Zack was probably the most generic character and yet the most complex character. He was a blank slate in the game yet had that basic charm to appear attractive. Even if all he did was study, he would have attracted a girl towards him in some manner.

Therefore, he had expected to be surrounded by girls by now. Instead, most were players, taken, or hated him. He had only managed to ensnare two girls at this point.

But since he focused more on his creations instead of his actual fighting ability, his grades were starting to drop. He began to rely more on external items like tools and consumables, as they would provide a less risky path towards success. If he followed Nolan, then he could suffer from a drawback eventually or even accidentally kill himself.

So, he went to visit the supposedly still sleeping Nolan in order to discover a possible way to keep going forward.

However, he was surprised to see the young man in question moving around already.

“Hehe, wow.”

“What, came to see how I was doing?”

“No, I came to say, ‘Don’t worry, the girls will be safe with me.’”

“I would kill you if you were serious.”

Zack laughed awkwardly, as a strange pressure emanated from the room Nolan was in. Zack shook his head and began to walk away. Instead of feeling better, he was now being pressured by a guy in chains. He would need to keep moving if he didn’t want to be dragged down.

And so, he locked himself away to further his creations, outright ignoring his own classes.

Meanwhile, Bailey and Tetra were sitting in a classroom and cooking something. Rather, Bailey was cooking and Tetra was sitting down off to the side and reading a book.

“Here, try it out. These cookies were made with Cactuar Milk.”

“Cactuar don’t exist in this game. That is something else.”

“Well, this cactus monster milk tastes amazing. Try it.”

“You should stop interfering with this world and try to act like the original Bailey should.”

Bailey placed the hot plate down and removed her oven mitts. She was a good head shorter now, but in the future, she would become a tall Amazonian-like woman with a voluptuous figure. But, that was due to her many hours of exercise. For now, it was unknown to the others just how strong she actually was.

“Hmm? Then what should I do about the hypocrite sitting in front of me who should be practicing her magic spells right about now?”

Tetra smirked before returning to her book. However, she wasn’t really reading. Her eyes were focusing on the cookies. Bailey saw this and sighed before sitting down next to her.

“You know, I was upset at first when Nolan broke Ilya’s heart, but it was then that I noticed I held no place in her heart.”

Tetra was confused where the conversation was going, so she placed the book down. Her face was kind of sharp as her expression was still in glare mode.

“Of course, I won’t be the one to ruin a relationship. You know, she came to me the other night and asked what I should do.”

“You told her to stay away from him, right? This way, he will develop a mentality to prepare others and head towards the path of a principal. See, fate always has a way. Even Zack is heading towards flunking, now that he is not going to class.”

Bailey just smiled at Tetra’s words and shook her head.

“You know, in my past life, I met a guy.”

“You…did you like him?”

“Not in that way. He was more of a father figure than my own father who didn’t want to accept me for who I was. Instead, this guy taught me how to work and I ended up meeting the love of my life. We lived happily as I twisted balloons.”

“Balloons? Why does that sound familiar? Anyways, what does this have to do with the current situation?”

“I lived my life in that world. I lived until I died. I wasn’t upset and was actually happy with what I had obtained. So, in this world, I can start over. I expected that the love of my life in this world would be similar to the life I had before, but I now realize that things are different. I cannot expect to live the same way I used to.”

“That is a given.”

“Heh. So, I shouldn’t be looking for a woman who was like my wife. I should be looking for a new person.”

“Umm…”

Bailey turned around and grabbed one of the cookies and held it in front of Tetra’s face.

“Say ahhh...!”

Tetra gulped as she realized what Bailey meant. However, instead of repulsion, her face grew warm as she opened her mouth. The soft cookie tasted sweet and fruity, definitely satisfying her sweet tooth. Before she could stop, her mouth tilted upwards as her cheeks puffed outwards.

“Mmmm!”

And then Bailey struck. She grabbed onto Tetra’s cheeks and pulled her close, stealing a kiss.

“Mm…delicious indeed.”

Tetra was shocked, but now she was warm all over and unsure of what to do. She stared at Bailey in a shy manner as she swallowed the cookie down…and asked for seconds.

Unlike the pink atmosphere in the kitchen, a dark feeling was coming from Yidris’ room. She was the attendant for Ophia, but rarely ever watched over her, as Emeril was there. Now, it was usually Lily the third year coming by, as she held a close relationship with her for some reason.

So, Yidris was mostly left alone. Left alone to ponder what she wanted.

She remembered her past life and wanted so badly to find a guy like ‘him,’ the guy who did whatever he wanted. She was too young before, dying at around 18 years old. She hadn’t had the chance to ask ‘him’ out, even if he was over thirty years old. But now, she would never find that man again…

Or so she thought. She never realized the person she was looking for could have been so close. She held up the small picture she had Sandie make of Nolan and held it close. That strong emotion she felt when he stared at her, even if it was for only a moment, enraptured her. Those powerful moves he made, the aura he exerted…it all compounded into what she believed to be her ideal man.

However, she didn’t want to admit it. A big part of her still wanted to believe that she could once again meet ‘him’, the one from her past life. Even if it was impossible, her dreams still moved on.