Voices overlapped one another as Noah slowly regained consciousness.
His eyelids fluttered open.
The first thing he noticed was that he couldn’t sit up.
His body was lying on a metallic bed surrounded by several floating spherical orbs that moved back and forth around him, emitting faint blue lights. Thin rays scanned every inch of his body as strange symbols flashed across the ceiling.
"...Why am I here?"
He was on the verge of shouting when a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, stopping him before panic could completely take over.
"It’s alright," a soft female voice reassured him. "You’re safe now. We’re specialists assigned to handle unusual cases like this."
She paused before smiling.
"And you, Ashton Lane... are quite a special case."
Noah nearly scoffed.
Special?
He had barely spent a day in this academy, yet suddenly everyone was calling him special.
Weren’t these the same people who had labeled him useless?
The same people who had concluded he was completely powerless?
So what changed?
Why was everyone suddenly treating him like some priceless treasure?
"...I thought I was powerless," Noah asked, deliberately keeping his expression confused. "Wasn’t that what everyone said?"
If they knew something, perhaps he could trick them into revealing it.
The woman’s expression immediately became conflicted.
She bit her lower lip before looking toward the door where two other specialists had just stepped outside, apparently to fetch someone.
"I..."
She hesitated.
"I’m really not supposed to discuss that."
Noah’s heart sank.
Whatever this was...
It had attracted attention.
And attention from the higher-ups was the very last thing he wanted.
Taking a slow breath, he decided to change tactics.
"This is about me," he said quietly, lowering his gaze. "How am I supposed to stay calm when people suddenly collapsed because of me?"
His voice trembled just enough to sound convincing.
"I’m scared."
"I don’t even know what happened."
"What if I hurt someone again?"
"Please..."
"Help me understand."
The woman’s resolve visibly weakened.
To Noah...
It was almost too easy.
Seriously...
How could someone fall for such an obvious act?
He almost pitied her.
If she were living in his previous world, scammers would empty her bank account within a week.
She carefully looked around the room to make sure nobody else was listening before bending closer.
Noah immediately sat upright on the hospital bed.
Finally.
She sighed.
"...It’s your pheromones."
Noah blinked.
"My... what?"
"Your pheromones," she repeated.
"They suddenly experienced an abnormal surge."
She searched for the right words.
"The concentration became incredibly dense—far beyond what should be possible."
She continued in a lower voice.
"Anyone caught within their range would be overwhelmed. Their bodies would instinctively respond to your presence, making it difficult to resist your influence. The longer they remained exposed, the harder it became for them to think clearly."
Noah simply stared at her.
His mind refused to process what he had just heard.
That...
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Not once had anything like this occurred in the novel.
He had read enough to know that.
So why now?
Had the story already begun changing?
Or...
Had his arrival altered everything?
He swallowed.
"What about everyone who was affected?"
The woman nodded reassuringly.
"We managed to stabilize them."
"They’ve all recovered."
She paused briefly before adding something that made Noah’s blood run cold.
"Fortunately..."
"You aren’t in heat."
"If today’s incident had occurred during your heat cycle..."
She didn’t finish the sentence.
She didn’t need to.
Noah understood enough.
It would’ve been much worse.
A shiver crawled down his spine.
Yet something still bothered him.
Deep inside...
His instincts screamed that this wasn’t the whole story.
His enhanced pheromones felt more like a symptom.
Not the cause.
Something else...
Something far more dangerous...
Was sleeping inside him.
"Is that really everything?" he asked carefully.
The woman tilted her head.
"Is there something else we should know?"
Noah sighed inwardly.
Great.
He was trying to get answers, yet she kept throwing questions back at him.
How annoying.
"No."
He forced an awkward smile.
"I’m just worried about my health."
Her expression softened.
"You don’t need to worry so much."
She gently brushed a few strands of hair away from his forehead before helping him sit properly.
"From everything we’ve examined, you’re physically healthy."
She smiled warmly.
"Just don’t put yourself under too much stress."
"If another incident occurs..."
"Or if you notice anything unusual..."
"Come find me."
She extended her hand.
"My name is Tabitha."
"I’m one of the academy’s student healers and a subordinate assigned to the Special Medical Division."
Noah shook her hand politely.
"Thank you."
Even so...
His mind remained restless.
Should he tell her?
Should he admit that he couldn’t even remember where his classroom was?
That he barely understood the academy’s power system?
That he didn’t even know what subjects were taught here?
No.
Absolutely not.
He had made one massive mistake before.
He had dropped the novel halfway through because Ashton Lane annoyed him too much.
Now fate had thrown him directly into the very story he never finished.
"...Damn it."
He was completely doomed.
Standing from the examination bed, Noah brushed imaginary dust from his uniform.
His eyes briefly met Tabitha’s.
Something about the way she looked at him unsettled him.
It wasn’t the gaze of someone examining a patient.
It resembled someone staring at an extremely valuable treasure.
Or perhaps...
A rare specimen.
That thought alone sent chills down his back.
No.
He couldn’t trust anyone yet.
Until he understood what was happening to him, remaining silent was the safest option.
He still needed answers regarding the accident that brought him into this world.
Keeping a low profile was his only choice.
"Thank you for everything."
He gave a respectful bow before leaving.
The moment the door closed...
Tabitha’s gentle smile disappeared.
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"...He’s completely different."
One of the specialists who had stepped outside returned carrying several metallic storage boxes.
"What do you mean?"
Tabitha continued staring at the closed door.
"It’s almost as if someone else is living inside Ashton Lane’s body."
"The aura surrounding him..."
"...doesn’t belong to the Ashton recorded in our files."
Another woman frowned.
"Isn’t that impossible?"
"We already examined him during enrollment."
"He didn’t possess a single trace of magical affinity."
"So what changed?"
Tabitha slowly shook her head.
"I don’t know."
"But..."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"I haven’t sensed an aura like his in hundreds of years."
"If my instincts are right..."
"The academy just welcomed someone extraordinary."
Silence filled the room.
Finally, Tabitha clapped her hands once.
"We’ll investigate that later."
"For now..."
"Let’s get back to work."
The discussion ended there.
*****
Meanwhile, Noah wandered through the same hallway, once again trying to locate his classroom.
Before he could ask anyone for directions...
Someone suddenly crashed into him.
"ASHTON!"
A pair of arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
His eyes nearly popped out.
"I..."
"I can’t breathe!"
"You’re strangling me!"
Rose immediately released him.
"Oh!"
"Sorry!"
"I was worried sick!"
"I thought something horrible happened to you!"
She quickly looked him over from head to toe.
"What happened back there?"
"Abigail came back looking terrified."
"She was literally shaking."
"She kept saying you’re possessed."
"You should’ve seen her face."
"I’ve never seen someone as arrogant as her look so frightened."
Noah blinked.
Abigail?
The name didn’t immediately register.
Then he remembered.
The red-haired girl.
The one who had started everything.
"So..."
"You mean the red-haired girl?"
Rose nodded.
"Yeah."
Noah secretly smiled.
Good.
If she was afraid of him now...
He wasn’t about to complain.
Maybe she’d finally stop treating him like garbage.
"I honestly don’t know what happened," he replied.
"It all happened so fast."
Rose studied him for a moment.
She could tell he looked exhausted.
After everything that had happened today, pressing him for answers would only make things worse.
"Classes are almost over," she said instead.
"We only have one left."
"Battle Magic."
She grimaced.
"Mr. Warwold is teaching."
"He’s incredibly strict."
"So we’d better get there before he throws us out."
Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his wrist and hurried toward the classroom.
The moment they entered...
Every conversation stopped.
Dozens of eyes immediately turned toward them.
Rose ignored every single stare.
Still holding Noah’s wrist, she confidently led him to his seat.
Only then did Noah notice something strange.
Every student had a customized desk.
The expensive seats looked more like luxurious thrones than classroom furniture.
Only the desks at the very back were different.
They were plain wooden tables, roughly crafted and lacking any decoration.
Almost like chopped firewood hastily turned into furniture.
The divide was impossible to miss.
As Noah sat down, he immediately felt countless gazes lingering on him.
Only now did he truly realize just how deeply hierarchy was embedded within this academy.
The cafeteria had merely been the beginning.
At the highest level sat the Moonlight Alphas.
Each occupied an elegant glowing seat worthy of royalty.
Near the center sat Abigail, her legs crossed confidently, her posture radiating superiority.
Emily occupied another prestigious seat nearby.
Not far from them sat Sylvia—the fiancée promised to the four Alphas—remaining as composed as ever.
Just from their seating arrangement alone...
Anyone could tell they belonged to the academy’s most powerful and influential families.
What surprised Noah most...
Was Rose.
She clearly belonged among them.
Yet she continued sitting beside him without the slightest hesitation.
Why?
That question lingered in his mind.
As he glanced around the classroom, another realization dawned on him.
Status here wasn’t determined by wealth alone.
Power.
Influence.
Talent.
Everything was connected.
According to the novel, the stronger your abilities, the higher your standing.
And Ashton...
Possessed absolutely nothing.
No power.
No influence.
No prestige.
Noah slowly exhaled.
"Oh..."
"I already have a bad feeling about this."
Battle Magic.
A class centered around combat abilities.
Which meant powers would undoubtedly be demonstrated.
And if that happened...
There was a very high chance he was about to embarrass himself in front of the entire class.