Outside the tent, a guard entered and announced," Miss, the healer has arrived. We're sending him in to treat you."
Zara paused, pushing away the strange memories clouding her mind, and responded," Okay, send him in."
A healer entered the tent, his calm demeanor evident as he began channeling his mana into a spell. After a moment of assessment, he spoke. "Miss, don't worry. The headache is simply a backlash from the magic you were channeling. It will heal quickly."
"Thank you, healer... um..." Zara hesitated, unsure of his name.
"You can just call me Julius."
"Thanks, Mr. Julius."
After completing his check, Julius left the tent. Zara sank back into her thoughts, once again drifting toward memories of the otome game she knew all too well.
In the game, her character was nothing more than cannon fodder—someone who would die after the tenth chapter when demons invaded the academy.
"Ah... I don't want to die," Zara muttered to herself. "But there's hope. I know a little about the future now, and I can avoid it. I won't be cannon fodder."
Outside, the captain's voice called, "Miss, it's time. We need to head toward the academy. If we delay any longer, we'll miss your quota for admission."
"Ah, yes. Let's go, Captain," Zara replied quickly.
She hurried toward the carriage, and after sitting inside, a soft "Ding" echoed in her mind.
[Sign-in System activated]
[Host: Lira detected]
[System activated]
"Huh? Isn't the owner of my second memory named Lira?" Zara thought, furrowing her brow as she began to sift through her memories to understand what this system was.
After some searching, she realized the system was just a concept from a novel—nothing real. She paused, her thoughts racing.
"If this isn't related to Lira… then what is this system? And does it think I'm Lira?"
Her mind swirled with questions, trying to make sense of the strange occurrence.
"Ahem," Zara cleared her throat. "What exactly do you do, system, and how do you know my name is Lira?"
She began probing the system, seeking any information that could explain this strange occurrence.
["I was born from megaverse radiations. I found your soul floating in null space, and I determined you to be a compatible host. Then, I found this dead girl's body for you to take over."]
The system spoke, almost as if it wanted to take credit for itself.
Zara's temples throbbed after hearing the system's voice. With hidden anger creeping into her tone, she asked again, "Oh, so if you're this powerful, then you must be all-knowing, right?"
["Yes, I know everything, and I'm very powerful. Don't worry—though this world is home to powerful people, I'll make you just as powerful as them."]
Zara began to think over what the system had said, then asked again, "Then what happened to Zara, whose body I'm taking over?"
["Oh, her. Her soul was destroyed because of my mistake. When I took over her body, I was supposed to claim her soul at the reincarnation level, but it was destroyed instead."]
Zara made an incredulous face after hearing the system's response, then asked, "What is the reincarnation level, System?"
["I cannot answer that,"] it replied.
Then, in a whispering voice, it added:
["It's classified information."]
"So, you're bound to me… Can you unbind yourself from me?"
The system suddenly began to blabber in a hurry.
["I can, of course, do it if I wanted to! B-But don't worry—I won't! I'm a generous system!"]
After hearing that, Zara began to smile—then burst into laughter.
"Ha... ha ha... ha hahahaha!"
["Why are you laughing, Host? I'm an honest system! I-I can, of course, unbind myself!"]
After laughing, Zara began to speak.
"So, you can't unbind yourself, huh? Very good." She smirked. "Oh, and I have some great news for you, bro."
["Huh? Good news? What good news? And I can unbind myself! But I'm a generous system—believe it or not!"]
"The mistake you made didn't kill me... but you killed Lira. Tsk tsk tsk."
["Eh?"]
"Yes."
["Eeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!"]