Two minutes.
That's all it took to get from my dorm to the classroom.
I'd timed it, not because I was particularly organized, but because walking into a new class late on the first day was the kind of nightmare that stayed with you forever.
The door was right in front of me when it happened, collision.
"Oh, sorry!" The words came out before I even looked up.
She was a girl.
Dark blue hair, the kind that shimmered when it caught the light, and equally dark blue eyes that looked like they belonged on the cover of some brooding fantasy novel.
Her uniform matched mine except for the skirt, which was expected, boys got trousers, girls got skirts. School policy.
But she didn't move.
Didn't even blink at first.
Just… stared.
For a moment, I thought she was a statue someone had left in the hallway as a prank.
Then she exhaled, slow and sharp, like my very existence had been the final straw in her already miserable day.
Without a word, without even a glance back, she stepped around me and kept walking.
I stood there for a moment, frozen.
"Did I just get ignored?" I muttered under my breath.
Yeah. Yeah, I had.
With that tiny bruise to my ego, I pushed into the classroom.
Students filled most of the seats already, chatting in groups, laughing, scrolling through their devices.
I scanned the room, keeping my head low, before heading to an empty spot in the far corner.
Safe.
Quiet.
The kind of place people without friends naturally gravitate toward.
No one looked at me.
No one said a word.
Perfect.
I stared out the window, letting my mind wander as the light poured in.
Outside, the courtyard looked almost unreal, like one of those overly detailed backgrounds in a video game that you never really get to interact with.
A quiet chuckle slipped out.
Yeah, this is it. The friendless corner. Doubt anyone will even sit next to me.
Especially not the rich, polished types this academy seemed to produce in bulk.
But the universe loves proving me wrong.
Someone slid into the seat beside me.
I turned my head.
And of course, it was her.
The blue-haired girl from earlier.
Her expression was unreadable, her gaze fixed forward.
"Would you take your eyes off me," she said, her voice sharp but steady. She didn't even look my way.
I blinked, realizing I'd been caught staring for all of maybe two seconds.
"Right. Sorry."
I looked away, feeling like I'd just been handed a detention slip for breathing wrong.
So much for my prediction about having no seatmate.
Instead, I'd landed the one person in the building who seemed determined to make my existence slightly more difficult.
I sighed inwardly, trying to see a bright side in all this.
Maybe she wouldn't talk to me at all.
Maybe we could just ignore each other for the rest of the semester.
And then...
Ding!
The sound didn't come from my phone.
It came from everywhere.
Or maybe nowhere.
The blue screen flashed into existence right in front of my face.
Again.
[You Have Received A Quest!]
The text shifted. Lines unfolded.
==== Villain Quest ====
Word: I don't like this human.
Quest Info:
Get your seatmate to leave the seat.
Reward:
+1 Level
+2 Intelligence
+1 Luck
+1 Magic Power
Time Limit: 48 hours.
Penalty for Failure: You get nothing.
===========
I stared at it.
Then at her.
Then back at the floating text.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, as the shimmering blue screen hovered in front of me like a ghost that refused to vanish.
This was the third time it had appeared.
The first time, I thought it was just nothing, just my imagination.
The second time, I thought it was an illusion.
But the third time?
Only an idiot would still call it an illusion by now.
No… this was real.
A system.
My very own personal, impossible, absurdly convenient system.
And apparently, it wanted me to do… well, weird things.
Tasks.
Quests.
Whatever you wanted to call them.
And in return, it promised to make me stronger, strong enough to level up.
Rather than feeling suspicious, paranoid, or even annoyed, my chest bubbled with excitement.
This was a gem.
My golden ticket.
With this, I could become the strongest student in the academy, fast.
I almost laughed out loud at the thought, but I held it in, grinning inwardly instead.
The task it was giving me now seemed so simple.
Just get her to leave.
That's it.
Mission complete.
How hard could it be?