A Veteran Teaches Very Well

part 59

Song Seok-hwan began to laugh like a madman.

At the same moment, a message window appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

───────────────

▼ First Scenario

─You have encountered the Evil God, Bonivatus.

─Bonivatus is currently possessing Song Seok-hwan’s body.

─Defeat Bonivatus and save the students.

───────────────

“Ha, damn it.”

It felt strangely off.

If this b*stard was involved, then everything that had happened until now made sense.

The malevolent deity Bonibatus, who manipulates the hearts of men.

Though I had played this damn game hundreds of times, this was the first instance of such utter chaos.

It would be another six months before the first scenario even began.

Moreover, Bonibatus was the malevolent deity that would only appear in the seventh scenario.

Why the hell was this b*stard showing up here already?

“Song Seok-hwan, get a grip! You’re being controlled by that thing!”

My plea did not reach Song Seok-hwan.

The wicked energy only grew stronger.

Song Seok-hwan looked at me with a crazed smile.

“Professor, I will definitely kill you.”

The malevolent deity.

The source of all evil in this world.

A transcendent being that exists to bring about the world’s destruction.

The very ones who opened the gate to Earth.

And the enemies that players must defeat in this game.

There are twelve malevolent deities that have crossed over to Earth.

Their goal: the annihilation of the world.

Defeating all of them was the ultimate objective of the game.

Fortunately, Bonibatus was not one of the stronger entities among the deities.

Moreover, having forced his appearance in the early stages of the game, he would likely be in a weakened state.

But even weakened, a malevolent deity is still a malevolent deity.

To confront him, I would need at least President Ryu Jeong-ah by my side.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Long tentacles sprouted from Song Seok-hwan’s back.

These tentacles were tipped with sharp blades.

The Song Seok-hwan possessed by the malevolent deity had transformed into something no longer human.

Whooosh!

The tentacles shot forward.

It was a swift and heavy strike.

I raised my sword to block it, but my hand went numb.

Song Seok-hwan continued to chant the spell.

“Stone Edge!”

Boulders fell from above.

Both the casting speed and the power of the magic were far superior to what Song Seok-hwan usually displayed.

Boom! Crash!

He leaped to evade the magic, but it wasn’t over yet.

Tentacles began to fly at him again.

His whole body was busy dodging the magic and swatting away the tentacles.

“Professor, you can’t defeat me. Just die peacefully when the time comes.”

“Song Seok-hwan, get a grip! You’re being controlled by that thing!”

“Controlled? The only will behind trying to kill you is my own.”

He knew well that this b*stard was not in a state to hold a conversation.

The fortunate thing was that Bonivatus’s power was much weaker than he had anticipated.

It seemed there was a significant penalty for appearing so early.

At this level, it was worth a shot.

“Endure the pain a little.”

The swordsmanship of Baeksulhwa showed remarkable effectiveness in duels, but it fell short against monsters.

The technique was outstanding, but the power was lacking.

He switched to a more brutal and violent style, using Nam Hye-joo’s swordsmanship.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

He brought the sword down like an axe, crushing the tentacle completely.

It seemed that even the tentacle took damage from the hit, as Song Seok-hwan let out a painful groan.

“How dare you!”

Whooosh!

The tentacles all flew toward me at once.

In times like this, he couldn’t afford to be scared.

With more boldness, more ferocity, he slashed at the tentacles head-on and moved forward.

“Professor, you can’t defeat me! Don’t struggle!”

He reached right in front of Song Seok-hwan.

He’s a wizard. If I swung my sword with all my might, I might have died.

But being dominated by Bonivatus, his physical abilities must have increased far beyond the norm.

Whoosh!

“Hmph, this pathetic sword!”

Song Seok-hwan caught the sword imbued with aura barehanded.

This was as expected.

Then let’s see if he can withstand this with his bare body.

“Lightning Strike!”

A blue flash descended.

Was the impact too great this time? Song Seok-hwan trembled and dropped the sword.

Seizing the opportunity, I struck with all my might.

“Graaah!”

Smoke billowed from the sword.

Even though Bonivatus had weakened, the pattern was just as I remembered.

That was the move signaling the start of phase two.

I quickly withdrew from Song Seok-hwan.

Boom!

A sword tornado enveloped Song Seok-hwan.

If I had greedily tried to deal more damage and taken that head-on, it would have been dangerous.

“Grrr… If you insist on drinking punishment, then so be it!”

Song Seok-hwan, no, Bonivatus had now even dropped the formalities.

This was not a good sign.

It was a signal that Bonivatus had completely consumed Song Seok-hwan’s persona.

“Bonivatus.”

Upon hearing his name called, he showed a reaction of surprise.

“I knew you weren’t an ordinary human, but to know my name!”

Of course, I knew it.

A malevolent deity that digs into a person’s weak points, toppling them before taking them as a host.

I had known it all along.

Why hadn’t I been more cautious of this b*stard from the start?

The thought that the evil deity would not appear from the first semester was a miscalculation.

Originally, Bonivatus was supposed to possess Jeon Tae-jin.

But with my intervention, an event that did not exist in the original story occurred, and history was rewritten.

I saw a potion bottle discarded on the floor.

In the game, Jeon Tae-jin always awakened Bonivatus by drinking the black potion.

That bottle was likely that potion.

“I need to hear how you know me.”

Song Seok-hwan’s nails elongated.

They transformed, not into mere nails, but into something like blades.

As Bonivatus’s influence grew stronger, Song Seok-hwan’s body began to lose its human form, grotesquely changing.

At this rate, wings might sprout from his back.

Swoosh!

“Cough!”

A claw strike flew at me.

If I blocked that, there would be a tentacle attack; if I endured the tentacles, there would be magic, and then another claw strike.

I felt like I was going to lose my mind from the relentless onslaught.

“Khahaha! I will kill you as painfully as possible! If you tell me how you know me, I might just grant you a painless death.”

“Phew… Shut your mouth.”

There was no longer any room for leisure.

I too laid all my cards on the table.

Edelin’s swordsmanship.

I couldn’t fully master it yet, but in terms of a momentary peak, it was undoubtedly the best among the sword techniques I wielded.

The color of the aura surrounding my sword turned golden.

A simple horizontal slash, devoid of any tricks.

Bonivatus lightly extended his arm to defend.

Swoosh!

“……!”

The golden aura was intense.

For the first time, Bonivatus was pushed back by my strength.

“Th-this b*stard!”

—

With a series of sword strikes, I unleashed my magic.

Gradually, a glimmer of victory began to appear.

But this state wouldn’t last long.

Maintaining my aura with unfamiliar swordsmanship while casting magic left my mana dwindling.

Overpowering him by force was out of the question.

For a brief moment, Bonibatus, cornered, wouldn’t be able to exert much influence over Song Seok-hwan’s mind.

This was the only chance to awaken Song Seok-hwan’s consciousness.

“Song Seok-hwan! Get a grip!”

“Ugh, you b*stard!”

“I said get a grip, you idiot! If you can’t even beat that loser, how do you expect to defeat Park Seo-hu and Seo Da-yoon?”

Twitch—

Good.

As I brought up the keyword that would prick Song Seok-hwan’s pride, his personality began to respond.

As evidence, Bonibatus’s power slightly weakened.

It seemed this b*stard intended to lull Song Seok-hwan’s consciousness back to sleep.

“You damn evil god! You’re supposed to play with me!”

Crack!

My sword pierced through the gap, impaling Song Seok-hwan’s right arm.

With this, Bonibatus would no longer be able to interfere with Song Seok-hwan’s mind.

“Graaah! You, you b*stard!”

“Song Seok-hwan, get a grip!”

* * *

In his childhood, Song Seok-hwan’s world was nothing but a small orphanage.

To him, being an orphan was a mark of shame.

Whether wandering the neighborhood or attending school, the label of orphan always followed him.

—Don’t play with that kid.

—If you hang out with an uneducated orphan, you’ll catch it too.

What kind of disease is being an orphan?

What’s there to catch?

If being an orphan is contagious, does that mean the child who spoke to him will lose their parents too?

Still, Song Seok-hwan found joy in every day.

The orphanage was poor, but it was always a vibrant place.

That small world shattered one day.

According to the Awakener Special Law, every citizen had the duty and right to undergo an aptitude test as an Awakener.

Song Seok-hwan’s test results left everyone in shock.

—What is this kid… No, it can’t be…….

—What’s this kid’s name?

From that day on, Song Seok-hwan’s life changed.

Countless powerful figures sought out Song Seok-hwan.

In a short time, he met many of South Korea’s influential leaders.

‘So many people were looking for me…….’

And then he met his current father, Song Ji-hyeok.

‘I’ve heard plenty about you.’

Song Ji-hyeok.

The master of the prestigious guild, known to every citizen of South Korea.

‘Become my son. Then I will give you everything I have.’

For Song Seok-hwan, who had just begun to taste wealth and power, it was an incredibly sweet offer.

Without hesitation, he called Song Ji-hyeok “Father.”

And then he regretted it.

‘What is this.’

The life of an adopted child was far too difficult.

He needed a sanctuary to soothe his heart.

The nest that held Song Seok-hwan’s happiness was the orphanage.

But he could not return to the orphanage.

Where could he find solace?

‘Father.’

A name he always wanted to speak.

A name he longed to call out, Father.

He wanted to be loved by parents at home, just like everyone else.

He wanted to be comforted by them.

However, what returned was cold neglect.

“I clearly told you to be my son.”

Song Ji-hyuk, instead, grew angry at Song Seok-hwan.

“Ah, Father…”

“What on earth is that pathetic sight? When has Song Ji-hyuk’s son ever been so weak? Did you think just being on the family register was enough?”

“No, no…”

“You were the one who said you wanted to grasp everything in the world. Prove your worth.”

Everything in the world?

I didn’t need that.

I just wanted to hear a warm word, even without that kind of thing.

“Yes…”

But Song Seok-hwan couldn’t bring out the words in his heart.

As always, he merely nodded weakly.

It’s cold.

So cold that my whole body trembled.

I miss the warmth of a person.

“Hu, huhuh…”

You already know the answer.

What you need to do to be recognized by Father.

It’s not hard to receive praise from Father.

The world went dark before my eyes.

There was a familiar place, a party venue.

There were familiar faces and unfamiliar ones.

─So you’re the rising Song Seok-hwan?

─You’re Song Ji-hyuk’s adopted son? A filthy brat whose origins are unknown, just stay quiet from now on.

There was Ahn Se-hyun, criticizing Song Seok-hwan.

It was a familiar scene, almost welcoming.

Unable to hold back his anger, Song Seok-hwan knocked Ahn Se-hyun down.

And then he received praise from his father.

—

【Can you really be satisfied with that?】

Swoosh—

Before I knew it, Song Seok-hwan was holding a pitch-black sword in his right hand.

What is this?

When did I… get something like this?

【Kill him.】

What are you talking about?

A hero shouldn’t kill people.

【With that, kill Ahn Se-hyun. Then you will earn your father’s recognition.】

I can earn my father’s recognition?

Does that mean I can escape this cold and bask in warmth too?

Ahn Se-hyun smirked and provoked Song Seok-hwan.

“What’s that sword? Are you really going to stab me? No way, a weak coward like you could never do that.”

A coward, huh?

No.

I am Song Seok-hwan, the son of Song Ji-hwan.

There’s no way a man destined to be the guild leader of the future could be a coward.

【Stab him!】

Yes, let’s stab him.

With this, I’ll kill Ahn Se-hyun and gain recognition.

Let’s end it all with this.

“You, a coward like you, could never kill me!”

Song Seok-hwan raised the sword high.

Just disappear now, Se-hyun hyung.

The moment he was about to bring the sword down—

“…!”

The sword didn’t move.

Why?

“That’s as far as you go.”