Elius reached forward to take his ID, his fingers brushing against the still-warm plastic card when the old man raised a hand, halting him mid-motion.
"Wait," the old man asked, his tone lighter now, almost teasing. "You still want to take those ten subjects?"
Elius blinked. "No need," he said casually. "Just the fighting class, saving, and mission."
The old man’s bushy eyebrows arched, but he didn’t argue. "Three, huh? Streamlined and practical." He tapped the desk with a knuckle. "You can change them later anyway. Just let the administrative console know before the week’s over."
Elius nodded, taking the ID and tucking it into his coat. He offered a short bow. "Thanks."
"Yeah," the old man muttered, leaning back into his chair with a creak. "Goodbye then... unless, well, it’s the last ti."
The words hit like a hidden spear.
Elius paused, halfway turned toward the door. He glanced back—but didn’t reply. There was nothing to say.
He walked out in silence.
The sunlight of the F Hero City struck his face again, but it didn’t feel warm this ti.
The massive tower behind him, the Tower of Advancent, stood like a silver monolith, casting a long shadow over the street.
Around him, the city buzzed with movent—F-ranked heroes rushing to classes, training centers, convenience food stalls.
But Elius didn’t turn to the larger buildings or the glamorous dos that broadcast training simulations.
He headed to the smallest building of them all.
A squat, dull structure barely two stories high, with concrete plating and a thick reinforced hatch instead of a door.
The words above its iron fra read:
F-RANK DINSIONAL RIFT ACCESS HUB
No crowd waited here. No line curled around the entrance. The place felt cold and indifferent, and the air slled faintly of iron and disinfectant. Elius pushed through the door and stepped inside.
A staircase imdiately greeted him, spiraling downward, illuminated by sterile blue lights embedded in the concrete walls. He descended slowly, his footsteps echoing faintly.
The temperature dropped with every step.
Eventually, the stairs opened into a wide underground chamber—a silent place that humd with quiet energy.
Ahead stood a single tallic counter, behind which lounged a man in a dark uniform, wearing sunglasses indoors, his posture as still as a statue.
Elius walked over and slid his ID across the desk.
The man took it, scanned it—and paused.
For a mont, his brows lifted behind the sunglasses.
A tiny, flickering reaction. But he didn’t speak. He simply nodded, handed the ID back, and pressed a button under the desk.
A soft whirrrr echoed from the side.
A robot erged, its chassis low and flat like a tal trolley.
A passenger seat was mounted on the back—strange, elegant, with arm supports and a firm restraint system. It glided silently toward Elius and stopped at his feet, waiting like a trained hound.
Elius climbed aboard.
Without a word, the robot began its quiet journey.
It rolled through long underground tunnels. Dim lights lined the walls.
Unlike the outer city packed with boisterous young heroes showing off flashy powers and shouting in the streets, this place was eerily still. Cold.
He passed only a few people—one hero adjusting his gloves in a side hallway, another sleeping against a bench, mouth half open, drooling slightly.
The rest were empty corridors and locked doors.
Eventually, the robot stopped in front of a titanic steel gate.
The words carved onto the tal surface made Elius tense.
UNEXPLORED DINSIONAL RIFTS – ENTRY RESTRICTED
The door hissed, unlocking with an echoing shhh-click. It groaned open slowly, light spilling from within. Elius stepped through—and froze.
He hadn’t expected a crowd. But he certainly hadn’t expected them.
Standing before him was Rockson, the black teen with thick glasses and chicken crumbs still dusted across his hoodie.
Alongside him were a few other familiar faces—students who had been on the bus with him.
The group was smaller now. Halved. Clearly, the ones who didn’t want trouble had backed out after orientation. Only the determined—or the reckless—remained.
They were gathered in a semicircle around a tall man with dark armor and a smooth, formal bearing.
The man’s silver badge glead with the unmistakable mark of a D-ranked Hero.
Their Orientation Guide.
Elius stayed near the back, not wanting to disturb the session. For once, he decided to listen.
The guide spoke in a deep, calm voice that echoed slightly off the underground walls.
"Dinsional rifts weren’t always located here. Originally, they tore through reality in random locations—city centers, towns, even mountain ranges. Unstable, erratic. Dangerous to civilians and heroes alike."
He tapped a finger against a holographic screen, displaying a jagged red crack across a city skyline.
"But thanks to a special containnt and relocation device developed by Academy High’s research division, we now extract them, stabilize them, and store them here in the Rift Hub beneath Hero City."
He swiped his hand, and the hologram shifted—now showing dozens of dinsional rifts stacked like multicolored layers underground.
"These dinsional rifts, however," he said with gravity, "are the most dangerous ones we have. They are unexplored. That ans no records, no predictions, no prior entries. You’re the first wave."
The students shifted nervously.
"Unlike the finished dinsional rifts, which are fully mapped, and the unfinished-but-explored dinsional rifts, which have confird paths and enemy patterns, these are absolute blind spots. No recon. No backup. Your communications may even fail depending on spatial distortions."
Elius nodded to himself.
Just like the comics, he thought. This part always cos up before a rookie dies a horrible death or discovers a hidden power...
"Entering these rifts," the guide continued, "is entirely voluntary. You can turn back at any ti. Once you step through that door, however, you accept all consequences."
He paused.
"I won’t sugarcoat it. You could die. You could vanish. You could return broken. But for those of you who survive, you’ll be stronger than anyone else your rank. That’s the gamble."
Just then, a voice rang out.
"Woah! Look, it’s Elius!"
All heads turned.
The Orientation Guide paused his lecture, and a ripple of surprise moved through the group.
Rockson blinked rapidly. "Ayo—what the hell? You really just dipped on us earlier, man. We thought you ghosted us forever!"
One girl with twin pigtails whispered, "That’s the guy who killed the Peak F Villain on Day One, right?"
Another boy scoffed. "Show-off..."
Elius offered a calm nod but didn’t speak.
He wasn’t here to make friends.
He was here for the dinsional rift.
The guide tilted his head slightly, trying to piece together what had just happened.
"Oh, fortunately you found us!" he exclaid. "We thought everyone who didn’t attend the orientation got pulled sowhere else. How’d you even find us down here?"
Elius took a step forward, unfazed by the attention. "I ca for the unexplored dinsional rifts."
The words landed like thunder.
The guide’s eyes widened. His mouth opened. "What—?" He squinted. "Did you... did you say... unexplored dinsional rifts?"
Elius gave a small nod.
The guide froze, stunned.
"You—you—you what? You ca for the unexplored dinsional rifts? Not by mistake, not out of curiosity—for them?" He pointed at the sealed gates with the bright red warning signs, his voice rising. "The ones labeled extre danger, do not enter, recomnd E Rank minimum survival rate—those unexplored dinsional rifts?"
Elius nodded again, expression still flat and unreadable.
The guide stuttered. "You—you—you’re joking, right? You’ve gotta be joking. You’re F-rank. F! That’s the bottom. The start. The tier where people die tripping over their own shoelaces!"
He stepped closer, voice picking up speed and volu. "These dinsional rifts—these ones—don’t have maps. No intel. No exit routes. You don’t even know if the floor beneath your feet won’t collapse into so dinsion-eating void!
"You ever fought a six-dinsional predator? Huh? No? Because we don’t know if there’s one in there either! Because nobody knows! Because they’re unexplored!"
His hand went to his forehead as he paced back and forth. "This generation, I swear—every year it gets worse. First it was power-showoffs, then drama queens, then those dumbasses with laser beams shooting from every hole in their bodies thinking that makes them cool, and now—now it’s kids volunteering to die in unexplored rifts like it’s a damn ga update. What’s next, huh? Gonna livestream your death for views?"
He stopped in front of Elius again and jabbed a finger toward him.
"No. Absolutely not. I can’t let you enter. I won’t let you enter."
Elius blinked.
This is going to be a waste of ti.
He shrugged. "I ca to take a look."
The guide paused. "Just... look?"
Elius nodded, calm as ever. "Yeah. Just observing."
He had no intention of staying out, of course. He would enter a rift—just not right now, not when all eyes were on him.
There was no rush; he could be patient.
Plus, he needed to gather so sidekicks first, so when he was inside, there would be Martial Skill fragnts.
Not just that, Elius wanted to try sothing to assess the danger level of the unexplored dinsional rifts.
After all, in this world, survival ant choosing the right mont and the right actions.
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