Mission in progress.
Death looms around the corner.
Objective: Survive until tomorrow. [00:17:34:32]
Reward: An affinity.
Failure: Death.
Respawn: 2/5
I made my choice, and the interface shifted instantly.
Exchange in progress...
It is advised that the user find an isolated place for the next hour, as the process will cause extreme pain.
You have one minute to locate an isolated area before the process begins.
So it was true. That bastard really had been trying to get me killed. But how? He only asked for my notebook. We barely spoke, and I never gave him a real chance to do anything else.
Tsk.
Enough. I needed to focus. I scanned my surroundings and decided the rooftop was my best option, so I headed toward the elevator, rounded the corner, and pressed the button. The doors slid open quietly, and that's when I saw her.
"Lyra?" I cursed under my breath. Of all people.
Lyra. The elven princess. The dangerous one.
She was standing in the elevator, green hair falling in waves past her shoulders, eyes catching the light in a way that made them look almost gemstone-like. Even in the standard school uniform, a white shirt and pleated skirt, she carried herself in a way that made it obvious she wasn't someone you wanted to cross. Her eyes locked onto mine, and I felt my heart rate spike, not out of attraction, but out of pure survival instinct.
"How do you know my name?" Her voice was low but carried a clear edge to it.
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to come up with something, but my mind was running too fast and nothing came out right. This was bad. According to the game's storyline, she didn't even go by the name Lyra at this point, and nobody knew she was an elven princess yet. One wrong word and I was finished.
"I asked a question," she repeated, her tone sharpening as she stepped forward toward the exit.
Tsk. Screw it.
Without thinking, I did the one thing nobody would expect.
Thwack.
My fist connected with her face, and she stumbled back into the elevator, eyes wide with shock, hand flying up to her nose. The doors slid shut before she could recover.
"Tsk," I muttered, already moving.
Maybe that wasn't the smartest call, but if she had stepped out, things would have gotten out of hand fast. She was far more powerful than I was, and fighting her head-on would have been pointless. Running wasn't a better option either, she was faster. And more than anything, Lyra was unpredictable. If she suspected something was off, I'd have been done.
Ding!
Time left: 06:34
"Shit!" I broke into a sprint toward the stairs. This part of the school was empty, everyone was in the cafeteria, which was the only reason that punch was even an option. If I'd done that anywhere near a crowd, her fanboys would have made sure I regretted it immediately.
I took the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me, and with every step I couldn't help thinking about Lyra. What was she even doing in that elevator? It didn't lead to the cafeteria or any of the common areas. She wasn't someone you just ran into by accident. Something didn't add up, but I didn't have time to work through it.
Time left: 00:04
Time left: 00:03
Time left: 00:02
Time left: 00:01
Time left: 00:00
Initiating affinity insertion.
Please be open, I thought as I hit the rooftop door.
BAM.
It swung open hard, and I stepped through just as the pain hit.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
I collapsed, screaming. It felt like fire had erupted in every part of my body at once, like something was tearing through me from the inside and putting it back together wrong, over and over, without stopping.