The lunch break finally arrived. Following the Student Council's instructions, the new students were allowed to head to the canteen to recharge. As soon as the "Trio Sengklek" (The Chaotic Trio) set foot in the Garuda Nusantara High School canteen—which looked more like a five-star mall food court—they collectively froze in front of the menu board.
Instead of finding banners featuring ayam geprek or bowls with the classic rooster logo, the food stalls only had touch-screen monitors displaying menu names in a foreign, confusing language—a.k.a. full-blown English.
Luca stood there, looking completely blank in front of a stall. He squinted at the monitor, his forehead creased with three layers of wrinkles.
"Tem... what the hell does this say?" Luca whispered, nudging Xavier's arm.
"C-r-i-s-p-y... T-a-p-i-o-c-a... Krispi Tapi... Tapioka? Krispi tapi toka-toka? Does this mean mendoan or what, Tem? Don't just stand there, translate it! My brain isn't reaching, back in my first life I just crossed out 'B' for every single question on my English exams!"
Xavier stared at the screen with a face as cold as an ice cube.
"Literally, it is Crispy Tapioca Dough with Shredded Chicken Emulsion. It means crispy tapioca dough with shredded chicken emulsion."
"What is that in human language, dude?!" Luca snapped, already getting hungry.
"Cireng stuffed with chicken," Xavier answered flatly.
The guy named Luca's eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
"HUH?! CIRENG?! Plain cireng at the night market costs five thousand for three, and here you rename it 'Tapioka Toka' and charge fifty thousand per portion?! This is extortion disguised as an international delicacy!"
Xavier and Raffa just exchanged a brief glance, as if to say, 'How tacky.'
Without noticing the silent exchange between his two friends, the young man continued reading the other menus.
Barely a second after reading the next menu, he grabbed his chest, which suddenly felt tight. His eyes widened in shock at the row of prices.
"Raff... Er... slap me right now. Is my vision going blurry, or does a glass of iced sweet tea really cost fifty thousand here?! Is this iced tea squeezed directly from the leaves of a heavenly tea tree or something?!"
Raffayel joined him in staring at the menu board, his brow furrowed sharply, his aura suddenly becoming very menacing. His hands balled into fists inside the pockets of his expensive jacket, which he thought was a hand-me-down.
"A portion of ramen is one hundred and fifty thousand... man, seriously, this canteen is run by a money-worshipping cult. I only have three hundred rupiah in coins left; if I threw it at a dog, even the dog would pity me. Should I summon a demon to level this place?"
Xavier adjusted his glasses with icy calm, even though his 200-IQ brain was spinning wildly.
"Notice. The emergency funds in monkey Luca's pocket currently total only three hundred rupiah. Based on mathematical calculations, your money is only enough to buy a single used tissue in this canteen."
"Dang it! Are we just here to breathe the air?! My stomach is already growling," Luca grumbled miserably, completely unaware that his back pocket was thick with three Black Cards from his new family.
Suddenly, a trendy-looking canteen stall attendant seemed to recognize their faces one by one and shrieked excitedly.
"Oh! Mas Luca? Mas Raffa? Eh, there's Mas Xavier too!" the attendant exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
"Oh my, what a surprise to see all the sole heirs gathered here! Does Mas Luca want the premium steak as usual? Or does Mas Raffa want the salmon imported directly from Norway? Oh, or does Mas Xavier want the organic diet menu usually ordered by your private driver?"
Luca, Raffayel, and Xavier froze on the spot with stiff necks. They looked at each other with blank, bewildered expressions.
"W-wait, Ma'am... sole heirs?" Luca was stunned, his chaotic personality suddenly experiencing a long loading time.
"Imported salmon? Private driver? You must have the wrong person, my face is so average—let alone eating salmon, I'd be lucky just to eat rice with salt and Promag sauce!"
The woman laughed lightly, thinking Luca was just joking.
"Hahaha, Mas Luca really is a joker. How can the only son of the Pratama Group owner—who owns this building—claim to be poor? And that's Mas Raffa, the youngest son of the Leonzio family who was dropped off by a black Alphard this morning, right? And Mas Xavier is the son of the minister who also owns the cinema chain, right?"
Luca turned to Raffa with jerky movements, then stared at Xavier with an empty gaze.
"Cil... Tem..." the young man whispered, his voice trembling.
"So since this morning... we've been pitying each other, when in reality, the three of us could buy this whole school foundation?!"
Xavier immediately adjusted his glasses, his face looking super judgmental.
"Notice. Visual data confirmation successful. Congratulations, the three of us are officially a group of shameless rich kids suffering from an acute identity crisis, having performed a self-imposed poverty simulation since this morning."
As they were still loading from embarrassment, a disheveled woman appeared from behind, clutching a folder for some reason.
Yes, it was Hasna—the clumsy guidance counselor. She waltzed into the crowd and stared at the rows of food with hungry, sparkling eyes.
"Ma'am... Ms. Hasna?" Luca called out, confused by the sudden appearance of his counselor.
The young teacher seemed not to care. She snatched a tray, pointed at all the most expensive menu items in a bossy style, then glanced at the trio.
"Hey, you burdensome students! You're rich kids, right? I'm a guidance counselor who isn't getting paid because I lost my office key, so... treat me! I'm so hungry I feel like eating the table!"
Xavier stared at Hasna flatly.
"Analysis: This counselor is suffering from an acute financial crisis worse than your identity crisis."
"SHUT UP, NERD!" Hasna yelled, wanting to snatch a piece of Norwegian salmon from Raffa's plate, but she immediately backed off, fearing she'd become the demon's prey. Instead, she grabbed a piece of vegetable from Xavier's plate.
"Eating leaves like a goat," she continued while munching on the vegetable.
"At least I don't snatch people's food and then insult the owner!!" Xavier retorted flatly.
"Geez, so stingy, it's just one piece."
Luca, who had been watching in shock because he had just become a sudden rich kid, came to his senses and laughed narcissistically.
"Fine, Ms. Hasna! As long as it's free, buy it all! I want to see how far our 'dads' can pay this bill!"
"Nice! You guys are model students!" the try-hard teacher exclaimed while chewing the vegetables voraciously. It actually tasted weird, but it would be rude to spit it out in front of them.
She was very grateful she didn't have to eat rice and salt today.
Raffa, who had been silent all this time, could only rub the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache watching the "Chaotic Trio" plus one "Burdensome Teacher" start buying up the whole canteen without a hint of guilt.
That night, the peak event of the school orientation (MPLS) at Garuda Mandiri High School was the "Night Safari" in the forest behind the school, which was famous for an urban legend about a "Flagpole Spirit that likes to ask for coffee rations."
Raffa didn't want to stray far from Luca. He was practically glued to him like a stamp.
"Brother, if there's a ghost, tell me. I'll slit its throat, or better yet, just throw it at that guidance counselor so she can be the victim," Raffa whispered, quiet but still audible to his brother.
Luca could only laugh casually.
"Cil, come on. No need for that, I actually pity that teacher; she'd probably faint if she saw a ghost. Besides, back at the shack, I used to have coffee with a kuntilanak who was venting about her unpaid installments. School ghosts are small potatoes."
Hasna, who was walking behind them as the chaperone, nearly choked on her own spit.
'Oh my god, that's the dialogue I wrote when Luca was in a deep depression in Season 1. Why does it sound so casual?!' Hasna thought, pretending to cough loudly to cover the sound of her laughter, which was about to explode.
"Ms. Hasna, do you have lung disease? Do you want me to help you find oxygen?" Xavier asked flatly while pointing a super-bright flashlight at the counselor's face.
"No! I'm just... cough! Allergic to the smell of incense the committee is spreading!" Hasna hurriedly looked away.
"Btw, can you point that flashlight somewhere else? I'll get cataracts," she continued, looking at Xavier cynically.
"Geez, such a drama queen for a teacher, complaining about something like this."
"Oh, yeah? Here, try it yourself, give me the flashlight."
Xavier handed the flashlight to the noisy figure without suspicion.
"Look this way."
"Huh?" Just as Xavier turned his head, Hasna immediately shone the brightest setting of the flashlight into her student's face.
"Damn, I'm blinded!!!" Xavier screamed, reflexively closing his eyes and covering his face with his hands.
"CK, drama queen," Hasna snapped, handing the flashlight to Luca in annoyance.
As they walked, suddenly, the forest atmosphere turned dead silent. A cold wind blew hard, and from behind a banyan tree, a white figure with a flat face appeared, crawling along the ground.
The committee member acting as a ghost was ready to scare them, but the Trio Sengklek's reaction was beyond logic.
Raffa stepped forward, staring at the ghost with a predatory gaze.
"You the one haunting this place? Are you disturbing my brother, or are you disturbing my event? If you just want to scare us, you'd better leave, or I'll make you feel what it's like to be an unemployed ghost!"
The ghost stopped crawling. It looked confused, wondering whether to continue acting or ask for Raffa's autograph.
"Dang, Cil, don't be so harsh," Luca actually approached the ghost.
"Hey, Miss Ghost, sorry about that. My little brother is PMSing. Miss, you'd better go back to your post, before you get lectured by Xavier on the efficiency of crawling movements."
"PMS? Your brother is a boy, you idiot, that makes no sense," Hasna muttered quietly while holding back laughter.
Xavier immediately stepped forward with his glasses emitting a mini laser beam.
"Notice. Spectral analysis shows this entity has an artificial heartbeat. Miss, your knees are scraped from crawling on asphalt, I suggest wearing knee pads so you don't get a ligament injury."
The Ghost, who turned out to be a 12th-grade senior, immediately stood up and ran for his life as if he'd seen an actual astral entity.
"I QUIT BEING A GHOST! THIS YEAR'S STUDENTS ARE ALL PSYCHOPATHS!"
Hasna could only slap her forehead. 'This is the ghost I designed to cause trauma, but he's the one traumatized by them.'
"Why did that lady run away?" Luca asked, puzzled.
"Dude, do you realize your brother's aura is like he's about to start a world war?" Xavier replied, staring cynically at Luca.
"I thought it was because of my handsomeness," Luca added narcissistically.
'Why am I the one feeling embarrassed watching that kid? What was I thinking when I created him?' the teacher wondered to herself.
They continued their journey. In the middle of the path, Luca told a story to Raffa.
"Back when I was a ghost-officiant, an inter-dimensional motorcycle taxi driver, and even a shroud-maker, no ghost was as weird as this one. I suffered so much, Cil. Life felt like it was being torn apart by the system."
Hasna, who heard that, felt like she'd been struck by lightning.
'Oh God, that's because I wrote it! I was the one who made Luca become a shroud-maker so he could get money,'
Hasna pretended to cough again, this time her face turning beet red from holding back tears and the weight of her sins.
"Ms. Hasna!" Raffa stared at the chaotic teacher sharply.
"You keep coughing. Do you know something about my brother's past? Why is it that every time my brother tells his suffering, you look like you want to laugh and die at the same time?"
"E-eh... n-no! I was just... remembering that I used to be... a ghost voice actor in a horror movie! Yes! So hearing this story makes me feel nostalgic!" Hasna broke out in a cold sweat.
Xavier stared at Hasna with suspicion.
[Analysis: Heart rate increasing. Body temperature rising. Indications of high-level lying.]
"Notice," Xavier said quietly to Luca and Raffa.
"It seems our guidance counselor is not only clumsy, but also hides the secret of why you two used to live like a scenario in a novel written by a heartless author."
Raffa, feeling threatened, immediately grabbed Hasna's shoulder.
"Ma'am... be honest. How do you know about that 'author'?"
"Huh? T-this is the real world, how could that exist, don't be ridiculous, you guys are humans, not novel characters, get a grip," the young teacher tried to stay calm.
"Well, who knows, maybe we are in a novel, nobody knows. You also moved here right after reading a novel, right? That's basically Transmigration," Luca quipped.
"DAMN, THAT MONKEY TWIN!!!" Hasna screamed, pointing at Xavier, which made Luca and Raffa look over. Then, without saying much, the young woman reflexively released her shoulder from Raffa's grip and ran away.
"I'M GOING TO FIND THE MISSING OFFICE KEY, BYE!!!!"
Raffa, Luca, and Xavier, only just realizing what happened, could only stare blankly as Hasna ran so far away that her shoe fell off again.
"Confirmed," said Luca.
"That teacher is getting more suspicious by the day."
That night, after the incident in the forest that ended with the senior committee member having a mental breakdown, the school atmosphere suddenly turned ominous. The three young men decided to return to the school building because it was getting dark, but just as they took a step, suddenly—
WHOOSH!
A medium-sized rock sped toward Luca's head from the darkness. Without even needing to turn around, Raffa's hand moved like lightning, catching the rock just one centimeter before it slammed into his brother's forehead.
"Who's there?!" Raffa hissed, his killing aura immediately filling the air.
Luca, who wasn't ready, just stared in disbelief at the rock in his brother's hand.
"Dang, that was close. I thought a lizard was flying."
Raffa opened the piece of paper tied to the rock.
His cold face turned even darker as he read the words written on it.
"What is it, Fa?" Luca asked, then immediately took the paper from his brother's hand.
"What the hell is this,"
'Find the student in Locker C before midnight, or he will be permanently erased from the world's memory.'
Xavier, who had been calm all this time, immediately scanned the paper.
"Notice. This is a real threat. If we don't act, this anomaly will delete someone's existence entirely."
"So this is the mission your former boss talked about, Tem? Damn, we just got here and it's already starting," Luca clapped his hands in annoyance.
"So, what do we do?"
"We have to find the student mentioned here."
"Where do you think the location is?" Luca thought hard.
"I saw an old warehouse over there, maybe we can search there," Xavier replied calmly.
"Okay! Let's go check it out!!"
The three of them nodded in agreement, then immediately ran toward the old lab building Xavier mentioned.
Meanwhile, on the other side....
"Damn, I'm tired of running like this, I'm gonna get asthma," with ragged breaths, Hasna, who had just run from certain death, leaned her back against an old tree. She didn't know where she had run to; she had just run aimlessly to avoid her 3 novel characters.
She fanned herself, looking for a breeze.
CLACK!!!
THUD!!
"Argh, that hurts, damn it," Hasna held her arm, which had just been hit by a rock from afar. She didn't know who threw it.
"What is this, a bank check?" her smile immediately widened when she saw the rock wrapped in paper.
"Go to the lab warehouse if you don't want to die today."
".....,"
"If you don't want to, then one student at this school will be permanently erased from everyone's memory, and the consequence you must bear is—"