11:26 P.M.
I didn't sleep.
No—better to say I couldn't sleep at all.
Every time I closed my eyes, I replayed what happened earlier.
A few days ago, I was stabbed by a stranger who mistook me for someone else.
And now?
Now some unknown hacker is messing with my life.
Photos. Calls. A girl who shouldn't exist.
I shouldn't have left those notes unfinished. Those schoolworks… maybe they were bad luck.
"…"
The room was too quiet.
The ticking of the wall clock felt louder than usual.
Morning light slipped through the curtains.
I exhaled slowly.
Okay. Think rationally.
Hackers can alter data.
Hackers can fake calls.
Hackers can edit images.
But hackers can't control what my mom will say if I ask her.
Right?
My fingers hovered over the call log.
Mom.
If this is fake… she'll confirm it.
If Fiona doesn't exist… Mom will say so immediately.
Unless—
No. Stop.
I pressed the call button.
Beep. Beep.
The call connected almost instantly.
"Ren, perfect timing. You called at just the right moment."
My stomach dropped.
"Mom?"
"Fiona called me yesterday. She said you might have amnesia or something and asked if she could temporarily stay at your place next week."
My throat went dry.
"…Mom, I just remembered I haven't slept yet. Bye."
I hung up.
Silence swallowed the room again.
This hacker even hacked my mother's number and used some kind of advanced voice-mimicking recording. That has to be it.
I mean, why else would Mom sound fully awake already?
It's still early.
I turned toward the clock.
7:00 A.M.
Huh?
7 a.m.?
My brain froze.
7 a.m.
"Shit."
I'm late.
---
I hadn't slept at all.
I stayed up the entire night thinking about what happened yesterday.
I've read enough detective novels to know one thing—if something strange happens, look at the motive first.
No one acts without a reason.
If someone is hacking me, altering photos, faking calls… then why?
As I walked through the school gate—
"Wear your school I.D."
The guard barely looked at me.
Right. Normal. Everything looks normal.
Other than the stabbing incident, nothing unusual has happened recently.
"R—"
"Have you finished the report?"
Some random students brushed past me.
Maybe… it's the attacker's relative? Revenge for getting him arrested?
But I read the investigation summary. The stabber didn't have any connections. No gang. No dramatic backstory. Just a jealous idiot.
"Ren."
I ignored it, too deep in thought.
"JAIREN!"
"WHAT? WHAT? Where's the stalker? Where—"
Laughter exploded beside me.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Oh.
It's just James.
My best friend. His name is James. He's been my classmate since early junior high school, but we only got close last year because he liked my cousin—and somehow, we just hit it off.
"It's you," I muttered.
"Why do you sound disappointed?"
Because I am.
"I feel like you're saying something bad about me. I just can't prove it." James grinned and nudged my shoulder. "What's with the long face, Ren? Did you get rejected by the girl you like?"
"It's not like that."
I hesitated.
Should I tell him?
If this is real, I need someone else's perspective.
If this is a prank… I need confirmation.
I glanced around to make sure no one was listening.
"Bro… I think I'm being stalked."
James blinked.
"Like in those novels we read," I continued quietly. "Photos altered. Fake calls. Someone pranking me—maybe out of boredom or a grudge."
He stared at me.
"…Perhaps I'm some kind of protagonist?"
Silence.
Then—
James burst out laughing again.
"You didn't sleep, did you?"
"That's not the point," I muttered. "Just answer me seriously for once."
"Alright, alright." He wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. "Who's stalking you? Some secret admirer? Should I be jealous?"
I hesitated.
"…Do you know anyone named Fiona?"
James stopped walking.
It was subtle.
But he stopped.
He looked at me like I had just asked whether the sky was real.
"…What do you mean 'know'?" he said slowly.
My heartbeat thudded in my ears.
"I mean exactly what I asked."
James frowned at me.
"…Of course I know her."
My heart dropped.
"You've been yapping about her before and even drawing her whenever we had art class."
My heart leapt—then dropped back into my chest.
Yep. I had been talking about Fiona before. I still feel guilty every time I lied to James about her.
After all, Fiona doesn't really exist.
"…Oh."
"Wait, what do you mean I've been drawing her? I'm not that creepy."
"Whatever you say," he replied with a smirk. He looked at me for a few seconds but didn't dig deeper.
"By the way, Ren, how are you? That must've been a very traumatic experience, right? If I were you, I'd still be absent."
"Do you want me to say it was a fun experience?" I replied, my mouth twitching.
"Would you?"
"Depends."
"Depends on what?" James snorted.
"Depends on whether I get stabbed again."
He laughed.
"Bro, don't joke about that."
---
Math time.
"James Vale!"
"Present."
"Ysabelle Blaire!"
"Present."
"Ken—"
"Here."
"Mar—"
"Present."
…
"Jairen Kaelith."
"…Jairen? Is Jairen not here yet?"
"Psst, Ren. Ma'am is calling you," Ysabelle, who was sitting in front of me, whispered.
"P-present."
The teacher looked at me and said lightly, "It's good that you've returned. You have a lot to catch up on. You'd better keep up."
I couldn't help but sigh. This is exactly why I hate school.
"Yes, ma'am."
Jerry, who was sitting beside Ysabelle, turned to look at me.
"How are you, Ren? We tried to visit you in the hospital, but we didn't know which one you were in."
His name is Jerry. He has a slight Vietnamese accent. I don't even remember exactly how we became friends. I think it also started last year.
"I'm fine now. At least the knife wasn't deep enough to isekai me."
"The knife was definitely deep."
James looked at us with a serious expression.
"Do you guys know? His mental condition worsened earlier. He's been yapping about how he's a protagonist and stuff."
My eyebrow twitched. "I'm not yapping. I'm simply telling the truth."
James looked at the others with a 'see?' expression.
Marie, who was sitting to the left of Ysabelle, interrupted. Yeah, she's another best friend of mine. I also got close to her last year.
"Stop messing with Ren," she said, rolling her eyes. "Ren, you have a lot to catch up on. Our English teacher said our final performance for this quarter is defending our research. Also, you need to catch up in other subjects like Math and Science. There's a lot of homework and summatives you missed."
The five of them looked at me with pity.
Yes. Five.
Ken, sitting beside Marie, is also my best friend. He's the nonchalant one in our circle.
"Research defense? We're only Grade 10. Can things get any more exaggerated?"
"Definitely," Ken said flatly.
"Oh, by the way, Ren," Ysabelle added casually, "Fiona called me yesterday. She was crying and saying you had amnesia. But looking at you now, you don't seem to have amnesia at all."
—
Everything inside me went quiet.
"…She called you?" I asked carefully.
"Yeah," Ysabelle said. "Why? Isn't that normal?"
My fingers slowly curled against my desk.
"You guys secretly hit it off?" James looked at Ysabelle with dissatisfaction.
"We talk too. I could say I'm already close to her. She's easy to get along with," Marie said with a smile.
"She talks to me sometimes too, but she's usually just asking questions," Jerry added.
"I saw her once when Marie was video calling her," Ken said.
"So I'm the only one left out here?!" James said in distress.
"You six at the back—stand up and answer the question on the board."
"We've been caught."