The horn's echo faded.
The monsters were gone.
Not dead—withdrawn.
Aiden slid down the wall and sat hard, chest heaving. Every muscle felt like it had been torn apart and stitched back together wrong.
Around him, the students slowly realized they were still alive.
Someone laughed shakily.
Someone else dropped to their knees.
A few just stared at Aiden like he wasn't real.
The System didn't speak.
That was worse.
Then—
[—RANK REVIEW INITIATED—]
Every student froze.
The E-12's face drained of color. "A review? Here?"
Aiden looked up slowly.
"…That's new."
The air thickened. Light bent. The cavern blurred as if reality itself was buffering.
A translucent pillar of light descended in the center of the chamber.
Inside it—nothing.
Just scrolling text.
[USER: AIDEN VALE]
[INITIAL RANK: ZERO]
[ANOMALIES DETECTED: 17]
[UNAUTHORIZED SURVIVALS: 3]
[UNLOGGED EVENTS: █████]
The students couldn't see most of it.
Aiden could.
His jaw tightened.
"Figures."
The System paused.
Longer than before.
[REVIEWING…]
[REVIEWING…]
[ERROR: EVALUATION PARAMETERS INSUFFICIENT]
The pillar flickered.
Aiden felt pressure behind his eyes—like someone digging through his memories.
He clenched his fists.
"Careful," he muttered. "You already broke me once."
The System responded instantly.
[WARNING: USER HOSTILITY LOGGED]
Aiden smiled without humor.
"Add it to the list."
The light surged.
[ALTERNATE METRIC APPLIED]
[COMBAT LEADERSHIP: ACCEPTABLE]
[SURVIVABILITY INDEX: EXTREME]
[THREAT RESPONSE: NONSTANDARD]
The E-12 whispered, "What is it saying?"
Aiden didn't answer.
Because the next line hit like a hammer.
[RANK ADJUSTMENT — PROVISIONAL]
The air cracked.
A new symbol burned into the light.
[NEW RANK: E-0]
The cavern went dead silent.
Someone gasped.
"…E-zero?"
"That's not a rank," another student whispered. "It skips from E-1 to—"
Aiden stared at the words.
E-0.
Not promoted.
Not normal.
Labeled.
The System wasn't done.
[NOTICE: USER REMAINS UNDER OBSERVATION]
[EXECUTION RIGHTS: SUSPENDED]
[CONDITIONAL TERMINATION: AUTHORIZED]
Aiden exhaled slowly.
"So," he said quietly, "I'm on probation."
The pillar vanished.
Reality snapped back into place.
The students backed away from him instinctively now.
The E-12 swallowed. "…What happens to you next?"
Aiden pushed himself to his feet, legs unsteady but holding.
He looked toward the tunnel where the horn had sounded.
"Now?" he said.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Now the System decides whether I'm a mistake—"
The mark on his chest pulsed once.
"—or a problem."
The System chimed one final time, almost reluctant.
[NEW DIRECTIVE RECEIVED]
[USER AIDEN VALE — TRANSFER PENDING]
The floor trembled.
A circular gate began forming in the air.
Aiden stared at it.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "That tracks."
He stepped forward—
—and the gate snapped shut.