[User has changed the plot: +1 Stat points]
My eyes fluttered open as the warm glow of the sunlight gently caressed my skin, making it emit a soft glow.
Sweeping my gaze across the room to regain awareness, I immediately noticed that I wasn't in an infirmary.
"Where are my—"
I jolted from the white bed, enveloped by a matching bedsheet and a soft grey duvet, with three of four enormous pillows resting at the headboard.
My mouth fell open, slack with disbelief, unable to comprehend the opulence of the bedroom.
"I know, I was the one that wrote it but damn, and according to the setting, Noctis' actual dorms are more luxurious than this."
My resolve to pass the entrance exam surged as I clenched my fist with conviction. "Yeah, I can't fail the exam when I literally created it."
One of the few criticisms readers had about my work was its tendency to delve into intricate details, which occasionally disrupted the pacing. Yet, that singular flaw was now going to spare me the hassle of studying for exams all over again.
'I quit high school so I wouldn't have to study,' I thought, straightening my slightly rumpled tracksuit.
My gaze shifted to my reflection in the mirror to the right of the bed. It was a simple, large mirror devoid of ornaments or any decorative flair, yet it possessed an inexplicable allure.
Standing directly in front of my new reflection, an intrusive thought snapped me out of the trance of admiring my appearance.
"How did I look previously?" My eyes widened; I didn't have the answer. The face I had seen every day was no longer etched into my memory, now replaced by an empty void.
[User, it is called distortion from transmigration.]
"So it's normal?"
[… In your case, yes.]
"Is that so," I replied lazily, stepping away from the mirror toward the bed, and gripping the phone that belonged to Kaiser Vanguard.
"Look forward and never back, huh?" I mused, my eyes fixed on one of the two paintings adorning the wall behind the bed. "Sounds cheeky."
A loud sigh echoed through the pristine white room. The phone clutched tightly in my left hand required a password I didn't know, so after several attempts I resigned myself to my fate. 'If only I went to hacking school.'
Stretching my arms and heading toward the bathroom, I quickly freshened up and exited the residence.
There were two things I needed to do now.
First, confirm how the plot was progressing and assess the extent of the butterfly effect caused by my survival. Second...
I had to retrieve that item, considering the written exam would most likely take place tomorrow morning, with the release of results and the freshmen ceremony scheduled for the following day.
Reaching the location of the eilixir and scaling Mount Vernon might prove strenuous for this body, but no one ever said I had to do it alone.
I just needed someone Kaiser knew to accompany me and possibly carry me up the mountain otherwise, I might collapse midway.
Dressed in a large white shirt, a modest golden chain, straight black trousers tucked in and secured with a belt, and black suede shoes, I departed from my lodge situated on the seventeenth floor of the eastern skyscraper nearest to the gate.
'It might take a while to reach the third building, but it's not like I'm in any hurry,' I thought as I walked through the skyscraper's automatic door.
It was time to find the person who had been messaging me about my whereabouts and the extent of my injuries. Judging by the tone—and the clearly feminine name, it was evident she had a deep connection with the original Kaiser.
So I had about a 60% chance of persuading her to assist me. And if she declined, I could always exploit *Cough cough, I mean ask—the main cast for help.
'Three buildings in the north, this should be the spot, right?'
"Kai!!"
A loud voice shouted my name. Turning left and right to identify the source, I saw her just a few meters away, wearing double-breasted blazers—a stunning young woman whose green eyes shimmered the closer she came.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting," she asked, bending over to regulate her breathing.
"Yeah, I'm alrig..." Before I could finish, she cupped my face tightly.
"Are you sure those bullies didn't lay a hand on you?" she asked, squeezing my cheeks.
"No, it's all thanks to you." If there was one thing I had learned in my previous life, it was to follow the flow of a conversation. It was a defensive tactic to prevent conversational missteps, especially when I was uninformed about the topic.
"Even still, all I did was give you a weakened Sequence Nine drifter. You were the one who defeated Joshua fair and square."
'So she's my predecessor's saviour. I hope their relationship stops at friendship, better confirm just in case.'
"You're my best friend, aren't you? So it's only right that I thank you."
Her eyes widened in surprise, causing my heart to drop momentarily.
"Friends?" she asked, clearly skeptical.
'Did I say something wrong? Or was Kaiser Vanguard the type who played hard to get?'
I had failed to account for the fact that she might know Kaiser Vanguard too intimately not to notice—it wasn't him.
"You haven't said that in such a long time—yeah, best friends." She smiled gently, and I couldn't help but feel guilty for deceiving the innocent girl. But it's not like I could just tell her I wasn't her friend and was actually a guy from another world.
Straightening her posture and standing just above my chest, she asked, "I said I'd treat you if you passed. So, do you have any place in mind?"
'That's convenient.'
Nodding softly, I explained my current situation, though I couldn't divulge too much.
From our brief conversation, it became apparent that my predecessor relied heavily on this girl—Charlotte Handstime, a name I didn't even remember writing.
She knew what my talent was, well, except for the part where I could turn humans into saints by securing their loyalty—but it still explained why she had provided Kaiser with a weakened drifter.
Charlotte was Kaiser's childhood friend and more of a big sister figure, as she was already in her third year of Noctis' five-year program.
"Are you sure you want to leave school? You might get into trouble," I asked, feigning concern. It wasn't like I knew her well enough to truly care if she got caught, but it felt polite to ask.
"Don't worry your big head. Can't you remember my trait?" she smiled, dashing ahead as we approached the gate. "No one can catch me."
"Hmm… is that so?"
"Are you sure you're okay? Your behavior's been a bit off," she asked, brushing her hand against my cheek.
"No, I'm fine. Maybe I just haven't come to terms with the fact that I passed the combat exam." I smiled and closed my eyes briefly.
"Is that so? Okay, let's go to Mount Vernon like you said. If it's to make you stronger, I'll do it."
Charlotte tightened her grip on my hand as we entered a narrow alley. The scent of cherry blossoms began to fade slightly, while a foreign mana surged through my body.
My skin glowed golden as the world itself seemed to blur in an instant. No one remained in the alley.
Light speed—that was her trait. It allowed her to convert both her body and anything she touched into particles of light. And for someone like me, who hadn't felt mana in his entire life, becoming mere particles of light was a bizarre experience.
Fighting the urge to scream, my gaze scanned the city beyond Noctis' gates.
Massive buildings sprawled below, race cars and other vehicles bustling through the streets as people carried on with their lives.
Giant screens projected advertisements and TV shows, and most notably, enormous holographic billboards displayed images of mages in their combat suits.
Sleek, high-tech armor, not only form-fitting but empowered by drifter cores. Each combat suit varied in strength and just like anyother vestige, it granted the user an additional ability, along with gas masks to shielded mages' senses from mana corrosion.
Another thing that made me gulp was the sheer enormity of the gate behind the stadium, even from our current altitude, which equated to that of a helicopter, its full extent was still unfathomable.
All I had originally written was that the gate resembled a prison, inescapable. But never in my wildest imagination did I expect it to be this massive.
"We're almost there," Charlotte said, her voice slightly muffled by the wind's pressure, which we managed to divert with mana.
[User's mana is nearly depleted.]
'I know, just a bit more.'
"I'm increasing the speed now," she said, looking over at me while still holding my left hand. "Close your eyes, your mana won't be able to protect them from burning."
I shut my eyes before I could even nod. My entire body was propelled forward, my organs shifting slightly, and my head spinning in disorientation.
My consciousness blurred, nausea crawling up my throat and threatening to stain the air. But before that could happen, I landed hard on the cave floor.
Only the gentle sound of dripping water reached my ears as I finally opened my eyes—meeting Charlotte's, who looked completely unfazed.
My breathing was ragged but not dire enough to require assistance. "Can you wait here for me?" I asked, rising to my feet.
Charlotte simply nodded and collapsed to the ground. It seemed she, too, was exhausted.
'Now to find the elixir. I recall obsessive Melissa retrieving it somewhere around here.'
The small cave we occupied wasn't something anyone could locate under normal circumstances.
The only reason I could find it was because I was the author. As for Charlotte, she agreed immediately when I told her it was a treasure map I had discovered.
The cave was dark, and all I could make out were a few jagged rocks that distorted the terrain, the dripping sounds of water or some unknown liquid substance guided the way, as I traversed the cave, reaching about halfway through it.
This was where the main issue began.
Six paths lay on all sides, and only one led to my destination—the rest… well, it was dreadful.
And to make matters worse, I never recorded which path she entered.
"Damnit, if only I had written an extra line," I whispered.
This was now left to chance—one path was filled with riches, and the others, lions.
[User has encountered drifter raging bear.]
'Shit!'