Chapter 117: Annoying Pinky One

"Defeating him would have done nothing but get me screwed. It was better to feign defeat at that point and let it go..."

He explained everything in detail, and the panel’s blinking eventually stopped, signaling its understanding.

"I’ve created the two Mechs: Everlight and Ember Buster. That is trump card that no soul but me knows about,"

"And even better, I can now go out of the academy and see the current state of the world."

He mused quietly, his fingers tightening around the card.

He could already begin to feel the resonance.

The resonance effect was the same as what had occurred with his purple and green card, directly leading him to his dorm room.

With the resonance increasing by the second, just as the Boss had said, it was only a matter of time before he would feel the X-Guardian Tower’s location calling out to him.

And because the source of that pull, the X-Guardian Tower, was clearly not within the academy, it meant he could finally step outside its walls with official permission.

As for the Boss’s concern, although Declan had enrolled in the Mech Institute to advance his Mech Design knowledge, he had already secured the notes for the entire year and memorized every detail.

There were some topics he found complicated, but the class wasn’t exactly close to those topics yet.

This meant he could miss up to six months of classes and still return without falling behind.

So, he wasn’t worried about his Mech Designing skills going down the drain.

If he really encountered something confusing enough, he could simply turn to the instructors and pay extra points for a personal teaching session.

That was allowed, although it cost a crazy amount of points.

All of this led Declan to one conclusion:

He would be leaving the academy.

But before that, he needed to make sure the connection from the X-Guard stabilized.

And while he waited for that, he decided to get to work.

Activating his monitor, Declan connected to the Mordnet.

He swiftly accessed the satellite controls, pulled up the city maps, and began marking every city where the Mechnoheart Organization was active.

In the end, he narrowed it down to three cities where the main Mechnoheart Organization was situated.

One of these organizations was responsible for sending Sir Tonald to kill him and his Lab companions, and he should definitely be able to get some leads on his location from this.

Quickly transferring the map file to his laptop, he rose to his feet, grabbed his bag, and stored his essentials, devices, and clothes inside.

He didn’t grab all his clothes, just a couple of outfits along with some miscellaneous objects, including extra gadgetry.

Speaking of gadgetry, they were the extra Tech gadgets that he had built. The ones that could always help him out once he got into a pinch.

Though he had been focused on building the two Mechs, he was still able to carve out some extra time to forge them.

After that, he looked at the points he had:

{8,900 points.}

It was only within the academy that one could exchange points for materials. In the real world, things were obviously much different.

They used real money, something which Declan had none of.

The good thing was that academy points could be exchanged for real money, a feature put in place because students often went on quests outside the academy and needed a reliable amount of money for emergencies.

The exchange rate was unfair, requiring a high number of points for a relatively small amount of money, but it wasn’t as though he had any other choice.

With the X-Guardian resonance still unfinished, he hurried to the Quest Building to complete the exchange.

______________

Thirty minutes later, Declan returned to his room.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the glowing X Guardian Card sitting on his table.

He could see it twitching in a particular direction, so he picked it up, only for his hand to jerk slightly toward the door.

"The resonance is complete."

He looked around his living room.

It was still arranged like his professional lab, while his bedroom was as packed as ever.

Declan felt tempted to leave everything as it was, but in the end, he decided to rearrange everything back to normal.

During his creation process, as he slept in the tight space of the bedroom, he had always told himself that he would set everything back once he was done.

Now that he was, it felt only right to keep that promise to himself.

The resetting took about an hour before he finally finished.

His living room now felt like a proper living space again, and after turning off the lights, it took on a cozy atmosphere.

This had been his home for three months now, and even though he was leaving, he was sure he would return one day.

Shutting the door, he followed the golden pull of his X Guardian Card toward the elevator when suddenly...

DRIIIIIIIING!

DRIIIIIIIING!

The sound of a ringing phone echoed out, and Declan turned toward his device.

It was a call, but the name on the screen made him furrow his brows before his eyes widened and he slapped his forehead.

The name was labeled "Annoying," and Declan picked it up.

"Declan?"

The tiny voice echoed from the other side.

’That’s weird. She usually starts with "you donkey," he thought quietly.

"And if it isn’t the Annoying Pinky One..."

Declan said, a giggle ringing from the other side.

"You know, if you had saved my name as Pinky, I would’ve preferred it compared to that ’annoying’ tag."

"Nah, annoying sounds better."

"Tsk, you donkey!" she cursed through the phone, and he chuckled.

Now this was the Evie he knew.

But then the other side suddenly fell silent just as the elevator opened and he stepped outside.

"Hey, Annoying, you there?" He called,

"Hey Declan?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you feel like I’m no longer worthy of being your friend anymore?"

The words made Declan pause in his steps.

Evie’s voice was normally bubbly and loud, but this time it was low, and he knew exactly what that signified.

"What made you think that?" he replied.

"Remember back when we were Newcomers... when we used to go on a bike ride every Sunday evening?"

"I understand that you were promoted to second year. I’m happy for you, I really am, and I understand your packed schedule, but... I still want those times when we ride, even if it’s just twice a month."

"But you’ve only ever come once when I asked, and during this month and the last, you just... never showed up at all, even though you always said you’d try."

"And now, I’m just starting to feel like maybe you don’t... want me around anymore."

"Evie, I am just very..."

"Was it us being so close on the bike that you hated? Or did you really mean it when you labeled me as annoying?"

"Is that really what I am to you? Just one annoying girl?"

"No!" Declan said.

"It’s none of those things. And hey, why... why are you acting out now? It’s like..."

"Mom told me you’re leaving soon," she said, bringing the steps he had just begun to take to a halt once more.

"I don’t know why, but what’s important is that she said this might very well be the last time I see you again..."

"That’s..." he said, then paused.

Could he really tell her that her mother was lying?

Besides, he wasn’t just leaving soon. He was already on his way, and he hadn’t even told her.

"She’s right, isn’t she?" Evie’s quiet voice came, almost as though she were finishing his thought.

"Evie, I..."

"It’s fine. I...I understand."

She spoke, and the call ended immediately afterward.

Declan slipped the phone into his pocket and walked out of the dorm building.

He followed the card’s resonance until he soon came to an intersection that made him pause.

Straight ahead was the Newcomer Area, while the path to the side led toward his exit.

He turned from the card toward the Newcomer Area, exhaling lightly for a while before asking,

"Hey, System, can you help store my bag?"

In the next moment, his bag disappeared, and he continued forward.

It was about 4:00 in the morning, still quite early, and the entire academy was quiet as he walked through the Newcomer Area, passing by the class buildings.

It had been more than two months since he had last come here.

Even though the cafeteria was also in the Newcomer Area, it was situated more toward the periphery between both areas, nowhere near this deep inside.

Continuing his walk, he soon arrived at the familiar gate of the Newcomer dorm building.

Though the barrier glowed red as he stepped in, signaling that he wasn’t a Newcomer, it surprisingly allowed him to pass, and Declan felt his X-Guardian Card reverberate inside his pocket.

Most likely, it was the one responsible for allowing him entrance.

He stepped into the dorm hall, took the elevator, and arrived at the familiar corridor.

It was quiet, very quiet.

His eyes remained fixed on the pink-colored door as he raised his hands and folded them slightly.

Exhaling lightly to calm his pounding heart, he was just about to knock when...

BEEEP!

The familiar beeping of the card sliding against the scanner echoed out, and his hand paused.

The door opened, revealing a pink-haired lady with wet eyelashes.

Whether they were wet from water or tears, he wasn’t sure.

Her pink eyes were dull, but they soon brightened in disbelief at the sight of him before dimming just as quickly.

"Go away,"