The magic circle activated without any problems, and in the next moment, Knox found himself back at Kizen, safe and sound.
He took a deep breath the moment the teleportation light disappeared.
"Fuuuh... Ha! Now this is what you call 'air'! Not like the air in the Neutral Zone..."
After spending so much time in that gloomy place, even the familiar air of Kizen somehow felt unusually refreshing.
At a relaxed pace, Knox descended the flower-covered hill and made his way toward the first-year courtyard. Since the mission period was still ongoing, he had expected the campus to be relatively quiet today.
However, the closer he got, the more noise reached his ears.
"...Huh? What's happening here?"
Knox stopped and looked around.
Colorful triangular party flags fluttered from high places across the campus, while vibrant banners and balloons decorated the surrounding buildings. Large promotional banners were even hanging from several walls, each one proudly displaying different names and slogans.
Most noticeable of all was the open square of the first-year campus.
Booths of every size filled the entire area.
Students inside them shouted energetically to attract anyone passing by, while others moved through the crowd handing out flyers. Some students simply wandered from booth to booth, checking out whatever caught their interest, filling the square with constant chatter and excitement.
After being away for only a short while, Kizen had somehow turned into a festival.
"Oh, right." Knox lightly tapped his fist against his palm as he finally remembered. "Now that I think about it, this should be club season at Kizen."
He continued walking, his eyes moving from one booth to another. In front of him, a senior was enthusiastically bowing to several first-years while practically begging them to take a flyer.
Knox watched the scene for a few seconds.
"People say this is the only time of the year when seniors will even grovel before juniors." A small smile appeared on his face. "Now that I've seen it with my own eyes... looks like it's true."
Just as Knox was looking around, someone suddenly called out to him.
"Hey! Are you a first-year?"
Knox turned around.
Standing behind him was a female student wearing the Kizen uniform. The red stripe on her collar immediately caught his attention, indicating that she was a second-year student.
"Oh, yeah." Knox smiled and nodded. "I'm a first-year. Is there something you need, Senior?"
The second-year student was about to say something, but after getting a proper look at Knox's face, she froze for a brief moment.
"...Ah."
For some reason, her expression became slightly flustered.
"A-Ahem..."
She quickly regained her composure before handing Knox a flyer.
Knox accepted the flyer with a curious expression.
"Thank you, Senior."
The second-year student nodded several times before quickly hurrying away, almost as if she was running from something. A moment later, she was already approaching another passing first-year and enthusiastically handing out another flyer.
Knox lowered his gaze to the paper in his hand.
"A club..."
His eyes slowly scanned the contents.
Knox let out a quiet chuckle. "Huh... That's actually pretty interesting."
He folded the flyer neatly before slipping it into his pocket.
Looking around, Knox couldn't help but smile at the utterly absurd scene before him.
The once-dignified second-years had become almost unrecognizable during club season. Some wore ridiculous costumes, others shamelessly acted cute, while a few were practically begging passing first-years to stop by their booths.
"Hehe... This must be pretty confusing for the first-years."
And honestly, they couldn't be blamed.
Under normal circumstances, second-years at Kizen weren't exactly known for being friendly.
There was certainly a level of respect toward them. After all, surviving more than a year in Kizen was already an achievement in itself. Unfortunately, many of them were also notoriously arrogant and short-tempered.
Sometimes, forgetting to greet a senior properly was enough to earn a lecture. Others treated first-years as free labor, casually ordering them around or, in worse cases, dragging them into secluded corners for hazing. While such behavior was strictly forbidden and heavily punished if discovered by professors or teaching assistants, that didn't stop some students from taking the risk.
On top of that, recent incidents involving commoner-born second-years targeting noble-born first-years had only made the relationship between the two years even more tense.
Which was exactly why the current scene looked so surreal.
The very same seniors who normally acted high and mighty were now smiling brightly, enthusiastically handing out flyers, and even bowing to first-years in hopes of recruiting them into their clubs.
It was a sight that could only be seen during Club Season.
As Knox continued walking toward the dormitory, his eyes wandered across the lively campus.
The more he looked...
The more it resembled a battlefield. Not a battlefield of swords or magic. A battlefield of recruitment.
Over to one side, two beautiful second-year girls were each grabbing one arm of a chubby first-year boy while arguing over which club he should join. The poor boy's face had turned completely red, and judging from his dazed expression, his brain had probably stopped working several minutes ago.
A little farther away, an unusually handsome senior had cornered a first-year girl against a wall, enthusiastically waving a club flyer in front of her.
Just as the girl seemed about to give in, another senior from the Athletics Club suddenly barged in carrying a giant club flag.
"Move! She belongs to the Athletics Club!"
"You wish!"
The two seniors immediately began arguing.
Meanwhile, the first-year girl hurriedly tried to stop them.
"P-Please don't fight because of me!"
Even so...
Her eyes secretly darted back and forth between the two club flyers.
"..."
Watching the scene unfold, Knox couldn't help remembering his previous life.
College club recruitment season...
Some things really never change, huh?
"Although this kind of atmosphere does feel like youth..." Knox quietly muttered. "I think I'd better leave before I end up surrounded too."
Almost the moment he finished speaking, his Newtype senses suddenly rang out in alarm.
Danger.
Without the slightest hesitation, Knox immediately turned around and changed direction.
Unfortunately...
"A first-year! There's a first-year over there!"
"Don't let him escape!"
"...Dammit."
A group of second-years immediately rushed toward him from every direction, cutting off every possible escape route.
"Hey, first-year!" One muscular senior proudly slapped his own chest. "Physical fitness is national strength! Interested in joining the Physical Club?"
As he spoke, the senior suddenly lifted his shirt, proudly revealing his well-trained abs.
"Get lost, you muscle brain!" another senior immediately shoved him aside. He leaned toward Knox with a mysterious grin. "Hey, first-year... no, first-year junior! Interested in black magic that lets you experience any dream you want?"
"Kizen is all about practicality!" A third senior squeezed his way into the crowd before anyone else could answer. "Forget that suspicious nonsense! How about joining the Transformation Club? It's incredibly useful for infiltration missions!"
Within seconds, even more seniors began surrounding Knox from every direction.
"Wait a minute..." one of the seniors suddenly frowned while staring at Knox. "Why does his face feel strangely familiar?"
The others unconsciously looked at Knox again before slowly nodding.
"...Now that you mention it, I feel the same."
"Yeah... I'm sure I've seen him somewhere before."
Before anyone could remember where, a female senior suddenly squeezed through the crowd and grabbed Knox's wrist.
"Ha ha! Too late! This first-year officially belongs to the Darkness Kendo Club!"
She immediately turned around and tried to drag Knox away before the other clubs could protest.
"...?"
After taking two steps, she suddenly stopped.
A confused expression appeared on her face as she looked back over her shoulder.
Knox was still standing where he had been from the very beginning, smiling politely at everyone with the exact same relaxed posture. It wasn't that he was resisting or deliberately pulling against her. Despite her best efforts, he simply hadn't moved an inch, making her feel less like she was pulling a student and more like she had accidentally grabbed hold of a mountain.
"...Eh?"
The senior blinked several times before tightening her grip and trying again.
"Nnngh..."
This time, she used both hands and even leaned her entire body forward to pull him away, but the result remained exactly the same. Knox merely glanced at her with a puzzled smile while she continued struggling on the other end, as though the two of them weren't even participating in the same activity.
"Urgh..."
The female senior suddenly let go of Knox's wrist before her shoulders slumped.
Her face visibly lost all color as she looked completely drained.
"Ughhhh... I'm so tired..."
"..." Knox wasn't particularly surprised.
From the very beginning, his senses had already picked up countless invisible curses drifting through the area. They weren't directed at him, but at the seniors surrounding him instead, slowly accumulating on their bodies without them even realizing it.
His gaze swept across the crowd.
Most of the seniors looked exhausted to varying degrees. Some rubbed their shoulders, others yawned, while a few absentmindedly leaned against nearby booths as though their energy had been quietly siphoned away.
Then Knox noticed one person who stood out.
Unlike everyone else, the man walked toward him with perfectly steady steps.
He was well over 190 centimeters tall, and an unsettling aura seemed to surround his entire body. Wherever he passed, the grass beneath his feet gradually withered, while nearby flowers drooped as if their vitality had been drained away.
"Found you, Knox Aznable."
The man stopped directly in front of him.
...Hmm?
Knox studied him for a moment before a faint look of recognition crossed his face.
Isn't he the senior who knelt in front of Simon and practically begged him to join the Curse Research Club in the original story?
The tall senior proudly straightened his posture.
"I'm the president of the Kizen Curse Research Club."
His introduction carried an air of dignity befitting the president of a prestigious club.
Knox, however, merely nodded.
...Three.
Two.
One.
Thud!
Without the slightest hesitation, the man dropped to both knees in front of Knox.
"PLEASE!! JOIN OUR CURSE RESEARCH CLUB!!"