Chapter 273: Jin... What’s Wrong?
The night air was comfortably cool as we crossed the sprawling Academy courtyard, leaving the medical hall far behind us.
We had just parted ways with the others near the central fountain. Kyle was still practically vibrating with excitement over his tenth-place finish, already loudly planning what he was going to eat in the new mess hall, while Sira and Tobias had bickered all the way toward the second-floor stairwells.
Because of the finalized Mid-Term rankings, the Academy had immediately relocated us to the Elite Dormitory.
The building’s layout was a stark, unapologetic monument to the school’s strict meritocracy. The expansive ground floor was dedicated entirely to a high-end mess hall and a plush, heavily warded common lounge. The second floor housed ranks six through ten.
And the top floor was exclusively reserved for the top five.
Which meant both Emma and I were heading to the exact same hallway.
I walked at a steady, measured pace, keeping my hands shoved deep into the pockets of my jacket.
Emma, on the other hand, didn’t look tired in the slightest.
She was walking a few paces ahead of me, her uniform swaying slightly with her bouncy, energetic steps. She was softly humming a sweet, familiar melody, the exact same light tune she had been humming right before we ambushed that squad in the woods.
Suddenly, Emma spun around on her heel.
Without missing a single beat of her song or slowing her pace, she seamlessly transitioned into walking backward.
Perfectly matching my stride, keeping herself directly in front of me. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in the dim light of the mana-lamps lining the stone pathway, completely devoid of the dark, terrifying pressure she had unleashed on the healer just twenty minutes ago.
"So," Emma started, her voice light and musical as she clasped her hands elegantly behind her back.
I raised a single brow, keeping my face perfectly neutral. "So?"
"We’re both on the top floor now," she pointed out cheerfully, taking a backward step over a small crack in the cobblestones without even needing to look. "Just the two of us."
"It’s a very small floor," I noted, watching her carefully.
"Mhm," Emma nodded happily, a deeply satisfied smile spreading across her face. The mana-light caught the silver of her catalyst bracelet as she swayed.
"Which means we’re going to be neighbors. And since Torren doesn’t like you, Lyra doesn’t talk to anyone, and Zhakhel is always training, it’ll basically just be us."
She tilted her head, her gaze dropping to the silver spatial ring on my hand for a fraction of a second before her eyes flicked right back up to mine.
"I think it’s going to be really fun," Emma said softly, her smile widening into something that was equal parts sweet and terrifyingly possessive. "Don’t you, Jin?"
I let out a quiet sigh.
"Yeah," I muttered, keeping my eyes on the stone corridor ahead. "I guess so."
Emma’s smile widened into something absolutely radiant. She hummed happily as we reached the end of the hall.
We stopped in front of a heavy oak door bearing a polished gold plate with the number ’5’ engraved on it. She opened the door.
Before I could even take a step back to say goodnight, her hand shot out. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist, and she swiftly tugged me straight across the threshold.
She kicked the heavy door shut behind us.
"I have some stuff to unpack," Emma stated, turning to face me.
"And my arms are just so sore from keeping those barriers up all day. I can’t possibly do all of this alone."
I stood near the door quietly scanning the room. The top-floor dorms were absurdly luxurious. High vaulted ceilings, massive bay windows overlooking the academy grounds, a private washroom, and a king-sized canopy bed draped in rich blue velvet.
I thought about arguing. But looking at the stubborn, expectant glint in her bright blue eyes, I knew it was a losing battle.
"Fine," I conceded, rolling up my sleeves. "What do you need?"
"Oh, you’re the best!" she cheered, clapping her hands together.
For the next twenty minutes, she completely orchestrated my movements. She sat elegantly on the edge of her plush mattress, pointing a delicate finger as I did all the manual labor. I hauled the heaviest trunk over to the massive mahogany wardrobe, shifted the second one to the foot of her bed.
By the time I slid the final empty crate out of the way, the lingering physical exhaustion from the Obsidian Woods was fully catching up to me.
I let out a heavy breath, wiping a bead of sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand.
"Alright, that’s everything," I said, turning toward the door. "I’m heading to my room. See you in the—"
I took a single step forward, and the floor violently tilted beneath my boots.
My vision blurred, the edges of the room rapidly bleeding into a dark, fuzzy gray. I staggered, my hand instinctively shooting out to grab the edge of the mahogany wardrobe to keep from collapsing.
My Debugger interface violently spiked behind my eyes, but the text was glitching, completely fragmented.
[System Warning: Neurological suppressant detected...]
My breath hitched in my throat.
I forced my heavy, spinning head up, looking across the room.
Emma was still sitting on the edge of the bed.
The moment my knees hit the plush carpet, her demeanor instantly shattered.
She launched herself off the bed, sliding onto her knees right in front of me just as I began to tip forward.
"Jin!" Emma cried out, her voice pitching into flawless, panicked concern.
She caught me effortlessly, her arms wrapping tight and fiercely around my shoulders. She pulled my dead weight flush against her chest, holding me in a possessive, iron grip. One of her hands came up to cradle the back of my head, her fingers gently stroking my hair as my vision rapidly darkened.
"Jin... Jin, what’s wrong? Are you okay?!" she yelled, clutching me closer, though her heartbeat pressing against my chest was terrifyingly calm and steady.
I tried to speak, but I couldn’t open my mouth...
"Shh... I’ve got you," she whispered softly into my ear, her frantic tone suddenly dropping into a deeply satisfied purr. "I’ve got you."
Then the darkness swallowed me entirely.