New Friend

I stared at the name that had changed. I don't know why, but I really didn't like the fact that I couldn't see my real name at all, it didn't make sense.

But there was nothing I could do but accept it. I started reading down through the files, and I could swear from the way it looked, someone had heavily covered my past with the intention of it never being found.

There was nothing I could use for any sort of lead as to what happened to me and what my past really is.

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue, pissed at the situation, tossing the file onto the bed and walking to the chair. I sat down, head low in thought.

After a while of thinking, very little progress was made, so I decided to check the system that I was given.

The screen turned on right before my eyes, all I needed was a thought and it was done. But it was still stuck on the message screen. I began to worry that this thing might have no other function, and that would honestly suck, but before I could say anything, the screen suddenly changed.

[You have gained a starter skill, Space Zone]

[The system possesses abilities that can aid to grow stronger and save the heroines]

I looked at the next message with a slightly easier brow. I knew this system was tailored to save them, but it really took its job seriously. Either way, I wanted to know what this Space Zone was.

I wanted an explanation. I thought about the skill and immediately, boom, my consciousness was pulled in forcefully, and when my eyes opened again, I was standing inside a white space.

There were no walls, nothing at all, this was a vast white space.

"What the hell is this?"

I looked around, but there was nothing to see. Then suddenly a thought came to mind, a chair would really be nice at that moment.

A second later, a chair formed out of thin air, standing right before me. I looked at the chair, my eyes widened with shock. I walked toward it and placed my hand on the chair. It was solid, real, and all it took to create was the touch of the hand.

[Space Zone is currently level one. Time inside the zone is twice as fast compared to time outside. Everything imagined can take shape within the zone. Extremely intricate imaginations are hard to carry out at level one.]

The system finally sent a message explaining the current situation of this space. It gave a lot of information about what could be done and what couldn't be done, but all that didn't matter.

What mattered was the fact that I could do things here for two hours and go out and only an hour would have passed. That would definitely up my efficiency by a ton.

And beyond that, I could imagine whatever I wanted. This was an overpowered skill. But really, did anything ever come easy? After imagining a few things like a house, furniture, and some other things, it felt as if my mind was about to rupture. It hurt like crazy.

Without choice, I had to leave the zone, returning to my room.

"Arghhhh, I guess it's only fair that something that's powerful has a drag on my mind." I clicked my tongue, but I couldn't really be mad at it. After all, it was still a great skill to have, and I might be able to study and do better at the academy with its help.

I was about to get up and rest my head on the bed when the knob of the door twisted. My eyes shot to the door, looking with a sharp expression. The door slowly opened and what came in first was a leather black bag, followed by the foot of a dude.

When he finally walked in, I was stunned. For the first time in my life, I saw a cute guy. Like, what the hell was that even supposed to be? This dude looked smallish, with a frame that looked like it could crumble if touched.

He had red glossy hair and eyes, pale skin, and a very soft expression. He wasn't too feminine because I could tell he was a dude right away, but he was just too cute to be normal.

I found myself staring a bit too much and didn't look away until he gave me a nervous look and dropped his head.

What the hell was that? This dude is getting flustered because I looked at him? Oh, come on, you are just doing it to look cuter at this point.

I took a deep breath and cleared my head. I walked to him and stretched out my hands. He shook a bit when he saw it, but then shook the hand.

"My name is Leo Tallon, sorry for staring at you too long. I've never seen a cute dude before," I said, not caring to hide my thoughts even a little bit.

My words flustered him. He looked away, cheeks rosy. What sort of BL romance bullshit was this? Luckily it didn’t work that way, but then again, if I and this dude became good friends, I could actually use his cuteness to gain things from ladies and probably some dudes with weird taste.

Sorry for planning to manipulate you early on, but don't blame me, blame your cute face. I thought as I looked at him.

"My name is Andrew Smith," he said in a low tone, then forced himself to look up. "And when it comes to looks, I feel you should also be worried about yourself." He said, I looked at him like, what?

Did this dude just say I'm ugly? I locked eyes in the bathroom mirror and dashed toward it. I opened the door and walked in, looking at the mirror, and oh my God.

I stared at the mirror, full of disbelief. This couldn't be me, could it? My face looked like what someone would see in some Korean series, carefully crafted through make-up and editing to make me look as handsome and cute as possible.

My black hair matched my abyss-like eyes. I had a sharp gaze to add. Honestly, I had to give myself some credit, I was a hotshot.

This was far from what I expected. I expected to look somewhat average, acceptable, not this. Seeing my face now, I began to question my origin again. No one with an ordinary background could look this good. That it, I was just lucky.

I leaned back from the mirror. It felt good having the looks, I couldn't lie. Which dude didn't want the good looks? I walked out of the bathroom and saw Andrew already placing his stuff, and yeah, this dude had to be joking.

Because why the hell were there two massive stuffed animals on his bed, like what the actual hell? That wasn't the worst, one was purple and the other was a light red shade. Bro couldn't even pick better colors.

I felt the urge to ask him if he liked dudes and if I should watch the way I interacted with him, but suddenly, a painting frame fell out of his bag. I rushed and grabbed it before it hit the ground.

I turned it around and saw a painting of a younger Andrew with a girl with purple hair. He rushed down from the bed and took the painting from me, like he didn't want me to see.

I got up and looked at him. He turned his head away and apologized. "Sorry for that, it's just this is precious to me," he said, holding the painting close to his chest.

"I understand. Is she a sibling or someone you love?" I asked him. He flinched slightly, so I knew it was one of the two. I leaned closer to love.

"She was my childhood crush, though she was a year older than me and far more skilled in magic than me. She is the reason that I came to the academy. She is a third year here," he explained, his voice barely loud enough for me to hear.

"You did it because you love her. She must really be lucky to have you," I said, but he shook his head.

"This painting of me and her was the last time we ever saw face to face. We drifted apart after that. She was a genius, and though I was talented, I couldn't keep up the gap.

Her parents took her away to train and get better, to utilize her talent. I did everything within my power to catch up, but I couldn't. Even now, the gap between me and her is great. She barely remembers who I am. I'm sure she has a better group of friends, something I can't be a part of." I saw tears gather in his eyes. His hands shook as he told me.

"Yet I hold on to this dumb dream that one day I'll be able to reach her." He wiped the tears from his eyes and then looked at me with a smile. "Sorry, I'm here telling you my sob story on our first day. I'm sure you see me as a bother now," he said, but he was wrong.

I stepped forward, grabbed him by the back of his head, and pulled him in for a hug. His eyes widened in shock.

"There is nothing bothersome about you. You are simply telling me of your dream. Others might see it as dumb, but I see it as a great thing. And I believe if she knew how much effort you put into getting here, she would take you in a heartbeat." The words left my mouth by themselves.

Andrew heard them. He buried his head in my shoulder, tears pouring from his eyes, staining me, but I didn't mind.

That was how I made my first friend of the academy. Andrew was a nice person with a simple yet heavily ambitious dream, and much like me, he never stopped chasing it. Even now, he was running after the dream.

Hearing him gave me much-needed motivation to start my own journey, and because of that, I swore in my heart that I'd help him as well, no matter what it took.

We spent time arranging our room. Classes started the next day, and we had to be ready for it. Night came soon. I sat at the table with a crystal lamp in my hand. I slowly read through the contents of my file.

I had a wind affinity, and that was all. There was no other description of which level I had reached in wind magic. But I understood the concept of ranking in this world through the games.

It all started from a one-star mage, capable of only casting beginner attack and defense spells, and if they used weapons, it was still basic uses of mana and spells.

The ranking went up to the fabled nine-star mage, also known as the supreme magus. In this world, magic was cast through a certain method: the spell used to activate the flow from the magic core, the right imagination to go along with the spell, and the release through the mana veins.

It sounded like a simple process, but doing those three at the same time was extremely hard, and if done wrong, it could lead to backlash.

It would take me a while to get into the flow of things in this world, considering the fact that I didn't have any memories. Luckily, I had the space, which would allow me to progress twice as fast. All I needed to do was put in a lot of effort.

Effort wasn't foreign to me. As a former final-year college student that learned a course like mechanical engineering and still dabbled in electrical and software stuff, I still managed to play the game every day. I knew how to delegate time and work efficiently. I'd catch up in no time for sure.