The chaos roared around them as the tower crumbled.
Shards of glass and debris cascaded down in a deadly symphony, and amidst it all, Edris, in his Shadow form, dove after Roos. His movements were precise, calculated—a stark contrast to the turmoil around them. He mentally sighed as his tendrils curled protectively around her, catching her just before she hit the ground.
Still not great at keeping my emotions in check, he thought grimly.
The two of them landed in a small crevice formed between two collapsed sections of the tower. Edris shifted quickly, pressing against the jagged walls to shield Roos as more debris tumbled down.
Dust filled the air, thick and suffocating, but the small pocket of space offered them momentary respite. The sound of crumbling stone and the distant cries of chaos above echoed through the chamber.
As the brittle ceiling above them settled, Edris loosened his grip, his amorphous form retracting slightly. He glanced down to find Roos staring up at him, her green eyes unusually bright under the mask, even in the dim light of their refuge.
Half suspecting that the woman had gone into a state of shock (he was still in the form of a Shadow, after all), he was instead met with an expression of curiosity, threaded with a hint of something he couldn’t quite place.
“I can’t seem to remember you, no matter how hard I try,” she said out of nowhere.
Edris stiffened, his amorphous grip faltering for a brief moment.
“You’re Edris, right?” she asked.
He hesitated before giving a small, almost imperceptible nod.
Roos exhaled softly, her gaze unwavering.
“See, during our first meeting in the cafeteria, you asked me if I remembered you.” Her voice cut through the distant sounds of destruction, delivered with a strange clarity that made Edris feel unsettled, even in his current form. “I thought you were just some random flirt back then, but I’ve been thinking these past few days… Every time I try to actively recall whether we’ve met, my memories get... hazy.”
Edris remained silent, his amorphous form shifting slightly.
“I just wanted to let you know,” Roos continued. “Since you saved me and we’re stuck in this situation, it wouldn’t be fair to take advantage of your emotions for someone who—frankly—doesn’t exist.”
The words hung in the air like a blade, sharp and unyielding. Roos’s gaze was steady as she added, “Edris, my name is Roos Rovenhail, an adventurer from the Adalan Kingdom. I have recently turned seventeen and have been wandering the world ever since I can remember.
“Whoever you think I am, she’s not me.”
Her statement felt final, delivered with a resoluteness that left no room for argument. Edris glanced at her, his amorphous form briefly still, before giving a slight nod and turning away.
In truth, he had already suspected the truth from their first meeting. The real Roos, the one he had known, was gone—erased, perhaps, or vanished by the hands of this unpredictable world.
Edris didn’t dwell on inevitabilities; he’d learned long ago that survival didn’t leave much room for sentiments.
Silence settled between them. Finally, Roos raised an eyebrow, her lips quirking into a faint smile. “I thought you’d be angrier after what I said. She seemed... important to you.”
Edris only shrugged, his lack of a reaction almost bluntly neutral.
Roos chuckled lowly, her dust-covered hand extending toward him. “So, we good? I might not be her, but another ally wouldn’t hurt, don’t you think?”
Edris hesitated, staring at her outstretched hand. Then, with his amorphous fingers, he lightly tugged at the tips of her fingers. It was an awkward but oddly genuine gesture that made Roos’s smile widen.
Suddenly, Roos bent forward, clutching her head. Edris immediately moved closer, alarmed, but his voice—if he had one—didn’t reach her. A golden light flared in her eyes, illuminating the small space as mana surged around her.
With an almost instinctive motion, she blasted a hole through the wall with a crackling golden burst of energy. Dust and debris settled as she straightened, her eyes wide with surprise.
“I… I regained my mana?” she murmured.
Edris tilted his head, his Shadow form shifting as he tried to make sense of her words.
Roos frowned, pulling up her [PROFILE] interface. “But it’s not the last hour yet…”
Her gaze sharpened as she stared at the countdown.
“Wait,” she said, her voice dropping. “There’s less than an hour left?”
Edris stilled, allowing the woman’s words to sink in.
Less than an hour left? That can’t be right.
Roos was still staring at her interface, her brows furrowed.
"I swear we’ve only been down here for what… fifteen minutes? Twenty? There’s no way we lost that much time." Her voice was laced with suspicion, her gaze darting toward the makeshift hole she’d blasted in the wall, which led to the basement of the tower.
Beyond it, faint glimpses of the chaos outside filtered through—flickering lights, the distant echoes of shouting, and the hum of mana pulsing erratically in the atmosphere.
Edris glanced at her, then floated closer to the hole, his amorphous form dark against the jagged opening. The outside world looked even more chaotic than before. The tower was still collapsing in segments, with rubble raining down and students scrambling to avoid falling debris. Shadows moved like liquid, blending with the players, indistinguishable from their victims.
Roos peered back at him, her expression filled with unease.
“Did something else happen outside?”
***
TWENTY MINUTES AGO. LABYRINTH 53.
Amid the chaos of the collapsing tower, Ace and Owein moved with unwavering purpose. Shadows and students alike scrambled to make sense of the explosion, their indistinguishable forms merging into a whirlwind of confusion.
“Now what?” Owein asked breathlessly, catching up to the white-haired man as they manoeuvred through the panicked crowd.
Ace’s gaze turned sharply toward the crumbling tower.
“I’m going to the Principal’s Office,” he said curtly.
Owein blinked twice.
“Right now? What about your graduation certification? Moss said we need it to graduate.” He gestured toward the disintegrating tower. "The certificates are supposed to be at the very top."
Ace’s expression didn’t waver. “There is something I must do.”
The bluntness of his response gave Owein pause. He furrowed his brows, trying to discern whether the man was serious, but he didn’t wait for further questioning.
“Find your certificate,” Ace said, “and then join us. Then find Edris’s.”
Owein’s mouth opened to protest, but the weight of Ace’s words stopped him.
“Me,” he said, though he had meant it to be more of a question.
Ace turned his stoic gaze on him, adding to the weight of his next words.
“His life depends on you.”
“...”
Owein eyed the unreasonable man standing before him, yet found himself unable to form a retort. It wasn’t his place to say this, but Ace’s presence reminded him of Edris on another extreme. Like the traveller, this one also seemed to love acting out in the moment.
The only difference was that at least Edris occasionally tried to keep others in the loop of his plans, while this one gave no care in providing sufficient explanations for the rest.
But even then, Ace exuded an unshakable authority, making refusal seem like a laughable option.
Watching the man strode away against the tide of panic, Owein shook his head with an exhale.
As expected, nothing good ever comes out of interaction with those two.
***
Ace ignored the chaos surrounding him. White bricks rained down like meteors, smashing into the ground with deafening force, but his stride remained steady. The glowing reminder of his [HIDDEN QUEST] blinked in the corner of his [PROFILE], pushing him forward.
The Principal’s Office loomed ahead, its grand doors battered but intact amidst the destruction. Just as Ace reached for the handle, a voice cut through the din, halting him in his tracks.
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“Ace,” Moss said, stepping out of the darkness behind him.
Ace turned, his piercing gaze locking onto the man. The professor’s normally composed face was tinged with unease, his face drawn tight. There was something different in how he looked at him—something familiar.
“What are you doing here?” Moss asked, his voice firm but lacking its usual authority. “The Principal’s Office is off-limits during graduation.”
Ace didn’t bother responding. His hand moved again toward the door, but Moss stepped closer.
“You’ll regret this, 004,” Moss said, his voice dropping low. “Magenta warned us about anomalies like you. Some rules aren’t meant to be broken.”
Ace’s gaze flickered briefly, the mention of his old designation pulling him up short. Currently, his [PROFILE] used “Ace” as his official title. For Moss to call him “004” meant only one thing:
This wasn’t a part of the current Labyrinth’s setup—the man was starting to piece together the past.
“You were never supposed to step foot in here,” Moss continued, his voice tinged with something between resentment and wariness. “The Labyrinth isn’t built for someone like you.
“Some rules aren’t meant to be broken.”
For a moment, he studied Moss, as though calculating whether the man could be reasoned with. He didn’t speak immediately, letting the tension hang in the air. Moss’s words, his tone, even the way he carried himself—it was clear he wasn’t planning to stop him. Whether it was because of restrictions imposed by the Labyrinth or some personal hesitation, Ace couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter to him anyway.
“Move.”
Moss stiffened, his composure wavering under the weight of the white-haired man’s gaze. He recognized that look—the promise of steadfast resolve; it merged with the same one the man had worn on his face right before jumping from the [DETENTION] room.
Moss stepped aside, though his reluctance was palpable.
“Remember this,” he said, his tone heavy with foreboding. “One day, you’ll wish you hadn’t.”
Ace didn’t look back. He pushed open the heavy door and stepped into the office.
The chaos outside vanished as the soundproof doors sealed behind him, replaced by an eerie stillness. The Principal’s Office was a haven of silence amidst the storm, its opulent furnishings untouched by the destruction outside.
The air felt dense, heavy with the weight of secrecy. The only sound was the ticking of a clock, trickling throughout the dull space.
A notification blinked in the corner of Ace’s vision:
Congratulations! You have found a hidden location!
The glow of the [HIDDEN QUEST] on his [PROFILE] pulsed faintly. Ignoring the message, his eyes scanned the room. It was exactly as he remembered from his last visit. His gaze landed on the bookshelf that had once held Weisha’s Diary. His fingers hovered over the books, and as expected, there was a new journal in the same gap.
He approached it cautiously, reaching out. The moment his fingers brushed the spine, an intense pain shot through his skull. He dropped the book with a sharp inhale, staggering back as his vision blurred. The room around him distorted, and the monotone voice of the system echoed in his mind, overlapping with a cascade of error notifications on his [PROFILE]:
ERROR DETECTED!
ATTEMPTING REPAIR NOW.
UNKNOWN SOURCE DETECTED.
ANOMALY D3TECT3D.
TAKING PRECAUTIONS TO PR//OTECT THE SYSTESJDM!!
UNKNOWN ERROR OCCURRED!
UNKNOWN ERROR OCCURRED!
UNKNOWN ERROR OCCURRED!
Ace clutched his head, gritting his teeth as the messages bombarded him. His surroundings flickered like a broken projection, and the ticking clock grew louder, deafening. Just as quickly as it began, the chaos abruptly stopped.
Then, as abruptly as it began, the noise ceased.
The room returned to its eerie stillness. Ace’s breathing was laboured as he steadied himself, looking down. The book had vanished. Instead, it was replaced with an update to his [HIDDEN QUEST], which was now marked as completed.
A new message appeared on his [PROFILE]:
Congratulations! You have completed the [HIDDEN QUEST].
Reward [MEMORY FRAGMENT ⅕] will be distributed upon exiting Labyrinth 53.
Simultaneously, the countdown on his [PROFILE] glitched, skipping forward until it reached the final hour. A system-wide announcement appeared across all players’ interfaces:
COUNTDOWN: 00:01:00:00
NOTE: ALL MANA RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN LIFTED.
Ace’s breathing steadied, and his sharp gaze swept across the office one last time. Whatever had just occurred, the consequences were already in motion. He turned and stepped back into the chaos, the weight of the warning still lingering in his mind.
“One day, you’ll wish you hadn’t.”
***
PRESENT TIME.
As Ace burst out of the Principal’s Office, the sounds of chaos hit him all at once.
The once pristine hallways were now scattered with debris and masks. The masks, ominously still, lay abandoned on the ground like hollow shells. Players around him had regained their original faces, their expressions a mix of confusion, desperation, and raw panic.
He pushed through the frenzied crowd, scanning for familiar figures. Just as he reached the centre of the chaos, he collided with a dark, amorphous Shadow.
“Edris,” Ace said, recognizing him immediately.
Despite his Shadow form, Edris’s presence was unmistakable. The air around him crackled with mana. Evidently, with the restrictions lifted, Edris had unleashed the Tempest, his powerful mana channel that had neutralized the face-distorting effects of the masks.
Edris’s formless head tilted as if to address Ace. Behind him was Roos, who gave him a quick nod in greeting.
— I’ve searched for [EDRIS].
His voice echoed, carried through the Distributor.
—But he’s not here.
Ace’s gaze darkened. Closing his eyes briefly, he activated his mana channel to extend his detection field. A faint pulse of energy rippled out, scanning the crowd. After a few tense seconds, he opened his eyes, grimly shaking his head.
“Nothing.”
He turned back to Edris.
“How much?” he asked, his voice low.
Edris’s reply came swiftly.
— 52.
Roos, glancing between them, was visibly confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ace didn’t answer. He stared at Edris, the weight of the number heavy in the air. 52 in [AFFINITY]—a razor-thin margin before the plunge towards assimilation.
But before he could say more, a familiar voice called out, frantic and urgent.
“Are you all okay?”
The trio turned toward the source of sound to see Yukioe weaving through the chaos. His expression was one of apparent relief. As his gaze briefly flicked over Edris’s Shadow form, it then morphed into one of surprise.
“A Shadow? And where’s Edris?”
“I should be asking you that.”
Yukioe blinked, his expression twisting into confusion at Ace’s piercing look. “What do you mean?”
Before he could finish, Ace lunged at him, his mana-infused speed making him a blur. Yukioe barely managed to evade, only narrowly missing the strike by twisting his body at an inhuman angle as he slid sideways. The fluidity of his actions was something no ordinary person could achieve.
As he straightened, his form shimmered faintly. Under Ace’s unwavering stare, Yukioe’s face began to ripple, melting like wax.
The transformation was unnerving, the smooth lines of Yukioe’s face twisting and reforming into sharper, more angular features. His skin turned paler, his eyes now a striking, silvery hue. His lips curled into a sly, familiar smile.
Robin’s laugh was light, almost playful, as he broke the tense silence.
“Tell me, how did you know?”
Ace’s mind briefly replayed every strange moment that had led to this confrontation.
Yukioe had always been a confident presence in their group, but this version of him had felt subtly off from the start.
There was the way he’d acted just a tad too carefree for someone who’d supposedly been in the Labyrinth. Or the time he wouldn’t wake up no matter what but disappeared first thing in the morning. Then, there was his reaction to the news of Edris turning into a Shadow—it had been too subdued, too rehearsed.
“Yukioe never told me he’d entered the Labyrinth before,” Edris told him the night after he became a Shadow. “Knowing him, he would have.”
Ace’s eyes narrowed. “You think he’s lying.”
“Perhaps,” Edris leaned back, his amorphous form sinking into the ledge. If Ace could see the man’s facial features at that moment, he’d probably be smiling. “But if this is his first time, he wouldn’t be here.”
“Only those who’d been pulled in once or are biologically tied to someone who has been can be here,” Ace said.
“Exactly,” Edris hummed. “So that leaves one explanation remaining.”
Both Ace and Edris had thought Yukioe the most suspicious, which was why they’d withheld any further interactions after Edris’s transformation.
His inconsistent behaviour, coupled with their growing distrust of disguised players after discovering Dove’s true identity, had made him the likeliest candidate.
Ace’s voice was calm, like frost spreading over a blade. “Your performance wasn’t good enough.”
Robin’s smirk widened, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “A shame. I thought I was doing quite well.”
Ace ignored the taunt and took a step forward. “Where did you put him?”
“Put who?”
The Shadow Edris behind Ace loomed closer, its amorphous form radiating restrained energy.
— Where is [EDRIS]?
“The fake [EDRIS]. Where did you put him?” Ace said, echoing Edris’s own question through the Distributor.
Robin laughed softly, his silvery voice dripping with mockery. “Your time is running out, isn’t it?”
Ace’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Owein’s grip on his weapon tightened as the tension escalated. Robin, however, seemed utterly unconcerned, basking in the chaos unfolding around them.
“I’ll tell you what,” Robin said, his grin widening. “I’ll give you a hint. A riddle, more accurately.”
Neither Ace nor Edris responded, but the lack of reaction only seemed to delight Robin further. He clapped his hands together, an eerie light in his eyes.
“Listen carefully,” he said, his voice taking on a sing-song tone:
> “Tick-tock goes the clock,
> Where time turns and does not stop.
> Gears will churn where shadows meet,
> Find him where the hands repeat.”
The riddle hung in the air like a taunt.
Ace’s expression didn’t waver, though his mind was already at work. Before he could press further, Robin’s form shimmered, the air around him distorting.
“I will wait for you at the finish line." His grin grew wider as his voice echoed ominously. "You can start running now.”
“This guy…” Roos craned her neck to the side, cracking her fingers as she stepped forward.
The next second, both sides halted.
As the swirl of mana surrounding Robin reached its climax, it poured downwards, dispersing all at once, leaving the man in place, right where he was before his attempt at teleportation.
For the first time, a flicker of confusion crossed his silver eyes. Robin’s smirk faltered as he glanced at Ace, and then behind him.
The Shadow that had been silently looming behind Ace was gone.
Robin’s pupils constricted as the realization dawned upon him. The space the Shadow had occupied moments ago was empty, yet the faint traces of mana hung in the air, a telltale sign of teleportation.
“You…” His lips twitched, and the mocking edge usually carried in his tone was replaced with something more volatile.
Ace, ever composed, took a step forward. His gaze bore into Robin with quiet intensity, and though his expression remained stoic, there was something undeniably provoking about his presence now.
Without uttering a word, Ace raised his hand, revealing a single card pinched between his fingers. The ornate design glinted faintly under the scattered lights of the tower:
The [SWAP PORTAL].