9:The Game-Like Activity

Mae woke up early, as expected of her. Well, she just got lucky yesterday and got a date with June. Oh well, thanks to Emma, she might say. She smiled as she remembered that time.

Knock, knock.

Her daydreaming stopped after she heard the noise from the outside.

"Yeah?" she answered and walked towards the door.

"Mae! It’s me. Are you going for breakfast?" She could hear Ivy’s voice from the outside. She's probably with Emma.

She responded by lowering her body onto the bed as if cleaning it. "No thanks, I'll catch up with you guys later. I'm still doing my bedsheets, "she answered. 

She could hear the slight pause from the outside before she heard their footsteps moving away.

"Fine, get it done earlier, okay? We’ll wait for you, "Ivy said, then walked away.

"Thanks!"

She sighed as she realized that they were now gone.

"Sheshh," she said, looking at her breast. She’s not wearing anything on top aside from her bra. She could see how big it was. She just woke up like this and is still not in the mood to get out of her room, so she told them that she'd catch up later.

"I wonder if he’s still lying on his bed," she asked herself while looking at the ceiling and thinking about June. After what happened last time, she realized how much he loved to stay alone in his room. Unlike her, June is an introverted person. Well, it's pretty obvious, but she saw it herself. He might be conceited sometimes, but he's a good guy.

That’s what runs through Mae’s mind. She’s totally in love with this guy for this very reason. It took her half an hour before she could lift her back off the bed and get out of the room.

While walking through the hallways, she accidentally bumped into someone. She didn’t expect who it was until they looked at each other. She could feel the blood rushing into her face that made her cheeks red.

"Ohhhh," One guy suddenly appeared at the back of June while his mouth was wide open and forming a big "O" as if witnessing something crazier. Because of embarrassment, Mae excused herself and went the other way.

"Ohh, so... what was that? Is there something like... a lover’s quarrel going on here? " Kanaye teased June as he saw how June looked at Mae's back while walking away. June rolled his eyes and began walking again to the other path that Mae took.

"Tsk, whatever," he said, then licked his lips. He usually has dry lips. Maybe that’s why.

The class starts at exactly 9 in the morning. Every student is now talking to their seatmate as if that's the first thing they should do when they enter the room. A group of guys keeps laughing and teasing each other while constantly looking at the other group of girls.

Others seem to enjoy talking to one another, while others are simply waiting for Mr. Rayven to arrive. Just like Raia.

Unlike yesterday and the other day, he looks like he has already calmed down himself. Maybe that is because of what he did last night.

He went inside his room yesterday, as soon as the class ended. He immediately closed the door and changed his clothes. After that, he got the courage to walk toward June's room to talk to him. As expected, June said he didn't know what he was talking about. That leaves Raia no choice but to go back to his room.

Not until after midnight, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Mr. Raia?" he heard Mr. Rayven outside his door. He was still hesitant about whether he would open the door or not. But in the end, he acted as if there was nothing wrong.

But as soon as he opened the door, he already smelled a strange perfume.

"Mr. Rayven," the instructor greeted him while covering his mouth. There, he saw his instructor covering his mouth completely as if trying not to smell a bit of that perfume.

Raia immediately understood what it meant when he saw his dark red eyes of Rayven. He was about to close the door, but it was already too late. It was only a matter of seconds when a loud noise was heard after his body fell to the ground.

Rayven caught his head and lifted it slightly, trying not to make any more unnecessary noise.

"Oppsss,"

After a second, Rayven removed the handkerchief covering his nose and looked at Raia, who was now in his hands.

He smiled.

But if one looked at that smile, one could easily sense danger. He only used a slight portion of his strength to put Raia back in his bed. He even looked around the room.

"Hmm... it's a good thing I did this earlier before it's too late," Mr. Rayven said to himself when he saw a chart beside the table where Raia was studying.

There, he saw some details that he might have heard from the conversation last time. Some of the words written there are farm, shipment, high-quality goods, and customer.

Mr. Rayven clenched his fist when he realized that it was the same words he used before Raia went into his room that time. He knew someone was eavesdropping on his conversation with Mr. A at that time. And he's not mistaken. It was Raia.

But he doesn't need to worry about that right now. He used a special scent that was usually used for their ritual. It was called Tonique de Meilleure. It came from France years ago and was used to disrupt someone's memory. Using this potion is not that great since there might be a chance that something might trigger their memory to recover.

It means it will not totally make someone forget about something forever, but instead, it will make you forget about a certain thing temporarily.

But Mr. Rayven had no worries. Just like he said, he did this thing right on time. It will only take a day before Raia's shipment arrives. And it will happen all according to his plan.

After that, he slowly walked away and carefully closed the door to avoid making any noise.

Back to the present, Raia, who is now looking at the front, is just simply observing the people around him. Until Mr. Rayven arrived and took a look at him. He could feel a strange look from the instructor, which made him a bit embarrassed.

"Good day everyone," he greeted the students, which slightly lessened the sounds inside the room.

"So today we will have an activity. As you know, everything we do inside the university is quite different from what we do outside...what I mean is the normal classes, " he introduced first before he leaned on the table.

"This is known as the best amateur game here at Hyakku University," he added and looked at his students.

Each and every one of them seem excited and curious about what he's talking about. Even June, for the first time, looked at Mr. Rayven, listening carefully to his next words.

"It's called BloodyCookie," he said, making the room quiet.

After a second, a burst of laughter filled the room.

"Hahaha, what is that? Do you think we're kids? Putting up nonsense like that? Haha," someone burst out while laughing.

Even the other students can't stop themselves from laughing because of that. BloodyCookie was a popular online game before. It is where you will find a cookie in a certain place. But it needs you to survive several questions and answer them through the doors.

Indeed, it's an old game for children. That's why others can't help themselves but laugh at Rayven. While others felt disgusted and insulted, thinking 'what are we to you, a joke? Playing something so simple like that?'.

But Mr. Rayven wasn't moved by hearing those laughs. And to be honest, he expected that kind of reaction. Besides, it's not the kind of game that a college student will play. But it does not matter; it's not a simple BloodyCookie game after all.

"Now, now," he said as he walked back to the desk and sat in his chair. He put his hands below his chin while his elbows were on the table. "Here me out first," he added.

"A simple game, isn't it?" he asked them. Others nodded, while others felt something more than that.

"But what if I told you, it might determine your place and whether you could go to the next level or not?"

The whole class went into silence as they heard about it. It's a bit tempting, especially for those who want to get out of this building and join Fletcher to the next level, or so they thought.

Some students look at their friends as if they are communicating without words. This might indeed be their chance to pass an exam and move forward. Besides, they don't know if the next test will be this easy again or as easy as the first test.

After that announcement, Mr. Rayven told them how the game works. Unlike in online games, the BloodyCookie Hyakku University version will work with a partner. It means both of them will need greater concentration and balance to pass the test. They might be allies, but they might also be enemies in the end.

Choosing someone by themselves might ruin their friendship. And Mr. Rayven doesn't want that to happen. He wants his students to stay happy and healthy until the end. That's why Mr. Rayven is the one who chooses who will be the partner of whom.

He smiled when he passed the names of their partners. Every student is busy looking at the paper to know who will be their partner.

And the last thing he saw was Raia, who was innocently looking at the paper. Mr. Rayven put Raia in charge of being partnered with Osamu, the known prodigy.

"I wonder how a nerd-looking guy like Raia will work together with Osamu, the prodigy... it's gonna be exciting," he said inside his head and smirked while looking at his students.