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The heavy sound of striking lead glass echoed through the air.

When she opened her eyes, the girl felt a warmth.

Having lived here for over ten years, falling asleep in the water tank was always a new experience for her.

One thing was certain, though: it was comfortable.

The facility staff often said her sleeping place felt like a mother’s womb.

But the girl couldn’t understand the true meaning of those words. She barely remembered what her mom and dad looked like. In fact, she sometimes even got confused about her real name.

It had been so long since she had been called by her nickname.

The giant water tank maintained a warm temperature around the clock, which she really liked because it made her feel sleepy.

Wishing to sleep a little longer, she closed her eyelids again.

Thud, thud, the sound of knocking resonated again through the waves.

“Trinity, wake up. It’s morning.”

A scientist in a protective suit called to her over the microphone from beyond the water tank.

Overwhelmed by the loud sound resonating through the speaker underwater, she emerged from the water tank.

With practiced movements, just like always, she removed her breathing apparatus, tossed aside her swimsuit, and changed into newly provided clothes.

“Ugh, it’s salty.”

“How many times have I told you not to drink that water? I emphasized how harmful boric acid is to your body.”

“I don’t really feel anything strange.”

It was a daily repetition of scolding. Unfazed, she wrung out her orange hair that flowed down to her waist.

Once again, the everyday routine began. Breakfast, eating food served in disposable containers, morning health check, studying, lunch, combat training, and then dinner.

As always, she asked a question.

“Uncle, when can I go home?”

The researcher replied curtly.

“I’ve already told you several times, Trinity. If you study and train a little more diligently, you’ll be able to enter the academy. Then you can leave here.”

The girl thought of the other kids in the research facility.

“Can I meet my other friends too? I want to see Liz and Roberta. I haven’t seen them since we went outside last time.”

Squinting at the measuring device, the researcher frowned and snapped back at her.

“Enough! Let’s save that conversation for later. Trinity, get back in the water tank; your levels are high again.”

With a pout, she changed her clothes and lay back in the water tank.

Whenever she asked about her friends, the researchers always changed the subject.

At the end of the day, reminiscing about the outside world, the girl drifted off to sleep.

In the past 10 years, her outings had been few and far between.

The only places she could recall breathing fresh air were vast, boring open spaces or gloomy dungeons.

‘What would the city look like?’

It had to be an exciting place, filled with delicious restaurants, amusement parks, arcades, cafes, and dessert shops.

They said there was an academy too. She might even be able to make new friends. It would be perfect if they were witty and fun.

As the lights dimmed, darkness enveloped the water tank.

Soon, the dark waters lit up again with a faint blue glow.

In the quiet underwater world, a mysterious and beautiful blue light radiated from her body.

Like a glowing creature shining deep beneath the sea.

**

Violet’s emergency deployment proved highly effective.

After the first class, Ariel’s satisfaction soared.

“Brother, thank you so much! You’ve been a tremendous help!”

“Hmph, it’s nothing like this.”

As Ariel smiled brightly, Lucian glanced at me, wearing a smug expression that seemed to say, ‘What do you think?’

What on earth was he doing?

Anyway, as we expected, and even exceeded our expectations, Lucian’s tutoring skills were exceptional.

“You understand this too, right? You have to approach it step by step. Differential equations may seem complicated, but if you tackle them one by one, anyone can handle it.”

“Ah, I see! I think I’m starting to get it here too. Thank you so much, big brother!”

Watching from the side, Lucian seamlessly explained everything Ariel asked without missing a beat.

Even I found it helpful, making me realize just how incredibly smart he was.

Unfortunately, every situation comes with side effects.

“Um, sister… I’m sorry, but I think I won’t need tutoring anymore.”

“What? Why?”

With an apologetic expression, Ariel finally opened her mouth, looking quite sorry.

“Um… Lucian said he’d answer my messages right away if I had questions. And he also said he’d come and check on me sometimes.”

“Honestly, listening to Violet explain things felt… a bit complicated. Ah, it’s not your fault—”

At that moment, Lucian interjected irritatingly.

“Oh, isn’t that obvious? It’s a lie to say she’s the best in class.”

“What? No! I was really first in the last exam! I got perfect scores in every subject!”

“I’m just joking; Violet really is first.”

This guy, he was even teasing me in front of my potential junior now. It twisted my insides.

Stepping out of the hospital room, Lucian asked curiously, half-confidently.

“Why can’t you teach those kids properly? They can’t even understand such basic problems.”

A plausible reason flashed through my mind.

“Well, maybe it’s because we’re just too smart for them!”

“…?”

That’s right; it might be an unavoidable reality.

Our Violet might be so outstanding that it actually created a negative effect on her teaching ability.

“Hmm, that’s just reality, huh. Can’t be helped.”

“Our Violet is a genius!”

Objectively speaking, in terms of computational power or memory, our Violet overwhelmingly surpasses ordinary people.

But it isn’t easy for a computer to teach a human in its unique way.

Perhaps our Violet was simply too extraordinary to effectively teach others.

“Don’t joke around. You say you have a good memory? Then tell me the name of the battle in 312 where Arnor and Berniers fought. Answer in 5 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2—”

“Uh… what was it again? Just a second! Wait a bit!”

“Don’t copy; just say it honestly. It’s the Battle of Landor. You learned it just two weeks ago, and you’ve forgotten already? Genius, huh.”

He pointed between his head and mine while wearing a smug smile. It was a sight I hadn’t seen in a while, and it made my irritation rise.

“Hah, this is the difference between a true hard-working brainiac and someone just using cheat codes. You should set an example as a senior to your juniors.”

“Ugh!”

At Lucian’s sharp remark, we lost our words.

At this rate, even our Violet’s intellectual abilities might come under suspicion.

“No! We’re geniuses!”

However, a week later, an unexpected situation arose.

At first, only Ariel was receiving tutoring, but before long, other children in the ward joined in.

“What, what’s going on? Why are there so many people here?”

Leaning against the desk, Lucian shook his head and muttered.

“What’s the use of saying anything? Hah…”

It seemed word had spread among the kids in the same ward preparing for academy admission, just like Ariel.

“Big brother! I have a problem I can’t understand; can you help me?”

“Hey, I was here first!”

“Brother! Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Tell us about the academy!”

With sparkling eyes, the young patients in their hospital gowns looked up at Lucian, who could only grumble without the heart to refuse.

“Alright, anyway, we have time. Come on, take it slow! Bring a desk! We’ll all do this together, got it?”

“Yes!”

As we watched that scene, our Violets were soaked in a sense of triumph.

“They’ve hopped on the express train to hell by themselves! Hehe!”

**

As April rolled in, the Violets were steadily making progress.

The most notable achievement was the exploration of the Red Zone, and it was going smoothly.

After much research, our nomadic group had discovered a solution.

“Hey, everybody! We did it! What we saw was real!”

In front of the expedition team of Violets stood a hastily built hut.

It was merely a crude structure made of mud bricks and rocks cut into slabs, but it held great significance for us now.

Because nothing had happened.

“No mutations! Not even a ghost’s face!”

“How many hours have passed since we started?!”

“48 hours!”

The bricks were created using local soil from the Karnak archipelago’s main island.

And surprisingly, nothing had happened.

“Concrete or rebar that we brought in the inventory ruined or bizarrely changed…”

“Nothing happened!”

The reason humans couldn’t inhabit the Red Zone was due to hostile supernatural phenomena occurring every hour.

Structures built from organic matter would invariably try to kill people, and even inorganic objects would corrode without ongoing magical reinforcement, resulting in collapsed buildings or unusable ruins.

The members of the three major clans or the federal units relied on special processed rations and mobile bases, or a few extremely expensive forward bases for long-term operations.

However, humans are adapting creatures. While diligently searching for data, we stumbled upon the efforts of past clans.

“Using materials from the area?”

“Claiming that the effects of the phenomena would be reduced?”

The federation and clans undertook several extraordinary attempts.

Using 3D printers for construction, magic, and relics, they attempted to build a city using local materials.

“Using contaminated materials locally means the Red Zone would recognize them as parts of itself?”

The researchers’ reasoning was simple. The Red Zone antagonizes and reacts to humans. However, it won’t view what constructs it as enemies.

With this theory, if we appropriately injected some magical power, the effects of the Red Zone would be diminished, suggesting that changes would either be minimal or nonexistent.

“That sounds plausible. So it means the building itself won’t collapse!”

The conclusion was disappointing. Initial plans succeeded, but it seemed the Red Zone recognized the humans gathering.

As monsters flocked in and disasters struck, casualties surged, halting city expansion.

The higher-ups seemed reluctant to choose a new method that didn’t consume significantly less money and manpower than existing methods like portable bases or barrier protection.

However, we Violets didn’t have a labor problem. We could just keep going.

We systematically cut the local rocks with our swords and made mud bricks while injecting our magic bit by bit. The results were perfect.

The Violets successfully built a house that wouldn’t collapse or crumble.

“It seems to recognize parts of itself!”

We Violets finally succeeded in cleverly deceiving the Red Zone.

Though other phenomena still existed, we’d made considerable progress by creating a stable space to reside in.

“Construction Violets, ready for duty!”

“Wow! It’s overtime!”

Inspired by the success of the experiment, we baked bricks and carved rocks with our swords to construct massive buildings.

“This will serve as the Violet Command Center from now on. Over there is the Violet Bunker!”

“Violet Command Center! Violet Bunker!”

“Wowww!”

Our hearts were filled with excitement. In the midst of this terrible Red Zone, we were finally able to establish our own base.

It was such an overwhelming moment.

“Alright, let’s toast to this!”

But the exhilaration from the completion of the Violet Command Center was short-lived.

A few hours later, eerie monster cries and loud noises echoed from the outskirts.

The construction Violets quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed outside.

“Our base is under attack!”

“Our allies are under attack! Ahhh!”

“Everyone, retreat to the bunker!”

It appeared the Red Zone had no intention of letting us go easily.

**

The girl woke up, as always, in the midst of her monotonous daily routine. The researcher had suddenly turned on the speaker to wake her.

“Trinity, wake up!”

The waterproof clock underwater pointed to dawn. Just what could be so urgent, she wondered, as the lid of the water tank opened.

A rough hand pulled her out of the water.

The surroundings were chaotic. Emergency alarms blared loudly as researchers hurriedly packed documents and hard drives, while guards rushed through the halls with weapons in hand.

“What’s happening? Why?”

“It’s dangerous. There’s no time to explain. Get in here!”

The researcher roughly pushed her into a small container filled with water.

Without knowing what was going on, the girl buckled her breathing apparatus. The guards pulled the container she was in, rushing it somewhere.

‘What on earth is happening?’

Explosions and screams followed one after the other. While she couldn’t discern the specifics, the combat-trained girl instinctively sensed that someone was attacking the research facility.

The small windows of the container were too narrow, allowing her to only see the backs of guards and researchers rushing through the halls.

The winding journey continued from corridor to corridor.

‘Where are the other kids?’

Without a moment to ponder, she emerged into a large space. It was the parking lot.

The container was loaded into a truck. The girl belatedly realized that the vehicle she was in was speeding away somewhere.

The researcher, who finally sat down, muttered.

“Trinity, listen carefully from now on. Your clothes and staff are here. Your medication is here too.”

Facing her gray eyes that stared blankly through the small window, the researcher continued to speak without pause.

Outside, the noise resembling metal being struck was getting closer.

“Take your medication every day. Never skip it.”

“Got it.”

“And don’t forget the most important thing. Do you remember your condition?”

The girl nodded.

“Absolutely, you must never come into contact with ordinary people—”

-Bang!

The researcher’s words were cut off mid-sentence.

In an instant, she witnessed the researcher and guards soar into the air and be thrown around chaotically.

-Thud!

The truck crashed off an overpass. Rolling several times, it finally came to a stop on the sidewalk.

As the explosion and shockwave hit, the doors were torn off.

Coming to her senses, the girl belatedly realized that the container she was in had shattered.

Wiping the strange salty taste from her mouth, she looked around and saw that the researcher and guards were unmoving. A sense of urgency washed over her.

‘I can’t just go outside like this…’

However, the chaos of battle grew closer. According to what she had learned, she absolutely couldn’t afford to stop.

Crawling out of the container, the girl hurriedly picked up her clothes scattered on the floor to put them on.

It was a thick, suffocating protective coat.

Gunshots rang out nearby, and the girl stumbled, grabbing the staff hanging on the wall before bursting outside.

For the first time in her life, she faced the night scene of a large city.

Bright lights, numerous cars bustling down the streets.

The crowded masses and towering buildings in the sky.

As an unfamiliar sight swirled around her, a sudden wave of fear washed over her.

-It’s the Inspection Bureau! Surrender!

-Damn! Where’s the test subject? Find it!

-i-It’s the Inspection Bureau! Fall back for now!

The shouts resonated from all directions, along with a dizzying cacophony.

Overwhelmed by the strange environment, the girl began to run.

Along the streets, across the roads, into narrow alleys.

Before she knew it, rain poured down. Feeling the dampness seeping in, she dashed forward without any destination.

It was then that the girl collided with a pizza delivery scooter that had suddenly emerged from the corner of an alley.

A bizarre coincidence birthed from the scattering of the five thousand in the Central District.

Startled, the girl instinctively swung her staff.

A small explosion erupted right in front of the dodging scooter.

“Ahhh! No!”

As the scooter exploded, the delivery person soared into the air.

With desperate effort, the delivery person nimbly twisted in the air and barely landed.

“I survived!”

Joyful over his survival, the delivery person faced a cruel reality.

The scooter was shattered.

“Ugh! My order! It’s ruined!”

As the delivery person wailed inside, the girl suddenly felt hungry.

A delicious smell wafted through the air from a box rolling at her feet.

‘Pizza!’

With a strong urge, her hand instinctively reached out for the food.

What caught the eye of the flustered pizza delivery person was the orange-haired girl hunched down, stuffing fallen pizza into her mouth with abandon.

The girl was unconcerned about getting wet in the rain as she stuffed the pizza into her mouth.

“Hey! That’s mine! We were delivering it! You thief!”

It was as if the girl had no intention of giving it up, mumbling through the wet pizza.

“I won’t give it! Ekeo! Get away!”

A scuffle over the pizza ensued.

The delivery person, exasperated enough to try hitting the girl on the back of her head with a truncheon, suddenly froze.

His delivery was already a failure, so he was simply venting his frustration.

“Enrique?”

The orange-haired girl coughed in surprise, almost choking.

Quickly, after gulping down a drink the delivery person handed her, she managed to speak.

“How did you know my real name?”

Luckily, the delivery person nearly found a way to answer her.

“I saw it written on your coat. Enrique.”

Seeing the name on the left pocket of her protective coat, the girl nodded in agreement.

“I see.”

A faint, bluish light began to emanate from her body.

**

In the rain-soaked street, the girl encountered another girl with long, flowing hair that reached her hips.

She was shorter than me.

“Trinity!”

“There you are!”

It was a surprising encounter to come across playable students like this.

While it was reasonable to meet several at Polaris, it was curious that someone I knew, whom I hadn’t seen in a year, was right here.

After searching for a similar name, I hadn’t expected to find her in this place.

Once the surprise faded, anxiety washed over me.

“The delivery! What do we do? The customers are looking for us! What should we say when they ask why we’re not showing up?”

“This is bad!”

As someone with code 4211, the biggest issue was that my delivery had failed.

That miserable girl Trinity broke my scooter and made the pizza vanish.

The rating would surely hit rock bottom.

But look at her. It was the very character I recognized.

Thick coat, a suit that covered her skin except for her face. She was undoubtedly the 5-star girl destined to become the best witch at Vesperia Academy.

“First, I need to contact the Scholarship Officer!”

As I glanced over, a flash of blue light flickered in front of me.

A metallic taste washed over my tongue.

I pondered for a moment. Since she’s an important figure, I should prioritize taking her home.

Given her condition, it wouldn’t be good to keep her here for long.

“Hey, Trinity. You look hungry. Want to come to my place? I’ll give you something delicious!”

Trinity hesitated.

“Hold on, are you an ordinary person? Then…”

“I’m an Awakened One!”

“Really?”

“Yep! So don’t worry. I’ll give you something much tastier than that pizza!”

Hearing that, Trinity’s face lit up.

“Okay, I’m in!”

Trinity trailed closely behind me.

I brought her to my factory house, seated her in our empty room, and handed her a mountain of frozen foods.

“This is delicious!”

She devoured the food as if savoring delicacies, quickly falling asleep afterward.

“Alright, since she’s sleepy, let’s contact the Scholarship Officer tomorrow!”

“Anyway, I’m just glad I brought her here!”

Right now, the priority was resolving the delivery issue.

Lost in my thoughts, I let my guard down.

I should have been careful to prevent Enrique from going outside.

Because the next day, Uncle Yurik collapsed with a stomach ache.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“Gah! Uncle, are you alright?”

Suddenly collapsing to the floor while drinking milk was Uncle.

I administered a recovery shot in his neck.

Even so, his condition didn’t improve, and as I prepared to take him to the hospital, Bernike rushed in, her expression puzzled, and waved her robotic tentacles while inspecting him.

“You! Where did you get this from? What did you do yesterday?”

“What’s wrong, ma’am? I didn’t do anything!”

I protested in indignation, but the response was the little Broca vibrating as if there was an earthquake.

A chill ran down my spine.

‘No way!’

At that moment, noticing the white traces and crumbs of snacks smeared around the mouth of the sleeping culprit, room 321 covered her head in despair.

“Ughhh!”

 

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