Bandung, Oktober 5 2012, 4.00 pm.

"Plus three, makes nine!" exclaimed Aria as he threw his card.

"Plus three, makes ten!" replied a boy as he threw his card.

It was four o'clock in the evening, and Aria was playing Clash cards with his seatmate, Idris Saputra. While another classmate, Rahman Taufiq was refereeing between the two of them. They were playing in the cafeteria, which was already deserted due to school dismissal time.

They were actually using the Uno card deck to play Clash. Since the deck structure was exactly like Uno, they could play Clash with different rules and card functions. Clash is a two-person game, with two of the four colors in the deck-pile on the card deck.

The goal of Clash is to score as many cards as possible from the hand that are discarded into the game area called the Field. Players can only discard one card each turn and the card played must exceed or equal the opponent's value on the previous turn, otherwise it is declared a loss. In addition to number cards, there are special cards that can change the game’s flow.

"Plus four, thirteen!" replied Aria.

"Plus four too, fourteen!" replied Idris enthusiastically.

"Wow, it's a fierce game," said Rahman.

Aria started replying again. "Plus two, fifteen!"

"Plus five, nineteen!"

"That's a good play. Now, get ready. Wild!" Aria exclaimed. "I can choose one of your hand cards to discard."

"Whoops!"

Aria chose the rightmost card in Idris' hand and discarded a seven. Good decision, Aria thought.

"Well, I'm still going. Plus six, twenty-one!"

"Hehehe..." Idris laughed sarcastically.

"What is it?" asked Aria defiantly.

"Taste this, Skip card!!! I choose the number six to discard."

Idris had just played a Skip card. He could choose one card in his opponent's field to discard.

"Very good, Idris! But unfortunately, I used a zero card. It turns back into twenty-one hehe."

"Damn it!" grumbled Idris. He didn't expect Aria to have a zero card. It was a card that restored one card that was discarded due to special card effects such as Skip, Draw, or Wild.

"You think you've won?" challenged Idris. "Time to use Wild!"

Aria had three cards left in her hand. Idris discarded his number six card.

"Err... Idris has one card left." mocked Rahman.

"You think I'm naive? Plus nine. Twenty-eight!" exclaimed Idris. "Hey, what are the two remaining cards?"

"Hmm, I can't play this card because I can't beat your score, Ris," said Aria with a sigh. He deliberately opened the number three in his hand.

"Give up, Ar?" asked Rahman towards Aria.

"But it's a lie!!!" exclaimed Aria with enthusiasm. "Since I still have the second card, I can play this special card!"

Aria threw a +2 card. This card draws two cards from the deck and increases their value by a limit of twice the previous value. He drew a seven and a five.

"Well, I lost. What a Luck!!!" Idris grumbled.

"Haha, too bad you don’t have a Reverse card, it can swap the number of our points. But special cards cannot be played as the last card," said Aria.

"Take turns, now I'm playing. Idris, change the deck," asked Rahman pointing to the deck held by Idris.

"Yes, I'm the referee now," said Aria.

They both shuffled their decks and drew ten cards, then drew the top card from the deck to the field. Rahman drew a three and Idris drew a nine.

"Well, you go first," Aria pointed at Rahman. He looked thoughtful and focused on the cards in his hand. However, he suddenly shouted.

"SHITTTY HANDDD!!!!"

"What the hell?" asked Aria confused by Rahman's sudden emotion.

"Look at my card!!!" exclaimed Rahman who immediately opened and scattered the cards in his hand on the table.

Aria and Idris laughed at the scattered cards. None of the cards in his hand could exceed Idris' current nine. He had one +4 card but it was useless as its maximum value was only limited to six if used. With that condition, Rahman was instantly declared as defeat.

"You don't even have a six," laughed Aria. "If it's a tie, you discard all the cards in the field and draw another card from the deck."

"I swear, this is purely bad luck," Idris mocked while holding back laughter.

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"No, you shuffle the cards poorly." continued Aria who couldn't help but laugh like his friend.

"Besides, why can't I play more than one card? And the +4 card to draw four cards from the deck can only be used until my value doubles. That's not fair," Rahman complained.

"Is Uno or any other card game fair?" said Aria. "I told you, this minigame is just for fun."

"But it's hilarious that there is a minigame like this using the Uno cards." said Rahman while picking up the scattered cards.

"The decks are similar so they can be replicated. Clash is still simple. The other called Commander is more complicated." said Aria.

"Teach us how to play Commander sometime," said Rahman enthusiastically.

"Yeah, if I've also played it," replied Aria.

Aria had to play the Seption game again to learn the rules of playing Commander. Just like Clash, he recognized this card game from the Seption game he had encountered on one of the sidequests he had run with Vestalia a few days earlier. Because of the minigame, Vestalia or a girl named Aulia Rosita became a fanatic and continues to talk about it on the WhatsApp application to this day.

"By the way, I want to meet Prima now. I promised to lend him the manga," said Aria as he stood up and picked up his bag.

"Uh, you own the deck, right? You're not taking it home?" asked Rahman.

"It can be stored in your locker first, right?" replied Aria. "If you still accompany Idris until he gets picked by his driver, I'd suggest playing Clash again. I won't accept losing like that before hahaha."

Both friends laughed back. After a bit of conversation and saying goodbye, Aria turned around and walked away from them who were starting a new round of the card game. He walked towards the back of the school from the cafeteria to a small building to meet a small boy who was playing with a smartphone. Next to him was a female classmate he knew.

"Aria-sensei!!!" Called Ahmad Primandika who ran over to him.

"Prima!!!" Aria returned his call. "What game are you playing on your phone?"

"Try this game!" Prima showed his cell phone to Aria.

Aria read the logo on Prima's screen, Monster Archipelago. He knew what the game looked like, but he didn't install the game on his phone.

"Oh, you've played that game," said Aria. "It's fun to play a simulation game to raise monsters, but I mostly play video games on the computer. So, I haven't played it for a long time."

Prima's face looked disappointed. Aria then tried to change that expression. "If you're interested, I'll find useful guides from the internet to make the game easier to play."

"Promise, sensei?" Prima said whining. Aria replied with a nod.

Prima was the adopted son of Mr. Iman, the school security at Al-Hasanah High School. He was only seven years old. He was previously a street kid who often passed around his school and was often seen sleeping in the school mosque. With the permission of Mrs. Risma, the principal, Prima began to live and work with Mr. Iman at his school since the beginning of the previous school year, coinciding with him becoming a new grade ten student at his school. Because there was a teacher named Mr. Ahmad, his nickname changed to his last name and he didn't seem to mind.

Aria began to get along with Prima since they got to know each other and chatted in October last year. Aria didn't know much more about Prima's origins. Although he heard some gossip from his seniors and teachers, he didn't care about that. He still considered Prima as his friend despite the age and social status difference. He often lent his belongings or even bought elementary school textbooks for Prima so he could study on his own. He also often introduced video games to Prima at the internet cafe or by installing games on the cellphone bought by Mr.Iman.

"Now, here are the manga I promised you." Aria took out three comic books from his bag. He invited Prima to sit on an empty bench nearby.

"Demon Busters?" Prima read the title of one of the comics in Aria's hand. The cover was of a child holding small balls like marbles.

"A manga about a game against Demon, a kind of demonic creatures. The main character and his friends have magic powers that come from marbles, " said Aria explaining the synopsis of the comic. "I'll lend it to you by volume until you finish it. There are ten volumes in total."

"Cool!!!" exclaimed Prima cheerfully.

"Don’t forget your homework," Aria began to warn. "Mr. Iman seems to be like your personal teacher. Be careful when you play video games, don't let Mr. Iman get angry because you keep playing games at the internet cafe."

"Roger, Bro!" said Prima obediently. So far Prima had never caused any major problems. Aria lent his comics or toys with the assumption that they might get damaged or not returned to him. Fortunately, Prima always returned his belongings intact. That was the behavior he liked about Prima.

"So, what was Novita doing with you?" Aria changed the topic, asking about the student who was previously with Prima and happened to be in the same class as him in 11th Grade Science.

"Novita also has the Archipelago game on her phone. So, we played it together." Prima replied innocently.

"Hmm...," he looked at the student. Novita Safitri looked back at him and Aria tried to look away.

“Well, are you still playing together now?” asked Aria. “Aria-sensei can't stay too long. Isn't it okay if I go home now?”

“It's okay, brother, thanks for lending me the comics.” Prima said honestly.

“Okay, you just go back to Novita,” said Aria. “As usual, send a WhatsApp message to me if you want to return and borrow other comics again, okay?”

Prima nodded and after some conversations, he ran back to the small building behind the school where Novita had been sitting. Aria just waved for the two of them and turned to walk home from the increasingly emptied school.

It was a good thing that Novita hadn't been aggressive and approached him today. It seemed like the two of them had an unwritten agreement not to argue with each other like usual. Aria did not feel jealous or resentful of Novita. What was there to hate about a girl who became the school’s highest score and became the most recognized student in the school with many more artistic and sporting talents that Novita could master? Meanwhile, he was only fifth academically in class X-A in the previous semester in his class and ninth out of seventy-seven students in his grade, with only a few types of musical instruments or sports that he could play. Novita was also not the typical girl in local dramas or anime, who was self-important or narcissistic because of her school champion status.

Aria began to feel uncomfortable as time went by because Novita was getting closer to him and not as a close friend like Idris, Rahman, and Prima. Since the beginning of this semester, Aria seems to be a celebrity who is constantly tailed by a fan or journalist while he is at school. Novita was often seen spying on Aria's habits at school, one of which was when he lent Prima comics like earlier. Even now he felt uncomfortable when hanging out at his favorite Batagor (Spicy Meats) stall with Idris and Rahman in the Tubagus Residence because he had caught Novita eating there too.

Aria only hoped for an event that would deter Novita from her own actions. The girl must have had another purpose when she was being nice and trying to get along with Prima.

Aria suspected that Novita's intentions were similar to what Vestalia had said when Velocity met her last week. Novita wanted to be friends with him but felt reluctant for some reason. However, her behavior annoyed him and made him want to stay away from Novita even more. Why couldn't she be like Vestalia and just to the point and say it?

While walking away from the school he began to think again. It seemed natural that Novita could not directly talk to him about her intentions. If he met Aulia—the real name of Vestalia—she might not be as open as she was in the Seption game. The virtual world and the game world were kind of places where people opened their true personalities and revealed the both good and bad sides, especially the bad side for some people.