The air outside the hall was cooler than Lian expected.

The metal doors closed behind him, and the heavy noise of the hall disappeared in an instant.

For a few seconds he just stood there; his hands in his pockets, his gaze fixed on the wide grounds of the National Academy.

The white and silver colored buildings shone under the evening light. Stone paths, neat gardens, training towers, and students moving around in black and blue uniforms.

A place where the future of the country’s Awakened was built, and a place he had practically no connection to.

But luckily, the job of an Analyzer did not require you to be an Awakened. Anyone could become an Analyzer, and he had one of the highest scores in this field.

"You finally came."

Lian turned his head.

A boy with dark brown hair was sitting on the railings by the stairs, holding a cold drink bottle. His face was calm, and his usual half-mocking smile was there.

Kain Mercer, his childhood friend, and one of the few people who still treated him like a normal person.

Kain tossed the second bottle toward him. Lian caught it without effort.

"So?"

"People still love watching others fail." Lian opened the bottle and took a sip.

"At least the device didn’t explode this time." Kain laughed. During Lian’s first awakening attempt, the sphere had exploded. Of course, everyone thought it was because the sphere had a problem.

"That’s a big improvement." Lian gave him a dry look.

Kain jumped down from the railing and locked his hands behind his back.

"Well, let’s take a walk around before the ceremony starts. You still haven’t seen half the academy."

Lian didn’t object. The two entered the academy’s main path.

The hallways of the National Academy looked more like a military facility than a school.

Holographic screens on the walls showed student rankings, and logos of famous guilds appeared on advertisement banners.

<BLACK FLAG Guild>

<Astral Union Recruitment>

<Valen Corporation Talent Program>

A few students were fighting in the training area. One of them blew up a metal dummy with his flaming fist, and cheers from those around grew loud.

Lian turned his gaze away without interest.

"Does it still get on your nerves?" Kain had noticed his short look.

"No." His answer was quick, too quick.

Kain said nothing. Even though they were childhood friends, he really didn’t know what was going on in Lian’s mind.

When they reached the central building, more people were seen.

Most students were moving toward the assembly hall, where the Student Council President and his Vice President were going to give a speech for the new students.

"I heard the President himself is coming this year. Seems like the Tenth Realm thing is pretty serious." Kain said as he put his hands into his uniform pockets.

"People say that every time, but if we’re lucky, this could be the last one." Lian shrugged.

They entered the huge hall.

Long rows of seats continued up near the main platform, and white light shone in through the glass ceiling.

Lian and Kain sat in the middle rows. At that moment, Lian’s gaze fixed on a girl in the first row.

Long light brown hair, a calm face, and a neat academy uniform.

Elena Hartwell.

His ex-girlfriend.

His girlfriend, or, more accurately, his ex-fiancée, who unfortunately or fortunately tore up their engagement contract and called off the engagement.

She believed that the two of them no longer belonged to the same world, and that marrying him would only hold back her future progress.

Next to her sat a tall boy with dark gray hair. The special uniform for top students had a four-star gold badge on his shoulder.

Roderick Ashn.

"After you two broke up, she got into a relationship with Roderick." Kain followed Lian’s gaze and let out a short sigh.

Lian said nothing.

"That guy’s a monster. He got a four-star class. They say several top-rank guilds have already sent him offers." Kain continued.

"And Elena has a three-star class. Although it’s not as rare as four-star... she’s still considered one of the best."

Lian was quiet for a few seconds.

"The new realm comes tonight, right?" he then said quietly.

Kain understood that he had purposely changed the subject and played along.

"Yeah." His voice was more serious this time.

"The Tenth Realm."

Even those around them were talking about the same thing.

Tonight, the sky would change again.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the first realm had entered Earth’s dimensional orbit. At first, people thought it was something like a new planet or moon.

But they soon realized they were wrong. Those were worlds. Ruined realms that appeared in the sky like moons.

And through gates connected to those realms, monsters had entered Earth.

According to realm specialists, those worlds once had advanced civilizations.

Cities, empires, civilizations that were now just ruins full of monsters.

No one knew where those creatures had come from, only that they had destroyed everything.

Even now, each realm was like a game-like world, at least for the Awakened. The difference was, if you got killed there, you really died.

"So far nine realms have appeared, and humanity has cleared all nine." Kain looked at the glass ceiling of the hall.

"They all think the tenth is the last." Lian said quietly.

"They hope." Actually, this wasn’t just an empty claim. There were reasons and theories behind it.

Kain paused, then gave him a side look.

"But the scary part is always the first night."

Lian said nothing. There was no need. Every child in the world knew the story of the first night. The night a new realm appeared, twenty-five thousand people would vanish randomly.

From all over the world, old, young, Awakened, normal. There was no rule. They would be summoned directly to the new realm.

Like sacrifices. And almost no one ever came back alive.

"Do you think you’ll get summoned tonight?" Kain suddenly laughed.

"I don’t think I’m that unlucky." Lian gave a short laugh too.

At that moment, the noise in the hall quieted down. Several people appeared on the main platform.

The Student Council President stood in the center. A handsome boy in a formal white uniform with the golden Student Council badge on his chest.

But Lian’s attention did not stay on him.

Instead, it fixed on the tall girl standing next to him. Long black hair, a cold face, and icy eyes.

Seraphina.

His childhood friend, and now the Vice President of the Student Council.

Their eyes met for a brief moment, but what Lian saw in that look was only coldness and anger.

"She’s still angry at you, huh?" Kain laughed quietly.

"Apparently." Lian sighed.

"Well, what did you expect?" Kain shrugged.

Lian didn’t answer.

The speech began, but he barely listened to any of it.

His mind was too tired to care about hopeful words about the future, honor, and the new generation.

After the ceremony ended, the crowd slowly started leaving the hall.

Lian and Kain also headed toward the exit, but just before reaching the doors, someone blocked their way.

"Haha... Lian? Is that you?" Roderick Ashn stood in front of them with a smile on his face.

Elena was nowhere to be seen. Either she had already left the hall or had gone somewhere else.

"How many people do you think have a face as handsome as mine?" Lian gave him a short look and said quietly.

"I didn’t think I’d see you again after high school. And it seems you’re still the same self-obsessed jerk." Roderick laughed.

"Well... what are you doing here? Did you become an Awakened?"

He paused for a few seconds, then laughed himself.

"Though I doubt it."

Lian didn’t react.

Roderick’s gaze went down and fixed on the name tag on Lian’s chest.

Lian Vonhelm

"Oh? You still kept that family name?" His eyebrow rose a little.

Just as he was about to continue, a boy hurried toward him.

"Mr. Ashn, the Student Council President wants to see you."

Roderick clicked his tongue against his teeth, and before leaving, he got a little closer to Lian.

His voice lowered.

"You know... trash like you doesn’t deserve that family name." His smile deepened.

"So you better throw it away before people make fun of you because of it."

Then he straightened up.

"See you later."

And left.

A few seconds of silence remained between Lian and Kain.

"What did he tell you?" Kain finally asked.

"Nothing." Lian sighed

That night, after dinner, the dorms were quieter than ever. Everyone was waiting for the Tenth Realm to appear.

"You really don’t want to see it?" Kain stood by the window.

He and Lian shared a dorm. Their dorm was like a modern one, with two normal beds, a bathroom, and a closet for their clothes. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"No." Lian was lying on his bed with his eyes closed.

"What a buzzkill. Come on, it’s the Tenth Realm after all." Kain laughed.

"It’s just one more star added to the sky. Nothing special." Lian said without opening his eyes.

Kain mumbled under his breath.

But Lian was no longer listening. Today had been long. Academy registration, the awakening test, and then the speech.

And unlike the Awakened, his body was still that of a normal person. Fatigue came to him much sooner.

He fell asleep quietly in the darkness. He hoped that at least unlike the day, he could have a restful sleep.

Time passed slowly, and when he opened his eyes again, a strong stench filled his nose.

Something heavy was pressing down on his body. Breathing was hard.

Lian moved his hand with a frown. A warm, thick liquid spread on his skin.

Blood!

His eyes suddenly opened wide. A reddish darkness covered everything around him.

He struggled and pulled himself forward, and finally his head came out from under something.

And then his body froze. He was trapped in the middle of a mountain of monster corpses. Thousands of carcasses piled on top of each other!

Some were huge, some were torn apart. The smell of blood and death filled the entire space.

The sky above him was red. No sun was seen, no moon either. Just red darkness.

"...I’m not really that unlucky, right?" Lian’s lips moved quietly.

At that moment, a glowing screen appeared in front of his eyes.

[You Have Been Selected As One Of The 25,000 Sacrifices]

[Welcome To The Ruined Realm]