"Was that supposed to be scary? Even Enel isn't scared of that," said Neriah mockingly at Sirius's cheesy story, a smug, sarcastic smile on his face.
However, he was wrong. Enel hid behind Neriah, trembling with fear and anxiety.
"Th-that was really scary!" Enel said, his shaking voice full of terror as he clung tightly to Neriah's back in panic.
"You've got to be kidding me, damn it!" said Neriah, worried and annoyed. Now that his statement about Enel had been disproven, he felt more ridiculous with every second that passed, like he was the fool of the group.
"The story was based on true events, so I thought it would be scarier," Sirius said, smiling and laughing foolishly.
"Based on true events?" Noah asked curiously, a bit worried, feeling uneasy that such events had happened in his room.
"Yeah. About three months ago, students who entered to inspect the room vanished without any signs of abduction. Their records were tracked to their homes, thinking they had run away, but even their families knew nothing. No one ever found them. Some people started to believe in the existence of the demonic spirit. They thought it was the soul of someone who used to live here, and after death, he returned to the room because he had forgotten something, and his soul, filled with regret, couldn't ascend to the heavens.
The rumor spread until it became a popular topic across all sectors. It faded after the current first-years joined, but it's still whispered among the second- and third-years, who were around when the rumor exploded," Sirius explained, making Noah even more nervous and anxious. Maybe he was just overthinking... but maybe this was why his door and window were always open, and why that bag of potato chips appeared in his closet— perhaps it was the spirit's way of scaring him little by little, trying to drive him out.
"The spread of the rumors caused chaos, so the university officially stated that the room had belonged to two staff members who worked here. One of them resigned because of the stress from management and the extra workload caused by irresponsible students. The other still works here, but their identity wasn't revealed," Sirius added, his tone full of excitement and thrill.
"Two workers? So that's why there are two beds... and why the room is so small and unsuitable for students. That explains a lot... but it doesn't explain why the window and door are always open?! Add that cursed bag of chips too — man, I really feel like this evil spirit is real and not just some rumor or urban legend!" Noah thought to himself, his mind spiraling with overthinking, imagining the worst-case scenarios — leading to his death in a horrible way or being tortured by a demonic entity.
He could picture himself tied to a chair, a demonic spirit peeking creepily through the door, smiling wickedly.
The group saw no benefit in continuing the pointless horror story, so they decided to spend the rest of the night together, ignoring Sirius's creepy tales.
They spent their time laughing, letting go of the horrors of their pasts — just for a brief moment — where they didn't have to wear their fake masks and could act naturally together.
Their time was chaotic and full of energy. They talked about everything that popped into their minds — nonsense, jokes, ridiculous events from ancient times, biology and science which Enel loved, and finally, Neriah's favorite topic: girls.
It was obvious from his face that he wanted to talk about boobs and butts, which made Enel internally place him on the list of hopeless perverts whose futures were beyond saving.
In the end, they all slept together in the room.
Kindly, Neriah chose to sleep on the floor because he didn't want Enel to feel uncomfortable sharing a bed. Sirius, on the other hand, did what he always did — he didn't care and slept right next to Noah, clinging onto him like a sleepy koala and hugging him tightly without giving him any personal space.
Noah felt very uncomfortable and tried to fall asleep to forget his miserable situation, but unfortunately, he couldn't — Sirius was way too close.
At 11:56 PM, Noah opened his tired eyes from the lack of sleep.
Sirius was still clutching onto him tightly; any hope of escape was impossible.
Noah slowly and gently tried to push Sirius away without waking him, managing at least to make enough space to breathe properly.
"How can you be this annoying while awake and asleep?!" Noah thought in frustration.
Then, he heard a strange noise — the sound of old wood creaking, the same he'd heard before, and faint footsteps.
The sound came from above. Noah looked up at the ceiling, the steps fading more and more.
It became so silent it was weird — too silent, making the sound of footsteps even creepier.
"I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming! This is just a short dream that'll end soon! No worries, a giraffe will fall from the sky, and this dream will end!" Noah thought frantically, squeezing his eyes shut, chanting to himself, trying to hum mentally to convince himself that it was all just imagination.
And it seemed to work — the footsteps disappeared, and when Noah opened his eyes, it was like nothing had ever been there.
He sighed in relief.
A few minutes later, when the clock struck midnight, Noah received a sudden notification from the system:
[Punishment period has ended.]
[All the host statistics fully restored.]
"Oh! The three-day punishment ended today! Right, I can finally finish that mission now!"
Noah thought, relieved, feeling as if a heavy burden had lifted off him — not the burden of worry or tiredness, but a real burden the system had placed by sealing half of his stats as punishment, now finally gone.
He closed his eyes one last time and took a deep breath.
"Activate Special Training," Noah whispered quietly.
Immediately, his consciousness was transported to the dense black space.
Noah opened his eyes, floating as if sinking into its depths.
He touched the density around him — it felt thicker than usual, darker than usual, with the density of mercury and the blackness of obsidian.
The background sparkled with faraway lights that looked like stars in the sky.
Still, Noah found it hard to move or think clearly in that place.
Then, in an instant, he transitioned into "the Other Realm."
He found himself standing in a vast green plain that stretched beyond sight, under a clear blue sky and a shining sun — and there was the familiar towering tree.
[Name: Noah Grace, Age: 18, Gender: Male, Level: 12
Strength: 23, Speed: 25, Agility: 23, Intelligence: 31, Luck: 17
Skills: ["Influence Field" (S-Rank), "Foresight" (C-Rank)]
Mission: Kill 100 Orcs (1/100) [Incomplete]
Rewards: Full Physical Recovery, 100 Gacha Coins, S-Rank Skill "Thermokinesis"]
"This place looks so beautiful now that my stats are fully restored," Noah said to himself, breathing in the clean, fresh air of the Other Realm and exhaling a misty breath.
He glanced at the towering tree, remembering how he killed the Red Orc by lifting it with his field and crushing him underneath.
At that moment, a single Red Orc appeared, holding a huge wooden club.
It stood about 7 meters away, spotting Noah immediately and gripping its club, ready to attack.
But it didn't realize it was the prey.
Before it could charge, the orc felt a slight shift in the atmosphere caused by Noah's "Influence Field."
In a flash, Noah vanished from the orc's view, leaving it confused and lowering its guard — and in another instant, Noah appeared above it, grabbing its head and slamming it violently into the ground, exploding it and splattering blood everywhere.
The orc didn't even feel pain — it happened too fast.
"Now that my strength is back, I realize how powerful I really am — at least against the Red Orcs... at least I'll rebuild my confidence by finishing this mission today," Noah told himself, his voice full of confidence — though he made sure it didn't turn into arrogance, remembering the last time he felt cocky, he nearly got killed by a Red Orc.
A small group of three Red Orcs appeared a few meters away, each armed with dangerous primitive weapons:
One had a wooden club filled with nails, another wielded a sharp iron axe, and the third carried a metal hammer scarred from battle.
They all emitted a fierce combat aura but looked just like any other Red Orc Noah had fought.
They noticed Noah standing there — and the corpse of their fallen kin at his feet.
"Hello," Noah said calmly.
The group charged at him.
One of them was noticeably faster and reached Noah first, swinging his iron axe horizontally.
Noah jumped up, trying to conserve his energy as much as possible, landing lightly on the weapon's surface.
As his feet touched the cold metal, the other two orcs arrived.
One attacked from behind, swinging a massive hammer toward him, but Noah dodged by leaping backward.
Dust clouded the area, obscuring his vision — but Noah could still sense them through his field.
From the right, the third orc swung his nailed club vertically at Noah, but Noah shortened the distance between them, forcing the orc to stop his swing mid-air — creating an opening Noah immediately exploited.
He threw an uppercut toward the orc's chin, but the orc tilted his head just enough to avoid it — though it had been a feint.
The real attack was a heavy punch to the orc's stomach, smashing through the muscle-built defense and sending the orc flying toward his companions, who barely managed to catch him and stop his momentum.
The orc felt fear, making their hearts race and sweat run down their foreheads. This time, they had chosen to experience what it feels like to be the prey of a higher predator.