The training grounds remained quiet.
The messenger swallowed nervously beneath the attention of the entire Imperial Family.
Standing in front of Emperor Aldric was already terrifying.
Standing in front of Emperor Aldric while delivering important news?
That was a special kind of suffering.
The emperor extended his hand.
"Give it here."
The messenger immediately handed over several sealed envelopes.
Each carried the silver tree emblem of Silverwind Academy.
One of the strongest powers on the continent.
A neutral territory respected by every race.
Humans.
Elves.
Dwarves.
Beastkin.
Dragons.
Demons.
Titans.
Even ancient races sent their descendants there.
Because Silverwind Academy wasn't controlled by any kingdom.
Any empire.
Or any race.
Strength alone decided status there.
The emperor opened the envelopes calmly.
Then began reading names.
"Kael."
Kael grinned.
"Expected."
"Fenrir."
Fenrir nodded.
"Obviously."
More names followed.
Several imperial relatives.
Several noble heirs.
Several geniuses.
Then—
"Lionel."
Silence.
Lionel raised an eyebrow.
The system immediately spoke.
[Congratulations.]
[You barely qualified.]
"..."
[I'm kidding.]
[You got protagonist-level talent.]
[Unfortunately your personality dragging the score down.]
Lionel ignored him.
Mostly because he was tempted to test whether systems could die.
The emperor tossed the invitation toward him.
Lionel caught it casually.
A silver envelope.
Simple.
Elegant.
Powerful.
In his previous life—
this invitation marked the beginning of his downfall.
This time?
It would become the beginning of somebody else's.
The system immediately noticed his thoughts.
[There it is.]
[The terrorism smile.]
"It's called planning."
[The Geneva Convention would disagree.]
Before Lionel could respond—
Kael suddenly appeared beside him.
"What are you looking at?"
"My invitation."
"You smiling like a serial killer."
"I'm happy."
"That somehow worse."
Several nearby knights nodded immediately.
Even Fenrir looked concerned.
Lionel felt offended.
A little.
The emperor folded his arms.
"Registration begins in two weeks."
"Classes begin one month later."
"No embarrassing the Empire."
Kael immediately pointed at Lionel.
"He's definitely gonna embarrass the Empire."
"Correct."
The emperor nodded.
"That's why I was looking at him."
"..."
Traitor.
Absolute traitor.
The system laughed so hard it nearly glitched.
[YOUR OWN FATHER.]
[HE GOT YOU IMMEDIATELY.]
The emperor continued.
"You'll be representing the Imperial Family."
Lionel nodded.
Then asked the important question.
"Can I commit minor crimes?"
The emperor stared.
Kael stared.
Fenrir stared.
Even the messenger stared.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The emperor rubbed his forehead.
"No."
Lionel looked disappointed.
The system sounded proud.
[He asked.]
[That's growth.]
Later that night—
Lionel finally returned to his room.
The moment the door closed—
he immediately sat down.
The system appeared.
[So.]
[Academy arc.]
Lionel nodded slowly.
Silverwind Academy.
Future heroes.
Future villains.
Future kings.
Future disasters.
Most importantly—
future opportunities.
The Tower.
Hidden bloodlines.
Ancient artifacts.
Future companions.
And somewhere inside all that chaos—
the girl who once saved his life.
His expression became serious.
Because unlike William—
he remembered the future.
He remembered who suffered.
Who died.
Who was abandoned.
Who deserved better.
The system suddenly interrupted.
[You getting emotional again.]
"I'm thinking."
[Dangerous activity.]
Lionel ignored him.
Then another screen appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
BONUS REWARD AVAILABLE
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Boss Theme Speaker
Claim Reward?
YES / NO
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lionel stared.
"..."
The system stared.
"..."
Lionel pressed YES.
Nothing happened.
Then—
Soft music started playing inside the room.
Lionel froze.
The system froze.
The music became louder.
Dramatic.
Powerful.
Like the arrival of a final boss.
Lionel slowly stood.
The music intensified.
"..."
"..."
Lionel took one step.
The music became even more dramatic.
The system immediately lost control.
[OH MY GOD.]
[IT ACTUALLY WORKS.]
Lionel walked toward the mirror.
Boss music followed him.
He turned left.
Music.
Turned right.
Music.
Adjusted his hair.
Music.
"..."
The system was dying.
[THIS IS PEAK.]
[ABSOLUTE CINEMA.]
Lionel looked at his reflection silently.
Then slowly smiled.
"...I might keep this."
The system immediately screamed.
[I FUCKING KNEW IT.]
[I KNEW YOU'D LOVE IT.]
Lionel ignored him.
Because honestly?
The soundtrack was pretty good.