I made my way to the training room.
After the experience of yesterday, I came to the conclusion that my raw talent wasn't enough to bridge the gap between me and truly talented individuals.
The instructor had taught me that firsthand.
I knew that A-Ranks were strong.
Much stronger than me.
But to that extent?
That makes it three.
Three times I've felt such an overwhelming pressure that I couldn't think of any route to victory, even with my extensive knowledge of the past.
The eye.
The disembodied voice.
And now my instructor.
And that's three times too many.
The instructor, of course, wasn't comparable to the other two, but nonetheless struck a fear into my heart that I wasn't familiar with in my last life.
When I walked in, I was met by a few familiar sights.
There were ranks one and two—Erhart and Selene, training vigorously.
They would occasionally fling glances at each other for a few seconds before returning to what they were working on with increased vigour.
When I entered, they both looked up at me, almost in sync.
"What are you doing here?" Erhart was sociable as always, so him speaking to me wasn't surprising.
"Hmph!" Selene's response wasn't really a surprise either.
Were these guys the only ones here?
Oh yeah, it was 11pm.
Why were these guys here?
Don't they know that kids need at least 10 hours of sleep?
What time did they expect to get up, still training by 11pm?
I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind.
You're a kid too now.
"Hey," I started awkwardly, "how are you guys?"
What was I on about?
'How are you guys.' Really? Might as well have said 'Heya buddies, how are ya today?'
Oh wait. That sounds awkwardly familiar.
Who could it be?
Oh well, didn't matter now.
I walked towards the equipment.
I had acquired a new skill after yesterday. Even if it hadn't directly boosted my strength yet, I was still over the moon.
[Skill: Near-Death Adaptation (B-)▾
A growth in strength after experiencing a near-death experience. This is limited to 10% per experience.
(This ability has the potential to evolve!)]
If I just repeated the situation with the instructor, I should be S-Rank in no time.
[Uh-huh. Yeah try that, it'll go great]
The weights were the expensive 'Variable Weights' that had come out earlier this year.
Of course the school could afford it. Why was I even surprised.
[Item :Variable Weights (S)▾
Weights that can have their weight adjusted by inputting mana. Maximum of 300 tonnes.]
Oh wow.
Three hundred tonnes. That was excessive.
Let's try it out.
I walked over to the weight, two pairs of eyes watching me till I got there.
"Be careful with that." Erhart warned.
I decided that I could handle it. I had survived the instructor so there's no way a measly weight would be any difficult.
I inputted all my mana. I could feel the stand creaking under the weight.
I slid it off the rack, not bothering to check the weight of it first.
I expected it to be 2-3 tonnes, easily manageable with mana enhancement
I stopped it with my arms.
I tried lifting it up and was immediately encountered with a stark realisation.
This was heavy. And unmanageably so.
"Shit!" I shouted, expecting the declaration to give me some sort of strength boost.
It didn't.
"ERHART! HELP, I'M DYING." I shouted out, the weight of the weights pressing on my chest, threatening to bisect me in half at the torso like a certain kit-kat.
I could hear Erhart running over, and Selene chuckling to herself in the background.
He wasn't going to make it in time.
I couldn't hold this up anymore.
I had no mana left to use to enhance my arms.
I'm going to fucking die.
This is even worse than my last life. I'm gonna die hopelessly in front of not one, but two main characters.
My elbows started making a creaking noise, my bones buckling under the weight.
How had I even gotten this off the rack?
Shit.
The weight came crumbling onto me, and before I lost consciousness, I felt the unwelcome sensation of something in my chest popping.
[Warning: You have died!]
[■■■■■ has permitted ■■■■ ■■■■■■]
[This will not happen again.]
The sensation of my body was returned to me.
What?
Who was that?
This is the second time I've encountered them. And both times they've done me huge favours.
My skin was soaked with sweat, the tremor in my left hand that I had done so much to ignore previously had returned.
My bones felt as if they were fake. Distorted.
My muscles felt as if they had melted and been reassembled before my very eyes.
It hurt.
It hurt so much I wish I could die.
I slipped in and out of consciousness due to the sheer agony of it all.
I was shaken.
Down to my very core.
I was afraid.
Of myself.
Of the entity.
And frankly, I didn't know if being brought back to life was a blessing or a curse.
It all felt... intentional.
The way I had behaved was unusual, I would never not check the weight beforehand.
I wouldn't just dump my mana into that, leaving nothing for body enhancement.
It felt like something had guided me towards that.
Had planned that.
Had set up the dominos and forced me to push them over.
What was happening to me?
I looked around, my vision starting to return in segments. Unlike the last time I died, my vision returned to me in a more ordered format.
Colour, shape, depth, tone.
It returned in a more timely approach, every 5 or so seconds, another part of sight would return, slow enough to not overload my brain, but fast enough to not cause unease.
After the 20 seconds it took for my senses to be back to 100%, I looked around.
I had returned right under the rack, my hands just starting to grasp the bar.
This is really what I died to?
I didn't get it.
Why was that entity helping me, and what connection did he have to me.
[The less you know, the better.]
It seemed the system knew something about it too.
[I don't just know something about them, I know everything there is to know about them.]
[Which is why I'm telling you. The less you know, the better.]
I nodded, although not fully convinced.
If the system truly didn't want me to find out about it, I wouldn't be able to, regardless of how much I tried.
I picked myself up from below the bar, deciding that after that event, I didn't want to try that anymore. At the very least not for now.
The air outside was a little more chilly than before, a gentle reminder that winter was coming.
Although I knew that winter would no longer be a season of joy.
Remembering that now, I only have 8 days.
I had to build a relationship with Erhart, make both of us stronger, and inform him the best I could about the cataclysm.
I ran back into the training room only to realise he was gone.
I probably look really stupid right now don't I.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The moment I got to the dorm, I started studying.
If physical training wasn't the best thing to do, then mental training would be the next best.
Thankfully my dormmates were asleep.
I really had to do well on the next test so I could get out of here.
I studied every topic I could remember from school.
[Skill: Memory is activating strongly]
I couldn't study what we had learnt in physical training because I wasn't conscious for the duration of it, but I would do what I could anyway.
I was able to memorise everything from all the lessons we'd had so far.
Was this skill a little unfair?
Maybe.
Was I going to abuse it?
Absolutely.
[An important person is curious about your identity.]
[316 points gained.]
[Points Available: 300]
Ooh nice.
Wait why would somebody be curious about my identity now?
And what does 'important person' entail.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Effects of Zero (■) activated.]
Reality distorted around me for a few seconds, the previously peaceful sound of wind turned into a mechanical whirring that peered into me.
After a few seconds, it returned to normal.
I had fallen asleep at my desk studying.
What time was it?
Please don't be late.
I checked my clock.
Blank?
I looked away and looked back, hoping it was my eyes messing with me.
Nope, it was still blank.
Where else had I felt this before?
Oh.
A crack had formed in my wall.
Not again please.
"System." I pleaded, wanting to see if there was something, anything I could do.
[System is unable to intervene here.]
[System is unable to intervene here.]
[System is unable to intervene here.]
3 times?
The crack widened.
Like I expected, beyond the darkness of the crack was the void.
There was nothing. And somehow this time, this darkness felt worse than the last. More ominous. More malevolent. I could sense murderous intent.
I waited, expecting the eye to appear and break my mind again.
But nothing came.
{■■■■■ is requesting a meeting!}
{If you do not accept in the next 0.16 seconds, you will die in the most excruciating form imaginable.}
{Yes or no}
I didn't have time to think. I pressed Yes.
There was no flash of light. No dramatic pull. Just a shift — like something had stepped behind my eyes. The world stayed the same, but it stopped feeling real. My thoughts felt… crowded. Not louder. Not different. Just no longer alone.
A presence didn't announce itself. It simply existed, impossibly close, as if it had always been there, waiting for me to notice.
[System currently unavailable]
It felt like my connection to the world I knew had been severed.
{Hello.}
The voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It sounded ancient. Not old — ancient. Like it had existed before language and learned how to speak purely for me.
"Hello…?"
I didn't know how someone was supposed to greet what felt like a god.
{Speak comfortably. You may ask questions. I can guarantee no answers.}
I tried to look up, to find the voice — but the instant I moved, my body failed.
It went limp. Completely unresponsive. Like it had shut itself off.
I half expected that.
The pressure he exuded, almost unintentionally, was shocking.
Among all the cosmic beings I had encountered so far, this was easily the strongest. And by a huge margin.
But it was worth a shot.
{By the way, I revoked the regression ability. It didn't serve any meaningful function. Some things… are better not being seen too many times.}
Something felt off about the way he said that. Like he knew more than he was letting on.
Like he was scared of something.
"Dude, it was my highest-ranked skill," I complained.
Excluding whatever Zero was.
But I didn't need to tell him about that.
{Fine. I'll give you something in return. What do you want?}
"An EX rank!" I responded without hesitation.
{Nope!}
He responded just as quickly.
{I'll give you this. I'll also re-enable your system for the time being so you can check it out. Be quick. You have forty-five seconds. I'm counting.}
[Skill: ■■■■■'s Subspace (SS)▾An enhanced space in which you can store items.
Cooldown: 30m]
[Due to the effects of Zero (■), the cooldown has been reduced significantly.]
{Excessive use will lead to physical damage}
Holy shit.
A subspace skill was incredibly rare.
Raids were made dozens of times easier by subspace skills.
And here I was, with one given to me by a seemingly omnipotent power.
I already had so many ideas. This could change everything.
{Actually no. That's a bit excessive. Especially not now.}
[Skill: '■■■■■'s Subspace (SS)' has been revoked.]
What.
{Wait. I'm considering what to give you.}
[Meeting time has ř̷͖͙̣̦͉̈̉͝ū̶͉̟͙̓̌͐n̴̝͔̭̾͆ ǒ̷͖͙̣̦͉̈̉͝ū̶͉̟͙̓̌͐t̴̝͔̭̾͆-]
{Yeah, that's not happening. I'm a man of my word.}
[Meeting time has been extended indefinitely]
{I think I can permit you this.}
[Skill: Cloning (S)
You can create a clone of yourself with 60% of your overall stats. If clones gain stats, 50% of those stats will be attributed to you. If clones gain skills, you gain the same skill with lower proficiency.
If the clone dies you lose 65% of all stats (excluding intelligence) for 2 days
Max clones: 1
Cooldown: 24 hours]
Oh, yay? I think this might be almost as versatile as subspace?
I would still definitely prefer subspace, don't get me wrong, but this is a step up from nothing.
[Due to the effects of Zero (■), the cooldo-]
[Effects of Zero (■) have been nullified]
[Cooldown is 24 hours!]
{That would be a bit OP if I let you have a low cooldown with that.}
Fair enough. I was annoyed, but I'd effectively traded a useless skill for an extremely powerful and versatile one.
I had very little to complain about.
{That guy should be gone by now. He can't really stay in your world for long. If he comes back, I'll save you if I need to. If I don't save you… then good luck. But he shouldn't be back for a while.}
{Also, while we're here, I'm nerfing Zero, can't have you becoming too reliant on things like that, can we?}
[Some effects of Zero (■) have been sealed indefinitely.]
No! Dude, what?
You can't be serious.
I can't tell if I had gained overall or lost overall.
Cloning seems good, as long as they don't die.
And the rest was an overall nerf.
And a bad one at that.
The number of things happening around me started taking a toll on my self-esteem.
How did Erhart keep his chin up so much?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My physical body was returned to me, and I woke up in the same place I had been before.
I really need to get to class.
The clock read 8:38
I had 7 minutes to get to school
"Can I catch a break?"
[6 days left]