[v2] Chapter 29: Bottom of the List

Monday, 29 April

Location: Cafeteria

Operation: N/A

15:00

The stares of other students left me in complete shambles. This was not what I wanted my legacy to be—a person accused of being a mole. By the time I made my way toward class, I was shoved by a group of students rushing past me.

One of them doubled back to kick me down to the floor.

My street cred had sunk to an all-time low—negative if that was even possible—and this would only push September further away.

Speaking of her, she was walking right past me. She didn’t even glance in my direction.

“Uh—September,” I called out, scrambling to my feet.

“You need something?” she asked curtly, her tone biting.

“Just wanted to talk to you,” I said quickly. “I doubt that’s a problem, is it?”

“Oh, it very much is,” she replied, her voice cold. “You’re not the best person to associate with right now.”

“Oh, come on, you really think I’m the mole?”

“I just said you’re not the best person to associate with right now,” she repeated. “For a mole, you assume too much.”

“So you think I am? All these months—just for nothing—” I trailed off, my words cutting short as a group of boys began walking toward us. They looked like they were from Mage Football—broad, muscular, and intimidating.

“You’re a spy. You should know that doesn’t prove anything,” she said flatly. The boys surrounded her as though they were hired bodyguards. Before I knew it, I was being sent away by glares and the sound of cracking knuckles.

What could I even say? Jamal had completely undone the progress I had made, which was already fragile at best. Now, every student saw me as a disease. Honestly, I’d rather have been invisible.

“Malachi believes me!” I shouted desperately, hoping for anything—a shred of validation.

September stopped walking and turned to look at me. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for, but her gaze carried nothing reassuring.

She turned away without a word.

Despair filled my chest. My eyes trembled. My heart cried.

Then, in a soft whisper, I heard, “Come on, before they start looking at me.”

I spun around to see Tisiah standing there. He led me to a secluded table, tucked away and shadowed by other students. No one else sat there, but it offered a surprising amount of privacy.

“Wow. Talk about a reputation,” Nikki remarked, her voice tinged with mockery.

“Not helping…” Tisiah muttered through gritted teeth.

“We need to figure out who’s at the bottom of the list,” I said, ignoring their exchange.

Nikki furrowed her brow. “The bottom of the list? Who would want to kill a buffoon?”

“No, no, no,” Tisiah interjected. “Malachi doesn’t think they’re trying to kill him. It’s more likely they’re trying to study him—figure out how our MP system works. If they want someone inexperienced, we need to look at the bottom of the list, or at least someone really low-ranked.”

“Right. Malachi’s the best, so they’re trying to mimic him. If they can learn from him, they’ll know how to train their own students better,” Greg added, suddenly appearing at our table and resting his hands on the edge. “What’s up, guys..."

Confusion raced through my mind. “Greg, don’t you have FMA or something? How did you even get in here?”

“Any EMO organization agent can enter any EMO facility they want. Lots of ‘anys,’” he said with a shrug.

Nikki dimmed her eyes suspiciously and shook her head. “Never heard of that.”

“The more you know,” Greg quipped.

“So, the plan now is to find the lowest contestants in the MP system,” Nikki clarified.

“Yeah, sounds cool, right?” Greg said.

“After we figure out who it is, if they’re connected to Malachi or anyone else, we need to head to the YMPS. It opens at four,” Nikki explained.

“YMPS?” Greg asked.

“It’s the store where you buy new weapons according to your level,” I said.

“What?!” Greg and Nikki screeched in unison, though Nikki’s reaction was far louder.

“We need to find out now—right after lunch,” Greg said.

15:45

It was after lunch, and I was seething. If I ever found out who the mole was, I’d smash Jamal’s head in harder than a lemon squeezer. That worthless idiot—just because he got rejected by Nikki, he wanted to sabotage my life.

Ugh.

As we stepped out onto the field, Malachi approached the four of us with his usual confidence but paused when he saw Greg.

“Why is he here?” Malachi asked, his tone dripping with disdain.

“Do you guys not know the rules?” Greg barked. “Come on!”

“Let’s just focus and check the list,” Nikki said, scrolling on her device.

With thousands of students in YMPA, it took a good five minutes to reach the end of the rankings. As we scanned the bottom, no one in particular stood out at first. I began to lose hope.

Almost.

Fourth from the bottom, still at level one with a measly four MP points, was a name that connected everything: Maddie.

“Well, well, well,” I chuckled. The group exchanged knowing smirks, and my heart leapt. This had to be enough to prove I wasn’t the mole.

“Okay, what time is it?” Nikki asked.

“Four fifty-five,” Malachi replied.

“We need to get to the library quickly,” Tisiah said.

And just like that, we bolted toward the library, moving like a pack of determined Jehovah’s Witnesses.

By the time we arrived, the lines inside the library had swelled to criminal lengths, snaking out from five red machines stationed at the front. It was time to upgrade our weapons.

With the halls emptied of most students, our focus shifted immediately to finding Maddie.

“Find which line Maddie’s in and let us know. Obviously,” Nikki ordered.

“Where’s Mari?” I asked.

“Why do you care?” Nikki shot back.

I shrugged. “She’d probably want to hear the plan.”

Nikki sighed. “Alright, let’s move, y’all.”

We split up, each of us scanning the growing lines. I weaved through the crowd, eyes darting between faces. Then, I spotted her—a black, slightly hairy hoodie, with her school uniform peeking out underneath.

“Mari!” I shouted, running toward her.

She turned to me, clearly unimpressed. “You trying to cut or something?”

“No. This is urgent,” I said breathlessly.

“What is it?”

“We think they’re not trying to kill Malachi but instead learn from him—see how this system works. We saw Maddie near the bottom of the rankings,” I explained. “Fourth to last.”

Mari’s eyes widened. “And I thought I was supposed to keep an eye on Maddie. Where is she?”

“That’s what we need your help for,” I said, leaning over to catch my breath. “Lord, deliver me…”

“Hold on.” Mari pulled out her wand, shortening it until the ball at the end rested against her eye.

“What…what are you doing?” I asked.

“Tracking Maddie. It’s a mechanic I got for my wand—it works as a name tracker,” she explained softly. “You should still look around, though.”

“I’ll check if the others found her,” I said, turning to leave.

“Who’s ‘the others’?” Mari demanded sharply.

I froze under her piercing glare. “Malachi, Nikki, and Tisiah. They’re searching in different lines.”

Mari raised a skeptical brow. “What makes you think she isn’t in the same line as Malachi if they’re friends? Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, scanning the crowd. Finally, I spotted Malachi near the machines.

“Five people behind Malachi,” Mari said, pointing.

I followed her direction and spotted Maddie with an Elf standing nearby.

“There she is!”

I signaled to the others, waving frantically. I caught a few nods in return. We had found her. Now, it was time to act.