~Leo's POV~
I was gazing through the window as the plane soared above an island that is as massive as a city. Right by the seashore were several modern establishments while deeper in the forest was a tribe-like village.
Beyond the village was an endless forest.
Eventually, the plane descended to the extensively long runway and we safely landed on the island.
The staircase dropped down and students disembarked the plane one-by-one.
The crews informed us that they will bring our baggage to our designated boarding house, so I headed straight to the main building and inquired for my room.
The line on the counter was as long as Selene's patience, but it flowed fast since the personnel behind the counter only handed us a map.
After getting a map, I scrutinised it and noticed a myriad of buildings right by the coast. There's a note on the map that indicates the building of class-F. I suppose that's where my room is.
I also noticed that this island and the real world have similar qualities. This island is full of facilities that occupies essential human needs; there's a mall, coffee shop, convenience store, fast food restaurants, and etc…
The only difference between a city and this island was this island isn't crowded and it has a beach with white sand and crystal clear seaside water.
I walked along the cemented path and entered the class-F's building.
I was immediately met by the entire class-F population changing to their swim trunks at the massive sleeping room.
"Oh! Leo," Marco remarked as he pulled his trunks up. "You're finally here. You better suit up; the beach was insane."
I roamed my eyes in the empty sleeping room and saw nothing but a pile of folded futons.
"Your luggage is in the cloak room, Leo." Clyde informed me. "You can find it at the end of the hallway."
"Thanks." I replied.
I walked over to the open window screen and gazed at the students already at the beach.
"Hey guys, did you hear the news?" Marco asked.
"What's up? Fill us in." Clyde replied.
"They said one guy died during the exam earlier."
"Yea. He poisoned himself," Jacob replied. "His reason for committing suicide is still under investigation."
"Awee~ that's so sad." Clyde mourned.
"Sad? The other students on that flight were exempted from the test. In my perspective, that's hella convenient." Marco opined.
"You're horrible, Marco. At least pay some respect to the dead."
"As bad as it sounds, you have to get used to this, Clyde." Jacob said. "Instantaneous deaths are prevalent in Aspro Academy. This is probably not the only death you'll encounter, so you ought to-" Jacob's phone suddenly rang.
"Ohh…? is that Selene?" Marco said, smirking.
"You guys go ahead of me, I'll catch up later."
"If you say so. I just like to remind you that boys and girls buildings are separated; Selene is the only female in our class so she's currently alone in the next building."
"I know. You don't have to remind me." Jacob said with a playful smile before going over to one corner of the room and answered the call.
"The sun will set in a couple hours. Let's not waste any time, brothers." Liam said excitedly.
All of them are already in their swimwear and I'm still in my uniform, gazing out the window.
"Aren't you going to change, Leo?" Marco asked.
"No."
"You're still coming with us, right? I can't take No as an answer."
"Sure, I'll go." I answered as I pondered over what Jacob and Selene were talking about through the call.
After that, Marco, Clyde, Liam, other class-F students, and I proceeded to the beach.
All of my classmates were pumped up when we got there. It's as if they were toddlers first time being at the beach.
As we looked for a spot to set our beach parasols, my barefoot shallowly sank in the smooth sand; the soft white sand crumbled to my feet every time I took a step.
"Ahh~" Marco sighed, feeling fulfilled. "It's smooth, white, and soft."
"Yes brother—they're huge, succulent, and mouth-watering." Liam gushed as he ogled at the girls on swimsuit.
My expectations were right, they're here for fap materials.
Well honestly, I can't blame them since the ladies are indeed eye-catching.
After burying the tip of our parasol under the sand, some of my classmates bolted straight to the water and splashed.
"We can't just leave Leo, he can't go swimming in his uniform. He'll feel lonely, so I'll stay here and accompany him." Clyde said.
"Oh c'mon, Clyde." Marco sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you wanna see nipples slipping out of their bra when the wave flows?"
"Yeah, brother, if you're not into nipples, that only means one thing… That means you're gay." Liam said.
Marco nodded. "Uh-huh, uh-huh. I'm starting to notice some gay signs in you, Clyde."
"But… I'm just acting nice towards Leo." Clyde sobbed. "How could you two judge my sexuality!"
As the three of them poke fun at each other, my eyes were following a girl in a white sundress sauntering along the coastline.
Come to think of it, everyone at the beach has their unique swimwear. I'm the only odd one who's still on school's uniform.
~I'm just too lazy to change.
But I'm standing out in this outfit. In hindsight, I should've changed into more suitable clothes back at the boarding house.
"Leo!" Marco shouted. "Is you stupid? Don't look blatantly at bitches with your naked eyes. You should at least wear sunglasses to be more discreet."
~He caught me. I should divert the topic.
"I'm actually admiring the horizon." I said.
Marco went over to me and playfully elbowed my side. "You think you can fool me, dude? I caught you in the act staring at that girl in sundress." He smirked mischievously. "Don't worry though, I won't judge your preference— I respect that you're into cute girls."
"I'm not particularly into cute-."
"Just shut up and listen to me, you virgin. I know that your dick down there is yearning to know her name… and lucky for you, ya boy Marco here got you covered."
"You know her name?"
"Oh absolutely! That beret and eye-glasses tells me that it's her. No doubt, that's Jillian from class-A."
"Sounds like you know her well."
"Whaaaat… are you jealous?" He cackled. "Don't be jealous, dude. Jillian doesn't even know I exist. Truth is, Jillian is quite infamous in the academy. I'm actually surprised that you haven't heard of her."
"Infamous?"
"Yea, you could hear rumors about her everywhere. Bad rumors." Marco folded his arms and continued, "Jillian might look cute, but you better look for another girl, dude."
"Why's that?"
"Do you know why she always wears baggy clothes?"
~Actually, I noticed that too. However, I still don't know the reason why.
"Maybe she's comfortable with oversized clothings?" I replied.
"Nah, dude. The more I think about it the more the rumors make sense. Well, the truth is Jillian was actually pre-" Marco paused and glanced up at the azure sky. He hesitated to finish the word. "Nah, dude, I can't say it."
"No way, brother." Liam said, chiming in out of the blue. "Now you're making me curious, you need to finish what you're saying."
"Yea, I'm curious too." Clyde said.
"What on earth-hell. Are you two eavesdropping on us the entire time? This doesn't involve you assholes so could you please mind your own bullshit." Marco fumed.
The quibble instantly dies off when Clyde spotted Jacob headed towards us.
"Yo, Jacob. How'd it go?" Marco asked.
"That's not important." Jacob said with irritation in his tone. "Anyways, where's the others?"
"They're already having fun. We're just waiting for you, and now that you're here, let's join them." Marco said.
"I'm not planning to bathe. Where's the drinks? Haven't I told you to get some?"
Jacob's tone has slightly changed.
"Oh, yea. Sorry, I forgot. I'll go get some now."
"Hurry."
"I'm going with you, Marco," Liam said. "Gena isn't here so maybe I could find her there. I badly wanna see her in a swimsuit."
"Wait, you can't leave me here, I'll tag along." Clyde said as he strode to catch up with Marco and Liam who's on their way for an errand.
They all left me with Jacob under the beaming sun.
The atmosphere between me and him is kinda awkward. We're not particularly good friends and he seemed to be in a bad mood today. We're just standing side-by-side, both gazing at our classmates who're playing volleyball in the water. They're having fun while we're drowning in awkward silence.
I actually talked with Jacob once back at the academy. In fact, he's the first one who approached me and put up a conversation, but after that, we never spoke again. I don't think he'll think of me as a friend with just one interaction.
But then, Jacob abruptly talked to me. "I heard both of your parents died," he wistfully said.
Shock rippled across my face.
I turned my gaze towards him, "Who gives you that information." I said with broadened eyes.
"I won't tell anyone, you can trust me," he said. "I know you got involved with the Independent Human Project, I just want to say you have my sympathy."
I calmed down. "Where did you get this kind of knowledge? Independent Human Project is supposed to be a secret corporation, only a few know about it."
"My dad told me about it. In case you didn't know, my dad has a vast influence and he has intels across the world. I know that corporation because dad told me to be wary of it."
"Is that so…"
"You see that girl over yonder?"
"Where?"
"On our left. The girl under the huge tent."
Jacob was looking at the girl's location, so I simply followed the direction of his gaze.
And there I spotted a malnourished looking girl in a long sleeve cover up dress, resting on the recliner chair under the tent's shade.
A man in a jacket was standing motionless next to the girl. He's quite a genius, so I knew recognize him in a glance. He's the 3 of Clubs, Lance.
On the other hand, the girl was wearing sunglasses so I can't tell who she was.
"I see her. So, what's going on with that girl?" I asked, still unable to recognize who that thin girl is.
"That's Hyacinth."
I tried to recall for a sec. "Never heard of her before."
"She's the Ace of Clubs, she operates in the shadows and she keeps her name away from attention."
"Yea, I think I know her, I just didn't hear her name often. But why're you telling me about her? I'm not interested."
"Let me finish first, maybe it'll get you intrigued when you hear this." "So basically, she's a self-proclaimed independent woman… pretty funny, right?"
"That's hilarious," I deadpan.
"That's not all, you know how the Independent Human Project operates, right? They kill their test subjects' parents and let them live alone."
"Yeah."
"So, Hyacinth also knew about IHP(Independent Human Project), and she volunteered to participate as one of their test subjects. However, her proposal was rejected by the IHP themselves. It got her so upset, and with the desire that drives her to become independent, she murdered her own parents. Some say she even ate her parents so that they can be part of her."
"Now that's more hilarious," I deadpan.
"Yea, it's disturbing. What she did was fucked up." "I gotta mention though, Leo, you have a morbid humor."
"No, I'm just dumbfounded."
"Her story was gut-wrenching. Just letting you know to be careful of her. She holds a grudge against IHP so there's a chance she'd go after you."
"Sure, I'll take your warning."
After chatting with Jacob, Marco, Liam, and Clyde returned with a styro box full of drinks.
"Did you get my favorite?" Jacob asked.
"Yeah, we have plenty of root beers here and some soda for the gang." Marco said.
"Good," Jacob said. "By the way, Liam, you're wasting your energy finding Gena, she's probably staying in the Primes dormitory since she's preserving her porcelain skin."
As they were talking, I silently tread back to the dormitory to make some preparations.
But unfortunately, Clyde noticed me leaving.
"Hey Leo, where you headed to?" he asked.
"I forgot my phone in my baggage, I'm just gonna go grab it. I'll be right back."
"Oh okay. Later then."
I then proceeded to head back to the dormitory and never returned that day.
~~~~~
It's been like 12 hours since I left the civilization zone.
After I told Clyde that I'm going to get my phone, I instead carried my entire baggage and snuck out to the forest.
I walked for hours in the forest enveloped in darkness.
But I'm prepared for this circumstance, I have a flashlight strapped to my forehead as I venture deep into the wild forest.
I'm lucky to not encounter any hostile animals so far, but that luck didn't last long when the rain suddenly fell.
But I think I'm far enough. In a rough estimate, I suppose I'm 50 miles away from the boarding house.
Knowing that I'm now at my desired location, I took out my shovel from my baggage and began digging and constructing booby traps.