"Ouch, my head hurts," Gus grunted.
When he sat up, he saw the rest of the students were already awake, probably for a while.
"Guess I just had the weirdest dream. You wouldn't believe Professor Max's fantasy stories were—" Gus paused.
Apart from the red sky he saw through the window, he also noticed the frowns on the faces of his classmates.
Adding to that was the fact that he didn't remember being admitted to a hospital with his classmates.
"Oh, it wasn't a dream, was it?" Realizing that, Gus began crying like a child. "So we're actually going to die like those guys from the professor's story," he kept crying.
"Gus," Sarah muttered.
All of a sudden, the door burst open, and beside the professor was a lady.
Forget any model from their world; this lady's beauty was like a divine commandment from God—she simply had to glow.
She was also dressed as a nurse; anyone would recognize that because it wasn't entirely different from what they had in their world.
"Is everyone alright?" Max asked.
The students looked at themselves and nodded, confirming that no one was hurt.
"Well, your vitals aren't entirely bad, except for Gus Locke. His heart rate is rising exponentially," the nurse said.
Of course, Max expected that. Who wouldn't be scared after knowing one or two things about this world?
"Sir, please, I have to go back. My grandpa lives alone, he's blind and—"
"It's okay, Sonia. Time stops in our world," Max informed her.
"That doesn't mean we don't want to go back," Flash said, rudely interrupting the professor.
"Sir, you've been here before, right? How did you get back?" Mira quickly asked.
"Been here before?" the nurse asked. When she took a good look at Max, her eyes widened. "Oh my God, Maxxie?" she exclaimed.
Max smiled.
The last time the nurse knew him, he was more or less like Gus. Also, an unforgettable trait was that he had been extremely weak.
Unlike Gus, Max's vitals took time to withstand the pressure of the world, which kept him in the hospital for a week.
"You've grown," she said. "I shall inform the head council of your arrival."
"They already know," Max said. He turned back to his students and sighed. He was about to tell them a harsh truth he had omitted from his stories.
"I didn't choose to leave. I couldn't," he said.
"What does that mean, sir?" Mira asked, unsure of where the professor's words were leading.
"Initially, my vitals couldn't withstand this world's system, but I grew into something so terrifying that this world's system could no longer handle my vitals. Me being here alone threatened its ecosystem, so they had to send me back," Max sighed.
The moment he was done explaining himself, two male figures adorned in black suits walked into the office.
Accompanying them was a lady—Katrina. Max could never forget this lady.
"Hmm, fresh blood," she smiled. "Enroll them in class CD13. I'll prepare them before their first trials."
"Sorry, but that's not a debate," Max intervened. Earlier, she had walked past him as if he wasn't there. "My students are staying with me," he added.
Katrina held back her laughter. "Just because you managed to survive doesn't make you a professor. Only Awakened Academy professors are allowed to—"
"I said my students are staying with me," Max repeated himself, but this time he added a little more suffocating pressure.
"You want to lead them to death like you did with your friends? Be my guest." Katrina made her way out of the room.
The room fell into suspense. None of them knew what to do at the moment.
"I really want to go home, you know," said Mira.
"Me too," Sonia said as well.
"This is higher than the tour guide fee I paid, haha," Gus mused.
When the students thought about his words, it also made them laugh.
"If the tour guide was titled 'How to Survive a Fantasy World,' I'd pay extra to avoid it, hahaha."
Even Flash said something funny, which lightened the atmosphere in the room.
"Hmmm, anyone wondering what clothes we'd put on? Hahaha, naked tour guide," Gus said again.
They all kept laughing, and even Max had to smile because of the last sentence.
But when they deeply thought about the joke, it was actually concerning.
"Seriously though, is there a free mall, sir?" Mira asked.
Max nodded. "Yes."
"I wouldn't exactly say free," the nurse said. "The hospitals, the malls, and the Summoners Guild organization were founded by Maxxie and his friends. Basically, he's the owner—not to mention your automobile engine company as well."
Max shrugged.
The students blinked. "Wait, those sound like things Einstein would do. Hold on, don't tell me you introduced things from our world here," Gus exclaimed.
"My friends did."
"So basically, holy shit, you're like the Bruce Wayne of this world, hahaha."
By the time they realized it, the nurse had already analyzed their vitals. "Don't listen to Katrina. I think they're in good hands," she said before leaving.
"So we're just accepting this shit now, huh?" Flash asked.
Silence took over the room for a moment, then Gus broke the tension again.
"Tsk, always wanted an experience to write a fantasy novel of my own," Gus said.
"The guys are really feeling energetic," Sarah finally said something while looking at the girls beside her.
"Guess no one is worried anymore. Though, the lady earlier said something about us dying in a first trial," the observant one, Mira, couldn't help but ruin the moment. "What does she mean by trial?"