Arlen didn't sleep.
He couldn't.
He lay awake staring at the ceiling. The room smelled of damp stone. Outside, silence. Inside, the system waiting.
The system.
He closed his eyes and summoned it mentally.
The windows appeared. Floating. Silent.
AVAILABLE SKILLS:
System Eye [Level 1]
Mental Lock [Level 1]
Lie Detection [Level 1]
Inventory [Level 1]
Arlen sat up. He looked around the empty room.
"System Eye," he murmured.
Nothing.
He tried to focus. Closed his eyes. Imagined the skill activating.
Nothing.
He frowned. Opened his eyes. Looked at the wall. Then the door. Then the window.
Everything stayed the same.
There was no one to analyze.
Maybe that's why it doesn't work.
He let out a breath and lay back down.
The system was still there. Waiting.
Arlen closed his eyes.
He chose not to think about it.
The bells woke him.
He didn't remember falling asleep, but he must have at some point. He pushed himself up. His muscles lagged behind, shoulders tight, neck stiff.
He dressed slowly. The uniform no longer felt strange.
He headed to the dining hall.
It was crowded. The noise of voices and clattering plates filled the space.
Arlen spotted Nira sitting alone in a corner. He walked over and set his tray in front of her.
Nira looked up. Studied him for a moment.
"Rough night."
Not a question.
Arlen sat.
"Something like that."
Nira broke off a piece of bread, crumbs falling onto the table.
"It shows. You look like you didn't sleep."
"Didn't get much."
"Nightmares?"
Arlen hesitated.
"Thoughts."
Nira nodded slowly. Didn't ask more.
They ate. The oatmeal was lukewarm—almost cold. Nira stared into her cup. Arlen watched the door.
Then Sora arrived like a storm, dropping his tray with more noise than necessary.
"Morning, walking corpses," he said, sitting down. "Arlen, what happened to you? You look… I don't know, like a horse stepped on your face."
Arlen looked at him, expression flat.
"Morning, Sora."
"Seriously, you okay? Those under-eye bags could carry supplies."
Nira smiled.
Arlen took a sip of water.
"I'm fine."
"Sure. And I'm a master mage." Sora poked at his food. "Anyway, it's Friday. Last day of the schedule." He paused. "Think we get a break after this?"
"And tonight's the meeting," Nira added.
A knot tightened in Arlen's chest.
"Yeah."
"What are we doing about that?" Sora asked.
Arlen didn't answer right away.
Then he remembered something.
Lie Detection.
He looked at Sora.
"Hey, Sora."
"What?"
"Answer no to what I'm about to ask."
Sora blinked.
"What?"
"Just… answer no."
Sora glanced at Nira. She shrugged.
"Okay…" he said, confused.
Arlen took a breath.
"Is your name Sora?"
"No."
Something shifted.
Pure instinct. Like recognizing fire before touching it.
A sensation.
A pull in his gut. The kind that told you something was wrong before you understood why.
Certainty.
Sora had lied.
Arlen blinked.
It worked.
Sora was watching him, waiting.
"Why'd you tell me to answer no?"
Arlen cleared his throat.
"I wanted to… test something."
"Test what?"
"If I could throw you off."
Sora frowned.
"Throw me off? With that?"
"Forget it. It was stupid."
Nira watched them calmly, chewing slowly.
They finished eating without saying much else.
When they stood, Sora checked his schedule.
"I've got magic theory. See you in… Ethics of Power?"
Arlen nodded.
"Yeah."
The training field was more crowded than usual.
Arlen and Nira stood together, waiting. Native students talked among themselves. Some of the transported eyed the stack of wooden swords nervously.
Kaedor appeared without a sound.
Everyone went quiet.
He stopped in front of them, empty sleeve tied at his side. His gaze swept across the group.
"Today, you won't be picking up a sword," he said.
A few murmurs of surprise.
"Today, you'll understand what a sword is."
Kaedor walked slowly in front of them.
"A sword isn't a weapon," he continued. "It's a question."
He paused.
"Every time you raise it, you ask the world: am I willing to change something through violence? And the world always answers."
No one spoke.
"The sword is absolute power in its simplest form," he said. "With it, you can protect. You can destroy. There is no middle ground. No negotiation."
He looked at a native student.
"Use it wrong, it kills you."
Then at one of the transported.
"Use it right, it kills someone else."
Back to center.
"That's the whole philosophy."
Arlen listened, but his mind was elsewhere.
Lie Detection had worked.
System Eye hadn't.
Why?
He focused again. Looked at Kaedor.
Nothing.
Looked at Nira.
Nothing.
He frowned.
"Something you want to share?"
Arlen blinked.
Kaedor was looking straight at him.
"What?"
"You seem distracted."
Now the whole group was watching.
Arlen tensed.
"No, I—"
Then it hit.
Pure instinct.
Like seeing a predator and knowing, without thinking, that it could kill you.
Threat.
It came all at once, no thought behind it. The man in front of him was lethal.
Arlen stepped back before he could stop himself.
Kaedor tilted his head.
"You alright?"
Arlen swallowed.
"Yeah. Sorry. Just… thinking about what you said."
Kaedor studied him for a moment longer.
Then nodded.
"Come here."
Arlen stepped forward, feeling every gaze on him.
Kaedor handed him a wooden sword.
"Show me your guard."
Arlen raised it. His grip was wrong. He knew it. Still tried.
Kaedor corrected him with precise movements.
"The sword isn't an extension of your arm," he said. "It's an extension of intent. If your intent is weak, the sword is useless."
Arlen adjusted his grip.
"Now," Kaedor said. "Tell me. Why do you raise a sword?"
Arlen hesitated.
"To… defend myself."
"From what?"
"Whatever's necessary."
Kaedor looked at him.
"That's an honest answer. Incomplete."
A pause.
"You don't raise a sword to defend yourself. You raise it because you've accepted that violence is inevitable. And you chose to stand on the side that decides when to use it."
Arlen didn't answer.
Some students laughed nervously.
Kaedor sent him back to his place.
The class went on, but Arlen barely paid attention.
System Eye had triggered.
And it showed him something he already knew.
Kaedor was dangerous.
After training, they walked toward the next building.
Arlen still felt the weight of Kaedor's gaze.
And that feeling.
Nira walked beside him in silence. Then, without looking at him:
"Good answer."
Arlen glanced at her.
"What?"
"The part about defending yourself. Sounded… honest. Clumsy, but honest."
Arlen wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.
He decided it was both.
Ethics of Power was held in a closed room, no windows.
The professor was thin, middle-aged, completely gray hair. He didn't introduce himself. Just started speaking.
"Ethics of Power," he said. "Sounds noble, doesn't it? Like power comes with rules."
He paced in front.
"It doesn't. Power exists. What we do with it… that's our choice."
He wrote on the board.
Power doesn't corrupt. It reveals.
He turned back.
"That's the only lesson that matters. Power doesn't change you. It shows who you've always been."
He let it sit.
"If power makes you cruel, you already were. You just didn't have the chance to prove it."
"If power makes you generous, you already were. You were just too afraid to be without protection."
He looked at the group.
"Power isn't the problem. You are."
No one spoke.
Class ended half an hour later.
Arlen walked out with something sitting wrong in his chest.
The dining hall was louder than usual.
Arlen, Nira, and Sora sat together. This time Sora got there first—he'd skipped class.
"How was Ethics?" he asked.
"Uncomfortable," Nira said.
"Did the professor say anything memorable?"
"Yeah," Arlen said. "Too much."
Before they could continue, guards entered the hall.
One slammed his spear against the floor. The sound cut through everything.
"Attention," he said. "Today is the last day of classes for the week. You have two days off."
Murmurs of relief spread through the room.
"You may leave for the city if you wish," he continued. "You'll be given money for personal expenses. Collect it from administration."
The guard turned and left.
The room came back to life, louder than before.
Sora smiled.
"Two days off. That's… good."
Nira nodded.
"We could explore the city."
Arlen didn't answer. His mind was elsewhere.
Money. City. Refugees.
Maybe he could go down to the First Ring.
See what was there.
"Hey," Sora said. "About tonight's meeting…"
Arlen snapped back.
"What?"
"We should all go," Sora said. "Doesn't matter what Kaori says."
Nira looked at him.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. We're transported too. We have a right to be there."
Arlen pressed his fingers into the table.
"Alright."
Sora blinked.
"Really?"
"Yeah. We go."
Nira watched him for a moment. Then nodded.
"Then we all go."
The meeting was in the transported common hall.
When they walked in, people were already there.
Ren stood in the center, talking to a group. Calm. Minimal gestures. The others listened.
Arlen watched from the entrance.
Ren glanced at him. Just for a second. Then went back to his conversation.
Said nothing.
But Arlen felt it.
He'd been assessed.
And dismissed.
Kaori noticed them.
Stopped mid-conversation. Frowned.
"What's he doing here?" she said, pointing at Arlen.
The room went quiet.
Dae-hyun, nearby, smirked.
"The burden showed up."
Some of the transported laughed.
Others just watched.
Kaori crossed her arms.
"This meeting is for transported who can actually contribute. Not—"
"For what?" Nira cut in, stepping forward. "Finish it."
Kaori looked at her.
"For people with nothing to offer."
"He's transported, same as the rest of us," Sora said, stepping beside Nira.
Dae-hyun laughed.
"Being transported doesn't mean anything if you bring nothing to the table."
Murmurs of agreement.
Arlen stood still under the weight of their eyes.
Didn't know what to say.
Didn't know what to do.
Then Nira spoke.
"If he's not allowed in, we leave."
Sora nodded.
"All of us."
Silence.
No one moved.
The tension stretched tight.
Then Min-jae, who had been standing by the wall, stepped toward the door.
"Me too."
Yura, sitting off to the side, stood.
"And me."
The room fell quiet.
Kaori looked around, clearly not expecting that.
Dae-hyun frowned.
Then Ren spoke.
"Enough."
He didn't raise his voice.
Didn't need to.
Everyone turned.
Ren stepped forward, hands in his pockets.
"We weren't brought here to fight each other," he said. "We were brought here to survive. That means working together."
He looked at Kaori. Then at Arlen.
"All of us."
Kaori opened her mouth, but Ren shut her down with a look.
"If we want to understand what's happening, we need information. That means talking to natives. Listening. Sharing what we learn."
No one argued.
Ren stepped back to the center.
"Sit."
People obeyed.
Arlen sat beside Nira and Sora. Min-jae and Yura stayed close.
The meeting started.
Ren spoke first.
"This is simple. We share information. The Gods brought us here, but they didn't tell us why. Just that this world needs 'survivors.'"
He paused.
"That's not enough."
Several nodded.
"If we want answers, we investigate. Talk to people. Listen. Share what we find."
Kaori spoke.
"And how do we know no one's holding back?"
Ren looked at her.
"We don't. That's why this runs on trust."
"Trust," Dae-hyun repeated, mocking. "Between strangers."
"Between survivors," Ren corrected.
Then Yura spoke.
Quiet. Clear.
"What if the Gods abandoned us?"
No one answered.
Everyone looked at her.
Yura didn't flinch.
"Think about it," she said. "They brought us here. Left us in a village. And then… nothing. No instructions. No help."
She paused.
"What if they don't care anymore?"
The idea hung in the air like something toxic.
No one knew what to say.
Ren broke the silence.
"That's why we need information. To find out if we still matter… or if we were left to die."
More murmurs.
The meeting went on.
Classes. Teachers. Rumors.
Arlen listened.
Didn't speak.
He knew something they didn't.
The previous ones.
The earlier waves.
But he kept it to himself.
Not yet.
When the meeting ended, people started leaving.
Kaori walked past Arlen without looking at him.
But he could feel the hatred coming off her.
Dae-hyun stopped in front of him.
Smiled. Condescending.
"Good luck, burden."
Then left.
Arlen, Nira, and Sora stayed a moment longer.
"Well," Sora said. "That was… tense."
"Tense is putting it lightly," Nira said.
Arlen looked over at Ren, still talking to a few others.
Ren hadn't defended him.
Not really.
He'd stepped in when things risked splitting the group.
Arlen understood.
Ren didn't care about him.
He cared about control.
"We should go," Nira said.
They nodded and left together.
In the hallway, Sora spoke.
"Yura's idea was… unsettling."
No one answered.
They walked in silence until they split off.
Arlen stepped into his room and closed the door.
Dropped onto the bed.
Thought about everything.
The system.
Lie Detection.
System Eye activating when he looked at Kaedor.
The meeting.
Yura planting doubt.
Ren taking control.
He stared at the ceiling.
Two days off.
He could explore the city.
See the First Ring.
See the refugees.
Figure out what was really going on.
He closed his eyes.
The system was still there.
Waiting.
And Arlen knew that with every passing day, the cracks in this world were getting easier to see.
It was only a matter of time before everything collapsed.