The silence dragged on like a second death.
Despite the dread hanging in the air, some of the students looked... fascinated.
It was like the novels they'd read.
Summoned heroes. Awakening rituals. Chosen ones.
Only this was real.
And a hell of a lot darker.
Mrs. Rose, pale but composed, stepped forward with trembling resolve.
Her voice cracked slightly, but she stood tall.
"What purpose are you talking about?" she demanded. "And… how do we return home?"
The Prophetess turned to her.
Smiling.
Always smiling.
That slow, poisonous curve of her lips that said:Oh, sweet child, you have no idea.
"You've all been brought here to fulfill a divine role," she said smoothly.
"You will be trained, tested, and shaped into the next generation of our sacred order—the Temple of the Abyss."
Kael blinked slowly and did the mental math.
So… serve your god or die screaming.
Got it.
The Prophetess continued, as if she'd read his thoughts.
"And as for returning…" she paused, savoring the moment, "I'm afraid that won't be possible."
Someone in the crowd whispered, "What do you mean?"
She smiled wider. "Because you're all already dead."
The words hit like a thunderclap.
"No…"
"What?!"
"That's not possible—we were in class!"
"I want to go home!"
"MOM!"
The room broke again.
Screams, sobbing, panicked gasps.
It was like watching porcelain shatter in slow motion.
Kael slurped from his smoothie, clearly displeased.
Mourning their own deaths already.
Pathetic.
At least die with a little dignity, he thought, and took another sip.
The Prophetess raised her voice, calm and commanding once more.
"Your grief is natural," she said. "But it must be short-lived. Your Awakening awaits."
She gestured to the crystal—massive, dark, pulsing with unnatural light.
The Awakening Stone.
"Each of you carries a True Rune within your soul.
By touching this stone, you will awaken your affinity—and your path."
Her voice echoed across the chamber like a spell.
"Now… step forward, Beyonders.
Grasp your destiny."
No one moved.
Dozens of teenagers stood frozen, trading fearful glances, as if stepping forward first would guarantee death.
Then, slowly, one boy stepped out from the group.
Adam.
Of course it was him.
Smart. Brave. Handsome in that clean, student council way.
If this were a light novel, Adam would be the main character.
Mrs. Rose's voice cracked as she reached out. "Adam—wait—"
He shook his head gently and turned back to face the class.
"This is real," he said. "All of it. We can't pretend it's not happening."
His voice was calm.
Focused.
The kind of voice that made people listen.
"I know you're scared. I'm scared too.
But we're here.
We're alive.
Maybe not in our world—but we still exist.
That matters."
The room quieted.
Even the sobbing dulled to sniffles.
"We have a chance to live. But only if we move forward. Together."
The students watched him—some with hope, some with desperation.
A few girls blinked away tears.
A few boys straightened their backs.
The mood shifted.
Just slightly.
But enough.
Even Kael raised a brow.
"I've thought about giving a speech like that once," he muttered.
"But then I remembered I have a crippling cringe allergy. And a smoothie."
Adam stepped onto the obsidian altar.
The Prophetess watched him with satisfaction—like a teacher whose favorite student just aced a test no one else studied for.
She gave a small nod.
Approval. Or amusement. Maybe both.
Adam inhaled deeply.
And placed his hand on the Awakening Stone.
A blinding light pulsed from the stone the moment Adam touched it—sharp, searing, divine.
The entire chamber lit up in a heartbeat, shadows banished by a surge of pure, radiant power.
Gasps echoed.
Eyes widened.
But Kael wasn't looking at the stone.
He was watching the Prophetess.
And her expression?
Pure, unfiltered shock.
Her smile cracked—eyes going wide, lips parting slightly.
Then she whispered, half in disbelief, half in reverence:
"Rank One… A Rank One True Rune…"
Then—she laughed.
Loudly.
A rich, delighted sound that bounced off the cold stone walls with eerie joy.
"Truly blessed," she declared, her voice rising.
"A Rank One... on the first attempt! Hahaha! What fortune!"
She turned to the stunned students, her eyes blazing with zeal.
"True Runes," she said, "are ranked from Nine to One.
The Ninth is the weakest... the First, the strongest.
A Rank One is the domain of champions, saints, and gods!"
Silence fell.
The class stared at Adam, now standing slightly taller, glowing faintly with a quiet power that hadn't been there before.
Some looked at him like a hero.
Others with barely-hidden envy.
Kael just sighed.
Well, there it is.
Bastard just got main character-certified.
He leaned back slightly, sipping from his ever-dwindling smoothie.
Great.
Now he's gonna get the good food, the special training, the plot armor, and probably a harem by Chapter Five.
Kael's gaze swept across the group.
He could already see it happening—the shifting body language, the reverent looks, the silent separation.
The moment a system introduced rankings, people stopped being equal.
It starts now,Kael thought. This is the first fracture.
He looked down at the floor, at the soft glow of runes still swirling around them.
I'm not asking for Rank One. Or even Two, he mused.
Just… give me something solid.
Average.
Functional.
Something to keep me from being cannon fodder.
He sighed again, longer this time, and took a slow sip of his smoothie.
Not like it's in my control anyway, he thought.
No point stressing over something the system decides.
Still, part of him couldn't help but hope.
Hope for anything but the bottom of the barrel.
Please don't give me trash-tier.
I don't need to be special.
I just need to survive.