This time Sebastian didn't violently convulse gasping for breath.
He just sat on his seat with his eyes dull and vacant.
Staring off into the distance.
With each attempt, the tutorial seemed to suck away a part of his soul.
His thoughts would grow muddier, his reasoning shallower.
He could fight against the tiredness of his body, but it was hard to fight against the exhaustion of the mind.
The free tip was right.
'It does get harder every time...'
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[Attempt 2: Failure]
[Completion Rate: 30%]
[Reason for Failure: Death]
[This is your 3rd attempt]
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"…Fine, I guess. You do seem a bit pale. Do you need someone's help to take you to the infirmary?"
"ME! PICK ME!" Josh's ever-enthusiastic voice boomed from the last row.
"I think… Josh can help me…"
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Seb had decided to bring along Josh with him this time. since he would get punished whenever he messed with 'the original plot', he might as well f*ck it up completely.
Before walking up to leave the classroom, Seb listed out all he knew about his current situation-
First, he was in a simulation conducted for the sake of a tutorial trial, clearing which would let him enter the world of Purgatory. A place away from the real world, probably an alternate dimension, where he could get a fresh start at life.
He wasn't sure if it was a high fantasy or high sci-fi world, but once you cross a certain threshold of development, there wasn't much distinction left between the two genres.
Second, there was no school trip, the bus crash was most likely a cover-up.
Third, the school shooter was in cahoots with the firing squad down below. There is more than what meets the eye.
Fourth, since the organization behind this covered up the incident, it was not an act of terrorism.
Fifth, the trial is called trauma re-enactment. Since he has no memories of being in school on this day it was probably based on the memories of someone else also present in the simulation, who is probably the 'owner'.
Though the scenario's plot is based on the owner's memories, these memories are traumatic in nature.
This implies that the situation he is currently facing is more exaggerated than what actually happened.
Sebastian had a hypothesis.
Whenever he confronted the school shooter, his body would start acting out of his control, a tell-tale sign of repressed trauma acting up.
This meant that the original 'owner' was the one actually scared of the shooter and his/her feelings were somehow affecting Seb.
Kind of like how the protagonist of a certain 'yandere game' always walks in slow motion with an extremely loud heartbeat SFX when around her 'senpai'.
This was the only possible truth, as there was no way that Sebastian himself was afraid…
He was a genius after all...
The next thing to notice was that the completion rate had dropped down to 30% just because of his absence in the classroom.
Which meant that the 'owner' was one of his classmates.
Perhaps if he resolved the owner's trauma, the difficulty level would be reduced?
Like some sort of hidden mission.
And who could possibly be more suspicious than Josh?
He was acting way too chummy; Seb didn't remember having such a close relationship with an idiot like him.
By bringing Josh along, he would throw the plot out of the left field. It would also let him dig deeper into the secrets behind said plot. If he was able to somehow resolve Josh's trauma, then perhaps they could face the shooter together.
As long as they managed to survive long enough, the simulation would end and he would clear the tutorial phase.
And Seb had an inkling that the time limit was probably till 2 PM- when the bell rings for the end of the day.
Just 3 minutes after his usual time of death.
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"So… what's the plan?"
"What plan?"
"You can't fool me bruh, there is no way you are actually planning on going to the sick room"
Well obviously.
The sick room wasn't even in this damned building, and with the bloody firing squad keeping watch, there was no way he was getting out.
Sebastian had decided. Since the trial won't let him run.
He would just hide.
It was just that simple.
Just because he was a genius didn't mean that all his strategies would involve some fourth-dimensional mental gymnastics.
"No, I am not going to the sick room. Let us find a place to hide until the bell rings."
"Well, there really isn't any place to hide in this building… we could try and see if the rooftop is open."
For a second Sebastian was tempted.
The rooftop was a holy place of pilgrimage that every student wants to visit at least once in their life.
Unfortunately, it was locked off 99% of the time in order to stop students interested in painting the ground red and making the headlines with their expressive artistic feat.
Seb immediately crushed that temptation though.
If there was a firing squad at the stairwell exit, they would probably run into a helicopter with a machine gun mounted on it if they dared to go up.
No, there was a much simpler option.
"Follow me…"
Seb and Josh went down the hallway to the T-junction and then turned left.
"...four, five, six…"
"What are you counting?"
"The number of classrooms between ours and this one"
Seb replied before standing outside the door of a classroom.
It was another section of grade-12. Senior years just like them.
Seb and Josh belonged to the A section. Which was mainly all the students going into the Science stream.
The class in front of them was the B section. Which consisted of commerce students.
Yes, there was a C section for Arts stream students as well, but that wasn't in this building.
"Hey, Josh? Do you know anyone in this class?"
"Yeah… I do have a few friends here. Wh-What's going on Seb?"
This was the second reason he brought Josh with him.
As the 'quiet kid' in school, he barely bothered to even make acquaintances with people outside his class.
On the other hand, a social butterfly like Josh would naturally have useful connections.
'How convenient
After all not everyone has the ability to bypass the natural enmity between science and commerce students.
Seb checked the clock in the hallway, it was already 1:43.
Seb quickly peeked over the edge back into the hallway they had just come from.
The shooter had not yet come up.
Even if he did, he should also not be able to see them, since they wouldn't be in his line of sight.
"Here's the plan Josh."
"I am listening! What nefarious deeds are you up to this time?"
Josh replied with a wide grin on his face, rubbing his palms together while jiggling his shoulders up and down.
What the hell was wrong with this fellow. Why was he so enthusiastic about this? It was like he has the letters S-U-S written over his forehead in bright red permanent marker.
"In about a minute or so, you are going to hear the sound of gunshots."
"Roger that! Wait wha-"
"As soon as we hear the sounds, we are busting into this classroom.
No one will notice us while they are busy panicking.
We will mix into them amidst all the chaos and confusion."
"Hold up! What do you mean by gun-"
"And then by the time they notice us, they would be too scared to send us out anyways."
"This is crazy…"
"I know. It's crazy how perfect my plan is!"
"That's not what I meant…"
Sebastian was completely assured of his genius this time.
In the end, it all boils down to crunching the numbers.
The shooter takes five to ten minutes to slaughter one classroom.
The firing squad or other alternative plot devices will only interfere if they try to leave the building.
This classroom was about 6th in line and only if the shooter decided to turn left and not right.
Going by this reasoning, the shooter shouldn't be able to reach them until it is 2:30 at the very least.
No matter how poor the justice system of the country was, there was no way reinforcements wouldn't arrive by that time.
Thus, Seb's Operation: Hide and Wait was bound for success.
"Are we clear Josh?"
"Sure… I guess…"
The only possible obstacle that they might face was if Purgatory determines their actions to be a 'detraction from the scenario' and messes up the difficulty level.
It would probably send in an enemy somewhere between the level of the shooter and the firing squad outside.
And since the trauma only acts up in front of the shooter. Seb was sure to take down the enemy.
Even if he didn't defeat it in this attempt. Surely it won't take more than a few more for him to learn its attack pattern and find a strategy to defeat it?
It would just be a brainless battle of whether Seb manages to kill off the enemy before breaking under the pressure of the multiple attempts.
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As the two of them waited for the remaining seconds to trickle away Josh started to fidget a bit.
"What is it?" Sebastian sighed as he asked in annoyance.
"Seb… before we do this, there is something I would like to tell you…"
"What is it?" Sebastian asked a second time. This time was full of excitement.
Was Josh going to confess that he was actually the 'owner' of the simulation? Well, Seb had already figured it out but it wouldn't hurt to have someone confirm it.
Even if it wasn't that whatever he would say next was bound to be rich in information about the lore.
"You will always be my best friend. So don't feel jealous about me having other friends okay?"
"..."
"I know that you are a shy tsundere who will never be honest with his feelings, but just know that I will always have your back."
"..."
"..."
"fine..."
Surprisingly, Seb didn't lash out in frustration this time but just muttered out a monosyllabic response in resignation.
What a liar...
No matter what promises 'tutorial Josh' made, 'real Josh' was already sleeping with the fishes.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
The time was 1:45.
The familiar cursed sound of gunshots rang out, destroying whatever 'moment' the two were having.
At least it didn't interrupt Josh mid-sentence leaving Seb wondering what important plot points he had missed due to a bullshit cliche.
This time Seb was luckily able to keep his calm and not become a statue on the spot. The adaptive powers of the human mind were scary. In the end, one can even get used to massacres.
"Quick we don't have time to lose, we are going through this door at the count of 3"
Josh gulped silently, his face pale as a sheet of paper.
He wasn't sure what was going on but still decided to trust his 'best friend' and slowly nodded his head in affirmation.
"Okay, 1..."
"...2.."
"..3..."
"GO!"
Seb and Josh immediately pushed open the door violently and rushed into the class.
Honestly, they could have just walked in normally, it wasn't like there was someone blocking the door. Though it couldn't be helped if their actions were a little panicked and hurried. Every minute spent outside was a minute the shooter could suddenly change his mind and come and check out the corridors first.
Once they got in, they slammed the door back shut, they weren't interrupted throughout the entire process.
Sighing in relief, Seb used that opportunity to observe the status of the classroom, trying to figure out the best method to mix in.
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"Psst, hey Seb" Josh whispered at Seb who was standing next to him leaning against the door they just shut.
"What!?" Seb hissed back in annoyance.
"They are all STARING at us." Josh was practically whisper-shouting at this point
"I can see that Josh! I have eyes too."
"But they are doing it so silently."
"I have ears as well Josh."
"I mean... why are they so calm? Commerce students are scaaaaary bro..."
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At this moment, Seb and Josh were getting stared down by all 30 students in Class 12-B, along with their teacher.
They weren't scrambling around in panic.
They weren't screaming in confusion.
They were all sitting in their seats with their backs perfectly straight with not the hint of unrest, all the while silently staring down the duo at the door.
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"Well... this is awkward..."