"You didn't know?" Aria issued a questioning look at me. She was flipping her cigarette playfully around her fingers. "Oh, that's right. The system was never included in the story."
"What story?"
"The same." She shrugged. "Silvic High's most forbidden tale. At least, most of them do believe that it's just a tale."
The forbidden tale. Now I remembered. It was a popular story about a high schooler who died several years ago by suicide. The source explained that the student, who was a girl— displayed heavy signs of depression. Counselling didn't help, and she had no friends either, no cheer group.
And then, one day, she came up to the rooftop. Reportedly tired of living, she threw herself down the building and died on the spot.
The girl's name? Paula.
Which was another brutal realisation. I knew she looked familiar. Back in 10th grade, my classmates would fondly get their hands on past school yearbooks just so everyone could see the face of the girl who'd committed suicide in the story.
Paula. Last name never included. Red hair, lowered brown eyes. The kind of eyes that were never impressed to see a crowd. She indeed looked depressed. Except that, that wasn't the reason she'd died.
Paula was never an NPC. She was a system user, or at least she used to be until the system killed her on that rooftop, while she was sparring against a zombie boss.
And it was all starting to make sense now. Maybe none of the characters were NPCs. Cypher. Stone. Ember. They were all normal humans until the system found them, and when the system killed them eventually, they became part of it. They became one with the program.
Shit.
"And how do you know about the system?" I asked, my tone dissolving into something deeper.
"I...I don't have that answer."
That was the first time I'd seen Seraphine stutter on her words, which definitely proved that she was hiding something. Whatever it was, I didn't bother her. I was fully aware that she wouldn't spill no matter how hard I tried.
So I chose the only option left. I walked away. Left the rooftop with questions running restlessly through my head. The moment I was two floors down, I punched a hole in the wall, groaning angrily.
It was all fucked. The system. Everything. There was no open opportunity for growth. It was an experiment. A bait to take people's lives. And whoever was running the whole program, he was definitely a psychopath. A huge, deadass psychopath.
And he was definitely still alive. Still updating the system features. He was somewhere on the planet, organising innocent people's misery from within a room. And surprisingly, the Bureau was his turf. According to Paula, the Bureau knew about the system.
Ding!
At the sound, I pulled the phone out of my pocket, glanced at the screen, rage still biting my eyes.
[Congratulations Ren Mora, You Have Successfully Qualified For the BHA Entry Examination]
[Your Exam Number is 2999]
[For Further Details And Information, Kindly Visit www.bha****.com]
My expression softened.
An approval? That was definitely not in the list of miracles I'd prepared for this year. After they'd seemingly kept quiet for over a week, I'd assumed and waited for a regret and rejection notice from them.
But then, I qualified?
How exactly?
But then again, it wasn't as surprising as it sounded, because I was the 2999th examiner in the entry. If the Bureau could approve that many students, then it was definitely not luck that got me approved also.
Now I just had to figure out how to bring this information impromptu to my aunt. For some mysterious reason, she hated the Bureau. And unfortunately for me, she was my only guardian. There was no way she was going to let me waltz into that academy if I didn't have any thoughtful reason behind it.
And speaking of thoughtful, that was exactly where I was lacking. I'd applied for BHA only with the idea that I needed to push myself to my limits if I was ever actually going to grow stronger. And now— having an S-rank ability at my disposal— that aim had pretty much disappeared.
The only option left was to throw the grand entrance away. But then, I remembered Paula's last request. She'd asked me to find out the truth behind the system, stating that I'd find the answers in the Bureau. Honestly, that was a crazy assumption, and if she hadn't admitted it herself, I would have probably ignored that.
I didn't know how she'd expected me to infiltrate the Bureau to solve a puzzle, but coincidentally, I'd gotten a successful BHA approval. And if lives really did depend on it as she mentioned, maybe it was actually worth the effort—
BUZZ!
My phone buzzed again, repeatedly this time. I turned the screen over. 'Brat'. That was what I'd saved Aria's name with, alongside a clown emoji. And for some reason, I was about to find out, she was calling me.
I picked up the call and placed it on speaker, which was definitely the biggest mistake I'd made at that exact moment.
"Panic. Emergency. Emergency!!" Her voice was so loud, it echoed through the stairway. "Emergency!!"
"The fuck." I hurriedly turned off the speaker and placed the phone to my ear. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"No questions. Come to my workplace right now." She said, her tone laced with urgency. "It's important, I'm serious this time."
"You see, that's exactly why I can't take you seriously," I replied. "Also, we're still within school hours—"
"Hey, asshole!" She yelled over the phone, then clicked her tongue. "Come here while I'm being nice. I'm older than you, you know?" Then her voice changed to a lighter, happier, tone, like she hadn't just almost threatened me. "I'll be waiting, okay?"
What now?
***
"Let me get one thing straight." My fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, an effort to contain the anger in me. "You called me out of school during school hours— when I'm supposed to be in class— just to taste your new pork recipe?!"
Aria and Cauli nodded in sync, both leaning halfway like they'd rehearsed for this moment. Cauli was Aria's boss. Dirty brown hair, brown eyes. A sweaty face and dirt smudges on her cheeks. She looked older, probably in her early twenties. Which was a pretty impressive number for someone who owned a restaurant.
She was friendly too. The first time Aria brought me here, she'd insisted that everything I ate and drank was on the house because apparently, she thought we were both dating. And naturally, we'd become friends.
"Alright, I'm not doing this." I tried to stand up, but Cauli came around and held me by my shoulder, as if persuading me to sit back down.
I did.
"Look, this is a really important recipe. And we need accurate taste buds." She explained. "Remember the last time you figured out that there was ginger sauce in the last pork you tried."
"Yeah? That was because I hate ginger."
"My point is that, there was only a little bit. Too little a fraction of ginger that I didn't think anyone would notice. I wanted to just see how that affected the taste." She was pressing on my shoulder. "But you figured that out. And that is why..." She pulled the bowl of pork closer to me. "I made this. A pork sauce with a blend of nutmeg and spicy milk."
"Milk?" I looked up at her with a question.
"Go on, try it." She said with a smile, then returned to stand beside Aria.
They both watched me keenly as I picked up the spoon and went in for a slight scoop. I did not expect something good. I just threw it into my mouth and waited for the worst to happen.
But then—
"It just tastes the same," I said, reaching for another scoop. "I don't get it, where's the newness in this?"
The moment I said that, Aria frowned. The kind of frown she'd given Sancho before knocking a blow into his nose. Cauli's expression just curled into disappointment, and then she sighed, walking back into the kitchen without a word.
"Uhh, did I make her mad?"
"She's been trying to figure out this recipe for months, the passion must be exhausting," Aria said, pulling a seat. "You could've at least been encouraging, dummy."
"What, it literally tastes the same!" My reply didn't come out quite as I wanted. I still had soup in my mouth.
For a while, we both didn't say anything. And for some reason, the judging look in her eyes slowly faded and was replaced with something more neutral. It still made me uncomfortable however.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked, barely looking away from my bowl.
"And what about you?" She said after a short while of silence. "Are you fine?"
"Sure?" I said it with uncertainty. "Why are you asking?"
"You know, about Rowan..."
"Oh— that." I grabbed a tissue and wiped my mouth clean. "Yeah. Yeah, of course I'm good."
"You know, you don't have to blame yourself for what happened to him." She replied. "It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah... I'll try not to." Apparently, I wasn't in the mood to talk about it. And she wasn't any good at reading the room, so I decided to change topics. "By the way, my application was approved."
Aria scoffed. "You must feel like a prince now." Her tone returned to bully mode. "I bet they know that you're not a cripple."
"Hm?"
Aria gave me that look. The kind of look expressed devastation rather than disappointment. Then she nodded, clicked her tongue again— which was something more of a habit.
"I know, grey eyes." She said, matter-of-factly. "I know you awakened."