First Day At High School

"Kai! Kai! Kaaaaaai!" His mother shouted.

Kai woke up with a jerk, almost slipping into a battle stance before catching himself. He looked around, taking in his surroundings, and felt silly with his hands stretched out.

Yawning, Drowsily, he got out of bed, refreshed himself, and ate breakfast with half-opened eyes, an open holo screen in front of him. His mother continued her usual nagging about "the benefits of waking up early" in the background.

Kai dressed in his school uniform—a familiar white shirt, grey pants, and a blue blazer on top. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was cheating somehow, looking this young. After seven years in the game and two before that, he had been 27 years old when he died fighting Deimos. Now, he was 16 again.

Soon, his holo rang. Ignoring the call from Mimi, Kai walked out of the house. The Hoover, was suspended in midair right by the gate, with an energetic Mimi waving enthusiastically from the front seat beside her father, who looked as tired as Kai felt in his bones.

Greeting them with a nod, Kai opened the back door and slid inside.

The good thing about not being able to speak? People didn't force him into small talk. Even though Mimi kept going on and on about the game he had mentioned playing together—how it already had so many memes and was trending on every video platform—Kai just smiled and nodded along.

Soon, they arrived at the high school gates, and Mimi's father had already flew off.

Walking beside her, Kai felt wave after wave of nostalgia seeing all the familiar sights and faces. Many of these people had played Nyxfall once it got popular. He had even killed a few of them—not for any real purpose, just to vent his anger.

He.. had issues.

But he was a changed man now. No more petty vengeance.

Kai nodded sagely at his own thoughts, completely tuning out Mimi beside him.

"Are you there? Hello!? Kai, are you listening?" Mimi suddenly said, leaning in way too close to his face.

Without getting flustered, he signed "Your voice is so sweet, I don't want to interrupt.."

She squinted at him, clearly seeing through his bullshit.

Kai just awkwardly started walking, looking around for distractions. It worked—she soon forgot about it and went right back to talking at length about her "idols."

As they settled into the very back of their first-year classroom, Mimi abruptly changed the topic. "The game is going to arrive this afternoon. Should I just start on my own, or is there any guide I need to follow to play with you?" she asked, her face full of childish expectations.

Kai pulled out his notepad and wrote:

'Just remember to take the Nexus Kin path. Once a certain event passes, we can play together. Just watch my video if you are uncertain about something, I made it like a beginner guide.'

"Not before that?" she asked.

Kai replied:

'Can't travel yet. It's the early stages of the game. Don't worry—I'll find you.'

She smiled brightly and nodded, her honey-gold, boyish-cut hair bobbing up and down.

Kai had read on the Nexus Kin forums that players on the same path could find each other once their initial beginner villages got destroyed or they were sold out to a Stonebinder city. With coordinates displayed in every player's interface, finding each other was easy—the real problem was traveling the distance.

Luckily, he had time. He could find Mimi and his mother, once she started playing; her headgear was being delivered tomorrow as well.

Kai was going to keep traveling after visiting the village he had reached, anyway. Picking both of them up on the way meant he'd have trusted people beside him, making his life a bit easier. Larger settlements where a lot of players gathered should also have dungeons where players could level up and farm for better gear. It was better to have fixed party members—a lesson he had learned after wasting too much time soloing dungeons and fighting random strangers he had teamed up with.

School was largely the same as always. Kai had been a top student during his first semester.

But that was nine years ago.

To him now, school was meaningless. He wouldn't let himself fail, but he definitely wouldn't put in as much effort as before.

Still, it was nice—seeing familiar faces, happy and busy in their daily lives, blissfully ignorant of the troubles that would soon descend upon their world.

There was one thing Kai wanted to do in the school, though.

When classes ended at 1 PM, he immediately headed for the administrative office and grabbed a form to open a club. Then, he made his way to the office of his history teacher after filling it with all the details.

Dorian Lancaster.

Or, as Kai knew him—LancasterLaw, the savior of Berdiole.

The guy had received an A-rank quest to save an entire town in the previous timeline. Kai had helped him do it and came to admire his leadership skills while doing it.

Now, he needed him to sponsor his Nyxfall VR Gaming Club—the first step toward joining regional tournaments, then the international championship. From there, he hoped to make a big enough name for himself to draw massive numbers of people into the world of Nyxfall—creating an overwhelming force to contend with other species and factions across the world.

Reaching the door, Kai knocked and gestured a request for permission to enter.

His teacher warmly welcomed him in. Because of his condition—and his standing as a top student—Kai had always been treated well by the faculty.

Sitting down, he presented the filled-out form while typing on his holo screen. It was a small little software he had made that learned his speech patterns and suggested all the words he usually used just as he typed a few letters. It was much better than using a notepad but the school didn't allow using holo in the class, even to him.

Kai typed, 'Will you do it?'