White space,

A sharp chime echoed through the endless white space.

Ding. Ding. Ding!!!

Eira's cheerful voice followed immediately after.

"Time's up, everyone~!

All remaining participants who haven't formed a team…

will now be auto-assigned!"

The announcement dropped like a stone into the crowd.

Several students immediately shouted:

"Eh—!? Already!?"

"That was too fast!"

"Hey! I didn't even find my friends yet—!"

"Wait—give us a little more—!!"

But their protests didn't matter.

The white floor beneath them lit up with bright lines of mana, forming strange patterns.

Before anyone could understand what was happening, their bodies jerked forward—

pulled by an invisible force.

Students who stood alone were dragged toward others, forming tight clusters of four.

Some stumbled, some yelped, some cursed, but none could resist the system's pull.

In just seconds, the scattered individuals were arranged into perfect groups.

The last remaining students glowed faintly as their circles of light solidified around them, confirming their team assignments.

The white space quieted once more.

Every participant now stood in a team of four—

whether they liked it or not.

Ron, Lia, Selene, and Jax watched the rapid auto-formation with mixed expressions.

"…That was fast..," Selene muttered.

Lia nodded.

"They didn't even give them a chance to complain…"

Jax scratched the back of his head.

"Well… at least no one's alone."

Ron exhaled slowly.

"Now the real test begins."

And all around them, hundreds of glowing teams braced themselves, waiting for what would come next.

Eira's cheerful voice echoed through the white space, louder than before.

"Alright, participants~!

The first phase starts… NOW!"

Before anyone could react—

FLASH!

The entire crowd vanished.

---

Ron, Lia, Selene, and Jax blinked as the world reformed around them.

Gone was the endless white void.

They now stood in a sprawling labyrinth, its tall stone walls stretching endlessly in every direction.

A cold, silvery mist clung to the ground, swirling like living fog and obscuring the distant paths.

The air was cold.

The atmosphere heavy.

Even breathing felt different in this place.

Eira's voice echoed through the labyrinth, bouncing off the stone walls.

"Welcome to Phase One—

the Hall of Shifting Shadows!"

A moment later, she added with way too much enthusiasm:

"The rules are simple~!

This place is a maze.

You need to navigate through it and reach the end!"

Jax grinned confidently.

"That's it? Easy. It's just walking in straight lines."

Eira immediately cut him off.

"No, no, no, silly participant~!

This maze is not simple at all."

Selene had been silent until now, standing slightly behind the others.

Her midnight-blue hair swayed as she closed her eyes, trying to sense mana signatures nearby.

Her eyebrows knit tightly.

"…I can't sense anyone else," she whispered.

"Not just close by… I can't sense any students at all. Anywhere."

Lia turned toward her.

"What do you mean—?"

Selene opened her eyes, confusion creeping into them.

"It's like… we're the only ones here."

Eira's voice returned immediately, cheerful as ever.

"Oh, that's because every team has their own Hall of Shifting Shadows~!"

The four froze.

Lia's eyes widened.

"…Our own…?"

"Yep!" Eira chimed.

"Every team is separated into their own labyrinth.

No interference.

No cross-team competition.

Just you… and the maze."

A faint rumble echoed somewhere deep inside the labyrinth.

The mist shifted, almost as if responding to Eira's words.

Ron tightened his grip on his pendant.

"So this really is a solo-team challenge…"

Eira happily continued:

"Well then~! No more hints!

Go clear Phase One and earn your Qualificationfor second phase!"

The silvery mist thickened.

The tall stone walls loomed.

The labyrinth waited.

Ron stepped forward first.

"Let's move."

At first, the labyrinth didn't seem all that terrifying.

The group walked carefully through the narrow corridors, their footsteps echoing softly against the stone floor. Dim torches flickered along the walls, casting uneven shadows that danced with every movement. The faint scent of old earth and dormant magic filled the air — ancient, heavy, and strangely familiar.

For a moment, it almost felt like an ordinary dungeon.

Ron led the way with his usual calm, eyes sharp and steady. Lia followed behind him, tracing faint mana lines on the wall with her fingertips. Selene moved silently, her senses spread wide, reading the subtle fluctuations in the air. Jax, meanwhile, was humming under his breath — a little too casually, given their surroundings.

Minutes passed as they navigated turn after turn, the air growing colder but the path seemingly straightforward.

And then, at last, they saw it — an exit.

A faint golden light spilled from the opening at the end of the hallway.

Jax grinned.

"Well, that was easy. Guess we're just that good."

He stepped forward confidently, waving at the others.

"Come on, the end's right here."

But the moment he reached the archway—

Thud.

He bumped his head with head with something.

Jax blinked, staring in disbelief.

His hand pressed against something invisible.

The "exit" shimmered faintly— and then vanished, revealing a solid stone wall in its place.

"…What the hell?" he muttered, frowning.

"There was an exit here! I saw it!"

Ron and Lia rushed forward, staring at the wall. The golden light was gone, leaving nothing but cold, rough stone. Even the air felt heavier now.

Selene stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she extended her mana senses again.

"It wasn't real," she said quietly. "It was an illusion."

She turned toward the others, her tone calm but serious.

"That's why mysterious woman's voice said this maze isn't simple at all."

The torches around them flickered— and the light dimmed slightly.

Somewhere deep in the labyrinth, a low rumble echoed through the mist.

The Hall of Shifting Shadows had only just begun to show its true nature.

The group advanced with far more caution this time.

Every step was deliberate, every sound carefully measured against the silence pressing in around them.

Selene slowed, her gaze sweeping over the narrow path ahead.

"Wait," she said softly.

"I'll place a landmark—just in case this place pulls another trick."

She crouched and picked up a small, jagged rock from the ground. Channeling a bit of mana into it, the stone began to glow faintly with a soft bluish hue. The light shimmered weakly, just enough to stand out in the dull gray corridor.

She set it on the ground.

"There. Our landmark. If we loop around, we'll know."

Ron nodded once. Lia gave a quick, silent nod of agreement. Jax grinned faintly. "Good idea. Now we'll know if this place tries to mess with us again."

They started walking again, carefully, their footsteps echoing quietly off the stone walls.

For a while, nothing seemed strange. The corridors stretched on, turning occasionally, but they stayed alert.

Then, after several minutes of straight walking, they reached a dead end—a tall, solid wall blocking their path.

Jax frowned. "Wait, that's—"

He froze mid-sentence.

Right in front of the wall, glowing faintly… was the same rock Selene had placed earlier.

"What the hell?" he muttered, eyes wide. "That's impossible. This rock was on our right-side wall before! Now it's in front of us!?"

Before anyone could answer, Lia's voice trembled slightly.

"Wait… look over there."

They turned—and saw another glowing rock on the left wall.

Identical to the first one.

Selene's breath caught.

"Two landmarks…?"

Even she looked shaken now. Lia stared, utterly confused.

"How can there be two?"

Ron's expression darkened, his eyes widening slightly as something clicked in his mind.

"Hold on…" he said, his tone low.

"You know, I've been hearing faint rumbling ever since we entered this maze. I thought it was just background noise…"

He glanced around, voice tightening.

"But now… it makes sense."

Selene and Lia exchanged a sharp look—both realizing what he meant at the same time.

Jax's face went pale.

"The… the whole maze is moving."

Selene's grim voice broke the silence.

"And worse—" she said, her eyes fixed on the glowing landmark.

"It's not just moving."

Her expression hardened.

"It's creating illusions of things inside it."

She stared at the second glowing rock, the faint blue light reflecting in her eyes.

"Our landmark is usless."

.

.

.

The group tightened their formation, walking close together now. None of them dared to stray even a step away from the others.

They had already seen what this maze was capable of—how it could twist paths, mirror landmarks, and mock their sense of direction. Losing sight of one another, even for a second, could mean never meeting again.

The air grew heavier as they moved. The mist pressed closer to the ground, clinging to their legs. The soft echo of their footsteps was the only sound that remained constant—everything else seemed to shift with every few steps.

Walls that had been far apart now seemed closer.

Passages that led left suddenly turned right.

And behind them, the corridors changed shape silently, as if the maze was rearranging itself with every breath they took.

Sometimes they would see a familiar hallway dissolve before their eyes—melting away into a dead-end of solid stone. Other times, the wall ahead would ripple faintly, revealing a new path that hadn't existed moments earlier.

It felt alive.

The maze was breathing. Watching. Testing them.

Jax groaned under his breath, running a hand through his hair.

"Man… at this rate, we're never getting out of here."

Ron glanced back at him but said nothing. Lia's eyes darted around, scanning every flicker of light and shadow. Selene stayed silent, her expression tense, her senses wide open for even the faintest change.

Every few seconds, the distant rumble of shifting stone reminded them of a single, chilling truth—

The Hall of Shifting Shadows was not a place they were meant to navigate.

It was a place meant to consume them.

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