Someone Else Was Involved

Different types of Source Material granted Awakened different advantages.

Linsey's Life Source Material could strengthen his physique and extend his lifespan.

Merchants could externalize their Source Material into objects, creating items with miraculous effects. At the same time, by removing the Source Material from their bodies, they could conceal their identities as Awakened.

Basic Source Material had the broadest practical applications and carried none of the various negative effects.

The Source Material of the Willpower System likewise had its own unique traits.

After Linsey's Will Source Material Advancement, it had not granted him any direct enhancement to his physical attributes. However, his Will attribute had risen to 11, and his senses had also improved to a certain degree.

Linsey now focused intently on observing his surroundings.

He could vaguely see colors invisible to ordinary people, and his hearing and sense of smell had also become somewhat sharper.

And now, a very strange problem lay before Linsey.

He heard a sound coming from the front room of the cabin, but before that, he had detected neither the door opening nor anyone climbing in through a window.

"Who is it? Who's there?"

Linsey raised his brows slightly, set down his notes, and headed toward the front room.

But he had only reached the study at the very center of the house.

Under the corridor leading to the front room, heavy, hurried footsteps appeared before him along with Finn's bloodless face.

"Teacher Finn?!"

Linsey froze.

Before he could react, Finn roared and charged at him.

"Roar!"

—A living corpse! The dangerous encounter from three years ago made Linsey reach that conclusion instantly.

His eyes widened in fury, shock and rage filling him.

His physical abilities, far beyond those of an ordinary human, allowed Linsey to clearly see every detail of Finn's corpse's movements.

His teacher's living corpse lunged at him.

Its left foot was forward, its right foot behind, its body pitched forward, and both hands were held out as if to throttle his neck.

Linsey clenched one hand into a fist, sidestepped, and threw a straight punch.

But the instant his fist reached Finn's head, the living corpse's body was knocked backward—and Linsey's gaze darkened to its depths.

Even if it was a living corpse.

It was still Finn's body.

"Damn it!"

Linsey cursed.

His extended right hand changed from a fist to an open palm and clamped down on Finn's shoulder.

At the same time, he lunged forward, sweeping his left leg diagonally at Finn's legs.

Thud! Linsey immediately threw the living corpse to the ground.

Then Linsey turned again, using the undead's momentum as it lunged to twist it onto the floor. His right hand, which had been gripping the corpse's shoulder, slid down to its wrist, and he used a joint lock to pin the living corpse firmly to the ground.

"Roar!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Pinned beneath Linsey, the living corpse struggled desperately.

It was indeed quite strong. Its struggling even made the stone-brick floor inside the house creak.

But the one restraining it was Linsey.

The Linsey of today was far stronger than the child he had been three years ago.

And Finn's living corpse had not been frozen stiff in ice and snow, so it was actually even easier to subdue.

Linsey's only problem was how to deal with the living corpse.

Because his own Source Material had already fused with the skills of a Game Player, even if he learned the knowledge of the School of Death, he would not develop the corresponding ability to handle living corpses.

Unless he could bring himself to hack Finn's body into pieces.

Otherwise, he could only find a way to restrain it and bring it all the way to Red Moon for proper handling.

Between the two options, Linsey naturally chose the latter.

Not to mention his respect for his teacher.

With his current abilities, restraining a moving corpse was hardly difficult.

"Whew—"

Having made up his mind, Linsey took a deep breath.

It felt as though someone had stuffed a wooden stopper into his chest.

His teacher's remains had animated while he was keeping vigil. No one could feel good after encountering something like that.

But the most important thing now was to deal with reality as quickly as possible.

Linsey then pressed his lips together, pulled both hands of the living corpse behind its back, forced them together, and locked them tightly with his left hand.

He then lifted the entire corpse upward and seized its thigh with his right hand.

It did not take much effort.

Like a weightlifter raising a barbell, he hoisted the still-struggling living corpse over his head and carried it outside in a position where it could not harm anyone.

"..."

"Linsey, what's going on over there?"

"What's making that noise?"

Linsey had only just stepped out of the cabin.

Neighbors' shouts rang out around him.

The town was very quiet at night, and the living corpse's roars had been enough to wake people from their sleep.

Though the other townsfolk had not yet come outside.

They were all getting dressed and rising, preparing to see what was happening.

"Everyone stay inside. There's no need to come out."

"It's just a small problem over here. I can handle it myself!"

Linsey did not want Finn's situation to alarm the ordinary townsfolk.

After reassuring them, he immediately quickened his pace and rushed into the wilderness outside town with the living corpse.

Not wanting to frighten any ordinary people, he deliberately made a wide circle around the town before running toward the church.

At Linsey's speed, the trip did not take much time.

It was now deep into the night.

Under the moonlight, the Graveyard Church stood alone beyond the town.

Holding the corpse made it inconvenient for Linsey to open the gate, so he simply sprinted forward, vaulted over the church's low wall, and landed steadily in the courtyard.

"Nun! Teacher Finn's body has a problem!"

Linsey immediately called out.

A few breaths later, light flared in Red Moon's room.

Then Red Moon pushed open the door and came outside. She saw Linsey standing in the courtyard, as well as Finn's corpse held above his head, still struggling without pause.

"A living corpse?"

Red Moon's expression turned grave. She had already realized what the problem was.

The instant her words fell, a flash of red light swept through the church courtyard.

The School of Death specialized in dealing with such matters, and Red Moon's ability immediately took effect.

Almost at the next instant, Linsey felt the corpse in his hands lose every sign of movement, becoming once more the old man in eternal sleep.

"Nun, thank you for your trouble."

Linsey quickly set Finn's body on the ground and began examining its wrists and ankles, confirming whether his actions had damaged the integrity of the remains.

At the same time, Red Moon walked over to Linsey and asked gravely, "Linsey, what happened over there tonight?"

Linsey hurriedly explained, "I was in Teacher Finn's house the entire night. There was no movement, no warning at all. Teacher Finn... he suddenly changed."

"That isn't normal." Red Moon made her judgment with certainty. "Before Finn died, he injected all of his Source Material into that branch. His corpse would be extremely difficult to animate—not just for ordinary people, but even among Awakened."

Hearing this, Linsey's inspection of the corpse abruptly stopped.

Without lifting his head, he asked Red Moon, "Then under these circumstances, what could have caused the corpse to animate?"

Red Moon answered at once, "Only the active influence of external Source Material."

"..."

"Nun, I'm going out. Please look after Teacher Finn's body. I'll be back as quickly as possible."