Itogami Island, Saikai Academy
The sunlight streaming through the tall windows of the locker room fell gently upon the polished tiles, while the noise of students dispersing after the sports festival gradually faded outside.
"It's been a long time since I played a sport that didn't involve risking my life…" Kojou muttered quietly as he changed his clothes, his tone carrying both sarcasm and nostalgia. He furrowed his brows before adding:
"That bastard Anos… he didn't stop tormenting me for a whole hundred years under the excuse of training."
It wasn't just an exaggeration. For an entire century within the Time Room, Kojou had lived under the merciless guidance of Anos Voldigoad, the Lord of Destruction. Their bond was closer to that of brothers challenging the limits of mortal and immortal strength. Anos revealed to him the secrets of the Source of Destruction and even entrusted him with spells from his own heritage, raising Kojou to a near-perfect mastery of that dreadful power. He had even succeeded in mastering the Magic Eyes of Destruction—a fusion of the Source of Destruction with his own eyes, an ability that only Anos himself, as the original Lord of Destruction, had ever possessed.
Kojou tossed his sports shirt into the basket and sluggishly put on his school uniform before murmuring with a cold smile:
"When I go to his world again… I'll make sure to beat the hell out of him."
Leaving the locker room, he walked into the academy's corridors, where the students' voices had begun to fill the air once more with the approach of lunchtime. The morning-only sports festival was over, and now classes would resume in the afternoon.
His slow footsteps echoed against the tiles, blending with the heavy weight of his thoughts. Inside the guild's training room, he had been forced to seal away all his other abilities and fight using only the Source of Destruction. That was why he could never defeat Anos there. But deep down, he knew it would be different if it came to a real battlefield where he could unleash his full power without restrictions.
Pulling out his phone, he let out a short laugh:
"But thankfully… the guild has that feature that lets us review our memories before entering the training room. Without it, I would've lost half of what I learned over the past hundred years."
A hundred years… For an immortal like Kojou, it was both long and short. In truth, he was still a young man in his real life—barely a decade and a half old, maybe twenty years at most, which was nothing compared to the century he had spent training. Yet the weight of a hundred years' worth of memories was crushing enough to overwhelm any human—or even a half-human mind.
And the same applied to other adventurers as well. Many of them had lived for centuries, and some had truly surpassed a hundred years of life. That's why spending long periods in the Time Room often led to memory disarray and the collapse of chronological order within their minds.
Luckily, the guild had provided a free function known as Memory Refresh. It allowed adventurers to relive their memories in a swift and orderly sequence before entering the Time Room, preventing the catastrophic consequences of memory loss or confusion.
As Kojou walked toward the cafeteria, his very breath carried the weight of a century of harsh trials, yet he seemed almost accustomed to that contradiction of being a normal student by day… and an immortal defying the boundaries of time in the shadows.
He opened the cafeteria door, and a wave of warmth and the scent of freshly cooked food washed over him.
Growl!!
The smell of the various dishes made Kojou's stomach roar with hunger. He hadn't tasted food for a hundred years, as his body's time had been frozen inside the Time Room—no need for sleep, rest, or even basic physiological functions. But that didn't stop his stomach from protesting now, especially after the effort he had put into the sports festival since early morning. Breakfast alone wasn't nearly enough to sustain him.
"Let's get something to eat first," Kojou muttered, patting his firm stomach as he walked toward the vending machine to get a meal ticket. "But what should I have…"
He stood genuinely puzzled before the wide variety of choices. The cafeteria menu was incredibly diverse, catering to the tastes of students from across Japan who had moved to Itogami Island, whether for the housing project or because of their families' work. The academy worked hard to satisfy the students' tastes to the fullest.
"I guess today's special lunch is the only option." Kojou mumbled as he pressed the button for the day's special, which turned out to be a large plate of white rice with extra grilled beef and pickles on the side.
The small vending machine gave a short mechanical whir before spitting out the ticket. Kojou caught it lightly and made his way toward the serving counter, where the cooks moved swiftly amidst the steam of hot rice and the mouthwatering aroma of grilled meat.
When the tray with the meal was finally set in front of him, Kojou exhaled softly, as though just looking at the food had awakened a hunger he had forgotten for an entire century.
"At last… real food." he whispered to himself, lifting the tray with one hand as his sharp blue eyes scanned the cafeteria.
The place was crowded. Students gathered around long metal tables, their laughter mixing with the clatter of plates and spoons. Some were still in their sports festival outfits, their foreheads gleaming with sweat, while others had already changed back into their usual clothes.
Kojou headed toward the table where Nagisa and the others were sitting, waving at him the moment they spotted him.
"…." A soft, affectionate smile tugged at the corners of Kojou's lips as he looked at Nagisa, Asagi, and the rest. Even though he had seen them earlier that morning, he had missed them deeply and was already planning to take them out to play later that day.
...
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