1 Episode 1: My First Day! Again?! (1)
BOOM!
I chuck the grenade over my shoulder. It hits my pursuer squarely on his chest.
[Death: Excess —> Ipeefreely]
"Yes!" I cheer. I spin once on my blue swivel chair. "Finally got him off my tail. Now I can finish this quest in peace."
I stare at my avatar onscreen. I move it to the safe area to collect the quest rewards.
I had accepted a quest to destroy a band of gold thieves' hideout and bring gold back, which SHOULD have been an easy quest. However, this crappy game laughed at me and turned the Lvl 38 thieves into Lvl 72 space pirates!
Not only are they at a higher level then me—I'm Lvl 63 by the way—they also became capable of space travel. What do thieves even have to do with space pirates? This planet's not even capable of space travel!
Oh, and by the way, that guy I just killed was a random player who tried to steal my gold. He probably didn't know it was a quest item.
Well, that's over now. I hope that old man is happy. If he's not happy with gold, then he's got to be the stingiest NPC I've ever met.
In town, I hand sixteen tons of gold to an old man in a trashed shop. If this was real life, there would be no way I'd be able to carry that much gold.
Beep.
"Thank you so much! Now I have my goods back!" Sounds a bit cliche, but this is just a trashy third-rate PC game, so that's just how it is. Now give me my reward.
Beep, beep.
"As a reward, I will give you my BEEP pickaxe to BEEP BEEP quality BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!"
"What the..." Why are there so many beeps? Is the game breaking down? Is it my computer? It seems fine. Where are the beeps coming from? My bed? My alarm?
Oh, it's the alarm I set so I wouldn't be late for the first day of school.
"..."
Wait a minute.
IT'S THE ALARM I SET SO I WOULDN'T BE LATE FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
It's been beeping for a long time now! Why didn't I notice it before? Was it because I was too invested in gaming? By the way, why didn't I sleep last night?
Never mind that. What time is it?
I check the time on my computer.
7:12.
Oh that's fine. Class doesn't start until 9:00. I only gave a passing glance to the schedule after the freshmen orientation—which I slept through—but it said 9:00 am. It was on the school bulletin board, so it can't be wrong.
Why did I set the alarm so early then? Apparently I set it for 5:30, but I don't think that's accurate. How would I miss that incessant beeping for more than one and a half hours? I mean, I'm a game addict but it's not that bad! Unless I'm battling, which I was for a long time...
Eh, whatever. I can think about that later. To be safe, I should start heading out now.
I brush my teeth, slam on some presentable clothes, grab my bag, and shove a pre-made lunch into it. Chomping on a granola bar, I rush out the door.
I can just jog to my school. It's not far, just a couple blocks. That's good, because I don't have a bike. As for trains and buses, I can't waste time by standing in a line. It might not be a good day to jog, with the sky being dark and gloomy, but I'll just bring an umbrella.
When I arrive, the front of the school is devoid of students. There's no teachers either. I'm probably early.
The three-story concrete building has a modern look. It looks new with its smooth walls and shiny nameplate. It says "Daedalus," the name of the school. I feel like it's one of the names from elite schools in sci-fi TV shows. Well, it's not sci-fi, but the school IS an elite school.
Maybe I should get my schedule early. I'm sure the principal's already here.
As soon as I enter the school, I get a bad feeling. The doors are closed, and people can be seen inside. Uh oh, I think I know what that means...
—————
Thirty minutes and a loud scolding later, I go to my first (er, according to my schedule, my third) class, Geography. It turns out that the poster on the school bulletin board was upside down.
I must have realized this yesterday, but my game-and-TV-fried brain completely forgot. Since it's the first day of school, I got a free pass for being late.
I come in the class a few minutes early. Obviously there's no point in going to my second period class, so why waste time there?
For some reason no one has Geography until the third period, so the teacher is just sitting in his chair. He's doing something on his phone. He has short, black hair and a weird red hat on. Why are teachers allowed to wear hats but not students?
When he hears me enter, he looks up.
"Oh you're early. Did second period end yet?"
"Well, actually I missed both the first and second periods. I just got to school." I say sheepishly.
"Okay then." He looks back down at his phone after replying.
Uh, what am I supposed to do now? I guess I can...look around? There's not much to see though. Just the teacher at the front desk looking at his phone, the desk itself covered with teaching materials. A computer sat in the middle of the mess. The desks are lined up in neat rows, each paired with a chair. Plus there's the holoboard behind the teacher.
I guess I should say something. Since I don't know the teacher's name, I cough to get his attention. "Uh, mister, where do I sit?"
The teacher points to a random seat without looking up. I sit at the desk he pointed to. I don't think he'd care if I sat at a different desk, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
By the way, why is the teacher so lax? I mean it can mean a good thing for the students, but this school is supposed to be the top school in the country. The entrance exams are crazy hard (well, not for me, who has a library in his house full of advanced technology like quantum physics and water-powered generators.)
I don't even know how I got the invitation letter! I'm pretty sure it's due to my parents. Whenever I have a problem, my mysterious parents would fix it.
I say mysterious because I only see them once a week or so. They work for the government or something and leave instructions in the form of notes. They gave me a daily schedule which cuts into my free time, but I follow it to the letter. I'm pretty sure my parents have some sort of black technology that spies on me. They seem to know whatever I do.
My parents are in a pretty high position, considering that they got a pass to leave me at home alone even though I'm a minor. They also got me into THE number one school in the country.
What's even more, is that they have WEAPONS in the house. And a defense system. And a surveillance system. And not the regular hunting rifles, or security companies. No, they have high resolution cameras with a full holographic display accessible from my bedroom, anti-air missiles, armor-penetrating rounds, and pulse rifles.
I know it's not normal and super suspicious, not to mention shady, but I can't help but think this whole situation looks like a TV show. "Kid with mysterious parents goes to an elite school." Next, it will be, "Government conspiracy in the school!"
What? Blame that on binging on any TV show on I can find through the night.
Back to school. I glance at my schedule.
[Year One
Name: Eix Reain
1. Mathematics—6:00-7:00 am
2. English—7:02-8:02 am
3. Geography—8:04-9:04 am
4. Chemistry—9:06-10:06 am
5. Music & Art—10:08-11:08 am
6. PE—11:10-12:10 pm
7. Lunch—12:12-1:12 pm
8. History—1:14-2:14 pm
9. Free Period—2:16-3:16 pm
10. Physics—3:18-4:18 pm
11. ExtrA Practical Use & Theory—4:20-5:20 pm]
Why is my ExtrA training class last? Is this some fantasy academy TV show? What's with all the TV show cliches?
A couple kids start exiting other classes. Outside, the sky starts rumbling. A streak of lightning flashes by. A streak? Is that normal?
The first kid to enter was a boy with brown hair, hazel eyes and an average build. He carries a orange duffel bag on his right shoulder. The teacher notices him and gestures to the spot next to me. He again, didn't look up. The kid seemed unbothered and took the seat next to me.
I decide to ask about the teacher. "Hi! It's nice to meet you. I'm Eix."
The kid nods in acknowledgment and replies, "It's nice to meet you too. You can call me Ian."
"So, Ian, what's up with the teacher?"
"I have no idea. None of the other teachers were like this."
Another streak of lightning flashes by. Why is it horizontal? Why was there faint thunder AFTER the lightning?
"I wouldn't know, because I kinda got here late."
"How did that happen?" Ian inquired.
"I overslept." What? I can't tell him I was playing video games all night and never actually slept, now can I?
The other kids came in while we were talking. We chat for a little bit more, (with me ignoring the weird weather) until the teacher starts class by silently turning on the holoboard. Not that many people noticed he was starting even with the holoboard turned on. He just set the computer to show a couple of slides while he played with his phone.
The slides showed things like the teacher's name—which is Henrix Whons—the introduction for high school, which we saw at the freshman orientation, meal tickets, and other basic stuff.
No one paid attention to the slides once they noticed that the teacher didn't care. I guess even teens in the best high school will still be immature.
Well, their inattention only lasted until a particularly large streak crashed into the school near our classroom.
CRASH.
The building trembled, some cracks appearing in the walls and ceiling. The power went out as well, further adding to the terror.
The students screamed (well I didn't; my parents had a virtual reality simulator that simulates this type of stuff) and tried to take cover under the desks.
In this situation, it's normal to panic. No one even knows who attacked us! So the normal response would be to cower, or in the teacher's case, actually putting in some effort to protect the students and calm them down.
But for me, who has weird parents with an advanced virtual reality simulator, this isn't scary at all. All I can think of is: at least that explains why there were weird flashes outside. They must have been attacking the school all along.
The school is fairly large, housing both high school classrooms as well as college dorms—with classrooms for college students as well, obviously.
Whoever did this must have used the storm as cover to use their ExtrA to attack the school. They probably have a long-range lightning ExtrA.
Another bolt hits the school, closer this time. More cracks appear, and some stones fall. People are now trying to escape. Hendrix attempts to lead the kids outside in an orderly fashion. I pull Ian over and join the line.
We enter the now-chaotic hallway. Teachers are leading lines of kids to the exits. The closest one to the Geography room would be the main entrance.
As we head toward the main entrance, pieces of the ceiling caving in, I think about the odds of someone attacking to school on the first day of school. No one would dare attack the leading high school in ExtrA training. So who attacked? And why?
I don't have time to dwell on it, because the very next second, like some cliche TV show, a piece of rubble starts falling on a cute girl. And like some cliche plot development, she gets pushed out of the way.
However, instead of the newly-crowned protagonist getting praise from the girl, he gets crushed instead.
A pool of blood forms under Ian's body. What? Did you think I would save her? No way! I don't even know her! Why would I risk my life for a stranger? No wonder my parents said to only save yourself in a dangerous situation. Just look what happened to Ian.
Another thing my parents said: don't feel guilty or sad for someone you don't know well, especially in a dangerous situation.
One thing they didn't tell me, was how to avoid the entire ceiling when it starts falling down. A bolt hit the school and the next I know, the ceiling come crashing down. It's a swift death. Just a CRASH, and, nothing.
Or that's how it should be.
Light abruptly fills my eyes. I'm alive?
While that might be the most weirdest thing, the scene in front of me is even weirder.
Not even the sims prepared me for this.
Hendrix, with his weird, floppy red hat, was sitting at his desk, just like he did ten minutes ago.
