I did not walk back to my dorm.
I escaped.
The moment Seraphina disappeared into the crowd and the plaza erupted into chaos, I felt something primal awaken inside me.
It was called self-preservation through running like a coward.
"KYLE RUN!" Rex shouted.
I ran.
Students scattered as I sprinted through the academy like a criminal who had just confessed to treason instead of love. Laughter, shouting, gasps, and shocked whispers chased me from all sides.
"That was the worst confession I've ever seen!"
"I can't decide if that was brave or suicidal!"
"She didn't reject him!"
"HE CALLED HER COLD AND BEAUTIFUL IN THE SAME SENTENCE!"
My face burned hotter than dragon fire.
Rex kept pace beside me, laughing like a madman.
"Bro," he wheezed, "that was legendary! I'm telling my grandchildren about this!"
"You will not live long enough to have grandchildren if you keep this up," I hissed.
We turned into an empty side corridor and finally stopped.
I bent over, hands on my knees, trying to breathe like a normal human being instead of a panicking small animal.
"I want to die," I whispered.
[SYSTEM NOTE: YOU ALREADY DID. PLEASE DO NOT WASTE THE SECOND TRY.]
"System," I muttered, "I will uninstall you emotionally."
Rex slapped my back.
"She didn't reject you, man! Do you know what that means?!"
"It means my funeral got delayed," I said.
---
[CURRENT STATUS – KYLE VON BLACKTHORN]
Strength:24
Agility: 24
Endurance: 25
Intelligence:18
Charm:36
Luck:18
Embarrassment Resistance: 18/100
Passive: Cringe Armor (LVL 1)
Mental Stability:Shaken but alive
Execution Countdown: 1 Year, 364 Days
Special Flag:Observed by Irregular Entity (Hidden)
"…What does 'irregular entity' mean?" I whispered.
[SYSTEM RESPONSE: YOU WILL FIND OUT AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME.]
"Fantastic."
Rex leaned over to look at my frozen expression.
"Why do you look like someone cursed your bloodline?"
"Because someone probably did."
---
By evening, the entire academy knew.
No.
The entire city probably knew.
Rumors mutated every ten minutes:
"Kyle confessed because he lost a bet."
"Kyle is secretly under a love curse."
"Seraphina accepted him in private!"
"Kyle is challenging the Hero for Seraphina's hand!"
The last one was especially incorrect and especially fatal.
Every time I stepped outside my dorm, students stared, pointed, whispered, or openly laughed.
Some glared.
Some looked fascinated.
Some looked… excited.
Rex became my self-appointed bodyguard and hype-man.
"Don't worry, I'll handle this," he said confidently.
He immediately spread more rumors.
"Did you know Kyle fainted after the confession?"
"I DID NOT FAINT!"
"He cried too!"
"I DID NOT CRY!"
"Okay fine, he only spiritually disintegrated."
That was accurate.
---
On the opposite side of the academy—
Aether Vale stood on the training field, his sword cutting cleanly through the air in smooth arcs.
His mind, however, was not focused.
"Tell me everything you saw," he said.
Lina stood beside him, hands clasped tightly.
"He didn't threaten her," she said softly. "He didn't mock her either. It wasn't… what people said he used to be like."
"Exactly," Aether muttered.
He remembered the pressure he had felt.
Not murderous.
Not violent.
But wrong.
Like fate itself had stuttered.
"He's hiding something," Aether said. "Villains don't change so suddenly without a reason."
Lina hesitated.
"…Do you think he's dangerous?"
Aether slowly sheathed his sword.
"I don't know," he admitted.
"That makes him more dangerous than if I were certain."
From that moment on—
The Hero's eyes turned toward me.
Not as an enemy yet.
But as a variable.
---
High above, in the quiet of a restricted observation tower—
Seraphina Dawncrest stood alone.
In front of her hovered a translucent crystal filled with flowing light.
Within it—
Images replayed.
My stumble.
My stutter.
My cracked voice.
Her own reflection watching me.
"…Interesting," she murmured.
She touched her chest lightly.
No heartbeat acceleration.
No emotion spike.
And yet—
Her hand lingered.
"He deviated when deviation was impossible."
A faint, unnatural ripple passed through the crystal.
A whisper of something deeper.
Something ancient.
Her golden eyes darkened slightly.
"Watch him," she said to the air.
Shadows shifted.
Something unseen obeyed.
[OBSERVER COUNT: INCREASING]
---
Back in my dorm, Rex kicked the door closed and flopped onto the couch like he owned the place.
"So," he said cheerfully, "how does it feel to become the most talked-about idiot in the academy in under one day?"
"I achieved in one afternoon what some men cannot in a lifetime," I said solemnly.
"Legacy."
I sank into my chair.
"Rex," I said quietly. "Why are you not scared of me?"
He shrugged.
"You look scared enough for both of us."
"…That's not comforting."
Rex leaned forward, suddenly serious.
"You really don't know why people fear you, do you?"
I hesitated.
"I know what he did," I said. "But I'm not him."
Rex stared at me for a long second.
Then nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "That's what I figured."
There was no judgment in his voice.
Only casual acceptance.
For reasons I didn't understand—
That meant more to me than anything else that had happened today.
---
Night deepened.
The academy lights dimmed.
Silence crept through the halls.
I stood at my window, looking out over the glowing campus.
Rex was already snoring on the couch.
I exhaled slowly.
"I survived today," I whispered.
[SYSTEM RESPONSE: YES. BARELY.]
Then—
A cold sensation crawled across my spine.
[WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED OBSERVATION DETECTED]
My breath hitched.
I turned.
Nothing.
The room was empty.
Still.
Quiet.
Yet the feeling intensified.
Like I was being examined through layers of reality.
Then, faintly—
A knock.
Not at the door.
At the window.
I froze.
"Kyle von Blackthorn," a soft voice whispered from the darkness outside.
My blood ran cold.
That voice—
It wasn't Seraphina's.
It wasn't a student's.
It sounded… hollow.
Like multiple echoes overlapping.
I slowly pulled the curtain aside.
A figure hovered outside my window.
A woman-shaped silhouette wrapped in black mist.
No face.
Only shifting shadows where eyes should be.
[ENTITY IDENTIFIED: ???
Classification: OUTSIDE FATE]
Threat Level: UNKNOWN]
My heart slammed against my chest.
"What… what are you?" I whispered.
The shadow tilted its head.
"You are not on the script," it said.
"And the script does not tolerate errors."
Behind me, Rex suddenly stopped snoring.
The shadow raised one misty hand and placed it against the glass.
The window began to frost from the inside.
Slow.
Creeping.
Deadly.
[MAJOR ARC FLAG UNLOCKED]
[ARC NAME: THE WATCHERS BEYOND FATE]
The entity's voice softened into something almost gentle.
"Do you know what happens to miswritten characters, Kyle von Blackthorn?"
The frost reached my fingertips.
"No," I whispered.
"They are deleted."
The glass began to crack.