Infront of me stood a big tall gate with a sign of. [VAHARD MAGICAL SCHOOL]
I sigh and drag my luggage forward, the wheels rattling loudly against the stone path.
The gate loomed overhead as I passed it.
Inside, the campus was… huge. Too Massive. Wide roads, floating lanterns, buildings that looked ancient but somehow modern at the same time.
Students walked past me in uniforms, laughing, talking and casually summoning fireballs, ice shards, floating books. Yeah.
Totally normal.
"Wow," I muttered. "I already feel the joy of being here."
A tall sign stood near the entrance.
[NEW STUDENTS — REGISTRATION THIS WAY]
An arrow pointed forward.
With a sigh, I followed it.
***
The registration hall was packed.
Lines everywhere. Desks everywhere. Staff everywhere.
At the front, a girl placed her hand on a glowing crystal orb.
The orb flashed bright blue.
"Water affinity," the staff member announced calmly.
Cheers erupted behind her.
Another student stepped up.
The orb burst into flames.
"Fire affinity."
Applause.
Another.
"Lightning. Wind. Earth. Light. Dark. Etc"
Every element you could imagine.
I swallowed.
"…Yeah, this is fine," I muttered. "Totally fine."
When it was finally my turn, I stood in front of the desk.
And then a middle-aged man with small glasses looked at me, then at my file.
Then back at me.
Then back to the file.
His smile slowly faded.
"…Rex Knox?" he asked.
"That's me," I said. "Unfortunately."
The staff member's fingers hovered over the desk for a moment before he finally pushed the crystal orb toward me. It rolled slightly, then stopped right at the edge, its surface glowing faintly with a soft, pale blue light.
"Please, place your hand on the detector."
I stared at the orb.
Up close, it was… unsettling. The crystal wasn't perfectly smooth, there were faint veins inside it, like frozen lightning trapped beneath glass. It pulsed gently, as if it were breathing.
Around me, the registration hall had gone unnaturally quiet.
I could feel eyes on my back. Students whispering. Staff pretending not to stare while some are obviously staring.
Even the higher-ranking officials near the back, people who hadn't reacted to anything all morning had shifted their attention toward me.
I don't know why they're doing that but, I just wanna scream at them right now…
"Well… Alright," I muttered.
Slowly, I placed my hand on the orb.
It was cold… then thought spiraled inside of me, 'damn.. I wonder if this thing is gonna hurt.'
Nothing happened.
No flash. No light. No reaction.
A second passed.
Then another.
The soft blue glow began to fade.
At first, I thought it was my imagination. But the color kept draining away, as if someone were sucking the light straight out of it. Blue turned to gray. Gray darkened.
Until the orb was completely black.
The air felt heavier.
"…Uh," I said, breaking the silence. "Is it supposed to do that?"
And of course no one answered.
A faint sound echoed through the hall.
Crack.
It wasn't loud.
A thin crack spread across the orb's surface, right beneath my palm. Then another. And another.
The staff member's eyes widened.
"W-wait—!"
CRACK.
The orb shattered.
Crystal exploded outward, fragments skidding across the desk and clattering onto the floor. A few pieces bounced near my shoes. Others slid dengerously close to the officials standing nearby.
Gasps erupted from every direction.
Someone stumbled backward. Another person cursed under their breath. I even heard a chair scrape against the floor.
slowly… I pulled my hand back and stared at the broken remains.
"…What the fuck," I whispered.
The staff member looked like he was about to pass out.
His face had gone completely pale, lips trembling, sweat pouring down his forehead like he'd just run a marathon.
"N-no way…" he stammered. His hands shook as he stared at the shards. "T-this…"
He swallowed hard.
"Y-you are…" His voice cracked. "You're one in a thousand."
He looked at me like I just did something terrible.
Logically I think I did...
"You broke the orb." He said.
I blinked— like a frog.
Then glanced down at my hand.
Then back at the broken crystal.
No.. wtf I don't even have a mana… I'm manaless!
The murmuring around us grew louder. Confused. Uneasy. And some are Fearful.
Then the staff member snapped out of it and lunged for my ID, fingers fumbling as he scanned and verified it.
"You are now assigned to—" he paused, swallowing nervously, "—Class A."
The hall went silent again.
"…Huh?" I said.
He slid the card across the desk toward me like it was dangerous to keep it any longer.
I picked it up, stared at the bold letter printed on it, and felt a dull headache starting to form.
"…Right," I muttered. "Sure. Why not."
I turned away, gripping my luggage handle and walking off as casually as I could manage, though every step felt wrong… yes I'm awkwardly walking away…
Then—
"Rex Knox."
I stopped.
Slowly, I turned back.
"…Yes?" I replied.
The staff member suddenly straightened.
Then he smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
"Come here," he said, eyes gleaming behind his glasses. "I want to see that happen again."
"…I actually have somewhere I need to be," I replied immediately.
His smile widened.
Without waiting for my answer, he reached under the desk and pulled out another crystal orb. This one was smaller. Cleaner. Like it hadn't been traumatized yet.
"Just once," he said. "For confirmation."
I stared at the orb.
Then at him, with a sigh.
"…You people are really into this orb thing."
I walked back to the desk and placed my palm on the new orb.
This time nothing happened.
No glow or any pulse.
The crystal remained perfectly clear.
A second passed.
Then glowing letters slowly formed inside the orb, floating gently like a system message.
「0 Mana」
The hall froze.
The staff member's smile vanished.
He slammed his fist into the desk.
THUD.
"Preposterous!" he snapped. "This is absurd!"
He yanked his hand back, staring at the orb like it had personally betrayed him.
"This makes no sense—!"
Before he could finish, the doors burst open.
A green-haired girl with round glasses rushed in, nearly tripping over herself as she sprinted toward us. She clutched a thick file tightly to her chest, breathing hard.
She looked like a textbook nerd, messy hair tied back in a loose ponytail, oversized cardigan slipping off one shoulder, glasses slightly crooked from running.
But then there was the problem.
The cardigan strained just a little too much. Her figure didn't match the rest of her, curves… it was completely out of place on someone who looked like she lived in libraries and survived on instant coffee. Every hurried step made it painfully obvious that nature had been unfairly generous to her.
She pushed her glasses up with one finger, completely unaware of the stunned silence she'd caused.
(Tap this comment for a illustration.)
"S-sir!" she shouted. "We found her!"
She slammed the file onto the desk with both hands.
"The candidate who placed her hand on the orb earlier— she's confirmed to have a one-in-a-thousand potential!"
Silence.
The staff member slowly turned his head and looked at me.
"…Y-you," he said cautiously, "you're not the one?"
I blinked.
"…I don't think so?" I replied.
His shoulders slumped.
"…Shit."
I scratched the back of my head and lifted my ID card slightly.
"So, uh," I said carefully, "what am I supposed to do with this now?"
I gestured at it.
"Since I'm apparently not the once-in-a-millennium prodigy guy…"
He picked up my ID, stared at it for a long moment, then let out a long, defeated sigh.
"…Just take it," he muttered. "We can't redo the verification."
He rubbed his face.
"And it was my mistake. Your dorm's already been assigned while we were talking."
He slid another document across the desk toward me.
I picked it up and read it.
Dormitory Assignment:
[Block A — Room 404]
I stared at the number.
"…Why," does that sound like an error message…?"
***
In front of the dorm I knocked.
No answer.
I waited a second.
Then another.
"…Hello?" I muttered.
Still nothing.
With a shrug, I turned the handle and stepped inside.
"This is an A-class dorm so…" I glanced around. "Wow."
Pause.
"…Okay, never mind. It's just a house."
A living room, kitchen, bathroom.
And then—
…Why is there only one bedroom?
I slowed my steps, suddenly very aware that this might not be an empty room after all.
"…Ah."
I reached the door and gently pushed it open.
Inside, someone was already there.
A girl lay stretched out on the top bunk, completely relaxed, one leg lazily hanging over the edge. She had soft brown hair spilling messily across the pillow, her expression half-focused, half-lazy as she stared at her phone.
She was wearing an oversized white shirt that slipped down one shoulder and loose shorts that barely did their job. Every shift of her body made it obvious she wasn't exactly dressed for guests.
And one specific thing is… her pink panties are peeking out, I could see her groin but I'm not a pervert so…
"Hello?" I called out.
She didn't respond.
I let out a long sigh and started unpacking my things.
Only then did I really look around the bedroom.
Two bunk beds stood on opposite corners of the room, facing each other like they were daring someone to start a war.
Each one looked lived-in, messy sheets, personal items, clear signs that I wasn't exactly early.
"…Great," I muttered.
So this wasn't a two person room.
Seems like I was going to have two more roommates.
***
After unpacking my things, I let out a quiet sigh and sat down on the lower bunk—the one directly beneath hers.
The mattress dipped slightly under my weight.
Above me, she shifted just a little, still completely absorbed in her phone, unaware— or pretending to be unaware, that someone had just claimed the space below her.
"…Please be the calm type," I muttered under my breath.
The quiet, sleepy kind type.
Not the hyper, loud, chaos every night kind.
I leaned back, staring up at the underside of the bunk bed, already feeling like my future nights here were going to be anything but peaceful.
I let out a long sigh and lay back against the mattress.
The day had been exhausting.
My mom… This VAHARD school, orb, dorm, girl above me… actually everything is exhausting!
At some point, without even realizing it—
I fell asleep.
***
"Trrrng… trrrng…"
A strange sound dragged me out of the darkness.
My eyes fluttered open.
Everything was blurry.
Dark. It was too dark.
I hadn't turned the lights on before sleeping, but even then, the room should've been faintly visible. This wasn't normal darkness. This was thick, it's like when you're half awake during sleep paralysis.
…Wait.
My breath hitched.
I tried to move.
Nothing.
I tried to speak.
Nothing.
My body wouldn't respond. My arms, my legs… Frozen, as if something heavy was pressing me down without actually touching me.
I tried to squirm.
Still nothing.
"…Fuck," I thought.
Then—
Someone was there.
A figure stood beside the bunk bed.
A girl.
She had long, dark hair that fell like a curtain down her back, her presence silent, unnatural. She wore thin, pale fabric, light and flowing, barely there, something like what elves wore.
It clung to her body in a way that made it impossible to tell whether it was meant to be clothing… or decoration.
"Not gonna lie, she's Looks like she's gonna eat me up… please no." another thought formed in my head.
She tilted her head slightly, eyes glowing faintly in the dark as she looked down at me.
She moved closer.
Too close.
Before I could even process it, she lowered herself onto the bed, straddling my waist, her presence heavy.
I still couldn't move.
She leaned down until her lips were right beside my ear, her breath cold against my skin.
"I'm sorry," she whispered softly, almost gently, but she was slowly grinding herself onto me. "But I want to live."
Her fingers pressed against my chest, and an unnatural pressure spread through my body, like something was being pulled out of me, slowly, relentlessly.
"So I'm going to use you," she continued, voice seductively, but soft.
"As a living power generator."
The darkness deepened.
My vision warped.
And then—
***
THUD!
I jolted upright, sucking in a sharp breath as sweat soaked through my shirt.
My heart was pounding fast.
Too fast.
And too loud.
I pushed myself up instinctively, nearly smacking my head against the bunkbed above me.
"Woah—!"
The girl on the top bunk leaned over the edge, brown hair falling loosely as she stared down at me, clearly startled.
"Who are you…?" she asked cautiously. "Have you been here since earli—"
I didn't answer.
I didn't even look at her.
Because something was floating right in front of my face.
A window.
Black, edged with a faint pink outline, hovering in the air like it belonged there.
It didn't flicker. Didn't glow.
But it was there.
────────────────────────
「INITIALIZING SYSTEM…」
SYNC COMPLETE.
[WELCOME, REX KNOX.]
[ADULT QUEST SYSTEM — ACTIVATED.]
[FIRST QUEST WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY.]
[FAILURE CONDITION MEANS: DEATH.]
───────────────────────
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!" I screamed.