"Whew! I barely finished it."
"Say, what? You already finished it?"
"Of course. Hehe, who do you think I am?"
"Damn. They're discriminating against us now. It's a sad world to live in for people who can't stay up all night."
The architecture department building was bustling today because of plate submission and the instructors will be busy the next coming week. the room was filled with gross, sweaty guys. Rumble. They were probably playing a game of piling up on each other or something because a chubby dude slipped on the floor, and desks and chairs fell around him like dominos.
The guy whose books and snacks fell to the ground cursed as they stepped on the chubby guy. It was a nest of beasts and confusion.
Shit. I didn't know I would come back here. I was glad to return since it had been a while, but it felt like that feeling vanished right away. What should I do about these heated beast bastards?
Huh? It had been a while? I came to school yesterday. What was I thinking? I pressed my temples again and got rid of the strange feelings I had. This was all because of my headache this morning.
"What's wrong? Does your head hurt?" My friend asked with a concerned face. He had been joking around just a moment ago. We became close because we were in the same class in our first year. His name was…huh? What was his name again?
"Do you wanna go to the nurse?"
"I'm fine. It's all good. And don't tell Jess. She's gonna nag me again." I waved my hand. Ever since I was young, I was frequently sick and suffered from headaches all the time. I'd grown healthier and only got dizzy sometimes, but I had to be careful because it was a genetic thing.
My aunt was often sick, too. Doctors said the symptoms were normal but need to go under a surgery. They even suggested studying us to help advance medical knowledge. Thankfully, we were able to use that to pay my aunt's hospital bills, but it was still a horrendous illness.
"But I think you should tell Jess..."
"It's fine. I know my body best. I can just endure it for a bit and I'll be fine. Also, if you informed her she would just worry, her exam was just around this week, that may affect her studies, and I'll be the bad guy for worrying her."
Jess was a super worrywart. Even though she was my girlfriend she act like my mother, she would definitely run here from the HRM department if she hears about this. She also got into fights all the time because of me. Thanks to that, she was seen as a troublemaker by others and was often hated for it.
She was so different from a model student like me, so she was pretty famous in our school. Even though I had rushed over, I was ten minutes late. However, our instructor let me off the hook.
My girlfriend arrived only five minutes later to check on me, She's at the door of our class room giving me a death stare while smiling and signalling with her hand for me to go out. she was probably grinding her teeth while smiling right now because I snuck out of the boarding house and didn't informed her I was already here even though I knew we were both late.
I was planning on avoiding her all day, as well. She shouldn't have eaten my ice cream in the refrigerator without my permission. I felt refreshed after taking revenge. It was a little passive aggressive, but there was nothing else I could do since I couldn't defeat her verbally because she would surely beat me up physically.
"Then that's a relief. Anyway, if you can't hang in there. tell me right away. Don't just pass out like last time. Fuck. Jess hit the back of my head so many times that it's flat now" My friend grumbled as he shook his head. Right, he was also a victim of my girlfriend's temper.
It was pitiful. I had to be nicer to him. "Jess is a bit like that, eh?"
"You both are the same." I frowned at his words. I was still better than Jess. No, we couldn't even be compared to each other.
"How was I anything like that psychopath?"
"The girlfriend beats people up when she's bored, and the boyfriend mocks people with his mouth. What's the difference?"
"Our looks? Don't I have better looks?" I had already received confessions from girls even though everyone knows I'm with Jess.
"This son of a…! Argh! Let's just not." My friend sighed. At that moment, the bell for first period rang. Although he always complained, he was a gracious guy who took care of me. He was like Carlo.
Carlo? Another strange name popped in my head. It seemed like the name of someone I missed. I didn't remember anything at all. Why? Was it a name of some philosopher?
I looked at my friend, who was returning to his seat. Really, what was his name again?
Beep..
[My Psycho] Hey, you son of a bitch. You're dead. Really.
[Me] Hmmm?
[My Psycho] Would it hurt you to tell me you already left?
[Me] why is it that shorts named, shorts? When pants wasn't named longs?
[My Psycho] The fuck.
[Me] Still mad? :'(
[My Psycho] Shut up before I fuck you up.
[Me] why is it called shipment when it's on a car and cargo when it's on a ship?
[My Psycho] I told you to stop sending weird stuff.
[Me] (cat emoticon with desperate eyes and begging paws)
[My Psycho] I'll teach you what happens if you mess with me.
[Me] Huuuuuh?
[My Psycho] AHHHHHH%T$@#!@#
"Geez. She really can't argue for the life of her." I grinned, looking at the curse-filled messages. Since the messages continued appearing, she seemed pretty mad. She was probably frustrated because the messages were marked as read but there was no response.
"Ahhhham." Class was so boring that I yawned. Since we were 3rd years, we already knew everything that was being taught. Classes were only conducted for grades, and with the exams coming up, most of us just used class time to finish our plates.
Instructors didn't say anything to students who were busy doing their floorplans and searching concept on the phone. I could get away with using my phone. Of course, if the instructor noticed me on my phone too much, he would take it away, but if I apologized, he would just give it back.
This was why it was important to have the reputation of a model student. I was already learning how to act in society. I thought about getting a pencil like my other classmates, but strangely, I didn't feel like it.
I'd been feeling strange since morning, as though I were missing something. What was it? It seemed important…but no matter how much I racked my head, I couldn't remember anything.
I sat blankly at my desk with my phone all morning. I felt strange, but I always draw a lot, so I thought a day of slacking off wouldn't hurt. Of course, I planned on clearing my head and holding my pencil again after lunch.
[Rain Raiden]
"What is the!?" My vision blurred and a new world appeared. I stood there blankly, not knowing where I was.
I had just been sitting in the class room, and then suddenly, I was in a closed dark room with black walls. A glowing blue stone on the ceiling was the only source of light.
Did someone called out my name and brought me here? It all seemed to come straight out of a movie. Was my illness so bad that I was beginning to hallucinate?
"Is anyone there? Hello?"
Hello…lo…lo…lo…
My voice echoed around the room, and I got a grip on myself. There were only two possible scenarios: I was crazy or…"This is real."
Normal person would've paced around, demanding to know where they were, but I composed myself and tried to look at the situation logically. The more realistic scenario was that I was beginning to hallucinate. My illness was related to brain, and it wouldn't be unusual to suddenly have a breakdown from the recent headaches, maybe my brain tumor is acting out.
If that were the case, then there was nothing I could do until someone began treating me. However, if this was reality—it didn't make sense but what if some divine being or some elementals, like in a movie or a book called me here…? What would my next step be? "I've got to deal with it directly."
If this was just a hallucination, I had to find a way to get used to it, and if it was real, I need to get back to the campus I'm sure Jess would really be mad at me and worry where I was.
I look up at the ceiling where the glowing stone was placed
'Mana Core? Magic?' Magic existed?
I've felt the familiar vibe it emanates, and was sure it was a Mana Core, I can't put a finger on how I know what it was. But thinking about it, it wasn't weird at all. Why wouldn't it exist when people could be summoned by just calling their name? Of course, that was all assuming this was real. How much time had passed?
[Oh? Did you recognized it?]
Shit! Didn't that voice sounded just like mine?
One of the walls opened with a creaking sound to reveal a long path. The bright light entered the room coming from the other side, it was nerve wracking but I still moved forward carefully.
[Hehehe! You're so careful that you're a scaredy-cat.] There was strange laughter, and I could hear footsteps approaching. I peeked out of the corner of the room and my heart thumped.
'What is that?' He has the same height as me but, with flaming blue will-o'-wisp like eyes and a black smoke or shadow like figure. The word monster described him perfectly, but he wore a neat white suit and black tie that suited him, and it was a strange sight.
[Since I invited you here you are my guest, why would I hurt you? You don't have to be that careful.] The monster curved his lips up, fixing his tie. He probably thought he was smiling, but the sight was too frightening for me.
Was this really a hallucination?
"What... I mean who are you? Why am I invited here? What does this mean?" The monster was the first living being I'd met here, and I needed to find out where I was.
[Oh dear! Forgive me for the late introduction, you may call me Ramiel.
hohoho.. . Oh, by the way Isn't the invitation useless if you don't know what it is?]
"That's why I'm asking you."
[Did you feel anything when you were connected here?]
Connected? At that moment, I thought about my dreams and the headache that felt like I forgot something or the gut feeling that I lost something. "Is this it?"
I tap my head looking at him. The monster smiled in satisfaction and nodded. [Seems like my effort guiding you wasn't wasted. That is right.]