’Well would you look at that.’ David thought. ’ isn’t that strangely comforting.’
He smiled faintly. The car continued deeper into the Upper Side.
Eventually, the buildings became more spaced out.
The roads widened.
David noticed fewer pedestrians.
Then fewer vehicles.
Until finally, the car turned onto a private road.
David straightened.
A massive iron gate stood ahead.
Two guards were positioned beside it.
They weren’t holding ordinary weapons.
David couldn’t tell exactly what they were carrying, but the equipment looked far too advanced to be standard security gear.
One of the guards noticed the vehicle.
He immediately stepped forward.
The other remained several feet behind him.
David watched them carefully.
The first guard leaned slightly toward the car.
Lion lowered the window.
The guard looked inside.
His eyes moved across Jenna, Nicole, and finally David.
For a moment, his expression changed.
It was brief.
Almost impossible to notice.
But David noticed.
’Why did he look at me like that?’
Then the guard stepped aside.
The gate opened.
David stared.
’So we’re really going in.’
The car passed through.
And that’s when David finally saw it.
The building wasn’t enormous.
It wasn’t some skyscraper.
It was a large, modern structure surrounded by several smaller buildings.
Training grounds stretched across one side.
David could see people moving through them.
Some were carrying weapons.
Others were fighting.
A few were doing things that made absolutely no sense.
One person raised his hand.
A burst of flame erupted from his palm.
David’s eyes widened.
’What the fuck?’
The flame disappeared a moment later.
Another person moved so quickly that David barely followed them.
Someone else stood several meters away and sent a wave of force crashing into a training dummy.
The dummy flew backward.
David slowly sank deeper into his seat.
’Okay.’
He swallowed.
’This is real.’
He had known it was real.
Technically.
Jenna had said it.
Nicole had said it.
He’d seen the dungeon.
He’d seen enough strange things already.
But hearing about magic and actually watching someone throw fire from their hand were two very different experiences.
His brain apparently needed visual evidence before it was willing to accept the situation.
Nicole glanced at him.
"You okay?"
David nodded.
"Yeah."
His voice came out strangely flat.
"I’m just reconsidering every fictional story I’ve ever watched."
Nicole laughed.
David kept staring through the window.
A woman in the training field suddenly lifted both hands.
A wall of ice formed in front of her.
David blinked.
It remained there.
Solid.
Real.
’So fantasy novels weren’t exaggerating.’
The car stopped in front of the main building.
Lion switched off the engine.
Everyone got out.
David followed slowly.
The moment his shoes touched the ground, he felt something.
A strange pressure.
It wasn’t physical.
It felt almost like the air itself had become heavier.
David’s eyes narrowed.
He looked around.
Nothing appeared different.
Yet his body had reacted before his mind could explain why.
His gaze moved toward the main building.
For a split second, the system flickered.
[Unknown Energy Detected.]
David froze.
’What?’
The message disappeared almost immediately.
He blinked.
Nothing.
The building looked exactly the same.
People continued walking.
Nobody reacted.
Nobody seemed to have noticed anything.
David stared at the spot where the notification had appeared.
’Did I imagine that?’
"David."
He looked up.
Jenna was standing several feet away, watching him.
"What?"
"You coming?"
David looked back at the building.
Then at Jenna.
Then at Lion.
Nicole.
Four people.
A strange organization.
Dungeons.
Magic.
Hunters.
And now an unknown energy that his system had detected.
He had no idea what awaited him inside.
But one thing was becoming increasingly obvious.
Running away wasn’t going to solve this.
Not yet.
If these people were telling the truth, then they knew things he needed to know.
And if they were lying...
David’s eyes narrowed.
’Then I’ll find out.’
He walked toward them.
"Yeah."
Jenna turned and started toward the entrance.
David followed.
As they reached the doors, they opened automatically.
The inside was even stranger.
People in different uniforms moved through the halls.
Some carried swords.
Others had weapons David couldn’t identify.
A few wore what looked like combat gear.
And everywhere he looked, there were screens displaying information he didn’t understand.
Ranks.
Names.
Numbers.
Mission statuses.
David’s attention moved rapidly from one thing to another.
A group of people walked past him.
One wore a black uniform with a silver emblem across the chest.
Another had a massive sword strapped across his back.
A third person was carrying what looked like a metal case.
Nobody seemed particularly interested in David.
That was almost disappointing.
He had half expected everyone to turn and stare at the suspicious civilian walking into their secret headquarters.
Instead, people simply continued with their business.
Which meant this place was probably used to strange things.
That thought didn’t help.
David slowed near one of the screens.
There were several names listed beneath different rankings.
Some had numbers beside them.
Others had symbols he didn’t recognize.
He couldn’t make sense of any of it.
"Don’t bother."
Jenna walked past him.
"You won’t understand those yet."
"Yet?"
She stopped.
David caught the word.
Jenna looked back.
"I said you won’t understand them."
"You definitely said yet."
"I didn’t."
"You did."
Nicole walked between them.
"She did."
Jenna gave her a look.
Nicole smiled innocently.
David almost laughed.
Then he noticed something else.
Nobody here looked particularly surprised to see Jenna.
They knew her.
They greeted her.
Some nodded.
Others stepped aside.
A few looked at Lion with obvious respect.
Nicole seemed equally comfortable.
David was the only person who didn’t know where he was.
’I’m definitely the weird one here.’
They continued down the corridor.
David kept his eyes moving.
There were doors marked with different symbols.
One appeared to lead toward a medical area.
Another had a warning sign beside it.
He didn’t know what the symbols meant, but he instinctively decided not to touch anything.
Eventually, Jenna suddenly stopped.
David nearly walked into her again.
She turned around.
"Before we go any further, there’s something you should understand."
David looked at her.
Her expression had changed.
No teasing.
No casual attitude.
For the first time since they’d met, Jenna looked completely serious.
David straightened slightly.
"You’ve seen something you weren’t supposed to see."
David remained silent.
"And that means there are two possibilities."
She held up one finger.
"Either you’re an Awakened whose abilities haven’t manifested normally..."
A second finger.
"Or you’re something none of us understand."
David’s stomach tightened.
He didn’t like either option.
Jenna lowered her hand.
"Either way, HQ needs to know what you are."
David stared at her.
"So I’m being tested."
"Investigated."
"That sounds worse."
"It isn’t."
"That’s exactly what someone investigating me would say."
Nicole covered her mouth.
David looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You’re laughing again."
"I breathed funny."
David shook his head.
"That’s getting old."
"No, it’s not."
Jenna sighed.
"Can you two finish?"
David looked back at her.
"How long will this take?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On what we find."
David’s expression became serious.
"And if you don’t find anything?"
Jenna held his gaze.
"Then we’ll figure out why."
That answer wasn’t particularly reassuring.
But there was something about the way she said it that made David believe her.
They weren’t planning to hurt him.
At least, not yet.
They genuinely wanted answers.
And, annoyingly, so did he.
David looked toward the hallway ahead.
Somewhere inside this building were people who understood dungeons.
People who understood magical energy.
People who knew what Hunters were.
And maybe, just maybe, someone who could explain the strange system that had been controlling his life.
He started walking again.
Jenna turned and led the way.
David followed.
But this time, his thoughts were no longer focused on escaping.
They were focused on something else.
’What exactly am I?’
The question stayed in his mind as they moved deeper into the building.
He’d spent the last day assuming that the strange events surrounding him were isolated incidents.
A dungeon.
A mysterious neighbor.
A strange ability.
A system he couldn’t explain.
He’d treated each thing as its own problem.
Now he was beginning to suspect they were all connected.
And that possibility was far more frightening than any monster he’d seen so far.
Because monsters could be fought.
People could be avoided.
Even dungeons could be sealed.
But if the system itself was connected to this world...
Then David had no idea where the line between his normal life and this new world actually ended.
And somewhere deep inside him, beneath the fear and confusion, another feeling began to grow.
Curiosity.
Because if this world had Hunters...
If dungeons were real...
If magic actually existed...
And if the system inside his head had known about all of it before he ever did—
Then perhaps his greatest mistake wasn’t getting caught.
Perhaps it was assuming that the system had given him powers without a reason.
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