Chapter 37: The Beginning of Everything

Haruki stood in an empty white room, completely unaware of where he was. He simply stood there, looking around before eventually turning behind him and seeing someone dressed in white.

"Honma Haruki."

The man then turned around to face Haruki.

Haruki was slightly startled when he saw the man, whose face looked almost exactly like his own.

"Who are you?"

The man let out a soft chuckle.

"What do you mean? I am you."

Haruki fell silent, not knowing what to say. After a moment, the man spoke again.

"Or, more accurately, I am the original owner of the body you’re currently using in this world."

Slowly, a familiar voice could be heard calling out to him.

"Haruki..."

"Haruki..."

"Haruki!"

He slowly opened his eyes, only to find Vila and the others surrounding him.

"Teacher Aelin! Haruki has woken up!"

Haruki hurriedly sat up and looked around in a panic.

Aelin then approached him and explained that everything was over. Haruki let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah, where’s Philip?"

Vila pointed in a certain direction with her index finger.

Haruki quickly turned his head towards where Vila was pointing. He saw Philip lying unconscious as well, with Magnus sitting beside him.

"Yo, Haruki."

Magnus called out to him.

After that, Aelin began explaining everything that had happened while Haruki was unconscious.

She explained that Vaelcryst had successfully been dragged into Philip’s Rift Gate. She then went on to explain that it was Magnus who had knocked Philip unconscious.

Aelin had also helped Magnus by using her roots to prevent him from being blown away. Once Magnus got close enough to Philip, he struck the back of Philip’s neck, causing him to collapse and lose consciousness.

And just like that, Vaelcryst had finally been defeated.

"Did you manage to defeat the other man, Haruki?"

Aelin asked him.

Haruki simply lowered his head, and Aelin immediately understood what had happened.

"We’ll defeat him next time."

Aelin said, trying to ease Haruki’s feelings of guilt.

Haruki slowly walked towards Philip, who was still lying unconscious, to check on his condition. Before long, Philip slowly opened his eyes and quickly sat up.

*’Huff, looks like our main character has finally awakened.’*

As usual, Magnus teased Philip, causing the latter to become annoyed with him.

"So you’ve finally woken up, Philip."

Haruki said.

Philip then turned towards Haruki.

"Thanks for knocking me unconscious."

Before Haruki could respond, Magnus quickly gave Philip a light smack on the head and clarified that he was the one who had knocked Philip unconscious, not Haruki.

Magnus then explained that Haruki had passed out because he had used his magic to hold back numerous people from being dragged into the Rift Gate.

Vila then approached the three of them and smiled slightly as she watched them joking around together again, just like old times.

"Oh, Vila. Where’s Teacher Lukas?"

Haruki asked.

Vila explained that Teacher Lukas had gone to the city to inspect the destruction caused by the Frostval army, despite his rather poor physical condition.

Philip slowly looked towards the academy, which had been reduced to ruins, with a somewhat disappointed expression.

Magnus noticed Philip’s expression and immediately wore a mischievous smile, clearly preparing to tease him.

"Eh? What’s with that expression, Philip?!"

"Don’t you always skip classes?! So why are you looking so sad?"

"Or... are you just pretending?"

Magnus’s words made Philip annoyed, and the two of them soon began chasing each other around.

*’Hm, I’m glad they’re back to their usual selves.’*

Vila looked at Haruki with an expression slightly different from before. Slowly, she reached her hand towards his, but before she could touch it, Haruki turned towards her.

She quickly pulled her hand back, her face turning red.

"Good work, Vila."

Haruki said.

Her already flushed face became even redder when she saw Haruki smiling gently at her.

She then turned around and covered her face, trying to prevent Haruki from seeing her in such a state.

[CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE QUEST: FROSTVAL INVASION]

[YOU HAVE RECEIVED 500K COINS]

[YOU HAVE ALSO UNLOCKED UNLIMITED SKILL AND MAGIC SLOTS]

"That’s one hell of a reward."

[YOU CAN ALSO TRAVEL BETWEEN YOUR ORIGINAL WORLD AND THIS WORLD AT ANY TIME WITHOUT HAVING TO WAIT FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD]

"This one too..."

"Is something wrong, Haruki? It seems like you’re talking to someone."

"Ah, it’s nothing."

Vila was then called over by her friends to help treat the injured townspeople.

Haruki realized that, surprisingly, there were still many nobles and commoners who had survived.

He then recalled what he had seen while he was unconscious. His thoughts returned to the man who looked almost identical to him.

*’It’s true... this body doesn’t belong to me. And what’s more, I transmigrated into a character who was already dead.’*

*’The original owner of this body, huh? Whatever the case, he no longer has access to return to his own body.’*

*’But what if he could?’*

Haruki fell silent for a moment, unable to imagine what would happen.

"Ugh, I’m so exhausted that I’m starting to think about ridiculous things."

...

By the time night arrived, the atmosphere had become peaceful and relaxing. The townspeople were working together to clean up the destroyed buildings and houses.

However, what truly relieved Haruki was seeing some nobles beginning to build better relationships with the commoners, although there were still nobles who refused to do so.

Meanwhile, all the academy students had gathered beneath tents created using magic.

That night was surprisingly lively for the students, even though half of their academy had been destroyed.

They lit bonfires, and some of them sang while others chatted and laughed. It was a sound that had not been heard for quite some time.

As for Haruki, Philip, and Magnus, they were no longer the subject of negative gossip. Instead, many students had begun to see them as heroes of the academy.

For the students and teachers, perhaps everything was finally over.

However, for those who took the Frostval invasion seriously, such as Haruki, Philip, Magnus, Aelin, and Lukas, this was far from over.

The reason behind the Frostval Kingdom’s invasion remained unknown.

Still, for now, it was better not to dwell too much on it. This was a time to enjoy themselves after all the chaos they had endured.

Magnus then approached Haruki and asked where Philip was.

Haruki replied that he had no idea either.

Not long after, some townspeople joined them to make the celebration even livelier.

Even Teacher Lukas had brought some meat, though nobody knew where he had gotten it from.

Magnus then sat down beside Haruki.

"Your first year has been pretty terrible, hasn’t it, Haruki?"

The two of them chuckled softly, unable to believe that this year had turned out to be such a disaster.

Haruki then recalled his school life back in his original world. It had been miserable, and he hadn’t had any particularly close friends.

"Where’s Philip?"

Haruki asked.

"Ugh, he’s over at the academy ruins."

Haruki was confused, unable to understand why that guy would be hanging around the ruins.

Just then, Teacher Lukas called out to the two of them, asking them to help cook the meat he had brought.

"Come on, Haruki. We can’t just stand around watching, can we?"

Haruki smiled faintly.

"That’s true."

The two of them then slowly made their way towards the others.

*’This... is what a truly heartwarming moment feels like.’*

All the students and townspeople seemed to be enjoying themselves that night. Yet Haruki felt that something was missing without their main character being there.

"Wait a moment. I want to get Philip."

Haruki then ran towards the academy ruins to look for Philip. Eventually, he spotted him sitting there with his back leaning against the rubble.

"Oi, Philip!"

Philip slowly turned his head towards him.

"What are you doing here, Haruki?"

Without saying much else, Haruki immediately invited Philip to join them in celebrating their victory against the Frostval invaders.

At first, Philip refused, saying that he wanted to be alone. However, Haruki continued persuading him until he finally agreed to join the celebration.

"Wow!~ This guy is so arrogant!~"

After hearing that, Philip made a strange expression.

"If you don’t want to come, that’s fine... we’ll be really sad without you, though~"

"Besides, everyone’s waiting for you."

Eventually, Philip decided to follow Haruki and slowly walked out of the academy ruins.

Once they were near the others, Philip suddenly said something unexpected.

"Sorry for keeping all my fans waiting~"

Everyone who heard that immediately fell silent. Even Haruki couldn’t believe that Philip had actually said something like that.

Meanwhile, Magnus was desperately holding back his laughter, although his expression clearly showed that he was about to burst out laughing.

Magnus eventually laughed and asked who exactly had been waiting for Philip. The other students soon joined in, including Teacher Lukas and Teacher Aelin.

"You said everyone was waiting for me!"

Philip complained to Haruki, looking slightly annoyed.

Gradually, the laughter died down. Afterwards, Magnus approached him with a drink and held it out.

"Of course we were waiting for you, idiot."

And so, they continued celebrating together, surrounded by laughter that they hadn’t heard in quite some time.

....

After that, all the students eventually went to sleep inside their magically constructed tents. The townspeople also slept in magical tents, although theirs were located a little further away.

However, there was still someone who hadn’t gone to sleep.

As usual, it was Philip, who was sitting alone, staring thoughtfully at the stars.

Then, Haruki appeared behind him.

"Brooding again, huh?"

"What’s wrong with that?"

Philip then mentioned that the war still felt unfinished because they had yet to discover why Frostval had invaded their kingdom in the first place.

Haruki remained silent for a moment before saying that they would surely find out someday.

Philip smiled, then slowly stood up and said that he wanted to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, Haruki remained standing there, thinking about what he would do next.

"Oi, Haruki. Aren’t you coming to sleep?"

"Wait for me, idiot."

The two of them smiled before slowly making their way towards their tent.

Inside, Magnus was already waiting for them while eating some of the meat Philip had saved earlier.

The two of them immediately started bickering, while Haruki could only chuckle softly.

’I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of all the dangers that await us.’