The Abnormal Day

Fidel passed through the noisy hallway on the fifth floor and entered his classroom. Afterward, he directly sat on his seat and placed his head and arms on his desk before closing his eyes.

One by one, he heard numerous footsteps hurrying inside the classroom from the entrance. A little bit later, the school bell rang to signal the start of afternoon classes.

"Alright students, please settle down so we can start our lesson. And can someone please wake Fidel up?"

Fidel suddenly felt someone grab his shoulder and shake it from the back.

"Fidel, wake up, dude. Class is about to start." He heard someone say from behind him.

'Haaaaahhh… Can't they just give up and leave me alone already?'

Left with no other choice, Fidel could only reluctantly raise his head and greet his teacher with listless eyes. As he did so, he crossed gazes with the teacher, Miss Escutin, who stood on the podium, hands on her hips.

"Tired already, Fidel?" She questioned while raising an eyebrow. "Class hasn't even started. Didn't you get enough sleep during lunch break?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, teach. I didn't hear you come in. Aha-ha…"

Fidel let out sheepish laughter while scratching the back of his head to seem apologetic.

"Is that so?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Well then, I'd appreciate it if you don't doze off on me this time around, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Fidel nodded.

"Hmph. Anyway, enough of that. Today our topic will be about…"

The teacher turned around and wrote something on the blackboard.

Fidel instantly zoned out of the lecture-discussion as he rested his chin on his right palm. He stared out the window of his classroom; the sun hung high in the cloudless sky and a formation of birds glided through that ocean of blue.

'I wonder why I couldn't be reincarnated as a bird instead. I would've loved to be able to fly so high and free.' Fidel sighed in his mind.

He recalled a significant juncture in his previous life, the day when he finally got out of that dark, suffocating cave, and the first time he ever saw the light of day. He remembered it vividly; an unforgettable memory etched into his very soul.

A sea of greenery thronging with noises full of abundant life. Up above, a vast and expansive blue sky reflected in his pupils. And there, he saw a flock of birds freely soaring through the air unabated. The way they flew whichever way they wanted without a care in the world was truly envious. Nobody controls them, and nobody tells them what to do.

Before he knew it, tears streamed down his eyes—a feeling other than despair finally started to bloom in his aching, broken heart—Hope. At that moment, all of the insufferable pain in his life, the dried-up sadness, and his existence which only received abuses and thrashing from the brooding guards; he instinctively knew that part of his life was no more. Right here and now—he would take the reins of his own life and spread his wings, just like those birds flying in every direction.

Fidel closed his eyes and exhaled a breath. So that he wouldn't be caught not paying attention, he leisurely returned his gaze back to the podium. And that's when it happened.

"Okay, class. Who can tell me the date of the Philippine Independence—"

FWOONG! FWOONG! FWOONG! FWOONG!

Circles of blue light appeared all of sudden on the blackboard and wall. No, it wasn't just there.

Fidel hurriedly looked up and around him. The entire classroom was dyed with glowing blue circles from the ceiling to the four sides, all the way to the floor—it was everywhere!

"Wh-What the hell is going on?!?" Someone yelled out.

"Dammit! Is this some sort of prank you guys are pulling?!" Another classmate mentioned.

Then, from the blue circles, strange cryptic symbols and inscriptions began forming.

"What is this…! I'm scared!!!" A girly voice yipped.

"Everybody, calm down!"

A resonant shout resounded in the chaotic classroom. Immediately everybody, including Fidel, whipped their heads to the person who shouted out—it was Cyke Arceo. Miraculously, everyone quieted down as they put their full focus on the guy.

He stood from his seat as he spoke to the crowd, "Everyone, there's no need to panic. It isn't gonna help us."

Suddenly, a loud racket of something crashing down onto the floor echoed. A classmate of theirs, Gio Cataraja, held his position of kicking over his desk for all to see. Afterward, he placed his foot down and scowled in Cyke's direction.

"Oh, yea? What do you suggest we do, then, jackass? You think this is all normal to you!?"

"Gio, I understand that everyone's agitated, but this is no time to lash out all of a sudden." Cyke frowned and admonished him.

"Hoh. And what are you gonna do 'bout it? I hate seeing you up there acting all high and mighty. Why don't you sit down boy and let the adult—our capable teacher here—take care of the mass hysteria. Aight?"

At the mention of their teacher, everyone's focus reflexively shifted back to Miss Escutin. She still stood on the podium and stared at her students. When she noticed their various gazes on her, she quickly opened her mouth to address the situation.

"Okay everyone, that's enough. This is no time to be bickering. Listen to my orders: I want everybody to carefully file out of the classroom through the doors. Come on, hurry up now." Miss Escutin clapped her hands.

Even though it was almost imperceptible, Fidel could see the slight shaking in her hands and the tiny tremor in her voice.

'She's managing to hold it together pretty well despite the bizarre situation.'

Fidel felt a little bit of admiration for her because of that. In fact, it wouldn't at all be shocking if she were to have a panic attack right about now. No normal person would be able to react to such bewildering and unknown circumstances with a straight face.

As instructed, the students got up from their seats and, although they were trying their best to remain calm in this odd situation, some of them couldn't help but move in a rush, while all of them sported distressed and agitated faces.

When the student nearest to the door practically ran towards it and attempted to open it, the door didn't move one bit.

"What the—"

The doorknob could be turned, the problem was the door wouldn't budge open whether he tried pulling or pushing it.

"Why won't the damn door open?!"

With panic written all over his face, he tried to bash the door open using his body.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Dammit!"

But no matter how hard he smashed the door with his entire weight behind it, the door remained stationary.

"Get out of the way! Let me do it!"

Gio Cataraja pulled his classmate aside and tried to do the same thing he did.

"HA! HA! HA! GODDAMIT, OPEN UP FOR ME!"

Gio raged and slammed the door numerous times. Alas, the result remained the same.

"F**k this! Does anyone see a crowbar or something we can use to break down the door?"

All of his classmates hurriedly looked around them, but there was nothing of the sort.

Noticing this, Gio clicked his tongue and went towards a nearby chair.

"I guess I've got no other choice."

He took the chair with him to the door, lifted it up, then proceeded to hammer the door with it.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

After many attempts of breaking down the doorway, the chair ultimately broke instead; however, the door stayed perfectly fine.

"What in the actual f**k…?"

Gio staggered backward as his pupils dilated while staring at the door like he was looking at some sort of monster.

"How can it not have a single scratch or dent after all that? This is impossible!"

Hearing his words, all of his classmates grew fearful and restless. Some of them rushed to the two doors in the classroom and tried to pry them open themselves—all to no avail.

"Help us!"

"Hey, can someone outside hear us!? We're trapped in our classroom!"

"Hello! If someone is out there in the hallway! Please open the door for us!"

Everyone had now resorted to screaming and yelling as they all tried to ask for help from somebody, anybody on the other side of the door.

'The situation is dire.' Fidel thought while frowning.

Actually, Fidel recognized the blue circles covering the entire classroom as magic symbols; though he wasn't sure if these magic symbols were the same kind from his previous world or not. Nonetheless, seeing them here right now certainly shocked him to his core.

He never thought that one day he would encounter real magic once again, because he had tried everything in his power to conjure up magic in this world before, yet everything always resulted in failure. In the end, he had given up believing that magic existed on Earth.

'Yet here we are now—real magic symbols are undulating right before my very eyes.' Fidel closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. 'I can also sense intense mana fluctuations flowing through the air…'

As much as Fidel wanted magic to exist here, the fact that it isn't supposed to be and then there suddenly is can only be considered deathly alarming.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"Why is the ground suddenly shaking so much?!"

"It's an earthquake!"

"Everybody, get down!"

Unexpectedly, the ground started shaking rapidly, catching everyone off guard and causing some people to fall down on the floor. Then, the oddest thing happened—the world turned completely pitch-black, and it felt like they were floating in space. Also, what looked to be bright sparkling stars could be seen outside the classroom windows.

Everyone screamed their lungs out like banshees or lambs to the cosmic slaughter. Nobody knew how long it lasted, but the screams soon drowned out or faded away simultaneously as pure colorless whiteness engulfed their sights.