The hallways of Hwan-young High School didn't just feel crowded today; they felt claustrophobic.
Everywhere I looked through the King's Eyes, the air was thick with the jagged frequencies of awakened talents. It was like walking through a radio station where every signal was screaming at once. I could see the faint, shimmering heat-trails left by the pyro-kinetics and the low-frequency thrum of the speedsters.
But nothing was as loud as the cold.
Ever since Elena Vance arrived, the school's climate control was working overtime. A frost-laden pulse seemed to radiate from the third floor, where the Student Council Office—now Elena's personal base of operations—was located.
[Stamina: 28/100]
[Warning: Physical exertion is mounting. Recommendation: Eat a carb-heavy snack or prepare for the 'Absolute Zero' trigger.]
"Shut it," I whispered, leaning against a locker. "I'm working on it."
I pulled a crushed chocolate bar from my pocket and inhaled it in three bites. My metabolism was revving like a supercar engine, burning through calories to maintain the new density of my muscles. I felt stronger, sure, but I felt like a battery that couldn't hold a charge.
I looked up at the security cameras. Usually, they were just there for show, but today, they were swiveling with a predatory focus.
"Min-ho," I said, catching my friend as he hurried toward the library. "Give me a read on the third floor. What's the drone coverage?"
Min-ho stopped, his [Enhanced Sight] eyes flickering with a blue glow. He squinted at the ceiling, looking through the concrete. "It's a mess, Raven. There are Union-grade 'Eye-in-the-Sky' drones patrolling every five minutes. And Elena? She's got a frost-ward around the door. If anyone without her mana-signature touches the handle, they'll lose a finger to frostbite."
"Great. High-tech and high-magic," I muttered. "Just what I needed."
"Why do you care?" Suji asked, appearing behind Min-ho. She looked at me with those suspicious, caring eyes. "You're acting weird today, Raven. You're not... napping. You're actually moving. It's creepy."
"I lost a bet with myself," I lied, flashing a lazy, practiced grin. "If I don't get my history notes from the Council Office, Mr. Han is going to feed me to the school board."
I didn't wait for their reply. I turned and headed for the stairs, my heart starting a slow, heavy beat in my chest.
The third floor was a ghost town. Elena's presence was so oppressive that even the teachers were avoiding the East Wing.
I stood at the end of the hallway, watching the drones. They moved in a synchronized pattern—one every thirty seconds. I had a window, but it was narrow.
King's Eyes: Maximum Output.
The world bled into a blueprint of energy. I saw the frost-ward on the door—a swirling, jagged current of crystalline mana. It wasn't just cold; it was a sensory alarm.
[System Note: Using 'Monarch's Cold Breath' can neutralize the ward, but will cost 50% Stamina. Current Stamina: 32.]
"If I do that, I hit zero instantly," I realized. "The King comes out. In the middle of the school."
[Correct. Is that a problem, King?]
"Yes! I'm trying to be a 'Zero', remember? If the King walks into Elena's office and freezes the Chairman's daughter, my 'quiet life' officially ends in a coffin."
I took a deep breath. I had to do this the hard way.
I waited for the drone to pass, then sprinted. My +10 Strength made me faster than I expected, my sneakers barely making a sound on the linoleum. I reached the door. The frost-ward felt like standing in front of an open freezer in the middle of a blizzard.
Instead of touching the handle, I focused. I reached out with my own mana—the raw, unranked vibration the System provided. I didn't try to break the ward; I tried to mimic it.
Thrum... thrum... thrum...
I matched my internal cadence to the frequency of the ice. My fingers brushed the handle. It was bitingly cold, but the skin didn't tear. The ward accepted me as a part of the frost.
I slipped inside and closed the door just as a drone buzzed past the frosted glass.
The office was massive, decorated with dark wood and leather. But the smell—god, the smell was incredible. It was sharp, like mountain air, mixed with an expensive, floral scent that made my head spin.
Elena Vance was sitting behind the mahogany desk. She wasn't doing paperwork. She was holding a small, obsidian cube that emitted a low, rhythmic drone.
She didn't look up.
"You're thirty seconds later than I expected, Raven," she said. Her voice carried a crystalline tone that seemed to vibrate in my very bones.
I stayed near the door, my muscles tensed. "And here I thought I was being stealthy. Your drones must be out of calibration."
She finally looked up. Those icy blue eyes were even more piercing in the dim light of the office. She stood up, her white leather suit creaking—a sound that, in the silence of the room, felt surprisingly intimate. She walked around the desk, the obsidian cube still pulsing in her hand.
"My drones didn't see you," she said, stopping a foot away. "The frost-ward didn't feel you. You didn't break in; you... merged."
She stepped closer, the sharp scent of her perfume hitting me like a physical wave. It was spicy, cold, and intoxicating. She reached out, her gloved hand resting on my chest, right over my heart.
I could feel the cold of her talent through my shirt, but beneath it, there was a heat—a raw, competitive tension that made my pulse skyrocket.
"Your heart is racing, Zero," she whispered. She leaned in, her platinum hair brushing against my shoulder. "Is it fear? Or is it because you've never had an SSS-rank girl this close to you before?"
"Probably the chocolate bar," I managed to say, though my voice was a bit more strained than I liked. "High sugar content. Makes the heart do weird things."
Elena's lips curled into that dangerous, beautiful smile. She moved her hand from my chest to my neck, her thumb grazing my pulse point. The atmosphere in the room was electric, a heavy, suffocating pressure of power and attraction.
"You're a very good liar," she said, her breath ghosting over my lips. "But your body doesn't lie. You have the mark of the Void on you. The same scent as the person who broke my father's troops last night."
She pressed the obsidian cube against my chest. It felt like a block of dry ice.
"This is the Key to the Nova Vault," she whispered. "The Gods want it. The Association wants it. And I think... I think you want it, too."
She didn't pull away. In fact, she leaned in further, her body pressing against mine. The "spiciness" of the moment wasn't just romantic; it was a power play. She was testing me, trying to see if I'd crack, if I'd reveal the King hiding beneath the surface.
"What if I do?" I asked, my voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl. I reached out, my hand hovering just above her waist. "What are you going to do about it, Princess? Call your drones?"
Elena's eyes sparked. She liked the defiance. She liked the threat.
"I don't need drones to handle a boy like you," she purred.
Suddenly, the obsidian cube flared with a blinding, purple surge.
[Warning! High-level Mana surge detected!]
[The Key is reacting to the Nova System!]
[Stamina: 15... 10... 5...]
"Shit," I gasped, the world starting to tilt. The cube was siphoning my energy, greedily drinking from the System's reservoir.
Elena's expression changed from predatory to shocked. "The Key... it's responding? But it only responds to—"
She didn't finish. The door to the office exploded inward.
A figure shrouded in shifting, emerald-green smoke stood in the doorway. It was Juno. But it wasn't my sister. Her eyes were solid green, leaking a gaseous aura that hissed as it touched the floor.
The parasite—Greed's Needle—had taken control.
"The Key," the thing that looked like Juno hissed, its voice a distorted, multi-layered shriek. "Give... to... Master."
Elena pushed me aside, her hands instantly wreathed in frost. "A troop? Inside the school? How dare you!"
But Juno—or the thing inside her—didn't care about Elena's rank. She raised a hand, and the gravity in the room didn't just increase; it buckled. The floorboards snapped, and the heavy mahogany desk was crushed into splinters.
I was slammed into the wall, the breath leaving my lungs in a violent rush.
[Stamina: 2/100]
[Warning: Critical failure imminent.]
I looked at Juno. The parasite was glowing brightly, its roots visible through her skin. She was being burned alive by the power. If I didn't act now, the sister I hated would be a hollowed-out shell before the sun set.
"Elena! Stop!" I shouted, but Elena was already launching a barrage of ice spears.
Juno flicked her wrist, and the spears were crushed into snow in mid-air. She stepped forward, her hand reaching for the obsidian cube that had fallen near my feet.
I looked at the cube. I looked at my sister. I looked at Elena, who was preparing a massive frost-nova.
Absolute Zero, I thought. I don't have a choice.
I reached out and grabbed the obsidian cube.
[Stamina: 0/100]
[Condition Met: Absolute Zero.]
The world froze. Literally.
The green smoke stopped swirling. Elena's ice-nova hung suspended in the air like a glass sculpture. The sound of the gravity crushing the room died away, replaced by a crystalline, absolute silence.
I stood up. My movements were slow, regal, and devoid of effort.
I didn't look at Elena. I didn't look at the cube. I looked straight at the emerald parasite clinging to Juno's soul.
"Greed," I said. The voice was a tectonic sound, a noise that felt like it was being spoken by the Earth itself. "You were told the Playground was closed."
I walked toward Juno. The gravity field tried to stop me, but it shattered upon contact with my skin, the emerald energy turning into harmless sparks. I reached out and grabbed Juno by the throat.
Not to kill her. but rather for harvest.
"Monarch's Cold Breath," I whispered.
Then, I inhaled.
The green smoke was sucked from Juno's mouth and eyes, drawn into my own chest like a vacuum. The parasite shrieked—a sound only I could hear—as it was torn from its host.
[Absorption Successful.]
[Mana-Circuit Burn: Detected.]
[The God of Greed has lost a Link.]
Juno's eyes cleared, the green light fading into a dull, unconscious grey. She slumped in my arms, her body finally cold—not with death, but with relief.
I turned my head. Elena was staring at me, her face pale, her hands trembling. She was the only one who had seen it. The only one who knew the 'Zero' had just devoured a God's troop.
"You..." she whispered, her voice a fragile ghost in the frozen room.
I looked at her, my golden eyes cold and unyielding.
"Forget what you saw, Princess," I said. "Or I'll show you what happens when the King gets bored."
The ten seconds were up.
The cold receded. The silence broke. The sounds of the school returned in a deafening crash as the gravity field finally collapsed for good.
I fell forward, my head landing on Juno's shoulder as we both hit the floor.
[Quest: The Trojan Sister — COMPLETED.]
[Rewards: +20 Strength, Skill: 'Sovereign's Presence' UNLOCKED.]
[Host is now entering 'Deep Sleep' mode. See you in twenty-four hours, King.]
The last thing I felt was Elena's hands grabbing my shoulders, her scent of winter air and spice the only thing keeping me from the dark.