»»————-

 

“You study for the math exam tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah.” Julian says, dropping down onto the cafeteria bench. “I’m still trying to remember all the Laplace transforms though.”

 

“It’s dumb. Shouldn’t they give us a table to use instead of just forcing us to memorize? Yvon grumbles. “Hey MC, what about you?”

 

“...MC?”

 

“She’s not here. Didn’t she follow behind you?”

 

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. She was following me earlier...”

 

That’s worrying. Julian suddenly feels uneasy. She’s not the type to leave without saying anything...

 

“Maybe she got pushed along by the crowd earlier.” Yvon offers, staring at the group of students still crowding near the cafeteria entrance. “You think she’ll be mad at me for leaving her behind?”

 

“She’s not like that.” Julian mutters, barely registering the words his friend was saying. It’s the first time MC was ever late to lunch with him. “I’m going to look for her. I’m worried something happened.”

 

“...Alright. Let’s go then.”

 

Yvon abruptly stands up, yanking Julian along. He heads directly for the cafeteria entrance, despite the long line of people waiting to make it inside.

 

“S’cuse me!” He calls, roughly shouldering a path out of the busy cafeteria. “Sorry! Just gonna squeeze right by ya…” Yvon fights the tide of pushing bodies as Julian follows closely behind.

 

They finally make it back into the hallway, and even though it’s much emptier here, they still don’t manage to find any trace of you.

 

“Hey!” Yvon shouts loudly over the chatter of incoming students. “Have any of you seen MC? She’s about this tall with black hair and pale eyes!” But all it does is cause some students to look at him weirdly. “Shit…”

 

“Are you two looking for MC?” A nervous voice traveled through the room.

 

Julian pauses, staring down the hall. A male walks up to them, somewhat timidly as he raises his head in greeting. He seems small and shy, the perfect target for bullies.

 

“I saw her with Tahl a few minutes earlier…” He mutters, almost too quiet to hear. “She was being harassed by him, but I was too scared to do anything...”

 

What?! Julian’s eyes widen. Tahl’s name is familiar to him, and a knot of worry tightens over his chest. The longer you’re with him, the higher the chance of something terrible happening.

 

“Where?!”

 

“The stairs leading to the roof…”

 

“Fuck!” Julian pushes past him and sprints down the hallway.

 

“Hey, wait up! What’s wrong?” Yvon shouts, scrambling after him. It’s unlike Julian to be so worried, especially over a random high school kid. 

 

“Yvon…” Julian gasped, vaulting up the stairs three at a time. “This might be bad.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I know Tahl.” Julian replies breathlessly. “You might not know, but he’s actually part of a Seoul gang that primarily recruits hunters… they act as debt collectors for the Korean mafia.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yes, I’ve seen him with them before-.”

 

“Hey, quiet.” Yvon suddenly hisses, grabbing Julian’s arm to stop him from going any further.

 

There’s a low hum in the air, barely discernible over the background noise of the school, but it’s there, and Yvon feels it deep in his chest. “You hear that sound?”

 

“Huh? What sound-”

 

“Aghhh!”

 

A loud guttural scream suddenly interrupts their conversation. It trails on and on for a few seconds, then dies off, as if whoever was screaming just suddenly disappeared. It seems to be close, seemingly coming from one of the nearby classrooms. 

 

“What’s that?” Julian asks in shock, a sense of dread suddenly gnawing away at his stomach. That couldn’t have been you, could it?

 

“I’ll go check it out.” Yvon says quickly, running towards the classroom and yanking the door open. “Oh sh-”

 

His face pales, and he freezes in fear. Inside, there’s an orc-like creature, chewing on the body of a dead student. There’s a small puddle of blood collecting underneath them, pooling onto the floor. 

 

It’s a magical beast, one that must have recently come through a gate somewhere in the school. Despite there just being a single one, orcs are usually B-rank monsters, powerful creatures only hunters above A-rank can take down.

 

“Run!” Yvon slams the door shut and grabs Julian on his way. “It’s a motherfucking orc! We gotta get outta here!”

 

Even a child knows the dangers of a monster now. They’re on the news every other week, coming out of portals generated from seemingly thin air. If one appears in a residential area, it doesn’t take long before the monsters start swarming out, killing everything in their path.

 

And since there’s a monster somewhere in the school, a gate must be nearby. It doesn’t take much to imagine what’s about to happen to the students here if they don’t get away in time.

 

“MC is still on the roof!” Julian shouts, hesitantly turning to Yvon. “You go and call for help. I’ll go get her!”

 

“Wait-” Yvon pauses, staring towards the classroom that housed the orc. His best interest would be to just escape as far as he can, but...

 

“Fuck that. I’m coming too.”

 

»»————-

 

“So, Julian’s your boyfriend huh?” Tahl smiles, gesturing for you to sit down on a rooftop bench. “C’mere, what he doesn't know won't hurt him.”

 

But instead of doing that, you shake off his hand. 

 

“Why are you doing this?” You ask incredulously, somewhat surprised at his actions. Bullying isn't unheard of, but it seems a bit too much effort to drag you all the way out here. “Is it all because I bumped into you?”

 

“That’s not it.” Tahl sneers. “I just felt like it today.”

 

You glance at him with the barest frown. “If I report you three, all of you could get into trouble…”

 

“You think I care about that?” He says, trying to grab your hand again. “The teachers here never do shit about bullying anyway.”

 

You reach out, backhanding him across the face.

 

“Ack! Arg!” He backs away, clutching his face. “My cheek! What the hell-”

 

“Don't force people to do stuff like this.” You say, carefully waiting for his reaction. 

 

“You bitch! You got a death wish, huh?” He screams, charging at you. “I was just messing around, but now I'm angry!"

 

You ignore his words, sidestepping him and smashing your elbow into his nose. There’s a sickening crunch, and Tahl drops to the floor, blood steaming from his face. 

 

“Agh-”

 

Even though he’s a B-rank hunter, he doesn’t seem to have much fighting experience. Not that you have much experience either, but your reactions are movements are faster than him, which is more than enough.

 

Pressing your advantage, you rush towards his friends. One of them reacts quickly and tries to grab you, but your leg comes out of nowhere, blasting him violently in the side of his neck.

 

His body skids across the rooftop, out cold.

 

"Shit…" The remaining friend looks horrified at the scene. Within seconds, two members of his group were incapacitated, even Tahl, the B-rank hunter he looked up to.

 

He turns, making the smart decision to run for the door, but just as he reaches the handle, it flies open, slamming him hard in the face.

 

“MC!”

 

Julian bursts onto the rooftop with Yvon. He’s gasping, completely out of breath. 

 

Was he worried after you didn’t show up for lunch? How cute...

 

“Fuck…” Tahl stands up, clutching his bloody face as he stares at the two of them. “You Julian? Your girl just got me good...”

 

“Don’t worry about that! We need to get out of here. Monsters-” Julian pants breathlessly, waving his hands as he tries to explain.

 

“The fuck are you talking about. Monsters in the middle of Seoul? Are you crazy?”

 

Julian opens his mouth to respond, but suddenly, the loudspeaker system goes off.

 

“Attention. A gate has appeared on the third floor of the school. I repeat, a gate has appeared on the third floor of the school. This is not a drill. All students are to evacuate immediately.”

 

“What the...” Tahl asks, blood draining from his face. ‘You were serious?”

 

“Yes, you idiot!” Yvon shouts, running back towards the rooftop door. “We need to get out of here-” He goes to open it, but then suddenly freezes, backing away with a terrified expression.

 

“Hey, watch out!” Julian shouts, pulling Yvon out of the way as a bulky green arm smashes through the door, breaking it from its hinges. A monster appears, bending down to crouch through the newly formed hole in the wall.

 

“It’s an orc.” Tahl whispers, fear evident on his face. “An actual orc…”

 

The orc stands there proudly, taking in its surroundings and terrain. There’s an incredible amount of black markings tattooed throughout its body, a sign of how many fights it’s won - at least according to the videos you’ve watched on magical beast lore.

 

You step in front of Julian protectively. 

 

An average orc is usually a B-rank monster, but some stronger ones have been known to even measure at S-rank. You can only hope this is one of the weaker ones, or else there’s absolutely no hope of survival.