The train slowed gradually, then stopped.
But not at the massive gate Faris had seen in the distance.
It stopped 500 meters away from the Origin's front wall.
A woman's voice crackled through the speakers, calm and professional:
"Attention all passengers. Those wishing to take the Origin entrance examination, please remain seated. The train will transport you to the examination station. Those disembarking now are officially enrolled students from previous years."
Faris looked around.
About one-tenth of the passengers rose, gathered their bags, and exited calmly. These were current students—young men and women with confident gazes, some with visible scars, others with weapons strapped to their backs. They walked with the ease of those who belonged.
The remaining nine-tenths stayed seated.
Faris among them.
The atmosphere shifted immediately. Tension thickened. Some examinees whispered nervously. Others stared out the windows, trying to catch glimpses of the massive wall ahead.
Ten minutes passed.
The train moved again, slower this time, closer.
Then it stopped at a different station—a platform built specifically for examinees. Bare. Functional. No decorations.
The doors opened.
A wave of young people surged forward, a mixture of excitement, fear, and awe propelling them out of the train.
Faris was among the first to exit.
And what greeted him... made even him pause.
The wall.
It towered before them, a monolith of white stone and reinforced steel, rising so high that its top disappeared into the mana barrier shimmering faintly above. Even from 500 meters away, it dominated the entire horizon.
The wall wasn't just a structure.
It was a declaration.
A challenge.
A proclamation of strength that made every living creature standing before it feel small, insignificant, temporary.
The other examinees stopped in their tracks, mouths open, eyes wide.
"By the gods..." someone whispered.
"It's... massive..."
"How can anything be this big?"
Murmurs spread through the crowd like ripples on water.
Faris, however, recovered first.
Not because he was unimpressed—but because he had seen greater.
His father's fortress in his previous life had been larger. Darker. More oppressive. Built from the bones of conquered worlds and forged in rivers of demonic mana.
But still...
This was impressive for a human construction.
He smiled faintly.
"Not bad."
His gaze shifted to the gate itself.
A massive door, easily fifty meters wide and sixty meters tall, dominated the center of the wall. Made of dark brown metal—almost black—with faint lines of glowing blue mana etched across its surface in intricate patterns. Runes of protection. Runes of strength.
It was closed.
Sealed tight.
Two examinees ahead of him were talking:
"We're a bit early. The gate opens at exactly ten o'clock."
"Good. Gives us time to mentally prepare."
Faris glanced at the sky. The sun was still climbing. Perhaps twenty minutes remained.
He began walking toward the gate
As Faris approached, he realized something.
He wasn't among the first to arrive.
Far from it.
Thousands of people already filled the space before the gate.
The area was enormous—a plaza easily the size of ten football fields—and it was packed.
Families clustered together, parents holding their children's hands, whispering last-minute advice. Mothers wept quietly. Fathers stood rigid, trying to appear strong.
"Promise me you'll be careful, Lian."
"I will, Mom."
"Don't take unnecessary risks. If it gets dangerous, withdraw. Do you hear me?"
"I hear you."
Cars—both flying and grounded—came and went in a steady stream. Some were ordinary. Others were sleek, expensive, gleaming with wealth.
But what caught Faris's attention most was the right side of the plaza.
A cordoned-off area, separated by velvet ropes and guarded by stern-faced men in formal black suits.
Teleportation gates.
Not the public kind.
These were private, maintained by the great noble families.
Six gates stood in a neat row, each one dormant for now, their surfaces dark and inert.
And guarding them...
Faris felt their presence before he saw them clearly.
Auras.
Powerful. Controlled. Oppressive.
The guards weren't ordinary security. They were fighters. Real ones. Each exuded mana pressure that made the air around them feel heavier.
Rank T, at least. Maybe higher.
Faris narrowed his eyes.
"Interesting."
As he walked closer to the wall, someone ahead of him caught his eye.
Her.
The girl from the train.
Long black hair swaying gently as she walked. Golden eyes focused straight ahead, unbothered by the chaos around her.
She hadn't stopped to marvel at the wall.
Hadn't hesitated.
Hadn't shown even a flicker of fear.
She walked with the same calm confidence she'd had on the train, heading directly toward the cordoned noble area.
Faris watched, curious.
The guards didn't stop her.
Didn't question her.
One of them simply nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to stand before one of the dormant teleportation gates.
She waited there, alone, silent.
"A noble..." Faris murmured.
That explained her composure. Her coldness. Her dismissal of his approach on the train.
She hadn't been rude.
She'd simply seen him as... beneath her notice.
He smiled faintly.
"We'll see about that."
Faris looked around again.
Everyone else had someone.
Families saying goodbye. Friends encouraging each other. Groups of examinees banding together for mutual support.
Everyone... except him.
He was alone.
Completely alone.
A strange feeling stirred in his chest. Not loneliness—he'd been alone his entire life in the demon world. But... something else.
Fray's memories surfaced.
Fray had friends at school. People who cared about him. His aunt had called this morning, worried, loving.
But now, here, at the most important moment of his life...
No one came to see him off.
No one wished him luck.
No one stood beside him.
Faris closed his eyes briefly, pushing the feeling down.
"Enough."
He didn't need sentimentality.
He didn't need comfort.
He needed strength.
And he would find it.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was sharper.
Colder.
More focused.
"I've had enough embarrassment for one day."
He began reviewing Fray's memories—how normal people talked, how they made alliances, how they navigated social situations without appearing strange.
He would need allies.
Temporary ones, at least.
Because in his current state, alone and weak, survival would be difficult.
Suddenly, the plaza fell silent.
The teleportation gates began glowing.
Bright. Blinding. Pure mana surged through their frames, crackling with energy.
Faris turned, watching.
One by one, the gates activated.
And from them stepped...
The nobles.
Young men and women, sixteen in total, each one exuding confidence that bordered on arrogance.
They wore expensive clothes—tailored, elegant, clearly enchanted with protective runes. Some carried weapons openly: ornate swords, staffs carved from rare wood, daggers with glowing hilts.
Guards accompanied some of them—silent, powerful, watching the crowd with cold eyes.
But what struck Faris most wasn't their appearance.
It was their mana.
Each one radiated power.
Not overwhelming, but undeniable.
These weren't ordinary examinees.
These were the elite.
The crowd parted instinctively, creating space.
Some examinees stared in awe. Others in envy. A few in fear.
Faris studied them carefully.
Nine were women. Seven were men.
All beautiful, in the way nobles often were—well-fed, well-trained, polished.
"And all quite lovely," he thought with faint amusement.
But his gaze lingered on one in particular.
Her.
The girl with golden eyes.
She stood among them, equal, unbothered.
So she was a noble.
Then why had she taken the train?
A test? A whim? A deliberate choice to travel among commoners?
Faris didn't know.
But it intrigued him.
Then, before the nobles had fully assembled—
A sound.
Deep. Resonant. Earthshaking.
The massive gate began to open.
Not slowly.
Not cautiously.
But with a grinding, thunderous roar that silenced every conversation, every whisper, every breath.
The ground trembled.
The air shook.
And from the widening gap, a wave of dense mana poured out.
Thick. Heavy. Oppressive.
Faris felt it crash into him like a physical force.
His human body protested. His lungs tightened. His muscles tensed.
But his demonic soul...
Recognized it.
Power.
His eyes gleamed.
"If I want strength... I must enter. No matter the cost."
He took a step forward.
When the gate fully opened, a figure stood in its center.
A man.
Massive.
Easily two meters tall, with shoulders broad enough to block a doorway. His arms were thick with corded muscle, his chest like a barrel of iron.
A long scar ran diagonally across his face—from his left temple, across his nose, down to his right jaw.
It didn't diminish his appearance.
It enhanced it.
Made him look like a warrior who had survived hell itself.
His eyes were cold. Sharp. Scanning the crowd with the detachment of a predator evaluating prey.
And his aura...
Faris felt danger for the first time since arriving in this human world.
Real danger.
The man's mana pressure radiated outward, not as an attack, but as a declaration.
I am strong. You are not. Remember this.
The crowd collectively took a step back.
Some examinees began sweating. Others trembled. A few looked like they wanted to run.
The man's gaze swept over them all—commoners, nobles, everyone—with the same indifferent assessment.
Then he spoke.
His voice was deep. Commanding. It carried across the entire plaza without him raising it.
"The time for the Origin entrance examination has come."
Silence.
"Those who wish to join... enter."
He turned and walked back through the gate, disappearing into the shadowed interior.
That was it.
No welcome. No encouragement. No ceremony.
Just an order.
Murmurs erupted immediately.
"Did you see him?!"
"That was Odin!"
"The Odin? "The Rank V fighter?"
"I heard he once fought off fifty half-demons alone!"
"My brother said he killed a demon. A real one."
Faris listened, intrigued.
"Odin..."
He smiled faintly.
"I can't determine his exact rank yet."
But one thing was clear.
That man was strong.
The crowd began moving.
Slowly at first, then faster, as thousands of examinees surged toward the open gate.
Faris joined the flow.
Around him, chaos erupted.
Families broke into tears. Fathers embraced sons one last time. Mothers clutched daughters, whispering desperate prayers.
"Come back to us, please!"
"I love you!"
"Be careful!"
Because everyone knew.
There was a chance.
A real, undeniable chance.
That some of these young people would die in the examination.
And this could be the last time they saw each other.
The noise was overwhelming. Sobs. Shouts. Farewells.
Faris glanced back briefly.
Behind the surging crowd, a smaller group remained.
Examinees who couldn't bring themselves to enter.
Too afraid.
Too weak-willed.
They stood frozen, faces pale, eyes filled with regret and shame.
Faris's smile turned cold.
"Cowards."
He turned forward and kept walking.
Once through the gate, the world opened up.
An enormous courtyard stretched before them, easily large enough to hold ten thousand people.
The ground was paved with smooth white stone, polished and gleaming. No cracks. No imperfections.
This was a place built to last.
To withstand.
To test.
The examinees spread out, filling the space.
But Faris noticed something immediately.
The sixteen nobles had claimed an entire half of the courtyard for themselves.
They stood in a loose cluster, confident, relaxed, clearly unconcerned about the thousands of commoners pressed into the other half.
Nine young women. Seven young men.
Faris studied them carefully.
"Beautiful, all of them."
His gaze lingered on the girl with golden eyes once more.
She stood among them, neither leading nor following, simply... present.
"Why did she take the train?"
It didn't make sense.
Nobles had private teleportation gates. She could have arrived here instantly, in comfort, without mingling with commoners.
So why?
He filed the question away for later.
Faris moved toward the back of the courtyard, away from the dense crowd.
He leaned against the wall, trying to appear casual while his mind worked furiously.
He needed allies.
His plan was simple: find people strong enough to be useful, but weak enough to need him.
After a few minutes of observation, he made his choice.
Two examinees standing near the edge of the noble section, clearly trying to look confident but not quite succeeding.
A young man with blonde hair and red eyes, wearing clean but not expensive clothes. His posture was straight, his gaze sharp, but there was tension in his shoulders.
And beside him, a young woman with pink hair and tight-fitting clothes that drew occasional glances from nearby examinees. She seemed more at ease, but her eyes kept flicking toward the nobles nervously.
Faris approached.
"Excuse me."
They turned.
The blonde young man looked at him warily. The pink-haired young woman simply waited.
Faris smiled politely—carefully using Fray's memories to mimic normal human friendliness.
"My name is Fray Castle. I'm here for the examination, like everyone else."
The blonde one's expression didn't soften. "And?"
Faris kept his tone casual. "I was thinking... the examination will be dangerous. Having allies would increase our chances of survival. Would you be interested in cooperating?"
The blonde young man's eyes narrowed.
Then he laughed.
Not kindly.
"Cooperate? With you?"
He looked Faris up and down, contempt clear in his gaze.
"I can feel it. Your mana source is... what, Z-rank? Pathetic."
He tapped his own chest.
"I'm Z+ rank. Stronger than you. Why would I need someone weaker dragging me down?"
The pink-haired young woman said nothing, but her eyes studied Faris carefully.
Evaluating.
Faris didn't flinch.
He'd expected this.
Instead, he lied smoothly.
"My ability is Enhancement."
The blonde one paused. "Enhancement?"
"I can boost the abilities of those around me by 20%."
Silence.
The blonde one's eyes widened slightly.
The pink-haired young woman's gaze sharpened.
Enhancement abilities were rare.
And incredibly valuable in group combat.
The blonde one glanced at the young woman—a quick, almost imperceptible look.
Then, without thinking, his entire demeanor shifted.
His contempt vanished. His posture opened. A broad smile spread across his face.
"Ah! Well, why didn't you say so from the start?"
He extended his hand enthusiastically.
"Welcome, Fray! My name is Sen. And this is Yara."
The pink-haired young woman nodded slightly.
Sen continued, his tone now friendly, almost eager.
"You're absolutely right—we need each other. Your ability complements ours perfectly. Let's cooperate!"
Faris shook his hand, keeping his expression neutral.
Inside, he was smiling.
I love people like Sen. Arrogant. Self-serving. Predictable.
He thinks I'm desperate. That I need him more than he needs me.
Perfect.
Sen leaned in slightly, lowering his voice.
"My ability is Power Pulse. I can release a burst of strength through my body—one powerful strike, a high jump, pushing enemies back. It's not continuous, but it's strong."
Yara spoke for the first time, her voice calm and measured.
"Mine is Mana Threads. I can create thin threads of mana to bind enemies, pull objects, or assist allies. It's not destructive, but it's versatile."
Faris nodded thoughtfully.
"Both useful."
Sen grinned. "See? We're a good team already!"
Faris smiled back.
But inside, he was already calculating.
Sen is overconfident. Easy to manipulate.
Yara is smarter. Cautious. I'll need to watch her.
He decided to probe further.
"Do either of you know what the examination will involve?"
Sen hesitated, then leaned closer, lowering his voice even more.
"I... have a theory."
"Oh?"
"The Asir Realm."
Faris kept his expression neutral, but his heart quickened.
Sen continued, trying to sound casual but clearly tense.
"It's just a guess, of course. But... it makes sense, doesn't it? The Origin wants strong fighters. What better way to test us than in that place?"
Faris nodded slowly, as if considering.
Inside, he was ecstatic.
The Asir Realm.
The world I've always dreamed of entering.
Faris's mind raced as Sen and Yara talked.
The Asir Realm.
A world completely separate from Earth.
A dimension accessible through mana rifts, where all races in the galaxy could enter—except demons.
Humans had their designated entry point. So did other races.
And in that world...
Monsters roamed.
Powerful, deadly, valuable monsters.
Because when you killed a monster in the Asir Realm, there was a chance—small, but real—that it would drop a Beast Core.
And if you consumed that core...
You could gain the monster's ability.
The chance was slim. Maybe one in a thousand monsters had a core.
But for those lucky enough...
It meant power.
Beyond that, even regular monster flesh could be consumed to strengthen the body, expand the mana source, increase physical capabilities.
The Asir Realm was a place of infinite opportunity.
And infinite danger.
A world where strength was everything.
The strength I've always lacked.
Because of my father.
Faris felt a surge of excitement he hadn't felt in years.
If the examination truly took place in the Asir Realm...
Then this was his chance.
His real chance.
To grow.
To become strong.
To stop being a pawn.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the noise.
Deep. Commanding. Amplified by mana.
"Attention, examinees."
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Odin stood at the far end of the courtyard, on a raised platform Faris hadn't noticed before.
His massive frame dominated the space. His scarred face was expressionless.
"I am Odin, one of the examiners for this year's entrance test."
His cold gaze swept across the crowd.
"The examination will take place in the Asir Realm."
Gasps erupted.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"I knew it!"
"The Asir Realm?!"
"We're going to die!"
Odin's voice rose, cutting through the noise.
"Silence."
Instant quiet.
"You will be transported to random locations within a designated zone. The examination is simple."
He paused.
"The last one thousand examinees remaining will pass."
Silence.
Then chaos.
"One thousand?! Out of how many?!"
"There are at least ten thousand of us here!"
"That means nine thousand will fail!"
"Or die!"
Odin's expression didn't change.
"There are other examiners stationed throughout the realm. If you are in mortal danger, they may intervene. But do not rely on this."
His gaze hardened.
"You will face monsters. You will face the environment. And you will face each other."
He let that sink in.
"Killing is permitted."
The courtyard went dead silent.
"If you wish to withdraw, you may activate your emergency beacon at any time. You will be teleported out immediately."
He crossed his arms.
His final words were cold.
"Your fate is in your hands. Your strength will determine your survival."
He raised one hand.
"Prepare yourselves."
Faris felt his pulse quicken.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
Around him, other examinees looked terrified. Some were pale. Others shaking.
Sen muttered under his breath, "This is insane..."
Yara's face was tight with tension.
But Faris...
Faris smiled.
A wide, genuine smile.
For the first time since arriving in this human body, he felt truly alive.
"The Asir Realm..."
The world of strength.
The world where the weak died and the strong thrived.
The world he was meant for.
He looked down at his hands—weak, human, pathetic by his old standards.
But not for long.
I will survive.
I will grow.
And I will become strong again.
His smile widened.
"Let's begin."