Chrome's mind was in shambles by the time the Teacher finished telling his story, what appeared like something that came out of a fantasy book started to seem real soon thanks to the broken memory fragments that were being injected into his consciousness. It made him doubt if he was suffering from some sort of strange personality disorder…
"Under the threat of a civilization reset, the ones possessing those supernatural powers, the Extraordinary humans, started to fight back using the gifts they were given. No one knew if this was the purpose behind humanity's ascendance, or if the Gates had appeared as a response to that… Perhaps as a form of tax collection?"
"However, everyone knew that they had to dedicate everything they had to repelling that threat, and that was how the Extra's Academy came to be three years later! The Extraordinary Humans' flowering bed! That's the history of the academy that will be conducting the acceptance examination in two days!" The Teacher's frown disappeared, hope illuminating his face as he stood up.
'Ouch… Ouch…'
Despite knowing that pinching himself wouldn't actually wake him up, Chrome was desperately pinching his skin on the back of his hand, wishing to end this abnormal dream that now felt the farthest from being one. His head was threatening to split open from pain after hearing all that Link had to say, being barely a hair away from getting a panic attack!
"These are mostly things that you already know of, but as I told Bryce. I didn't specifically call for those who had already awakened for a reason. After some effort, I called everyone here to present you with the chance to change your fate! The chance to participate and hopefully get accepted in the test that's soon to take place!"
The overwhelming thoughts in Chrome's mind calmed down a bit after hearing of the possibility to participate in the Extra Academy's examination, leaving him with a tiny room to calmly assess his condition.
'There is still nothing I can do to change the situation…'
The initial rejection of the thought that this could possibly be a reality of sorts seemed to fade away with the easing of his pain. Staying in class and listening to the Teacher resulted in a chaotic stream of information invading his mind and making him nauseous. However, running away from it in panic would bring no better results. As such, Chrome could only hold it in as the alter mind that seemed to be feeding him information was very much looking forward to what might happen next.
"As members of the special class, the school has decided to invest in all of you and provide an opportunity to make a difference to each of you… An Awakening Pill!"
'I want it!'
From within the sea of nonsensical information, the first clear thought emerged, filling him with desire and longing before throwing him another set of incomprehensible information!
"As commonly known, children born after the Extraordinary Night hereditarily possess Exos on birth, albeit showing different Exos Emission growth rates. Since the emergence of superpowers after the Awakening Day could be said to be a completely random and rare process, scientists had worked on creating a catalyst, something that would allow those with high Exos Emission rates to go through their awakening just like the very first generation of awakeners did!"
Reaching his hand towards the drawer on the other side of the podium, Link brought out a small box, opening it with zeal, "And that would be none other than the Awakening Pill! The miracle medicine that all unawakened humans seek! Some of you have used it in particular and the results are quite apparent already..." The Teacher gave Fred a side glance before turning his head to the girl that gave Chrome the unexplainable warm vibes with a smile of affirmation.
Seemingly irritated by the Teacher's apparent disregard, Fred looked at Chrome with a slightly hideous grin as he gloated, "But Teach, even something like that wouldn't make much of a change for certain people here in class. Isn't it quite a waste to give something this 'precious' to them?"
"Fredrick! This is your second warning, the third time would be my turn to make things hard for you in your admission examination," the Teacher turned to the big guy as he warned him. Although his face appeared to be calm, almost everyone could sense the anger that he was suppressing.
"Humph…"
"Back to point. As I already stated, as part of the special class, ALL of you, without exception, will be receiving one of these, whether you use or not, even giving it away to someone else is also your choice. Just remember to be here on monday in case you manage to successfully awaken… If you want to give the admission examination a try, that is." The Teacher walked to the first in line, handing him the box in hand, "I will be passing out your respective pills now."
Personally handing out a box to each student in no time, Link headed to the door as he gave his last words, "Alright then, I hope to see more of you later on monday. As for the rest, remember you can contact me if you need help with something important."
The girl that Link had smiled towards earlier worriedly looked at Chrome as the class broke into mass chattering, questioning him with a concerned tone, "Why are you so pale, Chrome? Did you overwork yourself again?!"
"I…" Chrome could hardly utter anything as his headache had only gotten worse once he got possession of the small box. The surprise of having a girl initiate a conversation with him additionally made him speechless, especially when considering the expression on her face.
"Chrome you piece of… Why are you even bothering yourself with him Alice? He is just a loser who is destined to be an Ordinary for his whole life, even the Teacher's favor wouldn't change that. You should…" Fred walked over from the other end of the class, directly throwing insults at Leo as he looked at the girl with dilated pupils.
"It's none of your business, Fred," Alice directly shrugged off the big guy with a death stare.
"If it's none of my business, then it's none of his either!" Fred grew agitated upon receiving Alice's repulsed stare, reflexively throwing a punch at Chrome all of the sudden.
"Eh?" The confused Chrome could barely hear their words, overwhelmed by the clash of feelings that the two represented. With fear being the greatest emotion that Fred provoked out of him, he dodged the punch with an instinctual reaction before subconsciously giving him a push as hate and desire for revenge welled with him, causing the big guy to almost literally eat Chrome's seat!
'Huh?' Chrome wasn't even sure why he did what he just did.
"Gaaah! Why you… A trash like you dares to treat me like this?!" Fred raged as he received the opposite of Chrome's normal reaction, silently taking a beating. Somehow, he managed to grow the guts to dodge and even push him in front of none other than Alice!
"Don't blame me then, you asked for this!"
The big guy's first suddenly glowed, its color shifting into a metallic silvery sheen as he redirected his punch towards Chrome's face!
"What do you think you are doing Fred?! Did you finally go insane?!" Standing just behind Chrome, Alice broke out of her trance, shouting as she stretched her hands forward, her palms spread open giving a sudden shine as an illusory sheet of light emerged to cover the area in front of her.
"Don't stop me! He deserves it!" Seeing Chrome being protected by Alice only seemed to agitate Fred further, prompting him to push his metallic fist even harder, producing some violet crackling sound as it impacted the illusory barrier.
"Using your superpower on an Ordinary who could die just like that? Does jail sound like a better place to further your studies compared to the Extra Academy? Or Do you really like the idea of getting a Red Name so much?"
"Why do you even… Whatever, he isn't worth the Exos I'm wasting on him. We won't be seeing this cursed orphan's stupid face anytime soon. Once we are in the Academy…" Fred's first turned back to normal as he withdrew it before stomping out of the classroom, muttering in fantasization as his face turned blissful…
"Chrome… Chrome! Are you alright…?" Alice ignored him and turned to look back at Chrome who now stood frozen in shock as if he fainted in place.
"What was that… and why did he say that?'
Ever since Fred's fist had changed, Chrome's vision seemed to have turned blurry as his overview of reality was completely shaken with the close death encounter that he just had. Seeing the imaginary turn into a reality, all sorts of alarms sounded out in Chrome's head as he shook off Alice's hands before running out of class.
'Are they really…? Is that the reason there was no one at home…?!'
As Chrome finally started to believe that this might be his new reality, one that he somehow transmigrated to and had to accept, he started to panic as all the inconsistencies he chose to ignore came back to him. He didn't know what kind of fantasy novel situation he was in, but he continued running towards his home to arrive as fast as he could to make sure that his conclusion wasn't true. It had to be a mistake!
Hurriedly opening the door, Chrome threw away his keys and the box that he strangely didn't forget to grab before breaking into a shout, "Mom! Dad! Are you home?!" Seeking an answer that might soothe his tired mind.
Receiving no answer, Chrome ran to the big room that his parents normally used only to find the lights were out, with most of its insides packaged into boxes. The room had all signs of being deserted for years…
"This can't be! They aren't really dead! My Mom and Dad are alive! I just saw their faces less than an hour ago… This is just a dream!" Tears dripped down Chrome's cheeks as he closed his eyes and delved deeply into the abandoned bed, failing to hold back from crying his heart out.
'I need to wake up!' Chrome's eyelids tightened even further as he promptly decided to force himself to sleep. Perhaps doing so would really be the only way to wake up from this nightmare, and maybe… Just maybe, find himself back to the normal reality that he was used to…