"Haaaaah." There I am, sighing, because I have to go to class. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! WHY DOES CLASS EVEN EXIST!?
Well, not like I can do much about it. After all, this crap exists so you can "be a noble and responsible adult," as if working 12 HOURS A DAY makes you a "NOBLE AND RESPONSIBLE" adult.
After unleashing my frustrations in an internal monologue, I decide to get out of my comfy, soft bed, my only faithful friend.
Oh, my beautiful, lovely bed, I'll miss you for the next 8 hours.
...
Enough rambling! Now I have to face my responsibilities, and like any totally normal, average student, imagine if I were late and the teacher scolded me, and all my classmates saw me! A normal, average student wouldn't do that; worse, I'd stand out! That would be the worst thing ever, just like my life motto says: "Better to be normal than to stand out."
After getting dressed in the high school uniform (like any normal student), I leave my room to get something to eat. "Hunger is killing me," I mutter to myself.
I hope Dad saved me something to eat... Oh, look, there's milk and cereal, perfect for a good morning.
Time to leave the cave and head to hell (school). Hahaha, God, give me strength.
Here I am, in front of the big door, well, more like a gate, where students regroup with their friends to live a life "FULL OF HAPPY AND BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES." How sweet, right? If it weren't for the exams that make your eyes bleed from the stress they cause.
There are the new students, fresh out of middle school starting high school, all full of expectations. Honestly, I feel sorry for them.
...
Let's stop focusing on others, let's talk about me. Well, what could I say about myself? Ah, yes, I should start with my name: I'm Eiran Solen, a completely normal student. I'm not ugly, not handsome, average height, my grades are neither bad nor good... Wow, a normal person would envy how clearly normal I am.
I don't have friends because that would make me stand out... Wait, doesn't having friends make you a normal student?... Let's just say no.
Now that I've introduced myself, let's take a step forward into this cursed place.
Entering my classroom, I looked around and saw if my favorite spot (after my bed) was free and... surprise! It was free! That magic corner where not even the teacher could see me to ask a question like, "Young man, what is this question about?" or crap like that.
When almost all the students had arrived and were chatting about what they did during their precious vacation, the bell rang, and the most annoying moment of the year arrived: introducing yourself to the class. It's an absolute nuisance. WHY THE HELL WOULD I HAVE TO TELL OTHER GUYS I DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT WHAT I LIKE!? ISN'T THAT BASICALLY HARASSMENT!?
After introducing myself (annoyed, by the way) to my class, the door burst open and a girl ran in shouting:
"AM I ON TIME!?"
The entire class fell silent, as if they had seen a ghost pass before their eyes; not because of the sudden slam of the door, but because the girl was incredibly beautiful. I'd never seen this girl in class before. I even wondered: "Since when has she been here?"
Fiery red hair, so bright and beautiful it seemed like it was actually flaming above her head. Her hair reached her shoulders. Green eyes; not a bright green like emeralds, but rather a deep, dark green, as if pine needles had decided to rest upon her eyes. Long, reddish eyelashes that looked like natural eyeliner. Her slender body... you could even make out her figure through the school uniform. Well, to sum it up, she was a walking beauty, a magazine model!
Me, foolishly stunned, recovered my composure.
"Phew, at least I'm not the center of attention anymore," I whispered so no one would hear. "Honestly, it was relaxing not to be the 'look at me, I'm here and I'm standing out' guy anymore. Good, that's it, mysterious girl, keep overshadowing me."
After that rowdy introduction, she, apparently, is a new student who transferred high schools due to some personal problems. She said her name was Elin Mora, or something like that. Well, that doesn't matter anymore; what matters now is not standing out.
Thirty minutes into class, I receive a notification on my cell phone. I decided to look at it simply out of curiosity, because I don't usually get notifications, not even from my dad.
I took the phone out of my pocket to see what kind of notification it was. Apparently, it was from some kind of... game? Honestly, I had no idea; it just said: "[LOVE KILLS]."
Love kills? What does that mean? Is it some kind of dating sim horror game? Honestly, I'm not into those types of games because I think they're lame.
Is a notification trying to call me lame?
"Mr. Eiran Solen."
"Huh? What's up?"
Oh, crap, they caught me. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!
"Mr. Eiran Solen, is my class perhaps boring you?"
"Well, actually, yes, IT IS BORING! BUT I CAN'T ANSWER LIKE THAT! WHAT DO I DO!? THIS IS SO STUPID! JUST BECAUSE A DAMN NOTIFICATION CALLED ME "LAME," I'M DRAWING ATTENTION!"
"N-no, professor, I j-j-just checked a n-notification on my phone."
"So you're telling me that 'that notification' is more important than my class?"
"N-not at all, professor!"
"Hmm, I see. Eiran, come here."
"Breathe, Eiran, everything's going to be okay... THIS IS NOT OKAY! CRAP, CRAP, CRAP! NOW EVERYONE IS LOOKING MY WAY! I FEEL MY HEART IN MY THROAT, LIKE I JUST RAN A 40-KILOMETER MARATHON!"
"EVERY STEP I TAKE FEELS LIKE WEIGHTS ARE BEING ADDED TO MY BACK! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?"
"Mr. Eiran..."
"Y-yes, professor?"
"Hand it over."
"S-sure, professor."
"ISN'T THIS PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE OR SOMETHING!?"
"Go back to your seat."
"Okay."
"Ah, right..."
"Wh-what is it, professor?"
"After classes, go to the staff room to pick up your phone."
"Okay."
After some hellish classes, it was break time. So I decided to leave the classroom to complain internally in my head about the professor.
After the break and a few boring classes that help me with nothing, what I was waiting for most all day arrived: THE END OF CLASSES!
"Thank goodness," I thought to myself. "I can be in my comfy bed without anyone bothering me... Oh, I almost forgot my cell phone. Well, time to get it."
——
Alright, time to enjoy the day! Now that I have my phone, I can go home happy... But first... that damn notification. Because of it, I suffered the biggest embarrassment I can remember! I'm going to delete that thing and also disable notifications.
...
Still, I won't lie... I was curious about what that notification was about. I guess it's one of those typical games that promise things but never deliver in the end.
Turning on my phone, I check my notification tray.
"Where were you...? Ah, here."
I decide to glance sideways to see what it was about.
[LOVE KILLS]
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE GODS. FROM NOW ON, YOU WILL BE A DAMN GUINEA PIG FOR THEM.
"What the hell is this?" That question came from the depths of my soul.
"Guinea pig, gods? Well, I guess it's from a weird game or something." I decided to delete that notification from my phone and put it away.
——
"I'm home," I said, without any hope someone was there. "Truth is, I was too tired to see if my dad was around or not; I made the quick decision to go to my room to rest in my comfy bed."
——
I was lying there, doing nothing. I looked for my phone in my pants to read some webtoons, took the phone out, and realized something... My notification tray had over a hundred notifications. Me, clearly weirded out, looked at the tray again, thinking I was hallucinating from lack of sleep, but no, there really were over a hundred notifications there, and the weirdest thing of all was that they all had the same title: [LOVE KILLS].
...
"Is this a hack!?" Possibly it was a hack; it was impossible for over a hundred notifications to arrive in one minute. That was the most logical thing, right?
"Why is this happening to me? What a crappy day."
I complain, of course. HOW CAN YOU NOT COMPLAIN IN THIS SITUATION!? DID GOD DECIDE I HAD TO SUFFER TODAY!?
"Okay, Eiran, relax, it's nothing important. You'll just have to factory reset the phone; after all, you don't have anything important to lose, right?"
The moment I was going to factory reset my phone... a notification arrived:
[YOU CAN'T]
"What?" I got that notification: "You can't." What can't I do? The reset?
I tap on the notification.
[YOU CAN'T]
DON'T PISS OFF THE GODS ANY FURTHER, IDIOT, OR YOU'LL BRING MORE CONSEQUENCES.
...
"This is getting too scary... Not only is it a hacker, but also a LUNATIC!?"
——
[YOU CAN'T]
[YOU CAN'T]
[YOU CAN'T]
[YOU CAN'T]
And so the messages repeated for ten minutes.
"O-okay, okay, I'll listen," I was just desperate, nervous, and distressed by then.
"Will you leave me alone?" I didn't want any more bombardment messages; I was totally worn out, at the edge of my mental capacity.
...
In that nocturnal silence, there were no more notifications, only silence, as if the whole world had paused.
...
Suddenly, a visual interface pops up.
"Aaaah!" I yelled, getting startled and jumping out of my bed, falling headfirst onto the hard floor of the house, feeling like my head was being hammered.
"Ugh..." After the groan of pain, I saw what was in front of me: it was a pastel pink interface that said:
[CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE CONTRACT]
CLAP CLAP
"Contract?" I was more stunned by the rather colorful interface than by the blow I took.
Without even letting me breathe, the interface changes: it proceeds to expand and the previous words disappear, then others appear.
[RULES]
>YOU MUST ALWAYS COMPLY WITH WHAT THE SYSTEM SAYS.
>THERE WILL ALWAYS BE CONDITIONS IN THE MISSIONS.
>YOU WILL ALWAYS BEAR THE CONSEQUENCES.
[SIMPLE, RIGHT?]
"What?" I didn't understand anything. I could only form that question, that simple and stupid question.