"Resha will be a Regressor."
"You…bastard!" All six faces screamed in a fluster as they vanished.
"Hahaha!" The octopus-headed humanoid laughed raucously as it patted its aching stomach, "Ah! That was satisfying! It's worth going through the effort to see those expressions."
"Now, I hope you suffer enough until you accept defeat to my MC!"
…
Sumatra Continent!
Mammoth Clan, 44th Empyrean Tusk Settlement, Academy of Refinement!
The youth's eyes shot open, seeing the novel world being presented as reality. There was shock, excitement, nervousness, and anticipation in his eyes. He wished to jump and announce aloud, "Young Master is here!"
But he couldn't do that, for they were in class. 'The first chapter of Sumatra Chronicles starts right in the middle of class.'
Currently, he had six enemies that endangered his life in this world, and one of them was the MC, Resha. It was best to exercise caution to avoid revealing his identity…no, that was useless.
As a sea of information surged into his mind, the youth's excitement cooled down. He came to understand his identity.
Inala, that was his name. An orphan whose parents were supposedly reported missed in action. Worst of all, his body was weak. Cracking sounds resounded every time he tried to move.
Fragment Disease!
One in every hundred people in the Mammoth Clan was plagued by this incurable disease. It turned one's bones brittle. In this world where strength reigned supreme, anyone with the Fragment Disease was basically slapped with a death sentence.
Because, any exertion of the body resulted in a fracture. Not to mention training to grow stronger, they couldn't even perform daily chores without putting their lives at risk. They were useless and a strain on the Clan's resources. Usually, such people would be disposed of once they become an adult and still prove to be useless.
Inala was fourteen years of age now. A year later, he would be considered an adult. If he doesn't figure out a way to contribute to the Clan by then, he'll be disposed off to some Pranic Beast as food.
The Mammoth Clan was a nomadic tribe that travelled on the backs of the Empyrean Tusk, a Pranic Beast touted to be the biggest and the oldest race in Sumatra.
The surface area of an Empyrean Tusk's back surpassed a square kilometre. A settlement was created here where around forty thousand people lived.
The Mammoth Clan was situated on a herd of 44 Empyrean Tusks that traversed through dangerous territories daily. Therefore, danger was ever present around them.
If Inala proved to be useless, he would be heartlessly tossed into the mouth of a hungry Pranic Beast without hesitation. So, not only did he have to maintain caution, but also raise his value to the Clan.
"I'm sorry…"
Inala's thoughts came to a halt as he heard a murmur next to him. His body froze up in response as he slowly turned to his right and stared at a chisel-faced boy with a handsome countenance. The boy's expression was distraught, tethering on the verge of despair as memories of his past life came surging in.
Resha, the Main Character of Sumatra Chronicles!
In the Refinement Academy, joint classes were conducted, with the youngest batch seated at the front while the oldest were at the back. Inala's group was part of the oldest batch and hence seated at the very end.
As one of those affected by the Fragment Disease, Inala was placed in the absolute last row, nicknamed the 'Death Row.'
It was because, on the day they graduate, they'll be fed to a Pranic Beast, hence their title. Originally in the story, Resha was the sole Death Row student in his batch. So, he was seated alone at the back.
But now, there were seven students. That was a direct indication of their identities.
'Taking caution my foot!' Inala masked his frustration. Among the seven Death Row students, one was the MC while the remaining six were reincarnates. It was impossible to avoid a conflict since their identities were revealed right from the get-go.
They were seated side by side after all.
'So, Resha was red.' Inala thought. Based on the naming scheme, there were seven colours in a rainbow. He was Indigo. His name turned out to be Inala, sporting the first two letters of his colour. He was also seated second in the last row as in the order: Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red.
Red was Resha since he was seated last and his name had the first two letters of the colour.
'This is a second chance!' Resha came to terms with reality and stared at the class with a determined gaze, 'This time, I'll protect everyone. But first,'
"Who are you?" He glared to his left, staring at the six students there, 'These six never existed in my previous life. What is happening?'
"Did you hurt your head, Resha?" The one seated closest to Resha, at the position of orange tilted his head in confusion, "Don't tell me you forgot your bestie, Orakha?"
"Bestie?" Resha frowned.
"Fear of death might have erased his memories." The one seated at the position of green mocked, "We're the infamous Death Row students of this academy, after all. Not a single Clansmen thinks we have a future."
"Are you being serious, Resha?" The one seated at the position of blue expressed his confusion as he gloomily stared at Resha, "Have you forgotten us?"
'Such fucking actors!' Inala was awed by their performance. Since they didn't exist in Resha's previous lives, they began to act as if they were close to him now, edging him to the train of thought that maybe there existed some differences in his second life.
None of them communicated with each other, but argued in such a way one might think they were friends for years.
'I'm scheming against people of such level.' Inala was excited. Things just became more interesting. He then acted like he had been observing Resha all along and spoke in worry, "I didn't know Fragment Disease can also affect our memories. I'm worried now."
"Why don't we introduce ourselves to each other? This way, we can help jog Resha's memory. Us Death Row students need to be united." The one seated in the position of violet spoke in support of Inala, "I'm Virala."
Virala for violet, Inala for indigo, Blola for blue, Grehha for green, Yennda for yellow, Orakha for orange, and finally, Resha for red. Everyone introduced themselves.
The first goal of the reincarnates was to ease themselves up with the regressor to avoid being killed immediately.
'Thankfully, it went well.' Inala sighed in relief as he observed Resha's conflicted and confused expression. But an instant later, his heart lurched upon sensing the latter's killing intent.