2 The World Hope

"Yo, Reigner! Another night spent on your game servers? Dude, you should stop for a while and have some fun with us!"

"Yeah, Reigner. It's no good to just sit in the house all day~~"

"You would say something else if you could see my bank account."

"""Haha~~"""

Only Sylvie knew that gaming is not the case for Reigner's constant fatigue. It was easy to guess after their brief talks every morning. She glanced at him, then took her seat... From this point onwards, Sylvie had no one else around her other than the books.

The classmates had tried to speak up to Sylvie several times during their first year, but the first impression left by the lady was that she is a weenie. Even so, the lady's aloof and introvert demeanor had matched her good looks and many found her presence to be nice.

It would be nice to have her around, even if it was to only peek at her while outside.

Sylvie had naturally dismissed the pushy classmates, then hid her face with books. From that point onward, she had been spending her days alone in the school and came straight back home as soon as the lessons ended.

"Hey, Reigner."

One of Reigner's friends whispered then. Albeit it could be considered a whisper, his tone wasn't secretive and so Sylvie also could hear his words. What he said was as such...

"There are rumors about you and that weenie. Don't tell me that you are distancing yourself from us to get her?"

"I also heard about those. It's no good, you know? If you actually manage to get her hand, then she will lose all her years of studying."

"Right, right. Just give up on her-"

"Enough."

Reigner's voice completely stopped overbearing honest friends. His face was slightly distorted and his tone carried anger which had never been directed towards them from the companionable Reigner. He had been always laughing, joking, and enjoying their time together!

And now, he just blatantly stopped their not so whispers.

They might want to help him and cheer his mood up, but Reigner wouldn't tolerate the people who exactly can not accept others and their selves. If they want to use others for their happiness, then it would be better to just cut the ties.

He had enough problems in his life.

'The sight of sad Sylvie won't soothe my pain.'

And it was the real reason.

"Okay, okay. Don't get angry. We are all bros."

"If that's what you seek, then we should help you! I can stalk her and find out what kind of books she likes and might need next, okay?"

"Don't fucking stalk her."

Then, the lessons began.

Reigner couldn't focus on the lessons at all. If the situation demanded him to focus calmly and in solitude, then the image of the monster just popped out as if by itself. Other than monitoring the new game servers and creating new items, Reigner had no way of forgetting about this abomination.

His was was distorted for the rest of the school.

-

The lessons ended, and it was time to go home.

Reigner glanced at Sylvie and found her already standing up. He intended to follow her and just spent some time with her serious vibes... All he needed was the presence of someone... to rely on someone was also in his need.

The serious and highly focused lady in her studies was exactly the kind of person that could help him. It was egoistic, but Sylvie had just extended her hand to help him today. That's why Reigner stood up and closed up the distance.

Then, the world blackened out.

"What?"

"What is going on?"

"Who the fuck is pulling pranks at me? Huhhhh?"

The whole class exclaimed instantly in tandem. At first, most people thought that the lights just went off, but how could it be so dark in the middle of the day? This realization struck the youngsters quickly and they gasped.

The shock crept into their faces, then the people closest to the window stepped close to it. They opened the windows and extended their heads out... What they saw was the sky turning even darker, then the sun being devoured by it.

The bright sun couldn't provide its sun rays at all and its round size was diminishing nonstop. Soon, it completely disappeared from the sky. What was left was the darkness and shocked people with their heads raised.

Then, the classmates could feel their bodies being permeated by the darkness, swallowing them up slowly. They cried out, screamed, and fiercely dangled their limbs.

"S-stop! Stop!"

"Kyaaaaaaa! Save me! Save me!"

"Calm down! Everyone- grab each other!"

Reigner was already holding the beauty within his arms. Not even caring about Sylvie's opinion, Reigner wrapped his arms around her body and held as tightly as possible. The darkness was so similar to the nightmares that his body unconsciously began trembling.

Her head turned to the side, then looking at Reigner's eyes deeply penetrating hers, Sylvie put her hand on his own and reassured with a small nod...

All other friends were screaming, trying to act cool, or just cared about each other. Even Reigners' EXs were acting like stupid women who can only scream and spit their saliva, completely unreliable. Looking at her eyes, Reigner began falling for Sylvie for real.

Then, the darkness swallowed them whole.