After sitting down, the first thing I did was check the mission.
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[QUEST COMPLETED]
Quest: Attend Orientation
Status: COMPLETED
Note: Quest completed outside the designated timeline. Due to late completion, a minor penalty has been applied.
WARNING: Future quests not completed as strictly outlined in the mission parameters will result in severe penalties.
Reward: NO REWARD DISTRIBUTED
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I glared at the screen.
"Are you serious right now?"
All that rushing, humiliation of getting dolled up by Luna, for a penalty?
I swear, even Marie Antoinette had more mercy than the system.
Clenching my fist, I suddenly felt a burning desire to punch someone, beat them black and blue, all the while yelling, "It's your fault."
But this was all the shitty system's fault.
So I couldn't let my anger erupt on another person.
I took a deep breath and tried to reason with myself.
It's just a minor penalty. Surely it couldn't be that bad.
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[PENALTY]
Cold Aura intensified
Others find it harder to approach you
Your presence feels more intimidating
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But that was not all. Another screen popped up after it.
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[NEW QUEST]
Quest: Guide the First Episode
Objective: Navigate the opening scenario to the best possible outcome
Reward: Calculated upon completion
Failure Penalty: Story derailment, potential character death
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I let out a groan.
"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to guide the first episode, which is an interaction event, all the while, people around me avoid me? Great. Just great."
Luna leaned closer. "Aria, you're talking to yourself again."
I turned to Luna. "Hey, do you feel something different?"
Luna tilted her head. "As in?"
"About me. My appearance or personality?"
Luna's face flushed slightly. "Oh, yeah, you're looking prettier than normal today."
I shook my head. "No, I mean, are you intimidated or something? Does my presence feel... I don't know, colder?"
Luna blinked at me, genuinely confused. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind."
I dismissed it with a wave.
So the penalty didn't seem to have much effect on Luna. Was it because she was already too close? The system said it made me harder to approach, but Luna had already approached me years ago. Maybe the "Cold Aura" only worked on new people.
That would make sense, I guess.
Still annoying, though.
But there was something else bothering me. It was about the new mission.
[Objective: Navigate the opening scenario to the best possible outcome]
What did "best possible outcome" mean?
Was I supposed to follow the original plot? Change it?
The wording itself was vague. "Best" outcome was purely subjective.
Did that mean I should strive for the possibility I thought was best?
But what was best? The original plot had Aria meeting the protagonist, being her usual cold self, and setting up their eventual romance. That was the "canon" route.
But was canon actually best? I wrote that story half-drunk at 2 AM. The plot had more holes than Swiss cheese, the character development was questionable at best, and the ending... well, I never actually finished it.
Because it got axed around 40 chapters.
So maybe "best" meant fixing the story? Making it better than the garbage I'd originally written?
Or maybe it just meant "don't die and don't let the world explode."
That seemed like a reasonable interpretation.
I stared at the notification, waiting for more clarification. But there was none.
"This system really is useless."
I dismissed the screen with a mental swipe and refocused on the stage.
Whatever "best outcome" meant, I'd figure it out. Probably. Maybe.
Or I'd just wing it and hope for the best.
The woman at the stage finally wrapped her speech with some generic closing about "believing in yourselves" and "reaching for greatness," as the applause filled the auditorium. I clapped along, mostly out of habit.
Then another person took the stage.
A collective groan rippled through the crowd; someone a few rows ahead let out an audible sigh. Another student slumped so far down in their seat that they were practically melting into the floor.
"Oh come on," someone muttered ahead of me. "Another one?"
"How many speeches are there?"
"Kill me now,"
Luna leaned over slightly. "I think I'm going to die here," she whispered. "Is this how it all ends? Death by orientation."
"At least it would be a peaceful death," I whispered back.
"There's nothing peaceful about this. I think these are going to haunt me even in heaven."
I fired back, "Pretentious of you to think that you would go to heaven."
Luna's mouth opened, probably to fire back with something equally ridiculous, when.
"Looks like everyone's bored."
The voice wasn't loud. But I was sure it went around the whole auditorium, went through each of the students' heads. Grabbing each one's attention.
It had strength. The kind that made your survival instinct tingle.
The entire auditorium went silent. Everybody seemed to be holding their breath, looking at the stage where a tall, broad-shouldered man with graying hair cut short and a scar running down the left side of his face, wearing a simple black suit, stood.
He laughed awkwardly.
"I won't take much of your time." He paused, his easy-going expression settling into something more serious.
"Now, I know most of you come from important families. Top guilds. Big names." His eyes swept across the auditorium. "Your parents probably told you to network, make connections, represent your guild well."
A few students shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
"Here's the thing," he continued. "I don't care about your guild. I don't care about your family name. I don't care if your father runs a top-ten organization or if your mother is an S-rank hunter."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"This is a place to learn. To train. To become hunters who can actually survive." His gaze moved across the rows. "So it would be good, very good, if we kept guild politics, family rivalries, and whatever else you brought from home... outside these walls."
Was it just my eyes, or was I seeing a grim reaper behind him?
Then he laughed easily, the atmosphere changed instantly, and he gave a casual wave, walking off the stage as if he'd just been chatting about the weather.
Another professor hurried onto the stage, looking slightly flustered.
"That was, uh, Headmaster Valen," the professor announced, though his voice was almost drowned out by the eruption of whispers that flooded the auditorium.
"Holy shit, that was him?"
"Valen, the grim reaper."
The chatter grew louder, students leaning over seats to talk to each other.
Luna grabbed my arm, her eyes wide. "Aria, that's the SS-rank guy, right? The one who cleared that legendary dungeon?"
I glanced at her. "The Abyssal Rift. Yeah."
"I thought that was just a story," she whispered, looking back at the now-empty spot where Headmaster Valen had stood. "They say it's an SS-rank dungeon that even SSS rank couldn't clear couldn't clear. And he..."
"He alone survived it," I finished for her.
The Valen, the Grim Reaper, story went like this: His team was a party of five entering an SSS-rank dungeon. The dungeon had already killed a lot of high-power hunters, and even an SSS-grade hunter had died to it. But this team was different. Five SS-grade hunters, all at the peak of their abilities. Valen was one of them.
But he was the only one who came back.
He cleared the dungeon alone, but never spoke about what happened inside. Not to the guilds, not to the media, not to anyone. After that, he retired and became the headmaster of Hive Academy.
Just then, the professor on stage let out a long, defeated sigh.
"Alright, alright," he said, waving his hands in surrender. "I can see no one's paying attention anymore. That concludes the orientation, I guess." He sounded exhausted. "Please proceed to the main hall where refreshments will be served. Feel free to mingle, network, and get to know your fellow classmates. Dismissed."
The auditorium erupted into movement. Students stood, stretched, gathered their things, and started filing toward the exits in clusters.
I stood as well, brushing off my skirt.
Luna turned to me with a bright smile. "Aria, let's go together!"
"Mm."
I let out a breath as we walked toward the exit.
So this is it. The start of the episode.