Gundolf blinked, staring into empty air with a dumbfounded expression.
'Infected?'
The term took a few moments to register. Then, as realization hit, his face paled in horror.
"Shit!"
Without hesitation, Gundolf stood and moved toward the classroom door with quickened pace.
Chloe and Marcus must have noticed something was wrong because they glanced at him, confusion written clearly across their faces. The rest of the classroom weren't spared either.
"Dude, what's wrong? Why are you leaving? Class is about to start!" asked the blue-haired boy.
Gritting his teeth, Gundolf turned back and declared without shame:
"I'm going to take a shit! Do you want to accompany me to the toilet?!"
Marcus froze, dumbfounded, then muttered in disgust.
"What the hell, man? Why must you make everything gay? If you wanted to take a shit, you should've just left it at that!"
Thankfully, the idiot was convinced with just that. However, Chloe's gaze narrowed. Her eyes held a hint of understanding, though she didn't know the full situation.
Seconds later, Gundolf exited the classroom, but he didn't head to the toilet as he had claimed. Instead, he darted down the hall, weaving through the corridors with urgent purpose.
His mind raced. The murmur of the Black Mire still echoed in his thoughts, a constant, unnerving whisper: [You have been infected by the Black Mire.]
This wasn't a trivial matter. He had to get off school grounds at once!
'Damn it… why did this have to happen here, of all places?!'
Muttering to himself, he soon slipped out of the academy.
† †
The Mire first appeared in the world around 2018. Mysterious towers had suddenly materialized across the globe, and neither scientists nor experts from major powers like the United States, China, or Japan could offer any explanation.
Nobody knew anything about the Mire, and no one knew where it had come from.
Truly, it was a complicated situation. At first, the sudden appearance of those structures filled humanity with unimaginable terror, and some even believed the world was coming to an end. After all, countless stories had followed this exact pattern, so their fears were not entirely unfounded.
Of course, governments kept the public in the dark while they examined the strange structures. Rushing to a decision could have disastrous consequences for all parties involved. But not every nation shared that cautious mindset. The governing party in Ukraine, for instance, attempted to destroy the towering structure that had appeared there using heavy bombardment. As one might expect, the method failed.
Surprisingly, though, nothing happened afterward. No monsters emerged, no unforeseen horrors descended from the towers.
Nothing at all.
For this reason, governments began to deem the towers harmless, though investigations continued regardless. Everyone was fixated on the mysterious towers, so much so that they failed to notice the threat quietly spreading around them.
Humans began dying inexplicably, their bodies transforming into monsters without warning. Chaos Creatures swiftly overwhelmed military forces, plunging the world into darkness. More than half of the global population was wiped out in a single night, and countless more perished in the following days.
Eventually, a beacon of salvation appeared for the first time.
« Espers »
Extraordinary individuals who had obtained unholy power from the Mire and mastered the infection. Armed with these inexplicable abilities, they effortlessly annihilated the monster hordes and established a fragile semblance of order.
This was only the first calamity brought by the Black Mire. Humanity came to call it the First Cataclysm, followed by the Second and Third Cataclysms.
For an ordinary person, being chosen by the Black Mire was as much a risk as it was an opportunity. While climbing the towers, one could acquire void crystals, which were far more valuable than earthly resources, since they could be used to craft Mythic Relics, artifacts wieldable only by Drifters. Even a single high-tier Mythic Relic was worth millions of dollars on the black market, enough to buy several luxury homes or even a small fleet of vehicles. Even Low-tier Relics were far beyond the reach of ordinary humans.
The richer and better equipped you were, the higher your chances of surviving.
But to Gundolf, this felt like nothing more than a death sentence. Death would claim all things eventually, regardless of how wealthy a person was or how powerful they claimed to be.
'What is this situation?'
He was caught off guard.
One moment, Gundolf found himself standing in front of the Awakened Association, explaining the situation to the security guards. The next, he was being strapped to a rather uncomfortable bed, surrounded by several menacing-looking individuals. They did not seem remotely friendly.
The room itself was in the basement of the association, with thick armored walls enclosing them, and a formidable vault door loomed at one side. Officers lined the walls, automatic rifles in hand. Their eyes were cold and watchful.
Surely… they weren't going to use those on him, were they? The guards looked like they would shoot a herd of defenseless rabbits if given the order.
Soon, the vault door creaked open, and someone stepped inside. A young man, seemingly in his late twenties, entered the room. He wore a black suit, his blonde hair slicked back neatly, and his features were undoubtedly handsome, but his eyes were stern and hardened, as if he had witnessed countless horrors.
He signaled to the guards, and they stepped back, leaving him alone with Gundolf. His gaze settled on Gundolf, assessing him carefully.
"What's your name?"
"G-Gundolf," he stammered, his eyes flicking nervously toward the guards before returning to the man in the suit.
The man nodded slightly, as if noting the name in some invisible ledger. Then he spoke.
"My name is Christopher. I'll be acting as a representative of the Awakened Esper Association. Do you understand why you're here?"
Gundolf shook his head.
"Not really. One moment I was at school… then I heard a strange Murmur, but there was no one around. Next thing I know, I'm here. I just… followed the protocols I usually see on the news."
Christopher's eyes narrowed.
"To put it bluntly, you've been infected by the Black Mire."
Gundolf's stomach sank.
"I… I don't understand. How did it come to this?"
Christopher shrugged.
"How am I supposed to know? The Black Mire or as the locals call it, the Spire of Worms, is unpredictable. Sometimes, people are chosen to climb the tower, but there's no way to tell who will be selected. Those infected… are what we call the Infected. If you awaken successfully, you'll become a Esper. If not… you die, and your body transforms into a monster. It's as simple as that."
Gundolf trembled.
The thought of his body twisting into a hideous entity sent a chill down his spine. Even more unnerving was the officer's complete nonchalance about the situation.
Were all Awakened like this? He couldn't even begin to imagine.
Christopher continued speaking, his tone calm and measured:
"You did well coming here. It would have been catastrophic if your transformation had begun in a crowded area, it would have been nearly impossible to contain and evacuate the civilians safely. Have you heard of the Shinra Incident?"
Gundolf repeated,
"The Shinra Incident…? What is that?"
Christopher's gaze hardened, his expression darkening as he recalled the event.
"It happened shortly after the first major outbreak of the Mire. A high school in Japan became ground zero. One student, an Infected, began their transformation inside the building. The authorities weren't prepared. Following that, chaos erupted, and by the time the situation was contained, hundreds had already perished. The school was leveled, and the survivors… well, some never recovered."
"And… that could happen to me?"
"Yes, that's why we don't leave anything to chance. The Awakened Association exists to contain the Mire's influence and guide those who are infected. We give people a chance to survive… but it's not easy. Many fail."
Gundolf swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on him.
"And if I… if I fail?"
Christopher spoke without sugarcoating his words.
"Then you die." He paused, then offered a faint, reassuring smile. "But don't worry too much. As long as you don't give in to the Mire, you should awaken without difficulty. Statistically, the chance of failure during an awakening is just twenty percent. You still have an eighty percent chance of success."
Whether his words were true or not, his sincerity seemed undeniable.
"So please… don't give up on yourself. For both our sakes."
Gundolf's brow furrowed. The first part of the statement would have comforted him, but the second line, vague and cryptic, left a lingering unease.
Before he could question it further, Christopher left the room. The man was indeed a professional.
A whisper echoed inside Gundolf's mind:
[Prepare for your awakening…]
'Never mind that… it's starting,' he thought grimly.
Clenching his teeth, Gundolf summoned every ounce of willpower, bracing himself for the inevitable.
Then, in an instant, a scream tore from his throat. Indescribable pain coursed through his whole body, as though every nerve, muscle, and bone had ignited simultaneously.