I opened my eyes, and a blinding light suddenly assaulted me, causing me to squint as I cautiously looked around. I didn’t think hell would be so bright. As I shot up from the bed, the only color I could see around the room was pure white. When the familiar smell of the hospital room finally entered my nose, I quickly connected the situation.

That bitch almost killed me.

I thought back to the match I had against Eliana as the scene of hundreds of blades continuously played in my mind. I wasn’t sure whether it was the work of [Recall], but I could vividly remember every single blade floating in the air. I could even go as far as pointing out which blade could have dealt the killing blow, but…

I am still alive.

That was enough to convince me that someone had stepped in to protect me. Since my [Future Sight] skill had already predicted my death, Eliana ‘regaining her cool’ was a possibility I immediately discarded.

I wonder who it was?

Among the students, Roran was the only one with the ability to do that, but that possibility was also discarded after recalling his type of personality from my past life.

“Eh!?”

An unexpected voice escaped my mouth as I suddenly realized something. On the side of the bed, a girl with long black hair sat there, adorned in her academy uniform. She was asleep, but at first glance, one would have thought otherwise. She was sitting normally, and her head was also perpendicular to the chair — the type of position someone would sit while working at an office.

What kind of scary skill is that?

Something else was off about her. Her presence seemed to fade to the point of non-existence whenever you took your eyes off her.

Aurora Dragnok, just what the hell are you turning my sister into?

As someone who knew about the future, I was both grateful and terrified. I turned my back and looked out the window. It was already nighttime. Since we’d be staying at the dorms from today onwards, it shouldn’t be too far from here.

I reached out my hand to shake Lily awake, but as if a beast had suddenly invaded her territory, her eyes shot open, and for a brief moment, they turned into slits — like those of a cat — before returning to normal right afterward. Lily seemed confused for a moment but eventually smiled as she casually spoke,

“You are finally up.”

“Yeah, the exam was so boring I decided to take a quick nap,” I responded with a confident smirk on my face.

“Yeah, right…”

Her expression seemed to change right afterward as she stared at me with frustrated eyes. I had seen it many times before, and knowing her, she wasn’t angry at my recklessness in fighting a stronger opponent, nor was she disappointed by my weakness. Even in the future, I could only describe her behavior as some sort of coping mechanism she developed when we still lived together as kids.

In her eyes, Ian is never wrong.

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

That likely meant this frustration she felt would be directed to someone else… I stood up from the bed and grabbed my stuff from the small table next to me.

“What are you doing?” Lily asked in a strong tone, but I simply shrugged as I responded,

“I’m already fine. I don’t intend to sleep here.”

I walked past her, but she didn’t object and quickly followed after me. In truth, even if half my face was missing, I would rather take my chances sleeping at the dorms than in this place. Especially when I know ‘he’ works here.

In the future, a few years after graduating from the academy, I learned a lot of interesting things about some of the ‘incidents’ that occurred during my time at the academy. Incidents that were publicly announced as accidents for the sake of ensuring peace and hiding agendas. Even as a student, I would have never guessed that so many parties were involved in trying to bring down the academy.

One of the doctors working here was one of these variables, a spy sent by a very crafty man. At the moment, I had no way of dealing with him, so I intended to ignore him for as long as possible.

We finally reached the ground floor of the infirmary and left the building. I had to practically drag Lily outside since she kept insisting on talking to the doctors before leaving. As we made our way through the empty streets of the academy, the only thing in sight was the road ahead as the surroundings were covered in darkness, with the streetlights being our only light source. It was an intentional design made to keep the students alert whenever they decided to walk at night.

“So, how was the exam?” I decided to ask as a pleasantry. Though I was comfortable with the silence between us, the eerie darkness around us, coupled with Lily’s strange magic, made me feel like I was walking alone.

“Meh. It was fine, I guess. I won my match, by the way.” She boasted with a smile, and I squinted my eyes in confusion. In the future I knew of, this didn’t happen.

“Hey, what’s that look? You don’t believe me?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it. Which professor did you fight?”

“I think it was Simon or something.”

An image of the professor in question formed in my head as I started to contemplate. It wasn’t an impossible feat, but a student beating a professor would surely become the talk of the academy. Roran and Lithe were the only two students who should have “won” against the professors. Now Lily too?

Wait, is this my fault?

I suddenly remembered the scene from the morning when we were still traveling to the academy. Though I said it without much thought, it seemed I had unintentionally lit a fire under her.

‘We might finally be able to settle the score’

I sighed out loud as I made a mental note to always think before speaking. If a single sentence could distort the future this much, then whatever actions I take might end up having unintended consequences later.

We finally reached the dorms, and as soon as we entered, both of us went our separate ways. The academy was insanely huge, and since the dorms were separated by gender, they put as much distance as they could between the buildings.

As I walked for a few minutes, tall buildings started to appear, and I quickly reached into my pockets. A quick glance at the bottom of the card, and I was able to tell which building I was assigned to. The student cards could change at will whenever the academy decided to, so data could be manipulated without the need for the student’s input. After a few more minutes, I finally found the building and looked up at it. It was different from the middle-class buildings and seemed to be even taller.

I quickly glanced at the time on my smartphone before casually opening the door.

20:34.

I hadn’t thought about it, but the seniors at the dorm buildings had weird ‘initiations’ that first years were required to attend. Depending on the building you got, you might end up as some senior’s minion for the rest of your academy years.

I’m sure their little meeting is already over.

As I opened the door in a more relaxed mood, the interior of the high-class dorms greeted me. It was a high-quality facility with a mostly white atmosphere similar to the one I had seen at the infirmary. As I walked in, I glanced at the man working at the reception and simply nodded my head in greeting.

He didn’t seem to care as he casually nodded back and went back to his business. I immediately faced the stairs and walked towards them, but suddenly, loud voices reached my ears.

“Yeah, hahaha. Who knows, he might kill you in your sleep.”

“Yeah, as if I w—”

A group of students suddenly walked down the stairs and stopped the moment they saw me. There were six of them, and they didn’t look like first years.

This looks like trouble.