Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 70

William sat in the classroom with his bandaged hands resting on the desk, staring at Kai like his roommate had just told him the sky was green.

"Say that again," William said slowly.

"You’ve died sixteen times," Kai repeated, his voice flat. "I’ve watched you die sixteen times during the Inter-Academy competition. And each time you die, the world collapses and I wake up six months earlier. On the first day of term, every single time."

William’s mind was racing,he was trying to process what he was hearing. Time loops. Repeated deaths. His antisocial roommate who barely left their room had actually been living through the same six months over and over, watching him die repeatedly.

"That’s insane," William said.

"Yeah. It is." Kai leaned back against the wall. "But it’s also true. You’re a transmigrator, right? William Everett from London, PhD graduate, you woke up in this world as William Cross?"

William went cold. "How do you know that name?"

"Because I’m also a transmigrator. Kai Tanaka from Seoul. Woke up the same day you did." Kai’s expression was tired. "We’re both from Earth. We both read the same trashy novel. We both ended up here. The difference is I remember dying and resetting. You don’t."

William wanted to argue, to say this was impossible, but the evidence was right in front of him. Kai had just fought off an assassin with immense skill that even final year students might not be able to execute. He had known exactly when and where to intercept the attacker. Kai had been acting strange for months and it suuddenly made sense if he had been living through a time loop.

"Okay," William said carefully. "Let’s say I believe you. How do I die?"

"In the tunnels beneath the competition venue." Kai’s voice was completely flat, like he had said these words too many times. "Every single loop, you die in those underground tunnels. Always during the competition. Usually on the third day, sometimes second day, once during the opening ceremony. But always in the tunnels."

"How?"

"There are different methods. Stabbing, poison, sometimes both. Once you were crushed by a tunnel collapse that definitely didn’t occur naturally. Another time you just disappeared and I never found your body." Kai ran a hand through his hair. "The method changes every loop. The location in the tunnels changes. But the result is always the same — you die underground, and then the world falls apart."

William absorbed this information. "What do you mean the world falls apart?"

"Exactly what I said. When you die, reality breaks down. Buildings dissolve, the sky shatters, everything collapses into white light. Like the world itself can’t handle your death." Kai’s eyes were dark. "Then I wake up six months earlier with all my memories intact."

"But your cultivation doesn’t reset," William said slowly, understanding dawning. "That’s why you’re so strong. You’ve been accumulating power across multiple loops."

"Yeah. Every reset, I keep my strength. I’ve subjectively been training for eight years even though only six months pass per loop." Kai pushed off the wall. "I’m stronger than most fourth-year students now. I should be approaching instructor-level in some areas. Not that it’s helped me save you."

William looked at his bandaged hands, thinking about the assassin from tonight. "You said this loop is different though. That attack tonight — that’s never happened before?"

"Never. You’ve never been attacked before the competition starts. The assassination attempts always happen during the event itself, in the tunnels." Kai moved to the window and checked outside again. "That assassin tonight said something strange too. ’He dies eventually. You know this.’ Like they were aware of the time loop."

"That’s not possible. If the loop resets, how would they remember?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"I don’t know. But they said it." Kai turned back to face William. "Which means something is different this time. Maybe the loop is breaking down. Maybe someone else is aware of it. Or maybe this is finally the loop where things change."

William’s mind was working through the implications. "You said the methods change every loop. Have you ever identified who kills me?"

"No. The assassins are always different or I can’t see them clearly enough. I’ve fought dozens of them across the loops but I’ve never gotten a good identification." Kai’s frustration was evident. "I’ve tried everything. Following you constantly, keeping you out of the tunnels, even trying to prevent you from making the Inter-Academy team. Nothing works. You die anyway."

"What happens if I don’t make the team?"

"Loop fourteen, I managed to keep you off the team. You died in your sleep three days before the competition started. There was no wounds or poison, you just died." Kai’s voice was hollow. "The world collapsed anyway. So making the team or not doesn’t matter. You die around the same timeframe regardless."

William stood up and started pacing despite the pain he was feeling in his hands. "Okay. So I die during the competition in the tunnels. The world collapses. You reset with your memories and cultivation intact. This has happened sixteen times."

"Correct."

"But this loop is different. I’m training faster, my relationships are developing differently, and now someone tried to kill me early." William stopped pacing. "What else is different?"

Kai was quiet for a moment, considering. "Your cultivation control improved dramatically recently. Like overnight. That’s never happened before in previous loops — your control was always your weakness throughout the six months."

William thought about the SSS trait he had gained from sleeping with Seraphina. The Absolute Essence Mastery that gave him perfect control. That was definitely loop-specific.

"What about the girls?" William asked. "Seraphina, Claire, Lyanna. Do they act the same every loop?"

"Mostly the same. They’re always attracted to you and always develop feelings. Sometimes the timing varies slightly but the overall pattern is the same." Kai studied William. "Why?"

"I’m just trying to figure out what’s actually different this time." William couldn’t tell Kai about the curse system — that was still his secret. "If this loop is deviating from the pattern, there has to be a reason."

"I think you’re the reason," Kai said bluntly. "You’re doing things differently this loop. You’re training differently, making different choices like going to parties. Those small changes are creating larger deviations."

"Or something about the loop itself is breaking down."

"Maybe both." Kai moved back toward the door. "Either way, we have three weeks until the competition. And three weeks to figure out how to keep you alive past it for the first time in seventeen loops."

"What’s your plan?"

"I don’t have one yet. Every plan I’ve tried has failed." Kai’s expression was grim. "But now that you know about the loops, maybe we can approach this differently. Two transmigrators working together instead of me trying to protect you while you’re unaware."

William nodded slowly. It made sense. Kai had been operating alone for eight subjective years, trying to prevent William’s death without being able to explain why. Now they could actually work together.

"The tunnels," William said. "You said I always die there. Why? What’s special about them?"

"I don’t know. I’ve explored similar tunnel systems across the loops trying to understand. They’re just standard underground passages beneath competition venues. There’s nothing obviously magical or dangerous about them." Kai frowned. "But something about those specific tunnels during that specific time period is when you always die."

"Could it be location-based? Like something about the competition venue itself?"

"I thought that too. But loop nine, the competition was held at a different location because of the weather. Even at a different venue and different tunnels. You still died underground on the third day."

"So it’s not the location. It’s the timing." William’s mind was working through the logic. "The Inter-Academy competition specifically. Three weeks from now. Something about that event triggers your death."

"Or something about that event is when whoever wants you dead makes their move." Kai crossed his arms. "I’ve considered that you might have enemies you don’t know about. People who want William Cross dead for reasons tied to your family or political connections."

"That doesn’t explain why the world collapses when I die."

"No, it doesn’t." Kai’s expression darkened. "That’s the part I can’t figure out. Why does your death specifically cause reality to break down? You’re not the protagonist of this story. Liam Hemsworth is. If anyone’s death should have cosmic consequences, it should be his. But you die and everything falls apart."

William thought about that. He had transmigrated into William Cross’s body when the original William died in Chapter three. Maybe his survival created some kind of paradox that the world kept trying to correct.

"What if my survival is the problem?" William said slowly. "William Cross was supposed to die in Chapter three. I took over his body and kept him alive. Maybe the world keeps trying to fix that deviation."

"I’ve considered that. But if the world was just trying to kill you for being a deviation, you’d die much earlier. Why wait specifically until the Inter-Academy competition?" Kai shook his head. "There’s something about that event specifically that’s important. Something we’re missing."

A knock on the classroom door made them both go quiet. A voice called from outside.

"The treatment’s done. Is the student still in there?"

Kai unlocked the door and opened it slightly. The healer from before was standing in the hallway looking impatient.

"He’s fine," Kai said. "We were just talking. We’ll leave now."

They left the classroom and passed through the empty hallways. Most students were in their dormitories by now, the academy quiet except for the occasional night patrol.

"Where are we going?" William asked.

"Back to our room. You need to rest and we need somewhere secure to continue planning." Kai kept his hand near his hidden sword, constantly scanning their surroundings. "That assassin from tonight is still out there. They might try again."

They made it back to the Ascendant dormitory without incident. Kai locked their door and checked the windows carefully before finally relaxing slightly.

William sat on his bed, his mind still processing everything. Time loops. Repeated deaths. The world collapsing. Everything was overwhelming.

"So what now?" William asked.

"Now you sleep. Your hands need to heal and you need to process everything I just told you." Kai sat at his desk. "Tomorrow we will start preparing properly. I’ll teach you some combat techniques I’ve refined across loops and more elements. We’ll analyze the competition schedule and figure out how to avoid the tunnels entirely if possible."

"You said keeping me out of the tunnels didn’t work before."

"It didn’t. But that was when you didn’t know about the loops. Now you can actively work with me to survive." Kai pulled out a book but didn’t open it. "Get some sleep William. We have three weeks to change your fate. That’s not a lot of time."

William lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His burned hands throbbed despite the healing treatment. His mind was racing with everything Kai had revealed.

He’d died sixteen times. Sixteen versions of himself had been killed in dark tunnels while the world collapsed around them. And Kai had watched it happen every single time, unable to prevent it.

Only three weeks until the competition. Three weeks until he would supposedly die again in those tunnels.

William closed his eyes and tried to sleep, knowing that tomorrow would start the real fight for his survival.

-----

I hope you loved the twist!!!! (More bigger twists are more to come!)

Support! Please Golden tickets and gifts go a long way!

For some reason even if we are at the threshold for the power stone ranking our novel never gets on it :(, although your support is still highly appreciated!

A golden castle would go a long way too :)

(Max release will follow for the castle)