the first day

My eyes snapped open.

A scream from hell—no, a possessed alarm clock—pierced through my skull.

"Ugh—what the hell..." I groaned, slapping blindly at the air until my hand smacked the electric clock on the drawer. The buzzing stopped—mercifully—but not before it drilled fresh trauma into my soul.

I sat up, groggy, tangled in my bedsheets like I'd just lost a wrestling match with a ghost. Ji-Hyun's bed was already empty—blanket folded with military precision, not a single wrinkle in sight.

"Of course he's a morning person. Not like a certain someone who couldn't wake up even if the world was ending."

I crawled out of what might've been the most uncomfortable bed in existence and dragged myself to the bathroom like a reanimated corpse. Flicking on the light, I paused in front of the mirror.

The reflection stared back. A face I was slowly starting to accept as mine.

Sharp jawline. Tousled black hair that refused to obey gravity. Silver eyes—icy, unreadable—glaring at me like I owed them rent.

But beneath all that?

Still me.

Still Kylen Noor.

Just… a different version.

"If this guy ran up to me and said I was his father, I'd believe him," I muttered, splashing cold water on my face.

I fixed my hair so it covered my eyes, clipped on the fancy smartband, and gave myself a dead-eyed nod.

I just wore whatever the hell I could, considering this guy's idea of fashion.

A plain white shirt and training leggings. The perfect combination for someone who never leaves his room for 20 hours straight.

I tossed my dirty clothes in the basket near the bathroom door and stepped out feeling a little less like roadkill.

Right on cue, the front door clicked open, and Seo Ji-Hyun walked in, holding a white plastic bag.

"Oh, you're already awake! Nice timing." He walked over, pulled out a box from the bag, and handed it to me. "Here, this is your share."

I gently took the box and opened it.

My eyes were blinded by how unbelievable the food inside was—it was a proper American breakfast.

It might seem normal to you, but not to me.

First of all, it was warm. Second, this kind of food was impossible for broke kids like us to afford, especially with how the school treated us.

"Thi—did you cook this?" I asked, excited like a kid who just got a new toy from their parents.

"Yes. I figured since you're not Korean, your taste buds might not align with how we usually cook our food. So, I made this for you."

Suddenly, the guy who seemed like the weakest person in the room had become the strongest.

He was an angel in my eyes.

And he would remain like that… till the end of my life.

"I'm going to make this my family's keepsake."

"That's embarrassing. Please just eat it normally."

A panel popped up in front of my face:

___

Friendship has leveled up! ↑

—

Seo Ji-Hyun

Relationship: Friend Lv.1 → Lv.3

___

I looked at the panel and thought to myself:

Damn, my relationship with this guy is weirdly… smooth. I think something's about to happen.

As soon as the thought passed, someone knocked on our dorm door.

Shit.

I quickly set the box down on the nearest table and walked to the door.

Why doesn't our dorm have a peephole?

I gently opened the door and found out that…

It was just a delivery guy.

"This is a delivery for… Kylen Noor and Seo Ji-Hyun. Please sign here."

I opened the door fully and signed the receipt.

"So, what is this?" I asked, handing the clipboard back.

He took it and said, "This is the stuff your instructor mentioned you'd be receiving today."

"Didn't he say we'd get it through the assigned terminal?"

"Well, you're SAS students, so you don't have that kind of luxury."

He was right.

"Well… thanks for your help, delivery man."

"I'm not a delivery man, I'm the janitor. But you're welcome. Have a great day."

He left the dorm.

I picked up the box and brought it inside.

"What's that?" Seo Ji-Hyun asked.

"The stuff the instructor mentioned."

"Well, just put it there." he pointed to the space next to the fridge. "we can check it out later."

I put the box down and sat next to Seo Ji-Hyun to eat my breakfast.

◇◇◇

After cleaning up our mess, we immediately opened the package. Inside were two small white boxes, each about the size of a palm, with our names neatly written on top.

We reached in and picked up our respective boxes.

I opened mine and found a sleek data module and an ID card—this time, an actual proper one.

The ID card was clearly designed to make SAS students easy to identify, with a bright-colored strap that practically screamed for attention.

"It looks like these data modules are meant to be inserted into our smartbands," Seo Ji-Hyun muttered.

"Yeah, seems like it."

I slotted the module into the smartband, and immediately, a hologram flickered to life—displaying what appeared to be an orientation quest list. I closed it, and a map popped up next—most likely of the school grounds.

"Oh my god... This is... I've never received this much money," he said in the kind of voice people use when they hear they've been diagnosed with something terminal.

How much money would make someone react like that?

I immediately closed the map tab, and another one shot up: a tab titled Student Wallet.

---

The amount of credit you currently have is:

1,000 Credit Points.

---

1,000 credit is equal to 1,000 dollars. I couldn't believe that a student would just be handed this much.

It was definitely a good amount for someone just starting out.

But was it enough to make my mouth fall open like that?

No, not really.

I closed the tab and went back to the quest list.

"Hey, I'm about to do my quest. What about you?"

"I'll probably go for... You know what, I'll do one too."

We both opened up our orientation quest lists.

___

Orientation Quest

You may choose only one per day.

1. Campus Tour

Explore the major facilities of Atlas Academy — including dorms, training fields, cafeterias, libraries, and the teleport hub.

2. First Registration

Officially register your class, bloodline (if applicable), and core skill preferences. Required for class and facility access.

3. Basic Combat Drills

Learn proper battle stance, evasion, and emergency defense techniques under supervision. Completion unlocks sparring room access.

4. System Familiarization

Get a guided tutorial of your smartband interface, cadet tasks, holographic mapping, and internal messaging system.

5. Squad Integration

Meet other SAS students and complete a non-combat trial quest as a temporary squad. Emphasizes coordination and social dynamics.

6. Instructor Evaluation

Undergo a simulated battle against virtual enemies tailored to your class to assess starting aptitude. May affect early rewards.

7. Dorm Protocol & Survival Basics

Learn cadet-level maintenance, self-care expectations, campus curfew rules, and basic off-campus survival tactics.

___

"Which one will you choose first?" I asked.

"I'm going to go with... Number 3. Basic Combat Drills."

"Well, I guess I'll go with that too then."

[You have chosen your quest.]

[Wait 23:59:59 before selecting the next one.

To Be Continued...