Lumiel stood in his room, gazing silently at the mirror.
It was the same mirror that once made his skin crawl.
There were no runes on it. No flickering lights. No voice speaking to him from beyond. Yet he remembered that one night so vividly—the moment he first felt something… off. Like someone was staring back at him.
> "This is where it all started… where I first saw him—Rymir."
There was no system back then. No fragment, no powers—just a strange boy with no answers, caught in the gravity of something he couldn't understand.
> "I didn't know anything about souls. I was just… different."
He touched the mirror's surface gently.
> "And now… I have friends. A purpose. And the strength to protect them."
Lumiel turned away from the mirror and checked his phone.
The date flashed on the screen: January 4, 3021.
> "January 4, huh…" he muttered. "My birthday."
He gave a half-smile, then sighed.
> "Guess there's no need to celebrate that."
He threw on his uniform and headed out, not expecting anything more from the day than usual.
When Lumiel arrived at the academy and stepped in front of the classroom door, everything seemed normal. But the moment he opened the door—
POP!
Confetti burst into the air, and standing front and center was Lady Nishia, holding a cake with lit candles.
"Happy Birthday, Lumiel!" the whole class cheered.
"What the—?!" Lumiel flinched.
Skye grinned. "So, what's your birthday wish?"
"How… How did you guys even know today's my birthday?"
Ms. Viera leaned over and whispered, "I told Nishia and Skye."
"Ms. Viera!" Nishia cried out, flustered. "You didn't have to say Skye told you too!"
"You really did all this for me, Nishia?" Lumiel asked.
"Y-yeah, so what?" she huffed, avoiding eye contact. "You were just gonna spend your birthday doing nothing, so I figured… y-you should be grateful!"
Lumiel felt a lump rise in his throat. He blinked as tears welled in his eyes.
"Thank you… all of you. Especially you, Nishia. And you too, Skye… This really is the best birthday I could've asked for."
He wiped his tears and laughed through a shaky breath.
DING.
A familiar chime echoed in his ears.
> [System Notice: Dangerous Anomaly Detected Nearby. Unable to run.]
Lumiel's smile faded. His heart sank.
"Huh…?"
"What's wrong?" Skye asked.
But before Lumiel could answer, the entire room vanished.
Gone was the classroom. Gone were the voices, the decorations, the warmth.
Lumiel stood alone in a void-like space that only faintly resembled his classroom. The windows were black voids. The wind blew through empty cracks, icy and sharp.
"W-what… What happened?!" he shouted. "Everyone! Where are you?!"
Then, a demonic, gleeful voice echoed from above.
> [Hello, everyone from the Gifted Academy! I'm your Game Master—Jestervyne! And welcome to my little fun game… Demon's Playground!]
> [Right now, you're all trapped inside this lovely little illusion. Each class—from A to D—has been isolated in their own version of this twisting, stacked labyrinth.]
> [There are 50 floors in total, and the only way out? Climb to the top.]
> [But beware… every floor is crawling with monsters and enemies. The higher you go, the more vicious the hunt becomes.]
> [Oh—and don't get too comfortable with each other. Some of you are players. Some of you are prey.]
> [Try not to die too quickly, my little pawns. After all… what's the fun in a game without some screams?]
The voice cackled wildly, and then silence fell again.
Lumiel stood frozen.
> "What… was all of that…?"
His fists clenched.
> "I won't let this happen again. I swear—I'll find everyone. I'll protect them."
He looked to the dim light far ahead—toward the first staircase.
> "I just celebrated my birthday. I won't let this nightmare take it away from me."
And so, Lumiel took the first step into Demon's Playground.