These days were good for Aurora Perish. She was going to school with her friends, and what's more, Hyacinth Chua didn't seem like her arrogant self from the original works. Instead, she was much more talkative and outgoing—the complete opposite of the aloof and prideful character she used to be in the novel. That made Aurora Perish proud as an adult.
The original owner's parents also took her advice seriously. They went on to establish their own business and worked hard to improve the areas that had been lacking. Aurora Perish even recommended some desserts she knew would become popular in the future—like flavored pancakes, milk tea, and other treats.
Aurora Perish helped them from time to time while mainly focusing on improving her skills in science. After all, this world was different from her past life, and it's not like she had been particularly good at science back then either. With the end of the year approaching, she knew she would soon be heading off to college.
She thought this leisurely student life would continue to be peaceful—until everything changed.
From the moment Aurora Perish stepped through that door, she began to regret everything.
Thirty minutes earlier
Lately, she had been living like a model student, which made the original owner's parents breathe a sigh of relief—Aurora Perish was finally taking her studies seriously.
Aurora Perish headed to the library as usual, but this time, her friends didn't come along. Two of them had been called home unexpectedly, while Hyacinth Chua had gone off to handle some business matters. Hyacinth Chua had wanted to go with her, but an emergency came up that she needed to take care of—so, in the end, they reluctantly went their separate ways.
As they left, her friends looked at her as if their lives depended on her, glancing back at her three times until they were just tiny dots in the distance. Aurora Perish sighed.
It was hard being an adult trapped in a teenager's body.
Aurora Perish was happy that, in the novel, everything seemed different now. The three of them Soren, Sora, and Hyacinth—were close again, just like they used to be. In the original version, they had been close, yes, but also distant. That was what their friendship had become familiar, yet disconnected.
But now, they were open with one another, honest about their feelings. That was one of the changes Aurora Perish had wanted to see in the novel. Even if there was still some space between them, they genuinely cared for each other.
Their friendship felt real. It felt strong.
"...How nice." Aurora Perish murmured, eyes distant. She wondered if someone was missing her in her original world. Were the stray cats she used to feed doing well? Were those idiots—her friends taking care of themselves?
She missed them terribly. It was strange, this feeling to exist in a world where none of the people she loved were present. No one here knew them. Only she remembered.
Aurora Perish looked up at the sky, then quickly looked away. The sun was too bright—it stung her eyes. A silver tear shimmered in her grayish eyes, like a raindrop slipping from a lonely cloud.
"...Maybe I should build a memorial for them."
Aurora Perish chuckled to herself at the thought. If any of them saw what she had been doing while they were gone, they'd probably kill her.
More likely, they'd just criticize her. After all, those voices used to annoy her the most... but now, she was slowly starting to forget them.
That was part of why she had been overworking herself—she wouldn't have time to worry or feel anxious about them anymore.
Aurora Perish finally reached the library.
"Damn, this building is so far from Gate A."
She felt like she was getting a full workout just by walking across campus every day. At least there was air conditioning outside—well, sort of. It felt more like a giant electric fan than actual AC, but it was enough. She wasn't sweaty, and that was all that mattered. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered stepping into the library at all.
She entered and scanned her ID, then looked around. The library was huge. There was even a second floor—something rare in her original world. The only time she'd seen libraries like this was on social media, back when she used to scroll through her feed to relieve stress from work and studying.
Aurora Perish noticed the science section hanging from above—a sign she was already familiar with. Each subject area had five corners filled with books, which made it fairly easy to find what you were looking for. She made her way to Row 2, where the basic formulas about the Omegaverse were located.
Since Aurora was already familiar with the roles of Alpha, Omega, and Beta, this time she decided to focus on biological relationships—a part of the subject that confused her the most.