After knowing the truth about the loop, Xio completely detached herself from the town's people.
Throughout all those years, she had thought that if she didn't take care of the problems, everything would fall into ruin, and she wasn't brave enough to take the risk of taking a chance.
While she was lying in her bed, she kept rereading the flyer in her hand. It told her about the benefits of the academy and the facilities the campus had.
Dorms, cafeteria, library, pool, weapon station, everything mundane but perfect for her.
"Maybe this town never needed me after all," she said as she hugged the flyer in her arms.
"Oh yeah! If I wait for a year, the students should return to the forest. But what kind of welcoming present should I give them?"
She started to think for a while, and it took her two days to finally give up.
"I think I should visit Grandma for this stuff," she said as she jumped out of bed and ran towards the door.
Leaving her house, she arrived at a very gigantic tree at the center of the town. At the branch of the tree, a house was built.
"Alright, let's do this," Xio said as she jumped high above the ground.
Using her hand, she grabbed onto the peeling bark of the tree.
"Great!" she happily said as she scaled the tree in seconds.
She easily navigated through the tree as if it were just the ground, and without waiting much longer, she finally arrived at her grandmother's house.
"Grandma, I'm here," she said as she knocked on the door.
An old woman answered the door and stood before Xio. Compared to the other townsfolk, her grandmother was the oldest of them all, and yet she retained her youth.
"Oh, sweetie, you should've messaged me before. I could've cooked your favorite dessert."
"It's alright, I'm still full."
"So why did you come here today?" Her grandmother asked as she brought Xio inside her house and made her sit on the sofa.
"Nothing big. I just want to read some books."
"Oh dear, you're very lucky. New books have just been added to the library. You can read whatever you want."
"Thanks, Granny." Xio walked towards the library after kissing her grandmother on the cheek.
"Oh dear, fufu."
◆
"Not this one, not this one either."
She kept putting the books back in their places as she tried to find the right one. Her grandmother had a moderate amount of books, enough to fill the shelves.
But that didn't mean that every piece of information she needed was inside the library. Sometimes, the books just talked about some fairy tale her parents often read to her.
"Found it."
{What Gift You Should Give To A New Friend}
She sat at the small coffee table near the shelf. She turned each page, searching for a gift she could either find or make.
"A doll, huh."
The page showed a picture of a doll along with the tools needed to make it.
Is it a good gift? She thinks so.
Is there a better one? Obviously, but she didn't have the knowledge for that.
But that's what she chose. Flowers die too quickly, scarves only work in winter, and books aren't something that everyone likes.
"I've decided. I will make a doll for them." She was very excited about it. She took the book and walked out the door.
"Granny, thanks for the book."
"Be careful on your way, sweetheart."
She returned home and started to learn how to make a doll. She kept on trying to make one that she didn't realize that a month had passed.
And in one month, she could only finish half of the doll. She decided to make a leviathan doll because of the name of the academy.
But leviathans didn't exist in this forest, so her attempt at making one was purely based on the books she could find at her grandmother's house.
Since the first time she locked herself in her room for a month, she finally decided to leave her room. It was still morning, and her mother had just gotten up to cook breakfast.
"Xio, you're up. Look at our girl who saved our home from these monsters. Salute the strong girl." Her mother smiled brightly as she stirred the pot.
"That's my daughter, hahaha." Her father had just entered the house, a newspaper in his arm.
Xio, still tired from all that stitching and knitting, decided to just follow along.
"You guys are exaggerating."
They sat down and ate as a family once again. Xio peeked at her parents.
They were loving parents. Both of them tried hard to protect this family, and the fact that Xio could still eat a warm stew was proof of that.
But something inside her heart had changed. Her parents felt distant towards her.
They're just too warm. Even if their daughter had literally been gone for a month, they didn't question anything and just acted as if she had been there the whole time.
A question emerged from the depths of her heart.
Did they ever talk sincerely to me?
"What's wrong, dear?" Her father asked, still chewing his food.
What did I even think? See, my father cares for me.
"Nothing."
◆
She came back to her room and continued to sew the doll together.
But she stopped halfway. Three hours had passed, and she could hear the sound of her parents greeting someone.
"Welcome home. I heard the story from your aunt. You're doing great out there."
"Keep at it, Chief, hahaha."
The sounds of her parents were muffled through the wall, but someone was outside the door, and she was sure of it.
She tried to peek and see who her parents were talking to. Her thoughts were filled with all sorts of familiar faces.
From her uncle to her cousin, to even the old guy next door.
"I wonder who's at the door."
But the moment her eyes were able to see what was happening, she was immediately greeted by the fact that her parents were greeting no one.
They just kept talking and gesturing as if someone were outside the door. Her parents kept praising and ended up hugging the air.
"We're proud of you." Both of them said, tears falling down their cheeks.
Xio's eyes widened. She immediately left the house through the back door and ran towards her uncle's shop.
"Thanks for bringing the fruit here." Just like her parents, her uncle was also thanking the air.
"No, no, no... It can't be."
She ran again, now towards the park where the kids usually played.
The kids were indeed playing. They were playing red light, green light with no one acting as the caller, while the kids kept stopping and walking towards the finish line.
"Hahaha... Sis is very easy to beat."
"Let's play hide-and-seek next!"
The kids kept pestering, and Xio couldn't take it anymore. So once again, she ran away. She kept running because, at this point, what was she supposed to do?
She finally arrived at the only person who could understand her. As she knocked on the door, it slowly opened from inside.
Her grandmother greeted her with the same welcoming smile she always showed.
"Oh dear, what happened?"
"I know I can tr—"
Her granny cut her words off before she could finish.
"Why did you bring so much food?"
Her heart sank. Her legs gave up, and she poured her heart out, knowing that no one would actually notice her.
"Aaahhh...."
They're not evil. They're still the same loving and warm townsfolk they were before.
She walked aimlessly through the town, recalling the past 57 years of her life fixing and living among all these people.
"Oh God, what am I supposed to do?"
Was I supposed to accept and follow the loop, or am I supposed to change the course of action? Why did you do this to me?
She accidentally bumped into a tree. Without noticing it, she had walked straight towards it. She sat down, completely tired of it all.
"I hope my dreams are real," she said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
◆◆◆
"I think that's how her backstory goes. I don't really remember what's next."
"You always know all of this random stuff, don't you, Kylen?"
Lynda sighed as she imagined the life of the girl unknown to her.
"Well, let's not dwell on that." Kylen said as he pulled out something from his pocket.
It was his necklace, the same design as the one that Xio had stolen. He put the necklace around Tris's neck and took a few steps back.
"What are you doing, Kylen?"
"Do it," he said.
"Do what?"
"Just do it. You already beat me up countless times, so just do it!"
It took quite a while for her to understand why Kylen was saying that, but she finally got it.
"Oh.... Sorry, Tris. No hard feelings." Lynda said, smiling brightly as her staff began to shine.
"Lord have mercy." Tris said, tears falling down her cheek.
[Student 337 Tris Rian Eliminated]
[827 points have been collected]
Her body disintegrated into small blue shards that flew towards the sky, leaving no trace behind.
"Kylen, how will you leave now?" Lynda asked, her face worried.
"Like you said, no hard feelings. I will find a way."
They sat there for quite a while, recovering their stamina after walking halfway through the forest. While Lynda was cleaning her staff, Kylen picked up his watch and checked the time.
"14:37. Just a few more minutes until Xio is corrupted."
The only reason why she's corrupted in the first place isn't something unexpected. Instead, that's how it's supposed to go.
The first act, which takes place during this entire exam, ends with the player fighting a boss, like how all games usually do.
And the one that takes the role of the boss is none other than Xio. It's tragic, but it's not like I'm strong enough to change fate.
"In the end, I cannot escape the wheel of the storyline," he mumbled.
As he closed his pocket watch, a loud rustling could be heard from the entrance of the camp.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Kylen tried to peek at what was causing the sounds, but as he opened the entrance of the tent, a figure stood right in front of it.
Kylen stumbled back as the tent's door was opened by the figure. And the figure was revealed to be...
...Iliana, covered from head to toe with dust.
"Oh, Kylen. Nice seeing you here."
She said, her face remaining serious.
"Have you converted the sack into points?"
"You can check your watch."
He turned on his watch, and a holographic interface appeared, basically a much more futuristic phone. As he opened up the school app, the amount of points showed up correctly.
"What's with those loud noises?" Lynda asked.
"Oh, nothing big. Just a group of scholarship students who tried to steal our points. They've learned their lesson."
"So that's why this camp is empty. Why are you bringing them here anyway? Why don't you just eliminate them?"
"They haven't exchanged their points yet. I came to collect them."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get those points!" Lynda said, clearly tired of all of Kylen's bullshit.
As they exited the tent, Kylen immediately saw the tied-up scholarship students.
"Please, before you take the monster's part, can you at least leave us a little? We don't want to get expelled."
Iliana's expression turned dark, and the air around her grew heavier, as if the students were nothing but mere flies.
Kylen grabbed her shoulder and gently cleaned off the dust.
"It's all right, Iliana. They at least deserve that much."
"We will give you guys about seventy percent of your hunt. That should at least take you guys to A class."
They talked amongst themselves, considering the suggestion. Suddenly, Kylen felt that the air behind him had turned a bit warm.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
Iliana's arm was bright from the light created by red lightning. They immediately nodded in agreement, fearing the sound of their death at the palm of Iliana's hand.
"Well, nice doing business with you."
I got them out of their bindings, and then took our portion of their hunt. Immediately after, they ran towards the exchange station, knowing that the time left for the exam was less than an hour.
"Well, now we can relax until the exam's over." Lynda said, stretching her arms.
"Let's leave, Kylen. We should return to our camp."
Kylen stayed silent, with his hand clutching hard on his pocket.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
They left the already useless camp and walked back towards theirs.
◆◆◆
"So that guy's connected to Iliana. That's surprising." The girl said, hiding behind the bushes.
"Byul-A, are you sure you don't want to rest?"
"He had caught Mother's attention. Of course, I have to follow him."
It seems that another trouble had been following Kylen yet again.
To be continued.