"Hm?"
An obscured figure opened his eyes.
"What... what happened?"
He sat up on his chair and looked at the computer in front of him, a single monitor with the game [Dragon's Roar] being displayed.
"I fell asleep..."
The last thing he could remember was falling asleep before starting up the game.
He wanted to attempt a run in search of the hidden true ending that no one else could achieve.
"I feel like I'm forgetting something"
He stood up and got away from his desk.
The boy checked his phone and saw that it was still early in the morning.
"I woke up earlier than usual"
He glanced at his monitor one last time. It had been turned on all night because he fell asleep.
He decided to open up his windows, letting some natural sunlight fill his room and allow the air to flow.
With a quick look from his room, he was surprised when he saw the street empty.
He understood that it was still early, that most people should still be sleeping, but the street had an uncanny feeling of emptiness to them.
The boy left his room and walked to the bathroom.
He went to the toilet, and after that, he decided to brush his teeth.
He then washed up his face and looked at the mirror.
Even now, when he isn't obscured by the shadows of his own bedroom, he still can't make out on how he looks like.
His face looked like a mixture of different people, which made his own face unrecognizable to himself.
As if his own mind didn't accept his own body as the one it controlled.
When he exited the bathroom, he bumped into another person.
"&$>#? You're up really early today" said the woman with a yawn as she rubbed her eyes.
"I'll make you breakfast after your dad wakes up"
The woman walked past the boy, closing the bathroom door.
_____
A man with a beard and a woman were sitting on a table, eating their breakfast.
"&$>#"
Was the only thing the man said, ignoring completely the boy's presence.
The boy sat on the circular table.
...
Complete silence.
The bearded man only looked down at the table as he kept enjoying his breakfast.
The woman was resting her head on the table sleeping. She had finished her breakfast a while ago.
"Make sure to clean up"
The man stood up and left, not helping with the table.
The woman kept sleeping.
"..."
The boy stood there, silently watching his own mug with tea as it cooled off.
In the end, he never took a sip of his tea, nor did he eat any of the toasts.
He stood up and started picking up everything on the table, taking them to the sink and washing them.
"You should get ready, &$>#"
His father approached him from behind. He was already dressed in a beige blazer, white shirt, and dark-blue jeans.
"I'll be leaving now"
The man said with an expressionless tone.
But, just when the man grabbed the door handle.
"Wait!"
The boy felt like this was the first time he ever talked to that bearded man.
The man didn't even turn around. He only looked at the boy over his shoulder.
"Don't waste your time here. You have other things to do"
The man ignored the boy and left the house.
"..."
The boy looked at the woman sleeping on the table.
She had a smile on her face, even chuckling a bit.
"That woman must be having a nice dream"
The boy walked upstairs, back to his bedroom.
Upon entering, he noticed how his monitor still displayed the game he had been achievement hunting for the last three years.
The screen of the game displayed the main character of the game, Kaida Thican, being bullied by the noble first princess Franchesca Von Themys.
In that scene, Kaida and her friend, Yani, were investigating a case where a group of four second year students entered a dungeon, three died, and only a single member survived.
And they crossed paths with the princess.
At which point, the princess started insulting Kaida, calling her names and threatening with getting the disgraced noble expelled if she ever got too close with her.
The scene played out with Yani defending the shy Kaida that accepted that treatment.
"Franchesca is a divisive character in the community"
Most people hate her and think that becoming a mindless monster is too soft of a punishment for her. A small portion of people think that her initial reluctance to follow her family's plan to cause an apocalypse gave her an interesting depth that should've been explored more.
"She looks kind of lonely, though"
Despite being the first princess of the Montanev kingdom and one of the most powerful students. She has no friends, every time she appears on screen is always by herself, alone.
Every other student is either too afraid of her, or they hate her personality.
The fact that she hates every other student also adds up to her becoming a loner.
"Except for him"
At the start of the endgame, before she's expelled from Aurum Academy, Franchesca challenges Kaida to a duel.
As the player, you can bring a team of three characters to fight her, and the white-haired princess has a line of dialog for every student character.
Every comment she makes is an insult. Either calling characters cowards, freaks, calling them poor, and mocking facial features.
But the only character that doesn't follow that pattern is...
"Alen"
One of the worst three characters in the game, due to his dialog always being only three dots, the community assumed he was mute.
But that character that shows no expressions, that character whose interactions with others are a waste of time, that character that's considered the weakest.
Franchesca calls him interesting.
The community began to theorize on why she thinks like that. What makes Alen interesting?
In the end, due to the lack of interactions between these two characters and Alen's lack of presence on the story, it was all quickly brushed off in favor of exploring other characters.
"&$>#! Why're you still here?"
The woman asked as she rubbed her eyes.
"You have things to do, don't waste your time here"
"What does that mean? What do I have to do?"
The boy asked the woman as she yawned and scratched her belly.
"You have to..."
Despite the woman moving her lips, clearly talking about what he needs to do, the boy heard no sound coming from her.
"Got it? Now, go and do your thing. I'll be sleeping on my room if you need me"
The woman closed the door of the boy's bedroom.
Left as clueless as he was before, the boy glanced at the monitor.
It was the only thing in this bedroom besides his bed, and even that bed looked brand new as if no one's ever slept on it.
There was only a single interaction to be had inside this room.
The boy sat on the chair and clicked on the game, making the dialog advance.
________
I remember that ceiling...
A white ceiling belonging to the nurse of Aurum Academy, the same place where I woke up when I fell unconscious on the first week.
I slowly sat up on the bed and rubbed the back of my neck.
I had a dream about my past life.
*snore*
That noise made me look at my side.
"..."
It was Fran, who was sleeping while sitting on a chair. Her posture was clearly uncomfortable, and I could see how messy her hair was.
Her long, white hair is usually so neatly combed that seeing her like this made me smile.
I squinted my eyes as I felt something on my hand.
I lifted my left hand up and saw how I was instinctively holding onto a black coat.
This is that lich's coat.
While on the outside, it had been sewed with some kind of animal's fur, the inside was a lot smoother.
But I felt a presence coming from the inside of this coat.
...
...
I ended up doing nothing for the next couple of hours.
I noticed that it was still nighttime, but since I couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried, I simply lied there.
I stole some quick glances at Fran and chuckling whenever she scored a bit too loud.
But at some point, she started complaining in her sleep.
I got out of the bed and sneaked my way into another of the beds, stealing a blanket and gently covering Fran with it.
Her complaining stopped almost immediately, which made me happy as her face turned into a calmer expression.
I lied back on my bed, losing myself in my own thoughts as I thought about using this free time to plan on my next moves regarding the story.
*creak*
The slow sound of the bed opening made me close my eyes and pretend to still be unconscious.
I'd rather go through the whole procedure of an unconscious person waking up once everyone else is here.
I want to use my free time.
I couldn't see who was the one that entered the nurse's room this late at night.
But I could hear them stopping once they got to the side of my bed.
I could hear that person's paused and anxious breathing, too nervous of being caught here.
That person stood there for five minutes before doing something that shocked me.
They brushed their finger on my cheek.
The finger felt soft and a bit small as it continued circling on my cheek and brushed my hair behind my ear.
"P-please... wake up..."
That voice!
It's Kaida's voice.
I felt the rustling of her clothes as she seemed to lean on me.
I felt her warm breath on my forehead.
She stayed like this for a couple of seconds before separating from myself.
I heard how she tightly gripped her clothes and sighed before she sneaked outside.
________