Lisha let out a quiet sigh of relief as she caught Kenji, who had promptly fainted after watching his own hand knit itself back together.
"Well… this is their first time," she muttered, adjusting his weight on her shoulder. "Reasonable reactions, I guess."
Turning around, she gestured toward Felix.
"Call everyone back. I'll explain what's happening — not just to Kenji, but to all of them."
Felix nodded immediately. "Yes, will do."
His voice was calm as he stepped out into the fading drizzle. He knew this chaos was inevitable, and with careful words, he convinced the scattered, terrified students to return. The rain had softened to a mist, and a pale fog curled around their feet.
Inside, Arjun had started a fire in the fireplace to keep everyone warm. Milo helped him gather wood, though his thoughts were still tangled in the confusion from earlier. Arjun had managed to distract him just in time — before he could hear the worst of what had happened.
Milo's gaze drifted to Arjun, who was poking at the flames, trying to make them grow without burning the whole mansion down.
Then Milo froze.
His eyes locked onto Kenji — alive, breathing, perfectly fine… despite having been a corpse minutes ago. Confusion and fear twisted inside him.
Where are his injuries…? Milo wondered, staring at Kenji's intact body but his completely shredded clothes gave worry.
Arjun dusted off his hands and glanced toward the backyard, noticing the fainted students lying in the wet grass.
"They'll catch a cold if they stay out there too long," he muttered, heading out.
One by one, he carried or guided the unconscious group members back inside.
Lisha gently laid Kenji on the couch as Felix returned with the rest.
Itsuki rushed to Kenji's side immediately, guilt flickering in his expression for running earlier.
The rest of them peeked over each other's shoulders, whispering nervously — all desperate to understand what they had witnessed.
But before she could speak, Lisha's mind spiraled elsewhere.
She thought about the system.
About the Void.
About the complete lack of explanations.
No mechanics.
No tutorial.
Nothing.
She frowned.
The Void hadn't mentioned anything at all.
For a moment… she wondered if the system itself was a fraud.
Clearing her throat, she stepped forward.
"As we all saw… something happened. And I'm sure all of you have questions."
Everyone quieted, eyes fixed on her.
"Did the system not give you any introduction on how it works?" she asked.
They exchanged confused looks.
Some remembered the voice in the Void, the darkness — but none recalled receiving actual instructions.
"…No," someone finally muttered.
Haru sat near the fire, warming his hands, glancing at Kenji on the couch.
The fire feels nice… but what the hell happened to him?
Lisha exhaled slowly. "Hmm… odd." She rubbed her chin.
Then nodded to herself — this was a new system. Maybe it hadn't implemented tutorials yet.
"Alright, then I'll explain it myself," she said. "Open your Status screens. Check the top right corner. You should see five sets of hearts."
The room filled with soft chimes as everyone opened their Status.
They finally spotted the hearts.
"These five hearts," Lisha continued, "represent the number of lives you have. They're limited… but they'll increase once you gain a profession. We'll handle that after meeting a higher authority."
She hesitated for a moment before adding:
"And that's also… how Kenji was revived. Or resurrected. Or whatever term applies to… this."
Eyes widened across the room.
A wave of disbelief and shock rolled over them.
"Wait… this feels like Minecraft."
A few nodded rapidly.
"Is this Minecraft?" Sora asked, tilting her head.
"No, idiot. This is reality—wait, then why does everything feel so real?" Elara snapped.
"Feels like a game to me…" Mei muttered, looking emotionally drained.
"So basically… we're immortals," someone summarized, "but with limited respawns?"
A stunned silence followed.
Immortality — real, tangible immortality — even with restrictions, felt surreal.
A second chance at life… but with a counter hanging over their heads.
"That's… weird," Rosette finally said, narrowing her eyes at Lisha.
"But also… why do we have this many lives?"
She paused, staring suspiciously.
"And most importantly — how do you know all of this?"
Lisha frowned.
She hated being questioned — especially like that.
Goodness grief, let me explain for god's sake… she thought, rubbing her temples.
Ignoring Rosette, she turned back to the others.
"Anyway," she continued, voice steady, "as I was saying — there are skills tied to our blessings… and specialties."
Her tone was calm, but Rosette wasn't going to let it slide.
She stepped forward, heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. "Don't change the subject."
Lisha's gaze flicked toward her, unimpressed. Annoyed.
Rosette stopped only a few feet away, eyes hard.
"What are you hiding?" she demanded. Her voice didn't shake — it cut.
Lisha said nothing, simply meeting her stare.
Then Rosette narrowed her eyes and asked bluntly:
"Are you a regressor?"
The room froze.
A heavy silence dropped like a stone.
A few people actually gasped.
They had barely processed the fact that Kenji came back from the dead — and now they had to consider regression too?
Lisha didn't flinch.
"No," she replied, cold and clipped.
"The system told me about this when I woke up."
She looked down briefly, pretending it was casual.
"That's why it took me so long to reach the group this morning."
Across the room, Felix and Arjun exchanged a look.
They both knew she was lying.
Neither exposed her.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Lisha's back.
Rosette's stare felt like a knife pressed to her throat.
Don't push. Please don't push, she begged internally.
After a tense moment, the others slowly nodded.
If the system could resurrect someone, maybe it really could give secret instructions…
Even if something felt off.
Rosette didn't buy it for a second.
"She's lying. Why is no one seeing this?."
Her frustration practically seeped through her expression.
Her voice dropped — quiet, sharp, dangerous.
"The system can't do that," she said. "I have seen enough stories and such to know whtuworld we are in and how to survive in that, and systems can't do this!."
Lisha's brow twitched.
Her mind scrambled — then latched onto another lie.
She struck back faster than Rosette expected.
"The system malfunctioned," Lisha said coolly.
"It could only contact me at the time. It said it was newly deployed and was still learning its functions."
Rosette's eyes narrowed further.
Lisha continued quickly, weaving the lie tighter.
"About the malfunction — it didn't explain why. But it told me the details after Kenji revived."
She let out a slow breath, pretending exhaustion.
"And I told only two people — Felix and Arjun. Now I'm telling all of you so the information spreads."
Arjun and Felix quietly stared.
Who taught her to lie this well?
Even they were impressed.
Her friends didn't look convinced.
Ava and Hana exchanged a silent thought — they needed to speak with her later.
Mei watched Lisha carefully, certain she was hiding something deeper.
Lisha exhaled in relief after finishing her long explanation.
If Rosette pushed her again… she wasn't sure she could keep control.
Before Rosette could speak again—
"Enough."
Nina's voice cut through the room like a blade.
Goosebumps rippled across several people. A few actually flinched.
"She gave a clear answer," Nina said, eyes sweeping across the group.
"Let it go."
Hearing Nina speak instead of reading her messages was… terrifying.
Even Felix stiffened.
"Women are terrifying…" he muttered under his breath.
Rosette's lips trembled — only slightly.
"You… are not Lisha," she whispered, this time with certainty.
Then she turned away and went back to her seat.
Nina's eyes lingered on both Rosette and Lisha… as though she were silently judging them both.
Lisha felt faint, and wanted to go back to sleep, but couldn't knowing the prince was coming and sat back on the floor dismissing everyone.