The Extra is a Genius!?-Chapter 168: Whispers from the Past

Moonlight slipped through the narrow window slats, drawing pale lines across the wooden floor. Four bunks stood quiet—Marcus on the lower bed beneath Noel, Garron and Laziel on the opposite side. All of them asleep.

Noel lay on the top bunk, eyes open, staring at the dark ceiling just inches above him. The cold of the night barely reached under the blanket, but his thoughts weren’t letting him rest.

He turned his head slightly. Beside his pillow, tucked into the shadows, was the slim shape of his dimensional pouch.

He reached out, slow and silent, careful not to disturb the rhythm of the others’ breathing.

’Alright... let’s see what this diary has to show me.’

His fingers brushed the pouch’s edge. It barely weighed anything, but inside, it held something that hadn’t left his mind in the last hours.

Noel sat up, the old wood beneath him groaning ever so slightly. No one stirred.

He pulled the diary out.

Wrapped in black cloth, its corners worn and leather faded, the Diary of the Forgotten Son rested on his lap like something waiting to be opened... or released.

Noel held the diary for a moment longer, feeling the texture through the cloth—rough, cold, like the surface of old stone left in the dark for too long.

He whispered, "Status."

The familiar blue glow of the system interface appeared in front of him, hovering silently. With practiced motion, he navigated to the item tab and selected the name he’d memorized.

[Item]

Name: Diary of the Forgotten Son

Type: ???

Grade: ???

Description: A weathered book bound in black leather.

Once belonged to the Forgotten Son, who recorded the journey of two twin brothers at the dawn of mana’s discovery.

The story is told through the eyes of one brother—a silent witness to the world’s first awakening.

Not all entries are safe to read. Some truths are better left buried.

Noel narrowed his eyes.

’This could be interesting. Just like I suspected... there’s way more to this than what the novel ever showed.’

He closed the system window with a blink, then carefully unwrapped the cloth.

The diary seemed to breathe in the air as it was exposed—its cover absorbing the candlelight like a void.

Noel reached into the small drawer built into the frame of the bunk and took out a half-used candle. He lit it with a flick of his finger—just enough fire mana to produce a quiet flame.

"Flame."

The light was soft, flickering gently, barely touching the corners of the room. It wouldn’t bother the others.

He opened the diary.

The first page was blank. The second as well.

But as he turned to the third, ink began to rise on the page—slow, deliberate strokes forming lines of text that hadn’t existed moments before.

The writing was clean, steady. Almost too perfect. The author’s tone was direct.

We were twins. Identical in face, different in everything else.

He laughed loudly. I listened in silence. He jumped into the unknown. I asked what was beneath it.

We lived in the age before mana, when the world was quiet and things obeyed the laws they were born into.

Noel frowned slightly looking at the next text.

We found it beneath the stone fields, behind the fourth seal. A cavern with a heart that pulsed, even though it was never alive.

It wasn’t light, or heat, or wind.

It was... response. The world looked at us. And for the first time, something answered.

Noel leaned forward, candle close to the page.

’So this is how it started... mana. Not as energy, but as awareness.’

He turned to the second page and kept reading.

He was the first to touch it.

He held out his hand, and the cavern responded. Light gathered at his fingertips—not fire, not lightning, but intent.

His body trembled. His eyes went white. And when it ended... he was different.

Noel’s eyes sharpened as he read.

I watched as something formed inside him. I didn’t have the words for it then, but now I do.

He formed a core.

And I was the first to record what it looked like.

Noel exhaled slowly.

’The first user of mana and the first that formed a Core.’

There was no hesitation in the writing. No embellishment. Just facts, passed from a witness who had lived it.

He called it freedom. I called it danger.

But I stayed by his side. Because no one else would understand what we had seen.

And with that, the second page ended.

Noel turned to the next, but it was blank. So was the one after that.

Nothing more appeared.

He frowned. "That’s it?"

Then the system window popped up, glowing faintly above the diary.

[System Message]

If you want to keep reading, you need to keep completing missions. Keep going—you’re doing great!

Noel stared at the message in silence.

"...Right. Figures."

He closed the book and let the candle burn just a little longer before deciding to put it out.

Just as Noel reached for the cloth to wrap the diary again, the wood beneath him creaked.

A muffled voice came from below.

"...Noel?" freewebnσvel.cøm

He froze for a second, then looked down.

Marcus, half-asleep, blinked up at the underside of Noel’s mattress. "You awake?"

"Yeah," Noel replied quietly. "Couldn’t sleep."

Marcus shifted under the covers. "Figured. You’re never this quiet at night."

Noel didn’t answer right away. He stared at the diary for a moment longer, then wrapped it up and slid it back into the pouch.

He blew out the candle. The room fell into darkness again.

As he lay back down, eyes open, thoughts racing, a single thought lingered.

’500 years ago... this diary is telling me that story. Maybe there’s something in the academy archives—or Nicolas, or even Daemar, might know something. But I don’t like this.’

Behind him, Marcus adjusted again.

There was a pause. A beat.

Then Marcus said, more awake this time: "Hey... you okay?"

Noel didn’t answer right away.

Then, finally—

"...Want to talk?"

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