The Monolith was ugly.
That was Rei's first thought. It stood ten meters tall in the center of the Hanseong Academy gymnasium, a slab of jagged obsidian that seemed to drink the light around it. Glowing blue runes pulsed across its surface like veins.
It looked less like a holy artifact and more like a tombstone.
"I'm gonna puke," Kang Minho whispered.
Rei didn't look at his seatmate. He kept his eyes on the stage. "Don't puke on me. These are my only shoes."
"How are you so calm?" Minho's leg was bouncing up and down so fast it was shaking the entire bench. "Statistically, 80% of us are going to end up as F-rank porters carrying luggage for the rich kids. My mom took out a loan for my prep kit, Rei. A loan."
Rei tightened his grip on his knees.
Calm?
His heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. But he had learned a long time ago that showing fear was like bleeding in a shark tank.
"Quiet," Rei murmured. "The butcher is speaking."
On the stage, the microphone screeched.
Principal Yoon Daeshik stepped into the spotlight.
The man was a walking cautionary tale. He was sixty, with a face that looked like it had been carved out of granite and dropped off a cliff. His left sleeve was pinned empty to his side—a souvenir from an A-rank gate ten years ago.
The chatter in the gym died instantly. Five hundred students held their breath.
"Good morning, students. Parents. Media vultures."
Yoon's voice was gravel and ash.
A few nervous chuckles rippled through the crowd. They died quickly when Yoon didn't smile.
"I'm not here to fill your heads with hope," Yoon said, pacing the stage. "Hope is a luxury that gets hunters killed."
He stopped and scanned the rows of terrified teenagers.
"Today, 500 of you will awaken. Let's talk numbers."
He raised his remaining hand.
"400 of you will receive F or E-rank classes. Trash. You will work support roles, or you will die in your first F-rank gate because you panicked."
Rei saw Minho flinch.
"80 of you will receive D or C-rank classes. Decent. You might make it to thirty years old if you're smart."
Yoon leaned into the mic.
"19 of you will receive B or A-rank classes. Congratulations, you are now valuable property. The guilds will fight over you like dogs over meat."
"And one of you—maybe—will receive an S-rank or Hidden class. The media will call you a genius. I call you a target."
The silence in the gym was heavy, suffocating.
"Here is the fun part," Yoon whispered, his eyes cold. "Within five years, 50% of you will be dead. Not injured. Not retired. Dead."
Gasps erupted from the parents' section. A mother in the front row covered her mouth.
"Why?" Yoon pointed a finger at the students. "Because the world doesn't care about your dreams. Gates don't negotiate. Monsters don't show mercy. And your classmates?"
He sneered.
"Half of them will abandon you mid-fight to save their own skin."
Rei felt a strange chill of approval.
Finally. Someone honest.
"So when you touch that monolith," Yoon finished, "don't pray for a good class. Pray for the wisdom to know when to run. Dismissed. Let's get this slaughter lottery started."
The process was slow. Brutal. Public.
One by one, students walked up, placed their hand on the stone, and had their future projected onto a massive holographic screen for everyone to judge.
"Student #1: Park Jinwoo."
The rich kid from the group chat strutted up. He slapped his hand on the stone with a grin.
WHOOSH.
Crimson fire erupted from the runes.
[CLASS: FLAMEBLADE WARRIOR][RANK: C]
"YES!" Jinwoo pumped his fist. Cameras flashed. His parents in the VIP section were already high-fiving.
Daddy donated 500 million won to the academy last month, Rei thought. What a coincidence.
"Student #47: Kim Sora."
The scholarship girl. She walked up shaking. She touched the stone.
A dull, grey light flickered.
[CLASS: SEAMSTRESS][RANK: F (LIFE CLASS)]
Sora crumpled. She covered her face, trying not to cry as she hurried off stage. Her scholarship was gone. Her future was dead.
"Welcome to poverty," Rei whispered.
"Student #103: Kang Minho."
Rei nudged him. "Go. Don't trip."
Minho stumbled up the stairs. He looked like he was walking to the gallows. He touched the stone.
A soft green light.
[CLASS: HEALER][RANK: D]
Minho blinked. Then his knees gave out. He laughed, a hysterical sound. "D-rank! I'm D-rank! I can pay the bills!"
He ran back to his seat, grabbing Rei's shoulder. "Did you see?! Healer! I'm gonna be rich! I can save my sister!"
"If you don't die first," Rei said.
"You're such an asshole, Rei." Minho was grinning so hard it looked painful.
"Student #234: Jin Haewon."
The air in the gym changed.
Whispers spread like wildfire. "That's her. Jin Taewon's sister." "Titanfall's princess." "I heard she was mana-bathed since birth."
Jin Haewon walked up the stairs. She didn't look at the crowd. She didn't look at the Principal. She moved with the grace of a predator that knew it had no natural enemies.
She placed her hand on the obsidian.
The Monolith didn't just glow. It roared.
A pillar of golden light blasted into the ceiling, blinding the cameras. The gym shook.
[CLASS: TRANSCENDENT SWORDMASTER][RANK: A (HIDDEN EVOLUTION)]
[SYSTEM NOTE: LEGENDARY POTENTIAL DETECTED]
The crowd went feral. Parents stood up. Reporters were screaming into their mics.
Haewon didn't smile. She just pulled her hand back, turned, and walked away.
As she passed the back row, her eyes scanned the crowd. For a split second, they landed on Rei. It was a look of absolute indifference.
She looked at him like he was furniture.
I'll remember that look, Rei thought.
"Student #456: Kaizen Rei."
The name echoed over the speakers.
"That's the orphan kid from Serenity Restaurant," someone whispered. "The one who smells like grease."
Rei stood up. His legs felt heavy.
Deep breath. Don't expect anything. Trash class is fine. Just survive.
He walked up the stairs. The stage lights were blinding. The Monolith loomed over him, humming with a low frequency that vibrated in his teeth.
He reached out.
His palm touched the cold stone.
SCREECH.
Pain.
It wasn't a spark. It was an inferno. White-hot agony shot up his arm, blasting into his skull. His vision went white.
A voice spoke. Not from the speakers. From inside his brain.
Analyzing soul structure...Anomaly detected.Dual-layered consciousness identified.Accessing Hidden Class Archive...Match found.
Rei gasped, pulling his hand back. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest.
The holographic screen above him flickered. Static lines tore across the display.
[CLASS: MIRAGE (HIDDEN)][RANK: ???][TYPE: ILLUSION SPECIALIST]
For a second, there was silence.
Then, a confused murmur rippled through the gym.
"Mirage?" "Is that... a support class?" "Illusion Specialist? So he makes magic tricks?" "What a waste of a Hidden Class tag." "Rank Unknown usually means the system couldn't bother calculating it because it's so low."
Laughter. It started in the front row and spread back.
Off-stage, a technician stared at his monitor. He tapped the screen frantically.
"Sir," he muttered to Principal Yoon. "I'm getting Error Code 0x7F3A. Data Corrupted. The system isn't registering his mana signature properly."
Yoon frowned at the screen. Mirage? Never seen that designation. But if the rank is null... it's a glitch.
"Mark it for manual review later," Yoon ordered. "Next student."
Rei stood up. The laughter washed over him.
Mirage.
He looked at his hand. The burning sensation was fading, replaced by a cold, metallic hum in his blood.
He walked off stage. No cameras flashed. No parents cheered.
"Pathetic," he heard Haewon mutter as he passed her. "Hidden class and it's still useless."
Rei didn't stop. He walked straight past his seat, past a confused Minho, and out the side exit.
The boys' bathroom was empty. The fluorescent light buzzed overhead.
Rei splashed cold water on his face. He stared at himself in the dirty mirror. Tired eyes. Messy hair. The face of a nobody.
"Illusion Specialist," he whispered. "Great. I can make balloon animals while monsters eat me."
Ding.
A blue window appeared in the air. Not the public hologram. A private interface, hovering right in front of his retina.
[MIRAGE SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[Class: Mirage][Rank: Hidden (???)][Level: 1]
[UNIQUE SKILL UNLOCKED: Mirror World - Genesis]
Rei froze. He tapped the air.
[Description: Create a parallel dimension where slain creatures become perfect illusions under your command. Illusions possess 100% of original's combat capability.]
[Current Limit: 1 Slot][Next Slot Unlock: Level 2]
Rei read it again. And again.
100% of original capability.
If he killed a goblin, he got a goblin. If he killed a dragon...
He got a dragon.
Another notification popped up.
[PASSIVE: STEALTH PROTOCOL][Your class signature is hidden from Association monitoring systems. Detection occurs only when you USE your powers in surveilled areas.]
Rei gripped the edge of the sink. His knuckles turned white.
The system wasn't broken. It was hiding him.
Everyone thought he was weak. The Association couldn't track him. The Principal had dismissed him.
"This class..." Rei stared at his reflection. A slow, dangerous smile crept onto his face. It wasn't his customer-service smile. "It's either cursed or blessed. Either way, I'm going to use it."
The bathroom door banged open.
"Rei!"
Minho burst in, looking frantic. "I've been looking everywhere! Look, I know your class seems... underwhelming, but—"
"It's fine," Rei said, his voice steady. He turned around, the smile gone. "I'll make it work."
"That's the spirit!" Minho exhaled. "Hey, did you see the alert? They just announced the mandatory field trip next week. F-Rank Gate. We'll be partners, right?"
Rei paused. One week.
"Sure," Rei said. "Try not to die."
"Same to you, asshole." Minho grinned.
As Minho turned to leave, a red warning box flashed in Rei's vision.
[EMERGENCY QUEST TRIGGERED]
[Quest: First Blood][Objective: Slay your first monster and claim it for Mirror World][Reward: Skill 'Phantom Step'][Failure: Death]
[Time Limit: 7 Days]
Rei stared at the countdown timer ticking away in the corner of his eye.
Seven days.
He looked at his trembling hands, then clenched them into fists.
Then the real test begins.