The Next Day...
The academy entrance examination had taken place in March, but the official classes weren’t scheduled to begin until April.
Well, that was the plan—at least in the original story.
This tiline was... different.
Thanks to the villain attack, the academy had announced that the start of classes would be postponed until mid-May. Buildings needed repairs. Security protocols had to be rewritten. And, honestly, people just needed ti to breathe.
It was all over the news now.
Turn on any TV and you’d see it—the chaos, the destruction, the fortress in the sky, the monsters, the panic. Broadcasters replayed the explosion on loop like it was so kind of action flick, complete with dramatic music and a red "Breaking News" banner flashing across the screen.
In the original novel, that attack had wiped out over half the first-year cadets. A bloodbath that reshaped the tone of the entire story.
This ti?
Only ten percent of that number died.
And weirdly enough... I think that might’ve been because of .
Not because I fought bravely on the front lines or made so genius plan to save the day.
No.
I was just trying not to die. I panicked, ran, hid, yelled at a guard, and maybe—just maybe—accidentally nudged the story off its original rails.
And sohow... that worked.
Introversion for the win, I guess?
Anyway, the good news didn’t stop there.
Both Leo and Ryen were given special awards for taking down Kai Foster. The academy credited them with neutralizing a known terrorist and saving dozens of lives. Their achievent points were boosted sky-high before classes had even officially started.
Even that guard I threatened in the middle of the explosion? Promoted.
Which is fair, honestly. The guy did risk his life pulling cadets out of the wreckage.
Still, it’s kind of surreal watching all of this unfold from a distance. Seeing people celebrate, hand out dals, and issue comndations like everything’s fine again.
’That’s a good thing, I guess...?’
I an... yeah.
Less death is always good.
But it also ans the story’s already gone off track.
And if it’s changed this much already... what else is coming?
Well I would think that later when tis cos.
At this mont, I took a step outside of the academy.
I saw sothing that I could only describe as a glimpse of the future.
Huge buildings and tall skyscrapers along with holographic billboards and security robots that filled the streets were giving off a SiFi vibe.
While flying cars and hoverbikes only further affird how ahead of ti this city was in terms of technology.
It contrasted the futuristic look and added a little touch of fantasy to the view.
I couldn’t help but drop my jaw so wide that it was now practically touching the ground.
I won’t lie. It took a few minutes to recover from that sight.
It felt like I had seen all this before but it was not until now that I was ’truly’ seeing it.
I experienced a feeling of familiarity after looking at this sight, yet the sensation was quite new.
It was a feeling that was difficult to describe, similar to the sensation of the breeze touching your face after being inside for a long ti, or the wobbly feeling in your knees when standing alone in a grassy field after a prolonged absence. That’s what I was experiencing.
Nostalgia was the only word I could think of at that mont.
"I’m back," I said.
I don’t know why I said that, but those were the only words that ca to my mind at that instance.
"Fuuu!" Letting out a deep breath, I started walking toward the train station.
I knew where the station was from the mories I had acquired, and I was certain of my destination.
I couldn’t help but feel excited. It was the first ti in a long while that I was feeling alive.
As I made my way through the city, the world around shimred with impossible detail.
Children in uniforms laughed and ran past android patrols. A holographic fox darted through the legs of a couple taking selfies under a floating cherry blossom tree. Neon signs danced across buildings in different languages—none of which I’d ever studied, yet I sohow understood them all.
That was the weird thing.
This world wasn’t mine. Not originally.
And yet... every step I took felt oddly familiar.
Like I’d been here before. Like I’d walked these sa roads, seen these sa colors, breathed in this sa scent of iron, steam, and artificial citrus.
The city was called Velmont—the capital of the Central Region and ho to Velcrest Academy. In the novel, it had only been described a few tis. A single Chapter here, a throwaway paragraph there. But standing here now, I realized how shallow that description had been.
The novel hadn’t even scratched the surface.
I passed by a row of magical vendors, their shops encased in translucent dos to keep out the city’s ever-churning air. A dwarf with cybernetic arms was negotiating with a tall, elegant elf over what looked like an enchanted laser bow.
A few ters away, a floating stall was selling instant spell scrolls. "Buy one, cast twice!" the rchant yelled, gesturing with a wand that sparked with digital runes.
And still, I kept walking.
Down the ramp, past the shimring blue trees lining the edge of the platform, I finally reached the train station.
Or rather—what passed for a train station in a world like this.
It was massive, for one. Like a spaceport out of a sci-fi movie. Giant cylindrical tubes—train tunnels—hovered horizontally in the air, each held aloft by floating rune pylons. Dozens of stations buzzed with movent, announcents echoing overhead in a voice that was sohow both robotic and soothing.
I made my way to Platform Nine-A, where the local line would take to Sector D, near the District of Mountains.
That was where I needed to go.
I’d never been there personally, but I’d read about it in the novel.
I stood in the center of the platform, staring at the incoming shuttle—a sleek, rune-powered train that shimred silver and gold as it pulled to a stop in front of .
The doors slid open.
I stepped in.
The inside was quieter than I expected. Smooth seats, pale-blue lighting, faint orchestral music playing from sowhere in the walls.
I picked a window seat, sat down, and stared outside as the doors slid shut behind .
Then, almost without warning, the train surged forward.
It didn’t feel like a train.
It felt like flying.
Buildings blurred by, lights blending into one another like a watercolor painting.
In half and hour I reached my destination.
[We have reached Sector D, The District of Mountains.]
"Let’s go."
With that I stepped out of the train.
----
There was so ti before the academy open offically.
For so students, this gap was nothing more than a dull waiting period. For others, it was an opportunity to prepare themselves for what was to co.
So students trained vigorously in secret, honing their skills in preparation for what they suspected would be a tough sester, while others took the ti to relax, unwilling to jump into the chaos just yet. But amidst all this, there was an undeniable tension hanging over everyone, as if the calm before the storm was far too quiet.
In short, everyone were busy while traning or relaxing at ho.
But for ?
This month was critical.
What was the very first thing I did after the entrance examination?
Was it settling into the dorms?
The first thing I did was—
Climbing this damn mountain with a sick
body.
It was one of the mountain of Sector D, the District of Mountains.
If anyone saw right now, they’d probably ask—What the hell are you doing?
And honestly? Fair question.
I should be doing sothing else, not this.
But here I was, dragging myself up this mountain in the early morning mist, my body feeling like it had been through a battle.
My legs burned with each step, and my chest was tight with exertion, but I pushed forward.
Why? Because I had no choice.
Do you know this body of mine? It’s barely holding together. I’m not exaggerating when I say that if I pushed myself too hard, I might just keel over and die tomorrow. No amount of hard work or sheer determination is going to fix that overnight.
So instead of torturing myself with impossible training regins, I’m focusing on the first step—getting healthy.
Of course getting healthy is always main priority.
But that’s not the real reason.
The real reason I’m here?
A fortuitous encounter.
Or, well... it’s not exactly fortuitous when you already know it’s here. Call it fate, destiny, or just plain good luck—whatever you want to call it. The real reason I’m dragging my half-dead body up this mountain is that I’m on a mission.
There’s a hidden spring at the top of this mountain, known only to a few in the academy, one that’s said to have healing properties. A legend, of course.
And originally it’s just legend and nothing more.
But my goal is what cos after that spring.
What that is? Well you would know if I reach there alive first.
I was a transmigrator, cursed with this fragile body. The one thing I knew was that if I didn’t fix this body soon, I’d be in no shape to deal with whatever challenges this world would throw at . And the sooner I healed, the sooner I could start preparing for what was coming.
With each step, I could feel my body screaming at to stop. My vision blurred, and my legs threatened to give out, but I pushed on. It was all worth it. I’d co this far, and the reward was just within reach.
The mountain air grew thinner the higher I climbed, and the surrounding forest grew denser, the trees towering overhead like silent sentinels.
The sun had barely risen, casting a soft golden glow over everything, but the mist clung to the ground, making everything feel dreamlike.
The mountain trail was brutal.
Every step felt like dragging a corpse uphill—except the corpse was . My legs burned, my lungs ached, and my head throbbed like soone had taken a hamr to it.
Great. Fantastic. Just what I needed.
But I gritted my teeth and kept going. This wasn’t just about suffering for the sake of it—there was a very real reward waiting at the top.
***
"Gasp... Huff... Gasp... Huff... Damn, this body is pathetic."
It had only been an hour, and I was already too exhausted to move.
I knew this body was weak—pathetically so—but I hadn’t expected it to give out this fast. One hour of climbing, and I felt like I was about to collapse.
I took a shaky breath, forcing myself to sit down against a nearby rock. My legs were trembling, my chest burned, and my muscles ached like I’d been running for days.
This was worse than I thought.
Good thing I didn’t go too far from the academy.
No, I had chosen this place for a reason.
First, because it was the only place I could realistically reach in my current condition.
Second, if I don’t get this so random villain might get it.
So isn’t it okay if I get it instead of him?
Right now, Right now, all I needed to do was make it there before anyone else stumbled upon it.
That random extra villain? He had no idea what he’d found. He drank from the spring, made a few vague comnts about "feeling stronger," and then promptly got killed three Chapters later by the protagonist.
Typical.
But what he missed—what everyone missed—was the true treasure hidden beyond that spring. The spring wasn’t the goal. It was the key.
I glanced at the sun, now fully peeking over the horizon.
Ti was ticking.
My breathing steadied as I leaned forward and began to rise, one hand clutching the cold rock for support. My entire body felt like it had been stitched together with spider silk, barely holding, but I forced my feet under .
"Not yet," I muttered under my breath. "I’m not allowed to collapse yet."
Another twenty minutes passed but I didn’t move from my spot.
I had planned to move away.
At least, that had been my plan.
Nothing but just plan that my body isn’t following it.
I groaned, tilting my head back against the rock. My body felt like a ticking ti bomb—fragile, unreliable, just waiting to betray at the worst mont.
I hated it.
Not just the weakness—though that was bad enough—but the helplessness. The feeling that I had all this knowledge, all these advantages, and yet... I couldn’t even climb a damn hill without nearly passing out.
In the original story, the protagonist was already slaying monsters by this point. His physique was robust, trained since childhood. He had talent, backing, and more importantly—a body that worked.
?
I had to gamble everything on the chance that so half-forgotten footnote in the lore would actually pay off.
Still, the worst part wasn’t even the physical pain.
It was the doubt.
What if I rembered it wrong? What if the treasure didn’t appear because the conditions weren’t right? What if I was just wasting ti I didn’t have?
I clenched my fists.
No. I couldn’t think like that.
This wasn’t just a random hope. I knew this world. I lived this world through the pages of that book.
I shifted my weight and pushed up again. My muscles scread in protest, and my breath hitched in my throat, but I bit down and moved.
At least for next five minutes before stopping again.
"Shit..." I muttered under my breath.
And the mont I let it slip—
"Excuse , are you alright?"
A voice.
I blinked, my breath hitching.
I was waiting for her to appear.
***
Lena.
A professor at Velcrest Academy and the Chairman’s right hand.
She wasn’t just an advisor—she was the Chairman’s eyes, hands, and feet.
Whenever the Chairman needed sothing done, Lena was the one who made it happen. Information, leverage, influence—if it existed, she could get her hands on it.
Most of the ti, her work involved keeping tabs on the world’s biggest figures, gathering intel on powerful individuals. But on rare occasions, the Chairman’s interest would land on a re cadet—soone who had made an impression.
And when that happened, Lena followed orders without question.
Because if there was one thing she had learned over the years, it was that the Chairman’s gut instinct was never wrong.
...But this ti?
For the first ti, Lena couldn’t shake the feeling that she was wrong.
Her latest assignnt?
Rin Evans.
An Enhancer with an A-rank talent.
On paper, it sounded impressive. A-rank talents weren’t unheard of, but they were rare enough to warrant attention. And yet, as Lena skimd through his file, any initial intrigue quickly faded.
Because the more she read, the clearer it beca—this boy was nothing special.
His talent, while strong in theory, ca with a major drawback.
Possessed Talent: Enhancent, A-Rank.
Consus Primal Qi upon use.
That last line explained everything.
Consus Primal Qi upon use.
In layman’s terms? Every ti Rin used his ability, he sacrificed a piece of his life force. Not magic. Not stamina. His very essence.
And it wasn’t a small amount either. According to the notes, even enhancing soone’s physical strength for a few minutes could leave him bedridden for days.
So Lena’s first impression?
A ticking ti bomb.
A boy who couldn’t fight, couldn’t train, and couldn’t support anyone without bleeding himself dry. It didn’t matter how rare or powerful the talent looked on paper—without the body to support it, it was nothing but a pretty death sentence.
And yet, here she was.
In the middle of the forest.
At the ass-crack of dawn.
On a random mountainside.
Because the Chairman told her to "keep an eye" on him.
Lena was many things—ruthless, efficient, pragmatic. But patient? Not exactly. And following around a half-dead student with a death wish wasn’t exactly her ideal morning.
Yet now, standing a few paces away from the boy slumped against a rock, wheezing like he’d just run a marathon with a collapsed lung, Lena paused.
He looked awful.
Sweat clung to his pale skin like dew, his clothes were damp and rumpled, and his body trembled with every breath. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was clearly fighting to stay conscious.
But...
He was still moving.
Still climbing.
And that was what made Lena hesitate.
’What is he’s trying to do? So kind of secret practice to make himself strong? Or is it because his family?’
His relationship with his family had fractured.
Lena didn’t know the cause of reason but she her few guess.
She really couldn’t understand Why is the Chairman interested in him?
She could usually see the pattern, the reasoning behind the Chairman’s curiosity. But this ti, nothing about Rin Evans stood out. There was no hidden potential, no secret genius. Just a boy with a flawed ability and a broken past.
And yet...
The Chairman wanted him watched.
If she wanted to, she could have leave him right here and there but she couldn’t.
Why? Because....
She was here on orders—to observe Rin Evans and report everything back to the Chairman.
And for the past two hour, that was exactly what she had been doing.
Watching. Analyzing.
And one thing had beco painfully clear—his physical condition was terrible.
’So the penalty for using his talent... it’s real.’
She had read the reports, of course. But seeing him in person was sothing else entirely. His body was frail, his movents sluggish. He looked like he needed constant protection just to get through the day.
She was a professor, and he was a prospective cadet of Velcrest Academy.
And as a professor... she couldn’t just stand ...there and watch him collapse.
"...Up you get," Lena muttered, more to herself than to him, as she stepped closer.
Rin flinched when he heard footsteps, eyes wide and unfocused, still dazed from exhaustion.
Lena crouched beside him, her sharp eyes narrowing as she scanned his condition—skin too pale, breathing shallow, pulse thready. Her fingers reached for his wrist without permission, checking it with practiced ease.
"Excuse , are you alright?"
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