The moon hung high above the campus hills, its silver tint illuminating the looming sky.

Below it, a rush of footsteps followed.

Ives flew through the campus ground, her skinny legs carrying her past the reeds, toward the [MUSIC TOWER] standing on top of the hill.

Despite being only half his size, the seven-year-old was surprisingly agile. The white cast still wrapped her arm as she ran, with a strand fluttering behind from the gust of her steps.

Chasing after her steps were no other than Owein and Celio, the former of which had the corner of his mouth downturned as he followed, gaze glued to Ives's tiny back.

Owein was tired.

He was someone who kept clear expectations and rules for himself to follow. Although sleeping before 10 PM was something the Labyrinth had set up as a feature for his persona, he'd developed a habit of sleeping early nonetheless.

Owein didn't like when his routines were disturbed.

At that thought, his face darkened further. Now that he thought about it, he'd been breaking his rules more often since meeting him—the strange dark-haired man who had become his roommate by chance.

Indeed, a feeling of puzzlement was present aside from Owein's accumulated fatigue.

If he recalled correctly, he had told the seven-year-old that although Edris was in a predicament state, the man would get by just fine with that brain of his. Yet after hearing him explain the situation, the girl burst out of the room without another word.

Mind reeled back to the present, Owein regarded the girl's tiny back as the latter dashed forth.

He thought he'd made it quite clear that Edris would survive.

Then, why was she still running as though her life depended on it?

Although Ives was nimble, it didn't take too long for Owein to catch up to her. Grabbing hold of her collar, Owein easily lifted her from the ground, only for Ives to hiss at him.

"Let me go!" She whipped her head around, shooting him a glare which Owein received with a stoic face.

When the girl realised he had no plans of releasing his grip, she began to scream while flinging her limbs all over, only for her voice to be stuck halfway as Owein used his spare hand to squeeze her cheeks together.

“…”

Behind them, Celio hurriedly caught up, a flustered expression plastered all over his face. Upon seeing the sight of the seven-year-old Ives about to sink her teeth into Owein, Celio's heart almost jumped out of his throat.

"Calm down!" He quickly pulled Ives back, then glanced over to Owein. "And you! I don't think you should be treating a kid like that."

"She wasn't listening to me," Owein said.

"And you weren't letting me go!" Ives shot back, battling tears in her red-rimmed eyes. "Mister Edris is in danger because of me. I can't just sit back and watch."

Her head drooped upon saying those words, and the seven-year-old slumped in Celio's grasp. She curled her tiny fists into a ballshape, letting them drop and dangle like her body as well.

"If only it was the full moon..."

It was a mumble so low she'd expected no one around her to hear, but Owein happened to possess senses more keen than the average person.

He tilted his head in curiosity. Before he could inquire further, someone else spoke up first.

"Full moon? What about it?" Celio blinked at her, and Owein did the same.

Ives blinked back, obviously not expecting her words to be heard by them both. She turned her head away.

"Nothing."

At that, the seven-year-old then made a second attempt to escape Celio and Owein, only for the latter to grab hold of the space of her underarms, lifting her into the air.

"Just look." Owein sighed.

"I said, let me down!"

"And I said look."

"At what?!"

It was that moment.

An explosion reverberated all around them, its source being no other than the [MUSIC TOWER] at the top of the hill. The sudden commotion placed a pause on Ives's protest as she steered her vision toward the tower.

Shards of glass flew out in all directions, emerging from the uprising smoke. Flying past the smoke and into the starry night were streaks of purple and red, interweaving into one another as they shot up, illuminating the night sky.

"Those purple strings…!" Celio blinked.

By the time the three of them arrived at the foot of the tower, the entire building was covered in a sea of flames. Amidst their dumbfounded looks, Owein finally dropped Ives back onto the ground.

He blocked the flying ashes with one hand while covering his mouth with the other. Despite the look of nuisance on his face, and despite being amidst the unpleasant, dirt-filled environment, Owein found the corners of his lips curling up.

"This."

***

Inside the [MUSIC TOWER]. Labyrinth 53.

Outside [DETENTION], Moss paced back and forth in the haze-filled hallway, his expression darker than the room itself.

Magenta leaned by the wall, a handkerchief hovered over her mouth.

"How much longer until the Shadows disperse the smoke?"

"Soon," Moss replied curtly. "Currently, [DETENTION] 's in a dangerous state. The entire system's equilibrium has been damaged thanks to the mana outrage. Until the balance is restored, it is too dangerous for anyone to enter—including you, Magenta."

Moss sighed again.

"I thought mana channels are blocked here?! So how did he—"

"That is also something I wish to know."

Magenta cut him off, and Moss breathed out through his nose. "If it is dangerous inside to the extent where even we cannot enter, then No. 111…"

Magenta looked toward the foggy room, flames undertones reflecting off her ruby-like pupils. All traces of previous excitement was gone from her face.

"This player cannot die"— was all she said.

After five more minutes, one of the Shadows approached Moss from inside the [DETENTION] room. The Shadow whispered something into his ear, and Moss lifted his head.

The two exchanged a nod, and Magenta walked into the room. Although purple haze lingered here and here, the room was at least back to its previous stability.

A single silhouette stood in the room's centre.

However, it wasn't Edris.

"Professor 004?" Moss looked toward the white-haired man, flabbergasted. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding the tower on the outside? How did you end up here?"

Prior to entering the tower, he had specifically positioned the man on the outside to stop any potential collaborations. 004 appeared to be acquainted with No. 111; the latter had asked about him multiple times during their walk up here, so Moss decided to take extra precautions in separating the two.

But now…

Standing beside him, Magenta spoke. "Where is No. 111? How did you get past the mana barriers and into this room?"

When it came to finding locations within the tower, true orientation was detached from one's senses. For example, without proper spatial awareness, those who enter would feel as though they're ascending, when they are actually descending, and vice versa.

This perceptual deception was the case for the elevator lift. Although it felt like the lift was descending, they were actually making their way to the upper portion of the tower.

The [MUSIC TOWER] was infused with mana, and intricately designed so that only the Principal and the professors knew how to manoeuvre around the maze-like infrastructure.

004 was still on probation, so they'd never shown him the way around here. At this thought, both professors peered at the white-haired man dubiously.

So how?

To Moss's surprise, 004's face seemed even grimmer than he and Magenta combined. The man walked right past him toward the one-sided window at the end of the room.

Before Moss could react, the man had shattered the glass with a single punch, exposing the room to the outside view.

Gust poured inwards, sweeping up the remaining haze into oblivion. Moss swerved around, only to see the hallway in a crippled mess, 004 striding toward the hole in the wall he'd created, and his pink-haired coworker nowhere to be found.

It took everything Moss had in him not to rip his hair and swear.

Although Magenta held the most experience of all the professors due to her seniority in the academy, Moss was the most mature, being the one who shouldered all the necessary administrative tasks.

Indeed, he took pride in his hard-gained composure.

As with most of the rooms in the tower, the observation room was a mana-sculpted room that strayed from the tower's inherent anatomy. However, now that the mana balance had been disturbed a second time, the sculpted room could no longer be sustained.

"Professor 004, hear me out." Holding onto his glasses frame, Moss could barely hear his own voice in the roaring gust. He called out to the white-haired man, still edging toward walls of the tower.

"I would like you to contact the Principal immediately and notify him of the situation," Moss said, this time more assertively. "No. 111 has committed an atrocious deed. This time, he simply cannot escape without experiencing the proper consequences of his actions."

004 paused in his steps and turned around to look at him. Before Moss could release a subtle breath, the next scene threw his mind for a spin.

"What are you…!"

His sentence halfway out his mouth, Ace had already leapt out from the hole in the wall without a moment wasted, taking with him Moss's last strand of composure.

“…”

The wind dispersed with his jump, and the tower returned to its original stillness. Staring at the now-empty room with a vacant gaze, Moss threw his glasses against the wall.

"Shit!"

***

At the same time as Moss's demise, a silhouette emerged from the foot of the tower. Its slender figure protruded from the fog, almost disseminating from the rest of the surroundings.

"Master!" Celio's eyes lit up upon seeing the dark-haired man. Aside from the lingering purple behind his steps and his paler-than-usual face, he seemed to have made it out unscathed.

Celio's expression was mirrored by Edris as he peered toward the group in surprise.

"What are you all doing h—"

Before he could finish his question, Ives leapt into him, pushing her face against his stomach as her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace.

Edris stiffened at first, only to realise that the seven-year-old was shaking. He carefully caressed the back of her head.

"Are your wounds okay?" he asked.

Ives nodded in silence, face still buried in his blazer. Edris didn't ask further.

"I'm glad."

Owein was the next to speak. He approached him with an intent gaze that shifted between Edris and the burning tower behind him.

"You did this?"

"You could say that."

"How did you escape?" Owein asked again.

Edris merely smiled.

"You could say that I had an ace card."

During the time he was blindfolded in the lift, Edris had time to check out the item he was gifted for discovering the Principal's Office.

The results were quite to his liking:

[SWAP PORTAL]

USAGE: When activated, the player can swap locations with anyone who

1) the player has seen in the past hour, and 2) is within the one-kilometre distance.

This card can only be used once.

"Unexpected! Let me grace your presence with mine."

NOTE: Rewarded for discovering The Hidden Location (2/2)!

By the time he'd finished analysing the card's abilities, Edris had formulated a plan in his head.

The fact that Ace was repositioned into a secure location outside the tower actually acted to his advantage. With Ace's inhuman abilities, Edris knew the man would get out of there no problem, so he had gladly made use of his free-to-use human portal.

Although his original plan was to use Celio's [SNEAKERS] card to trudge down the tower after wrecking it with the Tempest, the newly gained card turned out to be a much better alternative.

As Edris continued to comfort Ives, another burst of gust exploded behind him. The next moment, Ace towards him, his face grim as ink as his usually spotless appearance was brushed with dirt.

"Hey." Edris waved at him with a smile. "You got out of there faster than I expected."

Ace narrowed his eyes.

"It was you."

"In my defence, you had the greatest chance of surviving out of all of us. You could say it was because I had faith in you." Edris held his hands up, smiling sheepishly. "So take it as an act of good will?"

The white-haired man just stared at him, obviously not taking any of his nonsense.

"I'll remember this."

"Hold up…" Celio stared at Ace dumbfounded, then shifted his gaze up. "You jumped from there?"

Before the man could respond, a third person burst out from the fog. Bun in a mess, Magenta strode the group with a stern expression.

Edris blinked twice. The [SWAP PORTAL] was instantaneous, so while Ace was about to catch up to him thanks to his ridiculous physiques, he didn't expect Magenta to arrive so promptly as well.

Magenta walked straight at Edris, only for her movement to be blocked by Celio and Owein, who simultaneously stepped in her path. Ace stood at the back of the group. Although unmoving, his obsidian eyes were capturing her every motion. Standing closest to the dark-haired man, Ives's grip on Edris tightened.

In light of the various reactions, Magenta said nothing. Her eyes pierced through the crowd, locking onto Edris, who only raised an eyebrow in return.

Just as the escalated tension was about to reach its peak, Magenta stepped back with a sigh.

"No need to act so cautious." She laid out both hands with a shrug. "I am here to make an offer."

"Oh?" Edris glanced at her amusingly.

"Player 111," Magenta said. "Join the Student Administrative Association."