Part 9: A Quiet Moment Before Chaos

S

Strangely enough, no other death flags appeared for the rest of the day.

Before she realized it, it was already the next day.

The morning was uneventful. She ate breakfast, walked to school, sat through lectures. Nothing happened. No heart-pounding sense of dread. No warnings.

Just... normal life.

For the first time since this nightmare began, Connie went an entire day without triggering a death flag.

It felt... wrong.

She should have been relieved.

Instead, she was on edge.

Because if there was one thing she had learned by now—

It was that calm never lasted.

At lunch, Ayaka nudged her. "You're twitchier than usual."

Connie blinked, forcing herself to refocus. "Huh?"

"You keep looking over your shoulder." Ayaka raised an eyebrow. "Expecting a ghost or something?"

Connie swallowed. "I just... feel like something's off."

Ayaka snorted. "That's called 'having anxiety.'"

Connie tried to laugh, but it came out strained.

Her fingers drummed against the table.

Something was off.

She just didn't know what.

Classes came to an end.

Connie made her way to the shoe lockers to change her shoes.

As she opened the locker, she felt something was out of place.

At first she didn't notice exactly what it was, but she soon realized.

Her shoes were perfectly lined up.

Neat. Unmoved. Exactly the way she usually left them.

But there was one problem.

She distinctly remembered kicking them in haphazardly that morning.

Her fingers hovered over the edge of the locker.

This wasn't just a random coincidence.

Something had changed.

Something small.

Something intentional.

She stepped back, scanning the other lockers.

They all looked... normal.

No signs of tampering. No one else reacting.

She exhaled shakily.

The System had adjusted something.

And that meant—

It was still watching.

It was something just as obvious as it was creepy and unsettling.

She kept moving.

She wouldn't let one small change get to her.

But then she noticed another.

As she walked past the school's front gates, her phone vibrated.

Not a System message.

A notification from her calendar.

Appointment Reminder: 6:30 PM – Café with Ayaka

Her breath hitched.

She had never scheduled that.

She hadn't even agreed to Ayaka's invitation yet.

And yet—

Her phone was acting like it had always been planned.

She checked her messages.

The last thing she sent Ayaka was: "I'll let you know."

There was no confirmation.

So why was it already in her calendar?

Her fingers trembled.

This wasn't a glitch.

The System was... adjusting things.

But why?

Was it nudging her toward a certain path?

Or was it trying to make her doubt her own memories?

Connie sat on her bed, staring at the calendar notification.

6:30 PM.

She had two choices.

1. Ignore it.

2. Go to the café and see what happens.

She gritted her teeth.

If the System wanted her to follow a certain path, she needed to know why.

And that meant—

She had to go.

The café was busier than usual. Warm lighting spilled onto the streets, blending with the golden hues of sunset.

Ayaka was already sitting at a booth, waving when she spotted Connie.

"Whoa, you're actually on time." She grinned. "Didn't think you'd show up."

Connie slid into the seat, heart still pounding. "I wasn't sure either."

Ayaka tilted her head. "You okay? You've been acting weird lately."

Connie hesitated.

This was her chance.

Maybe she could ask—just vaguely—about whether Ayaka had noticed anything strange.

Before she could speak, the café door opened.

And someone walked in.

Connie's stomach dropped.

It was the boy she saved in the classroom yesterday.

The one who had nearly fallen out of the window.

Her grip on the table tightened.

There was no reason for him to be here.

So why—

Her blood suddenly turned ice cold.

It was the same sense of dread she had experienced way too many times these past few days...

A death flag had started.

----

The small café was warm, filled with the hum of conversations and the clinking of glassware. The golden glow of the setting sun streamed in through the windows, casting long, soft shadows across the wooden tables.

It should have been relaxing.

But Connie couldn't shake the gnawing unease crawling up her spine.

She had agreed to meet Ayaka here because of the strange calendar notification that appeared on her phone—one she had never set herself. It was a small thing, but after everything she had been through, she couldn't ignore the possibility that the System was manipulating her routine.

And now, as she sat across from her friend, stirring her untouched drink, that unease had tripled.

Because the moment the café door opened, and she saw him, she knew—

This wasn't a coincidence.

It was the boy from her class—the one she had saved from falling out of the window yesterday.

His messy dark hair was slightly damp, as if he had been caught in a light rain just earlier. His uniform was a little wrinkled, like he hadn't bothered to change after school. He had his hands stuffed into his pockets, expression neutral, as he walked up to the counter.

To anyone else, he looked completely normal.

But to Connie, he looked like a problem waiting to happen.

Her fingers tightened around her glass.

He was only here because she had changed something.

He wasn't out of danger yet.

Her chest felt tight. Was this how things worked? If she saved someone, would their fate be unstable and dangerous? Would they be forced into a cycle of close calls?

Was it even possible to fully free someone from this?

She swallowed hard.

She needed to focus.

There was a reason he was here. She had to figure out what it was before it was too late.

"You're spacing out again."

Ayaka's voice snapped her back.

Connie blinked and turned her attention back to her friend, who was now squinting at her suspiciously.

"You've been weird lately," Ayaka muttered, taking a slow sip of her drink. "Like, even weirder than usual. I mean, I get it—you don't like people, but at this rate, you're gonna end up as one of those scary loners who talk to themselves in dark alleys."

Connie forced a small, distracted smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

She risked another glance toward the boy at the counter.

His posture seemed a little off. His fingers tapped against the wooden surface—slow, rhythmic, but slightly uneven.

He shifted his weight, exhaling softly.

Then, as he reached for his drink, he fumbled.

Not a lot. Just enough for a few droplets of coffee to spill onto the counter.

But he didn't react right away.

It took him a second too long to wipe it off.

A small, almost imperceptible delay.

Her heart pounded.

Something was wrong.

She inhaled sharply, forcing herself to think.

She had seen him yesterday, completely fine. Nothing had seemed off about him then.

But now, something about his movements was off.

Hesitation. Slowness. A slight lack of control.

Was he sick? Had something happened to him after school?

Or worse—was something happening to him right now?

The thought made her stomach drop.

Death flags didn't always happen immediately.

Some of them built up slowly.

And if this was one of those...

She might not have much time before it reached its climax.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the boy turned his head.

Their eyes met.

His brows furrowed slightly. Recognition flashed across his face, but it was subtle. Like someone seeing an old classmate in a different setting—surprised, but not shocked.

Then, something shifted in his expression.

Confusion.

A flicker of discomfort.

And then, his body swayed.

Just slightly.

Barely enough for anyone else to notice.

But Connie noticed.

And it was enough to send her heart into a frenzy.

Her chair scraped against the floor as she shot up.

Ayaka jerked back, startled. "Whoa—what the hell?!"

Connie didn't answer. She was already moving.

She reached the counter just as the boy's legs gave out.

His drink slipped from his fingers, hitting the ground with a sharp clatter.

The café fell silent.

Gasps rippled through the room.

Someone muttered, "Oh my god—"

Connie dropped to her knees beside him.

His breathing was shallow. His fingers twitched slightly against the wooden floor.

His lips parted, but no sound came out.

Panic clawed at her throat.

This wasn't just fainting.

Something was seriously wrong.

And if she didn't fix it right now—

The world would reset.

Connie's mind spun, trying to piece together what was happening.

His pulse. She needed to check his pulse.

Her fingers pressed against his wrist.

Unsteady. Weak.

But not stopped.

His skin felt slightly cold.

Her eyes flickered to the cup on the floor.

Could it be something he drank?

No. He had barely taken a sip before this happened.

Then what—

She stiffened.

Drugs.

Or maybe... poison.

Her breath caught.

Had someone done this to him?

Or was this something he took himself?

Someone in the café rushed forward. "Is he okay?! Should we call an ambulance?"

Connie forced herself to stay calm.

If this was poison or an overdose, she had to think fast.

He needed help right now.

But she didn't know how long she had.

Seconds? Minutes?

She took out her phone and started dialing 119, to call for an ambulance.

But right as she clicked the call button—

Click.

The call was cut off. Just like when the stranger had tried to break into her house.

Could it be that she wasn't allowed to ask for external help when dealing with death flags?

There was no way to confirm that right now.

Connie shook the dying classmate's shoulders gently. "Hey—stay awake. Can you hear me?"

His lips parted slightly. His voice was barely a whisper.

"Yesterday... Saved me.."

He managed to let out a few whispers that barely resembled words, but Connie managed to hear them.

He knew her. Not just as the person who bothered him yesterday.

His expression suggested something different, something closer to gratitude, as if he remembered something he shouldn't have.

He knew he fell from the window that day.