Xander let out a dramatic "boo" as Noah waved him off, but his teasing quickly turned into a more respectful nod.
"Alright, alright," Xander said, shrugging.
"I respect your decision. But you know, Noah..."
He paused, his expression softening into something more contemplative.
"I actually envy you."
Noah, halfway toward the exit, stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow.
"Envy? Me? Why?"
Xander leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his sword still hanging loosely at his side.
"Despite being in a coma for an entire semester, you still managed to get into A-Class. On top of that, you've been in more scandals and fatal situations than I can count, and now you're part of the vanguard."
He shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips.
"It's almost like you have the entire world's time in your hands."
Noah blinked, a little taken aback by Xander's words. He hadn't thought of it that way before.
Sure, his life had been a chaotic mess since he'd transmigrated into this world, but he'd never felt like he had control—least of all over time.
For a moment, there was silence between them, the weight of Xander's words lingering in the air.
Xander looked up at the ceiling, his eyes clouded with thoughts that seemed distant, almost wistful.
Then, as if it had been gnawing at him for a while, he asked, "Noah... what do you want more than anything in this world?"
Noah stood frozen for a moment.
What kind of question was that? He didn't know how to answer.
There were so many things he wanted—survival, a way out of this game, to avoid becoming another villain in the grand scheme of the storyline.
But... more than anything?
"I... don't know," Noah finally admitted, his voice low.
"There's a lot I want to accomplish. But if you're asking me to pick just one thing..."
He trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence.
Xander chuckled softly, nodding as if he understood.
"I respect that," he said.
"A man of many deeds is worth more than someone who's constant—someone who isn't moving forward in life."
Noah glanced at Xander, trying to gauge his mood.
There was something heavier in his tone now, something more personal.
Xander straightened up, his smile gone, replaced with a more serious expression.
"Ah, listen to me, rambling on like this. I sound like an old man."
He smiled, but there was a hollowness to it.
"Anyway, thanks for humoring me, Noah. You should probably get back to your training."
With that, Xander turned and walked toward the exit, his footsteps echoing in the now-silent room. He stopped at the door, glancing back over his shoulder with a small smile.
"Take care of yourself, alright?"
And then he was gone.
Noah stood there for a moment, processing everything that had just happened.
Then, almost instinctively, he activated his runic ability.
The unfamiliar chill of the [Eyes of the Abyss] settled over him as the system responded.
[Analyzing Target: Xander Frost...]
A string of information flashed before his eyes, and the system's conclusion was chilling.
Find more to read at m_v l|-NovelFire
[Corruption Rate: 37%]
Noah's stomach dropped.
'It's happening,' he thought, just like Eun-ji had warned him.
Xander was falling into the trap—into the darkness that sought to corrupt him.
And his weakness? Time.
Or rather, the lack of it.
The weight of responsibilities, the constant pressure, the feeling of being pulled in a thousand directions—it was starting to wear on him, chipping away at his sanity little by little.
Noah knew what this meant.
Xander, with all his strength, with all his potential, was vulnerable.
Sooner or later, he would seek out the one thing he couldn't have: control over time.
And if that desire grew strong enough... it would lead him down a dark, dangerous path.
Time was a concept no one had mastered, not even the greatest professors at Ravenwood. It was elusive, powerful, and dangerous.
But for someone like Xander, who felt its pressure more than most, it could become an obsession—one that could destroy him.
Noah let out a long, frustrated sigh as he collapsed onto the bench. He rubbed his temples, the tension in his body finally catching up to him.
"This is so fucking frustrating..." he muttered under his breath.
As if surviving wasn't hard enough, now he had to worry about the main character spiraling into madness.
Great. Just great.