Stephen slowly opened the door.
The first thing he saw wasn't the beautiful room design with two beds, a kitchen on the right side equipped with all the cooking essentials, and a refrigerator for storing food and water. He didn't even notice the balcony on the left that overlooked most of the academy.
His eyes instead went straight to the boy wearing a black eyepatch over his right eye.
Stephen's eyes widened — he wasn't the only one surprised, Nathan was too.
Nathan had just entered the apartment and was arranging his belongings when his new roommate appeared — this was unexpected.
Nathan smiled.
"Oh, it seems it's our fate to be here together."
Stephen frowned, stepped back, closed the door, locked it, took the key out, and walked toward the elevator.
Nathan stood stunned for a moment, then laughed, opened the door, and followed Stephen.
Stephen went to the receptionist from whom he had received the key, placed it in front of her, and spoke seriously.
"I want to change my room."
The receptionist looked nervous.
"Um, sorry… rooms cannot be changed."
Stephen's face darkened at her words, and he heard a muffled laugh behind him. When he turned, he found Nathan watching him in amusement.
He turned back to the receptionist again.
"Is there any way to change it?"
The receptionist spoke with slight hesitation.
"That's not possible… but there is one way."
Stephen asked quickly,
"What is it?"
The receptionist said,
"There are some challenges in the academy. If you can make it into the top ten, you'll gain certain privileges, including a large private room with soundproofing and equipped with all the latest training devices and other great amenities."
Stephen fell silent. This completely went against his plans. He wasn't ready to be among the top ten. Did that mean he had no choice but to live with this Nathan?
The receptionist grew uneasy at his silence.
"Um… is there anything else I can help you with?"
Nathan smiled, stepped forward, and placed his hand on Stephen's shoulder.
"There's nothing else, sorry to bother you. I'll take my friend now."
He turned his head toward Stephen, who was glaring at him sharply.
"It's been a while, my friend. Aren't you happy to see me?"
Stephen slapped Nathan's hand off his shoulder, turned around, and walked toward the elevator.
He had no choice but to return to his room. He couldn't control these circumstances, but he could control his actions — so he decided to treat Nathan as if he didn't exist.
He entered the room and walked toward the bed. On the bed was an envelope bearing the academy's emblem.
Stephen opened it, ignoring Nathan who had followed him in.
There was still hope — if Stephen was in a different class, it wouldn't affect his school life.
[Hello, student Stephen. Your class will be on 8/15 at 8:00 AM in building RH3. Please be punctual.]
Stephen stood there staring at the letter in shock.
'What are the odds that someone would suddenly appear in the academy and end up in the same class as the main characters?'
Stephen sneered.
'How stupid of me to think things would go according to plan.'
'Well, it doesn't matter what happens as long as no one finds out I'm Black Crow.'
Nathan leaned over to peek at Stephen's letter.
"Oh, great, we're in the same class too."
Stephen turned to Nathan with a cold look. For some reason, Nathan's smile irritated him, but he ignored it and began taking out his clothes from the storage ring, putting them neatly in the closet. He didn't want to unpack the rest.
It was now afternoon. Stephen had plenty of free time and decided to explore the academy in the real world.
Nathan, clearly bored — the room was quiet and there was nothing else he could use to annoy Stephen — lay down on his bed. No one knew what he was thinking; maybe he hoped tomorrow would be fun, and if not, he'd make it fun… or perhaps his thoughts were something unpredictable.
Even with Nathan's quietness, Stephen didn't feel relieved. Despite being the author of the novel, he knew nothing about Nathan. He had simply written him as a bully without giving him any real thought — so he didn't know how he thought or acted.
'Hah, I'm scared of tomorrow.'
Stephen shrugged and left the room. He needed to explore the academy and memorize its layout — hopefully, that would help him later.
Stephen returned to the room five minutes before ten o'clock.
If the academy hadn't imposed a curfew at 10 PM, he would have stayed out past midnight.
After returning, nothing notable happened; he simply went to sleep.
Stephen woke at six in the morning, showered, and put on his academy uniform. It fit his body well, hiding the muscles built from training. It felt comfortable to him.
Before leaving, he looked again at Nathan, who was sleeping messily on his bed, his clothes piled disorderly in the closet — unlike Stephen's perfectly organized one.
Stephen hated messiness more than anything, and now he was stuck with a messy, likely insane bully for a roommate.
He left the room and walked to class RH3, which was about a thirty-minute walk from the dorm. His first lecture was "Basics of a Successful Awakened," taught by Professor Laura. Though she was a +C rank Awakened, her experience in the field made her qualified to teach at the academy.
Stephen entered the empty classroom at 7:30 and chose a secluded seat in the back corner, where he could disappear once the class filled up — just like he always did in his previous life.
He rested his head on his desk, ignoring the growing noise as more students arrived.
He felt someone sit beside him but didn't lift his head.
"Oh, isn't that the first-ranked student, Kai?"
one student said, and another added,
"Yeah, that's right! Awesome — it's great that the top student is in our class."
A shy girl spoke,
"He's handsome… what family is he from? I've never heard of the Martin family before."
Another boy said,
"Maybe he's from an ordinary family."
Stephen lifted his head and looked toward Kai, who was walking to one of the front seats and sat down. He didn't seem to care about the chatter around him and looked eager to start the class.
Soon, three very beautiful girls entered together — Agnes, Ira, and Evelyn. They were chatting until they spotted Kai, then stopped and nodded in greeting. When Kai returned the gesture, they searched for seats and eventually sat behind him.
The students' chatter grew louder.
"Oh my god, am I dreaming? The three princesses are actually in the same class as me!"
"No, this isn't a dream — I see it too! Oh, how lucky I am!"
Not long after, David entered with Leonard. Both were silent.
When David saw Kai, he walked toward him and spoke provocatively,
"You don't think it's over yet. I'll get back at you, so be ready."
Kai replied nervously,
"What do you mean?"
David gritted his teeth. How could he say in front of everyone that Kai had beaten him? That would just humiliate him further.
"Tch, just wait," he said, turning and sitting alone in the middle row.
Kai was confused until Leonard approached him and spoke,
"Hello, my name is Leonard Taimur. Nice to meet you, Kai Martin."
Kai replied,
"Hi, nice to meet you too, Leonard."
Leonard sat next to Kai.
Then Alyssa entered, and the students fell silent.
Her eyes scanned the classroom, landing on Stephen for a brief moment before shifting to Kai. She frowned slightly when she saw his triumphant expression for earning first place.
As she was about to walk past and find a seat, Kai interrupted,
"Hey, I knew I'd get first place!"
Alyssa said,
"Just luck," then turned and sat behind Agnes, Ira, and Evelyn.
Now all the main characters were in class RH3 — even the villainess Alyssa, who had committed a massacre in the story, and the half-vampire Max.
A few minutes remained before class began, with the number of students nearly complete.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a boy with messy pale-blond hair walked in. He looked a bit disheveled and wore a black eyepatch over his right eye. He yawned lazily, glancing at the students around him.
The classroom went silent — everyone recognized him, whether from the entrance exam or before. He was the "Mad Dog" of the Anderson family. Though not as wealthy as the four major families, they were still rich enough not to be underestimated — and this was their only son.
Noticing the silence, Nathan smirked mockingly, then turned his gaze toward Stephen, who had rested his head on the desk again. His eyes gleamed with amusement as he walked toward him.
Nathan reached the back of the classroom and stood before Stephen's desk.
There was another student sitting beside Stephen, looking tense and uncertain.
Nathan spoke in a commanding tone,
"Move."
When the student hesitated, Nathan's eyes darkened, and he smiled faintly before lifting his leg and kicking the student's chair, sending him crashing to the floor.
Stephen raised his head at the sound of the fall, looking straight at Nathan without even glancing at the student.
The entire class fell silent. Kai frowned, about to stand and confront Nathan, when Leonard grabbed his arm, shook his head, and motioned toward one of the girls.
Kai turned his gaze toward the girl and fell silent.
The girl's brows were furrowed, her long blue hair fluttering slightly from the breeze coming through the classroom windows.
Ira looked at Nathan with irritation and spoke sharply,
"Can't you stop causing trouble everywhere you go?"
Nathan turned toward her, stared for a moment, then replied mockingly,
"Hey, I just wanted to sit next to my friend. Am I causing trouble for that? I told him to move, but he didn't listen — what else was I supposed to do?"
The student quickly stood up and apologized, gathering his things in a hurry.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
Nathan looked at the student, then turned his gaze back to Ira.
"See? He apologized, which means he knows he was wrong."
Ira clenched her fists tightly, glaring angrily at Nathan. Just as she was about to scold him, Professor Laura entered the classroom, making Ira shut her mouth. She shifted her annoyed gaze from Nathan to Stephen, giving him a disgusted look before turning her attention to the teacher.
Nathan sat down beside Stephen, unconcerned with the chaos he had caused.
Stephen, who had noticed Ira's look, sighed inwardly.
'Oh God, I'm going to lose my mind.'