crimson bell ¹⁹

It began by sleeping exactly 3 minutes .

Yep you heard that right aster had closed his eyes for only 3 minutes

Aster had spent the entire night staring at the ceiling, blankets twisted around his limbs like the hands of ghosts. His room, normally a quiet haven from the daily insanity of Valebourne Academy, felt like a cage tonight. Every tick of the clock drove into his skull like a nail.

He didn't know why.

He just... couldn't sleep.

When dawn finally scraped its claws across the sky, he dragged himself out of bed like a corpse answering its final roll call. His eyes were dry. His limbs ached. But most of all, something inside him felt wrong—off-kilter, unbalanced.

Like the world was leaning sideways, and only he noticed.

"Another perfect morning in the academy from hell," Aster muttered, deadpan. "Who needs therapy when you've got chronic dread?"

He got dressed slowly, like he was prepping for a funeral, and stumbled into his first class with the gait of someone three cups of coffee behind the bare minimum. The professors droned on, pretending everything was fine, but the halls buzzed with a different frequency lately—quieter, heavier. You could feel the tension in the air if you were paying attention. Aster always paid attention. Even when he didn't want to.

He slumped at his desk, barely listening. The words swam around him like mist.

He wasn't sure what was worse: that he was getting used to this… or that he was starting to forget what normal ever felt like.

When classes ended, he didn't hang around. The others still made noise—laughing, chatting, play-fighting—but their joy felt brittle, like it might snap in half if someone so much as looked at it too hard. He went straight to his dorm, dropped his bag, and sat down at the desk with a sigh.

"Right. Let's pretend I'm a good student now."

He worked. Finished his assignments. Scribbled out notes. Even organized his satchel. But it all felt hollow, like he was moving through motions set by someone else.

And then he stood.

He'd put it off long enough.

The disappearances—the whispers, the cold that hung around certain halls, the eyes that watched from nowhere—it had to mean something. Aster didn't want to be a hero. He didn't want to care. But he also didn't want to be next.

He opened the door.

And the bell rang.

---

It was unlike anything he'd ever heard.

A toll that split the sky. Not just sound—feeling. Pressure. Weight. It came from nowhere and everywhere all at once. From beneath the earth, from the stars, from inside his own skull.

DONG.

The world shifted.

The sky turned red. Not the soft blush of sunset—this was a blood moon, sudden and impossible, casting long, jagged shadows through the academy grounds.

The walls trembled. The ground cracked.

And something emerged.

Old stone. Crumbling towers. Ruins that hadn't existed a moment before now clawed their way from beneath the academy, rising with a hungry sort of grace. Something long buried had decided tonight was the night to wake up.

Then came the howling.

Screams—human and not.

Something had gotten in. Or rather, something had gotten out.

The dorm hallway exploded in motion as alarms blared and students panicked. Aster stumbled back, gripping the doorframe. Shadows raced past his window, fast and hungry. Something slammed against the outer wall and left a bloody smear.

This wasn't a test.

This wasn't the academy.

This was war.

His system chimed, almost too calmly.

> [Quest Updated: Survive the Crimson Bell.] Penalty: Permanent Death

Reward: Class Awakening Unlock

Aster barked a laugh. "Permanent death? Finally, some clarity."

But there was no time for sarcasm now. Screams rose from the lower floors. Something—a student—was pulled out of a window. Bones cracked.

It was a sight aster never wanted to see students screaming blood spilling people running with terror in their eyes that was the first time aster had experienced the "brutality that reality could withhold"

Aster didn't look back .Aster ran and ran.

---

Chaos. Fire. Shadows with teeth.

Demons.

They weren't supposed to be here. The academy was sealed, protected, warded by layers of magical defenses. But these things had cracked them. Slipped in. Some looked like malformed animals—others like armored knights drenched in ink. All of them hungry.

Aster ducked behind an overturned bookshelf as a hulking beast tore through the hallway, dragging a student by the leg.

He was nothing. Weak. His magic affinity was barely measurable. He was ranked 7th only because he knew how to survive—but survival now required more than clever tricks. It required power.

He needed help.

And then fate, or something else, intervened.

Aster saw a flicker of movement—familiar.

The shadowy boogy man!!!.

Tall. Calm. Bleeding from the side but still cutting through demons like a man possessed. The way he moved wasn't practiced—it was remembered. Like he'd done this before.

Aster ran.

Or tried to. A demon spotted him and lunged. He dodged, but its claws raked across his back. Pain exploded through him. He hit the wall hard, rolled, screamed.

Another slash. His arm went limp.

By the time he staggered to the regressor's position, he was drenched in blood.

The regressor noticed him, eyes narrowing. "You? Why are you here?"

"Nice to see you too," Aster wheezed. "Mind if I hide behind you while you save the world again?"

(He said this sarcasticly as mocking him for being delusional)

The shafowy boogy man didn't respond, just stepped in front and raised his blade. Demons closed in. Five. Ten. More.

"This shouldn't be happening," the shadowy boogy man muttered. "This is too early. The seals weren't supposed to break yet."

"Yeah, sorry—I didn't bring my apocalypse calendar," Aster said, clutching his side. "Can we focus on not dying?"

"And also what is your name shafowy boogyman?"

"My name" he muttered as he pondering for a moment "its sorin. Sorin Blackmere."

Aster jae dropped this was the guy who's been spying on me since i fought michael flash !?!!

'But now is not the time for that' sair as demons started appearing one after another

...

They fought. Or rather, sorin fought. Aster tried. Threw a rock. Distracted one. Got kicked for his trouble.

Then came the explosion.

A wave of red light. Something big hit the ground hard.

Sorin was blown back, slammed into a wall, and didn't move.

Aster was alone.

The demons turned.

He stood up.

He shouldn't have. He couldn't. But he did.

"Alright, fine. Come on, then."

They came he couldn't do anything. And he fell. Again. Again. His body broke. His vision blurred. Blood soaked the ground. One of his eyes closed permanently. His arm didn't work.

His legs trembled.

He went to fight them again he tried to faint they read again ' damn it i knew i was not good at this sword stuff' another fall

He went again running now towards them trying to make a difference but nothing they just toyed with him

They were holding one of the heads of the people they killed aster fo some reasson didn't even care as though after someone dies they become worhtless

That was so unlikely that he didn't feel he was aster or at least the aster he used to be "what is up with me they have killed all those people and instead of being scared traumatised shaking i m just continuing to go forward as if don't care who dies"

Something shiny appeared in his eyes " i m worhtless damn worthless how did i end up here i m just a normall person why do i have to suffer..." But there was no one there to answer him just the demons mocking him thrashing him letting him live

He continued going after them the system beeping but he didn't care to look "why did i get summoned to this fucked up place nothing goes right everyone is too fucking strong and all i can do is act like i m one of them" Aster was feeling regretfull as if he could have done something differently but he couldn't by so... Why was he feeling this way why couldn't he just accept that it was unfair

He couldn't he felt like living trash for a reasson he didn't even know "WHY DO I FEEL LIKE THIS I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG!!!!!"

He went one last time this time hoping he wouldn't wake up

"I hate this place," he hissed. "I hate it so much."

Another strike.

Darkness.

"Finally i will stop suffering from nothing "

Then—

> [??? Mystery Item Unlocked]

"The system ehat does it want can't it see that i m dying"

Aster blinked.

A glow surrounded him. Not from the moon. Not from the academy.

From him.

He coughed blood, wondering where all these strength was coming from

"Finally will i get my plot armor."

Aster asked mocking himself

---