A giant fucking electromagnet

Even before these past two months, I'd studied his file. Those five months in juvie? I'd watched. Closely. The brutal murders, the savage killings—none of it shocked me anymore.

Most of the people in this lab are killers. Every last one of them has supernatural abilities. But somehow, they've all convinced the system they deserve a second chance—that they can rewrite their pasts. Good fucking luck with that.

 Adrian was one of those cases.

A girl beaten nearly to death—so brutally that hotel staff called the cops after hearing her screams. Though Adrien claimed it was self-defense: "She tried to steal my power."

That made us wonder: What kind of ability would drive someone to crawl through blood just to taste a drop of Adrian's?

He'd always known he could summon things—mostly objects. But now? We've realized the truth: Adrian's power is limited only by his imagination. Whatever he can visualize, he can manifest.

Just like what he's doing right now. Deflecting the lethal chains of the lab's fourth-ranked killer with nothing but a goddamn soup spoon.

"Aren't you going to intervene?" Jagni's voice crackled through the comms. "They're rare specimens, after all."

He's right. Aside from Adrien, the top four here have the highest training scores—a year of brutal prep for the Selection Trials. Yet this, a 18-year-old rookie is about to steal their spots in under two months.

"Let them fight." My fingers drum against the observation glass, "Adrian needs a real battle to test his limits."

***

"I'll fucking kill you, you bastard! Gonna send you straight to hell to fuck the Devil's daughters!"

Turns out, a spoon is a way deadlier weapon than I thought. It held its own against her chains at first—but now?

Ten chains. Five from each hand, whipping through the air like serpents. No way a spoon's cutting it now.

I grabbed a chair—thud, thud, thud—blocking strikes in the cramped mess hall. The confined space worked in her favor; all she had to do was flick her fingers to send those metal tendrils cracking toward me.

Alex and the others just stood there, watching. His expression was unreadable, but he made no move to stop her. The rest? Grinning like hyenas waiting for a kill.

I needed a plan, fast.

I remembered what that lab doctor— Ganji, maybe? — once told me: "Simplify your reality into two or three words. Make it something your brain can grasp instantly."

So:

Chain Girl. Ten thick chains. Every direction at once.

Now, how to break that?

Then it hit me.

A giant fucking electromagnet.

Channeling every ounce of my training, I focused—and willed the chair in my hands into a massive horseshoe magnet mid-swing. Just as her childish taunts ("Fight me like we're back in grade school!") turned those chains into whipping death.

The girl's eyes practically bulged out of her skull as a massive horseshoe magnet materialized in front of her. Shit—miscalculation. I hadn't quite nailed the size, so it hovered awkwardly, clipping the ceiling.

Double shit. In my hurry, I'd forgotten one tiny detail:

This wasn't just about her chains.

Every metal object in the mess hall—knives, cleavers, even the damn steel trays—went airborne. A blender blade thunked into the wall beside my ear as the girl screamed, yanked forward by her own chains.

Then—crunch.

A butcher's cleaver took her right hand clean off.

Ten-plus knives buried themselves in her back like macabre feathers.

And just like that—

She Dead.

The doors to the dining hall suddenly flew open as Pedro screamed, "Destroy that magnet! Now!"

The moment the iron doors opened, they were torn from their hinges like paper and violently sucked toward the magnet. Meanwhile, Alex and his gang, upon seeing the girl's corpse - with a cooking spatula embedded in her body and her back riddled with knives - all erupted in rage and immediately began shouting curses at me from a distance. None of them dared approach.

Since I was closest to the magnet, I desperately tried to shrink it down. It took some effort, but eventually it worked - all the metal objects came crashing to the floor in a heap, and the girl's body was finally freed from the magnet's pull.

But let me be clear - I never intended to kill her. These things... sometimes they just spiral out of control.

Or maybe they could be controlled... but I'm still not proficient enough with this power yet.

"You... you killed her! You fucking bastard..."

Broccoli-Hair stepped forward, clearly itching for revenge, but Pedro acted first. As I stood there calmly slipping the magnet into my pocket, security forces flooded the dining hall, their rifles trained on me and the remaining three. Slowly, I raised my hands in surrender.

One of the officers approached the girl's corpse to check her condition. Not that it was necessary—anyone could see she was dead. He confirmed her death with a grim nod.

Pedro immediately stepped forward, his voice tight with anger. "What the hell were you thinking? Why'd you go that far? You fucking killed her!"

I answered honestly, even though I knew he already understood: "I was just eating my rice when they surrounded me! They said they'd kill me if I tried for the top spot—I had to defend myself!"

Okay, maybe I tweaked the situation slightly in my favor. But that was essentially what happened, wasn't it?

Alex finally spoke up, trying to paint my words as lies: "He's lying, sir. We were just having a friendly chat when he suddenly went berserk. This kid's unstable."

It seemed they feared Pedro's presence more than they feared me killing that girl.

"Clean up the body," Pedro ordered coldly. "All of you are punished—no dinner tonight. Starting tomorrow morning—"

"You're showing mercy to that piece of trash?" Alex snapped. "He murdered someone in front of everyone—in the most brutal way possible! How much is a human life worth to you? Oh, wait... nothing, if it's just another criminal. Or maybe because he's the new favorite—"

"Enough, Mr. Alex." Pedro's voice turned lethal. "If you're tired of looking at your own daughter's face, keep talking. Just one more word."

Silence fell over the tension—a clear threat hanging in the air. But Pedro didn't seem to care. Honestly, I still don't fully grasp what kind of hellhole this place is, but one thing's clear: here, the government holds the power, not the superhumans.

Alex shut his mouth, but Pedro wasn't done. "Don't you lecture me on the value of human life. You're a killer yourself—three 'accidental' homicides. Think anyone buys that?" He stepped closer, voice dropping to a growl. "I gave you a chance. Told you if you wanted to be treated like a human, you had to earn it—top scores in every training drill, a clean shot at the Hero Selection. But now that you're losing, you want to force your way in?" A cold laugh. "Dream on, big guy. I won't let garbage like you corrupt the system. Now get back to your hole."

Despite being older than Pedro, Alex didn't dare retort. He turned and stormed out, Broccoli-Hair and the other guy scrambling after him.

Now, it seemed, was my turn for a scolding. Just like all those times with my teachers… or my family.

"I'm... still hungry." A simple request. My bowl of rice had been knocked to the floor during the fight, and now I had nothing to eat. He'd said no dinner—but what about the lunch I never got to finish?

"I told you, no food."

"You said no dinner. I still haven't eaten the lunch I was supposed to have."

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

I froze. I'd assumed Pedro would tolerate me—if only for the power I wielded. But apparently not.

"You've proven nothing except that you can publicly murder someone."

"Then why didn't you stop me?"

Pedro leaned in close, his piercing gaze locking onto mine. "You let us fight. Have you ever even used your power in a real battle before? For all I know, this could've been your plan all along. I don't know why, but—"

Suddenly, his fist connected with my face.

I hit the ground hard, the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth as sharp pain radiated through my jaw. Thank god none of my teeth were broken. Dental pain is its own special kind of hell.

From the floor, I glared up at him. From this angle, I could see him clearly—those jet-black eyes, the deep blue hair framing his face. A new perspective.

"You should be thanking me for not having you arrested for murder already."

Thanking him? Bullshit. This bastard was grinding my nerves to dust. I wanted to erase him—leave no trace behind.

I stood up slowly, facing him directly. The pain in my mouth still throbbed, but I gritted through it. "Understood, sir. Please... mold me into the strong hero you envision." My tone was all sharp edges. Let him think I'm sincere.

Pedro's eyes narrowed, studying my dead-serious expression. I made sure to let just enough darkness seep into my gaze—let him feel the chill. It was the only way to vent this rage without laying a finger on him.

Because Alex had been right about one thing:

No matter who you are, you bow to those stronger.