Chapter 158: Ch 158: Meeting you again

Spending time with Erin felt healing. Noah felt like he could forget about what was happening for a while and relax. But the pang of loneliness decided to hit him when he was relaxing with Erin, and he decided that he wanted to head back to his room and rest.

However, he regretted his decision once he actually returned to his room because it was empty. The feeling of loneliness became even worse, and Noah finally fell asleep in a fitful sleep.

When he woke up, he could instinctively tell that he was not alone. There was someone else in the room as well.

Noah tensed at first, trying to figure out who it was. But when he opened his eyes, he noticed that it was Daniel.

The other guide was finally back, and he was wide awake as well. But Noah could not bring himself to wake up and confront the other about where he had been.

After all, once Daniel told him that he was spending time with Alan and that was why he could not come back and hang out with Noah, what was he to say? All he could say was congratulations and be happy that his plan was working.

So he remained quiet and pretended to be asleep.

Daniel walked towards his sleeping form, making Noah tense up. He waited to see if Noah would say something or not, but for the longest time, all Daniel did was stare at him.

It went on for a few minutes, and Noah finally decided that it was enough and turned around. He was about to confront Daniel when the other guide said something.

"Noah, I am glad I got to see you today. Both Alan and I will be heading out to do some stuff, so we won’t be around for the time being. I hope you take care of yourself well during our absence."

Daniel was not aware that Noah was awake, and yet, he still told him this. Noah opened his eyes, but he missed his chance to turn around and ask questions when Daniel continued.

"I know you are asleep, and I should tell you this when you are awake, but I am afraid I will not have time to do so. So I am telling you this now and will leave a note later. We will both be back by tomorrow at the earliest, so wait for us. Once we’re back, we can go back to being normal once more."

Daniel promised, and Noah’s breath hitched.

He wanted to go back to being ’normal’ as well...or, at least, whatever that meant for him. But would things truly be that simple?

’I should stop Daniel—’

Noah was about to push his body up when he noticed the floating body in front of him. It was the system interface, which was shining brightly.

[Congratulations! Your task of getting Subject E-001 and G-002 is almost over. Their affinity score is over 90% now. You can come back once it hits 100%]

The message scared Noah, and it also made him miss whatever Daniel was saying as well.

By the time he blinked and looked up, the other guide was gone, and Noah was left with a wave of loneliness.

It felt like he was being made to go through his childhood experience of being left behind once more. But this time, it was in a bed he made.

"This should be a happy occasion, right? This was what I wanted since the start. I should be celebrating..."

But Noah could not bring himself to be happy. The day felt too gloomy and depressing for him to show any happy feelings.

So he sighed and decided to get the day started.

After all, it was just one more day, and then things would return back to normal.

But as soon as Noah moved, his body protested. It felt heavy, and he could feel it struggling to do anything. And that was when he knew that today was going to be a very difficult day for him.

"My body is protesting so much. Should I visit the medical wing and get a note to stay out of class?"

Noah wondered as he dragged his tired body towards the medical wing without even washing up.

It was hard, but at least there was one stroke of luck—the lack of teachers. But somehow, the journey to the medical wing was taking too long, and maybe it was his imagination, but he was sure that the academy felt different as well.

There were no students around, and it made the academy feel even bigger and more intimidating. Were the walls always so long and narrow? Not to mention, his body felt too heavy.

"Ugh, this almost feels like..."

Like he was in a dungeon and caught in a monster’s mental trap.

But surely that can’t be the case? He was not in a dungeon but in the academy. He and the other students were supposed to be safe here.

Noah tried to concentrate and put one foot in front of the other. He was going to make it...

But then he heard a loud roar in his ears that made him flinch, and he looked behind to see a monster rushing towards him.

"What is that? An illusion—"

The monster lost its balance on the tiles and collided with the wall, indicating that it was not a dream or an illusion.

The danger Noah was in was real, and he had to run to save his life if he wanted to live.

Noah turned and ran without giving himself time to think. His body protested with every step, but the fear rushing through him was enough to force his legs forward, even though his breathing quickly became uneven.

’Why is there a monster inside the academy? Where did it even come from?’

But more importantly- why was this happening to him out of everyone?

The monster roared again and chased after him, its heavy footsteps shaking the floor behind him. Noah did not dare look back this time, because he was afraid that doing so would make him stumble.