Noah entered the dimly lit chamber with caution, his footsteps echoing in the silence. Shadows clung to the walls, shifting in the candlelight like restless spirits.
But at the room's center, a figure floated, suspended mid-air in a way that defied the natural order.
It was Maya, her body hanging limply as if pulled upward by invisible strings.
A cascade of black tendrils—ethereal, almost smoky—swirled around her, flickering like the edges of a flame.
Noah's breath caught.
This was no ordinary scene, and he could feel it.
Thanks to his [Spirit Comprehension Perceivement], he saw what most others wouldn't have.
The dark spirits hovering around Maya, seeping from her as if she were the mouth of some deep, dark well.
Their forms were vague and shifting, each spirit carrying a malevolent essence.
They slipped in and out of her, drawn to her presence like moths to a flame.
Noah knew that Maya's powers came from a connection to something beyond the stars, a secondary constellation that should have been a blessing but seemed more like a curse.
[The Constellation of Death]
Maya had been born with a unique and terrifying gift, one that set her apart from others even from a young age.
Dark spirits thrived around her, bound to her presence like shadows, drawn by the Constellation of Death that claimed her.
As a child, she'd been taken to the Holy Cathedral, where priests and priestesses helped her suppress this dark prowess.
They feared her powers, treating them as a taint rather than a gift, working relentlessly to keep the spirits in check.
For years, the priests had monitored her, channeling prayers and holy rites to keep her in balance until, at the age of twelve, she could manage it alone.
Her future had seemed set in stone; she was meant to be a Saintess or a holy sister of the church.
But Maya had been different.
She had always hungered for knowledge, for freedom beyond the cathedral walls.
She had begged her mother to allow her to attend the academy, her thirst for learning and mastery of magic stronger than any desire for a life cloistered in the cathedral.
Her mother, working tirelessly to earn enough to afford the academy fees, eventually found herself taking a part-time job with the Ashbournes, all to grant her daughter the future she yearned for.
But even here, at the academy, her powers lingered like a curse.
The dark spirits harbored within her operated on a twisted concept of love.
Anyone who looked upon them and bore any trace of deep love in their heart would find that emotion corrupted and turned back on them.
The spirits had the power to twist love into obsession, loyalty into fixation, and affection into a desperate need to possess.
For most, this effect was subtle, yet strong, gnawing at their will.
In battle, the effect could break alliances, disrupt armies, or render her enemies emotionally paralyzed as they grappled with the distorted love planted in their minds.
It was a power that would allow Maya to walk into the heart of an enemy stronghold and reduce it to chaos without lifting a finger.
But for Noah, this power held no sway.
Unlike others who were vulnerable to the spirits' effect, he harbored no love, no softness in his heart that could be twisted.
In his past life, he'd known love, even harbored it for someone special, but he'd cast it aside.
He'd always felt she deserved someone better, someone who could offer more than he could, so he'd turned away from love, choosing the life he had instead.
And now, even as he looked upon Maya's drifting form, surrounded by twisted manifestations of love and death, he felt nothing.
He saw only a character in a story, lines of code and scripting, and whatever feelings he'd once had were as distant as a past life.
The spirits recoiled from him, unable to reach his heart.
But as he stepped forward, Noah's gaze shifted, focusing on the other figure in the room.
There stood Professor Jacob, rigid and unnaturally still.
His eyes were wide, blood trickling from the corners, and his skin was a sickly shade of pale, stretched too tightly across his face.
Where there should have been the usual warmth and steadiness in his eyes, there was only darkness—a thick, consuming void with a faint glint of purple in his pupils.
Noah could feel a strange energy emanating from the professor.
A power laced with malice and tinged with a desperation that felt otherworldly.
Jacob didn't speak, didn't need to.
His stance, the flickering aura around him, all of it spoke volumes.
He was preparing to strike.
Noah narrowed his eyes, realizing this was not the mentor he'd known but a man overtaken, something tainted and controlled by forces far beyond human understanding.
Noah's hand instinctively moved to summon his skill [Constellation's Insight].
The familiar, transparent yellow interface flickered to life before his eyes, and within seconds, Jacob's status displayed itself, though it was overwhelming in its complexity.
So overwhelming that the system itself had to condense the information into a summary.
[Jacob, The Wandering Scholar]
Affiliation: God of Technique
- Technique Arts: Divine-Level Blessing (Enhanced by the God of Technique's Blessing)
[Constellation Alignment: Follower of the God of Technique]
Jacob wields advanced knowledge in Rune Magic, allowing him to inscribe spells that can create shields, or augment his physical abilities. With his divine blessing from the God of Technique, he has enhanced precision, the ability to analyze his opponent's weaknesses at an accelerated rate, and nearly unparalleled technical mastery in physical combat. ]
[Status Condition: Possessed - Dark Influence]
The depth of Jacob's power was staggering, and Noah's gaze lingered on the "divine blessing" and "possession" statuses.
With years of experience on his side, Jacob wasn't someone Noah could simply outmatch through raw skill.
His mastery over technique and magic was leagues beyond anything Noah could attempt to imitate.
But even as he faced this overwhelming force, a small smirk flickered across Noah's face.
After all, he was still Kim Hajun—just an average guy in some respects, but a veteran gamer who had walked through countless scenarios like these.
This wasn't just another playthrough; it was life now, and he intended to win, one way or another.