his hand eagerly.

“Student Carr from Class 5?”

“Yes!”

Carr cheered softly and stood up.

“In order to open the world of a hero from the [Hero Record], you need an item deeply related to the hero or with a significant story. Descendants of heroes inherit mementos from their ancestors, so it’s easier for them to access the hero’s world!”

“Correct. Carr, I’ll give you five points.”

Carr smiled and sat down.

“Politically, this is also why the connection between Lumene Academy, which stores the [Hero Record], and the Heroic Houses is so strong.”

Even if you had the key to open a hero’s world, the actual [Hero Record] was stored at Lumene.

“For heroes who don’t have relics left behind before the world of heroes emerged, you can obtain related items through ruin investigations and excavations.”

Since the [Hero Record] has existed since the Age of Calamity before the worlds of heroes were revealed, there are countless pages that exist but can’t be used to open a hero’s world.

“Even for the same hero, you can’t open every page with a single memento, so excavation is the second most important act after conquering [Hero Dungeons] these days. Also, [Hero Dungeons] created by a rampage do give rewards, but the inheritance of power is often unstable. Now, let me ask you a question.”

Artianne looked back at the students.

“Can anyone talk about another important aspect of hero studies, beyond what I’ve explained?”

Again, students eagerly raised their hands.

“Student Duran from Class 1.”

“It can provide clues to conquering the world of a hero.”

“Correct. Duran, you get five points.”

Duran sat down without expression.

“The world of a hero is the trial that past heroes endured. Even if you know the stories, the trials are so great that it can be impossible to clear. Many people lose their lives there. That’s why even a small clue or story can be a crucial keyword.”

That’s why students worked so hard at hero studies.

“When you become upperclassmen, you will choose the hero whose power you will inherit and challenge that hero’s page. Until then, you should also figure out which hero suits your nature.”

Eliana Laden gave a small clap.

“Now, let’s start with the homework presentations.”

Last week, Artianne assigned every first-year student homework.

It wasn’t a hard assignment.

Think about what you want to achieve as a hero, and present it in the next hero studies class.

It might not seem like much, but for those who dreamed of becoming heroes, it was necessary to define their own ideal.

And since everyone entered Lumene with serious intentions, all the first-years had given the homework real thought over the weekend.

“Let’s start with Class 1.”

Class 1’s students hesitated, glancing at each other.

Speaking about your goals as a hero in front of hundreds was embarrassing.

“Class 1! Don’t be shy! Your goal is your guide! Speaking it proudly in front of others is… mmph!”

“This is Artianne’s lesson. It’s not your time.”

“Professor Sedgen, please! Professor Artianne is already timid!”

Unable to watch Class 1 hesitate, Professor Sedgen cheered them on, but the other homeroom professors held him back.

Then Celia stood up.

With her back straight, she swept her hair behind her shoulders and spoke confidently.

“I want to become a knight who surpasses my family’s predecessors.”

To surpass the predecessors of the Zerdinger family.

For someone from a Heroic House, there was no heavier goal.

“Wow! That’s a wonderful goal!”

The next to stand was Chloe Mueller.

“I want to create a magic tome containing only my original spells.”

“A grand goal for a mage.”

Starting with Celia, the students each shared their goals.

At first, everyone hesitated, but once someone started, it quickly became easy.

The homeroom professors watching from the back listened closely to their students’ presentations.

They knew well that these short speeches showed the path each student wanted to take.

Soon, it was Class 5’s turn.

“I want to support heroes.”

When Carr shared his ambition, Artianne looked surprised.

But she soon understood and smiled.

“Carr, it seems you want to be the one who supports the heroes from behind.”

“Yes.”

Most students didn’t understand why Carr was set on the path of a supporter, but the professors often thought positively about his choice.

When Carr sat down, it was Leo’s turn.

Leo stood and spoke calmly.

“My goal is the complete annihilation of Erebos.”

Silence fell across the auditorium.

Artianne was shocked, and the students stared at Leo with confused faces.

The complete annihilation of Erebos.

That wasn’t just a personal wish.

It was a centuries-old desire of the world dating back to the Age of Calamity.

But even the greatest heroes had failed at it—a foolish dream, something people mocked if you said it aloud.

Yet Leo stated it without hesitation, so everyone was at a loss for words.

“Ah, um…! That’s quite the goal!”

Artianne barely composed herself and smiled.

“Isn’t that just a fantasy?”

“There used to be a fool who talked about that sort of dream.”

Leo leaned his chin on his hand and gave a small laugh.

“I ended up inspired by those foolish words. So I decided to carry on that dream myself.”

Carr gave Leo a dumbfounded look, then smiled.

“Someone aiming for such a great feat needs a reliable supporter, right?”

“I’ll be counting on you, Carr.”

—

“The class representative’s ambitions are something else,” one of the first-year homeroom professors muttered as they watched the students’ presentations.

“Wasn’t that answer a bit too much like a joke?”

“Isn’t Professor Harrid his homeroom teacher? Would he joke in a setting like this?”

“Still, isn’t that goal way too outlandish?”

The professors’ opinions were divided.

Sedgen turned to Harrid.

“Do you think he was joking?”

“No. He’s not the type to say anything frivolous.”

Professor Harrid frowned.

“That’s why it’s a little scary.”

Erebos was defeated by the great heroes and split into pieces and sealed thousands of years ago.

There had been a few resurrections over the years.

But just one fragment resurrecting had brought disaster upon the world.

Now, a student was dreaming of the complete annihilation of Erebos.

‘Is he just a fool? Or is his vessel that large?’

Even after a month, Professor Harrid still couldn’t figure Leo out.

While Professor Harrid was watching Leo, Erena, the headmaster’s secretary, approached the professors carrying a box.

“This is the [Hero Record] page to be used as today’s lesson material.”

“Thank you, Secretary Erena.”

Professor Sedgen took it and stood up.

The other homeroom professors stood as well.

This joint class also included the professors’ participation.

To be precise, they were there just in case something happened.

There had been times in the past when a [Hero Record] page recovered from a [Hero Dungeon] went out of control during a lesson.

It didn’t happen often, but it wasn’t unheard of. That’s why, whenever the [Hero Record] was used as a textbook, professors always observed to protect the students.

By the time the professors moved to the podium, the rest of the class presentations had ended.

“Everyone. From now on, we’ll proceed with hero studies using the [Hero Record] that was recovered by the dungeon conquerors.”

Artianne took the sealed box containing the [Hero Record] from Sedgen.

“Finally!”

“This is my first time touching the [Hero Record]!”

“I’m nervous!”

The students showed their excitement.

“Today’s lesson will involve reading a page of the [Hero Record] and, as a class, deducing which hero’s page it is and devising a strategy to conquer the hero’s world.”

Technically, there was no need to use the [Hero Record] for this lesson.

But someday, students would encounter it for real.

So, to give the lesson more weight, they used a [Hero Record] whose contents were unknown.

“Class presidents, please come up.”

“Lucky you, Leo. You get to touch the [Hero Record] directly!”

At Eliana Laden’s words, Nella Carven laughed.

“We’ll all get to touch it after class anyway, so what’s the big deal?”

“Still, it’s a privilege to be the first!”

Eliana Laden envied Leo’s privilege as class president.

All ten class presidents went up to the podium.

“Oh, so you’re Class 5’s president, Leo?”

Class 10’s president, Chen Xia, greeted him cheerfully.

“I was just chosen today.”

“Just today?”

Chen Xia tilted her head.

With the top students of first year gathered in one place, a strange atmosphere settled in.

Artianne opened the sealed box.

“There are two [Hero Record]s that were recovered this time. Of course, only one page will be used as a teaching aid. The other is just a page fragment… I brought it to show that things like this exist.”

Artianne lifted up the fragment.

Then handed it to Leo, who was standing closest.

Leo reached out without thinking.

In that instant, the fragment gave off a faint light.

And as soon as the page touched Leo’s hand—

[Hero Record Open. ■■’s World. Chapter: ■■-■■■]

A familiar message appeared in front of Leo’s eyes.

Artianne, the class presidents, and even the professors who were on alert for emergencies all looked shocked.

Vmmm—!

Light rose from the stage floor.

A language unknown to the inhabitants of the lower world.

“Is it a rampage?”

With Professor Sedgen’s bewildered voice, a bright light engulfed the podium.

When the light faded, Leo, along with each class’s professors and class presidents, found themselves standing in a different space.

It was the middle of a battlefield.

The corpses of all sorts of grotesque monsters littered the ground.

“Everyone, stay alert! It’s a [Hero Dungeon]!”

At Professor Harrid’s shout, the class presidents’ faces went pale.

“Professor Harrid! Look, there’s a fortress wall over there!”

Sedgen pointed to the wall Leo was staring at.

Leo stared blankly at the fortress wall.

It was a wall he recognized.

A place that no longer existed in this era.

The last line of defense, the last city of the Age of Calamity.

The wall of Guardslone.

The stench of burning corpses—monsters, fiends, demons—stung his nose.

This was a sight Leo could never forget.

If he was right… if his memory was correct, these were the words that were said.

‘That’s right. Kyle. My wish is such a foolish wish.’

“That’s right, ■■. My wish is such a foolish wish.”

A voice from behind made the professors and class presidents flinch and turn their heads.

They instinctively held their breath.

The person standing there was too famous.

Leo turned blankly toward the voice.

With the same unwavering tone as back then, she spoke.

“But ■■, we will save the world.”

In this era, known as the [Wise King], the black dragon.

The great and noble hero who brought a ray of hope in the age of despair as the world headed toward ruin.

Back then, a close friend, once mocked as a fool.

Feeling his throat tighten, Leo called the name.

“Lysinas.”

At his call, Lysinas smiled softly.

Whoosh—!

At the same moment, the world collapsed.

In the blink of an eye, they were back in the main auditorium.

“What the…!”

“P-Professors, what just happened?”

The students asked in trembling voices, confused.

Professor Harrid made a calm judgment.

“Class is canceled for now. Everyone, stay calm and exit the auditorium.”

At his words, the associate professors led the students out.

Leo stood in a daze, looking down at the fragment of the [Hero Record] in his hand.

He knew whose page this fragment belonged to.

‘Kyle’s page. This is my record.’