Chapter 7 – The Job-Seeking Firefly (1)
[One—]
Just as the sparrow’s final, spine-chilling warning rang out—
Slam!
“Damn it! So even this doesn’t work?!”
Ruin instinctively thought he had opened the door. But no—the door that flew open was from the next stall over.
“Damn Haven! Letting loose those kinds of birds while I was gone?!”
Apparently, someone else had been hiding nearby.
The sparrow chirped at the man.
[Curse energy detected.]
“Yeah, yeah, here! You can scan it all you want. I brought a cursed item for research by mistake!”
[No. Your head.]
“…What?”
[You're a demon. Your head is demonic.]
Before the laughing voice could finish, a horrifying sound tore through the air.
A sickening crunch, rip, and mangle echoed through the restroom.
Wings flapped. More birds came.
Chomp-chomp, squelch, crunch…
Ruin closed his eyes. He really didn’t want to imagine what was happening.
At last, the chewing and slurping stopped.
The predatory birds chirped as they flew away.
Ruin exhaled in relief.
‘Is it over?’
If those bastards left, he could slip out too—
[Strange. Demon energy still present.]
Thud.
A chilling sound.
[Still smells like a demon.]
Now this time, Ruin was sure it was his turn.
One of the sparrows tapped on the door of his stall with its beak.
[Someone in there?]
‘Tch.’
Ruin quickly pulled something from his coat pocket—A small, black, soap-like item he’d acquired earlier from the Gatekeeper.
【Demon-Scented Naphthalene (Lowest Grade)】
A curse-based item that emits a demon’s scent.
Typically used as bait or traps for catching demons.
Without hesitation, Ruin unwrapped the item and rolled it into the next stall.
Clunk! The door burst open.
[It was this.]
[Yeah. This.]
[Cleaning supplies?]
Good. They bought it…
[Confusing item. Destroy it.]
‘Wait, don’t destroy it! If it’s exposed as fake, I’m caught!’
Just as cold sweat gathered in Ruin’s palm, clenching the knife—
[No. That’s school property. If it breaks, we’ll have to compensate.]
[Gets deducted from pay.]
[…Let’s just go.]
[Let’s go.]
‘Phew.’
Once the birds’ presence vanished completely, Ruin finally re-sheathed his knife.
Stepping out of the stall, he was met with the gruesome sight of a man whose head had been grotesquely chewed apart.
A blood-soaked gentleman’s suit. Waistcoat, cravat, vest—it all suggested he’d been a visitor from outside.
Ruin eyed the scattered contents of a briefcase…
“A fellow interviewee, huh?”
The man had the same interview notice Ruin carried. He must have been here for the headmaster’s interview too.
‘Doesn’t look like he was from my division.’
Still, he was clearly part of the Pride network. Ruin spotted a communication device designed like a necklace—a tool commonly used by spies to contact their handlers.
‘Looks like he came here on orders to infiltrate Haven.’
…And ended up dead, courtesy of a sparrow.
Honestly, Ruin had nearly shared his fate. While the rest of the birds hadn’t noticed, one had definitely picked up on his scent.
‘At this rate, I’ll get my head chewed off before the interview even starts.’
The usual workaround would be to sneak in when the patrol birds are asleep.
But as the saying goes, “Birds hear day talk, rats hear night talk.” Try slipping past them at night, and you’ll just get your intestines devoured by something else.
So Ruin laid out his options.
【Gatekeeper’s Spear】
【Gatekeeper’s Uniform】
【Gatekeeper’s Necklace】
【Gatekeeper’s Underwear】
【All-Access Pass (begrudgingly issued)】
【Demon-Scented Naphthalene】
【Gatekeeper’s Eyeball】
These were the seven items Ruin had won by defeating the Gatekeeper in all ten rounds.
When he asked for three more to round it out, the statue claimed to have nothing left, begging him not to take the eyeball.
Strange how a statue could even feel pain—but whatever. Ruin just tallied the rest as a debt.
‘Well, the Hero isn’t the homeowner. He probably doesn’t know the house's command codes.’
So he’d have no way to disable the Gatekeeper. No problem there.
‘Thanks to the Gatekeeper, that’s my second goal complete.’
Ruin’s first goal was, “Enter through the front gate.”
The second, “Secure at least three magical items.”
These were prerequisites he’d laid out for himself before the interview.
‘Honestly, the second goal was the tricky one.’
His original plan was to raid the faculty archives, even at some risk. But the Gatekeeper generously handed over enough magical gear to satisfy the requirement—and at just the right time.
‘Which means I can move on to the next phase.’
That being—
“Altar.”
The moment he said the word, a black altar appeared before him. Visible only to Ruin.
He placed all the items—save for the underwear, pass, and eyeball—onto the altar.
Clatter.
Something amazing happened.
Letters of fire appeared above the altar.
– 1,550 pt
His previously empty balance now showed 1,550 points.
‘This should be enough.’
Ruin clapped his hands together, palms overlapping like a ritual.
“O Primeval God, hear me.”
At once, a shadow flickered, and a voice echoed in his mind.
「Oho! My disciple! I see you've found your way back home!」
Black flames danced above the altar.
‘Hah. Looks like I’m summoning him again after all.’
「Calling on me, huh? Of course, who else but this glorious being! Curse of ‘Misfortune’ not working out for you? Total crap, right?」
This… was Ruin’s superior—No, his god. More precisely: his racial deity.
This was Phase Three of Ruin’s plan: summoning his god.
How did he even come to have a racial god?
That went way back.
On the day he first escaped the Shadow Habitat, he heard a voice—
「To think you would defy fate. Curious indeed.」
He figured he’d been chosen. Gods needed apostles, after all.
And once he became the Shadow King, this god had clung to him ever since.
Ruin didn’t mind the following, but the constant backseat commentary, mood swings, and absurd taste in aesthetics…
He once retrieved an offering through hell and back, only for the god to chuck it because it was “visually unappealing.”
As a subordinate, it had been... frustrating.
Though to be fair, the power is useful.
Thanks to that, he’d been able to pull off his betrayals against the Union.
The real issue had been when the god discovered the curse of misfortune.
The god had raged like wildfire—
「Why the hell do you have another god’s spit on you?! I’m your racial deity, dammit!」
Like I care.
Anyway—unlike most demons, Ruin uniquely possessed two curse attributes:
Shadow and Misfortune.
Which made this god feel less like a divinity and more like a jealous, nagging boss.
But who cares about the god’s attitude? The power was what mattered.
“I seek the wisdom to overcome adversity.”
In this system, offerings are exchanged for divine blessings.
And sure enough—
「Hmph. With what you’ve offered, this is what you can buy.」
Several totem-like items appeared before Ruin, each resembling a cursed voodoo doll.
【Totem of Recovery (Low-grade)】 – 500pt
【Totem of Enhancement (Low-grade)】 – 500pt
【Totem of Concealment (Low-grade)】 – 500pt
【Skill Creation (Low-grade)】 – 1,000pt
【Skill Upgrade (Low-grade)】 – 1,000pt
In other words—shopping.
Despite offering high-grade magical gear, all he could afford were low-grade items.
That showed just how overpriced this divine shop was.
Not that he was complaining. The value was worth it.
Right. This is the one I need most right now.
【Totem of Concealment (Low-grade)】 – 500pt
In short: a stealth artifact.
Given that he needed to evade patrols and reach the headmaster, this was his best bet.
The effect might be weak, being low-grade, but it should hold up for now.
‘Buy this one first… then maybe the Skill Creation next.’
It was the logical choice.
After all, Ruin had sacrificed his own powers as an offering to escape the dimensional void.
That meant he’d lost most of the skills he had once honed.
And now he was facing a crisis.
Originally, he hadn’t planned to fight anyone here, not with heroes crawling all over the place.
But now, with those damned sparrows in the mix…
There was no telling what might happen next.
‘It’s still just a low-grade skill, but…’
Ideally, no combat would happen at all. But of course, that was never how things went—
Just then.
【Contaminated – Totem of Concealment (Special-grade)】 – 1,500pt
‘Hm?’
A new item had appeared.
Strange.
“Special-grade” items usually cost tens of thousands of points.
Why was this one only 1,500?
And what was with the word “Contaminated”?
‘What is this…?’
Ruin asked.
“I see a new artifact listed—what’s this ‘Contaminated’ item?”
「Huh? There’s something like that?」
Ruin’s expression grew serious.
The name and price were odd—but if it was a true special-grade item…
‘Then I have to take it.’
Because among the special-grade concealment artifacts he knew of, all of them could erase demon signatures entirely.
With any luck, even the Hero wouldn’t notice.
That kind of item would be invaluable for the interview—and for retrieving his retirement fund.
The problem was the name: Contaminated.
‘What do I do? I was going to buy the low-grade one…’
But this was special-grade. SPECIAL.
After a long pause, Ruin made his choice.
