"Professor Eugene, what is happening right now?!"
Alicia's voice rang out sharply as she stord into the room, the door slamming against the wall with a resounding bang.
Her breath was uneven, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to contain the growing panic clawing at her thoughts.
The oppressive tension in the air only deepened her unease—sothing was very wrong.
Professor Eugene barely looked up from the array of glowing sigils hovering before him, his fingers tracing intricate patterns in the air as he worked to stabilize the fluctuating mana field.
Despite the chaos unfolding outside, his expression remained calm—perhaps too calm.
"Miss Alicia, please keep your voice down,"
He chided, his tone asured yet firm. The briefest flicker of irritation crossed his features before he turned his full attention to her.
"Panicking will not change the situation."
Alicia clenched her fists, her heart pounding against her ribs.
"The sky is breaking apart, the instructors are collapsing from mana overload, and you expect to be calm?"
She snapped, her voice edged with frustration.
"Sothing impossible is happening out there, and I need answers, Professor."
For a mont, there was only silence, save for the hum of unstable mana crackling through the air.
Then, Professor Eugene exhaled, his gaze darkening ever so slightly.
"…Then I suggest you brace yourself, Miss Alicia,"
He said, his voice quiet but heavy with aning.
"Because impossible has only just begun."
Professor Eugene's words hung heavy in the air, a quiet certainty laced beneath their weight.
Then, with a subtle motion, he raised a hand and pointed toward the window, his gaze never leaving Alicia's.
"And, Miss Alicia… do you see the green barrier?"
Alicia hesitated, her brows furrowing as she quickly stepped forward.
She peered through the glass, her breath hitching at the sight beyond.
A translucent, erald-hued do stretched far into the distance, its surface pulsing faintly, rippling like liquid light.
It encased the academy entirely, separating it from the sky beyond—a sky that was no longer the one they had known.
"Ah…?"
A stunned noise escaped her lips, her mind scrambling to process the implications.
"That,"
Professor Eugene continued, his voice low and asured,
"is the exit. Or rather… the boundary. We are no longer in our original plane of existence."
A cold shiver ran down Alicia's spine.
"You're saying we've been transported… to another dinsion?"
"Precisely."
His fingers tapped lightly against his forearm as if organizing his thoughts.
"And we are completely severed from the outside world. No communication, no connection. Whatever force brought us here, it only affected the academy."
Alicia's hands curled into fists.
"Then that ans…"
"Yes,"
Professor Eugene nodded, his expression grim.
"If only the academy was displaced, then only those within its grounds at the ti were taken along with it."
His gaze darkened.
"And yet, sothing is wrong. I cannot sense the presence of the other students—at least, not most of them."
Alicia's breath caught.
"What do you an?"
The professor exhaled slowly, his fingers tightening behind his back.
"It ans that apart from a handful of individuals, the rest of the student are outside."
Alicia's mind raced as she pieced together the implications. Her throat felt dry, but she forced herself to speak.
"So... the students who were undergoing the Full Dive test... they're also not here, right?"
Professor Eugene exhaled through his nose, his expression unreadable.
"That, Miss Alicia, I cannot say for certain."
She blinked.
"What do you an?"
"The Full Dive system is not a simple illusion or ntal projection,"
He explained, his fingers pressing together in contemplation.
"It allows the user to completely imrse themselves in a separate, simulated world—a world that, despite being artificial, still exists beyond our current reality. In essence, even a simulation is a kind of dinsion in its own right."
Alicia's breath hitched.
"Which ans…"
Eugene's voice lowered, his gaze sharpening.
"By all logic, the students engaged in the Combat Training simulation should have been transported here as well. And yet…"
Alicia's eyes widened as realization struck her like a lightning bolt.
'The students… Almost all of them had logged out when Team 1 and Team 2 fought each other. But—'
Her stomach churned.
'So of them had ford alliances and stayed inside.'
That ant—
'Ren, Silas, and Lily... they should be here.'
Her hands tightened at her sides as another na surfaced in her mind.
'Oh… and lissa as well. She was hiding inside the VR environnt when the battle broke out.'
A sharp chill ran down her spine.
If what Professor Eugene said was true, then there were only a handful of students left in this fragnted dinsion.
And the rest… Are outside the real world.
*****
(Alicia's POV)
"Professor Eugene, what is happening right now?!"
I stord into the room, my voice cutting through the thick tension like a blade.
My breath ca in sharp, uneven bursts, my heart pounding against my ribs as if trying to escape the growing dread coiling in my chest.
The heavy door slamd against the wall behind , but I barely noticed.
Everything felt wrong.
The world outside—the sky itself—was breaking. Instructors were collapsing, their bodies unable to withstand the unnatural surge of mana.
It was chaos, pure and unrelenting, and yet—
Professor Eugene stood before , unfazed.
His fingers moved in slow, deliberate motions, tracing glowing sigils in the air, stabilizing whatever unseen forces threatened to unravel.
His expression was calm—too calm. As if none of this was unexpected.
As if he had anticipated this.
"Why isn't he panicking?!"
"Miss Alicia, please keep your voice down."
His words, though firm, felt like a slap.
I clenched my fists, frustration rising like bile in my throat.
"Is he serious?!"
"The sky is breaking apart, the instructors are collapsing from mana overload, and you expect to be calm?!"
The words erupted before I could stop them.
My voice was edged with desperation, with a demand for answers that I needed.
A silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken truths.
The only sound was the hum of unstable mana, crackling through the air like a storm barely held at bay.
Then, finally, Professor Eugene exhaled.
His eyes darkened.
"…Then I suggest you brace yourself, Miss Alicia."
His voice was quiet, but the weight behind it sent a cold shiver down my spine.
"Because impossible has only just begun."
A lump ford in my throat.
Sothing about the way he said it—so certain, so absolute—felt more terrifying than the chaos outside.
Then, he raised a hand and pointed toward the window.
"And, Miss Alicia… do you see the green barrier?"
I hesitated, my brows furrowing, before stepping closer.
And then—I saw it.
A massive, translucent do stretched across the entire academy.
Its erald surface pulsed faintly, shifting like liquid light.
Beyond it—
I felt my breath catch.
The sky… was different.
It wasn't our sky anymore.
"Ah…?"
The noise escaped involuntarily, my mind struggling to process what I was seeing.
"That,"
Professor Eugene continued, his voice low, asured,
"is the exit. Or rather… the boundary. We are no longer in our original plane of existence."
The words slamd into , the weight of their aning sinking deep into my bones.
"You're saying we've been transported… to another dinsion?"
"Precisely."
My stomach twisted.
Another dinsion?
Severed from reality itself?
Professor Eugene's fingers tapped against his forearm, his gaze calculating.
"And we are completely severed from the outside world. No communication, no connection. Whatever force brought us here, it only affected the academy."
I swallowed hard, my mind racing.
"Then that ans…"
"Yes,"
He confird grimly.
"If only the academy was displaced, then only those within its grounds at the ti were taken along with it."
But then—his gaze darkened further.
"And yet, sothing is wrong. I cannot sense the presence of the other students—at least, not most of them."
My blood ran cold.
"What do you an?"
He exhaled slowly, fingers tightening behind his back.
"It ans that apart from a handful of individuals, the rest of the students are missing."
My breath hitched.
"Missing? But—how?!"
My thoughts raced through every possibility, each one more terrifying than the last.
Had they been left behind in the real world? Or had sothing worse happened?
I forced myself to speak, though my throat felt dry.
"So… the students who were undergoing the Full Dive test… they're also not here, right?"
Professor Eugene exhaled through his nose, his expression unreadable.
"That, Miss Alicia, I cannot say for certain."
I blinked, my heart pounding.
"What do you an?"
"The Full Dive system is not a simple illusion or ntal projection,"
He explained, his fingers pressing together in contemplation.
"It allows the user to completely imrse themselves in a separate, simulated world—a world that, despite being artificial, still exists beyond our current reality. In essence, even a simulation is a kind of dinsion in its own right."
My breath caught in my throat.
"A separate world…?"
"Which ans…"
Professor Eugene's voice lowered, his gaze sharpening.
"By all logic, the students engaged in the Combat Training simulation should have been transported here as well. And yet…"
My eyes widened.
My stomach twisted.
"The students… Almost all of them had logged out when Team 1 and Team 2 fought each other. But—"
My fingers curled into fists.
"So of them had ford alliances and stayed inside."
Which ant—
"Ren, Silas, and Lily… they should be here."
And then—another na surfaced in my mind.
"Oh… and lissa as well. She was hiding inside the VR environnt when the battle broke out."
A sharp chill ran down my spine.
If what Professor Eugene said was true…
Then there were only a handful of students left in this fragnted dinsion.
So of the 2nd year and 3rd year should be here as well.
And the rest—
The rest were still in the real world.
Or worse—
They never made it anywhere at all.
*****
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