The atmosphere at the Academy was slightly heavy.
Top-ranked students competed fiercely to secure positions at better agencies, while mid-ranked students anxiously watched for opportunities to climb higher while preventing themselves from falling to the lower ranks and keeping those below them from rising up.
And the lower-ranked students like me were busy dedicating themselves to their studies, insisting they couldn't remain in their current position.
Since this was just the first exam, and another test was scheduled for next week, these grades and rankings didn't have much impact yet. That's precisely why everyone was so desperate.
In that environment, I felt like I was the only one excluded.
I could feel the looks that said, "That one's already confirmed as Bottom Rank," in their eyes.
But I couldn't argue against it.
If it were other subjects like Korean or math, I might have been able to cover for my weaknesses, but seeing my abysmal history score, I had nothing to say. When your history score hits rock bottom, people barely even see you as human.
It was like the look given to someone who just came here to become a secure government employee, and it was a bit hard to endure.
They weren't even asking for simple questions about King Sejong who created Hangul, or Admiral Yi Sun-shin who protected the country from Japanese invaders.
But in this world's history, neither King Sejong nor Admiral Yi existed. There was no Joseon Dynasty, no Three Kingdoms period, nor any history dating further back.
What was common knowledge to me was completely foreign here, and what they considered basic historical facts from birth were things I'd never heard of before.
We had different starting points.
I almost felt like giving up when I realized how different our starting lines were.
After all, Kanna Aurora was an unremarkable Bottom Rank with no significance, destined to exit the story quietly alongside others without anyone noticing. I wondered if I should just quit.
For a week, I devoted myself to history classes.
Cruelly, time passed too quickly, and learning this world's entire history in just one week was nearly impossible.
I could somehow memorize the textbook material, but I kept missing questions that weren't directly from the textbook—things they considered common knowledge but I had never learned.
My practical skills were rock bottom without question, so Bottom Rank became mine once again.
A hero aspirant who doesn't know history. The looks I received because of that weren't very pleasant.
I wondered if I should just accept it.
Would it have helped if I'd been given more time? No, I would have failed the practical exams anyway.
I was terrible at both physical combat and ability tests.
When I sighed, all I received were cold stares and looks of mockery.
Those judgmental gazes that had decided I was Bottom Rank who got every history question wrong from the start and would definitely remain Bottom Rank approached me mercilessly.
The dining hall was always full, or even when I found empty seats, they were too uncomfortable to sit at alone.
"...Hmm."
Once when I tried to eat in a corner of the cafeteria, just as I found a table with six empty seats, six people rushed over and gave me pointed looks.
After that, I couldn't bring myself to go to the cafeteria anymore.
"You just came here hoping to make a living with abilities you'll never have anyway, right?"
After hearing that, I felt too wronged to go to the cafeteria.
Some days I skipped lunch while searching for a place to eat alone, and other days I ended up wandering around with bread from the school store.
There were even times when I had to flee while eating bread because a group suddenly approached.
After finally finding a space where I could eat without anyone's judgmental stares, my heart grew cold.
Even heroes are different depending on the circumstances.
Since it's a profession that saves people, it's natural to be treated this way if your abilities are lacking.
Could I survive without attending the Academy? No, I don't know. I don't even know what to do in a place like this.
Being a good facility, the restroom didn't smell.
When I occupied a stall alone, no one else would come in, so it felt cozy.
I had never eaten here before, but I was so hungry that I had to be grateful even for this place.
I felt pathetic for becoming so submissive when backed into a corner, but I had no choice.
As I took a bite of bread with a rustling sound, tears leaked out.
I couldn't understand why I had to come to a place like this and go through all this, so I just felt wronged.
The tear-soaked bread in my mouth tasted salty and unpleasant.
I didn't mind being alone, but after facing such dismissal and contempt, I felt like I was going crazy.
Just ignore me, just leave me alone no matter what I do.
I'm sorry I don't know this world's history.
Please forgive me for reading this world like entertainment.
I, I only read this from the protagonist's perspective, I don't know the details.
Many words rose to my throat, but I couldn't say anything.
I didn't even know if saying anything would help.
Time was approaching. Not much time remained until the collapse of the Wall that would mark the beginning of the Academy story.
During that time, all I did was study, find places to eat bread, and cry while eating.
I had no friends and nowhere to turn for help, so it was just painful.
I clearly needed to ask for help, needed to somehow change this story.
In the end, everything flows according to the original story.
No matter how much I struggle, I remain Bottom Rank just like in the original, and Yoon Ha-min remains Top Rank and continues his triumphant streak until...
No. I had to stop that.
But how? How should I...
*
Kanna couldn't gather her thoughts as memories suddenly flooded in.
Whose memories are these?
Kanna, Kanna Aurora...
What original story? Why do I know these things?
Did I really do those things? No, no, I don't think I ever did that.
The unrefined mana injection had caused her to recall memories she had lost, but they didn't feel like her own memories, causing confusion instead.
Are these my memories? No, I never did that!
I don't remember anything from March to May here, I just woke up next to Ha-min!
Kanna recalled when she first regained consciousness.
She had a fleeting image of the studio apartment assigned to her, but by then the weather had turned warm, and she remembered Yoon Ha-min staying by her side in a nice space.
The diluted unrefined mana that the people inside the Wall used to control her couldn't fully restore her.
"Ugh, ah..."
Groans dripped from Kanna's mouth as she struggled with confusion.
The researchers who were about to administer the third dose of mana stopped and observed her.
Since they couldn't tell if Kanna had fully returned, they had to ask based on her visible reactions.
"Do you still not remember when you met the Strange One?"
At that question, Kanna clutched her head.
She desperately wanted to stop this confusion.
Even though her mind had regressed, she knew how difficult this was and tried hard to sort through her thoughts.
She sifted through memories that felt both hers and not hers.
"Urgh, ugh, argh,"
Strange memories suddenly invaded Kanna's mind.
She shuddered as she indirectly felt the miserable moments she couldn't believe she had experienced.
The feeling of having to hide in a bathroom stall made her skin crawl.
And at the end, she recalled the moment when Ha-min became her friend, feeling a small joy inside.
Kanna Aurora thought it impossible that she would become friends with Ha-min, yet she felt that joy at his simple offer of friendship. But that brief happiness was interrupted as the memory they were looking for returned.
She recalled what she had done when she first regained consciousness, something she had no memory of doing.
She thought that what she had intended to do then and now hadn't changed, but knowing the current situation, Kanna wanted to stop.
"You idiot, that will only encourage the Strange One's actions," she thought.
But she couldn't stop what her past self had done, so that voice couldn't reach anyone.
"I, I remember... I remember..."
Kanna answered, trembling.
She recalled how she had desperately searched for the totem with only the clue that it was in a village near the Wall, not even knowing which village it was. This had hastened the Strange One's actions, causing it to find her during the next invasion.
That memory also felt somewhat detached from her.
She broke into a cold sweat and flinched as she remembered the Strange One kicking her and a newly transformed monster tearing off her arm.
She trembled at the disconnect—recalling memories that didn't feel like her own.
Upon hearing her response, the researchers determined that her brain had been fully repaired and stopped the unrefined mana injections.
"Recovery complete. We will begin the interrogation."
They brought in an iron chair with multiple restraining belts for her limbs.
Then they pulled the now calm and limp Kanna from the bed and sat her in the chair.