"Haah…" I groan as my head hits the pillow with a surprising amount of force. It was hardly noon, and yet I was completely wiped. "Damn, why am I so tired? I got like 9 hours of sleep…" My eyes pan around the plain, cramped room. Inside the wooden box, there were two beds stacked on top of each other and a desk. Whoever my roommate was seemed to be out at the moment, though his stuff was haphazardly tossed onto his bed. We weren't even fortunate enough to get our own bathroom. The community one was down the hall along with the showers and cafeteria.
"Oh well. It's not that bad, actually," I mutter to myself, a small smile forming on my face.
Compared to this morning, my heart felt slightly lighter. It was a welcome feeling: one far more pleasing than anything I felt in that oppressive house. A soft yawn escapes my lips as I turn to face the wall. My eyelids drooped softly, a sign I was about to pass out.
Then, suddenly, the door to the dorm slammed open, causing me to nearly jump out of my bed. I looked over my shoulder at the carnage, severely rattled from being caught off guard. "Whoops." In front of me stood a large young man no less than six feet tall staring in surprise at the door, which was now embedded in the wall. He blinked his deep blue eyes before running his fingers through his short, navy blue hair. "Crap, I just got here. Oh well, I'm sure this happens often, so they shouldn't be too mad. I hope."
His head turns, causing his eyes to meet mine. The whites of his eyes grow exponentially as he stares at me in surprise. "Oh, shit. Uh, you must be my roommate. Man, it took you long enough to get here. I was starting to think you wouldn't show at all." He chuckles nervously while looking between me and the mangled door. "Sorry about that. I just awakened to my system and got an ability that boosted my strength a bunch. I still need to learn to control it properly. You get it, right?" I continue to stare at him in shock, the silence between us deafening. After a moment, I take a deep, shaky breath.
"U-Uh, yeah, sure," I whisper, caught between being half asleep and caught with my pants down. "S-So, it's, uh, nice to meet you. I'm Hether." I begin to extend my hand, but catch myself and awkwardly pull back. "Um… maybe no handshake," I mutter, not wanting a shattered wrist before I even started school. My roommate nods in awkward understanding "Uh, yeah, that's fair…" I stare at him with expectation for a minute before he realizes what I'm waiting for. "Oh, uh, I'm Dylan. It's nice to meet you, Heather." He gives a small smile as I debate on whether or not to correct him. 'It's already awkward in here. I'll just wait until later to correct him.'
"So, um… what abilities do you have," he asks, clearly more interested in this topic than sitting in silence. "Like I said, I just got my system, so all I've got is a strength stat multiplier." I give him a complex look, debating on what to tell him. "Actually, I don't have one," I mutter, knowing this probably wasn't the answer he was expecting. "Really," he gasped, his eyes widening with a mix of shock and confusion. "Wait, then… how did you get in here? I thought they only let system owners attend." I sigh. "Well, the school sends out a global lottery every year to try to find some people with some sort of luck stat. From what they told me, it's pretty effective. So much so, in fact, that I'm the first normal person to have won. They found it so hard to believe, in fact, that they still kinda think I might have some sort of hidden system. So, they let me in."
Dylan takes a moment before nodding. "Oh, really? I see. Damn, I never thought of that." Silence grasps the room once again. His nerves softly float into my nostrils: the taste equivalent of something really salty. It wasn't horrible— way better than insecurity, at least. "Well… do you think they're right? That maybe you might actually have some sort of hidden system, I mean," Dylan adds while sitting down on the bed stiffly. In response, I shake my head. "Nope, not really. I mean, my hair and eyes are normal colored, at no point in my life have I experienced any significant change in strength or something, and I haven't randomly gained any weird abilities. '…That I haven't had since birth,' I add in my head.
Dylan nods again. "Well, that makes sense. Still, though, maybe they're right. Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Heather, but I gotta go grab my ID. I'll see you later." Before I can respond, he dashes out the door, no doubt to escape the awkward atmosphere, causing a sigh to emanate from me. "Off to a good start, I guess."
After calming my still facing heart, I stand up, the urge to sleep long forgotten. While I look around for somewhere to put my clothes, I feel my stomach slightly rumble. "Huh. Been a while since I felt this hungry," I muttered as I reach into my bag and pull out a pair of nose plugs and a face mask: two items I was really hoping I wouldn't have to wear. I quickly don the plugs and mask while exiting the cracked doorframe.
As I walk out the front door of the building, I pull my phone out of my pocket. "Let's see… if I walk through the park, the cafeteria isn't even a mile away," I mutter to myself as the sunshine bounces off my skin. With a small yawn, I put my phone back in my pocket and look around.
The park, unlike the area around the dorms, had small cliques scattered around eating lunch. As I walk down the path, I can immediately notice the difference caused by the nose plugs. The once suffocating scents that would've overwhelmed me in a crowded place had been dulled to buzzes if at all present. A small smile appears on my face beneath my mask. "I forgot how nice it could be to be outside like this, "I mutter to myself.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a familiar face: Dylan, who was loudly and happily chatting with some friends. I take a look at the group of young men who all looked to be aged between 16 and 20 and sigh softly. I consider approaching them for a moment before my mind immediately cuts off that train of thought. "Wait. On top of just being plain awkward with Dylan, what are the odds they could also accidentally…" The image of Dylan accidentally destroying our door replays through my mind, sending a shiver down my spine.
A sense of unease slowly creeps over me, and I slowly look around the park at all the students. "Actually… couldn't everyone here potentially kill me in a heartbeat without even noticing?" My pace slightly increases as I grow closer to a large, modern looking building with plenty of windows and a glass ceiling. The dulled smells of various emotions slowly grew stronger.
However, there was one that seemed to be growing more than any of the others. It felt like someone was slowly shoving more and more icy hot right up my nose. It was like adrenaline, but… different. "Anxiety," I mutter to myself, "And so much of it. Where is it coming from?" I look around as I grow close to a corner before stopping altogether: but, even then, the overwhelming smell kept growing.
"It's… getting closer? Is it just one person," I utter while breathing through my mouth. "Should I find them? They might be in trouble somehow. This isn't normal." However, before I could even begin to look, I see a shadow dart from around the corner and check me in the side. All of the air in my lungs is forced out of my body in one, painful heave. By leaning against the wall, I manage to prevent myself from falling, though I could still hardly breathe.
My breathing was shallow and quick, my hands desperately holding my gut. "Shit," I mutter as my eyes drift over to the other person. It was a single girl, maybe 5'6, with dark violet hair twisted into two pigtails and slighly lighter colored eyes framed in black, square shaped glasses. Compared to me, she looked completely unharmed.
I lean my back against the wall to try to get more air and let my hands fall to my sides. I open my mouth, desperately trying to talk through breaths. "Are… you… okay," I gasp while ripping my mask off to keep it from blocking airflow. In response, she looks over at me with wide, shocked eyes. Her entire body trembles as she squeaks in a loud, high-pitched, panicked voice. "O-OH MY GOD," she screams almost right into my ear, "ARE YOU SORRY?!"
My eyebrows crease into a confused frown as I look over at her, the smell of anxiety somehow even stronger than it was before. "Um… what," I asked confusedly, my breaths slightly deeper. She puts her hands over her mouth, seemingly shocked by her own words. "N-NO! I, uh, didn't mean that," she continues to squeal while flailing around like a fish out of water.
"Hold on," I gasp while shifting my posture. Pushing off the wall, I place my hands on her shoulders, partially to calm her down and partially to stabilize myself, sending tremors through my wrists as she trembled almost violently. I try to speak in a calm, comforting voice, though it was a bit difficult since I could still hardly breathe. "Take a breath. Collect yourself. It's easier to understand you when you're calm.
The girl tenses a bit at my touch, but obeys. She takes two, big, shaky breaths before lowering her head meekly. "S-sorry," she squeaked before taking another deep breath. "M-my brain… I was trying to say "I'm sorry" and "are you okay" at the same time, and… um…" I chuckle softly as the pieces put themselves together. "And it came out as "are you sorry?"' I let go of her shoulders and let my hands fall to my knees. A small grin appears on my face as I try to make eye contact with her, but she seems to ashamed to look at me. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry, too. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."
My apology causes her to tense up slighly and finally make eye contact with me. Through the heavy scent of anxiety and embarrassment, I could sense a bit of confusion. With a smile, I take one final deep breath and shift my posture upwards. "Man, I gotta say, you're pretty strong. You almost knocked me flat on my ass," I say, trying to lighten the mood, though that only seems to make her more confused. "R-Really," she stutters, "But strength is my s-second lowest stat."
My eyes widen in surprise. "Seriously?" She softly nods in response, causing me to sigh in exasperation. "Damn it… at this rate, someone's gonna kill me before I make it to my first class," I mutter before looking back up at her. "Hey, um, odd question, but how easily could most students here just… I don't know… accidentally kill someone?" Her eyes glaze over for a moment as she drifts into thought. "Well… I'm not too sure, but I'm pretty sure the average strength stat for a new student is around ten. Considering a normal person's is about five, I guess it really depends on who it is. If it's a new student, they'd have to hit someone pretty hard in a bad spot. But, if it's a second year or higher, then even if it's what they consider to be a soft tap, it could potentially be lethal, especially if they have an amplifier ability. Actually, if pretty much any student here has a strength amplier ability, then it wouldn't take much effort."
I can feel myself begin to sweat nervously at even the thought— an entire building full of people fully capable of accidentally turning me into a puddle. 'Fuck… this isn't good.'