1 A Normal Day...?

Today was like any other day at the "Bonclay Academy", there were 31 students in one of the classes sitting aligned like chess pieces listening to the boring lesson their teacher was giving.

Some of them listened as they wanted good grades, some were slacking off, and others went as far as to sleep just to make time go faster.

They were currently in their third and final year of high school, precisely in the last month before their exams, so it was a time when most spent studying as it would decide their future.

Most of them having turned 18 as the year passed, they were already dreaming of what fun things they could be doing right after high school ended, whether it was to focus on their careers or hang out with their friends, infinite possibilities awaited them.

But it looks like the goddess of fate had decided otherwise for those unlucky students though...

"And this is how you calculate the..." their teacher continued his lesson without giving much care to those who didn't pay attention.

"Man~~, this is so boring, looking forward to the end of the year..." 

"I know right, only one month left and we're done though babe!"

The social cast as in every class had been decided since the moment they started high school, so most people had already formed their friend groups and knew who they liked and disliked.

Well, there was an exception, and he was sitting at the back of the class, looking at the outside world from the window, a place every "main character" in the mangas and animes he so liked had, unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough to be one though.

He had an average build with a normal face, his black hair was messy and he didn't bother taking care of his appearance as there wasn't anybody to ask him about it, most people avoided him after all.

And his name was...

"Max Evans?"

"Yes!" the boy answered, he wasn't used to being called by anybody, his lack of presence in the class was so that most of his classmates didn't notice whether he was present or absent.

"Would you please read page 326 to us, you were sleeping earlier on, right?"

"Ah! Yes, of course, sir, let me see..."

He quickly grabbed the textbook, but as he flipped through the pages he noticed a red stain on the last pages, he was sure that wasn't there yesterday when he had checked the book...

Strangely enough, the red stain created some sort of "A" symbol with writing he couldn't understand around it.

"We're waiting Evans" his teacher pressured him, and he immediately went back to the page he was supposed to read.

"Uhm... sorry I forgot where we were at..."

"Hah? Are you even trying to pass?" the teacher yelled at him, and he immediately apologized and flipped the page.

Max normally wasn't the type of student to slack off, his lack of presence in the class didn't bother him as he still did what he liked, and his grades were well above average, but something had been bothering him.

'What's that noise,' he thought as his ears had been ringing for around ten minutes now, almost as if they were signaling him about an upcoming danger.

He still read the paragraph that had been given to him though, his voice flowing through the silent classroom as others listened to him, it was quite rare that they heard his voice, so it became some sort of ritual for them to grasp what he would say at every occasion.

Of course, it was mainly to make fun of him as he was asocial, but not being a part of the class had its advantage, for example, he had no enemies or people that truly disliked him, and most of his classmates had a neutral opinion of him, so no problems occurred during the year.

"...and this is how you solve the-" Max suddenly stopped before he could finish, prompting reactions from his classmates and teacher as they wondered what he was doing.

"Max?" his teacher asked after realizing the black-haired boy did not continue reading.

 But Max in response just held both of his ears in agony, showing visible pain as he grabbed them.

'T-the noise... it's so loud,' the ringing that had been bothering him for a while had suddenly intensified, making it feel like his head was about to split into two, and the more time passed the more his head ached.

"Argh! What is going on," he shouted, his voice filled with pain as he fell to his knees, still holding his ears.

Many people got up from their seats and the teacher approached him in a hurry, trying to figure out what was happening.

But then... it stopped.

No more ringing, no more pain, just pure silence, his head was empty and he could now comprehend what was happening around him.

"Are you okay?" his teacher, an old man in his late fifties, grabbed his shoulder and asked.

"It's okay I guess..." he mumbled, not wanting to attract even more attention than he already did, he had reached his quota for the month it seems, "I think I need to go to the infirmary, sir."

"That's right, you're not looking so good, go and come back when you're better."

Max was glad he wasn't asked any further questions and just went out of the class.

"Man~, what a weirdo"

"He scared me for no reason..."

"Calm down class, let's get back to the lesson shall we?" the teacher ordered, and people got back to their seats without complaining much more.

But this was at this exact moment the wheel of fate had decided that it was time to take action.

"Huh, what's this outside?" one of the boys in the class asked as he pointed at the window, leading the remainder of the class to look in that direction.

And just as he had said, there was a dark figure with a red mouth and bloodshot eyes in front of their class's window, staring at them with immense killing intent.

Anybody would have tried to think of a logical answer as to why this happened, but there wasn't any they could think of, because the class they were located in was on the third floor, meaning that this "thing" was floating in the air.

"What the fuck?" 

"WHAT'S THAT?"

Panic quickly took over, they didn't know why yet, but they still feared that thing, acknowledging it as a danger the very moment they saw it.

Of course, some people tried to run away but...

"It's too late," the figure spoke in a rusty and emotionless voice as it put its hand forward and exploded the wall that separated them.

The glass shattered into tiny pieces as the entire wall crumbled, making dust fill the room.