United States, New York, York College of Science and Technology High School.
In this sprawling American megacity covering approximately 1,214.4 square kilometers, this school wasn't particularly famous, nor did it produce an overwhelming number of renowned figures.
The only reason Phiney chose to attend this school was that it was the closest to his home and had the best facilities available.
"Sigh, it seems like there's only one year left..."
Phiney muttered under his breath, a trace of worry flickering between his brows as he stepped onto the soft, lush green grass, intending to take a shortcut to the school gate.
"Sigh!"
Looking at the bustling crowd at the school entrance, Phiney couldn't help but let out another long sigh. In just one more year, this world would undergo a drastic transformation—one beyond what most people could even imagine.
"I'll say this one last time, I don't want to go out for drinks with you, and please stop bothering me here, okay?"
At that moment, a familiar voice, tinged with restrained anger, reached Phiney's ears. He turned his head and saw, not far from the school entrance, a tall and muscular young man leading a group of people, pestering a beautiful girl.
The girl had long, flaxen-colored hair, delicate features, a high-bridged nose, and a pair of amber eyes now filled with impatience.
Upon seeing her, Phiney's expression changed instantly. He strode over quickly, directly pushing the tall young man aside and stepping in front of the girl. His voice was firm as he asked, "Brian, what do you think you're doing?"
Carson Brian—captain of the school basketball team. His looks and skills were supposedly decent, making him a well-known and popular figure at school. Although Phiney wasn't particularly familiar with him, he at least recognized him.
"Phiney Hailsetz!?"
The tall and burly young man steadied himself, momentarily stunned upon seeing Phiney. Then, with a smirk, he said, "Hey, Hailsetz, this isn't your business, is it? I was just trying to get to know the lovely lady behind you."
"Phiney!"
Behind him, the beautiful girl being harassed suddenly called out his name in delight. This immediately made Carson realize that the two knew each other.
"She's my sister. You think this isn't my business?"
Phiney replied coldly. Even though Carson was clearly taller and more muscular than him, Phiney showed no fear whatsoever.
"Your sister!?"
Carson was taken aback, seemingly not expecting such a situation. His face showed a hint of embarrassment, and even his teammates looked surprised. By now, a crowd of students had gathered around to watch the spectacle.
Meeting Phiney's cold gaze, Carson instinctively took a step back. But upon noticing his teammates' puzzled looks, he felt a sudden sense of humiliation. He quickly stepped forward again and said arrogantly, "I didn't know she was your sister! Besides, I was just inviting her for a drink, that's all."
"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear her already refuse?"
Phiney stared at Carson unflinchingly. Although he usually avoided trouble, he wasn't about to stand by silently while someone tried to push him around.
"Phiney, forget it. Let's go."
The girl tugged at Phiney's sleeve. Seeing the growing crowd, she clearly didn't want to escalate the situation further.
"Be careful. The way you're walking, I bet you're going to trip and fall."
Glancing at the surrounding students, Phiney also had no interest in causing a scene in front of so many people. Fixing Carson with a steady gaze, he spoke in an eerily calm tone before turning around and leading the girl away from the crowd.
Behind them, Carson was briefly stunned by Phiney's words. Just as he turned to walk toward his teammates, he began to say, "What did he mean by—"
Before he could finish speaking, his left foot tripped over his right foot, and he crashed to the ground hard. His lips split open, blood streaming out. Though the injury wasn't serious, the scene looked undeniably miserable.
The surrounding students gasped in shock. A few girls even let out small screams. The girl, still being led away by Phiney, turned her head upon hearing the commotion and caught sight of the unexpected mishap.
Inside a car, the girl sat in the driver's seat, her large amber eyes filled with curiosity as she stared directly at Phiney and asked, "What happened to that guy just now?"
"Murphy's Law—anything that can go wrong will go wrong. If you worry about something happening, it becomes even more likely to happen."
Phiney shrugged, delivering a completely nonsense explanation with a straight face.
"Bullshit!"
The girl shot him a look of pure disdain. "Phiney, just because I didn't go to college and don't have grades as good as yours doesn't mean I'm dumb enough to fall for that."
"Tch."
Phiney clicked his tongue and said nothing, which only made the girl even angrier. She immediately reached out and pinched his ear, threatening, "Are you going to tell me or not? If you don't, I'll tell Mom and Dad about your drinking!"
"Alright, alright! Let go first."
Phiney quickly surrendered, then muttered under his breath, "You always use that to threaten me. If you hadn't insisted on trying that drink and forcing me to join you, I wouldn't have even touched it!"
He was utterly helpless against this sister of his. If he had known things would turn out like this, he should've wished for a younger sister instead.
Of course, Carson's misfortune wasn't due to Murphy's Law. It was one of the abilities Phiney had gained after coming to this world.
Phiney wasn't originally from this world. How he ended up here, he had no idea. All he knew was that when he woke up, he had become a wailing infant, incapable of speech.
Fortunately, he hadn't arrived empty-handed. Upon transmigrating, he discovered that he possessed a seemingly powerful system that allowed him to draw various abilities from anime.
Golden Dynamis—this was the first ability Phiney drew from the system. It was incredibly, overwhelmingly, ridiculously powerful—so powerful that emphasizing it three times still wouldn't be enough. But unfortunately, he had yet to unlock its full potential.
Golden Dynamis
Source: A Certain Magical Index
Description: A magic that alters reality according to the user's thoughts.
Wishing something into existence—this was the simplest way to describe this ability. When Phiney first obtained it, he had been so ecstatic that words couldn't express his excitement. He had spent an entire night wailing in joy, fantasizing about the amazing future that awaited him. The next morning, his parents had both woken up with huge dark circles under their eyes.
But once he calmed down, Phiney realized things weren't that simple. The ability didn't seem to work. He spent an hour trying to will himself into adulthood, yet nothing happened—not even a single strand of hair grew. (Or maybe it did, but he just didn't notice.)
That was when he began thoroughly examining the system and discovered that while it provided the ability, actually using it depended entirely on him.
The crushing disappointment of this realization was like falling from heaven to earth. The only reason it wasn't hell was that he still had hope—though he couldn't use the ability now, he believed there had to be a way in the future. His dream life was still within reach.
Since the skill wasn't working yet, he set it aside and began investigating the so-called "draw system." From what he could tell, it only had two features: the ability to draw skills and an experience bar that seemed to refill over time.
It became clear that he would have to wait until the bar was full before he could draw again. No matter how he experimented, it seemed to grow only naturally, little by little.
Until that one accident.