Meanwhile, a girl came up to Ren and started dancing with him. Excited and hyped up, Ren began dancing along with her, matching her moves.
Seeing this, Rex leaned towards Rey and whispered in his ear, "Damn, looks like Ren's pretty lucky tonight."
But Rey completely ignored him and just kept dancing without paying attention.
After a while, the girl subtly gestured Ren to follow her. Without thinking much, Ren, lost in the moment, started following her off the dance floor, moving towards the upper floor of the club.
Some time later, when Daniel returned from the washroom and didn't find Ren anywhere around, he glanced at Rex and Rey and asked, "Hey... where's Ren?"
Rex casually replied, "Went upstairs with some girl."
Daniel raised an eyebrow in confusion, "A girl?"
Rex nodded, "Yeah bro, and not just any girl — she was hot! Can you believe that?"
Daniel's expression shifted from confused to concerned, "We've gotta get back to the academy on time... What the hell is he even doing up there?"
Saying that, Daniel immediately started walking towards the stairs leading to the upper floor.
Seeing him go, Rex and Rey exchanged quick glances — then without wasting a second, both of them followed Daniel upstairs.
As soon as Daniel reached the upper floor, he didn't waste a second. He pushed open the door to the room—
And what he saw next… made his eyes go wide in pure shock.
Ren was lying unconscious on the floor.
Hovering right above him… was that same girl — baring her sharp fangs, ready to sink them deep into Ren's neck.
Vampire...?
Without hesitation, flames ignited around Daniel's palm, his fire magic roaring to life in an instant.
The girl's eyes twitched. Clearly startled. But instead of attacking, she clicked her tongue in annoyance and leaped backward — straight toward the window.
Crash!
Glass shattered as she vanished into the night like a shadow dissolving into darkness.
Daniel rushed to the window, glancing outside. But there was nothing. No trace of her.
She was gone.
Just then, Rex and Rey stormed into the room, rushing to Ren's side.
"Ren! Hey, wake up!" Rex shook him slightly.
Ren groaned faintly, blinking in confusion, "Huh...? Where... am I?"
Daniel let out a small sigh, rolling his shoulders casually. "Hell if I know. But for now— we need to get out of here."
No one argued.
Within minutes, the four of them slipped out of the club quietly… leaving behind the broken window, the lingering tension, and way too many unanswered questions.
Meanwhile, on the terrace of that very same club…
The mysterious girl stood quietly, watching from above as Daniel and his friends got into a taxi and drove away.
A faint smile curled on her lips.
"Tch... looks like luck wasn't on my side tonight," she whispered to herself, her crimson eyes reflecting the city lights. "If that Daniel hadn't interfered… I would've gained another skill by now."
She let out a soft, almost playful sigh.
"Oh well... no big deal."
Glancing at her watch, she exhaled slowly, her voice dropping to a colder, darker tone.
"I should head back to the Academy too... But before that —" her eyes gleamed with hunger — "I'll need to hunt someone else down… or I won't be able to control this bloodlust any longer."
Without wasting a second, she turned around — her heels clicking against the floor — making her way back down the stairs...
Ready to find her next prey.
The next morning...
Daniel woke up later than usual. His eyes shot open the moment he realized the time.
"Crap! I'm late!!"
Without wasting a second, he hurriedly got ready, grabbed his stuff, and dashed towards his classroom at full speed.
By the time he reached, the class had already started. He was almost 15 minutes late. Inside, all the students were sitting quietly, fully focused on the lecture.
Miss Lisa, their beautiful but strict class instructor, was explaining the basics of classes and skills.
She was saying, "Depending on the class you choose, you'll be able to learn different types of skills. But remember, experience and talent play a huge role too. Even if two students have the same class, their individual skills might differ. The basic skills remain common, but sometimes, students from different classes can end up having similar abilities. That's just how skills work."
Just then — creaaak — the classroom door opened slowly.
Daniel stood at the entrance, panting heavily.
"P-Present, ma'am…" he managed to say, slightly embarrassed.
As always, all eyes in the class turned toward him.
But before Miss Lisa could say anything, three more figures came running down the hallway.
Ren, Rey, and Rex burst in right behind him — equally out of breath.
"PRESENT, MA'AM!!" — all three shouted in unison.
Daniel turned around and glared at them — "These idiots are late too?"
Miss Lisa's sharp voice echoed in the room, "And what exactly is the reason for all four of you being late?"
Ren instantly threw out an excuse, smiling nervously, "Uhh… well, ma'am… we were doing Hero Work last night… so we got back pretty late."
Rex quickly backed him up, nodding, "Yes, Miss Lisa! We're actually members of the Oddjobs Club — we help people in the city with various problems."
Miss Lisa narrowed her eyes. "Even if that's true, it doesn't give you an excuse to be late for class."
Daniel quickly joined in, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, "Please, Miss Lisa... Forgive us just this once. It won't happen again."
Miss Lisa sighed. "Fine... In that case, answer this — How exactly do skills work?"
Ren, suddenly super confident, raised his hand like an excited kid, "That's easy! Skills are basically like—"
And just like that... the class began focusing on skills — while Daniel and his friends silently sighed in relief at their narrow escape.
Daniel and his friends quietly walked to their seats and sat down.
But just then… Daniel's eyes accidentally met with someone else's gaze.
Vanessa.
She was staring directly at him.
Daniel froze for a second, blinking in confusion.
Why is she looking at me like that?
Did I steal something from her or what?
No... I don't remember doing anything… right?
Feeling awkward, Daniel quickly turned his face towards the window, pretending to admire the view.
Meanwhile, Vanessa casually shifted her attention back to the lecture.
Daniel let out a deep sigh of relief.
"What's with her… seriously…"
Trying to focus back on class, Daniel soon realized — this class was incredibly boring.
Most of the things being taught… he already knew.
Slowly, sleep began to take over his mind.
Out of curiosity, he turned his head slightly to look at his friends — and there he saw Ren…
Sleeping peacefully with his head resting on the desk.
Daniel stared at him for a second… then sighed again.
"Lucky guy…"
Leaning back in his chair, Daniel's thoughts started drifting again… far away from the boring lecture.
"What exactly am I doing here…?"
"How did I even end up in this world…?"
But then… a deeper thought struck him — the one that always made him feel uneasy.
"Am I really inside a novel?"
"Or is this a real world?"
"Because… nothing that's happening to me right now… was ever written in the original novel's story…"
"And honestly… everything here feels too real for it to just be fiction. The people… the emotions… the pain…"
But again… the main cast exists here.
Events are moving according to the original plot.
So then… why was I brought here?
To change the story?
To create an alternate ending?
Because Daniel knew one horrifying thing about this story…
This was a tragic novel.
A story where… in the end… the protagonist's closest friends… die one by one, sacrificing themselves to save the world.
And Daniel couldn't help but wonder…
"Is that the fate I'm supposed to stop…?"