Xander let out a dramatic "boo" as Noah waved him off, but his teasing quickly turned into a more respectful nod.
"Alright, alright," Xander said, shrugging.
"I respect your decision. But you know, Noah…"
He paused, his expression softening into sothing more contemplative.
"I actually envy you."
Noah, halfway toward the exit, stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow.
"Envy? ? Why?"
Xander leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his sword still hanging loosely at his side.
"Despite being in a coma for an entire sester, you still managed to get into A-Class. On top of that, you've been in more scandals and fatal situations than I can count, and now you're part of the vanguard."
He shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips.
"It's almost like you have the entire world's ti in your hands."
Noah blinked, a little taken aback by Xander's words. He hadn't thought of it that way before.
Sure, his life had been a chaotic ss since he'd transmigrated into this world, but he'd never felt like he had control—least of all over ti.
For a mont, there was silence between them, the weight of Xander's words lingering in the air.
Xander looked up at the ceiling, his eyes clouded with thoughts that seed distant, almost wistful.
Then, as if it had been gnawing at him for a while, he asked, "Noah… what do you want more than anything in this world?"
Noah stood frozen for a mont.
What kind of question was that? He didn't know how to answer.
There were so many things he wanted—survival, a way out of this ga, to avoid becoming another villain in the grand sche of the storyline.
But… more than anything?
"I… don't know," Noah finally admitted, his voice low.
"There's a lot I want to accomplish. But if you're asking to pick just one thing…"
He trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence.
Xander chuckled softly, nodding as if he understood.
"I respect that," he said.
"A man of many deeds is worth more than soone who's constant—soone who isn't moving forward in life."
Noah glanced at Xander, trying to gauge his mood.
There was sothing heavier in his tone now, sothing more personal.
Xander straightened up, his smile gone, replaced with a more serious expression.
"Let ask you sothing else, then.
What would you do if you had the concept of ti in your hands? If you could bend it, shape it however you wanted?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and profound.
Noah blinked again, trying to process the depth of what Xander had just asked.
'Ti?' Noah thought.
Controlling ti was sothing no one—not even the professors at Ravenwood—had ever fully understood.
It was one of those abstract concepts, sothing that felt too big for any one person to grasp.
"I don't need an answer," Xander said, cutting through Noah's thoughts.
"But think about it. Ti holds everything. Every second that passes carries the weight of our lives, our decisions, the people we love, the responsibilities we have."
He let out a breath, as if the very thought of it was exhausting.
"And yet, despite everything I do—training, studying, carrying out my duties as a student council mber, fulfilling tasks from the academy, helping out with family matters—it feels like it's never enough.
Ti slips away, and no matter how much I push myself, I always feel like I'm running out."
Noah's eyes narrowed slightly.
Xander was baring more than just his thoughts—he was sharing a vulnerability, sothing people didn't usually see in the confident and battle-hungry figure who commanded respect in Ravenwood.
Xander paused, as if debating whether to continue.
His voice dropped, barely above a whisper. "...there's always more to do, more to take care of."
Noah's chest tightened.
He knew exactly what Xander was thinking or rather talking about....his sick and bedridden father whose health had been declining for so ti.
Xander, despite his youthful energy, carried a lot more weight on his shoulders than most people realized.
Xander looked away, his eyes distant again.
"Sotis I wish I could control ti.
Not to go back or change anything, but just… to slow it down. To make it stop, just for a mont, so I could breathe.
So I could enjoy sothing—anything—without feeling like I'm losing precious seconds."
He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.
"But ti doesn't work like that. It keeps moving, dragging you along whether you're ready or not. And no matter how hard you try, you can't escape it."
Noah listened quietly, feeling the weight of Xander's words settle deep in his chest.
He hadn't expected this conversation to turn so serious, but now that it had, he couldn't help but think about his own situation.
He had been thrown into this world without warning, forced to live soone else's life.
Ti felt like a ticking bomb for him too, each second bringing him closer to an inevitable end he was desperate to avoid.
Xander let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.
"Ah, listen to , rambling on like this. I sound like an old man."
He smiled, but there was a hollowness to it.
"Anyway, thanks for humoring , Noah. You should probably get back to your training."
With that, Xander turned and walked toward the exit, his footsteps echoing in the now-silent room. He stopped at the door, glancing back over his shoulder with a small smile.
"Take care of yourself, alright?"
And then he was gone.
Noah stood there for a mont, processing everything that had just happened.
Then, almost instinctively, he activated his runic ability.
The unfamiliar chill of the [Eyes of the Abyss] settled over him as the system responded.
[Analyzing Target: Xander Frost…]
A string of information flashed before his eyes, and the system's conclusion was chilling.
[Corruption Rate: 37%]
Noah's stomach dropped.
'It's happening,' he thought, just like Eun-ji had warned him.
Xander was falling into the trap—into the darkness that sought to corrupt him.
And his weakness? Ti.
Or rather, the lack of it.
The weight of responsibilities, the constant pressure, the feeling of being pulled in a thousand directions—it was starting to wear on him, chipping away at his sanity little by little.
Noah knew what this ant.
Xander, with all his strength, with all his potential, was vulnerable.
Sooner or later, he would seek out the one thing he couldn't have: control over ti.
And if that desire grew strong enough… it would lead him down a dark, dangerous path.
Ti was a concept no one had mastered, not even the greatest professors at Ravenwood. It was elusive, powerful, and dangerous.
But for soone like Xander, who felt its pressure more than most, it could beco an obsession—one that could destroy him.
Noah let out a long, frustrated sigh as he collapsed onto the bench. He rubbed his temples, the tension in his body finally catching up to him.
"This is so fucking frustrating…" he muttered under his breath.
As if surviving wasn't hard enough, now he had to worry about the main character spiraling into madness.
Great. Just great.
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