Chapter 91 | My Roommate Hates Me, and an Elite Wants to See Me

I stared at Aurora’s text.

The words sat there on my screen. Innocent. Casual.

You free after classes?

This was a trap.

Not the "she’s trying to kill me" kind of trap. The "she’s interested and I’m already drowning in romantic disasters" kind. Aurora was Silver-tier. Ranked twenty-three. Second year with actual combat experience and an ability that could make me taste colors or see sounds if she wanted.

And she was hot.

Like objectively, scientifically, unfairly hot.

Orange hair that caught light like fire. Green eyes that read people like books. That beauty mark above her lip. The way she moved like every step was choreographed to mess with your head.

But.

But.

Naomi wasn’t talking to me. Belle wanted to stab me with her crossbow. And I had exactly six days and change before my lifespan ran out again.

Adding Aurora to this disaster would be like pouring gasoline on a dumpster fire.

I typed back.

Me: nah I’m busy saving the world

Aurora: shame

Aurora: guess I’ll bother someone else then 🦊

I pocketed my phone. Crisis averted.

Jordan looked at me over his pasta. "Who was that?"

"Aurora."

"The second year who can scramble your brain?"

"That’s the one."

"What’d she want?"

"To hang out."

"And you said no." Jordan tilted his head. "Are you stupid or dying?"

"Both probably."

"She’s literally offering you time with a ranked Silver. That’s networking. That’s connections. That’s how you climb."

"I’m aware."

"Then why—" Jordan stopped. His eyes widened slightly. "Oh. You actually like Naomi."

"What gave it away?"

"The guilt. The moping. The fact that you turned down Aurora Fitzgerald." He ate another bite of pasta. "You’re screwed."

"Thanks for the analysis."

"I’m just saying. If you’re choosing the pink-haired girl who won’t look at you over the orange-haired girl who wants your attention, you’re in deep."

He wasn’t wrong.

I finished my chicken. The rice. The vegetables. All of it tasted like regret.

My phone buzzed again. Different contact this time.

Misato: training at 4. east field. be on time or I’m making you run laps until you puke.

Great.

I showed Jordan the text.

He read it. Then laughed. "She’s gonna kill you."

"Probably."

"Good luck with that." He stood up. Grabbed his tray. "I’m going to nap until Ecology. You coming?"

"Yeah."

We dumped our trays. Headed toward Building A.

The hallways were crowded. Students moving between classes. Guild kids in clusters. Lottery winners scattered throughout. Everyone wearing their house colors like uniforms.

I spotted Hikaru in the distance. Black hair. Red eyes. Perfect posture.

She saw me.

Turned around immediately. Walked the opposite direction.

Cool. My roommate still hated me.

Jordan noticed. "What’d you do to Tanaka?"

"Nothing."

"Nobody runs from nothing."

"Long story."

"Everything with you is a long story."

We reached the lecture hall. Obsidian on the left. Sapphire on the right. The usual division.

Naomi sat with Belle in the middle row. They’d claimed seats together. Deliberately away from everyone else.

Sending a message.

I sat in the back corner. Jordan collapsed in the seat next to me. Closed his eyes immediately.

"Wake me when class starts," he muttered.

"What if I don’t?"

"Then I’ll haunt your dreams."

Dr. Cross entered at exactly noon. Purple hair catching the light. That modified uniform that should’ve gotten her fired years ago.

Every conversation in the room died.

She smiled. Walked to the front desk. Set down her tablet.

"Good afternoon future corpses."

Someone laughed nervously.

Cross’s smile widened. "Today we’re covering dungeon topography and environmental hazards. The fun stuff."

She pulled up a hologram. A massive cave system. Twisting tunnels. Vertical drops. Water features.

"This is a C-rank dungeon outside Phoenix. Standard layout. Three entry points. Five confirmed boss chambers. Average clear time is four hours with a professional squad." Cross zoomed in on a section. "Notice anything interesting?"

A Sapphire student raised her hand. "The water system connects to multiple chambers."

"Correct. Which means?"

"Flooding risk."

"Exactly." Cross switched to a different angle. "Last year a B-rank squad attempted this dungeon during monsoon season. They ignored weather patterns. The tunnels flooded in forty minutes. Three drowned. Two escaped. The guild lost half a million in recovery costs."

She let that sink in.

"Environmental hazards kill more hunters than monsters. Remember that."

The lecture continued. Cave-ins. Gas pockets. Temperature extremes. Bioluminescent plants that paralyzed on contact.

I took notes. Not because I enjoyed the material. Because Friday we’d be evaluated on this.

And according to Misato, our performance mattered for house rankings.

Cross moved on to vertical dungeons. Tower structures. Gravity-defying architecture.

"These are rare but deadly. You’re fighting upward against monsters that know the terrain better than you. Fall damage is real. Stamina management is critical."

She showed footage of a squad clearing a tower dungeon. They moved floor by floor. Careful. Methodical.

Then a Crawler dropped from above. Landed on the healer. Killed her instantly.

The whole squad collapsed after that.

"Plan for ambush," Cross said. "Always."

Naomi shifted in her seat. Belle whispered something. Naomi nodded.

They were still avoiding looking back here.

Jordan snored softly beside me.

Class ended at 12:55. Cross dismissed us with a reminder about Friday’s practical exam.

"You’ll be entering a real E-rank gate," she said. "Groups of five. Standard clear procedures. Don’t die."

Everyone filed out.

I nudged Jordan awake. "Class is over."

"Already?"

"You slept through the whole thing."

"Good. I needed that." He stretched. Yawned. "What’d I miss?"

"Everything."

"I’ll read your notes later."

We left the lecture hall. The afternoon sun hit us as we stepped outside.

Jordan split off toward his next class. I headed back to Building C.

I had an hour before Misato’s training. Enough time to shower. Change. Mentally prepare for whatever hell she’d planned.

The apartment was empty when I got there. Hikaru’s door closed. No sound from inside.

She was either gone or pretending I didn’t exist.

Both worked for me.

I showered quickly. The hot water helped my sore muscles but didn’t fix anything else.

My phone sat on the bed when I got out. Another text from Aurora.

Aurora: btw Blair is looking for you

Aurora: something about Friday’s assessment

Aurora: she seemed mad

I stared at the message.

Blair. Looking for me. Mad.

That couldn’t be good.

Me: why would Blair care about me?

Aurora: no idea but she mentioned your name twice

Aurora: figured you’d want a heads up 🦊

I put the phone down. Processed that information.

Blair Davenport. Elite Ten adjacent. Rich as hell. Ice queen personality. Dating Marcus Steele or whatever their complicated thing was.

Why would she care about some nobody lottery kid?

Unless.

Unless it was about Misato.