Students of the Academy began to gather one by one in the massive gymnasium.
"There's a crack in the Wall and monsters have invaded! Academy students, please wait here!!"
At the teachers' shouts, the gymnasium filled with students began to stir anxiously. And the one who struggled most to accept this situation was undoubtedly Orca.
"H-how... the Wall..."
She groaned, staring at the teacher who had finished the announcement with bewildered eyes.
Being from one of the families that maintained the Wall, this clearly came as a considerable shock to her.
Her expression revealed her disbelief—surely her family had done their job properly, so why was this happening?
And since Orca was reacting this way, other students showed similar responses.
"Wait a minute."
Yoon Ha-min looked around briefly before grabbing me and pushing through the crowd. Caught off guard, I was pulled along through the mass of students until we finally reached a relatively empty corner.
Ha-min scanned our surroundings, confirmed no one was watching us, then fixed his gaze on me.
"...Did you know about this?"
"No."
"Why? You spoke before like you knew things."
That was true.
But since I'd already used my one chance to prevent the first incident, I could honestly say I knew nothing about what would happen next.
If the Strange One changed their mind and attacked in a different way, there was no way I could know that.
What I had read wasn't being updated with a revised edition, so naturally, I couldn't have imagined this situation would occur. Originally, there should have been more time until the next attack.
"...Kanna, please be honest with me. People are in danger now."
"R-right now I really didn't know. I thought if we just stopped this one, somehow everything would be okay..."
The thought flashed through my mind that maybe I should have just let the Wall be destroyed. But soon after, I realized how foolish that idea was.
How many people would believe me in the first place? There was no way they'd suddenly station heroes somewhere based on my word alone.
I hadn't made the wrong choice. That's what I wanted to believe.
"Then why did you go so far as to injure your hand?"
"..."
When I pressed my lips tightly shut, Ha-min also fell silent and sighed.
Until now, he had said he would believe me even without evidence, but when something actually happened and I remained silent, I could feel the trust breaking.
I thought someone like Ha-min would believe me even without evidence, but I was facing the reality that it wasn't the case at all.
Back then, he was relaxed, and I just couldn't bring myself to push his hand away because I was worried.
I realized that was the extent of it.
"Kanna, I really want to believe you... but regardless of your emotional pain, there's a limit to how much I can believe."
I couldn't respond to those words.
"If you speak plainly and truthfully, someone will understand. You can't achieve anything you want this way."
My heart felt like it dropped with a thud. I lowered my head to hide my crumpling expression.
I know. I was too hasty.
I just wanted to change the future.
Since hardly anyone had offered to help me, since I was always alone, I forgot for a moment. My judgment became clouded, and because of that, I lost the trust of Ha-min who would have believed in me.
I realized I had been careless, thinking that even if I took a photo of the purple feather, no one could determine whether it was a Totem or not.
I regretted not showing and explaining the Totem to Ha-min, who had never encountered one before.
"All I knew was just that one thing."
I said, biting my lip.
Ha-min just looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, "I see," ready to move on.
"You're not alone anymore, so there's no need for that."
"...It's true."
"I'll keep watching over you without you needing to harm yourself."
"That's not necessary...!"
I raised my emotions in the smallest voice possible to avoid drawing attention. My clenched fist trembled.
"I-I did know about it through my ability, but it wasn't self-harm. I understand if you can't believe me, but really, that's all I knew... I didn't know about this one..."
When I spoke through gritted teeth in frustration, it seemed to catch Ha-min's attention.
"Then how did you know about that?"
But it wasn't in a good way, and now I had to rack my brain for another explanation.
"Let's say you're right. How did you know the Strange One would invade that place, what the Totem looked like, where it would be, and even the timing to act?"
As he asked exactly what he was curious about, my mouth closed even more firmly with no intention of opening.
I couldn't say "I know the future" or "I know your ultimate fate." The former was no longer true as I couldn't predict the future anymore, and the latter would only provoke resistance.
My lips trembled as I remained silent.
In the end, I had nothing to say since I had brought this upon myself.
"...Anyway, that Totem thing, you can't show it to me, and even if you could, I wouldn't know what it is, but I'm a bit curious how you know."
"..."
"Assuming I believe you."
The moment I heard those words, I felt my heart tighten. His cold voice brushed past my ears. At the same time, his footsteps turned away.
That last statement meant he could no longer believe me.
Academy students aspiring to be heroes could follow behind actual heroes as apprentices if they received some recognition from their teachers. That way, they would gradually gain field experience and be deployed to real situations upon graduation.
Ha-min was among those candidates, so he walked toward the platform where the teachers were standing. His figure disappeared into the crowd, no longer visible.
I stared blankly at my hand.
Now completely healed, it showed off its smoothness as if nothing had ever happened.
"..."
If nothing had happened, perhaps Ha-min would have believed me despite his doubts. But there would be no convenient developments—I had lost his trust because of an attack I couldn't predict.
I probably looked like a mentally ill person who would shout about the Strange One appearing only when it suited me, and then claim I had prevented something when nothing happened.
It felt like the boy who cried wolf.
"Now we'll select the top-ranked students first! Please join quickly!"
At the teacher's call, the top-ranked students, including Ha-min and Orca, followed the teacher's guidance and rushed out of the gymnasium.
I was alone again.
I had only two friends, and without them, I became lonely again, which made me a little sad.
But it was okay. I believed they would come back.
"..."
Would they come back? I wasn't sure.
They might return to the Academy, but they might not come back to me, which made me anxious and troubled.
"Everyone, please stay hidden here!"
Several teachers held student lists, checking them off with pens as they counted.
I pushed through the crowd back to my place to let them know I was present. I didn't want to be considered a troublemaker by the teachers in a situation like this.
Meanwhile, I kept wondering how I could make Ha-min believe me again. It seemed difficult to change the situation again since there wasn't much I could predict in advance anymore.
As I was sinking back into gloom, I overheard the teachers talking. With no students chattering, my attention was naturally drawn to the teachers.
"Monsters are gathering near the Wall? What about casualties?"
"Someone who was jogging got caught up in it, but we don't know if they're alive or dead yet."
The moment I heard those words, my thoughts froze. Then I quickly tried to identify what had sounded off about them.
There was definitely something that had sounded strange, and I furrowed my brow trying to figure out what it was.
The Strange One enjoys hearing people's screams. They enjoyed isolating people.
That's why they wanted to isolate Ha-min, who was more heroic than anyone, and ultimately succeeded.
There was one method the Strange One frequently used. A simple yet effective method that no hero could ignore.
"...It's not a diversion."
The moment I heard what the teacher said, I approached my homeroom teacher.
"...Teacher, is there only one location where monsters have appeared?"
When I asked this, the teacher hesitated momentarily, surprised by my sudden question, but then reluctantly nodded and answered.
"Yes, but is something wrong...?"
The moment I heard that, I felt a tightness in my chest. To relieve that tightness, I turned and quickly ran toward the gymnasium doors.
"Miss Kanna?! Miss Kanna!"
In this case, they had never attacked just one location, so I could only assume it would be the same this time.
I needed to confirm it myself, because if I raised a false alarm, they would definitely never listen to me again. After confirming, I could still request help from the teachers in time.
With my heart pounding, I burst through the gymnasium doors and stared at the grassy field that stretched before me.
"..."
I darted my gaze around. There had to be signs of monsters appearing somewhere, and I needed to find them.
There would be ominous purple mana somewhere.
"Miss Kanna! You can't leave the gymnasium now!"
Mrs. Lucia had followed me all the way and grabbed me, determined to fulfill her role as a teacher.
I turned to face the teacher and pressed my lips together.
"T-teacher."
"Yes?"
"M-monsters might invade here."
I voiced information that wasn't certain, but that I suspected. The Strange One wasn't as unintelligent as monsters, nor was he a fool who used only one method.
If such a being insisted on one method, it meant that method was guaranteed to work.
The reason for attacking the Academy, where heroes and hero candidates gathered, was simple. Even if the monsters were quickly dealt with, the goal was to keep people tied up there for that moment.
But this time seemed a bit different. The order was different.
Sending monsters to the Wall first and waiting—was it just for that purpose? Or to draw strong heroes there?
I swallowed nervously and looked around anxiously. The teacher hesitated briefly before grabbing my arm again.
"What are you talking about?! Do you know how far we are from the incident site? Surely you know the distance between the outskirts and Central?"
"Y-yes..."
"Miss Kanna, if you keep acting independently like this, your score as a hero candidate could be severely reduced."
"...I'm sorry."
All I could do was apologize in response to my homeroom teacher's small scolding.
As I was about to follow the teacher quietly, feeling intimidated...
A sinister flash of light erupted behind us. My head whipped around, as did the teacher's.
[Grrrrrrrr.]
The massive bulk of a monster suddenly appeared at the Academy. It was as if it had materialized out of nowhere, without walking from somewhere.
"...Good heavens."
The teacher looked up at the enormous monster, tilting her head back.