The Unrecorded Extra

'Master…'

It had been 12 hours since Zio had fallen asleep.

Reina, the ego of the artifact, glanced at her master lying on the soft bed. Her face was filled with worry about her master's condition.

'It's so rare for Master to sleep for more than 5 hours. He must be exhausted himself from yesterday."

Shifting her attention away, Reina now looked at the tablet in her hands. A video was played. A tutorial video.

Nothing she could do anyway. Her master had said not to cover or disturb his slumber last night, and she did it. But, finding Zio still asleep even after 12 hours made Reina restless.

She was experiencing an internal conflict. Should she help her master to wake up or let him be? Zio was probably just exhausted. Very, very out of energy. But, what if something happened to him in his slumber?

Reina shook the bad thoughts away. She did not want anything to happen to her master.

Sighing a heavy breath, Reina fixed her eyes upon the tablet screen in her hands, watching a cartoon movie out of it. Unbeknownst to her, another six hours was added to her master's sleeping period.

18 hours.

Zio had slept for 18 hours and still showed no sign of waking up.

The sun was on its way to bury itself in the horizon line. The skies were about to be painted in an orange hue as the sun kept making its way to set.

Reina became anxious. She wanted to do something to wake her master up from his long slumber, but she couldn't.

Her master was just having a long slumber. His pulse and heartbeat were as normal as usual, meaning he was not in a critical condition. Unless Zio was in a critical condition, there was nothing much Reina could do.

As the boredom started to fall upon her, Reina turned off the tablet and put it on the table. Getting up, she walked toward the window, trying her best to peek from the gap but failed miserably.

She thought for a moment.

Soon after, she pushed the comfy stool under the window, standing on top of it afterward. With the support of the stool, Reina was now able to see what was beyond the window.

From there, she watched the birds flying in the sky. From there, she observed the countless grove trees behind the dorm. From there, she caught a glimpse of the familiar faces.

She found her gaze unconsciously drawn toward the five people talking to each other, enjoying the last week of their winter holiday.

"Aren't they the people Master often refers to as the main characters? I'm not sure why Master does that but, in my life, Master is the main character!"

Without her knowledge, Reina had spoken too loud for one of them to immediately turn his gaze toward the window.

When she did notice, their eyes met for a short moment before Reina removed herself from the window.

"Oh… Did he see me…"

***

"Hah… Finally, the break is coming to an end!" Seo Yeong-Ha shouted excitedly.

Beside her, Lumi responded:

"There might be an extended holiday. Knowing the current situation and what happened two days ago."

Seo Yeong-Ha gave her a side deadpan look.

"Oh come on, Lumi! Must you need to break the mood like this?"

"Yeah, Lumi. You're always so serious," Leonardo followed up.

Realizing what she did was a mistake, Lumi immediately apologized to them.

"Ah, sorry…"

She apologized despite having a frown directed at the two of them. She could not believe that Leo was siding with Seo Yeong-Ha.

'Could the rumor be true? That they're dating…' Lumi said inwardly, a hint of disappointment visible on her face.

The five students were hanging out. They talked about anything and everything. Sometimes it was about academics. Sometimes it was about a recent event, the Voice Impact. And sometimes about the dungeons and monsters.

"By the way, does anyone know what happened to Zio Varrez?"

Suddenly, one of them, Ayano, blurted out someone's name, making their ears twitch at the same time upon recognizing how familiar the name was to them.

"Is something wrong with him?" Lux was the first one to respond.

As he said that, he suddenly recalled the event of yesterday's meeting with Zio at the medical center, finding himself frowning at the memory.

"I'm not sure how he usually behaves but…" Ayano's gaze fell on Lumi. "A few days before the new year. I found him acting weirdly…"

"Can you elaborate?" Lumi asked.

Ayano found it hard to talk and gossip about someone without their permission but, the matter this time seemed to overcome that feeling due to how curious she was.

"That night, when everyone was inside the cafeteria celebrating, I saw Zio lurking outside the building. Back then, he was crawling on the road. Like a predator. Lust? I'm not sure. He looked like he was interacting with someone but I don't see anyone around him."

She paused, letting the story seep in.

"When I asked him, he said that he wanted to taste the snow," She eyed everyone's reaction, noticing they had solemn expressions. "Umm… that's it."

As soon as Ayano concluded her story, Seo Yeong-Ha sneered. "Bah! That rat must have hit his head hard! Serve him right!"

Lux, Lumi, and Ayano frowned at Seo Yeong-Ha's remark. Feeling overwhelmed by their stares, she reluctantly apologized.

"H-hey… Don't look at me like that. I was joking, man…" she defended. "Fine! Sorry… As much as I hate him, I admit my words are too harsh."

Shaking her head, Lumi spoke about what she knew about Zio's condition. At first, she was reluctant to tell them but, she felt it was necessary to do it, so no one would think badly of Zio.

"He has a severe mental illness," Lumi stated as a matter of fact.

"Mental illness?"

"Yes. A hallucination."

Lux crossed his hands on his chest, his eyes staring at Lumi intensely.

"How do you know if he has it?" he asked.

Lumi sighed, taking candy out of her storage cube.

"This is a Serenity Candy," she said. "Candy with a calming effect on one's mind. But, it only works on someone with a special circumstance, commonly a mental health problem."

"I have—"

"Claustrophobia," Leo said, cutting her words.

Lumi nodded at him, a warm smile on her face. "Yes. I always eat Serenity Candy every time I'm under pressure."

Her gaze found Lux. "I had to consume this for two weeks to relax my mind after I was confined inside that place."

Hearing the story, Lux lowered his head.

"I'm sorry. If only I was faster…"

"No, no!" Lumi waved her hand dismissively. "I'm thankful for your help, and Zio. If it was not for you guys, I don't think I will be here now."

Leonardo's eyes perked up, his ears twitching as curiosity get the best of him.

"Wait. Wait. What are we talking about right now?" He looked at Lumi right in the eyes. "You get confined? When and where?"

"The D-Point Ruin incident, right?" Seo Yeong-Ha guessed abruptly.

Lumi nodded. "Yes. Someone abducted me while a conflict outside the entrance gate occurred, he trapped me inside a small space for no reason… I just… don't understand what was going on back then. Why'd he do that?"

Leonardo grabbed Lumi's wrist, his eyes full of concern. "Why didn't you tell me about this? Who was it? The one that trapped you there?"

As the atmosphere became heavier as they talked about the past incident, Lux looked away from the rest.

Coincidentally, his gaze abruptly stopped at the window of the 5th-floor room when he heard a noise, catching someone peeking from there. 

It was just a glimpse, but he was sure it was a little girl with short blonde hair who was peeking from there. There was no way he could be wrong. But the uncertainty still hit him.

'Why is there a little girl in the academy?'

***

It had been 24 hours and Zio still had not woken up.

Reina could only watch as his master experienced a deep slumber.

"Master. When will you wake up? It's been 24 hours…"

With utmost attention, she placed her small palm on Zio's forehead. He was warm. Alive and well. But…

"Why won't he wake up?"

She sat beside Zio, waiting for him to wake up. After an hour, she suddenly felt the connection of their souls was cut off.

Panicking, he checked for her master's condition.

"Master? Master?!"

She could not feel the connection of the ego with the master's soul. Filled with anxiety, Reina released her reserve mana.

When she was about to connect the mana line with Zio, the soul connection returned. Soon after, Zio opened his eyes.

"Uhh… Reina?" he said. "Why are you sitting on top of me?"

With tears swelling in her eyes, Reina went for a tight hug around his face.

"Huaa! Master!! You're alive!"

"Reina?!"

She cried out loud in the middle of the night. Luckily no one would be able to hear her crying voice as she already filtered it, learning from her mistake this afternoon.