The Protagonist Already Knows

Chapter 23: The Main Character

*Ring~ring*

As the bell rang, signifying the end of Wednesday’s classes, Ren anxiously glanced around the classroom.

His eyes scanned the lecture-sized room in less than five seconds, instantly taking in every single detail of the room, whether it was a crumb on a classmate’s face or a slight mark on the wall.

Even if Ren closed his eyes, he would be able to perfectly recall every single detail of the classroom without fail.

As if to prove the point, Ren closed his eyes; however, there was no darkness.

Instead, Ren found himself in a perfect replica of the classroom, every single figure motionless in the same position he had seen them in when scanning the classroom.

The outside world through the classroom windows that Ren hadn’t been able to memorize, and the inside of students’ backpacks, which Ren hadn’t been able to see, were simply a black void.

Walking around the motionless world, Ren examined a couple of figures before eventually pausing before one with blood-red eyes.

Standing in front of Ash, who was mid-step, Ren rapidly scanned his figure, looking for anything wrong.

"What exactly...are you up to...?"

For the past two days, he had been on extremely high alert, monitoring Ash and every other potential antagonist’s actions.

After all, he had changed the past...so now, anything could happen.

For example, the boy before him could go berserk at any time...like a ticking time bomb.

In the original novel, during the virtual reality assessment, the Dregs had mobilized their human forces, sending an undercover teacher in the Sunken Pearl to mess with the virtual reality equipment.

As a result, five first-years had become... brain-dead, the tampered virtual reality equipment frying their brains.

The incident had really... left an impression on the young Ren’s brain in his past life.

"Five humans...killed, for what? Any one of those could have been me...."

Thus, Ren had reported Professor Forza, the culprit, to the headmaster all the way back on Sunday, before the entrance ceremony.

Although Ren knew he had no evidence, he was desperate, and talking to the school’s headmaster seemed like the only way to prevent the incident.

And thankfully, despite the only proof being his words, Cynthia had listened to him. She had sent security to raid the professor’s room, where they promptly found mind-numbing equipment and arrested Professor Forza.

But now there was a deviation in the timeline...anything could happen.

Ren knew the reason behind most antagonists at the Sunken Pearl, so he had already taken many preventive actions.

He knew that First-Year Coal had joined the Dregs because of his inferiority complex, so he had publicly stood up for Coal against Leon yesterday.

However, he had no idea how or why Ash had gone on a rampage, killing multiple students, so all he could do was watch...watch carefully.

Snapping Ren back to reality, a voice suddenly resounded in the motionless words.

"Ren, you there!? I don’t care how tired you are; today is the day I beat you!"

His eyes snapping open as a stubborn voice sounded from his right, Ren found himself in a nearly empty classroom, having no recollection of what had happened in the outside world for the time he had been in the motionless classroom.

Instantly, he felt his forehead heat up, as his head exploded with pain as if someone had stabbed his skull.

Just because his eyes could take in every detail didn’t mean the neurons in his brain could handle all that sensory information.

Instinctively covering his right eye, Ren nodded and looked at Carissa, who wore a weird expression while staring at his covered right eye.

"Yeah, I’ll see you in the training hall; just give me a secon-"

"Your eye."

Interrupting Ren, Carissa continued while pointing at Ren’s eye.

"It’s bleeding."

A grim smile on his face, Ren responded.

"Are you s-"

Not even letting Ren finish his sentence, Carissa interrupted in a stern tone, her amber-brown pupils locked onto the right side of his face.

"Are you really doubting my eyes?"

To archers like him and Carissa, eyes were the most important part of the body, so his saying she had misseen something was akin to him calling her a terrible archer.

Slowly removing his palm, which was now covered in a crimson-red substance, and revealing his right eye, Ren awkwardly said after a moment of silence.

"I really need contacts or s-"

"Are you fucking stupid?"

Gazing at him, her pupils trembling, Carissa continued.

"Were you really planning on training later without any treatment? Not even the nurse? What the hell are you going to do if you go blind?"

Facing the furious Carissa, Ren...just smiled, ignoring the blood leaking down his face and painting the right side of his face red.

Ah...how nice it was.

Ignoring the pain that felt like a knife stabbing him over and over again, Ren opened both his eyes wide and memorized the moment, taking every single detail of Carissa’s expression, face, posture, her raised eyebrows, her brown hair...everything.

"Are you insane!?"

"Can you hear me!?"

"Hello!?"

In the background, Carissa was scrambling around, looking through her backpack and eventually finding some napkins, while simultaneously yelling and cursing him.

He had to cherish every moment he had with her.

*BANG*

Finally, snapping back to reality as Carissa punched his stomach, Ren coughed and wiped his face with the napkins Carissa had given him.

It didn’t matter much: he was used to it all.

This was his gift, after all.

===Status Menu===

[User: Ren Zeng]

--> Rank: E-

--> Strength: E+

--> Stamina: G+

--> Intelligence: E

--> Speed: C

--> Mana Pool: E

--> Luck: G

[Gift: Helios’s Chariot] / [Rank: EX] / [Element: Light]

--> [Every single part of your body, refined under the very flames that birthed humanity, possesses an impeccable speed: your eyes catch every movement, and your body’s reaction times are near instant. As a flickering flame, destined to return to the light, you possess the ability to Purify, which belongs to the light domain.]

---> [Beings Purified: 0]

--> [Gifted Ability: Light Break]: [Transform into a beam of pure light for a short period of time.]

[Skills]

--> [N/A]