One Week Later
Reader sat in class, his cheek propped up on one hand, his gaze drifting out the window as he tuned out the lesson.
"Alright, class," Ms. Tena said, her voice filled with exaggerated cheer to keep the kids engaged. "If Jane was given 54 apples, and Luke took 26 apples, how many apples does Jane have left?"
Ms. Tena's eyes locked on Reader, though he was oblivious to the scrutiny.
"Reader!" Ms. Tena called sharply, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Yes, Ms. Tena?" Reader replied, sitting upright.
"What is the answer?" she asked, her tone carrying a hint of impatience.
"Twenty-eight apples. Jane has 28 apples left," Reader answered flatly, his voice betraying his boredom.
'This is child's play,' Reader thought as he stifled a yawn.
His eyes flicked back to the semi-transparent panel floating in the air, visible only to him.
'I finally see the problem with my cheat' Reader thought
___________________________
[ Name : Reader Elison ]
[ Abilities Activated: None ]
[ Lives Remaining: 144 ]
[ Life Reset Interval: 7 Days ]
[ Death Tokens: 1 ]
[ Token Generation : 1/7 Days ]
__________________________
'One token a week is too little,' Reader mused.
Beside Reader, Erica, a quiet girl and a perpetually unreadable expression, stared at him intently. Reader's eyes briefly met hers.
'Why is she staring at me? Is there something on my face?' he wondered, shifting uncomfortably.
Lunch Break
The playground buzzed with laughter and shouting as kids ran and played, a large metal fence separating the school's grounds from the outside world. Inside the now-empty classroom, however, Reader and Erica remained.
Reader moved toward the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. "Aren't you going outside too?" he asked, glancing back at Erica.
She looked up from her desk, her expression as neutral as ever. "It's too cold," she replied simply.
The room fell silent, save for the faint hum of chatter and distant games outside.
"Weird kid," Reader muttered under his breath as he turned to leave.
"Aren't you weird too?" Erica shot back, her voice calm but cutting.
Reader froze for a second, caught off guard by her response.
'...That's only because I'm not actually a kid,' he thought, sighing to himself as he pulled the door open.
But the sight that greeted him on the other side wiped away all sense of normalcy.
Standing in the hallway were three men clad in black, their faces concealed by eerie masks.
The first wore a wolf mask, predominantly gray with a stark black nose. The second donned a fox mask, its orange surface gleaming under the fluorescent lights. The third figure, a hulking man with a massive build, had a bear-like mask that covered his entire face.
Reader blinked, momentarily frozen. "Uh… hm—"
Before he could finish speaking, a gloved hand shot forward, pressing a cloth soaked in a sharp, chemical smell over his mouth and nose.
Reader's instincts screamed at him to resist, but his body betrayed him as the fumes took hold. His vision blurred, and his strength ebbed away.
'You've got to be kidding me,' he thought as his knees buckled. His eyelids grew impossibly heavy, and his consciousness slipped away.