Prologue: Introduction

Saturday,12th of April,2XXX

"I wonder if this is the place."

As I hold a Paper Flyer that my parents gave to me in, which they send me off to this school with, whilst the spring breeze blows my skirt and gives off a scent of the sakura leaves that grows not too far from the school yard.

"𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦."

I thought, while trying to wrap around an absurd concept that is a Highschool exam is harder than a college entrance exam.

After thinking to myself, that it's probably a baseless rumor that someone made up and has no proof to back it up. After an hour of standing still in front of the school gate and contemplating my life choices, that is the decision for me if I want to enter this school or not just because of the difficult exam that I need to face.

I started to push the gate and it creaked with an awful sound of a metal bar rubbing onto each other.

𝐊𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐊

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥." I grumbled in irritation towards the noise that the gates were making which in turn makes me regret opening the gateway to my new highschool.

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢?", As the gate started to open for just a little bit. I let out of a big sigh and fall to a sitting position, while leaning on the school gate

Exhausted from opening the large school gate, I sat down for awhile to get a little bit of rest, to again make progress on the pair of large school gates, a thought pass through my mind like a flash, an oddly specific yet important thought that keep bugging my mind since it passed.

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵?"

Keeping that thought in my mind, after a short but well needed rest, I continue on pushing the large gate that's on my way to enter the school, until I feel something continue to blocking it from opening. I kept pushing and pushing and finally, I stumbled upon something, something perculiar.

"𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴?! 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦?"

My brain scrambling for an explanation to explain how an inexistent technology, ended up in the most successful and also hardest school to enter in this country.

Whilst I was thinking that, I accidentally got launched into the insides of the barrier by the small gap that I made from pushing the school gates, and fell onto the ground, face flat.

"Oww...Why did I even get launched here."

Saying that when also trying to stand on my feet, "Well, at least I made it into the barrier." After that very painful landing, I finally stood and tried to observe the school yard that I was just fling onto.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺? 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."

Standing in position with this thought in my mind while I'm currently checking the place.

"Excuse me?"

I whisper with a little bit in a bowing position, quietly and also to my self, not to alert any security, if there's even any in this desolate and looks abandoned place.

Looking and also Squinting both of my eyes for good measure, I began to walk slowly and trying to not make any noises as possible, still occupied with the thought of if this school has any security guards at all.

Slowly but surely, I was walking to the main building, or the school building. From my first observation, it seems that it has at least 5 Floors from the top to bottom.

"𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮?"

A moment later after I successfully get into floor one's hallway, I started to start my trek, walking across the empty halls within the school, and took a peek into the rooms that is surprisingly massive with chairs, tables and also the stairs floor that looks like somethings that pull straight out from a college teaching room.

"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, which is 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥."

Me thinking to myself after seeing how this school has no spider webs, unorganized chairs and tables left out by the seniors, and also how the hallways feels like a scene from a horror film or the liminal spaces that is popular five or six decades ago.

As I walked through the empty hallways to the toilet, I opened the door and found, as expected, nothing but an eerie silence and freshness of the toilet room. With my first step onto the bathroom door, with my squeaky sounding shoes, and breaking the silence of it.

I was so freaked out by my own produce sound, that I started to momentarily jump but landed safely afterwards, learned just because I was traumatized by the first fall that I suffered when I started get into this place.

After having a restroom break. I came out of the toilet and flushed the toilet, close the toilet door and leave like not even a ghost has been there, before starting to explore again, with me, walking to the second floor of the building through the stair pathway, and in the process, missed the lift that can take you to the second floor without wasting any energy.

Gasping for breath, I finally reached the second floor. With a bottle on hand that I bought from a strangely still stocked vending machine, and with the feeling of being jumpscared every second I'm here, I continue on.

After the second round complaining about the stairs, again, I stand on both of my feet from a sitting position and finally make a move. As I expected, nothing has changed besides the room placement, which is now from the left that switches from the right.

With me, finally discovering that there's an elevator system, installed into the school building, I sighed.

"Talk about a waste of energy. Urgh, Who even designs elevator in the middle of the building?!"

With that done and smoke finally go out from my system, I got into the elevator and press for floor three.

The next third and fourth floor also has the same structure as the first and the second floor. Knowing that, I went straight to the fifth floor, where the elevator finally got to the top, which is the balcony.

The elevator room opens and I can walk out and breathe a group of fresh air.

"𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦." 

"𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 5 𝘗𝘔..." After letting that concept linger in my mind for a while, I finally found out how long I spent in this building without any care in the world. "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺?!"

With this thoughtful and certainly not helpful notions finally sets in, my mind goes into a panic mode, where it the thoughts chains into, "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳??" and "𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦??".

With this, I quickly sprinted towards the elevator, closed the elevator, and pressed the button to floor one. And after that, I rushed out of the school, like I was being chased by a ghost.

After several minutes has past and I already calmed down, I finally remember what did my mother said before I was order to go here:

"Izu-chan, listen to your mother, I already listed you on a dorm school, so if something would happen to us, then I want you to go to your dorm system on the school, okay?"

After the memory flashback, I started searching for the dorm that my mom talks about. Minutes have gone by and the sun has already set, the spring weather and temperature is getting colder, and while that's happening, I'm still searching for the entrance to a maybe nonexistent dorm.

"Where is it? Where is it?!" With my tone of voice starting to get more desperate and desperate every passing time, in frustration, I throw something onto a random tree and- 𝐓𝐀𝐊

A large sound echoes throughout the desolate school yards, with me knowing that the object that I throw did not hit the floor, and also that's not the sounds that an object that hit the floor is supposed to sound like.

After that discovery, I'm starting throwing from rocks to twigs to a random side of the yard. The clocks is ticking and every throw, I start to lose hope again, until- 𝐓𝐀𝐊

Another sound echoes across the empty yard, with this, I'm sure where the sounds came from, and rush there with full force.

"As I expected...Barrier"

With a faint smile on my face, I pushed my hand and successfully clipped my whole body through the barrier, and without tripping this time, I landed on both of my feet.

"Finally, it looks like I'm in the dorm that my mom is talking about", while saying that to myself with an exhausted and also a smug smile on my face.

"𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦." I thought when preparing myself for another exploration.

"Woaaaaah...", I shout in shock when looking at the wide road that I just encountered, meanwhile my mind is screaming about the logic of:

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩-"

With my sentence halted by a sign that says: "Don't question about it, just take the reality".

With that, the part that's always questioning things in my brain stopped completely, it was like something like a magic spell was planted onto that sign that makes me stop questioning about why a wide road can be in a dorm.

Progressing, I finally begin to walk the huge road that's, on the side stacked with houses.

Looking at the ridiculous sight, I started to realize that every single house has a name on it and I started to approach one of the house with a house signs on it, attached to the fence of the house and it reads:

"Naoki Kazuto," and accidentally read it out loud.

After a while of strolling through the road, I stumbled upon a Takoyaki shop, in which when I started to get closer to see what's happening in the shop.

Suddenly, an AI in form of a robot appeared and jumpscared me out of nowhere.

"What can I do for you, Customer?" Says the robot to me in which still in a shock state,

"N-Nothing, I was just checking if there's anyone was here."

"I see, then Customer, I hope you can find anyone here, wish you luck."

While the robot waves his hand to me whilst I walk away from the shop, Intimidated by the robot's jumpscare.

"𝘞-𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭...𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥...𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵."

I thought once I got a little bit farther from the robot spotting me.

But as soon as I finished thinking that, my confusion and the little hope that's visible on my face vanished in an instant and was replaced with a horrified face by something...something so unpredictable. Something that I wasn't prepared for nor expected at all.

Something that's both horrifying and also so twisted, that at that moment I said with my whole body trembling and with a shaky voice:

"I really wish that I didn't come here...At all..."