The spring wind entered through the broken window and blew straight toward the group of students, who stood in shock and awe, startled expressions visible on every one of their faces.
Beside them stood the black-haired youth, staring at the result of his swing. The floor was dyed in a strange purple liquid, slowly but surely reaching his heel. Some of it had even splashed onto his face, and his shoelace was one of its victims.
After all, Finn hadn't even considered restraining his strength, not knowing that the massive fly was as fragile as an ordinary one.
Hanna stared at him, mouth trembling open."F-Finn…?"
Yeger swallowed hard, eyes burning with excitement."…You actually did it."
Teacher Nathan took a sharp breath, shock and relief flashing across his face.
Finn slowly lifted his head.
There was no fear in his eyes—only depth and darkness. Yet deep inside, strange emotions churned within him. His stomach twisted; fear had faded to an almost imperceptible trace, replaced instead by a rising sense of euphoria… or excitement.
Now while calming himself to settle down for a moment he had chance to look and check for what that robotic voice had said.
Welcome to the Demon's Cradle
You have a slain Mutated Fly.
Following rewards listed.
Overcaming the fear resulted increase in mental strength
Defeating the foe that is stronger than you resulted in increase in strength
New job:Fly hunter
Passive ability:(Mutated Flies feel instinctive fear upon seeing you, slightly slowing their movement and attacks.)
By leveling up you could increase your chance of unlocking more abilities.
Seeing this kind of thing for the first time felt like a dream.
It seemed the demon had been telling the truth—killing these kinds of creatures could really increase his power.
Without wasting another second, his senses snapped back to reality.
Following Teacher Nathan's lead, the students stood in stunned silence, their expressions dazed. Then Nathan's voice cut through the air.
"Finn, are you okay?"
Obviously, there were no external injuries, but concerns lingered about his mental state—especially since teenagers at his age were often emotionally vulnerable.
However, to everyone's surprise, Finn appeared completely fine.
The situation did not calm down. With the window shattered, more mutated flies continued to pour in as time passed.
A few seconds later, entire hallway of school corridor packed with Mutated Flies, with annoying beezing sound to hear, it was very uncomfortable feeling to touch in person's ear.
Without any hesitation they started speeding towards them, to reacting approaching danger Finn's voice sounded to everyone.
"Everyone, listen up! We need to cooperate! You guys take the pack coming from our back; I'll take the forefront. Don't worry — they aren't that strong. Their defense is as weak as a normal fly, so killing them is as easy as killing an ordinary fly. But one thing to remember: be careful — very careful — of their stingers. Once one is inserted into you, you'll be finished… at least, that's what I think."
Everyone nodded with serious expressions as they listened. After all, it was their first time being this close to death. Once one of them died, everything would be over — their dreams and goals would all disappear.
However, Hanna and Yeger showed concern for Finn's safety as they responded to his instructions.
"What about you? There are many more coming from the front than from behind. Can you handle all of that alone by yourself?"
"Don't worry about me. Just take care of yourselves. Now, get into position."
At his shout, everyone took their stances, trying not to leave any gaps.
Still, gaps were bound to form due to their weak coordination. Besides, everyone was deeply nervous. Of course, when facing death, almost anyone would react the same way, and such hesitation could easily cost them their lives.
After a while, Finn also stood at the forefront, gripping the legs of a school table. In front of him, a swarm of Mutated Flies gathered, all sharing the same red-skinned color, their bodies shining as their needle-like stingers glinted in the light.
Without waiting for them to be ready, the Mutated Flies rushed toward the students and Finn. Everyone showed frightened expressions, but only Finn and Yeger seemed calm — at least on the outside.
Reacting to their sudden movement, Finn moved as quickly as he could and grabbed the teacher's table. It was large and heavy, difficult for one person to move. Normally, even two people would struggle just to lift it.
Even though Finn was quite tall and had some muscle, it still shouldn't have been enough for a boy his age to lift something like that.
However, he easily raised it and hurled it forward with enough force to crush the Mutated Flies at the forefront of the swarm.
With an expected expression, Finn thought to himself:
"Originally, I had no idea what an increase in power really meant or how much it had grown. But now it's clear. If my original strength was one hundred, it should now be approximately one hundred and twenty."
Based on my current strength, this is where I stand.
I can defeat them.
As he was thinking this, something strange suddenly happened.
Everything around him disappeared. Hanna, Yeger, the other students, and Teacher Nathan—all of them were gone. Even the buzzing sounds vanished. The only thing remaining was pure darkness.
What happened? Hanna? Yeger? Teacher Nathan?
He tried to call their names, but to his shock, his voice seemed trapped. He couldn't make any sound.
As he tried to calm himself and understand the situation, he noticed something.
The system called Demon's Cradle was in his pocket. It had shown itself before, but at that time he had been in a bad situation and couldn't check it properly. Now, with nothing else to do and while hovering in the air, this was the best time to examine it.
System: Demon's Cradle
User: Finn WilsonAge: 17
Special Ability: Void Seeker(If the user faces extreme danger, it will directly transport the user to the void. This passive ability activates on its own.)
Weakness: If you stay too long in the void, the void itself will stare back at you.
Pocket Weapons: NoneWeapons: None
After reading everything in one breath, Finn felt slightly relieved. At least he had an advantage when facing death.
About the weakness, however, he had no idea what it meant. The void will stare back? Maybe it would devour him or make him a part of it forever.
Ah… whatever. I need to get out of this. But before that, I need to know what caused me to sense danger and almost die. Fortunately, I have this ability. I guess it's very powerful. But it means nothing if I can't change the situation or escape certain death.
The scene of his near death replayed in his mind. It returned to the moment when he had thrown the large table—then suddenly, he was here.
It's mysterious… really mysterious. Void Seeker activates on its own? That's not entirely true. Without a trigger, there can be no activation, right? Logically, it should activate based on my emotions—especially fear. Fear is the most primordial and powerful emotion, after all.
Then I should have felt something right before I disappeared. Maybe the fear was so overwhelming that my brain refused to remember it. But there's no other way. I have to recall it.
I need to focus on what I felt—the thing my mind is trying to reject.
A few seconds passed.
Nothing came to mind.
I threw the table, and…
In that split second, I saw it.
Right. It was a spider.
A very dark spider, black as night. From its appearance, it looked like an ordinary spider, about the size of a palm.
However, the moment he saw it, a deep sense of fear overwhelmed him. Helplessness, despair, loneliness—emotions far worse than anything he had ever experienced. He wanted to vomit but couldn't. He felt completely alone, as if all hope had vanished. Despair devoured everything, leaving only absolute helplessness.
Ah… now I understand.
But why did that kind of spider appear out of nowhere? It felt as if it could control human emotions… something far deeper. I still can't forget that feeling. It left a lasting scar. I almost went insane.
Fortunately, I had this ability.
After pondering and planning for several minutes, Finn finally made a decision.
He would cancel Void Seeker and face that black spider.
I don't know how much time has passed in the real world, but I don't want to abandon my friends and teacher to that ominous thing.