CHAPTER 55: SHE WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME?

When Leon and Alice reached the main hall, they found the whole area empty.

"Where did everyone go?"

Alice muttered while looking around.

’Fuck.’ Leon cursed in his mind.

Glancing at Alice, he quickly said,

"Don’t tell me we’re late?"

In Eclipse, the one thing that is never forgiven is a lack of punctuality.

But Leon was sure he arrived in time.

"Oh, great."

Alice showed no sense of guilt.

Just as they were in the midst of panic, a voice called out to them.

"Why are you two just standing there?"

They both turned to the source.

One of the Invigilators walked to their side.

"Everyone else was waiting for you in the Resonator room."

The invigilator filled them in.

To proceed to the next step in the examination, the allotted groups had to go to the Resonator room along with their chosen book.

But because Alice and Leon took their sweet time, the others had already been taken to the next phase, leaving the two of them behind.

"They should have just called us! Are they idiots?!"

Alice’s point was valid.

’Why didn’t they call us?’

Leon thought the same thing.

The invigilator replied to Alice.

"We made the announcement three times."

"What?"

At this point, Alice nearly lost her mind.

"But we didn’t hear any announcement. Do you think I’m lying?!"

"I don’t know about that, and please stop wasting our time," the invigilator said irritably.

"Huh?! What did you just say?"

Alice argued with the invigilator, meanwhile—

’This was not supposed to happen.’

Leon thought back on all the events that had occurred so far.

None of them seemed out of the ordinary.

’Everything went smoothly as it should have, unless...’

...unless someone did not want them to pass the examination.

’Who could have done it?’

"You still have three minutes. Visit the top floor, where the next phase is being conducted."

The invigilator looked at his pocket watch, then added,

"You should make it, if you make a run—"

The moment he said that, Leon harshly grabbed Alice by the wrist and dashed towards the stairs.

"WHA—?! H-HEY! Ouch!! Y-YOU SON OF A BITCH!!"

"We don’t have time."

Leon said in a hurry.

If Leon failed this exam, it would create great difficulties for him in the future, and he would also lose his chance to get his hands on the Moonblade.

It was a one-time opportunity.

Leon clicked his tongue.

Someone must have done it on purpose.

There was no way he and Alice missed the announcement. It had to be the work of some third party.

Leon ran up the stairs, ignoring Alice’s rapid curses. Simultaneously, he was racking his brain in top gear.

He eliminated names in his mind that might have caused this.

’Wait.’

A sudden thought clicked.

Until now, he had been thinking the person behind this had targeted him.

But... it could also be Alice.

’It could be that they don’t want Alice to pass...’

He glanced at her.

’Well, her attitude is shity. No wonder she had created an enemy so soon.’

As he thought that, both of them reached the final floor.

Just like below, this floor had the same structure, with endless rows of shelves lined up, but with an open circular space in the middle.

From afar, Leon saw several students standing, before some of them vanished into blue pixels one after another.

"We’re saved." Leon sighed.

He glanced at Alice.

She was giving him a serial killer’s glare.

"..."

It sent chills down Leon’s spine.

"Let go."

Alice said, yanking her wrist from him.

"...my bad."

Leon had no regrets. He didn’t have the luxury to explain why he did that.

It was all a simple reflex!

"I will throw in some extra research."

"You better be." She shot him a glare, "otherwise... "

"Yeah, yeah."

Leon dryly said.

Both walked towards the open circular space.

But as they got closer, they saw not only their classmates’ faces but also a few others.

"Third years?" Alice muttered, noticing them.

"Why are they here?"

Leon was taken aback, too, because in the game, the Allotment Exam never involved upperclassmen.

But surprisingly, there were several third years present among the first years.

Alice went ahead, leaving Leon in a daze.

"Hm? Hey, wait for me."

Following behind her, he scanned the area once again.

The invigilators, as well as the third years, were helping the first years set up their chosen books in the Resonator.

A Resonator was a football-shaped compact magic tool used to send the consciousness of one entity into one of the books present in the library.

The students lined up with their partners, along with a third-year student standing beside them.

"Will they come too?"

Alice asked, looking at the scene.

Leon replied.

"We’ll find out soon."

Truth be told, there was a high chance the third years would tag along with them or at least keep an eye on them.

’The course of the story has changed a little...’

Leon didn’t do it, which meant it happened on its own.

’The main cause must be me,’ Leon concluded.

Because ever since he set foot in this world, small choices of his had piled up one after another.

Even the tiniest actions, words he should not have spoken, books he should not have touched, people he should not have crossed paths with, had rippled the main storyline.

’Though, I wonder why I didn’t get any Fate Points?’

The Fate Points were meant to be awarded whenever he made changes to the storyline.

’Is indirect involvement not counted?’

It was highly possible.

That must be why the world system refused to acknowledge it for a reward.

"Haah... what a pity."

Leon sighed, realising it.

"What?" Beside him, Alice narrowed her eyes.

"You keep mumbling weird crap under your breath," she said, tilting her head. "What pity? What are you even talking about?"

Leon froze for half a third.

"Nothing important."

"Nothing important, my ass." Alice snorted.

Ignoring Alice, Leon approaches one of the invigilators.

"We’ve picked our book, what should we do next?"

"Hm?" The invigilator, noticing him, turned to him.

"You are the last pair to arrive. Please be punctual next time."

"Ah, yes, we’re sorry."

The invigilator then told Leon that he needed to convince any of the third years to ask them to be their guide in this examination.

"Guide?" Alice asked, "Will they join us, too?"

"Not exactly," he replied, "the third years will act as monitors. Only your consciousness will be allowed inside. If either of you ends up in a troublesome situation, they’ll immediately pull you out."

"So basically, babysitters."

"You could call it that." The invigilator gave a small shrug.

In the whole conversation, Leon picked up one word.

"What do you mean by ’convince any third year’?"

"You are quick to catch," the invigilator explained, "the rules have changed. Before this year, the first years had to take the exam in pairs without any supervision from the seniors. But, due to the recent attack on Eclipse, the management has taken a couple of steps to maintain a safe environment for the dangerous examinations like this."

Leon’s doubt was spot on.

’So, it was all because of me, huh?’

This made him think of what more changes it could bring to the story if he continued to make slight changes.

Will it lead to salvation, or a catastrophe?

In any case, Leon was the least bit anxious.

"Wait?" Alice raised another question.

"Why do we have to convince them? Isn’t it supposed to be an exam? We should get someone to monitor us by the institute itself, right?"

The invigilator, however, looked rather annoyed at her words.

"We’ve already explained it before. We won’t repeat ourselves for the sake of a few inattentive brats."

"The hell?! For the last time, we didn’t hear any such announcements being made!" Alice snapped.

"That’s not my problem, missy." The invigilator shrugged coldly. "If you can’t keep up, then maybe you don’t belong here."

Alice’s teeth ground together, her fist clenched tight.

’This is bad.’

"Alice, calm down. Picking a fight with them won’t change anything."

Leon stepped in before it escalated any further.

Alice turned and shot him a deadly glare.

"You spineless sack of donkey vomit," she hissed at Leon. "Are you scared even though we were telling the truth?"

Leon raised his hands slightly, keeping his voice low.

Her eyes flared.

"Oh, so we’re just supposed to swallow it? Look, I am not like you all."

"Yes, I know it well," Leon said bluntly. "But if you blow up here, they’ll use it as an excuse to fail us. Don’t fall for it."

Alice clenched her jaw, her shoulders trembling with rage.

"Tch... coward."

’Coward, huh...’

Leon sighed.

’It’s a pity really, because pride never saved anyone from the grave.’

He gave her a sidelong glance. "Donkey vomit? Really?... where are you even finding these words?"

She snorted. "From the same place you left your spine."

’Oh, someone’s annoyed,’ Leon thought.

Dropping the topic for now, he and Alice walked toward a group of third years.

There were three males and five females in the group, all chatting with each other. They wore the classic Eclipse uniform, each holding a crystal ball.

"So that’s a Resonator?" Alice wondered, looking at the crystal balls.

"Seems like it. Let’s go, we need to convince one of them."

Leon walked to them, clearing his throat, ready to make a request, but his senses froze the moment his eyes spotted a familiar figure seated just behind the group of third years.

"..."

White moonlight hair, an open book in her hand, her ocean-blue eyes constantly scanning the text within. She was completely indulged in the little world she held, so much so that at first glance, one might think the outside world no longer mattered to her.

At first glance, one might think that no outside world would matter to her.

A grin crossed Leon’s face. Ignoring the other seniors, he moved toward that particular girl.

’Ah, it almost slipped my mind that she was a third year too.’

Alice tilted her head, then froze when she noticed who Leon was approaching.

The other seniors whom Leon ignored glanced at him at the same time.

Standing right before the white-haired girl, Leon politely greeted,

"Good afternoon, princess."