"Playing pretend?" Someone laughed upon hearing the dark-haired man's words. "What are we? Kids?"

"He was talking to me." Ives gave the player a side glance, voice flat. "I am a kid."

Edris smiled at the player. "Oh, but I don't mind treating you like one too."

"You..!"

"Hey, hey." Alton stepped between them with a chuckle. "What are you getting all worked up over a young child?"

The player scoffed, his eyes glaring at the seven-year-old before turning away. Ives gave no response to his jeers. She stood by the walls with hands tucked in her blazer pockets.

Suddenly, she felt a soft pat on her head.

She glanced, seeing Edris's expression, composed as usual. Her clenched fists loosened.

"But this gentleman's explanation is pretty on point, if I may say." Alton peered at the dark-haired man. "At first glance, it's an academic setting. But it's because we didn't take this seriously that we lost so many people merely an hour in, am I wrong?"

At his blunt words, the player sneering moments ago fell silent.

"Haven't you noticed how the players who failed the initial quest turned out? You're basically brain dead," the burly man replied. "I say we take the roles seriously. If we screw up our affinity level, we'll end up like them."

"Ekaush is right," Alton said. "If my guesses are correct, the affinity level is like a cohesion test between us players and our given role. A set of parameters for us to act within."

"Hold on," one of the players interrupted him. "You just called this guy by his name, did you now? You two already knew each other?"

"Correct, Ekaush and I are both hunters. We met through an expedition." Alton shrugged, not at all fazed by the player's scrutiny. "Aside from that, we had no further interactions. I also didn't know he was also here until now."

"Two hunters…" The player eyed the two men back and forth, visibly alarmed.

"Calm down, kid. Aren't we all supposed to be on the same team?" Ekaush's bushy eyebrows lifted as he eyed the young player intriguingly. "You heard the rules earlier. They banned all our mana. We're just as much of a student right now as you are."

He snickered.

"What can we do? Call detention on you?"

Ignoring the young player's flustered expression, he rested his palms on his hips. "Look at you. Overreacting over everything."

"I was pulled in randomly." The player gritted his teeth, turning away. "I didn't sign up to be here."

"Guess what? You're not special." Ekaush jabbed a thumb to himself. "So was I."

The boy blinked, obviously not expecting the response. Alton turned to him as well.

At their reactions, the burly man shrugged. "I was having a father-son bonding night at the damn bar. You think I wanna be here?"

"Well, you heard him. We're all on the same boat." Alton chuckled under his breath. His narrow eyes skimmed the young player, moving across the auditorium. "Back to the Labyrinth structure. Each role comes with distinct personality traits that we must follow to keep up our affinity."

"Wait." Another player raised her hand. "My role is supposed to be someone who loves sleeping. Technically, I'm supposed to be taking a nap right now, but I'm not, and my affinity hasn't changed. It's still at 100."

"The first day of class is tomorrow, so strictly speaking, we're not fully in our roles until then," Alton said. "When that happens, I feel things will get much more difficult. We're unsure of what extent of acts would be considered out-of-role, so it's better to stay on guard.

"That being said, I encourage all of us to immerse ourselves in the role we're given, to grow accustomed to acting.

"From this moment on, we are our roles. The roles are us."

At that moment, a creaking sound came from the entrance doors.

The players all turned their heads toward the noise, only to see a dark-haired man with his hand on the handle.

Following him were three other people: the little girl from earlier, the top student of the academy, and a freckle-faced boy.

With a gentle smile, Edris lifted his free hand and gestured a wave. "Don't mind me, keep talking. We're just on our way out."

The crowd looked at him, speculative. Aside from the mini-conflict from earlier, Edris hadn't spoken much at all, so now that he'd decided just to leave, it wasn't hard to notice their discontent.

Not that he cared, though.

"No worries at all," Alton said, smiling amicably. "The Archivist once said, 'freedom is the oxygen of the soul.' I respect everyone's choices."

Despite the hunter's attempt to be friendly, his gaze never left Edris as his eyes trailed him from top to bottom, gauging his abilities. The latter held his scrutiny, an eyebrow arched but unmoving. Only then did the hunter withdraw his attention.

"The same goes for everyone else here," he said. "I don't want to force you into anything, so feel free to leave now if you want to act alone instead. But for all others, please stay for another short while as we share what we know and sort out the different positions!"

Edris didn't waste any more time listening to the man's announcements as he left the auditorium, the door flying close behind him. Outside the building, students trickled in and out of view, roaming all over campus.

"The Archivist this, The Archivist that," Ives muttered, glancing at the auditorium doors. "Mister Edris, I don't like him."

"Who's The Archivist?" The freckled boy blinked. "Is he famous?"

"Don't you want to head to the cafeteria?" Edris gestured to the boy with his eyes. "It's right there."

"But…"

"I'm going to find my unrequited love."

He spoke in such a matter-of-factly tone, it took those around them a few seconds to process his words.

"…"

Both Celio and Ives stared at the dark-haired man with complicated expressions, neither of which the latter noticed as he smiled innocently.

The freckled boy stepped back with a sudden realisation. He nodded, not forgetting to wink before swirling toward the distant building.

"Tell me how it goes!"

Watching the boy's back fade into the crowd, Edris turned around with a shake of his head.

"Master, is it okay for us to just leave the auditorium like that?" Celio moved beside him. "I thought our goal right now is to collect information?"

"Gathering information is important, of course," Edris said. "Misinformation, however, is another story."

The moment the hunter had suggested active immersion into their roles, there was no longer a reason for him to stay.

Lifting a hand to shield the sunlight, Edris cast his gaze to the school campus.

"They won't last long." He sighed. "Too many voices, too little brainpower."

Edris wasn't the type to stand in spotlights. If Alton were a competent leader, he wouldn't mind following along with his tactics and staying with the group.

However, after over thirty minutes of discussion, all they came up with was to share their profiles and information, and actively take on their roles?

"As expected from the vice of the Blades."

When the beast tamer spoke to Edris about Alton's background, Edris didn't tell him that he was well aware of who he was.

Blade Hunter Association was notorious for its dauntlessness and the intensity of its expeditions. Their teams aimed to establish all the remote regions surrounding the Adalan Kingdom, especially the Midpont Ocean.

However, the reason Edris knew them wasn't because of their lofty aspirations.

As a Soul Patcher, he’d came in contact with Splinter Syndrome patients from all around the kingdom. He and Yukioe had their own clinic at the time, and under the latter’s insistence, their treatment was made cheaper and more accessible to the survivors.

Unaffiliated with the faction, their clinic attracted survivors of various social groups, including the kingdom’s outcasts.

Indeed, survivors who were hunters were no stranger to Edris. However, when he stated meeting patients with shared origins to this association, it was enough to raise his suspicions about the group.

Listening in on Alton's aspiring speech had confirmed his intuitions.

"So where should we go now?" Celio tilted his head.

"The dorm," the dark-haired man responded.

According to the player profile, the deadline to complete the main quest was ninety days. Edris's quest must be completed during the final exam, and although no exact time had been announced yet, he suspected it'd be closer towards the end of the countdown.

Which meant during this time, the student dorm would be his home.

Despite disregarding the players back in the auditorium, he agreed with Alton's claim about the Labyrinth.

At a glance, the academy seemed like a laidback setting, but countless traps in the shadows were concealed from their views. The Principal's rules being one concern, affinity level was also something he needed to keep an eye on. Then there was the school's set of values…

Edris glanced at his role description again and fell silent.

Something was definitely off with this place.

The auditorium was up on a hill, but it didn't take long for them to reach the student dorms.

The dorm, like all other buildings on campus, was a combination of MW's school colours: red, white, and maroon. Built like a vast fortress, each tower represented a dorm as the red bricks stacked on each other, reaching toward the sky.

Stepping into the lobby, Edris and the others were welcomed by the dorm manager, who handed them each a white wristband and a card.

"Rooms are on floors 2-6, alternating between male and female students. Roommates are assigned randomly," she explained, pointing at their wristbands. "You can check your room number with that. The wristband will act as your student ID, which you'll need for basically everything here, so make sure you don't lose it.

"And as for the card, it's the Principal's gift for you all for listening to his opening ceremony."

And surviving.

Edris silently added in his mind as he gazed down at the card in his hand.

[EARPLUGS] has been acquired!

USAGE: The card user will lose their ability to hear for a minute.

"Your unrequited love can't reject you if you can't hear in the first place!"

Place [EARPLUGS] into [SLOT 2]?

"…"

Despite his internal questions, Edris went ahead and added the item into his second card slot.

As if his card wasn't strange enough, the cards given to Ives and Celio weren't any better.

The former obtained [LOUDSPEAKERS], which allowed her to give a speech ten times more impactful than its original potential; the latter received [SNEAKERS], giving him the ability to balance on any surface, at any angle. All three cards were one-time-use items.

After putting away the items, the group took a lift to the dorm rooms upstairs. The building had seven floors; the first was the lobby area, floors 2-6 were dorm rooms, and floor seven was what the manager called the "Professors' Floor."

Edris glanced at the number on his wristband. Room 604.

"I'm 617!" Celio perked over, taking in each of their room locations. "How about you, Ives?"

"504," Ives responded.

"Right beneath," Edris said, and she nodded with a faint smile.

Celio eyed the two of them, his back entering a slouch.

"Not fair… Why is mine so far away?' he grumbled.

Each floor had four suites, each with two to three rooms. The floor structure was a square, except the centre was emptied, creating a gap which opened the view to the floors.

Edris's suite was located north of the square, while Celio was on the opposite side. After a brief discussion, the three of them decided to scout out information in their respective areas and rejoin after half an hour to report any findings.

He glanced at the door sign; after making sure it was the correct number, he turned the knob and strode in.

Facing the sun, the room gave off a cosy feel as rays of light entered through the open windows. Designed as a long rectangle, the room was split in half with a symmetrical layout on both sides, each including a bed, a study table, an armchair, and a closet.

Edris was assigned the left side of the room. Despite it being his first time entering, his side had already been lavishly decorated, reflecting his role's persona.

Dozens of colourful clothing packed his closet, threatening to burst out of the doors. Plastered on the walls were posters with romantic quotes on them. Edris had to force his eyes away from the sight before he actively cringed.

As he did so, his gaze landed on the side of the room which belonged to his roommate.

Unlike Edris's side, the right half of the room was decorated in neutral tones; it followed a minimalist style, a stark contrast to its extravagant counterpart.

However, Edris took no notice of the interior design. His mind had fallen blank after noticing that another figure was already in the room.

An earlier scene resurfaced in his head, and Edris could see the woman on the portrait coincide with the person currently sitting on the bed. This person, supposedly his roommate, turned around at his footsteps, and the two locked eyes.

Reflexively, Edris's features fell into a gentle smile, as if he wasn’t the one with a thousand questions swarming his mind.

Internally, he needed a moment to process this situation.

If he remembered correctly, the floors were single-gendered.

So then—why was his "unrequited love" sitting on the bed across from him?