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In the novel *Searching for Hope*, there was a character who clearly appeared as the reason behind creating the tragedy at the academy.
This character caused a massacre of one thousand students and seven teachers alone.
Even his death was extremely strange, as he destroyed himself.
And this character was the Student Council President, Velican.
After the two students left, Velican approached Stephen and spoke calmly.
"Did you come for Byrne?"
Stephen was slightly shocked, but it didn't show on his face. He just stayed silent for a moment, then spoke.
"…If you don't like anyone coming here, then I'll go."
Stephen turned to leave, but a hand grabbed his arm and stopped him from leaving.
"Wait!"
Stephen turned in confusion, then looked at the hand gripping his arm tightly.
Velican quickly realized his action and let go of Stephen's arm.
Velican looked toward Byrne, then spoke.
"Since I like this cat… you can come in here."
Stephen looked at him in confusion.
'He likes the cat?!... I remember he said during his fight that he didn't have a single thing he loved before he destroyed himself!'
Stephen bent down and gently picked up Byrne, then stood and spoke while patting Byrne's head.
"I'll take Byrne now."
Velican silently looked at Stephen, then nodded his head.
After Stephen returned and fed Byrne mana, he warned Byrne.
"Be careful of this person, Byrne."
Byrne looked at Stephen in confusion.
(Why?)
Stephen's expression softened, and he patted Byrne's head and spoke with gentle warning, as if warning a small child.
"He's a bad boy, so don't go near him."
Byrne furrowed his brows and moved his tail quickly.
'No, Stephen, you should get close to him to stop what will happen.'
Stephen noticed Byrne's annoyance and asked him,
"Are you upset?"
Byrne's ears moved when he heard Stephen's question, then Byrne made sad eyes and spoke.
(..But he's my friend)
Stephen looked at the cat's sad honey-colored eyes.
'..Cute'
Then he began thinking seriously.
'I wrote in my novel that the Student Council President is contracted with a demon, chosen as a main member of one of the three organizations, and his madness will begin in the second year of the heroes' entry.'
'I'm not sure if he has already contracted with a demon and joined an evil organization.'
'…Should I try to get close to him?'
Byrne lifted his head and began rubbing against Stephen's chin. Stephen looked at the pleading cat in front of him, then sighed.
"If he's Byrne's friend, then it's fine to accompany him, but you must be careful in front of him. You're just a normal cat — don't talk to him so he won't know you're a contracted monster."
Byrne nodded his head quickly.
…..
Half an hour after Stephen left the apartment, Nathan woke up.
He didn't open his eyes and covered his right eye, but when he found that Stephen wasn't here, he moved his hand away from his eyes and yawned.
Then he lazily got up and washed his face. When he went back to prepare his academy clothes, but when he looked at the clock, it wasn't even six in the morning yet.
He sighed in annoyance.
"Tch, it's not even close to the start of classes."
Nathan went back and lay down lazily on the bed. When he couldn't sleep, something came to mind and he quickly got up and sat with some excitement.
"Ah, that's right, I didn't finish reading those diaries — how did I forget?"
He opened the drawer near his bed, took out the blue diaries, and opened them to read.
[3/6/2517. I'm in big trouble… oh my god, oh my god, I stole my brother's virtual reality game and spilled my coffee on it, and now I don't know what to do — the game is broken. It was his favorite game, and he had even saved money to buy it from months of hard work, but… I discovered something!! My brother likes harem!!! Oh my god, he was playing a harem game… that's disgusting. Brother, I didn't expect this from you.]
Nathan laughed lightly after reading this page.
"What is this? She stole his game and ruined it and called him disgusting? And she's seven years old — that's amazing."
Then he continued reading.
[5/6/2517. Tch, my brother discovered me 😒 He was extremely angry and even snitched on me to our parents. What's wrong with him — he's a grown man at 23, why get mad at a seven-year-old girl? Nooo, and the problem isn't just that — my parents sided with him!! And I was punished to stay in my room for three days. Ugh, I'm so annoyed — how am I going to get through these three hellish days.]
Nathan laughed.
"This little girl is mischievous."
[8/6/2517. This is amazing — I found a big black dog in front of my school gate. It's an incredibly amazing dog. It looked like the school's guard dog. I was about to go near it, but my friend Fioli was scared and pulled me away. It's unfortunate I didn't get close to it 😞]
[11/6/2517. I met that dog again, but this time I stayed away from Fioli. I was excited to get close to the dog and I wish I hadn't… After I approached it, it attacked me like crazy, but I'm not easy at all, so I picked up a nearby rock and started fighting it — hehe — I managed to defeat it and it ran away 😌 But after I returned home, my parents were shocked. Well, I don't blame them, because I was a mess: my school clothes were torn in several places and covered in dirt. It wasn't just my clothes — my face and hair and everything were a mess. They rushed me to the hospital, where there were several wounds, but with treatment they'll be fine… But there's no need to scold me! I just wanted praise for defeating that big dog… That's unfortunate.]
Nathan laughed while reading this, but he continued reading.
[18/6/2517. I'm at the peak of despair… why do I have to go shopping with my mother? I don't want this, I don't want this.]
[19/6/2517. Today was extremely amazing — I liked this shopping trip this time. Of course, I liked it after I managed to escape from my mother, and the amazing thing is that a dungeon opened near the place and monsters came out. They looked disgusting, but I hid well so they didn't find me. Then Hanna appeared, awakened rank A, and boom boom, she took out the monsters. I came out of my hiding place and started shouting to cheer Hanna. Hanna looked at me during the fight — she widened her eyes; I don't know why. But the important thing is that after she finished fighting, she came close to me and picked me up, then suddenly started laughing — but was there something funny?… Well, I was a little sad seeing my mother cry when she found me, but I was scolded again… But it's okay, I've decided I'll become a strong awakened like Hanna. She was amazing.]
Nathan continued reading page after page until the girl became twelve years old.
[8/3/2522. I fought with Fioli. I'm very sad — how could she shout at me? I only took one bite of her sandwich and she was shouting at me and I was upset! It was just one bite — I felt wronged. She was about to push me, but I didn't allow that and pulled her hair. I feel sad about what I did — I'm sorry, Fioli, but we fought. What should I do? 😞]
[15/3/2522. Our fight lasted a whole week. I was very sad, and my mom noticed, so I told her the whole story. My mom thought a bit and said, why don't you make something and give it to Fioli? I was confused — what should I do, what should I do — then I thought of an idea: she likes cookies, so I made them for her with my mom's help. When I gave them to her and told her I made them, we made up, and that's wonderful. I love you, Mom.]
Nathan looked at this page in confusion and thought for a bit, then looked at the clock — it was six-thirty in the morning — so he suddenly got up, closed the diaries, and put them back in the drawer.
…..
Stephen was training in that large hall he had found.
He was training to control several monsters, with each monster doing something specific. The training took some time, as he trained to the maximum his body could endure.
He was breathing fast, and his whole body was covered in sweat. He lay down on the ground in exhaustion.
'I think that's enough.'
After resting a little, he got up to return to the apartment to shower and then start attending lectures.
When Stephen suddenly opened the door, a lot of black smoke surrounded him.
Stephen was confused.
'Did the apartment burn?!'
Stephen went inside through the smoke until he found Nathan coughing near the stove.
Stephen asked Nathan in confusion,
"What are you doing, and what's this smoke? "
Nathan looked at Stephen in surprise, then laughed and spoke while scratching the back of his neck.
"This… I think I burned this thing."