What should I do?
Everything is turning out very badly. The event has strayed too far from the original storyline—so far that even Seora doesn't know what will happen if she keeps dragging this.
"Han Seora... As a fellow student, I admire your will to learn. But, don't you think learning someone else's secret is too far?"
Technically, you're the one who revealed it. That's what she wanted to say.
"Don't question my choice. Everything that I do is for the sake of the future."
"What did you say?"
They glare at each other—Lucian, who hates people who stick their nose in other's business. Against Seora who tried to save the story.
"Sorry I'm late. Seora? What are you doing here?"
Both of them turned their heads. It was Seo Ji-Hye, covered in sweat.
Seora frowned slightly.
Forgot?
What do you mean forgot?! I saw you there laughing with that boy, as if your life isn't full of problems already.
But Seora stayed composed.
"Oh! Ji-Hye, where have you been?"
"Sorry, I forgot."
"Now that Ji-Hye is here, I ask you to leave Seora."
"You don't have to tell me. I'm already on my way."
Seora doesn't know, but she has accidentally piqued the male lead's interest, thus she has entered the path that she can't turn back.
The path of the protagonist.
◆◆◆
"see you next time," the girl said, waving her hand.
"See you," Ji-Hyun said waving back.
"It must be very fun ignoring me, huh?"
Ji-Hyun turned his head back, with a slight blush on his face, he pinched my cheek using his left hand.
"W-What?" My voice came out weird.
"Are you jealous of her?"
"We are not that close yet."
"I guess so," he said, releasing my cheeks.
[? Kim Ji-Hyun ? Has shown a deep interest in you]
[Stranger » Friend]
Bruh... Two friends already?! Did I accidentally download some kind of cheat?
The relationship system works by using EXP to show the progression of friendship.
It increases when you do something that makes them happy and decreases when you do something that upsets them — It was obvious.
I guess because the game became a reality, I can quickly make friends with others just like in real life.
Ji-Hyun turned toward the window, before he suddenly realized something.
"I completely forgot," he said.
"What did you forget?" I said rubbing my cheeks.
"Sorry, Kylen, I'm going first—I'll see you in our room!"
He hurriedly cleaned off his table and returned the dishes, before running out of the cafeteria.
"What was that about?"
I turned my head and tried to see what was making Ji-Hyun act like that, and I found it pretty quickly. Because it was a scene from the game.
Where Seora has to step in to stop Lucian from getting away... or something like that.
If I'm correct, this is the part where Seora took the protagonist's place
"...Weird?"
I'm sure I remember this part of the story... But the details felt off.
"Who is the original main character again…?"
The moment the thought crossed my mind, something felt wrong. Not the kind of "I forgot" wrong.
It was closer to… blank.
I knew there was someone. There had to be, this was their scene, their moment. But when I tried to remember—
nothing came out.
No name.
No face.
Not even a silhouette.
Just an empty space, like a page that had been torn out.
"That's… weird."
I frowned, pressing my fingers against my temple.
Think.
I've read this before. I know this story. There's no way I'd forget something like the main character—
The moment I tried to force it, a sharp pain pierced through my head.
"—gh."
It came without warning, like something snapping inside.
My vision blurred for a second. The cafeteria, the corridor, even the memory itself felt like it was being pulled apart.
I clenched my teeth, grabbing my head tighter.
"What the hell…"
It wasn't just pain, my thoughts were slipping. Like every time I got close to remembering, something would push it away—hard.
Forcefully.
"This… isn't normal."
I exhaled slowly, trying to steady myself, but the discomfort lingered like a dull echo in the back of my mind.
Whatever that was…
I had a bad feeling about it.
◆
I opened the door to my room, to find it still unchanged...
Wait no something has changed.
I can see the window shards scattered on the floor, and the window is now cracked with a small hole.
"Did something happen?"
My eyes moved to the window.
Cracked.
I stepped closer, crouching slightly as I looked at the edges of the hole.
The glass wasn't shattered outward. Something had broken it from the inside.
"…That's not good."
I ran my fingers along the frame, feeling the uneven surface. Some of the shards were still stuck in place, bent outward like something forced its way through without hesitation.
I realized something...
"...Swallow?"
I turned toward the table. It was still there...
Like nothing had happened. I reached out and interacted with it.
A row of messages appeared.
[Swallow's level has increased to Level 6]
"...What?"
More lines followed.
[Swallow had fully digested the corpses]
[New form is now listed on the polymorph skill]
└ Snake — New!
└ Bird — New!
└ Spider — New!
[Swallow had devoured three corpses, and now entered slumber phase]
"What the hell happened while I was gone?"
I only gave it the snake corpse, right?
Then where did the other two come from?
I frowned, trying to recall if I missed something earlier, but nothing came up. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything that could cause this.
"…Don't tell me you did all this on your own."
The thought felt ridiculous.
But looking at the window…
I couldn't exactly deny it either.
"There's no point thinking about it now. I need to clean this place first."
I pick up a broom and swipe the floor. Using the tape I found on the table, I covered the hole—better than nothing, right?
I lay there, staring at the ceiling. The room was quiet again. To the point that it felt lonely.
The broken window, the missing pieces, the headache—none of it felt real, yet none of it could be ignored either.
"…What kind of start is this?"
My eyes grew heavier as time passed.
"… I hope this will end soon."
[You have finished the prologue]
___
As a result, a few of the unloaded files will be restored:
└ A portion of the player's Authority will be restored.
└ Minerva will be given in a form of a tablet.
└ The player's headache will be reduced.
___
[Kylen Noor will never know of this message]
[We wish you the best]
To be continued.