My mother used to tell me “Takumi, you should smile more, the other kids find you scary.” and I took her word for it. Every day since preschool, I would practice smiling in the mirror. And every day till highschool, I've found myself disgusted with the way I looked.

Surviving the first room was a mere stroke of luck, there are countless futures where I died. This Variant of mine, it scares me, makes me feel hollow on the inside.

From what I can tell, the backlash of using the Variant varies by person. The recoil from All The Possibilities was severe mental and emotional strain, but the worst part was losing my sense of free will. Every action felt predetermined, as if I were following a script. I wasn’t making choices, just going through motions I had already seen myself perform. Each movement felt disconnected, like I was a puppet, trapped in a body that wasn’t mine. It was as though I had become an actor playing a role, with no room for choice, just a crushing sense of inevitability.

Ryo Yamamoto had been looking pale for some time. He said the Variant lost its edge with each use, growing weaker the more he pushed it. Beyond that, the exhaustion hit him hard if he used it for more than five seconds at a time. Honestly, he got off easy compared to the others, but even then, you could see the toll it was taking on him.

Naoki Ishida looked sick after the battle. Rika told me he threw up in front of the girls right after showing off his Variant. Running at that speed must twist up your insides pretty badly. I almost felt sorry for him, strutting around all confident against the Giants, only to end up humiliating himself in front of everyone.

Keiko Arai had and was still dealing with vertigo by the time I woke up. Rika pointed her out from where we sat, Keiko was leaning against the bus attendant, who was gently holding her shoulder and handing her water. The attendant stayed close, guiding her through the dizziness, trying to steady her breathing. It made me wonder, what exactly determines how severe the recoil is?

One thing that caught my eye was the group of people seemingly unaffected by it all. The girls, huddled together, laughing and chatting, the same ones who used to bully some of my classmates back at school, and the same ones who were shrieking during the Giant Encounter.

What a bunch of pitiful rats…

I didn't know much about these people before the field trip and I certainly don't know anything about them right now. Maybe using All The Possibilities skewed my perception a bit.

These people aren't any noble heroes willing to throw their lives for the sake of others, they are people just like me, ready to put in as little effort as possible. Had I gotten a Variant differing from All the Possibilities, I probably would have kept with the crowd too.

And yet, I still can't be friendly with these people. You can understand someone’s actions, but you'll never truly understand them. No matter how close I get, they'll never get the things I enjoy.

Rika went to check on everyone, and I sat, staring at my empty cup. The tea drops swirled at the bottom, reminding me of the bus ride. How I wish I could sleep again, without exhaustion or that cursed box of text. I'd rather hear Aya and Ryo flirt than fry my brain and bleed for a class of freeloaders.

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That's wrong, I shouldn't be thinking so bad of people like that.

I need to get to work, take advantage of others' laziness or inability. My recoil isn't so bad, physically speaking. If that ‘Class’ is what I think it is, then I need to get to Level 5 as fast as possible.

I set my cup down on the cold floor. The bricks felt like stone, sure, but something about this place was off. It was like there had been a theme or design behind it, but it didn’t quite make sense. Whatever brought us here clearly wanted us to feel the strangeness of the environment, like it was meant to unsettle us.

The hallways still extended high up, but the width of it remained natural for humans. I walked past a lot of my peers, the bus driver was completely knocked out, this guy doesn't seem to have a care in the world. Some were discussing their Variants, it seems they trust each other.

I’m beginning to suspect that not everyone got the ‘+6 Exp’ message. Most people here seem to think our troubles are over, but those who actually fought the Giants are the ones still shaking. Ryo and Aya were sitting off by themselves. They waved at me as I approached their spot.

“Takumi! Did you see this place? There's doors and chests of loot everywhere. Aya and I are planning on exploring the area a bit, will you join us?” Ryo said pretty excitedly in a low voice, his way of trying not to draw attention to the conversation.

I think it would be beneficial to me as well if we all went together, but I'm not gonna look for any loot. “Sure, but what are your Variants?” There's a reason Ryo asked me to join them, it's because nobody here can be trusted. I am just the guy that sat next to them on the bus and helped out when we were all going to die.

I already know the gist of their Variants, I just need a bit more confirmation on what they actually are. The two of them got up, Aya spoke before Ryo did “Come with us first, we’ll explain on the way. I really don't like speaking out in the open about this.”

I walked with them, through the long and really high corridors, turning around occasionally to see if anyone was following us. We passed a few open rooms that were looted, I can see where they got the pot and campfire materials. Ryo was the first to talk about his ability “It's called ‘Mana Manipulator’ I really don't remember how I created metal but I think it has something to do with some kind of magic in the air…”

Ryo went on explaining how he came to the conclusion of making metal out of nowhere. I half expected that there would be some kind of magic system, but a Variant that directly affects it? That's insane!

After he was done geeking out about his ability, they asked me for mine. Honestly it's a bit complicated but I tried my best “Well, I can basically see the future, and that's how I learnt about both of your Variants, but I don't know the specifics and there's a bit of a downside looking too far in…”

Then when I was done, Aya started with her explanation “My Variant, Splice, can just cut through stuff. Not much else there” I have a feeling her Variant is a lot more nuanced than that but I guess we all still have to experiment with ours, feel it out and learn more about the limits of the ‘Variant’

And with that, we got to a door that was not opened. “This one Rika opened, but she said it looked dangerous. So we stayed back, what do you think?”

I think Rika was right. “I think Rika doesn't know what she's talking about, let's go.” As far as I care, Rika has to re-earn my trust to have me listen to her warnings.

Till then, it's dungeon exploration time.