Ren's eyes snapped open like a pair of spring-loaded trapdoors, and immediately, his body followed, jerking upright with the fluid panic of someone who just dreamed they were falling off a skyscraper.
His breath came out in short bursts at first, then slowed as he stared around, dumbfounded, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
The blinding white walls, floor, and ceiling were all exactly the same as he remembered. It was still spotless, sterile, and almost impossibly bright.
The same weightless air. The same eerie silence.
He blinked a few times and rubbed at his eyes with both hands, not because they hurt, but because his brain was still trying to reject the ridiculous reality that he was back in that room again.
"No way," he muttered, squinting at the environment. "Did I lose consciousness again?"
At first, he had truly thought this white realm was his cheat; the golden finger every isekai protagonist dreams of.
He'd woken up here on the first day, dazzled by the glowing evolution crystals and practically foaming at the mouth with anticipation.
But then night had come, and he'd gone to sleep... and nothing. Just normal chaotic dreams and a disappointing morning filled with mundane reality.
That experience alone had shaken his belief in the cheat, even though everything about this white room screamed "overpowered protagonist zone."
"So... it only activates when I lose consciousness?" he murmured, eyes narrowing in sharp calculation. "That's a very concerning activation method."
It was true; if he had to pass out just to enter this place, then the cost of entry wasn't just high, it was terrifying.
He could already feel future-him glaring into the metaphorical camera!
Still, even while his logical brain raised red flags and scrawled hazard signs across every wall, another part of him, the curious, obsessively scientific part was already theorizing ways to knock himself out safely and repeatedly.
Gas? Pressure points? Neuroshock? It had to be something gentle yet effective...
He sighed and began pacing, hands behind his back like a military general surveying a battlefield.
As he walked, his mind returned to the last few moments before he'd blacked out. That cracking sound in his mind.
It hadn't been painful, it had been... transcendent.
For just one brief second, it was like his entire consciousness had extended beyond the physical and become something more. Something realer than real.
Like a mind breaking through the glass ceiling of mortality and dipping its toes into divinity.
The Loom.
That impossible, cosmic web made of trillions of living threads that governed all laws of existence.
"No," Ren said to himself, pausing. "That wasn't just me seeing something cool. That was a catalyst. A psychological event triggering something deeper inside me."
He clenched his fists, the feeling of mental clarity still echoing faintly in his neurons. 'That sight... woke something up.'
He turned, and without needing to be guided, moved toward the room of evolution.
The moment he passed the white doorway, the sight made his chest thump with excitement. There they were again; ten transparent white crystals, gleaming like giant dewdrops under invisible light.
And in the center of them all was the red crystal. The only one of its kind.
Naturally, his hand went to the red one. Of course it did.
As his fingers closed around it, the crystal pulsed with a faint heartbeat-like glow.
Ren closed his eyes, centering himself once more, and tried to replicate that insane sensation he'd felt during enlightenment.
The feeling of his mind swelling past the limits of flesh. Of standing at the edge of the known universe and peering behind the curtain.
It didn't come easily.
At first, he just felt ridiculous, standing there with his eyes squeezed shut and looking like a kid pretending to go Super Saiyan.
But then, after a few more seconds... something clicked.
A quiet hum buzzed from the red crystal, and it suddenly flared to life with a dazzling violet glow that bathed the entire white chamber in swirling purple color.
Inside the crystal, something was forming.
Ren's jaw slowly dropped as he leaned closer. Within the glowing red core, a floating sphere of water had materialized.
It was perfectly round, like a glass marble suspended in jelly. And inside it, a stream of thick purple liquid moved with mesmerizing grace, flowing in loops and spirals as if it had a mind of its own.
"What... the hell is that?" he breathed, his voice reverent.
DING!
His watch buzzed sharply, nearly making him jump. He glanced down and saw a new line of text appear on the small blue screen:
[Common Grade Standard Mental Sea Added to Red Evolution Crystal
Time for Evolution: 2400 hours 00 minutes (Real Time) → 24 Hours (Chamber Time)]
Ren's eyes widened. 'Two thousand four hundred hours?!'
He blinked several times, quickly processing the math. One hundred days inside the red crystal equaled a single day in the real world.
Which meant this thing was going to take a full day of chamber time. That was a massive difference compared to his last evolution, which had only taken two minutes!
But then again, it made sense. This wasn't some trinket or passive buff. This was an entire mental sea.
Based on his deductions it was definitely a foundational core for any type of magical power system of this world.
His internal world was literally being evolved—and given how vast and complex the Loom was, this was probably the very first brick in a massive tower.
He was still deep in thought, analyzing the implications and wondering what the "Mental Sea" would allow him to do.
Was it telepathy? Increased memory capacity? Direct weaving of Loom threads?
DING!
His watch buzzed again and new text appeared, even more tantalizing than the last.
[Evolution Paths Detected.
Does Host Wish to View Them?]
Ren's eyes gleamed like a child on Christmas morning. His pulse quickened, and he could already feel that scientific hunger flooding back in full force.
But instead of letting it bubble over like an over-shaken soda, his mind instantly cooled, the way a sharp blade slides into water without a ripple.
That was just who he was. Even in the face of something absurdly exciting like evolution paths and mental sea upgrades, his brain flipped on like a supercomputer and began calculating possibilities, implications, and variables with surgical focus.
It wasn't enough to be excited. Excitement didn't save lives. It didn't build empires. But cold, hard logic? That did.
"Evolution paths…" he whispered, tapping the glowing interface on his wristwatch with a quick flick of his finger.
In a flash of soft blue light, a new screen expanded in front of him, showing a vertical list of glowing options, each one pulsing slightly as though alive:
[Superior Grade: Fire Mental Sea
Superior Grade: Water Mental Sea
Superior Grade: Lightning Mental Sea
Superior Grade: Earth Mental Sea
Superior Grade: Ice Mental Sea
Superior Grade: Metal…]
[Uncommon Grade: Standard Mental Sea
Uncommon Grade: Ethereal Soul Mental Sea
Uncommon Grade: Seeker Mental Sea]
[Common Grade: Unseen Mental Sea
Common Grade: Chaos Mental Sea]
Ren's eyes danced across the list, absorbing everything. Immediately, his mental gears began turning, even faster than before.
The hierarchy was strange. Usually, in RPG mechanics or cultivation systems, higher-grade items or abilities always trumped lower-grade ones.
But here? The list suggested that even a lower grade mental sea could be just as valuable—or even more valuable—than a superior one.
"Hmm… Some evolutions are higher-grade, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're better," Ren muttered.
'They're just... more stable. Less volatile. Probably easier to control. But those Common ones like 'Unseen' and 'Chaos'... they're hiding something.'
'The very fact that they haven't evolved past Common might mean they can't—or they simply don't need to because their already too powerful at the common grade.'
He zoomed in slightly on the Chaos Mental Sea, his gut already screaming that this was the one.
There was something so chaotic—so wonderfully unpredictable—about his existence in this world already.
A male in an all-female magical society? The only human man to ever weave? A mind born of science thrust into fantasy?
Let's not forget the fact that the science experiment that killed him was literally titled chaos!
He was literally a walking paradox. And if the universe had a sense of humor, it would definitely give him a mental sea forged from chaos.
Still, even though every cell in his body itched to choose it, he didn't.
Ren Kisaragi wasn't the kind of man to dive into a storm without a boat.
He had no idea what evolving a mental sea would do, or how it would affect his ability to function, train, or even survive in the academy.
Choosing now, without data, would be emotional and reckless.
"The forge isn't going anywhere," he reminded himself, then exhaled deeply. "Let's not make a potentially life-altering decision without at least sleeping on it."
Instead, he turned to the array of transparent crystals. Ten still remained, each ready to receive an object, thought, idea, or a question.
He carefully placed a few of his lingering theories about how the Loom might be connected to universal physics, some ideas about the threads functioning like quantum strings, and even a few stray thoughts about how he might manipulate people's perceptions using science-based weaving.
Each one glowed for a second as it absorbed the thought, humming softly like a content cat.
Then he closed his eyes and willed himself out of the forge.
FWUMP!
His body lurched slightly as he regained consciousness in the black meditation room with glowing yellow runes lining the walls.
He sat up with a dazed groan, rubbing his forehead.
"Ugh... So much for a relaxing power nap…"
And then it hit him.
'Wait. Crap. Every hour spent in the evolution forge equals 5 orientation points lost…'
He shot up from the pillow, eyes wide with horror, and let out a groan that could've shaken mountains.
'I might have spent a whole day in there! That's like—hold on—5 orientation points per hour, 24 hours, that's… 120 points! Gone!'
He let out a long, exaggerated sigh as he pulled himself to his feet.
"At this rate, I'm going to graduate at the bottom of the class and they're going to think I'm some weird freeloading peasant with an attitude problem."
Still muttering, he smoothed his clothes and reached for the doorknob. The moment he opened it, he paused in surprise.
The door directly across from his had opened at the exact same time.
A beautiful girl stepped out—a girl with long, jet-black hair that shimmered like oil under moonlight.
She wore the same uniform as the other new prospectives, but somehow, it hugged her frame a little more elegantly.
Her eyes locked onto his for one heartbeat—then she immediately flushed pink and looked away, her cheeks burning.
Ren tilted his head slightly, curious.
Lia.
He gave her a small, friendly smile. "So… did you form your mental sea?"
Lia blinked at him, still flustered. "U-Um… yes. I think so. You?"
"I believe I did," Ren replied casually, crossing his arms. "I saw some pretty intense stuff before blacking out, so that's probably a yes."
There was an awkward pause. Lia seemed like she wanted to ask something, but wasn't sure how.
Ren raised an eyebrow. "By the way… do you know how we find out our affinities?"
Just then, POP!
A flash of golden light exploded in midair, and a chubby, flickering wisp appeared between them, spinning with glee.
"OH! OH! I CAN HELP!" squealed Jelly Bean the spirit, flapping it's tiny barely visible arms. "Did someone ask about affinities?!"
Lia jumped backward, startled by the sudden appearance. Ren, however, didn't even flinch. By this point, he was already getting used to madness.
"Yes," Ren said calmly, glancing at the little spirit. "How are affinities determined?"
Jelly Bean spun in a circle like a happy puppy. "Your affinities are based on the colors of the threads you saw during your time in the Loom! Each specific color and shade represents a different element, nature, or concept of weaving! Simple!"
Ren's smile faded slightly. "…Wait. What?"
Jelly Bean twirled again. "Yup! Deep red for Fire! Sky blue for Water! Gold for Time! Purple for Mind! Grey for Space! And more!"
Ren slowly brought a hand to his forehead.
"Oh no…"
Because he remembered now. The Loom hadn't shown him a few colors. It had shown him hundreds.
Threads of every shade, hue, glow, and shimmer imaginable had tangled before his eyes in that chaotic, divine tapestry. He hadn't even tried to count them!
He frowned deeply, rubbing his temples.
'How the hell am I supposed to narrow it down when the damn Loom made me look like a walking rainbow...?'