Episode 2: Cataclysm (2)
“Grrrr….”
Kang Sah-hu wiped the tears that had involuntarily streamed down his face due to the agonizing pain. Breathing heavily, he stared at the hologram-like message before him with a bewildered expression, worried that he might have gone mad. In an instant, the sky had shattered and an unreal message appeared; within these circ*mstances, Kang Sah-hu calmly assessed his situation. He confirmed that his cognitive abilities, memory, and senses were functioning normally, assuring himself that he hadn’t lost his mind.
“So, does this mean all of this is real?”
As soon as he revisited the message on the hologram, it shattered into dozens of cards as if it had been waiting to do so. The cards that filled his vision clearly signaled their intent to him.
People who had called themselves the Awakened.
The same phenomena they had talked about.
Moreover, as a necromancer, he could intuitively feel that this phenomenon was neither an illusion nor a trick.
That meant, if he chose a card here, he would awaken and gain abilities.
More importantly, realizing that his feet won’t move and the surrounding time flowed slowly, Kang Sah-hu understood that this was not a choice but a coercion.
The cards were divided into several colors.
Most were white, followed by blue.
Lastly, there were a few rare golden cards.
Looking closely at the cards, he could see their contents as if zooming in with a camera lens.
“What are all these? Tarot cards?”
Each card depicted various figures: a person holding a sword, another wielding a staff, and even a monster with long fingernails.
Below each, there were names that seemed to fit the pictures.
“Knight of Death, Wizard…? These sound like something out of a game…”
While he was puzzled by the nature of the cards,
between the slowed surroundings, a powerful force quickly approached him, detected by Kang Sah-hu’s heightened senses.
As if unaffected by the slowed world, the force turned out to be the spirit of a shaman greeting a family at a funeral.
[Young man, what is happening here?]
“I’m not sure myself. There was a tremendous noise, and then the apartment collapsed and the sky shattered.”
[Good heavens, what did you say… Wait. What is that in front of you?]
The shaman’s spirit was astounded by Kang Sah-hu’s words and looked puzzled at what was before him.
Thinking about what the spirit was asking about, Kang Sah-hu pointed his finger at the floating cards.
“Can you see this?”
[Yes, that. It’s peculiar. Each of these possesses unbelievable, strange powers.]
“How can you see them? I understand that the world you see as a spirit is different from what humans see—spirits don’t recognize actual physical objects but can only feel and see souls and other intangible forces.”
Knowing he was a necromancer, Kang Sah-hu was aware that once someone becomes a spirit, they can’t recognize physical objects and only perceive souls and energies.
If the spirit could see the cards, then they must be alive in some way.
[I’m not sure how to express it, but while I can’t fully understand what these are, I can feel the power they contain.]
As the spirit explained, Kang Sah-hu looked at the cards with a more serious expression.
Combining the content of the cards, the pictures on them, and the explanations from the spirit, he could intuitively understand what the cards signified.
Now, these cards were his to choose his path.
“I see. I understand what these mean now.”
His eyes quickly scanned the cards.
There were more than 30 cards floating before him, causing his eyes and head to dart downwards rapidly.
Yet, after examining all the cards, his expression became peculiarly twisted.
“…This is strange. I can understand the presence of warriors, archers, and rogues. But to have wizards and paladins, yet no necromancer card?”
[Is that so? What I see might be different from what you see, so I wouldn’t know.]
Kang Sah-hu nodded grimly.
Pride in his identity as a necromancer led him to seek a related card, deepening the bitterness he felt—an emotion even the spirit could sense.
Unsure of what to say, the spirit hesitated before expressing puzzlement.
[But why aren’t you looking at that one at the end?]
“…Huh?”
Confused by the spirit’s comment while pondering which card to choose, Kang Sah-hu asked for clarification.
The spirit, appearing like a will-o’-the-wisp and unable to point directly, moved restlessly, frustrated by the lack of clear communication.
[Over there, that isolated one with a strange power. While the others are also odd, that one is particularly familiar yet strange. It’s odd that you’ve examined all but that one, so I had to ask.]
Following the movement suggested by the spirit, Kang Sah-hu looked puzzled.
While the spirit felt something distinctly, he sensed only a faint presence.
‘Perhaps?’
Considering the difference that the spirit clearly felt something whereas he only sensed it faintly, he murmured a spell commonly used by necromancers.
It had been a day filled with multiple uses of magic, straining his energy, yet the importance allowed him to endure.
Under normal circ*mstances, using the power of a necromancer among ordinary people and outside the Necromancer Society was taboo. However, with the sky shattered and bombs exploding, there was no time to consider such things.
There was nothing. After completing the spell, Kang Sah-hu closed and then opened his eyes, releasing a dense green gleam from them. By using the power to see dead souls more intuitively and briefly explore the world as a spirit, he saw a card next to where the medium’s spirit moved—a card that had not been visible before.
This card, unlike the others, appeared dark, rusty, and fragile, barely maintaining its shape. To someone else, it might have seemed ominous enough to ignore or at least not consider choosing, but Kang Sah-hu, after taking a closer look, widened his eyes. A picture of a figure dressed in a black robe, eyes dripping with blue gleam. Below it, rusty-colored letters exactly matched the text he had been searching for.
“…it was there.” Kang Sah-hu read the text with trembling eyes. Necromancer. A word that he was obligated to inherit from birth due to the history of his family, but also a word he took immense pride in.
Ignoring all other shiny cards, he reached decisively for the rusty and worn-out necromancer card. Screeching, shrieking! However, the moment his hand touched the card, it emitted a terrifying curse and cracked like a split mirror.
Class not selectable.
Then a hologram appeared before him. [What…?! What was that just now?] The spirit of the medium also seemed to hear it, starting to tremble visibly.
Being dead already, and having lived a life as a revered medium, the spirit could acutely sense the danger of the curse. It was something incredibly dangerous.
“It seems even the spirit is being harmed. Stay away,” he warned.
“Young man, it’s too dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to choose something else?”
“No. It has to be this one.”
Despite further attempts to stop him, the spirit moved back, and Kang Sah-hu reached out again towards the fragile-looking necromancer card. Screech, screech! The cursing sounds resonated again yet he neither covered his ears nor withdrew his hand. His eyes bulged as if he’d never let go of the card.
Squeal! Screech!
The longer he forced himself to hold the card, the louder the screams became, and the massive outcry threw off Kang Sah-hu’s sense of balance and equilibrium. But even then, he didn’t let go, and eventually, an anomaly occurred.
Class not selectable.
You already own the selected class.
You have selected an unselectable class.
The messages began changing as if they might be pleading for him not to choose this card. Nevertheless, Kang Sah-hu did not let go.
Error. You have… this… class. Changes will… occur.
As his sense of time twisted, he could hardly tell how long he had been holding the card. The broken letters of the hologram flashed before his blurred vision, and the card crumbled into ash. Crash-!!
“Ugh!”
As if a taut string had snapped, Kang Sah-hu’s body collapsed as the wail ceased. Confused, messages he had seen earlier began to reappear in his mind.
[Your body will be adjusted to the class.
Your mind will be adjusted to the class.
You have exceeded the class limits. Attempting readjustment.
Readjustment not possible. Amplification of abilities due to resistance to adjustment attempts.]
Though weak and nearly scraped, his lost senses quickly returned, allowing him to rise again.
“Is it over? What’s happened?”
He looked ahead—the cards had disappeared. He noticed, as if watching a slow-motion video, that the normal flow of time had resumed.
“…Is it finished?”
Surprised by the overwhelming power that could have dulled the senses of a necromancer considered a genius among them, Kang Sah-hu let out an exhausted gasp.
As his senses returned, he noticed the spirit, its powerful soul power surging towards him rapidly.
He felt déjà vu as he watched. Perhaps because it was a medium, the spirit had a strong yet clear and transparent soul power, but now it swirled with anger, confusion, and negative energy.
“Young man! Young man-!” The spirit did not slow down until it almost hit Kang Sah-hu’s face.
Though it wouldn’t physically impact him since it had no body, Kang Sah-hu raised his hand and calmed it down. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“A monster appeared! It attacked our child!” The whirlwind of perplexed distress and flaring anger burst from the spirit.
Given the strength of the spirit, the emotional impact was proportional, making Kang Sah-hu sway. “A monster? Where is your family?”
“At the funeral hall! At the funeral hall!” Even a person as calm and controlled in life could be greatly shaken by a little negative emotion after death. Knowing the danger, Kang Sah-hu instantly felt there was no time to hesitate.
“Let’s go.” The spirit screamed, distorted by rage, and flew off nearly madly. Kang Sah-hu watched the increasingly negative-emotion-tainted spirit of the medium with concern.
However, soon he saw the funeral hall and the mysterious monster lurking in front of it, his eyes flaring with a mix of green and blue radiance.
