The scenery that comes into focus looks rather ordinary, an office of some kind filled to the brim with music CDs, vinyls, and speakers. The blonde man with golden eyes sitting at the desk is apparently some kind of audiophile and the person sitting opposite him, Khun, almost looks impressed at his collection. He's a little younger than he is now as a wizard (and shorter), but most of him still looks the same. His hairstyle of the day is a high ponytail tied with a bright blue bow.
The two are discussing business of some kind, though a lot of the words elude you not all of them do: regular, ranker, test, pass, Hoh, Rachel, Baam. They chat over coffee the meeting amicable until they get to the heart of the matter. A plan concocted by Khun to ensure Baam passed the exam.
"I decided to be prepared for Baam's safety, just in case.
I asked my classmate to tell me if Hoh seemed to be a bit odd. Well, I gave him a small bribe. But nothing happened until the day before the exam when he told me that Hoh was acting erratic and talking to herself.
I knew something was wrong, so I broke into Hoh's room. In there I found a memo that urged Hoh to kill Rachel so she was guaranteed to pass the exam. Whoever wrote it knew that without Rachel, Baam would have no reason to climb the Tower and would drop out.
When I confronted Rachel about it, she was insistent that I not let Baam know she was in danger. It was better for her to get hurt she said. So I needed to figure out a way to help both Baam and Rachel in the next test.
But I wasn't on their team."
Khun continues to speak of the details of his scheme: how he appealed to a princesses ego, how he wore down another teammate (by sleeping in his futon with him!) to work with him, and most egregiously, how he tricked one of test proctors by pretending to be slapstick evil so he would save Rachel's life.
"I told him point blank that I sabotaged my own team just to boost my own score, humiliated him, laughed in his face, and then walked away singing of my exploits because he couldn't stop me.
Of course he did exactly what I expected him to do, he saved Rachel.
My plan was really perfect."
Khun says it with one of his trademark smirks, the blonde man staring in apparent disbelief.
"Actually, it was a relief that Hoh had an alterior motive. If my plan succeeded, Hoh would have fallen into the trap I prepared.
I just didn't know—"
The scenery shifts from the office to some kind of battlefield, with two people on a stretcher. One of them is clearly dead, a grievious injury cut through their chest and torso. The medic takes down the deceased's name on a clipboard: Hoh. The second is thankfully alive, though she's unconscious and barely breathing. The medic attending to her writes down her name "Rachel", scribbling a note: "Initial testing appears to indicate that the patient no longer has use of her legs due to the numerous injuries she's sustained. Confirmation will be made in the medbay."
In the midst of the chaotic scene is a young looking boy with short brown hair and amber eyes. There's blood smeared on his face, but he appears more broken in spirit than in body. He can barely hold back the tears in his eyes as he looks at the aftermath of what clearly was something gone terribly wrong.
Khun's voice echoes in your ears as the scene shifts to a rowdy room, cheers of celebration heard in the background at the other team's defeat. Khun is there, head buried between his arms on a counter. The blue of his eyes peeks through, expressionless, blank and empty.
"I just didn't know that I haven't changed at all."
With those words, everything falls away until just the forest of the North remains.
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ACCEPTABLE LOSSES; injury
The two are discussing business of some kind, though a lot of the words elude you not all of them do: regular, ranker, test, pass, Hoh, Rachel, Baam. They chat over coffee the meeting amicable until they get to the heart of the matter. A plan concocted by Khun to ensure Baam passed the exam.
"I decided to be prepared for Baam's safety, just in case.
I asked my classmate to tell me if Hoh seemed to be a bit odd. Well, I gave him a small bribe. But nothing happened until the day before the exam when he told me that Hoh was acting erratic and talking to herself.
I knew something was wrong, so I broke into Hoh's room. In there I found a memo that urged Hoh to kill Rachel so she was guaranteed to pass the exam. Whoever wrote it knew that without Rachel, Baam would have no reason to climb the Tower and would drop out.
When I confronted Rachel about it, she was insistent that I not let Baam know she was in danger. It was better for her to get hurt she said. So I needed to figure out a way to help both Baam and Rachel in the next test.
But I wasn't on their team."
Khun continues to speak of the details of his scheme: how he appealed to a princesses ego, how he wore down another teammate (by sleeping in his futon with him!) to work with him, and most egregiously, how he tricked one of test proctors by pretending to be slapstick evil so he would save Rachel's life.
"I told him point blank that I sabotaged my own team just to boost my own score, humiliated him, laughed in his face, and then walked away singing of my exploits because he couldn't stop me.
Of course he did exactly what I expected him to do, he saved Rachel.
My plan was really perfect."
Khun says it with one of his trademark smirks, the blonde man staring in apparent disbelief.
"Actually, it was a relief that Hoh had an alterior motive. If my plan succeeded, Hoh would have fallen into the trap I prepared.
I just didn't know—"
The scenery shifts from the office to some kind of battlefield, with two people on a stretcher. One of them is clearly dead, a grievious injury cut through their chest and torso. The medic takes down the deceased's name on a clipboard: Hoh. The second is thankfully alive, though she's unconscious and barely breathing. The medic attending to her writes down her name "Rachel", scribbling a note: "Initial testing appears to indicate that the patient no longer has use of her legs due to the numerous injuries she's sustained. Confirmation will be made in the medbay."
In the midst of the chaotic scene is a young looking boy with short brown hair and amber eyes. There's blood smeared on his face, but he appears more broken in spirit than in body. He can barely hold back the tears in his eyes as he looks at the aftermath of what clearly was something gone terribly wrong.
Khun's voice echoes in your ears as the scene shifts to a rowdy room, cheers of celebration heard in the background at the other team's defeat. Khun is there, head buried between his arms on a counter. The blue of his eyes peeks through, expressionless, blank and empty.
"I just didn't know that I haven't changed at all."
With those words, everything falls away until just the forest of the North remains.