...

The open space outside the Dungeon entrance, once a cauldron of lively conversation and anticipation, plunged into an abrupt and supernatural silence.

More than two hundred bodies lay scattered across the green grass, not dead, but plunged into a deep and instantaneous sleep, as if an invisible god had decreed the end of their consciousness.

Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, Yoo Yeonha, Rachel... all the prodigies and talents of Cube Academy fell like puppets whose strings had been suddenly cut.

In the midst of that sepulchral stillness, only four figures remained standing, islands of consciousness in a sea of unconsciousness.

Sven, the World Class cadet, and two others also from the World Class, a thin boy and another with a more Western appearance, looked around with a mixture of shock, confusion, and a growing terror that chilled their bones.

Their hearts hammered in a frantic rhythm, the only audible sound besides the rustling of the wind.

And then there was Theo.

He stood with a calmness that bordered on the divine, the epicenter of that inexplicable phenomenon.

The standing cadets, still surprised by what had just happened, tried to act like normal cadets, a fragile facade in the face of the impossible.

"W-what's happening?"

Asked one of them, his voice trembling, desperately trying to find a logical explanation for the nightmarish scene.

Theo didn't answer immediately. His gaze swept the field, passing over the sleeping faces of each one, before settling on two specific cadets who were standing, the confusion on their faces barely concealing a deeper tension.

"You..."

Theo's voice was low, but it cut through the silence like a sharp blade.

"Cadet Shyun and cadet Jonas... How long will you continue to hide under this facade?"

A heavy silence, laden with meaning, fell upon the group.

Shyun, a cadet known for his almost supernatural agility, and Jonas, a quiet and observant foreigner, froze.

The mask of normality they wore cracked under the weight of Theo's gaze.

He took a step forward, his eyes becoming as piercing as shards of glass.

"Isn't that right, my teammates?"

The question hung in the air, a veiled accusation that made Shyun's and Jonas's blood run cold.

Ignoring their shock for a moment, Theo finally turned to the fourth man standing, Sven, whose face was pale with dread.

"Since when are you a Djinn?"

The word "Djinn" echoed in the silent field, a mortal accusation. Sven took a step back, his body trembling uncontrollably. The darkness Theo saw in his soul seemed to stir, writhing like a cornered creature exposed to the light.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about!"

Sven stammered, denying desperately.

"You don't know?"

Theo smiled, a cold, humorless smile appearing on his lips.

"Your soul is screaming. It's being devoured by a filthy entity that feeds on your obsession and your despair. Do you really think you can hide that from me?"

As Sven began to panic, Theo's focus shifted abruptly.

He knew that Sven was just a pawn, a symptom of the disease of his self-loathing.

Before Shyun or Jonas could react, Theo disappeared from sight.

In the blink of an eye, the space between Theo and Shyun ceased to exist.

There was no sound, no blur of movement. Just a seamless transition from distance to a suffocating proximity.

Theo's hand closed around Shyun's neck, the grip not crushing, but as unmovable as steel.

The air was trapped in Shyun's lungs, and a primitive, overwhelming panic took hold of him.

He tried to channel his demonic power, the source of his speed and strength, but it was like trying to light a fire underwater.

Theo's mere presence, the aura of power that emanated from him, suppressed the dark energy within, suffocating it at the source.

Theo's eyes glowed, no longer with the red of destruction.

"Let's see what you wanted to do on my team..."

Whispered Theo, his voice a final decree.

He activated two spells simultaneously, a feat that would challenge the greatest mages in the world.

Eviy Recollection

Leaks Thought Communication

The first spell, Eviy, was a master key, capable of opening the most locked doors of memory, not just superficial thoughts, but the experiences engraved on the soul itself, even those long forgotten. The second, Leaks, was the bridge that allowed Theo to walk through these memories as if they were his own, experiencing them firsthand.

For Shyun, the sensation was one of absolute and total violation.

His mind, his most intimate sanctuary, was invaded with the force of a tidal wave.

Memories he himself had forgotten or suppressed came to the surface, vivid and painful. Theo saw everything, processing years of life in mere seconds.

He saw Shyun's life before the pact: a talented cadet, but perpetually just one more among thousands.

The pain of having his father killed by a hero, and that same hero getting away with it.

The promise from an organization to get revenge.

Then, the most recent memories emerged, sharp and clear, as if they were happening at that very moment.

A dark room, lit only by candles that emitted a sick, purple light.

Several hooded figures were gathered. One of them, whose presence seemed to be the leader, began to speak.

"You two, Shyun and Jonas, have been chosen for a task of utmost importance. We have arranged for you to be assigned to Theo's team."

The voice was distorted by magic, but carried an unquestionable authority.

"Your simple objective in this mission is: observe him. Pretend to be his allies. Try to learn about him. And when the opportunity arises during the dungeon exam, eliminate him. Make it look like an accident."

"Why him?"

Shyun's voice sounded in the memory, hesitant, a hint of fear mixed with his ambition.

"He is an anomaly."

Replied the figure, the voice lowering to a dangerous growl.

"An unpredictable factor that threatens our existence. He is an obstacle that must be removed. Fulfill your mission."

The memory reading ended there...

'So they've finally started to act...'

Given everything Theo had done so far, he expected the Djinn Association to have sent someone to eliminate him much sooner...

But, seriously...

'Aren't they underestimating me a bit too much?'

Theo released Shyun's neck.

"AAAAAARGG!"

The cadet collapsed to the ground like a bag of bones, an agonizing scream escaping his lips as black lines, like cracks in porcelain, began to spread across his skin.

Theo turned slowly to Jonas, who had witnessed everything with mute horror. He was trembling so much that his teeth chattered audibly in the silence of the field. Shyun's fate was a terrifying prelude to his own.

"So, you came to kill me."

Theo walked towards Jonas, each step a hammer striking the anvil of his fear.

"Make it look like an accident in the dungeon. It's a decent plan, I suppose. Cowardly, but decent."

"I-I... we were forced!"

Stammered Jonas, the words coming out in a desperate stumble, tears beginning to well in his eyes.

"They said they would kill us, that our families...!"

"Forced?"

Theo stopped right in front of him, looking down at him with icy contempt.

"You made a pact with a Djinn for power. You gave up your soul for a shortcut to greatness. Don't talk to me about being forced. You chose this path the moment you said 'yes' to the darkness."

Jonas cringed under the weight of that gaze, the truth of those words crushing his last pathetic defense. He knew it was true. The promise of power to overcome his limitations as a strategist had been too seductive to resist.

"What... what are you going to do to me?"

Theo watched him for a long moment, the silence stretching to the breaking point.

Then, he uttered a single word, not with anger, but with the finality of a judge.

"Die."

With that deadly sentence, Theo's Magic Eyes of Destruction activated once more, but this time with a single purpose: annihilation.

"!!"

Jonas had no time to speak. A mind-bending, incomprehensible pain took over his body, as if every atom of his being was being torn apart.

Before he could form a last thought, he saw the same black lines that consumed Shyun appear on his own hands, climbing up his arms like a swift plague.

In an instant, his body disintegrated, turning into particles of dark dust that were carried away by the wind, disappearing forever.

...