I opened my eyes to find myself in a stark white space.
The lights seemed determined to stay on, illuminating the white room with harsh brightness.
I felt like I had been somewhere else just moments ago, but my memory was foggy, making it difficult to recall exactly where. Since I was wearing my school uniform, I guessed it might have been the Academy, but that was all I could piece together.
I rose groggily from where I lay.
The bed I had been lying on was clinical and austere.
Not just the bed—everything around me had the same sterile, institutional quality.
I felt trapped in a world where only black and white existed.
Looking around, I couldn't find any clues about where I might be.
I checked the black table, but the single drawer contained nothing hidden inside.
It wasn't my home, and it didn't look like the Academy infirmary either.
It didn't give off hospital vibes either, so I was left without answers, tilting my head in confusion.
"...What is this place?"
I clutched my throbbing head, trying to recall what had happened before I lost consciousness.
Then I remembered—I had absorbed a totem and lost control.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
It was something I couldn't do, but no matter how much I tried to explain about the totems, there was no way to make Asrad believe me.
All I had to do was channel mana into them to destroy them, but he questioned even that, badgering me with suspicion.
I wanted to say I was innocent, truly innocent, but his attitude—demanding I prove my innocence through actions—only made me sigh in frustration.
In the end, my body and mind couldn't handle the sudden flow of mana, and my memory cut off at that point.
Recalling it made my skin crawl.
I felt a chill, as if electricity might course through my body at any moment.
Uncontrolled power could harm even the magic user, after all.
It was fortunate that I had no injuries, considering I could have suffered full-body burns in that situation.
As I felt relief at being safe, wherever I was, something suddenly felt off.
As my mind became more alert and I directed my consciousness to examine my body, I noticed something unfamiliar strapped to my wrist like a watch.
It had a sleek, elongated screen like a watch, but nothing seemed to turn on.
I couldn't even check the time.
Feeling frustrated, I searched all the pockets in my skirt and blazer.
But my device was nowhere to be found.
The only consolation was that this place wasn't the cave.
The Mysterious Person wouldn't have prepared a space like this.
Still, I had no intention of remaining trapped here.
So I got up and walked toward a white door hidden within the white walls.
Clunk.
It wouldn't open.
It seemed to be locked from the outside.
My foggy mind cleared a bit as I raised my head.
Was I imprisoned?
Kidnapped?
As various thoughts raced through my mind, a speaker voice from an unknown location startled me.
[Ah, mic test 1, 2, 3. Mic test...]
I looked up.
Wondering if speakers were hidden behind the seamless ceiling lights, I directed my gaze upward.
[We will open the door. Please follow the designated color line. The designated color is 'purple.']
Hearing the stiff male voice, I lowered my gaze, wondering what this was all about.
Click. A slight vibration and the sound of the door unlocking reached my ears.
Figuring it was best to follow instructions for now, I opened the door and stepped outside.
As directed, when I entered the hallway, I saw lines marked on the floor.
It was actually quite convenient—you just had to follow the color that connected to your destination.
It eliminated the need for complicated directions like "go here and open that door."
Anyway, I walked.
The clicking of my shoes seemed unusually loud in the silence.
I arrived at another sterile space, similar to the previous one.
A vast, white-washed room.
"...?"
I looked up.
Above me was dark glass that seemed to be looking down at me.
I guessed it was one-way glass—visible from their side but not from mine.
[Ah, can you hear me?]
I flinched.
I nodded.
I didn't think my voice would carry all the way up there anyway, and I didn't feel like talking to something I couldn't see.
There was only one chair provided here.
One hard-looking chair for me to sit on.
But hesitant to sit, I kept my distance and remained standing.
[Miss Kanna Aurora. Do you know why you've been brought here?]
I frowned briefly with a groan.
Then, realizing it was because of the misunderstanding about my connection to the Mysterious Person, I nodded.
Having received my affirmative gesture, they continued.
[Then why did you arbitrarily absorb the Mysterious Person's power?]
At those words, I looked up with wide eyes.
Though I didn't know where they were standing, I wanted to protest, to explain.
"...No, that's not it. It's my constitution..."
[Is there such a thing as a constitution that arbitrarily absorbs a Mysterious Person's power? Is it congenital or acquired? When did you first become aware of it?]
Though I hadn't spoken loudly, they heard me and responded.
This seemed to be another attempt to interrogate me about my connection to the Mysterious Person, probably because it was a matter of grave importance to humanity.
"It's acquired..."
The thought that I could be branded a traitor to humanity made my heart race and my temperature rise.
I could feel sweat forming on my palms.
Despite my obvious nervousness, I decided to stick to the truth.
[If it's acquired, was contact with the Mysterious Person the cause? If so, when did this contact begin?]
"My constitution changed after I was taken during the first attack."
I could answer this with certainty.
But my clear answer led to a more difficult question.
[Please tell us when you realized your constitution had changed.]
With a sigh, I groaned before opening my mouth.
"...I realized it while erasing totems related to the Mysterious Person."
[According to Hero Asrad's report, you absorbed all the cubes abandoned by the Mysterious Persons. Are these what you call totems? Please explain what totems are.]
The repeated questioning was wearing me down.
But I couldn't refuse to answer, so I opened my mouth.
One wrong answer here could end my life as I knew it.
Death might be preferable to being tortured for information as a suspected ally of the Mysterious Person and traitor to humanity.
"Y-yes. They're called totems... They're used by the Mysterious Persons to break through the Wall."
[...I see.]
The voice that had been firing questions suddenly acknowledged my answer and fell silent, making me anxious.
Without realizing it, I approached the chair I'd been keeping my distance from and fidgeted with the backrest.
[Then how did you come to know about these totems?]
"...Well. Somehow..."
[We've received reports that you were the one who revealed the weakness of a monster you'd never seen before. Was this also just casual information gained after being kidnapped? But this happened even before you were kidnapped.]
Hearing this, my mouth froze.
[Don't lie. You're not here as an Academy student. This is a hearing to determine whether you pose a significant threat to humanity as a Mysterious Person.]
My heart seemed to drop.
I was painfully learning that using information only I could know—information whose source I couldn't explain—would lead to this.
I wanted to say my only contact with the Mysterious Person was being kidnapped, but then how could I explain having information before that?
The reason I was kidnapped was supposedly because I made a fuss about erasing totems or revealing monster weaknesses, but without being able to properly explain the source of that information, even the kidnapping looked like a planned meeting.
"I'm not lying...! Really, really, I just somehow knew!"
I shouted in growing desperation.
Behind the black glass, a person—or perhaps multiple people—seemed to be deliberating or discussing.
No matter what I said, I felt like I was falling off a cliff, blocked by information I couldn't explain.
I groaned as the pressure seemed to crush my mind.
[Then what is the state of your body after absorbing these totems? Have you become a totem yourself? Or has your body simply purified them?]
Despairing at the voice that clearly didn't believe I wasn't lying, I felt the next question tightening around my neck.
"...Ah."
This is over.
"...The former."
[I understand.]
"B-but...!"
...
Silence followed.
With no sign of a response, my mouth closed involuntarily.
Exhausted, I clenched my fists.
Finally, I sat in the chair and clasped my hands as if in prayer.
I wanted to deny everything, but each word seemed to drag me deeper into a swamp.
As cold sweat trickled down my spine, a door opened in a different direction from where I had entered.
The speaker that had been silent until now came to life.
[As of this moment, Kanna Aurora is classified as a Half-Mysterious Person. Her human rights level will be downgraded, and she will be removed from legal regulation or protection...]
I watched as two people in hazmat suits entered, pulling a rectangular metal carrier together.
If this was a joke, I wished they would stop now.