The hall outside the simulation chambers was colder than usual.
It was oddly quiet and clean, like a sterilized box pretending to be part of the Academy.
Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that it felt a little eerie.
Iris walked beside him, calm but unreadable, and Jasper trailed behind, whistling badly—on purpose. He recognized the tune, too. It was from a really old holo-show called Dead Men Dig Deeper.
Kinda fitting, honestly.
"They said it's just a meeting," Ethan mumbled.
"They also said the Inter-Class Cup was going to be 'low-pressure,'" Iris replied flatly.
Jasper added, "And my uncle once said lava was just 'hot water.' We all lie sometimes."
Ethan rubbed his eyes. "Great."
They stopped outside a tall set of double doors marked:
[AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED: INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH DEPT. – SUBSECTION: ANOMALY ANALYSIS]
The doors hissed open, revealing a room full of people Ethan didn't recognize. Too many suits—hardly any smiles.
There were six of them seated in the semicircle.
The first to speak was a woman in silver-rimmed glasses.
"Ethan Thorne, Iris Kandy and Jasper Kim. You are here today to give a formal statement regarding what happened during Match 2 of the Inter-Class Realm Cup, where unauthorized realm modifications and intelligent-level interactions were observed."
Jasper raised his hand with a grin. "Is this where we say 'no comment' until our lawyer gets here?"
The room didn't laugh.
"Okay," he muttered. "Tough crowd."
Ethan stepped forward, trying not to sound too nervous. "We didn't used any cheats nor changed the code. My realm… it just did things on its own."
Another person, a man with sharp eyebrows and a fancy suit, said, "You're telling us you had no idea that this anomaly existed before the match?"
Ethan opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again.
"…I didn't know it was this bad." he finally mumbled.
Wrong choice of words.
Immediately, every pen in the room started scribbling furiously.
Iris shot him a glance.
Nice going, genius.
The next hour became a barrage of questions.
Questions about realm parameters, neural responses, directive logs, emotional sync levels.
And the worst part? The whispers.
The one word that kept popping up, passed around like it was radioactive: Sentience.
Someone even asked, "Have you named it?"
Ethan blinked. "What?"
"Your realm. If it's responding emotionally and protecting you, it might already be developing an identity. Giving it a name could help strengthen that bond."
He hesitated. "No, I haven't named it."
But deep beneath the polished walls of the Academy, amidst the hum of the room, Ethan could feel it—roots whispering faintly, almost too quiet to hear. Yet he sensed them watching, waiting and eagerly anticipating something.
After the questioning, the team was finally dismissed.
Outside the room, Ethan leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath.
"That was horrible."
"Yup," Jasper agreed. "And that guy in the corner? He had the vibe of someone who sells some insurance policies."
Iris said nothing, just stared ahead with lips pressed tight.
"…You okay?" Ethan asked.
She turned, eyes unusually distant.
"They think it's alive, Ethan. Your realm. Do you understand what that means?"
He shook his head.
She leaned in closer, voice low. "It means you're either about to make the next big breakthrough… or the next containment hazard."
Ethan didn't reply.
Because he wasn't sure which he feared more.
The hall stretched ahead, dimly lit by overhead pulses of white light.
Ethan just wanted to disappear.
Find some corner in his realm where the sky was smogged, the trees were quiet, and nobody asked him questions he didn't have answers for.
But somehow, someone was still waiting.
A soft knock echoed from the left wall—no, not a wall, but a hidden, narrow door. It slowly creaked open just a crack.
"Ethan Thorne," came a soft voice called, low and kind, but not exactly reassuring. Not quite dangerous, but not entirely safe either.
He glanced behind him—Iris and Jasper were already heading down the main hall, their footsteps echoing away.
Ethan hesitated.
The voice spoke again.
"I know what's growing in your soil. And it's not just a realm."
Ethan's legs moved before his brain caught up.
The door shut behind him.
The room was smaller than he expected. No furniture. Just a single hanging lightbulb that flickered with a tired buzz. Dust floated lazily like ashes in the air.
At the center stood a man in long, dark robes—not the formal uniforms of the Academy or the World Authority. His robes looked older, woven from stories long past.
"You're…?"
The man didn't answer immediately. He seemed to be looking at Ethan's hands—no, not at them, but through them.
"Your realm called something back, Ethan. Something that doesn't belong in this era."
"What are you talking about?"
The man moved closer, his eyes shining silver—not artificial, but like moonlight frozen in his gaze.
"You've awakened a Seed of Origin. You think it's just a little sapling, just some spirit of growth. But beneath the roots… there's memory. Deep and wild memory."
Ethan took a step back, feeling a little shaky. "You're not from the Academy, are you?"
The man smiled softly. "No. I'm from before the Academy. Before divine realms were measured and crammed into systems. I was once like you."
"Reckless?" Ethan muttered, voice uncertain.
"Chosen," the man corrected. "And cursed."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, flat stone. It shimmered with the same polluted hue Ethan's realm sky held at dusk.
"This is a relic fragment. From the last realm that awakened sentience. You are not the first, Ethan Thorne."
"But the last one… ended in fire."
Ethan's throat went dry.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because they'll try to contain you, control your realm, dissect it. Fear will drive them. But your realm? It won't be chained—not without a cost."
"I don't want any of this," Ethan said quietly.
The man's face softened. "But your realm does."
And then he stepped back into the shadows.
"If you want answers… find the Well of Echoes."
"The what?"
But the man was already gone.
The door creaked open again, and Ethan found himself back in the hallway, alone.
________________________________________
Outside, the halls had changed.
More guards, whispers over earpieces, critical glances from faculty.
And somewhere in deep within Ethan's mind, beneath all the protocols and systems menus, a quiet voice whispered louder—this time, with urgency:
Grow. Grow fast. They are coming.
Ethan clenched his fists.
He didn't know what was coming.
But something inside him… and inside his realm… was preparing.
Not just to survive. To thrive.
Even if the world didn't like it.