Long darkness stretched forward. Footsteps echoed through the emptiness of the void—small, uncertain, yet stubbornly persistent. The child turned back looking behind him, the light of the hall trembled. It did not shut off all at once. Instead, it weakened—breathing thinner, fading like something that did not want to leave. And still, the child kept walking forward.
He turned again too only see darkness remained his clothes white—pristine, almost glowing against the void. On his chest, the was stitched into the fabric, but the digits had been scratched out violently, as though someone had tried to erase him entirely. Loose threads hung where should have been. He walked not confused nor panicked,but Just…moving.
As though something ahead had to exist. As though the darkness could not possibly be endless. Then—
Stars. Not gentle ones these flickered.
Fragments of light snapped in and out of existence, tearing like broken pixels across the sky. Some distorted. Some duplicated. Some collapsed into static before reforming again elsewhere. The child followed them.
Each step grew quieter than the last, as if the void itself was listening. The stars began to gather ahead, clustering, spiraling, folding inward upon themselves he stopped looked up.
And then—
A blue light ignited in front of him.
Not harsh.
Not blinding.
But deliberate.
It did not flicker like the others. It held. It remained stable, as though it had always been meant to exist.
It hummed softly, casting a cold sapphire glow across the child's face. The scratched number on his chest caught the light, revealing faint marks beneath the damage—traces of something older still embedded beneath the erasure.
The void was longer empty but something was there.
Waiting.
A system window appeared leaking the borders as the words change form gentle blue to an almost Gray Hayes.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS — SYSTEM FORCED REBOOT• I S̴E̴E̴ Y̴O̴U̴
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS — SYSTEM FORCED REBOOT• I S̷3̷E̷ Y̷0̷U̷
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS — SYSTEM FORCED REBOOT• I S̸̢E̶̢E̸̢ Y̶̢O̸̢U̶̢
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS — SYSTEM FORCED REBOOT • I 5EE Y0U
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS — SYSTEM FORCED REBOOT• I SEE Y̷̿O̸̾U̴͂
───────────────
Asur woke with a jolt.
For a brief moment, he sat frozen, adjusting himself as his eyes scanned the room in confusion. The aftermath of the experience still clung to him like a fading echo. Around him, the room was settling—students shifting, chairs creaking softly, the atmosphere returning to normal as the previous event concluded. Applause had begun earlier, but it was now dying down, tapering into scattered claps before fading completely.
Asur blinked, trying to ground himself,knows he had missed something. He asked someone beside him leaned slightly closer, "hi, What did I miss?"
One of the students looked back at him.
"Uh… everything."
Before Asur could ask any more questions, a teacher stepped onto the stage.
"Right, students!" His voice boomed throughout the hall. "It's time for you all to go to your classes. The professors will join you shortly to deal with the rest. And remember, it's all good until it isn't. Right, dismissed."
Asur sat there for a moment, still trying to process everything.
Well…
He looked around.
The students were already getting up, gathering their things, and beginning to leave the hall. Conversations broke out between them as they moved toward the exits, some discussing their classes while others were still talking about everything that had happened.
Asur slowly stood.
He looked around the room, searching through the crowd.
There had to be someone he recognized.
Someone familiar.
And then—he found him.
"Brian?"
Brian looked back.
"Ah, Asura. Good to see you again, good lad. How are you doing?"
"Uh, doing good. Hey, do you know what's going on?"
"Uh, yes, well…" Brian paused. "Wait. Asura, were you not paying attention?"
"I was…"
"That's not important right now. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"Hey, don't worry, good champ. I'm messing with you." Brian gave him a grin. "Well, whatever you were doing, just know that Mr. Joseph gave a pretty impressive speech. Love to see it, hate it, depending on who you're asking."
"Oh, yeah?"
"And they also gave us the teachers' names throughout all of that. Oh, and they're also giving us directions on who your teacher is. Like, for mine, I have Professor Shelley Overall."
"Shelley Overall?"
"I know. The last names are weird, but who am I to judge?"
"Hey, Brian, do you, do you perhaps—well, I don't know—happen to know who was my teacher?"
"Oh…" Brian froze. "Crud. I can't remember his name, champ, but…"
He suddenly looked toward the exit.
"Ah, shoot. I have to go, I have to go! But from what I can remember—"
Brian began running away.
"—he's somewhere around the top floor of Roosevelt!"
"Okay, bye! See you later!"
Asura watched him disappear into the crowd.
"Thank you," Asura muttered to himself.
Then—
Someone tapped him on the back.
"Jesus!"
Asura immediately turned around.
"Can you not sneak up on me like that?" he said.
"Sorry, but you're going to have to leave now."
"What?"
"You have to go to your professor's classroom and sit there. We would say the quiet, but it's currently under renovation. So please, move."
"Okay, okay. I'm leaving."
Asur stepped away from the hall, still trying to figure out exactly where he was supposed to go.
As Asur walked through one of the halls, he passed by a large red notice board. Several students were still lingering around it, reading through the information posted across its surface.
He continued walking.
Then he stopped.
Something about the board caught his attention.
Asur slowly stepped backward, retracing his steps before turning around completely.
He looked at the notice board.
A huge list of names covered the notice board, but Asu didn't pay much attention to all the other listed names. He scrolled down, as the list of names had not only their names, but also how old they were, which grade they were in, and most importantly, which teacher they had to go to.
As Asur looked through one list after another, the other students that had lingered around had already found their names, and Asur was approached by a teacher.
"Excuse me, dear?" A huge list of names covered the notice board, but Asu didn't pay much attention to all the other listed names. He scrolled down, as the list of names had not only their names, but also how old they were, which grade they were in, and most importantly, which teacher they had to go to.
As Asu looked through one list after another, the other students that had lingered around had already found their names, and Asu was approached by a teacher.
"Excuse me, dear?"
"Yes?" Asu responded very half-minded.
"You know you're supposed to be in class, right?"
"I know, sir, but I'm still looking for my name. I forgot where I was supposed to go."
"You forgot? Oh, come now. You cannot tell me that that is your excuse. That is so unrefined of a Rosewell student."
"I have a question. Are you new in the school?"
"Yes, sir," Asur responded very quickly.
The professor stepped closer.
His suit was black and gold, adorned with one limited-edition watch. His glasses covered his blue eyes, while his long blonde hair rested around his face.
"Say, what is your name, boy?" he asked.
"It's Asur."
"Asur. Hmm. I'll help you look."
After a few more moments, the teacher finally spoke.
"Ah, there you are. Asur Castform. Looks like you're in the tenth grade, and your teacher is Mr. Gengarri."
"Oh, thank you, sir. Where can I find his class?"
"Honestly, Mr. Gengarri's class belongs to the east wings on the third floor, room 138."
"Thank you."
As the professor walked away, he called back to Asur.
"Oh, and hurry up, boy. You only have about five minutes before the professors are in there. And you don't want to get a strike, do you?"
As Asur could no longer see the professor in sight, his eyes slowly began to widen.
Almost instantly, his body instinctively turned, and he sprinted as fast as he could.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
Wait. If I'm remembering this correctly, from one of the open days, there's about three West Wings in Rosewell. So which one exactly? Damn it. I should have asked. I should have asked. I should have asked. As he sprinted down the hallway, a brief silhouette of him was seen by a girl inside one of the classrooms he passed.
She had silver eyes and blonde hair, with the edges of her hair carrying a strange blue highlight.
She murmured to herself,
"That's weird. I thought I saw someone. Eh, no matter."
Asu continued sprinting.
Come on. Think, Asur. Think. Is it the first one? The second? The third?
A system window suddenly appeared.
[You have four minutes and 33 seconds.]
[32 seconds.]
[30 seconds.]
[31 seconds.]
[30 seconds.]
"Shut the hell up!"
Asur forcefully closed the system window.
As he passed one set of stairs, he ran across the hallway doors, quickly sprinting and shoving people aside.
"Hey, don't!"
"Hey, watch where you're going, you jerk!"
"Ill-mannered swine ."
As he sprinted by, he saw another set of stairs.
Asur grabbed one of the poles and pulled himself around it without losing his trajectory. He jumped one step, then another, hitting the next as he continued upward.
While doing so, he bumped into a kid.
The kid stumbled, but Asur continued moving before slowly turning his head back.
"Hey, sorry! I wish I could help you, but I really have to go!"
Asur continued running up the stairs.
The kid looked at him with his brown hair and black eyes.
He slightly stretched out his hand, and the books that had fallen from his grasp seemed to be neatly pulled together into a careful stack once more.
As they landed on his palm, the kid continued walking down the stairs.
But behind him—A thin blue strand snapped.
Asur finally reached the third floor.
He stopped for a moment and looked left.
Then right.
He looked around again.
"Screw it."
Asur immediately sprinted to the right. As he ran through the hallway, he noticed a long portrait showcasing a serpent-like beast being slain by someone wielding a shining sword.
Then he saw the number.
112.
As he sprinted past it, he spotted another 112 down the hall written on the wall.
"All right, then. I'm going in the right direction."
Asur continued running.
He suddenly noticed another kid right next to him, sprinting at almost the same pace.
"Hey, do you know where I can find room 165?"
"No. No, I think you have to go straight ahead and turn, or take a corner." said asur in a hurry.
"Thanks."
The kid, who had blonde hair and green eyes, turned left into one of the corridors. As that happened, one of the professors came out from where Asur and the kid had once been running and yelled,
"No running in the halls!"
Asur didn't stop.
"124? No. 128? 129?"
He breathed heavily to himself.
"Almost there." Before long, another system window appeared.
[You have one minute and three seconds.]
[Two seconds.]
[One.]
[59.]
[58.]
"Oh, shut up, system!"
The window closed again.
As Asur continued running, the closer he got to the number, the more desperate he became.
Another system window appeared.
["Why the hell do I have to deal with you right now? I don't got time for this bullshit."]
"137? 138?"
Asur suddenly made a hard stop.
He grabbed the handle and opened the door.
His sweat dripped from his face.
Everyone in the classroom looked toward him, surprised to see someone entering the room looking completely exhausted.
"Man…"
Asur looked at the still-open system window.
37 seconds left.
Asur walked for a moment before choosing one of the seats toward the back of the classroom.
He sat down.
Where the hell is all my stuff?
The class resumed its talking.
Asur simply placed his head on the desk and looked through the corner of his eyes.
So this would be my class.
Less than a few seconds later, a teacher came through one of the doors to the right open and from the shadows a low, grumbling voice said. "Good morning, students. Or evening. Lesson's not really particular."
As he walked through the classroom. "Well, you are all a part of Grade 10-B. Am I wrong?"
"No."
"I'm not. If there is no miscommunication, that would be fine with me."
The professor wore a purple business shirt and black pants. His darker purple hair rested around his face, accompanied by blue eyes and a very tired demeanor.
"Right. My name is Professor P. Gengarri, and I am your homeroom teacher."