Skyler slumped back into the chair, his expression blank, staring into thin air. The ordinary-looking book lay open before him. He was drowning, his mind churning over the brutal reality of his death in the book.
What aggrieved him more was that even Charles, his dear friend, had a bigger role than him in Max and his team's story.
So he was feeling down. The emotion he was experiencing was akin to the sting of knowing that his friend, who said he didn't study, had gotten better marks than him.
Skyler sighed and composed himself.
Still, he could not help but read the part where Charles came into the story again.
"A villain, huh? So, Charles would have turned into a villain if I hadn't met him."
Suddenly, he came to a standstill, his eyes widening as he recalled the messages he had seen the higher being send Zack.
"Wait, why did the higher being known as Keeper of Time call Charles a villain?"
Skyler straightened up, his mind racing. It didn't take him long to connect the dots. As he did, his lips curled into an evil smile.
"Zack knows... Haha! He knows!"
He snorted, smirking.
So one more person knew that another timeline existed before the one ongoing?
"The real question is how?"
He recalled his first encounter with Zack. Only to remember the way that man asked him to join his team as a healer, as if Zack knew he could only use Light element.
Not to mention, there was that time in front of the Dragon cave. Instead of charging in, Zack had waited outside until Max and his team arrived. Only then did he walk out of hiding, following them like a shadow.
"Did the Keeper of Time tell him?"
A mischievous sparkle flickered in his eyes as another thought emerged in his head.
"Time. There's time in the name the Keeper of Time is using. Doesn't that tell us he's the one who compiled the forgotten timeline?"
Hearing his words, even the mirrors in his subconscious stirred. The people trapped inside couldn't believe he had deduced so much so easily. Skyler chuckled as he felt the tremor in his subconscious.
"Very intriguing. Now, my question is just why did the Keeper of Time choose Zack? There are so many characters in the story. Why Zack? He isn't even special and was a minor side character who harassed one of the female leads and got beaten by Max."
He hummed, his fingers tracing the plain cover of the book, his gaze narrowing.
"There's definitely something about Zack that made The Keeper of Time choose him. From what I have observed so far, he's very different from the Zack in the story."
Skyler's next words were faint, as if he wasn't quite sure if he was right.
"Is that person even 'really' Zack?"
It was certainly possible that he was right. If he can believe in another timeline where he became the King of Spirits, why not believe that the Zack in this timeline is different?
"Does he remember the previous timeline? No, even if he did, he couldn't have changed so drastically. So what's the explanation?"
He clicked his tongue, picking up the book. Overthinking was doing him no good. Also, he had hit his daily limit of pondering.
"Let's just finish reading the story. Hehe, after all, I can't let it unfold the same way it did the first time. The protagonist needs to change. The heroines too. From what I've read, they were pretty lackluster as main characters. Tsk, tsk, not to mention all the women around Max are just plain crazy."
Skyler shook his head in disapproval. The story had so many flaws. The biggest one was how Max overlooked his friends' evil deeds, especially his female teammates.
"One of them used and killed Charles. Now that I know this, I can't overlook it. I need to take revenge for my friend who doesn't even know he died! I also need to make sure he doesn't fall for that lady in this timeline!"
Muttering to himself, he flipped another page of the book. Then another. The sun dipped below the horizon. The day outside faded, and evening arrived, but he remained seated in his spot, lost in the pages of the book. Only when he heard a faint knocking sound at his door, did he finally stand up.
Skyler carefully hid the book in his storage ring and opened the door. He was met with the familiar face of Vice Principal Doris, her expression betraying a hint of annoyance.
He nervously stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, making sure to keep Riruru's sleeping form out of sight.
After all, he didn't want to imagine what would happen if the VP discovered a naked lady in his room. The worst-case scenario would be expulsion from the academy.
"Um, what brings you here, VP?"
Hearing him, Doris's face hardened.
"Do you not have your student ID? What about your phone? If you do, why haven't you checked them? I have sent you many texts telling you to come to my office! It's been hours, but you didn't show up."
Skyler's eyes widened. He frantically pulled his phone and ID card from his storage ring, only to gasp when he saw the many missed calls from an unknown number. Even his ID card was filled with notifications, a stack of alerts piled high above his name.
"I am sorry, Ma'am. I was resting and didn't notice the messages! I just returned from the Battle Royal. You know how dangerous that place is, right? So, I decided to just rest. But still, why did you come yourself? You should have sent someone else to call me..."
Skyler rattled off excuses so quickly that Doris felt her head throbbing. She quickly silenced him with a wave of her hand.
"Stop, stop. Just follow me. The Principal wants to see you. You are the only one who has returned from the Battle Royal. The rest of the students have yet to come back."
Skyler nodded, but he was smiling inwardly. He had a hunch that when his body wasn't in his control inside the Battle Royal, one of the other 'him' had tampered with the location of the Gate leading to the next level. Although he had no idea if it was even possible.
'Serves them right! They tried to hunt me down for taking a few treasures? As if they hadn't done the same themselves!'
Of course, he forgot his dear friend Charles was there too, possibly cursing him after he got the mission to find the dragon's jewels.
Skyler's eyes sparkled excitedly.
'Now that I'm a part of this story, I might as well become the protagonist. Max can be the protagonist from the sidelines! Hehe.'
He trailed behind Doris as she turned and began walking, his mind lost in thought. He wanted to finish reading the entire book as soon as possible! To know the ending!
Skyler was jolted back to reality when Doris muttered a spell, conjuring a teleportation portal before them. She stepped through, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
'So the Vice principal didn't walk to reach me? I was feeling bad for nothing. Shhh!'
He stepped into the portal. The sensation was similar to using a teleportation device, but with a more pronounced dizziness.
On the other side, Doris stood ready to assist him, anticipating a stumble. After all, she knew portals placed a heavier strain on the body than normal teleportation devices. Yet, to her surprise, Skyler emerged without a flicker of discomfort. It seemed the space distortion had no effect on him at all.
'Hmm?'
Her eyes narrowed sharply. Lorian had informed her about how Skyler's strength had exceeded the 5-star mark. It wouldn't have been so surprising if it were any other student, but this was Skyler. Someone who only had 5-star potential and was a 4-star a week ago. How he increased his potential and ascended two stars in five days' time was beyond comprehension. Since even treasures have their limits.
Skyler felt the VP's gaze burning into his back, but he ignored her. His attention was consumed by the room he had just entered. A dark space, filled with multiple shimmering crystals, floating around. It took every ounce of his self-control to resist the urge to simply sweep them all into his storage ring, right under the nose of the middle-aged man seated at the far end of the room.
Seated at the only table in the room, the Principal, clad in a loose outfit, watched him silently. He removed the glasses perched on his nose and cleared his throat, noticing how Skyler's gaze wasn't on him, even though he exuded a heavy aura. Wen's lips twitched as Skyler still didn't look his way. Ultimately, he had to call out the young man's name.
"Skyler Ironhart, right? How about you stop looking around and sit down for a while?"