A crackly, low voice grumbled into his contacts, sending a squirming sensation down his spine: "No, it's the ritual…”

“It’s the STOMACH in the jar. Also, the intestines, the lungs and the liver. Yes, I know that's NOT how you would do it, but I have to follow the RITES... The bandages? I'll reattach them soon... yes..."

Steven was really trying to tune out all those words. Stomach… lungs… livers? The best way to store organs was a good, ol’ fashioned refrigerator. (He would know.)

In front of him, Zero had been talking about something, which Steven really was trying to pay attention to… Unfortunately, he had a very talkative friend in his AR contacts, who had been rambling about having “all-da-credit-card-numbers.”

From who?

His “classmates.” Dieze answered.

Steven tried reasoning with it. “Y’know credit cards can get declined, right?”

“I have debit card numbers too.”

He… couldn’t argue with that.

Plus, Dieze added helpfully, “I’ll only take from the classmates that won’t notice, alright?”

…How would it know that?

But Dieze had already moved on.

“Oh and guess what,” It continued, “I’ve been secretly recording your classmates from their phones, laptops and AR contacts. Turns out, it's pretty easy to hack into people’s contact lenses. Want to take a listen?”

“No, thanks.” Steven said, but Dieze started playing the recordings anyway. The sound buzzed directly into his eyeballs from the contacts.

“Hi guys,” The first voice said. “Today, we’re vlogging my shower.”

(Great.)

And that was how he ended up listening to a shower vlog, a conversation about a secret physician’s tomb, and some guy discussing the best way to put a stomach in a jar. None of which were important, he was sure.

…Back to the Zero. The white hair boy was wrapping up his story: “...and that’s why I’m here. I just wanted to keep my promise.”

Steven nodded politely, his attention drifting to the side. There, he noticed a girl standing awkwardly, looking a bit out of place.

‘Where’d she come from?’ Steven muttered.

The girl looked at them, like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to start. He returned her gaze.

For a brief moment, he didn’t realize anything amiss. Then, it dawned on him.

It was as if recalling her was a ‘fogged away’ memory, like grasping at mist.

Like watching a butterfly fold itself, before vanishing into thin air… like forgetting and remembering everything, everywhere, all at once, yet never remembering what had happened here.

“H-Hello,” The girl murmured. Her voice was a bit delicate, like each breath was precious to her.

Zero spoke first: “What’s your name?”

She spoke her name.

“Mayo,” Steven recalled.

During the beginning of class, back when Ms. Happi had been reading off the attendance list, Steven remembered that she had skipped over a student, who had been so unnoticeable, nobody really blamed her. The name had sounded like a mixture of vinegar and mayonnaise, so he off-handily remarked: “Mayo”.

“No-”

“My name’s not-”

Her hair, which was enthrallingly b’_e, had slight waves running through. Her eyes were g-ld_n and piercing and a faint b!rthmark dotted her cheek. This contrast in features made her unforgettable, yet just looking away seemed to shift her characteristics away once more. It was like an ever-changing portrait – parts vividly detailed, others merely color-blocked, and some completely bl_nk. But, she hadn’t changed at all.

And then the realization hit him.

She was just… super forgettable.

“Steven,” He introduced himself, “And that’s…”

“Zero,” The white-haired boy responded.

She spoke her name again.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mayo.” Steven informed her.

A panicked look spread across her face.

“It always happens.” Mayo let out a light breath and her eyes seemed to roll or twitch for a brief second. She muttered something to herself. “Not the first time…”

Steven wasn’t sure if that was directed at him. It felt more like a consolation. Probably a pep talk.

“I-”

That was when the bell rang, interrupting her.

“On sec,” Steven brought up, “Gotta get something, real quick.”

He walked to the front of the class and popped a quick request to Ms. Happi. A second later, he was given his reward. Dieze decided to commemorate the moment by putting up some pop-up notifications:

‘Red Bean Pancake [B+] Acquired.’

[Consuming…]

[Specks on a napkin were left behind. Press E to discard in the trash bin].

[Successfully discarded.]

- - -

As Steven made his way out of the classroom, a voice abruptly halted him. "Hey."

He spun around to find Zero's red eyes digging into him.

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“Oh hey, had to grab something important from Ms. Happi,” Steven earnestly told him. He looked around in the hallway, expecting Mayo to be with them. “Where’s Mayo?”

Zero pointed at the wall.

Steven looked around and didn’t see her… until he blinked.

He shrugged, deciding not to give it any more thought. The three of them decided to stick together for their next class. The only problem: the hallways.

It was like a scene ripped straight out of a murim action movie. Students darted around like colorful M&Ms spilling out from room to room. And get this, some students were even flying to their next class on knives, pans, and TV’s.

Steven wasn’t sure flying on a TV was a good idea. Then again, he didn’t know how to fly on anything. On his side, Zero softly dodged someone jumping over him, causing another student to get jumped on.

“Woah-woah-woah!” The student shouted behind them. “Watch it!”

Steven looked back. The boy’s face was visible, but near his face, there was a strange tag. An ‘NPC’ tag. Steven gave a quick look around and noticed that other students were also tagged in his contact view with an ‘NPC’ title. Weird.

“What’s that about?” He asked, but Dieze only replied with a pop-up:

[‘Don’t worry about it’ X]

He shrugged. Maybe it wasn’t important.

The three of them looked ahead, noticing a section of the hallway that was strangely peaceful. There, a teacher stood with a stern look on her face. The other students briskly and politely walked pass, hoping not to draw her attention. Luckily, she had her eyes set on some unlucky kid already.

One with unusual hair – an iridescent mix of silver and blue.

Kuro, apparently part of their class according to Mayo, had a pair of cat ears on his head (in addition to human ears). He had a thin tail that swished out through a hole in his pants. And he had a terrified expression on his face that read: ‘corners-are-good, where can I find the nearest one?’

"Excuse me, hello? I’m talking to you. Young man, what’s with the ears?" the teacher started, her voice laced with a strained smile.

“It’s my… human form.” Kuro whimpered, stopping in his tracks.

Human form? Why did Kuro need a human form?

"I know that!” She snapped. “But can you keep your tail inside your clothes? Please! It's not...professional," She took a deep breath and her voice softened. “Look, you can’t dress like that in a real-world. I don’t want you to get hurt out there! Here, we are very accepting, but what about out there? Just keep that in mind, alright?”

“I…” Kuro’s eyes widened slightly, “I understand,” He gulped, half-running, as he tripped over his own shoelaces, and bumped into, OOF—

NPC 1: Dude, WATCH where you’re going!

The teacher clicked her tongue, “Please, tie your shoelaces. A little effort goes a long way.”

Kuro blushed.

The teacher sighed, rubbing her temples, “That poor kid… didn’t his parents teach him how to properly wash and iron his clothes?”

Steven's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes narrowing as he studied Kuro's shirt. Among the chaos, a tiny detail caught his attention—a really small stain. It was about the size of a letter or less, inconspicuous but unmistakable. Steven leaned closer, an understanding dawning on him, empathy welling in his eyes!

This stain, it smelled like... like a 'wild shack' burger. His face relaxed into a smirk as his thoughts derailed, overtaken by a sudden craving. Mmm… wild shack burgers. He cleared his throat.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden commotion ahead:

Background NPC 1: Are they fighting?

Background NPC 2: Tsk.

“Dude, what’s your problem!” One of the boys shouted. Steven squinted, realizing he knew both of them. One was Lucius, the boy Steven had talked to earlier, and the other was some edge-lord he didn’t quite remember the name of.

“That’s Ember,” Mayo helpfully pointed out.

Right.

Edgar-or-whatever, with his fiery hair and forest-green eyes, had squared off with Lucius in the center of the hallway. The animosity between them was palpable, even from a distance.

Sinclair, at Lucius’ side, muttered something.

“No, I’m not going to let it go.” Lucius whispered back, then to Edgar. “You always do this. Taking it out on others. When you’re not even that strong.”

Eddie’s eyes had a dark expression. With one quick motion, a knife was thrown right on top of Lucius’s hair, slicing a few strands.

“You!” Lucius' eyes widened.

He jumped ahead, casting a blinding light into Edna’s eyes. With a swift movement, he hurled light-formed lances that dug into the surrounding walls, causing visible cracks. Emma retaliated with quicksilver agility, throwing assassin-like knives and chains to ensnare Lucius. Despite the constraints, Lucius only laughed.

"What's wrong, Ember?" Lucius taunted with a smirk, breaking the chains with a soft glow from his hands. "Too scared to use your family's famous firepower? Can’t handle a ‘light’ conversation? Afraid to get roasted?"

Background NPC 1: Ooh.

Background NPC 3: Ah.

Background NPC 2: Tsk.

The hallway held its breath as Edgelord’s eyes narrowed, his hand reaching towards the weapon strapped at his side. But before he could draw, the teacher from earlier stepped in, her face sterner than stale biscuits.

"That's enough!" she shouted, projecting a wave of energy that pushed the two combatants apart. “Detention! All three of you!”

“But-” Lucius protested, holding his friend's shoulders. “Sinclair didn’t fight.”

“I. Don't. Care.” The teacher furrowed her brows, as she took their names.

“Freshmen are crazy,” Steven heard an upperclassman remark.

[“The more fighting there is, the more profit we make.” X] - Dieze wrote on a popup… Huh?

Since the show was over, the trio traced the numbers down the hallway.

“It should be around here somewhere?” Steven muttered, looking at the classroom numbers.

“Here,” Mayo said. “Watch your step.”

“Watch my-” Steven found himself in the air for a short second. As he was about to bonk his head on the ceiling, a hand grabbed his ankle. He looked down, his body suspended in the air.

Below him, the floor tiles sporadically lifted up like ‘clink-clink-clink!’ In a short second, the hallways shuffled themselves like a rubix cube, with the math classroom appearing at their feet.

“Thanks,” Steven said, looking at Zero, who nodded and let him down.

They walked in, seeing a glimpse of something crawling on the math-bulletin board. It seemed almost bashful, hastily obscuring its face.

But with a series of impossible moves, it creased and crumpled and folded its neck over… CRACK… and over… CRACK… like the sound of bones snapping, and then disappeared, leaving behind the faint smell of perfumed flowers.

“Hey, what’s th -” Ste____ ____.

____ ____ _____ …

They walked in, seeing a glimpse of a normal math-bulletin board.

Steven looked around and sat down in a chair.

“He’s sleeping, again,” Mayo observed, watching Zero stifle a faint laugh.

It wasn’t long before the teacher began to speak:

"Class," The man in front introduced himself as Mr. Matika. He pulled it up on the smartboard. "But, you can just call me Mr. M.”

Mr. M’s voice came out strong and deep, rich like the deep-rooted trees of woods and forests still standing.

His skin was pulled directly from wine, intensely black, and his hair looked like wood chippings. Curly and wild. He stood there with a cultivated, academic air that made him seem unapproachable, but he had a subtle charm in his green eyes.

“It's your first day so we'll be learning each other's names." He looked around and saw the general “excitement” in everyone's eyes. He tugged his checkered vest, and noticed that…

The students were not excited.

Mr. M suggested a lecture on proofs and theorems to help get them excited.

"Mr. M, it’s the first day though." A boy, whose brain was smooth and spongy, called out, “I dunno what algebra is. Can I sleep?”

“I,” Mr. M let out a deep breath. “Please don’t ask for permission-”

"Sweet. Thanks!" Calum, that was his name, rested his head on the desk and went to sleep. The rest of the class followed suit.

Mr. M sighed again. Students were replaceable, after all.

He reached into his desk, his hand trembling slightly as he took out his 'happy crystals,' and popped them into his mouth. They were sweet, little pieces of sugar that helped him stay sane.

It was hard to describe what happened next, but a surge of energy rushed forth, and the walls exploded.