Jin held Veron's gaze.
But he didn't answer.
Instead—
A faint, translucent window flickered into existence beside him.
He opened the system inventory.
The corpse vanished.
One moment, it was there.
The next—
nothing.
As if it had never existed.
Veron froze.
He couldn't see the system window—
but he saw the body disappear.
For the first time since Jin had met him—
his composure cracked.
His eyes slowly drifted back to the empty floor.
"…Well."
Veron stared at the spot for several long seconds.
Then he exhaled.
"That's new."
Jin closed the system window.
Silence settled between them once more.
Then Veron let out a quiet laugh.
"…You really are a monster."
He looked back at Jin, amusement replacing the last traces of surprise.
"Relax," Jin said calmly.
"Not everything you don't understand should frighten you."
Elsewhere
The alarm echoed through another hallway.
Students rushed toward the exits in confusion.
But Mira walked slowly in the opposite direction.
Her mind wasn't on the alarm.
It was still in that corridor.
The gunshot.
Jin's calm voice.
Someone is trying to kill me.
She stopped beside a window and looked down at the campus below.
Students were gathering outside, voices rising in uncertainty.
Security vehicles had already begun to arrive.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the strap of her bag.
Should I report it?
Her gaze lowered.
If I report this…
She remembered Jin's face.
Calm.
Cold.
Almost…
expecting it.
She exhaled slowly.
Then shook her head.
Jin hadn't looked surprised.
That was what disturbed her the most.
Not the gunshot.
Not the assassin.
Jin.
She lifted her gaze toward the distant building where it had happened.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Just who are you… Jin?"
Elsewhere
A large, empty classroom had been taken over.
Dozens of students stood scattered around the room.
The atmosphere was quiet—
but tense.
Not like a normal gathering.
More like a meeting.
At the center sat Daphx.
Relaxed.
One leg crossed over the other.
The same girl sat beside him—the one Veron had spoken to earlier.
Several other students stood nearby.
On the table before Daphx lay a printed map of the university.
Different classes circled in pen.
Different names marked.
He tapped the table lightly.
"First years are easy," Daphx said.
"Control them first."
His finger tapped the map again.
"Once the foundation moves…"
"…the rest will follow."
One of the students nodded.
"And the other years?"
Daphx smiled faintly.
"They'll follow."
His finger slid slowly across the map.
"One class at a time."
Before he could continue—
The alarm blared loudly through the building.
Students in the room exchanged uneasy looks.
"What happened?"
"Security?"
Someone stepped toward the window.
Daphx leaned back in his chair.
The red emergency lights flickered faintly in his eyes.
"…Looks like someone started the chaos early."
Back in the corridor
The alarm still echoed through the building.
Footsteps were getting closer now.
Students.
Or security.
Time was running short.
Veron pushed himself away from the wall.
"Well."
He glanced down the corridor.
"We should probably—"
He stopped.
Jin had already turned.
But both of them froze at the exact same moment.
Someone stood at the far end of the hallway.
A girl.
Mira.
She had stopped several meters away.
Her eyes were wide—
locked onto the exact spot where the body had disappeared.
The alarm screamed in the background.
For several long seconds—
no one moved.
Mira's voice barely rose above a whisper.
"…What was that?"
Her eyes never left the empty floor.
The place where the body had been.
Jin said nothing.
Veron's gaze shifted slowly from her…
to Jin.
Then, a small smile formed on his lips.
"…Well."
"This just became interesting."