Among the countless colossal chains, one of them carried a quiet, ugly scene.
A shapeless creature dragged a dog by its hair.
The animal's body scraped along the cold iron as it was pulled forward. Its legs twitched weakly, no longer strong enough to push against the metal. A thin trail of blood followed behind them, staining the chain in uneven streaks before dripping into the empty darkness below.
The dog tried to bark, but the sound came out broken and shallow.
Not long ago, there had been food.
It had fallen onto the chain with the same sharp sound the dog had learned to recognize over time. The dog had already trusted whoever sent the food with everything, It eat without caution.
This time the meat had tasted slightly bitter.
Moments later the dog's legs began to fail.
Its body grew heavy. The strength in its limbs drained away until it could no longer stand. When it collapsed onto the chain, the shapeless creature had already been waiting.
Now the dog was being dragged away.
The creature moved steadily across the chain, pulling the animal without effort. Strands of fur tore free in its grip. The dog's body slid across the iron links, leaving dark smears behind as its blood spread across the metal surface.
Its eyes trembled as it watched the chain passing beneath it.
Once those eyes had been sharp. They had followed patterns in the falling food, in the sounds of shifting metal, in the silent rhythms of a world that never explained itself.
The dog had once wandered freely across these endless paths of iron, crossing from chain to chain without belonging anywhere.
Now its body dragged helplessly behind something that had understood those patterns better than it ever could.
The creature continued forward, climbing across intersecting chains until it reached a towering pillar where countless metal links gathered together.
They wrapped around the structure like veins around a heart, feeding their slow movements into the center.
At the middle of the pillar hung a cage.
The shapeless creature opened the rusted gate and threw the dog inside.
The animal struck the iron floor heavily. Its ribs hit the metal with a dull sound and fresh blood spread beneath its body. It tried to move, but its limbs only twitched weakly before falling still again.
Even the effort to bark was gone now.
The creature closed the cage door and locked it.
For a moment it remained there, standing in silence while the dog lay motionless behind the bars. The chains around the pillar groaned softly as they continued their endless shifting, indifferent to what had just happened.
Then the creature turned and began to leave.
It had barely taken a few steps when the chains connected to the pillar began to move.
Metal scraped against metal as the enormous links slid across one another. Slowly they bent and circled outward from the pillar, surrounding the shapeless creature from every direction.
One chain rose behind it. Another curved across its path. Several more followed, tightening their formation until the creature found itself standing in the center of a second cage.
The final chain locked into place with a heavy sound.
The creature stopped moving.
Its unstable body trembled as the iron bars closed around it.
The pillar beneath the cages began to rise.
Slowly the entire structure lifted upward through the darkness, carried by something far larger than the chains themselves.
The shapeless creature looked up.
The pillar rested on a hand.
High above the chains stood a pale figure, calm and still, holding the entire structure effortlessly.
The ghost watched the trapped creature with quiet patience, its expression gentle.
The shapeless creature's body shivered violently as it realized what had happened.
Slowly, almost instinctively, it turned its head toward the first cage.
The dog inside was dissolving.
The fur disappeared first, slipping away from its body as if it had never existed. The skin followed soon after, thinning into nothing while the shape beneath it unraveled. Bone appeared briefly before fading as well, leaving behind only a faint outline that flickered once before vanishing entirely.
For a brief moment, the dog lifted its head.
A clear bark echoed through the chains.
The sound twisted strangely as it lingered in the air, bending into laughter that did not belong to any animal.
The shapeless creature stared as the last trace of the dog disappeared.
There had never been a dog.
Only... The ghost.
The creature slowly raised its gaze toward the ghost above.
The ghost looked down at it and smiled.
Tears slipped quietly from its pale eyes as it watched the shapeless creature trapped inside the cage formed by the chains.
***
The shadow slowly detached from Sunless and slid across the floor toward Kiyotaka with confidence.
Halfway there, it stopped moving and tilted slightly, clearly glancing back at Sunless with judgment.
It remained like that for a moment, as if silently blaming him for something that only it understood.
After a short pause, the shadow raised its hand and showed Kiyotaka a confident thumbs up before dissolving into the darkness beneath his feet.
Sunless stared at the ground with wide eyes, his expression slowly twisting into disbelief.
"My own shadow mocked me like this after everything we have been through."
His voice carried quiet anger as he clenched his fist and looked down at the floor.
"I swear I will make you run parkour until you collapse once this situation ends."
Kiyotaka calmly looked between Sunless and the place where the shadow disappeared before turning toward the door without saying anything.
Without another word, he walked out of the dorm and entered the quiet hallway of the academy.
***
Today was the third night, and Kiyotaka had spent every one of those nights carefully tracking the worker he intended to approach.
Kiyotaka closed his eyes while standing in the dim hallway and focused. He tried to feel whether the shadow hiding within him had any presence he could detect, but nothing answered his attempt.
There was no sign of it.
If that remained true, then Sunless could observe him whenever he wanted without Kiyotaka realizing it.
Kiyotaka opened his eyes slowly and glanced downward.
The shadow at his feet shifted faintly, its movement resembling someone quietly shaking with laughter.
Kiyotaka simply turned away and continued walking toward the staff room.
Three nights of observation had already given him everything he needed.
Kiyotaka stepped into view of it and leaned against the wall.
His eyes looked directly toward the camera lens while he stood there.
Several minutes passed before footsteps echoed down the hallway as a small group of workers approached the staff room.
Their quiet conversation stopped the moment they noticed him waiting beside the wall.
The group slowed slightly while looking toward him.
Kiyotaka could tell from their expressions that the rumors had already spread through the academy.
That outcome was not what he originally intended.
Kiyotaka had wanted the rumors to circulate only among people who held influence inside the academy.
Since that could no longer be undone, he would simply have to change his plans.
One of the workers stepped forward while the others slowed near the door.
"Kiyotaka, why are you standing here this late?"
It was the same man who had conducted his first interview.
Kiyotaka had already memorized his schedule during the last three days.
The worker noticed Kiyotaka glance toward the others and quickly understood what he meant. He gave the group a small gesture, telling them to go ahead inside while he handled the conversation himself.
The others entered the staff room, leaving the hallway quiet again.
The worker turned his attention fully toward Kiyotaka and spoke with a polite smile.
"I must admit, what you did during the trial surprised everyone. A few people were genuinely frightened watching that fight."
Kiyotaka nodded slightly before taking out a small notebook and writing a short response.
"I now understand my aspect ability. Could you retake the interview?"
The worker read the sentence carefully while holding the paper.
Normally such a request would require approval from several departments before being processed.
But Kiyotaka was not a normal student.
The academy had already labeled him the strongest among the current batch of awakened students.
Losing someone like that because of procedural delays would be unacceptable.
The worker looked up again.
Kiyotaka's face remained unreadable. He had no ears, no lips, and no nose, yet the strange calm in his gaze still created the unsettling feeling that he was examining everything around him.
The worker's eyes drifted briefly toward the dozens of scars.
One cutting through his eyebrow, One right on top of his throat.... And a lot more others places.
A small chill crawled along his spine before he forced himself to focus again.
Finally he nodded.
"Follow me. The cafeteria will be empty at this hour, so we can talk there without any interruptions."
Kiyotaka pushed away from the wall and followed him quietly through the hallways.
The academy building was nearly silent at this time of night. Most students had already returned to their dormitories, leaving only scattered lights glowing in distant rooms where staff continued their work.
Soon they entered the cafeteria.
Both of them sat down.
The worker rested his elbows on the table while studying Kiyotaka carefully.
"I assume you can read my lips?"
Kiyotaka nodded once in response.
The worker sighed lightly.
"My laptop is still in the office tonight, so I will record the answers manually and input them into the system later."
He pulled a small stack of paper from his pocket and began writing the questions down.
After finishing the first line he looked back up.
"Would you mind telling me what type of Aspect Ability you received? Combat, sorcery, or utility?"
Even as he asked the question, the worker already believed he knew the answer.
Anyone who had seen Kiyotaka defeat Caster would assume the same thing.
The memory of that fight still sent a faint chill across his skin.
He had watched the recording multiple times and still struggled to understand how someone moved with that level of control.
The worker noticed Kiyotaka writing a response.
When he looked down at the paper his eyes widened immediately.
Kiyotaka had written a single word.
"Utility."
The worker slowly repeated the word under his breath.
"Utility…?"
He stood up abruptly, the chair scraping loudly across the floor as disbelief broke through his usual calm expression.
The realization struck him harder with every passing second.
Kiyotaka had defeated Caster without using a combat aspect.
The worker forced himself to sit down again while trying to regain his composure.
If Kiyotaka already possessed that level of combat ability without an offensive aspect, then giving him one would have turned him into something completely unstoppable.
For a moment the worker actually felt sympathy toward him.
Someone with that level of skill being given only a utility ability almost seemed unfair.
The interview continued after that.
The worker asked several standard questions while recording Kiyotaka's written responses carefully. When the discussion reached the subject of his Flaw, Kiyotaka declined to answer, which the worker accepted without protest.
>>>
Just like that, the questions eventually came to an end as the worker slowly finished making notes of everything.
A smile lingered on his lips.
Usually, workers like him wore polite expressions meant to calm nervous students. A professional habit more than anything else.
This one was different. It wasn't forced and it wasn't part of procedure. It was genuine.
The worker couldn't explain why he felt so at ease speaking with this particular student. The conversation had been simple, nothing unusual.
For someone who spent most of his days sitting behind a desk interviewing anxious students and filing reports into the system, even that small feeling mattered more than he expected.
Still, the interview had to end.
With a quiet breath he closed the file and slowly stood up, the faint sense of comfort still lingering inside him. For a brief moment he even felt reluctant to leave the cafeteria.
He turned to go.
A sharp tap sounded against the table.
The worker paused and looked back.
Kiyotaka had tapped the surface of the desk once and was watching him calmly.
The worker turned fully, the same genuine smile returning to his face without effort.
"Yes, Kiyotaka? Did you need something?"
He knew he was already running late. The interview data still had to be entered into the system, and there were likely other worm waiting for him in the staff room. Yet none of those thoughts seemed particularly urgent at the moment.
Kiyotaka slid a piece of paper across the table.
The worker leaned forward slightly and read the words written on it.
"Do you want to see my Aspect ability?"
Interest flickered across the worker's face. Experiencing an Aspect ability firsthand was not something that happened often during interviews.
The offer made him feel oddly welcomed, as if Kiyotaka was allowing him to witness something personal.
"I wouldn't mind that," the worker said, his tone warmer than usual. "Seeing it firsthand would certainly help with the report."
For a moment, however, the worker noticed something faint in the air around Kiyotaka.
It was difficult to place.
The room had grown slightly colder, or perhaps quieter. The feeling brushed lightly against the edge of his instincts, the same vague discomfort that sometimes appeared when you stood at front of someone important.
He should have questioned it.
Instead, the thought drifted away almost as soon as it appeared. Kiyotaka was a good kid.
Kiyotaka calmly wrote something else and raised another sheet of paper.
The worker read it.
"Don't get scared or startled. It's necessary to begin the vow."
The worker tilted his head slightly, uncertain what exactly Kiyotaka meant by that. The word Vow lingered in his mind for a moment, but before he could ask anything, Kiyotaka raised two fingers in front of him.
The air shifted.
Two chains appeared on the ground between them.
The worker instinctively stepped back.
The chains were made of something he could not describe, but they shone with a strange pale radiance that ran along their surface... It felt divnity inside iron. The faint glow reflected in the worker's widened eyes as he stared at them.
Instead of fear, however, a strange admiration surfaced within him.
Seeing such an ability up close only made the warmth he felt toward Kiyotaka deepen. The chains looked powerful, almost sacred, and for some reason the worker felt oddly proud that the student had chosen to show it to him.
Across the table, Kiyotaka's eyes narrowed slightly.
His Attribute [Embraced by Fate] Seems to become stronger when combined with [Binding Vow].
Kiyotaka slowly raised his two fingers higher and spread them apart.
One of the chains lifted from the ground and moved toward him, sliding through the air before sinking directly into his neck and to soul.
The other chain moved in the opposite direction.
It stopped right in front of the worker.
The metal hovered there silently, its faint glow reflecting across the worker's face.
Kiyotaka held up another sheet of paper.
"Don't fight it. Accept it."
The worker hesitated only for a brief moment.
Something about the situation should have felt wrong. The sight of a chain reaching toward his soul should have alarmed him, yet the strange comfort that had been building throughout the conversation remained.
He trusted Kiyotaka.
So he allowed it.
The moment he accepted it, the chain connected.
A faint sensation passed through him as if something invisible had been pulled from deep inside his body.
Then the warmth vanished.
The worker blinked.
The comfortable haze that had surrounded his thoughts dissolved instantly, leaving his mind clear again.
He straightened slightly, suddenly aware that something had just happened.
It hadn't been much. The loss was too small to clearly recognize as interference. Someone in his profession was trained to remain calm even around strange abilities, so his expression stayed polite and controlled.
But his instincts stirred sharply now.
Something was wrong.
The feeling crawled up his spine with urgency, telling him to leave.
Without another word he turned toward the door, intending to walk to the staff room and file the report as he originally planned.
He took a step.
Metal scraped softly behind him.
The worker froze.
Chains slid across the floor as they extended with his movement.
Slowly he turned his head.
The chain that had touched him was still there.
It stretched from the ground toward him like a leash attached to something unseen.
A cold sensation spread through his chest.
Above the chains, glowing runes began to appear in the air.
They formed slowly, each symbol burning with pale light as if carved into reality itself.
The worker's eyes widened.
For the first time since entering the room, he truly looked at Kiyotaka.
The boy sat calmly behind the table, fingers still raised, the other chain disappearing inside his throat.
The faint glow of the runes reflected in his eyes.
In that moment, the worker felt as though something ancient and merciless had been quietly waiting behind that calm expression the entire time.
The warmth he had felt earlier now seemed grotesque in hindsight.
And as the chains tightened softly with a slow metallic sound, the worker suddenly realized that the boy sitting across from him did not look like a student anymore.
***
Kiyotaka had figured out a new way to use his Aspect Ability. The idea had come to him when he formed a Binding Vow with Sunless, and now he intended to test it on someone who had already accepted the chains connecting their souls.
The chains were already present between them.
The thought formed in his mind and the runes responded immediately, brightening as the chant appeared above the chains.
[Fate bears witness.
Bind your life to your word and say, "I vow."
For the threads of destiny are listening, and once spoken, this promise will hold your breath and heartbeat in its grasp.
Break it, twist it, or betray it, and death will come without delay.
Refuse the vow.
Remain silent.
And death will claim you all the same.
Choose your words carefully.
Fate is already watching.]
The worker, who was no longer under the subtle pull of [Embraced by Fate] slowly looked toward Kiyotaka as the full meaning of the chant settled inside his mind.
Horror crept into his expression as he stared at the chains stretching between them and the runes that hung above.
"What is the meaning of this, Kiyotaka?" the worker asked, his voice steady only because years of training had forced his instincts to remain calm in strange situations.
Kiyotaka lowered his gaze toward the paper on the table and began writing with the same quiet composure he had shown during the interview.
The worker watched the pen move across the page before Kiyotaka pushed the paper toward him without saying a word.
"This chant was mentioned in my Aspect ability description. I cannot use this ability without making a vow. Say I vow to continue the process."
The worker read the sentence once and then again, the meaning slowly tightening around his thoughts as he realized the position he had placed himself in.
He took a step backward, testing the chain connected to his soul as if hoping the connection would fade if he simply moved away.
The chain followed him without resistance, sliding across the floor with a faint metallic sound that made his stomach tighten.
The connection had already been accepted and the vow had already begun forming around both of them.
His mind raced as he tried to understand how he had allowed this to happen in the first place, because experimenting with an Aspect Ability was something even experienced Awakened treated with caution.
The answer only made the situation worse.
He had trusted the boy sitting in front of him.
Three days ago he had only seen Kiyotaka briefly during the earlier events, short interview, And the fight against Catser... While impressive even that should never have been enough to lower his guard this much.
Yet he had allowed the chains to connect to his soul without hesitation, and now he stood there realizing that he had placed his own life into the hands of someone he barely knew.
The runes above them remained still, glowing patiently as if they were waiting for the next step.
The worker understood that silence would not save him.
After several seconds of hesitation he finally spoke, the words leaving his mouth quietly.
"I vow."
The moment the sentence was spoken the runes shifted again, rearranging themselves into clear lines of glowing script that hovered in the air between the two of them.
...
The worker read the new lines carefully as they formed, and a cold shiver moved across his skin as he began to understand what this ability truly meant.
The implications settled slowly inside his mind while his eyes moved from the runes toward Kiyotaka and then back again.
This was not an ordinary power meant for simple utility.
If Kiyotaka returned alive from the Dream Realm then every faction in the waking world would want someone like him standing beside them, because an ability that could bind agreements like this would erase the possibility of betrayal completely.
Any deal formed under this vow would become absolute, enforced by something that neither side could resist once the terms had been accepted.
The runes shifted again while the chains tightened slightly between them.
[Those Who Step Before the Loom]
Kiyotaka.
Johnny.
***
The worker stiffened slightly when his own name appeared among the runes, because seeing it written there made the situation feel far more real than before.
The glowing symbols continued to move as the vow expanded into its next part.
[The Measure of the Thread]
Kiyotaka: Until this night ends.
Johnny: Until this night ends.
The worker continued reading without blinking, knowing that the vow had already advanced far enough that refusing it now would only trigger the consequences described earlier in the chant.
The next set of runes formed slowly, each symbol appearing with quiet precision as the vow reached the stage called the Sacred Equilibrium.
Johnny narrowed his eyes while studying the structure of the vow forming above them, because he understood that this part required both sides to demand something from the other in order to balance the agreement.
At first he almost assumed Kiyotaka had done this only to force him into an uncomfortable situation, A prank some might say, but Johnny was not an amateur who would ignore an opportunity once he saw it.
If he was already trapped inside the vow then he would use it.
He remained silent for several seconds while thinking through the possibilities, carefully deciding what he would demand in return for participating in this strange experiment.
The runes responded to his decision and began forming the terms in the air.
[The Sacred Equilibrium]
Kiyotaka: Go through all the interview data while submitting my data.
Johnny: Answer whatever I say truthfully even if it must be written. I will not ask about your Flaw or falsely question your Aspect for ten minutes.
Kiyotaka looked toward the runes quietly while reading the terms that had appeared, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the request forming in front of him.
The room had grown silent except for the faint sound of the chains shifting across the floor.
The final set of runes appeared above them soon after.
[The Judgment of the Unseen]
Fate now stands witness to this vow.
If the Measure of the Thread is fulfilled, the chains will fade and release you both, their purpose complete.
But if the vow is broken, the chains will pass judgment themselves, tightening around the betrayer's soul until nothing remains. Fate does not forgive. It only enforces.
***
As both of them accepted the vow, the chains reacted immediately. The glow around them deepened and a quiet pressure filled the room while the runes finished settling into place above their heads.
Neither of them spoke while the vow completed itself, and then a small portion of their essence was taken from both sides.
Finally, The chains dissapeared.
Johnny exhaled slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose while a faint sheen of sweat appeared across his forehead.
The pressure left by the vow lingered inside his chest for a moment before slowly fading.
After a few seconds he pulled the chair back and sat down again.
Kiyotaka returned to his seat as well.
it was time for Johnny's questions.
He understood the situation clearly. The vow allowed him to ask questions and receive truthful answers, but wasting the opportunity on selfish curiosity would be a mistake.
Someone with an ability like this would become extremely valuable if he survived the Dream Realm, and antagonizing him for no reason would only create problems.
Johnny leaned slightly forward before speaking.
"Your Aspect Ability. Will it expose the interview data to someone else?"
The question was reasonable.
Kiyotaka's request had been unusual, and Johnny wanted to make sure the vow would not create complications once the data was entered into the system.
Kiyotaka listened quietly and tilted his head slightly.
He took the paper again and began writing with slow, steady movements.
Kiyotaka tried to lie for a second as expiriment, He felt s great amount of pain, So he just continued with truth.
Johnny waited while the pen moved across the page before Kiyotaka turned the sheet toward him.
"It will only show the data to those around the computer while you work on it. My Aspect Ability is meant for deals as far as I have understood."
Johnny read the explanation carefully.
The answer made sense. The ability was not reaching into anyone's mind or spreading information on its own. It simply enforced the agreement that had been made between the two people connected by the chains.
He looked at Kiyotaka again before asking the next question.
"Will anyone know the context of the data?"
Kiyotaka stared at him for a moment with a quiet expression that made the question seem somewhat unnecessary.
He still wrote the answer.
"Yes. Data like that will obviously be reviewed by the government."
Johnny made a small face as he realized how simple the answer was.
The question had been obvious, but he had asked it anyway just to make sure nothing strange would interfere with the reporting process.
Once he was satisfied he slowly stood up from the chair.
There were still several minutes left in the vow during which he could ask more questions. However, pushing further into personal territory would risk irritating someone who possessed a very rare ability.
Johnny decided it was better to leave things as they were.
He stretched slightly and glanced toward the door.
"Looks like this is it. I will probably spend the next half hour sitting at the computer pressing next while the system processes everything."
Despite the inconvenience he did not seem particularly unhappy.
He had discovered Kiyotaka before anyone else fully understood what kind of ability the boy possessed.
Johnny turned back toward him.
"My name is Johnny, as you probably saw in the runes earlier. I hope we can get along in the future."
Kiyotaka watched him quietly before giving a small nod.
He extended his hand across the table.
Johnny smiled and reached forward, clasping it in a firm handshake.
For Johnny it felt like a normal gesture that marked the end of a strange but professional interaction.
Their hands remained joined for a brief moment.
The contact between them caused their shadows to merge across the floor beneath the table, the two shapes touching naturally under the dim light of the room.
Within that joined darkness, something subtle shifted.
A thin strand of darkness peeled away from Kiyotaka's shadow and slipped forward through the point where the two shadows overlapped.
Because the shadows were already touching, there was nothing unusual to notice.
The darkness passed from one shadow into the other and settled inside it without disturbance.
********
So… how was this so-called "Hacking"?
I actually need some advice from you all, so answer honestly. Should I rush the Academy arc, or should I take my time with it? I think I'll need about three more chapters to finish it properly, but in the original novel G3 mostly skimmed through this part, so I'm a bit unsure about the pacing.
Do you guys enjoy the Academy arc enough to read a few more chapters of it, or would you rather I move through it quickly?
I had some free time today and realized the "hacking" part was getting pretty big, so I decided it deserved its own chapter instead of cramming it into another one.
Next chapter → Either Sunday or Monday.