Ever since I was transmigrated here seven years ago, I've trained myself to expect anomalies in the story. If the main character suddenly strays from the original plot… or even turns evil… I've always prepared for that possibility.
But what happened ten days ago was something I could never have predicted.
It started after I met Seo Ji-Hyun and did a bit of exercise with him.
"Hey, Ji-Hyun? I just remembered—you live with a roommate, right? What's his name?"
"Oh, his name is… wait, what was it again?"
Before he could finish, we heard loud commotion outside.
We quickly learned it was coming from the Gate field.
"Hey, what's happening?" I asked a cadet passing by.
"Oh! The principal just retrieved a cadet left behind during the last Gate exploration. If I remember correctly, his name is… Kylen Noor."
At that name, Ji-Hyun's face turned pale. Without a word, he dashed toward the center of the commotion.
"Thanks for the info—I have to follow my friend!" I called back, then ran after him.
When I caught up, I saw it—
A boy covered in blood, his left arm completely torn away.
"Principal, what happened?!" one of the cadets shouted.
"GO BACK TO YOUR DORMS!" Instructor Kaelen barked.
"Go! There's nothing to see here," he repeated, forcing the cadets to turn back.
One by one, everyone left. I tried to follow too, but Ji-Hyun tugged at my sleeve. His expression was grave.
"Can I stay in your room for a while?"
"Sure, but… why? What's wrong?"
He took a deep breath. "…Kylen Noor is my roommate."
"…Really? Okay then. You can stay."
"Thank you."
And so, we went back to my dorm, where Ji-Hyun explained everything about this Kylen Noor.
"Kylen was a great friend, even though it's only been three days since we met."
He explained that Kylen had noticed his abnormal body build, but instead of treating it as something strange, Kylen just brushed it off—turning it into a joke the two of them could laugh about together.
That's… weird.
Because I've read HIH carefully, and there's no mention of a cadet named Kylen Noor. Not even in side notes or background mentions. And yet, the cadet number never changes—it's always exactly 1,300. That means he does exist, just not in the way the novel ever described him.
So… what is he? An extra? A hidden character? Or… is this the beginning of an incident that wasn't in the story?
But even then—I've never read a chapter where a cadet got stuck inside a Gate before.
What a weird extra.
"Okay, if he's really that important to you, why don't you just give him a present or something?" I said, half-serious, half-teasing.
"Sure, I can do that… but it still feels weird to me." Ji-Hyun clutched his head, frowning.
"What's weird about it?"
"It's like…" His eyes narrowed, lips trembling slightly. "It feels like something was missing from my head. Like… something just returned."
That made me pause. A hole in his memory, suddenly patched? The idea itself made me uneasy.
"Well, whatever it is, we can talk about it later. We still have class tomorrow."
"…Right."
And so, we went to sleep.
---
◈ The Next Day ◈
The classroom was buzzing with noise. Students were gathered in small groups, whispering and gossiping about the incident yesterday.
"I heard someone got rescued from the Gate."
"Yeah, I think his name was… Ky-something?"
"Never heard of him before."
The whole room was restless, voices bouncing from wall to wall.
Then the door opened, and silence fell. Instructor Kaelen entered, his sharp gaze scanning the room as he barked:
"Kids, back to your seats!"
Everyone scrambled. The noise vanished.
"Today we received unfortunate news regarding one of our cadets. Cadet Kylen Noor."
I sighed under my breath. "It's about that guy again…" Honestly, I was already tired of hearing his name repeated over and over.
Kaelen's expression was grim as he continued.
"You must have already forgotten him… or perhaps never even knew him. That is the tragedy of his situation. Cadet Kylen's existence was devoured by a High Overlord-ranked monster—the Memory Eater."
Whispers rippled across the classroom.
"Not only that," Kaelen's voice grew heavier, "he had to fight alone against seventeen High Elite-ranked Face Crawlers inside the Gate."
That made the whole class freeze. Everyone knew how terrifying a single Face Crawler could be. Fighting seventeen, while being forgotten by everyone… it was unthinkable.
"So," Kaelen said firmly, his eyes scanning each of us, "as his fellow cadets, you will send him presents. Not just to wish him well, but as a way to show your regret. To say sorry for forgetting him."
The classroom fell silent again, the weight of his words hanging heavy over us.
The next few days passed with the Academy buzzing about Kylen Noor.
As Instructor Kaelen ordered, every cadet was required to send something—anything—as a gift.
Some went out of their way, sending real treasures: rare potions, high-grade monster materials, even enchanted clothes. You could tell these cadets took it seriously, either out of genuine guilt or because they wanted to be noticed by the Principals.
Others… clearly didn't care.
Half-empty notebooks, cracked mana stones, even a single sock. Yes—one sock. Not a pair.
One cadet had even dumped a broken chair leg into a box, slapped a "get well soon" note on it, and called it a day.
I was one of those people.
I wasn't proud of it, but I couldn't shake how weird Kylen's whole situation was. It felt like he just popped out of nowhere, a character who shouldn't exist. So instead of giving something thoughtful, I just tossed in a pack of cheap sweets I had lying around.
"Sorry, random guy I've never read about," I muttered when I dropped the box in the collection pile.
Ji-Hyun, on the other hand, looked way more serious about it. He stayed quiet while writing his note, his brows furrowed, and I could feel the weight of his guilt.
---
◈ 10 Days Later ◈
Sunday.
It was rare for us to get free time, so Ji-Hyun and I took the chance to sneak out into the city. We ate at a nice restaurant, did some window shopping, and even spent the night at a cheap hotel just to relax.
Honestly, it was fun. Normal. The kind of thing that made me forget this whole "extra cadet anomaly" business for a while.
When we returned to the dorms, I stretched my arms above my head and sighed.
"Haah~ what a day. Finally, some peace before class starts again."
Ji-Hyun chuckled. "Yeah. I'll take a shower first."
"Sure, I'll open the door."
I pushed the door open casually.
And froze.
Standing there, in the middle of the room, water still dripping down his toned frame, was a boy with black hair covering his eyes. His body was built, scarred in places but strong—evidence of real battle.
Completely naked.
For a split second, my brain refused to process what I was looking at.
Then heat shot to my face, and instinct took over.
"PERVERT!!"
I yanked my staff from my dimensional pocket and swung it forward, mana surging to the tip. In the blink of an eye, I unleashed a bolt of raw light straight at his chest.
The boy blinked, caught off guard, soap still sliding down his arm.
"Eh—WAIT—!"
The blast slammed into him, shaking the room with a dull boom.
Ji-Hyun, still outside in the hall, nearly dropped his bag.
"What the hell, Seora?!"
I pointed my staff at the smoldering boy, my face red as a tomato.
"Why is there a naked guy in your room?!"
The boy raised both hands defensively, coughing through the smoke.
"Can you not attack the guy who just came out of the shower?! This is MY dorm too, you know!"
Ji-Hyun's face paled, then twisted with realization.
"…Kylen."
My grip on the staff faltered. "Wait—you're Kylen?"
The boy gave me a deadpan look, water dripping from his hair. "Who else would it be? The janitor?"
My face burned even hotter.
"…Oh no. I think I just made a very big mistake."
To Be Continued....