Isaac's body jerked upright before his mind could register the cause, the same violent reflex from the Dining Hall, for a presence looming at his bedside. The figure stood unnaturally still, framed by the moonlight filtering through the dormitory window. His height cast a long shadow across the blanket, yet his frame appeared gaunt, almost skeletal in the pale light. His hair, black as midnight, shimmered faintly as though touched by moonlight.
Caelum the Clanker?
But not Caelum. His eyes were wrong.
The familiar gold, radiant eyes of the Dramatis Personae had been replaced by hazy black pupils. He stared at the lying boy without blinking, his chest not rising or falling.
What the fuck?! Why the hell is he just waiting?!
Panic surged through Isaac's veins like an aqueous solvent, yet his limbs remained locked in place by something far more insidious than paralysis. His body refused to respond, as though his motor functions had been severed from command. Only his mouth obeyed, lips parting to release a dry whisper.
"What...?"
The word hangs between them, fragile as a cobweb. Isaac's mind races through possibilities;
Sleep paralysis? A Spell? No, I don't think so. He has no magic.
Then what?! Think real-world science!
Succinylcholine Chloride? Rocuronium drugs? I'm 100% sure they weren't circulated at this point.
Unless I'm wrong… Then how?
Caelum's head tilts just slightly to the left and stares at the fourth wall of the room.
A lousy movement.
Like a lifeless marionette adjusting to its narrative strings, he finally speaks, his voice was all wrong, a hollow approximation of human speech, syllables just slightly too evenly spaced:
"Isaac. Who. Are. You?"
The air itself feels thick with a lack of passion and energy, or maybe, like the atmosphere before a lightning strike. Because the moment Isaac could move, in his own words.
I'm gonna blast this fucking Clanker to the high heavens, mf.
Isaac's pulse pounds against my ribs, the same feeling as when Isaac met the Ḧ̶̢̝̲͖̘͚̩͇̟͔̗́̿̊͂̈́̒̄̊͂̽̀̅̏͌̉͘͜ȧ̸͈̮͈̖͓̻̰͊̉́̌́̽͛͂̓̒͒̕r̷͙̯̞̩͎̬͚̼͇͒̚b̷̛͕̩̞̺̮̤̤̪̔̈́͂͗́̈́́̌́̃̌͘͠i̷̜̍̀̂͑̅̓n̸̬̖̺̭͍̟̟̻̉͋̅̽̇͌̏́̀͒̕͘͝ģ̷̢̢̧͉̩̙̬̪̥̮̖͇̇͑̌̓͘͜͝ę̶̛̘̥̗̯͉̙̹̣̣̦̺͖͋̌̃̅̒̂̈́͑̎͂̅̈́̋̕͝r̵̨̛̟̟̺̙̘̈́̍͝.
Caelum's lips part again.
"What's your worth?"
"W-what do you mean?" A genuine stutter.
Caelum takes a step closer, and the floorboards don't creak, as if he were floating. For a second, Isaac swore that his shadow didn't shift with the moonlight until 1 second later.
"You're unique. Utterly unique."
Does he know I'm a transmigrator? That should be impossible.
Unless ḩ̷̤̮̜͙̮̺̺̹̝̙̭̦͆̐̄́̓̂̔̃̏̌̔͘͘͘͝͠e̸̜̭̦͍̺̲̪̫̙͈͍̩͊̈̐̃̅̓̆̾͗͌̊̄͝͠ built a fake Caelum and sent him here to find me.
But I should be dead if not kidnapped.
So what is this guy's fucking deal???
"W-what the fuck are you saying?"
…
"Prove yourself, please, Isaac."
.
.
.
A blink and morning immediately snaps into focus.
Isaac lurches upright.
"Swirl!"
Isaac immediately releases the Clasue-Construct: 'C.S.M.F.A'. Swirling the air in his room at a speed of 6, perhaps 7 m/s, lifting and scattering anything below 15 grams. All of the paper he so painstakingly organized was completely trashed.
Morning?! The fuck?!
His heart was still pounding heavily as sweat cooled on his skin. The air in his lungs felt too manually breathed to have been anything less than reality.
Dream? Impossible. Much too real to be one.
To prove it…
Isaac's eyes darted around the messy room. Theory without evidence was nothing.
The door's unlocked. I'm sure I locked it. However, from the outside,e there are no signs of any secondary usage of a student ID. No way Caelum would have deliberately forged my ID, right? I've had it on me this entire time.
That means that he exited via the door. Not entered.
Next, there are extra hair follicles on my bed. Too short to be mine, of course.
The floorboard has some impression of weight on it.
It's gonna be disgusting but…
Isaac lowered his body and head before taking a subtle whiff.
Not very obvious, but ammonia and general musk still linger. Someone was standing here for a substantial amount of time and sweating on the boards.
La pièce de résistance.
I never leave my windows open on Earth. Never will I here. So, there shouldn't be such a minute gap.
With that. Isaac deduces…
Bruh… Bloody stalker.
Caelum the Clanker really did visit my room.
His purpose, though…
I dunno.
But that is more than enough information for me to make logical assumptions…
The only entrance into my room would be the window.
Issue?
My dorm is on the 3rd floor.
That suggests Caelum either climbed up or flew up. The latter is impossible since he's a Magicless bum, but would he really have exited the dorms just to climb up here?
"Temporal Anchor V2: Activate."
Shifting to green and binary. Isaac scans around the walls.
0̶1̵0̸1̵0̶0̷1̸1̵ ̷0̶1̷1̷1̶1̴0̵0̶1̷ ̸0̴1̵1̷0̴1̸1̸0̶0̷ ̷0̷1̶1̷1̶0̵1̵1̸0̶ ̶0̶1̵1̸0̵0̸0̸0̷1̴ ̵0̸1̴1̶0̴1̵1̸1̶0̸ ̸0̶0̵1̷0̴0̸0̴0̶0̷ ̶0̵1̸0̴0̷0̵1̷0̵0̶ ̷0̵1̸1̵0̴1̶1̶1̶1̵ ̶0̶1̶1̷1̷0̵0̸1̶0̵ ̷0̵1̷1̴0̶1̵1̷0̶1̸ ̶0̶1̵1̶0̸1̸0̷0̴1̸ ̴0̷1̵1̸1̴0̶1̸0̸0̷ ̴0̴1̸1̴0̵1̸1̵1̷1̷ ̷0̴1̷1̵1̷0̸0̶1̷0̵ ̴0̴1̵1̸1̷1̵0̵0̵1̶ ̵0̷0̶1̵0̵0̵0̶0̸0̵ ̶0̸1̶0̸1̴0̸1̸1̴1̵ ̸0̵1̶1̴0̷0̴0̸0̵1̴ ̸0̸1̶1̶0̶1̷1̷0̴0̵ ̷0̷1̴1̶0̷1̵1̷0̵0̸
Hmmm. The streams of code only display 'Esyphyr Dormitory Wall" and the material of the structure. I'm sure even if there was a speck of skin from climbing, Temporal Anchor V2 would display it since it even displayed the ants moving along the floor.
Arghh… Fuck it, man.
I can't figure out how he got in.
The highest possibility is that he suddenly gained the Wind Attribute. But could he even pull it off? He's talented, yes, so much so that he's a natural Anomaly of a Generation, but is he talented enough to cast a 4-Star at upon gaining an Element? No other Spell would be that silent that I wouldn't notice it.
Tsk…
Why isn't Temporal Anchor V2's Eidetic memory working now?
What the fuck is this shitty ass skill? I'm sure I was awake, so why can't I replay it?
Ugh… Nevermind…
But one thing stood out the most to Isaac.
Caelum's eyes.
Ewww… Their fucking creepy man. I don't think they blinked even once. What? Is some devil controlling the body? I couldn't even see the end of them.
They're just like black holes.
Hahhh…
Trouble after trouble after fucking trouble. Weirdo after weirdo. This world is slowly turning into a worse Earth for me only. Bro… Even my fucking room is all messy now.
What the hell did Caelum mean by all that man…
OH SHI一
Isaac's eyes flick up the fallen clock.
7:28 AM.
A beat of silence, then his brain catches up.
"FUCK!!!"
In a series of motions, Isaac yanked the uniform from the closet and ran out half-naked. Three flights of stairs vanished beneath his feet, each step an echo reverberating in an empty dormitory.
The auditorium is 900 meters away.... Orientation starts at 7:30…
Two minutes.
Two fucking minutes for 900 meters! I'M FUCKED! My lungs are already burning! This scrawny, untrained body isn't helping me at ALL!
I ain't built for this, ref do something T-T… I can't even use Magic to get there... I don't want my first day to end in detention.
Institute rules are clear: No unauthorized In-Threading outside designated zones.
In the most literal sense of the words. Isaac could not 'catch a break'. It had been so long since he had the restrictions of a 'fixed timetable'. At university, he would always arrive late if not reschedule the lectures to a different time.
Maybe that was the crux of his all-nighters. Nevertheless, Isaac, now a high schooler again, had to sprint.
The academic system sucks!
.
.
.
7:31 AM.
"You're late. By one minute."
The student who operated the orientation booth's voice cut through his gasping breath. His tone is cold, the kind of disapproval from a disappointed father. Isaac straightens up and tucks his uniform in, sweat-soaked and dripping down.
"I k-know—" A wheeze. "—I-I'm sorry."
STAMINA: 1% |
Thanks for telling me the obvious, dipshit.
Maybe a better cheat skill?!
"Be punctual. Don't ever let me catch you late again for future major events. You got that?"
Isaac nods, forcing a steady voice. "Yeah… No problem…"
Ooooh, 'DOn't evEr leT mE catCh yOu LaTe aGaIn foR futuRe eVentS. You Got tHat?'
Fuck you… I was late by ONE MINUTE!
It's not even my fault either way for not waking up on time.
Blame Caelum the Clanker.
Wait a minute… Haha… I'm privileged!
Hahahaha… I must not fall for such measly ragebait.
This guy probably dies in Act II either way.
Slipping past him, Isaac bolted into the auditorium. The sea of seats rushes by as he weaves through, finding an empty slot. A few students even flinch like Isaac was a feral animal that just stumbled in from the wilderness.
Tsk…
A seat, and directly under the air conditioning vent at that. Isaac collapses into that seat, still panting, but the chill soothes the lactic acid buildup.
Oh yeah~ Cold air~
MagiTech or whatever shit that was used to upgrade the air conditioning, you're the best.
Okay. Maybe this place isn't all ba一
"Good morning."
A strong accent.
Isaac opens his eyes and shifts his head right.
Who the hell are you?! Interrupting my rest time!
There sat a girl.
She had almond-shaped eyes and thick lashes. Her skin has a warm olive hue and is glowing with health. And the way she behaved and sat displayed confidence, a far cry from Isaac, who was but an uncivilized beast that melted into his seat.
"Yo. I'm Isaac Mun. You?"
Student No. 93.
"Idris. Zehrah Idris. Nice to meet you."
She extended her hand. Isaac responded with an attempt to dap her up before quickly changing into a handshake. A custom that he and his friends always upheld back in University.
Arabic lady.
She's quite beautiful.
Was she in EAA? What are her Elements? Any special attributes? Is she also a Clanker like Caelum? Why is she so friendly? Probably just confidence. Should I reflect on it?
Some things never change in the way he acts when meeting a new person.
Always over-analyzing.
Endearing. But a conditioned response.