Okay. Hold up.
Let me process something real quick.
If Lane White — aka me — exists outside all known and unknown realms of existence and non-existence, doesn't that automatically put me outside the Final Realm too?
Which means…
Oh.
Oh shit.
Nope. Nope nope nope.
I'm not answering that.
I'm shoving that thought into the deepest mental locker I own, welding it shut, and labeling it "DO NOT THINK ABOUT UNLESS YOU WANT THE UNIVERSE TO BLUE-SCREEN."
I'm Mortal Realm.
Yep.
Just a normal, harmless, barely-special Mortal Realm girl.
Anyway—
Lunch time.
I head to the cafeteria and immediately regret being born.
It's not a cafeteria.
It's a biological war zone.
Students are fighting over trays like it's the last supper. Someone threw a chair. Another guy summoned a spirit wolf to guard his ramen. A girl activated a buff spell just to cut in line. The smell is a cursed mixture of fried food, mana discharge, and desperation.
I stared at the line.
"…Yeah no. I choose life."
Then I looked to the other side of the cafeteria.
And holy shit.
HEAVEN.
Polished marble floors.
Crystal chandeliers.
Tables so clean they reflect your soul.
Five-star cuisine plated by actual chefs.
And yes—butlers and maids standing by like this is a damn noble banquet.
Living. The. High. Life.
A sign floated in front, glowing smugly:
STUDENT COUNCIL & RANK 1–5 ONLY
Ah yes. Of course.
Because why wouldn't the rich and broken live in a different reality?
I was drooling. Physically. Spiritually. Emotionally.
"God damn…" I muttered. "They eating steak while we fighting over mystery meat like feral animals."
"Right?!" someone said beside me.
I turned.
A boy stood there. Average height. Brown hair. Normal clothes. No overwhelming aura. Mana? Meh. Spiritual energy? Also meh.
Finally. A normal human being.
We shared a look of mutual suffering.
"Let me guess," he said. "You also got dumped into the peasant zone?"
"Yup. Welcome to hell."
We stepped closer, just to peek.
Just a peek.
Then—
CLANG.
A guard stepped in front of us like a brick wall with legs.
Pointed at the sign.
"No average students allowed."
"Come on," I said. "Just a little look. I won't touch anything."
"Unless you are Rank 1 to 5," the guard said flatly, "you are not permitted."
Then—
He shoved us back.
Not violently, but enough that the guy beside me stumbled and hit the ground.
"…Wow," I muttered. "Damn. Dude's built like a mountain."
The boy winced, holding his side.
I crouched down immediately. "Hey—are you okay? That looked rough."
I helped him up carefully, instinctively suppressing about ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine percent of my strength so I didn't accidentally heal him by rewriting causality.
"Thanks," he said, brushing off his uniform. "It's just… that place looks way better than the animal mess over there."
"Tell me about it."
I paused. "I'm Lane."
He smiled. "Jason."
Jason.
"…That sounds American."
"Yeah. Dad's Japanese, mom's American."
I blinked. "…Wow. Same. Culture blender gang."
He laughed. "Guess we're rare even here."
We walked together toward a quieter corner with vending machines that sold overpriced bread.
Then Jason frowned slightly, looking at me. "Hey… if you don't mind me asking—how did you get in here? Your mana and spiritual energy feel… average."
I shrugged. "I don't know. Luck? Accident? Cosmic mistake?"
"Oh. Mine's simpler," he said casually.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. The headmaster is my grandma."
…
I stopped walking.
Turned to him slowly.
"…Excuse me?"
He scratched his cheek. "Well, technically great-great-great—"
"—NO," I said. "Stop. Rewind. You just said your grandma is the headmaster?"
"Yup."
My brain screamed.
He continued, completely unfazed. "My great, great, great, great grandfather Yuto Inoue founded Water Star Academy back in 1759."
…
BRO.
WHAT.
I stared at him like he just told me gravity was optional.
"You're telling me," I said slowly, "that you're a legacy descendant of the founder of the most elite school on the planet… and you're eating vending machine bread with me?"
Jason sighed. "Yeah. Family perks don't mean much if you're not absurdly talented."
I stared harder.
"So… your grandma could literally let you into the rich cafeteria."
"Technically, yeah."
"…And you didn't?"
He smiled awkwardly. "I don't like special treatment."
I covered my face with both hands.
"I am surrounded by monsters," I whispered.
Jason tilted his head. "You okay?"
I peeked at him through my fingers.
"No. But I think we just became lunch buddies."
He laughed. "Deal."
And for the first time since stepping into Water Star Academy…
I didn't feel completely alone.
The rooftop was quiet.
Which, in a place like Water Star Academy, was basically a miracle. No screaming prodigies, no accidental lightning storms, no arrogant nobles measuring dick size with aura pressure. Just wind, blue sky, and the faint hum of protective formations keeping idiots from falling off and suing the school.
Me and Jason were sitting on the edge, legs dangling, sharing vending-machine bread like it was a sacred artifact.
We were laughing. Actually laughing.
About anime. Comics. Old web novels. Power systems that made absolutely no sense.
"This world feels like," I said, leaning back on my hands, "a Dao God was on meth, binge-read every cultivation novel, every fantasy manga, every comic book, then said 'fuck balance' and hit 'Create Universe.'"
Jason nearly choked. "BRO YES. EXACTLY THAT."
He pointed dramatically at the sky. "Like why does one system cap at 'Ascension Tier' and the other goes 'Final Realm Beyond All Names'? That's not scaling, that's bullying."
"THANK YOU," I said. "Mana users out here throwing fireballs while cultivators are rewriting metaphors and killing people with poetry."
Jason laughed. "I swear some dude reached Paradox Realm and just said 'nah, logic is optional now.'"
For the first time in a long while, I didn't feel like a walking disaster.
Just… a seventeen-year-old kid, talking shit on a rooftop.
I glanced sideways at him. "Hey. Since we're friends now—and you kinda opened Pandora's wallet earlier—mind if I ask something?"
"Sure."
I hesitated. Then asked, "What's it like? You know… living with a grandma who's basically Immortal-class, filthy rich, and runs the most powerful academy on the planet… and a dad who's a straight-up billionaire?"
Jason went quiet for a second.
Not awkward quiet. Thoughtful quiet.
Then he sighed.
"…You wanna know the honest version?"
"Always."
He leaned back, staring at the clouds. "It's weird as hell."
I raised a brow. "Go on."
"My grandma?" he said. "She's lived so long that time doesn't really mean anything to her anymore. Birthdays blur together. Decades feel like weeks. She loves me, I know she does—but sometimes it feels like she's watching a movie instead of living life."
I stayed quiet.
"She's powerful enough to stop wars with a sentence," he continued. "Rich enough to buy countries. But emotionally? She's… distant. Not cold. Just tired. Like she's seen everything already."
"…Damn."
"As for my dad," Jason snorted. "Yeah, billionaire. Magic-tech empire. Owns satellites, mana reactors, dimensional shipping lanes—you name it."
"Sounds nice."
"Sounds," he emphasized. "But he's never home. When he is, he's exhausted. Always talking about markets, threats, politics, cults trying to steal his tech. Half the time I feel like an investment instead of a son."
That hit harder than I expected.
"So yeah," he finished, shrugging. "People think I live in paradise. Truth is, it's just a really expensive cage."
I looked down at my hands.
I thought about my parents. Finn and Mei. Not rich. Not immortal. Just… there. Loud. Annoying. Loving. Terrified every time I sneezed too hard.
"…For what it's worth," I said quietly, "I think you turned out pretty normal. That's kind of impressive."
Jason smiled, genuinely this time. "Coming from you, Walking Calamity, I'll take that as high praise."
I smirked. "Careful. Compliments from me have erased continents before."
We sat there in comfortable silence for a bit.
Then Jason glanced at me. "You know… for someone everyone's scared of, you're surprisingly chill."
I snorted. "That's because if I wasn't, this school would already be in another universe."
He laughed.
And for a split second—just a split second—I felt something dangerous.
Connection.
Not romantic. Not that shit. Just… understanding.
I quickly shook my head internally.
Nope. Brain. Don't even think about it. Friendship only. Stick to the rules.
The bell rang, echoing across the academy.
Jason stood up, stretching. "Guess that's our cue."
"Yeah."
As we walked back toward the stairwell, I had this weird feeling.
Like this calm?
This normalcy?
Yeah… it wasn't going to last.
Because worlds like this?
They never let monsters like me stay peaceful for long.