Day 30. Fourteen days until the Gate Break.
Han Sera sat in the Class F common room, pretending to study while actually observing her classmates.
Two weeks ago, she wouldn't have noticed the details. Now, after countless training sessions with the mysterious janitor, she saw everything differently.
Kim Ji-hoon slouched in the corner, playing games on his phone. His posture was terrible—left shoulder permanently hunched from favoring his right side. Weak core strength. He'd be the first to fall in a real fight.
Park Min-ji chatted with her friends near the window. Confident, almost arrogant. But her confidence came from family connections, not actual skill. Her mana circulation was inefficient—she wasted almost forty percent of her energy on basic techniques.
Lee Dong-hyun practiced sword forms in the corner, diligent but mechanical. He followed the instructions perfectly but didn't understand *why* the movements worked. No adaptability. No instinct.
*They're all going to die*, Sera thought, then immediately felt guilty for thinking it.
But the janitor's training had made her see the truth: Class F wasn't prepared for real combat. They were being taught to survive safe, supervised scenarios. Not actual dungeon threats.
"Hey, Sera!" Min-ji called out. "Want to join us for lunch? We're trying the new ramen place off campus."
Sera forced a smile. "Thanks, but I need to review for the theory exam."
"You've been studying so much lately. Are you okay?"
"Just nervous about the dungeon practical."
"Ugh, don't remind me." Min-ji rolled her eyes. "Though the instructors said it's super safe. Basically impossible to fail unless you're completely incompetent."
*That's what they said three years ago too*, Sera thought. *Right before Park Min-jun died.*
"Still, better to be prepared," she said aloud.
"I guess. But don't stress too much. It's Class F—they don't expect much from us anyway." Min-ji returned to her friends, already forgetting the conversation.
Sera watched them laugh and chat, completely unconcerned about the upcoming practical.
Part of her envied their ignorance. But a larger part—the fighter's instinct the janitor had cultivated—knew that ignorance could be fatal.
She couldn't save all of them. The janitor had been clear about that. But maybe she could help a few.
If they'd listen.
---
Instructor Jung Min-seo reviewed the Class F roster in her office, making final preparations for the dungeon practical.
Fifteen students. The Crimson Fang Dungeon—C-Rank, well-mapped, thoroughly studied. Six instructors supervising. Medical team on standby. Emergency extraction protocols in place.
It should be perfectly safe.
*Should be.*
She pulled up the incident report from three years ago. The Park Min-jun case. She'd been a junior instructor then, not directly involved, but she remembered the aftermath. The investigations. The lawsuits. The reforms.
The academy had been found negligent—inadequate supervision, poor emergency response, failure to detect the nest spawn in advance. They'd paid a massive settlement to the family and implemented new safety protocols.
This year's practical was supposed to prove those reforms worked.
But Min-seo kept thinking about Han Sera's question two weeks ago: *"It could happen again, couldn't it?"*
Could it?
The dungeon's spawn patterns had been stable for three years. The C-Rank designation hadn't changed. The new monitoring systems would detect any anomalies immediately.
On paper, everything was perfect.
But dungeons didn't care about paper.
Min-seo pulled up Han Sera's file. The girl's improvement over the past month had been remarkable—genuinely remarkable. She'd gone from bottom-tier F-Rank to solid D-Rank in practical skills. Her theory scores had jumped two letter grades.
Vice Principal Kwon had investigated for unauthorized training and found nothing. Just a dedicated student working harder than expected.
Sometimes students surprised you.
Still, Min-seo made a note in her private files:
*"Dungeon Practical - Watch Han Sera closely. Student shows unusual situational awareness and combat instinct. May be capable of leadership role if crisis occurs."*
Just a precaution. Almost certainly unnecessary.
But three years ago, she'd thought Park Min-jun was prepared too.
She saved the note and returned to her preparations.
Fourteen days until the practical.
Everything would be fine.
---
Day 33. Eleven days until the Gate Break.
Soo-hyun mopped the hallway outside the instructors' offices at 6 PM, carefully positioned where he could overhear conversations through the partially open doors.
"—final equipment check scheduled for Day 42," someone was saying. Probably the logistics coordinator. "All students will be issued standard dungeon gear. Class F gets basic equipment—leather armor, standard weapons, emergency beacons."
"What about the formation assignments?" Another voice, younger. Assistant instructor, maybe.
"Stick to the standard protocol. Three groups of five, each with two instructors. We'll clear the outer chambers first, let the students handle some low-level mobs, then move to the mid-section for the main practical. In and out in four hours."
"Sounds straightforward."
"It is. We've run this exact scenario twelve times over three years. Never had an incident since the reforms."
Soo-hyun's grip tightened on his mop handle.
*Never had an incident since the reforms.*
That's what they thought. Because they didn't know what he knew.
In his original timeline, the Gate Break didn't happen during the practical. It happened three hours *after* the students returned. A delayed spawn triggered by the student group's movements through a specific chamber—a chamber that happened to intersect with an unstable dimensional crack.
The academy's sensors didn't detect it because they were calibrated for immediate threats, not delayed reactions. By the time the alarms went off, the Gate had fully opened and C-Rank Shadow Spiders were already emerging in the "safe" outer sections of the dungeon.
Twenty-three students died. Most of them Class F students who had already completed their practical and were waiting in the rest area, exhausted and unsuspecting.
Han Sera had been one of them in the original timeline.
But this time, Soo-hyun knew where the dimensional crack was. Knew which chamber triggered it. Knew when the spawn would occur.
The question was: how could a janitor prevent a disaster without revealing he knew about it in advance?
He finished mopping the hallway and moved on, his mind already working through scenarios.
Eleven days to figure out how to save twenty-three students without blowing his cover.
No pressure.
---
Day 35. Nine days until the Gate Break.
Vice Principal Kwon sat in the security monitoring room, reviewing footage from the past month.
Han Sera appeared on multiple screens—training alone in various facilities, studying in the library, eating in the cafeteria. Always alone. Always focused.
Nothing suspicious. Nothing actionable.
But Kwon's instincts still screamed that something was wrong.
"Expand the search," he told the security technician. "Show me everyone who's been in proximity to Han Sera more than five times over the past month."
The technician typed rapidly. A list appeared:
- **Instructor Jung Min-seo**: 47 encounters (expected—her instructor)
- **Park Min-ji**: 38 encounters (roommate—expected)
- **Kim Ji-hoon**: 31 encounters (classmate—expected)
- **Director Choi**: 8 encounters (facilities—expected)
- **Kim Soo-hyun**: 7 encounters (janitor—expected)
Kwon stared at the last entry. Kim Soo-hyun. The janitor with the suspiciously clean background.
Seven encounters in a month. All in public areas. All during normal cleaning schedules. All perfectly innocent.
"Pull up the footage of those seven encounters."
The technician complied. Kwon watched each interaction:
1. Janitor mopping, Sera walking past. No interaction.
2. Janitor cleaning training room, Sera practicing alone. No interaction.
3. Janitor emptying trash, Sera in library. No interaction.
4. Janitor wiping mirrors, Sera leaving training hall. No interaction.
5. Janitor in hallway, Sera heading to class. No interaction.
6. Janitor organizing equipment, Sera entering training area. No interaction.
7. Janitor mopping cafeteria, Sera eating alone. No interaction.
Seven encounters. Zero actual interactions. The janitor never even looked at her directly.
"Anything else?" the technician asked.
"No. That's all."
Kwon leaned back in his chair, frustrated. His investigation had hit a wall. No evidence of unauthorized training. No suspicious meetings. Nothing.
Maybe Director Choi was right. Maybe Han Sera was just a dedicated student who'd decided to work harder.
Maybe Kwon was being paranoid.
But thirty years in academy administration had taught him to trust his instincts. And his instincts said something was off.
He just couldn't prove it.
"Keep monitoring," he ordered. "If anything unusual happens before or during the dungeon practical, I want to know immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Kwon left the security room and headed to his office. Nine days until the practical. If something was going to go wrong, it would reveal itself then.
And when it did, he'd be ready.
---
Day 38. Six days until the Gate Break.
The eastern courtyard statue had a new message at 6 AM:
*"Final preparations. Six days left.*
*Your combat skills are ready. Your mana control is ready. Your survival instincts are ready.*
*But there's one more thing you need: Information.*
*The Crimson Fang Dungeon has a chamber on the second level, northeast section. The instructors will avoid it—it's marked as 'unstable terrain' on official maps. But that's not the real danger.*
*Memorize this: If you hear any instructor mention moving to Chamber B-7, object. Say you sense something wrong. Claim mana sensitivity fluctuation. Make them choose a different route.*
*If they ignore you and enter anyway, stay near the exit. Don't go deeper than 10 meters into that chamber. If anything feels wrong—any sensation at all—get out immediately.*
*Trust your instincts over authority. They've trained you to follow orders. I've trained you to survive.*
*This is the most important instruction I've given you. Follow it.*
*Six days. You're ready.*
*- The Janitor"*
Sera read the message four times, her hands trembling.
Chamber B-7. Northeast section. Stay near the exit.
This wasn't general advice. This was specific intelligence about a specific threat.
*How does he know?* she thought for the thousandth time. *Who is he really?*
But the larger question was: did she trust him enough to potentially defy instructors during an official academy practical?
She thought about the past month. The brutal training. The hidden messages. The careful guidance that had transformed her from a struggling F-Rank into someone who could genuinely survive real combat.
He'd never been wrong yet.
She destroyed the message and headed for her morning run.
Six days until she'd find out if her mysterious janitor mentor was paranoid or prophetic.
---
Day 40. Four days until the Gate Break.
Soo-hyun stood on the academy roof at midnight, staring at the city lights below.
Four days. The timeline was accelerating toward the disaster point.
He'd done everything he could. Sera was trained. He'd warned her about Chamber B-7. He'd positioned himself to be in the area during the practical—Director Choi had unknowingly assigned him to "deep clean" the dungeon entrance facilities that day.
But Sera's survival was only part of the equation. Twenty-three students would die in the original timeline. He'd saved one. What about the other twenty-two?
He couldn't save everyone. The System had been clear about that. Focus on one student at a time.
But the other students weren't just statistics. They were kids who'd been written off by a system that only valued immediate power. Kids who'd never gotten the chance to become more.
*You can't save everyone*, he told himself. *You learned that twenty years ago. Stop trying to be a hero. You're just trying to change one fate.*
His phone buzzed. An encrypted message on a channel he hadn't used in weeks:
*"Something feels wrong. I can't explain it. Just... wrong. Should I be worried? - S"*
Soo-hyun typed back immediately:
*"Your instincts are getting stronger. That's good. Trust them. Whatever feels wrong during the practical, act on it. Don't hesitate. Don't second-guess. Survival first, obedience second."*
Three dots appeared, then:
*"Okay. Thank you. For everything."*
*"Don't thank me yet. Thank me when you survive."*
He deleted the conversation and pocketed his phone.
Four days.
The calm before the storm was ending.
Soon, the real test would begin.
And either his months of preparation would be enough, or Han Sera would become just another tragic statistic in Class F's history.
Soo-hyun wasn't going to let that happen.
Even if it meant exposing his identity.
Even if it meant revealing he'd known about the disaster in advance.
Even if it meant destroying the careful cover he'd built.
Some things were worth the risk.
And a student's life was definitely one of them.
---
**[QUEST UPDATE]**
**[WARNING: Gate Break event approaching]**
**[Han Sera - Survival Probability: 71% → 73%]**
**[Note: Student has been warned. Outcome uncertain.]**
**[Days Remaining: 4]**
**[HIDDEN OBJECTIVE DETECTED: Save additional Class F students]**
**[Success: Unknown Reward]**
**[Failure: Future timeline complications]**
Soo-hyun dismissed the notification.
Four days until everything changed.
Four days until a janitor would have to decide how much he was willing to risk to save students no one else cared about.
Four days until the world learned that sometimes the most dangerous person in the room is the one everyone ignores.
The countdown continued.
And Seoul Hunter Academy had no idea what was coming.