Ethan Morvendrell was currently happy, and calling it current was not an exaggeration.

"Haha, you don’t need to be this generous, Senior," he said, looking at the exceptionally beautiful girl with yellowish hair and sparkling eyes, who was still holding his hand rather firmly.

"No, let me treat you to a meal. You declined last time saying you needed to practice, and I didn’t even get the chance to properly thank you, Junior," the girl, Soleil, replied with a gentle yet persistent tone.

Ethan, now nearly twelve years old and already part of the Senior Division.

He had earned this attention after the incident a few months ago when members of the Hidden Kosilori Cult attacked the School.

During that chaos, he had saved Soleil and some of his friends, and although they now belonged to the same division, she was slightly older than him and insisted on being addressed as Senior.

Ever since then, she had been trying to get closer to him, often finding excuses to spend time together.

However, Ethan was not someone who allowed himself to be easily swayed by emotions.

"You already said thank you, so I think that’s enough. Senior, I’ll see you later, I need to study in the library," he said as he freed his hand from her grasp.

Although there was a faint trace of reluctance in his actions, he knew when to indulge emotions and when not to.

Soleil seemed to sense his determination and chose not to stop him further.

"Next time, I’m definitely treating you."

"That sounds great, see you then," Ethan replied before walking away.

However, the moment he gained some distance from her, his expression changed completely, and the earlier warmth disappeared as if it had never existed.

"Freaking hell... what was that feeling?" he muttered under his breath, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I really need to start listening to the system more."

As he recalled their brief interaction, he realized that what had appeared to be a simple, harmless conversation was anything but normal.

During his rebellious phase, he had occasionally tried to defy the system, and most of the time the punishments were minor, such as a reduction in World Saving Heroic Points or temporary restrictions on his inventory, but this time the situation had been entirely different.

Simply being near her had caused his thoughts to become disorganized, almost as if his mind was being tampered with.

And now that he had regained clarity, the happiness he had felt moments ago vanished without a trace.

’Shit... some demons are truly terrifying,’ he thought grimly as he made his way forward.

By the time he reached the Library, his expression had already settled into a calm and focused state.

The library itself was enormous, housing what could easily be millions of books and capable of accommodating thousands of students at once, yet despite its scale, it remained eerily quiet, with only the faint sounds of pages turning and soft footsteps echoing in the distance.

Today, however, Ethan was not here for casual study.

He had come with a very specific objective.

The reward from his previous mission had provided him with a clue, something that could play a crucial role in the incident expected to occur tomorrow.

And as someone tasked with saving the world while possessing fragmented knowledge of the future, he understood better than anyone the importance of preparation.

To ensure his presence during the upcoming event, he had even taken on PDD oversight duty, a responsibility assigned to Senior Division students.

"Here is my library card," he said, checking it with the librarian before stepping inside.

’The description mentioned that it is hidden within the most ordinary book, located in the direction where the sun sets,’ he recalled, pulling out a small compass and heading toward the westernmost section of the library.

As he scanned the shelves, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Now, where do I find the most ordinary book in a place like this?" he muttered.

After searching the lower shelves without success, he infused a small amount of mana into his library card, activating its built-in Levitation spell, and soon his body began to float upward.

The towering shelves stretched nearly a hundred meters high, and it was common to see other students drifting through the air as they searched for specific books, which made the process feel strangely normal, or rather it was normal in this Magical World.

Even so, the task was far from simple.

’This is going to take time...’ he thought as he continued searching.

Nearly four hours passed before he finally found what he was looking for – a plain, unremarkable book that lacked even basic preservation magic, making it stand out precisely because of how ordinary it appeared.

Opening it revealed nothing more than an old mage’s journal, but hidden within its pages were three cards, each emitting a faint glow. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Ethan’s eyes widened as he carefully picked them up.

’Oh my god... these are ancient relics worth millions of gold,’ he thought, barely containing his excitement as he recalled the system reward for that task.

Reward: World Saving Heroic Points +1000, Location of a True Runic Artifact from a Forgotten Age.

The intricate runes engraved on the cards were unlike anything used in the modern era of magic, and merely looking at them gave him a slight sense of dizziness, as if they contained knowledge far beyond his current understanding.

After taking a moment to steady himself, he carefully stored the cards in his pocket before immediately changing his destination.

Without wasting any more time, he headed toward the School Training Grounds, where, after a brief wait and using his School Badge, he secured access to a private training room.

Now that he had obtained what he came for, there was only one thing left to do.

Prepare for what was about to come.