The void
Then the fall.
Then—
**The impact.**
Kim's body slammed violently against a hard surface before rolling across cold, rain-drenched ground.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The sky above him was a dull gray, choked with dark clouds moving at an unnatural speed.
But the air…
It was different. He felt it instantly. Something permeated the entire world.
Energy. Not an aura, nor holy power… but something else entirely.
**Magic.**
Kim sat up slowly, his body still aching from traversing the Black Sea of Nothingness. His clothes were torn, his black hair soaked, and mud covered his hands like a lost vagrant.
He raised his eyes calmly. He was inside a narrow alleyway behind a colossal city—a city unlike anything he had ever seen before. Towering white spires. Glowing magic circles illuminating the sky. Strange creatures soaring between the buildings.
But what caught his attention most… was the people.
Some walked with their heads held high as if they were gods, while others bowed the moment they passed. Here, fear was natural. The classes and social divides were sharper than swords.
Kim quietly emerged from the alley. As he walked, a man suddenly collided with him. The man looked at Kim's soiled clothes with sheer disgust, then spat near his feet.
> "Watch where you are going, you filthy commoner."
>
He kept walking, treating Kim as though he didn't even exist.
As for Kim… he looked down at the spit in silence. Then, he flashed a very small, chilling smile.
> "Even other worlds are the same."
>
He continued walking. Along the way, the truth of this realm unveiled itself rapidly. The world was clearly divided: the nobility, the mages, the great families… and then, the commoners, who were treated like cattle that merely possessed the ability to speak.
A young child bowed to the dirt simply because a young noble walked past. A woman was beaten because she dared to look a mage directly in the eyes. An old man was executed in the square… just because he accidentally touched a noble's carriage.
As for the crowd… they only watched in silence. Fear had slaughtered even their capacity for rage.
Kim stood in the middle of the square, watching the corpse, his eyes hollow. Then, he whispered:
> "When humans grow accustomed to humiliation…"
> "They begin to defend the very chains that suffocate them."
>
A luxurious black carriage passed beside him. From the window, a young noble peered out at him with utter contempt—solely because of his clothes, solely because he was a "commoner." The noble laughed mockingly:
> "Even the stench of the poor is repulsive."
>
But Kim did not grow angry. Instead, he smiled quietly. It was that specific smile that appeared whenever his mind began to scheme. For direct rage… is for the weak. Real predators smile first.
He raised his gaze toward the highest point in the city, and there, he saw it.
**"Aetheron Academy."**
A colossal fortress floating above the city itself, surrounded by giant, interlocking magic rings. A place that resembled the domain of gods.
The whispers of the people around him began to rise:
> "The greatest magic academy."
> "It has birthed the kings of magic."
> "Even the Empire's scholars graduated from there."
> "But commoners cannot enter."
>
Kim's steps halted.
> "They cannot enter…?"
>
A man nearby laughed derisively.
> "Even if a commoner possesses talent, they remain garbage. Nobles are born higher than us."
>
Kim was silent for a moment. Then, he raised his eyes toward the academy once more.
In that exact moment, he remembered everything. The Cosmic Graveyard. The Black Sea of Nothingness. The angels. The fear. Then, he looked at this city, at these humans, and the way they looked at one another.
He exhaled quietly.
> "Worlds change…"
> "But humans always find a way to manufacture hell."
>
Yet this time… he felt no sorrow. No pain. Instead, it was something far more dangerous.
**Curiosity.**
How does this world work? Who truly rules it? What makes everyone kneel like this? And most importantly… how can this system be dismantled from within?
Kim let out a faint smile. It was calm, yet it struck fear even into the shadows around him.
> "Very well then…"
>
He raised his hand and looked at his fingers. The Chaos within him was asleep, quiet. Yet, he felt it whispering, waiting.
> "Let us play a little."
>
Then, he began to walk under the rain… like a lost sheep.
While the wolf inside him… slowly opened its eyes.