"Hey Cassien..."

"Is he drunk as well?!"

"Not more than you, Aiysha."

Those two female voices now felt distant, as though they were speaking to another version of himself, but Cassien simply followed along until everything gradually returned to normal.

Up until the very end of the banquet hall, where he reunited with his father and sister.

...

He was finally back home.

’Third transmigrator, interesting...’

Cassien sat back in his room, his thoughts still lingering on the coincidence of meeting another transmigrator.

After that incident, not much else happened inside the banquet hall aside from Chris trying to introduce him to a few unfamiliar faces, people he most likely wouldn’t even see once academy life began.

Strangely enough, none of them bothered introducing him as Aiysha’s fiancé.

He didn’t particularly care, but the whole thing felt oddly intentional.

’Marry a girl who doesn’t even know my real name?’

No matter how much he thought about it, this arrangement was never meant to last anyway. The novel itself made that painfully clear.

Currently, he was packing the remainder of his belongings. It was only a little past ten at night, and he still had to wake up by eight in the morning.

The opening ceremony would begin at exactly 9:00 AM.

For some reason, he was stupidly curious to witness it firsthand.

Either way, while getting his things together, he tried piecing together what he had seen regarding Jameson Sparrow.

His system had clearly stated that man was a transmigrator. Which meant there was also a chance Jameson possessed similar knowledge about him.

’Ishido Kuroka.’

Cassien had written the name down the moment he saw it, keeping the note tucked away with him.

’The man fated to die.’

He found himself wondering about that man’s game-like system.

’Is his as unique as mine? That’s probably why he was acting so disgustingly vile, just like Jameson Sparrow. Maybe he earns some sort of character points for it.’

His thoughts spiraled deeper by the second.

This world was becoming more dangerous far too quickly.

’But it’s strange... I only saw his system after thinking about Jameson’s fate. Is that how you unlock the interface of [Transmigrate]?’

’There’s definitely a possibility.’

The longer he analyzed it, the worse the implications became.

’Unless he read all the way to the end of the novel, there’s no way he knows about my fate.’

Just as he sank deeper into thought, a presence stopped outside his bedroom door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come on in."

The door slowly creaked open as Alexandria stepped inside, forcing a cheerful smile onto her face.

"Hey, brother."

Cassien glanced over.

"Why’re you here this late? You have school tomorrow. Tiara should’ve already put you to sleep."

Alexandria immediately turned her gaze away, crossing her arms.

"And you’re talking?"

A small chuckle escaped him.

"I was just about to sleep. Just wanted to stare at myself in the mirror a little before bed."

Alexandria puffed her cheeks.

"Whatever you say."

"So then, why are you here?"

She looked directly into his eyes.

"I wanted to give you this before you leave."

Slowly, she opened her palms and revealed a shining necklace, carefully placing it into Cassien’s hands.

"Here. My father and I made it for you. What do you think?"

Cassien lowered his gaze, and for the first time in a long while, something close to gratitude surfaced within him.

It was a gold necklace, polished enough to shimmer faintly beneath the candlelight. Not too large, just the perfect size for his neck.

At the end hung a circular stone casing that opened and closed like a tiny gear mechanism.

Alexandria eagerly reached forward and opened it herself while Cassien watched.

"You see?!" she exclaimed. "It’s a family photo! Me, you, and father when we were younger!"

Cassien smiled faintly before slipping the necklace around his neck.

"Thank you, sister. I’ll keep this with me for as long as I live."

A sudden warmth spread across Alexandria’s face.

Then her expression softened.

"This is the last time I’m going to see you, right?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Cassien kept his gaze steady.

"Don’t say that. There’ll be breaks. I’ll come back to visit you."

She looked up at him again.

"You promise?"

"Pinky promise."

A smile finally formed on her lips.

Without another word, she turned around and began walking toward the door.

"Safe travels, brother."

Cassien waved lightly as the door opened, then shut behind her.

Now that Cassien’s supposed ’backstory’ had completely derailed, whatever happened next should theoretically align with the novel’s main events.

Nothing he had done so far should’ve been enough to land him in prison.

Or worse, exile.

But then what exactly caused him to kill the protagonist?

That question gnawed at him relentlessly.

He wanted answers badly, yet none came.

From everything he had seen, Cassien didn’t seem like the type to kill purely out of cruelty. Most of the people he targeted were already guilty of doing something wrong.

Still, right now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

After finally finishing packing, Cassien collapsed onto his bed, allowing himself a brief moment of rest before sleep.

’So tomorrow... academy finally begins.’

Before closing his eyes, he pulled up his stats one final time.

------------------------

[Status]

Level: 10

[Attributes]

Strength: 21

Agility: 23

Endurance: 20

Intelligence: 25

Perception: 26

Luck: 29

[Weapon Mastery: Pistol]

Accuracy: C

Reload Speed: C-

Handling: C+

Critical Aim: C-

[Skills]

Basic Firearm Handling Lv. 5 → 10

Quick Draw Lv. 10 → 13

Observation Lv. 20 → 23

Sniper Lv. 3

[Weapon Mastery: Metal Knife]

Accuracy: E → D-

Cuts: D- → D

Handling: E → E+

Critical Aim: D-

[Skills]

Quick-Stab Lv. 5 → 6

[Mana Updated]

Current Mana: 100

Maximum Mana: 100

Mana Recovery: 1.2 per minute

------------------------

Every increase had come from his own efforts toward improving his personal stats.

’With numbers like these, I’ll easily be one of the strongest in the academy.’

Though strength alone meant very little there.

Academy life wasn’t simply about overpowering others. It was about strategy, adaptability, and intelligence.

The people he would meet tomorrow would finally make this painfully dull life of his slightly more entertaining.

Then, pulling the blanket over himself, Cassien closed his eyes. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’Time to meet the protagonist for the first time.’