Lian opened his mouth, ready to ask more.
The creature cut in immediately.
"You know what, I changed my mind. Ask one more stupid question and I'll eat you."
Silence.
Lian froze for a moment.
Then he nodded calmly. "Thanks for answering my questions. I'm really grateful for the help."
The creature raised one of its hands, and a small glass cube appeared out of thin air. Dust swirled within it, as though it had been sealed away for ages.
"Curiosity kills the cat. Knowing too much will only bring you harm," the creature said. "I've already told you more than I was supposed to."
It handed the cube to Lian.
The moment Lian touched it, the dust shifted.
Three arrows formed inside.
One red. Two white.
The creature spoke one last time.
"This will help you find your friends… and get out of here."
And then—
it vanished.
Right in front of his eyes.
Lian stared at the glass cube for few seconds, then started following one of the white arrows.
Every time he reached a junction, the arrow shifted—guiding him on the right path.
Left at one turn. Right at the next. Sometimes straight when the path split into three.
It kept adjusting, like it knew the maze better than he did.
Eventually, he hit a dead end.
A solid wall.
He frowned.
Then the white arrow inside the cube rotated again, pointing upward near the dead end.
Lian paused and looked around.
He couldn't find any visible stairs.
He scanned the area for a few minutes before noticing it—a few meters back, half-hidden narrow staircase blending into the stone.
He then climbed to the upper floor.
A few minutes passed.
Lian kept moving while tracking the arrow, constantly cross-referencing it with his notebook. He corrected earlier assumptions on the fly, refining his mental map of the catacombs—noting patterns in turns, elevation shifts, and repeating structures.
In no time, the white arrow led him straight to Lin Ling.
The moment Lian stepped into range, the arrow inside the glass cube dissolved—like its job was done.
Lin Ling looked up in shock.
"Lian…?"
Lian was still studying the compass cube when Lin Ling finally spoke up.
"What are you looking at? Why are you staring at your empty hand for so long? Did you get hurt?"
Lian paused. "It's nothing. Never mind."
But internally, a thought settled in.
So I'm the only one who can see this cube.
They moved on and soon found Hazy as well.
This entire time, Lian kept his head slightly down, flipping through his notebook—maintaining the impression that he had solved the maze purely through logic, all to avoid raising suspicion.
Following the red arrow, they finally made it out of the catacombs.
But the moment they stepped outside—
everything changed.
The cave was gone.
No entrance or any sign of the catacombs remained.
Just a normal hill, quiet and empty like every other hill in that forest.
Even the compass cube in Lian's hand vanished without a trace.
It was gone.
And as soon as they came out, the SOS in bracelets suddenly started working again.
Signals returned, and an hour later the faculty arrived to pick them.
"What happened? Why did your signal went missing for 3 days straight?" one of them asked.
Hazy and Lin Ling explained carefully—the domain, the catacombs, everything they'd gone through.
The instructors frowned and checked the entire area.
Just an ordinary hill with no trace of anything underground.
At that moment, something felt wrong.
It was as if the entire three days—and even the catacombs themselves—had never existed at all.
Like it had all been an illusion.
Lian, Hazy, and Lin Ling were escorted back to the main camp by the instructor.
Hazy was still explaining everything, her tone sharp with frustration, while the instructor listened with a puzzled expression.
"I don't think there's any hidden tunnel or passage here," he said. "I checked the entire area right in front of you. There's nothing."
Lin Ling backed her up immediately. "It's not a hallucination. All three of us saw the same thing."
The instructor turned to Lian. "And you? Did you see exactly what they described?"
Lian hesitated for a second.
"…I'm not sure," he said slowly. "I was under a lot of stress, panic and pressure… my recollection is kind of blurry."
He paused, as if trying to recall.
"But… it did feel like some kind of underground passage. Something like that."
The instructor nodded. "Alright. We'll investigate this area again after the camping trip ends."
--
They made their way back to camp.
Most of the students had already gathered there as it was the last day.
Lin Ling glanced at Lian, frowning. "Dude… why are you acting all dumb? You're the one who figured the way out. And now you're saying you don't remember much?"
Hazy narrowed her eyes. "Yeah. That doesn't make sense."
Lian didn't meet their gaze.
"I think it's better if we just forget about it," he said calmly. "And don't go into too much detail in your reports about those catacombs."
Both of them looked displeased.
But after a moment, they agreed—too tired to argue any further.
Among the three, Lin Ling looked the worst—his face pale, like all the color had been drained out.
Hazy looked just as worn down, exhaustion clear in her movements.
Even Lian felt it. The lack of sleep, the constant tension—it was catching up.
They both headed into the tent and collapsed into sleep.
Lian, on the other hand, walked toward the other side of the camp.
Food was being served there.
He grabbed a plate and started eating.
Soon, a few students from Class D approached Lian's table.
They were the classmates who sat near him in class. They were decent people, though they had a tendency to brag a little too much.
A girl from Class D joined them as well.
Lian paused mid-bite to greet them, and when he looked at her properly, he recognized her—the one who almost got killed by the bear.
One of the guys immediately started bragging.
"Our team took down a blood deer," he said, placing a horn on the table like a trophy.
The guy beside him scoffed. "That's nothing compared to what we did."
He pulled out a much larger horn.
"A bull."
That instantly drew attention.
Students from Class D started gathering around the table, murmurs spreading as they compared and argued over their teams' achievements—each story getting a little louder, a little more exaggerated.
Then a few of the usual bullies pushed their way in.
They took one look and smirked.
"That's it?" one of them said. "Blood deer? Bull? That's beginner stuff."
Another crossed his arms. "Why don't you try fighting real predators for once?"
What started as bragging turned into a quiet standoff.
The two guys who usually sat in front of Lian leaned forward.
"Yeah? Then what great feats have you accomplished?"
The bullies smirked.
Without a word, each of them placed three bear fangs on the table.
The reaction was instant.
"No way…" one of the guys muttered, eyes wide. "That's one of the strongest Sequence 1 predators. Even as a team, taking one down is tough."
The other nodded, staring at the fangs. "You've got three each… even if the Class-A student carried most of the fight, getting three means your contribution was still high."
He looked up.
"How many bears did you even kill?"
The bully leaned back, enjoying the attention. "Just around five."
He scanned the crowd, waiting for reactions.
And he got them.
Shock. Awe. A few impressed whispers.
Everyone looked amazed—
except Lian.
He just kept eating, like none of it even registered.
One of the guys frowned. "No way. That can't be true."
The bully smirked. "It is. You can ask her—she was on my team too."
All eyes shifted to the girl.
She stiffened.
For a second, she looked like she wanted to disappear, then forced a small smile.
"Yeah… we just got lucky," she said quickly, trying to brush it off and steer the conversation away.
Lian noticed her expression.
It wasn't fear.
It was anger and resentment, forced down.
He looked back at his food, thinking.
Looks like they used her as bait.
She didn't carry the same presence as the others. No backing or influence.
People like her, without any major clan or family backing, always had a harder time growing strong. Fewer resources, fewer opportunities, slower progress. Most of them remained weak.
And because of that, they were often used as bait, decoys, or just meat shields.
Easy to use.
Disposable.
Be it in the military… or even here in the academy.
Lost in his thought, Lian already finished his plate without even noticing.
He wiped his mouth with a tissue and stood up, heading toward the tray to drop the plate.
One of the bullies noticed.
"Hey—loser."
"Where do you think you're going?" the guy added, louder now. "It's rude to walk off when someone's talking."
Another bully snorted. "Nah, he's leaving because he's scared we'll ask what he killed."
"Yeah," another added, grinning, "watch him pull out a rabbit ear or something."
Laughter broke out.
Lian turned slightly, voice calm. "You guys care way too much about every insignificant thing."
Then, without another word, he reached into his pocket—
and pulled out a soul core.
The two guys just froze, staring at it in disbelief.
The girl leaned in slightly. "Can I… touch it?"
Lian shrugged. "Yeah. Go ahead."
She looked at it carefully.
For a few seconds, no one said anything.
"No way…"
"That's fake, right?"
"There's no chance he got a soul core."
But the truth is there right in front of them.
The earlier confidence on their faces started cracking.