The red book lay on the desk between us like so cursed relic from a horror movie.
Sylvia and I sat opposite each other, our legs tangling under the small Japanese-style table.
"So?" she finally asked, arms folded tightly. "What’s the deal with it?"
I leaned back, exhaling through my nose. "That’s what I want to know too."
Her brows furrowed instantly. "Hmm..."
She rested her hand on her chin. "I don’t think anything like this showed up in the ga, not even once."
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. ’So it wasn’t in the ga either, huh?’
That ant this was new, sothing exclusive to .
’But why?’
If this world was indeed from the version of Sylvia’s ga then she should at least know a little about it.
The book at first glance looked unimpressive.
However, that right there was the problem.
In a shelf of good artifacts, a useless one just happened to find its way there?
Bullshit — even a toddler won’t believe that.
I stared at the faint crimson glow pulsing beneath the book’s letters.
Was this another trick from the monster?
Did that an it wasn’t dead?
I exhaled; cold air escaped my lips.
"Why can’t I live a normal life," I muttered under my breath.
The weather was cold as always, my thoughts hazy, my breathing slow.
’I want to sleep.’
Thinking about all these things won’t give anything.
But I couldn’t help but speculate.
It was like that feeling when you start trying to reason how the world works and can’t stop.
Was primordial corrosion and the book so trail left behind by soone?
My fingers tapped against the tabletop.
If it was, then what was their endga?
To make lose?
To put on so pedestal as a new protagonist?
Or sothing more selfish...
My thoughts darkened as the endless possibilities clawed at .
Sylvia noticed imdiately and leaned against my arm.
"Hey, Allen," she whispered. "Don’t overthink it, okay? This isn’t a battle you have to fight alone."
Her warmth snapped out of the spiral.
My gaze widened for a mont, then softened.
With a soft chuckle I teased, "Oh? What’s this? The cop of the century, worried about ?"
Her fist landed lightly on my stomach. "Of course I would be, idiot. I’m your girlfriend."
I chuckled softly, though my chest tightened at her words.
She pulled back, leveling with a firm look. "No matter what happens, you have to tell first. Even if you can’t explain it right away, don’t do anything rash. You’ve got people who don’t want to lose you."
For a mont, guilt knotted in my throat.
I smiled, nodding like a good student. "Yes yes, ma’am. Don’t worry."
Satisfied, she stood, stretching. "Good. Now, I’m raiding your fridge."
I watched her pad off toward the kitchen.
Her figure moved with casual steps and, as soon as she was out of sight, my smile vanished.
I’m sorry, Sylvia. But there’s no way I can be calm about this.
One of the few reasons I’d been able to enjoy this new life was because of freedom.
No one chased down for being a thief.
I wasn’t born into so suffocating clan where expectations strangled .
I wasn’t burdened with debts I couldn’t pay.
Here, I was... .
Free.
But now?
Now that freedom was being threatened.
Not just mine but that of those I loved too.
Sylvia, Quincy, Beatrice, Valentina...
And the thing I hated most in the world was being a helpless bird trapped in a cage.
My eyes fell back to the book.
Its glow pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat daring to open it.
I did.
The first page snapped open.
The large letters scrawled across the parchnt burned into my vision:
...
...
That was it.
Nothing else on the entire page — that was until I reached the very bottom.
It was a simple phrase that could an anything, but it felt different for .
A spike of pain stabbed my skull.
Argh—!
My hands clutched my head as the world spun.
The sensation was familiar — the sa sickening lurch I’d felt after waking up during the Dungeon Survival Classes.
I slamd the book shut, breath ragged.
Nothing good was going to co out of that.
Not now, at least.
But still... there was sothing about those words.
"Dawn of the Four Calamities."
It felt tied to the academy sohow.
Tied to my existence and this world.
As if whoever had written this book had their hands deep inside the place I was supposed to call safe.
I slumped back, staring at the ceiling.
’Maybe I’ve been too reliant. Too complacent. Maybe that’s why people have been trying to chain down—because they think I’m easy.’
Should I—
"Allen!"
Sylvia’s voice cut through the haze.
She wore a bright smile, stumbling a little as she carried two plates of hot soup.
"This is hot as hell~" she blew on them even though she knew full well it wouldn’t affect them.
I blinked at her attempt; an unconscious smile tugged at my lips.
’Perhaps... it’s too early to start a fight. No one’s openly threatened yet.’
And if they did?
Well, I had four, well, companions who could beat them into the ground.
A chuckle slipped out of . ’Yeah, and one is this stubborn girl whose mission is to make sure I don’t fall to the wrong side.’
She set the plates down carefully. "Let’s eat."
"Will you feed ?" I teased.
"Never."
"You’re such a weirdo."
Her fist smacked my arm. "I told you I’m not!"
We laughed, and for a mont, the book, the monster, the cage — they all vanished.
We ate and talked.
It seems I’m quite the softie because an hour of normalcy shifted my whole ntality.
Sylvia left afterward since it was already evening and she had an outing with friends.
After that I showered, the cold water clearing my head.
Now I finally understood why I had beco a villain in the future.
Deep down I was still the psychopathic Allen Park, but the people around were like a rope holding .
I couldn’t even imagine what would happen to in the future if everyone that I cared about died.
It was already heartbreaking now; that ant it would be worse in a few years’ ti.
After the long bath I stepped out of the shower, towel draped around my neck, droplets of water running down my back, my gaze locked instantly on the crimson glow across the room.
The book. Still pulsing.
I traced a line on it. "I don’t bla future ."
However, I wasn’t going to let the people around die.
I opened the cupboard of my dressing table, and slid the book inside.
Then I sat cross-legged on the bed, pulling out the knight book instead.
The diagrams stared back at , as barren as before.
"Okay, ti for so aweso things."
I smirked, exhaled, then closed my eyes.
Ding.
『 User has entered Subconscious State 』
The system rang in my head sohow clearer than ever.
Subconscious state.
The sa state I’d stumbled into when I fixed my body previously.
Back then, I didn’t even know what it was. Now I did.
A state where one’s spirit connected directly with Omnipresence.
aning: not just sensing the world around , but seeing it.
At higher levels, you could even see inside your own body, through objects, even glimpse truths hidden to the naked eye.
And at the peak?
You could leave your body entirely.
Of course, all of it depended on how large your Omnipresence was.
Each person had a different limit, a ceiling they couldn’t push past no matter what.
But I wasn’t here to test limits.
I let the mana flow through my two circles, spiraling through veins, nerves, bone.
The world around shifted.
And then—
I began to see inside myself.
It was ti to learn about the mage body.
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