The morning sun began to rise, shining on the grand campus in front of me. Students walked quickly toward the main gate, dressed in neat, fancy uniforms. On their chests, the Royal Academia emblem was proudly displayed, an elite university where geniuses and noble heirs gathered.

  My school.

  A few minutes later, a sports car stopped. It was black, glossy, as if it wanted to show off from the moment the day began. A student got out of it... yeah, he was handsome. Tall, neat, confident. Like the type you'd see in an ad for an expensive perfume.

  Everyone stared at him like he was some sort of idol. Some even started daydreaming.

  And yeah... that wasn’t me.

  My life? Far from it. Far from all that.

  "Hey, did we have homework yesterday? I totally forgot, I just got back from a trip abroad," said the student at the desk next to mine.

  "Oh right, you just got back from Japan! I’m so jealous. I really wanted to go there, but my family decided to go to Germany instead," the other student replied, clearly disappointed.

  Amazing conversation, right? I hear stuff like that almost every day, except during holidays.

  Not long after, the bell rang and everyone rushed back to their seats.

  The sound of our teacher's footsteps echoed through the hall. The classroom door opened, and she walked in, with that same handsome guy I saw this morning, the one who arrived in the flashy sports car.

  "Good morning class," she greeted. "Today we have a new student who just transferred from abroad. Come on, Jayden, introduce yourself."

  His name was Jayden. He had just moved from England and got into this school through a special program.

  Suddenly Alice, the girl sitting next to me, leaned in and whispered, “Whoa, isn’t he super handsome? They said he’s from England—I wonder what it’s like to live there. Aren’t you curious, Bayu?”

  Alice’s my girlfriend. Yep, my actual girlfriend. I’m not daydreaming or making it up. And yeah, the name she said really is mine. I’m Bayu, just an ordinary student who somehow ended up in the middle of a school full of elites and geniuses.

  “Why should I be curious? It’s not like I could go there even if I wanted to,” I replied quietly, trying to sound casual.

  Because yeah, it's basically impossible. I’m just a regular guy who can barely afford tuition.

  Alice gave me a pouty look. “Why do you have to sound so cold, Bayu? Who knows, maybe you’ll win some lucky draw and get to live in England, Hmph.”

  A lucky draw? Where’d that come from? My girlfriend really has her own way of thinking, huh.

  After Jayden finished introducing himself, the teacher told him to sit at the desk behind Alice’s.

  “Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Jayden,” he said with a smile directed at Alice.

  And me? I was sitting right next to her. He completely ignored me like I didn’t exist.

  Not long after, the classroom door suddenly swung open. A girl rushed in, looking panicked. She called out Jayden’s name and ran straight to him.

  “Jayden! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming today? I missed you so much!” she cried out.

  In an instant, the whole class went wild.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  That girl. Yeah, the same one who just recently got an award from the government for mastering twenty languages, had just burst into class and told everyone how much she missed Jayden.

  Wow, what a way to start the morning, with a full blown drama. Turns out, that genius girl’s name was Lisa. And without wasting a second, she straight-up announced that she was Jayden’s fiancée. The class went wild again.

  She glared at Alice and said, “You saw it yourself, didn’t you? I’m his fiancée. So please, stay away from Jayden!” She raised her hand, showing off a gold ring with a shiny diamond on her ring finger.

  And Jayden’s reaction? He just grinned, chuckled a little, like he had no clue he was right in the middle of a storm. Alice looked nervous, clearly trying to avoid Lisa’s piercing gaze.

  That’s when I stood up. I couldn’t just sit there and watch Alice get treated like that.

  “That’s enough, Lisa. Jayden was just introducing himself to his seatmate, and it just happened to be Alice. They were just talking, nothing more. But you....”

  Before I could even finish my sentence, a glowing blue circle appeared in the middle of the classroom. It shined brightly, and inside it, a star shaped symbol slowly began to spin.

  On reflex, I grabbed Alice’s hand, trying to pull her away from the circle just seconds after it appeared. But... we were too late.

  In a flash, all four of us were swallowed by a blinding blue light. It felt like the sky itself was devouring us. And when the light faded, so did our classroom.

  We weren’t there anymore.

  We were now standing on a massive stone altar, in the middle of a strange room. Beneath our feet was a glowing red circle, etched with the exact same star symbol I saw back in class. All around us were tall stone walls, carved with patterns that shimmered faintly.

  Then someone approached.

  He was wearing a long robe, like some kind of priest, and holding a clear crystal orb that reflected the glow from the markings on the floor.

  “Welcome, chosen ones,” he said, his voice deep and echoing. “You are the ones who came with the light. You are the ones chosen by the light. And you are the ones who will destroy this world’s darkness… with light.”

  I immediately asked, “Who are you? Where are we? What the hell is going on?”

  But the priest didn’t answer any of my questions. He just gave a faint smile and said, “Follow me.”

  “Are you kidding me?! Who in their right mind would follow some shady guy like you?!” Lisa snapped, clearly annoyed.

  Still, I suggested we go along with him for now. The situation was just too weird to fight against, and we had no clue what was going on, other than this robed man who might know something. After Jayden calmed down his sulking fiancée, we finally agreed to follow the priest.

  We walked through a long, cold, damp corridor. The walls were made of ancient stone, and every few meters, wooden torches hung on the sides. burning with red flames that, oddly enough, didn’t feel hot at all.

  Our footsteps echoed through the hallway... and for some reason, the atmosphere started to feel even stranger.

  After walking for what felt like forever, we finally saw a massive door, solid and intimidating, like it was made of thick black steel. Suddenly, the priest shouted, “The chosen ones have arrived!”

  As his voice echoed, the enormous door slowly lifted upward, sending a faint vibration through the floor beneath our feet. We exchanged glances and then stepped inside.

  What lay beyond was a huge hall with towering ceilings and massive stone pillars. Light from stained glass windows scattered colors across the polished marble floor. On both sides, people dressed in lavish, medieval style clothing stood in neat rows. But what caught us off guard was the way they looked at us, with awe. Like they were seeing legendary heroes return from battle.

  Their gazes weren’t just respectful, they were starstruck. Some of them were even smiling like they couldn’t believe we were standing right in front of them.

  We followed the priest toward a grand throne at the far end of the hall. Sitting there was a middle aged man in a golden robe, a king. Wearing a crown adorned with a shining blue gem.

  Once we reached him, the priest gestured for us to kneel.

  The king then spoke in a calm but commanding voice, “What are your names? And how old are you?”

  We answered one by one.

  After that, the priest stepped forward, holding the same crystal orb he’d been carrying earlier. He placed it on a stone pedestal and said, “Each of you, place your hand on the orb, one at a time.”

  And that’s when everything started to change.

  When Jayden touched the crystal orb, a golden light immediately flared up. Then Lisa placed her hand on it, and the orb glowed blue. Alice went next, and it turned green. But when I placed my hand on it… nothing happened. No light. No reaction at all.

  The room suddenly buzzed with whispers. People looked confused, some even visibly uneasy. The king raised his hand to silence the crowd. Then he called over a few maids and instructed them to take us to our rooms, saying it was late and we needed to rest.

  We were given separate rooms, but they were all close to each other. Once I was alone in mine, I finally had a moment to process everything that had just happened. Some things kept replaying in my mind. First, the glowing blue circle with the star symbol that appeared in the classroom. Then the red circle with the exact same symbol etched into the stone altar where we were summoned, those two were clearly connected.

  And while the others might not have noticed… I did.

  The red circle on that altar… it was made of human blood.