The best arguments are explosive, convincing, and terrifying. This one is no exception. ENJOY!
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“Calm and smooth…”
Jack repeated those words to himself as if a mantra.
So far, every single school day had been more than hectic: aurora madness, training for a week, and finally returning, only to be instantly involved with a crazed chase.
Today would be different, and he was absolutely resolute to take it easy.
He started with the clothes. The most nondescript hoody he could find. No logo, baggy, just marine blue, which he paired with a cheap old-school baseball cap.
He barely took the time to observe his expression in the mirror that he nodded approvingly. Right now, he had serious bystander vibes, and it was perfect.
“To hide in a crowd, one has to become an Extra.”
“Squeak?”
It was too profound a knowledge for the tiny squirrel trailing behind him, yet it didn’t really matter. As Jack left in the quiet morning, whistling the tune of ‘Today I’m not doing anything’, it seemed as if the universe was conspiring against him.
The Squirrel Legion preparing for war? Ignored.
The Taxi Drivers crashing into one another? Ignored.
The Super VS Villain fight he witnessed on the way over? Ignored.
….
The last event deserved him gawking and even stepping out of the bus to observe it, but he didn’t. So what if some bird-man with dark mutated feathers was fighting some drake-riding lone Super? He reluctantly averted his gaze.
Then, at Legendary-U, he kept his head hung unnaturally low and his back hunched, changing his entire appearance— at least to the people unfamiliar with him. Luckily, this method proved effective as he soon found himself in an underground ocean of peace.
Wiggle! Wiggle!
“--. --- - / ..-. --- --- -.. ..--..”
The gelatinous cube accompanied his quiet pondering with the usual food begging, not that he had anything for it, regrettably. “I’ll try to swing by the cafeteria for you later.”
As he offhandedly promised, Jack couldn’t help but find it a bit silly. His only visit to the place had been during the portal to Hell incident, and he sure hadn’t explored it then.
‘Yep, it would be nice to eat there. I’m sure Sharky would love it too.’
As he resolved to eventually test every dish they had, the slime by the side contentedly kept wriggling as he chuckled pensively while planning his next “heist”.
‘Now, how do I go about this?’
1. The Runic Class was popular
2. He needed it not to be anymore
3. He’d preferably avoid any bloodshed
4. As for increasing the open slots? He couldn’t.
…
He didn’t know much about the Runic Class, but its description on the school page made two things obvious: A) Its teacher was a VIP guest teacher B) The guy was famously rich!
This meant bribing him would be near impossible, and that was even if he managed to contact him in the first place. After all, as a guest teacher, he wouldn’t even be at Legendary-U before the class started. No, he had to target the students.
“Say, Slimy, what should I do, eh?”
How did one even sabotage a class? Call in a fake bomb threat? Why would anyone believe it? Bribe people to leave the class directly? Even with his newfound "wealth", it wouldn’t be enough. No, he had to affect the public opinion somehow.
Lost in thoughts, he gazed at his gelatinous cube friend. The latter was wriggling peacefully as if giving moral support, a certain blue-haired-looking corpse inside it. It looked dead as it floated amidst acid bubbles and the goo.
That’s when Jack’s eyes lit up… he could do that!
He kicked his slime friend a few times until it started trembling like Jello riding a mechanical bull. Then, the slime wriggled even more before slitting open entirely.
A blue-haired “corpse” was revealed, its lower body still encased in the slime. As for its upper body, it was in for the rudest awakening of all time. As the man’s eyes painfully fluttered open, Jack could see the perplexing confusion in them.
The poor guy tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was viscous and disgusting slime, so much of it that it approached hentai levels. Well, that and an indecipherable gurgle.
"Gl-glurgh... gllrrbb... BLORCH!”
Muddled shock mixed with disgust as the man realized his predicament. It didn’t help that Jack comfortably sat nearby on a slime-based psychologist-like chair with a notepad in his hands as he observed him.
Brian’s doubt was palpable. For an instant, the scene's reality refused to settle in his mind, the whole thing seemingly another nightmare. Yet, Jack’s irritatingly questioning tone shattered that assumption pretty quickly.
“Hey there, Jack here! I think it’s time you and I have a chat, what do you think? Now, let’s start this session, shall we? First on the list, why were you chasing me so violently? Was it jealousy, anger, or perhaps some deep-rooted trauma in your childhood? Tell me more.”
That’s when the blue-haired man knew: it wasn’t a nightmare.
Even his own subconscious wouldn’t do him that dirty. That annoyingly pure gaze, and most importantly, that relaxed stance: it was real, it was all real. After coughing a lot of slime, he instantly grunted back.
“FUCK YOU!”
It was low, yet it was full of resolve.
No matter what happened, he wouldn’t cave in— or so he thought. Jack didn’t even bother arguing; he simply closed his eyes, and that’s when the nightmare resumed.
Slimy wriggled once more, but this time, its jelly turned into a rampaging sea of grossness as tons of gluey appendages aimed for the man’s open mouth. The Gripfruit alone had been enough to traumatize him, yet this was worse.
The slime invaded his insides, rampaged in his windpipe, and settled in there, blocking his airflow completely. He felt himself dying, yet not at the same time— for the creature poured Mana straight into him, just enough to sustain his existence.
Darkness returned, and with it came the nightmares.
Darkness returned, and with it came the despair.
Darkness returned, and he was helpless.
…
‘FUCK!’
But, just as it seemed like this time the darkness would be forever, the light suddenly returned, Jack relaxedly sitting in his slime chair just as he had done before, greeting him.
“Hey there, still Jack here! How about we have a chat now?”
“Y-You’re crazy! Think you’ll get away with this?!”
“Get away with this? That’s my line.”
The anger in the man’s eyes receded slightly as Jack sighed so profoundly, a more than pitiful look on his face. At this moment, he erupted with grievances of his own.
“You think I ever asked people to mass hunt squirrels and mess the school grounds up? No! They did that on their own! Not a single patch of burnt grass out there is because of me!”
“Then you suddenly started throwing deadly cards at my face? Do you think I’m some supervillain or something? Do you know how stressful that is for a new student like me?!”
“If I’ll get away with this?! Are you going to put the Fiery Tunnel, you disrobing students, the Gripfruits, or even that Slime right here on me? You were the one chasing madly!”
“Why?! Just why? Do you hate commoners or something?!”
Jack exclaimed so fast and heatedly that even the slime chair under his bum collapsed, Slimy raising a tentacle to pat his back reassuringly. Only then did he force himself to calm down, his usual happy-go-lucky stern appearance returning.
As for his opponent, he was shellshocked…
“You, are you really a commoner?”
Out of the entire tirade, that was the thing that stood out to him. Glancing up and down, only now did he finally see Jack for the first time, without bias.
Common clothes that were nothing to write home about, hands full of calluses from a harder life than most, and deep, dark eyes that spoke of hardship and experience. There was only one thing that still didn’t make sense to him.
“Then what about the high Tech Camping gear? Or the nepotism allegations? Or the no-quirk thing? Or even the—” He stopped himself, his brain finally realizing the fallacy.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
A rich asshole exploiting his connections to infiltrate the school? No, that wasn’t it. All he had done was force the school to give him a fair chance, nothing more. Plus, not only had he endured the Fiery Hell and Gripfruits, but he had also offered a truce before the end.
‘Let bygones be bygones, let’s call it a draw’ he had said. Back then, Brian had been absolutely convinced he was only saying that because he was cornered, but now…
“I’ve been an idiot, haven't I?”
“Yep, and a bully too!”
“Pfft, yes.”
Jack’s matter-of-fact answer was so refreshing that a shaky smile even appeared on the man’s face. The trauma was still there, but his anger had melted as if snow in a desert.
“Sigh. And here I was, ready to whoop your ass as soon as I got out of here and drag you by the neck to the Direction to have you kicked out. I really feel like an asshole now.”
“An asshole wouldn’t feel bad. Besides, don’t worry too much; you would have failed for sure. Miss Valencia still needs me for the Siren’s Lament thing, after all.”
“Siren’s Lament?”
“Here…”
Jack happily handed his phone over, showing the very same post he had been shown before. And it was at that moment that his new-found ally turned to stone— or almost.
“S-Siren’s Lament?! For real?! H-How?! Fuck, I know how. You managed to outrun me for an entire day, you won’t have any trouble resisting some Siren’s Songs. Still, HOLY FUCK!”
That was the effect Jack had hoped for. Revealing information about oneself was always a gamble, and yet he eagerly revealed this piece, the shock melting remaining grudges.
“So, how about it? Let bygone be bygones? What do you say?”
“Bygone be bygones! But you better bring me a souvenir!”
“A souvenir? What are you talking about?”
“A Siren’s Scale, a picture, anything!!!”
His breathing was heavy, and his eyes glowed as he clutched his hands in a begging position. The eagerness was so intense that he didn’t even realize his body was free.
“As I said, it doesn’t have to be anything big, but anything. And if you can bring me back a Lullaby conch, I’ll forever be in your debt. I mean it. Those things are insane! They’re…”
It was at that moment that Jack finally realized something. The obsession he had toward anything Super? Regular people had the same obsession with Siren’s Lament!
As for the Lullaby conch? It was a magical item that let one listen to a siren’s song any time they wanted and gave a slight boost to Mana Regeneration, not that anyone really cared. No, they just wanted to hear the music itself!
“Fine, fine. I’ll see what I can do. But before that can happen, there’s something vital I need to do, and hopefully, you can help me. What do you say?”
“YES! Anything, or close, just tell me already!”
“Ever heard of the Runic Class?”
It was time to scheme…
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“Tap! Tap! Tap!”
It was lunchtime, and there would be a lull between classes.
As they walked through the corridors, heads turned, but for once, it wasn’t because of Jack. No, right now, his identity was hidden under a hood, and Brian was the one being stared at.
Brian was the name of the Card Enforcer.
He, who had looked absolutely rabid during their fight, turned out to be a pretty chill guy who just hated rich assholes with a passion. Luckily, it hadn’t taken them long to find common conversation topics: “Siren’s Lament,” “Taxis being a Scam,” and “Quirk Training.”
And now that they were walking together, many students couldn’t help but murmur as they wondered what had transpired.
“Hehe, the Arcane Dealer’s back.”
“Wasn’t he missing yesterday afternoon?”
“He was probably teaching the Newbies a lesson.”
“I reckon they’re probably in the hospital right about now.”
…
In the hospital? Jack was here, hidden in plain sight, and Sharky was stuck at home for a special Anti-Siren training with Alfred. Still, the gossip ran rampant.
The more Brian heard, the redder he became. Who was it that had taught who a lesson? Jack could have used the feat of defeating him for fame, yet he hadn’t.
Even now, he’d grimace at times, still shaken by the crazy reversal: how they had gone from seemingly mortal enemies to friends in a blink.
Then again, it had all been a misunderstanding in the first place….
“Didn’t I tell you already? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Besides, gotta focus on the current mission.” As Jack remarked, Brian shivered, knowing what they were about to do.
It only took them a few minutes to reach their destination.
“Is this it? It looks strange, to say the least.”
Jack couldn’t help but gasp. They were at the end of a corridor, but instead of leading to a Classroom door, what awaited them was a hole in the wall protected by a white barrier.
It looked as if someone had crammed a giant magical egg in the hole to fill it; the color and the barrier’s oval shape were perfect for that comparison. Then, next to it was a plaque.
< Editorial Club — The Best News! >
< Recruiting Motivated Journalists, writers, and Editors: join our family now and dive deep into the world of Supers! >
The editorial club, aka the ones responsible for the Legendary-U Gazette. Made by students for students, it was available online and would cover everything student-related under the sun. Teachers? Students? Club activities? Yes to all, and even gossip at times!
“So this is their HQ, eh? So, Brian, what’s up with that barrier?”
“That? Let’s just say they’ve been sieged before for publishing controversial articles. Since then they’ve placed this barrier here, not that it matters to us.”
With a wink, he held his silvery Student Council token toward the barrier. And as he did, he couldn’t help but grin as the entire thing glowed a bright blue, messages appearing.
[Temporary Access to the Editorial Room Granted: Have a Nice Stay! ^_^v]
The two quickly stepped in, only for Jack to stare shell-shocked.
The entrance? It led to a floating and inclined bridge made out of light. In turn, the latter led to a spire-looking structure magnificent enough to contain a princess from a fairytale.
“They’re in a tower? What’s with the edgy look?”
“Well, Legendary-U’s architect was mad.”
"Guess you're right."
Mad was an understatement. To build a Greek-temple-like building and add a Gothic medieval tower to it later on was madness, the thing made entirely of the sturdiest bricks.
Enjoying the scenery, the two scaled the passageway, only for their ears to be assaulted by the heavy drumming of typing, yet one that sounded both heavy and light simultaneously as if hundreds of children were being exploited in there.
And then they finally reached the top of the spire, the scene awaiting them quite shocking. No matter where they looked, gnome-like creatures were hammering away at typewriters, their slightly clawed hands moving so fast they turned into blurs.
That was all one’s eye would notice, the library-like background disappearing in the face of their shenanigans. Jack couldn’t help but still at the picture…
“Wasn’t it an online newspaper? What’s with the typewriters?” This technology was so old that even finding a working one would have been hard, yet there were hundreds.
But the question had barely left his mouth, and he finally realized what the creatures were. He had only heard of them in the past, but now it all clicked. “Don’t tell me, they’re Keyclinks?”
They were. Brian, by the side, nodded in confirmation. Keyclinks: A magical race that existed to type and would never stop no matter what. To them, it wasn’t a job but their purpose in life.
They happily worked…
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
…
It was deafening, and yet it only raised more questions.
“What’s the story here? Is Legendary-U preparing to release a paper version of their gazette soon? Either that, or they’re all pointlessly typing, I'm guessing?”
But before Brian could reply, a hearty laugh came from a distance away. “Pfft— Believe me, you don’t want to see them with anything but typewriters.”
A girl in her twenties sauntered over. She was obviously a senior and had the style to match with it. Just the way she walked was awesome, as if a puma on the hunt… for a good story! She gave him a playful glance and then continued.
“Here, let me show you what happens if they’re not on a typewriter.” She moved next to one of the Keyclinks, confiscating its typewriter. “Give me a second; I’ll just clean it.”
Even her quick reassurance wasn’t enough for the poor creature. As it saw the typewriter grow smaller and smaller in its vision, it bawled its eyes out in despair.
As if an addict, its fingers were already typing in mid-air madly.
Yet, a second later, it suddenly perked up.
As if the main character of a certain Metal Gear series, it rolled on the floor, grabbed a carton box lying around, and used it to “sneakily” reach the girl’s jacket.
She wore a beige yet stylish detective-like coat that gave her a cute yet sharp appearance, but that wasn’t what the Keyclink was interested in. No, it reached for her pocket.
In a blink, it had stolen her cellphone!
Then, it hurriedly returned to its usual spot, typing away like a madman, or rather a mad gnome. As for the cell owner, she let it go for a minute before returning its typewriter.
“See? Without their typewriters, they go crazy. Look!”
On the screen was a Twittering notification— 1778 new likes! The red phoenix logo on the screen kept popping with likes notifications, the gnome having made hundreds of new social media posts in that mere minute! Damn, even faster than a bot?!
As for the woman who seemed to be the Club owner, she turned to Brian…
“Now, Brian, why don’t you tell me why you’re here? Also, who’s your mysterious friend?” She inched closer, the fragrance of ink and paper overwhelming him, yet he shivered.
Was it how close she was? Was it how pretty she was? No, he was used to Lilia. No, it was the light in her eyes and how she playfully glared at his new friend.
For an instant, he felt like she’d call them out:
‘Oh, walking side by side? So an Equal.’
‘Not someone I know for sure either.’
‘When did you make a new friend?’
‘Weren’t you busy fighting?’
…
He could see the gears turn in her smart hazelnut eyes, and yet she calmly stayed her tongue. Smart, way too fucking smart. He felt eyed by a snake, so why did he almost like it? That’s when he knew plan A had failed already.
There was no deceiving her.
Brian was about to chime in, but Jack spoke up…
“I want you to publish a story for me, one that will send the school into an upheaval, will cause countless rumors to erupt, and will have many runs to admission ASAP.”
“Oh? Haven’t you already caused enough chaos with that little stunt of yours yesterday? Well, that’s if you’re who I think you are. Mister Quirkless~”
Her words trailed on the Quirkless playfully, only confirming his suspicions; she knew or had a good inkling, at the least. Smiling, he lowered his hood, revealing his face.
“Gasp. It’s really you?! What do you know...”
As she faked surprise, he couldn’t help but sigh. Yet, her antics quickly stopped as she turned serious, a scheming gleam appearing in her eyes. What would he offer in exchange? She waited, and he stepped up.
“A story for a story. I’ll give you an exclusive interview on Siren’s Lament. That should be worth your while now, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh? Siren’s Lament? Alternatively, I could run a story on a freshman who’s either lying through his teeth or has been chosen by Miss Valencia but got fired for running his mouth like an idiot. I’m sure many would devour that second story.”
She said sharply, her upper lip sadistically raised. What else would he propose? How much would he squirm? He had unknowingly given her the upper hand— or so she thought.
“You can and should. Who knows, it might be fun.”
That’s all he said, nothing more.
Jack smiled, and with it, a certain Arcane Dealer by his side turned utterly ashen white. That smile, that goddamn smile, it reminded him of the trauma he wanted to ignore
His legs shook, his mouth hung open, and as he glanced between Jack and his editor friend, he feared for the latter’s life. A misunderstanding had sent him inside a gelatinous cube.
What would happen to her if she actively stabbed him in the back?
She didn’t miss his reaction either, freezing in turn.
“So, will you help me, Miss Editor?”
“D-Do I even have a choice?”
“Of course!”
Jack wasn’t a gangster. Him traumatizing his new friend wasn’t how he wanted to do things, but merely how it had happened. If she wished so, he’d simply disappear.
Seeing how easygoing he was, she raised a brow while mumbling to herself, “Weirdo.” Even now, he wasn’t sure if she was referring to him or her reaction.
“Fine. Let’s do this. I’ll help you, but be warned, I won’t compromise my editorial morality for this thing of yours. So what do you want me to publish exactly?”
“Oh, it won’t be anything too big, really. Type this….”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
LEGENDARY-U GAZETTE: THE BEST NEWS!
NEW RUMORS CIRCULATING ABOUT THE RUNIC CLASS! DIFFICULTY INCREASED A THOUSANDFOLD?!
MORE RUMORS ON THE RUNIC CLASS! ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE INCREASED THREEFOLD. REGISTERED TO RUNIC MAGIC? CONSIDER CHANGING YOUR OTHER CLASSES TO EASIER ONES INSTEAD.
EVEN MORE INFO ON THE RUNIC CLASS RUMORS! MISS VALENCIA BRINGING STUDENTS TO SIREN’S LAMENT? THE RUNE-BOUND PROFESSOR IS NOT TO BE LEFT BEHIND. YOU MAY NOW BE REQUIRED TO SIGN DEATH WAIVERS ON THE FIRST DAY!
LAST-MINUTE INFO ON THE RUNIC CLASSES RUMORS! WEEKEND CLASSES MAY NOW BE MANDATORY FOR STUDENTS LAGGING BEHIND. KEEP IN MIND THOSE ARE MERELY RUMORS AND ARE UNCONFIRMED, BUT WE STILL FEEL THE NEED TO WARN STUDENTS!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
It didn’t take long for the effect to be visible.
The news was all over the school forums in a matter of minutes. The gazette insisted that those were merely rumors, yet many saw through this instantly.
It took even less time for ‘enlightened threads to pop up…
“Teacher Runesworn is always complaining about how little the curriculum expects of his students. Anyone else, I would have called bullshit, but coming from him... sounds about right!”
“Holy shit. Don’t tell me it’s a power play? He asked the Direction to make his class more difficult but was refused, so he did this instead?!”
“It’s not his fault if the news ‘just happened to leak’, right?”
“By then, some parents might actually support it!”
“There's a chance it’s fake, but it's probably true!”
“…..”
“…..”
“…..”
The more a certain trio watched it blow up, the more shell-shocked they became. They had expected an effect, but wasn’t this a little too over the top?
What was up with that strange conspiracy theory? The editor, Lindsey was her name, couldn’t help but raise a questioning brow.
“Was this your plan all along?”
“Would you believe me if I said no?”
Either way, they had to leave ASAP. Not only were the corridors rumbling with a sea of questioning fans, but there was somewhere he needed to be.
Time to join the Rune Magic Class…