The cold, damp air, mixed with the sour stench of rotting food and dried urine, drilled into his nasal cavity.
Ian's consciousness had attached itself to the corpse in this school's back alley and the surrounding inorganic matter.
Every part of this body was screaming in agony.
The excruciating pain of broken ribs.
The sticky sensation of warm blood slowly flowing within the abdominal cavity from ruptured internal organs.
The humiliation and burning pain of having his face repeatedly crushed under a shoe sole.
He began to review these memories that did not belong to him.
This was a boy named Yoru Tsukigami, who had been constantly bullied over the years and ultimately died at the hands of his tormentors.
The sinister sneer of the head bully, Ryuji Onizuka, surfaced in his mind.
"Hey, trash, bring your damn subsidy money tomorrow as a protection fee for your bro Ryuji."
"Otherwise, I'll make you sell your blood, or use your kidney to pay off the debt, hahahaha!"
A bone-chilling glint flashed in Ian's eyes.
He decided he would properly deal with these scums tomorrow.
At the same time, an extremely faint yet incredibly pure wave of resentment gathered beside him.
It materialized into the transparent phantom of a cursed spirit.
Covered in wounds, the phantom curled up its body, letting out silent cries over and over again.
This was the incarnation of all of Yoru Tsukigami's unwillingness and agony.
Ian raised his eyes to look at the continuously weeping cursed spirit and spoke.
"Rest in peace."
"From now on, I am Yoru Tsukigami."
"I will repay your tears with their blood."
The transparent cursed spirit's body trembled violently.
The crying stopped.
It slowly raised its head, and a scarlet flame, brimming with violence and excitement, suddenly ignited within its hollow eye sockets.
It transformed into a wisp of black and red smoke, joyfully swirling around his body.
Ian paid it no further mind.
He needed to recover his peak strength as quickly as possible, even though it seemed no one in this world could threaten him as he was now.
His target remained the Earth's core.
He then took out his pickaxe and began rapidly digging toward the center of the earth.
During the excavation, he keenly caught a few interesting auras.
One power originated from the intense friction and pressure of the tectonic plates deep underground, condensing humanity's primal fear of earthquakes. A powerful cursed spirit was gestating there.
As his body passed through the boiling magma layer, he sensed a different power.
That power was irritable, scorching, and full of destructive intent.
It was a cursed spirit born from humanity's fear of volcanic eruptions.
At this moment, that cursed spirit with a volcano-shaped head, named Jogo, was comfortably taking a bath in the magma.
He suddenly noticed a slight anomaly.
An incomprehensible aura, far stronger than his own, was rapidly advancing toward the Earth's core through the magma. Upon closer inspection, he detected a faint trace of cursed spirit energy.
Jogo abruptly stood up from the magma, his face displaying extreme shock and ecstasy.
He followed the aura to investigate and soon discovered a straight tunnel leading from the surface to the core.
Faint traces of cursed spirit energy still lingered on the rock walls of the tunnel.
"Is this... a new comrade being born?"
Flames of excitement ignited in Jogo's eyes.
"With such overwhelming strength, it's definitely a Special Grade!"
He decided to immediately share this news with Mahito and the others. They had to find this newly born, powerful ally as soon as possible and recruit him into their ranks.
...
Half a day later.
Ian arrived at the Earth's core.
Massive amounts of EMC were generated, and his power was rapidly recovering.
Under the molding of various powerful items, this body of his was shattered and reconstructed time and time again.
Each time, it became more perfect than before.
After an unknown amount of time, he slowly opened his eyes.
Ian slowly raised his hand, casually brushing aside the bangs glued to his forehead by sweat and grime.
A face was reflected on the mirror-like rock wall.
It was a face so breathtakingly handsome that it transcended gender, enough to make the sun, moon, and stars pale in comparison.
He returned to the surface.
It was still that filthy alley, still that frail body.
But this time, as the midday sun fell upon him, it seemed to coat him in a layer of divine radiance.
...
The next day.
When Ian walked into Miyagi Prefectural Sugisawa Third High School, the entire campus seemed to have been put on pause.
Everyone's gaze was firmly drawn to this boy who looked as if he had stepped straight out of a myth.
The morning sun filtered through the sparse clouds, softly illuminating him. That flawless face was so pale it was almost transparent, and his features were like a deity's greatest masterpiece, without a single imperfection.
A gentle breeze blew past, lifting his pitch-black hair that emanated a faint luster.
Whispers, gasps of amazement, and the irrepressible, lovestruck squeals of the female students rose and fell in waves.
"Oh my god... Who is he? Do we have someone this handsome in our school?"
"Is he a transfer student? He's literally a prince straight out of a manga!"
Not far away, the school bully Ryuji Onizuka, with his arm around his girlfriend Mina Aizawa, also witnessed this scene.
An infatuated gleam instantly burst from Mina's eyes, and she practically drooled, causing the flames of jealousy to roar to life in Ryuji's heart.
'Damn it!'
'Who the hell is this guy?! How dare he act so arrogant?'
'No matter who he is, today, he must kneel before me!'
The class bell rang.
Ian ignored all the astonished, infatuated, and jealous stares around him and walked straight into his classroom.
He headed toward the most isolated corner.
On that heavily vandalized desk, vicious words like "Die," "Trash," and "Get out of this school" were scrawled all over in red and black paint.
He calmly pulled out the chair and sat down.
The student in the adjacent seat, Kenta Taiga—a slightly chubby boy wearing thick black-rimmed glasses—was instantly filled with terror upon seeing him sit down.
He lowered his voice and warned in an extremely nervous tone, "C-Classmate! Get away from there quickly! That's Yoru Tsukigami's seat!"
"He's a person of 'misfortune' and 'calamity.' Sitting there will bring you bad luck!"
Ian slowly turned his head.
His suffocatingly handsome face caused Kenta Taiga's breathing to stop instantly, his mind going completely blank.
Looking at him, Ian curled his lips into a smile that was both gentle and spine-chilling.
"Taiga-kun."
"I am Yoru Tsukigami."
"Has it only been one night, and you already don't recognize me?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the class.
Upon hearing these words, the entire classroom plunged into a deathly silence.
Disbelief was written all over everyone's faces.
The expressions on Ryuji Onizuka and his cronies froze instantly, swiftly shifting into sheer bewilderment.
Right at that moment, the balding math teacher walked into the classroom with a textbook tucked under his arm and began his dull, tedious lecture.
Ryuji Onizuka turned his head, glaring viciously at Ian, and mouthed word by word:
"You. Are. Dead. After. Class."