I arrived in front of Class 2-C's door and paused for a moment, staring into the room.
The voices of the NPCs filled the classroom. It wasn't real conversation—just overlapping murmurs and whispers, forming a constant wall of background noise. Sometimes, a random sentence would float up, completely out of context, before disappearing again into the chaos.
In the middle of it all, in the far corner of the class, Theo and Ivansia were talking. Their voices were quieter, separate from the noise around them, as if they were in their own little bubble.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, but their body language said everything. Sometimes they smiled softly, other times their expressions turned serious. Among the noisy mess, they felt like the only two people who truly existed.
Just as I was about to open the door and step inside, the second heroine, Luna Destiara, barged in ahead of me. I quickly stepped to the side, barely keeping my balance as I avoided her.
She marched straight toward Theo's desk. Her steps were loud and determined. Her chest puffed out, and her sharp eyes locked onto Theo like a laser.
"Theo! Why didn't you wait for me in front of the school like we agreed, huh?!"
Her words flew out of her mouth like a missile.
Theo gave his signature reaction—scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish smile as he apologized to Luna.
I'd seen this scene play out thousands of times. This was the moment when Luna started to develop feelings for the protagonist, Theo.
I walked to my seat at the front of the classroom and opened the same book I had been reading earlier under the sakura tree. But I couldn't focus on it. The chatter from Theo and his harem behind me was too distracting. Even though I had experienced this loop thousands of times, I still wasn't used to it.
I gave up on reading and instead pulled out my old, brown-covered notebook. An everlasting notebook I always carried with me.
I flipped it open. The page I had ripped out before had reappeared at the front again. I turned to the next page—the one that listed the unbreakable rules.
"Death causes a reset. If the main character dies, it also causes a reset. And most importantly, interfering too much with the main plot will cause a reset."
I sighed and frowned. I had already tried every possible way to fight against this world.
Trying to take Theo's role as the protagonist? Useless. The world would reset. Taking Theo's heroines? Also pointless. All I could do was help Theo from the shadows.
I flipped through more pages—each filled with notes of past loops. Horrible experiences. Being stabbed by gangsters, shot, tortured, even suicide—I had gone through them all.
Remembering those things made my body freeze up and shiver. I closed the book and waited for our teacher to arrive, trying to figure out what I should do next.
Though, deep inside... I didn't know what to do anymore.
Soon, our teacher entered. Just like me, he had no facial features. He carried a textbook and started lecturing at the front of the class about the philosophy of stoicism. I didn't really care and decided to rest my head on the desk and take a nap instead.
My breathing slowed as I was about to drift off—until the teacher suddenly yelled. I jerked my head up.
He had thrown an eraser to the back of the class. It hit Theo right on the head and sent him tumbling out of his seat.
"Pay attention when your teacher is speaking, student Theo!" the teacher shouted.
Luna laughed loudly at the sight of Theo falling, while Ivansia looked genuinely worried and checked on him.
Strange, isn't it? I was sleeping right in front of the teacher, yet he didn't say a word to me. But Theo, who was just whispering with a heroine, got an eraser thrown at his head.
As if the world only revolved around the protagonist.
I stared at the scene for a long time—Ivansia helping Theo up, Luna laughing beside him, but also quietly pulling a small bottle of medicated oil from her bag to help soothe Theo's pain.
Ding-dong.
Before I realized it, the bell rang for break time. I turned my gaze away. I'd been watching them too long, and not a single person noticed.
I found myself smiling.
Maybe this is the one and only perk... of being a background character.
I reached into my bag and pulled out the lunch I'd prepared. Even though I couldn't eat—having no mouth, I couldn't feel hunger I still tried, hoping I could someday get those feelings back.
I lifted the food to where my mouth should be, while listening in on the main characters' conversations behind me.
Eventually, I gave up on trying to eat. Instead, I just watched the main characters in the back row.
"Here," Luna slammed a pastel pink lunchbox onto Theo's desk, her cheeks red. "D-Don't get the wrong idea! This is just leftovers from last night!"
I chuckled a little. I knew full well she had made that lunch with all her heart.
Ivansia also handed Theo a lunchbox—hers was perfectly balanced with nutrition, as expected from someone smart like her.
I clenched my fist, preparing myself for what was about to happen next—something that could easily make me lose control.
Theo scratched his neck again. That annoying clueless smile showed up on his face.
"Ah, sorry! I already ate some bread earlier—"
"..."
Ah...
CRACK.
I clenched my teeth and slammed my desk as hard as I could. Hard enough that the main characters finally noticed me.
"Theo, are you serious?! Isn't it weird to reject lunch from two girls who made it just for you?! And why do you always eat bread every morning? Aren't you worried about nutrition?!"
They all stared at me. Theo squinted, confused.
"W-Who are you? Why are you suddenly yelling—?"
"I'm not yelling. I'm just sympathizing with these two girls you just rejected."
"What's your problem?! Stay out of our business! None of us asked for your sympathy!" Ivansia snapped angrily.
"Aren't you tired of always being rejected by a guy who doesn't even know what's going on? I remember he's rejected Luna 876 times and you 1,130 times!"
I let out all the anger I had bottled up over thousands of loops. I didn't care anymore if the world broke. Honestly, I had no purpose left.
Ivansia slapped me hard. A familiar hit—I had felt it before in a loop when I insulted Theo.
"You're just jealous of Theo, aren't you?! You're just a loser who's never had a girlfriend!"
I let out a dry laugh. Quiet, but sharp and full of bitterness.
"I heard you always rank number one in exams, Ivansia. But have you ever thought to ask Theo what kind of food he likes before making him lunch? Or has your intelligence already started to fade?"
Her face turned red with rage. She clenched her fists, ready to punch me.
"What do you know?!" Luna stood up, her voice shaking, eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know much," I replied, my voice low, "but watching this same drama unfold every single day is driving me insane. Don't you ever think that maybe—just maybe—people around you are getting tired of this never-ending little soap opera you're all putting on?"
Of course, the people around them were just NPCs. They didn't care. Some of them even probably supported Theo's behavior.
Ah… I finally let it out. All of it. After thousands of loops.
It's okay if the world starts breaking now.
I looked out the window. The sky wasn't falling apart yet. Maybe I had ten or twenty minutes left.
I turned back to Theo and kept going.
"Do you really not understand, Theo? Fine, I'll spell it out for you, so listen carefully. A girl who doesn't like you won't suddenly make you a lunchbox. They don't sit near you every day like a clingy cat. Even if you don't get it, you should at least be curious and ask yourself, 'Why are they doing all of this for me?'"
I was about to look at Luna again, but suddenly I felt something hit my face like a hammer. My body fell backward, crashing into the desk behind me.
Damn it. That hurt like hell. I looked up and saw Theo standing there, his fist clenched. He was the one who punched me.
I didn't expect that from Theo. I thought he was just a kind and clueless guy.
"What the hell, Theo?!" Luna shouted, shocked by what he did.
"I didn't care when you insulted me," Theo said, eyes burning. "But when you insulted Ivansia... you crossed the line!"
"Haha... Do you think protecting them makes you look noble? Do you really believe you're the hero here? That you've defeated the villain and proven your worth?"
Theo grabbed my collar and raised his fist again. He was strong—I could feel it.
Just then, someone entered. The classroom door swung open. A girl with snow-white hair stepped in. Her eyes were always sunken, and around her neck, she wore a strange necklace with a silver whistle attached—Death Whistle, she called it.
Mia Tiara. Our class president. A side character.
"Enough! Everyone, get back to your seats!" she yelled, her voice firm, silencing even the NPCs and the heroines.
Theo and the girls returned to their seats, still shooting angry glances at me. Ivansia gently rubbed Theo's back, trying to calm him down.
"You," Mia pointed at me, "stop provoking them and... go to the teachers office. Now."
I clenched my jaw. My faceless face still hurt. But I stood up and walked out of class.
Right as I stepped through the door, I heard a whisper behind me.
"Hang in there…"
Mia's voice.
I turned, wanting to ask what she meant—but she was already walking toward Theo's desk.
I didn't think too much of her words. Maybe she was just trying to cheer me up... Maybe.
Instead of going to the teachers' office, I headed for the rooftop to watch the end of the world.
Once I reached the rooftop, the smell of rust hit my nose. This place had always been my little sanctuary.
I leaned back and sat down, gazing up at the bright blue sky that would soon be torn apart.
I waited. From what I remembered, it usually took ten to thirty minutes for a reset to happen.
That whole argument earlier had lasted about five minutes. So the reset should happen in the next twenty-five minutes.
I waited. And waited. Until twenty-five minutes had passed.
I frowned. The sky was still perfectly fine. Birds still flew across it. In the distance, the church bells were still ringing.
No way... NO FREAKING WAY.
I checked my watch. Over thirty minutes had passed. The world hadn't reset. I touched the rooftop floor—the texture was still there.
My hands started trembling. I had interfered. I had messed with the storyline. But the world didn't break?
This… This was a miracle. Was this a glitch in the system? Was the script failing?
I smiled—really smiled—for the first time in a long time. If this truly was a miracle, maybe… just maybe, I could step in and resolve the heroines' problems. Maybe I didn't need Theo anymore to fix things.
"Ha... Hahahaha!"
I laughed. With relief. With joy. With hope.
This time… I'll do everything my way.