As the words left the other person's lips, Neaf rose from his seat and made his way to the door, determined to avoid any potential punishment.
"Who are you?" Neaf inquired as they strolled down the corridor.
"So, the rumours are true, you've lost your memory screw, huh?"
Neaf nodded, feeling uneasy at the mention of having screws in his head. Did he really have them? He didn't have veins, but he did have a brain, as far as his knowledge of AI and hybrid AI robots in this world went.
"I'm your friend, or should I say your best friend, you idiot. It's me, Joshua," Joshua slung his arm around Neaf's shoulder and they continued walking.
"My best friend," Neaf repeated, finding the term unfamiliar. Not just a friend, but a best friend of the body's owner.
It didn't seem so bad. This body had a family and people around him that he never could have.
Jealousy was the only thing Neaf could feel at the moment.
"Yes, don't worry. You may have forgotten me, but I haven't, take a chill pill," Joshua laughed as he lightly tapped the back of Neaf's head.
"You're reeking of sweat," Neaf remarked, eyeing Joshua, who was just as tall as him, maybe an inch shorter, but a bit broader and more muscular.
"As if you wouldn't be sweating when the coach is going to drag you onto the court for being late. Today's rugby match will be tougher for you," Joshua taunted.
Rugby?
The word alone sent shivers down Neaf's spine. Who even plays rugby, for heaven's sake?
Football? Basketball?
Aren't those the sports most people play? And here he had to play rugby, a sport he despised.
It couldn't get any worse than this.
"Did I scare you? Don't worry, the coach knows about your condition, so maybe he'll go a bit easy on you, but that's not a guarantee,"
They reached the field, and Neaf saw the two teams of players, all muscular and tall, looking like they could tear anyone apart with their bare hands.
"I feel like I'm getting a headache," Neaf pulled away from Joshua, trying to keep his distance.
He'd gladly study whatever was necessary, even bash his head until he passed out, but he wasn't going to play with these brutes. Even in this body, he looked like a child in front of them.
Furthermore, even if the real body owner played, he still wasn't the real one, so he didn't know how to play games or how to pull it off.
There was no way he was going to get hit until he even forgot himself. No, it wasn't happening.
Not over his living body. He was in this body now, and he wasn't going to trade himself for a game.
"Headache? When did this happen? You were fine just a second ago," Joshua asked, looking at his best friend with confusion.
He could clearly see that his friend had lost his memories.
Rugby was his favourite and he loved playing even if he felt sick or anything.
"Just now, I think. It's like a sunburn, no, it's like the sun is burning my head," Neaf tried to find an excuse.
"What the hell are you talking about, Neaf? Just shut up,"
Before Joshua could speak, an angry voice boomed.
Neaf looked at the person and could tell this was the coach, looking way scarier than the players.
Now Neaf felt like he was paying for sins he didn't remember. This body's owner was just too much.
How could he play a sport like this? It was a matter of life and death.
"Go and run fifty rounds for coming late," the coach commanded sternly.
"But... my health," Neaf stammered.
"You look fine now, don't make excuses. If anything happens, we have medical services in school," the coach dismissed Neaf's words.
Neaf looked around and saw the area where he needed to do fifty rounds. It wasn't just a field; it felt like a massive track, even larger than a regular track field. How was he going to run fifty rounds?
He didn't even sign up for this kind of punishment. How was he facing such hellish consequences? Was it the body's owner paying for sins they shared because they had the same name?
"Sir..."
"Sixty."
"Please... hear..."
"Seventy."
Neaf immediately shut his mouth, not wanting to increase his punishment. This coach wasn't a coach; he was just a monstrous tyrant who, with a few words, increased the punishment so drastically.
Even if this body was a machine, his soul was human—Neaf's soul. And even this body wasn't entirely a machine; it was half human too.
"Start. We don't have all day. If you don't finish by the next class, then keep running. I care less about whatever class you miss," the coach announced, then began helping other students warm up.
Joshua threw a pitying look at Neaf and returned to doing warm-ups, knowing that no one could do anything.
Neaf took some deep breaths and started running. He had seventy rounds to do, and his legs were surely going to suffer the most.
The sun was scorching so hard that Neaf immediately started sweating as he ran.
One round, two rounds, three rounds... ten rounds...
After ten rounds, Neaf felt like he was going to faint. This body was no supernatural entity, not even like a robot. He could feel the fatigue.
His body was sweating even worse than Joshua's had been before.
The only person Neaf could curse for what he was going through was Axtral, who wasn't even a person.
Aren't systems or things like that supposed to help the main character in books or games? What was with Axtral?
Neaf was just thrown here and needed to figure out everything by himself, without any help from that little rascal. Axtral surely had no conscience.
It felt as if Axtral thought that after giving Neaf a life inside this body, everything was good, and there was nothing more to worry about.
"Run faster,"