Magister Insanity

My eyelids fluttered open.

A blinding flash of white seared my vision for a moment before fading, leaving clarity in its wake. It felt like waking from a dream.

For a brief instant, I thought I had truly returned to the real world.

Then the sight of the ceiling made my brows furrow.

Fluorescent lights glowed softly above me, washing everything in pale white. The ceiling was smooth, speckled with faint ventilation grilles and a round smoke detector.

Surely, my room didn't have anything of the sorts!

As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was lying on a hospital bed — the stiff sheets tucked too tightly around me, the faint smell of antiseptic clinging to the air. My entire body was covered in bandages.

Am I really back in the real world? Why am I here? No. More importantly, how did I get here?

"Is it possible I'm dreaming all of this?"

"Don't worry. This is reality."

"I see. That's reassuring."

Eh. Wait a minute...

When I glanced to my right, I froze. For an instant, it felt as though my mind had gone completely blank.

The person sitting on that chair was one of, if not, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

Her hair was a pale silvery bob that framed her sharp features perfectly and rosy eyes, long and sultry, emphasized by angular brows and slender glasses perched low on her nose.

Her skin was a deep, warm reddish-brown: smooth and flawless, with a healthy glow that enhanced the soft allure of her peachy figure.

The woman looked to be in her late twenties. She wore a fitted, glossy black leather uniform reinforced with straps and studs, paired with long gloves that reached nearly to her shoulders. A small red gem could be seen on her forehead.

On her head, she wears a snug, militaristic cap styled in the same material as her clothes, with a central ridge and subtle metallic stud. Her jacket accentuated the taut muscle and feminine curves beneath provocatively.

At that moment, she leaned back lazily, the chair rocking back and forth with a faint creak each time.

How long could that flimsy thing last before it finally gave out?

"Is something the matter? Why are you staring at me so intently?"

I blinked a few times before managing to snap out of my daze. My expression settled into a calm mask.

"Well… can I admit I'm a little flustered? I wake up in an unfamiliar place, and you're the first person I see. Naturally, I'm confused."

Her eyes softened with understanding.

"I see. That's only natural. What's the last thing you remember?"

I scratched the back of my head.

"What's there to remember? Let's see… I was stranded on some deserted island, surviving for about fifteen days while dodging monsters. Then… I… shot myself in the head."

Her brows furrowed. "You shot yourself? With a gun?"

"That's about right. I wasn't alone at first... there were a few others with me. But things got out of hand. In the end, I killed the last survivor and took his gun. Not long after… I put a bullet through the side of my own head."

The woman's expression froze, etched with dumbfounded disbelief. My words must have sounded impossible, but that didn't matter.

'My first priority is gathering information.'

"By the way… where exactly am I? I shot myself, yet I woke up here. You say this isn't a dream, but this isn't the real world, right?"

She cleared her throat.

"You're correct. Once someone is dragged into the Dreadspire, they can't normally return until they clear the First Phrase and become a Seeker."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down a bit. Dreadspire? First Phrase? What the hell are those? And what do you mean by here exactly?"

"Wait… you really don't know what this place is?"

'Yes!!'

The urge to scream that out was overwhelming, but I managed to choke it back.

Still, the woman seemed to catch on to my confusion. After a long pause, she let out a quiet sigh.

"This is the Soul Realm: a boundless, arcane dimension teeming with things you can't even begin to imagine. As I said earlier, on rare occasions, certain people like you are dragged here by a mysterious phenomenon called the Dreadspire. You must have heard the voice at some point, didn't you?"

"A voice… ah, yeah. I think I did hear something like that."

"Good. That means you completed the initial trial. From now on, you're what we Blasphemers call a Dreamless."

"Blasphemers?" I echoed, frowning.

She pinched the bridge of her nose as though staving off a headache. The faint gleam on her glasses caught the sterile light above.

"It's too early for you to understand everything at once. You'll have to learn at your own pace."

The last thing I needed now was vague answers. Then again, I don't want to push her buttons unnecessarily.

"I understand. I don't mind waiting but I still have a few questions."

"Go on."

"From your previous explanation, you said we're currently in the Soul Realm. But where exactly are we? And more importantly, how did I get here?"

The woman turned toward the window with a complicated look.

"We're currently inside a fortress called 'Niflheim.' It is an old construct created during the Old War, and even now it still stands. We use anti-demon sorcery to generate the grey fog outside, it's what keeps the demons at bay."

She paused briefly, as if gathering her thoughts, then continued.

"As for your second question… most survivors of the first trial arrive through the city's teleportation circle. But in your case, things were a little… different."

"Different how?"

"You fell from the sky."

"…"

Well. That was… certainly different.

"You're not pulling my leg here? You're saying I actually fell out of the sky?"

"Quite so." She smiled wryly, crossing her legs casually. "Though I should clarify, I wasn't the one who brought you here. Someone else did. And apparently, you even managed to give our little Soul Killer a fright. That was the first time I've ever seen her so flustered! Hahaha!"

The woman burst into laughter, kicking her feet with sheer delight.

Was it really that funny?

'Soul Killer... what an ominous name.'

Apparently, she was the one who had brought me here when I supposedly fell from the sky. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of person she was.

This woman seemed to have a good relationship with her if she could laugh this wholeheartedly.

Maybe I should visit her and offer my thanks. Ugh… what an awkward position to be in.

'Was this your doing?!'

Silently, my gaze fixed on my shadow, glaring at it. Yet the culprit didn't budge. It just shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal.

'Tch. Damn shadow.'

After a minute or so, the woman finally calmed down and stopped laughing. She wiped a tear from her eye.

"My apologizes for such an unpleasant sight. Truth be told, I'm not usually this carefree."

"Don't worry. I won't judge you."

"Oh, really? Thank you for understanding. You're really easy to talk to."

Me? That was surprisingly shocking to hear from someone else.

In fact, the real reason my parents forced me to attend college was that they said I was bad at socializing and needed to gain new experiences.

On the other hand… I could say I gained new experiences, but I'm not exactly happy with the result.

Suddenly, my senses tingled and I noticed the woman was staring at me with great intent.

Then she asked:

"Are you sure you're alright? Nothing hurts anywhere?"

"Em… no. I'm fine."

"That's at least good news. At first, I doubted your story, but then I remembered the state you were brought in. According to Soul Killer, you were covered in blood from head to toe, though most of it came from your head. Strangely enough, when your wounds were examined, no fatal injuries were found. Nothing at all."

Even if you tell me all that, I still didn't understand how I was alive. Somehow, I had resurrected from the dead.

"Well, I won't ask for any more details. After all, secrecy is encouraged among Blasphemers. Besides, an incident like that must have been a hellish ordeal for you. So I'll just say this…"

She smiled sincerely and added,

"I officially welcome you to the Land of Fog, fellow Blasphemer!"

† †

(A few hours prior...)

During this time, Rin decided to take another walk tonight.

It wasn't a decision born of whim. Her curse had robbed her of sleep, leaving her no choice but to walk herself into exhaustion.

If anyone knew what she was thinking, they would undoubtedly question her sanity.

As a Sleepless who had ascended to the rank of Enlightened, she couldn't tire like a normal person. To put it in perspective, even if she were surrounded and forced into a fight by one hundred Sleepless, she would still come out on top.

The gap between sequences was not to be underestimated.

Everytime one progressed up the evolution path, they became much more stronger and stronger, allowing them to twist the laws of nature however they pleased. However, this came at a terrible cost.

Just like how one gained an ability each time they reached a sequence, they'll also receive a corresponding 'curse.'

The lethality of the curse may vary from person to person.

Sometimes, it would be insignificant, like a mild headache that lasted only a few minutes.

Sometimes, it would be an annoyance at best, like a persistent ringing in the ears or a sleep that never felt restful.

And other times, it would be completely devastating, like losing the ability to speak, permanently losing your sight forever, or becoming impotent and barren, unable to perform properly.

Coincidentally, Rin happened to belong to the latter, being one of the few divine legacy wielders, her curses were quite rare to match.

As a result of her Legacy Ability, she could perceive what others could not, though it differed from the sight of a visionary.

More precisely, she could see the 'flaws' of the world.

Every object including ninth-dimensional entities like the Soul (宇宙) possessed weak points. These weak points appeared as black lines against a white background, visible only to her. Objects with internal structures displayed smaller, nested patterns, as if revealing their inner blueprint. It resembled gazing at a rough sketch on a blank canvas, or perhaps something akin to an X-ray image.

Her eyes stripped away outer appearances, projecting only the form beneath and the structure within. They seemed to reflect the truth of an object, the lines that held it together. She eventually began calling them 'imperfections.'

And cutting down those imperfections led to complete destruction without exception. Even an Origin Sea would be split into two and erased.

However,

When I first awakened this vision and saw the imperfections, I was horrified. Even when I closed my eyes, all I could see were the black threads. I had wanted to tear my own eyes out. Now, my heart is as calm as the wind, cold as icy water.

She wasn't the poetic type, but her thoughts had taken on a strange rhythm after the first phrase.

It's currently 9. pm. The human realm and the Soul Realm are almost the same, but the Void is more chaotic and endless. Time here does not flow in a straight line and the laws of nature are mostly absent; the west lay desolate and lifeless, while the east flourished. A thousand years could pass like a single day.

Walking along a crowded street she had grown tired of seeing day after day, Rin took her usual shortcut, absorbed in her own thoughts.

My neck shivers…

Is this dreadful cold coming from outside, or from within?

Finally, she arrived at her destination: the familiar rooftop.

From this height, the city at night felt lonelier than beautiful, as if one were perched atop a tall ladder, looking down at a world removed from their reach.

The wind's coldness was as sharp as ever. The sky poured grey across the horizon. When night falls, stars glitter like scattered jewels. The moon was a void within this darkness — a large, hollow gap in the black canvas of the sky. It was not merely a mirror of the sun, but a gateway into "the other side."

If the sun brought forth the light, then the moon brought darkness, death, and monsters.

Glancing upward, Rin noticed something stirring within that moon. It would be quite unnoticeable to a normal person, appearing as a small black dot. However, Rin wasn't a normal person.

Huh? What is that?

She snapped out of her reverie and narrowed her eyes.

A blackness had taken root in the sky.

Seconds dragged on as the dot swelled, growing larger and larger, with no sign of stopping.

Something dangerous? I'll cut it down at once!

Her hand tightened around the Severing Blade as she slid into a stance, ready to slice the darkness apart.

But then, she hesitated.

From the gaping hole, something slipped free and began its descent. From its outline and shape, it was undoubtedly a living creature,

To be precise, a young man.

...Eh? Eh? Eh?!

For the first time since that dreadful nightmare, Soul Killer's emotionless eyes crumbled.

Perplexed beyond measure, she could only stare wordlessly as the bloodied young man plummeted toward her.