Kenji hadn't expected the outcome to end like this.His whole life flashed before his eyes in a matter of seconds. He gritted his teeth against the searing pain, head bowed, eyes squeezed shut. The pressure was so intense he forgot how to count. He could feel the orc's presence looming over him, hearing the metallic clink of its sword drawing through the air.ZZZ!A flash of light exploded behind Kenji's eyelids. Even through his numb vision, he heard the deafening sound of crumbling rubble. He remained frozen for a few heartbeats, waiting for the killing blow.The final moment.But nothing touched him.Opening his eyes into a squint, he glanced sideways. The wolf that had been pinning him was perfectly still, its body slowly disintegrating into fragments of grey dust. The same was happening on his other side. He snapped his head up; the Orc's sword was inches from his face, frozen in the air, its red eyes now hollow.Around him, the walls vibrated. The vast cage that had sealed him i

Kenji stared at the word Evolving. The dots next to Level seemed to pulse, as if the machine were struggling to find a ceiling for his power. "Irregular?" Kenji whispered, the word feeling heavy on his tongue. "And the level... why isn't there a number?" Genz pulled the device back, her expression grimmer than before. "Because the system doesn't have a category for you yet. In the history of the Council, 'Irregular' has only appeared twice. Both times, the world changed shortly after." She stood up, her silhouette tall against the room's expensive drapery. Her gaze became intensely focused. "The scan couldn't identify your specific ability, but we need to know what kind of Awakened you are to determine your path. Tell me, what happened in that cave? Did you experience any strange sensations, a sudden surge of power—anything at all that felt different when the others fell?" Kenji looked up, confused. To his eyes, the screen had been filled with foreign symbols he couldn't deciph

Soon, they moved past several doors, some echoing with heavy noise, others shrouded in absolute silence. They arrived at a main entrance, which Genz opened with a soft, mechanical click. The room beyond was vast. Looking up felt like an optical illusion: a faux sky framed the ceiling, and the walls shimmered like a spring fountain, with endless streams pooling at the floor. It didn't feel like a normal room; it felt too vivid, like a physical link to the visions Kenji had been seeing. As the door hissed shut, a figure dressed in sparkling blue—her hood adorned with pony-like ears... partially obscuring a mix of crimson and indigo hair—slipped into the shadows of a corner wall, observing them from a distance. Genz turned to Kenji, who was already staring around in awe. She could see the questions burning in his eyes. "It is only an illusion to the undisciplined mind," she explained. "If you strengthen your Perception of how you view the world—distinguishing the real from the fabric

"I—I didn't realize the door was unlocked," she stammered, her face flushing. "I thought Genz was still in here." Who is this and why now? Kenji was speechless, his mind a pixelated blur of confusion. He gulped hard, struggling to regain his composure while his heart hammered against his ribs. The girl scrambled to sit up, her cheeks flushing a deep red as annoyance warred with her inherent curiosity. She glanced around the vast, illusory room. Between the elegant water feature and the sky-blue ceiling, the sight of a man violently sweating through high-intensity drills seemed utterly bizarre. Kenji took a slow step back, his hand instinctively twitching at his side. He was caught off guard by the intrusion, but his primary concern was the System Panel still hovering in his personal space. He willed the display to minimize; thankfully, it dimmed into a translucent icon in the corner of his vision. "I... I'm sorry for barging in. Don't mind me," she said, dusting herself off as she

Rohan couldn't make out their conversation from a distance, but he noticed that Fang himself was nowhere near his guardian. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, unease settling in his mind. There was nothing more to be done here. Clouded by a grim expression, Rohan immediately pulled his phone from his side and called Genz. He stepped into the back seat of his car, sat, and rolled up the window. With so many officials and high-ranking citizens gathering nearby, he couldn't think of a worse way to cover for himself, as they all knew what he had been trying to keep a secret. He watched the glass slide shut, shielding his conversation from the public eye. Buzz! Buzz! The phone rang twice before Genz picked up. "We have a problem," Rohan said. "Things went as badly as I feared. The good news is we were granted partial permission to support the main district, but the bad news is they demanded the boy for questioning. Can you do me a favor?" Genz clutched her phone tightly and raised a si