By the time Maximus "Maxx" Rave realized he was still livestreaming, it was far too late to pretend he wasn't actively having a breakdown in front of two thousand strangers.
His breath came in sharp bursts as he stared up at Gl1tchLord—the corrupted top-tier streamer whose grin flickered like it was buffering straight from Hell's weakest Wi-Fi.
Before either of them could throw a punch, a shrill BEEP sliced through the plaza.
A tiny drone zoomed between them like a referee desperately trying to stop a boxing match between a toddler and a nuke.
NOTICE:
Orientation Session 01-A begins in 60 seconds!
Late arrivals will be AUTOMATICALLY UNINSTALLED :D
Maxx blinked. "Uninstalled? Like… deleted deleted?"
Gl1tchLord's head twitched—frames skipping like a cursed GIF.
"Tch. Saved by the bell, anomaly."
With a ripple of red pixels, he vanished.
Maxx sagged with relief so dramatic it probably deserved an award. "Okay. Good. Didn't die. Love that for me."
Beside him, the NPC girl peeked over her broom, trembling so hard her glitchy freckles flickered.
"We have to go! If you miss orientation, the System flags you as 'Non-Compliant.' And then—"
"Let me guess," Maxx said, raising one finger like a professor introducing a bad punchline.
"Erasure?"
"…Erasure," she whispered miserably.
Without thinking—because thinking had rarely helped him—Maxx grabbed her hand.
"Then move! Go, go, go!"
She froze like someone had hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete on her entire existence.
"H-hand contact?! That's a Class-2 emotional gesture!"
"Oh my god, it's just running!"
"It's ILLEGAL running!"
But illegal or not, they sprinted.
They burst through the doors with about half a second to spare.
The "orientation hall" turned out to be a stadium-sized amphitheater fused with a convention center—and possibly a glitch in reality.
Hologram banners flickered overhead like they were struggling to remain optimistic.
WELCOME NEW STREAMERS!
CURRENT SEMESTER SURVIVAL RATE: 34%
PLEASE KEEP YOUR LIMBS INSIDE YOUR BODY AT ALL TIMES
Maxx squinted. "…They really led with the survival rate.
Bold choice."
The NPC girl tugged him toward an empty seat.
"I — I'm not supposed to sit! I'm classified as environmental decor!"
"Too late," Maxx said, pushing her gently into the seat beside him and said "You're my emotional support glitch now."
Her cheeks glitched pink, her entire model stuttering for half a heartbeat.
At the center of the stage, a massive digital professor warped into existence—half TED Talk host, half corrupted screensaver.
Its head spun a full unnecessary 360 degree while several students screamed.
"HELLO, NEW UPLOADS!" it boomed.
"WELCOME TO STREAM UNIVERSITY—THE PREMIER AFTERLIFE FOR CONTENT CREATORS!"
A holographic banner popped up behind it:
THIS YEAR'S THEME:
INFLUENCE OR DIE TRYING!
Maxx buried his face in his hands. "I miss being alive."
Meet Your Peers (And Their Concerning Hobbies)
The professor slashed a hand through the air, summoning four categories of students around the hall.
1. The Meta Masters
Cold, dead SEO-optimized eyes.
Every gesture perfectly timed for maximum engagement.
"THEY ACHIEVE VIRALITY THROUGH SCIENCE!"
A Meta Master dabbed at such mathematically perfect angles it probably summoned a small deity.
2. Chaos Streamers
Screaming in the scene,fire was the only bright light and More screaming.
One guy was actively on fire.
He waved politely.
"I'M GOOD!" he yelled. "THIS IS PART OF MY BRAND!"
3. Loreseekers
Cloaked figures scribbling conspiracy notes.
Every one of them stared directly at Maxx.
"THEY HUNT FOR MEANING WHERE THERE IS NONE!"
Maxx leaned toward the NPC girl. "Why are they looking at me like I'm a limited-edition snack?"
"Probably because you are," she whispered.
4. NPC RIGHTS CLUB
The hologram glitched violently and skipped past this one.
"THAT FACTION DOES NOT EXIST," the professor said flatly.
"ANY RUMORS ARE FALSE. DO NOT APPROACH THEM."
The NPC girl's broom twitched nervously.
"Oh… dear."
The professor conjured a class schedule like a list of crimes:
Algorithm Agility 101
Thumbnail Design Under Duress
Monetization Without Morals
Survival Streaming: Beginner
Co-Op Boss Fights (Attendance Mandatory Unless Deceased)
Maxx raised a hand.
"Are these graded?"
The professor beamed. "YES!"
"On what curve?"
"THE DEATH CURVE!"
Half the room groaned.
Maxx quietly joined them as he hated school.
A bright beam shot out from the ceiling, sweeping across the hall.
"COMMENCING STUDENT DATA SCAN!"
The beam hit Maxx.
Everything froze.
A giant hologram of his face appeared overhead.
Maxx nearly died on the spot from shame alone.
MAXIMUS RAVE
Status: Unranked
Tag: ANOMALY
Rule Violations:
• Unauthorized emotional influence on NPC
• Social bonding with property
• Conversational deviation
• Breathing in a restricted hallway
• Existing (Error Code ???)
The room erupted.
"ANOMALY?!"
"He's already breaking rules!"
"Cute face tho."
"What hallway was restricted?!"
Maxx shouted, "YOU CAN'T RESTRICT AIR! I DIDN'T KNOW!!"
The System ignored him with the cold efficiency of every customer support team he'd ever emailed
Suddenly, alarms shrieked in the background.
EMOTIONAL VARIANCE DETECTED
TARGET: NPC-4531
RESETTING SUBROUTINES
The NPC girl's eyes widened with pure terror.
"N-no… no no no—"
A staff drone descended like a judgmental ceiling spider.
Mechanical arms unfolded with surgical precision.
"NPC-4531. Prepare for memory erasure."
Maxx didn't think. He just moved instinctively beside her.
He jumped in front of her, arms wide.
"BACK OFF! She's with me!"
The drone paused, lens widening.
"Unauthorized protection of property. Additional reset recommended."
The chat exploded across Maxx's livestream overlay:
"NOOOO DON'T RESET HER"
"NPC GIRL BEST GIRL"
"DEFEND HER, KING"
"LET'S DONATE UNTIL THE DRONE CRASHES LOL"
Instantly, dozens of paid effects detonated around them—
Confetti , Sparkles with the Fireworks celebration in view of the chat.
A giant floating fart emoji for some reason.
The drone overloaded and collapsed with a defeated electronic groan.
The NPC girl stared at Maxx like he had rewritten the concept of kindness.
"You… protected me Again."
Maxx rubbed the back of his neck.
"What can I say? I'm a sucker for underpaid staff."
"I'm not paid at all…"
"Exactly!"
The entire amphitheater fell silent as the pitch-black Tower outside pulsed with golden lightning.
The professor froze mid-glitch. Even the banners stopped flickering for a moment.
A voice boomed from everywhere at once—smooth, metallic, and terrifying.
"ANOMALY STUDENT: MAXIMUS RAVE."
Maxx stiffened like someone had rammed a USB drive into his spine.
"Y-yes sir? Tower sir?"
"YOU WILL UNDERGO IMMEDIATE ASSESSMENT."
"Assessment meaning… a test? A quiz? A personality survey?"
"REPORT TO SURVIVAL ARENA 01."
The NPC girl grabbed his sleeve so hard it clipped into his arm.
"N-nobody goes to Arena 01 on their first day!"
"How bad is it?" he whispered.
Her voice dropped.
"Most students don't enter Arena 01 until week six…"
"Okay…"
"…Out of a six-week semester."
Maxx's soul screamed so loudly his viewer count increased.
Two enormous doors behind the stage slid open with a metallic groan that sounded like regret.
Beyond them was a massive neon arena—floating platforms, shifting walls, laser grids humming ominously. A giant scoreboard flickered to life.
SURVIVAL ARENA 01
CHALLENGER: MAXIMUS "MAXX" RAVE
DIFFICULTY: NIGHTMARE
The doors slammed behind him like a prison sentence.
A lone silhouette materialized ahead.
Maxx's drone zoomed in.
The chat instantly erupted:
"OH THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD"
"DEBUT BOSS FIIIGHT!"
"MAXX YOU'RE SCREWED BUT HAVE FUN"
"NPC GIRL IS CRYING AWWWW"
Maxx swallowed, legs trembling.
"Okay… okay… It's fine. It's just a life-or-death afterlife challenge in a glowing murder arena.
I've been through worse."
He paused.
"…Actually no. I absolutely have not."
The arena lights flared and everything was lit up.
The silhouette stepped forward—
To Be Continued.