The Extra's Odyssey

"You asked me to follow you."

Mia nodded her head as realization dawned on her.

Then lazily supporting her head with her arms she spoke.

"Why did you choose those subjects?"

"…"

It took me sheer fucking superhuman will and facial muscles to keep smiling.

This bitch was doing this on purpose!

It had been almost a week since I chose those subjects!

Even longer if you counted the time when I submitted the application for them and she was asking this now.

If she truly wanted, she would have called me the day I applied for them.

"You should have come to me if you were confused."

I felt the veins on my forehead throb.

Come to her when I could lose my head because I sneezed?

No, fucking thank you!

'Calm down'

I was getting too heated needlessly.

Her lazy personality was a façade. There must be another reason for calling me.

Mia carefully weaves a net of words to imprison her prey.

Lengthens the talk with useless questions to hide her intentions and lure the prey.

And the moment someone trips the net would snap onto the prey and confine it for her to dine upon it.

I needed to cool my head if I wanted to deceive her.

"I had already thought this through properly and decided on the subjects I chose. So I decided against bothering anyone."

She undeniably had a motive to bring me here. I couldn't afford a single mistake even though I didn't know her motive...dammit!

Mia nodded her head as she looked at me. Then she asked something else.

"Is anything bothering you?"

"…Yes"

She couldn't force me to answer, but then I would only make her more suspicious.

Her ability was fearsome. But there was one advantage I had over her.

She didn't know that I was aware of her ability.

"Is this why you challenged Susan to the duel?"

"No"

Mia's ability detects truth and lies based on the person's perspective.

I challenged Susan because I was bothered by Lark and Leon. But I was also bothered by Dungeon of trails, so it was true that it wasn't the reason that I challenged Susan.

"Why are you so nervous? Is it because of me?"

"Can I speak frankly?"

Even though I knew about her ability, Mia was a master of the art of deception. Letting her control the flow was the same as serving my head on a silver platter.

"Yes, I am nervous because of you. If an instructor who never speaks to anyone singles you out, anyone would get nervous."

While I was thinking about why she called me, the corners of Mia's lips rose slightly.

"Someone who is scared so easily wouldn't challenge Rank 1."

'Fuck, she is too attentive.'

She probably caught on that I was acting dumb. This bitch had too keen senses!

"It's because I believe I can defeat her. Yes, she is stronger than me now. But about 5 years, 10 years from now?"

"H-huh?"

Taken aback by my sudden outburst, Mia let out a strange sound.

'You don't believe I'm crazy? Hehehe, let me teach you.'

"Hmm.. Now that I think about it, I might surpass her next year."

Seeing Mia's bewildered face, I smirked in my head.

Of course, she would be bewildered. Her ability should be telling her that I believed in everything I was saying.

Everyone acknowledged that Susan can surpass the Irregulars who saved the Earth from extinction.

And a nameless and talentless awakener was declaring that he can surpass her.

'So what if you are suspicious of me? There is no way you can guess that I am a transmigrator.'

Puffing my chest, I delivered the finishing blow.

"You can check my combat classes' scores. It will show you that I am saying the truth."

Mia massaged her forehead and picked up the coffee cup.

Mia was aware of the combat scores of every cadet in the first year. Hearing the cadet who was setting the lowest records ever seen in Ward use them to prove his potential convinced her of my insanity.

"I see. Good luck with that. You can leave now."

I didn't lie when I spoke about my growth. Even if I was an awakener, it didn't mean that I could use all my body to its full potential from the get-go. I was training hard to get used to moving this superhuman body.

The scores were abysmally low for Ward. But for me, it showed that I was progressing.

Barely suppressing my smirk, I walked out.

"Congratulations on awakening your stigma."

"Tha-cough cough"

Fuck..I almost said thank you.

"Do you need water?"

Before I could leave, Mia stood beside me with a glass of water.

The moment I thought everything was over, she attacked!

I emptied the glass, all the while cursing this bitch in my mind. Had I said thank you, it would have been a gave over!

But I was sure this was the last time, so I continued to act.

"The weapons I construct can defeat anyone."

Answering Mia for the last time, I hurried away with suppressed steps.

***

"Haah~~"

Sinking in this comfy bed always feels heavenly. It's like my anxieties are being sucked away.

I continued to lie in the same position for a few minutes.

Finally having my fit, I turned over.

"It seems two years were enough to rust my acting skills."

It was scary how she always acted to be asleep, but noticed dispensaries in my action that even I didn't know of.

She had probably called to see if I really was crazy or just acting.

"And she was still suspicious, after all that."

She was too damn scary.

I almost slipped because of that abrupt compliment and then she stood beside me with a glass of water, smiling.

I almost had a heart attack!

"She might become more suspicious due to that lame coughs."

I wasn't very worried, though.

After all, her ability was a closely guarded secret of her. There was no way for me to know about it.

-TRING

"Someone's here?"

With a confused expression, I walked to the door.

For the three weeks I have been here, none of my dorm mates, even in the same corridor, had come to talk to me.

Even the reason I knew the sound of the doorbell was because I had a habit of ringing my own doorbell before entering my place.

"Is it Isabell?"

She was the only one who came to my mind. Although she was angry with me, she still messaged me every day, asking about my health.

-CLICK

Opening the door, the appearance of the 'guest' surprised me.

"Sir, your package has arrived."

A robot that looked like a pyramid, with a single wheel at its base, stood outside my door. From its side, two pipe-like structures protruded, holding a bag.

It looked exactly like the robot I had seen on my first day in the world.

"ZXROR-303 deeply apologizes for the late delivery. ZXROR-303 is still in the testing phase, causing the delay in delivery. Please take this Zuan-resort coupon as compensation."

My eyes widened when I heard the compensation. Zuan resort was expensive even for the high-class society of this world. It wouldn't be wrong to say that you have to be among the top, even in the top bracket of society, to be able to go there.

"Isn't this too much?"

"No, sir. The main AI has calculated this compensation. ZXROR-303 is the latest work of Nova Corporation that is designed to take care of every commonplace task. You have helped us in finding a crucial mistake."

I nodded my head. If it was the main AI of Nova Corp that decided on this compensation, then it shouldn't be a mistake.

The main AI of Nova corps was no joke. It was responsible for handling more than half of the tasks of the Nova Corp.

After the extreme loss of population from the Second and Third Disasters, humanity had actively started to depend on AIs.

"Thank you for your understanding."

I swiftly closed the door. I had almost lost hope of Nathan having a package after nothing came for three weeks.

"Finally, I will get some answers."

***

TAP-! TAP-!

In a deep, dark tunnel, the sound of water droplets falling continuously echoed.

The droplets falling from the stalactites had created a murky pool of black liquid below it.

TAP-! TAP-!

The droplets continued to fall, but the size of the pool remained the same.

Time passed, and the pool started turning darker and murkier.

TAP-! TAP-!

As the moment stretched, the liquid turned as dark as a moonless night.

Suddenly, the surface of the pool began trembling.

The trembling kept intensifying, making even the cave shake. The vibrations made the droplets fall quicker.

POP-!

With a pop sound, the black murky liquid abruptly exploded and scattered. But it didn't stay there and started gathering.

Slowly, the liquid merged into something bipedal.

First, the feet were formed, then the torso, followed by arms and wings, and finally a head.

The monster had no eyes and ears. It only had lips that stretched into an eerie smile, covering its entire face.

"GRAAAAA!"

Following the monster's roar, more popping sounds echoed.