The Extra Who Shouldn't Exist
Chapter 88: Assigned Missions

Chapter 88: Assigned Missions

The mood was light, laughter still lingering in the air from Alden's dramatic sighing, when Seraphina stepped forward. Her voice, usually reserved and elegant, was smooth but casual this time.

"By the way, Draven and I also had our potential assessed while you were out."

She let that statement linger, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Turns out… we both have Transcendent-rank potential."

The air shifted.

Alex raised his eyebrows, genuinely impressed.

He leaned back against the pillow, smiling—not his usual smirk, not the mischievous grin that usually spelled doom for someone—but a sincere, almost proud smile.

"Congratulations. Both of you. That's a big deal."

Seraphina gave a faint, almost embarrassed smile in return.

Draven, however, looked slightly uncomfortable, as if Alex's calm reaction unnerved him more than the news itself.

Then Alex's expression changed subtly. The sincerity was still there, but now there was a certain glint in his eyes as he turned toward Draven.

"Looks like you and I have a lot more to discuss… especially now that you've joined the big leagues."

Draven blinked.

"Why does that sound like a threat disguised as small talk…?"

He shifted uncomfortably.

"I have a really bad feeling about this."

Alex chuckled to himself. 'You should. I'm going to recruit you one way or another. Whether you like it or not, genius boy.'

Then, almost as if remembering someone important, Alex shifted his gaze toward Ethan, who had been quietly watching the exchange with his usual calm, unreadable look.

"And what about you, Mr. Hero?"

The room instantly hushed.

Even the light hum of the medical monitors seemed to quiet down.

Ethan blinked once, slowly, as if debating whether to answer. Then he scratched the back of his head, almost sheepishly.

"Well... the crystal started climbing pretty fast. Shot right past Master-rank... then went up to Monarch-rank..."

He paused.

"Then it just... stopped. And showed question marks."

He gave a dry, awkward laugh. "So... yeah."

Everyone stared at him.

Charlotte groaned loudly.

"Seriously? Question marks?! That's just—ugh. Of course you got the 'mystery rank' reading. Why even bother comparing with a divine cheat code?"

She jabbed a finger toward him dramatically.

"You're the Avatar of the Goddess of Light. Your potential broke the machine. Typical."

Ethan shrugged, his smile tight.

"Perhaps you're right. Doesn't really change anything, though. I still have to train like the rest of you."

Alden leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"I really envy this bastard. He gets divine buffs, sword arts from ancient kings, and now question marks. What's next? The ability to sneeze and blow up demons?"

'No surprises here', Alex mused, watching Ethan. 'He is the protagonist, after all. The chosen one. The plot magnet. If he wasn't breaking crystals, I'd be worried.'

The tension could have gone on longer, but Seraphina smoothly steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Speaking of broken things... missions. You should know—while you were unconscious, they started assigning our first official missions."

Alex blinked, turning his attention back to her.

"Wait. Missions? Already?"

He sat up slightly. "We've barely been here a month."

Charlotte sighed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Welcome to Zenith. Where even sleep deprivation earns you points."

She flopped onto the nearby chair.

"They're not wasting any time. It's all about struggle here. Suffer now, shine later—maybe."

"To be fair," Alden added, "the lower-ranked cadets were actually relieved. These missions give them a shot to earn some C.P. Beats starving or selling notes for it."

Alex crossed his arms.

"And let me guess... we top-ranked cadets got the short end of the stick?"

"Oh, we got something alright," Alden said with a wry grin.

"S-Rank missions. For all the top-ten cadets. Congratulations, you're elite cannon fodder now."

"My team is me, Charlotte, Thalor, and two other cadets from Class 1-B," he added.

Seraphina nodded.

"And our team is... me, Ethan, you," she pointed to Alex, "Ava, and... hmm. Right. Lilia."

There was a pause.

Alex's expression shifted slightly.

"Did you just say... Lilia?"

Seraphina tilted her head.

"Yes. Why? Do you know her?"

Alex's smile didn't waver.

"No. i don't."

"So everything's fine right."

"Yes. everything's fine."

'No, it's not fine. That's a Shadow Serpent operative. A spy in disguise... and she's been assigned to my team?!'

Seraphina narrowed her eyes slightly but didn't press the matter.

"Alright. Just making sure."

She softened. "You don't need to worry. We're not leaving for the mission immediately. It's in three weeks. That gives you time to fully recover."

Alex nodded.

"Good. That's more than enough time."

'Time to prepare… and maybe dig a little deeper into our mysterious teammate.'

They spent the next half hour talking and teasing.

Charlotte brought out a ether pad filled with notes.

"These are the classes you missed. Don't worry, I recorded all the important ones... and the not-so-important ones."

Charlotte leaned in with a grin.

"We did consider making a meme folder titled 'Alex's Academic Doom.'"

"Your life will be nothing but studying for the next week," Ethan added with a sympathetic smile.

"I'll start digging my grave now," Alex muttered.

Draven smirked.

"Too late. We already marked your plot under the 'Burnt-Out Idiots' memorial tree."

Eventually, the banter subsided and the group began saying their goodbyes. Draven gave him a firm nod, Charlotte gave him finger guns, Ava left him a lollipop (In case of sugar withdrawal), and Alden warned him not to die again because it was "way too inconvenient."

The door hissed shut behind them.

Alex was alone again.

He let out a breath.

The silence felt heavier now, like the weight of everything they had said was finally sinking in.

'Looks like they intentionally didn't ask me about the move I used on Alicia at the end. To not make me uncomfortable.'

He stared up at the ceiling.

'Things are already going off-script. Lilia joining the team wasn't supposed to happen and there's me… and these mission assignments are coming way faster than the game timeline.'

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

'Well… nothing ever goes according to the script. Might as well write my own.'

He let his eyes close for a moment, then opened them slowly, saying:

"System."

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