ROOM 1313

3

Liam stared at the mirror, eager to see how it worked.

The surface of the Mirror of Destiny rippled like calm water before a clear, ancient voice echoed throughout the plaza.

"Room 001."

Golden letters slowly appeared across its surface.

Catherine Vale.

Emma Hart.

Lucas Green.

Oliver Hayes.

The names appeared one after another.

Liam looked around, but the crowd filling the plaza was enormous. There were simply too many people to count.

Somewhere among the crowd, the four students looked at one another before smiling.

"I guess we're roommates." They sounded as though they already knew each other.

The crowd applauded lightly as the four walked toward one another.

They were all angels. Liam could tell from the faint holy aura he could sense from them.

The names on the mirror disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

Another room was announced.

"Room 076."

Nathan Crowe.

Sophia Winter.

Derek Holt.

Ivy Rose.

One room after another was announced.

Some students cheered, while others groaned after realizing they had been paired with complete strangers.

Others immediately exchanged handshakes, already introducing themselves.

Liam folded his arms and fell into deep thought.

"So the mirror really does mix everyone together," he muttered.

Alex nodded.

"Yeah, but notice something?"

Liam looked over before nodding.

"The races," he replied.

The room allocation had been going on for a while now, and most rooms contained students from the same race.

Humans with humans.

Witches with witches.

And so on.

Occasionally, two races were mixed together, but even then, they seemed compatible.

"It makes sense. That way there'd be less trouble," Alex whispered.

"Probably."

Liam chuckled.

Even so, he believed there would eventually be an anomaly somewhere, so he simply waited.

So far, no demon had been paired with an angel.

No vampire had been paired with a werewolf.

Humans seemed to be the luckiest. They mostly ended up with other humans, and whenever there was a slight change in race, it was usually an angel.

The mirror glowed once more.

"Room 145."

The ancient voice echoed again.

"Princess Seraphina Noctis."

An elegant vampire noble stepped forward gracefully.

She was also a vampire princess like Lily, but from another major clan. Unlike Lily, whose beauty was seductive, Seraphina possessed a graceful elegance, almost like that of an angel.

If not for the occasional crimson glow in her eyes, which she deliberately revealed, there would have been no way to tell she was a vampire.

She looked quiet, gentle, even.

But everyone knew she was dangerous.

The last time a demon had tried something foolish with her, she had snapped his neck, killing him on the spot before walking away as though nothing had happened.

She had only been sixteen then.

Looking at her now, Liam couldn't help but wonder just how much stronger she had become.

She didn't spare the crowd a single glance, yet whispers still spread among the freshmen.

"The Noctis Family..."

"Another royal bloodline."

Her roommates appeared one after another and they were all vampires, all from influential clans.

Not a single person looked surprised.

The pattern had remained consistent for quite some time now.

Moments later...

"Room 203."

"Prince Darius Fenrir."

A muscular young man with silver hair stepped forward.

Unlike Karl's cold arrogance, however, Darius wore a warm smile as he greeted his roommates.

"The Fenrir Clan has two princes?" someone standing beside Liam and Alex asked in surprise.

"They're cousins," a young man wearing a hoodie replied calmly.

"No wonder..."

Liam looked toward the hooded young man in surprise.

It wasn't what he had said that surprised Liam but the fact that Liam hadn't sensed him standing there at all.

The young man was like a ghost that had suddenly decided to reveal himself.

Liam shook his head.

There were truly many genius freshmen.

Soon after, another name appeared.

The moment everyone saw it, they fell silent.

It wasn't because he was human,but because he was a human prodigy.

"Adrian Ashcroft."

The name alone made countless human students look up.

A handsome young man stepped forward, carrying himself with quiet grace.

He looked like the male version of Seraphina, only that he was human.

"That's Adrian."

"The youngest Aura Champion in the Eastern Provinces."

"They say he defeated a Silver-ranked beast while he was only sixteen."

"He's probably the strongest human freshman."

Humans were always underestimated.

Not because they were weak, but because they lacked any naturally overwhelming supernatural abilities like the other races.

Adrian simply nodded toward his roommates before walking away without saying a word.

The mirror shimmered once more.

"Elena Graves."

Another human prodigy.

A young woman with shoulder-length black hair calmly stepped forward.

Unlike Adrian, she carried several books beneath one arm.

"That's the girl who mastered three Aura Forms before turning eighteen."

"The Human Council has high expectations for her."

"They say she'll become humanity's next Grandmaster."

"So even humans have monsters of their own. I wonder why everyone talks about us like we're weak." Alex wondered aloud.

"I wonder why too." Liam shrugged.

Meanwhile, more names appeared, and more students gathered with their roommates.

The excitement throughout the plaza only continued to grow.

Before long, the sky had begun to darken and that alone showed just how many freshmen had gathered.

Liam was already beginning to feel tired from standing.

But then...The Mirror of Destiny suddenly fell silent and its glow vanished.

The mirror remained motionless for several long seconds, and the once-lively plaza slowly descended into uneasy silence.

Thousands of freshmen stared at it, unsure of what was happening.

"Why did it stop?"

"Has that ever happened before?"

Even several professors exchanged puzzled glances.

Only Principal Alaric remained calm, his eyes fixed on the ancient mirror.

And then without warning, the runes carved into its silver frame ignited with a brilliant blue light.

A pressure unlike anything before descended upon the plaza.

The mirror rippled violently before four enormous golden words appeared.

ROOM 1313

The crowd immediately erupted.

"Room 1313?"

"Is it a special dorm?"

"Why is the light blue?"

Before anyone could speculate further, the first name slowly appeared.

Lily Draven.

"The Vampire Princess?"

Then, while everyone was still trying to process it, the second name emerged.

Karl Fenrir.

A wave of disbelief swept across the plaza.

"No way..."

"Those two are roommates?"

"Didn't that human joke about this earlier?"

"I thought he was just running his mouth..."

Alex slowly turned toward Liam.

"You... actually called it."

Liam scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"...I was kidding," he admitted as he was just as surprised as everyone else.

But no one laughed, instead, the atmosphere grew even heavier.

These were the heirs of two rival races sharing the same room. It was practically bloodshed disguised as room allocation.

Then...The mirror trembled once more and the third name appeared.

Lucien Astaroth.

This time, the silence became suffocating and color drained from countless faces.

"It can't be..."

"The Demon Prince..."

"He killed a hundred babies, right?"

"No... that's not why."

"Those babies were vampire and werewolf infants."

"That incident happened only a year ago."

"They still admitted him, despite that?"

Even Lily's expression changed dramatically.

Karl frowned as an icy aura leaked from his body and for the first time, the heirs of two great races looked genuinely shocked.

"This has to be the strangest room in the academy," Liam said as he sensed the heavy atmosphere.

He actually wondered what the mirror was doing and there was no way around it.

One of the academy's ironclad rules stated that once a room had been assigned, it could never be changed.

High above them, even the principal's expression shifted.

He had kept a slight smile all through but now Alaric showed genuine surprise.

For a brief moment, even he wondered if the Mirror of Destiny had malfunctioned.

This was a hellish room!!!

"I almost feel sorry for whoever the last roommate is," Liam muttered to Alex.

But just then Alex slowly turned toward him.

"Liam…" He said with a trembling voice.

"Hm?" Liam looked at his best friend.

The terrified expression on Alex's face immediately confused him. Before Liam could ask what was wrong, Alex spoke in a panicked voice.

"...Read the last name." He said.

Frowning slightly, Liam casually lifted his head toward the mirror.

His face instantly froze and color drained from his face.

Even his thoughts came to a complete stop.

The final name glowed brightly beneath the other three.

Liam Carter.