For some reason, Yoon Si-woo kept glancing at me, as if he were trying to gauge my mood after that earlier incident. Every time his gaze flicked my way, I felt the urge to give him another Fire Punch, but as more students began to finish their measurements and return to the classroom, I gritted my teeth and held back.

Besides, it would be troublesome if my clothes got blasted off again by accident…

To regain my inner peace, I really needed Sylvia to show up.

In the original story, she had supposedly finished her measurements around the same time as Yoon Si-woo, but she seemed a bit late today.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Sylvia appeared at her desk.

She looked slightly disheveled, as if she were exhausted from the testing.

As I quietly gazed at her profile, my heart, which had been in a storm because of Yoon Si-woo, began to settle down.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Sylvia noticed Yoon Si-woo sitting beside her and flinched, her posture snapping back to attention as if it had never been askew.

With a faint blush coloring her cheeks, she started talking to Yoon Si-woo.

“I didn’t get the chance to thank you properly. I’m Sylvia Astra. I really appreciate what you did earlier. I’d like to do something in return.”

“Oh, I’m Yoon Si-woo. Don’t worry about it. I didn’t do it expecting anything back,” he replied casually.

“But…”

“You know we’ll be seeing each other for a few years, right? Just help me out later if I run into any trouble, and that’ll be enough.”

Sylvia’s eyes seemed to glaze over.

Was she thinking something like, “Not just for a few years, I want to see you forever”?

If I were in Sylvia’s shoes, I’d probably already be thinking about what to name our future grandchildren.

So please, don’t keep checking on me while I’m talking to Sylvia, you crazy guy…

It seemed like Sylvia noticed our awkward vibe, as she occasionally shot me sharp glares.

Maybe the blame was all on me.

Having gone through the impulsive and reckless high school years myself, I couldn’t really bring myself to blame Yoon Si-woo too much.

After all, seeing a classmate naked would definitely be distracting as heck.

If my ability hadn’t been fire-related, such embarrassing situations wouldn’t have happened.

Ah, I really want a status screen right now…

Anyway, after everyone finished their measurements, a different teacher—not Eve—walked in shortly after.

The teacher announced, “Since today is the first day of class, we’ll keep it simple.” Then, he launched into a two-hour lecture filled with overwhelming enthusiasm.

It was a bit surprising since such theoretical classes weren’t really portrayed in the novel.

It felt like a reminder that this place was indeed a fully realized world.

However, when it came to the history of this world or the mindset that heroes should have, I couldn’t grasp anything at all.

So I just found myself staring blankly at Sylvia, and before I knew it, lunch hour had arrived.

As soon as lunch started, Sylvia approached Yoon Si-woo, asking, “Would you like to have lunch with me?”

I sensed that Yoon Si-woo was going to look over at me, so I quickly made a beeline for the cafeteria.

The food was delicious…

Given that it was a meal meant for students destined to become heroes, the quality was exceptional.

How could fried fish be so tasty?

As I was eating in a corner that seemed unlikely to attract guests, I caught a glimpse of Yoon Si-woo and Sylvia dining together in the distance.

Even just having lunch, they looked like a picturesque scene.

Ignoring Yoon Si-woo’s occasional sidelong glances toward me, I finished my meal and headed back to the classroom.

As I sat down, I suddenly felt something strange.

Maybe it was a sense of discomfort.

I cautiously glanced around, but aside from the students chatting in groups by the windows or those who had come back from lunch, nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary.

It was just a typical classroom scene.

Yet, somehow, I had an instinctive feeling that something was off.

And then I was hitting face-first into an unspeakably shocking reality.

I was the only one alone.

Sharp awareness of my solitary state hit me like a slap.

Huh? Why?

The school life I’d dreamed of while reading academy novels wasn’t supposed to feel this lonely!

My hands and feet trembled.

I felt like if I didn’t make a friend today, the rest of my school life would be spent alone.

At that moment, I spotted Sylvia walking into the classroom.

Friends… I want to be friends with Sylvia!

“C-Can you be my friend?”

With no thought, I shouted that impulsively.

As soon as I said it, a wave of embarrassment hit me.

Looking back, friendship usually develops naturally, not by asking like this.

Because of that, Sylvia looked at me with a glance that seemed to say, “What is this person even talking about?”

“So, Scarlet Evande? You want to be friends with me?”

Sylvia’s question prompted me to nod rapidly.

My heart raced as she surveyed me with a curious gaze.

With a mischievous smile, she finally said,

“Alright. Let’s be friends.”

Endorphins surged through me in a rush.

Wow! Scarlet Evande wins!

“By the way, I’d really love to have the special macarons from the snack bar. You can buy me some, right?”

But her next words left me in a daze.

Was she really trying to make me her personal snack errand-boy so boldly?

“Please! We’re friends, right?”

No matter how charming her smile was, I had to say something in response.

Gathering all my emotions, I shouted,

“I’ll get them!”

I jumped up and made my way toward the snack bar.

…At first glance, this might make me look like a pushover; but upon deeper reflection, absolutely not.

Think about it, if, in reality, you could earn the title of ‘friend’ from a beautiful girl like Sylvia just by buying her snacks, wouldn’t you?

Even in gacha games, guys will happily whip out real cash for the slim chance of scoring a lovely character.

So if I could garner a 100% friendship with a cute girl simply by spending on some pastries, that’s a steal.

If I asked for something like a powerful backing instead of mere snacks, I’m certain there would be a line of guys ready to throw their money at it.

It was, without a doubt, a smart business move.

The snack bar was packed with high-quality pastries that didn’t seem like typical school fare.

The macarons Sylvia wanted were 3,000G each.

G stands for Gold. Honestly, why bother converting if 1 Gold equals 1 Won?

It felt like 1 Gold could feed a family of four for a month, which was bizarre.

I paid for the macarons using my student ID.

Eve had reissued it after it had been completely burned along with my uniform.

The student ID functioned like a debit card, and thankfully, there were more than 3,000G in the account.

I really should check my balance when I get home.

“Hey, redhead, stop for a second.”

On my way back to class, a girl grabbed my attention.

It was the same classmate who had shouted for everyone to evacuate outside that morning.

She wore glasses and had a bob cut, giving off strong class president vibes.

If I remembered correctly, she was just referred to as “President” in the novel.

“I acknowledge your skills in seeing through illusions quickly, but should someone aspiring to be a hero disrupt others by being late? I thought you were past the age when you needed your parents to wake you up.”

Yeah, she was the straight-talking type.

It might seem a bit rude from a listener’s perspective, but knowing she meant well, I wasn’t too bothered.

Besides, she wasn’t wrong.

So I smiled and replied to show my gratitude for her concern.

“Sorry, I won’t be late from tomorrow on. Also, I don’t have parents.”

It was a reasonable deduction.

If Scarlet Evande had parents, they’d likely have contact information registered.

Perhaps if my previous self had played a little better, I might have had parents.

But as things went, Scarlet ended up being a devoted daughter with fire properties…

That said, I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

I had to hurry and deliver those macarons to Sylvia.

Ignoring the representative, who looked surprisingly pale, I returned to the classroom.

Sylvia was chatting happily with Yoon Si-woo.

I quietly approached her and handed her the macarons I had bought.

Sylvia, looking a bit startled, accepted the macarons.

Yoon Si-woo noticed it and asked,

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this? Scarlet wanted to buy them to celebrate our new friendship. Right, Scarlet?”

It was a little off, but it captured the gist, so I nodded.

More than that, Sylvia just called me by my name!

Scarlet, she called me Scarlet!

I couldn’t help but grin wide.

“…And mine?”

Lost in my happy thoughts, I heard a voice and turned toward where it came from.

It was Yoon Si-woo.

His face was flushed, and he asked with hopeful anticipation,

“Don’t I get one?”

What kind of audacity does this guy have, trying to score macarons from me?

If he’d seen me naked, shouldn’t he be the one buying me snacks now?

I glared at him in disbelief at his lack of shame and backed away.

Yoon Si-woo’s face fell, looking utterly dejected.

And for some reason, Sylvia shot me a hostile glare.

I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong, but I resolved that starting tomorrow, I would buy two macarons.