"Let’s take a seat."
Devon said and sat down on the table and watched as Kate shyly shuffled to the seat across from him.
He wasn’t sure whether she was just anti-social or what, but she seemed really nervous around him.
"Have you been talking with Valeria?"
Devon asked.
"Y-yes, we still keep in touch. I met her in Innerworld about three months ago, so I was finally able to see her in flesh."
Kate said with a smile.
"Pretty, isn’t she?"
Devon asked with a chuckle.
"Y-yeah..."
Kate smiled and turned her head down.
She considered Valeria as her older sister that she never had, and Valeria had also been very kind towards her.
That was rare.
Even some members of Einherjar had a hard time cracking the ice shell that surrounded Valeria—if somebody made her smile even once, that was a memory that you should cherish.
"She doesn’t know... about you, does she?"
Kate asked.
"...Nobody does, really."
Devon said.
"Thought so... Hehe, I asked about you, and Valeria said that you had retired."
"I never said that I’ve retired, but I guess they came to that decision when they asked me to play Innerworld and I didn’t."
Devon said.
"Why didn’t you?"
Kate asked curiously.
Devon just smiled—looking like he had no intention to answer that—so Kate didn’t try to dig deeper.
She didn’t want to come off as rude.
"Hey..."
Kate was about to ask something, but then somebody arrived at the doorway and slammed his boots really hard on the ground.
It sounded loud.
They both turned around and saw a messy-haired man standing at the doorway—he was no student.
A teacher!
Devon and Kate stood up.
"What’s going on in here? Girls have their own rooms for a reason. I don’t want girls going into boys’ rooms, and vice versa."
Hermann said.
"W-w-we were just talking..."
Kate said.
"I don’t care. Head back to your room."
Hermann said coldly, and then Kate’s lips furrowed down, and she quickly bowed to Devon and ran out of the room.
Some students were watching from a distance.
"You are Student Leader, Devon. You should know the rules better. Or could it be that you haven’t read them?"
Hermann asked.
"..."
Devon looked towards his bedroom, and there was a rulebook sitting right on top of his desk, but of course he hadn’t read it.
He doubted anyone had.
They just arrived here!
"I expect you to know the rules by your heart by tomorrow. You will also take all the students tomorrow into the lecture hall.
"8 a.m. sharp. Make sure everyone is present and accounted for. I don’t condone tardiness. If you or anybody else is even one minute late, the class will be cancelled.
"And there will be a punishment for you.
"Is that understood?"
Hermann asked.
"I understand, sir."
Devon said.
Hermann, with his hands behind his back, turned lazily around and left the room—moving like it was bothersome to walk.
"That was Hermann Overlord."
Ned came out of his bedroom and nudged his glasses; a moment ago he was too afraid to come out.
"You know of him?"
Devon asked.
"He was on the championship-winning team during the first edition of the World Tournament. He is a legend."
Ned said.
"You know your stuff."
Devon said.
"Knowledge is power. It’s wise to know who you should avoid, in case you happen to come across them."
Ned said.
"That is true. I should probably read the rulebook out. I’ve a feeling that Hermann will be quizzing me about it tomorrow."
Devon scratched the back of his head and went back to his bedroom and closed the door right behind him.
...
10 P.M.
"Holy shit."
Devon slammed the rulebook shut, and then he rested his feet on top of the desk and stretched his arms above his head.
He felt his eyes were about to pop out of the sockets!
Just to be safe, Devon read through the rulebook about three times, but there was so much stuff in it that his brain was overloaded.
"LIGHTS OFF!"
A shout came from the hallway, and lights died in the hallway, and the last of the doors were closed for the night.
Devon looked at the window with rain pattering against it.
The storm that he anticipated had finally arrived, and the sea was also churning with white-capped waves, crashing against the shore.
Luckily, the rocks surrounding the island acted as natural protection, so the Box was never in actual danger.
"Forever more..."
Devon put an alarm on his phone, then he put his headphones on and started playing music through the phone.
He lay down on the bed—the foreign bed—it was softer than his back in New Angeles, and the pillow was cold, like it had never been slept on before.
"Oh yeah, oh yeah... then it fell apart... it fell apart..."
Devon hummed the song, and at that moment, his eyes started to feel heavy with sleep, and soon he drifted off into a deep slumber.
That night, many students had a hard time falling asleep in this foreign place, as they were all feeling a little homesick.
...
Beep! Beep!
The alarm sound rang throughout the headphones, and Devon’s eyes fluttered slowly open, and when they were fully open, he saw the new ceiling.
He had to get used to this, because back in New Angeles, he was always welcomed with starry ceiling.
Some former tenant of the apartment was proper painter, and painted a star sky at the ceiling—it was nice, so they never removed it.
Now.
Devon was welcomed with a boring, plain, white ceiling.
"Mhm..."
He reached out to his phone, checked the time, and it was six in the morning, as he wanted to get his day properly started before the first lesson.
[9% battery]
’Luckily my phone didn’t run completely out of battery...’
Devon yawned, then tossed the headphones off and put his phone in the charger, and then did little stretching.
’I am feeling a little hungry. There was some food in the refrigerator as well. But I think the cafeteria also opens at seven, so I could go there.’
It felt like he was just in some college dormitory, just getting his day normally started, but then he remembered.
Today was the first day.
The competition would properly start today, and every day was going to be a battle—and he couldn’t afford to laze about.