02 | Orientation

Gomas Academy is the most prestigious school on Earth currently. Or should I say, what was left of Earth. Almost two centuries ago in the year 2024, Earth was invaded and lost its sense of civilization at the time. An all-powerful mysterious being tagged as The Monster Emperor was the one who led the invasion.

According to the history books, invasion was an understatement of what happened at the time. The Monster Emperor emphasized dominance on Earth with a peculiar Special Skill he had, which was [Corruption]. Anything affected by the skill would become a part of his domain, causing it to rot or mutate into an unrecognizable entity.

Of course, the Monster Emperor wasn't alone in the invasion of this planet at the time, he had brought with him lesser monsters to carry out his bidding. Most of them were incredibly dumb, like the goblins, ogres, golems. Others were slightly intelligent and humanoid, specifically the high-ranking demons, elves, dwarves, nymphs, and dragons. 

While he was spreading his influence with [Corruption], his lesser monsters terrorized mankind by breaking out of what are called Dungeons and Towers which originate from other dimensions. For a Dungeon, imagine another dimension popping up in your planet and the creatures of that dimension were set on killing you. Whereas Towers were a combination of Dungeons. A Tower could have two to twenty Dungeons inside it. 

Dungeons and Towers were classified according to their level of danger and difficulty. If they weren't cleared out within the span of five months, the monsters living inside would break out, descend on Earth, and wreak havoc. 

But the Dungeons' and Towers' monsters weren't the only monsters wreaking havoc. Corrupted human beings, animals, and plants also preyed on mankind. So long as it could be corrupted, it could attack and kill; that quote opened the eyes of human beings.

And luckily for our species, the presence of the Monster Emperor counterbalanced the system in which Earth was supposed to be in, and so, we were granted the power to balance things once again. There came the existence of Hunters. Special human beings who were granted a taste of power to defend the planet. 

The presence of Hunters managed to minimize the damage done by monsters and corrupted entities. Although, by the time the Hunters were able to take care of half the monsters that had broken out from Towers and Dungeons during the period before they got powers, the influence of the Monster Emperor had already covered one-sixth of Earth, turning corrupted regions dangerous and uninhabitable. 

Hunters sought to take their revenge on the Monster Emperor and reclaim the corrupted parts of Earth, but the omniscient being was located on an undisclosed area till date, 'recuperating.' This part of history might have a lot of plot holes in it, but it was what our generation was told.

After corrupting so much of Earth, the Monster Emperor's power 'declined' to the point where he had to take a step back, pause to recuperate, and regain his lost energy. It might sound like a scam, but human beings used this period of time to their advantage.

Mankind was able to rebuild civilization much faster with the presence of magic power mixed with technology. Three grand cities were able to be built: Gomas City, Delok City, and Tyval City. Since most of the continents were destroyed, it was right to rebuild civilization on neutral grounds. These three cities were the only uncorrupted regions on Earth, known to mankind. They were relatively safe compared to other parts of the planet. 

Dungeons and Towers still occurred, but over the years, Hunters became more knowledgeable and powerful enough to beat them at faster rates. And luckily, the system was biased to mankind and gave rewards after clearing Dungeons and Towers, as well as slaying corrupted entities.

The rewards were so good and profitable that it got turned into a business exchange. Being a Hunter created job opportunities. Being a Guide — a human who could share energy with a Hunter and heal them — became a prestigious title. Things were going smooth for mankind. Well, that was until the Monster Emperor's influence came back into motion.

Though it was not as dangerous and volatile as the first wave. The Monster Emperor's influence happened gradually and slowly that a thousand meters square plot of land could get corrupted within a month's time. Random areas started to get corrupted at different rates. Mankind grew alert at this discovery and decided to kick back into action.

This was done by setting up Academies and ordaining Inquisitors. In each city, an Academy was built to train future high-grade Hunters in preparation for the moment when the Monster Emperor would spontaneously rise once again.

Inquisitors were much like Hunters. Heck, most Inquisitors were also Hunters, but the difference between the two was that Inquisitors didn't just regulate monsters. They regulated corrupted entities, criminal humans, humans who weren't worthy of being humans.

The title of a Hunter was prestigious. The title of an Inquisitor was petrifying. You could never tell when one was going to shoot a bullet into your head, claiming you were a stain to society. But Inquisitors kept things in perfect order. I kept things in perfect order. 

Which was why I was a social pariah.

The second I stepped into the grand hall of Gomas Academy, where the first years were to be given an orientation, there was no student who wasn't looking or talking about me. The hall was big enough to accommodate five thousand people and first years were only one thousand in number so there were a lot of vacant rows.

"It's Autumn Anderson,"

"The Cruelest Inquisitor,"

"I heard he got perfect scores in both the T.E and P.E,"

"But he's ranked second. How is that possible?"

"His technique was—"

I shot a cold glare at everyone in the hall. From the available staff to the gossiping students, I collectively met their eyes with a vivid silent warning in mine. No one said anything after that. The entire hall became so silent that my footsteps could be heard very clearly. My sandals made slapping noises against the polished tiles with every step I took. 

I started to rethink dressing up casually in a white top and a pair of jeans with a holster for my Inquisitor Gun. I stood out too much in comparison to the other students who were innocently wearing their uniforms without any weapons, looking prime. I shook off the thought, I would've stood out anyway even if I was wearing a uniform like them without my gun. The kind of aura I gave off was miles different from the nervous and excited ones the other students were emitting. 

I found a row where no one was occupying and settled on the second seat from the edge. I could tell those sitting behind and in front of me were uncomfortable. A normal reaction sane human beings felt being in the same vicinity as me.

"Tommy!" 

Of course in the midst of sane people, there was always a misfit.

"Autumn," I calmly corrected Beatriz, who was skipping over to me, ignoring the number of eyes on her. 

She also was wearing the academy's uniform, but her dark red track jacket was tied around her waist, and what was meant to be a black top with the academy's emblem (a blue gem floating above two crossed swords) was now a fitted crop top. Her track trousers were more like track shorts. Beatriz had totally redesigned the academy's uniform to fit her vulgar taste.

"Tommy, Autumn, same thing," she waved off my correction when she got closer to me.

I sighed, dropping the matter.

"This seat taken?" she asked after she plopped down on the seat next to me. Without waiting for an answer, she had already settled down and blocked the way by swinging her legs over to the top of the seat in front.

After graduating from Inquisitor Training, I had attended regular school for two years, taking a break to learn about things other than monsters and corrupted entities. That was where I met this annoying being next to me. She was a D-Rank Guide when I first met her, screwing up something as easy as Guiding E and D-Rank Hunters. I once gave her advice because I was irritated by her annoying skills.

She acted on my advice, got better, and began clinging to me any time she saw me. During these past few months of vacation after graduating regular school, I had escaped her clingy clutches and forgotten how annoying she was. Right now in her presence, I began remembering why she was registered as a pest in my head.

She pulled out a gum from her pocket, tore off the wrapper loudly, and then stuck the gum into her mouth. She chewed so loudly and recklessly that it made my blood boil. 

[The Special Skill, [Mental Control], has been activated.]

I let out a cool breath from my mouth. I endured her for two years before, three years would pass by breezily… I hoped.

"You're probably thinking to yourself how I passed the entrance examination, aren't you?" Beatriz began saying, leaning toward me.

No, I was not thinking that.

"It's all thanks to you, you know?"

"What?"

"The T.E wasn't that challenging for me but the P.E? With my terrible aim, there was no way I'd be able to clear a VR dungeon on my own. So…"

"So what?" Why was I getting the feeling that this girl did something horrible in my name?

"BeforeIstartedtheP.EItoldtheexaminationcouncilthatIwasyourexclusiveGuide."

"Huh? What? What did you just say?"

[The Special Skill, [Mental Control], has been heavily activated.]

"I'm only here for 'you', so thank you. I'm in charge of Guiding you and you alone. I told the examination council that your body rejected Guiding from anyone other than me and that I was the only Guide alive who could restore your energy and heal you." Beatriz explained with a grin.

I was going to kill her. I was reaching for my Inquisitor Gun when—

[The Special Skill, [Mental Control], has been greatly activated.]

What a useful skill. I ran my hand through my hair, sighing out loud. Normally, I rarely received Guiding from even high-grade Guides because I've never actually needed it. But if I were to ever need it, I'd be forced to get it from this useless C-Rank Guide grinning at me. 

"In the future, don't ever do something like that again," I told Beatriz after a while. There was nothing I could do about the situation now that she was already a student at this academy.

Her admission couldn't be withdrawn. Her only way out of here was to either be expelled or to die. I was fine with either but I couldn't directly influence such actions. Argh… 

"Of course! I only did that because I had no other logical choice. But I'm with you now and I won't need to do such things anymore. I promise!" Beatriz raised her pinky finger midair and I stared at her dryly.

She dropped her hand and grimaced, finally reading the mood and keeping quiet. I checked my phone to see how many minutes were left till the orientation commenced and saw that there was less than five minutes remaining. 

Unconsciously, I used my eyes to search the hall for 'that guy' but he was nowhere to be found. I predicted that he would make a grand entrance later due to a 'good deed' that held him back.

The orientation started at the expected time, and the dean of the academy, who was a fifty-something years old A-Rank Hunter, Ravi Singh, began his speech.

"I would like to congratulate you all blah blah blah…" I tuned out the rest of his words. What was the point of listening? His speech could be summarized into one sentence — Train to become stronger so we can destroy monsters.

I've heard a lot of speeches about that same thing too much for one lifetime. After about fifteen minutes of dawdling, I turned back to listen to Dean Ravi's speech.

"I wish you all good luck and hope that you will—"

Gbam!

One of the locked entrances of the hall was kicked open. Haha. I said it. Standing at the other side of the forcefully opened door was—

"Mr. Voss?"