The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character Chapter 4 4: Nice Way To Start Prologue 3

I was just a side character—soone whose death wouldn't even cause a ripple in the story.

What a fucking joke.

All my life had been building up to this one long, drawn-out punchline. A cosmic joke no one bothered to laugh at—except maybe the god who dropped into this ss.

Abandoned at birth.

Raised in the kind of environnt where survival was the only priority.

I'd fought tooth and nail just to make it through school, scrapped together every cent to stay fed, to pay rent, to keep the lights on.

Years of sacrifices.

Years of trying to prove I mattered.

And when I finally made it—when I finally got into the one company I thought would be my future—I was discarded like a broken tool the mont things got hard. No warning, no explanation. Just a pat on the back and a cold goodbye.

Then there was that argunt.

The only friend I had—gone, because I couldn't stop myself from ranting about a damn novel plot. One heated debate turned into silence that never broke. Not even before I—

Died.

A freak accident, maybe. A random twist of fate. Who even knew anymore?

I closed my eyes.

And opened them here.

Inside the very novel that had been the topic of that last stupid argunt.

What poetic bullshit.

----

Let's move on to the main topic.

This attack happened due to traitor.

Yup you heard right.

In stories like these, there's always a traitor.

The only reason this attack could happen was because soone inside the academy let them in. Without that, bypassing security would've been impossible.

But I didn't have ti to dwell on that now.

First, I needed to make sure I didn't die.

I took a deep breath and started moving, and stood in front of the iron door in front of .

As far as I rember, no one is allowed to enter or go outside of the academy campus ground.

But I don't care any of that.

I need to be alive right now.

So if running away is way for to survive then sure I'll gladly do that.

Even if I can't go outside of the campus ground, I'll think about what to do next.

But for now I need to get out of here.

Click—!

The door open, not from inside but outside and what greeted was man in his late thirty in gaurd uniform.

'Shit.'

"Your match will began in last 10 minutes, B please Praperd your self."

—10 minutes until the main quest begins.—

And at the sa ti I received yet another notification.

Ten minutes.

I had ten goddamn minutes before I was thrown into the sa arena where the original Rin Evans died like a bug under a boot.

The guard gave a quick nod, then turned and walked away, probably off to bark the sa reminder at the next poor soul down the hall.

The door clicked shut behind him.

I stood there, frozen, my heart pounding loud enough to drown out the buzz of the lights overhead.

Ten minutes until the main quest.

I stared down at my hands—pale, unfamiliar, trembling.

This body was weak. The stats? Trash-tier. Barely above average, even in a world where "average" got you killed.

But the worst part? I didn't even know how to use this body's strength properly.

Sure, a few fragnts of mory ca flooding in earlier—but they weren't enough. A few flashes of childhood, of walking through academy gates... None of that told how to wield a sword or use magic.

I gritted my teeth.

"Calm down," I muttered under my breath.

Panicking wouldn't help. Crying sure as hell wouldn't change anything.

First, survive. That was the only objective right now.

Since I already decided to not fight there's nothing much for .

I quickly opened the door and found sa guard in front of again.

"What is it prospective cadet? There's is still ti before your match."

What the hell are you doing here? Don't you have sothing better to do?

"What are you doing here?'"

"I will here until you reach the arena ground, there is still ti. Why don't you rest? I will inform you 2 minutes before match begins."

What a pain.

So not only did I get reborn into a background character in a death flag-infested plotline, but now I had a babysitter too?

Great. Just great.

The guard stood there, arms folded over his chest, expression as unreadable as a brick wall. Maybe he thought he was being helpful. Or maybe he just didn't want to get blad if I pulled a runner.

Too bad for him—that's exactly what I planned to do.

But I wasn't stupid.

I needed information first.

"Fine," I muttered, stepping back into the room. "Just… give a mont to ntally prepare."

He gave a small nod and closed the door, but I had no doubt he was still standing there like a damn watchdog. Wonderful.

I turned around and leaned my back against the wall, letting out a slow, shaky breath.

Ten minutes.

Ten minutes until I stepped into a battlefield I was never ant to survive.

The original Rin had no plot armor. No heroic death. Just a single, humiliating scene—a beginner-level magic user who got taken out like it's nothing.

And now I was supposed to walk into that sa arena?

Screw that.

I wasn't going to be so throwaway line in soone else's story.

I wasn't going to let myself die again.

I glanced around the room, scanning every corner, every edge. Nothing. Just that damn mirror, a bench, and the humming walls.

But then a thought struck .

'What if I told guard truth about what is going to happen in next few minutes?'

Yeah, it may sound like the ravings of a lunatic.

But if I played it right—just maybe—I could twist it into sothing that sounded like instinct. A gut feeling. A warning.

It was better than going out like cannon fodder.

I pushed myself off the wall and paced the room once, twice. My heart hadn't slowed down—if anything, it was beating faster now. Because this next move? It was a gamble. If the guard thought I was just trying to delay the match, I'd probably get dragged out by the collar.

But if I could convince him…

I swallowed hard and stepped toward the door. My hand hovered over the handle for a second.

Deep breath.

Click.

The guard turned his head slightly, eyes flicking to mine. "You need sothing, cadet?"