CHAPTER 48: REALITY IS A YANDERE AND I THINK SHE’S INTO ME.

Expectations are quite a funny thing.

Some people think it always leads to disappointment and try not to expect anything from anyone...

... and then there are some naive fools who think everything can be achieved with expectations.

But no matter how a person might deny it, they always hold it, without a doubt.

No matter how desperate the situation seems, everyone thinks some plot armour will save them.

No matter how unlucky you are, you always expect to win some lottery.

So, naturally, I, a person so humble and benevolent, am no stranger to having expectations.

And in this life, at the moment I arrived at Noxvalen, I had expected but a small thing: That maybe... just maybe things would follow the novel for a while before I mess it all up with my chaos.

But truly, Reality, that bitch pretending to be a yandere, always without a doubt wants to lock me up in its basement of despair.

I swear the obsession is real.

I had expected the test to start tomorrow, just like how it happened in the novel, but no... that hollow bastard Azriel just had to ruin it for me.

It had merely been four hours since I arrived at this damn academy and this bastard was saying the entrance exam will start immediately after an hour.

One fucking hour without any prep or welcome speech. Just straight-up "good luck not dying."

Can you believe this shit?

And even that pathetic hour wasn’t for our sake.

Nah, Azriel just needed time to collect the rest of the candidates.

I could already guess the reason behind it though. I mean, I was kinda responsible for it.

In the novel, the frog initiation dragged on for half a day—panic, hesitation, dramatic internal monologues and all that crap.

But thanks to yours truly, it was over in an hour or two.

After Sylvie made her entrance, more and more students started popping into the hall, one after another.

Everyone made it in before time and honestly, they should have been grateful to me.

I even expected them to kneel before me, saying something cheesy like. "Oh lord Rael thou art peak" or something.

But alas, my fucking expectations were betrayed again.

Kneeling was far away. These guys were glaring at me because that bastard Azriel said, "Due to that handsome and benevolent boy’s smart reaction, you all guys made it in before time, so we will start the exam immediately."

Okay, okay, those weren’t his exact lines but the meaning was the same: he said I was the reason the test was starting early.

So, yeah, these guys were glaring at me.

One of them, a bulky guy with a small stitch mark above his eyes, was even giving me signals of slicing his neck with his palm.

Tsk... so many ungrateful people nowadays.

So, my crash out against reality was totally valid.

Just then, Azriel moved again.

He snapped his fingers and in the blink of an eye, obsidian-black rings inlaid with green gems appeared before each candidate.

"These rings are keys to the accommodations allocated to you according to your order of entry," he said, his voice as flat. "These accommodations will remain final until proper ranks are decided after one month."

At least this part hasn’t changed.

I sighed in relief.

Forest of Unmasked was a tricky place with dense mana-fog covering it most of the time, so keeping an eye inside was nearly impossible.

According to some legends, two gods once fought there, twisting the land beyond repair. Whether true or not, the result was the same: even Noxvalen couldn’t watch what went on inside.

So naturally, they couldn’t determine student rankings during the test.

That’s why, after a month, a separate competition was held to judge everyone properly and reshuffle accommodations.

Until then, this setup stayed final for all three races.

Azriel continued the usual bullshit explanation.

A few brave souls even raised their hands—maybe to protest or maybe to cry about their skill issues—but unfortunately for them, Azriel didn’t give a single, fractional fuck of what they thought and continued with his explanation.

Just the usual useless-but-technically-necessary info, like how the ring had mana tracking. Apparently, pouring mana into it would make it glow and point toward our assigned accommodations.

Once his boring explanation finally ended, Azriel snapped his fingers again. A swirling black portal appeared in the center of the hall like a hole torn through the world itself.

"You may all proceed to the next room. You will be informed about the test details there," Azriel said, his voice eerily calm.

I started to rise from my chair—key word started—because before I could even move an inch, my entire body froze.

A bone-deep chill spread around my body.

"You shall wait until the end." I heard Azriel’s voice.

But the words didn’t come from his mouth. They echoed inside my mind.

I struggled to move. But nothing. All my limbs were frozen like a statue.

Honestly, I wanted to leave.

Not because I was scared—hell no. I knew his personality and how he wouldn’t dare try anything funny.

I wanted to leave because this guy—for all his cool, badass vibes in the animations and story—was ten times creepier in real life.

I mean, just imagine a person who stares at you with a hollow gaze and speaks like a broken doll or something.

But alas, that bastard did something... and now I was frozen like a statue.

"Hey, Rael, aren’t you gonna come?" Viola asked me.

Yeah, I’d love to but a creepy bastard decided to switch on statue mode.

But of course, I didn’t say that. "Nah, you go ahead. I’ve got something to do. And take Bearlo with you."

Viola narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning this time?"

"Nothing. I will join you in a minute... you guys go ahead."

She didn’t push it. Just gave me that ’I’m watching you’ look before turning away.

Bearlo bowed like the loyal butler he was and followed her without question.

After the last student exited the orientation hall, Azriel looked at me. Still that same blank expression as before.

Then, he snapped his fingers. The invisible chains vanished. I could move again.

I didn’t get up immediately, I waited for his words.

Honestly, I already had an inkling of where this all was headed. I was just waiting to confirm my suspicions.

And it didn’t take long before my suspicions were confirmed.

"Principal Morvana wishes to meet you. Follow me."