Adrian awakened in the present with a broken sword in his hands.
The hilt belonged to Evelyn.
Not the young woman currently hospitalized after Hollow Station, but the woman who had left a recording for him ten thousand years in the future.
Find the underground station.
When you find your corpse... don’t let it touch you.
Adrian stored the weapon inside Sovereign Territory before getting up. Lyra remained beside the window, exactly where she had been when he closed his eyes.
"How much time passed?" he asked.
"Two hours and seventeen minutes."
For Adrian, it had been almost six.
This was the first time he had confirmed that time in the future and the present didn’t pass at the same rate. He still didn’t know whether the difference remained constant or whether Infinite Sovereign determined the duration of each visit.
"Did you find anything?" Lyra asked.
Adrian looked at her.
She remembered accompanying him. The version that had entered the future with him and the one who remained in the present were the same person. The memories had integrated as soon as Adrian awakened.
"My own corpse."
"We found a recording claiming that it exists."
"I prefer to summarize things dramatically."
"You do that often."
Adrian’s phone vibrated on the table.
He had stopped counting the messages after the first four hundred. Five guilds, three news networks, the National Awakened Association, and dozens of people he didn’t know wanted to speak with him.
A notification from Meridian Academy occupied the top of the screen.
[MANDATORY POST-DUNGEON REVIEW]
[Attendance required: 9:00 a.m.]
[Subjects: License reassessment, Hollow Station settlement, medical evaluation.]
Adrian checked the time.
Eight forty-three.
"Can you walk?" Lyra asked.
"Yes."
"I didn’t ask whether you could pretend you weren’t injured."
Adrian took one step.
Adaptive Carapace had closed the wound in his abdomen, and Starforged Body kept his ribs together, but the movement caused enough pain to force him to stop.
"I can walk slowly."
Lyra extended one hand. An invisible force wrapped around Adrian’s body and lifted him several inches from the floor.
"I can also carry you."
"If we enter like this, people might think we have a close relationship."
The force disappeared.
Adrian landed on his feet, and pain tore through his ribs.
"I’ll walk," he said.
The meeting took place in the same room where five guilds had attempted to recruit him before the expedition.
This time, there were more people.
Examiner Bennett occupied one end of the table. Marcus Venn sat beside two representatives from Meridian Academy. An official from the National Awakened Association, three attorneys, and a dungeon regulation specialist were also present.
Adrian once again chose the seat at the head of the table.
No one objected.
Lyra remained inside Sovereign Territory. Her face had already been recorded during the expedition, but Adrian had no intention of revealing how much stronger she had become.
Marcus activated the main display.
"Before we begin, we need to clarify the information published last night. Hollow Station’s system automatically transmitted its results to the national network and temporarily placed you in first position."
"I saw the photograph," Adrian said. "They should change it."
"The entry was provisional. The system ranked you using only the value of the clear, without applying license requirements, verified raid totals, or time in active service. The Association removed the result while the audit was conducted."
"So I was number one for several hours."
"Technically."
"That will be enough for my biography."
The Association official slid a document toward him.
"The audit confirmed that you participated in the elimination of an A-Rank threat. However, Lyra Voss, Evelyn Hart, and your registered units contributed to the battle. You also lack the five verified raids required to enter the permanent national ranking."
"And where does that leave me?"
A new ranking appeared above the table.
[MERIDIAN CITY — ROOKIE RANKING]
[43. Adrian Vale.]
[Level: 9.]
[Verified clears: 1.]
[Highest defeated threat: Rank A.]
[Special achievements: Perfect Clear, Dungeon Core Claim.]
Adrian studied the number.
"Forty-three."
"There are more than twelve thousand Awakened within Meridian’s rookie category," Bennett explained. "Entering the top fifty after a single expedition is unprecedented."
"There are still forty-two names above mine."
Marcus slowly exhaled.
"I knew you would say that."
[Local Rookie Ranking: 43.]
[Ranking rewards activated.]
[Public combat profile unlocked.]
[Challenge eligibility acquired.]
Adrian opened the list.
Several names above his belonged to students who had been Awakened for nearly two years. Some had completed more than fifty dungeons. Others were heirs to major guilds with entire teams dedicated to helping them level up.
Evelyn Hart occupied ninth place.
Adrian stopped scrolling.
Hollow Station had been Evelyn’s first official dungeon expedition too.
Her position hadn’t come from dungeon clears.
The rookie ranking measured more than completed raids. Registered class rarity, combat potential, academy evaluations, sanctioned combat records, and verified achievements all contributed to a candidate’s placement.
Evelyn had entered the ranking almost immediately after awakening.
Blade Dancer was an Epic class.
Her registered combat potential was S-Rank.
And her performance during Meridian Academy’s evaluations had already placed her among the most promising newly Awakened students in the city before either of them had set foot inside an official dungeon.
Adrian had been a different problem.
Infinite Sovereign had no conventional grade the Association could recognize. Its functions had been incomplete during his evaluation, its growth pattern didn’t match any registered class, and most of what Adrian could actually do hadn’t existed long enough to be measured.
Even his original combat results had created more questions than usable data.
Hollow Station had finally given the ranking system something it understood.
A verified dungeon clear.
An A-Rank threat.
A Perfect Clear.
And a Dungeon Core Claim.
Adrian looked at Evelyn’s name again.
[9. Evelyn Hart.]
Then at his own.
[43. Adrian Vale.]
One expedition had placed him forty-third among more than twelve thousand rookies.
He wasn’t sure whether that was impressive.
He was very sure he disliked seeing forty-two names above his.
Adrian closed the ranking.
He already knew what his next objective would be after reaching Level 15.
"Now we need to discuss Hollow Station," the academy’s legal representative said.
The core recognized Adrian as its owner. None of the technicians sent during the night had managed to access its functions without his permission.
The law, however, didn’t account for a student claiming ownership of a dungeon located beneath a public academy.
"Physical ownership of the entrance belongs to Meridian Academy," the attorney explained. "The Association controls its exploitation, and the city bears the security costs. Your registration over the core does not supersede those jurisdictions."
"Then you can keep the entrance," Adrian said. "I’ll shut down the core."
The dungeon specialist raised his head.
"You can’t do that."
"The panel says I can."
Adrian extended one hand and opened Hollow Station’s controls.
[Core Function: Dormancy.]
[Activation will suspend monster generation and resource production.]
[Activate?]
Three people spoke at the same time.
Adrian didn’t select the option.
"It appears your jurisdiction requires my cooperation."
The academy had prepared an initial offer of ten percent of all extracted resources. Adrian rejected it.
They increased it to fifteen.
He rejected that as well.
When they reached twenty percent, Marcus pointed out that no private owner received such a share without assuming the operational costs.
Adrian activated another function.
[Core Function: Access Control.]
[Revoke Meridian Academy access?]
The negotiation ended twelve minutes later.
[HOLLOW STATION OPERATING AGREEMENT]
[Registered Core Owner: Adrian Vale.]
[Operating Authority: Meridian Academy.]
[Security and maintenance costs: Operating Authority.]
[Resource share — Adrian Vale: 30%.]
[Resource share — Meridian Academy and National Association: 70%.]
[Contract duration: 5 years.]
[Core ownership transfer: Prohibited.]
The academy would assume all labor, expenses, and legal responsibility. Adrian would receive thirty percent of the crystals, minerals, and temporal materials produced by the dungeon.
He would never have to enter it again if he didn’t want to.
"Acceptable," he said.
Marcus watched him sign.
"Three days ago, you didn’t have a registered combat class."
"Now I have a dungeon."
"The core doesn’t make you the owner of the land."
"I don’t need the land. Only what grows beneath it."
The next item was his license.
The provisional license he had received after destroying the evaluation machine only permitted him to participate in special expeditions under supervision. Hollow Station had proven that restricting him to E-Rank dungeons would be more dangerous than allowing him access to higher-level zones.
Bennett placed a black card on the table.
[PROVISIONAL HUNTER LICENSE]
[Holder: Adrian Vale.]
[Authorized Dungeon Rank: C.]
[Emergency participation: Rank B with certified team.]
[Registered combat classification: Special Summoner.]
[Review period: 30 days.]
"Special Summoner?" Adrian asked.
"The Association needed a classification for your units," Bennett said. "There is no official category for someone with multiple classes."
"Not yet."
She stared at him.
"How many can you register?"
"Enough."
"That isn’t a number."
"Which is why the form is difficult to complete."
The official continued with the financial rewards. Eliminating the A-Rank threat, rescuing six students, and achieving a Perfect Clear had generated three separate payments.
[Emergency Threat Elimination: 900,000 credits.]
[Survivor Rescue Bonus: 180,000 credits.]
[Perfect Clear Reward: 500,000 credits.]
[Immediate official compensation: 1,580,000 credits.]
That was in addition to the sale of the recovered materials and the future revenue from Hollow Station.
Adrian checked his account.
The balance had already been updated.
Three days after awakening a class that had initially seemed to grant him no abilities, he possessed more money than his family had accumulated over several years.
He felt no desire to spend it.
His first thought was how much equipment it could buy for entering C-Rank dungeons.
[Official rewards received.]
[Provisional C-Rank License acquired.]
[Hollow Station resource rights: 30%.]
[Local Rookie Ranking: 43.]
[C-Rank dungeon access unlocked.]
"Only the medical examination remains," Bennett said.
"Is it mandatory?"
"You suffered temporal damage, absorbed unknown energy, and developed a new physical manifestation inside the dungeon."
Adrian looked at the small black plates still surrounding the wound in his abdomen.
"When you put it that way, it sounds important."
Meridian Academy’s medical center occupied four floors.
Adrian was taken into a reinforced diagnostic room. Dr. Selene Ward, a dark-haired woman with a permanently impatient expression, examined his injuries before instructing him to lie down inside the scanner.
"Three fractured ribs, a shoulder dislocated and reset without assistance, an abdominal puncture, and signs of localized cellular aging," she listed. "You should be hospitalized."
"I’m improving."
"That doesn’t mean you’re well."
The doctor examined the black plates.
"This protection wasn’t present during your initial evaluation."
"It’s new."
"A class evolution?"
"Something like that."
Selene attached several sensors to his chest.
"The scanner will analyze your Class Core, mana channels, and physical stability. I need you to deactivate any defensive abilities."
Adrian ordered Starforged Body to reduce its reinforcement layers and forced Adaptive Carapace to retract. The black armor disappeared beneath his skin.
The machine closed around him.
[External energy scan detected.]
[Registered classes responding.]
Starbreaker reacted first.
Adrian felt concentrated heat near his heart.
Rift Hunter responded a moment later. A cold pressure appeared beneath his ribs.
Calamity Beast was last. Its core produced an additional beat in the lower portion of his chest.
Adrian opened his eyes.
Until that moment, his classes had existed only as information within Infinite Sovereign. He had never felt them occupying separate points within his body.
The machine issued an alert.
Selene looked at the screen.
"Don’t move."
"I wasn’t planning to. I’m inside a tube."
The doctor enlarged the image.
Three spheres appeared inside Adrian’s torso.
The first was golden and covered in luminous fractures.
The second resembled a blue rift compressed into the shape of a core.
The third was black and beat like an additional heart.
All three cores were connected to a central structure the scanner couldn’t identify.
Selene repeated the test.
She obtained the same result.
The alarms changed from yellow to red.
The door to the room sealed automatically.
[Anomalous Core Structure detected.]
[Medical isolation protocol activated.]
The doctor approached the glass.
"Adrian, how many classes did you say you could register?"
"I didn’t give you a number."
"Then give me one now."
On the screen, the three cores pulsed again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Selene stepped back.
"That’s impossible."
Adrian studied the image from inside the scanner.
Starbreaker.
Rift Hunter.
Calamity Beast.
[Three independent Class Cores detected.]