Chapter 4: Chapter 4: One Year Before the Main Character Arrives

The moment I stepped into the orientation hall, I already knew this wasn’t just any academy.

It was too structured. Too important. Too... central.

Rows of students filled the massive hall, their uniforms neatly pressed, their posture disciplined in a way that screamed elite training rather than casual schooling. Above us, banners of different races hung side by side—Elven sigils woven with Human crests, Dwarven runes stitched next to Demi-human emblems.

A coalition.

A fragile one.

I sat near the middle rows, my eyes scanning the stage instead of the crowd.

Because I already knew where I was.

One year before the main character arrives.

That detail alone changed everything.

In Abyssal Chronos: Veil of Ruin, this academy wasn’t just a school. It was the last unified stronghold of the surviving intelligent races capable of resisting the Demon Realm. A political miracle held together by fear, necessity, and the shared knowledge that extinction was no longer a distant concept—it was scheduled.

Elves. Humans. Demi-humans. Dwarves.

Even dragons existed... technically.

But dragons didn’t attend the academy.

They stayed in their territories, isolating themselves from the coalition. At least, that’s how it was supposed to be.

In my last full run of the game, I remembered something unsettling—

The dragons never joined the final war.

Not because they refused.

But because they were gone before it began.

Wiped out quietly.

Erased from participation.

A casualty of something worse than demons.

The Outer Gods.

I exhaled slowly.

So the timeline is already unstable.

That was my first conclusion.

A voice on stage pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Our new Student Council President will now address you."

My gaze shifted upward.

And there she was.

Seraphiel.

Even without my memory of the game, she would have stood out.

Silver hair cascading like silk under light. Sharp, composed golden eyes that didn’t belong to someone our age. A presence that wasn’t just authority—it was inherited authority. The kind that didn’t need to be proven, only acknowledged.

Elven royalty.

Heir to one of the last pureblood lines.

She stepped forward, and the hall immediately quieted.

Her voice was calm.

Measured.

Perfectly controlled.

I didn’t even need to focus to understand why she was chosen.

She wasn’t just a student council president.

She was a symbol of political stability between races that didn’t trust each other.

"The academy exists," she said, her voice carrying effortlessly across the hall, "not as a place of comfort, but as preparation."

I already knew this speech.

In the game, this was the introduction trigger for several early side routes.

But now it felt different.

Because I was inside it.

Not watching.

Not reading.

Living it.

Seraphiel continued.

"The world outside these walls is already unstable. Demon incursions increase every year. Dungeon outbreaks are no longer rare incidents—they are becoming predictable."

A few students shifted uncomfortably.

She didn’t stop.

"The coalition exists because isolation guarantees extinction."

I leaned back slightly in my seat.

So far, nothing new.

But my mind wasn’t on her speech.

It was on the timeline.

Because I knew what came next.

The main character. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He arrives in exactly one year.

And after that—

everything accelerates.

By the end of his third year, the Great Demon War begins.

And that war isn’t just another event.

It’s the breaking point of the world.

After that... the Outer Gods intervene directly.

Or rather—

they finish what was already in motion.

I clenched my fist slightly.

"If I’m one year early," I muttered under my breath, "then I have time."

Time to grow stronger.

Time to understand this body.

Time to stabilize the abilities I was given.

Infinite Adaptation.

Perfect Copy.

The unknown fragment.

And the Divine Seed of Destruction that even the System couldn’t classify.

Seraphiel’s speech ended with applause.

I joined in automatically, my hands clapping without thought.

Around me, students stood, cheering politely. The kind of applause that wasn’t emotional—it was protocol.

That’s when I heard it.

A whisper in my own mind.

Not the System.

Just thought.

The main character is joining this academy one year later.

I stood up slowly as people began moving toward their assigned classes.

Till then, I’ll have to grow stronger quickly.

My eyes narrowed slightly.

Because by his third year... the Great Demon War will begin.

That wasn’t speculation.

That was certainty.

And worse—

in my previous run, that war wasn’t the end.

It was the midpoint.

I turned away from the stage and started walking with the crowd.

The academy corridors stretched wide and polished, filled with engraved stone walls and floating mana lamps. Students split off into class directions, guided by hovering signs.

Then I stopped.

A sudden sensation.

Like being watched.

I turned slowly.

Nothing.

Just people moving.

Talking.

Laughing.

Living normal academy lives.

"...Guess it’s just my imagination," I muttered.

But I didn’t fully believe it.

Not anymore.

I resumed walking.

Eventually, I reached the class board.

My eyes scanned it.

Class 1-D

I stared at it for a moment longer than necessary.

"...Class 1-D," I repeated.

A faint, almost bitter thought slipped through.

"How ironic."

Same designation as my old high school life.

Different world.

Different body.

Same class label.

Like the universe couldn’t decide whether it was mocking me or recycling me.

I stepped inside.

The classroom was already half-filled. Students chatting, testing mana flow, comparing affinities like it was casual conversation. A few glanced at me briefly before losing interest.

Good.

I preferred it that way.

I took a seat near the back.

Away from attention.

Away from unnecessary interference.

For now.

I exhaled slowly and leaned back in my chair.

"One year," I muttered under my breath.

"One year before everything starts."

And somewhere deep inside that thought—

I already knew.

One year wasn’t a gift.

It was a countdown.