"Argh!" Archie grumbled, his eyes wincing from a searing sensation that made it challenging to open them.
He could sense he was sprawled on a bed that wasn't his. The bedsheet was as soft as a cloud, tempting him back into the realm of sleep.
However, a single thought sparked Archie into alertness. Despite the stinging in his eyes, Archie propped himself up on the bed and massaged his eyes until the discomfort eased.
With his eyes still smarting, Archie cautiously activated his E-Screen.
He navigated to the [Cumulative Sign-in] tab and saw:
[Cumulative Sign-in]
---
[Sign in for a certain number of days to earn rewards.]
[You can earn all the rewards by signing in consecutively.]
---
[Today Sign-in]
[Sign-in] [Cancel]
A sigh of relief escaped Archie's lips when he saw that the cumulative sign-in hadn't been disrupted. He clicked [Sign-in] and reclined on the bed, but this action sparked a question. He fished his phone out of his pocket and checked the date:
[May 29, 2031]
[07:00 AM]
"If I'm in the academy right now, I got here within a day. How?"
"Even by flight, it takes two days to reach the Rhoman district and another day to get here."
Archie was puzzled for a few moments, but he knew the answer deep down and murmured,
'Blue Rifts.'
On his planet, Lurea, there are two types of rifts: Blue and Red.
Red rifts are gateways that allow people to explore new territories or uncharted areas somewhere in the universe and hunt monsters. That's the common belief among humans.
But the Blue rifts were even more baffling. These rifts appear in certain regions on the planet and enable humans to travel to another country or to certain uncharted areas within their own planet, like deep-sea caves.
Most dismiss them as useless because they simply vanish and reappear in an instant without any warning. They can't be used permanently for travel due to their unpredictable disappearance.
At this moment, Archie had been teleported swiftly within a day using Blue rifts, which are not accessible to ordinary people like him—something he could never have dreamed of entering until now.
Archie mulled over this while resting for a few minutes until his eye irritation became manageable. Then, he sat up in bed and decided to scrutinize the room he was in.
In the snug room, painted in creamy tones, the first thing Archie noticed was a wooden bed directly opposite him. The absence of a bedsheet and pillows suggested he was alone, or perhaps his roommate hadn't arrived yet.
The opening ceremony doesn't commence until tomorrow, Friday, and classes don't begin until Monday, leaving two days in between. Archie was already planning not to leave the room, fervently hoping he wouldn't get a roommate, because he was certain his roommate would be from the High clans.
Archie rose and surveyed his room to locate his belongings, which he had packed minimally as he stored most of them in his inventory. He glanced to his left and saw a massive bookshelf covering the entire wall. It was a wooden brown bookshelf adorned with pristine, untouched book covers.
Archie ambled towards the bookshelf and stared for a few moments until he realized that there was no book here he had seen or heard of before, nor were any of them published for the public.
"Does each room have its own library? That's the Rhoman Academy for you."
Archie glanced to his right and saw the door. He could tell it led to the outside from the faint corridor light seeping under the door gap.
Archie pivoted and headed to the opposite side where he saw two newly furnished doors on the freshly painted wall, which even had some paint drip marks. He glanced at the door in the left near corner that read:
[Bathroom]
Archie was captivated by the door on the right, which lacked any signs. With a gentle push, he opened the door that had no doorknob.
What greeted him was a room far more spacious than his own, filled with objects and equipment that were beyond his comprehension. His eyes were immediately drawn to the gun range in the far-right corner, a few meters away from him. Adjacent to it, on the left, were dummies set up for sword practice.
In the center of the room, an open closet displayed an array of guns and swords, each hanging on the wall like a warrior's trophy.
To his right, a brand-new PC setup pulsed with neon lights, casting an eerie glow on the wall behind it.
Further to the left, Archie spotted a fully equipped gym. It boasted every conceivable piece of equipment, including a punching bag that swayed gently as if beckoning him to test its resilience. It was evident that this room was designed with a single purpose in mind: rigorous training.
"That's the Rhoman Academy for you. Always exceeding expectations. I haven't even seen the academy yet, but I can already tell that most of the rumors are nothing compared to what I'm about to witness firsthand," Archie mused aloud.
He was tempted to try a real gun to test his Rift ability, but he decided against it. He wanted to try everything alone, especially not in his room, where traces could lead back to him.
Instead, he had already devised a plan to discreetly acquire a gun that would not draw any unwanted attention once the academy's sessions began.
Archie turned back and approached the door. This time, he noticed a small doorknob, which he turned with a deliberate motion.
As he swung the door open and stepped out, a delightful, sweet fragrance filled the air, captivating him so thoroughly that he couldn't resist turning to follow the scent.
"Holy Shit!"
Archie recoiled in shock as he spotted a woman, devoid of any clothing, emerging from the adjacent bathroom. The sound of Archie's exclamation caused her to swivel her head in his direction. Upon noticing him, she displayed no signs of panic. Instead, her eyes radiated tranquility as she sauntered towards the bed.
The woman was attempting to shield her modesty with a gossamer-thin blanket that was evidently inadequate for the task. She showed no intention of concealing her form more effectively as she continued her unhurried journey towards the bed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for entering the wrong room. I'll leave,"
Archie blurted out, his voice trembling. He hastily shut his eyes, dreading the possibility of being labeled a voyeur before he even set foot in the academy.
'Is this how it all ends?'
Archie fretted, his pulse quickening at the unprecedented sight of a woman in her natural state.
Unfazed, the woman held her ground, standing at the foot of her bed, facing Archie. With an effortless flick of her wrist, she hoisted the bed into a vertical position.
Hidden beneath the bed was a diminutive door embedded in the floor. The woman unlatched it with the ease of opening a book, revealing a red shirt, blue jeans, and boots.
As the woman clothed herself, Archie continued to stammer out apologies, his eyes clamped shut. He didn't dare to fully open his eyes until she was completely dressed, stealing fleeting glances through the slits between his fingers to check her state of dress.
Despite the woman's composed demeanor, Archie had no desire to witness her unclothed form again anytime soon.
Once she was fully attired, the woman sealed the hatch, returned the bed to its original position, and perched herself on the barren bed, devoid of any mattress or pillow.
"That is my training room. You don't have permission to go there,"
She declared, her voice icy yet soft, devoid of any discernible emotion.
Archie dared to open his eyes and took in her appearance.
She wasn't a woman; she was a girl, around his age, with cascading ice-blue hair that flowed over her shoulders, pale blue eyes devoid of life, and skin as flawless as a sheet of ice. She towered a few inches above Archie, but it wasn't her height that set her apart—it was her distinctive aroma.
She radiated a sweet scent, reminiscent of the earthy smell of sand during a light rain—a natural fragrance that stirred something within Archie, though he bit his lip to keep his emotions in check.
The girl was a vision of ethereal beauty, akin to an ice sculpture. As Archie marveled at her beauty, he found himself blurting out,
"You possess Glacia Ethereal, don't you?"