"Uncle Glangk, today isn't the right day to inherit that mysterious Wizard legacy."
Zorn Corick said with a serious expression.
"Not the right day?"
Glangk frowned. Ever since the Baron, Leon Corick, had sent that letter from across the sea, there had been nothing but silence.
In the year since the Baron left, the soon-to-be sixteen-year-old Zorn Corick had become quiet and withdrawn, following his arrangements in most matters.
Just yesterday, when he had discussed the matter with Young Master Zorn, the poor, sensible boy—who had lost his mother at a young age and now his father as well—hadn't shown any sign of resistance.
But today, his reaction was completely different.
Just as the butler, Glangk, was about to press the issue, before he could even speak, Zorn looked up and stated with absolute certainty.
"The blood moon, Uncle Glangk. This month's full moon is a blood moon!"
"The day of the blood moon is the perfect time to receive that mysterious Wizard legacy."
"A blood moon?"
Glangk froze for a moment.
On the Holy Land Continent, there were many incredible astronomical phenomena that science could not explain.
The blood moon was one such phenomenon.
'How does the Young Master know?'
More doubts flooded Glangk's mind.
The date of a blood moon wasn't fixed. It could be years between occurrences.
But Zorn had already anticipated Glangk's unspoken questions.
"Miss Joliya told me."
At the mention of the young, lively, and energetic Miss Joliya, a light appeared in the boy's eyes.
Miss Joliya was, after all, the girl of Zorn's dreams.
She was the very embodiment of the youthful, shy flutter in the heart of a boy experiencing his first crush.
He earnestly held up a fist, then began extending his fingers as he laid out his points one by one.
"Miss Joliya told me that she is a Transcendent, and that this month..."
Glangk hadn't paid much mind to these scattered details before.
But the fact that Miss Joliya was a Transcendent and knew the date of the blood moon was crucial information, and Glangk had no choice but to take it seriously.
'Miss Joliya and Young Master Zorn have always had a good relationship.'
'Blood moon... Extraordinary...'
Memories of the past resurfaced in his mind.
"The roar of steam is reawakening the world's Mysterious Powers, Glangk."
"Many mysterious stories and rumors of unbelievable power have come from across the ocean. Our World... it may be about to face a great change!"
"I must go into the sea and the mists to seek out Extraordinary Power! Only then can we restore the Coric Clan!"
"After I leave, everything at home will be up to you..."
The Baron had entrusted the entire family to him in the study, speaking to him as a friend rather than ordering him as a subordinate. The memory was as clear as yesterday.
And he did not betray that trust, treating Zorn Corick like his own son.
Unfortunately... all that returned was a mysterious, ancient ritual for succession sealed in an envelope. The Baron himself was lost to the depths of the sea.
WHOO-WHOO—
The whistle of a steam train on the city outskirts sounded, interrupting Glangk's recollections.
He glanced at the moon's position again. They had already missed the optimal window for the succession.
'Perhaps... it truly is as the Young Master says. The blood moon is the best time for the succession. Besides... it's only a few more days.'
'Also...'
He looked at the young Zorn Corick, lost in thought.
'The Young Master... seems to be coming of age.'
After a moment of thought, Glangk wished the Young Master goodnight, then exited the small study and closed the door behind him.
「Inside the study.」
In the silence of the night, the lone boy's face was cloaked in the shadows cast by the hazy moonlight.
The thoughts of the soul from an Exotic Realm spun rapidly.
Delaying the succession of the first World-level BOSS, the Evil Spirit Wizard, was no impulse.
It was entirely intentional.
It was recorded in Zorn Corick's diary.
It contained his curses and loathing for the Goddess of Destiny.
"She could have just waited one week, until the day of the full blood moon, to let me receive the gift from the gods! That would have been the perfect, forbidden moment!"
"But... that damned bitch had to make me do it a week early."
"My Sequence is not complete."
"I... always feel like something is missing..."
That's right!
As the first World-level BOSS, Zorn Corick, a part of some unspeakable Evil God, had undergone his succession at the wrong forbidden moment. This left his World-level BOSS template, the Evil Spirit Wizard Sequence, incomplete.
This, in turn, led to a series of tragedies.
It also doomed him to struggle on the edge of aberration and madness, leading to his tragic end.
Performing the succession for the "Evil Spirit Wizard" on the night of the full blood moon... that was the right way to do it.
And this was crucial information known only to the Players.
Of course, aside from the timing, the "succession Spell" and "ritual anchor points" Zorn Corick had received were also flawed.
However, for a transmigrator from an Exotic Realm—and a hardcore Player at that—these were all things he could fix.
CREAK!
The boy pushed open the window, and gentle moonlight spilled onto his young face.
Outside was the silent manor under the night sky.
A little further away were the manors and villas of the decorated nobles in Ogrande City's New City District.
Even further out, cutting through the quiet suburbs, were the steam-powered railway tracks known as the "Empire's Great Artery."
Under the bright moonlight, a steam train shot across the fields, spewing clouds of white vapor, its whistle sounding clear and ethereal.
He gripped the windowsill with both hands and took a deep breath of the new world's fresh air.
He inhaled deeply... and exhaled slowly.
Immersed in the real and delicate sensation of breathing.
After a long while... he finally felt that he had truly come alive!
'The influence of the Evil God, the injustice of fate, twists of chance and coincidence, the hidden mastermind, the schemes of the Esoteric Sect, and... the tide of the new era!'
'All these things are what took Zorn Corick, an innocent boy full of hope for the world, and pushed him step by step toward depravity. He eventually slid into the Abyss, transforming into the cruel, bloodthirsty, and utterly evil great BOSS of legend!'
'So... how should I live now?'
'Steam Era. New World Exploration. Fog Disperses. Divine Grace. Demon Gate.'
The many version updates of *Holy Relic: Eternal Poem*, major historical events, Heroic Characters, Legendary stories, and so on.
Countless complex memories converged with his soul at this very moment, organizing themselves into perfectly clear threads of thought.
Then, he smiled!
It was a cruel, bloodthirsty smile, tinged with excitement, fanaticism, and anticipation.
He was full of anticipation for this World.
And he was also incredibly satisfied with his new identity as a BOSS.
'From this day forward, I am Zorn Corick, and Zorn Corick is me.'
'Don't worry, little guy. This time, we will seize our own destiny!'
'Before, you were a crazed, evil, and cruel great BOSS, but your story ended far too early. You were cast aside by the changing times.'
'That shows you couldn't adapt to the new versions.'
'You have to understand, laying low and farming safely is the right way to play!'
'Now, as the great Evil Witch BOSS about to be born, I just want to lay low and grow my power steadily.'
'And then make everyone who has plotted against us pay a tragic and bloody price!'
The soul from the Exotic Realm—no, Zorn Corick—clenched his fists, whispering silently under the moonlight.
Just as Zorn Corick was about to melt into the darkness of the night, he was stunned to see an icon slowly light up in the bottom-right corner of his vision. It looked like a stick-figure sketch of a torso with crossed arms, drawn in faint, starlit lines.
'This is...'
Zorn was taken aback by this new discovery.
'Isn't this my 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition Player Sequence, the Star Trace Fighter icon?'
'There's an extra surprise after transmigration?'