Accidentally Became the Most Wanted Entity in the Multiverse

Blackridge had many rooms.

Most were empty.

Some were secrets pretending to be storage.

But this room.. this one was alive.

Dae could feel it the moment he entered. Not through sight or sound, but through skin. Like the walls themselves were waiting to exhale.

It wasn't just cold. It was ancient.

The students had been led single-file down a spiraling corridor that dropped deeper than the ocean trench outside their dome. The air grew thinner, the lights dimmer, until finally…

The trial chamber.

A vast circular arena, carved from some kind of obsidian alloy that shimmered with flecks of starlight. Above, no ceiling. just darkness, dotted with constellations that didn't match anything Dae had ever seen. Like a sky from a different planet.

"This," Sera announced, her voice crisp, "is the Crucible."

Kio elbowed Dae. "Sounds like a villain's gym."

Dae didn't reply. His heart was doing push-ups of its own.

"Every fresh intake," Sera continued, "undergoes the First Trial. It's not a test of strength…"

"Thank gods," Zane muttered.

"…but of soul."

He groaned.

"Each of you will enter the core alone. It will read you. We do not control what it shows. What you face is up to you, and whatever you are."

She let that hang in the air like the scent of blood before a storm.

"Pass… and you join the academy fully. Fail… and you go home."

A pause.

Then Sera smiled.

"Assuming there's a home left to go to."

...…..

They stood in silence, gathered on a narrow walkway that ringed the central core. At the center was a translucent black platform, a circle, like a lens or a gate. It pulsed slowly, inviting.

"I'll go first," said Vera, stepping forward before anyone else.

Of course she would.

The platform reacted the moment her foot touched it.

Light bloomed. Not outward. but inward. It pulled her down, folding her form in on itself like ink vanishing into water.

She was gone.

Dae blinked. "What just happened?"

Sera folded her arms. "Now we wait."

"How long does it take?" Rea asked quietly, floating a few inches off the walkway's surface.

"No one knows. Time behaves differently in the Crucible."

"Wait, like… relativistic physics?" An asked, brows furrowed.

"No," Sera said. "Like magic."

Kio scratched his head. "So… timey-wimey trauma blender."

Zane clapped once. "I love that band."

.....

Minutes passed. Then an hour.

More names were called.

Syra vanished into mirrors. Jin stepped in with fists clenched. Isha walked like a prayer.

Riven strutted in with a wink. Elio floated like mist.

Each time, silence followed.

Sometimes the lights dimmed. Sometimes the platform cracked slightly only to seal again seconds later.

And then…

"Dae."

His name hit like a dropped knife.

Sera was looking at him. Not stern. Not soft. Just waiting.

Dae stepped forward.

Rea touched his arm as he passed. A rare gesture.

"Don't lose yourself," she whispered.

He didn't answer.

Because he already felt like he had.

.....

The Crucible accepted him without resistance.

A flash. Then darkness.

Then….

He was standing.

In a room that looked exactly like his childhood bedroom.

Fan ticking.

Curtain fluttering.

Door cracked open just enough.

"…No," he whispered.

He turned… expecting shadows.

But what he saw was worse.

It was himself.

A younger Dae. Maybe ten. Sitting on the bed, hugging his knees.

He looked up. Eyes wide.

"I don't remember you," the boy said. "But I feel like I should."

Dae tried to speak. But no sound came out.

The boy continued. "They made me forget. Didn't they?"

He stood. "You're what's left of me."

A mirror appeared behind him.

Not glass, liquid. Memory.

The younger Dae stepped through it without hesitation.

When he emerged… he was wearing the ring.

Kairoth.

Except it wasn't dark.

It burned with white fire.

"You're the lie they buried," the boy said, now taller, older, changing with every breath. "You're the version that survived."

"I don't want this," Dae finally said, trembling.

"But it wants you," his echo replied.

The mirror behind him shattered.

White light consumed everything.

...….

Dae gasped awake, knees on the obsidian platform, drenched in sweat.

He was back.

Kio and An were crouched beside him, eyes wide.

"You okay, bro?" Kio asked.

Dae could barely nod. "I saw… me. I think."

An handed him water.

Sera's voice rang out. "Pass."

She didn't elaborate.

But the bead on Dae's cloak glowed for the first time.

It pulsed.

With light.

...….

As the others returned.. one by one.. stories began to form in fragments.

No one said what they saw.

But their eyes said enough.

Drayk's hands were shaking.

Selene wouldn't meet anyone's gaze.

Zane… had stopped talking.

Even Riven sat silently for once.

They were changed.

Not stronger.

Not weaker.

Just… peeled open.

...….

That night, back in Room B7, Dae sat by the window, watching the sea creatures drift outside like forgotten gods.

Kio was asleep. An was scribbling.

Rea floated by the wall, arms crossed, cape rippling in artificial currents.

"What did you see?" Dae asked softly.

She didn't look at him.

"A grave."

Dae swallowed. "Yours?"

"No," she whispered. "Someone else's. Someone I couldn't save."

The silence after that wasn't empty.

It was sacred.

...…

Later, as the others slept, Dae wandered into the hallway.

He found Pix floating near the central archive node, scanning ancient data.

"Did you do the Crucible?" Dae asked.

Pix paused, eye-beam flickering.

"…A long time ago."

"You're not a student, though."

"I was once."

Dae blinked. "Wait, what?"

Pix turned. "Memory's patchy. Someone scrambled my core. Wiped decades."

"Why?"

"To hide something. Or someone."

"You think it's me?"

Pix didn't answer.

But his light dimmed.

"Goodnight, kid," the AI said, drifting upward. "Try not to die before breakfast."

....

Dae stood alone in the empty hallway, ring glowing faintly.

In his mind, his younger self still burned.

That light…

It wasn't normal.

It wasn't just power.

It was a door.

And someone. something. was knocking from the other side.

...…..

To Be Continued in Chapter 12 : "The Ones Who Survive."

✦ AUTHOR'S LOG — CLASSIFIED ✦

Crucible Core Intelligence System (CCIS)

|Status: Semi-sentient | Origin-Tech Relic | Fragmented |

-Primary Function: Soul-mapping & Origin Core Recognition

-Risk Level: HIGH. Not designed for Tier Z anomalies

-Known Side Effects: Memory resurfacing, identity instability, metaphysical bleed, self-duality

#Latest Subject Scan:

-Designation: DAE

-Compatibility: 93%

-Classification: Tier Z (Unregistered Origin Carrier)

-Status: UNSTABLE

-Core Integrity: 52% and dropping

-Outcome: Partial Sync Achieved. Crucible response anomalous

-Incident Tag: MEMORY GHOST detected within subject's mindfield

-Ring Interface: [KAIROTH] Awakening Sequence Incomplete

#Additional Notes:

• Crucible lights flared white, not standard blue. Unknown variable.

• Subject's echo self initiated pre-conscious speech protocol. Dangerous.

• Core mirror fractured post-trial. Repair underway… slowly.

#Entry logged by: PIX

-Designation: Personal Interactive Xenobot

-Status: Memory Core: 81% Corrupted

-Comment: "Next time someone asks me to run an Origin through an ancient trauma engine, I'm faking my own deletion."

PS: If you're reading this and you're confused? Good. That means it's working.

Trust the Crucible. It's supposed to crack you open. There's more ahead… and it's only getting weirder.

Recommend emotional backup and popcorn.

-><-