Author Note: Story begins
_____
The arrow pulsed toward the C-Wing.He followed.
Eventually, Ryuen reached the destination.
Standing in C-Wing's grand corridor, he paused in front of a door that looked like it didn't belong in a dormitory at all. Black matte with gold-trimmed patterns — elegant, sharp, excessive.
He lifted a hand to knock, but hesitated.
The surface gleamed like obsidian. It looked like even his knuckles would leave a mark.
So he knocked — lightly.
Almost apologetically.
A second passed.
Then the door slid open on its own, perfectly smooth, perfectly silent.
Ryuen stepped back. He expected someone to be waiting — but there was no one. Just a deep, still silence behind the threshold.
'An automatic door?'
He stared, blinking. Even that was too luxurious. His own room barely had lighting sensors.
Still, he crossed the line. The door sealed shut behind him.
'You're just dust in a place like this,' his mind muttered.
But his feet kept walking.
The room looked even more expensive than the door.
Larger. Quieter.
A thin layer of sunlight filtered through the windows, casting pale gold across black-polished walls. Everything was too clean. Too curated.
A space built to intimidate — without ever raising its voice.
A long mahogany table stretched through the center—empty, polished, waiting.
The walls were dressed in muted emblems and regular sins — projections etched into the panels themselves, glowing faintly with some uncoded law.
They hummed like they'd been there longer than memory.
And then… there was the chair.
An executive beast of black leather and gold trim — oversized. Intentionally.
Someone sat on it.
Leaning back. One arm draped lazily over the edge.
Like he'd been waiting.
Their eyes met.
Ryuen froze.
"Timm?!" Ryuen's voice cracked out, disbelieving.
Across the room, Timm sat draped in the oversized chair like he owned the place — one leg hooked over the armrest, a half-smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"You took longer than you should have," he said smoothly. "I'm letting it slide this time. Don't make it a habit."
That calm, taunting tone — Ryuen hated it. It always sounded like Timm was speaking from a throne. Like everything beneath him was entertainment.
"Let's not waste time," Timm added. He spun toward the desk, fingers gliding across the sleek interface. The screen lit up with soft glyph-blue light, humming to life. It didn't even look like a computer — more like the room itself was responding to him.
"Card," Timm ordered, still typing, not even glancing back.
Ryuen hesitated, then stepped forward and placed his ID card beside the terminal.
He didn't say anything — but his mind raced.
Why the hell does he need my ID?
No mission required this. No standard check-in worked this way.
But questioning Timm here would be suicide. Not in front of whatever tech he was linked into.
Without pause, Timm slid the card into a scanner port and began typing even faster. Lines of code scrolled vertically down the translucent screen, flickering in strange patterns. Data began syncing — but Ryuen couldn't read what it was pulling.
He stood still, jaw tight. Watching. Waiting.
Not knowing if this was some protocol...
...or a setup.
And then, a soft chime broke the silence.
[ID Card: Access Level – Upgraded]
Timm retrieved the card and tossed it back across the desk. Ryuen caught it on reflex, staring at the black-and-gold trim now framing his once-standard ID. Sleek. Elite. Untouchable.
He blinked twice. The system wasn't lying — it had actually changed.
"Now you have resources," Timm said flatly.
Ryuen's grip tightened. There it was. A power shift. Unasked for, unexplained — and somehow… calculated. His eyes darted to Timm.
"I'm just fulfilling the promise I made to my mother," Timm added, that signature smirk twitching at the edge of his mouth — like he'd plucked the question straight out of Ryuen's mind.
Ryuen let out an awkward laugh — part disbelief, part discomfort. He glanced down, suddenly unsure whether to thank him or throw the card back.
But Timm wasn't smirking anymore.
He rose from his seat — slow, deliberate — and stepped toward the window, hands behind his back like some quiet monarch addressing his court.
"But in exchange," he said without turning around, "you'll work for me... big brother."
Ryuen felt the words crawl under his skin.
"From this moment on, you work under me. You follow my orders — without hesitation, without questions — and I'll make sure you get to live the life you're so desperately chasing."
Ryuen clenched his fist.
'Damn it… he's giving me resources… I can't reject.'
"Orders?" he asked, jaw tight.
"Yes," Timm replied coolly, stepping away from the window and pulling it shut with a soft click. He turned, meeting Ryuen's gaze head-on — not with warmth, but with surgical indifference.
"What do you think of the deal?" Timm asked, voice flat. "You're already getting more than you deserve."
Ryuen held the stare, masking the pressure in his chest.
"Good… yeah, for sure," he muttered, perfectly controlling the anger
Timm tilted his head, like a man inspecting a tool.
"The job is simple. I'll tell you what to do. You report back. That's all you have to give me."
Ryuen nodded once. No words. Just restraint — ironclad and burning under the surface. He already knew what would happen if he pushed back.
Timm smirked faintly. "You can leave now."
Ryuen left the room, but he didn't miss the chance to glance back — just once — at the luxury behind him.
Walking through the corridor, he couldn't shake the thought.
'I've never seen anything that rich…
Even our house wasn't close. Guess Mary really was saving everything for her son.'
He let out a sigh, the words slipping out in silence.
'I wish I was Timm.'
He shoved both hands into his pant pockets, more out of frustration than habit — but then his fingers brushed against something in the right one. His heart skipped.
He froze mid-step. 'Wait… what?'
Pulling it out slowly, he stared at the card. Black. Smooth. Trimmed in gold. His eyes lit up like a spotlight, practically glowing across the empty hallway. A grin stretched across his face — from one ear to the other.
It was like holding a miracle.
But then doubt hit.
'Wait… does this thing even have money on it? Or did that bastard just skin it to look premium?'
He tapped it. A digital panel flickered open — and even the interface looked different now, sleek and elite, no longer the dull student-grade version he had before.
–Balance: 1000 cenyts–
"A thousand…?"
The words slipped out louder than he intended.
"Hey, something wrong?" a voice echoed from down the F-wing corridor.
Ryuen's head snapped toward the sound. A tall boy strolled over with lazy confidence. Shoulder-length brown hair fell partly over one eye. He looked like he didn't care how he looked—and somehow that made him look like he knew exactly how good he looked.
Ryuen instantly swiped the panel away and shoved the card back into his pocket.
"N-no, I'm fine," he replied quickly. "Just… happy to be here. D.M.I., you know?"
The boy grinned. "Yeah, first day can be surreal."
He offered a casual wave. "Name's Kewinth Hai. But most just call me Kevin. Room's over in C-Wing. Paid through the nose for it, too."
Ryuen raised a brow.
'Why the hell is he giving me detail without being asked? Why'd i care?!'
Kevin kept talking like they were old friends.
Ryuen gave a slow nod. "Yeah. I'm Ryuen Kael."
"Kael?!..,
huh. Cool. Well, if you ever need anything—or someone to tag with—just yell. First year's rough. Even rougher when you're not on the right side of things."
Ryuen blinked. "You know your way around already?"
"Let's say I… read the map early," Kevin said with a casual smirk. Then he turned, tossing a two-fingered salute. "Catch you later, Ryuen."
As the hallway emptied out, Ryuen stood silent.
'That guy... he's strange.'
–Unlocked–
Ryuen stepped into his room and locked the door behind him.
He sat on the edge of the bed and slowly pulled the black card back out.
'Why give me money now? After all these years? He's never given me anything but bruises and orders...'
His thumb grazed the golden edge.
'And this mission... just what the hell is Timm planning?'
___
Slowly Ryuen's eyelids open.
He yawned, rubbing his eyes as he dragged himself toward the clock on the desk.
1:10AM
'Tch. I fell asleep like that again!'
*BUZZ
Something vibrated near his hand.
He looked around and spotted it– his card showing a new received notification.
–Message by Timm Kael–
"Why is he messaging me this late at night?"
He couldn't help but open the message.
–Timm: Seems like you're awake now. Perfect time for the mission–