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Humanity has fallen.
Two days ago, Seoul collapsed.
Yesterday, Tokyo was swallowed by the sea.
Today, the allied command in New York was annihilated.
We failed.
Neither the divine powers we were granted…
Nor the martial arts passed down by our ancestors…
Not even the magic-engineering we so proudly boasted of… none of it was enough.
Only one path remains.
A self-destructive, immoral path.
…I call out to all Awakened who can still hear my voice.
We… let us become undead.
Those who do not die, even when limbs are torn off and heads are crushed.
Those who rise again, even after death.
Let us become undead.
…I know.
I’m afraid too.
Afraid of death.
Afraid of becoming the thralls of the necromancers we once despised.
Afraid that the gods who promised salvation will abandon us.
But there is something even more terrifying.
The future awaiting my family. My people.
My parents, hunted as prey by fiends.
My child, forced to live as a slave to the Ain.
The thought dries my blood, rots my soul from within.
If that is the fate waiting for us, then I’ll drain my blood now.
I’ll let my soul rot now.
Rather than entrust our future to gods who watch idly from above, I will give it to the necromancer who fought beside me.
Even if it’s not a noble end.
Even if it’s an unholy sacrifice.
If I can protect my people with my body, what wouldn’t I do?
Comrades.
Heroes who hear my last words.
I beg you one final time-
We.
Let us fight, even in death.
Chapter 1. E between D and F
“O hero, take your own life!
Your flesh shall save humanity!“
A man’s gaze lingered on the massive monument outside the car window. The smoothly polished gray stone stretched toward the sky, yet the carved inscription seemed to stab into the wrong place.
“…That thing hasn’t changed a bit.”
A woman beside him responded softly.
“Was it already here when you were a student, Commander?”
“It was built even before this place.”
The car pulled up before the academy’s main gate.
The man’s eyes lifted again. On top of a fortress-like building with towering walls and pointed spires, the words “Necromancy Academy” glowed in holographic letters.
“Tsk…”
He clicked his tongue and lowered his gaze. A long line of figures in jet-black uniforms stood stiffly at the gate.
“I hate ceremonies like this.”
“I didn’t want it either, but they insisted we had to set an example for the cadets.”
As soon as she spoke, the line snapped to attention and saluted the car.
The thunder of boots striking the ground shook the air.
“Stubborn old men…”
The man stepped out, and the person at the front shouted.
“It’s an honor to meet you!”
The rest raised their voices in unison.
-It’s an honor! Commander Baek!
The booming response brought the academy to a standstill. Students inside pressed themselves against the windows, their gazes locked on him with boundless reverence. Humanity’s hero.
“The decisive reason humanity lost the war lies in the number of Awakened.”
The hoarse voice of an old professor echoed through the white lecture hall.
“The frequency of dimensional rifts kept rising, yet there were far too few Awakened to stop them. Humans die… and when they die, it’s over.”
The room was blindingly white, from floor to walls to desks. Against that backdrop, the students’ jet-black uniforms gave the air a mysterious, funereal weight.
“…Still, humanity endured. Even though all surface civilizations were destroyed, we fought on for decades.”
The hall was packed, yet not a single murmur rose. Every student sat at rigid attention, their eyes fixed on the old professor.
“…The answer we found was deceptively simple. Artificial awakening is impossible. So we chose to maximize the Awakened we had. Thus, the Immortal Reaper Project: turning Awakened into undead.”
The professor fell silent. From the corner of the stage, a man stepped forward. His heavy steps rang with weight. His face was stern. Around his neck gleamed a thick metallic collar.
“The core of the Reapers is immortality.”
The professor pointed at the man’s head with his pointer.
“As long as the vessel beneath the brain remains intact, they cannot die. Pay the manufacturer a fee, and any damage can be repaired.”
He tapped the man’s left shoulder with the pointer. The man immediately grabbed his own left arm with his right hand.
Psshhht-
With a hiss of released pressure, the arm detached, revealing machinery in place of flesh and bone.
“During repairs, modifications can be made to suit the summoner’s needs. Enhancing a Reaper’s capabilities is simple.”
The professor flicked his fingers, and the arm reattached seamlessly, as if magnetized back into place.
“Even combining undead and magitech like this, Reapers retain human senses and desires.”
The professor drew a pistol from his waist and fired.
Bang!
Blood splattered as the man’s abdomen burst open. He dropped to his knees, dragging a crimson smear across the floor.
Mouth open, fingers clawing the ground, he shook.
Not a single student flinched. They sat in silence, unblinking.
“Why would the manufacturer bother to leave their senses intact?” the professor asked.
A female cadet raised her hand.
“You, answer.”
“To preserve their humanity. To make them believe they are still human. To instill strongly the purpose of fighting for humanity-”
“The last part is wrong.”
The professor tossed the pistol to the man bleeding on the ground.
“Catch.”
The man fumbled, but managed to grip it.
“Aim at your head.”
His trembling hand raised the barrel. His bloodshot eyes filled with tears.
“The purpose of ‘for humanity’ is meaningless. A Reaper is only a tool. It must obey.”
The professor’s lips tightened, then he gave the order.
“Shoot.”
The man’s finger inched toward the trigger-
Whoosh-
A black sphere flew from the back of the hall and struck him. He collapsed instantly.
Students gasped and turned.
At the entrance stood a middle-aged man in black uniform, tall and immovable like an ancient tree.
“C-Commander Baek! Of the special task force!”
The name sparked an uproar. Students who had endured gunfire without a twitch now trembled with awe, like fans seeing a living legend.
Even the professor’s face broke into a smile.
“Well, well. Isn’t this the next supreme commander himself?”
A Necromancer-
A summoner who leads Reapers onto the battlefield.
Their mission: reclaim Earth from fiendish hands, secure humanity’s survival-
The corridor echoed with lecture voices as the professor led Commander Baek forward.
“That man earlier was a criminal. He killed a comrade and stole a prosthetic body.”
“Yes.”
“I clarify in case of misunderstanding. But these new cadets… what do you think? Does the future look bright?”
“I don’t know. I just want them on the front lines as soon as possible.”
“Ha! Still so impatient. Give it time.”
They arrived at the professors’ research wing. The professor entered first. Commander Baek turned back.
The brown-haired woman who had come with him still lingered behind, distant and blank.
“Sofia. Something wrong?”
“They won’t let me inside.”
She pointed at the automatic door where a red sign glowed: [Undead Entry Prohibited].
“I’ll wait here.”
“Good. You wouldn’t like what’s inside.”
Baek left her there and stepped in.
The professor’s office was oppressively immaculate. It felt wrong to even breathe.
“It’s regrettable you summoned me here.”
Baek brushed dust from his coat and sat.
“Isn’t this the best place to be seen? Both you and I must be careful to avoid gossip.”
The professor patted his shoulder and moved to the window.
Outside stretched manicured lawns and a pristine night sky. At the far end stood a statue of the first summoner, the academy’s founder. Beyond it, skyscrapers filled the horizon, their lights gleaming against the dark.
“I owe your father my gratitude. Wasn’t it he who raised our summoners to this height?”
The professor shook his head.
“Your son should have inherited that will… tsk, tsk.”
Baek’s brows twitched at the mention. The professor waved his hand, and a holographic screen appeared before him.
It displayed a withdrawal form and a leave-of-absence request.
“Your son’s. I shredded the withdrawal form, left it as a leave for now.”
“…Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. It’s only right. I can’t allow the Baek bloodline to waste itself as just another summoner.”
Baek stayed silent. The professor pressed on.
“Does he fear the battlefield? Understandable, given a commander’s survival rate.”
“No. Since childhood, he wanted nothing more than to be a commander.”
“Then why quit? Why throw away everything and run?”
“…”
“What reason could possibly make him abandon the chance to be humanity’s savior?”
“Because it just sucks.”
The black-haired man downed his glass in one gulp. A cigarette found his lips as he stared out the window.
Ssshhh-
Rain slicked the night city. Towering megastructures blurred under the downpour. Puddles mirrored neon lights that dazzled the eyes.
“Reason? There’s nothing noble about it.”
Crowds filled the streets. A man with a body of steel. A woman staggering from hallucinations. A naked old man. A child clutching a pistol.
Each carried their own burdens, but none interfered with another.
No one could say who was human, who was undead.
“So stop asking.”
The man’s eyes caught on a holographic video projected on a tower wall.
-Don’t hide. Don’t conceal. Underheaven needs your strength.
Beneath an overpass, red graffiti screamed in heavy lettering:
-Underheaven is no city. It’s a graveyard of machines and corpses.
“Phew…”
He exhaled smoke and turned back to the room around him.
Thump, thump-
Electronic music pounded. Shouts laced with curses rang out. The haze of smoke mingled with the sting of pheromone perfume.
The cheapest refuge in the night city: a bar at the end of every alley.
“Why aren’t you answering? Drunk already?”
The black-haired man looked across the table.
A burly man with half-lidded eyes was digging his nose with thick mechanical fingers.
“What are you on about? Frank’s fine. Drink up.”
“Don’t overdo it. Aren’t you upgrading your arm soon? You’ll waste your cash fixing your liver again.”
“Doesn’t matter. Frank’s a man. Drinking’s pride.”
“…Fine. Just move over.”
At his words, Frank shifted.
“Why?”
“That woman.”
“Woman?”
Frank’s eyes rolled, then snapped aside. He finally spotted her… a brown-haired woman, drinking alone under her hood. Even hidden, her beauty leaked through.
“Oh, she’s pretty. Baek Ho likes pretty women.”
“It’s not that… why is a Reaper in a place like this…?”
Frank cut him off with a raised hand.
“First, Frank’s going to piss.”
“Outside. You know you have to use the toilets here.”
“Got it.”
Elsewhere in the bar, several pairs of eyes tracked them. A dreadlocked brute. Two scruffy men.
“The big guy’s a zombie?”
“Definitely. I saw him piss… both legs are metal. No human could survive that.”
“He’s not a Reaper, is he…?”
“No way. A Reaper here? He’s obviously a construction zombie. Which means… the other one’s the summoner?”
“Ah…”
All three shook their heads.
A Necromancer, in this squalor? Impossible.
A necromancer befriending undead as equals? Unheard of.
“Could that guy be a zombie too…?”
“I saw the owner scan his code. He’s human.”
“Then the target’s set. Move in.”
Greedy smiles spread across their faces as the music shifted.
<Come back-! Baek-!>
A pounding beat, a voice molten with metal.
A hit song. The bar’s patrons shouted the lyrics together.
“Come back-! Baek-!”
<We’re not ready to die yet-!>
“We’re not ready to die yet-!”
A song every citizen of Underheaven knew.
A song praising the Baek family… idols of the necromancers.
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