The Academy's Doomed Side Character

Chapter 351: Déjà vu

"Good... good."

I let out a slow breath.

I roughly understood what was going on.

Even though my head was still spinning from the flood of notifications and fragmented information, I was surprisingly stable. Considering I had literally just died and come back to life, this condition was... more than acceptable.

My fingers twitched once.

Yeah. I was fine. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

For now.

I shifted my gaze forward and locked onto the person confronting Ryan.

So that’s her.

The head of the Twelve Signs.

The elf I killed back at the academy... she wasn’t the true leader. Just a puppet master working in the shadows. Important, yes—but not the face of the organization.

This woman... she was the real one.

Well, technically, in the original story, she was supposed to die before that elf ever did.

Which meant one thing.

The timeline was already messed up.

Still, none of that changed who she was.

An arrogant, greedy woman who thought her talent made her untouchable.

I clicked my tongue internally.

She was easily one of the top five characters I hated the most while reading.

And yet—

"...Why is she shaking?"

The moment my eyes met hers, her entire body stiffened.

Then she started trembling.

Not slightly.

Not subtly.

Violently.

Like a child who had just seen something it wasn’t supposed to.

That... wasn’t right.

In the original story, she thrived under attention. Especially from men. She would smile, act superior, even flirt if it suited her.

But this?

This wasn’t arrogance.

This was fear.

"...Did something change?"

Or... did I change?

"Ugh—!"

She suddenly let out a strained groan, her hand fumbling as she pulled out a relic.

At the same time—

"Ah—!"

Professor Lena clutched her head, her expression twisting in pain as she staggered slightly.

My eyes narrowed.

So that’s the trigger.

Whether this woman was truly the same person or not didn’t matter anymore.

She was dangerous.

And she needed to die.

Ah... whatever.

You’re dead.

You crazy bitch.

Ryan reacted instantly.

"Hey—! Stop!"

He rushed forward, clearly aiming to snatch the relic from her hand.

But she jerked back and thrust the relic forward, her voice cracking as she shouted,

"Don’t move!"

Ryan froze.

"Take one more step and I’ll increase the relic’s output!"

Her hand was shaking so badly the relic almost slipped from her grip, but her eyes—

Her eyes were desperate.

Panicked.

Unstable.

Ryan clenched his teeth. "You’re out of your mind. Do you even know what that’s doing to her?!"

"I—I know exactly what I’m doing!" she snapped back, though her voice wavered. "So don’t test me!"

Behind him, Professor Lena staggered again.

"Ugh...!"

Her breathing grew uneven, fingers digging into her temples as if trying to crush the pain out of her own skull.

Ryan glanced back, hesitation flashing across his face.

"...Damn it."

He couldn’t move.

From his perspective, it made perfect sense.

Relic out. Professor in pain.

Cause and effect.

Simple.

Logical.

I exhaled slowly and took a step forward.

"Don’t—!" she shrieked immediately, her grip tightening around the relic. "I said don’t move!"

Ryan’s head snapped toward me. "Hey—what are you doing?! Didn’t you hear her?!"

"I did," I replied calmly.

Another step.

Professor Lena’s body jerked.

"Ugh—!!"

Ryan flinched. "Stop! You’re making it worse!"

"No," I said, my voice steady.

"I’m proving a point."

The woman’s breathing grew ragged. "S-Stop... just stop...!"

But I didn’t.

One more step.

Lena cried out again, louder this time, her knees nearly buckling beneath her.

"Ahh—!!"

Ryan cursed under his breath. "Damn it! Are you insane?! She’s going to collapse at this rate!"

I stopped.

For a brief moment, everything fell into an uneasy silence.

Then, the woman turned her trembling gaze toward Leo and shouted, her voice cracking despite her attempt to sound authoritative.

"You there! Don’t resist either! Put down your spear!"

What happened next was unexpected.

Leo glanced at me.

Just for a second.

But in that brief moment, something passed between us—something quiet, steady, and firm. Then, without hesitation, he lowered his spear to the ground.

Clang.

The sound echoed louder than it should have.

I felt a strange sense of trust in his gaze. Not blind obedience, not fear—but trust. As if he believed I already knew what to do.

"Ha... haha... yes, good," the woman let out a shaky laugh, trying to regain control of the situation. "You understand, don’t you? Your precious professor’s life is in my hands."

Her words were threatening, but her voice betrayed her. It wavered. Broke. She wasn’t in control—she was desperate.

I narrowed my eyes.

She was supposed to be the head of the Twelve Signs. Someone cunning. Calculated.

But right now?

She looked like a cornered animal.

"You! You there, disarm yourself!" she shouted again, her voice rising sharply as she pointed the relic toward me. "Don’t test my patience!"

I ignored her.

Instead, I turned and began walking toward Professor Lena.

Each step I took made her breathing grow more ragged.

"...Ugh...!"

Her body trembled violently. Veins faintly darkened beneath her skin, spreading like cracks. The relic in the woman’s hand pulsed faintly—but something else was interfering.

That black thing.

Something unseen, yet suffocating.

"She’s enduring this...?" I muttered under my breath.

It didn’t make sense.

This wasn’t just pain—it was corruption, distortion, something that gnawed at the mind and body alike.

No normal person in this world should be able to endure it.

And yet...

She was still conscious.

Still resisting.

"Hey! Can’t you hear me?!" the woman shrieked, panic now clearly overtaking her composure. "Put down your weapon or I swear I’ll increase the output! I’ll break her completely!"

I stopped just a few steps away from Lena.

Then I spoke calmly.

"You won’t."

"...What?"

Her grip on the relic tightened.

"I said," I repeated, turning my head slightly toward her, "you won’t."

For a moment, she froze.

"Y-you... how can you be so sure?!" she snapped, but there was hesitation in her voice.

Because she knew.

Because she felt it.

The relic wasn’t the real source.

I shifted my gaze back to Lena.

Her eyes—

Half of them were stained black.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at me, her lips trembling.

"S-stop... stay away..." she whispered weakly.

And for a split second—

My chest tightened.

Déjà vu.

That exact expression.

Fear... desperation... and something else beneath it.

Trust?

No.

Regret.

"I..."

The words caught in my throat.

I had seen this before.

I was sure of it.

That same look.

That same situation.

And back then—

I couldn’t do anything.

Because I thought it was the right thing to do.

"...Ridiculous," I muttered under my breath.

Feeling emotions without memories.

What a joke.