He wasn’t able to enjoy the whole party with the knowledge that one of them was missing. Some time into the party, he noticed a glaring detail. The girl who was sitting next to him was missing. And in a span of a few hours, nobody seemed to remember her. It chilled Jun to his bones. He felt that disappearing from everyone’s memories is a fate worse than death. 

The party passed by excruciatingly slowly, with Jun’s thoughts eating his brain. 

One moment he was staring at his drink glass, contemplating his next actions, the next moment Jun was laying on his bed, staring up at his milky ceiling. 

He jumped out of bed with thoughts jumbled and twisted into a knot. His movements looked disoriented like he was a drunk person flailing about. 

Jun grabbed his phone, fingers stumbling a few times before he managed to turn it on.

23rd December, 6:43 am

The day had reset.

***

In another dorm a few rooms away, a boy sat on his bed staring at his phone with a thoughtful expression.

Specifically at the date shown on his phone. 

His eyes flashed before he placed down his phone and continued getting ready for school. As though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

***

Jun was the first to arrive at the classroom. He wasn’t able to sit still in his dorm room, his thoughts bothering him a little too much. The walk to the classroom helped empty his mind. Jun settled himself at his desk as his gaze drilled holes into the missing list the mystical book had provided. 

There had to be some clue in this list, hidden or not. Otherwise the book wouldn't have provided a list of people that nobody could even remember. 

Think. Think. Think. Think. Thi-

Ah, he found it. 

The date. 

All the students had gone missing around the 20th of December. 

Before, Jun had subconsciously ignored the dates, deeming them unimportant. But now he couldn't help but berate himself for having such a narrow mind. The clue gave rise to a nagging suspicion. Now all he needed was to create a chance to act upon this suspicion. 

Students slowly started trickling in, the nervous chatter eerily similar to that of yesterday or should he say today. The exact same questions with the exact same responses were thrown in the air. From the groans to the sighs. 

Not a syllable different. 

Jun could feel goosebumps all over his arms. A feeling of surrealness pervaded his mind. For a moment he truly doubted if all of this was real-

No. 

He couldn't and didn't want to doubt anything, he didn't want to plant the seeds of doubt that would undoubtedly grow. He needed to believe. Believe in the book, believe in himself. 

He had to. If he truly wanted a second chance. 

With his resolve firmer than ever, Jun waited for the girl to arrive. A couple of minutes before the exam began, the girl rushed over to her seat. 

Although nervous, Jun initiated some small talk with her. The girl seemed absolutely fine. She seemed to have no recollection that today might be repeating. 

Jun didn’t know her name and he wanted to change that. By twisting and stumbling over his words, he managed to get her to say her name.

Irene. 

Learning her name had increased Jun’s determination to save her. Somehow similar to how one would get more attached after naming a pet. 

***

Exam was over and Jun rushed out of the class to put his plan in action. It was a one time chance and he had to execute it properly, otherwise he might have to wait for the day to reset again. 

Jun left the class in a hurry, unaware of the eyes that were following him. 

He soon found the place he was looking for. It was the small space in between the teachers building and the student dorms. Rather than the location, he was looking for the people he would find in this secluded part of the school. 

The delinquents who were smoking. 

It was rather surprising that such a high end school didn't have cameras to monitor its students but it made life easier for Jun, so he wasn’t complaining.

Jun approached them with the face of a good student eager to try the bad. Since those delinquents frequently received similar students, they merely laughed before handing over a cigarette and a matchstick. 

Happy to have gotten what he came for, Jun hightailed to the next location of his plan. The boy’s washroom of the main building. 

He lit the cigarette and let it burn a little more than halfway. Then he lifted himself up so that the vent was within his reach. Next to the vent was a tiny white sphere with holes in it. 

A smoke detector. 

As smoke slowly circulated around the smoke detector, a shrill alarm rang out throughout the school. Panicked shouts soon echoed inside the bathroom. Jun snuffed out the cigarette and dropped it near the smoke detector. Now if anyone came to investigate, it would seem like some student who was smoking accidentally triggered the alarm. 

Jun did feel a little guilty for making them panic over nothing but when he remembered that lives may be at stake, he didn't feel so guilty anymore. 

After making sure there was absolutely no one in the corridor, Jun hastened towards the teachers staff room. 

Since everyone had rushed out in a hurry, many computers in the staff room were left on. Jun quickly started skimming through the files. Soon, he found what he was searching for. 

“Failed Students of Higher Secondary Division”

This file was quite hidden amongst various junk files and one wouldn't be able to find it unless they were specifically looking for it. Since no one remembered those students, no one would go searching for them. So the information was hidden right under everyone’s noses and there was no one to erase it. 

The person who did this was either extremely smart or just too lazy to erase the file from all the computers. 

Jun held his breath with some anticipation. He used one hand to hold the book that contained the missing students’ names  and the other moved to open the file. 

He was correct. 

All the students who had gone missing were those who had failed.