The whirring sound continued and turned into the sound of a train travelling across a railway. Ban Yue couldn’t feel his limbs, and his vision was still bck. It was as if he had turned into nothingness itself. He imagined this would be what it would feel like inside a sensory deprivation pod.

  [Exploration is in progress. Please seat tight and watch this 15-second commercial while we get things ready for you.]

  Ban Yue could hear a song pying in his ear, but it sounded like he was hearing it through a tunnel. The high-pitched pyful voice that echoed in his head had a soft tone that reminded him of a pure and innocent child singing. It was unlike any voice Ban Yue had ever heard before, so he gave credit to his brain for being impressively creative even in his sleep.

  [Cosmos, cosmos, we’re waiting for you. Markets and auctions, and fun stories too! Need a few coins? Fill your C-Wallet! Want some fun TV shows? GaxyTube! Or maybe you just want to spread some love? To the world? To Edelweiss? No, to the entire cosmos?! We can do that with you! Cosmos, cosmos, cosmos, cosmos, we’ve got it all!]

  The surrounding sounds became muffled, implying that he had transitioned into a different terrain. Ban Yue’s ears started to pop. He attributed the experience to being inside a really fast bullet train. Soon, the sound stopped, and Ban Yue heard a dinging sound.

  [A scenario has been selected. Please note that this is a randomly selected scenario.]

  A spraying sound pyed, simir to the sound it made whenever the doors of alien aircrafts opened in the movies. Ban Yue uded the game’s concept for being consistent and unique.

  [You have entered the Server Alpainus. This server has a World Level of D. D-ranked pyers are unable to access servers above the World Level D. Please work hard in ranking up to be able to access more exciting scenarios and win better rewards.]

  [For the sake of the tutorial instance, the selected scenario’s clearance difficulty has been lowered to Level 1.]

  [All pyers have successfully entered the Level 1 scenario. Mode: Single exploration mode. Pyers: 1/1]

  [Welcome to Ludville Eckart Goes To School, a Cosmos Books original.]

  [Reminder: This is a scripted scenario. Pyer Ban Yue, please make sure to read your script well before the cameras start rolling.]

  Ban Yue’s vision gradually returned to him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a scene pying in front of his eyes. He could hear the sound of a tape being spun, like he was watching a film in an old theater.

  The scene showed a bck sedan car emerging from the right boundary of the screen and driving through a short gray path leading up a tall bck gate. As the doors were opened, a well-trimmed garden with a maze of rose bushes, white marble fountains, and white marble statues came into view. In the distance, as the car traversed a wide arched bridge, a huge gothic castle loomed in wait on the other end. The cameras closed into the car’s window and showed a small and scrawny child with round gsses in the backseat. He wore a brown long coat over a combination of a red tie, bck vest and khaki pants. Freckles dotted his red round cheeks, and a mess of curly orange hair partially covered his small forehead and green eyes. Beside him, stacks of brown boxes can be seen swaying lightly along with the movement of the car. It appeared to be a student moving into the school dormitory.

  Someone from the front seat spoke nguidly. A stern-looking young woman with long brown hair, smokey eyeshadow, and dark red lipstick turned to the side slightly, revealing a mild smirk pying on the corners of her lips.

  “The Clodine Becket Academy is a prestigious school that not just anyone could enter. You are average in all aspects, but thanks to my connections, I have managed to secure an invitation. This is a chance to make your father proud, Ludville.”

  “Yes, mother,” the child called Ludville spoke half-heartedly. His shoulders were slouched and he seemed to shrivel in his seat the nearer they got to the main entrance. It was clear that he didn’t want to be there.

  “Am I your mother? The baron is not around, my dear. What did I tell you?” The woman suddenly snarled. It was as if being called mother by a child who looked no older than fifteen greatly offended her.

  Ludville grimaced in his seat, swallowed, and quickly amended his words. He picked at the corners of his nails, a clear sign of discomfort and anxiety towards the woman’s presence.

  “I apologize, Young Madam Eckart. It was just a slip of the tongue,” he responded with a shaking voice. He spoke with an uncontrolble stutter.

  “Do well. Don’t embarrass the Eckart family any more than you already have, my dear,” Young Madam Eckart scolded him severely with a sickeningly sweet and gentle voice.

  The car stopped in front of an open lobby with a high ceiling. The big wooden doors were opened widely as if to welcome Ludville. Except, there was no one there to receive him. Yet, as if they couldn’t find it in themselves to bother with something so trivial, as soon as all of Ludville’s boxes were unloaded, the bck sedan car drove off, leaving the insecure fifteen-year-old with only a school brochure.

  The scene before Ban Yue’s eyes disappeared abruptly as if the theater suddenly lost power. When he opened his eyes, he heard the sound of cards shuffling before he saw them. They floated in his line of vision in one single row and began to circle around him slowly. All around him was a dark space, but each card glowed with a white light as if a spotlight had been casted over them. Ban Yue heard a child-like voice in his head.

  [The scenario casting has started. Pyer Ban Yue, you may now pick your role from the cards in front of you. Each card corresponds to a character in the scenario. Please choose wisely as your character setup may strongly influence your chances of clearing the game!]

  Ban Yue frowned at the cards in front of him. He could see more than five cards in total but all of them were facing away so that all he could see were simir dark academia-themed pictures.

  “No, even if you tell me to pick carefully, it’s not like I can see what the options are. I’ll just pick randomly.”

  Ban Yue pulled a card off from the air. As soon as he turned it around, the card glowed so bright that it almost blinded him. Ban Yue had to squint and cover his eyes with his arms. Soon, he felt a shaky sensation as if he was experiencing a low-magnitude earthquake. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dusty room.

  [Your personal items have been deposited in your inventory. Please rest assured that they will remain undamaged while you take part in the scenario. All items will be returned upon exit.]

  The room Ban Yue saw looked like it was st touched thirty years ago.

  A thick yer of dust had gathered on every surface, and the bed sheets on both beds were turning yellow. There was a window to let the sunlight in, but there were no curtains. He remembered from the cutscene that the Clodine Becket Academy was supposed to be a prestigious one, but what’s with this treatment? It seemed as if not even an ounce of effort was spared to welcome Ludville Eckart.

  Ban Yue wondered if his obviously strained retionship with the Young Madame Eckart who was supposed to be well-connected had anything to do with it. Still, whatever the reason was, a bunch of grown-up adults teaming up to bully a young child was not a good sight to see. How distasteful these adults are!

  Ban Yue resolved to protect this child at all costs even if it was just a game in a dream.

  “Ack!”

  Ludville emerged from the door as he carried another box inside and tripped in the process. The contents of the box spilled across the ground. The temperature was particurly cold today, and Ban Yue could even see the thick fog entering through the window, but little Ludville was sweating. It seems he ended up doing all the work himself. Ban Yue wanted to go on the internet and give the academy a zero-star review.

  There was still one box missing after Ban Yue counted them from his memory of the cutscene.

  Ban Yue was starting to understand what this game was all about. It seemed to be a highly realistic, open-world, role-pying game where pyers were allowed to choose what they would py as, and each character would have their own advantages and disadvantages during the game. Although Ban Yue didn’t know the goal of the game yet, he assumed that Ludville Becket was the main character and that he was a supporting role. Most roommates in school-based shows end up being best friends with the main leads.

  Ban Yue looked at Ludville with pitying eyes.

  Ban Yue hated being the main character. Even in school pys where many competed to get the lead roles, he would be the first to volunteer to become a swaying tree in the background.

  Ban Yue loved being a background character because they contributed to the main leads’ heart-wrenching story without being fully entangled in the scary and bothersome things that happened around them. A swaying tree may not be able to do anything against the evil witch’s power, but it sure made the scene more romantic. He would argue that the only reason the main characters were able to defeat the antagonist was because they believed they were in love.

  The power of love made everything possible.

  Of course, even though Ban Yue was happy to become a side character, his conscience wouldn’t allow him to watch such a young child suffer alone.

  So just this time, he decided that he would gdly (?) and bravely (??) take him under his wing as a cool (???) older brother.

  Ludville brought his sleeves up to his forehead and wiped his sweat while sighing. His round gsses had become foggy due to his warm breath. He colpsed on the edge of his bed, and as he did so, a cloud of dust escaped in the air.

  “Finally. That should be the st of it.”

  “Hm? You’re still missing one, kid. I’ll get it for you,” Ban Yue spoke until he realized his voice wasn’t coming out.

  Just then, he heard a dinging voice in his ear. When he looked up, he saw an orange system window appear.

  [OOC Warning: The attempt to speak with Ludville Eckart has been terminated by the system due to your character setup restrictions. Please revisit your script and try again. Actions determined to be out-of-character by the system may have severe impact on the progression of the storyline. As such, penalties may be enforced after multiple excessive viotions. This is a warning! Please be careful!]

  A blue system window suddenly appeared in front of Ban Yue.

  A picture can be seen on the upper-left.

  It was a box.

  Pyer Ban Yue, the character you have selected is…

  Name: Ludville’s old tattered box

  Age: N/A

  State: Hidden

  Description:

  An old and tattered box from the Baron’s old storage cabin that could barely hold anything due to its flimsy material. The bottom has been wrapped in yers of waterproof packaging tape to reinforce it. Incredibly pathetic and fmmable.

  Mission:

  Ensure Ludville Eckart’s survivalSurvive the scenarioDeadline: 56:49:34 Alpainus Hours

  [Congratutions! You are the first pyer to ever py as a non-sentient being in a scenario. You have been awarded 10 Cosmos Points after triggering the “Cannon Fodder Death Trap” achievement. You many now access the C-Market to purchase items in the game.]

  [You are unable to purchase anything on the market at the moment with the remaining bance in your C-Wallet. Would you still like to check?]

  …A box?

  And not just any box, an old tattered box.

  “No way...” Ban Yue couldn’t believe his eyes, “What the...What's wrong with this game?! Does this seem fair to you?!”

  Ban Yue couldn’t help but protest.

  It was true that he said he preferred to be a tree in the background and that sometimes he wished he could turn into a bubble, but even a tree could sway, and a bubble could float high up in the air.

  What the hell could a box do in a performance-based game?

  They could’ve at least made him look like a pretty and sturdy box, but why is he so fragile?

  At this point, just tell him to die instead of wasting everyone’s time.

  What kind of ridiculous dream is this?

  “Why would you even include this kind of shitty option in the pile? Whose idea is this? Come out, you troll game developer. I’m going to cry!”

  Ban Yue really felt like crying.

  [OOC Warning: The attempt to cry has been terminated by the system due to your character setup restrictions. Please revisit your script and try again. Actions determined to be out-of-character by the system may have severe impact on the progression of the storyline. As such, penalties may be enforced after multiple excessive viotions. This is a warning! Please be careful!]