"So you finally have the time to pick up my call, huh?"
Nancy's voice was smooth, clear, and very… nice.
If she were a singer, I could listen to her songs all day long.
But pulling my attention back to her question, I nearly panicked. I didn't know she was someone I was supposed to ignore.
Now that the call was already connected, there was nothing I could do.
"I'm sorry, I was outside—"
"For three days straight?" her voice cut through mine, scoffing. "Cut the bullshit, Aaron. You're coming to college, ain't you?"
"Yes, are you there?" I gulped, swiftly scrolling through my phone and checking if Nancy's roll number was included in the required ones.
And unluckily, it was. She was roll number 65.
"Yes, I'm here," she said. "Waiting for you. Hurry up."
"Alright," I replied before hanging up, sighing.
What a drag. Now I needed to find out who the fuck this Nancy was.
"Everything alright?" Ruby asked while driving, her eyes briefly flicking toward me.
"Yes, thank you for asking."
Her subtly heaving chest was really sexy, but my attention was still snatched by Nancy's words.
That's why I hate people my predecessor already knew.
It's fucking irritating to find things out about them. Why didn't I just get the memories like normal isekai protagonists?
But it was useless to complain. You gotta play with the hand you're dealt.
And folding wasn't even an option here. That meant giving up. Or death—depends on how you look at it.
According to me, the best way to understand the relationship between two people is to check their chats and conversations, and that's exactly what I did.
Nancy and I had quite a long chat history, but the last message read:
// Why the hell are you not replying?! // — from Nancy.
It was sent three days ago.
Yep. I had been ghosting her for three days.
Why? No idea.
I scrolled up, reading through some… quite interesting conversations. Pictures too. And fights.
The best part was when I found nudes. Mine, and Nancy's.
She looked like a literal model. Platinum hair, glossy lips, neatly trimmed pubic hair, and a sexy pose—sitting on a desk in front of a mirror, one leg crossed over the other.
It took me quite a while to go through everything.
Ruby was visibly irritated that I was ignoring her, but priorities, man.
I know I was treating her like a driver right now, but she had treated me like a man-whore earlier. Call it revenge, I guess.
Though after checking the chats, calling me a man-whore was pretty accurate.
I was cheating on Claire with Nancy.
And Nancy knew Claire was my girlfriend.
Nancy was basically my friend-with-benefits.
From the way my predecessor talked to Nancy, I didn't think he had any emotional interest in her. Staying close to her in college was good for his reputation.
Because she was clearly a big shot.
And from the way she talked to me, she thought she was extremely important in my life. Even though I was dating Claire, Nancy seemed to believe she mattered more.
God, I was getting flashbacks at this point.
My guess was correct.
In this world, women were like the men on Earth.
I could understand Nancy perfectly.
A simple case of overestimation. It happens with a lot of guys. Disappointing, but true.
By the time I finished my research, Ruby had pulled up in front of the college gates.
She was silent, seething inwardly due to my negligent attitude.
So mad that she didn't even try to drive inside—she just stopped at the main gate.
"Are you leaving?" I asked casually, smiling as if I hadn't noticed her irritation.
I had to keep up my act, didn't I?
Ruby stared at me with an empty, conflicted gaze.
She clearly didn't know whether to keep up her ego and leave, or put in more effort and follow me inside.
A phone call soon rang, helping her make that decision.
"Huh? Right now? What happened?" Ruby spoke into the phone.
I waited for half a minute until she hung up.
"Sorry, I need to go right now," Ruby sighed. "Do you want me to pick you up later?"
"No, it's alright. Thanks for dropping me here, Ruby," I smiled.
"Okay. You have my number in case you need me. Also… what about the sword lesson you wanted?"
"Claire was helping me with it a bit, to be honest, but maybe we can schedule another labyrinth run…" I paused, remembering the state of things, before adding, "After it's more stable, I guess."
Ruby's smile faded. She nodded, disappointed. "Sure. I'll let you know when we do it next time."
"Alright. Drive safe. Cya."
I opened the car door, closing it after hearing her quiet, "Cya."
I now stood in front of my university's entrance.
A smaller pedestrian door was open while the large double doors remained shut.
Beside it was a guard room that looked surprisingly cozy.
As I walked closer, I spotted the guard—a middle-aged woman around 5'10".
She was sitting on a chair, legs crossed, smoking a thin blunt.
Damn.
I know it's legal, but so openly?
"Oh my, you finally remembered you had a college?" the guard recognized me, scoffing with a boisterous laugh.
"Haha, yeah. Duty calls," I chuckled back.
"Duty, huh? Sure," she laughed again. "Be careful, boy. Mrs. Clint is in a bad mood."
I recognized Mrs. Clint as my class teacher. I remembered seeing her name in the official group.
"It's that bad?" I gulped. "Come on, help me out here."
I already didn't know jackshit about arts, and now I had to deal with an angry teacher?
And judging by her name, she had to be old. Who the hell is named Clint these days?
"Nope. I'm good," she said, taking a long drag from her blunt. "But you can take a puff if you want. Helps with stress." She winked.
"No thanks…"
Sighing, I walked through the smaller door, cold air whipping against my layered clothes.
The view inside was magnificent.
Countless buildings stretched into the distance, all connected by paved roads. Each one had different boards and titles printed above them.
Let's search for mine, I guess.