The history teacher was buffering again.
Mr. Tang, a Level 8 Scribe with a receding hairline and a coffee stain on his virtual avatar, stood at the front of the room. He was mid-sentence about the "Great Server Merge of 2042" when his jaw froze. His eyes rolled back to white, and a little spinning circle appeared over his head.
"Lag," the guy sitting in front of me whispered. "Cheap district bandwidth."
I leaned my chin on my palm, staring out the window. The rain hadn't let up. It streaked against the glass, blurring the neon kanji of the noodle shop across the street.
[HP: 52 / 65]18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRDPIYEcIZ
[STATUS: STABLE]
I had recovered some health thanks to the "snack" I had behind the gym yesterday, but I was still pitifully weak. In my past life, I wouldn't even get out of bed for less than 10,000 HP. Now, I was celebrating because I wasn't actively dying of anemia.
The classroom was a depressing box of gray concrete and flickering holograms. About thirty students sat in rows, most of them displaying low-level stats. They were F-Tier fodder. Future warehouse workers, potion testers, or if they were really unlucky, bullet sponges for the low-level dungeons.
I tapped my finger on the desk, counting the seconds.
Three... two... one.
Mr. Tang snapped back to reality. "—and that is why we pay our daily Karma Tax to the System," he finished, completely unaware he’d been frozen for ten seconds. "Now, before we continue to the next slide, I have an announcement."
He adjusted his glasses. A notification window popped up on the holographic chalkboard behind him.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: NEW STUDENT TRANSFER.]18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9dxYQwfDp
[ORIGIN: DISTRICT 1 (UPPER CITY).]
The sleepy atmosphere in the room vanished instantly.
Heads snapped up. Whispers broke out like a localized virus.
"District 1? That's the Penthouses."18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjNMjuMTn6
"Why would a high-tier come to the slums?"18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXwWnqXzjo
"Maybe they got banned? Or hacked?"
I narrowed my eyes. My heart gave a single, hard thump against my ribs.
District 1 wasn't just rich. It was the Admin Layer. That was where the Game Masters, the Whales, and the Guild Leaders lived. People from up there didn't transfer to a dump like District 9 High unless they were on a mission.
And I knew exactly what that mission was.
Twenty-four hours, I thought, gripping the edge of my desk. The System said an Investigator would arrive in twenty-four hours. It’s barely been twelve.
"Quiet down, mobs," Mr. Tang barked, trying to sound authoritative. "Show some respect. Come in, Miss Wu."
The automated sliding door hissed open.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. Not the usual classroom funk of sweat and cheap energy drinks. It was the scent of ozone and crushed lilies—the smell of high-grade mana.
A girl walked in.
She looked like she was rendered in 8K resolution while the rest of us were stuck in 720p. Her uniform was the standard school blazer, but the fabric was tailored, free of lint or stains. Her skirt was pleated perfectly. Her hair was black, tied back in a severe ponytail that swung like a pendulum.
But it was her eyes that made me look down at my desk.
They were silver. Not gray, not pale blue. Silver. Like liquid mercury swimming in code.
[SCANNING TARGET...]18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPEMiAZz5q
[NAME: SERAPHINA WU]18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJ1zjfLUL0
[LEVEL: ???]18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX3ve5hXKv
[CLASS: ???]
Question marks.
I forced myself to breathe slowly. In this world, you can usually see someone’s level unless they’re at least twenty levels higher than you, or they have a stealth artifact. Given that she was from District 1, she was probably both.
She walked to the center of the room, her boots clicking rhythmically on the linoleum. She didn't look nervous. She looked like a health inspector walking into a restaurant infested with rats.
"My name is Seraphina Wu," she said. Her voice was crisp, clear, and utterly devoid of warmth. "I have transferred here to... observe the local curriculum. I expect you to stay out of my way."
She didn't bow. She didn't smile. She just scanned the room.
Her silver eyes swept from left to right. Every student she looked at flinched, as if she had physically poked them.
She’s using Active Perception, I realized. She’s reading everyone's metadata. She’s looking for the glitch.
I slumped my shoulders. I let my mouth hang open slightly. I unfocused my eyes, staring blankly at a spot on the wall near her shoulder. I needed to look like a background character. An NPC with no dialogue lines.
Her gaze moved over the fat kid in the front row. Then the girl with the pink hair.
Then it landed on me.
ns216.73.216.10da2
and then Add to home screen.