Classes ended almost like they usually did... save for the sombre expressions of every single person in the area.
Students aplenty were plagued by anxiety— and not because of any upcoming exams. No.
They feared for their futures.
Many also had to grieve for their friends. Those who had been vaporized had no chance to fight back, and no corpse to bury. Many parents had rushed to the school only to find their children gone because of one single misstep.
It was a tragic sight.
But Magnus was running on a different wavelength. He just couldn't help it.
With every second that went by, a new world grew closer and closer... and closer. New thrills and new experiences were about to hit him like a truck on the freeway.
He was busy studying up— by reading as many isekai novels as possible.
Adjusting his state of mind was the single most reliable preparation he could ever achieve. Such was his belief going into this new situation.
The threat of death still scared him, after all. He was deathly afraid of dying. But at the same time, he loved dancing on the edge of a knife.
It was a paradoxical emotion. Tempting fate, that is.
As for guilt... he had a few teaspoons of it. After all, so many people he knew had died without warning, all because he crashed into a wall and dusted off the dirt from an antique. Millions of innocent lives were implicated, and billions were at stake.
It was a weight too great, that Magnus would rather not think of it at all. Else it would crush him with existential dread.
He focused only on what was ahead.
"I cannot look back." He kept telling himself so as to avoid falling apart. "I exist for the thrills, and without it, life will no longer be worth living. At the same time, I must do all I can to continue living so that the thrills will come to me."
Lying down on his bed, Magnus took a deep breath as he closed the app he used to "study." Of course, he did not forget to leave a few Power Stones despite the coming of a new world. Supporting our content creators is important.
"Just what kind of world will I be going to?"
.
.
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Day 1.
Magnus continued to attend classes despite his earlier silent complaints. He saw how there was a severe decrease in attendance today. Some subjects didn't even have a teacher to teach, so all the students did was keep their minds off of things by studying.
More than half of the class no longer showed up. A third of the teachers were all who arrived.
"Hey, Magnus," A girl from his class sat beside him during their free time.
"What's up, Fae?"
"I... I was just curious. We're one of the few who are still attending classes. Isn't there anything you want to do before we... you know..."
"Go to another world?" Magnus raised a brow and scoffed, "No. I don't need to do anything other than waiting."
"Oh... Are you still having problems with your siblings?" Fae put on a caring tone.
"...Yeah. I don't want to imagine what it would be like to meet them with all the stuff that's going on. Plus, my parents will scold me for these wounds." Magnus pointed at his bandages and shrugged. "What about you, Fae? Last I heard, you had plans to go on a world tour without bringing the class with you."
Fae was about to give Magnus a few head pats as she usually did for their resident troublemaker until she heard his joking tone.
She rolled her eyes.
"Are you still going on about that?" Fae turned her head pat into a soft slap. "U-unfortunately... my parents didn't make it."
Magnus blinked.
"You mean—"
"No... it's not that they didn't sign the scroll. They died because of the Name Pillars." Fae's eyes were suddenly bloodshot as she resisted the urge to cry with all that she could.
"I... I'm sorry," Magnus pursed his lips. The small seed of guilt within him blossomed into a flower at that moment, but he quickly nipped it from the stem. His apology served as both a generic condolences message, as well as a genuine apology for being the 'main cause' of everything.
"It's fine," Fae sniffed, "That's just life for you... It's full of unexpected twists and turns."
.
.
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Day 2.
There were only three students who went to class among their batch.
Fae, Magnus, and a boy named Nicos, who came from a different class.
With the complete absence of teachers, the three used the school facilities to their liking. The empty hallways and cool rooms to contrast the summer temperatures outside were amazing hangout spots.
The rare student strolling the hallways with their friends was a sight that was rather soothing somehow. Despite all of them being complete strangers, they all greeted each other.
It somehow became a small tradition of theirs to ask, "Why are you still staying in school?"
And the answers were almost always decent topics for discussion. Almost, because those who are here because they have no one to return to were heart-wrenching topics.
Magnus' ability to suppress his guilt was truly put to the test.
"Tomorrow's the day." Nicos declared out of the blue as he sipped on his stolen box of juice.
Going through the broken vending machine, Fae let out a laugh.
"Should we try meeting up in the other world?"
Magnus blinked, "We could, you know. I've been reading a lot of isekai novels recently, and I can probably make predictions for us."
"Isekai novels?" Nicos coughed up his juice, "Do you really think that would work?"
Magnus shrugged, "I mean, if we look at these novels in the way we think of theories, then maybe? It helps me wrap my head around everything, at least."
"Still as 'innovative' as ever, aren't you Magnus? You've been like this since elementary." Fae fished out a bag of banana chips—her favourite—as she spoke.
"Pffft," Magnus spat, "It's my ability to innovate the reason why my grades are so high, Fae."
"Oh!" Nicos exclaimed, "Through those extra points supplied by the school, right? I've always admired that part of you, man. You get your grades from beyond the classes. I don't have the guts nor the energy to do that."
Magnus shrugged as he puffed out his chest, "Thanks. But yeah. Brainstorming and idea crafting are my hobbies. Let's talk about how we can meet..."
Thus, the trio spent the rest of the day talking about conditions that need to be met for a specific location to be considered their meeting place.
.
.
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Day 3.
The day of reckoning.
This time, the school was empty.
Magnus decided to stay inside his flat for the day. He had to lock the doors and even hammer boards over his windows. It was because of all the chaos going on as the hourglass grew ever closer to emptying out.
Although some kind of magic stopped anyone from killing each other, torture, thievery, and crippling someone was still a thing. The news was filled to the brim of such stories.
Magnus spent the entire day just reading and reading his novels. He ate all his favourite food and swam in Earthly desires.
And when the timer was up, he closed his eyes.
WHOOOOOOOOOOM!
A powerful pulse of energy coursed across the entire planet at this moment. Magnus guessed that such a phenomenon was caused by some energy type akin to mana.
A white light flashed, and Magnus found himself facing another scroll floating in midair. With growing familiarity, he held the scroll in his hands and unfurled it.
[[ Scroll of Entry ]]
[[ Tear the scroll to begin your trip to the planet Thare. You might have already realised this, but this is no longer your 'world.' Thare was not summoned by you lot. It was Earth that was brought here. Stop having such delusional thoughts of your importance. ]]
[[ Now! Time for a minitrial. This will be the last minitrial that this lowly Scribe can support you all with before Earth's Scribes get appointed. ]]
[[ Tearing the Scroll of Entry will transport you, yes. But pay attention to how you tear it apart. It will be the factor that decides how you will be transported. You have five (5) minutes to cement your fate with a seemingly mundane action. ]]
"How I will be transported?" Magnus raised a brow as he read aloud. "So..."
Rrrrrip!
Magnus did not think about it and just let it rip.
"Whatever will come, will come."
Hummmmm!
But at this very moment, the bronze card that Magnus could not throw away suddenly let out a hum of energy. A fierce light burst out from his pocket as another scroll appeared before him.
[[ Inheritance of the Scorned ]]
[[ Many have come before you. In the World of Blessings and Curses, you will be alone, just like us. We have infected the one and only Otherworld Trials Artefact with our powers, and hope that you can do the same too. So that one day, we can be reborn. Together, and not alone. ]]
Magnus read through the scroll and was pleasantly surprised. He was about to close the scroll when the letters started squirming once more... but this time, instead of a magical squirming, it felt... technological.
"...I shouldn't be surprised. This might be a power of one of the ones before me."
[[ *(&^*!#%@&*— Hm, has the language calibration been completed beforehand? Perfect. Now, my direct successor, you could say that those words you have just read were more of an ideal eventuality instead of a reality. The truth of the matter is that all they could do was leave a small marking. ]]
[[ It is not enough to be reborn. Unfortunately, the same could be said for me. All I have achieved was leaving behind my own Blessing and Curse. Although they're a bit troublesome, I can assure you that they would be of aid... Wait. ]]
Just as Magnus was assuming that he was reading a prerecorded message, the text suddenly changed in tone as it appeared.
[[ Your soul... it's mine! It's mine, but it has already been converted and purified... Oh no... Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL! DAMN THESE TRIALS! ]]
Magnus could swear that the text he was reading was flipping tables and chairs with the tone it was appearing in. It was an interesting experience to see words rage.
Swears aplenty appeared on the parchment that would be better left unsaid.
It took a few moments for the scroll to calm down.
Resignation could be seen in the way the words appeared— as if whatever consciousness behind it had let go of everything it cared about.
[[ My apologies. Anyways, it seems like my plans have been thwarted. Good luck living in the World of Blessings and Curses with my soul, measly human. You're in for a treat. Oh, and, since I will be snuffed out of existence from now on... ]]
Magnus waited.
[[ Screw the Trials. Screw you too. ]]
And then the scroll disappeared.
"...I'm going to have to process whatever happened slowly in the future." Magnus had a very awkward expression on his face.
It seemed like his predecessors were all very unlucky people. It made Magnus quite nervous knowing that he might have the same fate, but he was also excited to see what chaos he would be thrown into.
Even more so with that last person's words.
"We share the same soul? And so is there some kind of bad luck tied to it despite being 'purified'?" Magnus muttered as he suddenly felt the space around him warp.
"It's starting!" He exclaimed as he closed his eyes.
Then, a gut-wrenching experience descended upon him. He felt his spine get crumpled into a ball, his skull turning to liquid with his brain, and his skin melting. If Magnus could scream, he would have turned the world into a living hell with just the soundwaves from his wails.
But no. The pain was instantaneous, and he could barely register such an experience. It went way beyond his ability to feel pain.
In the next moment, he found himself in a new body.