A web of train lines stretched above the roads of the city. Being one of the trade centers between the European and American continents, this country was pretty damn rich despite being fairly small in size.
Ternet was an economic giant, and the city's infrastructure reflected it.
It was a pretty unique set-up where highways were made under the ground instead of on long-standing bridges, and the subway was pulled out of the ground and labeled the Intercity train line for convenience.
In any case, for a student, going through the intercity was the best way to travel around. It not only had major congregation points as stoppages, but multiple special trains throughout the day also stopped around schools and colleges in the city.
Crowded special trains.
I was being pushed against the wall in one such train when I whispered.
"Can't you read my thoughts or something, like in those novels?"
[Unfortunately not. I would have parasitized your brain if it was possible and become the Greatest Webnovel Author myself]
The ominous words on the system screen sent chills down my spine.
[Just kidding. If you want to talk to me you will have to speak out.]
No one cared about anyone else on public transport. I could probably talk to myself and very few people would care. In this crowded place that was even truer.
Lowering my voice, I started chatting with the system. We talked a bit about how we would keep our routine going. With school, maintaining a strict schedule was tough. Eventually, I came to the main topic that was bugging me.
"So, what did you mean by backstories?"
[Just as it sounds. Every person has a tale of their own. You just have to find it out for ten people in the next month.]
Every person has their own tales…
Was it really true?
"Before meeting you, I was just spending my days without any thoughts. People are not as interesting as you think."
[...]
[0-0]
[?-?]
Woah. Expressive. Did it go through an update?
[What are you talking about, host? Do you truly believe something like that?]
"I have no story, I am an example. Kids my age are all the same, the best they can do is maybe get a girlfriend or a boyfriend, what else?"
[Host… the notes for the shop, the whole piano thing—]
The window passed me by before I could read it through and was replaced by a sigh.
[Whatever. Just do as I ask or I'll kill you.]
"Try me."
We had become quite playful. It was a big difference from the first time the system had threatened me.
Well, if my guide had asked me to, I decided to go out and get the backstories of ten people. It was just ten anyway.
Soon enough, the train came to my stop, and students in the same blue blazer and white shirt that I donned started streaming out. The old office-goers were pushed around by the students. I escaped the mosh pit too.
Crowded trains were the worst.
I placed my pass on the exit and stepped out of the station. Calla Lily High was just a five-minute walk away.
Early morning roads were less crowded than trains. Only other students were walking around, quite a few of them hand in hand with each other.
It was natural for cliques to form around this time. My few friends had gone to different high schools. Calla Lily was quite reputed for being one of the tougher ones to get into as compared to my middle school. My above-average grades fit like a puzzle in this place.
"Why are we doing this anyway?" I asked the system.
[For characters.]
"Characters are not people," I said. It was just a result of what I had learned these days by reading webnovels.
[How so? I agree that you don't write dialogue in books as you speak in the real world, but why not characters?]
"Characters aren't people. Everything they do has to be for a reason, and we don't explore the boring things that are without a reason. That's not how people work."
[Backstories and this, I think we will have to live it to learn it, host.]
I was still skeptical, but our goal was to be the Greatest. If the system had issued a quest, I was going to take it seriously.
If nothing else, I was sure that the System was the best mentor I could hope for… Maybe.
The gates of the Calla Lily were wide open. It was the onset of spring when fresh flowers bloomed. Lush green leaves fluttered in the air and the grass-covered gardens on the campus were more vibrant than ever.
The sounds of hurried footsteps merged with the calls of the excited students. The screams of seniors trying to attract students to their clubs filled our ears while a board near the entrance attracted a large crowd.
I looked at the students gathered around the board and sighed, passing them right by.
"Even though we were messaged about our class assignments. I guess students all love the thrill of checking the boards."
[Host, do you WHERE your class is?]
I paused in my tracks.
I knew which. I didn't know where.
Damn it.
***
On the first floor of the school, the first classroom left of the western staircase was assigned to class 1-C.
I stepped into the classroom and gazed around. The shiny linoleum covered the ground while evenly spaced single desks, about forty of them, filled the classroom.
Pinboards were placed on all three walls while a digital whiteboard graced the wall facing the students, in front of it was the desk of the teacher, and below it was a small, wooden podium.
Very few students had entered the class. Most would be busy meeting their old friends, in a way, stepping in this early was a privilege for students with few or no friends.
I looked around at the faces of my future classmates, a few of them gazed my way while some returned to their conversations and some to their phones. To my surprise, a few even had their books in hand and were slaving away.
I walked to the back of the classroom and took the seat next to the windows. After placing my bag down, I glanced at my seat neighbor and switched my gaze outside the window.
It was strange.
Every year before this, I found the start of the school year insufferable. These sights, these places, the curriculum, and the habits of the students that must not have changed for years on end were stifling, asphyxiating.
But not this year.
I couldn't place a finger on it, but it just didn't seem as bland as before.
What had changed?
Had they stripped off the linoleum, or were these desks new?
My mind rushed to the quest that the system had assigned.
Maybe it was not something else, but it was me who had changed.
I took a deep breath and turned to my seat neighbor. A young boy with straight hair and round spectacles.
"Hey!" I called out to him and stretched my hand for a handshake. "Edward Eckart, nice to meet you."