Chapter 159: Ch 159: How much can you trust your memory

Noah tried to reach for his guiding, hoping that he could use it to defend himself, but the moment he did, his head throbbed violently and his vision blurred.

’Not now...please, not now.’

His body was already struggling to keep moving, and his guiding felt strangely sluggish, almost as if something was suppressing it from within.

Noah gritted his teeth and forced himself around the next corner, only to find another empty hallway waiting for him.

There was nowhere to hide.

The monster’s footsteps were getting closer, and Noah could feel its presence directly behind him.

Just as he thought he was about to be caught, a familiar voice suddenly echoed through the hallway.

"Noah!"

His heart jumped at the sound, and he instinctively turned around and noticed that Erin was here.

Out of everyone, the one who was actually here to save Noah was his Bluey and no one else, and it filled his heart with bittersweet feelings.

But as glad as he was, he did not want Bluey to be here, and there was only one reason behind it—he was afraid that Erin would get hurt by the monster’s claws and Noah would lose him.

He could not lose the only person by his side through all of this.

"Erin, run—!"

The SSS-Class esper raised his hand, and with a flicker of his finger, the monster chasing after Noah stopped. It gave Noah enough time to run towards Erin’s side and clutch his arm.

"A-Are we safe? What is going on here? Did a dungeon open?"

Noah had a lot of questions, and the pinched expression on Erin’s face told him that the esper had answers. But first...

"We need to get out of here. It is not safe, and the Labs have started their experiment. Let’s head to my room. It is safer there for now."

Erin advised, and Noah nodded.

For the first time, he did not need to worry about Daniel and Alan because the pair was out of the academy today. But was it a coincidence?

Somehow, Noah did not believe that it was a coincidence that the esper-guide pair was out of the academy at such an important time. It was almost like destiny...or someone’s trick to make sure those two remained safe.

But who would do that? The teachers? The researchers? Someone else?

"Stop thinking so hard about it and follow me back to my room. We have a lot we need to discuss there."

Erin told Noah, who nodded and gripped his hand. He felt unsteady, and he had to rely on Erin for strength.

But weirdly enough, Erin looked paler and much more tired than usual. His energy levels were low as well, which was new.

It made Noah feel worried for him, and he grabbed Erin’s face to make him look in his direction.

"Erin, are you alright? You look really tired. Are the Labs working you too hard?"

Noah asked in concern, and Erin’s eyes widened. He looked startled to be asked this, but he quickly smiled and waved his hand around to tell Noah that it was none of this stuff.

"Ah, don’t worry. I am not tired, but I do lack sleep. As for being tired...well, I just used a lot of energy yesterday. I will be fine after a few hours of sleep..."

He assured him with an almost nervous laugh, but Noah did not feel reassured by his words. Something inside him was telling him that things were about to go very wrong very fast. He bit his lip and looked up for answers.

But Erin had already looked away, not wanting to become soft for Noah. It was unfair how the other was so good at avoiding him like this.

Erin led Noah back to his room, and once the door closed, they could finally relax.

Noah’s legs gave up as well, and he somehow landed on the couch before he pressed a hand to his face and rubbed his forehead.

"Just what the hell is going on in this academy? Ugh, I saw none of this in the vision I saw for the future. Nor did the system inform me of this. So where did this situation come from?"

Noah questioned, causing Erin to look at him with a sorry expression.

It seemed clear that he had something to say...or rather, to clarify. So why was he holding back now?

"Erin, what do you know about this? Just tell me. I want to know the truth."

Noah turned to look at his companion when he asked this question, and Erin had a hard time processing whether he should say something or not. But he decided to spill the secrets in the end.

"How sure are you about your visions of the future, Noah? Can you 100% trust them?"

Erin asked, and Noah frowned while looking at him.

"My visions of the future? Of course I can trust them. After all, they were the results of an ability that was used on me...wait...why am I recalling it differently than before?"

Noah’s head throbbed in pain, and he closed his eyes to contain it. But the more he tried to hold back, the worse he felt at that moment.

He had never doubted his memories before, but why...why did he suddenly feel like there were problems with them?

"Noah, can you try and recall the first time you saw those visions of the future? I have a feeling you will find an answer to the questions that are plaguing your mind."

Noah frowned as he tried to search through his memories, but the moment he attempted to recall the first vision, a sharp pain shot through his head again, forcing him to press both hands against his temples.

’Why can’t I remember it clearly? What happened? I...why is my memory acting like this?’

This was a terrifying feeling - to doubt oneself and to know that something was wrong with his mind.

Just what had happened to him to make him feel like this?