As I was still contemplating what to do, I suddenly remembered—there's class.
I was already very late.
Ignoring the confusion that had just happened, Aiden rushed to class. As he entered the classroom, a wave of noise struck him—the same loud commotion he'd heard faintly outside. He hadn't paid it much attention before, too consumed by the events of the night prior.
He stepped in and scanned the room.
Something immediately felt wrong.
None of his friends were in their usual seats.
Strange. They were always early—loud, joking, impossible to miss.
Assuming they were just caught up with something, Aiden walked over and sat in his usual spot near their row.
But as he settled in, whispers from nearby conversations reached his ears.
"...they say it happened to those who borrowed a book..."
"Did you hear? A monster just appeared out of nowhere—killed someone and vanished…"
"Why didn't the guards respond faster?"
"They couldn't. By the time they arrived… it was already over."
Aiden's heart skipped a beat. His stomach turned cold.
...A monster?
His hands trembled slightly.
His friends were still absent. And now there were rumors linking a book… to an attack?
His mind reeled. Don't tell me…
Just as he stood to leave and search for them, the classroom door creaked open behind him.
Their homeroom teacher entered.
A heavy silence fell over the room.
The teacher's face was pale, eyes shadowed with exhaustion and something darker—grief.
Without a greeting, he walked to the front, posture heavy.
"…The rumors," he began, voice hollow, "are true."
The class collectively held its breath.
"There was an incident last night."
He paused. Aiden noticed his hands shaking slightly as they gripped the edge of the podium.
"…A total of 581 lives were lost."
Gasps erupted around the room. Some students began sobbing quietly.
The teacher continued, his voice strained and uneven.
"One teacher of Gold Rank, two Silver 5-Star instructors, twenty-seven senior students ranked Bronze 5-Star… and five hundred sixty-seven students between Mortal rank and Bronze 3-Star."
The classroom plunged into a stunned silence.
Aiden could barely breathe.
Five hundred eighty-one… dead?
His gaze dropped to his empty row.
And my friends still aren't here…
His fists clenched tightly as dread coiled in his chest like a serpent.
Was the monster I saw the one responsible…?
Or worse—
Was it just one of many?
The teacher kept speaking, explaining details of the tragedy, but Aiden could no longer focus.
He raised his hand.
"Sir…" His voice cracked. "What kind of monster was it?"
The teacher looked at him. There was a long pause before he answered.
"…According to the testimonies of those who survived—the ones who didn't borrow a book, but whose dorm mates did—they described it as something twisted. Something that resembled either their greatest fear… or something precious to them, warped into a nightmare."
A chill ran down Aiden's spine.
The teacher continued.
"And perhaps that's why no one was alerted during the attack. The victims didn't fight long. They were either overwhelmed by fear… or couldn't bring themselves to strike back."
Silence fell again.
But in Aiden's mind, chaos raged.
The book.
The fingerprint.
The monster.
His friends.
And the horrifying possibility that this wasn't the end—but only the beginning.
"Ai…"
"Aiden…"
**"Aiden!!!"**
With a jolt, Aiden snapped back to reality. His teacher was standing at the front, staring at him.
"Aiden, are you okay?" the teacher asked, concerned.
"I… I'm sorry. I just blanked out," Aiden replied, wiping sweat from his forehead. His heart was still racing, and the weight of everything he had just heard pressed down on him.
Noticing his pale face and anxious expression, the teacher's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Wait," he said slowly. "Are you… one of the students who borrowed a book?"
Aiden froze.
He wanted to lie, to brush it off—but his body betrayed him. His shoulders sank slightly as he gave a quiet nod.
The teacher stared at him for a moment, eyes widening with stars covering it, and with a gentle smile.
"Well then…" he muttered, half to himself. "You really are something…"
Raising his voice so the class could hear, he continued, "To survive when even Bronze 5-Star seniors didn't make it… That's no small feat. There's more to you than I thought."
He straightened his back, now with a more serious expression.
"I'll bring this up with the principal. You might be eligible to transfer to the Genius Class. Talent like that shouldn't go to waste."
But Aiden barely heard him.
He nodded absentmindedly, eyes unfocused.
'The book… Nie Li…'
The image of the glowing fingerprint, the monster, and the whispered voice haunted his thoughts.
'Nie Li spred the word about the book. He must know something.'
Aiden planned to investigate what happened to his friends first and confirm if they were still alive.
After that, he was going to give Nie Li the beating of a lifetime. If he still isn't dead after spreading the book exist.
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