At the canteen, both Shac and Ivan just finished eating lunch.

“Thanks for the treat!” Shac expressed his gratitude.

“No problem, you know what to do next time.” Ivan replied.

“Consider it done.”

They exchanged waves before parting ways in opposite directions. -crowd noises

Shac grabs the ducking and places it above his shoulder. “You good up there?” -quack- The duck responded.

“I see I see.” Shac smiled. “Don’t move too much or else your going to fall.” -quack-

…

“Haaah… haaah…”

I was…

brought back to life again…

Shac slowly breathed in and out, then glanced at the duck on his shoulder. -quack

Shac gently lifted the duck off his shoulder and held it in both hands. Sorry about earlier, duckling."

Shac walked through the hallway, careful not to bump into anyone and potentially avoid the duck’s death.

-sighs- It looks like we managed to escape death this time.

Shac glanced back at the yellow duckling. “What are you really?” But the duckling didn’t respond.

There’s something about this duckling… Or was it a coincidence? Calling it a coincidence doesn’t seem to be the right answer.

Since yesterday, strange things started to happen when I’ve come across about the duck. Hoping I’m not mistaken, then there’s something about this little creature that needs to be taken of.

-sigh- “You’re scarier than I thought.”

Well, it looks like I need to keep it safe… That’s all I need to do right now.

Despite Shac being just successfully brought back to life recently, he still needs to attend his next class.

“Haaah…” I’m just hoping I won’t die again…

× × × × × × × × × ×

As his class just ended, Shac’s next class is about to start.

Escaping the death of the duckling is one thing, but there’s yet another problem that Shac is about to face.

No way… I forgot about the quiz…

Noticing how his classmates are being quiet all of a sudden, it looks like they are reviewing for the upcoming quiz.

Shit! How could I forget about it!

This would be the second time Shac’s going to take the same quiz, the very same quiz he failed last time.

How am I supposed to answer this? I almost forgot everything I learned last time. Shac took a glance at everyone in the room, they all looked focused on the upcoming quiz.

It looks like I’m the only one who is about to fail this time. Ahhh!!! Shac scratches his head and lays down his head on the table.

Shac looked at the duckling with a defeated face.

I should hope for the best. Since I might remember something, hopefully…

Having no time to prepare, Shac is about to face one of the greatest challenges in his life, with no preparation.

× × × × × × × × × ×

-quack-

-sigh- I can’t believe I failed the same quiz again, just 2 days later. “Hahaha… Looks like you failed this time.” Ivan laughed.

“Yeah… I know.” Shac said, feeling defeated.

Ivan patted Shac on the back. “It’s okay. Try again next time.”

It’s my fault. I didn’t prepare enough. I got a second chance but didn’t use it properly.

I’m so dumb…

“Don’t worry.” Ivan reassured. “If you need help, just ask me.” “Thanks, I’ll ask for help next time.”

Ivan chuckled. “Feel free. Or do you want another treat?”

“No, no. I’ll be the one treating you next time, right?”

“I thought you already forgot about it.”

“Of course not… How could I forget about something a few hours ago.”

“Hahaha, I’m just messing around… Still don’t forget about reviewing for the next quiz.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Yeah yeah yeah.”

After a short talk, Shac and Ivan waved goodbye before heading their separate ways.

“Now, what do you want to do?” Shac asked the duckling in his hand. -quack-

“I should treat you tonight. We have a lot to talk about.”

A lot. A lot. A lot.

-quack

With the school over for the day, Shac and the duckling walked home together.

× × × × × × × × × ×

“Haaah… Finally done,” Shac muttered, finishing his nightly chores around the house.

Stretching out on the bed, he sank into deep thought.

What a day… Now, what should I do…

Everything happened too quickly for me to react. Especially dying, the dream, and the incident at school. It all happened too fast, it was unexpected.

But this time, I’m certain it’s a loop, that I’m repeating the same day. To prevent the incident, I must find a way to escape this day without dying.

And I know it’s all because of the duckling. The message. The death. It’s all connected to the duck.

The email warned me about not forgetting the duck.

The dream occurred at midnight, without the duckling in sight. At that time, I didn’t even approach the duck, so I’m not aware of what happened to the duck.

But during the incident in the hallway, everyone got killed, they collapsed. Coincidentally, it happened after the duck was killed.

It might be a coincidence, but if I were not to ignore the email, it must be mean the duck is somewhat linked to everyone suddenly collapsing.

Although I’m not aware of what happened to them, it looks like they also got suffocated and were not able to breathe properly. Meaning…

The duck’s death means death for everyone.

At this point, Shac knew he had to prevent the duck from dying, or else he would die once again.

With that thought, he glanced out the window at the duckling. It was in the backyard, roaming inside a large wooden box, enough for it to move around freely and tall enough to keep it contained.

“Well for now, it looks safe.”

Hopefully this would stop me from dying again. Satisfied that the duckling was secure enough, he returned to bed.

I can make it through this time, that’s what I need to believe… That is what he thought before drifting off to sleep.

× × × × × × × × × ×

“Ah—” Shac squinted as the sunlight hit his eyes.

What about the duckling? He stood up quickly and glanced out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise, and in the box, the duckling was alive and well.

“I see.” he murmured to himself.

We both managed to stay alive.

Shac felt relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, knowing he had found a way to escape and stay alive.

He walked down to the backyard to check on the duckling. “Good morning, yellow creature.” he greeted it.

-quack- the duckling responded.

Shac grinned, happy that they both had survived the night. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

-quack-

“Let’s go have some breakfast.” he said, gently lifting the duckling into his hands. Ah… It feels good to be alive. Shac thought as they headed back inside.

× × × × × × × × × ×

Six days have passed, and both Shac and the duckling managed to stay alive, without any problems. No one died, and everything is sailing smoothly.

“Anything has happened lately?” Ivan asked.

“Nothing, why?”

“Just checking up on you. So, how’s the duckling?”

“I think it’s old enough now, I never thought ducks grew that fast.” “Old enough? It’s only been a week right?”

“Yeah, can’t say for sure, but it definitely gets bigger faster than I thought.” “Hmmm, tell me if something happened.”

“If something happened? I honestly can’t tell what you are trying to do.”

Ivan chuckled and said, “I’m quite fond of ducks, so I was curious about how the duckling you’re looking after is doing.”

“Ah that’s what you mean, sure sure I’ll tell you if something happens.”

But thinking about how fast it grew, I do find it odd for a duckling to grow that fast in a span of less than a week. Feels like it became a teenager from being a baby in just less than a week.

Well… It’s not that I know anything about ducks, so I can’t day for sure. But nothing happened so far, so I guess we’re good for now.

× × × × × × × × × ×

“How are you?” he greeted the duck as soon as he arrived home from school. -quack- -quack- -quack-

“It seems like you’re already hungry. Just a moment.” Shac grabbed a bit of leftover rice from the kitchen and fed it to the duck.

Shac smiled at how cute the duck was, taking small bites on the rice bit by bit. “You’re growing up so fast, aren’t you?” Shac patted the duck gently.

Is this normal? I’m not entirely sure, but I’m just glad you’re fine and well. -quack-

“Ah… you’re really adorable.” Shac said, gently running his fingers over the duck’s soft feathers. “I didn’t expect you to lose your yellow feathers so quickly, but I’m glad to see how fast you’ve grown.”

I didn’t expect them to lose their yellow color so quickly. Shac thought, surprised by the speed of the change.

“I’ll check on you later,” Shac said as he returned inside the house to rest.

× × × × × × × × × ×

Another day has passed, another day of Shac managing to stay alive.

Every morning, Shac would go down to the backyard early in the morning to check on the duck, ensuring it was safe and well. “Good morning.”

It looks like it’s still sleeping.

“Good morning!” Shac tried to greet the duck, but it didn’t respond. Huh?

“Hey!” Shac called out loudly.

But there’s still no response from the duck.

“Is it… dead?”

No… It can’t be…

Suddenly startled, Shac took a step back… He tries to breathe in and breathe out air, it looks like nothing happened.

“I’m… okay?” To his surprise, he could breathe properly, it looks like nothing happened.

It means… It’s still alive!

Shac hurriedly approached the duck again, attempting to awaken it, but it remained motionless.

Is it dead? But for some reason, I’m still here?

Shac once again attempted to wake it, but it didn’t respond to any of it… It’s dead.

The duck is already dead.

His legs lost their strength, and he fell to the ground. “What just happened? The duck died, but I wasn’t harmed?”

-inhale- -exhale- He realized he could breathe normally.

But the duck… It died? What’s going on?

Did… Did I make a mistake? Thinking that the death of the duck also means my death?

Once more, Shac glanced at the duck’s lifeless form and noticed something he hadn’t seen before.

What’s that?

“It’s… An egg?”

The lifeless duck had left behind an egg.