"Hey, wake up! Wake up! It's time to rise and shine!" shouted Instructor A. I felt someone shaking my body, and when I opened my eyes, I saw his hands jolting me awake.
"Ugh, baldy, just five more minutes."
"It's Instructor A's instructions, you bastard!"
Ah shit, he's way too loud. Can't even sleep properly. By the way, I keep having those nightmares again.
Ahh, Taiga, I'm really sorry.
"You! Hoon! Look, I lost karma!"
Ah, right. You lose karma whenever you do bad deeds, huh? Serves him right, HAHA. His frustrated expression is just fun to watch.
"Good morning, everyone! I assume you're all awake now, so get changed into your uniforms and go to your respective classrooms!" Instructor A appeared on the TV screen, her energetic self as usual.
Yawnnn. I'm so sleepy, but I'm going anyway since I don't want to get stuck with this baldy. I dressed up and arrived at my classroom. The teacher wasn't here yet, so I decided to catch some sleep. Just as I was about to lay my head down on the desk, I saw my childhood friend.
"S-Sakura? Sorry about yesterda—"
Before I could finish my sentence, she turned her head away from me. Great. Who would talk to a traitor like me, someone who treated her as a meat shield? I can understand, Sakura.
"Good day, everyone." It was our Arts teacher, Barett. He had this explosive hairstyle and liked carrying a book and pens attached to his belt. He's a sporty guy, so almost every boy in our class liked him, but not the girls, since he only befriended the boys. He had the typical delinquent vibe, but I have to admit his artworks were impressive.
"Did you all have good dreams? Hey, boys, fantasizing about your crushes, huh?"
Yeah, he's quite the optimistic type, but I could feel the trembling in his voice.
"Everyone…" Hmm, yeah, I feel like he's about to cry.
"Everything's gonna be alright." Sniffs.
Shit, now he's crying. Almost the entire class was crying along with him.
"What you're going to do right now is grab a paper and a pen. Draw something you don't want to lose."
Since it was a pain in the ass, I just drew whatever came to mind.
I drew a pineapple pizza.
It's because I'm friggin' hungry, man. It's not even my property, but I want to eat something right now since I haven't eaten a single thing since yesterday!
The boring class ended, and finally, it was time for recess. I've been waiting for this moment! I ran to the canteen as fast as I could and set my eyes on my target. It was the timid boy from my class who kept lending me money.
I put on a smile and forced a positive attitude.
"Hey! Can you lend me 100 yen? I'm hungry right now."
"Huh? Food can be bought with Karma points now."
Oh shit, I forgot about that. But well, I can't even afford it since my karma is way too low, right?
"Still, can you just give me a bite of your food?"
"No, just buy your own with your Karma points. It's only 25. What? You can't even afford one?"
Tsk, you'll pay someday, you fat bastard.
As I walked away, I saw a familiar face. Silver hair, tiny build, and glasses—it was Yuzuki, our treasurer.
"Hey, Yuzuki! Can you share some of your food? I'm saving up my Karma."
"Sure. What food do you like? I'll buy you something."
"Really? Sweet! I'd love a pineapple pizza."
She went on her way and returned with a pineapple pizza. I savored every bite.
"Thanks, Yuzuki! You're my savior!"
"Don't worry about it. I'm glad I could help." She adjusted her glasses and continued eating.
We walked back to our classroom together and saw Instructor A standing at the front.
"Both of you! You're late! Go sit at your desks, imbeciles!"
We hurried to our seats. Seems like Instructor A was one of our teachers now.
"Once again, my name is Aurelianthira! But just call me Instructor A for short. Okay, so what we're going to do today is face your classmates! A 1v1, you could say. But first, I'll teach you how to use your Gifts and abilities."
Oh right, my Gift is Art of Trickery, and its skills can only be unlocked through misery.
"Status Window."
[Gift: Art of Trickery]
[Skills:
- Emotional Conductor (Requires 1 Misery to unlock)
- LOCKED (Requires 10 Misery)
- LOCKED (Requires 50 Misery)]
[Misery: 1]
"As you can see, your Gifts require certain stats to unlock. By constant use, the skill will level up, becoming stronger."
My misery is only 1. The way to increase it is by performing mischievous deeds, but that'll lower my karma even more.
"If you all get the gist of your Gifts' abilities, let's proceed to shuffle for the duels. Open your Status Windows to see your opponent."
"Status Window."
[Duel Matched!]
[Name of Opponent: Kaito Mizaki]
Oh shit, it's the mofo who tried to get money from Yuzuki! Looks like things are about to get fun. But I need to unlock my skills first, right? Time to upgrade this Emotional Conductor.
[Skill: Emotional Conductor
Description: Manipulate people's emotions. Warning: Reduces karma as it belongs to "Control" skills.
Skill Levels:
- Joyweaver: Induce happiness, optimism, or euphoria.
- Sorrowmonger: Induce sadness, regret, or despair.
- Wrathkindler: Induce anger or aggression.
- Ecstasy Enchanter: Induce delight or elation.]
Oh, this seems fun! I can't wait to control this mofo.
"Ten minutes left to prepare before the duels begin! One at a time, and you can watch your classmates fight! Sit back and enjoy the show. Oh, and the winner gets 100 Karma!"
The ten minutes felt like hell. I couldn't wait any longer. Sure, 100 Karma wasn't much considering my negative 4,000 Karma, but hey, it's still something.
[First Participants: Hoon Ravi vs. Kaito Mizaki.]
Sweet! I'm first!
[You will be teleported to the allocated space.]
[Rules: Fight for 5 minutes. If the timer runs out, the one with higher HP wins. Alternatively, the duel ends with death, surrender, or mutual agreement for a draw.]
This Kaito guy… he seems more muscular than I thought. Tough match, huh? He reminds me of Taiga with his buzz cut. But no mercy!
[Starting in… 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5…]
Why is it counting so slow? Hurry up already
[4… 3… 2… 1…]
[Duel Start!]