I slamd the door behind hard enough that the sound echoed down the hallway.
Fuck Blair Davenport.
Fuck her money and her threats and her goddamn psycho breakdown about losing her emotional support assistant.
And fuck Misato for standing there like a statue while her best friend tried to bribe into sabotaging my own team.
My feet carried down the stairs. Fast. Not running but close.
The rage burning through my chest felt better than the exhaustion from weight training. Better than the guilt about Belle and Naomi. Better than the constant pressure of a death tir I couldn’t tell anyone about.
I reached the ground floor and shoved through the exit doors into the warm evening air.
The campus stretched out in front of . Perfectly manicured lawns. Expensive buildings. Ocean views in three directions.
I started walking. Nowhere specific. Just forward.
Students passed in clusters. Ruby kids laughing together. Sapphire students in their perfect pressed uniforms. Nobody looked at . Nobody cared.
Good.
The anger kept building.
Blair called a fat slob. A nobody from nowhere. Temporary.
She stood there in her wet silk robe flashing her tits at and actually thought I’d roll over for cash like a trained dog.
And the fucked up part?
Six days ago I probably would have.
Because six days ago I woke up in this body with seventy-two hours to live and zero options.
Now I had options. Not many. But more than zero.
I’d trained through Misato’s circuits. Pushed through Garrett’s humiliation. Ran a mile while overweight. Cleared a D-rank simulation with an A rating.
My Endurance hit D-rank. My Strength sat one segnt away. My Agility was climbing.
I stole two abilities. I had over a thousand points banked. My squad was functional despite the drama.
And Blair Davenport just tried to buy like I was rchandise.
Like I was nothing.
I passed the sculpture garden where I’d crashed into Aurora. Kept going toward the residential sector, past Building E, toward the northern edge of campus where the paths got quieter.
The rage started shifting. Morphing into sothing else.
Frustration.
Not at Blair. At the System.
I stopped walking. Stood on a pathway with nobody around. Pulled up the interface.
My reflection stared back in the translucent screen.
5’9". Two hundred thirty pounds.
Down from where I started but still fat as hell.
My face was starting to show definition. Jawline becoming visible instead of buried under a double chin. But I was still soft. Still slow. Still the guy who finished last in every physical assessnt.
The guy monsters would target first.
The guy Blair could dismiss as temporary.
"Why this body?" I said out loud to nobody.
The System didn’t answer. Just floated there with my stats displayed.
E-rank everything except Endurance at D and Perception at D.
Limit Breaker promised infinite growth. Sure. Great.
But it still required actual work. Ti. Effort. Pain.
I could have been transmigrated into literally any body at this academy.
The protagonist’s body. Javier’s lean athletic fra trained since childhood.
Marcus Steele’s gym-bro physique. Charles Leone’s prep school conditioning.
Hell, I would have settled for Jordan’s skinny gar build. At least that wouldn’t have made every physical activity feel like dragging furniture uphill.
Instead I got stuck in a body that ate feelings for a year and gave up on basic hygiene.
"This is bullshit," I said to the screen.
My stats didn’t care.
I closed the interface. Kept walking.
The path curved around Building F. Led toward the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
Students weren’t supposed to go past this point after dark. Safety regulations or whatever.
I went anyway.
The anger still simred but quieter now. Replaced by sothing colder.
Realization.
Blair was right about one thing.
I was temporary.
Not in the way she ant. She thought I’d wash out. Transfer to Amber. Fade into obscurity while she reclaid her perfect world where assistants stayed assistants and lottery kids knew their place.
But I was temporary in a different way.
In six days I’d die if I didn’t find more essence sources.
In six days after that, sa problem.
Forever.
Every woman I seduced. Every session I ran. Every drop of milk I drank.
Temporary fixes to a permanent countdown.
I reached the cliff edge. Stood looking out at the Pacific.
The water was dark. Almost black. The sunset only touched the surface with thin strips of orange light.
Fourteen miles to the mainland.
Might as well be fourteen thousand.
My phone buzzed.
Aurora again.
How did it go?
I stared at the text.
Aurora ranked twenty-three. Silver tier. Sensory manipulation. Dangerous as hell.
And she’d given her number. Asked if I was free after classes. Sent candy.
I’d turned her down because I was busy drowning in guilt about Naomi and Belle.
Naomi who wouldn’t look at .
Belle who told not to acknowledge her existence.
Both of them sitting together at lunch. Laughing. Happy.
Without .
I typed back.
She invited to Summit House and told to throw Friday’s assessnt so Misato would co back to her.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Holy shit. What did you say?
I told her no.
LOL. You’re insane. She’s going to make your life hell.
Too late. Already there.
Another pause.
Want company? I’m at the north cliffs too. Saw you walk past.
I looked around. Didn’t see anyone.
Then movent caught my eye. About thirty ters away. Orange hair catching the last of the sunset.
Aurora waved.
I waved back.
She walked over. Took maybe twenty seconds.
Up close she looked exactly like yesterday. Green eyes sharp. Beauty mark above her lip. Orange curls loose around her shoulders.
She wore black leggings and a cropped hoodie. Casual. Comfortable.
She looked at my face. Read whatever expression I had going.
"Rough day?"
"You could say that."
Aurora sat down on the grass near the cliff edge. Patted the ground beside her.
I sat.
We looked out at the ocean together. Quiet for a minute.
"So," Aurora said eventually. "Blair offered you cash to sabotage your squad?"
"Yeah."
"How much?"
"She didn’t say. Just told to na my price."
Aurora whistled low. "Damn. She’s desperate."
"Apparently."
"And you said no."
"I said no."
Aurora pulled her knees up. Rested her chin on them.
"That’s either really brave or really stupid."
"Probably stupid."
She smiled. "I like stupid. Stupid is interesting."
I glanced at her. "You have a weird definition of interesting."
"Says the guy who turned down money from a billionaire heiress." Aurora tilted her head toward . "What’s your ability again?"
"Why?"
"Because Blair doesn’t hunt lottery kids for fun. She only notices people who threaten her sohow."
I looked back at the water. "Support type. Touch-based sensory enhancent."
"Bullshit."
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