Hushed voices surrounded Alex as he regained consciousness. He couldn't quite place who they were. They didn't sound like his mom, or his dad, or even Tim. His bed also didn't feel the same. Sure it was comfortable, but not his bed comfortable. His bed had been the one thing in his apartment he had invested real money into. After all, it was the one place in your home you spent the most time in.

  Then it dawned on him. He wasn't in his own home anymore; he wasn't even on Earth anymore. Everything that had happened in the last few days came back to him. No matter how much he had wished it was all a bad dream, it wasn't. He died in a sinkhole and was reborn into a new world, where a murderous assassin immediately threatened him. He got enrolled in a strange academy for adventurers. And most importantly, the voice inside his head and the floating blue box it had produced were real.

  Alex laughed. It was just absurd what had happened to him. There had been a holographic floating box in front of him. What had it said? Something about a quest being updated? It all felt unreal. It was like he was trapped inside some twisted video game. And not even a good one, the UI had been broken. Whatever it was, if the voice inside his head was to be believed, it had drained some of the progress he had made by absorbing mana from artifacts. Because of course things could get worse. They always did. He started laughing louder at the absurdity of it all.

  That seemed to have drawn the attention of the voices as he could hear their footsteps getting closer. Slowly he opened his eyes to see both Aro and Cynthia standing next to his bed in what looked like the infirmary. The green light permeating the facility cast a strange glow on the Kahrn's face, making him seem less threatening. A dull throbbing ache pulsed behind his eyes as his body adjusted to the light. It wasn't as bad as the headache that came with the voice, but it felt like his head was packed with wet cotton.

  "Good to hear you've still got the energy to laugh, runt. Even if I don't see what's so funny. You're not losing your mind, are you, runt?" Genuine concern plagued the lion-boy's face, like he was actually considering it.

  "I'm fine, and no, I'm not losing my mind, just..." How was he supposed to explain why he was laughing? Without all the information, it would make no sense. "Just laughing at how I collapsed inside the training yard while I wasn't even training."

  "Ah, makes sense, runt." It didn't, but Aro didn't seem to question it. Cynthia next to him did raise an eyebrow, but it seemed she decided to just let it go for now as well. "Just glad you're okay. Try to at least stay alive until after the first week of classes. By then, people won't assume it was something I did."

  Alex chuckled, "I'll try my best." It was only now that he noticed the Kahrn had a large bandage wrapped around his arm. "What happened to you?"

  "Cynthia managed to hit me while I was... distracted."

  "Hey, had to make use of the opportunity or you would have won, Ari," the redheaded girl chimed in, a proud smile on her face.

  "No, you didn't—"

  Before they could start arguing about whether the hit was deserved, Fillonia pulled the curtain around Alex's bed to the side and entered. "Alright, Aro and Cynthia, that's enough. He needs his rest, and you have practice you need to get back to. Don't want to keep our Headmaster waiting, do you?"

  The upperclassmen didn't protest against that and left the infirmary after saying goodbye to Alex. With the two students gone, Fillonia turned her attention to Alex. Her green eyes had a look of both worry and disappointment in them. "Now then, Alex, how are you feeling? And what happened? Didn't I say not to force your body by absorbing another artifact today?"

  "I'm fine, still a slight pressure behind my eyes, but it's already fading," he responded. How was he going to explain that he hadn't drained another artifact, but that instead the voice inside his head had popped up some kind of holographic game UI? Would she even understand what that meant? He had to try. If anyone was going to support and help him, it would either be her or Henry. "I didn't drain anything, I swear. There has been this voice inside my head ever since I appeared in this world. It told me it was initializing something. I think it might be the mana network Miss Philaxter was talking about. The more I drained, the higher the initialization percentage went. Earlier, I think it made some kind of holographic display appear. But that must have been too much of a drain on the forming network as the voice spoke up again and the percentage had decreased," Alex blurted out, not giving the healer time to interrupt him.

  He felt good telling her everything, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was no longer the only one who knew about the voice inside his head. Alex looked at Fillonia's face, searching for any kind of reaction. The healer stared at him, trying to process the whole thing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Alex added. "I was just worried you would deem me insane. I still do."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  At that last confession, the healer immediately spoke up. "No, no, you're not insane. Don't ever think that, Alex. I mean, it is a lot to process, but I think it might just be your body trying to acclimate you to this new world. Did the display, as you put it, look similar to something from your world?"

  Alex was glad she seemed so understanding. He didn't know what would have happened if she hadn't. Of course, telling her still came with risks, but at least there was now one person he didn't need to lie to. She now knew the entire truth. Now, for her question, the box had looked like something from his world. Sure, there were no floating windows on Earth, but it did look like something he might have seen in a video game.

  "Uhm, kind of," he said, not ready to explain to her what a video game was.

  "I think that might be it then. As Annaba said, your body is made from the memories and wishes of your soul. None of us knows what it is capable of. I think it may have been trying to drain your forming mana network to help you integrate into this world." Alex could see the healer trying to process everything he had just told her in her mind. He was glad she was actively trying to work with him to figure out what exactly was happening with the floating window.

  "I did kind of wish for something similar to what the window showed right before it did," Alex said out loud as he realized what probably happened. Right before the floating window had appeared, he was reminiscing about that app on his phone that he used to keep track of things. A moment later, a floating window appeared with a sort of quest log to keep track of things.

  "That must be it then," the healer almost shouted, "but why had it shown up now? I'm sure you've wished for other things from your world before, right?"

  "Maybe? I don't know," Alex admitted. "I must have, right? Maybe the network didn't have enough mana to try before. After the tests this morning, could it have reached a certain threshold?"

  "That could be it. Maybe Annaba has an idea? Are you alright with telling her?" Fillonia asked, sitting down at the edge of his bed.

  Was he? Telling Fillonia had been one thing, but opening up about the voice inside his head to other people? But if she was right, and it was just his body trying to adapt to this world and he wasn't going crazy, what was the harm in telling someone that already knew he was an Otherborn? Still, it felt strange wanting to tell someone about a voice inside your head. Back home, people would immediately think he was going crazy. Here, they at least seemed to entertain the idea that he wasn't.

  "Uhm, sure, but nobody else should know. Well maybe Henry, but please don't tell the board." Alex could see his request conflicted in her mind. He knew she had an obligation to the rest of the board, but he hoped she wouldn't tell them everything. After what seemed like an agonizing thirty seconds, she appeared to have made up her mind.

  "You're right. They already know about your Otherborn status. There's no need to tell them exactly what is happening to your body. It's your body, so it's your choice who should know about it."

  "Thank you," Alex said, a wave of relief once again washing over him. Trusting her had been the best thing he had done since arriving in this world.

  "Don't mention it, Al—"

  Someone yelling through the infirmary interrupted her. "Fillonia! We need you! Now!"

  The healer immediately got up when she heard her name. Something must have happened, and given they needed her, it must be serious. "I've got to go, but rest up some more. Once you feel well enough to go, feel free to head out. We'll discuss what happened with Henry and Annaba during tomorrow's check-in at the library." She was almost past the curtain hanging around his bed when she turned around again. "Try not to activate it before then."

  Alex quickly nodded in understanding, and the healer rushed off to whatever emergency needed her. The voices beyond his curtained room were barely audible, but from what he could hear, a group of fourth-year students had arrived back from a training mission. Some of them were apparently in real bad shape.

  Thinking back to how competent Aro and Cynthia had seemed during their training spar, Alex wondered how dangerous these training missions were. They were only third-years, but they already looked like world-class fighters. Fourth-years were supposed to be even more trained, and going by Lailya's comment on Aro's footwork still being sloppy, they were. What was out there that could hurt a group of fourth-years? And from the way the healers acted in tight coordination, this wasn't an unusual event.

  Alex closed his eyes for a moment. Those were worries for later. Right now, he was safe. He had people around him he trusted, who could guide him through this whole Otherborn situation. Whatever was out there would be worries for when he was ready to leave this campus. Which, judging from what happened to those fourth-years, hopefully wasn't too soon.

  Opening his eyes again, he looked around his curtained room. The cotton bag Mister Klynth had given him lay on a small table in the corner. Even from his bed, he could see that the four sealed scrolls he still had to deliver were still inside. Which meant he could still complete his second job today. That was a relief. He really wanted those extra Merit Credits. Build up some kind of reserve before classes started.

  When did the classes start anyway? He would need to ask Henry about that. Or maybe he should ask Aro? He couldn't rely on Henry to be his one and only source of information in this world. He added it to his increasing list of things he needed to do, but for now, he needed rest.

  Whatever that blue screen had been, it had drained him more than he had expected. Not only had the initialization process of the voice inside his head gone down, he felt exhausted as well. His limbs felt heavy. He just needed to close his eyes for a moment. He would get back to those deliveries after he was rested.