Oliver remained unshaken by the announcement, walking from the Dais back to his seat without a care in the world about what his results had been.
Others watched, their eyes glued to Oliver the entire way until he reached his seat.
At that moment Headmaster Raven shook his head slightly, as though trying to rid himself of the lingering daze clouding his expression.
Then he continued calling out names remaining indifferent.
While he did, Trisha and Kyle remained silent. Neither of them said a word, and they obviously avoided making eye contact with him.
Just because he had chosen a different class did not change the timeline one bit.
He could recall the first time he had sat here. His face pinned with anxiety and fear, his hands trembling slightly as he tried to engage Trisha and Kyle in conversation almost immediately.
Probably he had been searching for comfort. Or reassurance. Something.
But he had not found any.
While Kyle had stayed silent, avoiding his eyes completely, Trisha had simply nodded without offering a reply.
'The real show starts when she gets her talent,' Oliver thought, reclining into his seat softly, patience settling over him like a quiet shadow.
Soon enough Trisha was called up to the Awakening Dais.
She was visibly nervous as she rose from her seat, giving Kyle a worried glance which he answered with a warm, encouraging smile.
Then she walked down toward the Dais and began the awakening process.
Oliver simply watched.
The memories of this exact moment surfaced within him, memories he had once considered a curse in his first life. A moment that had changed him for the worse.
A moment passed.
Then a bright glow erupted from the Dais, spreading across the hall like liquid sunlight. The light shimmered across the marble floor and the stunned faces of the students before slowly fading away.
When it dissipated, a tank of information appeared in the air.
It caught the entire room in a daze.
Many gasped.
Others looked on with naked jealousy and disbelief.
[Name: Trisha Canes]
[Rank: S Rank]
[Rare Class: Weapons Master]
'Nothing changed, I guess,' Oliver confirmed inwardly as he watched the nervous face of his supposed girlfriend slowly transform.
The hesitation melted away.
In its place grew something else.
Pride.
A pompous satisfaction drugged with self-indulgence.
Then She began walking back to her seat, every stride commanding the respect and awe of the entire audience.
She made sure to revel in it.
To enjoy every second of the attention.
Only when she finally reached her seat did she sit down letting go of the attention that trailed after her.
Her face remained blank for a brief moment.
Then she turned to Oliver.
"I think we should break up."
Oliver remained expressionless as he turned to face her, only to see a smug, proud smile forming on her lips.
In his first life he had reacted very differently.
He had asked why.
He had begged for the relationship to continue.
Looking back on it now, it had been pathetic.
Seeing that her words had not drawn the reaction she expected, Trisha repeated herself, this time raising her voice so there was no chance Oliver could pretend not to hear.
"Let's break up, Olly!"
Oliver raised an eyebrow nonchalantly.
'Let me play along.'
"I have too much importance now!" she continued dramatically. "You know how useless summoners are to a team, so I can't take you along with me. Please understand. I love you, but you would only serve as a hindrance to me."
She placed her hands on top of Oliver's, squeezing them lightly.
"And I know you love me too much to do that," she added sarcastically. "I truly love you, I do, and it surely breaks my heart to do this."
Oliver remained silent.
The silence stretched just long enough to become uncomfortable.
Then Kyle stepped in and clasped Oliver's shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of her for you," Kyle said with a confident smile. "I'll make sure to keep her safe."
Oliver groaned lightly.
"So... this is your way of breaking up with me," he said calmly, "and as a best friend telling me you will gladly fuck my girlfriend."
Kyle's expression did not falter.
Neither did Trisha's.
'This life is still the same. No deviation,' Oliver thought coldly.
'In the first life I got slapped by Trisha when I lost control of my emotions. They exploited me... and it hurt.'
His eyes darkened slightly.
'This time I will kill them, not squabble under their feet.'
With that Oliver rose from his seat and began to walk away.
He had far more important things to do.
But Trisha refused to let him leave so easily.
She ran forward and grabbed his wrist.
"Is that it?" she demanded. "Is that all you can say? You didn't even beg?"
Her voice trembled as she continued.
"Do I mean so little to you that you see our relationship as nothing but a fling or what?"
Tears formed in her eyes as she spoke, sliding down her cheeks with impressive precision.
But the only thing she met in return was the cold, murderous gaze of Oliver Mori.
It felt like staring into a frozen abyss.
He pulled his hand free from her grasp and gave her a gentle shove.
Trisha exaggerated the movement immediately, collapsing onto the floor with a dramatic groan.
"Know your place, woman," he said bluntly as he turned and walked away from the Awakening Hall.
No one stopped him.
Why would they?
To the Awakening Academy, he was trash.
Entering the next hall, Oliver found it packed with guild agents and scouts who were watching the academy's awakening ceremony through large digitized screens floating across the room.
None of them gave him more than a single passing glance.
And then they lost interest.
Oliver Mori could not care any less about how the world saw him.
He hurried past them.
He needed to get home as soon as possible.
Summoners were a class the Awakened Society liked to call Solo Awakened.
The reason was simple.
They summoned monsters—beasts with minds of their own.
Creatures that were just as dangerous as the monsters they fought.
In the past, summons had been known to kill other Awakened simply because of a minor argument between their summoner and someone else.
That alone made people wary of them.
But there were other reasons too.
Supply degradation.
Unpredictable combat patterns.
Team battle risks, where a summon might kill a teammate just to eliminate an enemy.
And many more.
'The true weakness of a summoner,' Oliver thought as he finally reached the door to his small apartment room, 'is that if his summon dies, he becomes practically defenseless during the cooldown period of the summoning skill.'
He opened the door quickly.
The small room inside served as both his bedroom and living room.
Modest.
Simple.
Barely furnished.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
Then he sat down on the edge of his bed, leaning his back against the wall as a quiet sigh escaped his lips.
He focused inward.
Just as he had been taught.
Just as he had done countless times in his previous life.
Soon the familiar interface appeared.
[Good day, Oliver Mori. What might I do to help you?]
"Take me to the Game."
[Request accepted.]
Oliver's vision immediately faded.
The walls of his room dissolved into darkness.
In the next moment he was no longer in his bedroom.
A vast digital horizon unfolded before him.
[Welcome, New Player, to the Game: Realm of the Fallen Gods.]