'This is not a discussion, and it's certainly not a goodbye worthy of dramatics.'
I'm leaving.
You'll manage, like you always have.
Don't contact me again.'
The words lingered in my ears, faint and hollow, as I sat on a polished wooden chair, quietly scribbling something with a quill I had never once used before yet handled with surprising ease.
"I think mentioning the control and the desperation would only decrease the chances…
Let's go with that," I murmured to myself, then continued to write, the soft light of the lamp spilling gently across the parchment.
And yes, right after Endorsi had left, this was the very first thought that crossed my mind, after weighing the heaviness of what had just transpired.
Though she departed on a rather unexpected and bitter note at such an hour, I wasn't truly angry, or perhaps only a part of me was.
Those memories had tangled too deeply within my mind.
Still, that wasn't what troubled me most.
As I sifted through fragments of my own recollections, I realised I had taken loans, far more than a man who stood at the door of bankrupcy should have.
More than could reasonably be ignored.
Then I searched through every corner of the house, every drawer and hidden space, yet found nothing.
No cash.
No savings.
Nothing at all to rely on.
To put it simply, there was no money left to even place food upon the table.
And the monthly rent for the mansion I was so comfortably living in hovered menacingly over my head.
It wouldn't take long before I found myself as displaced as the restless figures roaming the streets in disorder.
"That point is damn good.
This will make the bulletin stand out, the shortlisting is guaranteed."
I thought to myself, hastily jotting down every line as it formed in my head, silently reciting them over and over to ensure not a single word went wrong.
I had to get this right in one go.
While others might take several hundred attempts, one was all I could afford, or at least that's what I kept telling myself, because I simply did not have the luxury of time for a hundred retries.
"I humbly recommend myself as a capable candidate within the administration.
Eagerly awaiting your response," I finally murmured, slamming the quill onto the desk with more force than necessary.
I leaned back against the chair, stretching stiffly after remaining seated for so long without moving.
My gaze drifted toward the royal-looking wall clock, its frame carved from polished wood, matching the rest of the room's outdated elegance.
4 P.M.
I had begun at twelve.
Four hours.
That was exactly how long it had taken me to cook up what could barely be called a decent academy acceptance letter, though calling it an acceptance letter felt like an overstatement.
Perhaps it was more fitting to call it what it truly was: a preliminary appeal, a mere plea for shortlisting, an invitation to even earn the right to sit for the entrance examination.
Yeah…
The Horwileous Academy.
The Horwileous freaking Academy, the largest institution in the world, planted right at the one point where the mass of all continents cancels each other out.
A perfect centre.
A neutral axis.
As if the world itself had bowed just to place it there.
Not just a school, a stage where every power, every lineage, every future monarch and monster-in-the-making chose to crawl toward.
Connections, influence, reputation, and most importantly, money.
An obscene amount of it.
The kind that could erase debts, silence loan sharks, and rebuild a life that Rael had burned through long before I ever woke up as him.
And, of course, this was where they would make their grand debut.
The main character.
The core cast.
Endorsi too.
All marching in with their absurd, broken-ass talents, abilities so illogical and overpowered that even seasoned veterans would find themselves humiliated if those powers were wielded with proper efficiency.
A dazzling parade of destined prodigies.
I had no intention of getting tangled up with any of them.
Fate's chosen heroes always brought disaster wherever they went, and I had no desire to be collateral damage in someone else's legendary rise.
Though… a few exceptions wouldn't hurt.
Those rare ones humble enough, grounded enough, useful enough, to make my steady climb through this hell-bound hierarchy far more efficient.
The kind who wouldn't mind helping me out to conquer the damn phobia with relative ease.
Like the female lead, perhaps.
Yes…
That would be the most rational choice.
The very right one.
Nonetheless, all of that still lay far in the future.
Even a reply to the letter I had drafted could take a month, perhaps two, far would be the entrance exams.
The competition was just that fucking brutal.
Until then, I had no choice but to find another way to keep my debts in check and my expenses afloat, or I might not even be in a position to step foot onto the academy grounds when the time came.
And, admittedly, I already had a rather perfect job in mind for it, though it carried its fair share of risk.
Still, nothing worth truly fretting over.
Maybe.
At worst, the most common outcome would be exposing myself to what could only be described as 'indescribable horrors.'
"It's four A.M., but I don't feel like sleeping, and going somewhere out won't help either… I guess," I muttered to myself, staring blankly at the dim ceiling as my thoughts drifted.
After a brief pause, I spoke again, more deliberately.
"Voice of the World…"
The moment the words left my lips, that same omnipresent presence stirred, its resonance blooming directly within my ears.
[ You spoke. ]
A faint frown tugged at my expression.
"I suppose we could start with you explaining the best archetype and energy dominance I should pursue with this so-called Inner Chaos.
And, yeah… mention the advantages too.
They were only vaguely explained in the novel, and I never bothered to dig any deeper."
A subtle distortion rippled through my perception.
[ Your presence continues to grow fainter within the dream sequence. ]
"What in the actual hell…?"