The White Room

"Well, this is indeed my room."

Eden replied, trying to calm himself. He took a deep breath and gazed at Emilie, adding,

"It's such a coincidence, isn't it?"

He smiled, trying to be as friendly as possible.

He got the gist of the situation, knowing that Emilie might get frantic, so in order to stop her behaviour, it's better to act as friendly as possible.

"It's not a coincidence."

Emilie narrowed her eyes, realizing that something was definitely wrong with this strange coincidence.

She turned around and walked towards her bed, picked up her smartphone, and started calling someone.

"Uh, is something wrong?"

Eden asked. He thought that perhaps being a roommate wasn't a good thing from Emilie's perspective.

But for him, it appeared as if his long-awaited wish had been granted.

"Hello, Sakura? It's me, Emile. Yes, there's something that I wanted to know."

Emilie called out as her tone turned serious. She asked,

"Who is your roommate?"

'Hmm? Is she thinking of switching rooms? Seriously…am I that bad?'

Eden sighed inwardly; he felt as if he had lost his only opportunity to stay closer to her.

"Oh, I see!"

Unexpectedly, Emilie's face lightened up as she heard some responses from her friend Sakura.

"Okay then."

She smiled and hung up.

"Ah…Emilie? Am I, perhaps, being a bother?"

While rubbing his neck, Eden questioned her and diverted his eyes in uncertainty. Although he knew that his luck wouldn't be very bad since the system was on his side, his past experiences made him a man who got easily anxious when it came to matters that were close to his heart.

"Well…"

Emilie called out, slowly shifting her gaze at Eden, replying,

"If you act like a perv, then yes. But since I know you're not that type of person, then, I guess, having you as my roommate ain't a bad choice."

She smiled and extended her right hand towards Eden, adding,

"It's a pleasure having you as my roommate, Eden."

Her face was slightly red as if she were trying to hide her bashfulness or perhaps some hidden intentions.

Eden's eyes were enlivened with joy as a wide smile shaped his face.

He shook hands with Emilie, drowning in euphoria, and he answered back,

"Likewise! I'm delighted to be your roommate, Emilie."

"Hmm, you see, I heard from Sakura that rooms are allocated to students by their roll numbers, so I guess it's only natural, and we both end up being roommates, don't you think?"

Emilie asked as she gently released her hand and sat on her bed, saying,

"But I have some requests that you should follow."

"Oh, what is it? Go ahead. Speak whatever you want. I'm all ears."

Eden casually smirked, considering that he had finally started getting along with her.

"That's good then," Emilie's smile faded away as she raised her right arm, and within a nanosecond, a crystal blue blade emerged from the air. She grabbed it firmly and pointed at Eden's head, making him fall to the ground.

"?!"

Eden's eyes widened after noticing the unexpected turn of events. Merely at that moment, he believed that everything was going smoothly, but Emilie's unpredictable behaviour just turned the table.

"Eden White."

She called his full name, and her voice turned cold as ice.

With her cold gaze darting at Eden, she stated,

"I understand that it happens because of university management. But if you want to live in the same room with me, you have to follow my rules obediently, or else," Her blade moved slightly forward towards Eden, she added.

"I won't be merciful."

"Come on, Emilie. Don't be like–?!"

Suddenly Eden's voice trailed off as he felt a sharp sensation in his chest. He lowered his gaze; his thoughts were unknown.

"Emilie."

Abruptly, he called out, and his voice appeared to echo through the air for some reason.

"?!"

Emilie's eyes dilated as she noticed the sudden change in Eden's demeanor.

Eden slowly rose from the ground and moved towards Emilie.

For some reason, his body emitted a strange yet colourless aura that even terrified Emilie,

'What's this? He…he is not normal at all.'

Emilie bites her lips and pointed her blade at Eden again, yelling,

"Stay back! Or I…I won't be merciful! I mean it!"

Eden didn't reply but slowly took hold of her blade's tip with his fingers and shortly,

*Creak!*

Her crystal blade shattered to pieces.

"W…what…?"

Emilie was flabbergasted by his roughness toward her favourite blade.

She didn't expect Eden to act in this manner. She was trying to subdue him so that she could get the superiority.

After all, it was her first time sharing a room with anyone, let alone a boy.

"Please…stop…"

Emilie requested in a petrified voice since Eden's demeanour scared her enough to make her stagger backwards in dread.

Eden didn't reply but forwarded his right palm and in response, Emilie closed her eyes, thinking that he might harm her.

"?!"

Startlingly, instead of hurting her, Eden just patted her head and gently hugged her, speaking out,

"Say, if an angel gives up on his life, wanting to become an irresistible desire just to get irresistibly desired, do you know what the angel actually desired?"

"Hmm?"

Emilie tilted her head, completely flummoxed by the sudden change in events, as she just repeated the question as if asking him.

"W-What does he desire…?"

Witnessing her perplexity, Eden finally smiled, released her and walked away towards the door, but before leaving, he glanced at Emilie and replied,

"Love."

*Creak*

Declaring this, he went outside towards the garden.

After he was gone, Emilie sighed in relief and gradually descended to the floor, mumbling,

"What's wrong with him?"

She questioned over his eccentric behaviour and then raised her gaze, adding,

"Was that his favourite adage or something?"

She began contemplating the adage that Eden spoke about.

"Why? Why Love but not anything else?"

She questioned herself in a deep voice.

"What even is Love?"

She rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

Despite being the second daughter of the world's third-richest family, she still didn't know exactly what love was.

She opened her eyes as if they appeared to be replaced by a golden void. She muttered,

"What's so special about Love?"

****

Strolling around the garden, Eden recalled his unusual behaviour.

"System…"

He grunted, knowing exactly the reason behind his eccentric behaviour from earlier.

"Ding!"

[My apologies, host! It appears like absorbing the red spiritual core did heat up your nature a little, making you appear as a capricious man. But I swear it wasn't intentional!]

His behaviour changed because the system was trying to absorb the red spiritual core and disperse it in his body.

Sigh.

"Nevermind. What's done is done. In any case, what skill do I acquire as a reward?"

Since he knew it would be meaningless to bicker over something that had already happened, and hence, Eden insisted on asking about the spiritual core.

[Golden Sword Art – S ranked]

[Shadow Clones – S ranked]

[Mind Control – A ranked]

[Crimson Eyes – A ranked]

[Golden Sword Art skill will allow you to reach the level of the sword masters that have trained for thousands of years. It even allows you to summon a blade of your own. It's a unique skill, and consider yourself lucky that you got it easily.]

[Shadow Clones skill; Just as the name suggests, this skill will help you to create your shadow clones. You can create up to ten shadow clones for now; each clone will last for around a day.]

[Mind Control skill; this skill will allow you to control the mind of your opponents who are weaker than you. However, since it's not in its pinnacle LVL, it can only help you control the mind of your opponent for around five minutes.]

[Crimson Eyes skill….unknown. No information is found.]

"Huh?"

Eden was left perplexed after hearing that even his almighty system didn't get the information about Crimson Eyes' skill.

This skill did sound like a triumph card to Eden, but he just ignored delving deep into it.

"Well then," Eden called out as he raised his right arm, and a red blade with a black metallic handle materialized on his palm.

"It looks like this skill is worth it. So, what about my status?"

"Ding!"

Hearing Eden's comment, the system clangor and reported,

[Name:- Eden White (Requaniel)]

[Age:- 20 (669)]

[Race:- Superhuman (Divine Angel)]

[Rank:- CC-rank human, Bronze-ranked human.]

[LVL:- 2]

[Health:- 78/100]

[Mana:- 999]

[Strength:- 82/100]

[Intelligence:- 73/100]

[Vitality:- 82/100]

[Agility:- 69/100]

[Dexterity:- 60/100]

[Stats points:- 60,000]

[Special Ability:- Angel Evolutionary]

[Skills:- Poison Claws, Golden Sword Art, Shadow Clones, Mind Control, Crimson Eyes.]

"I see. It's good to see that you've evolved, too."

Eden smiled after noticing the change in the system's report.

[Yes! Thanks to the red spiritual core, I've evolved as well!]

"That's nice."

Eden closed his eyes, still smiling as he held tight to his blade, adding,

"I'm feeling better now. That's why…"

His eyes narrowed, and he exclaimed,

"...I'm ready to get trained in the white room now! Use my 10,000 points!"

He clearly wanted to train in the white room since he was curious about the monsters within.

[Alright then!]

The system responded, and momentarily, the area around him froze as if time had stopped.

The surroundings started altering as if they got replaced by a space filled with stars and planets; and shortly, a massive white door appeared in front of him, tempting him to enter.

[10,000 points have been deducted from the original points. The host may now enter the white room. Remember that the limit is 3 hours for now.]

[The time limit will increase as long as you continue to grow. However, keep in mind that once you die inside, you're dead for real.]

"I get it."

Eden nodded as a grave expression formed on his face. He added while stepping forward,

"I won't die, no matter what!"