"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
"Huaaaahh … Finally awake."
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I also checked my forehead to see if I still had a fever.
"Huh? No fever anymore? And I'm not coughing or feeling sick either. But… where's my brother?"
I got out of bed and checked the living room.
"Brother! Where are you?"
I searched every room—living room, front door, kitchen, bathroom—and found no one.
"Did … Brother already leave?"
I walked to the sofa in the living room and sat, reflecting on last night's events.
"Maybe since I'm not sick anymore, Brother …"
[Letter to you.]
"Wait! Isn't that a letter?"
I grabbed the letter tucked among the things my brother brought.
"Maybe he left a message for me?"
I opened the letter and began reading.
[Turns out you were sick, huh, little sister? Alright, if you're reading this, I've already gone home because I'm busy handling family matters, work, and other things. I hope you're happy with the items I brought.]
"Brother? You …"
[Happy birthday, little sister, and I hope you grow even better from now on. Ignore what they say or how they treat you! You deserve happiness right now.]
Without realizing it, I shed a few tears, touched by my brother's heartfelt words.
"Hhhuhh … hhuhh … you're the best, Brother."
I closed the letter and began checking the items he brought for me.
I started with the cardboard box.
"The gift must be stationery and books."
I opened the box and found various stationery, books, and a bag inside.
"Just as I thought!"
Then I picked up a square-shaped box.
"This feels like a thick book? Could it be?!"
I opened the box and saw multiple volumes of my favorite novel, *Secret of Space*.
"Oh my gosh, so many books!"
I began looking through the books in the box.
"Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, and even the new Volume 8 is here!"
I picked up Volume 8 of my favorite novel.
"This story is my favorite!"
"Ting!"
"Huh? A message?"
As I reached for my phone, I noticed a box that looked like it contained a new smartphone, along with a canvas, watercolors, and various painting supplies.
"Goodness, Brother got me so much … Thank you, Brother."
"Ding!"
"A message, huh?"
I checked the message on my phone.
[-Professor Alex: Don't forget, kids! Today is the deadline for submitting assignments. Please submit them in your respective classrooms!]
"I almost forgot about this, but thankfully I've printed my assignment. Still … they'll probably mock me, so I need to prepare a backup for this."
I reprinted my assignment as a precaution against the group that often bullied me.
"Alright, I hope this is safe. Time to shower …"
I showered and left my preparations behind.
At the university campus in the city center.
A group of people was setting up a trap.
The group consisted of Luis, Steven, Peter, Garfield, and Sue. They were a study group from the second-semester astronomy class, preparing a trap for someone.
"Garfield, you know, right? After we set up this trap, you're the one who'll confront her directly."
"Yeah, I know, relax …"
"You're the one who's close to that girl."
"I hope you don't forget, you lazy guy."
"You guys!!"
From behind, Luis and Steven returned with a rope and a bucket filled with foul-smelling water to enhance their trap.
"Here it is! The perfect materials for trapping that girl."
"Great job, Luis and Steven. Now our trap is complete."
"Alright, let's prepare the room."
"Come on, everyone, follow me!"
They all followed Garfield's lead, leaving the bucket of dirty water behind.
Suddenly, a mysterious figure appeared and noticed something odd about the bucket.
"Huh … So boring. Where should I go next?"
As the figure was about to leave, they caught a whiff of the foul odor from the bucket.
"Sniff sniff … UGH! That's disgusting!"
They quickly dumped the dirty water into a drain, cleaned the bucket, and refilled it with clean water.
"At least it's not as bad as before … Alright, time to go. Where did that book go, anyway?"
The mysterious figure left the area. Not long after, Garfield's group returned.
"Peter, grab the bucket, and Luis, take the rope."
"Come on, guys! She's probably almost here!"
"Alright …"
"Ugh … Such a hassle."
They gathered the items they'd left behind to set up the trap in a classroom.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Almost there, I'm nearly at campus … Even though I'm just submitting a book, maybe I can find out what Leon wants to give me."
Before leaving, I checked my phone and saw a message from Leon.
[-Leon 2A: Trust me, meet me after submitting your assignment at campus.]
[-Leon 2A: I have an interesting gift for you.]
"Yay, I trust Leon's weird surprises."
Unbeknownst to me, the taxi I was in had arrived at campus.
"Alright, miss, we're here."
"Oh? Already? How much is it?"
"As shown in the app, miss."
"Okay, here you go. Thank you!"
"You're welcome, miss."
I left the taxi and hurried toward the university building.
"I need to hurry … I can't be late!"
Without realizing it, as I ran, I didn't see someone in front of me, and we collided.
"Bump!"
"Ugh … Sorry, I didn't see you, I was in a rush. Sorry again …"
The mysterious figure turned and gave me a faint smile.
"Hmph … It's fine."
"It's fine? But …"
Before I could continue, the person had vanished from my sight.
"Huh? Where did they go? Oh well, I need to hurry."
I quickened my pace and headed to my university building.
"Huh … Huh … Huh … Alright, time to go in."
As I entered the campus, I felt something strange. Something that made me uneasy.
"Why is everyone looking at me with such cynical stares? Did I …"
"PRAK!"
"Huh? This hand …"
I saw someone pat my shoulder—it was Garfield, standing behind me.
"You're Garfield? Why are you here?"
"What's wrong, darling? Don't like me being here?"
"Stop calling me that! You and I aren't …"
Before I could finish, Garfield covered my mouth with his hand.
"Shh … Quiet, beautiful. Your beauty will fade if you keep getting angry."
I pulled his hand away from my mouth and started walking away. Though he kept trying to flirt, I ignored him and headed to class.
"That jerk! No manners in public."
As I opened the door and entered the classroom, a bucket above my head suddenly poured water over me, drenching my entire body.
"DUNK!"
"Haha!"
"Hahaha!"
"Mwahaha!"
As I suspected, they had set a trap for me, and because I was in a rush, I didn't notice it.
"You guys …"
"Haha! Why do you look so upset, Zira?"
"Yeah, this is our surprise gift for your birthday."
"PRAK!"
"You again!"
Garfield suddenly grabbed me and pulled me outside.
"Hey? What are you trying to do!"
Garfield stayed silent and pulled me into a tight embrace, as if he didn't want to let me go.
"Garfield! You … Let me go!"
"Calm down, I'm here! I know you're scared of them, right?"
"Don't pretend, you jerk!"
I knew Garfield and his group wanted to trap me and ruin my reputation among the other students. I felt guilty for not being cautious enough to avoid a trap like this.
"You! Let go …"
He released his embrace and suddenly pushed me.
"THUD!"
"What do you want, huh?"
"Did you get the papers, Peter?"
"Got them, Garfield."
While they were talking, I realized they had managed to take the papers from my bag while my attention was focused on Garfield.
"Damn it! I wasn't focused again!"
"As your birthday gift, I'll give you something special …"
Peter, along with Luis and Sue, held up my assignment papers.
"Look at this, Zira."
They began tearing my water-soaked assignment papers into small pieces, letting the scraps fall to the floor.
"Hahah! Now how are you going to submit your assignment when your papers are ruined like this?"
I ignored Sue's words and struggled to stand up.
"If that's the case, it's fine. I'll just print them again."
I grabbed my bag and slowly walked away from them, but before leaving, I glanced at them whispering, realizing their plan hadn't gone as expected.
"Hmph … For that, I already have evidence against you, and I can report you at the right time."
"You!"
I walked away, ignoring whatever they were saying.
"How could she only be wet and not smell? What did you do, Luis and Steven?!"
"We did bring the bucket of foul water, but we didn't replace it."
"Don't you remember we all went together to set up the trap?"
"Trash! A trash plan, and now you see she has evidence against us!"
Everyone in the room fell silent, lost in thought, as if unsure of what to do next.
"Alright, I'll try to convince her not to do it."
Garfield left his group, and everyone in the room began to leave as well.
As I tried to fix my wet clothes, I unexpectedly ran into someone in the hallway.
"Zira! You … Why are you soaking wet?"
"Huh? You … Leon? What are you doing here?"
"I just submitted some new assignment data I worked on."
"Oh, that … I wanted to ask where you submitted your assignment."
Leon stayed silent and started walking in the opposite direction.
"Hey! Leon, why are you leaving me!"
I tried to catch up with Leon, curious about what he was going to do.
"Where's your assignment?"
"Assignment?"
"Let me submit it for you. They probably don't know that all semester assignments are collected in this room … the Assignment Drop-off Point."
I was a bit surprised about the assignment drop-off room and handed over the backup papers I had prepared from home.
"I knew you were smart, so you tricked them, and you still have your real assignment in your bag."
"Yeah, that's what I did, just in case. But …"
Leon submitted my assignment to the room's administrator and invited me to leave.
"Let's talk about that later … Come on, let's get out of campus first."
"Alright."
We left the campus and headed to the parking lot.
Leon invited me to get into his car.
"Come on, get in first … I have something nice as your birthday gift."
"It's not a hassle, is it?"
"Not at all."
"Alright then."
I opened the car door and got in, followed by Leon. We drove away from the campus in his car.
Leon handed me a basket bag he brought and told me to open it.
"Huh? A basket bag? What's this, Leon?"
"Just open it, Zira."
"O-okay, then … Thanks."
"You're welcome."
I opened the basket bag and saw a large, mysterious-looking book.
"A book? This looks like an old book. Where did you get this, Leon?"
"I found it at the library, and I hope you'll read the book I brought for you."
"T-thank you."
I examined the book's cover and saw something familiar, though I couldn't quite place it.
"This book … I've seen it before, but where?"
"You've seen it?"
"Yeah, but I can't remember where."
(*Mystery of the World*)
"The title of this book… It looks interesting and a bit mysterious."
"Yeah, it felt like that from the moment I found it."
(Volume 1-15)
"Volume 1? *Time of Magic*—no doubt, I've seen and even read this book before."
I opened my phone and searched for the book on a webnovel platform.
To my surprise, the search results revealed something intriguing.
This book was a novel older than the release year of my favorite novel.
*Mystery of the World*
Author: TWS 77
Illustrator: TI
Release Year: 2011
Chapters: 556
Status: Completed
"I remember reading it when I was 8 years old, back when I was still at the orphanage."
"But … how did you find this book in a place like that?"
"Pfft … It was out of boredom."
"You're such an interesting girl."
Leon's car suddenly stopped, and he opened the door to get out.
"Click!"
"Don't tell me we're already here, and I was too focused on this book."
I tidied up my belongings, including the book Leon gave me, and got out of the car.
"Sorry … I forgot we'd already arrived at my apartment."
"It's okay, I'm the one who should apologize since I can't stay long."
Leon got back into the car, but before driving off, he rolled down the window and said …
"Happy birthday, Zira."
I smiled at him and watched him slowly drive away.
"Alright, time to find something interesting in this book."
I entered my apartment building, and once inside my unit, I looked at the book again.
"I'll read this book to relive my past. I hope it contains a great story."
Review: "8.5 / 10 ⭐"
Views: 150K