Volume I - Chapter 14: Frightening Future

"Healers! What are you waiting for? Go help that boy!"

A man's heavy voice cut through the silence from where the trainers were watching us. With that, my vision, which had continued to blur, began to darken, and I spat bloody spit on the ground when I realized that one of my teeth had moved. The tooth came out of my mouth, followed by thick blood that filled my mouth with a metallic taste.

I tried to sustain myself a little with mana and to be honest, I couldn't say it didn't work.

When the healers came to me and sat me down on the floor, I took a deep breath and tried to keep myself calm, so the healers looked at my palms, then at the cuts that covered my whole body and began to heal me using a skill.

My blood boiled as I saw my wounds closing quickly with green light enveloping my body. As my vision improved slightly and the wound in my mouth slowly closed, I couldn't help admiring it.

Magic really is a beautiful thing...

"Professor, are you okay?"

One of the healers asked the professor this question as he continued to heal my body.

The professor looked at the healer and then back at me, fixing his gaze on me for a while. Then he took a deep breath, tried to calm himself, and turned toward the crowd.

Welcome back to the world, professor...

"The test is over! The list of instructors who are willing to tutor you will be sent to your tablet and watch via the academy's app in about half an hour. The names of instructors who have already filled the student quota will be in red, so you'd better choose quickly. That's all for today, dismissed!"

His authoritative voice at the beginning of the duel now sounded a little shaken. I think I need to give him some time... I apologize again, professor.

The professor picked up his sword again and disappeared into the crowd. Some of the students began to disperse, while others stood where they were, staring at me.

I glanced at the crowd and was satisfied to see that the students' looks of contempt had now turned to jealousy and slight fear.

So I paused, and my eyes met two blood-red ones.

Lucia and I locked eyes and I immediately began to sweat.

There was no fear, no jealousy, no disdain on her face. The only thing I could infer from that expression was pure respect, and when I realized that, my heart skipped a beat.

I restrained myself as much as I could and tried not to disturb my posture or my gaze.

You are not someone to fall for a simple statistic! Lucia may be beautiful, she may be the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life, but that's it!

I tore my eyes away from her and focused on the healers, and the moment I did, the healers stopped healing me. One of them handed me a bottle and spoke with a sigh.

"Drink this before you go to sleep at night. Your tooth will grow back and your wounds will get better. Your muscles will ache for a while, it will be rude, but you have seriously fucked up your body."

I didn't know whether to feel sorry or glad that the healer was honest.

"Go to your room and rest, you'll be fine tomorrow after you take the medicine."

I nodded and tried to stand up, but I stumbled.

Ah... I'll be able to walk, right? I hope I'm not crippled...

When a healer offered his hand to help me, I gladly accepted it and finally managed to stand up.

My legs hurt a bit, but I feel like I can walk. And all my superficial wounds have closed up without any problems. The healers did a really good job.

"Thank you."

I bowed slightly to the healers and thanked them sincerely, then took a quick look around.

Unfortunately, Lucia was gone...

Why am I looking for her, though? I have to get close to her when the time comes because she's an important character, but now I feel like a pervert.

When I was playing the game, I didn't think the charm statistic was very important, but now, after coming to this world, I'm slowly changing my mind.

I really need something to solve this issue...

Opening my stats window, I looked at my E- grade charm again and couldn't help but sigh.

Luck and charm were the hardest stats to increase in the game. Because neither of them is a thing that can be increased through hard work, they are both heavily influenced by genetics and therefore difficult to improve.

I guess my charm would be E+ at most unless I use something special. I started to get really jealous of Lucia.

With these thoughts in mind, I started walking toward the dressing room and then took a deep breath.

Who cares about charm? As long as I'm the strongest, people will squirm to stand next to me anyway. Yes... charm is pointless, it's pointless...

~beep!

I was startled by a sudden sound on my right wrist, and then I saw the screen of the watch I had been given glowing.

<<------------------------------

List of people who want to be your instructor, in order of their ranking:

1-) Calvin Gladio - Click here for details.

------------------------------>>

I guess no one else but the professor chose me because of our bet, anyway... I was aiming for the professor from the beginning, but I will look at these 'details'.

<<------------------------------

Name: Calvin

Last Name: Gladio

Age: 27

General Level: C+

Main Major (Rank): Sword Instructor (#7)

The eldest son of the Gladio family, famous for their sword techniques. Even though he is despised by his family for being stuck at C+ overall, his skills as an instructor cannot be overlooked. The students he tutors are all good academy graduates, which proves his worth. He only takes a maximum of two students per year, so you can consider yourself lucky if you are selected.

------------------------------>>

I sighed when I didn't see anything I didn't know. I thought maybe there would be something because there was no 'click for details' option in the game, but I guess I was wrong.

I looked at the general level of the professor on the watch screen. It was the same as in the game, C+. Of course, I knew something no one else knew.

With an involuntary grin on my face, I turned off the screen and went into the locker room to change and put my training outfit back in my locker, not caring about the rips on it.

Actually, I should have thrown it in the trash since it had a lot of scratches on it, but every training suit at the academy has a repair spell that can completely rebuild itself in about eight hours. So as long as I don't destroy half of the suit, I don't have to worry about it wearing out.

After stuffing the suit into the closet, I picked up the tablet I had put inside and started walking toward the dormitories.

Along the way, I met some people who were unaware of what had just happened and gave me condescending looks because of my ranking, but I knew how they would react once the rumors spread, so I ignored them and went up to the eighth floor of my dormitory building, then went to my room, changed into comfortable clothes and went to bed.

These two days I spent here were quite fun for me. I was aware of things that had started to change in my life, for example, I was smiling more than before.

I sincerely thanked the producers of the game.

I didn't know how they did it, but I didn't care in the slightest. I was here, I was on Lunerra, I was Aiden Tenebra, and I was definitely going to change my old ordinary life.

These dreams, which were enough to bring a smile to my face just thinking about them, kept me motivated. I felt like jumping for joy as I thought about the things I was aiming for in the future, but I knew I had to stay calm too. Because even though these last two days had been quite calm and relaxed, soon the main tasks that would befall Adrian, the whole of Lunerra, would begin.

Things are going to escalate...

Of course, as someone who knows all this, I plan to help him, but that's not enough.

The smile that had appeared on my face at the thought of what was to come fell.

Right... I have to take this seriously.

It's good to dream, and it's good to smile, but when I think about what's going to happen to this world in the future...

Hundreds of thousands, millions of people will lose their lives, and as someone who knows what the future holds, I can prevent it somehow. But... If I do, I will be an open target for the enemies of humanity.

I looked up at my bedroom ceiling.

When I was in the game, some characters were immortal because of the story, but I'm not in the game now... This world is my reality now. The future can change with the right or wrong steps I take, people who shouldn't die can die because of me.

Ah, damn it... I'm not a person who can take big responsibilities. Why did I think of such a thing now?

Should I leave the story alone? Wouldn't it be better to just prevent Adrian from going over to the bad side and let the rest unfold?

~beep!

I looked at what was happening with the sound coming out of my phone.

<<------------------------------

Clara: How was your day?

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Oh, that's right... I had a sister.

Well, she wasn't my sister, but still, the thought that someone was worried about me was enough for me to consider her my sister.

I was about to enter the messaging app when I paused again.

With the upcoming main missions, this world is going to become a living hell... Wouldn't Clara be in danger then?

The possibility that my newfound sister might die in the future suddenly began to haunt me. I felt something rising inside me that I couldn't make sense of. Suddenly everything I had just said seemed illogical, and unnecessary.

I... I don't want to lose the only person in the world who worries about me when I have finally found someone like that.

I need to get stronger.

Right, I need to get stronger if I want to protect the ones I love. Whether it's Adrian, the creatures, the main missions that are coming, or even the 'apocalypse'... I need to get stronger if I want to get through it all alive.

Maybe I can save those who are going to die, but if I do that, I will be putting everyone I love in this world, and everyone I will love in the future, in danger with my own hands. And do I want that?

I am not a hero. Sure, I'm not a villain, but I am, first and foremost, a selfish, greedy person who has spent his previous life in loneliness and grief.

If other people's deaths can protect the ones I love... then I can ignore them, even if in the future I will regret it enough to want to die for it.

I came to this world to be happy, not to save millions of people I don't even know who they are. So my goal should also be to be happy, right?

I curled up on the bed and closed my eyes. I hadn't opened the app yet, so I didn't need to reply to Clara just yet.

I need to be alone for a while and think... I need to prepare myself for the things I plan to do in the future, and the things I think I will experience...