If I knew the future, my basic policy was to handle it alone with that information.
But suddenly going to someone and saying, "This is what will happen in the future. So prepare for it."
How much would they believe me? Especially when believing those words means giving up too much and preparing for too much.
Even if such things really happened two weeks later, I had no idea what would become of me afterward.
I could be interrogated about the source of my information, about how I knew.
But I was prepared for all that when I spoke those words.
Since I couldn't try again multiple times, it was too big a gamble for me, not knowing if this was right or wrong. So I was a little scared.
In this situation where I might or might not be able to prevent one thing, I worried that I might not be here after the incident occurred.
Still, I'd already set things in motion. I had been given a full two weeks. So I renewed my determination.
The same school life every day.
The same space filled with glances of contempt and disdain.
Though it wasn't directed at me, I squirmed at the atmosphere that ultimately came my way.
It was so unpleasant that I wanted to shake it off, but lacking even that ability, I just endured and let it pass.
A day went by, and the sunset faded.
While everyone else returned home, I didn't.
Thinking about being alone, even two weeks seemed too short.
"Are you an Academy student?"
"Ah, yes."
"Then just get in and go."
"Thank you."
Everyone dreamed of wearing this uniform. I suppose it's natural since just wearing it gives you benefits like this.
But I still couldn't understand why anyone would endure contemptuous stares and ridicule just to get this uniform. It's not like I did anything special wearing it.
Kanna was just a character who faded into the background. She was so powerless it made me wonder if that's why she was so helpless.
Riding in a high-speed taxi, I watched the scenery change in an instant.
The view that had been in the center suddenly shifted closer to the wall people had built to escape.
Since everywhere except the center was walled, it was difficult to tell exactly which direction was which. Still, I had already decided what I needed to find.
First, the Strange One who summons monsters. Second, the ominous totem created by the Strange One. Third, the crack in the wall.
To enter the space protected by the barrier, I needed at least one of those three. While others might find it difficult to spot anything unusual, I believed I could find those clues a little better.
I walked around, observing my surroundings.
It was an ordinary city. There were apartments and houses packed closely together.
It was somewhat fascinating how the scenery changed dramatically despite being in close proximity—as if compressing rich and poor neighborhoods to show the gap between the wealthy and the destitute.
"Where should I start looking?"
In truth, it was hard to gauge where to begin.
Since the details of incidents are rarely revealed in the beginning, I couldn't tell where or how the first signs would appear, either at the Academy or in this city.
All I could do was desperately search for traces.
It seemed too overwhelming to do everything alone, but fortunately, I had two weeks, so I thought I could do my best.
Even if I couldn't prevent this one, there would be a next time. Of course, I had no intention of settling for that thought.
With that mindset, I carefully looked around.
The stares from people around me.
I noticed people's gazes slightly focusing on me, perhaps because my white uniform identified me as an Academy student.
I barely managed to keep my lips from turning downward at those subtle glances that seemed like admiration and envy.
They probably think we're like stars. They probably think we got into the Academy because we developed abilities.
I wanted to tell them that entering such a place with insufficient abilities was hell. Of course, there was no reason to say such things when they hadn't asked for help or even knew about it.
I looked at the wall.
The massive wall seemed like it would keep everyone out. But thinking about how it would eventually be breached, and how monsters would rush in and take away many people's friends, lovers, and families, made me tremble with fear.
While lost in these thoughts, I realized that people's attention wasn't focused solely on me, so I glanced behind. There, I saw Yoon Ha-min, wearing the same uniform, hiding in an alley and watching me.
"...Yoon Ha-min?"
Why would he follow me here? There's no way his house is near here.
"Ah..."
Caught following me, he scratched his head awkwardly and slowly walked out.
"...Did you follow me?"
"Yeah."
When I asked quietly, his answer was straightforward. He hadn't seemed to care about me at all before, but what I said on the school rooftop today must have made quite an impact.
He said he'd think about it, but I didn't expect him to follow me so quickly.
I knew he was proactive, but not to this extent.
"Why?"
"...You asked me to believe you, but to do that, I'd have to fail my test. For that, I need some kind of... reasonable evidence I can believe in."
Yoon Ha-min answered with a bitter smile.
I had given him information about the future. I couldn't provide evidence for it. I couldn't say, "I saw you in a story. I'm from outside the story."
So what I offered was just one piece of information about the future without any evidence. It made no sense for him to abandon what he was aiming for based solely on that information.
But it was impressive that he didn't stop there and followed me to get that evidence.
Indeed, he had the character that people would call heroic.
"By the way, can we talk comfortably? We're in the same class, and we're... friends, right?"
Hearing those words, I almost burst into laughter.
Friends? What a joke. I have no friends at the Academy. Would someone with friends buy bread at the cafeteria and eat it in the last bathroom stall?
But since getting emotional would only lead to losses, I suppressed my feelings as much as possible.
I summoned the mindset that had allowed me to endure being alone, being ignored, despised, and ridiculed.
"Sure? Then I'll speak comfortably."
I answered indifferently and turned to walk again. Yoon Ha-min quickly responded, "Oh, okay," and hurriedly followed behind me.
As he looked around nervously, and when the stares from around us seemed to diminish a bit, he spoke to me.
"Do you live around here? Or is something really happening here? Really?"
His voice was cautious.
Perhaps because he had been following me and watching me seriously scan the surroundings, he too seemed to have become serious.
Although I had just asked him to believe me once, I was truly touched that he would go this far.
"I don't live here... and it's not that something is here, but I came to see if there might be something nearby. That's all I know."
That was the truth regarding this incident.
I knew about the next incident too, but I couldn't mention it.
I thought revealing too much knowledge might build resistance, so I decided to only talk about this current situation that I'd already interfered with, and then observe what happens.
A village near the wall.
And because of it, a classmate from another class would lose their family.
Just because they were from another class, it gave readers the impression of "So what?" Just as Kanna's tragic story barely got a single line, that sentence too was lightly passed over.
I had to cut off everything from the beginning—from the periphery unrelated to the protagonist Yoon Ha-min, to the periphery that was related to him.
I firmly believed that was the way to somehow solve this tragedy.
"...Kanna."
"Yes?"
"What are you thinking about in your life?"
"...Huh?"
At his sudden, seemingly sarcastic question, I frowned and turned around. But when I saw his expression, I realized he wasn't being sarcastic.
"...Is this why you couldn't concentrate during class?"
"..."
At those words, I pressed my lips together and remained silent.
Perhaps that silence was enough of an answer for him. He exhaled a dejected breath and looked at the wall.
Me, afraid that this seemingly impenetrable fortress of a wall might collapse. And me, saying that monsters would rush in behind this wall, and that it would happen in just two weeks.
Yoon Ha-min seemed to be contemplating whether to believe me, who was spouting such absurd claims.
I hadn't shown good grades or practical skills. Even the teachers would see my words as just a desperate attempt to postpone a test.
In truth, even if they saw it that way, my situation wouldn't change much, so it didn't matter to me.
Being at rock bottom meant things couldn't get much worse, which was actually comforting in a way.
"...So what are we looking for?"
Yoon Ha-min asked, as if he'd decided to believe me once.
When I looked at him with wide eyes, he quickly averted his gaze.
"I mean, you said two weeks, right? If we find something in that time, there's no reason not to believe you."
"...Really?"
Maybe he decided to believe me since he'd come this far.
Hearing Yoon Ha-min's words, I suddenly wished something would appear right now.
I wanted to feel, even a little, what it's like to have someone believe in me.
Is it my bad habit to immediately hope when I see a sign?
Still, wanting to indulge a little, I turned and continued walking the path I was on.
"Then I'll tell you what we need to find."
I quietly told him what we needed to look for. It might be better for him to search than for me, who was practically a regular person, and two people searching together seemed more promising than one, so I spoke as if asking for help.