It was supposed to be the most dazzling night of the semester—The Campus Annual Gala, hosted in the grand Sapphire Ballroom downtown. A night for the elite, the influencers, the fake-perfect lovers, and the wolves in velvet.
But tonight? Tonight would end with shattered glass, broken reputations, and blood... real blood.
---
6:30 PM – Sapphire Ballroom Entrance
Elias arrived in a borrowed black suit two sizes too big. His shoes were scratched, his collar misaligned, but his eyes—those eyes—carried the weight of something ancient.
He wasn't on the guest list. But the guards stepped aside without a word.
Someone had paid for his entrance.
Someone powerful.
Inside, the chandelier sparkled like diamonds. Girls in glittering gowns and high heels posed for livestreams, their voices sugar-coated for attention. Boys in tailored tuxedos faked laughs they didn't mean. Reporters hovered at corners, hoping for drama.
And in the center of it all?
Ava, dripping in gold, smiling for the cameras like her world hadn't collapsed just 24 hours ago.
---
7:42 PM – VIP Lounge
Troy, nervous and sweating, poured himself another drink. "He's here," he muttered to the group. "I saw him walk in."
"Who invited him?" hissed Bianca, a fashion streamer with 1.2 million followers. "He's poison. People are unsubscribing from me just because I stood next to him in the library once!"
"He's ruining everything," Troy snapped. "We need to end this tonight."
From the corner, Professor Luwanda adjusted his tie.
"We don't destroy him with fists," he said quietly. "We destroy him with image. With illusion. With the very world he's trying to expose."
Bianca smirked. "A scandal?"
"No," Luwanda replied. "A setup."
---
8:17 PM – Dance Floor
The music was loud. The lights flashed like electric dreams. Couples danced like the night would never end.
Elias stood alone at the edge.
Mila approached him slowly, her dress navy blue and modest. She didn't speak, just offered her hand.
He took it.
They moved to the center of the floor.
And the entire ballroom seemed to pause. The poor boy and the girl who once mocked him, now dancing under the chandelier.
Cameras turned.
Whispers rose.
Until—
CRASH!
A glass shattered.
A girl screamed.
Then the music cut off.
On the projector screen, a new video played. No warning.
---
8:20 PM – Exposé
A collage of footage began:
Troy stealing exam papers.
Bianca blackmailing junior models.
Ava transferring millions in student union funds to a private account.
Professor Luwanda in the arms of three different women—all parents.
Gasps filled the room. Phones were yanked out of clutches. Faces turned pale. Some ran. Some froze.
Then came the final slide:
> "No one is clean. No one is safe. The truth belongs to no one." – E.K."
Bianca fainted.
Troy lunged at Elias.
Fists flew.
Security rushed in.
Someone pulled a knife.
Blood hit the white marble floor.
---
9:01 PM – Rooftop of the Ballroom
Elias sat on the edge, watching the city lights flicker. Behind him, Mila held his jacket around herself.
"You didn't even flinch when Troy swung at you," she whispered.
"I stopped feeling fear the day I became invisible," he replied.
She was silent.
Then softly, "You're not invisible anymore."
The watch on his wrist pulsed gently.
Task Complete.
Reward Unlocked: God-Key Acquired.
Next Level Unlocked: Door Beneath the Core.
Warning: You are now being hunted.
Elias looked up at the stars.
Somewhere deep in the city, someone else was watching.
An old man with no name.
Smiling.
"Let the real game begin," he said.