August 4, 1347

Monday.

"Hey..."

A woman's voice stirred Elijah from his slumber. Slowly, he opened his eyes, having his surroundings come into focus.

He found himself seated on a sturdy wooden chair in what appeared to be a grand hall.

'Oh... I must've dozed off...'

In front of him was a large stage adorned with banners and insignias, suggesting some sort of formal ceremony.

An older woman stood at the podium as she addressed the audience. Judging by her elegant uniform and demeanor, she was likely a head master.

She continued her speech, introducing the instructors and welcoming students. The rest... well, not so important to Elijah at least.

Elijah's gaze drifted from her to his own hands, resting idly in his lap.

'Right... I forgot. I transmigrated here two days ago.'

His eyes wandered to the person seated beside him; and also the one who woke up him.

A young woman with flowing blonde hair and striking green eyes. Hovering above her head was a system interface only visible to him.

[Victoria Elizabeth De Fleur, Failed Female Lead]

Elijah's lips twitched. He tried to suppress it, but a small series of laughter slipped out.

He even ended up hugging tightly in his stomach and covering his lips just to keep himself quiet. But it didn't work at all.

"Failed female lead? Pfft..." he muttered under his breath, recalling the absurdity of the title, too much for him to handle.

The term "Failed Female Lead" was just too amusing.

"What's so funny?" Victoria turned toward him looking so confused at his response.

Victoria was a character from his novel. In the original story, she was one of the candidates for the protagonist's love interest.

Unfortunately, the protagonist fell in love with another. Leaving her to experience what is so-called 'friend-zoned'.

Most viewers didn't care that much about her, almost all were glad she wasn't the female lead.

After all, she is that one annoying 'tsundere' that appears to be a bit annoying throughout the whole story.

And now, here she was, sitting beside him, unaware of the title floating above her head.

Elijah stifled another laugh as the memories of his recent memories awakened.

The day after his suicide, he woke up in the world of his own book.

A book which titled... 'I saved the characters'.

At first, it had felt like some kind of funny joke, but he quickly came to terms with his situation.

This very spot, at this very ceremony, was supposed to belong to the protagonist.

But the protagonist had died.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Yes, that silver-haired young man from the prologue. The one who valiantly sacrificed himself was supposed to be the main character.

Thus, the academy, in the absence of its protagonist, had extended its invitation to Elijah instead.

And now here he was.

"..."

Victoria sat stiffly, her green eyes locked onto him as he finally halted his laughter.

"My bad, my bad!" Elijah exclaimed, waving a hand in an exaggerated gesture of apology. "I just remembered my grandma seeing your ID name."

Victoria's brows twitched.

"Are you implying that I'm old?"

"Not at all, your name just sounded like it belongs to a grandmother."

(Conveniently forgetting he was the one who named her)

Victoria's mouth opened, then snapped shut.

Well, she did feel offended.

"You sure are brave to mock a royalty's name."

"Ei, ei, ei!" Elijah held up his hands defensively. "Don't forget, school rules. Inside the Academy, everyone is equal."

"Oh really? So I could do this then!"

'STOMP!'

"Ack!" Elijah yelped, doubling over slightly as pain shot through his foot. Instinctively, he grabbed his right foot as the sharp sting of a heel digging into it still lingered.

He glared at the culprit.

Victoria, with her arms crossed and a satisfied smirk, sat confidently beside him as if she hadn't just stomped on his foot like it was her birthright.

To be fair, he deserved that.

"This woman..." Elijah grumbled loudly. "This isn't just tsundere behavior. This is straight-up abuse!"

"Go ahead, complain more!"

"Y-you!"

Before he could voice his complaint, a voice echoed, amplified by the microphone on the stage.

It was coming from the speaker; a.k.a the Head Master.

"The two students over there—get out. Now."

The headmaster's stern gaze bore down on them, her disapproval was obvious as she even pointed at them.

The two froze at the same time, and then, in perfect unison, they muttered under their breath.

"Fuck."

****

"I can't believe I got punished on my first day..."

Victoria muttered under her breath, her arms trembled as she struggled to keep the bucket full of water raised above her head.

As punishment for their earlier behavior, they were tasked to hold the bucket aloft until the entrance ceremony concluded.

However...

Victoria's gaze darted to the dark blue-haired man beside her.

He wasn't lifting his bucket at all. Instead, he seemed entirely preoccupied, his fingers swings in the air as if he were writing on an invisible chalkboard.

"Is this guy serious?" she thought, visibly irritated.

Does he not realize he'll get in even worse trouble if someone catches him slacking off?

But after a moment, she sighed inwardly.

'Not my problem if he gets punished.'

She would probably enjoy it more if he was disciplined.

Or so she thought.

Eventually, guilt got the better of her. Unable to endure his nonchalant attitude any longer, she hissed under her breath.

"Hey! If someone catches you fooling around, you'll get into even more trouble, don't you know?"

Elijah turned his face back to her, although he still kept that calm face, amused. He kept his voice a little quieter this time.

"Don't worry. They won't have time to scold me."

"Huh?" Victoria blinked, confused.

"Just wait,"

A few minutes passed by and then he began counting under his breath.

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

'BOOM!'

The ground beneath them suddenly trembled as a deafening explosion shook the hall.

Screams erupted from the gathered students. Flames burst forth, spreading rapidly across the ceremony grounds. Panic swept through the crowd like wildfire.

"Everyone, stay calm!" the proctors, and instructors shouted with their voices barely audible over the commotion.

Well... who would even dare to stay calm when your life in stake?

In response to their warning, there was still a stampede ensued as students scrambled to escape.

"It's the Nightmares!" someone screamed. "Run for your lives!"

Victoria froze, her arms dropped as the bucket of water spilled onto the ground. Sweat trickled down her temple as she stared at the unfolding disaster.

Her legs felt like lead and began to turn weak and unsteady.

A chilling sense of deja vu crept up her spine as if reminding her about something she had forgotten a long time ago.

"H-how... did the Nightmares..."

Then before she could finish her question, a soft chuckle sounded beside her.

She turned her head back to the source of that laughter.

There came across Elijah who seemed enjoying every bit of the moment.

His smile widened, and his cheeks turned to flushed red as he kept chuckling, biting over his lips.

"See? What did I tell you?"

"You... How did you know this was going to happen?"

Elijah paused, tilting his head as though contemplating his response. After a moment, he shrugged.

"Just a rough guess."

The blonde-haired woman began feeling unease as she stared at him, of course, Elijah knew very well that she was starting to doubt him.

He did not care.

His attention soon shifted to something else that she couldn't see.

A system interface, hovering just beside him.

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System: Chapter 1 Submitted.

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