Chapter 302: Second Year Entrance Ceremony [1]

Chapter 301

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Episode 81 – Second Year Entrance Ceremony [1]

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Clank—!

The sound of the door closing echoed softly inside the darkened room.

Click—!

As she pressed the light switch, the lights immediately came on.

She then walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. After drinking it, she set the glass back in its place and headed toward a small hallway, where she entered through one of the doors.

The room was simple: a bed and everything else she needed, with nothing particularly extravagant.

However, several neatly arranged chibi-style plushies sat on the bed.

After turning on the light, she walked toward the bathroom door and stopped in front of the mirror.

Then, she gazed at her own reflection.

Pale pink eyes and hair stood out against her face, while Rinna’s expression reflected a hint of exhaustion.

She had spent the entire day helping treat injured cadets following the sudden attack by monsters and villains.

On top of that, she had helped several professors eliminate the monsters that had slipped into the Academy’s most hidden corners.

After all, the Academy was simply too large, with far too many places to search.

Meanwhile, everything that had been destroyed, from houses and buildings to facilities such as the Classrooms and others, had been restored.

Director Bernice had personally used her Magic to return the Academy to normal, as if it had never suffered any damage in the first place.

“Aah!”

Rinna let out a yawn as she brushed her teeth.

She was tired. After all, she didn’t have much physical stamina, and her mental endurance wasn’t particularly exceptional either.

As a Mage, her mind was usually kept in constant activity, leaving her completely exhausted every night.

As she continued brushing her teeth, her thoughts began drifting toward someone else.

She wasn’t thinking about what she had done during the day or what had happened the previous day.

Rather, she was thinking about a certain person.

‘I wonder what Adel is doing right now.’

She hadn’t seen him in an entire month.

Normally, Rinna saw him every day: on campus, in the classroom, in the cafeteria…

However, ever since he had been expelled from the Academy, she hadn’t seen him again until just a month ago.

Although their reunion hadn’t been anything like what she had truly wanted.

Setting aside the unpleasant memories of that moment, Rinna couldn’t help but remember Very’Daal’s words.

The cadets from Elvenheims Academy would leave one day before the Opening Ceremony of Holy Academy, which would take place six days from now.

For that reason, they would remain at the Academy for the next few days for security purposes.

But putting that aside, Very’Daal’s words once again echoed in Rinna’s mind, exactly as she had said them.

— —’Ah, that’s because you’re in love with that person.’

— —’W-what did you say?’

— —’I said you’re in love. Isn’t it obvious? If you say your heart starts racing, your mind goes blank, and then you can’t even look him in the face… My goodness, it’s so obvious that even a newborn baby would notice.’

“…..?”

Rinna immediately pushed those thoughts away, trying to forget what Very’Daal had told her.

However, deep down, she knew she simply couldn’t deny her words.

She couldn’t deny the strange way she reacted or the thoughts that surfaced whenever ‘he’ appeared in her mind.

Much less could she deny her own imagination.

Rinna set the toothbrush aside and returned to the room.

She turned off the lights and, before throwing herself onto the bed, glanced toward the window.

The darkness of the night, however, wasn’t absolute.

Snow fell from the night sky, covering everything in its path.

The bitter cold of winter could be felt as the snowstorm continued outside.

Rinna gazed at the scenery for a moment before finally lying down on the bed.

Once there, she remained silent as she stared at the ceiling of her room.

The seconds passed slowly as her heavy eyelids began to close.

But then…

As if the world itself, or even the entire universe, were announcing something Rinna had never expected…

A strange sound echoed directly inside her mind.

At that instant, her eyes snapped open.

“…..?”

The first thing she saw was a strange white holographic screen, with several words written across it.

The screen displayed the following:

〖Congratulations! Your Fate has been chosen by the Origin〗

〖The Origin has given you an opportunity to ascend to True Divinity and participate in the final Stage of the ‘Trial’ of your World〗

〖From this moment onward, you have become a Player〗

〖Say or think the words ‘Status Window’ to check your information〗

“…..?!”

Rinna blinked repeatedly as she stared at the strange screen that had appeared before her eyes.

However, she wasn’t the only one who had received a holographic screen.

In another room, located in the female dormitory, Charlotte was calmly drinking tea while reading a book.

She was sitting in front of the balcony of her room, but because of the cold and the snowstorm, she had decided not to go outside to read.

Charlotte calmly turned one page after another.

However, suddenly, a sound resembling a notification echoed in her mind…

〖Congratulations! Your Fate has been chosen by the Origin〗

〖The Origin has given you an opportunity to ascend to True Divinity and participate in the final Stage of the ‘Trial’ of your World〗

〖From this moment onward, you have become a Player〗

〖Say or think the words ‘Status Window’ to check your information〗

“…..!?”

Charlotte immediately raised her head.

Her eyes locked onto a dark-blue holographic screen, speckled with tiny white dots that resembled stars.

In another room, not far from Charlotte and Rinna’s rooms, Clementine was sitting on the floor in a lotus position with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, just as it had happened with Charlotte and Rinna, the sound of a notification echoed in her mind.

She immediately opened her eyes and saw the same holographic screen floating before her.

〖Congratulations! Your Fate has been chosen by the Origin〗

〖The Origin has given you an opportunity to ascend to True Divinity and participate in the final Stage of the ‘Trial’ of your World〗

〖From this moment onward, you have become a Player〗

〖Say or think the words ‘Status Window’ to check your information〗

In the neighboring room, a girl with black hair and golden eyes was immersed in a bathtub with her eyes closed.

The hot water covered her body, while a layer of bubbles floated across the surface.

Diana felt her body relaxing, completely at ease after a long day of helping with various tasks around the Academy.

Just like Rinna, she had also been helping the others. Although she was introverted and rarely spoke to anyone other than her friends, that didn’t mean she was incapable of lending a hand with the Academy’s repairs and cleanup.

In any case, while she enjoyed a peaceful bath…

“…..?!”

She suddenly opened her eyes when she heard a sound echo directly inside her mind.

Her golden eyes focused on the holographic screen that had appeared before her.

〖Congratulations! Your Fate has been chosen by the Origin〗

〖The Origin has given you an opportunity to ascend to True Divinity and participate in the final Stage of the ‘Trial’ of your World〗

〖From this moment onward, you have become a Player〗

〖Say or think the words ‘Status Window’ to check your information〗

The same holographic screen appeared before the eyes of Clana, Julian, and Leon.

Just like Rinna, Charlotte, Clementine, and Diana, the three of them had also received the Origin’s message.

The only difference was that their holographic screens were different colors, each corresponding to their respective Attributes.

***

Lumina’s figure moved from one place to another, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

The smell of blood clung to her body, yet there wasn’t a single drop of blood on her face.

Snowflakes covered her hair and eyelashes.

In the blink of an eye, she returned to the Academy and immediately teleported to her room.

Once there, she grabbed a towel and took off her clothes.

She quickly stepped into the bathroom and, a few minutes later, emerged with the towel wrapped around her body.

Lumina sat on the edge of the bed and began brushing her hair.

As she did so, her thoughts wandered back and forth.

‘I haven’t seen him all day. I haven’t seen Veronica either.’

After waking up that morning, she had realized that Adel and Veronica’s presences had suddenly vanished.

At first, she thought the two of them would return soon. However, the hours passed, and neither of them appeared.

Contrary to what anyone might think, Lumina wasn’t worried.

‘They probably went somewhere to take care of something.’

She didn’t dwell on it too much. Lumina knew that very few people could defeat Adel, as long as the opponent wasn’t a Ten-Star Awakened or a Class 10 villain.

However, both types of enemies were extremely rare.

After all, there were only two Class 10 villains in the entire Sacred Continent, while the only Ten-Star Awakened was Director Bernice.

Shortly afterward, Lumina finished fixing her hair and put on her pajamas.

Then, she lay down on the bed, intending to sleep through the entire night and the following day.

However, just as she closed her eyes…

“…..!?”

Lumina immediately sat up, and in the blink of an eye, she had already drawn her sword.

An unfamiliar yet strangely familiar sound echoed in her mind.

Her eyes instinctively turned toward the holographic screen floating before her.

〖Congratulations! Your Fate has been chosen by the Origin〗

〖The Origin has given you an opportunity to ascend to True Divinity and participate in the final Stage of the ‘Trial’ of your World〗

〖From this moment onward, you have become a Player〗

〖Say or think the words ‘Status Window’ to check your information〗

“…..!?”

Lumina’s eyes widened.

Although it wasn’t exactly the same, the scene before her wasn’t something completely unfamiliar to her.

———————

★—Author’s Note—★

The name of Part 2 (Volume 2) is “Memories,” in case anyone was curious.

Here’s a cover containing spoilers for a Major Arc. (Cover)