"That same familiar path, that similar mistake...

You are just repeating that cycle again and again. Break free from it.

Engulfing yourself in darkness will not only consume you but also those closest to you."

The voices echoed in Zohan's dream, waking him up as he found himself covered in sweat.

"Same f**king dream," Zohan thought in his mind, lying in bed without making a single movement.

"Who do I have to lose anyway? No one.

Those voices, warning like a bunch of old hags...

I am tired of it.

What time is it, anyway?"

He shifted his gaze to glance at his alarm clock.

6th August,

11:35 pm,

Tuesday,

"Yes!!

I have another 5 hours of sleep left.

Wait, I didn't have dinner....

Forget it, I'll have breakfast tomorrow."

He thought to himself as he closed his eyes again, until he sensed something unusual.

He opened his eyes once more without making any sudden movements. With a quick glance, he observed everything happening in his room.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary; everything seemed normal.

He scanned the room, his eyes darting around as he tried to focus on every sound coming from outside, lost in thought.

"The presence of barking dogs and their roaming in this area is rare. However, since I arrived two days ago, I can't jump to conclusions.

Is it just heavy breathing? No, it could also be the wind. But it's unusual; there are no nearby trees making any noise due to the wind.

There's a 50-50 chance of someone being outside. If someone is indeed here, they are most likely on the balcony. Climbing up to the 8th floor to avoid surveillance would be the smartest approach.

But what would someone be doing at a boys' dormitory?

Alright, calm down. If I glance towards the window, I might catch a glimpse of whoever is on the balcony. I'll do it cautiously. I'll swiftly sit back on the bed and look at them. If there is indeed someone there and catches me watching him, they will make a run for it."

The window was at the foot of the bed. Zohan swiftly raised his head to face the balcony through the window and shouted,

"Who's there?"

He heard someone descending the pipeline from the floor below his room at a rapid pace. Zohan swiftly sprinted to catch a glimpse of the person. He put on his shoes in a hurry and rushed towards the balcony, opening the door. To his surprise, there was no one there. He glanced down at the ground below the building, where he only spotted a few stray dogs wandering about, that could be seen by the streetlights.

As he made his way back to his bedroom to investigate further, he detected an unusual odor emanating from that place.

*sniff *sniff

"Who's doing laundry at this hour?

It smells like bleach.

*sniff *sniff

No, it's too potent for bleach."

Zohan thought in himself as he went in his bedroom.

Zohan retrieved his phone from his room and returned to investigate the source of the smell. He illuminated the area with his phone, searching for any clues. As he directed the light towards the pipelines leading to the lower floor, he noticed something lodged at the junction of the pipeline supports.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud.

He observed a slim and short bottle stuck in the support structure.

"It looks unfamiliar. I don't recall using anything like this. Besides, this building has never been occupied before since it's newly constructed, and we are the first batch of students," Zohan pondered.

He reached out his hand to pick up the object when he noticed something unusual.

"Strange, it feels sticky," he thought as he retrieved the item.

He used his phone's flashlight to examine the object more closely.

"What... what the heck is this doing here?"

His eyes remained fixed on the item as he realized, with disbelief, that it was indeed a dildo.

The object slipped from his hand as he took a seat, his mouth and eyes wide open in shock.

After a few moments, he lifted his hand to examine the stickiness left on his palm, and uttered slowly,

"So, all this time... it was the smell of... semen."

* * *

7th August,

08:00 am,

Wednesday,

The road was a less crowded at this time, as most of the student had already reached academy. But the ones who were most far from those few students were Cain and George.

".....And on top of everything, I had to stash away a portion of last night's dinner from SFS for my morning's breakfast.

And in my whole f**king life, I've never had such wretched frozen food.

Not even when I was in juvenile detention."

Cain's voice crackled with anger as he vented his frustrations to George, who attentively absorbed every word.

"Yes, now calm down. Its not specific to you only, everyone is facing the same problem....*slurrp..."

George took a sip from his bottle, as he replied.

"Wait, what is that?" Cain asked, pointing towards his bottle.

"This? It's coffee. Zohan gave me a packet of it yesterday as a reward for my inspections and reports. I don't know which supermarket he bought it from, but the taste is surprisingly good."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Okay, okay. I have another question, by the way. Weren't you one of his worst enemies? I know you joined him earlier than I did. But still, why do you respect him so much?"

"Ah... It's a long story, forget it."

"Come on, man, it's not cool.

Okay, one last question: where are the other three?"

"Two must have already reached the Academy. I'm not sure why, but Zohan mentioned that he had something to discuss and couldn't talk about it over the phone. Additionally, he's been dealing with some troubles in his class lately."

"Ah! Speaking of which, he asked me yesterday afternoon after class, while we were walking to the dormitory, why his bench mates were asking him if he had a friend, but it sounded to him like they were asking if he had a daughter."

"Oh, I wasn't there... Wait, what did he ask? Daughter?!" George asked, astonished.

"You don't believe it, do you?

You know what the logic behind it was.

They were just asking if he has a girl for himself, meaning if he has a girlfriend," Cain exclaimed sarcastically.

George couldn't help but control his laughter at that comment and replied casually,

"Well, we mostly use 'bitch' or 'hoe' in a derogatory way, so he probably doesn't have an idea of its normal use."

"You were also going to tell me something. What was it?"

"Uhh... he's become a bit more popular for being a playboy, or to be more specific, he's been labeled that lately because of his looks. And most importantly, he's becoming known for attracting someone on the first day of school. You know who? None other than Xina."

"He... He's known for what? HAHAHA! I can't believe it!" he exclaimed, bursting into laughter.

"Oh my god, HAHAHA! Imagine him flirting with someone with a deadpan face, saying, 'Hey lady, would you like to go out with me?' And she just stands there, thinking if he's threatening or playing a prank!"

"Hey!.... You can't.....HAHAHAHAHA!"

George also couldn't stop laughing at Cain's remark.

"Hey, foxy!"

An unfamiliar voice came from behind, causing Cain and George to turn around.

"Deliver this to that white-haired wolf."

It was Ava. She tossed a red-colored card towards Cain.

"What's this? A ticket for the 'Sword Sparring' grounds? And you mean Zohan, right?

Wait, he doesn't know you, but how do you know him?" Cain asked with a surprised look as he caught the card.

"You don't need to know about it," Ava replied before walking away.

"Just tell him not to be late, or he might find a sword up his ass the next day."

"Hey, bitch, don't you think you should fix your attitude?" Cain said in a low but serious tone as he tightly grasped her shoulder.

"Or should I enlighten you right now?"

"Cain, don't do it," George tried to stop him.

Ava smirked as she caught Cain's hand, and with a swift movement, effortlessly broke free from his grasp and walked away.

"Control your arm, foxy. It's not that hard anyway. I let it go just so you can deliver that ticket to him," she said, moving further away.

"Damn, that was intense. Do you know her?" George asked, walking a few steps ahead of Cain.

"Not particularly," Cain replied, looking at his right hand which was trembling from the impact of her grip.

"But I'd like to," he added with a smirk, following George.

* * *

7th August,

10:09 am,

SOAA's Chairman's office,

In a dimly lit room filled with shelves lined with books and peculiar artifacts, the chairman knelt while bowing his head to make contact with the floor in front of two photographs.

Specifically, he was worshipping them.

The two photographs depicted humans—one wearing a white lab coat and the other dressed in a striped suit, holding some papers.

After a few moments, he lifted his head to examine the photos individually, then moved towards the wall where they were hung. Beneath the pictures were several shelves of books.

He began touching each shelf until he noticed one that could be pushed. As he pushed the shelf, a hidden room suddenly opened up. The room was small, containing only a shelf with seven files.

He reached for the file at the bottom, dusting off the accumulated dirt with a smile that spoke of years gone by.

As he obtained the file, he closed the shelf and extinguished all the candles in the dimly lit room before exiting through the door. His main office was adjacent to that room. As he stepped out, he heard a knock on the door of his main office.

*knock *knock *knock

"Sir, may I come in?"

It was his chief secretary.

She entered the room after receiving permission, holding a few documents in her hands, and handed them over to him, saying,

"Sir, the flaws in the upcoming event have been addressed and balanced. They are now perfect to be held without any problems for the competition."

"Good.

Nice name for the event, by the way."

The Chairman praised her while turning the pages from the file.

"Sir, may I ask the reason for the change in rules regarding the earning of Mokab points in the academy?

I mean, as you have already noticed, some students are already involved in illegal activities, giving them an unfair advantage and allowing them to accumulate a substantial amount of illicit money.

Additionally, what would happen if we were ever questioned by the police?" the secretary asked, bowing her head respectfully.

"Don't worry about that. It's just part of the development for one of my old projects.

Its just a test for one of my specimens, if he would dive deep into the ocean or take a ship to sail over it.

And you don't have to worry about the law authorities; I will handle that," he answered with a smile as he placed the file on his table.

"And yes, regarding the Mokab earning points ranking list, I have already shifted it to the 'Academy's Earnings' system. So, even if they earn points from outside sources, the fairness will still be maintained, as only the points earned within the academy will be considered valid for the ranking list."

The chairman continued as he had a glass of water from his table.

After clarifying her doubts, as she was about to walk out when she noticed something strange about the Chairman's answer. She turned around to face him and asked,

"Sir, just now you mentioned a project.

I'm not sure if I heard correctly, but the way you spoke about it, it seemed like you were referring to a human.

If I misunderstood, please forgive my ignorance.

But... can you tell me, if I heard it right?"

The chairman chuckled before responding,

"What? Human? Human as a project? Have you started drinking too?"

He let out a hearty laugh. After composing himself, he said,

"Oh, I apologize for laughing out so loudly.

Human as a project, that's not quite accurate. You see, I was actually referring to human resource management, a field I'm involved in with the government.

There's no need for you to worry about it."

To which her secretary, excused herself immediately from the room after giving him an apology.

As he saw her walk out, he took a big relief and faintly spoke to himself.

"Phew...

I nearly got myself caught.

Seems, I am the one who should stop drinking."

He retrieved the file he had taken from the secret shelf and held it in both hands, a smile creeping across his face.

"But today is a time for celebration, the return of my first prototype."

The chairman opened the file, revealing a page with bold text that stood out against the black paper. It read,

"P R O G R A M 1.1: Z. O. H. A. N. (Model: 2.3.132X, success)"