The world around me was disintegrating. It wasn't shattering from an explosion, but rather because reality itself was being peeled away layer by layer by Sara, the Admin.
I knelt on a wooden dock that was beginning to transform into nauseating rows of green binary code. My left hand was already gone, replaced by flickering pixels. The pain didn't feel like a physical wound; it felt as if my soul was being forcibly deleted from the universe's database.
"Alex! YOUR HAND!" Elara shrieked.
She lunged toward me, ignoring the rain of flaming arrows from the royal ship. She held me tight, trying to steady my body so I wouldn't evaporate. Tears streamed down her beautiful face, freezing into ice crystals before hitting the floor.
"Elara... go..." my voice sounded like a corrupted recording.
"NO! I've rewound time dozens of times for you! I won't let you just vanish!" Elara turned toward Sara on the ship, her eyes radiating the pure purple glow of madness. "YOU! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HIM!"
Sara only stared blankly, her finger pressing the Enter key on her magical device. "Subject 089-A: Permanent Deletion. Execute."
ZAP!
A flash of pure white light struck my chest. I felt my heart stop. My vision went dark. The last thing I saw was Elara's face contorted in grief, and Clarisse screaming in despair while clutching her broken holy staff.
I'm sorry, Elara... it looks like this iteration failed again, was my final thought before my consciousness was swallowed by total darkness.
[SYSTEM REBOOTING...]
[RESTORING BACKUP DATA: ITERATION 090]
[LOCATION: ROYAL ACADEMY ENTRANCE GATE]
[TIME: 08:00 AM, HARVEST MOON CALENDAR]
DING! DING! DING!
The sound of a massive bell echoed, deafening my ears. I jolted, nearly falling off the cold stone steps. The briny smell of the sea had been replaced by the scent of lilies and expensive perfumes worn by nobles.
I blinked. The bright morning sunlight dazzled my vision.
"Oi, Commoner! Don't block the way! Are you here to register or just to be a decoration at the gate?"
I turned. A gatekeeper in gleaming silver armor glared at me arrogantly. Behind me, a line of luxury carriages bearing the crests of the kingdom's great families queued to enter the Royal Magic Academy.
I looked at my hand. Intact. No pixels. No green code. I felt my neck. Clean. No claim mark from Elara.
"I... I'm back?" I whispered.
I reached into my trousers pocket. There sat a crumpled letter—a scholarship acceptance letter for 'Alex of the House of Baron Grey.' This was my first day at the academy. The day all this drama began.
However, something was different. When I tried to call upon my mana, my circuits didn't feel empty like a new student's should. They felt hot, dense, and... broken. The knowledge of Mana Compression and Glitch techniques remained firmly embedded in my brain.
[NOTICE: USER 'ALEX_GREY' LOGGED IN]
[ITERATION 90: NEW GAME+ ACTIVATED]
[WARNING: DATA SYNC 100%. ADMIN 'SARA' IS STILL MONITORING THE SERVER. ACT NATURAL.]
"Bastards," I muttered with a cynical smirk. "So you want me to play again? Fine. But this time, I won't be a submissive extra."
I stepped through the academy gates. In the distance, atop the ceremony stage, I saw the silhouette of a silver-haired girl standing with haughty grace. Lady Elara von Heist.
She was looking over the crowd of new students with boredom. However, the moment my footsteps touched the marble floor of the hall, Elara suddenly stopped speaking. She turned toward me. Her sharp blue eyes met mine.
Normally, in previous iterations, she would have simply ignored me on the first day. But this time... she narrowed her eyes. There was a very thin flicker of recognition there. She didn't remember fully, but her soul... her soul felt disturbed.
Then, on the other side of the hall, I saw Clarisse. She was laughing with her friends, holding a holy spellbook with an innocent face yet to be stained by monster blood.
"Alex?"
A voice called out to me from the side. I turned and froze.
It was Sara. But she wasn't wearing glasses or admin clothes. She was wearing the first-year academy uniform, complete with a student council pin.
"You're blocking the path to the registration desk, scholarship student," Sara said with a friendly smile—the most terrifyingly fake smile I had ever seen. "My name is Sara, the vice-chair of discipline. Is there something I can help you with?"
She didn't recognize me? Or was she pretending to roleplay as a student so she could monitor me closely?
I stared deep into her eyes, then returned her smile with one just as false. "Nothing at all, Senior Sara. I'm just... a bit dizzy from the long journey."
"I see. Be careful. This academy is very strict for those who are 'different'," Sara whispered as she walked past me.
I stood in the center of the hall, flanked by a Villainess who was growing suspicious, a Heroine who was still innocent, and an Admin disguised as a student.
Iteration 90, I thought, crushing my scholarship letter in my grip. This time, I won't wait for the plot to come to me. I'm going to burn the plot down from the very start.
My first target? I have to make Elara obsessed with me even faster so I can use her as a shield against Sara.
I walked straight toward the front row, right below the stage where Elara stood. As she looked down at me with condescension, I gave her a wink and a thin smirk that was incredibly disrespectful for a commoner.
Elara's face flushed—somewhere between anger and... something else.
The game had begun again. And this time, the Extra had an ace up his sleeve.