Mission start? But how would it end?

Lin Zhong pushed open the cabin door. The rusted lock gave way with a light shove. Instead of a room, an endless sea of thick fog greeted him.

“Is… is this real…?”

He stared in disbelief. The fog swallowed most of his vision. Forget spotting enemies—he couldn’t even see the ground beneath his feet.

Dungeon Instances usually listed weather conditions in the student handbook app beforehand. Even S-rank dungeons followed this rule. But this one only mentioned “foggy weather.”

Lin Zhong had deliberately avoided rainy, foggy, or nighttime scenarios. Sunny days were his greatest weakness—the sunlight crippled him.

The app showed low temperatures, but this suffocating, pitch-black fog? Impossible.

Quitting mid-dungeon was forbidden unless near death, when the handbook could file a failure report. Retreat was no longer an option.

“Damn it!”

Lin Zhong gritted his teeth. The cabin still held pockets of clear air. He grabbed Alice’s small hand.

“What are you—”

“Don’t let go unless you want to die here.”

His grip made her wince. She hadn’t grasped the danger yet. Getting lost in this fog meant game over.

Leaving the cabin—or waiting for the fog to seep in—would strand them. Even if the dungeon spat them back to the stone chamber after failure, wandering blind here meant no chance of clearing it. Worse, monsters roamed freely. Invisible to them but not to the creatures, they’d be helpless prey. Alice, a mage, couldn’t fight back.

Seeing Lin Zhong’s grim expression, Alice stopped resisting. This was a dungeon—not some playground for her tantrums.

“Xiao Hui.”

At his call, a gray cat leaped onto Lin Zhong’s shoulder.

*Where did that come from?*

Alice wanted to ask, but the sudden chill bit through Lin Zhong’s borrowed jacket. She zipped it tighter, seeking a trace of warmth. Still, curiosity won.

“Where’d this cat come from?”

“Who knows?” Lin Zhong smirked. Su Han had given him the cat. Why?

Ever heard of guide dogs? This cat was his version. Without it, Lin Zhong’s terrible sense of direction might make him miss school entirely—leaving at dawn, arriving past dusk.

Animals treated him like an old friend. This cat obeyed him implicitly, clinging to him like a living compass.

*Maybe he really is an elf.*

Su Han had once said that about his animal charm. A child of nature—perhaps that’s what elves truly were.

“Meow~”

Xiao Hui raised a plump little paw, pointing ahead.

Blind in the fog, Lin Zhong couldn’t even get lost properly. The cat’s sharp senses became his eyes.

“Right. Let’s go.”

Lin Zhong gripped Snowfall Thousand Chills in one hand, Alice’s wrist in the other.

“Ease up!”

The pressure hurt. Unlike Martial Arts or Ability Division students, mages were soft-handed. No one handled her like this.

“If you’d rather wander off and get dismembered by dungeon monsters, I’ll gladly let go.”

Dungeons were lethal. In this fog, the delicate little mage wouldn’t last long enough for a system failure notice.

“You—”

“Ugh, annoying!”

Lin Zhong shifted, sweeping Alice into a princess carry.

“Wait—”

“Hold tight. If you die, Aester will skin me alive.”

He freed a hand to yank Snowfall Thousand Chills from the ground. Xiao Hui hopped onto his head.

*‘If Alice dies, I won’t spare you either.’*

That was Aester’s final warning before he left Fool’s Court. She pretended to dislike Alice, but those words held weight.

“You know Aester?”

Alice was stunned. This man connected to *that* Aester? Could it be…

“Same club.”

Lin Zhong strode forward, following the cat’s directions. Alice’s arms tightened around his neck.

“A club? *He* has an organization?”

Alice murmured, a faint smile tugging her lips.

“Fool’s Court. Five members. Want to join?”

“Five? How weak!”

She knew Aester’s strength—top-tier. Why join such a tiny club?

“Small doesn’t mean weak. Elite path. You wouldn’t understand.”

Lin Zhong paused. True, they were few. But with three Apostles? No one dared call them weak.

“Oh~ So you think *I’m* elite?”

Alice’s face lit with a mischievous, devilish grin. Arrogant by nature, his patronizing gaze irked her.

“No. Just a spoiled brat with raw talent.”

Lin Zhong shot back.

“You—”

“But trained right? You could become the strongest mage across all twenty-two academies.”

Her potential was undeniable. Right now, she was just a gifted child. With proper guidance? Unstoppable.

“Hmph!”

Alice huffed, cheeks puffed in a way that looked oddly cute.

“Well? Small club, but not bad.”

Lin Zhong smiled. Recruiting this top-tier mage was his real goal. Saving her was just step one. Aester’s name had opened the conversation.

“Hmph!”

“Ah la~ Still no end in sight. Too quiet.”