After her was told off by Hannah, Leo spent some time reflecting on his actions. He hadn’t cared when she was crying, so why did he care if she lied to herself? As a senior in high school, Leo eventually decided that he had more important things to worry about. However, their conversation had left its mark on him. There was something, a feeling just beyond his understanding, that tugged at his subconscious. Ultimately, he couldn’t stop himself from worrying about Hannah’s situation.

The next day, Leo felt that he was being watched. He knew the feeling well. It wasn’t just a single pair of eyes, but all of them, all the time. During class, in the hallway, after school, he could always feel their stares burning into his back.

“So, they didn’t switch targets…” He silently lamented.

Then, as Leo was walking to his next class, he heard it.

“You said Hannah slept with him?”

“Seriously? Wow!”

“I know, right? I can’t believe anyone would do it with Leo.”

Leo froze. It took all his willpower not to rush over and demand the full story. Leo managed to endure because he already knew the full story. It was a lie, obviously. The kind of malicious lie that used one party to insult another. A relationship with him was obviously fatal to one’s social life. Although, if the rumor spread that quickly, then Hannah’s reputation must not have been very good to begin with.

“Don’t think we’re on the same level because of this!” Hannah’s voice echoed in his head. Leo received a bitter sense of satisfaction for uncovering the meaning behind those words.

For the rest of the day, Leo shut his mouth like the lid of a boiling pot while rumors flew past his ears. Meanwhile, Hannah continued to play nice with her ‘friends’. Watching it somehow irritated Leo even more than yesterday. Leo didn’t know what he’d say, but he desperately wanted to talk with her again. However, Hannah wouldn’t give him the opportunity. Every time he approached her, she practically sprinted away. This cycle of listening to rumors, watching Hannah, feeling irritated, and failing to talk with her continued for a week.

Leo’s routine was eventually broken by pure luck. After doubling back to pick up something he forgot, Leo failed to catch his bus. Rather than wait for the next one, he decided to walk home. On his way home, Leo noticed someone standing at the crosswalk ahead of him. He stopped, dumbfounded.

“Hannah?”

Hannah turned around and grimaced. She turned back to run across the street, but the light was still red. Leo approached her during this pause, cutting off any other route of escape. Hannah released a short sigh.

“What? I told you not to talk to me.”

“I…” Leo trailed off.

What did he want to ask her? Even he didn’t know what he wanted from this girl.

“What is so different?” Leo’s mouth moved before his brain could catch up. “You said we were on different levels, but I don’t see it. People badmouth you just as much as me. From where I stand, we both seem to be on the bottom rung.”

“Except that I actually have friends.”

“No, you don’t.”

Hannah opened her mouth but her rebuttal wouldn’t come. After a period of silence, she stared at the ground and muttered. “That’s not true.”

“Of course it is. Does being delusional make you different than me?”

“I am different than you.” For once, Hannah spoke with conviction.

“No, you aren’t!”

Once again, there was a period of silence. Hannah stayed quiet to contain her shock and rage. Leo’s silence was also out of shock. The high schooler finally understood what he wanted, and he was appalled. That irritating feeling that had grown over the course of a week began to bloom. All he wanted was for someone to be in his position. To understand the suffering that he went through daily. Deep down, he knew this girl was the one. She had to be. Underneath her fantasy lay the same anxieties that plagued him. Leo wanted nothing more than to drag those feelings to the surface.

“You can hear the things they say about you.”

Hannah remained silent.

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“Sleeping with someone like me. Everyone seems to think we’re already on the same level.”

Hannah remained silent.

“That rumor spread really quickly. Would that have happened if your ‘friends’ believed in you?”

Hannah raised the ends of her mouth in a slight smile.

“No, it wouldn’t have. In fact, if they cared about me, then it wouldn’t have spread at all.”

Leo faltered. “Why?”

“Because I was the one who started that rumor.”

“…What?” Leo breathed.

Suddenly, nothing made sense to him. His assumptions and theories came crashing down like skydivers without parachutes. He looked up, hoping to hear something from Hannah, but it was too late. After her confession, she had bolted into the street.

“Wait!” Leo yelled. He leaped forward without thinking.

At this moment, neither of them had noticed that the light was still red.

Leo’s instincts screamed as something rushed towards his left side. For a moment, he was felt intense pain. Then, he felt nothing at all.

-    -    -

After who knows how long, Leo began to feel a tickling sensation across his body. He opened his eyes to see a verdant field of grass. Leo picked himself up and dusted the dirt from his clothes. He was almost surprised to see that they hadn’t changed. Then, the situation hit him like a brick to the face. Leo frantically checked his body, only to sigh in relief after confirming that he was uninjured. The terrible pain he’d experienced felt like a distant memory. In fact, as he sorted through his memory, Leo noticed that practically everything felt like it had happened a lifetime ago.

How long had he been lying here?

“Uugh…” Someone groaned beside him, though they were muffled by a face full of grass.

Hannah lifted her head sleepily and looked around. When her gaze met with Leo’s, she groaned again and lowered herself back into the grass.

“So, I guess this is the afterlife.” Leo observed. “It’s just an empty field.”

“If this is my afterlife then why are you here?”

“Maybe it’s the other place?” Leo snickered.

“Not enough fire.”

A gentle breeze rolled through the pristine landscape. Mother Nature seemed to be corroborating Hannah’s point.

“Maybe we’ll be moved somewhere else soon.” Leo thought aloud.

“Makes sense.”

“Then, before we’re separated…Why did you start that rumor?”

Hannah rolled over and looked up at Leo. “It all feels so far away now. Back then, I was the target of a lot of rumors. Some were fake, but others were extremely personal. I suspected that my friends were behind them, and so I told them a bogus story to see if it would spread. Obviously, it did.”

“But then you didn’t confront them.”

Hannah glanced away. “I was afraid.”

“Afraid of them?”

“Afraid that I’d end up like you. Someone who had completely given up.”

Leo found himself unable to refute her.

“Well, we’re going to pass on soon anyways. So, I’m sorry for giving you a hard time with my questions.”

“And I’m sorry for involving you in that rumor. Deep down, I hoped that it would bring the class’s focus away from me and back to you.”

Leo laid back down beside Hannah. For a while, the only sound between them was the rustling grass.

“Fuck you for that, though.” Leo finally replied.

“And fuck you for pressuring me into an active lane of traffic.”

“…That’s fair.”

The two chuckled. More time passed in silence, but nothing happened. No god appeared, no Saint Peter, not even a column of light. Eventually, Leo’s stomach began to growl.

“So…Maybe this isn’t the afterlife.”

Hannah’s stomach growled in response.

“Then, where are we?”

-    -    -

A year passed. For Leo and Hannah, it was a slow and arduous year. And yet, it was decisively the most fun year of their lives thus far. After rediscovering civilization, the pair learned of an entirely new world filled with monsters and adventure. Adventuring was something they were surprisingly good at, as killing monsters seemed to grant them an unnatural amount of strength. Fighting and getting stronger was the bread and butter of all adventurers, but they quickly rose above their peers. Then, they rose above their elders, and then further into the realm of legends.

“Huff…Huff…Huff.” Leo wheezed as he overcame what felt like the thousandth step of a seemingly endless spiral staircase. “If the Demon King’s palace has stairs like this, then you can fight him yourself.”

Hannah raised an eyebrow as she floated alongside him.

“Really? You have twenty times my endurance and you’re struggling with some stairs?”

“We haven’t stopped since we passed through that border town…huff…And now you suddenly tell me to climb this tower…huff…This entire town is a disaster area. Who knows if this crappy thing will even hold up?”

“Even if it did collapse, would you take damage?”

“Probably not.”

“So lucky. Everyone in this world grows differently, and your endurance growth rate just happened to be insane.”

“Pretty much everything else is low, though…huff. Right about now I’d rather have the mana to cast a lightness spell.”

“Or a float spell.” Hannah added, as she propelled herself forward with a light push.

When the pair finally reached the top of the tower, Leo sucked in a breath of air and held it. All his complaints were forgotten as he stared out at the scene before him. The hauntingly empty town and the green hills beyond it were beautifully dyed in the light of the setting sun. However, what caught his attention was even further in the distance. Beyond the rolling hills stood a structure that could only be viewed as a tumor upon the land. The hateful black spike of a building towered over its surroundings. Leo and Hannah looked towards their destination with a mix of apprehension and excitement.

“Hey Leo, when this is all over…”

“Please don’t set any lose flags.”

“Ok, I’ll do it now then.”

“Do wh-”

Hannah jumped in front of him and brought her lips to meet his. After an indescribably long and short moment, Leo felt her pull away. He pulled her back in and time once again slowed to a crawl while simultaneously zipping forward.

“If you told me I’d be doing this a year ago…” Hannah said, blushing.

“At least everyone else would have believed me.”

“Ha-ha, you’re terrible!”

Leo grinned widely and then came to an epiphany. Putting aside the fantasy world and the kiss, even his current expression was something he wouldn’t have dreamed of in his past life.