Chapter 31: The Red Nurse
He found himself on the other side of the door. For a brief second, a beam of white light nearly blinded him—the room was that bright.
What his eyes took in was a spectacular sight, a place filled with pure essence and an overwhelming desire to surpass one’s former self.
The room looked more like a military training facility than a lecture hall.
Reinforced steel walls surrounded the area, bearing dents and marks from previous demonstrations. At the center of the room was an open combat platform, surrounded by rows of elevated desks where students observed from above.
The students who had arrived earlier quickly found their seats as usual. Somehow, it felt like he was the only newcomer here.
Moving through the room, he found an unoccupied seat and sat down.
The atmosphere became slightly awkward as the students sitting nearby stole a few glances at him.
From a single look, they could already tell this guy was incredibly weak. His frail-looking body made it seem as though a single punch could break him.
’This guy looks like he could die at any moment.’
’How did he kill Ricky?’
Among the students were those who had attended the Fight Nights and gambled their money away.
Because of that battle, Victor had unknowingly gained quite a reputation among the students. Without realizing it, he had already become famous.
However, Victor’s thoughts were elsewhere.
Victor could only sigh. Yes, he had skipped lunch, but the main reason he had taken so long was because of this body. The previous owner had already been dead for a while before Victor took control of it.
’It seems no one recognizes this body, huh?’ he thought.
From the former owner’s memories, Victor understood that he had practically been a ghost to everyone around him. He didn’t even have a single friend.
He had been bullied by his fellow students, and although he was invisible to most people, one particular individual had made his life miserable.
"I also remember the people who killed the former owner... though I haven’t seen them since my arrival here."
The memory was vivid, as if it had happened yesterday. His own party members had betrayed him, ambushing and killing him without hesitation.
Victor had not forgotten the promise he made.
He would kill them at all costs.
Not only as revenge, but also to fulfill the final wish of the body’s original owner.
’And I will use your hands to do it, so you can finally rest easy.’
The classroom was filled to the brim with students, their voices creating a constant wave of noise.
Suddenly, a tall man walked in with steady, deliberate steps toward his desk.
His uniform was immaculate despite the scars crossing his face.
He stood there silently, looking at the students.
Surprisingly, his presence went unnoticed.
His expression darkened as he gritted his teeth in frustration. Then, he released a burst of pressure from his body that instantly forced the entire class into silence.
"You damn brats!"
His voice echoed through the room, causing all the students to immediately stand and greet him in unison.
Only then did Victor realize that his wrinkled face was slightly familiar.
"Sit."
The students immediately obeyed and sat down.
Victor remained seated, and thankfully, the teacher didn’t seem to notice.
The teacher turned toward the screen on the wall and wrote his name using his finger.
"Cark Fenedres."
"Those of you who don’t know who I am, listen carefully. I am Cark Fenedres, a former lieutenant of Redhill who fought against the Draks in Sector 234."
Victor, who had been ignoring everything until then, suddenly raised his eyes toward the man.
’Sector 234... Redhill. That was...’
There was no way he could forget that place.
A place etched into his memories like a permanent scar.
Sector 234 Redhill was where he and his son had died.
The place where he lost all hope.
The place where the corporation abandoned his entire battalion, leaving them to die.
However, Victor didn’t recognize this man.
How could he?
That event happened six decades ago. This man probably wasn’t even born yet.
But that wasn’t what caught Victor’s attention.
He didn’t recognize him from his own memories.
He recognized him from someone else’s.
The person who ordered the death of the body’s original owner had finally appeared.
’Found you...’
"Listen carefully. Today, we will be discussing..."
He turned around and wrote one word on the screen.
"OUTPUT."
He placed the marker down and faced the class.
"What determines strength?"
His voice spread throughout the room, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Some students hesitated, unsure of the answer, while others remained clueless. Still, several hands slowly rose.
"Talent?"
The student answered.
Cark shook his head with a blank expression.
"Bloodline?"
Another student tried.
"No."
A third student raised his hand.
"Lumina Rank?"
"Wrong."
The room fell silent.
No one knew what else to say.
Meanwhile, Victor remained quiet, his mind occupied with one question.
How could he kill someone at this teacher’s level?
He attempted to analyze him.
But only one message appeared.
[Unable to analyze target due to insufficient level.]
The same message that appeared when he tried to analyze Samuel the previous night.
Cark scanned the classroom before speaking.
"All of those things matter."
He paused.
"But none of them determine whether you win."
He reached down and picked up a solid steel training baton from his desk.
Without warning—
CRACK!
The entire classroom froze as he crushed the steel baton effortlessly with one hand.
"This..."
He allowed the twisted metal to fall to the floor.
"...is Output."
Meanwhile, the clinical building was in chaos.
The usually quiet halls of the academy infirmary had transformed into a battlefield of their own.
The scent of antiseptic mixed with blood filled the air as medical staff rushed from one injured student to another.
"Move him to the emergency room!"
"His Lumina flow is unstable! Get the stabilizer!"
"Where are the healers? We need another pair of hands!"
Amidst the chaos, a woman with red hair carefully entered a private room.
A mask covered the lower half of her face, hiding her identity.
Inside the room was a body lying on the bed.
Its arm had a massive hole pierced straight through it.
The red-haired woman calmly pulled out a syringe and extracted a blood sample.
She recorded the information in the notebook she carried.
At the top of the page was a single name.
Ricky.
"The Doctor will definitely like this."
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