Victor had a very long, lifelike dream…
In the dream, he saw another version of himself, born with the lowest level of talent in a world filled with deadly magical beasts.
With his talent, he was destined to be a nobody for his entire life.
Fortunately, he once saved a rich man in the mountains, thus receiving an invitation and scholarship to the widely admired Skysworn Academy.
Filled with confidence and youthful ambition, he couldn't wait to study in the academy and change his destiny.
But his fortune ended there. A copious amount of bullying, isolation, and harassment greeted him beyond the academy gates.
It all started when he coincidentally met with Ning Yuxuan, the jewel of the Ning Family. They met on the academy's grand titanship.
The young and inexperienced Victor, who had never seen a beautiful gal in his life nor experienced the rolling waves of the sea, felt nauseous on the ship.
Just as he approached the girl of his dreams, he threw up at her dress, staining the innocent and pure Ning Yuxuan.
The jewel of the Ning Family was angered beyond belief, shedding a few tears in the process. She slapped the young Victor and ran away inside the ship.
After that, he heard that Ning Yuxuan was the fiance of another spectacular person, and that person was very, very angered at what he did…
Long story short, with that person's influence, the countryman Victor Cruz could only succumb to despair from all the bullying and eventually killed himself…
"That was certainly something else…"
Victor whispered, feeling a numbing headache attack him as he woke up. He wanted to massage his head but realized he was in an unfamiliar place once more.
This time, the room was smaller. He tried to observe his surroundings, but a beautiful pair of eyes staring at him intently caught his attention.
"You're certainly something else."
The woman wearing a lab coat commented, shaking her head. She had a solemn expression on her face.
Victor tilted his head, confused. He looked at the nametag on her chest and saw her name—"Dr. Lisa Pols".
"It's a miracle that you're still alive, Mr. Cruz."
Lisa spoke, showing a look of both pity and incredulousness. She seemed to have a hard time expressing her current feelings.
Seeing his clueless expression, she explained.
"There's no need to pretend like you don't understand. I've examined your body thoroughly while you were asleep, and I found sixty-three different chemicals dwelling within your blood. Almost half of them are poisonous and fatal to the human body. The fact you're still alive stands against everything I know about modern medicine."
"You're a living anomaly…"
Victor was stunned. He immediately went over his memories again and remembered the cause of his death.
Suicide, that's right.
The original owner of this body, in hopes of increasing his talent, consumed crazy amounts of illegal medicine.
Unable to tolerate the bullying he was receiving in the academy, he wanted to grow stronger quickly and have the power to defend himself.
Unfortunately, as a boy raised in the countryside, he had very little experience interacting with people from the city.
Their insidiousness and cruelty knew no bounds…
Victor shook his head, unwilling to dwell on such tragic memories. He stared at Dr. Lisa and suddenly saw a monster in the corner of his vision.
His heart shook.
It was a large wolf, with fur as white as heaven clouds. When he looked at it, the wolf seemed to be transparent, as blurry as mist.
The wolf walked away from Dr. Lisa's back. Its steps were silent, calm, and deadly. Between ghostly and heavenly, Victor felt like the wolf was both.
Slowly, the wolf turned around. Its eyes, a pair of rare light oranges, turned to stare at Victor.
Dr. Lisa's voice rang in his ear.
"Victor Cruz. Do you hear me? Are you alright?"
Victor snapped out of his daze. His hands trembling. Thankfully, his hands were hidden beneath a white blanket, causing Dr. Lisa to not notice anything unusual.
"... Yes. I'm sorry, I just remembered something."
After a brief moment, he responded casually. He looked behind Dr. Lisa once more and saw that the wolf had disappeared as if it was merely a figment of his imagination.
Hearing that, Lisa shook her head. She might not know about his exact circumstances, but her seasoned experience as the academy's nurse told her everything she needed to know.
She took an emblem from her pocket before giving it to Victor.
"You can have this."
"... What's that?"
"You don't need to know. With this emblem, you can come here anytime to rest when things get too overwhelming for you."
Victor was surprised, not expecting her sudden kind gesture. He smiled as he looked at her quietly, viewing her in a new light. He took the emblem with some thought.
It might come in handy in the future.
"I'd help you if I can, but..."
Lisa spoke as she shook her head.
"This academy's water runs too deep. It values talent and ability more than anything else. The higher-ups don't care if you're a noble or a commoner, but if you're rubbish, then you're treated like rubbish."
"Personally speaking, I suggest that you drop out. I know something about you, the Skylar Scholar with the lowest qualifications. Your name is certainly something that comes up from every student I've tended this month."
Victor gave a small smile. It was too early to consider dropping out, maybe if he had no way out of this mess.
Maybe.
Dr. Lisa saw his expression and understood that she wasn't going to be able to convince him easily.
With a frown, she turned around and walked away. Before she left the clinic, she left a few words:
"You can only stay here until the end of your current class. Don't cut classes. In the meantime, get some rest."
"Make sure you're well rested before you go out. If it wasn't for a kind student helping you out, you would still be sleeping on the bathroom floor."
Victor nodded in gratitude. Once he saw her figure disappear, he looked above him and found several cameras on both corners of the clinic.
Thinking that he was no longer his previous self, he ignored them.
"I wonder what happened earlier..."
He muttered under his breath, closing his eyes. He didn't believe that the wolf was merely a figment of his imagination.
Sure, several different fatal chemicals flowing in his blood could cause him to hallucinate about strange stuff, but he was certain...
The so-called [Ancient Gate], or the wolf, they weren't hallucinations. He had no evidence to base it on, but his gut was telling him that he wasn't wrong.
Victor trusted his instincts more than his mind. After a long period of silence, a change suddenly occurred in his surroundings.
Thump!
In an instant, the clean and small clinic turned into a place of utter "nothingness" — a limitless, and ever-expanding void.
He opened his eyes, feeling shaken by what he was seeing. A gigantic ancient black gate stood before him, glowing with demonic and heavenly aura.
[You're awake.]
At that moment, a voice echoed in the darkness.
Victor was taken aback. He looked to his right and saw a wolf, with fur as white as heaven clouds, and orange eyes as powerful as the sun.
"Who are you? No, what are you...?"