"Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?"
"Uhhhh…"
Aka sat in the cafeteria with a friend opposite her. They both wore casual clothes, and Aka's friend held a mobile phone and a lollipop in her mouth. The background of the other people and the rest of the building was blurred out, only focusing on these two.
"One horse-sized duck I guess. Ducks aren't particularly lethal.", Aka responded to her friend's question without much thought.
"Interesting. I would say 100 duck-sized horses. Ducks can fly but not horses, so as long as you don't crouch, they can only target your legs. No vital areas are harmed."
"Wait, aren't we saying they have the same strength and it's just a matter of size? Forget a hundred, a single small horse could break your legs, surely.", Aka refuted.
"Haha, yeah, I had assumed that their strengths swapped or changed at least. The would-you-rather question doesn't really explain that detail.", Aka's friend agreed.
A small pause of silence sat between them. Only the small taps of the friend's phone and the occasional 'pops' and 'clicks' from the lollipop in the friend's mouth made noise.
Aka gave a hefty sigh, "I am stressed about the Gaokao. I haven't been feeling well these days."
Aka's friend continued to look at her mobile phone as she removed the lollipop from her mouth and twirled it with her fingers, "Same here. Soon will be the big moment, where expectations given from our very births are about to be realised… or completely lost, like fantasy."
Narrowing her eyes, Aka's mood became dimmer. She didn't realise that her hands were shaking.
This was assuredly the most stressful time of her life. No, not just her's, but for all students applying to good universities.
The Gaokao. Set on June 8th. Construction workers near examination sites would stop. Roads near examination sites would be blocked. Making noise near these areas would bar those from coming anywhere near. It would be like the whole world stopped.
10 hours spread over two days of pure examination, based on all sorts of topics with so many complex questions that would make adults cry.
Soon, Aka would have to take this test.
"Let's not fret about what's about to come. If we can't avoid it, we must fight it.", Aka's friend spoke in a matter-of-fact tone as she made hand gestures with the lollipop.
Nodding softly, Aka softly replied, "Mm, that's right."
She stood up and blinked to find herself in front of a tall university building, just outside the gates. She did not question this change.
No one was around, except her.
"I'm finally here. It was tough, but I am finally here.", Aka was joyful looking at the building, knowing that she was going to study here.
Aka had passed the Gaokao superbly. The difficulty was astronomical, making every second in the exams make her brain fry, but she was able to do it.
She heard a voice, "Pretty good, huh? We both managed to get into the same university."
Aka turned her head to the left. The voice belonged to Aka's friend from before.
She studied the face of her friend.
"That's odd. Her face isn't that distinct. It's sort of blurry.", Aka thought.
"Hey, Qiao'er. Since we've stuck together for this long, how about we stick together forever? Sounds pretty fun to me, don't you think?", Aka couldn't see her facial features clearly, but she could tell that her friend was smiling.
Aka's friend giggled before walking on forward without waiting for an answer.
Aka saw the back of her friend, moving further away from her and heading towards the building.
Everything began to blur out except her and her friend.
She raised her arm to reach out to her friend with dismay. As she did so, more and more people, one at a time, appeared besides her friend, all walking in the same direction: away from Aka.
In a few moments, she retracted it with a gaze of sorrow.
"I'm sorry. I can't fulfill that promise. Forgive me, Bai Xiaohui. Forgive me, mother, father... sister, brother, uncle, everyone..."
"I am no longer Wu Qiao, the chinese university student. I am…"
"Akai Tamashi, a slave to a parasite in another world."
Soon after Aka finished her words, the people walking away from her exploded and turned into pure, red puddles of blood.