You’ve attended 28 days in a row! Your next attendance bonus will be in 22 days!

Halloween this year is a tower climb. It starts in two days and I can barely contain my excitement.

The school is supposed to turn into a haunted mansion with boss fights at major junctures, and our goal will be getting to the top to beat the boss ghost. There will be smaller fights periodically, too, of course. It's a bit simple, and grinding enough candies to trade for items can get tedious, but it's not the worst. I hear there are some mini-events spread out, too, but there’s very little information available right now. The preview mentioned something about trials..

I've saved up stamina items all summer and I think I'm gonna use them to rush to the top. I just have to be careful to open the potions at the right intervals. Strategy-wise, it's not a bad move. You stay in the top rankings for the first half’s cutoff, then use the second to grind on the top floors for more candy, ideally giving you an overall top tier rank. Ideally.

Plus, some other students were able to leak pictures of the tower prizes, the Reaper’s Scythe. As a Student Council member, I’m obligated to find out who and report them. As myself, though? I've been drooling over it ever since. I know it doesn’t really fit my aesthetic, but I'm definitely gonna get it! Right now, my weapon of choice is a four-star thief’s dagger. I’d die for the chance to replace it with a five-star.

“The Reaper’s Scythe doesn’t really keep up in terms of power creep,” Thag says, as if reading my thoughts. She twirls a pastel blue streak of hair around her finger and points directly at my forehead with her other hand. I’m really jealous of her cosmetic equips. “It’s not useless, but it’s not on par with other five-star weapons either.”

“Do you see how many shits I genuinely do not give, Thagomizer?” I ask her. “Can’t you see that I deserve something cool after all this time?”

“Does anyone deserve anything? That kind of talk will jinx you hard.”

“My luck can’t possibly get any worse. This Student Council thing is the best thing to happen to me in a year.”

“Yikes.” Thag crosses herself. “Infect me not with your bad vibes.”

“Shut up, lucksack.”

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds. You use my support units all the time.”

Although it’s a friendly argument, I can’t help but feel that we’re really on two different playing fields. Thagomizer consistently gets nameplates for event rankings. I get consolation prizes.

My mouth opens and closes wordlessly. I want to argue with her but my fire is out. There’s nothing I can say that won’t be refuted at this point.

I flip her the bird and quick-teleport from the cafeteria back to class.

***

You’ve attended 30 days in a row! Your next attendance bonus will be in 20 days!

At midnight on the dot, the bell sounds from within the school building. Looking out the window, I can see the sound waves travel along campus, rippling faster and faster, leaving haunted decorations in their wake. Even our dorm rooms get spooky — the light flickers and dims, and I swear I can hear eerie noises outside the window.

There's a chance that helper costumes will drop from boss fights, but I don't want to risk it. I need their bonuses from step one.

I quick-teleport to the cauldron classroom. Reading the banner fills me with a cozy sense of warmth: Happy Halcyon Haunting! A few other students are already there, so I wait in line and pass the time by rereading the news feed’s display of the potential items. It’s a plethora of three-star costumes and weapons, mostly from the past few years, with new four- and five-star helpers. I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t burned the clown outfit from last year. It still haunts the back of my closet.

When it’s my turn at the cauldrons, I indulge in the sinful first freebie. It’s a yolo, of course — a single item rather than the discounted cost of ten plus one — but you never know with these things. My Spring Into Fall yolo gave me the Student Council uniform, after all.

Ordinary white sparks flicker around the cauldron as I reach inside. I can’t see the item in my hands for all the blinding light. Suddenly its brightness intensifies even further. My heart leaps in my chest. The item crackles with a gold light that slowly envelops the white. A flip! A shift in rarity! It may not be a five-star, but gold is still four-star!

It’s a vampire costume with a twenty percent buff to damage for the duration of the event. If I can limit break it — increase its level cap and boost its stats by merging duplicates — the bonus will increase to 40%, then 60%, then 100%. It’ll be incredibly useful against the special wandering monsters.

Moonlight from the window glances off the silver cauldron, making it sparkle and shine. I swear under my breath as the urge to pull seizes me. One helper unit isn’t enough. I gently feed my tickets into the cauldron one at a time—

White light. White light. White light. Gold! It’s a pair of bat wings that provide a 10% chance to increase the candy you find. Then white light twice again. I can’t believe this. Yolo pulls are bullshit. After six tries, I’m no closer to a five-star item than I was before I started.

Screw it. I type my passcode into my phone and make the transaction that opens the mouth of the gold cauldron. I count to eleven, reach inside, and pull.

Gold sparks fly! I know to expect a minimum of one four-star item from a multi-pull, but I can’t help but feel disappointed that there’s no rainbow.

I draw two three-star daggers and a pair of cowboy boots. Then a duplicate of the clown costume from last year. Next, a four-star whip, two vampire outfit dupes and a bat familiar—

You really don’t care, do you?

“Hey, move it!” a voice behind me calls. “If you’re done, lemme through.”

Right, I’m not alone. Everyone else still has to test their own luck.

I quick-teleport back to my dorm room. Kohaku has turned the light off and is fast asleep, so I just hop into bed myself. I wear a casual t-shirt and pants to sleep, cosmetic equips that reflect a casual aesthetic. I’m not so vain that I need premium items when nobody but my roommate is going to see me.

And I dream.

I dream in color of a world without gacha, a world where I attend school, wear a normal school uniform, join a normal student council. Most people have black or brown or blond hair, with the occasional redhead or dyejob. It feels wrong, but strangely familiar.

I see a bright light outside the classroom window. It’s almost like the light from within the cauldron. It gets brighter and brighter, consuming everything—

When morning rolls around, I wake up in a cold sweat, feeling like I’ve barely slept a wink. Fortunately, I can’t remember anything other than a vague sense of unease from my dreams.I change from my pajamas into the vampire outfit, taking a moment to admire the detail work. I’ve even got fangs! Without missing a beat, I equip the bat familiar, too. It’s not my magpie, but it’ll do. I love when I’m able to keep a cohesive outfit theme.

I decide to walk to class today, taking the scenic route past the beautiful orange and brown foliage. Ever so faintly, the wind howls in the background. I shiver. This atmosphere is certainly appropriate.

A huge creature blocks the entrance to the school! With the torso and head of a human woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of a great bird, there’s only one thing she could be. She’s also a bit transparent, though— she’s not just a sphinx, but a ghost as well.

“I am the Ghost of Halloween Past,” she whispers in an eerie, seductive voice. “Only those with a true understanding of the spirit of Halloween may enter my tower.”

So we won’t even get into the event without passing a trial?! What kind of high bar for entry is this? I know some events are locked by whether you’ve completed a certain grade’s worth of content, but Halloween should be for everyone!

She smiles, as if reading my mind. “You there, student. Is your spirit ready for Halloween? Tell me your name and your costume.”

“I’m Яagnarok!” I say boldly, though I’m shaking a little. “And I’m dressed as a vampire.”

“Very good, Яagnarok,” the sphinx praises me. “You are indeed dressed for the part. I will allow you to pass into my tower.”

“Thank you! Thank you very much!”

Before she can change her mind, I run inside.