A grey-toned Haiku pulled over and parked near the bricked street as the doors of the either side of the car opened to reveal a rugged youth with barely kempt beard and a thin scar running along his jaws, only stopping near his chin. Meanwhile, the other patron of the currently trending Gober cab application turned out to be a feminine youth with a strangely symmetrical face and beautiful golden locks that he ran his finger along. 

"Boss, I paid through the card, thanks," Disregarding the obvious look for the tip from the driver, Rogue shut the door as Dharma did the same before they could hear the driver's curse. With the car, complying to the needs of the middle-class families picking off, Dharma and Rogue looked at the tall building that would soon be filled with an atrocious number of disciples from the Serene Heart Sect.

"Are you really sure? He won't mind, right?" Dharma questioned Rogue's plan for the umpteenth time, making the youth roll his eyes as he nodded alongside an exasperated sigh escaping his lips. "Would you stop being a wimp? I know him. He is the kind of man who would welcome us with open arms—"

--- 

"No way." 

Mana shut the door of his apartment on the faces of the two punks he got to know today. I regret telling them my address…  

Letting out a sigh of relief, Mana jumped on his couch and continued to set up his gaming station. He had the PX 8 and the Box P 420 on the go. While Mana continued to wire the consoles religiously, Rogue started knocking on his door once again.

"Heyyyaaa! Let us in! We come at peace!"  

That's the problem! 

Mana continued working without letting the constant knocking disturb him. One bullet… two bullets… three bullets… oh, shit. This is the wrong chant. Hmm, let's see… the focus chant… focus chant, ah! 

Mana smiled as his expression grew serene and peaceful. 

"We just came here to tell you got your girl pregnant! Let us in!" 

And it crumbles away, my will, my image, and my focus…

Mana stood in a hurry and clicked the door open as the two extremely shameless organisms walked in with a huge smile. 

"Nice one, Dharma!" Rogue grinned as they both high-fived each other. Ah, so it was the Disgusting Symmetry's idea… who knew… 

Closing the door, Mana eyed their suitcases and did not like the direction his future was heading. "Why are you here? No, scratch that, I already know the- why. No, you may not stay." 

As if expecting the situation, Rogue and Dharma smiled as they placed their hands in their pockets and whipped out an extremely familiar credit card. The one's issued by their masters for extreme emergencies. 

"We can pay the rent, and we promise to keep the place clean. So, please, don't let us stale in that P.G… the apartment is so much cooler than a room…" Rogue pleaded as Mana looked at the cards before smiling with such warmth that could melt all the ice caps threatening to already melt under the dire environmental situation. 

"Ah, of course. It'll be 130 peti every month, or 1500 peti a year." 

"Deal!"

The duo replied instantly. Either way… it wasn't their money. Without an ounce of fear towards the future where their masters would definitely learn of this expenditure, the duo paid the dues on an yearly basis, making Mana 3000 peti richer. This fund, of course, got transferred to his personal account using the modern applications. 

"Wait… does your rent agreement allow any subletting?" Dharma's inquiry made Mana smile. 

"Well, why don't you bring this point to the owner's attention. Oh wait, it's me." 

"Huh?" Rogue let out an astonishing huff as Mana settled on his couch, "Now that I have your money- I meant agreement. Let's make it clear. I won't be having any toilet duties. This is my apartment, after all." 

"Not it!" 

"Not it- damn!" Dharma cursed as he placed his baggage beside the adjacent couch and reconsidered his life's decision that led him to become so slow. On the other hand, Mana issued a lighthearted chuckle, "It's a joke… we just need to employ an expensive cleaner that is willing to clean every inch of the house… good thing we are sponsored!" 

"Ah, about that…" Rogue let out a weak smile before settling, "Usually, to every disciple who expends their master's funds like there is no tomorrow… there is also homeworks and extracurricular tasks like there is no tomorrow… well, Dharma and I are already fucked." 

"I didn't know this," Dharma spoke with an incredulous expression. 

"Well…" Rogue rubbed the back of his head, "I am the one who even reached that point in expenditure. Boy, did Master slave me!" Shivering, the bearded youth gave the clean-shaved blonde a warm smile, "At least, I am not alone~!"

--- 

Being the owner of a 2 BHK apartment flat, Mana took a room for himself while Dharma and Rogue held no complaints in sharing the room… yet. With how quirky Rogue presented himself to be, surely, Mana expected many confrontations. That's why he went down the nearest confectionery and brought packets of popcorn. He loves a good fight! 

"Hey, didn't we get the task to remember all the content from the jade slips?" Dharma inquired with a bleak expression. He wore silk pajamas that… well… was very Dharma of him. Meanwhile, in their boxers and still wearing the t-shirt from the morning, Rogue and Mana were too engrossed in the CIFA 3400 aka Cultivation International Football Association for the PX 8 console. Two, pitch black, gaming remotes found themselves on the two youth's hands snuggly as they competed against each other with their eyes glued to the screen.  

"That's some game station you have in your collection, Mana," Rogue praised as he continued to dribble the ball across the celestial field with his angelic players. Meanwhile, raising the wall of inferno and snatching the ball from Rogue's player, Mana smiled in complacence, "Aye, thanks. I even had the VR Station 69 back home… but…" 

"The VR Tech is still shitty," Rogue completed the sentence as Mana nodded. Scratching his calves as the duo sat on the floor and enjoyed the match, Dharma shouted once again, "Hey! We can play the game later!" 

"Man… don't be like that. Stone, paper, scissors is as fair as the heavenly judgement… you lost and we are playing. Oh, did you order the food?" Mana inquired as they were using his card this time. After all… hunger is extreme emergency. 

"Yeah," Dharma deflated on the couch while checking out his mobile phone, "It says 13 minutes… say, can I get a round after any one of you makes a goal?" 

"No!" Rogue and Mana replied in an uncanny sync. 

"Wow… screw you guys, too," Dharma snorted and stood up, "Oh, I just remembered that the main road might have a traffic jam… I heard in the news that an orthodox cultivator went through a deviation. So we might have a chance at a free dinner if the delivery is later than 13 minutes." 

"Point, Origin Cultivators!" Rogue grinned and bumped his fist with Mana while Dharma sighed deeply. These two are simply… stupidly uncaring.

---

"Oh! Shit!" Mana groaned as he coped up with the large amount of information traveling into his mind while clutching his head. Dharma turned out to be diligent and absorbed all the information in bits and pieces while Rogue had already failed the first year and sported a deep understanding on the topic.

"See? I told you," Dharma said as the trio boarded the bus for the Serene Heart Sect. Since they were Heart's disciples, they didn't have to pay for the facilities provided by the sect.  

"Ugh…" Mana only groaned in response.  

"Well, think of it this way…" Rogue took a seat while Mana and Dharma sat ahead of him, "In essence, you were challenged… dared of a sort to not absorb the jade slips at once, and you just did that!" 

Jade slips, one of the most efficient information transferring methods next to emails. The jade slips were an item of the BD era— Before Disaster era— that found itself in the current one. The cultivator imprints a large amount of information in the finger-sized square jade slips that any entry-level cultivator from the orthodox or the origin side could look into by focusing on the slip. However, this turned out to be extremely reckless for Mana as he felt bloated due to the overdose of information on ruins and their in-depth knowledge. 

"Shut up! I don't like challenges!"

Mana groaned as Dharma sighed and rubbed his lavishly designed ring inserted on his middle finger, "You'll let me go at the game first if I use my medicine, right?" 

"Please!" Mana rolled his eyes, "Over my dead body." 

Showing extreme conviction, Mana sat straight and clenched his pants as nail-sized beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Mana… felt stupid to think that pain relievers are mundane now that he really needed one. But thinking of Dharma or Rogue hogging his right to play with the console even for a day didn't sit right with him. 

"F-for one hour then?"

Rogue felt surprised by the change in situation. Dharma pleaded Mana… 

"Fine… one hour." 

With a smug grin, Dharma took out a tiny vial filled with green liquid that Mana hurriedly chugged down before handing the expensive vial back to the blonde symmetry. 

"Huff~ Thanks!" Mana sighed as he leaned back on his seat. 

"Trouble in paradise?" Since the trio were the first to step onto the bus, they didn't have anybody to chat with. The second stop brought a wave of disciples with one of the seniors looking towards the exhausted Mana curiously. 

"Ah, Geek! Hey!" Rogue smiled as the man shifted his gaze onto Rogue before smiling widely.

"Hey, if it isn't the Failure Rogue?"  

"Oh, the only one to fail, huh, how sad…" 

Well, is our loveable bastard getting bullied. Good, smack the top of his head, too. Mana stated his wishes through his wheezes as Rogue's smile stiffened while the youth felt his cheeks burn. Strangely, Mana failed to find any ill will in the gazes of his seniors but none of them sat near the trio. Even the first year's students looked at the wide empty space around Rogue. However, unaware of whatever might be the reason for this situation, they occupied the empty seats.

"Hey, Mana, right?" One of the disciples looked back before inquiring with an understanding expression, "Ehm… downloaded the entire jade slip, eh?" 

"That he did," Dharma chuckled as Mana still hadn't recovered enough to speak… well, curse. 

Yeah, screw all you goody-two-shoes.