Weak Class of Anti-Hero
Chapter 34: Absolute Evolution

Chapter 34: Absolute Evolution

I saw an opening. A tiny fraction of a second where the Guardian was adjusting its stance after one of my attacks.

It was a feint. I knew it. It wanted me to attack, to analyze my power and become immune to it.

I did exactly what it expected.

I lunged, my dagger aimed directly at its heart. It was the most obvious, the most foolish attack.

It didn’t even try to parry. It let my dagger sink into its chest.

The blade pierced the armor with incredible resistance. I felt the tip of my dagger touch something inside. Not flesh. Something hard. Its core.

And in that instant, I activated my ability.

Absorption.

But I didn’t try to absorb its strength. I didn’t try to absorb its Aura.

I tried to absorb its fundamental ability. The very concept of Adaptation.

A searing pain exploded in my mind. It was like trying to swallow the sun.

My interface went crazy. Lines of code and symbols I had never seen before scrolled at a frantic speed.

[SYSTEM ERROR. Attempting to absorb a fundamental concept.]

[Ability ’Absorption’ overloaded. Risk of soul data corruption.]

[ANOMALY DETECTED. ANOMALY DETECTED.]

The Guardian reacted. It struck. Not with its sword. With its fist.

It punched me square in the head.

The world exploded in a white light. And then, nothing. Blackness.

I lost consciousness, my dagger still embedded in its chest.

I floated in the void. The blackness. The silence.

Was this the end? Had I failed?

No. This wasn’t the void. This was... inside me.

Before me, a small spark of light appeared. My soul core.

And next to it, another light. A golden, complex light, full of circuits and logic. The essence of Adaptation that I had torn from the Guardian.

The two lights floated side by side. The golden essence was trying to escape, to return to its owner. My soul was trying to hold it, to devour it.

But they were incompatible. It was like trying to mix oil and water.

It wouldn’t work. I was going to lose everything.

Then, a third thing appeared.

My dagger. Or rather, the spirit of my dagger. A figure of shadow and nothingness, which emerged from the depths of my being.

It placed itself between the two lights.

It didn’t try to force them to merge.

It began to devour them both.

It absorbed my soul. It absorbed the essence of Adaptation.

It chewed them up. Broke them down. Mixed them into a chaos of pure destruction.

Then, it spat them back out.

It was no longer two separate lights. It was a single thing. A new star, shining with a black and gold light.

My interface, the last thing my mind could perceive, displayed a final message.

[Forced fusion by an external entity successful.]

[Soul data corruption stabilized.]

[New fundamental skill created.]

[Super-Skill acquired: Absolute Evolution.]

And I woke up.

I opened my eyes.

I was lying on the floor of the arena. My head was killing me.

I looked in front of me.

The Guardian was still there, standing. My dagger was still embedded in its chest.

But it was motionless. Inert.

The red glows in its helmet had gone out.

Slowly, its black and gold armor began to crack. It turned to dust, revealing... nothing. There was nothing inside. It was an empty shell.

It had lost its essence. I had stolen it.

I looked at my hand. I felt the new power within me. It was no longer just destruction. It was destruction, and creation. Evolution.

I could feel it. I could change. Adapt to any threat. Become stronger with every second.

The Guardian completely collapsed into a pile of dust.

The director’s voice echoed through the arena, full of shock and admiration.

"Trial completed. Victor... Kang Ji-Hoon."

I stood up, staggering. I looked at the other candidates, still unconscious on the floor.

I was no longer like them.

I was no longer a simple Awakened.

I was something else.

Something new.

Something far more dangerous.

The arena door opened. Medical teams rushed inside to tend to the ten unconscious candidates.

No one dared to approach me. They looked at me with respectful fear.

I walked out of the arena on my own. I walked through the corridors, ignoring the stares of the teachers and assistants.

The third trial never took place. The director decided that I had already passed the test beyond all expectations.

I was taken, not to the infirmary, but to a private apartment in the S-rank building. Mine, now.

I spent the next two days alone. Sleeping. And understanding my new power.

Absolute Evolution.

It wasn’t just adaptation. It was more than that. I could now consciously direct my evolution. I could strengthen my body, sharpen my senses, develop new resistances at will, as long as I had enough Aura.

My dagger had changed too. It felt denser, and I sensed that it could now absorb and retain multiple abilities at once.

On the third day, we were all gathered in the grand ceremony hall.

The director was on stage.

"The S-Rank Promotion Exam is over," he announced.

"Ten candidates have failed."

He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

"Only one has succeeded."

He looked at me, in the middle of the crowd.

"The academy has a new S-rank. Its eleventh King. Congratulations to Kang Ji-Hoon."

There was no applause. Just a stunned silence.

I looked at Yoo-Na. Her face was a mask of hatred and disbelief. I had succeeded where she had failed. I was now her equal, officially.

But I knew this wasn’t the end. This was only the beginning of the real war.

I walked out of the ceremony hall, leaving the shocked silence and envious glares behind me.

Being an S-rank was like entering another world.

Normal classes vanished from my schedule. My days were now filled with specialized training, high-level mission briefings, and unlimited access to all of the academy’s archives.

And I was no longer alone.

The other ten Kings, the true S-ranks, summoned me. They found me in my new luxurious apartment.

Their leader, the student council president, was named Han Jae-Hyeok.

"We don’t like you, Kang," he said, without preamble. "But we respect strength. You defeated the Guardian. You’ve earned your place."

They accepted me. Not as a friend. But as an equal. Another predator at the top of the food chain.

Yoo-Na was there too. She said nothing. She stood back, her A-rank now placing her clearly below me in the hierarchy. She, who had failed the exam, now had to look at me as her superior. Her humiliation was complete.

I didn’t gloat. I didn’t need to.

My new status gave me access to the information I was looking for.

I spent days digging through the secret archives, reading reports on the Creators, on the Abyss, on the experiments that had gone wrong.

And I found what I was looking for. A classified report on a project named "Chimera." The project that had created the Aura Devourer on the island.

And as I read the report, I saw the names of the lead scientists. Names I knew. Names that belonged to the families of certain members of the Ivory Circle.

They weren’t just rich, arrogant bullies.

Their families were involved up to their necks in the academy’s darkest experiments. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

My revenge wasn’t over. It had just found new targets.

Days turned into weeks. My life found a new rhythm.

Training in the morning. Studying the archives in the afternoon. Meditating on the layers of my soul in the evening.

Thanks to my new skill, ’Absolute Evolution,’ my progress was staggering. I could now maintain my astral body, that form of pure consciousness, for short periods. I could "see" Aura, not just feel it. I saw the flows of energy that connected everything and everyone.

I learned to master my new abilities. Aquakinesis. The Aura Blade.

My relationship with the other Kings was professional. We sometimes trained together, brutal fights where the only rule was not to kill the other. It was the only way to progress at our level.

I also saw Min-Soo and Bora from time to time. They were my only connection to a more normal life. Min-Soo had become the best analyst in the C-class, and Bora, with her energy, had become a popular team leader. They were proud of me, but also a little intimidated by what I had become.

One evening, while I was deep in meditation in the Sanctuary, the director appeared.

"You have progressed well," he said.

"Not enough," I replied, without opening my eyes.

"That’s true. You’re missing the final step. The real fight."

I opened my eyes.

"There is a breach," he continued. "Level 4. In the north of the country. It’s stable, but it’s growing. It’s an entry point. A beachhead for the Creators."

He handed me a tablet. It displayed a single image. A massive creature, a horror of tentacles and multiple eyes. An ’Abyss Lord.’ An S+ rank monster.

"The government wants to send an army. It won’t work. It will only feed it."

He looked at me. "I need a scalpel. Not a hammer. I need someone who can go in, kill the Lord, and close the breach from the inside."

It was a suicide mission.

"Why me?"

"Because your father is unavailable," he replied with a slight smile. "And because your dagger is the only thing we have that can truly hurt them."

"You leave tomorrow. Alone."