Luca, Raffayel, and Xavier are in the lab storage room. In front of them, three iron lockers stand in a row with mysterious inscriptions.
Locker A's door reads: 'The victim is in here.'
Locker B's door reads: 'The victim is not in Locker C.'
Locker C's door reads: 'The victim is not in here.'
Xavier stares at the codes. "Notification. Data analysis indicates there is only ONE TRUE STATEMENT," Xavier says flatly.
Kara is holding his head, feeling dizzy. "Prince, Tem, help me think! If Locker A is true, then the victim is in A. But if A is true, then automatically the sign on Locker C ('The victim is not in here') also becomes true, right? That's two true statements. That's wrong!"
Outside the door, Hasna, who had arrived earlier and had been eavesdropping from behind a practice cabinet in the corner of the lab, feels almost frustrated. She watches her students with high hopes.
'Come on, you bunch of burdens, think properly! If you guess wrong, I could die! This is all because of that anomaly! Threatening me and everything!! Ugh, I want to go home!!' she thinks, annoyed.
Flashback on....
"If you don't want to, then one of the students in this school will be permanently erased from everyone's memory, and the consequence you must bear is—"
"Cannot return to the original world? WTF?!!! Is this person just messing around?!!" Hasna immediately ripped the paper and threw it away randomly.
"Damn it, people these days are not funny with their pranks."
The young woman stared at the paper she had just thrown away.
"But what if it's real? I don't want to be here forever."
"...."
"Whatever!! None of my business anyway!!" Hasna stood up and walked away, but after a few steps, she faintly heard footsteps not far ahead of her.
"What's that? A ghost? If it's a real ghost, I should ask for an autograph."
The weird teacher followed the sound. Once she was close, she saw Raffa, Luca, and Xavier walking toward a warehouse.
"What are those kids doing? Don't tell me they're planning to kill me? Their faces are so serious, should I just leave?"
Just as she stepped back,
THUD!!!
A rock flew and hit her head.
"Damn it, I've got a bump now!!" she said, holding her forehead.
"Who the hell is throwing things?!!" she continued, looking around, but in reality, there was no one nearby, only the sound of crickets dominating.
"No one's here... why do I feel goosebumps..."
"Follow them," a voice sounded faintly.
"Huh?"
"Follow them."
"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do? How much are you paying me?!!"
"Follow them or you will die."
"Huh?"
"Sigh," the figure sighed, holding back emotion.
"Follow them or you won't be able to return to your original world."
"But—"
"One......two...." the voice turned deep.
"Okay, be patient, you bastard!!!" Hasna immediately ran off and followed Xavier, Luca, and Raffa quickly.
Flashback end...
Hasna could only laugh hollowly remembering the incident. She continued watching her three students.
Raffa stared at the lockers sharply.
"If Locker C is a lie, it means the victim IS in Locker C. But if the victim is in C, then the sign on Locker B ('The victim is not in Locker C') also becomes a lie. So, A is a lie, B is a lie, C is a lie? No way!"
Hasna, who could no longer stand watching them spin around in the same logic, finally coughed on purpose while talking to herself loudly.
"Duh, if Locker B is true, then signs A and C must be lies! If sign A is a lie, the victim isn't in A. If sign C is a lie, the victim is in C. But if the victim is in C, sign B becomes a lie because it says the victim is not in C! Whoever made this riddle is so stupid!"
Kara, Prince, and Xavier immediately turned in unison toward the cabinet where Hasna was hiding.
"Ms. Hasna?" Luca called out suspiciously.
"Why are you here, Ma'am?" Xavier asked, equally confused.
"Who are you talking to, Ma'am?!" Raffa asked.
Hasna gasped. She realized she'd slipped up. Without thinking twice, the weird teacher immediately ran away, only wearing one shoe because, in her panic, her other shoe got stuck under the cabinet.
"NO! I'M PRACTICING FOR A PLAY! CONTINUE THE RIDDLE, I'M LEAVING!" Hasna shouted while running like someone possessed.
Prince stared at the direction of Hasna's run with squinted eyes.
"Wait... she said that if the victim is in C, sign B becomes a lie... which means if we want only one to be true..."
Xavier pointed to Locker B.
"If Locker A's sign is a lie, the victim is not in A. If Locker C's sign is a lie, the victim is in C. But if Locker B's sign is true, then the victim is not in C. So, the only place left is... LOCKER B!"
"Right!" exclaimed Prince.
"If the victim is in Locker B, then sign A ('Victim in A') is a lie. Sign B ('Victim not in C') is true. Sign C ('Victim not in here') is a lie! ONE TRUE, TWO LIES!"
BANG!
Locker B's door opened wide. The student with glasses was found unconscious, his body starting to become transparent.
CRASH!!!!
The glass on the door shattered because a rock hit it.
"Look!" commanded Luca, followed by Raffa nodding; he took the rock covered in paper.
"What does it say, Fa?"
"It says....."
"Side Mission Complete! Erasure of existence canceled!" read Xavier loud enough.
Luca sighed in relief, the young man leaning his body against the table.
"Phew... safe. Our class fund won't be reduced after all."
Raffa pulled Luca's hand to walk away.
"Mission over. Let's go home. I don't want you staying too late in this cursed place."
As the two young men were about to walk out, Xavier suddenly stopped at the lab door. He turned toward the cabinet where Hasna had been hiding earlier.
'So the riddle that threatened this student's life... wasn't created by the System? Could it be... the careless counselor who designed this game?'
Xavier stared at Kara's back walking in front, while outside the school gate, a luxurious black sedan was parked silently under a tree, watching them all.
After successfully saving the bespectacled student—who later turned out to be named Hiro—they carried him to the infirmary (UKS).
"Damn, this kid is heavy! Even though his body is like a stick," grumbled Luca, panting.
"Bro, stop complaining. You're only holding his feet, I'm the one carrying the weight on my back," replied Raffa, slightly annoyed seeing Luca and Hiro clinging together.
Arriving at the UKS, the crazy teacher who had run with one shoe was lying on a cot. Actually, she had arrived there first because she went through the window; she already knew the school's shortcuts by heart. It wasn't in vain walking around all day to avoid those three people. As soon as she heard voices, she immediately got up and pretended to tidy up the UKS sheet with a face acting all busy when the three of them entered.
"Eh? You guys? Why are you bringing an unconscious student here?" asked Hasna with her best acting.
"Ma'am, Hiro fainted in Locker B. Don't pretend you don't know, you were there earlier," Xavier interjected sharply.
Hasna coughed a little, pretending to check Hiro's blood pressure with a blood pressure monitor.
"Who? Me? I don't know! I was just doing sports, running, so I didn't see anything!"
Hiro, feeling the noise, slowly opened his eyes. His body tensed up instantly, his eyes moving wildly around the room with labored breaths.
"M-my friend... where is he?" his voice trembled badly.
"Calm down, kid. You're safe in the UKS," said Luca, trying to calm him.
The young man who had just woken up from fainting gripped the bed sheet, tears beginning to flow.
"I... I don't know what happened. I was just looking for my other friend in the lab hallway. Suddenly... suddenly someone—I didn't see his face—hit the back of my neck. Then... then everything went black."
Hasna was stunned. 'Kidnapped from behind? That means there's another perpetrator besides the system?'
'Why am I suspicious that he's just acting?' she thought with horror.
Hiro looked at Hasna with a sincere, pitiful gaze.
"Ma'am... you were the one fussing about that riddle in front of the door, right? Your voice... I heard it. Thank you, Ma'am, for helping me. I thought I would be gone forever."
The crazy teacher felt guilty as hell after hearing her student's words.
'Oh my God, this kid is truly scared, not acting!'
"It's okay, it's okay, Hiro. You don't need to be afraid anymore. I'm here... eh, I mean, these guys are here to guard you," Hasna tried to comfort him with an awkward counselor style.
"Notification," Xavier interrupted while scanning Arka.
"The subject's heart rate is still high. He is experiencing moderate-level psychological trauma."
Raffa stared at Hasna sharply. "Ma'am, you have to be honest. You know something, don't you? Why are you always in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
"Geez, you guys! I'm a counselor! My job is to walk around the school! These things happen, of course I'd be near there!" Hasna made another excuse, this time with a pitiful face.
Hiro, still confused, could only bow his head. "I just want to go home... is this school really this dangerous?"
Luca, who had been listening silently, put his arm around Hiro's shoulder casually. "Relax, Bro. From now on, you're joining us. We'll find your missing friend. I guarantee, no one will be able to touch you again."
Hiro nodded slowly, looking slightly relieved even though his gaze was still empty. "Thank you... I will come with you."
Seeing the free show in front of her eyes, Hasna could only sigh, feeling the burden on her shoulders increase by one student. 'Oh God, how am I supposed to write them so they survive, if they keep adding more problems every day like this?'
MPLS night was closed with an announcement that activities would continue tomorrow morning. Students started to scatter toward the school gate.
Luca walked languidly, his body aching from the "mental breakdown ghost" scene and the tragedy that almost involved a student.
Beside him, Hiro walked with his head down, still looking weak.
"Brother Luca..." Hiro's voice sounded soft.
"My house... I'm afraid to go home alone. It feels like someone has been watching me since the locker incident earlier."
Luca stopped immediately, his heart having a soft spot for his old friend from his first life.
"Oh my, sorry, Ro. I should have taken you. Do you want to come with me?"
Just as Luca was about to put his arm around Hiro...
SMACK!
A muscular hand brushed Luca's hand off Hiro's shoulder roughly.
"No," Raffa cut in coldly. He stood right between Luca and Hiro, and stared at the kid with a gaze that could freeze water.
"You have a private driver, right? Look, the car is already waiting in front. Brother Luca is going home with me."
"But, Cil... he's traumatized," Luca protested.
"Trauma can be cured with medicine, not by sticking to my Brother," replied Raffa possessively, his eyes locking onto Hiro's gaze. "Don't be spoiled. We have boundaries."
Hearing Raffa's words, Hiro only smiled faintly.
"Oh, okay, that's fine, but next time is it allowed?"
"NO!!" replied Raffayel sharply, but again and again, it was only met with a smile by the kid.
"See you tomorrow, Brother Luca," said Hiro while waving slowly before entering his black sedan.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," replied Luca with a full smile and waving back slowly.
"Damn, I feel like I've known him for a long time," he continued when Hiro's car had moved away.
"Excuses, just say you want to find a new younger brother," replied Raffa sharply, pulling Luca's collar and dragging him toward Raffayel's Alphard car.
Hasna, who was standing behind them—still with a messy appearance and one missing shoe—without shame immediately joined the conversation of the two brothers.
"Geez, what are you guys fussing about? Hiro is a good kid. He was so polite in the UKS earlier, even asking about my condition. Already, go home! I want to go back to the BK room to... uh... look for my key that slipped into the photocopier machine!"
Raffa snorted, then stared at Hasna from top to bottom with a judging gaze.
"Are you a counselor or a magician? How can you lose your keys every single day?"
"That's called a life trial, Raffa! Just go, shoo!" Hasna waved her hands, shooing them both away.
After Raffa's Alphard sped away, Hasna stood alone in the dark parking lot. She just realized her wallet was completely empty—not even enough to buy a snack (cilok).
"Crap," muttered Hasna, looking around.
"Online motorcycle taxis don't accept payment with prayers. Walk home? My legs might actually fall off."
In the middle of her confusion, suddenly, a sportbike stopped right beside the counselor. Xavier, with a full-face helmet that made the young man look even colder and more mysterious, stared at Hasna from behind the helmet visor, but in the eyes of the teacher, Xavier looked more like a lost monkey.
"Notification. Gesture analysis indicates you do not have funds for transportation home," said Xavier flatly.
Hasna gawked. "Eh, Xavier? Why haven't you left yet?" she was a bit surprised, thinking the figure in front of her was a psychiatric patient who escaped.
"I was performing a system calibration around the school gate. This morning I forgot to bring my motorcycle, but fortunately, the security guard told me that my father's men sent a motorcycle for—"
"Looks very novel-like."
"What do you mean?"
"The things you just mentioned are like those in novels."
Xavier stared at the young teacher flatly.
"Well, that's it, you look like you're having trouble. Do you need a ride?"
Hasna immediately put on the most pitiful face in the world.
"Xavier! You really are an angel! Can you please take me home? I'm truly broke, my office key is missing, and I don't have money to order an ojek."
Xavier paused for a moment, as if calculating the efficiency of his motorcycle's fuel.
"Notification. Based on calculations, giving you a ride will not consume much gasoline. However, I do not like being ridden at low speed. Please hold on tight."
Without much talk, Hasna immediately got on the bike with an awkward style—limping with one shoe but still confident.
"Ready, Mr. Robot! Step on it!" she shouted with a beaming smile, finally able to get home without spending a penny and without sore legs.
On the bike, Xavier accelerated at high speed, cutting through the night streets. While the passenger behind refused to hold onto anything.
"Don't speed, you jerk!!! If I fall later, you have to pay for my hospital bills!!!"
"You should have held on!!"
"No!! Won't do it!!"
"Fine, if you fall, it's not my fault!!" shouted Xavier from behind his helmet, his voice muffled by the wind.
"Whatever!! I'll just hold onto the back seat!!" replied Hasna just as loudly.
Meanwhile, on the other side, inside his sedan speeding far away, Hiro stared out the car window, revealing an enchanting night view.
The young man smiled slightly.
"Turns out he is happy in this world."
Hiro adjusted his glasses casually, then looked back at his phone screen, reading an incoming message from Luca (if you're curious when they exchanged phone numbers, they did it when they were about to exit the UKS).
Back to the topic, Hiro looked back at the phone screen containing a message from Luca: 'Hiro, thanks for being good earlier. Tomorrow if you want to go together, just let me know!'
Hiro typed a reply with his thumb very slowly and with a full smile.
'Ready, Brother Luca! See you tomorrow!'
He replied briefly and then opened the gallery on his phone.
"Finally, I can catch up to you, I hope you like my gift... shorty....."