The night seemed filtered, and the entire academy was so dark that only a heavy spiritual pressure hung in the air.
The gymnasium had been transformed into a makeshift courtroom, its walls covered with exorcism talismans. The white fluorescent lights flickered overhead as if reluctant to illuminate the ceremony.
All the student council members were present.
White Raven sat on the judge's bench in the center of the room. His expression was colder than usual as if he were dismantling and reclassifying the chaos of the academy piece by piece.
Mio stood at the entrance, stabilizing the spiritual pressure and using her power to suppress fragments of ghostly spirits trying to rush into the arena.
And Rei...
He was today's "witness."
Sitting on the judge's bench for the first time and looking at the souls floating in the shadows below, he felt an inexplicable dryness and pain in his throat.
Three students were brought in. Their bodies remained unconscious in the infirmary while their souls were forcibly extracted and floated like white mist in the center of the judgment circle.
Unnatural black lines writhed across their souls' surfaces like living creatures.
These were the sin marks that had recently become more prevalent on campus.
Bai Ya spoke, his voice sounding as if it had been chilled by ice water: "Li, can you see them? Tell us, what were their original 'sins'?"
Li took a deep breath. He knew that once he looked, he would feel all their emotions and memories, even their deepest fears.
But he still raised his eyes.
Instantly, his soul felt like it was splitting open.
Three completely different memories rushed at him: one of resenting others for bullying, one of crossing a line out of fear, and one of being caught up in a lie and being branded a "sinner."
They crashed into his eyes, his heart, and his soul.
For a moment, it felt like his head was being ripped open.
Mio frowned and said, "Ryou! Can you handle this?"
He raised his hand; his breathing was rapid, but he tried to keep his voice steady. "I'm fine."
But he knew he was lying.
This was the first time he had truly faced the essence of the "Sin Mark" instead of observing it from afar.
As Bai Ya began reading the sentencing options, Li's gaze remained fixed on the three souls.
He suddenly realized that every "sentence" directly affected the souls themselves.
They were not symbolic or psychological, but rather a real "judgment of power."
"Li," said Bai Ya, turning to look at him. "Your reaction just now was wrong. What did you see?"
Li was silent for a few seconds before responding:
"They're not that sinful."
The entire courtroom fell silent instantly.
"The mark of sin is expanding," Li said, gritting his teeth. "It magnifies even the slightest negativity in a student's heart, making it akin to original sin."
Bai Ya tapped his knuckles on the table, his eyes darkening. "This means the power of the rift has begun to interfere with the students' emotional systems."
Mio looked up, her expression clearly uneasy for the first time. "If even the most ordinary students are being distorted, the courtroom will soon be bursting at the seams."
Li listened, his heart pounding faster and faster.
He suddenly realized that his position as a "witness" was not an honor but a responsibility.
He had to bear everyone's sins, pain, and fear.
And this was just the beginning.
As the White Crow announced the verdict and the ritual began to purify his soul, Li's vision suddenly blurred.
Those fragments of memory...
didn't leave him; they remained within him.
It was as if three strange shadows were screaming, crying, and pleading for help inside him all at once.
He gripped the armrest of the chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
The White Crow noticed his unusual spiritual tremor: "Li, you—"
"I'm fine."
He said it again, but this time, even he could hear the weakness in his voice.
The trial ended.
The three students' souls were stabilized and sent back to the infirmary. However, Li's chest felt as if it were filled with cold ash.
As he left the courtroom, he heard a whisper from somewhere as if shoved into his brain from another dimension:
"Witness...this is only the beginning."
"The one who opens their eyes will swallow all sins."
Li stopped abruptly and looked up sharply.
But all around him was an empty corridor.
Mio jogged to catch up with him. "Li? Are you all right?"
He turned his head and forced a smile. "Maybe... I got too absorbed."
But he knew it wasn't an illusion.
Some force was watching him.
He had only just stepped into the true world of the "Judges."
Before the trial began, the student council had converted the gymnasium into a courtroom.
Mio suddenly noticed that the talisman on the wall had fallen off by itself.
As she reattached it, she cut her fingertip on the edge of the paper and blood dripped onto the talisman.
It seemed to absorb the blood, instantly turning black.
Mio's expression changed. "White Crow, the barrier has been contaminated," she said.
White Crow looked down to examine it and said only one sentence: "It's not an external force; it's internal." However, his gaze subtly swept over Li.
Li was startled, but White Crow had already turned away.
He wasn't sure if White Crow was implying something, but he felt a chill run down his spine.
As the trial proceeded to the second student, their soul suddenly broke free of the binding array and rushed toward Li.
Bai Ya raised her hand to stop it, but it was too late.
The black, mist-like soul pressed against Li's forehead as if trying to force its way in.
Li's mind was instantly filled with a boy's voice.
"I didn't mean to bully them. I just wanted someone to look at me."
The voice broke down, choked with sobs and carrying a loneliness ignored for too long.
Li subconsciously answered, "I saw it."
The mist paused, like a child who has stopped crying.
Then, Bai Ya forcibly pulled the soul away: "Li, what are you doing?!"
Li took a step back, her breathing erratic. A strange pain surfaced in her eyes. "He...he's just very lonely."
The student council members were all stunned.
Li hadn't simply "seen the sin."
She had directly heard the voice of the soul.
None of the other witnesses had ever done this.
For the first time, Bai Ya's expression wavered. "Your abilities have become stronger."
However, Li only felt a wave of acid reflux. It wasn't from increased power, but from being too close.
As Li's memories of the third student began to flood him, he suddenly saw images that didn't belong to that student.
A dark figure stood on the school rooftop.
A fingertip sliced through the air.
A red "eye" symbol emerged from the crack.
The same karmic seal was pressed into the chest of a student from another school.
Li gasped.
That wasn't his sin, nor his memory.
Someone was "creating" a karmic seal.
Bai Ya noticed his abnormality. "What did you see?"
Li looked up. His throat was so dry that he could barely speak. "Someone is manipulating students."
These words seemed to freeze the air in the entire courtroom.
After the trial ended, about a dozen students gathered outside the courtroom.
They weren't there to watch the spectacle; they were waiting for an update.
"Hey, how many are they trying today? Are any souls exploding?"
"I heard the Sin Mark can strengthen the soul. Is that true?"
Someone posted a link to a live stream on the dark web. Is it real or fake?"
Mio's face darkened instantly.
White Raven coldly stared at the group. "Who's spreading this information?"
No one answered, but many wore excited smiles.
Li stared at them, suddenly realizing that some students had begun to treat the trial as a "game."
This was the beginning of the foreshadowing for Chapters Four and Five.
Later, as Li was preparing to leave the courtroom,
A tiny, crack-like light suddenly appeared in the center of the trial circle.
Only he saw it.
A deep, mature, almost cold voice emanated from the light.
"Witnesses will not remain bystanders forever."
"Next, you will be the one on trial."
Li's heart clenched painfully.
He took an instinctive step back and bumped into a table leg. The metallic clang echoed sharply in the empty gymnasium.
Mio poked her head in from outside. "Li? What's wrong? Did you hear something strange?"
Li looked up, forcing down his unease. "Nothing."
But the last sentence of that voice lingered in his mind:
"Judges do not need protection."
"You are not as fragile as humans."
For a moment, he couldn't tell if the voice belonged to an enemy.
or his future self.