Despite Reid telling him he could take several days off, Evan insisted on going to school the following day. Spending too much time around Reid risked raising his suspicions, since the man knew his brother better than anyone and was the likeliest to notice that something had changed. Besides, dealing with Yuyan and Marcus seemed far easier.
"Yo, Evan! I thought you were taking a week off!" Marcus said, waving as Evan stepped into the classroom.
"I'm not that lazy," Evan said.
"No, but we know how your brother is," Yuyan said. "I saw his interview, by the way. He looks cool."
Evan narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not developing a crush on Reid, are you? Let me tell you, you don't have a chance."
"Don't be stupid! My heart only belongs to Junhao, okay?" Yuyan protested. "But I'm not blind. Anyone can see how impressive and handsome your brother is. It's honestly a wonder you look so plain next to him. Did your parents' genes just give up on you?"
Marcus snickered.
"Thanks for the compliment," Evan said dryly.
When class began, Evan forced himself to focus, taking notes and following the lesson as best he could. He hadn't spent yesterday lazing around at home. Between reading up on monsters and Awakeners, he'd poured hours into his class materials, determined to absorb as much as he could. Maybe it was because he was inhabiting the other Evan's body, which had already learned most of this, but the lessons came back to him with surprising ease.
The morning slipped by, and the familiar bell announcing lunch rang out over the school. Marcus and Yuyan half-sprinted toward the cafeteria, while Evan followed at a more leisurely pace.
The dining hall was lined with long tables and attached benches. A serving counter ran along one wall, where students queued to collect their meals. Groups filled most of the seats, chatting with friends or scrolling on their phones between bites.
Evan chose a corner table away from the serving counter and the crowds. Yuyan arrived soon after, carrying her lunch.
She set down her tray and glanced at the open bento in front of Evan. Fluffy white rice filled one side, packed beside glazed teriyaki chicken, rolled tamagoyaki, vegetables, shrimp tempura, and meatballs, with strawberries and mandarin slices tucked into the corner for dessert.
"Reid spoils you way too much. When does he even have time to make all this?" Yuyan asked.
"He's suspended, so he has plenty of free time now," Evan said.
Reid had handed him the bento that morning, and Evan had been a little shocked. He knew his brother had been busy in the kitchen the previous night, but he hadn't expected any of it to be for his lunch. Heat crept up his neck as he opened the box. Unlike the cafeteria meals everyone else was eating, his homemade bento stood out.
"I'm so jealous," Yuyan said, looking from her tray to his. "Your brother would make a wonderful husband. I bet he'd treat his wife like a queen."
"I told you that you don't have a chance," Evan said, and bit into his teriyaki chicken.
"Geez, calm down. Didn't I already tell you I'm not interested in Reid that way?" Yuyan reached into her pocket and tossed something toward Evan.
He caught it just before it hit the table. A chibi Junhao grinned up at him from a keychain charm, the idol's signature expression faithfully recreated. "What's this?"
"A gift. What else? Didn't I say I was planning to give you something for saving me?"
"You said you changed your mind. And I..." The memory of running away while the Awakened Thornwood Tree's vines closed around Yuyan and Marcus rose unbidden.
"I don't blame you," Yuyan said. "Honestly, I probably would've done the same thing in your shoes. You were captured soon after, and Reid came to save all of us anyway. I don't see any reason to hold it against you."
Evan pursed his lips.
"What's with the gloomy mood?" Marcus asked, dropping into the seat beside Evan. His eyes went straight to the bento box. "Whoa, are you really not going to share?"
Evan frowned but let Marcus steal one of his meatballs.
"Let me have some too then!" Yuyan said, snatching a piece of teriyaki chicken with her chopsticks.
He allowed her one but swatted at their thieving hands when they reached for seconds. "You have your own food. Don't steal mine."
"Aw, how about a trade then?" Marcus said, offering a piece of his stir-fried beef.
Evan turned his head away.
When they finished lunch, Evan attached the Junhao keychain charm to his phone. He found it garish and nothing like his usual taste, but it was the first gift anyone had ever given him. Somehow, even Junhao's smug grin had lost some of its sting.
The next few days passed without incident, and, to Evan's relief, the System notifications never appeared again. He used the time to learn more about the world and polish his act. Reid, meanwhile, continued making him a fresh bento each morning during the days that remained before he left for District 1.
It didn't take long for Marcus and Yuyan to start coveting Evan's homemade meals. They pestered him so relentlessly that he eventually caved and asked Reid if he could make two more. Reid just smiled and added them to his morning routine without complaint.
Evan fully intended to make them sit through a lecture on shamelessness before handing over the containers. He had barely started when they plucked the boxes from his hands and dug in. By the time he finished, half their food was already gone, and they were arguing over what Reid should cook next.
The routine held for the rest of the week. Every morning, Reid prepared lunch for all three, and Marcus and Yuyan accepted their share without a flicker of guilt. Then the day of Reid's departure arrived. As he prepared to board the Express Rail bound for District 1, Hye-jin accompanied Evan to see him off.
The District 20 Rail Station was one of the largest structures in the area, its roof rising several stories above the surrounding buildings. Inside, the main concourse bustled with commuters filing past the security gates and hurrying toward the boarding platforms.
Reid stood near the entrance to the boarding area with a large suitcase, a carry-on, and a duffel bag lined up beside him, and a backpack hung from one shoulder. It was a modest pile for a move across districts.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Reid asked.
"You've already asked that a dozen times," Evan said. "If you keep asking, I might actually burn the apartment down."
"Calm down, Mama Bear. I'll make sure your brother doesn't get into any trouble," Hye-jin said.
"Please don't forget to visit him at home," Reid added.
"I know," she said with an exasperated sigh. Reid had repeated the same reminder to her as often as he had to Evan.
"Express Rail service to District 1 will depart in five minutes," a voice announced over the speakers.
"See? Off you go, or you'll miss your train," Hye-jin said, shooing Reid away.
Reid gathered his luggage with obvious reluctance and made for his train car. He waved from a window seat until the train carried him out of sight, and Evan and Hye-jin kept waving back until the last carriage had vanished down the track.
Hye-jin drove Evan home afterward. The apartment felt hollow the moment he stepped inside. It had never been large, but without Reid, every room seemed bigger, and the quiet felt strangely oppressive.
Evan shook his head. He had lived alone after the orphanage kicked him out, he reminded himself, and he went to the kitchen to start dinner. Plenty of ingredients remained from their last grocery run, so he made a simple meal of rice with scrambled eggs and tomatoes.
It was a far cry from Reid's cooking. The man was practically perfect, even in the kitchen. Evan had cooked for himself for years, but once he'd grown used to Reid's meals, his own tasted painfully bland.
His phone vibrated with a message from Reid. [Have you eaten yet?]
[Yeah.] Evan replied, attaching a picture of his half-eaten dinner.
[Looks good, but you should add chicken next time.]
[Okay.]
Evan smiled at Reid's endless fussing and finished eating. After washing the dishes, he returned to the living room. With Reid gone for a while and the apartment to himself, he could finally do what he had been waiting for. He opened his skill window and went over his abilities.
[Main Character Who?]
[The main character? Who's that? You're nobody. No one. Nobody will pay attention to you! Amazing! Maybe you can try tugging on a tiger's whiskers, but I wouldn't recommend it!]
He had read that newly awakened Awakeners had to activate their skills from the System window, while experienced ones eventually used their abilities by instinct. Evan was still learning, so for this first attempt he selected the icon and held his breath.
Whoosh!
Darkness spread from his shadow and enveloped him from head to toe, then faded within a fraction of a second. When Evan looked down, his body had become translucent. Curious, he pulled out his phone and switched on the camera. The screen showed nothing where he stood. His eyes brightened. How far could he push this ability?
With the skill active, he stepped outside and wandered the neighborhood. People walked past him on their way home, yet none spared him a glance. Evan wasn't satisfied, since that alone didn't prove the ability worked as intended. They could simply have been too focused on getting home. He was about to test it further when the invisibility suddenly vanished.
He blinked. The abrupt end gave him an idea. He ducked into a discreet corner and checked his wristwatch to time the skill's limits. Standing still kept him hidden for roughly fifteen minutes. Once he started walking, the limit dropped to around ten, and running cut it to barely five. The cooldown seemed to last about a minute. Not bad.
For his next experiment, Evan entered a nearby convenience store and approached a woman browsing the shelves. With his stealth active, he tapped her on the shoulder. The woman turned to face him, but her gaze slid past and found nothing. She frowned and looked around, confused.
"Neat," Evan said.
The sudden voice made the woman jump. She spun around, searching for the source. Spooked, she hurried to the cashier and paid for her items as quickly as she could.
Watching her flee, Evan rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry."
He hadn't expected to end up playing a ghost. Despite the awkward encounter, excitement stirred in him. This ability was a lot more useful than he'd imagined, because it didn't merely make him invisible but made people completely overlook his presence. As long as he stayed silent, people wouldn't notice him. He still needed to test it against Awakeners and monsters, since some might possess abilities that could detect him. Even so, it was incredible.
"Thanks, System!" Evan said.
[(¬_¬)]
The System's reply was as cold as ever, but the smile on Evan's face held. Over the following days, he spent much of his free time experimenting with his powers while living alone without Reid. Sometimes he wandered crowded public areas with the invisibility active, always retreating to a secluded corner before the timer expired. It wouldn't do to get caught as an unregistered Awakener.
The other ability, You're Not Supposed To See This, was much more straightforward. It let him inspect people's System windows, and he meant people, not just Awakeners.
He could even see the System windows of Marcus and Yuyan despite neither of them being Awakeners. So far, he could access only the basics: names, ages, titles, and statuses. If he managed to upgrade it, perhaps it would reveal more.
Not that he was counting on it. Evolving or upgrading a skill was notoriously difficult, since hard work alone wasn't always enough and success sometimes came down to sheer luck. Given Evan's track record with luck, he figured it was better not to get his hopes up.
His attention shifted to the Curse of ■■■■■■ on his System window, which had recently revealed another strange detail, though he wasn't sure what to make of it.
[Status Effect: The Curse of ■■■■■■]
[You've been cursed. By who? Who knows? But don't expect luck to be on your side. If one had to put it into stat numbers, you'd probably be somewhere between -999 and -1.]
It seemed his luck was permanently stuck in the negatives, and whenever the curse activated, things became even worse. Amazing. Even now, he had no idea who the censored figure was. He was half-convinced they were the creator of the System, but who knew? Maybe they were just friends who enjoyed messing with him.
Evan shook his head, cutting himself off before he could launch into another tirade against the System. There was no point dwelling on it. At least he had learned enough about Nova Terra to find his footing. He might still be clueless about plenty of things, but he wouldn't be caught off guard as easily as on his first day.
What he remained most unsure about was how long he could keep Reid convinced that he was his little brother. Up to this point, there hadn't been any problems. His personality wasn't all that different from this world's Evan, but the missing memories remained a major obstacle. His Memory Synchronization Progress had been stuck at ten percent for days, leaving him with only a vague understanding of the original Evan's past.
With a sigh, Evan rolled onto his back. He had already finished his homework and now lay turning over the things he needed to do and the problems he needed to avoid.
Ring!
Evan reached for his phone and saw Marcus's name on the screen. "Marcus? What? Do you need help with the homework or..."
"Evan..." Marcus's voice trembled. "I... my cousin was kidnapped."