The more Tom spoke, the softer his voice became, as if afraid Nerio might get angry at him for being too talkative.
Nerio nodded, replying casually: "Since I just transferred here, I don't know much." He said that, yet his steps didn't falter, and he kept walking forward.
Tom glanced around anxiously, but all he could do was quickly follow along.
Nerio headed toward Building B and then went up to the second floor.
Building B was smaller than Building A, with fewer rooms on each floor, which meant the rooms were more spacious.
This was mainly where extracurricular classes or art-related subjects were held, and it also served as the rehearsal venue for cultural performances during critical events.
Of course, it included the dance studio as well.
By this time, Nerio had already restored his faint, languid smile, with no trace of harmlessness left on his face.
Tom was stuck between Nerio and Leonard—Nerio was obviously tall and imposing, yet Tom looked pitiful, like a lost quail separated from its mother.
"Yeah, the dance studio. We're here." Nerio stopped, raising his brows at the large door before them.
Unlike all the other doors, the dance studio's door looked newer. Its reddish-brown wood paint was distinct, adorned with ceaselessly swirling patterns, so exquisite they defied description.
It was as if, with just a push, one would be transported into an entirely different fairy-tale world.
Nerio turned his head toward Tom, lips curling with not the slightest good intention: "Tom, ready? Let's go in."
With that, he lifted both hands and directly pushed the door open—no key, no effort, nothing else needed.
Tom's eyes widened as dim light began to spill out...
"Bang! Boom!"
A thunderous noise suddenly erupted, and the entire school shook violently.
Every student could clearly sense the change, whether they were obediently sitting in class or fooling around.
"Crack crack crack!"
A series of cracking sounds echoed, and then, as if something had snapped, the entire floor, the walls, the blackboard, and even the desks instantly transformed into gleaming mirrors.
[Mirror World has opened. Countdown: 3 hours. Chase mode activated. Good luck!]
The system's icy voice suddenly rang out, and at the same time, humanity realized that danger was right at their doorstep.
The moment the mirrors appeared, countless blackened hands, as if trapped within some bizarre slime, immediately emerged, dragging people into the mirrors before they had time to resist.
Bella watched her companions being pulled away as she kept dodging frantically. At least the mirror's surface didn't sink—so long as she didn't let those hands drag her in, she would be safe!
But it seemed she had been too naïve. A scarlet sky burned into her vision when she ran out of the school building. Countless eyes writhed open, staring intently at the humans below as if watching ants.
The entire schoolyard—no, the whole dungeon—was now engulfed in mirrors!
Unending hands reached out from every direction, so many that they nearly blanketed everything in this world. Resistance was futile. Perhaps that was why she hadn't seen Susan make it outside, even though Susan's level was on a completely different scale.
Bella was directly seized by the hands and vanished from this world.
At that moment, in the dance studio, Nerio faced the large mirror before him, smiling faintly as he turned back. Behind him, Leonard and Tom had already disappeared, leaving only countless hands that lashed out like tentacles, surging toward him.
"So impatient, aren't you?" Nerio sneered. Before the hands could drag him beneath the mirror's surface, his figure dissolved into a streak of light, disappearing completely.
Meanwhile, outside, others began to notice the anomaly…
"Captain, we're picking up interference!" one of the observation team members said in disbelief.
Layla couldn't tear her eyes from the sky, her face filled with shock.
The live broadcast screens hanging in the air began flickering, then suddenly shattered into countless fragments, plunging everything into darkness!
The dungeon's live broadcast system had collapsed!
"How could this be possible!" Layla shouted.
"Could it be that the boss's power is too overwhelming…"
"Opening up another world interferes with live broadcasting."
"No, that's not right. No matter how massive the battlefields have been before, we've never seen the live broadcast system suddenly crash like this!"
No, it wasn't just because of the boss!
That thought suddenly surfaced in Layla's mind.
She whipped around, and sure enough, Frank stood outside, his gaze unfathomably deep.
Frank smiled—a satisfied smile, the smile of the ultimate victor.
"Ah, Layla, I've already envisioned the final scene. When my warriors return bearing victory, a true new era for humanity will at last be ushered in." Clearly, Frank's lips never moved, yet his voice echoed crisply in Layla's ears.
Layla stared at Frank, a chill spreading through her entire body. Bella, Luis, and the others were all supposed to be on the same side—they were a team. How could Frank…
But now was not the time to pick apart the betrayal. Layla's eyes turned cold; she ignored Frank's triumphant grin and forced herself to stay composed. Yet her own thundering heartbeat seemed to betray her terror…
Inside the dungeon.
The hands dragged all the humans—students and teachers alike—into another world called the Mirror World.
Damian felt the world before him suddenly blaze with light, followed by a violent crimson glow bleeding from the sky above. Even the classroom was tainted with a strange scarlet hue, as though the entire world was drowned in that radiance!
Damian's heart pounded so fast it felt like it would burst from his chest. The pain was suffocating; the danger so overwhelming that even the shrill screams around him seemed to fade into the background.
Danger. Danger. Danger!
By instinct, Damian's eyes darted toward the podium, where Aria stood frozen, looking lost—uncertain where she should run.
In Damian's vision, everything seemed to slow.
Cracks spread across the blackboard, and with them came a razor-sharp beak—something monstrous was forcing its way through!
Damian had no idea how he'd gotten up there so quickly, or how he had managed to grab Aria's arm.
"Crash! Boom!"
The monster's beak pierced through the massive wall, snapping shut with terrifying force. Several students were cleaved in half, their abdomens split open, entrails spilling across the floor.
The fear etched on their faces was no illusion—they looked like humans, suffering real torment!
Clutching Aria tightly, Damian leapt from the third floor straight into the schoolyard below! Behind him, the collapsing walls cascaded like a scene from a movie, the beast's enormous beak lunging after them. Frustrated, it let out a thunderous roar, so deafening that it made their eardrums tremble!
[Hahaha, don't even have to wait until Friday!]
[Nerio, well done! I knew I could count on him—hahaha!]
[Others: "This looks dangerous, better stay away." Nerio: "This looks dangerous, let's poke it a bit lol."]
[Well, of course—Nerio's not the one afraid, and he's not the one dying.]
[All of you kept wondering if those humans could hold out—well, looks like we're about to find out, hahaha!]