Chapter 2: Six Days, Twenty Three Hours, and One Dumb Swipe That Changed Everything
The rain had turned vicious.
It wasn't even nighttime yet; the sun was still hanging up there like a smug bastard, watching Astro City drown. Neon signs bled pink and violet into the puddles. Hover cars hissed overhead. And Nova Calder, freshly executed ex boyfriend of the year, trudged through it all like a corpse that forgot to lie down.
Seven days.
Seven. Fucking. Days.
"System," he muttered under his breath, voice hoarse, "at least give me a month. Thirty days. That's fair, right? Even death row inmates get appeals."
Silence.
The golden panels didn't even bother to appear. The sultry female voice that had mocked him an hour ago was suddenly playing hard to get.
Nova's long black hair was plastered to his face, hiding those sharp golden eyes that nobody had ever really looked into anyway. Not Neina. Not Cassian Ryde. Not the two hundred phones that live-streamed his humiliation.
He looked like a drowned wraith.
But he walked fast. Faster than he ever had, like the dorm was the last safe place on the planet.
Room 412, Building F 7. The cheapest dorm block in Aethercrest Academy, reserved for the "non-awakened trash" the clans didn't bother recruiting.
He slammed the door open.
Inside, three pairs of eyes snapped to him at once.
Juno, Ren, and Toren.
The only people in the entire academy who had never once looked at him like he was worthless.
They had seen the live feed. Of course they had. Everyone had.
The room went dead silent.
Juno hoodie cryptid, three empty Monster cans on his desk, dual monitors still paused on the cafeteria clip stood up first.
"Bro…" His voice cracked. "I told you. I fucking told you not to date that witch."
Ren, the gentle giant who was built like a truck but cried at dog commercials, stepped forward and just… wrapped Nova in the biggest, warmest bear hug, not caring that Nova was soaking wet and smelled like blood and despair.
Toren, blue eyes sharp as ever, hovered behind them, fists clenched like he wanted to punch the entire world on Nova's behalf.
They dragged him inside. Closed the door. Locked it.
Ren shoved a towel into Nova's hands. Juno killed the monitors so the clip would stop looping. Toren started boiling water for instant ramen extra egg, always extra egg when someone was dying inside.
They sat him on the lower bunk like he was made of glass.
"Nova," Toren said quietly, "forget girls. Forget Neina. Forget the clans, the Apex Roll, all that bullshit. We're normal. We're never awakening Vyr. That's fine. We study, we graduate, we become civil officers, we live decent lives. Bros before "
Nova laughed. It came out broken and wet.
"You guys really don't know anything."
He stood up abruptly and disappeared into the bathroom.
Cold water. Hot water. Didn't matter. He just stood under the shower fully clothed until the blood stopped running pink from his knuckles.
When he came out, towel around his neck, hair still dripping, the three of them were waiting exactly where he left them.
Toren tried again, softer this time. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to "
"It's fine," Nova cut in, voice flat. "I don't mind."
He dropped onto his bed like a corpse.
Ren sat on the edge, huge hand resting on Nova's shoulder. Juno perched on the desk chair backwards. Toren leaned against the wall, arms crossed, blue eyes worried.
Silence stretched.
Then Juno, ever the chaotic gremlin, opened his mouth.
"Bro… hear me out. There's this dating app blowing up right now. AetherMatch. Everyone's on it. Like… everyone. You just make a profile, swipe a bit, maybe you find someone who isn't a soul-sucking demon. Worst case, you get laid and forget Neina exists."
The second the word "AetherMatch" left Juno's mouth, golden panels exploded in Nova's vision like fireworks on crack.
[Ding! Side Quest Activated!]
[Task: Create an AetherMatch account]
[Reward: ¥10,000]
[Failure Penalty: Lose 1 day from Main Quest timer (6 5 days)]
[Time limit: 24 hours]
Nova's eye twitched.
Ten thousand doller.
For making a fucking profile.
He could pay rent. He could eat something that wasn't instant noodles. He could
Juno waved a hand in front of his face. "Yo, earth to Nova? You zoned out hard. You good?"
Nova forced the most painful smile known to man. "Yeah. Just… thinking."
Ren frowned. "We're here, man. Whatever you need."
An hour later, lights off, everyone pretending to sleep.
Nova lay on his bunk staring at the ceiling, phone glowing under the blanket.
The countdown ticked in the corner of his vision: [6 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes…]
He opened the app store. Downloaded AetherMatch. The icon was a stupid pink heart with devil horns.
Profile picture? He scrolled to a photo from last year him smiling on the roof at 2 a.m., city lights behind him, before Neina, before everything turned to shit.
Bio?
His thumbs hovered.
Then, with the dead-eyed conviction of a man who had nothing left to lose, he typed:
"just got publicly dumped in 4K
will spoil one girl absolutely rotten so I don't die alone this week
serious inquiries only"
Username: SugarImmortal
He stared at it for ten seconds.
"This is the dumbest shit I've ever done," he whispered.
Then he hit confirm.
[Ding!]
[AetherMatch account created!]
[Side Quest Complete!]
[Reward: ¥10,000 deposited]
His banking app pinged.
Balance: ¥10,037.42
A moment ago he was broken.
Now?
He had ten grand.
Ten. Thousand.
Nova stared at the screen until his eyes burned.
Then he did the only thing a man in his position could do.
He laughed.
Quiet at first. Then louder. Shoulders shaking, tears mixing with the leftover shower water on his face.
On the bunk above, Juno stirred. "Bro… you okay down there?"
Nova wiped his face, grinning like a madman in the dark.
"Yeah," he whispered to the ceiling, to the system, to the universe that had finally decided to throw him a bone wrapped in pure chaos.
"I'm just getting started."