I didn't even open my eyes.
Didn't need to.
Predator Sense painted the whole place in my head — heartbeats, breath, the fake excitement rolling off everyone like cheap perfume.
The F-1s were easy to spot.
Their heartbeats hitched between sobs, their voices shaking as they begged the teachers for another chance.
Crying, whining, clutching the crystals like the world cheated them.
Yeah… maybe it did.
But honestly, who cares?
Then the F-3s and F-4s — steady heartbeats, nervous laughter, fake confidence.
Holding up their invitations like proof they existed.
Good for them. Mediocrity deserves its own participation trophy.
And then… the noise.
The F-5s and F-6s.
Their heartbeats were faster — not from fear, from ego.
Reporters snapping pictures, scouts crowding like vultures.
Teachers trying to look proud, but their smiles stank of greed.
That's when I caught it — the pattern.
The rhythm.
Twenty of them. All ranked high, grouped too close. Not scattered — moving around the same two heartbeats.
Bai Shou. Chi Yan.
I frowned a little.
Twenty F-5s and F-6s? Together? That's not normal.
I didn't see a single one of them inside the Zone, and now they're here — clean, calm, smiling like they just walked out of a photo shoot.
Something doesn't fit.
Not with the kind of monsters that were crawling through that place.
Either they skipped the Zone entirely…
or someone pulled them out before the blood started.
A quiet laugh slipped out.
"Heh… so that's how it is," I muttered.
"The dogs finally found someone else to wag their tails for."
And somewhere in the back of my head, that whisper came — low, broken, crawling through like smoke.
Jealous, aren't you?
I didn't answer.
Just smiled a little wider.
"Jealous?" I muttered. "Please."
I tilted my head, still half-listening to the crowd.
"Let them have their tricks, their sponsors, their shiny ranks."
I shrugged. "But if any of them steps in my way… I'll show them who the real master is."
My grin widened, slow, sharp.
"They play with cheat codes."
I tapped my chest lightly.
"I am the cheat."
While I was standing in line, my brain wandered off again.
False Genesis… yeah, that's the name.
At first, I thought it sounded cool — like something godly.
Turns out it's basically a glorified fake ID generator.
Changes my rank, bloodline, skills — everything.
Figures. The System basically gave me a built-in scam feature.
Right now, I'm probably the strongest one standing here.
E-1. The first to reach it.
But no one needs to know that.
Let them see trash.
Let them laugh like they always did.
I'll keep it that way — easier to move in the dark when no one bothers to look.
I smiled to myself.
"Guess lies make better gods than truth ever did."
So what now?
Go all out and fake my way into some top university?
Maybe show up as an F-6, claim I trained under some mysterious old master in seclusion — you know, the kind with a long white beard, living on a mountain, sipping tea while lecturing birds about inner peace.
Yeah, classic main character setup.
Accidentally stumbled upon him, got enlightened, learned secret techniques, came back to shock the world.
Right. Real believable.
I snorted.
"They'd probably eat that crap up too."
Or maybe I stay low.
Fake an F-3 or F-4, play the quiet underdog card.
Let them laugh, let them look down — while I walk circles around their fancy ranks.
I let out a breath, shaking my head with a grin.
"My life's literally a fake résumé now."
A small chuckle slipped out.
"What a great era to lie for a living."
I smiled to myself.
Being the underdog sounds nice, honestly. Less noise. Less eyes. Less idiots trying to stick a knife in my back every five minutes.
Heroes get all the lights, all the cheers — and the moment they fall, everyone lines up to eat their corpse.
Yeah, no thanks. I don't need fans; I've got enough ghosts already.
A cult, huh… weird word, but it fits.
Not the robed freaks with candles — more like a crew. Quiet. Smart. People who know when to show up and when to vanish. No banners, no names, just work.
I could wear the mask, stay in the dark, teach them the basics — don't ask, don't cry, don't betray. Keep it clean, keep it sharp.
And when things need fixing, we fix them… quietly.
Let the world think it's luck. Let them scream about destiny while I take everything they left behind.
Yeah. That sounds about right.
A quiet army. My own little shadow.
Or maybe just me — faster, hungrier.
Either way… I win.
Cult… huh.
Yeah… that's it.
It's perfect.
The word slipped out before I even thought about it, like it was already sitting on my tongue, waiting for me to catch up.
Shen Yan… we are the Abyss… we swallow everything that walks in light…
That voice again — rough, low, almost tired. It didn't scare me anymore. It just sounded… familiar.
Like breathing.
Like me.
I chuckled under my breath. "Yeah… we do."
The cold slid down my spine, slow.
Didn't bother me.
Felt… familiar. Like something that had always been there, just waiting for me to notice it.
I could see it — shadows spreading from me, slow, silent.
Not crawling. Just there.
And faces in it… faint, bending low, whispering my name like they already knew who owned them.
My name.
Or maybe ours.
I smiled. Small. Tight.
Didn't need to force it. It was already there.
Maybe I'm still me. Maybe not. Doesn't matter. I already know what comes next.
I know what I want now.
No cheers. No eyes watching.
Just the dark.
Just the whisper.
Just me — pulling this world down piece by piece until it finally learns how to shut up.
So it was decided then.
What I needed to do. What I would become.
I didn't even realize when the line moved.
Guess it was my turn.
I stepped forward — still lost in my own head — until I felt it.
The silence.
Dozens of eyes on me.
Some even covered their mouths, like they'd just seen a corpse walk in.
Funny thing was — they weren't wrong.
I blinked, looking around. "...What?"
I watched their faces freeze — eyes wide, lips twitching like they forgot how to breathe.
It wasn't the look you give a ghost.
No… it was the look you give when the ghost's standing right in front of you, smiling back.