Leaving my classmate standing there, I continued forward with those words, just passing the first-year building.

As I glanced to the right, the doors suddenly swung open, revealing two jade-green pupils.

Ah...she probably just got out.

She had probably stayed even after class, in hopes that she could unlock it.

Only one member of the main cast had failed to activate her mana weapon today; that part of my book had remained the same.

Her orange hair creeping down over her eyes, hiding her trembling pupils, Haerin looked at the ground and walked forward, her cheerful and optimistic nature nowhere to be seen.

Pausing, I internally debated for a moment as she approached me.

The rest of the main would continually get stronger, now having all the time in the world to practice with their mana swords.

However...Haerin would have to wait till the end of midterms to unlock her mana weapon.

In this book, this was acceptable, as the main cast's training speed was regular.

But...with Magnus having distanced himself from the main cast earlier on, having more time to train, and Leo training in our dungeon, a huge gap would emerge.

What if I help her and she unlocks her mana sword before the battle royale...

"*TSK*"

Clicking my tongue, I turned away.

I had already said I would accept the changes in this world caused by me and not force myself to follow the novel's storyline.

If I wanted Haerin to become stronger, regardless of the plot, I could do it.

Reaching into my backpack, I grabbed a stack of paper, a glaring title sitting atop the first page.

[Unit 1 Study Guide]

I had originally planned to sell the papers to give academy students a reason behind my sudden wealth in case anything were to come out.

Wrapping my backpack around my back, I jogged forward, easily catching up to Haerin in a matter of moments.

However, her gaze locked on the ground, she continued forward, not even realizing I was beside her.

Waving the paper in front of her face, causing a gust of wind to push back her hair, revealing her motionless jade-green pupils, I awkwardly said.

"Need help studying?"

Her gaze suddenly flickered upward, as she almost fell backward in shock; her eyes must have caught sight of the title, as she immediatly questioned.

"Study guide? For the midterm!?"

Reaching out her hands, she tried to grasp it, like a dog jumping in the air for a treat, but I immediatly retracted my hand.

Her gaze finally landed on me to her right, and she narrowed her eyes.

"Are you just mocking me? Just because you formed a mana sw-"

Cutting her off mid-sentence, I tilted my head and sarcastically said.

"Really? I didn't even notice you."

Nudging her shoulder to the right, pushing me away, Haerin increased her pace, leaving me in the dust, but not even a moment later, I caught up.

Seeing she was in no mood for jokes, I smiled and said while holding the study guide above her head.

"I'll give it to you."

She ignored me and continued walking.

Shrugging my shoulders, I dropped the study guide out of my hands, allowing it to fall right into Haerin's arms.

Finally stopping, she glanced at the papers, making sure they were real, before shifting her gaze up to me.

Clasping my hands together, I said.

"You can have it all. There is only one thing I want."

"For the next two weeks, an hour of your time a day."

Her eyebrows raised to the top of her forehead, she immediatly said while attempting to push the stack of papers back into my hands.

"Look, you might not already know, but I'm not lookin-"

Sighing, having expected this response, I turned around, hiding my expression, and continued.

"TO SPAR. An hour to spar every day."

"You improve your exam grades while I get stronger for the midterm practical. Equal, right?"

After thinking for a moment, Haerin nodded her head.

"Sounds fair to me. But...I want hour study sessions for the two days before the exam."

"Deal."

Narrowing my eyes, I pressed as she nodded her head.

"Anything else to say?"

"Nope! Nothing at all!

Swiftly turning around, the sharp edges of her orange hair almost cutting my face, she marched toward her dorm building.

As she disappeared from my sight, her voice, imbued with that energetic and motivated tone that it usually had, echoed one last time.

"I won't tell anyone about the study guide!"

Did she hhearmy conversation from earlier? How does she know about that?

Turning around and waving, I finally headed back to my dorm room.

Upon entering, I ignored my muscle memory and collapsed onto my bed, slipping under the blanket.

Sometimes...the feeling of exhaustion was rather comforting.

It felt strange to always be so energized with my painting.

As I lay in my bed, ignoring my mind's commands to jump into the painting and train, my eyelids gradually shut.

The faces of three different girls appeared in the darkness of my mind: purple, white, and orange.

All of them unison whispered, as if they were right beside my ears.

"Sleep."

Thus, for the first time in months, I slept...in the real world, in my comfortable, clean, and unused bed.

...

...

...

As I opened the sliding door to the classroom, just seconds before the start of class, dozens of gazes instantly fell on me.

"...?"

Raising a hand over my face, as if I were blocking the sun, I rapidly walked to my seat, which was now beside Aizo, the boy I defeated in a duel and met in the labyrinth.

Before I could even pull the chair out and sit down, his mocking voice instantly sounded.

"Quite the celebrity, aren't you? Who would have thought, a rank 1900 garnering all this attention."

"What?"

Raising his phone and pressing it to my face, Aizo grinned and said while pointing to the students in the row behind us, who were clearly watching me.

"Read."

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