"Let's all calm down," Zhen Yu helped the student grabbing onto his wrists up from the ground and attempted to assure everyone that they'd be ok. "Clearly there's something strange happening, but I'm sure that we'd all be alright if we work together to figure this out."
"Damn NPCs…" a man in the back hissed, he had short black hair almost like a buzzcut with a small mustache above his lips and a disgusted expression on his face. His body wasn't built like a stick but it wasn't exactly muscular either, just a regular uncle with a healthy body build. "Always acting like the boss when they don't know anything good," the man crossed his arms over his chest. His demeanour was very arrogant and it didn't take a genius to understand that he didn't respect the game's actors very much. Honestly, his wife beater shirt that he wore underneath his unbuttoned school uniform spoke volumes about his personality.
"Zhen Yu, I'll trust you with my life! Hic.." the male who Zhen Yu helped up quickly latched onto his arm and hid behind him.
"We will trust your words," the same female voice from earlier spoke, moving to stand next to him. Turning to his right, he could see a girl with short hair only slightly longer than her shoulders by a few centimetres and sharp eyes darker than her raven hair. Her skin was smooth and pale almost like a ghost- but had just enough colour to look human. Well, it's true that every actor here from EW is already dead anyway…
While the actors were crowding around Zhen Yu who seemed to be one of their most trusted classmates, the players stood still in their spot and only moved when they spotted someone that they knew. This drew a clear line between the actors and the players. The players stood on one side, staring at everything warily while the actors crowded around someone who was supposed to be the 'most trust worthy' to them in this school.
"The clear separation between the real people and the fake is good," the uncle in the wife beater shirt spoke up, "whoever the reapers are, go ahead and target those NPCs first. They're not real anyways, what is there to feel guilty about or miss?" The man walked to the front of the player group and pointed towards the actors, "everyone on that side is an easy kill!"
"What are you saying?!" an actor with black hair with split bangs swept to one side yelled out, stepping in front of the girl with pigtails from earlier who was in further distress. "How could you just say that?!" his deep blue eyes were filled with anger.
"So what?" a woman spoke up with an entitled tone. Moving her purple hair off her shoulders, she spoke again, her voice as venomous as her red lips, "isn't it obvious that you should die first? Our lives are worth much more than yours."
"R-right!" the westerner with light brown hair nodded frantically. "It shouldn't be one of us that gets targeted first!" The majority of other players also began to join in, yelling back and arguing that their lives were more valuable while the NPCs also began to scream back their frustrations.
"I'll take you out now so the reapers don't have to decide who their first target is!" the man standing in front of the girl with pig tails angrily walked over to where the players were standing, but was held back by Zhen Yu.
"Calm down, this isn't a time to fight," Zhen Yu held out his arm and blocked the blue eyed male's way.
"Right, this shouldn't even be a fight," every actor's less favourite uncle scoffed. "It was obvious from the start that you all should be sacrificed first. What's the point in fighting about something so clear? The game put you all in to die first to give us time to figure out who the reapers are- ARGH!" the man stumbled back and held his cheek, then turned his head back forward to look at Zhen Yu in disbelief, "you dare punch me?! Not only are you an NPC, but you're also clearly younger than me! Do you not know how to respect your elders huh brat?!"
"Ah, now that you mention it, you clearly are much much older than the rest of us. It must be a sore topic for you, failing so many times in your last year of school and being held back. How many times did you have to retake the final exam now? Five?" Zhen Yu approached the bruised man and grabbed him by the shirt, "but so what if you're older? Who are you to decide whether someone deserves to live or not? Are lives so invaluable that some are more important than others?"
Letting go of the man's shirt, Zhen Yu walked out of the classroom, leaving everyone shocked into silence. Everybody at the scene was completely stunned, not even one moving from their spot aside from a single person who followed after Zhen Yu. It was the actor that moved next to him and said that she'd trust his words- the same one that had whispered to him when he had just arrived.
"You must be new," the girl spoke, her expression unchanging. She was almost like a robot if Zhen Yu was honest, though he would never say that out loud since it was rude.
"I'm sorry…" Zhen Yu apologized, "was what I did against the rules? We're supposed to treat the players well aren't we? You know the 'the customer is always right' mindset?"
"There is no such rule. Actors are allowed to do whatever they please as long as they complete their given task. For example: Takamura who exploded, his task was to 'expose the players to the game's boundary'. He could of done it anytime, but he chose to do it right away for some quick money and go on with his day. There's not many ways that you could go against the rules, but if you do the observer will tell you and you will be ejected from the experience."
"Then… I could really do whatever I want?" Zhen Yu questioned.
"Yes," the girl confirmed. "Actually, the harder the difficulty, the more that NPCs are encouraged to act however they please to confuse the players and get in their way. We can do whatever, aside from tampering with evidence or clues set by the game." Hearing the girl's words, Zhen Yu glanced at his task and smiled.
[Task: confuse the players]
"Thank you, I will do my best."
Looking him up and down, the girl then spoke once again before walking away, "I am Lin Huiyin, welcome to the team." Arriving back at the classroom, Lin Huiyin could tell that the tension between the players and NPCs were high. The division between the two groups in the classroom was already proof that they did not get along, but now added with the glaring from both groups, it was not an exaggeration to say that they'd rather have a conversation with someone who won't stop yapping about their doomed pairing than share a room with each other.
"Where's the class president?" a woman approached Lin Huiyin. The woman was fairly tall with long white hair tied into a high ponytail and black eyes, but most importantly, she had a green arrow above her head, meaning she was a player.
"In the infirmary most likely. He was heading in that direction," Lin Huiyin replied, not bothering to stop to answer but had just continued to walk over to where the NPC who had hair covering his eyes was sitting while trembling.
"Why bother with NPCs?" the uncle mumbled, watching as the white haired lady leave with both his legs on the chair as he sat. "Waste of time."
Walking to the infirmary, the white haired woman noticed the door was already open and looked inside, spotting Zhen Yu who was crouching in front of a cabinet and searching for things. He was very focused on his task, not even looking up or noticing that someone else had arrived.
"Are you not scared of being here alone?" the woman broke the silence. "In this type of game, people will attack anyone who is by themselves in a secluded place you know."
"I believe that no one really wants to hurt others," Zhen Yu replied, stopping his search to look at her.
"Kang Yumin, my name," the woman walked closer. Zhen Yu gave her a smile and handed her a wrap of bandages.
"I know. We've been in the same class for two years straight now." Kang Yumin became stiff from Zhen Yu's words. "Take those bandages, you'll never know when you'll need it. There's no guarantee that a fight won't break out the next time people start arguing again."
"I won't need it. I won't be participating in those worthless fights," Kang Yumin placed the bandage roll onto a small table next to the hospital bed. "What are you searching for?"
"Ointment as an apology for punching my classmate… and for those mean words I said as well. Not exactly nice to bring up someone's failure in passing the final exams for multiple years. Ah, it's right here," Zhen Yu grabbed the ointment at the very back of the cabinet.
"Does he really deserve an apology?" Kang Yumin questioned. "That guy… 'Cheng Ming' was it? What he said was indeed wrong. What you did isn't necessarily bad, teaching someone like that a lesson."
"In situations like this, people would always think of their own survival first. It's understandable that Cheng Ming would want to protect his life no matter what." Zhen Yu got up from the ground and turned to Kang Yumin, "let's go back."
Taking the ointment with him back to the classroom, Zhen Yu approached Cheng Ming who was sitting at a desk in an attempt to apologize, but Cheng Ming only sneered at him. "You're sorry? After punching me? I don't need it! Get lost!" Cheng Ming screamed angrily when the male with slightly tanned skin and glasses whispered something into his ear.
"Zhen Yu seems to be the leader of the NPCs, they were surrounding him for help earlier. It's best to get along with him or you'll offend all the NPCs that support Zhen Yu and we'd be in trouble," the male advised. "If they were to initiate a vote to eliminate you even all the player's votes might not be able to do anything. I'll be upfront with you, I'd vote you too."
Hearing the man's words, Cheng Ming seemed to calm down from his angry outburst however, the look in his eyes directed towards Zhen Yu still displayed his anger. "Fine… I'll accept this apology of yours," Cheng Ming said reluctantly, snatching the container of ointment from Zhen Yu's hands.
"Now that we're done fighting, let's discuss the game," the male that whispered into Cheng Ming's ears stood in the middle of the division between the NPCs and players. "I'm Zoren Reyes."
"Doesn't it seem a bit similar to the werewolf game? Or mafia game if you prefer that version," Zhen Yu commented. "The reapers are the werewolves while the humans are the civilians."
"I've read the rules while you were gone Zhen Yu," the male student with blue eyes spoke, standing next to the classmate with pigtails who sat on a table. "The only difference is that the reapers have a curse each that can kill without direct contact, and the angel who could save a person each night, but can forfeit their abilities to save someone from a losing vote. The detective is still the same."
"How could that be fair?!" the bright red lipped woman with purple hair showed a displeased expression. "A curse that could kill indirectly without being discovered makes it harder! With only 19 people left, and a max limit of two kills for the reapers per day, the reapers would win in just over a week!"
"Less than a week," Zoren spoke. "The two curses don't count towards the two kills per day for the reapers. It'll be a complete massacre if we don't figure out who the reapers are soon. The 10 day limit also forces the reapers to kill or else they'd lose if the game doesn't end by the 10th day, so the game being fast pace isn't impossible."
"It's after 4pm, there's under six hours left, so I recommend you all gather supplies and find a safe spot to hide, especially one hard to find. The rules say at 10pm the collars will send a signal to every civilian's brain to knock us out, leaving us completely defenceless against the reapers," Lin Huiyin pointed out. "Pick your allies safely."
"So this is a S difficulty game…." The westerner covered his face in despair, his drawn in posture reflecting his regret. The other players weren't much better, knowing that the next morning when they wake up, there'd be a bloody outcome.
Zhen Yu clenched his fists, walking out of the classroom with a defeated expression, his head hanging low. Only when he was far away enough did he let out a sigh of relief. Acting was really too hard. Sitting back and letting things flow would be way easier… so why was he playing the class president?! Stupid Death…
"Finally some peace…" Zhen Yu opened the door to the roof top and sat down to relax. He was immediately sent off to his first mission and didn't have any time to think over his situation, so now would be the right time to. "My appearance really changed…" he stared at the blond young boy in his phone camera.
He had noticed that his appearance was different earlier in the classroom when his reflection showed some blond in the window, but only now did he have time to properly check. His face didn't change much, he was clearly still the same person, just a bit younger looking with blond hair replacing his previous black hair. His black eyes were still the same, and his face shape didn't change. He wasn't in an unfamiliar body, but his own.
"Reminiscing about your high school years?" a cat appeared, its fur was smooth and completely black with deep green eyes that seemed to stare right into Zhen Yu's soul. Seeing Zhen Yu freeze in shock, the cat continued to speak, "I am system 13, your examiner in this game. I am also called by some as the 'observer'."
"I… I didn't expect the examiner to come in the form of a cat…" Zhen Yu observed the black cat in front of him up and down, but he really couldn't find anything different from a real cat. The examiner's transformation skill was quite impressive.
"I can take the form of whatever I see fit for the games. My only job is to observer and eject rule breaking actors, so I can be whatever I want, even an unmoving wall," system 13 explained. "Now actor Zhen Yu, your job is extremely crucial. It is important to cause enough chaos and confusion to ensure that the game difficulty is indeed 'S'. However I-" system 13 suddenly became quiet, staring at the closed door.
The sound of someone's footsteps going up the stairs echoed from the stairway all the way to the rooftop, meaning someone was quite close to the door. Finally, the door opened, revealing a woman with clear skin and long white hair, brushed neatly and tied into a high pony tail. It was Kang Yumin.
"May I sit next to you?" Zhen Yu nodded at Kang Yumin's question. Taking a seat on the floor next to him, Kang Yumin then asked, "why did you leave the classroom."
"It's messy down there, I needed somewhere open to think," Zhen Yu replied. "What are you doing here?"
"Checking to see if someone's killed you yet," came Kang Yumin's brutal answer. "You really have no fear of being attacked while alone, is it because you're the reaper?"
"Would you believe me if I said I'm a human?" Zhen Yu asked back. From Kang Yumin's manner of speaking, she seemed like a very honest and rational person. Even before hearing her answer, he already thought that her reply would be 'no', but he was surprised by her answer.
"I would trust you. There must be a reason why half of the class wholeheartedly trust you," Kang Yumin answered. "You gave ointment to a guy who was absolutely in the wrong, and tried to calm others down while you were stressed yourself, only a truly good person would do that. So hypothetically, if you were the reaper, would you be able to kill anyone?"
Zhen Yu took a deep breath. "First of all, I am not the reaper, but even if I were, I wouldn't be able to kill. If I died then I am just unlucky to have offended someone, but I have no right to ruin the future of another."
"Even if you could kill someone as selfish as Cheng Ming?"
"Death cannot cure the root of true evil, we can only compensate the victim and try to educate the bad. Even after a cruel person is killed, they would just still continue to question why they are wrong in the afterlife without guidance. And if they do know that they're wrong, then they should not be spared from the hardship of life and continue to learn from sufferings like the rest of us," Zhen Yu answered, his tone very sincere like he truly believed in his words.
Kang Yumin listened quietly, even after Zhen Yu had finished speaking, she did not speak. After a few moments of silence, Kang Yumin spoke up, "I don't understand." She took a pause, "if we don't punish bad people, then they will get away with their actions. They are committing crimes and putting others in danger."
"If Cheng Ming is doing this to live, then is survival a crime?" Zhen Yu questioned. These words made Kang Yumin freeze. She seemed to be in disbelief- or in awe, or feeling something in between.
"Zhen Yu… I have seriously never met someone more human than you." A determined expression appeared on Kang Yumin's face as her feelings of shock disappeared, "I swear, I will protect you till the end of this game. This time… I will be the justice that protects the innocent."
"Thank you," Zhen Yu let out a smile. "Put yourself first though, I'm good at hiding." Zhen Yu moved his head up to stare at her as she got off the ground, likely getting ready to leave.
"Hide well, don't go anywhere alone again, you will be targeted," she once again warned him. "I will go now, take care," she stopped to take one last look at the black cat loafing next to Zhen Yu's side, then turned to leave.
"Her gaze is sharp, almost as sharp as actor Lin Huiyin's," system 13 commented once Kang Yumin was gone. "She seems quite suspecting, but either way even if she discovers my identity, it's still just a game and a game inspector is not uncommon."
"Why did I become younger?" Zhen Yu finally got to ask now that Kang Yumin was gone. "Such thing should not be possible."
"You're dead now, what is not possible?" system 13 shot back. "If you have imagination, then you would know the limits of what you can and can't do as a ghost. Besides, the immersion wouldn't be as good for the players if the actors didn't look like actual high school students, so the staff has reverted you to what you looked like as a teen in your high school days. Quite the hair you've got."
"Everyone thought it was cool to dye your hair in high school," Zhen Yu argued, "it makes you look younger."
"You are already young as a teenager, how much younger are you trying to look? Is it the age of a baby? Even if you shave off all your hair, at most you'd just look like a young monk," system 13 was quite the personality.
"Aren't systems made from lines of code? Why do you slap faces better than Cheng Ming?" Zhen Yu questioned.
"Who said I'm made from lines of code?! Who's a robot?! Your mother is artificial," system 13 gave Zhen Yu a stink eye.
"I'm an orphan." Silence. No one spoke a word.
"Then you are artificial. If you have no mother then how can you be born?" system 13 got up from the ground and walked away, jumping off the roof top. Zhen Yu suddenly felt like system 13 was either a big idiot or the biggest troll there ever was.
[Your resources as a staff member have been fully repaired]
[You may now see participant's names beside them]
[We apologize for the problem. A bonus will be issued after this task is completed]
'… There's issues with the EW network?' Zhen Yu questioned.