Chapter 57: Hollberg [3]   The sun had already started to set, leaving behind an orange veil of light that enveloped the sky.

Hollberg's city lights brightly lit the surroundings, and despite it being a relatively large city, skyscrapers appeared to be scarce.

Most houses consisted of five stories apartments or villas, and only occasionally would there be a skyscraper in the distance.

Stopping in front of a large mansion that looked to be the size of a football stadium, we quickly left the bus and headed toward the place.

As I left the bus, the first thing I did was stretch my back and legs.

I was honestly exhausted. Despite the fact that I hadn't trained at all today, my mind could barely function properly as everything around me became sort of hazy.

I guess using my brain was just as tiring as using my body.

…well that wasn't the only reason I was tired. Recently I had only been getting on average 6 hours of sleep a day, which wasn't too bad if it was for a couple of days…but this had been a recurring thing for the past week or so.

Seeing how sleepy I was getting, I knew that the accumulated fatigue I had built up this past week had started crashing on me.

Shaking my head quickly, I looked around to find ways to take my mind off of sleeping.

…I only needed to wait for a further 5 to 10 minutes before being able to get some good shut eye.

As I was trying to keep myself awake, my eyes landed on the other side of the parking area where our bus parked.

Not so far from us, there were already five similar-looking buses parked near the mansion indicating that some of the other classes had already arrived.

Seeing that we weren't the last ones here, I felt my mind clear a bit.

'…it seems like we finished at just the right time.'

Since there were more groups coming, it meant that I had more time to rest.

This was good as I really needed to take a power nap.

"Alright, let's get going"

After talking to the driver of the bus for a bit, Donna waved goodbye to him and led us to the mansion.

Entering the mansion, a nice fragrance invaded my nostrils causing me to uncontrollably salivate.

Looking around, it seemed like I was not the only one who felt that way as most people were staring in the direction of where the nice aroma was coming from.

Turning around, Donna who seemed to have read what was on the mind of most people started speaking

"Alright everyone, I know you guys are hungry, but things need to be done in order."

Taking out a card from her pocket, she pointed towards the reception and said

"First things first, I will call you each by your name and you will then proceed to go to reception and collect your card. After that, you will come back here and wait for the others to finish before heading to your own designated room"

Seeing everyone's deflated looks, Donna lightly smiled and raised her brow

"Don't be so down, don't tell me you guys are planning on eating when you had just sweated for a whole day?"

Checking her watch quickly, she added

"At eight on the dot, as you guys can already tell by the smell, there will be a buffet where everyone can eat and drink as much as they want…so hurry up and get changed!"

Holding my stomach that had started rumbling ever since I had caught a whiff of the nice fragrance, I quickly collected my room key and made my way towards my room.

Along the way, I couldn't help but admire the luxurious place. The insides of the building were decorated with exquisite paintings and statues. Covering the floor was a nice red carpet that felt extremely soft to the touch.

Next to the windows were red curtains that had a lighter pigmentation compared to the carpet, giving it a sharp and pleasing contrast. At the hem of the curtains, there were finely decorated golden patterns that depicted flying dragons.

The best part of the mansion was the outside, as I could see a massive garden where its splendor was further emphasized by the lanterns outside that shone down on it.

Next to the garden, I could see a tennis court and a football field that were both enclosed by green fences.

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but wonder how much this place had cost.

Considering how well it was decorated and how big this place was, I'd say it cost well over a 100 million U.

-Click!

After navigating the long corridors, I arrived at my apartment and opened the door.

Prior to coming to the room, when I was collecting my keys, I had been made aware by the receptionist that I would be given a regular room that consisted of one living room, one bathroom, and one bedroom.

…yeah, she said regular

Though the decorations weren't as luxurious as the ones outside, it was still within the scope of 'luxurious', as paintings and other expensive decorations were placed in the room.

Because I placed most of my stuff inside of my bracelet, I didn't need to drop off anything. Therefore, I decided to take a quick shower to remove all of the sweat that had accumulated on my body.

-Pomf!

After taking a quick shower, I slumped on the large bed in my room and closed my eyes. I needed to sort my thoughts which had been a mess since the start of the trip.

'Five days…'

That's how long I had before the big event was going to happen.

Looking at the white ceiling where a gold plated chandelier brightly lit the room, I covered my eyes with my arm and murmured

"Should I interfere or not…"

A big massacre was going to happen in five days' time, as about 1/4 of all first-years would be murdered.

'The tragedy of Hollberg'

…was what this event was called.

Closing my eyes, and taking a deep breath I was deeply conflicted.

Despite the fact that I knew that I shouldn't interfere, a small part of me wanted to change the outcome of what was to happen.

One of the reasons why I never liked to interact with people wasn't just because I was an introvert…no it's because, by the middle stages of the novels, chances were that all the friends I had made would end up dying.

If there was a thing I had learned since dying and transmigration into this world was that life was fickle. Every second, there was a chance you could die. No one was safe from death, especially for extras whose sole role was to either die or be forgotten in the later stages of the novel.

The less I got attached to this academy, the more I could firm my will and stop myself from doing anything stupid.

…but still.

The fact that I could prevent the death of a lot of students weighed heavily on me.

"…those lost lives are on me"

Looking at my hands, I slightly clenched them into fists. Images of my hands becoming dyed in blood replayed in my mind as my eyes shook slightly.

They too had dreams and aspirations to have a family and become heroes that protect humanity.

"Heroes…huh"

Repeating that word in my mind, I scoffed.

How laughable…

Despite the fact that society labeled individuals that wielded power as heroes, they were nothing of the sort.

In this world, 'Hero' was merely a label that the government had stuck on individuals that wielded power to give hope to society.

A symbol was what they were called.

They were beings meant to be idolized and worshiped, as they were responsible for protecting humanity from the likes of demons and villains.

…Sadly, reality proved to be different as in this corrupt world most heroes were a bunch of hypocrites that were no better than villains.

They valued human life as nothing more than a fleeting thing that could be crushed by their own will and power.

Take a look at Micheal Parker.

An esteemed ranked hero and 47th on the Hero ranking. He who was deemed to be a 'Hero' was now planning on massacring a bunch of 16 year olds.

…in the end who were the real villains?

Don't get me wrong, there were some great heroes out there that actually cared about saving the world, but those were in the minority, as most heroes tended to somehow crave more power as soon as they got a taste of fame and money.

In the end, only people like Kevin who had a hero complex and loved helping people out could be properly defined by the word 'hero'

…me?

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but laugh

Despite the fact that I knew very soon most people around me will die, I wasn't doing anything to prevent that.

If I were a 'hero' I would've immediately helped everyone and saved as many lives as possible.

…sadly I wasn't that type of person.

I wasn't selfless enough to help anyone I could see at the expense of myself. Though, the fact that my decision would lead to a lot of deaths has weighed down on me heavily this past week.

Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat. In my dreams, the corpses of the countless students who I could've saved continuously appeared blaming me for their death.

Since coming here, I knew this would've happened…I had braced myself for this.

I had braced myself for the mental conflicts that my mind would continuously have the longer I stayed in this world.

Many deaths will be on me, and I acknowledged this.

'selfish'

That's how I would describe myself.

…I only cared for what was within my reach and not for what was a little bit further away.

It almost felt as I had erected a tall wall around me that prevented people from approaching me.

I joke around a lot here and there…I try to keep the mood around me lighthearted, but that was all a mask.

…deep inside me, continuous conflicts were constantly brewing. Should I do this, should I do that, what was right and what was wrong? Should I act this way or should I act that way…

Every day these thoughts would constantly haunt me.

I knew that if things kept going like this that maybe one day I would make a decision that would completely change who I was, I knew it yet…

Closing my eyes, I looked away from the blinding light coming from the chandelier.

Looking outside the window, at the star filled sky, I thought

'…maybe transmigrating here was just as much of a blessing as it was a curse.'

…

Not so far from Ren, similarly staring at the beautiful star-filled sky, a stunningly beautiful young girl with short auburn hair was lost in her own thoughts.

Today had been a hectic day, and if not for the fact that there was a large buffet awaiting her, Emma would've loved for nothing more but to slump on her bed and sleep.

The bed was tempting…but she knew.

She knew that once she laid on that bed, there was no coming back.

Feeling the cool breeze of the night, Emma's mind wandered to a troubling piece of news she had received from one of her dad's subordinates.

The message stated 'Parker's have ceased their hostile takeovers over Roshfield owned businesses, and seemed to have gone radio silent'

Normally, she should've rejoiced at the news that the Parker's had stopped going after her family assets, but Emma felt uneasy about their actions.

The overbearing Parker conglomerate suddenly yielded in a financial battle?

Please, there was no way Emma would believe that.

Emma had this gut feeling that the Parker's were planning something. Something big. Something that would cause them to have an edge over her family.

Their sudden action of ceasing whatever they were doing was almost like they were foreshadowing that this was merely the calm before the storm.

Staring at the crescent moon in the sky, Emma sighed and headed back to her room.

"I hope I'm wrong…"