Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 136: 136-Stop Hiding Your Presence

Read chapter 136 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

A week had passed since Merlin and his teammates returned from the Tower of Xéros, and everyone who had ventured into their respective Towers had arrived back at Prestige Academy. The allocation of the points were scheduled to go live in just a few minutes, and that was why Hakyun had a timer beeping down on his phone, while Chima lay unbothered on the couch playing a deck-building game. As for Merlin, he had a lot more on his mind when compared to the points that would be allocated. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. Hardly that. He had worked for it. But he was also unsure how the academy would allocate the points to his team, considering they hadn’t been able to watch them in action. That spoiled his mood. And as he lay on the ground, staring up at the ceiling, his expression turned downcasted. “You know what happened isn’t your fault, right?” Chima started. “Not that it’s the academy’s fault either, but you couldn’t have controlled the system’s mishap. At least it all went well at the end. So stop being so gloomy.” Chima was always the first to notice when one of them had something on their mind, so Merlin wasn’t surprised. However, the boy was wrong. The whole Tower of Xéros thing was his fault. And the headmaster knew it. Which took the brunt of his thoughts. Since their conversation, Headmaster Im Ilseong hadn’t said anything about the revelation, and he hadn’t done anything to disrupt Merlin’s school life. He just let things go on as usual. But Merlin was uneasy. He wanted the headmaster to say something. Anything. Or maybe that wasn't what was bothering him, but the fact that a walking time bomb like him was left to be roaming around like he wasn’t ticking down to explosion. And, more importantly, his roommates had no idea that they were living with a bomb. “Eh; just let him be,” Hakyun chimed in, tossing a slice of orange in his mouth. “Not like this is his first time. He’ll be fine soon enough. Maybe when he sees how many points we get.” Merlin highly doubted that. Even knowing that every single person he was acquainted with had managed to clear their Tower didn’t do anything to cheer him up. Perhaps nothing would. Nora had tried too. She had first of all snapped that he hadn’t waited to consult her before he had gone ahead to tell the headmaster his secret; but she came to understand how dire the situation had been in an instant. And then she tried to keep him from spiraling into the world of depression he always fell into when his life got even a bit hard. She had failed, because his current state wasn’t any good in comparison to a few days back. Usually, training took his mind off things, but he had had zero zeal to keep up with it as he used to. He was afraid that he would do something and tamper with the System somehow, and things would take a turn for the worst. Bottling his feelings up was annoying. He couldn’t do it. He really couldn’t. So he picked up his phone and hurried into his room, slamming his door shut in the dazed faces of Chima and Hakyun. That action of his startled Blue from his sleep, eliciting a hiss from the dragon. But Merlin could barely be bothered. He immediately scrolled through his contacts list, and dialed Nora’s number. She picked up a few seconds later. “Hey, nerd,” said Nora from the other side of the phone. “What’s up? I’m trying to rest, you know?” “I can’t do it,” said Merlin, biting his lower lip. Nora was silent for a moment. “Can’t do what?” she asked, her voice almost as low as a whisper. She for sure knew what it was he was talking about, she just wanted to confirm if her thoughts were credible or not. Merlin didn’t intend to disprove them. He sat down on the edge of his bed, ignoring Blue continuing hisses, and said, “I can’t continue with the secrets, Nora. I have to tell them.” “Merlin,” Nora called softly. “Tell who?” “My roommates,” he said. “And…” “Sunny and Janeth.” Silence was all that came from the other side of Merlin’s phone. Whatever Nora was thinking about, Merlin c