The three options remained in front of me as the girls continued dragging me down the corridor.

______

[Choose Response]

[1] "Senior Bianca, I need to go to the infirmary."

[2] "Emily stabbed me."

[3] Remain Silent

______

I stared at the choices for a few seconds.

The answer felt obvious.

The first option would remind Bianca that I was injured, but judging from everything I had seen so far, she clearly didn’t care. The second option would drag Emily into the situation. Considering the system had already labeled this entire mess as some kind of ownership dispute, getting two dangerous people involved in the same argument sounded like an excellent way to shorten my life expectancy.

That left one option.

Silence.

I selected it.

The notification vanished.

______

Choice Accepted

Risk Assessment: Unknown

______

That wasn’t reassuring.

Then again, nothing the system showed me was ever reassuring.

The girls continued pulling me forward. Every step sent another pulse of pain through my injured thigh. The wound wasn’t life-threatening, but that didn’t make it pleasant. Blood had dried against the fabric of my uniform, causing the material to stick uncomfortably to my skin.

Nobody slowed down.

Nobody asked if I was alright.

Nobody cared about anything.

Students stepped aside as Bianca’s group passed through the hallways. Some looked curious. Others looked amused.

A few even smiled.

The longer I spent in this place, the more I realized that cruelty wasn’t unusual here.

It was entertainment.

Eventually we left the main academic building and stepped outside.

The afternoon sun hung overhead.

Students moved between buildings, chatting with friends or heading toward their next classes.

Several noticed Bianca and her group.

More importantly, several noticed me being dragged along behind them.

Yet nobody intervened.

A few girls actually laughed.

One pointed at the bloodstain on my uniform before whispering something to her friend.

Both of them smiled.

I looked away.

The academy grounds stretched before us, filled with expensive architecture, perfectly maintained gardens, and enough money to fund a small country.

From a distance it probably looked beautiful.

Up close it felt like a zoo where the animals had somehow taken control.

The girls finally stopped near the front entrance of the university.

A long black limousine was waiting by the curb.

Of course it was.

For some reason, seeing a limousine parked outside a university no longer felt strange.

Bianca came from the kind of family that probably considered private helicopters a reasonable method of transportation.

One of the girls opened the rear door.

Another tightened her grip on my arm.

Bianca finally turned toward me.

For several seconds she simply examined me.

Her gaze moved from my face to the dried blood on my uniform.

Observation activated automatically.

______

Bianca Hartwell

Current Emotional State: Annoyed

______

That was interesting.

Not angry.

Not concerned.

Annoyed.

Like someone whose expensive phone had been scratched.

Or whose favorite possession had been damaged.

The comparison made me uncomfortable.

Bianca sighed.

"What a mess."

I didn’t answer.

She stepped closer.

One finger hooked beneath my chin and lifted my head.

The movement wasn’t gentle.

"You know, Adrian, I was actually looking forward to today."

Her voice remained calm.

That somehow made it worse.

"I even postponed other plans."

A few of the girls behind her nodded sympathetically.

As if she were the victim in this situation.

Bianca continued.

"Then I hear that someone stabbed you during class."

I remained silent.

The system had chosen silence.

More importantly, silence still felt safer than speaking.

Bianca’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You aren’t even going to answer?"

I kept my mouth shut.

A strange look crossed her face.

Not anger.

Not yet.

Something closer to irritation.

She released my chin.

"Fine."

The single word carried enough disappointment to make me nervous.

One of her friends spoke up.

"Senior Bianca, should we take him to the doctor first?"

For a brief moment, I almost felt hopeful.

Then Bianca shook her head.

"No."

The hope died immediately.

"He can see a doctor later."

The girl nodded without argument.

Apparently that settled the matter.

I stared at Bianca.

My leg was still bleeding.

Not heavily, but enough that any normal person would probably consider medical attention a higher priority than whatever this was.

Bianca clearly disagreed.

Another notification appeared.

______

Bianca Hartwell

Current Emotional State: Possessive

______

The message vanished.

I wished it hadn’t.

At least then I could have pretended I hadn’t seen it.

Bianca climbed into the limousine.

One of the girls pushed me forward.

Another followed behind.

The message was clear.

I was getting into that car whether I wanted to or not.

Not that refusing would accomplish anything.

As I crossed the short distance toward the open door, a realization slowly settled over me.

When I first woke up in this world, I thought the greatest danger would come from the main story.

The yanderes.

The bad endings.

The routes I remembered from the game.

Now I wasn’t so sure.

Because the story hadn’t even properly started yet.

Noah Walker hadn’t returned.

Most of the major events hadn’t happened.

And somehow I was already being shoved into the back of a limousine by a wealthy senior who treated people like property.

The future was looking increasingly bleak.

The limousine door closed behind me with a heavy click.

Outside, the university continued as normal.

Students attended classes.

Professors taught lessons.

Life moved on.

Inside the car, however, I had the distinct feeling that I was heading toward another disaster.

And judging by the faint smile on Bianca’s face, she was looking forward to every second of it.