An alarm.

Opening my eyes, I saw that I was back in my apartment. Looking to the clock on my wall, a casual glance showed that it was 10:30 PM. Seemingly normal, except for the information my eyes were telling me.

[Divine Reconstruction]
A construct formed from memories within the soul.
The beginnings of the initial trial to enter Paradise.
Beware.

"I thought so."

The details were off and that title was a dead giveaway. But even if it wasn't...

I glanced around and muttered, "So this is what it's like to be in a mana rich environment."

Unlike the barren Earth, the air here felt dense. Pure, but dense.

My circuits were already starting to greedily suck in the ambient mana.

I thought about stopping it, but decided against it.

Whether events would play out the same, play out worse, or play out better, I didn't know. But whatever the case, it was better to prepare.

I took a deep breath and then focused.

Mana wasn't the only energy in the area. I could feel traces of that 'divine power' my eyes noticed while the stamp was used. At the same time, I could feel the traces inside my body.

The ones outside seemed like they were watching me. Was it the gods? Either way, it was a casual glance. Like a person's gaze staring into a crowd.

It meant I hadn't drawn attention... yet.

"...Well, I just need to be careful." I decided to glance at my arm just to check.

[Seol Jihu.]
Watched by the gods with interest and curiosity.
Contemplative.
Concerned.

Right. So they were observing. Then for now, I shouldn't do anything too crazy. This was their main area, the place where divine authority reigned.

Then for now...

A vibration from the phone in my pocket. At the same time, a mechanical female voice echoed in my ears.

"The message from the Guide has arrived. We recommend that all the Contracted and Invited guests confirm the message immediately."

I pulled out my phone to do as the voice said. When I did...

"Identity confirmed. User registration completed."

"Just like an ordinary phone, huh?"

A message alert was flashing. Tapping on it, text messages popped up from somebody called "The Guide".

[1: Arrive at Paradise High School's assembly hall before the time runs out.]
[2: Remaining time - 00:09:45]

A map was attached to the last message, showing the location of said high school.

Fortunately, it was nearby. Not that it would have mattered too much for me.

I started to leave, but then before I did, I paused.

Even if this was an illusionary realm, if the place was the same as my room...

I walked over to my kitchen area and pulled open the drawer. There were knives and other cutlery inside.

Confirming that, I opened the drawer next to it and reached inside.

"It's here."

I pulled out the object.

It was an ordinary box cutter, the sort that extended and retracted with a slider on the side.

I probably didn't need it, but it never hurt to be too careful.

Taking that in my sleeve and then using some tape to tie it securely, I left.

It was a quick walk. Down the street, around the corner. When I did, I arrived at the so-called Paradise High School.

It was an anomaly. A place like this didn't exist in reality. It was the sort of fancy private schools you would see in shows, with a gated fence and an eye-catching gold plaque on the front entrance.

I frowned and focused my gaze, examining the area.

[Training Ground 1]
Divine bounded realm.
Proving grounds for initiates to Paradise.
'Warning! Your gaze has been noticed by higher beings!'

"Tch."

What an annoying-

"That name stinks." An unexpected voice echoed from off to the side.

I cut off my thoughts and glanced over.

A girl was standing there. She wore a hooded sweatshirt, but she didn't have the hood up, revealing her features. Her skin was flawless and pale, and she seemed fairly young. Probably eighteen at the oldest. However, her eyes were sharp, and her arched brows indicated a fierce personality.

She looked over, meeting my gaze. But instead of being upset, her expression was blank and disinterested. She averted her gaze and then walked past, entering the open gates with a fast stride.

"Hm..."

I was tempted to examine her with my eyes and pick out her identity. But that message earlier that my 'gaze' has been noticed...

"Well, whatever." I put my hands into my pocket and then walked after her.

The assembly hall wasn't far from the main entrance. In the building within the gates and through a pair of double doors. There, a stairway led to another set of closed doors, like the auditorium of a school should be.

But unlike an ordinary school, there was someone standing there. A blonde woman with a maid outfit, beckoning her hands.

I walked over, but when I did, she didn't withdraw her hands. Instead, she looked at me expectantly.

"...? Money? I- Ah." I paused, remembering what I needed, and then pulled out my letter. "You need this, right?"

I handed it over to the woman. She smiled and nodded.

I started to walk past her, but before I could, I noticed that she was frozen in shock. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned to me, stopping my advance.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, carefully holding the Invitation letter to her chest. Then, while still in front of me, she lowered herself in a deep bow.

At that time, there were other people filtering into the assembly hall. Not only that, but there were already people there when I entered. As a result, some ambient noise from their chatter was in the air.

That stopped the moment the woman bowed.

I frowned.

I knew that I would be making a scene, but this... Glancing over in the distance, I could see a few people staring with envy, confusion, and caution.

How troublesome.

The maid raised her head and then beckoned me to follow her, pointing to the left side of the hall.

Seeing that, I did.

There were some other people already sitting there in a row of chairs. Eight, six men and two women.

The maid led me to an empty chair on the far end of that row. After that, she bowed again and then headed back.

I shrugged and took my seat. The moment I did, a voice called out. Male.

"It must be fate, meeting in a place like this. Why don't we introduce ourselves to each other?"

The speaker was a man with a fairly handsome face. His hair was slicked back and he wore a decent dress shirt and slacks.

He smiled and said, "Nice to meet you all. I'm Kang Seok. As for these two guys... Hey." He gestured to the two men on his sides and said, "Introduce yourselves."

The one on the man's left, a skinny person, nodded and said, "I'm Yi Hyungsik."

The other, a fatter man, raised a hand and said, "Jeong Minwoo."

With a smile, Kang Seok shifted his attention to the young woman wearing the hoodie that I met earlier. "What's your name?"

As expected from how she interacted with me, she didn't respond.

Seeing that it was a waste of time to handle that guy, I decided to do the same and tune out. Instead, I surveyed the area.

On the opposite side of us, there were more people. A group of around thirty or so. But unlike us, they weren't given seats. Most were standing and the ones that weren't sat on the ground.

That Kang Seok guy kept chattering and introducing himself to the others.

I heard the other young woman, an eighteen year old called Yi Seol-Ah, introduce herself along with her younger brother Yi Sungjin.

But as for the last person, a man with a green cap and sunglasses, he didn't respond.

I shrugged and closed my eyes to take advantage of the downtime.

Observation... Well, I could still sense the divine auras examining me.

That... I doubted that they would see me as an enemy. But I worried about how much they could tell.

Judging from the fact that Kim Hannah had a gold stamp, I seemed to be going with the flow of normal events in the story.

But the fact that I changed things, and with Jinhee's incident as well as my dad's accident...

Not to mention me attacking that Sinyoung guy.

Troublesome. I needed to protect myself from that first.

In that case...

I looked inwards.

[Seol Jihu.]

Once more, the name flickered into being. But was it because I was focused inside instead of outside? Rather than words, I could see images.

Faint threads of colors winding throughout my body. An iridescent thread, coursing through my veins. The pure white that seemed to be the divine power, melded with my own. A circuit that completed a cycle of power, both energizing my body and purifying it.

But that wasn't enough. At the moment, it was just that: a circuit. There still required an external power source. In the future, it wouldn't be enough.

Then, I needed to create it. A means to generate energy from within, such that I wouldn't be at a loss when I had no mana to draw from.

But a mana generator wasn't good enough. 'Mana' was useful, but not omnipotent. Instead, it was a shortcut.

I needed something strictly my own. An energy that was aligned with my will- No. My will itself, just tied into energy.

The sun generated energy through fusion of atoms... Atoms were a form of matter. And matter was another form of energy. Then, if I converted it all...

I could already convert matter into energy. The problem was the loss of it due to my ineptitude.

In a pinch, that was fine, but I needed to prepare for all events.

A sun... that was a good enough model for now. Ideally, I'd want a universe contained on its own, or a black hole... but it was too complicated to work with at the moment.

The divine energy I had ripped apart was pure and high quality, so it could serve as a core. Then, using that as a basis to draw in everything else, hooking it up to my magic circuits...

"It's time." A voice echoed from the front of the hall.

I opened my eyes, having just completed the rudimentary 'sun' to grant me regenerating energy.

A man in a tuxedo walked onto the stage in the assembly hall.

From the surprise I could see in the others, he must have just appeared.

A clean and neat haircut, a monocle over his left eye. He raised a hand towards the blonde maid at the entrance and said, "Is this everyone?"

She shook her head and pointed to the right side of the hall, holding up four fingers.

"Four people, huh?" The tuxedoed man muttered and said, "Well, it's fine. We can't wait any longer, so just close the door and unleash it."

The blonde maid hesitated.

Seeing that, the tuxedoed man narrowed his eyes and said, "I am the Guide. It's not like it's difficult to get here. Those who can't even adhere to the schedule aren't needed here."

The blonde maid stared at the man for a few more moments and then lowered her head. After that, she quietly closed the door shut. When that was finished, she pulled out a smartphone and tapped on it, no longer paying attention to her surroundings.

Low murmurings began to fill the hall.

The man on the stage clapped his hands twice in response to that, drawing everyone's attention. "Welcome." He swept his gaze across the hall and said, "I am called Han, tasked with guiding all of you this time around. You can call me the Guide."

The usual details. Some cursory information about who he was, how many people there were... And then he finished off with instructions on how to open up Status Windows.

In short, all that was needed was to think of it in your mind.

I paused and stared off into space.

What would be shown on this 'Status' of mine?

In response to my thought, the empty air in front of me shimmered. Like when I used my gaze, words emerged. But the exact words were different.

[Your Status Window]

[1. General Information]

Summoned Date: March 16th, 2017

Marking Grade: Gold

Sex/Age: Male/24

Height/Weight: 180.5cm/90.2 kg

Current Condition: Great

Class: Lv. 0 (Invited)

Nationality: Republic of Korea (Area 1)

Affiliation: N/A

Alias: Jihu, Seol

[2. Traits]

1. Temperament:

- Analytical (Takes in all the information to consider the situation)

- Decisive (Once a decision is made, immediately acts with force)

2. Aptitude:

- Immeasurably Insightful (Can perceive patterns and information from the barest of traces at a level that seems impossible.)

- Iterative (Continuously refines progress from quick reflection and contemplation)

[3. Physical Level]

Strength: Intermediate (Lowest)

Endurance: Intermediate (Lowest)

Agility: Intermediate (Lowest)

Stamina: Intermediate (Lowest)

Magic: High (Low)

Luck: High (Low)

Remaining Ability points: 0

[4. Abilities]

1. Innate Abilities (3)

- Future Vision (Grade Unknown)

- ??? (Grade Unknown)

- Energy manipulation (Grade Unknown)

2. Job-Related Abilities (0)

3. Other Abilities (0)

[5. Level of Cognition]

-Will be available after the conclusion of the Tutorial event.

My stats were... a lot higher than anticipated. Didn't this guy start with lows and mediums? I can understand the intermediate physical stats from my training... but to have magic and luck so high...

I could already sense that the meeting with the gods was going to be troublesome.

Thankfully, it seemed that my 'insight' wasn't recorded. Though it was interesting to see that I had Future Vision still. Maybe it was my memories that counted as that?

Energy manipulation... Well, it seemed like I couldn't avoid that being observed. Though for it to be called 'energy manipulation' instead of mana... That was interesting.

In the meanwhile, I heard the people around me break out in confusion. Gasps of surprise, shock. Disbelief.

I ignored them and checked my status again.

I was curious. This was 'status' as defined as the gods. But what I saw was usually different. So if I combined the two...

[Status Window]
A record of one's existence born from the reflection of the soul and the imprint of one's existence upon the surrounding world, quantified through traces of divine power.

Due to intercepting the divine power and your familiarity with allowing waves and energy to pass through your body, important information has been filtered out of the status.

Filtered information:

Alias: Seol Jihu?, One who knows of the world's fate

??? ??? (Grade Unknown) - Your innate talent and ability, melded with Seol Jihu's. Further expertise required to unravel more details.

Ah. "So that's how it is..." I muttered.

"Hm?" That guy, Kang Seok, spoke up. He looked at me with an easy smile and said, "Find something interesting in your status?"

I shifted my gaze to him.

When I did, he flashed yellow.

I frowned and said, "Something like that."

Before he could respond, I turned my gaze away.

Thankfully, it seemed like I didn't need to worry about him too much.

The Guide, Mr. Han, sped up the proceedings. Sorting out the people by their Marks, taking inventory.

Since that was the case, I focused my intention back on that status.

A melded ability, was it? My innate talent and abilities mixed with Seol's... Since his was the future-gauging eyes, mine should be similar. So far, it seemed to operate the same on a basic level... But then again, he hadn't possessed the blue lights until later, right?

Then what was going on here? And what was with my ability to see more information depending on what I wanted? Not only that, but 'energy manipulation'...

"Please reveal the grade of your Mark."

A low voice echoing with power, trying to coerce me.

On instinct, I narrowed my eyes and glanced at speaker.

Han looked surprised at my actions. "You- Ah. It's fine now? That's- Hmm!?"

The Guide suddenly cut off and stared hard at me. "What...?" His eyes widened and he said, "G-Gold!?"

I crossed my arms and said, "Yeah? What about it?"

He looked back at me and shook his head. Clearing his throat, his gaze became a bit more respectful as he slowly unfolded a letter in his hand. Carefully reading it from top to bottom without leaving anything out, he breathed out a long sigh. "We have a... very important guest this time."

He turned to me and said, "I'd like to apologize. It is my first time guiding a Gold Mark, after all... No. Even in history, there has been only one prior event like today's. I've only heard about it until now."

The blonde maid giggled softly at the side.

Hearing that, Han cleared his throat and said, "Alright. Let's carry on then, shall we?" With those words, he threw the letter into the air.

The piece of paper exploded into a brilliant shower of light.

On instinct, I stared at it with my gaze. At the same time, I made sure to keep it subtle, carefully avoiding divine scrutiny.

[Materialization (transportation)]
Resources sent by Kim Hannah through privileges of the Gold Stamp.
Accomplished through divine power, spatial distortion, temporal manipulation, matter conversion.

As the light formed into a single golden bag, I frowned.

Not because of Kim Hannah sending me resources, but because of the latter information.

Spatial distortion, temporal manipulation, and matter conversion...

All that for a simple transportation of goods, and not even a person.

It seemed like I had quite a lot to test in the future.

The bag slowly descended and Han took it. On the edge, there was a tag listing items.

I could read it without too much trouble. It seemed similar to the others, three regular bonus items, plus three special bonus items unique to the invited. The only difference was the quantity.

"For the Gold Mark... Huh?" Han's jaw dropped. He remained that way for a while, but then his lips started to twitch and he growled. "Fuck. The one who invited that man, are you watching right now?" He narrowed his eyes, glaring into space and said, "What is the meaning of this? Why is a Guide even necessary if you plan on doing things this way?"

Han clenched his hands and said, "Are you making fun of me? Was your experience during the Tutorial that unpleasant? You're trying to completely rip it to shreds, is that it? Just how did you even know what that man would need in here...!?"

Completely disregarding Han's outburst, the blonde maid picked up the golden bag and gracefully brought it over to me.

A simple action, but one that drew everyone's gaze.

I received it from her and then took a look inside.

From nearby, I noticed that even that cold teenaged girl... Yun Seora, was it? Even she was craning her neck to try and sneak a better look.

I decided to ignore her and then confirmed the inventory.

-Necessary Box x3
-Survival Points - 5000
-Mark of Survival x1
-Diary of an Unknown Student x1

Han finally seemed to regain some composure and turned to look at me. With a level voice, he said, "Please, open and apply your bonuses here."

"Alright."

There wasn't any need to doubt or hesitate.

I could sense greed and envy from some of the others, especially that Kang Seok guy, but I ignored it and then opened the bag completely.

My phone buzzed. No doubt confirming the intangible awards. But as for the rest... three tiny intricate boxes riddled with symbols and runes tumbled out into my hand.

I stared at them, curious about how they worked. In response-

[Necessary Box]
A gift of divine providence. An automated process that collects data and uses divine authority and miracle to create the most necessary object for the user.

...Unfortunately, it seemed like something I couldn't replicate. Rather, it seemed to wasteful to try.

"Shit, all this suspense is killing me." Kang Seok's voice echoed from beside me, his eyes on the golden bag. They flicked to me and then he put on a fake smile before saying, "Hey, is it fine if we-"

"Sit back down."

Before I could do anything, Han's voice called out.

Kang Seok flinched. "No, I was just-"

"I told you. Sit back down." A cold voice from the refined older man.

Kang Seok glanced at Han and then nervously sat down.

Han took off his monocle and made a show of polishing it. With that, he swept his cold gaze around to the others and said, "Those bonuses are reserved only for that person." With that, he fixed his gaze on Kang Seok and said, "They are things that you, Mister Kang Seok, should neither see nor even desire."

With that done, Han turned his attention back to me. "Go on."

...It was a waste. I really didn't want to use the box here... but it seemed like I didn't have a choice, so I started pulling them out and opening them one by one.

[The Necessary Box (x1) has been opened!]

[Scanning for the most 'needed item' during the current situation... Please wait.]

[The awakening of the Innate Ability "??" has been initiated.]

[The awakening has failed.]

[Your Innate Ability, Future Vision, is responding to the awakening process.]

[The Innate Ability "Nine Eyes" has emerged.]

[The central direction "General Observation" has been unlocked.]

[Previously unlocked directions have been added.]

[Please confirm your status window.]

I blinked and then stared off into space, intending to open my status window. As I did, I happened to meet Yun Seora's gaze since she was peering at me. When I did-

[Yun Seora's Status Window]

[1. General Information]

Summoned Date: March 16th, 2017

Marking Grade: Silver

Sex/Age: Female/20

Height/Weight: 166.2cm/53.4kg

Current Condition: Good

Class: LV. 0 (Invited)

Nationaluty: Republic of Korea (Area 1)

Affiliation: N/A

Alias: N/A

[2. Traits]

1. Temperament:

-Cool-headed (her actions and thoughts are not swayed by emotions; always calm)

-Indifferent (She's not easily interested in anything in particular)

2. Aptitude:

-Brilliant (Possesses a smart brain as well as good overall talents)

-Highly observant (Will carefully analyze and study items and events all around her.)

Did I stare too long? Yun Seora tilted her gaze, seemingly puzzled.

I shifted my gaze towards the side and happened to chance on Yu Seol-Ah. Like before, her status window immediately popped up.

[Yi Seol-Ah's Status window]

[1. General information]

Summoned date: March 16th, 2017

Marking Grade: Bronze

Sex/Age: Female/18

Height/Weight: 160.6 cm/49.8kg

Current Condition: Good

Class: Lv.0(invited)

Nationality: Republic of Korea

.

.

[2. Traits]

1. Temperament:

-Virtuous (Possesses a fine, gentle, and benevolent personality)

-deeply-caring (possesses deep love and care)

-dependent (unconsciously seeks someone to depend on)

2. Aptitude

-A jack-of-all-trades (Good at various activities)

-High-concentration (can use 100% of her concentration while performing an action)

Han noticed my actions and said, "What is it? Are you curious about something?"

I shifted my gaze to him and said, "It mentioned my status window got updated, and I took a look. After that, I was just curious to see if the window followed where I looked or stayed in place."

"Ah, I see. Your status window, was it?" He let out a sigh of relief and then smiled. "So what was updated? Your traits? Or perhaps, abilities?"

I narrowed my eyes. "And you want to know why?"

Han awkwardly laughed. "Please, excuse my thoughtless behavior. I was simply curious. But worry not, so long as you don't permit it, not only me but no one else alive in this world can take a peek at your Status Window."

That was a lie. I was certain that there were other people out there with such observation abilities... but hopefully they were far and few in between.

Han shifted his attention away.

Seeing that, I opened the rest of the boxes. As I did...

[You have gained the ability 'Mana Core']

[Your Innate Ability '??' is reacting to Mana Core]

[Your Innate Ability 'Energy Manipulation' is reacting to Mana Core]

[Mana Core has turned into the Innate Ability 'Energy Core']

[You have gained the ability 'Mana Construct']

[Your Innate Ability '??' is reacting to Mana Construct]

[Mana Construct has turned into the Innate Ability 'Synthesis']

I blinked after reading the messages.

This... was different. Didn't Seol get a talisman and opening some other directions in the story?

Instead of that, I...

[4. Abilities]

1. Innate Abilities (6)

- Future Vision (Grade Unknown)

- Nine Eyes (Grade Unknown)

- ??? (Grade Unknown)

- Energy manipulation (Grade Unknown)

- Energy Core (C)

- Synthesis (D)

A pair of graded abilities and then the 'Nine Eyes' that Seol had in the story.

As for the Nine Eyes...

[Nine Eyes]

Directions Unlocked:

1. Central

- Green (General Observation)

2. Left Direction

- Yellow (Attention Required)

- Orange (Impending Danger)

- Red (Immediate Danger)

3. Right Direction

- Blue (Destiny Severance)

Again, it was slightly different.

I knew for a fact that there weren't as many directions opened by that guy in the beginning. Even then, the descriptions were different.

Attention Required was the same, but Impending Danger and Immediate Danger were different. Rather than suggesting that I retreated, like Seol's did, it was instead a grade of harm.

Was it because his personality was more to run away from problems than face them?

Not only that, but his Blue direction had been called "Destiny Selection." I was sure of that. But mine was Destiny Severance The result seemed to be the same, but the nuance and its implications-

Screams echoed, cutting me out of my train of thought.

I looked up to see a group of people pounding on the outside of the door. Did they decided to leave and get locked out?

Just as I started to analyze the situation, the sound cut off. At the same time...

"Well, I knew that would happen." Han smirked and said, "Alright. In any case, let's all get started. It's already late, after all." He smiled and tapped an icon on his smartphone. When he did, vibrations filled the area.

I glanced at my smartphone and read the messages.

[You have received a new message from the Guide.]

[The Tutorial's first mission, Escape from the Assembly Hall, will now commence!]

[The Diary of an Unknown Student has been updated]

Han placed his right hand over his chest and politely bowed. "Everyone, I pray for an enjoyable school life for all of you... And I wish you all good fortune."

After those words, he vanished. Not only that, but the blonde maid as well.

I frowned and scanned my surroundings. Escape from the Assembly Hall... That should be easy, shouldn't it?

It didn't seem like my sentiment was shared by the others though. People quickly jumped to their feet and started to move. But just then--

*KWANG!*

The sound of metal stretching and then shattering. A noise from the securely locked door by the entrance.

I frowned and slung my bag over my shoulder while everyone else's gaze was drawn to the door. At the same time, I pulled out my smartphone to confirm the objectives.

[Sender: The Guide]

[1. Escape from the assembly hall and arrive at the second floor waiting area of the main school building before the time runs out.]

[2. Remaining time: 03:59:38]

Again, a heavy pounding and screeching metal. This time, not only the hinges, but the thick metal doors were crumpling in.

The crowd moved to block the door. That Yi Seol-Ah led the charge, everyone scrambling to deal with the mess.

As for me...

"Not dangerous, huh?"

Nine Eyes didn't reveal a light on the door. Not only that, but even with observation...

[Tutorial Boss]
The 'cleaner' to weed out worthless talents. Time limit keeper that represents the danger of the mission.

With just your original abilities, it would be difficult to win. But now, it would be difficult to lose.

The verdict was clear. In a fight, I would win. But the problem...

[Observant Gaze]
Not only the divine, but the 'Proctors' are observing your every move.

A status window from my unknown ability with yellow letters, completely different from before.

Was this the mix that was being talked about?

Nine Eyes was working in conjunction with my own innate ability and warning me.

Attention was required from the gazes... Which meant that I couldn't be too conspicuous.

So-

"Hey, man! What about you?" A male voice called out. Kang Seok.

I blinked and realized he was staring at me.

Kang Seok had a greasy smile on and said, "Don't you want to get this stupid Tutorial over and done with as soon as possible? I'm sure we'll finish up real fast if you join us."

Shortly after, a female voice called out. Yi Seol-Ah looked over and clasped her hands together. "Please, help us! Please, help these people! Don't abandon them, please!"

The groups had already split apart while I was thinking.

Kang Seok and his two goons. A few people on that side.

Yi Seol-Ah and her brother Sunjin with the contracted.

Before I could respond, the room filled with light. For most, orange light began to flicker. But for Yi Seol-Ah...

Deep crimson. Immediate Danger.

Suddenly, the wooden floor of the assembly hall bloomed, bursting upwards like an explosion from beneath.

Wooden shrapnel, flying planks. And then a thin arm with six hooked claws reached out.

Yi Seol-Ah froze, unable to react.

I narrowed my eyes and stepped forward, trying to save her. At the same time, I reached for the knife in my sleeve.

But, before I could-

"NOONIM!"