Chapter 03: Scratch that. She's a full-fledged psycho.

"With all that said, we've reached the end of the orientation. Any questions?" Nayomi said, clasping her hands together and batting her eyelashes.

Not a second later, a tall boy with the build of a Greek god and the disposition of a nerd raised his hand.

He was seated in the first row.

Of course he was.

Bet he didn't realize his massive back was blocking sunlight and oxygen from reaching everyone else behind him.

Nayomi looked pleased. "Oh? We have an eager one. Please introduce yourself and proceed with your question. The rest of you, pay attention."

The chair slid back and the boy rose to his full height, prompting everyone nearby to gawk in awe.

What in Dreamsdale were his parents feeding him? He looked like he could power an entire city grid during peak hours.

But whatever aura his physical prowess had earned him instantly yeeted itself out the window when he did the signature nerdy move: the glasses slide.

"I am Rin Paragon. Third son of the Paragon family—"

He wasn't even allowed to finish his introduction before chaos exploded.

"Holy jizz—he's from the Paragon family?? Like THE Paragon?"

"Isn't his ancestor the reason 'Sleep Paralysis' nightmares exist? How cool is that?!"

"Well fuck. I didn't think we'd meet a celebrity on the first day."

The students were too busy chattering and gushing to notice it. The way Rin's shoulders slumped slightly. The way his expression faltered.

But someone did notice.

Zev frowned as a memory surfaced.

Last night, he'd received a facetime call from his mother. She'd called to see if he'd settled into the dormitories.

Predicably, he was still very bitter. He hadn't gotten over her betrayal, so he refused to say a single word during the entire call.

Alicia sighed. "Come on, sweetie. Are you really going to keep giving me the cold shoulder? You're making mummy sad."

Zev gave her a flabbergasted look.

Oh, she was the one who was sad? She wasn't the one who got sold off like an unwanted bag of skin and bones!

He grumbled beneath his breath, lips sealed.

Eventually, Alicia got the message.

"I'll call you again tomorrow. Don't ignore my call, okay?"

Still silence.

Alicia pouted. So he was serious about being tight-lipped.

"Well... I'll leave you to it then. Let me know if you need anything. Oh, and by the way," she suddenly added, like it had just occurred to her.

"I heard the Paragon's third son is also enrolled at the academy. You should befriend him. And before you refuse—your father and his are quite acquainted. It'd be nice to have a familiar face around."

To Alicia's relief, Zev finally responded.

He shrugged and muttered, "Fine."

Alicia beamed.

"Yay! Okay, sweetie. Mummy will talk to you later. Take care of yourself and study hard. Bye, love you~"

She blew a couple of air kisses before the line disconnected.

Zev's bubble of reminiscing was popped by a loud SLAP as Nayomi's hand collided with the board.

Silence fell instantly.

The scowl on her face was back, and there was a dark aura hanging over her like mist in a graveyard.

"If you little shits act up again, I'll kill you all," she growled.

Zev wasn't the only one who paled.

Then, like before, her frown flipped into a sweet smile. The creepy kind that made it worse.

Her voice lightened to a melody. "Please proceed with your question, Mr Paragon."

Rin, visibly thrown off by her duality, coughed and cleared his throat.

"So, um... I couldn't help but notice that no entrance exam was required for our enrollment. I'm curious… What criteria was used to segregate us into classes?"

"More specifically," he added, "why were we selected for Class C?"

Students murmured and nodded in agreement.

Nayomi scratched her head bashfully, a huge contrast to her usual expressions.

"Oh, silly me! I failed to mention that part during the orientation. My memory is a bit volatile."

Then she elaborated.

The initial class assignment was temporary. It would only hold for the first week.

On Friday, a test would be conducted. Not a written test, but a neural simulation, known as the Doomweaver's Nightmare.

Students would be required to face and defeat their greatest fears. Because really, how could they be heralders of cosmic terror when they still feared spiders or rejection?

Their performance would determine their placement: Class A, Class B, Class C... and Class F.

Class F? That was the domain of the scaredy cats.

Zev's heart rate spiked just as murmurs broke out.

"She nearly forgot to tell us something that important? Are you kidding me?"

"Haha, it should have been obvious. But I can't say I saw that coming."

"Damn it, I'm cooked. You guys don't even want to know what my greatest fear is."

Then—

A frail blonde girl with freckles rose to her feet, hand trembling in the air.

"I—Iris Quinby," she squeaked. Her voice was like a breeze trapped in a teacup. "Miss Nayomi, if a student is unable to win against their greatest fear… will they die?"

Nayomi's expression darkened at the question. Everyone instinctively held their breaths. And then...

She nodded. "Yes."

Chaos erupted.

Students screamed. Some leapt from their seats. Others were already halfway to the principal's office with their enrollment cancellations clutched like life vests.

Then Nayomi burst into a cackle.

"You silly children," she giggled. "No one is going to die from the test. As I said earlier, it's a neural simulation. Simulations aren't real. Just focus and give it your all."

A collective exhale swept through the class.

Zev melted into his seat like a sad candle.

"Fuck," he wheezed. "I thought I was a goner."

'And it's confirmed now...' he groaned mentally. 'My homeroom teacher is a full-blown psychopath. Oh man. I'm finished.'

After Rin and Iris took their seats, another student raised his hand.

He had bright orange hair styled into messy horns and wore his blazer like he'd lost a fight with a coat rack.

"Name's Denny Gravel," he said, casually. "Miss Nayomi, are we allowed to use customized survival styles for the test? Y'know, craft from personal flair instead of formula?"

Nayomi's eyes twinkled.

"Excellent question. Yes, you may. Technique counts, but your score will depend on your ability to confront your actual fear. No hiding behind abstract symbolism, Mr Gravel."

Denny gave a thumbs up and sat back down.

Then came a second student, a girl with emerald braids and shimmering turquoise lenses.

"Hi! Um... I'm Nira Lane."

She stood up with a firm but polite posture.

"My question's about the neural simulation itself. Will it be streamed? Like, on the portals?"

Nayomi smirked.

"Observant. No, the Doomweaver's Nightmare won't be publicly streamed. These sessions are confidential training modules. However... top scores may be featured on portal highlight reels for the Council to review."

A few students gasped. Others groaned.

Then, seeing no other hands raised, Nayomi clapped her hands once.

"Well then, children. I'll leave you to mingle and get to know each other before the real lectures begin."

She turned toward the door, her walk uncanny, like a marionette strutting without strings.

"If you need to find me, I'll be in the faculty lounge. Don't knock like the dead. Later, kids~"

She vanished.

And the tension cracked instantly.

Students began chattering. Circles formed. Small laughter trickled in. Names were exchanged.

Some had clicked already. Coincidental roommates, fast-talking extroverts, accidental sneeze buddies.

But Zev?

Zev was the outsider watching through the glass.

It didn't help that he'd always been awkward, soft-spoken, and allergic to initiating conversation.

His palms began to sweat again.

Still, he braved it.

He turned to his desk mate on the left. A girl. But just as he opened his mouth, another girl leaned over and started chatting her up.

He froze mid-breath… and died inside quietly.

'It's fine. She didn't ignore me. She just… didn't see me. Yeah, it's nothing to be embarrassed about.'

Zev took a breath.

One more try.

He turned to his right. The boy beside him who had scribbled furiously during orientation like his life depended on a GPA that hadn't been invented yet.

"Hi, I'm Zev," he said with a brave closed-eye smile, extending a hand. "What's your name?"

The boy glanced briefly, then looked away without a word.

He pulled out his headphones and a thick, annotated book titled "Trauma Architecture and the Dreaming Body."

He plugged them in, flipped the book open, and disappeared into academia like Zev didn't exist.

Zev's hand slowly drifted down like a deflated balloon.

His shoulders sagged. His chest tightened. His eyes stung.

Well, damn. Guess he was going to be friendless this semester.

He was still licking his wounds when he heard it—

A snorted laugh from the row ahead.

His gaze snapped up, and red eyes stared back at him. Vibrant. Sharp. Mischievous.

The boy who owned them leaned slightly over his seat, resting his chin on a pale hand, a smirk curling under pointy canines.

"Well, isn't this quite the predicament?" he drawled, voice rich with lazy humor. "I got ignored too. Us loners should just stick together, am I right?"