True Magic

Why was it my name?!

Ron stared at the last file in shock, his eyes widening involuntarily as he took a step back.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

He was certain he hadn't left behind any traces...

The old magician wasn't even considered dead by the other magicians yet. He definitely wasn't being targeted for killing the old magician.

An assassination... There was another enemy lurking in the shadows, one Ron didn't know about, watching him!

Why?!

A bead of cold sweat formed on Ron's forehead, and his thoughts became a mess for a moment.

The Patrol Bureau, the Magician Association...

With Ron's concealment and cleanup, those forces that might oppose him shouldn't have had their eyes on him at all!

For once, a hint of panic rose in his heart.

Where exactly had this assassination commission come from?!

The moment that thought surfaced, Ron spotted the pale green-and-white "∞" emblem hanging on the client's chest.

Clearly, this commission had come from Noah Pharmaceuticals.

But Ron... had never had any dealings with Noah Pharmaceuticals!

No, that wasn't right. There seemed to have been one--

The wanted criminal Ron had killed and used as a scapegoat seemed to have been an employee of Noah Pharmaceuticals!

But that made no sense...

The uniform the man had worn proved that he hadn't held a high position. There were as many ordinary corporate employees as grains of sand in a massive corporation, impossible to count.

To a corporation, an ordinary employee like that held little value--

At the very least, Ron was sure that wanted criminal's life wasn't worth the five zeroes written in this file!

A full five hundred thousand Credit Points just to buy the life of an ordinary high school student like Ron—wasn't that a little too extravagant?

Given the profit-first attitude of massive corporations, they would never be willing to pay such a price for an ordinary employee!

He frowned deeply, but a cold laugh interrupted his thoughts.

"Hmph... Old man, what? You want to take this commission too?"

The roguish young man snorted at Ron.

"I'd advise you to behave yourself... You've already got one foot in the grave, so why are you still trying so hard?"

As he spoke, a chill crept into his tone.

"You'd better understand this clearly. You may have the life to accept this job, but you also need the life to carry it out..."

An obvious threat.

If Ron continued showing any intention of taking this wanted notice, it seemed this man wouldn't mind using some dirty tricks on him.

This guy... really wanted to take my wanted notice?

Why?

Ron considered it and quickly reached the answer.

—Among these files, his wanted notice was the easiest to complete.

Because as a high school student, the ability listed in his file still hadn't been updated. It was Lv.1.

So, a Lv.1 Superpowered individual placed alongside heavily guarded senior scholars and minor corporate executives...

Even an idiot would know that the Lv.1 high school student was absolutely the easiest assassination target!

So easy to kill that even an old magician treated as an outdated relic, who had only been rated a "master" through connections, could easily handle him...

That was why this man held such hostility toward Ron. Clearly, he merely thought Ron might block his path into Noah Pharmaceuticals.

Although Ron didn't know why Noah Pharmaceuticals had developed hostility toward him, he could investigate the reason later. What mattered now was keeping himself alive--

Ron couldn't simply hand this commission over to someone else!

If the man in front of him took this commission, Ron would likely suffer assassination attempts from the shadows again and again.

After all, if he blocked the assassin's attack and killed the assassin in return...

Noah Pharmaceuticals would naturally send more and stronger assassins after the assassin died, all to take his life!

With the enemy hidden and himself exposed, not to mention the assassins had one of the three massive corporations backing them...

Ron didn't believe he could withstand so many assassins.

Therefore,

he had to eliminate every competitor here and become the sole person to accept the commission--

Only by keeping the commission in his own hands and becoming the first assassin sent to kill himself

could Ron delay this assassination attempt until the College Entrance Exam!

And once he entered the College Entrance Exam venue...

By then, even one of the three massive corporations like Noah Pharmaceuticals wouldn't dare make such an obvious move against him.

After all... Noah Pharmaceuticals couldn't dominate alone at such an important event as the College Entrance Exam.

If they dared disrupt the order of the examination venue, the other massive corporations would be delighted to use that as a blade and carve a huge chunk of flesh off Noah Pharmaceuticals.

Though countless thoughts raced through his mind, Ron showed nothing on his face.

He merely gave the roguish man an indifferent glance, then followed the capable woman beside him and slowly walked toward the entrance of the underground laboratory.

"Hmph, a useless old fossil really is a coward..."

The roguish man cursed under his breath, then snorted and followed them.

"Since you're ready, I'll unlock the laboratory door--"

The client spoke, his tone turning serious.

"But you need to be careful... Because the ritual error was extremely severe and the laboratory has been sealed for long enough, we have reason to suspect that taboo creatures have already appeared inside.

Before taboo creatures, even masters of the Necromancer School like yourselves may stumble..."

He tapped the holographic screen of his personal brain-computer interface. The emerald ring on Ron's finger glowed faintly, and a pop-up immediately appeared on his interface.

On closer inspection, it was a personal accident insurance policy, with "Noah Pharmaceuticals" listed as the beneficiary.

"Sign this policy. Once you enter, I'll wait outside.

If any of you fail to come out alive, we'll use the insurance payout to bury that poor soul..."

Watching the guarantor speak with such conviction, as though he truly cared deeply about the three of them, Ron found it hard not to laugh.

—Could you at least let us change the insurance beneficiary before saying all that?

Truly worthy of a massive corporation that plucked every feather from a passing goose. Even if they failed the mission and died in the underground laboratory, the corporation still intended to squeeze out every last bit of value!

But this insurance definitely wouldn't apply to Ron...

Before he had even entered the underground laboratory, Ron had already vaguely sensed a resonance coming from inside through [Ignorant Servant].

Considering what the client had said, that this underground laboratory had been sealed too long after a severe ritual error and taboo creatures had emerged...

Clearly, several Corpse Shells were already inside, waiting for his control!

Once Ron entered this underground laboratory, it would be like entering his own territory. How could he possibly die at the hands of those Corpse Shells?

Still... that didn't mean there was no danger at all.

Ron silently signed the insurance policy, the corner of his eye glancing toward the roguish man beside him.

The woman could be set aside for now. She clearly had no grudge against the old magician Karen and merely wanted to work for a massive corporation to complete the commission...

But this roguish man clearly had a grudge against him.

Although Ron didn't know how the old magician had offended him in the past, Ron was certain of one thing--

Whether because of a past grudge or because they were now competing for the assassination commission targeting Ron himself...

If he found an opportunity in the underground laboratory, he would definitely make a move against Ron!

Still, considering he was supposedly a magician of the Necromancer School, the Magic he could use was probably not too different from Karen's?

If that was all...

then perhaps the Lv.2 player level he had just attained, along with his advancement to Sequence 8 of the [Death] pathway...

would already be enough.

Ron watched the man's back thoughtfully, silently waiting for the client to unlock the underground laboratory door.

"Click..."

A crisp mechanical sound rang from the round, heavy iron door as it slowly opened.

Looking inside, they could see a biological laboratory covered in bloodstains and left in disarray.

Only two voice-activated lights on the ceiling still flickered weakly. All the other lights had gone dark, apparently smashed by the walking corpses.

This underground laboratory was clearly quite large. It was likely one of Noah Pharmaceuticals' secret laboratories.

A shrill wail echoed from the depths of the laboratory. The capable woman looked at Ron and the other man and spoke in a friendly tone.

"It seems these walking corpses are hiding deeper in the laboratory... Since taboo creatures may be inside, how about we set aside our previous disagreements for now?

It's better to resolve grudges than deepen them. There are so many monsters inside, and only by acting together can the three of us complete this commission more safely..."

"Unlike you people, I can deal with taboo creatures just fine... Don't block my way!"

She tried to show enough goodwill, but the roguish man merely gave an arrogant snort, shoved aside the woman blocking the doorway, and walked straight in.

"Ha, haha..."

The capable woman gave an awkward laugh, then turned her gaze to Ron.

"He doesn't seem very willing. Master Karen, I wonder if you..."

Before she could finish, Ron shook his head and silently entered the underground laboratory.

Watching Ron's retreating back, the capable woman couldn't help cursing under her breath.

"Fuck... Fine, Belen is one thing, but even a connected nobody who got in through the back door looks down on me?

Do you think I was trying to save your life? Go on alone, then. When someone stabs you in the back later, let's see what you do!"

Feeling frustrated, she sighed and cautiously inspected the entrance before entering the underground laboratory.

"Click..."

The laboratory's steel door slowly closed. It would not open again until they had cleared out the monsters.

Ron walked steadily through the laboratory at an unhurried pace, heading toward the Corpse Shells he sensed.

He had actually figured out what the capable woman was trying to do...

She was probably afraid they would suffer an unexpected defeat, so she wanted to use the combined strength of herself and Ron to deter the roguish man, maintaining the appearance of teamwork and goodwill...

Then, with all three working together, they could first deal with the undead monsters in the laboratory.

Clearly, that was not a good thing for Ron.

The roguish man wasn't the only one who wanted to kill Ron... Who said prey couldn't become the hunter?

Ron also wanted to kill that man, ensuring that he could accept the assassination commission...

He walked silently through the laboratory. The dim lights could barely illuminate the path ahead.

Ron had to examine his surroundings carefully to avoid bumping into anything.

He saw many things in the laboratory--

Body bags, incubation chambers, dissection tables... There was even a blood pool!

Though they were now covered in dust, the incubation chambers shattered and the blood pool dried up, the sight still sent chills down his spine.

Driven by curiosity, Ron opened those body bags and even saw things that were difficult to comprehend--

The head of a white-haired, pointed-eared girl, seemingly lifelike;

A shriveled corpse with cat ears and a cat tail, yet a deformed face and a body reduced to skin and bones;

And shattered flesh from a scaled creature, some fragments still showing obvious human characteristics...

What kinds of experiments had Noah Pharmaceuticals conducted in this place before?

Cloning, genetic splicing and cultivation, or something else?

How had they produced creatures like these...

Ron couldn't understand it. He could only carefully identify the route and slowly make his way toward the Corpse Shells.

After a while, as the Corpse Shells in his senses grew closer, Ron suddenly realized he had entered a fairly well-lit area.

The walls here were painted pale green and white, and the air was thick with disinfectant. It seemed to be the laboratory's medical area.

Following the Corpse Shell he sensed, Ron pushed open a door to the medical area and discovered that he had entered an operating room--

The silent "patient" lying on the operating table was precisely the Corpse Shell he had sensed!

Beneath the Corpse Shell, dark green Magic Array patterns were clearly visible on the operating table, though they had become somewhat blurred from the corpse's friction.

Beyond that, Ron keenly felt a coldness constantly trying to invade his body.

Upon closer inspection, it was clearly ownerless death magic, seemingly leaking from the Magic Array beneath the Corpse Shell and indiscriminately transforming every living thing nearby.

No wonder this corpse had become a Corpse Shell...

After being contaminated by such dense death magic, becoming a Corpse Shell was only natural.

If Ron hadn't already advanced through his Lv.2 player level and become a Sequence 8 transcendent of the [Death] pathway...

then even he would gradually be contaminated by this death magic, his health affected by it.

But now... this death magic would only nourish Ron's body instead.

He paid little attention to the leaking death magic. His gaze swept across the operating room, and he suddenly spotted a bloodstained notebook on a surgical instrument table nearby--

A notebook?

In Ideal City?

Ron was somewhat stunned, unable for a moment to understand why anyone would use such an outdated medium for recording information.

Puzzled, he picked up the notebook and opened it, finding several brief entries inside--

[January 28. I obtained a Corpse Shell's finger bone from a small Void that appeared in "New York," Outer City.]

[February 17. I researched the Corpse Shell's finger bone. The magic attached to it exceeded my imagination. Perhaps I can use this finger bone to trace back the glory of my ancestors.]

[March 19. I found an ancient ritual from the previous era at the Association. Perhaps I can use the finger bone as the primary material to touch upon the transcendent...]

[April 26. I succeeded...]

Before Ron could finish reading the notebook, he suddenly caught an unusual scent.

Cold, bitter, numbing...

Thick death magic condensed into a murky green mist that suddenly flooded the entire room.

What was this... Necromancy?

Ron immediately realized what was about to happen—

That guy... was going to make a move on him!

The next moment, a cold sneer came from behind Ron, confirming his suspicions:

"Trying to steal my commission... I'll teach you what a true master of the Necromancer School is!

I'll show you what real magic is!"

Real magic?

It looked like this guy was planning to use some move that could kill in a single blow...

Ron frowned, covered his mouth and nose, and switched to the Potion Sequence in the Dimensional Update Manual as he cautiously watched everything around him.

But the murky green fog obscured his vision. He could only make out a shadow seemingly approaching, but he could not distinguish it at all...

Naturally, he had no chance to evade the attack.

A cold, illusory scythe suddenly emerged from the thick fog and slashed at Ron, swift and precise, cutting straight into his back.

Ron fell to the ground, and the warmth rapidly drained from his body until he was as cold as a corpse.

Watching the old magician slowly collapse without a sound, his corpse turning bluish white, Belen snorted with disdain in his voice:

"Hmph... useless old fool. So lacking in vigilance—just as expected of trash who only knew how to pull strings."

He sauntered over, preparing to search Ron's corpse and see how much wealth the old man had accumulated over all these years...

But a powerful withered hand suddenly seized his neck and forcibly lifted him into the air!

Ron dusted himself off and rose from the ground without a scratch—

Then, looking at the utterly terrified Belen trapped in the Corpse Shell's grasp, he chuckled.

"A master of the Necromancer School... is that right?"

His body was icy cold, his skin bluish white, and his eyes stained with the lifeless green of death, like a Corpse Shell that had just awakened from the grave...

He leaned close to Belen's ear and whispered in a hoarse voice:

"I wonder whether the magic used by a master like you..."

"...can compare to real magic..."

As his words fell,

chilling Necromantic Fire bloomed wildly in Ron's hand,

and erupted from Belen's seven orifices!