=><=
###A New Discovery
-----------------------------------
<==
If somebody had told you one year ago that you would be attending //Novus Academy of Magic//, the most prestigious magic school in the world, you would probably choke on your own spit.
You were born into a non-magical household just like approximately ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent of the human population. Your mom, your dad, your aunts and uncles, your grandparents and their own grandparents were all considered 'normal' human beings like the vast majority. Magic was once only something you saw in videos, on the news, and in textbooks.
As a decent student, you paid enough attention in advanced biology to know that magic is passed down as a trait just like any other gene.
If //both// your parents are magic users, you will be a magic user as well.
If only //one// of your parents is a magic user, then there is a one-fourth chance you will inherit the gene.
If //neither// of your parents are magic users, then you do //not// have magic.
It used to be simple as that.
[[Continue->Intro.2]]
Yes, you passed out when you discovered that you had magic at the big age of eighteen.
To be fair, you had a big exam the next day so you were up at ungodly hours studying for your calculus exam in your bedroom, when remembered you left your textbook on the kitchen. Worn down by fatigue and a cracking spine, you wished the book would simply appear in your hands.
Suddenly, the book took off from the counter and started flying towards your room as though it was possessed by your wish. It would have been a phenomenal moment had you not panicked and moved your hand like a fool. Thus, there was nothing to block that three kilograms of flying textbook from hitting you //smack// on the head!
And that was how your mother found you, passed out on the floor with a growing bump on your forehead.
[[Continue->Intro.3]]
Your situation was an extreme outlier not just in hereditary odds, but also age.
Usually, magic manifests in children around the age of five, right when they can enter magic kindergartens. Anyone whose magic manifested later then the age of nine is unheard of...and yet, you managed to beat that record by more than //triple// the year count.
Now, not only did you have to worry about single-handedly breaking a fundamental law that had been cemented in textbooks for over a decade; you also needed to reevaluate your life choices!
[[Continue->Intro.3.1]]
(set: $name to (prompt: "What's your name?", "Zero"))
As though sensing your struggle, envelope wrenched itself from your hands mid-air, opens by itself, and pops out a letter. A self-controlling object...no doubt the works of magic itself. Still scarred from the flying textbook, you flinched back.
=><=
----------------
(font: "Brush Script MT")[Dear $name,
We'd like to offer you a spot at Novus Academy of Magic.
Novus Academy of Magic is the 1st ranked college specialized for magic users around the world. Our education provides the foundation necessary for magic users to develop and grow in real world environments.
You will be given a full-ride scholarship, including housing, tuition, food, clothing, medical care, etc. Due to your //unique// circumstances, we will put you in a new specialized program aimed at accelerating your understanding of the magic society as well as fostering your newfound abilities.
Sincerely,
Novus Academy of Magic.]
----------------
<=
[[Continue->Intro.5]]=><=
###A New Beginning
-----------------------------------
<==
Nothing could have prepared you for the sight you behold as you step foot through the entrance.
First of all, the interior is just as impressive as the exterior. Very, //very// high archways, light filtering through stained glass windows, high vaulted ceilings that you don't think anybody could reach. The walls are aligned with lit candles. It's like something you had only seen in movies. A fantasy of the mysterious and grandiose, undisturbed by modern advancement.
Secondly, the books weren't lying when they said magic comes as easily as breathing to trained magic users. No matter where you look, the students around you. Some were levitating several suitcases while floating through the hall. Others were showing off flashier forms of magic such as bursts of fire, colored balls of energy cracking above their palms.
You feel fur brush against your leg. Looking down, you see a couple of foxes scamper past your feet. They race to a wall and transform into humans, full clothing and everything. You briefly overhear their conversation:
"Dude, you really got faster since the last time I saw you."
"You still won, though."
"Mmm, true that. You gonna treat me to ice cream later? You promised~!"
You feel a tap on your shoulder. Turning away from the duo, you come face to face with a girl with expensive looking accessories holding a mirror. "Sorry to bother you, but can I get your opinion real quick?"
"Um...sure?" You answer.
"Do I look better with lavender- ," In a second, her hair color changes to a lavender. "-or auburn?" The next second, her hair changes to auburn. You blink in surprise but quickly compose yourself.
[["The auburn looks nice."->ActI.1.1]]
[["Lavender, of course."->ActI.1.2]]"This looks better?" She points at her current hair.
You nod.
"'Kay, thanks for your opinion!" She leaves and goes to ask somebody else.
You wonder how many types of magic there are. An appearance modifying magic sounds very convenient, though you can't help but think of how many salon jobs would be lost if this were back home.
//Alright...I got here thirty minutes early, so I should probably wait by the door on the far left over there.// You unlock your phone to double-check the text message your future professor had sent you.
Apparently electronics were not commonly used in magic societies, but this year, they had hired a professor decently-versed in non-magical culture just for you. You had exchanged a few greetings through text but nothing much yet.
[[Head over to the door on the far left.->ActI.2]]She changes her hair back to lavender. "This color looks better?"
You nod.
"'Kay, thanks for your opinion!" She leaves and goes to ask somebody else.
You wonder how many types of magic there are. An appearance modifying magic sounds very convenient, though you can't help but think of how many salon jobs would be lost if this were back home.
//Alright...I got here thirty minutes early, so I should probably wait by the door on the far left over there.// You double-check the text message your future professor had sent you.
Apparently electronics were not commonly used in magic societies, but this year, they had hired a professor decently-versed in non-magical culture just for you. You had exchanged a few greetings through text but nothing much yet.
[[Head over to the door on the far left.->ActI.2]]Thankfully, you made your way to the door without any complications. You prop your heavy luggage against the wall and sit down to take a breather...wow, you cannot wait to get to your new dorm room and take a nice nap.
A pair of footsteps catch your atention. A young man with jet black hair, also dragging his luggage by hand, nervously approaches the door. Unlike the other students you've seen so far, he fidgets with a phone in his hand. You stand up and wave. "Hello."
"H-Hi...Excuse me..." The young man motions towards the door, deep grey eyes darting about nervously. "Are you waiting for Professor Venna?
[["Yeah."->ActI.2.1]]
[["Are you?"->ActI.2.2]]He nods in relief. "Oh, good. I was afraid I'd be the only one."
You agree inwardly. "You're a late bloomer, too?"
"Haha, yeah." He nods and shuffles his luggage to the spot next to you. You can tell he's still nervous but perhaps finding a common point eased him up a bit.
"May I ask...um, what's your name?"
"$name. Yours?"
"Ravon."
"Looks like we'll be classmates. I look forward to working with you, Ravon." You smile and offer a handshake. Ravon scrambles to put his phone in his pocket and accepts your handshake.
[["So, how did you discover you had magic?->ActI.2.3]]
[[So, when did you discover you had magic?->ActI.2.4]]He is a little taken aback, but nods sheepishly. "Y-Yeah. I, uh, wasn't planning to come but the school convinced me last minute."
"Ohhh...honestly, same. I mean, I didn't know about all this //magic// stuff until recently. I'm guessing it's the same with you?"
"Haha, yeah." He nods and shuffles his luggage to the spot next to you. You can tell he's still nervous but perhaps finding a common point eased him up a bit.
"May I ask...um, what's your name?"
"$name. Yours?"
"Ravon."
"Looks like we'll be classmates. I look forward to working with you, Ravon." You smile and offer a handshake. Ravon scrambles to put his phone in his pocket and accepts your handshake.
[["So, how did you discover you had magic?->ActI.2.3]]
[[So, when did you discover you had magic?->ActI.2.4]]"Oh, it was nothing big," Ravon brings a hand to the back of his head. A nervous habit of his, you noticed. "Erm, I was in art school and I fell asleep while working on my piece the night before so I didn't finish coloring it. So when the teacher came by, I wished those blank spots had been filled in...and next thing you know, it looked exactly how I wanted. The teacher gave me a full score and moved on. And then my piece went back to looking unfinished."
[["You're an art student? That's so cool!"->ActI.2.5]]
[["So...you basically tricked your teacher?"->ActI.2.6]]"Hmm...just a few months ago," Ravon answers. "I was in my last year of art school. This one time, I fell asleep while working on my piece the night before so I didn't finish coloring it. So when the teacher came by, I wished those blank spots had been filled in...and next thing you know, it looked exactly how I wanted. The teacher gave me a full score and moved on. And then my piece went back to looking unfinished."
[["You're an art student? That's so cool!"->ActI.2.5]]
[["So...you basically tricked your teacher?"->ActI.2.6]]"No, no, I'm not that cool. I just liked to doodle so people started asking if I was planning to go to art school. So I listened to them." He shakes his head with his hands out in front of him. You didn't miss the red creeping up on his neck though.
You tell Ravon about how you discovered your magic ability, making sure to emphasize the loud //smack// when the textbook hit your head. His eyes widened. "Dang...you got it rough."
"That's right, buddy." You jokingly rub your forehead. "Count yourself lucky you didn't end up like me."
Ravon quietly chuckles. You notice that he's getting more comfortable around you and less fidgety, which you're happy about.
[[Continue->ActI.3]]"No, no! I didn't mean to cheat. T-Trust me, I don't know how it happened." He shakes his head with his hands out in front of him. You didn't miss the red creeping up on his neck though.
You can't help but laugh at how flustered he is. "Nah, I'm just joking."
You tell Ravon about how you discovered your magic ability, making sure to emphasize the loud //smack// when the textbook hit your head. His eyes widened. "Dang...you got it rough."
"That's right, buddy." You jokingly rub your forehead. "Count yourself lucky you didn't end up like me."
Ravon quietly chuckles. You notice that he's getting more comfortable around you and less fidgety, which you're happy about.
[[Continue->ActI.3]]"Helloooo~!"
In the midst of your convo, a new figure approaches you. Although you have never seen her before, this person could be none other than Professor Venna. She looks rather young for a professor and carries herself in a very friendly manner while exuding importance.
"You two must be Ravon and $name, yeah?"
Ravon tenses up again and nods meekly. "Yes, I am $name, and this is Ravon," you answer for the both of you.
"Hey, no need to be nervous!" Professor Venna gives a dashing smile. "This class is just going to be the three of us, so we're gonna know each other very well."
She traces a finger in a simple pattern on the door's surface. The pattern glows for a second and the door cracks open.
"That's how we unlock doors here," she explains in response to your confused expression. "You guys have like door codes or keys at your old schools, right?"
[[Continue->ActI.4]]Before you can respond, the professor ushers you in to the room and closes the door. You behold a cozy, dimly lit room decorated with sofas and couches. There are a couple of bookshelves along the walls. Hanging from the ceiling is a large chandelier. Several candles are scattered around the corners. On one side of the wall, there is a display of mirrors. On the other side is an assortment of portraits. You blink and it feels as though they have switched places.
"I managed to put together this place a couple days ago. It used to be someone's dorm, then it became a storage room but the school committee agreed that it might be better if you two spent your first year away from the main dorms so we refurnished it. It can get kinda...overwhelming for first-timers." She shudders. "Ugh, I remember when I first came to those dorms. Literally could //not// sleep for the first week."
"Anyway, this is gonna be your living room for the next year. Your individual rooms are over there," she motions to a couple of smaller doors on the far wall, situated on opposite ends. "So you can go ahead and leave your stuff here. It's totally safe."
You nod and drag your suitcase over to one of the rooms.
[["I'll take the left room."->ActI.4.1]]
[["I'll take the right room."->ActI.4.1]]
[["Ravon, do you wanna choose?"->ActI.4.2]]Ravon nods and heads over to the other room.
You enter your chosen room to find that it was considerably more minimalist than the living room. There is a cozy twin bed, a desk with one lit candle - oh, you're gonna replace that with a lamp later - a closet, and a couple of drawers. You were decently satisfied with the layout because that meant more room to fill with your own belongings.
You drop your suitcase there, already picturing what the room would look like after you've decorated it.
[[Meet back at the living room.->ActI.5]]"Uh, sure...I'll take this one, if that's okay with you." He nudges his head towards the room on the right. You give him a thumbs up and head to the other room.
You enter your chosen room to find that it was considerably more minimalist than the living room. There is a cozy twin bed, a desk with one lit candle - oh, you're gonna replace that with a lamp later - a closet, and a couple of drawers. You were decently satisfied with the layout because that meant more room to fill with your own belongings.
You drop your suitcase there, already picturing what the room would look like after you've decorated it.
[[Meet back at the living room.->ActI.5]]As soon as you meet back up, Professor Venna sits you down.
"Alright~ Let's make ourselves comfy because it's the first day and we're just going to do introductions and go over what to expect this year. I'm assuming the two of you haved talked already, so it's my turn to introduce myself real quick.
"As you already know, I am Professor Venna. My father is a magic user, while my mom is not. I'm the youngest of three children, both of my older siblings are non-magical. Although my family wasn't very fond of magic, I still got to attend K-12 at a magic academy and eventually got accepted here at Novus. I also followed along with subjects that by older siblings were learning at non-magical school. So you could say that I grew up with a taste of both worlds.
She hands you and Ravon each a packet of paper. You read the title...it's a syllabus.
"The first half are just general school rules. You can take your time to look over them later." Professor waves a hand. "Let's flip to page nine, shall we?"
You follow her instructions, briefly skimming through the first nine pages. It's mostly school history, a folded map, several magic-specific pieces of information that you did not know how to decipher //yet//, a list of dos and don'ts, and a whole page on...//combat rules//?
"So, in my class, we will be teaching things a little differently. My first priority is to get your magic abilities to a level where you can compete with the rest of your peers. The second priority will be introducing you to how magic societies function differently from what you're used to. This is going to be a fast-paced class tailored to your individual abilities." She looks at the two of you to make sure you're following along.
[[Nod.->ActI.6]]She continues on. "This year, we're gonna keep you separated from the main student body for the most part. That's not to discourage you from making new friends. In fact, we do encourage you to branch out and get to know more of magic culture, but you will be prohibited from joining any clubs or organizations because your current limited magic abilities means you'll likely get //injured//. It's just like those video games, right? You gotta be a certain level in order to survive in certain regions.
"We scouted you into this school not solely due to your unique situations, but also because we believe you //can// improve fast enough in one year. Otherwise, it would too risky for you. We've also reviewed your previous academic records as well your magic manifestations to create a special training plan." The professor pulls out a clipboard from her bag.
"Alright...Ravon? Your magic manifested in the form of illusions, yes?"
Ravon nods and lets out a barely audible "y-yeah."
"You were a fine arts student, correct?" He nods again.
"Perfect. Your manifestation lines up with your prior experience, which will make it convenient to build on your foundations." She scribbles down some notes. "$name...yours is an interesting case. From the information we got, you have telekinetic magic."
She furrows her brows while scanning the papers. "$name, you weren't in the same room as the textbook you controlled?"
[["I was in a different room."->ActI.7]]"Mm-hm...." The professor nods and jots something down.
You lean back into your seat. //Was there a specific reason for that question?//
"Good, good! I just need to confirm a few things. The committee believes you have telekinetic magic, but I disagree with them. I think you might have something different." She shakes her head. "But! It's just my //personal// speculation as somebody who is familiar both the magical and non-magical perspective. I've been instructed to send you the lesson plan and materials for telekinesis magic so we shall proceed as such."
The professor claps her hands and gets up. "Alright! I will let you guys settle in. Feel free to read the rest of the syllabus and familiarize yourself with the school. And if you have any questions, feel free to send a text over." She waves her phone and groans and she heads out the door, "Took me a while to get a functioning network set up in this crusty old castle.
"Oh, and remember, orientation in the main auditorium is later today! See you two then!"
"See you, Professor Venna," you wave back. The door clicks shut, and you and Ravon are left to your own devices.
What would you like to do?
(set: $chat to false)\
(set: $setup to false)\
(set: $explore to false)\
[[Chat with Ravon.->ActI.7.1]]
[[Go set up your room.->ActI.7.2]]
[[Explore a bit.->ActI.7.3]]"So...how do you feel about school so far?" You ask Ravon.
He sucks in a breath of air through his teeth. "Yeah...I don't know how they're expecting us to learn everything in //one year//. Sounds a bit overkill."
"It sure does." You nod in agreement. You look over the packet, not really reading each word. It'll take a few days to sink in the fact that you're really at a magic academy.
"Hey, $name, I'm gonna go nap in my room. Kind of tired already." Ravon gives a wry smile and heads over to his room.
"No problem, see you later!"
(set: $chat to true)\
[[Continue->ActI.7.4]]You dive right into unpacking your luggage and putting everything where it belongs. School utensils in drawers, self-care materials in the mini bathroom attached to your room, clothes in the closet.
After everything has been put away, you notice a new sheet of paper on your desk...//'Novus Academy Uniform Set'//?
You look at the provided pictures. They are all of the same prestigious private school style, a black, silver, and purple combination with gold accents. The blazers bear the Novus Academy logo on one breast. There are several possible combinations of styles to choose from.
**Customize your uniform! Choose a preference:**
(set: $setup to true)\
[[Slacks->ActI7.2.1]]
[[Shorts->ActI7.2.1]]
[[Skirt->ActI7.2.1]]Holding the map that came with the packet, you go back outside. Fortunately, most of the crowd from before has cleared. Everybody was probably settling in to their individual dorms or getting ready for orientation. Speaking of orientation...
You stop by to check the auditorium. It's no less impressive than you expected. The large stage in the middle and rows of acsending seats could probably rival the Colloseum. There were probably //way// more seats than the number of students attending this school. //Now that would be a pain to navigate.//
Your next stop is the main library, which you had to take several flights of stairs to get to. By the time you arrived, your feet were killing you. If the rumored combat classes and magic training doesn't take you out, the stairs probably will.
//Does telekinesis emcompass levitating oneself? If that's the case, I can't wait to learn it.//
The library itself is ginormous. There's a help desk in front of a large stained glass window, where you imagine the librarian would probably sit. Endless rows and rows of bookshelves ordered by subject, title, year, author, and more. Candle chandeliers hang from the ceiling, which you knew were essential for the mystical old library aesthetic, but you couldn't help being slightly concerned. //It would be bad if any of these books accidentally caught on fire, mhm...//
You decide to visit the cafeteria as your last stop before your energy depletes. The place is as big as you expected, filled with tables and chairs. There are several patios outside which lead to a beautiful view of the lush green forest. The conveyer belts are currently empty but they are sure to be filled with delicacies later on when class officially starts.
(set: $explore to true)\
[[Continue->ActI.7.4]]What would you like to do?
(if: $chat is false)[[[Chat with Ravon.->ActI.7.1]]]
(if: $setup is false)[[[Go set up your room.->ActI.7.2]]]
(if: $explore is false)[[[Explore a bit.->ActI.7.3]]]
(if: $chat is true and $setup is true and $explore is true)[[[Go take a nap.->ActI.8]]]**Now choose a shirt:**
[[Dress shirt->ActI7.2.2]]
[[Frilled blouse->ActI7.2.2]]**Finally, choose a pair of shoes to finish your outfit:**
[[Dress shoes->ActI7.2.3]]
[[Combat boots->ActI7.2.3]]
[[Heels->ActI7.2.3]]You finish checking the options, and fold up the paper to send it later.
[[Continue->ActI.7.4]]You are //so// ready to knock out by the time you return to your suite.
On the way to your room, you notice Ravon's door is closed. He must be asleep.
You head over to your room with a yawn. No thoughts in head, just sleepiness. Perhaps it had not fully settled in the fact that you were at the top ranked magic academy. You knew you were going to face challenges, whether socially or skillwise. Treat it as part of life, magic or no magic.
Not surprisingly, you end up sleeping through the entire orientation.
[[Continue->ActII.1]]=><=
###Another New Discovery
-----------------------------------
<==
A month had passed since you began your journey at Novus.
Throughout that time, you had experienced lots of things you never would have imagined.
[[Everyday, you looked forward to seeing what new dishes would appear on that conveyer belt. Only a magic school could somehow provide every dish from every culture in the world, and you had made it a personal mission to sample all of those dishes at least once.]]
[[You liked watching the sunset from the balcony, especially when the upperclassmen held their spontaneous firework shows from the rooftop. Sometimes, you'd look out at the forests and wonder how much deforestation had been prevented due to the convenience of magic.]]
[[You enjoyed going on strolls in the vast luscious gardens and would sometimes find yourself wandering about in the rose maze, narrowly avoiding magic trapdoors and dead ends. Of course, by now you were smart enough to ask a nearby upperclassman to accompany you after one very close call.]]There was something new to look forward to in the everyday aspects of life.
Now of course, every yin must have a yang. Thus, there was also the not so fun portion of attending a magic academy.
[[This campus had way too many stairs, as you've come to notice. You were not a fan of crawling up and down several flights of staircases, wheezing and panting, only for some student with animal transformation or physical enhancement magic to whiz right past your head.]]
[[By this one month, you had lost count of how many times you stepped foot into the main halls to see a random fight blocking your way. You swore there was a rule called "no fighting in the halls because people have places to go" but apparently nobody followed that.]]
[[Since you didn't share the same classes as the other first-years, people were bound to ask you questions. Now the students here were mostly young adults or late teens, so you trusted that there was a sense of maturity. Thankfully, most people were kind and undrstanding when you told them about your late bloomer situation, but there were a few pricks who looked down on you.]]The view all around was splendid compared to the town you grew up in. There were always new sights to behold.
Now of course, every yin must have a yang. Thus, there was also the not so fun portion of attending a magic academy.
[[This campus had way too many stairs, as you've come to notice. You were not a fan of crawling up and down several flights of staircases, wheezing and panting, only for some student with animal transformation or physical enhancement magic to whiz right past your head.]]
[[By this one month, you had lost count of how many times you stepped foot into the main halls to see a random fight blocking your way. You swore there was a rule called "no fighting in the halls because people have places to go" but apparently nobody followed that.]]
[[Since you didn't share the same classes as the other first-years, people were bound to ask you questions. Now the students here were mostly young adults or late teens, so you trusted that there was a sense of maturity. Thankfully, most people were kind and undrstanding when you told them about your late bloomer situation, but there were a few pricks who looked down on you.]]There were exciting twists and turns in every corner of the campus. Sometimes, on the way to class, you would overhear somebody talking about the neverending snack room down the fifth hall, and that would become the next destination on your explore list.
Now of course, every yin must have a yang. Thus, there was also the not so fun portion of attending a magic academy.
[[This campus had way too many stairs, as you've come to notice. You were not a fan of crawling up and down several flights of staircases, wheezing and panting, only for some student with animal transformation or physical enhancement magic to whiz right past your head.]]
[[By this one month, you had lost count of how many times you stepped foot into the main halls to see a random fight blocking your way. You swore there was a rule called "no fighting in the halls because people have places to go" but apparently nobody followed that.]]
[[Since you didn't share the same classes as the other first-years, people were bound to ask you questions. Now the students here were mostly young adults or late teens, so you trusted that there was a sense of maturity. Thankfully, most people were kind and undrstanding when you told them about your late bloomer situation, but there were a few pricks who looked down on you.]]So, in order to protect yourself, you had to walk the long way around.
Combat was another thing new to you. You knew it was written in the syllabus as literally half of your education, but you surprised nonetheless. That's like if your old school made mixed martial arts training count for fifty percent of your grade. A lot of people would be at a disadvantage.
But here, it seemed that everybody had been trained in combat in some way and was familiar with the etiquette.
Maybe one day, you'll get good enough at telekinesis to join in on one of those sessions.
Speaking of your training...
[[Continue->ActII.2]]It's to be expected that there were always going to be a handful of bad apples in one batch.
You just need to focus on getting good enough at telekinesis that nobody would doubt your background.
Speaking of your training...
[[Continue->ActII.2]]//Can I the school to install some elevators? Even some funky magical lift would be much better than this design...//
Maybe one day, you'll get good enough at telekinesis to beat the staircases.
Speaking of your training...
[[Continue->ActII.2]]Tomorrow is your first monthly assessment and you are in not-so-good shape. Despite reading the textbook thoroughly and following all the guidelines Professor Venna had handed to you, you were //struggling//.
Let's recap your academic journey so far.
You and Ravon attend history of magic and magic theory classes together, since you are both starting from the very beginning. You have been doing well in these two classes, since it's a similar format to what you're used to. History of magic was touched upon only very briefly in your old history class. Here, however, you learned about the evolution of magic, several political parties and their differing views on magic, and all the important buildings that were preserved as magic hotspots til this day.
Magic theory was a whole new category; it dealt with hundreds of magic categories and sub-branches, how genetics determine your manifestation, how to branch your ability into neighboring categories. You learned that your full path identification was designated as 'physical magic - spatial - extrapersonal - telekinesis'. In other words, if you were to branch out and add another skill besides telekinesis, you would chose something in the neighboring 'intrapersonal' category, such as physical self-enhancement.
[[Between the two, you preferred History of Magic just a little more.]]
[[Between the two, you preferred Magic Theory just a little more.]]Although you were doing very well in both classes, you found the history of magic a little more suited to your tastes. After learning the patterns in varying beliefs that lead to conflict and resolution, magic societies really weren't so different from the non-magic world.
Now that just leaves you with //specialized magic training//.
[[Continue->ActII.3]]Although you were doing very well in both classes, you found the study of magic theory a little more suited to your tastes. Magic components, you realized, was much closer to those scientific property graphs that you memorized in chemistry and biology.
Now that just leaves you with //specialized magic training//.
[[Continue->ActII.3]]Since you and Ravon had different manifestations, Professor Venna decided to separate the two of you into one on one sessions. You got the Mondays and Wednesdays while Ravon got the Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Today was a Sunday. Which means you were up for training tomorrow.
//Magic was both a natural talent and a learnt skill//, Professor had said. No matter what your manifestation is, it is up to you to hone it to the best of your ability, or else it is as good as nothing.
And that is why you are currently in the training room, trying to move a creaky old wooden stool from the starting point to marker exactly five feet across the floor.
You've been stuck on this for a whole week now.
At first, you were escatic when you managed to move a pencil exactly five feet. Then, the professor let you upgrade to a shoe, which you barely managed to pass. And then last week, she handed you a wooden stool that she had dug up somewhere from the storage. After a whole hour of scraping the dust and grime off, you were ready to rumble.
[[Continue->ActII.4]]So far you were only able to move that stool about ten inches before it toppled. //Ten inches in one week.// As if this wasn't embarrassing enough for your standards, you wondered if the academy would consider your rescission.
You pick up the stool and place it back at the starting point for the fifty-somethingth time since you began this practice session.
//Alright, if I don't get this in one more try, I'm calling it quits.// You will just have to take the loss for tomorrow's evaluation.
Taking a deep breath, you give it one last shot.
//Step one, locate the object...so far so good....Step two, focus on a point....Step three, identify a path between the destination and the point...and....[[MOVE!->ActII.5]]//**//THUNK!//**
The stool flies several inches off the ground and soars through the air, landing with //thunk// right on the destination!
"WOOOOOO!" Your victory screech sounds like a pterodactyl but you don't even care. "FINALLY, oh my god! Take that, stool!"
Well, you have hope of passing the evaluation now! However, you still need to practice several more times...just to make sure this wasn't a one time success. //Damn, maybe I should've saved this luck for tomorrow.//
[[Walk over and pick up the stool.->ActII.6]]You walk over to pick up the stool, but for some reason...//the stool doesn't budge.//
"Hm?" You give it a few more shakes, but it remains absolutely unmovable. Not even a milimeter of leeway.
[[Panic.]]
[[Don't panic.]]"Ffffff....why does this have to happen now!?" You grab a hold of the seat and try to shake it aggressively...well, you only end up shaking yourself back and forth.
"Guh! Even super glue doesn't work this hard." //What the heck was even going on??//
You kneel down and look at where the bottom of the legs touch the floor. There's no sign of glue, or any adhesive there.
It's just...stuck. Like as though the chair was an extension of the floor.
//No way. How did that even happen?// You give the leg a solid kick as a last minute desperate.
**//CRACK!//**
[[Uh, oh.->ActII.7]]"Well, this is...something."
You kneel down and look at where the bottom of the legs touch the floor. There's no sign of glue, or any adhesive there.
It's just...stuck. Like as though the chair was an extension of the floor.
//No way. How did that even happen?// You give the leg a solid kick just to make sure your eyes weren't fooling you.
**//CRACK!//**
[[Oops.->ActII.7]]You stand there in silence, contemplating what to do with a three legged stool that was still mysterious stuck to the floor, save for the one leg that you had apparently //kicked off//, lying a couple feet away.
[["...I hope my tuiton covers property damage costs."]]
[["Well, it was an old stool."]]"Well, I don't know about that, but there's a way you can fix it!"
You whip your head over to see Professor Venna already standing at the doorway of the training room. "Professor! When did you get here?"
"A while ago. Enough to see your success at finally moving the chair." She smiles. "Let me see the results of your work."
You step aside as she bends down to inspect the stool. "Professor, I don't know how that happened. I didn't put glue or anything, it just stuck to the floor! It won't budge!"
"I know, I know," Professor Venna waves you down. "I'm just checking something."
After a moment, she gets up and beams. "It seems...my speculation was correct!"
[["What speculation?"->ActII.8]]"Tsk, tsk. Don't devalue an object by its age."
You whip your head over to see Professor Venna already standing at the doorway of the training room. "Professor! When did you get here?"
"A while ago. Enough to see your success at finally moving the chair." She smiles. "Let me see the results of your work."
You step aside as she bends down to inspect the stool. "Professor, I don't know how that happened. I didn't put glue or anything, it just stuck to the floor! It won't budge!"
"I know, I know," Professor Venna waves you down. "I'm just checking something."
After a moment, she gets up and beams. "It seems...my speculation was correct!"
[["What speculation?"->ActII.8]]"Remember on the first day when we met, I told you that the committee has marked you as a telekinetic magic user?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Well, I speculated you had a different type of magic. Do you recall?"
"Ohh...I remember you mentioning that but you never clarified what it was."
"$name, have you heard of //matter manipulation//?
[["The manipulation of matter...?"]]
[["I have no idea, professor."]]She chuckles. "No problem. I didn't expect you to be familiar with it.
"You see, so far you have been learning telekinesis. You focus on one object, such as the stool, and move that entire object in a direction you want.
"Now here's the important part. While the telekinesis approach focuses on the object as a unit, spatial manipulation focuses on even more fundamental units.
"To be more precise, it is the manipulation of space all the way to the atomic level. In higher level spatial manipulation, anything made up of physical particles can be controlled. You can move a whole object just like telekinesis, or you can splice the object into tiny pieces, crush it into bits, and then put those particles back together in any form you please.
"In other words, //you can bend physical reality to your will.//"
[[Continue->ActII.9]]She chuckles. "Well...you're not wrong. Let me explain.
"You see, so far you have been learning telekinesis. You focus on one object, such as the stool, and move that entire object in a direction you want.
"Now here's the important part. While the telekinesis approach focuses on the object as a unit, spatial manipulation focuses on even more fundamental units.
"To be more precise, it is the manipulation of space all the way to the atomic level. In higher level spatial manipulation, anything made up of physical particles can be controlled. You can move a whole object just like telekinesis, or you can splice the object into tiny pieces, crush it into bits, and then put those particles back together in any form you please.
"In other words, //you can bend physical reality to your will.//"
[[Continue->ActII.9]]//Bend...reality....to my will....?//
"I also want to add that matter manipulation is an //extremely// rare manifestation and it is //very// difficult to master to the highest degree. That's why it's in the category of advanced manipulation magic. In fact, I don't think there is anybody else in this school with matter manipulation right now. That's probably why the committee pegged you as a telekinesis user, as the signs of manifestation are pretty similar for both.
"But now, I have evidence that you are at //least// a matter manipulater, also known as a //materiokinesis// user.
Professor Venna lets out a light laugh. "$name, when said to make sure the stool legs are within the area, I didn't mean to literally connect the particles of the stool to the floor!"
You're still flabbergasted by the news so your brain short-circuits. "Um...sorry about the leg."
"Again, no worries about it. We'll just have you fix it up later as your midterm exam!"
//Ah...right. No matter how many mind-blowing, life-changing, physics-altering discoveries I make in a day, there will always be exams to worry about.//
[[Continue->ActII.10]]Ever since you started training as a matter manipulator, your progress increased //exponentially//.
Sure, matter manipulation was supposedly more difficult to grasp but your previous knowledge of the sciences has helped you tremendously. No longer were you struggling to do one repetitive task for weeks. You only needed to understand a concept, modify your approach, and //ding!//
[[Continue->ActII.11]]
As a senior in high school, you had been keeping a 4.0 GPA, volunteering at summer camps, and building up that good college application to send to colleges, as do most 'normal' teenagers. So, you were not too fond of this new magic thing because that meant you had one more thing to worry about, and you were already plenty stressed.
Your first mistake was letting your parents know of your newfound abilities.
They took you to a magic-based clinic that nobody even knew existed in the furthest corner of the town until now. The doctor, a lanky man with dark eyebags, took one look at you and exclaimed "Why, you're the first magic-user I have seen in years!"
Next thing you know, your parents told your aunts and uncles, who told their friends and colleagues, who told their friends and colleagues, all of which were orchestrated without your knowledge.
[[Continue->Intro.3.2]]
Not before long, your emails which were once filled with college ads were now being replaced by inquiries from randos and offers from the press. You deleted most of your social media apps, which you rarely used anyway, since notifications wouldn't stop. You couldn't go to school without feeling a couple pairs of eyes on you. The most you could do was lie and tell them it was a bunch of nonsense, just to get them off your back.
All you could think about was how shitty the timing was. It was like the universe was out to sabotage you right before graduation.
Then, on one faithful afternoon after class, you managed to come home to a lawn devoid of reporters for the first time in a while. It seems like your parents had finally gotten your memo and were now assisting you in keeping the gossip //out//.
//Today must be a blessed day,// you thought to yourself. //Perhaps I should send in those college applications before I jinx myself.//
You opened your front door, grabbed the mail from your mailbox on the way, when you noticed an envelope with an interesting seal. You double-checked to make sure that was your address before taking it in and closing the front door.
[[Open the envelope.->Intro.4]]You initially considered burning the letter because magic had not brought a single good experience in your life so far. You did not want anything to do with it. You just wanted to continue what you had been doing with your life and pray that everybody leaves you be.
However, after grueling sessions of self reflection and weighing your possibilities, you eventually decided to open your mind. Based on your circumstances, accepting the offer was the right way to go.
Your life had already changed the moment that textbook clocked you between the eyes. You needed to get your magic under control before anything else happens. Staying among the non-magic population was not going to do you any favors.
Besides, that //full-ride scholarship// was better than anything your other choices of colleges could offer you.
[[Continue->Intro.6]]You were just scared of the unknown.
Life with magic and life without magic were two vasty different dimensions. This is part of the reason why magic users rarely mingle with the non-magical population. To a magic user who has been trained from childhood, magic comes as easily as breathing. It is the means by which they operate, as you have learned in class.
Not to mention this was a //college// you were entering...that means the students there already have over ten years of training under their belts.
[[Continue->Intro.7]]To be fair, you did give it a couple more tries. After the visit to the clinic, you tried to redeem your failed attempt by levitating your old chemistry notebook with your mind.
//A notebook is more malleable and light then a textbook. Should be easier to control.// The next thing you knew, the notebook catapaulted upwards, got caught between the ceiling fan blades, and then pages of painstakenly crafted chemistry notes started raining down in shreds.
Of course, you knew it was immature to let a couple failed experiences tamper with your confidence. Few get things perfect on the first try, or the second, or...however many it takes. The letter did indicate that the academy knew of your background, which was some relief to you. At the very least, you wouldn't be held to the same standards as the other students.
[[Continue->Intro.8]]So here you are, a few months later. Clutching your suitcase, you look up at the high vaulted ceiling and the flying buttresses that seem to go on forever, trying to not get suffocated by the overwhelming grandeur.
For the first time, you could //feel// a place vibrating with magical essence from the very core.
"Hah...here goes nothing."
[[Continue->ActI.1]]You remember the one time Professor Venna had caught you trembling while trying levitate your jacket off that cursed tree branch hanging in front of the library window. The poor garment looked like it was going to split.
//"$name, which particles move more easily? Solid or air?"
"Air!"
"Then start by manipulating the air particles!"//
You managed get your jacket back in one piece.
After you were confident with air manipulation, you moved on to liquid particles. Soon enough, you were sitting in the cafeteria, levitating blobs of orange juice into your mouth while your hands were busy taking notes for the upcoming history exam.
[[Continue->ActII.12]]By the time your midterm exam came by, you were very well prepared.
Professor Venna took one look at the stool, now with all four legs and freed from the confines of the floor. "You can keep it if you want. Midterm souvenir."
"Is that a pass, Professor?"
"Don't make me take it back."
You walk out the room with the stool, feeling weirdly proud.
[[Continue->ActII.12.1]]
In the blink of an eye, you've reached the end of your first year at Novus Magic Academy.
As you and Ravon pack up your belongings for summer, Professor Venna pays you one last visit.
"Ravon, $name, can I have a moment?"
"Coming!" Ravon peeks his head out from his room and drags his suitcase over. You had managed to squeeze everything in with your magic, so you were already seated on the couch ready to go.
[[Continue->ActII.14]]As the school year progressed, your notes became filled with Newton's Laws of Motion, Conservation of Mass and Energy, and many lab reports, many of which could totally pass as AP Physics stuff. If you had shown this to your uncles, they would not guess that you were actually training to be a powerful materiokinetic magic user.
You found it interesting that whereas your notebook resembled a science student's paradise, Ravon's notes looked no different from an art student's portfolio. Sketches of objects, studies of light and shadow, animation frames, and still life drawings covered his pages.
//"She wants me to study how to make realistic illusions." He explained as you flip through his notebook.
"Your illusions are already plenty realistic though. Remember when you spooked me into thinking there was a spider on my hand? God, don't ever do that again."//
Yeah, Ravon turned out to be more of a menace than you ever expected. But he would still bunch up to you the moment a stranger tried to talk to him. It was kind of adorable to watch.
[[Continue->ActII.12.2]]Professor Venna clears her throat and looks the two of you in the eyes.
"I know I've already expressed how proud I am of your growth this year but I seriously cannot emphasize this enough. You two are the most //incredible// students I have ever met. You both started from barely having a grasp of magic, and look at you now!"
You beam with pride and elbow Ravon, who looks away blushing.
"Before you leave for summer break, I want to share with you some advice. You know that you'll be moving in with the main class starting next year, yes?"
[[Continue->ActII.15]]"I'm still going to be around once a week to monitor your progress but I won't be your professor anymore."
She takes a breath. "All your restrictions will be lifted and you'll be able to everything the other students can. I have faith in your abilities, okay? But don't make rash decisions and don't let your guard down. In a magic school, there's bound to be an inbalance do to different abilities. You'll learn how to get around it."
"Whatever you do...please, //please// promise me you won't put yourself in danger." She holds out a pinky for each of you.
[[Pinky promise. ->ActII.16]]You and Ravon complete the pinky promise.
"Oh, and one more thing before I go," she adds. "Beware of certain clubs. Not all clubs are good. That's all. I gotta go catch my ride so see you after break!"
[[Say goodbye to Professor Venna.->ActII.17]]"Bye, professor!" You wave.
"Just //Ms. Venna// is fine!" She waves back as she exits out the door.
Just like that, freshman year at Novus Academy drew to an end. You and Ravon exchanged your farewells before departing for home.
Returning to your non-magical town as a somewhat proficient magic user certainly felt different. After spending nine months in the castle, everything back home felt a little bit....
[[Mundane]]
[[Nostalgic]]
[[Restricting]]This would have sounded absolutely crazy a year ago...but you missed being at school. You missed seeing magic students do magic things around you. You missed the smell of the old library and the flickering of the candles in the halls at midnight when you snuck out to get a snack.
Even when you managed to bag that part-time job at the popular boba shop near your old school, everything was too 'normal' for your liking.
You were starting to understand why magic users stay within magic societies...
[[Year Two->ActIII.1]]Everything around you was the same as you had left it nine months ago, save for a few minor differences.
//You//, however, had changed.
As a now proficient magic user, you can't ever go back to living your life how it was, despite being in the same old environment.
You missed seeing magic students do magic things around you. You missed the smell of the old library and the flickering of the candles in the halls at midnight when you snuck out to get a snack.
Even when you managed to bag that part-time job at the popular boba shop near your old school, it took every bone in your body to //not// use magic in front of the locals.
You were starting to understand why magic users stay within magic societies...
[[Year Two->ActIII.1]]You couldn't use your magic freely in public because you didn't want to scare the locals. Even at home, you tread very carefully, only levitating objects whenever your mom needed help grabbing something from a shelf, or when your dad's tire got stuck.
Even when you managed to bag that part-time job at the popular boba shop near your old school, it took all the resistance in you to //not// use magic in front of the locals.
You were starting to understand why magic users stay within magic societies...
[[Year Two->ActIII.1]]=><=
###Gathering of the Electi
-----------------------------------
<==
You stand in the main hall of the second floor, tapping on your phone. It's the same scene as last year, students overjoyed to be back, some groaning at the thought of essays. The people on the sports teams certainly looked happy though, as you've come to realize they //love// to start magic duels whenever they can.
The magical commotions no longer phase you like it did one year ago. In fact, after three months of summer, you were more than happy to be back in a place where you could freely use your abilities.
//$name, second year student. Sophomore.// You liked the sound of it.
"$name! I am. Here!" A rush of black hair comes running towards you.
"Ravon!" You greet your former dormmate enthusiastically. Even though the two of you kept in contact during summer, it was good to finally see him in person. "How's it been?"
Ravon flings his heavy backpack off and groan. You catch it with magic and gently lower it to the ground. "Been dying to get back here."
"That's crazy, what a coincidence. I felt the same way."
"For real, for real. I met with a couple of art school buds to show them some illusions, because you know, I //thought// they would be interested. But nah, they were like //why bother learning to draw if people like you can cheat,// stuff like that."
You grimaces on his behalf. "Ohhhhh...that doesn't sound like a fun summer."
"Yeah, some people do treat you differently, I guess. How was your summer?"
[["Eh. Kinda boring but not the worst."]]
[["It was alright."]]"It was pretty chill. I got a part-time job at a boba shop, did some catching up with family and a few friends. Can't say I'm not excited to be back, though."
You look outside the balcony. The first years are arriving and probably congregating in the main hall downstairs.
"Hey, let's go check out our new dorm." Ravon nods and follows you.
[[Continue->ActIII.2]]"Not the best but not the worst. I got a part-time job at a boba shop, did some catching up with family and a few friends. I prefer this better, though."
You look outside the balcony. The first years are arriving and probably congregating in the main hall downstairs.
"Hey, let's go check out our new dorm." Ravon nods and follows you.
[[Continue->ActIII.2]]This year, you are put in the second-year dorms in the left wing of the campus. The living room is no longer just you and Ravon, instead you're sharing with several other second-year students. On the bright side, the personal bedroom and bathroom are bigger than what you had before.
Ravon ends up being on the opposite end of the left wing so you two are no longer neighbors. He looked like he was going to melt down, but you assured him that if any of his neighbors cause him trouble, you were going to hunt their asses. Honestly, you weren't even sure if //you// could keep out of trouble.
[[Continue->ActIII.3]]The first several weeks of sophomore year went by pretty smoothly for you. Yes, you did get quite a bit of attention for being one of the two students from //the// special instruction class. At least it was positive attention. "Are you sure you've only learned for one year? You're so good!" Your deskmate, Skyla, had watched with wide eyes on the first day as you demonstrated your materiokinesis with an empty watter bottle and an eraser.
You hoped Ravon was doing well on the other side of campus. Even your classes were separated. You are placed in the afternoon classes while Ravon got the morning classes. You knew how nervous he was about meeting new people, so you couldn't help but worry. Ravon, however, assured you he was doing good, even better than good.
[[Continue->ActIII.4]]Today, Ravon joins you in the cafeteria with a wide smile on his face. You swear you had never seen him beam that radiantly before. "What got you grinning like that, my dude?" You ask over a dinner of numb-spicy Szechuan style noodles.
"Today's club rush, remember?" He excitedly scarfs down bites of noodle.
"Oh." You look down, embarassed that you forgot. //Wait...// "You're gonna go to club rush?"
"Yeah! My friend from careers class, he's part of a club and he invited me to join."
You pause mid-bite and stare at him. You're unsure how to feel about this new information. "Who's this friend?"
"Wait, I didn't tell you about Asher??"
"This is the first time you've mentioned him."
Actually, you wasn't your first time //hearing// about this Asher. On the first day of school, when you first sat down, you heard the students whispering nearby about somebody called Asher. "I heard he's in the second class this year." "Damn, I was hoping I'd be in the same class as him." "Is it too late to transfer?" You didn't pay it too much mind however. You didn't know him, and you probably didn't //need// to know him.
"Trust me, he's a really chill dude. //Super// nice." Ravon continues to praise his new friend. You learn that Asher was the one who reached out to Ravon and told him to come to him if he ever needed help. Apparently, Asher also had a great academic record and was popular ever since the first year, so Ravon was surprised when Asher approached him. They quickly became friends since Asher's easy-going, amicable nature made it easy for Ravon to open up to him.
//Popular nice guy, huh...// You poke at your food, contemplating what you had just heard. Ravon is looking at you expectantly so you should probably say something.
[["I'm glad you're coming out of your shell and making new friends."]]
[["Sounds...interesting...I'm gonna have to meet him myself."]]
[[Don't say anything.]]Ravon peers at your face with wide eyes. "Aww, is $name jealous?" You pull your fist back in a pretend punch, "Hah, you wish, you punk." He pulls back and laughs.
"No, seriously, I'm- ," You swallow an uneasy lump in your throat. "I'm glad you found somebody that you can rely on in class."
"Yeah, same. I was worried at first but-" He stops mid-sentence and suddenly straightens up, looking towards somewhere. His face breaks into a smile of pure joy and he stands up, waving his hand.
"Asher! Over here!"
[[Continue->ActIII.5]]You stay silent, not because you spite him or anything, but because you're not sure what to say. Should you be happy that Ravon is gushing about a new friend, whom he had known for a few weeks, to you, who has known him for a year?
Ravon seems to notice your shift in mood because he shrinks back and avoids eye contact. "S-Sorry if I came on too strong, haha."
Oh, great. Now you feel bad.
Suddenly, Ravon straightens up and looks towards somewhere. His face breaks into a smile of pure joy and he stands up, waving his hand.
"Asher! Over here!"
[[Continue->ActIII.5]]If there was any underlying tone in your words, it completely flew over Ravon's head. "Oh, you will //definitely// like him. I don't think there's anyone who met him that doesn't."
You nod slowly, accepting defeat. Suddenly, Ravon straightens up and looks towards somewhere. His face breaks into a smile of pure joy and he stands up, waving his hand.
"Asher! Over here!"
[[Continue->ActIII.5]]You follow Ravon's gaze and rest your eyes on the person in question.
If there was a textbook definition of //"campus celebrity"//, it would look just like Asher. His platinum blonde hair is styled meticulously like an idol and he wears enough designer accessories to give you a sense of luxury but not overwhelmingly so. He was fairly tall and had piercing magenta eyes. There was no mistaking the celebrity aura exuding from this guy to the point where you would normally feel irritated. But for some reason, as Asher lays his eyes on your table and smiles, you sense not a drop of arrogance.
"Hey, Ravon!" He waves back as he heads over to the two of you. "Oh, and you must be $name! I've heard quite a bit about you. You and Ravon were in the same class last year, yeah?"
//Even his voice sounds soothing...// You look at Ravon, then back at Asher. "Yes, I...//was// Ravon's classmate. It's nice to meet you, too."
Ravon leans over and whispers something to Asher. Asher widens his eyes and nods. "I'm so sorry to cut dinner short but club rush is about to start, so we gotta get over there soon. $name, are you interested in coming with us?"
You hesitate for a bit, so Asher clarifies, "You don't have to if you're not interested. There's also gonna be other clubs that you can check out too, so I figured we can take you there if it's not a hassle."
[[Tell him you're not interested in club rush.->ActIII.5.1]]
[[Tell him you can manage by yourself.->ActIII.5.1]]
[[Accept the offer.->ActIII.5.2]]"Of course, I'd love to accompany the two of you," you accept his offer.
Asher claps his hands while Ravon looks thrilled. "Great! Oop, here, I'll help you clean up your table before we go."
You don't even register Asher manually taking yours and Ravon's empty plates and cups to the cleaning rack. You were //sure// you meant to say something else but your mouth moved before you could blink. Hm.
"Aight, let's go~" Asher leads the way to club rush with you and Ravon following suit.
[[Continue->ActIII.6]]"Of course, I'd love to accompany the two of you," you accept his offer.
Asher claps his hands while Ravon looks thrilled. "Great! Oop, here, I'll help you clean up your table before we go." He quickly takes yours and Ravon's empty plates and cups to the cleaning rack.
"Aight, let's go~" Asher leads the way to club rush with you and Ravon following suit.
[[Continue->ActIII.6]]The club rush takes place in the auditorium, but today, the seats had been removed in order to allow more room for club stands. The display booths are positioned in a spiral formation, starting from the entrance, and twisting all the way to the middle of the stage. Luckily, there aren't that many people right now, so you can follow Asher to his booth without much commotion.
Asher's booth is right in the middle of the stage. The booth itself is situated on top of a fancy platform, with a staircase leading up to it. There are two tables covered with refreshments, flowers, and candles. Silk draperies and golden ornaments adorn the booth. The whole area is decorated to replicate the atmosphere of an exquisite high class party.
With a nod from Asher, Ravon concentrates his magic and soon the illusion of soft lights and sparkles falls upon the area. Finally, several of the club members hang up a large banner that says //"Gathering of the Electi."//
"So, what do you think, $name?" Asher's voice breaks you out of your trance.
"Wow," you reply. "It's so fancy. Are all the booths like this or did you just go all out?"
"Haha, I'm flattered you think so." Asher picks up one of the wine glasses nearby. "Do you know what //gathering of the electi// means?"
[["Yes?"]]
[["Nope."]]"It's the latin word for "elite," am I right?"
"Yup! Thus, the //gathering of the elite// signifies academic excellence. Haha, if it sounds corny to you, please pretend you didn't hear that."
"No worries, I've heard more questionable names. So uh, is this like a club for honor students or something? The //elite// sounds kinda exclusive."
"That's why we chose the latin word //electi// because the more accurate meaning is //the elected//."
"That's...still pretty exclusive."
Asher laughs, swirling his drink in his glass.
"I suppose we do like to get a bit fancy sometimes," he muses. "Do you wanna know what we do?"
You shrug. "Sure, why not?"
"So basically, the club is designed to help students who want to achieve academic excellence. It doesn't matter whether you're //good// at school. Once you're a member of the club, you get resources to new study materials, tutoring, club study sessions, and advice from other members. It's like an exclusive little study group."
"That does sound kind of nice."
"It really is! I wish I coud extend this service way more people but unfortunately, spots are limited for all clubs, so we do have to choose who to let in."
"Ah...I see. So you're...the president?"
"Yeah. I started this club last year because I wanted to create a space where students are comfortable reaching out for help in such a competitive environment. As somebody who previously struggled with academics and social groups, I hope to provide support for those with similar troubles."
You didn't expect that coming from somebody described as academically excellent and popular, but perhaps there was more to Asher than you saw on the surface. He seemed like a pretty decent guy so far. Ravon wasn't kidding when he said it was easy to talk to Asher.
[[Continue->ActIII.8]]"Electi is the latin word for "elite." So the //gathering of the elite// signifies academic excellence. Erm, if it sounds corny to you, please pretend you didn't hear that."
"No worries, I've heard more questionable names. Haha, is this like a club for honor students or something? The //elite// sounds kinda exclusive."
"That's why we chose the latin word //electi// because the more accurate meaning is //the elected//."
"That's...still pretty exclusive."
Asher laughs, swirling his drink in his glass.
"I suppose we do like to get a bit fancy sometimes," he muses. "Do you wanna know what we do?"
You shrug. "Sure, why not?"
"So basically, the club is designed to help students who want to achieve academic excellence. It doesn't matter whether you're //good// at school. Once you're a member of the club, you get resources to new study materials, tutoring, club study sessions, and advice from other members. It's like an exclusive little study group."
"That does sound kind of nice."
"It really is! I wish I coud extend this service way more people but unfortunately, spots are limited for all clubs, so we do have to choose who to let in."
"Ah...I see. So you're...the president?"
"Yeah. I started this club last year because I wanted to create a space where students are comfortable reaching out for help in such a competitive environment. As somebody who previously struggled with academics and social groups, I hope to provide support for those with similar troubles."
You didn't expect that coming from somebody described as academically excellent and popular, but perhaps there was more to Asher than you saw on the surface. He seemed like a pretty decent guy so far. Ravon wasn't kidding when he said it was easy to talk to Asher.
[[Continue->ActIII.8]]You had been so engrossed in conversation with Asher, that you didn't realize the crowd forming around the booth. //Wow...Asher's popularity is no joke.// You back out of the walkway so that you're not accidentally blocking the newcomers. It seems like some of the other clubs have finished setting up too. Perhaps you should go check those out, since you missed out on this opportunity last year.
You wonder if you should ask Ravon if he wants to go with you, like he usually does, but you catch sight of him sitting by Asher's booth. It looks like he's signing some sort of club application form. Your heart sinks a little but you decide not to let it hinder your time.
Which club would you like to check out?
[[Idyllic Dining Garden And Fresh]]
[[Idol Junior Battle Oath League]]
[[Drama Performance Magic Organization]]
[[(I'm ready to leave.)->ActIII.9]]After deciding you've seen enough, it's time to head back. You stop by Asher's booth one last time, hoping to say a quick goodbye to Ravon, but he is nowhere to be found. Ah, well.
It's always been just you and Ravon for the past year. You both lived in the same space, took the same classes, and bonded over similar circumstances. You couldn't help feeling a bit...selfish when it came to your friendship. Especially, with how timid Ravon was, you were the only person he gravivated towards. But perhaps, it really was time to accept that you weren't the only person he had anyore. He had other pillars of support now that he was given the opportunity to branch out. It was a good thing. You should be happy for him.
[[Continue->ActIII.10]]The drama club's booth is style like a stage. There are several backdrops depicting various scenes such as ancient castles, battles of armies, and mythical creatures. A rack with ancient props such as magic wands, which is what people used in older days before such tools were no longer necessary. The costumes were adorned with fabrics flowing with magic in the literal sense.
"Welcome to the theatre!" A booth manager walks over, wearing the costume of an ancient scribe. Oh, you've definitely seen that in the history books. "Are you interested in the artistic expression of the soul? Or perhaps, you love to delve into anguish and despair? Or are you more of a romance connoisseur?"
You let out a chuckle. "I'm cool with anything! I always appreciate a good work of art." In fact, you knew somebody who would be more suited for artsy stuff, but alas...
"Perfect!" The manager hands you a flyer. "You're invited to our monthly shows. Free of admission!"
You accept the flyer with a thanks. Perhaps you can spare some time to watch a show or two.
[[Keep visiting clubs->ActIII.8]]
[[I'm ready to leave.->ActIII.9]]The //Idyllic Dining Garden And Fresh// club booth looks like a cozy cafe with dish samples spread around the table. Small sandwiches, pastries, and cakes.
"Feel free to take some!" One of the managers waves you over and motions to the spread. You taste a sample of your choice and your eyes widen. It's like nothing you've ever tasted before, in a good way! You try a few more samples, each no less impressive than the other.
"Mmm! This is good! Did you make it?"
The manager looks pleased at your compliment. "//Of course// it better taste hella bomb! In this club, we research ways to create original recipes that are enhanced with magic-grown ingredients. Feel free to stop by our cafe on campus anytime!"
You snap a quick picture of the address on the poster. Perhaps you will visit when you need a nice snack.
[[Keep visiting clubs->ActIII.8]]
[[I'm ready to leave.->ActIII.9]]You enter what looks like a gaming booth, except it seems to be fully operated by magic instead of electronics. A couple of students are playing cards in the middle, you notice that the images on the cards change every time somebody lays one down.
"Want to try some games right now? We designed them ourselves." A booth manager approaches you and motions to the surrounding games.
"Ah, I'm just stopping by today. Not very good at games, I'll end up being a drag. These all look spendid, by the way."
"No worries! You're always welcome to attend our weekly gaming sessions." The manager hands you a flyer, which looks like a game night schedule invite, which you accept. Maybe you'll attend some of these when you have time.
[[Keep visiting clubs->ActIII.8]]
[[I'm ready to leave.->ActIII.9]]It had been a whole month now.
The last time you saw him in person was one month ago at club rush. Even though he hasn't ghosted you yet, his text message replies were getting less and less frequent. Whenever you asked to hang out, he would always replay the same way. ("Sorry, $name! I have club stuff to do that day. Maybe some other time? ::pleading face emoji::") Whenever you asked how his day was, it was the same story. ("It was good! I've been doing stuff for the club. It's been helping me a lot.")
For some reason, when you asked him about exactly //what// he was doing in the club that made him so happy, he would conveniently ghost you, then follow up with a "omg srry, i was busy i didn't see" or something along the likes.
Sometimes, you felt like the bad guy for intruding. So you decided to give him space and wait.
[[Continue->ActIII.11]]The next time you see Ravon is in the cafeteria.
You've barely been accustomed to eating on your own or occasionally with a couple of your own classmates such as your deskmate Skyla, that your eyes zone in when you see the familiar mop of black hair and half-hidden grey eyes.
And of course, Asher is right next to him. There are a couple other students at their table too, presumably club members as well. Asher seems to be leading the conversation, as all the attention is on him. The other students eyes are all focused on him, barely touching their food.
Now that you take a longer look at Ravon, doesn't he look a little...drained...?
Normally, you'd chalk it up to general stress as expected when you're in school, but something looked a bit off. Especially with how openly he spoke about his love for the club and its activities, //this// was not what you were expecting.
Hmm...maybe you were just overthinking it. Ravon is capable of handling himself. As you quietly finish your food, you wonder if you should send Ravon a quick greeting before leaving since you rarely get to see him now. However, his undivided attention still seems to be on Asher, so you let him be.
[[Continue->ActIII.12]]A few more months pass. You don't see Ravon again. Even his text messages are dwindling even further. You look at your phone. It has been two weeks since you left a question checking up on him. No reply.
You managed to catch some of his classmates to inquire about his whereabouts, but the reply was always the same. "You're looking for Ravon? I saw him leave with Asher."
Maybe it's time to move on and grow your own circles.
You were already pretty chill with your new dormmates. You had your own game nights and activities in the dorm living room. Turns out one of your dormmates was part of the game club, so she would bring prototypes to let you test play. Another dormmate had a whole supply old cassettte players that he apparently won at an auction for...non-magic //artifacts//? Anyway, you'd bring your Spotify playlist and the two of you would join forces to DJ whenever somebody threw a dorm party.
Class was a good place to start too. Despite coming from special instruction in the previous year, you had no trouble keeping up with the second-year material. Well, //almost// all of it. Combat class was...hm. It's not that you lacked the magical ability, it was just a matter of using it efficiently without tripping yourself over. Nonetheless, your classmates were quite understanding of you and willing to help you with anything you needed, as long as you let them play games on your phone!
[[Continue->ActIII.13]]Today, you keep your promise to introduce Skyla to a well known multiplayer video game that blew up a few years ago. It's about a group of players whose goal is to find an imposter among them while the imposter kills the rest without getting caught.
"Sheesh, I can't even last a minute without getting killed." She grumbles as her character gets eliminated by the imposter for the fifth time.
"You gotta move faster," you watch the game over her shoulder. She's now furiously typing in the chat. Well, as furiously as she can type, since most magic users were not as well versed in technology but that sure didn't stop her from spamming.
"Hey, $name, what if I get to be the imposter next time? Think I'd do better?" She looks back at you as the game finishes with another loss. You shrug. "Dunno. Wanna bet?"
And coincidentally, Skyla gets assigned the imposter in the following game. Turns out she does make a decent imposter, taking down the other players although not so gracefully. But at least it gets the job done. Soon, the group was down to two. "You owe me a drink from the cafe if I win, okay?" she shoots you a look. "Fine, fine. You better not lose, alright?" You motion her back to the game.
Suddenly, the game is interrupted by a notification.
Beep...beep....Incoming phone call. //Ravon.//
[[Continue->ActIII.14]]You stare shocked for a moment. Ravon...? He doesn't like to do phone calls. But all of a sudden, after being gone for months...
"$name? What's this?" Skyla looks up at you expectantly.
"Uhh. Sorry, I have to go." You grab the phone and rush out of the room. Once you've found a private spot, you accept the phone call and hold the speaker to your ear.
[[Continue->ActIII.15]]Your face pales, your throat goes dry.
It's Ravon's voice, no doubt. You've heard it many times. Sometimes it's timid, sometimes mellow, sometimes chipper, rarely does he ever raise his voice.
But what you were hearing right now is none other than [[desperation.->ActIII.16]]**//This is a cry for help.//**
You try to control your breath so that you could hear Ravon as clearly as you can. You try to ignore the footsteps were getting louder in the background, a different male voice was shouting something indiscernable. You here the sound of a door opening and the noise absolutely overwhelms you for a second, so much that the ringing in your ears penetrates your brain.
Then, Ravon goes silent. So does the voice in the [[background.->ActIII.17]]**//CRACK!// **
A sickening crack that you could feel deep in your eardrums. You flinch, unable to tear your ear away from the phone. You hear static for one second.
Then, pure silence.
[[The call has ended.->ActIII.18]]You had never run so fast in your life.
Two flights of stairs up, take the left turn, go to the hall on the left....//or was it right?// Go far enough until you can't see the entrance. Then, look for a portrait next to a bookcase. Move the bookcase until you see the blank wall behind it.
Even without prompting, you know this is one of those secret passages hidden with a spell, as you've learned in class. The spell is activated with a keyword.
//Keep calm, $name.// You take deep breaths as you try to decipher the passcode. Based on what Ravon had mentioned, it should be four runes long.
[[ᛚᛗᚨᛟ->Wrong]]
[[ᚠᚢᚲᚲ->Wrong]]
[[ᚷᛟᛏᛖ->ActIII.19]]
[[ᛊᚺᛁᛏ->Wrong]]The wall dissipates away to reveal a hidden staircase that leads down into the dark. It's the typical scene that you've seen in movies where things do //not// end up good, but now you understood why people make decisions the way they do. You don't care to think what lies ahead, all you feel is the adrenaline rushing through your body.
You turn on the flashlight button and begin your descent. Your phone battery is at fifty percent. Much of it had been used up earlier when you were playing games with Skyla.
Eventually, the ground levels flat and you find yourself in yet another corridor with doors on both sides. Mini chandeliers hang from the high ceiling. The walls look a little too pristine for a typical underground warehouse. Similar to the display at club rush, sparkling white surfaces lined with gleaming gold ornamentation and framed artworks. You notice little labels on the doors as you walk past them. Meeting room number one....main lounge...study room number three...//No doubt about it. This must be Ravon's club.//
You suppress the urge to punch a few dents into one of these walls.
At the end of the corridor is a large door decorated with badges and ribbons. The label reads "President's Office."
[[Continue->ActIII.20]]//ZAP!//
A burst of pain flows through your nerves. So this was one of these punishment locks that torture you if you use the wrong passcode. They should've been outlawed a while back.
Of course, //that// fucking club would pull something like this.
[[Try Again->ActIII.18]]You put your ear to each of the doors, trying to hear any sign of Ravon. It was getting strange. There was no sign of any tussle, everything seemed to be in place. You hope you aren't too late...
The president's office at the end is the last door you get to. You press your ear against the wall, hoping to pick up any hint...
"...really caused me a headache there. And I thought I had handled you pretty well up until now," followed by a sigh.
You freeze. There's somebody in there.
"My apologies, sir." //Ravon's voice.// "It won't happen again."
"Mm, I sure hope not. It's a shame. You've got such a timid personality and a useful magic ability. I thought it would be a piece of cake for a mind controller of my calibre." Another pause and followed by a chuckle. "Really did not expect you'd be the first to try shit behind my back...
"...It's my fault. I underestimated your will. Been too lenient you. Do you agree, Ravon? Do you think I should crank up my magic?"
"Yes, sir."
"Ah...you were so, //so// happy to sign that waiver. Did you forget what you signed to me?"
"Never, sir."
"Then, you should understand that despite being granted an official position, your personal opinion is still below that of the president's?"
"Yes, sir."
"That it is part of your duty to carry out the president's orders on behalf of the club?"
"Yes, sir."
"//Look at me when I'm talking to you.//"
"..."
Asher lets out an exhale. "Hah...fucking annoying~ Now your friend thinks you're being held hostage or something. Hmm...how about this? Since I'm generous, I'll give you exactly one day to find $name and explain that it was an accident." He grumbles under his breath. "I //swear// if that fucker gets involved, I might have to rough you up a little more, don't you agree?"
"...yes, sir."
"Good. Now don't forget, tomorrow is fund collection day. A few of the first-years have been acting up. Now, you're perfectly aware that if we don't meet the set goal for this month, you'll have to make it up yourself. Make sure you get that money from them, understand?"
"Understood, sir."
A rustling of papers and the sound of a chair being moved. You quickly detach yourself fom the door and duck behind a cabinet just as the door opens.
Ravon walks out, carrying the broken pieces of what used to be his phone. He doesn't seem to notice you.
As soon as you can no longer hear his footsteps, you run.
[[Continue->ActIV.1]]You remember back then when your impression of Ravon was the typical quiet, timid, artistic nerd who always doodled at the back of the class. Your impression still hasn't changed much, at least in public, but Ravon eventually got around to showing you new sides of him as you two got closer.
It's interesting how quickly you can bond over simple things like shows, movies and books. You found out that Ravon was behind the identity of one of the semi-famous artists that you followed on social media. Now you know why he had gone on hiatus several months before school.
Still, that didn't change the fact that he was very passionate about his hobbies in real life. You remember when you made an off-handed comment regarding a the plot of a popular show, at like //one o-clock// in the morning. Ravon had heard your half-asleep comment from across the living room, and //oh, boy// did he come out with receipts. Rolling out of bed with messy hair and large glasses barely hanging off his nose, he lectured you from the significance of each of the characters to the artistic expression and visual appeal for three hours straight until you were subconsciously converted into a fan.
You weren't sure whether to be in awe or terrified of his dedication.
[[Continue->ActII.12.3]]=><=
###The Truth Uncovered
-----------------------------------
<==
You've had many sleepless nights before. Unfinished assignments, combat evaluations, field study, those were just some of the causes. None of those compared to how you felt right now, shaking with guilt and anger.
Everything made sense now, yet it felt like it should have been obvious from the start. From the way Ravon talked about Asher, the constant excuses he made, to the way not a single soul questioned the club's authority when there was clearly a breach of boundaries, you had a gut instinct something was fishy but yet you've been constantly gaslighted into thinking everything was okay.
Part of you wishes you had stepped in at the very least. Even with the very slim chance of. But at that moment when you saw Ravon, you were shocked still, unable to think. Perhaps you would have made things worse. The last thing you ever wanted was for Ravon to suffer for //your// actions.
[[Continue->ActIV.2]]Once you stepped into the middle of campus, however, Ravon would turn into a complete scaredy cat.
And no, you weren't talking about the one incident where the two of you got too close to a couple of dueling upperclassmen, and then a shot got misfired and landed right on Ravon, who just happened to be closer. Ms. Venna's warnings flashed through your head as quickly as Ravon's life flashed before his eyes. Next thing you knew, Ravon had a pair of fluffy black cat ears perched on top of his head!
"Dude, you should be thankful that wasn't a dangerous spell," you tried to console him.
"I'd rather be in the infirmary than...whatever this is!" he cries, attempting to hide behind you. Instead, he only drew more attention.
You spent the next three hours having to protect a cat-eared Ravon from prying eyes while he looked like he was going through the worst experience of his life. Alright, maybe that was a scaredy cat moment, both figuratively and literally.
[[Continue->ActII.12.4]]Then one day, you come across the raven-haired man passed out on the private training room ground.
You rush over check if he was breathing, which he thankfully was. He didn't sport any injuries either, which means he probably fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. A large painting canvas had fallen face down near him. You pick it up, relieved that it was dry enough not to leave any paint marks on the floor.
As you place the painting back onto the easel, you realize two things. One, there are no paint tubes or paint brushes nearby. No pallete, no reference images, no still life, nothing. The easel is completely clean of paint, too.
Two, the scene depicted on the canvas is of your shared living room. The lighting of the room, the placement of sofas and couches, the bookshelves now filled with your personal belongings are all too familiar to you. Most interesting is the figure on the couch, looking at the viewer with a genuine smile, as though the viewer is right there in the room laughing along. You look closer at the subject's face and realization hits you.
The entire canvas was an illusion created from Ravon's own memory.
You vividly remember the scene from the night Ravon rambled for three hours straight about his favorite characters from his beloved show. In his eyes, you were smiling and laughing as you listened to him talk about his special interests that he held so close to his heart.
It must have meant a lot to him, to have somebody he could freely talk to.
//You did well, Ravon,// you whisper to the sleeping boy. He must have spent the last of his magical energy on the piece.
[[Carry him back to the dorm->ActII.12.5]]
[[Levitate him back to the dorm->Actii.12.6]]You hook an arm around his back and another under his knees to scoop him up into a bridal carry. The distance between the training room and your shared dorm wasn't too far, so you could hold out for long enough without dropping him.
Once you're in your dorm, you place Ravon on a sofa and cover him with a light blanket. As you turn to leave, you hear him murmur, "$name?"
"Yes?" You reply.
His eyes open just enough of a sliver to look at you. "Thanks."
Your smile gives all the reassurance that he needs. He closes his eyes and lets sleep take over.
You never admit this out loud, but the bond between the two of you had definitely grown closer since that day.
[[Continue->ActII.13]]You carefully concentrate your magic to levitate him into a comfortable lying position midair. The distance between the training room and your shared dorm wasn't too far, so you could hold out for long enough without dropping him or kostling him awake.
Once you're in your dorm, you lower Ravon on a sofa and cover him with a light blanket. As you turn to leave, you hear him murmur, "$name?"
"Yes?" You reply.
His eyes open just enough of a sliver to look at you. "Thanks."
Your smile gives all the reassurance that he needs. He closes his eyes and lets sleep take over.
You never admit this out loud, but the bond between the two of you had definitely grown closer since that day.
[[Continue->ActII.13]]You've been pacing around the campus ever since running from that hidden room. A year and a half of living here has made it like a second home to you, yet you had never felt such an uncomfortable atmosphere like down there.
Whilst wandering in stress, you find yourself near the library. It is dark and dingy at nighttime, the only source of light are the candles flickering and the moonlight seeping through the glass window. Right now it's off hours, so there is nobody working. That means you won't be allowed to check out any books, but that's okay. You had other plans.
You turn on your phone flashlight in order to see the directions on the aisles. //30% battery remaining...//
The plaques on the aisles are labeled by alphabetical order. You decide to break down your search into several sections to make it easier.
Where do you search first?
[[Search aisles A-M]]
[[Search aisles N-Z]]Sensing you are on the right track, you break down your search into smaller chunks.
[[Search aisles A-G]]
[[Search aisles H-M]]The subject you are looking for is nowhere to be found.
[[Back->ActIV.2]]The subject you are looking for is nowhere to be found.
[[Back->ActIV.2]]You're getting closer to your destination. Just a few more searches...
[[Search aisles H-J]]
[[Search aisles K-M]]The subject you are looking for is nowhere to be found.
[[Back->ActIV.2]]Alright, this is the last search. You can do it...
[[Search aisle K]]
[[Search aisle L]]
[[Search aisle M->ActIV.3]]The subject you are looking for is nowhere to be found.
[[Back->ActIV.2]]The subject you are looking for is nowhere to be found.
[[Back->ActIV.2]]//'M'....'M'....there it is!// You rush over to the section labeled "MIND CONTROL." There are so many books covering a span of mind control topics, most of which are textbooks intended for mind controllers or those who are looking to branch into that field of magic. You can't help but grimace. The only mind controller you know has been using his magic to abuse his authority, and it is hard to think anything good of that field.
Finally, you stumble open a book called "The Scientific Workings of Mind Control and How to Counter It." You open the book and scan the table of contents. Perfect. Quickly eyeing the surroundings, you grab a candle and place it next to you. Better to save your phone battery in case of an emergency. Last year, you thought the choice of candles in a library was just a fire hazard waiting to occur, but now you take that back. You huddle up against one of the bookshelves and read.
[[Continue->ActIV.4]]You have no idea how long has passed since you were reading in a dark aisle of a library at night. It could be dawn for all you know.
You learned a couple important things from the book. Firstly, mind control alters the chemicals in ones brain. Most forms of mind control give the target a false rush of dopamine. You learned back in high school that dopamine is the chemical that provides a sense of reward, however it can get addicting. Mind controllers take advantage of that addiction by increasing the false dopamine reward everytime their target follows their orders, no matter how small the task is. Through conditioning, the target becomes psychologically bound to their mind controller and are addicted to following their orders. Of course, there are probably some other magical factors at play but it follows the same principle.
Secondly, there is an antidote that can temporarily break someone out of the bond. It was not sold in any of the campus stores, but the ingredients could be found in several places. It was a long shopping list and you'd have to travel around the campus quite a bit, so you write everything down on a spare sheet of paper. Based on your knowledge of the campus, it would take at least several hours. Your goal was to finish this antidote before the next dinner.
And by that time, you will be ready to commence the first step of your plan.
[[Continue->ActIV.5]]
(set: $lavender to false)\
(set: $willow to false)\
(set: $amethyst to false)\
(set: $claw to false)\
(set: $egg to false)\
(set: $bush to false)\
(set: $forest to false)\
(set: $saw to false)\
**Ingredients Needed:**
* (if: $lavender is false)[Lavender] (else:)[~~Lavender~~]
* (if: $willow is false)[Willow Bark] (else:)[~~Willow Bark~~]
* (if: $amethyst is false)[Amethyst] (else:)[~~Amethyst~~]
* (if: $claw is false)[Buried Claw] (else:)[~~Buried Claw~~]
* (if: $egg is false)[Giant Eagle Egg] (else:)[~~Giant Eagle Egg~~]
* (if: $bush is false)[Dried Bush] (else:)[~~Dried Bush~~]
**Locations:**
[[Mystery Maze in the Gardens]]
[[Dark Forest Behind The Castle]]
[[Little School Store]]
(if: $lavender is true and $willow is true and $amethyst is true and $claw is true and $egg is true and $bush is true)[[[Ingredients Secured!->ActIV.6]]]You start at the beginning of the maze and head through the entrance. Ahead, the passage splits into a path towards the [[left]], but you can also choose to continue [[forward]].
[[Back->ActIV.5]]You've never really been in this part of campus before. Underclassmen were usually advised not to go there. Even upperclassmen tend to go in groups. It wasn't even dawn yet, the moon was the only source of light peeking through the thick leaves. A cold wind blows past you. Maybe you should've brought more layers.
As you venture deeper, you come across a cave. It looks dark and hollow, no sign of life from outside. Should you go in there to look for ingredients?
[[Enter the cave.]]
[[Continue on the path.]]
[[Back->ActIV.5]]You enter the school store, which is located in the back on campus. You've visited here a few times for projects, since this place offers good potion ingredients at a decent price. There are also a few premade potions and medicines, but you weren't here for any of those.
"Hello, do you sell any of these ingredients?" You go to the cashier, who does not want to be on the night shift, and hold up the ingredients list.
The cashier peers at the list. "Mm...we only have two of those ingredients. **Dried bush** and **buried claw**." She goes to the back and brings out two jars, one containing the dried bush, and the other filled with dirt. "The claw's buried in here," she motions with the dirt filled jaw.
"Thank you very much," you take the jars and hand over the money.
(set: $bush to true)\
(set: $claw to true)\
[[Back->ActIV.5]]You reach a dead end.
[[Back->Mystery Maze in the Gardens]]As you continue onwards, the path splits [[left->left2]] and [[right]].
[[Back->Mystery Maze in the Gardens]]Here, you come across a **bed of lavender**. You pull a few lavender stalks and put them in your bag.
(set: $lavender to true)\
There is still a path [[forward->forward2]] up ahead, should you continue?
[[Back->forward]]You come across two pathways that are both guarded by a thin teleportation shield, invisible to the untrained eye. Thankfully, you learned about this in class recently! When you walk into it, the teleportation shield will teleport you to another area. Should you take the [[left]] one or the [[right->Egg]] one?You come across a giant eagle! Looks like the eagle is guarding something but you can't quick see what it is. The bird screeches loudly, threatening to wake up the whole school.
[[Fight]] or go [[back->Mystery Maze in the Gardens]]?You distract the eagle by plucking several berries from a nearby bush and levitating it around the bird. The eagle flaps around, trying to eat the berries, while you sneak past the hedge.
[[Continue->Egg]]You find a **giant eagle egg**, which is part of your ingredient list! That egg is a tad heavy and large to be lugging around...Hopefully, it will only be for a while.
(set: $egg to true)
[[Back->Mystery Maze in the Gardens]]You enter the cave, holding your candle in front. It's dark and dry with no sign of life. The walls close in as you venture deeper down. The entrance disappears from view and you are on your own with your candle. You hope it doesn't get snuffed out...
After a minute or two of careful treading, the cave opens up to a larger enclosure. It looks wondrous, like something out a fairytale! Colorful gemstones glimmer on the walls, minerals hanging from the ceilings like icycles. Shiny pieces strewn all over the rugged ground next to your feet.
In a corner, you find a glint of purple amethyst, one of the key ingredients for the antidote. You debate on how to break off a small piece, since that's all you need...
[[Use force.]]
[[Use magic.]]
[[Back->Dark Forest Behind The Castle]]
(if: $saw is true)[ [[Use saw.]] ]You decide to pass the cave for now and continue venturing into the forest. A few rustles sound from the bushes, the towering trees wave their branches you pass them. Black crows stop by to perch on branches, watching you. You can't tell if the howling in the distance is real....or if it's just your lack of sleep.
Eventually, you come across a clearing. In the middle is a large willow tree. An old saw lies near it. Looking closer, there are several places in the bark that have been cut off cleanly. Looks like you aren't the only one who's been here to collect ingredients.
Feeling confident, you take the saw and cut off a piece of **willow bark**. The saw might be useful too so you hold onto it as you continue your search in the forest.
(set: $willow to true)
(set: $saw to true)\
[[Back->Dark Forest Behind The Castle]]You attempt to knock off a chunk using your hands, feet, and other pieces of rock lying around, but it's too solid. Continuing will only hurt your hands and feet.
[[Back->Enter the cave.]]You attempt to take out a chunk using magic, but the mineral proves too small and hard since all the solid particles are so condensed. You can only manage to get a tiny crack. Hah...seems like you need to practice more. You could chose to continue using magic, but it would drain you for the rest of the trip. Perhaps you should save your energy.
[[Back->Enter the cave.]]Using the saw, you cut off a good chunk of **amethyst** and secure it in your bag.
Then, you make your way out of the cave and return the saw back next to the willow tree where you found it.
(set: $amethyst to true)
[[Back->Dark Forest Behind The Castle]]By the time to get back to your room, it is already dawn. And you have not had a lick of sleep.
Still, you force yourself to keep your eyes open. You can't sleep in peace anyway, not while Ravon was still under Asher's control.
It takes approximately three hours to prepare and mix up all the ingredients in the pot which you had borrowed from the lab room. Then, you needed to wait six hours for the antidote to fully form. So you set your alarm clock to six hours and pass out on bed, hoping you don't miss your alarm like you did at freshman year orientation.
That would surely be a regretful experience.
[[Continue->ActIV.7]]//Ringggg, ringgggg!//
Class has been dismissed for the day. You pack your things, head out of the classroom, and check your phone. A few hours left.
The antidote is contained in a small vial, which you have secured in your blazer pocket. It turned out to be a gas that you could open under the target's nose so that they could inhale the fumes. However, one vial can only be used once, so you needed to time your plan perfectly.
Based on the time, Ravon should be looking for you right now. Asher had given him exactly one day, twenty-four hours, to find you and say his stuff. You know that Ravon cannot disobey those orders and there are only a few hours left.
[[Continue->ActIV.8]]As expected, Ravon shows up outside your classroom, looking for you. He is wearing one of the fancier frilled uniforms that cover his neck and arms, complete with white gloves. You can probably guess why. in addition it looks sickenly close to the style of uniform that Asher wears...
You give him a wave and he walks over to you almost mechanically.
You catch a glimpse of his eyes...oh. You thought he looked drained several months ago, but it was more obvious up close. His eyelids barely staying open, pupils unfocused. No sign of the spark of emotion he used to have whenever he saw you.
"$name, I want to clear up the misunderstanding from yesterday."
You nod and hold up your hand to pause him. "Let's bring this somewhere else."
He hesitates for a moment then nods. The two of you go to one of your old training rooms from year one. You survey the room and the surroundings to make sure nobody could spot you. Thankfully, not many people around as it's a location that only the two of you share. The sight of the room brings back memories that make your heart ache a bit.
After beckoning Ravon in, you lock the door. His eyes flicker slightly, showing just a bit of confusion. If you hadn't known his circumstances, you would be crying and bombarding him with questions. Here, you simply nod for him to continue.
"$name, I want to clear up the misunderstanding from yesterday," he starts by repeating. Noticing your lack of reaction, he continues. "The phone call was an accident. I was actually not in danger, and I had called you under wrong assumption that I was. As you can see, I am completely unharmed. I promise not to trouble you again. Will you to accept my apology and put this incident behind us?"
You had never heard a more scripted speech that made your blood boil. Your hand tightens on the vial in your pocket, fingertip circling the cap.
"I do not accept."
Ravon stays quiet for a bit. Behind his eyes, you can now see a little bit of desperation. This must not have been part of the plan. He opens his mouth again to another attempt but you beat him to it.
"Because you are not the one who should be apologizing."
With a swift motion, you pull the vial out of your pocket, pop the cap off, and thrust it right under Ravon's nostrils. He staggers back, but you keep the vial right in its place with your magic. You can see the fumes emptying from the vial because its color changes from purple back to clear. At this point, he had breathed in a good amount.
Once the vial looks completely clear, you cap it and put in back in your pocket. Then, you rush over to Ravon, who is holding his head while trying not to topple over. You look around the room...The stool. The same stool you had broken and fixed last year, taken back to your room, then returned before leaving for summer. You bring the stool over to Ravon and guide him to take a seat while keeping a hand on his back to steady him.
After a few minutes, he steadies himself and looks up at you with familiar grey eyes. You step back to give him some space. "Ravon...?"
"$name...I....I'm so s-sorry...."
Ravon breaks down crying.
[[Continue->ActIV.9]]Several months of emotions suppressed by a spell, all come flowing out in tears. You realize how terrible the experience must have been the whole time, from beginning to end. One filled with so much regret and suffering, yet too helpless to do anything about it. You run a hand on his back to give him reassurance.
Ten minutes later, Ravon has calmed down enough for him to talk to you. He begins his story from the very beginning, about how the whole mind control started.
"It was all fine up until club rush. He was exactly what I told you...and then I signed the waiver." Apparently, that was when Asher began exerting his control over the club members. He had enticed them in by using simple charm magic, which does not influence ones conscience unlike mind control, but rather gives an extra layer of persuasion.
Asher then appointed club officers, particularly second and third years whose magic he deemed useful. Ravon was one of them. They were basically roped into doing whatever Asher had planned. It felt like a normal club at first. Then, as Asher's requests got more and more unreasonable and the officers began to get restless, that's when Asher started using mind control to silence them.
"He wanted me to give the club hideout a big fancy makeover. So I did it. But it only lasts for one day because that's the extent of my ability. He told me to refresh the illusion every single day.
"One day, I was so tired...said I didn't feel like doing it, I wanted to go home early...he approached me and said something. And then, like...I don't know. My brain just told me to do it. So I did the illusion...and my body was in so much pain that day, I know because I //felt// my fucking nerves ripping...But it was like...okay? My mind said it was okay, and that it was for a good reason, and that I should keep doing it."
You feel a lump in your throat upon hearing that description. So that's how it felt to be under Asher's mind control...to be stripped of all your self-autonomy.
"That bastard...is a huge con artist," Ravon grits his teeth. "He uses the basic charm spell on the freshmen and the other club members to make them feel good about being in the club. He wants it to feel all elite and exclusive, like you have access to all this stuff just by being in the club. And you know what he does? He charges them for the books, for the lessons, for the food, for one on one appointments with the officers...it's so fucking stupid. This one freshman literally only had one question about homework, which //for some reason//, wasn't covered in the study session.
"But no! He makes the poor freshman pay for a one on one appointment to sit in some cheap chair in a broke ass room that only looks expensive because of MY illusion. And of course, he uses charm magic so that the kid walks out thinking he got his money's worth!
"Yesterday, he started to impose club membership fees, which he calls //funds//. I guess my mind subconsciously couldn't take it anymore so I spoke out. Well...it did not go well." Ravon looks at the ground and winces.
You suck in a breathe of air through your teeth. "Then....where exactly is all that money going??"
[[Continue->ActIV.10]]Ravon looks at you with the most soulless, yet most livid stare. "His own pockets, obviously."
"God...." You pace around the room with a hand to your temple. "That's theft by literal deception. A whole crime. How are they even allowing this club to continue?" You know the answer is obvious.
Ravon gives a dark chuckle. "This is probably what Ms. Venna warned us about. Welp. I fucked up big time." His voice quivers. You snap your head up. "Ravon, don't you dare blame yourself for any of this."
He groans and gets up, wincing. You hold out your arm to support him. "Hey, take it easy. You're injured."
"I just....don't know how to get out of this. If I don't go to club today, he's gonna come and find me in class. If I don't go to class, he's gonna get other people to find me. There's no escape."
You fall silent for a moment, thinking. There's no way you can let Ravon go back into the lion's den just like that. You weigh your chances. You've got yourself, Ravon, and a few more vials of antidote. Ravon is injured, but you can temporarily relieve him with a rejuvenating potion from the school store. There are only a couple hours left until the club meeting. Hm...
"Ravon....are you good at acting?"
[[Continue->ActV.1]]=><=
###The Final Gathering
-----------------------------------
<==
"How are you holding up?" You ask Ravon as the two of you make your way down the left hall. He groans, "Still a bit disoriented but I can hold out long enough."
You give a nod and look down at yourself. It looks like you're wearing the first years uniform, but it is actually an illusion. You'd made sure Ravon had enough energy to mask you as a different person, but you still check up on him. After all, he's decided to trust your plan.
Your heart beats faster as you approach the bookshelf next to the portrait. You can tell by the way Ravon's hands shake as he unlocks the rune, that you're not the only nervous one. At least if your plan fails, you'll take the fall with him...
The passage opens up. The two of your exchange a glance and a nod before descending.
[[Continue->ActV.2]]Ravon grabs the back of your jacket collar and leads you down the hall with a stoic face. You slouch your back and do your best impression of a rebellious freshman. The few officers nearby spare you no more than a glance. Hopefully, they won't be involved.
Approaching the door labeled "President's Office," Ravon gives it exactly three knocks. A few seconds later, Asher opens the door. He has a falsely inviting smile on his face that one would almost mistake for benevolent, but you knew better. "Hi, Ravon! How are you doing today?"
"Doing great, sir," Ravon answers calmly. //Ohoho....it's starting.// You throw in a deathly glare at Asher.
"Oh? What's this?" The blonde man peers at you. You can feel the sneer.
"This freshman refused to pay the club membership fee, despite being informed that there would be consequences," Ravon speaks.
Ashers stills for a moment, then throws his head back in a laugh. "No worries! Come in, come in, let's have a talk, shall we?" He closes the door with click then motions for you to sit down on one of the couchs, while he takes the fancy, large president's chair.
You survey your surroundings. It's just as luxurious as you'd expected, though now you know most of it has been enhanced by Ravon. The walls are sleek and white with gold ornamentation, while the floor is cool black marble. There appears to be a glimmering chandelier above the president's deck. Several cabinets line the walls on the left and right. A fireplace crackles in the back.
A big fight escalating here could surely turn into a hazard, but if your plan goees smoothly, it should be quick and harmless...
[[Continue->ActV.3]]"So," Asher starts. "Let me clear up some misunderstandings first. Don't feel nervous, okay? First of all, there...are no consequences! Ravon here was just feeling silly when he told you. Right, Ravon?"
You can sense Ravon putting on a fake smile. "Of course! I was just kidding."
"See? All is good! There will be no need for consequences anyway, because //there will be no breaking of the rules.//" Asher's eyes turn dark and he leans forward slightly. Suddenly, you feel a fuzzy sensation in the back of your mind. He must be starting. You fidget with your gloves. //Hold out for just a bit longer, $name.//
"As a member of the club, you are obligated to adhere to our rules. Now you might ask why wasn't this rule here before? Why are you just implementing this now? Times change. As our services increase, so will the payment. It's as simple as that. //Do you follow?//"
//Ravon had said to look him in the eyes and answer directly.// "Yes, sir."
He gives a satisfied hum. "It's not my first time dealing with members going astray...I've noticed quite a pattern. It's not a matter of not being able to pay but rather refusal to pay the services that have been provided and utilized. //Now isn't that rather discourteous?//"
//Bow your head and apologize when cued.// "I apologize for my behavior, sir."
Asher smiles and leans back in his chair. "Well, look at the time! Normally, I wouldn't spare precious club hours on personal sessions, but I made an exception today. I'm gonna have to add this to your fees, along with the club membership fee....which is due today. But I'll extend the deadline for just the session fee. Is that better for you?"
You almost hear Ravon mutter, "Oh, he's lost his mind," but the president is preoccupied with you so he doesn't hear the remark.
"Sounds good, sir."
He taps the desk and holds out a hand, silently asking for the membership fee payment.
[[Comply.]]
[[Resist.]]No time to waste, you address Asher. "I'll pay the fee now, sir."
You reach into your pockets and take out a handful of coins, placing them carefully in Asher's hands. The greedy man smiles and shakes the coins, then makes a confused face. "Hm? Why is this- "
//-ZAP!//
"OW!" Asher yelps as a shock runs through his hands and drops the coins. The illusion dissipates to reveal...pieces of Ravon's broken phone. What irony! Realizing he had been tricked, Asher's face morphs. "The fuck are you- "
In a moment of distraction, Ravon throws open one of the cabinets and digs out some supplies. In a flash, Ravon slaps a roll of tape over Asher's mouth so that he cannot exercise his magic. At the same time, your disguises comes off. It seems that Asher recognizes you by the way his eyes widen and he starts clawing at the tape that is muffling his protests.
"$name, the rope!" Ravon throws you the rope that he had gotten at the cabinet. You catch it midair with your magic.
[[Attempt to restrain Asher's arms.]]
[[Attempt a full-body restraint.]]For a moment, panic takes over your mind. You forget about your plan, only focusing on resisting the fog that is starting to take over your brain. Your hand trembles as you try to defy Asher's request.
Disappointed, the man looks at Ravon and nods.
Ravon, who is taken off guard, scrambles to get something from one of the cabinets, presumably some tools to use a punishment for rulebreakers. You glance back for a second and briefly see an array of tools and supplies on the shelves. Turning back, Ravon stares you down as though trying to say *NOW!*
No time to waste, you address Asher. "I'll pay the fee now, sir."
You reach into your pockets and take out a handful of coins, placing them carefully in Asher's hands. The greedy man smiles and shakes the coins, then makes a confused face. "Hm? Why is this- "
//-ZAP!//
"OW!" Asher yelps as a shock runs through his hands and drops the coins. The illusion dissipates to reveal...pieces of Ravon's broken phone. What irony! Realizing he had been tricked, Asher's face morphs. "The fuck are you- "
In a flash, Ravon slaps a roll of tape over Asher's mouth so that he cannot exercise his magic. At the same time, your disguises comes off. It seems that Asher recognizes you by the way his eyes widen and he starts clawing at the tape that is muffling his protests.
"$name, the rope!" Ravon throws you the rope that he had gotten at the cabinet. You catch it midair with your magic.
[[Attempt to restrain Asher's arms.]]
[[Attempt a full-body restraint.]]You concentrate all your energy on forcing Asher's arms into the rope. A very difficult task, since he is flailing a lot. You succeed in tighting the rope around his arms so that he cannot undo the tape around his mouth, but that doesn't stop him from giving the table a solid kick, causing it to land right on your feet!
"AHHH!" A burst of pain shoots through your feet and your magical grip on the rope loosens. Asher seizes the chance to give the table another solid kick, which sends it crushing into your knees! Your control on the rope is almost gone...
[[Grab the rope with your hands.]]
[[Call Ravon for help.]]You spread your energy to try to wind the rope around his full body. A very difficult task, since he is flailing a lot. You succeed in tighting the rope around his arms and upper body so that he cannot undo the tape around his mouth, but your magic falls short on the rest. You can't stop him from giving the table a solid kick, causing it to land right on your feet!
"AHHH!" A burst of pain shoots through your feet and your magical grip on the rope loosens. Asher seizes the chance to give the table another solid kick, which sends it crushing into your knees! Your control on the rope is almost gone...
[[Grab the rope with your hands.]]
[[Call Ravon for help.]]You release your magic and lunge forward to take ahold of the rope. At the same time, Asher aims a low kick at your feet and trips you! You stumble forward and faceplant on the floor, your reflexes barely saving your nose from getting broken. Unfortunately, one of the antidote vials you had been storing in your pocket flies out and rolls several feet across the floor. Fuck.
"Don't let him get away!" You screech at Ravon, who is frantically waving a baton three feet away from Asher. He screeches back, "$name, I don't know how to fight!"
"What!? Dude, did you not take combat class?" You say with your whole chest, knowing full well that you nearly flunked your latest combat exam.
"Well, THIS bastard...FORCED ME TO SKIP COMBAT CLASS!"
So //that// was why all their classmates said they saw Ravon leave with Asher.....While pointing his baton towards Asher, Ravon's grip accidentally loosens and the baton goes spinning through the air, hitting Asher on the head. "MMMMPH!" Asher reels back, stunned.
In an unfortunate moment, Asher steps his foot right onto the vial, which rolls right out from under his feet, sweeping him off balance. He falls onto his behind, knocking his head with a thud. He falls onto his behind with a thud. The man lays unmoving on the ground with his eyes closed.
[[Continue->ActV.4]]"Don't let him get away!" You screech at Ravon, who is frantically waving a baton three feet away from Asher. He screeches back, "$name, I don't know how to fight!"
"What!? Bro, did you not take combat class?" You say with your chest, knowing full well that you nearly flunked your latest combat exam.
"Well, THIS bastard...FORCED ME TO SKIP COMBAT CLASS!"
So //that// was why all their classmates said they saw Ravon leave with Asher.....While pointing his baton towards Asher, Ravon's grip accidentally loosens and the baton goes spinning through the air, hitting Asher on the head. "MMMMPH!" Asher reels back, stunned.
You release your magic and lunge forward to take ahold of the rope. At the same time, Asher aims a low kick at your feet and trips you! You stumble forward and faceplant on the floor, your reflexes barely saving your nose from getting broken. Unfortunately, one of the antidote vials you had been storing in your pocket flies out and rolls several feet across the floor....right next to Asher's feet.
In an unfortunate moment, Asher steps his foot right onto the vial, which rolls right out from under his feet, sweeping him off balance. He falls onto his behind, knocking his head with a thud. The man lays unmoving on the ground with his eyes closed.
[[Continue->ActV.4]]"Is he out?" You glance at Ravon, then back at Asher lying on the floor. He shrugs, "He knocked his head pretty hard, I'd be surprised if he wasn't out."
You look at Ravon's bat. "You mean //you// knocked him out pretty good." Ravon shakes head in disbelief. "It was a complete stroke of luck!"
You keep an eye on Asher as the two of you slowly approach him. The rise and fall of his chest shows that he is still alive and breathing, just unconscious. Ravon gives you a nod and you begin to levitate with him magic while tying the rope around his arms.
Suddenly, Asher shouts, //"FUCK! SEIZE THE TRAITORS!"//
To your horror, the tape had gotten loose enough during the tussle that he was able to speak. Startled, you jump back and release him, frantically looking towards the door to see if anyone will actually barge in. That proved to be another mistake because Asher suddenly seizes the rope and in one swift movement, he wraps it around Ravon's neck, pulling it so tightly his knuckles turn white. Ravon doesn't even have time to react before he starts choking, trying to grab the rope but to no avail.
"Ha.....HahahaHAHA!" Asher laughs maniacally next to Ravon's ear as the latter struggles to gasp for air. "Got ya~ !"
You take a step towards them but Asher shakes his head, freeing a single finger from his tight grip to wag at you. "Nu-uh! Fun's over. It's time to get back to club business, so I'm gonna have to ask you to kindly stand down while I deal with my subordinate.
"As for you, Ravon, didn't I warn you not to get your friend involved? Mm, seems like you need another les- Huh??"
[[Continue->ActV.5]]Suddenly, the rope around Ravon's neck virbates before pulling itself apart into tiny pieces of fiber. You run forward to catch Ravon as he drops to his knees, gasping for air. At the same time, you can feel your own magic draining...that spell did take a lot of energy.
Asher stands still for a moment, staring the pieces of fiber in his hands. "The fuck...?"
Your head snaps up to the stunned man, who you had momentarily forgotten was in the room. The odds were not in your favor, Ravon was still recovering, you were running low on magical energy reserves. You feel a twinge of regret...well, at least you tried.
"You are...//so// annoying," Asher throws the remains of rope to the side. "I've got no patience left, now if you want to leave this room alive, kindly //sit the fuck down and- UGH!// "
He brings his hand to his head and topples over, collapsing onto one of the couches.
Ravon lifts his head to stare at the now unconscious Asher. "Well! That's what he gets for abusing his own magic all the ti- " He breaks off into a coughing fit. You pat his back while staring at the scene before you, contemplating what to do next. At least your plan worked out in the end?
[[Continue->ActV.6]]You end up turning Asher into the authorities. But first, you all get sent to the hospital for a checkup. You were diagnosed with a minor magic overexertion, possibly also due to fatigue, and a few minor injuries from the scuffle. Ravon and Asher were both a bit worse off than you, both magically and physically.
The illusion that Ravon had being putting over the club quarters wears off, and it turns out to be a regular underground hideout with rough stone walls and cheap furniture, nothing like the luxurious interior from before.
As per authorities orders, Asher was asked to lift all the mind control and charm effects from everybody he had affected. Of course, he stayed in the private sector of the infirmary in the meantime, because there were surely a lot of unhappy club members who were out to find him.
You and Ravon were also placed in a private infirmary room while the authorities sorted out Asher's punishment and the aftermath of the club. So now you sat on a chair with a few bandages around your feet and an IV on your arm for replenishing magic blood supply. The other two were forced onto infirmary beds next to each other and given a bit more extensive treatment. As expected, it was awkwardly silent in that room save for the occasional coughing and shuffling.
You can tell by the way Ravon's eyes shifted over to the bed next to him, that he clearly had things to say, but didn't want to be the first to break the silence.
Asher was in no better condition either. His usual pristine, confident image was nowhere to be seen, his accessories had been removed, and his usually neat hairdo had been jostled. He stares at the ceiling, avoiding Ravon's eyes.
[[Continue->ActV.7]]Judging by the awkwardness hanging in the room, it seemed like both of them had unresolved matters but didn't want to speak up. You almost wished you could disappear too, but you couldn't leave things like this.
"Alright." Two pairs of eyes turn you. "So...we gonna talk or what?"
Asher drops his head back onto his pillow and groans. The movement doesn't go unnoticed by Ravon, who grabs his chance and turns his head, "You bastard." Asher opens his mouth to say something, but it turns into a sigh. After a few seconds, he asks defeatedly, "What do you wanna know first?"
You look at Ravon to let him ask first. "Everything," he answers, voice quivering. "Why did you even start this club? Why did you trick me into joining? Why....why did you run a whole scam? Just...why- "
"I needed the money."
The room falls into silence again, only the sound of breathing can be heard.
"Just kidding. There's more to it. Aren't you going to ask me why?"
Ravon coughs. You can feel both your patience thinning. "Asher...just get to the point." A sigh can be audibly heard. "Fine. I don't expect either of you will understand, anyway."
"What do you mean?" You ask.
//Tick, tock.// "You both went to non-magical K-12 schools, right? Well, let me tell you a little bit about magic schools....or rather, how corrupted they can be."
[[Continue->ActV.8]]"My magic manifested when I was around...seven years old. Not everyone was happy about it. Let's just say mind control has some taboos in the magic community....for obvious reasons as you know. My mother made me promise to never //ever// abuse my power."
Asher takes a shaky breath before continuing, "In class, we did introductions and everybody had to share what their manifestation was. The moment I told them mine, everybody started looking at me a certain way. The kids would stay away from me, their parents would be wary of me, teachers would be extra strict on me...it was super hard for me to make friends. In fact, I didn't have many friends in the magic communities. The only people that I talked to were those who didn't know about my ability."
//Discrimination,// you think to yourself. You feel a pang of sympathy but you still need to hear the rest.
"It continued like this until around high school. By this time, I had resigned to living the lowkey life....until I met //them//." He grits his teeth. "My magic high school was in an area that neighbored a rich non-magical private high school. So the students from the two schools would mingle occasionally. Well, to them, it was more like a sort of rich privilege to be able to meet actual magic users. I don't know what kind of image you people had of magic users."
"It felt like a myth to me until I realized I had magic," you quickly cut in. "But then I was in an area far away from magic communities."
Ravon doesn't answer.
"Ah, really? Well, sometimes I wished I didn't have magic if I had to be discriminated against this way. Anyway, there was a group of popular kids from that private school. They had heard from my classmates that I had mind control magic and they found it fascinating, despite all the shit-talk from my classmates. So...they began to invite me to hang out with them."
[[Continue->ActV.9]]"I started becoming part of their little exclusive circle as the representative magic user. It felt really nice at first. They gave me new clothes, taught me how to style myself a certain way, even brought me to expensive hangouts. And of course, I hung out with them. It was very chill, they didn't expect much from me, just some stories about magic communities and whatnot.
"Then, they started asking me to use my magic on random strangers for fun. You see, I am originally a mind controller. That was my manifestation. But since I refrained from using that power, I decided to branch out to a neighboring category called charm magic. You learned about this in magic theory, right? Well, I had managed to perfect it to some extent, so I had no problem using charm magic on people as long as it was harmless.
"So time went by. It was just stuff like asking me to get some people numbers, striking up conversations. I complied with it since it made them happy and I got complimented on my skills. And then, they started getting bored. They weren't satisfied with my harmless charm spells. They wanted me to do some actual mind control and manipulate some people for their entertainment.
"I refused. Said that was crossing the line and I wasn't gonna take part in that. So they let me go. I thought that was it, that I'll just go back to being by myself in school....Oh, god." Ashers laughs weakly.
"The next day, they came by to apologize to me. They were even kind enough to leave me a bag full of gifts. Designer clothes, accessories, food and snacks, you just name it. So nice, right? Then, not even a few hours later, the authorities seized //me.//"
Asher pauses to take several deep breathes. You and Ravon are stunned silent. You have a feeling how this was going to end, and it did not look good.
[[Continue->ActV.10]]"They had made up a whole story about how I was mind controlling them into bringing me goods. That I latched onto their group for the sole purpose of using them. Ridiculous, right?
"Of course....the authorities took their side. It was the whole group against me. What did I even expect...? They come from wealthy backgrounds. Their parents have money and power that even magical authorities don't want to be involved in. So of course, it was easier to throw me under the bus.
"I lost everything. I got suspended from the school. I was forced to pay thousands in reparations to these wealthy families. And those kids? They got away with everything."
You bite your lip. "Did you mother know it wasn't your fault?"
"She said she believed me...but I could tell she was hurt by the look in her eyes....I don't know. I think part of her was already scared of my magic from the very beginning. That incident only justified her fears." Asher's voice cracks on the verge of sobbing. He looks away to collect himself.
"So yeah. There you go. I don't really care what happens to me anymore. I'll pay the damage fees again, I'll be outcasted by the entire school again. Probably gonna get expelled and go back to being a loser." He turns over, back facing Ravon as though he doesn't want to see his expression.
Ravon, who hasn't spoken the whole time, finally pipes up. "You still didn't explain why you had to involve me and bunch of other innocent people in your schemes."
Asher flips over, staring at Ravon as though he had grown a second head. "Was I not clear enough!? Or are you just that stupid??"
"Stupid...?"
"Oh, you still don't understand? I'll always be painted as the villain no matter how hard I try to prove myself. What's the point of living my life like that? If they want me to be the bad guy so badly, then I'll just give them what they want!"
And with that, he turns around again and pulls the covers over his head, seemingly drifting off to sleep as soft snores fill the room.
[[Continue->ActV.11]]You and Ravon look at each other, thinking the same thing. Ravon groans and sits up with his knees drawn to his chest. "I...don't know if I can forgive him."
You nod. "You're not obligated to."
A moment of silence falls, then Ravon pipes up again, "What do you think about it?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. After the hearing the story, what was your first thought?"
[["Although what he did was wrong, I sympathized with his past."->ActV.11.1]]
[["It explains but doesn't justify his actions."->ActV.11.2]]
[["It's not an excuse for what he did here."->ActV.11.3]]"It explains, but doesn't justify his actions," you answer. "At least now we know what led him to lose his morals. Do I sympathize with him? Yes, to some extent. He was a victim of his circumstances. But I don't condone him making other people suffer because of what he went through.
"I'm not going to say whether or not you should forgive him. Ultimately, you and the other club members are the ones who were affected by this incident, so it is up to you to decide."
Ravon nods in agreement. "Either way, Asher isn't in a good mindset right now. Recovering from it should be on his priority list, along with paying for the damage he caused to the club. And yes, I'm still salty about my phone," he grumbles and deadpans. "He'd better pay my electricity and internet fee. Oh, and he should be indebted to me for almost choking me dead."
"Yep, yep. And he should hand you notes for all the classes he made you miss. And pay for your meals for taking up your lunches with his meetings." You chime in.
"That's right, friend," Ravon shoots you finger guns. "Anyway, I'm gonna knock out. I'll process all of this some other day, haha."
On the other bed, Asher finally closes his eyes, pillow slightly stained with tears.
[[Continue->ActV.12]]"Although what he did was wrong, I sympathized with his past," you answer. "He wasn't a monster initially. I wouldn't say that he had no choice, but I can see how his frustrations led to him becoming this way. The stigmas in magic communities, corruption of wealth, being framed for something you didn't do....I don't know what I would've done, had I been in his shoes.
"I'm not going to say whether or not you should forgive him. Ultimately, you and the other club members are the ones who were affected by this incident, so it is up to you to decide."
Ravon nods in agreement. "Either way, Asher isn't in a good mindset right now. Recovering from it should be on his priority list, along with paying for the damage he caused to the club. And yes, I'm still salty about my phone," he grumbles and deadpans. "He'd better pay my electricity and internet fee. Oh, and he should be indebted to me for almost choking me dead."
"Yep, yep. And he should hand you notes for all the classes he made you miss. And pay for your meals for taking up your lunches with his meetings." You chime in.
"That's right, friend," Ravon shoots you finger guns. "Anyway, I'm gonna knock out. I'll process all of this some other day, haha."
On the other bed, Asher finally closes his eyes, pillow slightly stained with tears.
[[Continue->ActV.12]]"Honestly....it's not an excuse for his actions," you reply firmly. "He had the chance to become the bigger person, and he chose to stoop low. That means he wasn't firmly grounded in his morals enough.
"I'm not going to say whether or not you should forgive him. Ultimately, you and the other club members are the ones who were affected by this incident, so it is up to you to decide."
Ravon nods in agreement. "Either way, Asher isn't in a good mindset right now. Recovering from it should be on his priority list, along with paying for the damage he caused to the club. And yes, I'm still salty about my phone," he grumbles and deadpans. "He'd better pay my electricity and internet fee. Oh, and he should be indebted to me for almost choking me dead."
"Yep, yep. And he should hand you notes for all the classes he made you miss. And pay for your meals for taking up your lunches with his meetings." You chime in.
"That's right, friend," Ravon shoots you finger guns. "Anyway, I'm gonna knock out. I'll process all of this some other day, haha."
On the other bed, Asher finally closes his eyes, pillow slightly stained with tears.
[[Continue->ActV.12]]The aftermath of the incident went like this.
Asher was put on suspension for the rest of the short year. He was assigned counseling and therapy, and required to study at home and do community service during the summer in order to be allowed back for junior year. Even if he was allowed back, he would be put under further surveillance. In addition, he had to return the money that he took from each club member as well as address any additional personal issues.
Ravon received a new phone with a personal apology only a week after they were discharged from the infirmary. He was also given compensation in the form of class notes, actual free textbooks, and full ownership of the club which Asher had quit. After discussing with the members and other officers, he decided it would be best to put the club on hiatus for the rest of the year, since it left everybody with a bad taste.
Although you weren't part of the club, Asher also sent an apology to you. You decided not to ask for additional compensation since it was your decision, not his, to be involved, but you made sure Ravon and the other club members got their share. You were nearing the end of the school year anyway, so you just focused on getting Ravon caught up on schoolwork and finally spending time together after many months apart.
Thankfully, nothing else major happened and you were able to complete the rest of your sophomore year without a hitch.
[[Continue->ActVI.1]]=><=
###Watchful Eyes
-----------------------------------
<==
Ziyan had met Airen when they were in middle school. Airen had just transferred over in seventh grade and happened to sit right next to Ziyan in art class. Now Ziyan, at that time, was considered //the art kid// of the grade. If that didn't let a little bit of ego get to his twelve year old brain, nothing else would have.
So of course, when Airen picked up his paint brush, painted a lovely urban landscape on a canvas, and instantly won over the teacher's heart, Ziyan began his downfall into the pit of pettiness.
The two were both pitted against each other, yet grouped together as the "top two artists of the grade" but also as "friendly competitors." It was good in the way that it motivated Ziyan to work harder, but half of it was due to fear of losing his artist title. Looking back on it, he was not particularly proud of that moment.
=><=
[[BACK->1]] | [[NEXT->3]]For Airen, however, the experience didn't deter him from reaching out to Ziyan and asking for an art collab on their first day in advanced studio art in sophomore year of high school. Airen was simply too kind! He never held a single grudge against Ziyan, he was always soft-spoken and respected Ziyan as a fellow top artist.
Eventually, Ziyan began to warm up to the other, and by the end of high school, they were practically best friends.
Ziyan got into the art program he had always wanted. Contrary to everybody's expectations, Airen ended up choosing a completely different major. Why would Airen switch out years of art for computer science? Because he and Ziyan had taken interest in video game design and Airen was willing to take on the coding aspect if it meant he collaborate with his artist and designer friend.
=><=
[[BACK->2]] | [[NEXT->4]]Whenever Ziyan thinks his day can't get any worse, fate likes to slap him in the face.
At this point, it must be targeted towards him. He has no idea what gods he pissed off or what crimes he must have committed in his past life to warrant coming home after being fired from his part-time job due to lack of focus...to a power outage on the same day the new battle royale game was released.
In his defense, Ziyan is just a broke college student trying to survive his last year, juggling his schoolwork, trying to manage his finances, and worrying about his future. If it weren't for his roommate, Airen, dragging him out of his room to play games, watch movies, or touch some grass, he might have metaphorically withered into a pile of ashes by now.
"One more hour in front of that computer and you're going to combust." Airen would stand in the doorway, staring at Ziyan's hunched figure.
"You sound like my mom," Ziyan would retort, hauling his ass up nonetheless.
=><=
[[NEXT->2]]The two had managed to rent an apartment close to their campus, albeit on the pricier side. Ziyan got a part-time job at a store nearby, while Airen looked for paid research opportunities. It was rough, but they were able to stay afloat so far.
Unfortunately, things were not looking so good lately. //Especially not today//, Ziyan sighs as he flops facedown onto the creaking sofa.
As though telepathically sensing distress, Airen emerges from his room with his research laptop still in hand. He takes out his earbuds and leans on the arm of the sofa. "Bad day?"
Ziyan makes a muffled sound.
"I'll take that for a yes."
"I...got your text from earlier. About work." Airen shuffles his earbuds around. At the mention of work, Ziyan flips onto his back with a groan, looking up at his friend's bleached hair.
=><=
[[BACK->3]] | [[NEXT->5]]"Are you upset, or like, disappointed in me?"
"Heh? Now why would I be?" Airen chucks an eraser at Ziyan's face. The latter catches it in his hand and grins wryly.
"Well...maybe because we're kinda screwed if we don't gather enough money by the end of this month...I don't know if I can find another job in time. Should I drop out and focus fully on work?"
"And waste all the time and money you already put into your art career?" Airen snatches the eraser back from Ziyan's outstretched hand. "No way, dude. *Trust me*, there is another way."
"Well, do //you// have a suggestion?"
=><=
[[BACK->4]] | [[NEXT->6]]Airen pulls up an email on his laptop. "So, I got this email from my department, since you know, there are a //lot// of people there in the gaming community."
Ziyan pushes himself up and peers at the screen. "GameCeption Fifth Annual Competition?"
"Yeah! Does it ring a bell?"
"Wait...isn't that the one we watched together as it was being broadcasted last year? The one where these duos compete in various minigames and the final winners take the crown?"
"Yes, that one. They're coming back this year with a new format and sign-ups are open right now."
=><=
[[BACK->5]] | [[NEXT->7]]Ziyan cocks his head in thought. "How much is the prize money, though? If I remember, it was around ten thousand?"
"Oh, they're increasing it to a million this time."
"...What!?"
"No, really!" Airen points to the print on the website where a clear **$1,000,000+** blinks back. Ziyan's eyes widen and he taps on Airen's knee in disbelief. "That's actually insane. Doesn't that mean there will be a lot of people signing up this year?"
"Yeah, I can imagine. But it doesn't hurt to try. If we don't get in, well, we can just look for other chances, yeah?"
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S RESPONSE-]
[[> "Okay, let's sign up!"->8]]
[[> "Hm, I need to think about it."->7.1]]Airen rubs his hands together. "Alright, we got this."
The sign-up process is fairly simple. Just like any other sign-up, they asked for names, emails, and other personal information through a form that was submitted to a website. ("Do you think they actually read every application?" Ziyan wonders out loud. "They probably filter it with AI or something," Airen answers.)
Surprisingly (or not) they get an email back asking for an in-person interview the day before the competition. The location was sent to them not long after. It was several miles from their apartment, and it asked for them to just bring their IDs and wear comfortable clothes.
"Don't you find it a bit strange?" Ziyan asks on the way to the venue. "Do open gaming competitions usually hold interviews like this? Like right before the event?"
"Well, they're probably trying to find the contestants most suitable for the game. It will be broadcasted, so they'd defo be aiming for views."
"Ah. We're going to be famous."
=><=
[[BACK->7]] | [[NEXT->9]]Airen shrugs. "Alright, let me know if you ever change your mind! I'll only join if you want to."
Several days later, the deadline for the sign-ups are rapidly approaching. Airen hadn't brought up the subject of the competition since he did not want to pressure Ziyan, but it was clear that he could not hold out for too much longer. After all, time waits for nobody.
"So...today's the last day to sign up." The other adverts his eyes, scratching the back of his head. "Just a reminder."
Ziyan looks up from his tablet. "I'm guessing I have to give my final answer now or else we miss the deadline." //Ack...I can't tell him that I've been unsuccessful in finding new work,// he curses himself inwardly. There weren't many options at this point.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S RESPONSE-]
[[> "I'm ready to sign up."->8]]
[[> "I'm not feeling up to it."->7.2]]As Airen promised to follow Ziyan's choice, they ended up not signing up for the competition. Although, the latter could have sworn he saw a flint of disappointment in the other's eyes.
A week later, Airen lands an offer for a paid internship abroad. Apaprently, he was required to keep the details a secret. He informed Ziyan that he won't be back for at least a couple of weeks. "Don't die while I'm gone, okay?" He jokes before boarding the plane. Ziyan rolls his eyes. "Have a safe flight, Ren."
A couple weeks pass by. Messages left unread, phone calls unanswered.
Airen never comes back.
One day, Ziyan discovers an envelope from a familiar game company in his mailbox.
=><=
####[[-THE END-->1]]As they approach the venue, or the supposed address on the map, Ziyan starts to get chills. Perhaps it was the clouded sky or the funky wind patterns these past few days. The route brings the pair to a secluded corner of the street. There is a moderately sized tent set up there and a couple of buses parked nearby.
"Huh. Are we the only ones here?" Ziyan asks, looking around. Airen's eyes follow along. "I guess? Not gonna lie, I thought this venue would be bigger."
A lady wearing a fully white uniform with a mask steps out of the tent, waving them over. The duo look at each other and shrug before approaching.
"Hi! Are you here for the GameCeption interview at two? Then, you must be Airen and Ziyan, I hope I pronounced your names correctly!"
Airen gives her a smile and nods.
"Oh, good! Please come on over to the tent so we can ask you some questions."
=><=
[[BACK->8]] | [[NEXT->10]]As Ziyan and Airen sit down in front of the table, another worker closes the tent opening behind them. There are a couple of tripods with cameras set up around the tent. The masked lady takes a seat in front of the two and places some papers in front of them.
"My name is Anne, and I'll be your interviewer today. First, I'd like you to confirm that your information that you submitted on the website is correct," she taps the papers. "And then we'll dive right into the interview, yeah?"
Ziyan looks over his paper...all the information seems to be accurate. Airen thinks the same.
"Perfect, thank you very much. Now I'm going to ask the two of you several questions privately and I want you to answer as honestly as possible. This is really going to help us determine your placements for the game."
=><=
[[BACK->9]] | [[NEXT->10.1]]Ziyan sits down in front of Anne, who has just finished scribbling down some notes on the papers.
"Without further ado....question number one! What is the relationship between you and Airen?"
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S RESPONSE-]
[[> "W-What?"->11.1]]
[[> "Roommates."->12]]
[[> "Best friends!"->12]]
[[> "Relationship...?"->11.1]]Anne nods, scribbles something down on the paper, then leans forward, eyes focusing on Ziyan. "How close are the two of you?"
"Pardon? Like what do you mean?"
"Airen said you two had known each other since middle school, is that correct?"
"Oh, yes that's right." Ziyan nods in confirmation. They had indeed known each other since middle school, although they started out as rivals....or maybe that was just on Ziyan's part.
=><=
[[NEXT->13]]//Placements? What placements?// Ziyan brushes the thought aside.
"First up...may I have the private interview with Airen first?"
Airen looks taken by surprise, but he nods. Anne asks Ziyan to wait outside patiently, so he complies. "Good luck, Ren," he pats his friend on the shoulder, before relocating.
The private interview takes around ten minutes, but it feels like an eternity. Ziyan has probably paced five circles around the block, before the tent reopens and Anne calls him back in. While walking back, he catches Airen, who had emerged from the tent. The latter's face looks a bit red tinted, a slightly bewildered look on his features.
"How was it?" Ziyan asks with a dreadful feeling.
Airen shakes his head, eyebrows still raised. "You'll see. Good luck, dude."
=><=
[[BACK->10]] | [[NEXT->11]]Anne raises an eyebrow at the hesitant answer, but doesn't comment. She scribbles something down on the paper.
"Airen said you two had known each other since middle school, is that correct?"
"Oh, yes that's right." Ziyan nods in confirmation. They had indeed known each other since middle school, although they started out as rivals....or maybe that was just on Ziyan's part.
=><=
[[BACK->11]] | [[NEXT->13]]"Now then, next question...how confident are you two with collaborative work? In other words, would you say you make a good team together?"
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S RESPONSE-]
[[> "Sometimes, yeah."->13.1]]
[[> "Absolutely!"->13.2]]
[[> "Nothing can beat us!"->13.2]]"Oh? Sometimes." Anne jots down a couple more words on the paper. Ziyan darts his eyes away. He'd feel kinda bad if his answers hurt their chances of getting chosen to compete....Well, he'd feel worse if Airen got upset.
"Okay, last question," Anne smiles and peers at the dark haired boy.
####**"Would you trust Airen with your life?"**
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S RESPONSE-]
[[> "Without a doubt."->14]]
[[> "I wish."->14]]
[[> "Hell, no."->14]]
[[> "I don't even trust me with my life." ->14]]"Oh? Good to hear." Anne jots down a couple more words on the paper. Ziyan darts his eyes away. He hopes his answer helped their chances of getting chosen to compete....Well, he hopes Airen felt the same way too.
"Okay, last question," Anne smiles and peers at the dark haired boy.
####**"Would you trust Airen with your life?"**
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S RESPONSE-]
[[> "Without a doubt."->14]]
[[> "I wish."->14]]
[[> "Hell, no."->14]]
[[> "I don't even trust me with my life." ->14]]"Thank you for your time! That concludes the interview. Please sign this waiver to show that you've completed both the sign-up and the interview and are ready for the competition," she slides a new paper over, handing the other papers to a worker nearby who takes them and exits the tent.
Ziyan looks through the waiver, which goes over typical broadcasting etiquette and rules. On the very bottom is a text that reads,
######["We are not responsible for any liabilities and damages that may occur during the games."]
He blinks in confusion at what that may mean. It's a video game competition...perhaps they mean the possibility of being evil-edited during the broadcast? Well, he'd seen enough reality competition shows to figure out how to act in front of the camera.
The next duo of interviewees seem to have arrived, so he quickly signs the waiver and hands it over, not to hold up the schedule.
=><=
[[NEXT->15]]Ziyan quickly catches up with Airen, who had been waiting outside. "Wow...I didn't expect they'd ask those kinds of questions. Kinda nosy, don't you think?"
"Dude, same," Airen agrees, scratching his head. "Like are they gonna make us do a trust fall off the side of a building?" Ziyan punches him. "If that really happens, I'm blaming you."
Another uniformed masked worker ushers them over to the buses, holding the papers from before. "We're going straight to the headquarters to give you the debriefing on the game."
"R-Right now??"
"So we passed the interview?"
"Well, yes. You signed the waivers already, that means you're officially in the competition," the worker looks at the papers. "So you're going to be taking separate buses as per the rules. Ziyan, please take the bus on the left. Airen, please take the one on the right. We'll explain more details when we get to there, okay?"
=><=
[[BACK->14]] | [[NEXT->16]]Airen shrugs. "I guess they don't want us conspiring. Well, I'll see you at the headquarters, Ziyan." He ruffles Ziyan's hair before the other can complain, before heading to his assigned bus.
Now, it wasn't explicitly stated whether or not to bring their phones, but as a habit, Ziyan had brought his anyway and Airen must have too. So they could still text each other on the bus, right?
As Ziyan steps onto his bus, he notices the atmosphere is very....still? Only a handful of the seats are taken, and everybody appears to be sleeping. Wow. It must be a long wait, haha.
The bus door closes behind him with a //thump!// which makes him flinch. Ziyan sees the bus driver, in the same white uniform and mask as the other workers, watching him from the corner of his eye.
=><=
[[BACK->15]] | [[NEXT->17]]{(track: 'BGM', 'stop')}
He looks around apprehensively. "Sir, is this the right bus?"
The bus driver makes no reply. This only makes Ziyan more nervous, as he reaches to take his phone...
=><======
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[...he feels his eyelids...](stop:)]
==><==
(live: 7s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[...slowly drooping...](stop:)]
========><=
(live: 9s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[...until his head...](stop:)]
==>
(live: 11s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[...hits the floor.](stop:)]
##(live: 15s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[[[>->18]]](stop:)]*Beep....beep....beep...*
Ziyan wakes up alone in a dimly lit room.
He opens his eyes, disoriented, and confused. The first thing he notices is that he is sitting on a gaming chair, albeit a very comfy one. There is a gaming setup in front of him, completed with a whole LED keyboard, gaming mouse, high-end PCs, and monitors. The walls are clean white and several LED strips line the cornice area. Several cameras are placed in the corners of the room, capturing the setup from different angles. Two from opposite corners of the room, one in front the gaming chair, and one facing the monitors to capture the screen.
"Woah. I wouldn't be able to afford this for several years after graduating," Ziyan mutters before directing his attention back to his surroundings.
Besides the gaming setup, there is a table of refreshments. A microwave sitting in the corner and an assortment of candies, chips, unmicrowaved popcorn, butter and a butter knife.
"Well, at least I won't go hungry." Ziyan wonders how long this competition will last. The previous competition usually lasted several hours total, if they add up all the minigame rounds. Each round would take no more than an hour.
=><=
[[NEXT->19]]
{
(track: 'BGM', 'loop', true)
(track: 'BGM', 'playwhenpossible')
}Suddenly, the main monitor turns on, showing the opening screen of a game. Ziyan jolts in surprise and scoots back to the desk to watch.
The words **"WELCOME TO GAMECEPTION 2023"** are shown brightly in large letters.
Underneath, is a slightly dimmer subtitle, *"Who is the player?"*
At the bottom, is a large flashing cyan button that says "START."
Ziyan moves the cursor over the start button, which turns pink but doesn't stop flashing. He hesitates for a while, wondering if this was too sudden, given that there has been no explanation of details like they had promised. Whoever is in charge of the communications this year must be very new or just unqualified.
=><=
[[BACK->18]] | [[NEXT->20]]=><=
####(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color: #03fcf8)[Welcome to GameCeption 2023!]](stop:)]
######(live: 8s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color: #03fcf8)[Who is the player?]](stop:)]
####(live: 11s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color: #03fcf8)[[[START]]]](stop:)]As though on cue, a loudspeaker announcement cuts through the air.
"Ahem...testing, testing...alright! Hi, it's Producer R here! I wanna welcome every player to GameCeption 2023! This year's competition will bring many new and exciting twists compared to the previous seasons, and we're looking forward to seeing how that goes down.
"While we are waiting for the live broadcast to begin, we've started playing some of the introduction videos on the screens to your right, so you can watch those in the meantime."
On one of the side monitors, a video starts to play. It seems to be a general opening trailer of the competition and flashes of interviews from various contestants. While watching, Ziyan sees flashes of his and Airen's own interview from the tent, finished with the editing and subtitles. He sees a few seconds of his own answers to Anne's questions before those cut away to other random comtestants.
The trailer ends with Airen's interview clip and Ziyan catches the words "...would trust him with my life. Definitely."
Then the screen fades to black.
=><=
[[BACK->19]] | [[NEXT->21]]Ziyan feels a pang in his heart but a loud resounding *BEEP* brings him back to attention.
"Attention all players! The live broadcast is about to begin. Please take your seats in front of the start screen, as we will be diving right into the game as soon as possible. The refreshments in the back are available for you any time in case you need them, but hopefully the game won't take more than a few hours...
"That being said, it's time to reveal the format of the game, which is...you guessed it....a battle royale! You and your partner will compete against other duos, and the last duo standing will be the winner. If your partner is knocked down, you have a chance to save them. If you are are both knocked down, then you are immediately out! Sounds simple enough?"
Battle royale, huh. Ziyan had played a few of those with Airen before, but he was by no means at a professional level. Welp, it seems like he'd just have to count on luck and teamwork. Speaking of which, Where is Airen? Are they just going to communicate through chat or voice?
=><=
[[BACK->20]] | [[NEXT->22]]"Stand by....and three....two....one....! The tournament is on-air! Please press 'start' and proceed with the instructions."
The red lights on the cameras turn on, indicating the start of broadcast. Ziyan presses the start on the screen, and it takes him to what looks like a character creation page. Except that there is already a premade character for him. Unlock character? He supposes there's no other choice so he presses yes, not expecting what he was about to see. The character's model and information opens on the screen.
The character looks exactly like his friend.
"Hm." Ziyan moves the model around for a bit before looking at the rest of his info.
=><=
Name: Airen.
Height: 179cm.
Age: 21
Occupation: College student
<==
"C-College student?? What's his specialty, crippling student loan debt?" If he had to watch everybody else show up as some cool mage or warrior, he might leave out of embarrassment.
=><=
[[BACK->21]] | [[NEXT->23]]"Huh. So...I'm guessing what's going on here is that we're playing a character that represents our partner?" Ziyan voices his thoughts outloud mindlessly. He glances at one of the cameras to remind himself that he was being filmed. The viewers would probably want to hear some commentary anyway.
He clicks on several more buttons to view some more character information. The inventory seemed to be empty currently, except for an ID and a phone, which meant he will have to find other objects once entering the game. There's a list of fun facts and other trivia, such as Airen's favorite boba order and shoe size. Then, there was a partner biography category, which included how he and Ziyan met in middle school, how they became friends in high school, and their future goals.
Ziyan would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit impressed by how personalized the character was. It seemed like the game developers really worked hard to create avatars representing each contestant! As expected from a competition of this grand scale.
"All characters will proceed to the game in one minute! Players, please press play if you haven't yet." The announcement sounds.
"Oh! Oops," Ziyan mutters as he looks for the *PLAY* button at the bottom and clicks on it.
=><=
[[BACK->22]] | [[NEXT->24]]After a quick loading screen, the game goes to the scene of a realistic urban street in daytime, pebbled sidewalks next to empty streets, some cars parked along the side, empty stores standing shoulder to shoulder. The scene looks extremely detailed, like something straight out of a set rather than CG.
Airen's character is standing in the middle, looking around with a bewildered expression as though it had just been dropped in the middle of nowhere. *Wow, they even got his mannerisms down*, Ziyan muses as the character brings its hand to scratch the back of his neck. He wonders if Airen is currently playing a Ziyan lookalike...what would his mannerisms be anyway? He'd want to see for himself!
A pop-up from the bottom shows the basic instructions for moving the character with a mouse and keyboard. 'W' for forward, 'A' for left, 'D' for right, and 'S' for back, while the movement of the mouse dictates the rotation.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Press W->W]]
[[> Press A->A]]
[[> Press S->S]]
[[> Press D->D]]Upon pressing the 'W' key, the character lurches forward a few steps as though being pushed by an invisible force, but manages to catch its step.
"Ohhh...sorry for pushing you around, but we have to get moving." Ziyan presses a few other movement keys, watching the character get pulled around in different directions. What an interesting movement pack! With this, he decides to go explore around the scene a little. It doesn't look like there's anybody else there on the street so far, and all the doors in the buildings seem closed.
Welp, he spoke too soon. A figure walks out from an open building onto the street in front. Ziyan peers at the screen. The character is shorter than Airen, and was wearing a long hoodie and jeans. Before he can contemplate what to do next, that character turns to him and starts to approach him.
As the opponent approaches, Ziyan sees a knife in its hand.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Run the other way.->Run]]
[[> Hide in a nearby building.->Hide]]
[[> Try to disarm the opponent.->Disarm]]Upon pressing the 'A' key, the character lurches to the left a few steps as though being pushed by an invisible force, but manages to catch its step.
"Ohhh...sorry for pushing you around, but we have to get moving." Ziyan presses a few other movement keys, watching the character get pulled around in different directions. What an interesting movement pack! With this, he decides to go explore around the scene a little. It doesn't look like there's anybody else there on the street so far, and all the doors in the buildings seem closed.
Welp, he spoke too soon. A figure walks out from an open building onto the street in front. Ziyan peers at the screen. The character is shorter than Airen, and was wearing a long hoodie and jeans. Before he can contemplate what to do next, that character turns to him and starts to approach him.
As the opponent approaches, Ziyan sees a knife in its hand.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Run the other way.->Run]]
[[> Hide in a nearby building.->Hide]]
[[> Try to disarm the opponent.->Disarm]]Upon pressing the 'S' key, the character lurches backwards a few steps as though being pushed by an invisible force, but manages to catch its step.
"Ohhh...sorry for pushing you around, but we have to get moving." Ziyan presses a few other movement keys, watching the character get pulled around in different directions. What an interesting movement pack! With this, he decides to go explore around the scene a little. It doesn't look like there's anybody else there on the street so far, and all the doors in the buildings seem closed.
Welp, he spoke too soon. A figure walks out from an open building onto the street in front. Ziyan peers at the screen. The character is shorter than Airen, and was wearing a long hoodie and jeans. Before he can contemplate what to do next, that character turns to him and starts to approach him.
As the opponent approaches, Ziyan sees a knife in its hand.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Run the other way.->Run]]
[[> Hide in a nearby building.->Hide]]
[[> Try to disarm the opponent.->Disarm]]Upon pressing the 'D' key, the character lurches to the right a few steps as though being pushed by an invisible force, but manages to catch its step.
"Ohhh...sorry for pushing you around, but we have to get moving." Ziyan presses a few other movement keys, watching the character get pulled around in different directions. What an interesting movement pack! With this, he decides to go explore around the scene a little. It doesn't look like there's anybody else there on the street so far, and all the doors in the buildings seem closed.
Welp, he spoke too soon. A figure walks out from an open building onto the street in front. Ziyan peers at the screen. The character is shorter than Airen, and was wearing a long hoodie and jeans. Before he can contemplate what to do next, that character turns to him and starts to approach him.
As the opponent approaches, Ziyan sees a knife in its hand.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Run the other way.->Run]]
[[> Hide in a nearby building.->Hide]]
[[> Try to disarm the opponent.->Disarm]]Ziyan swipes his mouse around to make his character run the opposite direction, hoping he could lose the opponent. The other has a weapon and his character doesn't, it was a clear disadvantage.
"Oh, fuck." Unfortunately, he runs into a dead end. The opponent is closing in quickly, leaving him with little time to make a decision.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Hide in a nearby building.->Hide]]
[[> Try to disarm the opponent.->Disarm]]Ziyan swipes his mouse around to make his character run into a nearby building, hoping he could lose the opponent. The other has a weapon and his character doesn't, it was a clear disadvantage.
He moves carefully as the opponent runs around outside, trying to find him. The building he was in seems to be the waiting room of an office, quite barren and barely any place to hide. Welp.
"Oh, fuck." The opponent suddenly stops by the window and starts to make its way to the door. The opponent is closing in quickly, leaving him with little time to make a decision.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Strike first.->Strike]]
[[> Wait.->Wait]]"You know what..." Ziyan bites the inside of his cheek. "Let's just go." He may be about to make the most foolish decision but you never know what will happen if you don't try.
He readies his fingers on the action keys, before directing his character forward. The opponent jumps back, not expecting the sudden approach, but they waste no time in swiping with the knife. The health bar at the bottom shifts a bit.
*Shit!* Ziyan frantically smashes a dodge key before trying to catch the opponent off guard. It takes several turns of dodging the knife, but Ziyan finally manages to get behind the opponent and press the attack button as it pops up. His character manages to trip the opponent, who lands on their face. The knife is flung several feet away and Ziyan swears he can almost hear a yell from his little room.
As the opponent scrambles back onto their feet, Ziyan weighs his options. They are both the same distance from the knife. His character has the height advantage (bless Airen) so he take the gamble to grab the knife first, or focus on holding back the opponent.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Run for the knife.->Knife]]
[[> Tackle the opponent.->Tackle]]Ziyan takes a deep breath and presses the **SLAM DOOR OPEN** button just as the opponent appears right in front of it. *Whack!* He bites back a snort seeing the opponent run face-forward into the door.
Then, the opponent rears back the knife and attempts to stab Airen, which thankfully Ziyan presses the 'S' key just in time to dodge. Both characters are now in the middle of the room, where there is limited space to fight due to the furniture.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Pick up a chair.->Chair]]
[[> Grapple.->Grapple]]Ziyan's character waits under one of the tables, as the opponent bursts through the door, searching for him. It doesn't take long until the opponent has located the approximate area he is hiding in. Realizing that he would doomed if he waited longer, Ziyan pops out of hiding.
Then, the opponent rears back the knife and attempts to stab Airen, which thankfully Ziyan presses the 'S' key just in time to dodge. Both characters are now in the middle of the room, where there is limited space to fight due to the furniture.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Pick up a chair.->Chair]]
[[> Grapple.->Grapple]]Wasting no time, Ziyan pushes his character forward towards the knife. The opponent, who had managed to push themself up, lunges at Airen's ankle, which was already positioned at a very unfortunate angle...*Snap!*
Ziyan flinches at the sound effect, but manages to keep his hands on the keys long enough for Airen to reach the knife and grab it!
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stab the opponent.->Stab]]Ziyan successfully maneuvers his character to tackle the opponent, landing several blows! There's a chance now, he thinks. While the opponent is injured enough, he can have the choice of knocking them out, or getting to the knife first.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Run for the knife.->Knife]]
[[> Knock out the opponent.->Knock]]With a quick knock to the head, the opponent drops to the ground.
Wasting no time, Ziyan pushes his character forward towards the knife. Suddenly, the opponent (*why haven't they been knocked out yet!?*) twitches and push themself up, lunges at Airen's ankle, which was already positioned at a very unfortunate angle...*Snap!*
Ziyan flinches at the sound effect, but manages to keep his hands on the keys long enough for Airen to reach the knife and grab it!
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stab the opponent.->Stab]]###(live: 1s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*STAB!*](stop:)] (live: 3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*STAB!*](stop:)] (live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*STAB!*](stop:)]
(live: 8s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
Ziyan watches mouth agape as his Airen lookalike character stabs the opponent, not once, not twice, but //three// times in a row.
The opponent falls to the ground, limp, blood pooling from its neck.
"...Well!"
He glances at the cameras and attempts to flash a victory grin for the viewers. He'll regret it later when it comes out looking terribly awkward. And maybe a bit frazzled.
The message *You've successfully knocked down a competitor!* flashes across the screen. Thinking on it, Ziyan had no idea //how many// players there were total in this competition. He hadn't even gotten in contact with Airen yet, even though this was supposedly a duo by duo game.
*Hah...what a mess,* he thinks as he takes a sip of soda. *I should give that producer a piece of my mind after this.*
=><=
[[NEXT->25]]](stop:)]
Ziyan makes his character grab a chair and slam it into the opponent's head. Surprised, the opponent drops the knife, which slides over several feet away.
Seizing the chance, Ziyan manuveurs his character over to the knife. Suddenly, he hears a *crack* through the speakers, and sees the chair flying right back at his character, hitting the back of its leg. *Oh, no.* He manages to get to the knife and secure it in his grip just as the opponent grabs a hold of Airen's ankle...and *snap*...
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stab the opponent.->Stab]]Ziyan wastes no time in pressing the attack buttons, trusting that his character's grappling skills would pull through. The two wrestle back and forth for a bit before the knife is flung out of grasp, sliding several feet across the floor.
Seizing the chance, Ziyan manuveurs his character over to the knife. Suddenly, he hears a *crack* through the speakers, and sees that the opponent had sent chair flying right at his character, hitting the back of its leg. *Oh, no.* He manages to get to the knife and secure it in his grip just as the opponent grabs a hold of Airen's ankle...and *snap*...
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stab the opponent.->Stab]]Now armed with a knife, Ziyan can feel his confidence rise by a margin. It wasn't a lot but at least his character wasn't walking around barehanded. Perhaps he should start searching for healing supplies and better weapons?
As he walks past a car, an interaction button pops up. "Oh, you can drive cars in this game?" He clicks on it and his character automaticaly sits in the driver's seat, ready to rumble. The car movement keys are pretty much the same as character movement, so that was good.
He starts driving the car down the empty street...
=><=
###[[🚙💨->26]]A minute of driving along the street, the scenery starts to get more lively.
Ziyan sees several other characters running around, some carrying large weapons, some still empty-handed.
He drives by a group of people near a building getting clocked by somebody with an axe.
He sees a couple dea- *knocked out* bodies lying near a broken bench, where a fight had probably broken out.
He sees a couple of characters having a skirmish in the middle of the road, right in the way of his vehicle...*Oh, Shit!*
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stop the car.->Stop]]
[[> Don't stop the car.->No stop]]Panicking, Ziyan takes his finger off the forward key, but unfortunately the car is way too close to lose momentum in time.
###(live: 3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)]
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
The two characters go FLYING upon collision...yet the car barely slows down?? What kind of car did he manage to snag??
Two consecutive notifications pop up on the screen.
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
He stares dumbfounded at the game. So it was *that* easy to take out the competition...Man, did he luck out with this car!
=><=
###[[🚙💨->27]]](stop:)]
###(live: 0.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)]
(live: 2s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
The two characters go FLYING upon collision...yet the car doesn't slow down?? What kind of car did Ziyan manage to snag??
Two consecutive notifications pop up on the screen.
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
He stares dumbfounded at the game. So it was *that* easy to take out the competition...Man, did he luck out with this car!
=><=
###[[🚙💨->27]]](stop:)]
Up ahead, there is a sharp turn to the right. Ziyan can choose to either take the sharp turn or go off the road and into the grass.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Turn.->Right]]
[[> Don't turn.->Grass]]*Screeeeech!*
The car makes a sharp right turn, barely avoiding a lamp post. *Whew!* Ziyan wipes his hands on his shirt before putting them back on the keyboard and mouse.
Going forward, there is a group of around five opponents engaged in a skirmish. Some of them are in the middle of the road, while the others are closer to the sidewalk. Based on the trajectory of the vehicle, Ziyan could either take out the ones in his path, or adjust the wheel to take out all of them.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stay on path.->Stay]]
[[> Adjust wheel.->Adjust]]*Whooooosh!*
The car speeds through the grass and lands back on the road. A notification that says *Back tire has been damaged!* pops up but Ziyan swipes it away. Who cares as long as it's still drivable?
Going forward, there is a group of around five opponents engaged in a skirmish. Some of them are in the middle of the road, while the others are closer to the sidewalk. Based on the trajectory of the vehicle, Ziyan could either take out the ones in his path, or adjust the wheel to take out all of them.
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Stay on path.->Stay]]
[[> Adjust wheel.->Adjust]]###(live: 0.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)] (live: 1s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)] (live: 1.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)] (live: 2s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)] (live: 2.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)]
(live: 3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
The five consecutive notifications light up the screen. A new messages appears briefly, congratulating Ziyan for having the highest winning streak in the competition so far!
"If seven is the highest...that means there shouldn't be that many more left?"
(set: $wins to 7)
=><=
###[[🚙💨->28]]](stop:)]###(live: 0.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)] (live: 1s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)] (live: 1.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*BAM!*](stop:)]
(live: 2s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
*You've successfully knocked down a competitor!*
The three consecutive notifications light up the screen. A new messages appears briefly, congratulating Ziyan for having the highest winning streak in the competition so far!
"If five is the highest...that means there shouldn't be that many more left?"
(set: $wins to 5)
=><=
###[[🚙💨->28]]](stop:)]Suddenly, Ziyan sees something small and green like an avacado get tossed into the car. He barely has time to process his sinking feeling when-
##(live: 3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*KA-BOOM!*](stop:)]
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[There is nothing Ziyan can do to stop it from happening.
The grenade explodes, ripping through the air with a deafening boom that resonated inside the gaming room. The car is engulfed in a fiery inferno, its metal frame twisted and mangled by the force of the explosion. Bits and pieces of debris fly everywhere, shattering the glass wndows of the nearby buildings.
Throughout the chaos, Ziyan finally spots blonde hair burnt at the tips, his character's body speckled with dust and soot, as it lands on a sidewalk with thump.
*Beep! Airen's health has dropped to red!*
=><=
[[NEXT->29]]](stop:)]"SHIT!"
Ziyan looks at the flashing red health bar at the bottom of the screen. He taps the movement keys frantically. None of them have any impact.
"Welp. It's over for me," he throws his hands up in defeat.
Suddenly, a [button]<btn| pops up next to his character.
=><=
(click: ?btn) [(button:)[[[Call partner for assistance.->30]]]]Ziyan clicks the button since it's the only thing he can do right now. Which means the real Airen would probably have to come save his ass from this sorry state, and he would never hear the end of it!
He feels his phone vibrating in his pocket, a familiar song playing. Ah...it's the ringtone that Airen had once set for him as a joke and he was too lazy to change it. Now who the hell was calling him the middle of this competition? He takes his phone and swipes to see the caller ID.
*Incoming Call from Airen...*
Ziyan coughs. What timing. Airen was either going to toast him or give him a record sigh....also, why didn't either of them think of calling sooner?
=><=
(text-color: #ff00ed)[-CHOOSE ZIYAN'S ACTION-]
[[> Pick up the call.->Pick]]
[[> Ignore the call.->Ignore]]Ziyan picks up the call and puts his ear next to the speaker. "Ren? Where are you?"
He hears coughing and lots of commotion in the background. Thinking it must be from the game, he turns down the volume so he can listen to Airen better.
The noise still doesn't cease. "Airen? Are...are you okay...?"
"Zi...Ziyan...?"
"Yes, it's me. Airen, where are you??"
"Car....exploded....fuck, I still can't move. Ziyan, please, your driving skills suck- *ACK!*"
"Airen? *Airen!*"
=><=
[[NEXT->31]]While Ziyan hesitates to pick up the call, it already ends.
He turns his attention back to the screen, where he is met with a message that says "*Partner did not pick up the call.*"
....What?
The character is lying there with a phone in his hand, slumped on the ground. The health bar at the bottom never ceases flashing.
Ziyan looks at the character's phone on the screen, then his eyes trail to the phone in his own hand, which shows the missed call from Airen. Airen....the character....
Oh.
[*Oh.*]<real|
(click: ?real)[*(text-size: 1)[(text-color: cyan)[(live: 1s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[Was that....](stop:)](live:3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[the ''real'' Airen?](stop:)]]]*
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[He remembered.](stop:)]
=><=
(live:7s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*"Would you trust your partner with your (text-color: red)[life?"]*](stop:)]
=><=
(live: 9s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[**[[NEXT->32]]**](stop:)]
{(track: 'BGM', 'stop')}]
Airen dissolves into a coughing fit mid-sentence before a beep signifies the end of a call.
At the same time, Ziyan notices his character cough out blood on the sidewalk before slumping down, phone still in hand. The health bar at the bottom never ceases flashing.
Ziyan looks at the character's phone on the screen, then his eyes trail to the phone in his own hand, which shows the recent call from Airen. Airen....the character....
Oh.
[*Oh.*]<real|
(click: ?real)[*(text-size: 1)[(text-color: cyan)[(live: 1s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[Was that](stop:)](live:3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[...the ''real'' Airen?](stop:)]]]*
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[He remembered.](stop:)]
=><=
(live:7s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[*"Would you trust your partner with your (text-color: red)[life?"]*](stop:)]
=><=
(live: 9s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[**[[NEXT->32]]**](stop:)]
{(track: 'BGM', 'stop')}](text-size: 1.3)[Before we play,]
Let's review the [rules]<rules| real quick.
(click: ?rules) [You and your [partner]<partner| will compete against other duos, and the last duo standing will be the winner.
(click: ?partner)[If your partner is knocked down, you have a chance to [save]<save| them.
(click: ?save)[So here's the [[question->33]].]]]
=><=
##(text-size: 4)[(live: 0.2s)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[WHO IS THE PLAYER?]]]]]
###(live: 3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-style: "smear")[ZIYAN]](stop:)] (live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-style: "smear")[AIREN]](stop:)] (live: 8s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-style: "smear")[[[*YOU?*->title screen 2]]]](stop:)]=><=
[(live:0.2s)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: cyan)[(text-size: 3)[**UNLOCK CHARACTER**]]]<char|
](stop:)]]
(click-replace: ?char)[
<style> img {
max-with: 100%;
max-height: 100%;}
</style>
<img
src=https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df1cf4_c8507ddd6b924bedbfdfa42b1910d18e~mv2.gif>
<div class="middle">
</div>
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[(text-size: 1)[Name: Ziyan.
Height: 175cm.
Age: 21
Occupation: College student
Current win streak: $wins]
[(text-color: cyan)[Read more]]<read|
(click-replace: ?read)[
Fun Facts:
Fourth year visual arts major
Hates crowded and noisy places
Favorite food is spicy noodles
]
]\
##[[>PLAY->start2]]
]]
]
(set: $knife to false)=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You are in the game room.
The broadcast is still running.
There are still [(text-color: cyan)[refreshments]]<refreshments| on the table.
(click: ?refreshments)[Pick up the [(text-color: cyan)[butter knife]]<knife|?
(click: ?knife)[*You have acquired a butter knife.* (set: $knife to true)]]
There is a [(text-color: cyan)[door]]<door| on the side. (click: ?door)[The door is [(text-color: cyan)[unlocked]]<unlocked|.
]]
(click: ?unlocked)[ **[[>EXIT ROOM]]** ]]
]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You find yourself in a long corridor that stretches in both directions.
It is lined with [(text-color: cyan)[doors]]<doors| spaced far apart. (click: ?doors)[Most of them have been opened as well, indicating that those players must have left their rooms.]
There is an [(text-color: cyan)[exit sign]]<exit| on both ends of the corridor. (click: ?exit)[The one to the left is (text-color: green)[green] while the one to the right is (text-color: red)[red].]
]
**[[>GO LEFT]]** | **[[>GO RIGHT]]**
]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You reach the end of the corridor without any hitches.
There is a single [(text-color: cyan)[door]]<door| at the end of the corridor. (click: ?door)[The door is already unlocked!
(text-color: cyan)[**[[>OPEN DOOR->OUT]]** ]
]]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You reach the end of the corridor without any hitches.
There is a single [(text-color: cyan)[door]]<door| at the end of the corridor. (click: ?door)[The door is [(text-color: cyan)[locked]]<locked|.
Suddenly, you hear [(text-color: cyan)[footsteps]]<steps| in the distance behind you.
(click: ?steps)[Somebody has emerged from one of the rooms, carrying a [(text-color: cyan)[large weapon]]<weapon|.
(Click: ?weapon)[*Looks like a club or axe of some sort...*]
There is nowhere to hide in the corridor.
Unless you can find a way to escape, you will have to confront them.(text-color: cyan)[ **[[>CONFRONT->DIE]]** ] ]
(click: ?locked)[Do you a tool to [(text-color: cyan)[unlock]]<unlock| the door?
(click: ?unlock)[(if: $knife is true)[You remember that you have a butter knife at your disposal! (text-color: cyan)[ **[[>UNLOCK DOOR->OUT]]** ]] (else:)[(text-color: red)[You have nothing.]]]
]
]
]]]=><=
{(track: 'BGM', 'stop')}
###(live: 0.2s)[(text-color: red)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: red)[**You lost.**]]]]
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>REWIND->start2]]**]]] ](stop:)]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You've successfully made it out of the [(text-color: cyan)[compound]]<compound|. (click: ?compound)[A large dark gray building surrounded by high fences and cameras.]
A car pulls up at in front of you. The [(text-color: cyan)[driver]]<driver| rolls down the window. (click: ?driver)[He is wearing a dark bucket hat and no mask.]
"I'm a staff here to pick you up," he says.
]
**[[>GET IN THE CAR]] | [[>DECLINE]]**
]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You get in the car.
The driver starts up the engine and starts driving down the [(text-color: cyan)[road]]<road|. (click: ?road)[ The road looks similar to the one you saw in the game. (text-color: cyan)[**[[>WAIT]]**] ]
After a while of silence, you notice that the driver is carrying a [(text-color: cyan)[knife]]<knife| in his jacket. (click: ?knife)[A sizable black tactical knife. (text-color: cyan)[**[[>STEAL THE KNIFE]]**]]
]]]
=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You decline the offer.
The man shrugs. "Your loss." He drives away.
There is another [(text-color: cyan)[car]]<car| parked furthur up ahead. (click: ?car)[It's in decent shape and appears to be empty. (text-color: cyan)[**[[>RUN TO THE CAR]]**]]
Suddenly, you hear [(text-color: cyan)[footsteps]]<steps| behind you. (click: ?steps)[A figure holding a large weapon has followed you out of the compound. (text-color: cyan)[**[[>CONFRONT->DIE]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You get in the car and start driving down the [(text-color: cyan)[road]]<road|. (click: ?road)[ The road looks similar to the one you saw in the game.]
On the way, you realize notice a familiar sharp turn to the right.
]
**[[>TURN]] | [[>DON'T TURN]]**
]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You attempt to steal the knife.
The driver [(text-color: cyan)[notices]]<notice| and turns to you with a unreadable expression.
(click: ?notice)[He turns to grab you, causing the steering wheel to [(text-color: cyan)[swerve]]<swerve|.
(click: ?swerve)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE ROAD->DIE]]**] ]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[Up ahead, the road takes a familiar sharp turn to the right.
However, the driver stops the car before you get there.
"Sorry, I need to [(text-color: cyan)[check]]<check| something real quick. Please [(text-color: cyan)[wait]]<wait| a moment."
(click: ?check)[He gets out of the car and enters a nearby building.
The coast seems clear. You have a chance to leave right now. (text-color: cyan)[**[[>LEAVE THE CAR]]**]]
(click: ?wait)[You can choose to weigh your chances. (text-color: cyan)[**[[>KEEP WAITING]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[The tires [(text-color: cyan)[screech]]<screech| as you make a sharp turn, barely missing a pole.
(click: ?screech)[Bits of rubber flies around behind you. It seems like the car won't last for long.
(text-color: cyan)[**[[>KEEP DRIVING]]** | **[[>STOP DRIVING]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[With a [(text-color: cyan)[horrifying noise]]<screech|, the car runs through the rocky grass covered patch.
(click: ?screech)[Bits of rubber flies around behind you. It seems like the car won't last for long.
(text-color: cyan)[**[[>KEEP DRIVING]]** | **[[>STOP DRIVING]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You quickly get out of the car and run away just as it [(text-color: cyan)[explodes]]<explodes| behind you. (click: ?explodes)[You saw something small and green get tossed through the window before it exploded.
You [(text-color: cyan)[run]]<run| to distance yourself from the wreckage. (click: ?run)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>KEEP RUNNING]]**]]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[Suddenly, something small and green like an [(text-color: cyan)[avocado]]<avocado| gets tossed through the window.
(click: ?avocado)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>DO YOU GET DEJA VU?->DIE]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You stop the car and get out just as it [(text-color: cyan)[explodes]]<explodes| behind you. (click: ?explodes)[
You [(text-color: cyan)[run]]<run| to distance yourself from the wreckage. (click: ?run)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>KEEP RUNNING]]**]]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[The tires start to catch on [(text-color: cyan)[fire]]<fire|.
(click: ?fire)[The car [(text-color: cyan)[explodes]]<explode|.
(click: ?explode)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>AND YOU ALONG WITH IT.->DIE]]**]]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You [(text-color: cyan)[run]]<run| until your lungs feel like exploding.
(click: ?run)[You are [(text-color: cyan)[running out]]<runout| of breath.
(click: ?runout)[Perhaps you should take a [(text-color: cyan)[breather]]<breather|? (click: ?breather)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>REST]]**]]]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You find a [(text-color: cyan)[good place]]<place| to rest. (click: ?place)[Perfectly concealed between two buildings, with plenty of coverage from view.]
Soon, heavy [(text-color: cyan)[footsteps]]<step| approach the area. (click: ?step)[[(text-color: cyan)[*Two*] ]<two| pairs of footsteps.
(click: ?two)[You here somebody [(text-color: cyan)[speak]]<speak|. (click: ?speak)["Did he die yet?"
(live: 2s)["I'd be surprised if he was still alive."]
(live: 4s)["Then why hasn't the game ended?"]
(live: 6s)["True...well he can't be far off. Why don't we- ] (live: 7s)[(text-size:1.2)[(text-color: red)[*CRUNCH*]]]
(live:10s)["...Tch. Useless partner. I'll finish this on my own and get all the prize money to myself."
You hear [(text-color: cyan)[*one*]]<one| pair of footsteps. (click: ?one)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>HOLD YOUR BREATH]]**]](stop:)]
] ]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[The pair of footsteps eventually [(text-color: cyan)[fade away]]<fade|.
(click: ?fade)[You [(text-color: cyan)[peek]]<peek| out in front of you. (click: ?peek)[The coast is [(text-color: cyan)[clear]]<clear|. (click: ?clear)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>GO OUT]]**]
But you're [(text-color: cyan)[unsure]]<unsure| whether it's safe to go out. (click: ?unsure)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>KEEP HIDING]]**]]
]
]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You hesitated for too long to notice the figure jump down right behind you.
The glint of an [(text-color: cyan)[ax]]<ax| flashes in your eyes.
(click: ?ax)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>REMEMBER TO WATCH YOUR BACK->DIE]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You carefully emerge from your hiding spot.
On the corner of the sidewalk, the [(text-color: cyan)[driver]]<driver| from before is lying in a pool of blood. (click: ?driver)[You recognize him from the fallen bucket hat lying inches away.
There is a deep [(text-color: cyan)[gash]]<gash| on his neck. (click: ?gash)[Looks like the work of a large bladed weapon.]]
Further up the street, there is smoke billowing from a [(text-color: cyan)[wreckage]]<wreck|. (click: ?wreck)[*It looks like the aftermath of a car explosion...[(text-color: cyan)[!!!]]<go|*
(click: ?go)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>CHECK IT OUT]]**]]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[Near the wreckage, you find a [(text-color: cyan)[body]]<body| lying on the ground.
(click: ?body)[A relatively tall male with light hair. Eyes closed, still breathing.
(live: 2s)[A phone is lying near his hand. It must have fallen out of his grip.]
(live: 4s)[There are dried blood splatters on the ground.]
(live: 6s)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>HELP]]** | **[[>IGNORE]]**] ]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You [(text-color: cyan)[ignore]]<ignore| the body for now.
(click: ?ignore)[(live: 2s)[You hear familiar footsteps behind you.]
(live: 4s)[They are getting closer.]
(live: 6s)[You hear the grating drag of metal against the ground.]
(live: 8s)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>RUN]]** | **[[>HELP THE BODY->>HELP]]**] ]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You kneel down to help the [(text-color: cyan)[injured man]]<man|.
(click: ?man)[He opens his eyes and smiles. "Thanks, Ziyan."
(live: 2s)[The heavy footsteps are getting closer.(stop:)]
(live: 4s)[*Clank, clank, clank.*(stop:)]
(live: 6s)[Airen gingerly stands up and grabs you. [(text-color: cyan)["Follow me."]]<follow| (click: ?follow)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>FOLLOW]]**]](stop:)]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You [(text-color: cyan)[run]]<run| for your life.
(click: ?run)[Your footsteps thrum in tandem with the sickening rhythm of the ax.
(live: 1s)[*CRUNCH!*] (live: 3s)[(text-size: 1.2)[*CRUNCH!*]] (live: 5s)[(text-size: 1.5)[*CRUNCH!*]]
(live: 8s)[Should you dare to [(text-color: cyan)[look back]]<look|?
(click: ?look)[You see the ax man standing over the mangled remains of Airen's corpse.
(live: 3s)[He looks up at you and smiles.(stop:)]
(live: 5s)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED HIM->DIE]]**]] ](stop:)]
(stop:)]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You follow Airen behind a nearby building.
He points to a [(text-color: cyan)[box]]<box|. (click: ?box)[Inside, there is dynamite and a remote.
(live: 2s)["That's all the weapons left around here. The grenades are all used up."(stop:)]
(live: 4s)[He takes the dynamite and hands the remote to [(text-color: cyan)[you]]<you|.
(click: ?you)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>"What are you planning to do?"->bye]]**]](stop:)]
]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[Airen smiles. "I have a plan. Trust me."
(live: 3s)["I'm going to tackle the dude. You're gonna hide."(stop:)]
(live: 5s)["I'll scream at you to press the button."(stop:)]
(live: 7s)["And then our team will be the winner. It's our only chance."(stop:)]
(live: 9s)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>"...Okay, I trust you."->trust]]**]]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[Airen stands up and pats your hair.
(live: 2s)["Promise me you'll fulfill your dream, okay?"(stop:)]
(live: 4s)[Before you figure out what he meant, he stands up and heads over to the ax man approaching in the distance.(stop:)]
(live: 7s)[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>HIDE]]**](stop:)]
]]]=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[You hide (live: 2s)[and wait for the signal.(stop:)]
(live: 5s)[You wait...(stop:)]
(live: 8s)[Keep waiting...(stop:)]
(live: 11s)[Your hand feels clammy around the remote...]
(live: 14s)[Your chest is about to explode...]
(live: 17s)[ [**//"ZIYAN! NOW!"//**]<now|
(text-color: cyan)[**[[>PRESS THE BUTTON]]**] ]
]]]=><=
##(live: 0.2s)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[**You win!**]]]]
(live: 5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>WATCH BROADCAST->watch]]**]]] ](stop:)]"....and the winning duo of GameCeption 2023 is Airen and Ziyan's team! As per competition rules, the last one standing is the winner. It's a shame that we couldn't see them win together..."
Ziyan can barely hear the announcement blaring through the sky, which is apparently all part of a set. A whole playground designed for killing.
Sobs wreck his body as he kneels on the ground, realizing what he had just done. *Airen...you promised we would win...I fucking trusted you...you...fucking...BASTARD!*
He chucks the remote on the ground with all his might. The device shatters into bits and pieces upon collision. It would be impossible to piece the destructive tool back into one...but it doesn't matter.
After all, it had already served its purpose.
=><=
**[[NEXT->watch2]]**The final prize ended up being more than a million. In fact, *far* more than a million, due to a mix of sympathy and excitement from the audience, many offered extra tips for the show. Apparently, there even was a betting system where people betted on which duo would win.
Even so, there were still comments who were *unsatisfied* with this playthrough and wished for more hand to hand combat by the winner. Debates of who should have won were already popping up on the [[internet->watch2.1]].
After GameCeption2023 aired, the winner went missing for almost a whole year.
He was never seen in public, rejected all the interviews from major media outlets, and refused to give any statements.
As expected, lot of conspiracy theories floated around. Some started questioning the validity of the win, despite the whole thing being broadcasted live. Some accused the producers of favoring him and demanded investigations. Some said that the whole debacle had impacted him too severely for him to appear in public ever again.
Despite so many controversies, the show was a huge hit not only in the gaming community but in the entertainment field in general, due to its massive shock factor.
Perhaps the shock factor was too large, that most people were brainwashed into thinking this was all an act, that they were just playing characters in a game.
=><=
[[NEXT->watch4]]It wasn't until almost nine months later with the announcement of GameCeption2024, that Ziyan finally reappeared.
"Hi, I'm Ziyan, the winner of last year's GameCeption. You might be wondering where I've been for the last nine months. Well, you see...
"Before he...passed away....Airen made me promise that I'd fulfill my dream. Actually, we both had the same dream. We wanted to design a game together. I was going to be the artist and designer of the duo.
"Airen and I met in middle school, where we both shared the same dream of becoming artists. It was Airen who decided to go a different route in college so that we could fulfill each role in collaboration. It was also Airen who sacrificed himself so that our team would win. Unfortunately, he is not here with us today, but I do not intend on going back on my promise."
=><=
[[NEXT->watch5]]"I'm happy to announcement that I have been working as the lead game designer of this year's GameCeption tournament. Building on the success of last year's game, we will be following it up with an even grander and more exciting format."
"I also wanna add," Ziyan looks into the camera with a smile. "There will be...no need to go through the sign-up process. Because we already have everybody registered."
=><=
[[>"What do you mean by that...?"->watch6]]What do I mean? Well, you had fun playing as me, didn't you?...Or not. Okay, it wasn't *that* fun for me but whatever, that's all in the past. you know....you really don't know what it's like to be a character in a game until you experience it yourself. (text-size: 0.5)[Man, I felt so crappy for Airen when I was playing as him.]
So anyway, I've decided to make that experience open to everybody in this upcoming tournament! Thoughts? Think you'll still be a player? A character? Or both?
Welp, it doesn't matter now. You'll find out anyway in 3...2...1...
=><=
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: cyan)[**[[>PLAY->actual end]]
**]]]
{(track: 'BGM', 'stop')}=><=
##(text-size: 4)[(live: 0.2s)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[THE PLAYER IS YOU.]]]]]
###(live: 3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-style: "smear")[THE END.]](stop:)]
######(live: 4s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(text-style: "smear")[ [[CREDITS]] ]](stop:)]=><=
###(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: cyan)[**CREDITS**]]]
(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[
Written and designed by Ruo
Visual Art by Ruo
Music by Ruo
(text-color: cyan)[~PROGRAMS USED~]
Twine
Clip Studio Paint
CapCut
Walk Band
(text-color: cyan)[**[[>PLAY AGAIN?->OP]]**]
]]]
{
(track: 'BGM', 'loop', true)
(track: 'BGM', 'playwhenpossible')
}=><=
#(live: 3s)[(text-size: 1)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "blur")[(font: "impact")[**[[START->start]]**]]]](stop:)]
{
(track: 'BGM', 'loop', true)
(track: 'BGM', 'playwhenpossible')
}(text-color: grey)[*(t8n: "dissolve")['Shawn should've won. He single-handedly took down so many people with that ax and had the highest win streak overall. Ziyan simply won by luck.']
(live: 2s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['are you fr? shawn literally took out his own partner, he's a whole psycho. i woudve been so pissed if he won with that attitude'](stop:)]
(live: 4s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['it's a battle royale, shawn did what he had to do. but he did fuck up with his partner. if he wasn't greedy, they could've won together'](stop:)]
(live: 6s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['not his fault his partner was stupid lol'](stop:)]
(live: 8s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['I actually found it funny when he went around pretending to be a staff and then blowing up cars'](stop:)]
(live: 10s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['Why is nobody talking about the ending?? I cried so fking hard when Airen sacrificed himself for Ziyan.'](stop:)]
(live: 12s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['welp at least ziyan is rich af now'](stop:)]
(live: 14s)[(t8n: "dissolve")['I feel so bad for Airen...'](stop:)]*]
=><=
(live: 14s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[**[[NEXT->watch3]]**](stop:)]
=><=
#[(text-size: 1)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "blur")[(font: "impact")[**[[START->1]]**]]]](stop:)]
{
(track: 'BGM', 'loop', true)
(track: 'BGM', 'playwhenpossible')
}=><=
(text-size: 1.3)[(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: white)[
(live:1s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[You](stop:)] (live:1.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[are](stop:)] (live:2s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[now](stop:)] (live:2.5s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[playing](stop:)] (live:3s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[as](stop:)]
(live:4s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[ZIYAN.](stop:)]
]]]
]
##(text-color: cyan)[(text-style: "smear")[(text-color: cyan)[(live:6s)[(t8n: "dissolve")[**[[CONFIRM->>PLAY]]**](stop:)]]]]
{
(track: 'BGM', 'loop', true)
(track: 'BGM', 'playwhenpossible')
}BGM: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/df1cf4_70f372f98f4b43ea84ba5ccdb2bd4ce8.mp3