[You have arrived at the examination area.]

After disappearing mid-phone call from the Jade Dragon, Zack reappeared in front of a university’s gate in some kind of other world. There was no sun, only an overbearing gray overcast that appeared to extend in all directions until the ends of the skyline. The air felt foggy and humid, and oddly chilly.

A handwritten sign was tacked to the front of the entrance.

Welcome to Gakuen High. Examinees, please proceed to lecture hall A-3 on the first floor.

But right now, Zack couldn’t care less about this examination stuff. “Shanna…” he whispered, fearing the worst. His little sister wasn’t able to hear his warning when he called because that damn landline at the Jade Dragon had poor signal.

Zack breathed in deeply, calming his anger and frustration. If this was anything like the last time around, all he needed to do was clear the examination, and then he’d be able to go back home to face off against those bastard loan sharks and protect his sister. And in the meantime while he cleared it, he’d look for anything valuable to bring back like that gold ore.

With the goal of clearing the mission on his mind, he jammed his hands in his pockets and walked through the university’s gate.

Zack looked around at the abandoned gray-tone university campus. Now that he thought about it, this place looked nothing like anything on the Royal Road. It looked far too modern. Just what the hell was going on here?

Although the campus was surrounded by a secure metal railing fence, a section of the fence was mangled, as if torn apart by an animal with unimaginable strength.

Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he bent down and picked up a bent piece of metal from the ground, fallen from a broken fence. He had a bad feeling about this place.

Anyone else would be panicking at this moment, but something within Zack was giving him a sense of calm. He felt like he belonged here for some odd reason, and this deathful campus was giving him a funny sense of deja vu.

Zack walked forward and placed a hand on the handle of the door leading into the university hall. At that moment, a surge of electricity shot through his body and ignited his senses.

[Memoirs of Zero have been activated.]

All of a sudden, a torrent of disjointed memories and visions flashed before his eyes.

—----

Memories of a School Yard.

He shook his head, one hand on the handle back into the university hall. It had been ages since he last set foot here.

If only he’d known about that ritual when he was going through the examinations. It was so simple, and the instructions so clearly written in the Book of Rituals in the school library. But the library was overlooked, as everyone was busy surviving at that time. Nobody had the time or foresight to read.

So many lives could have been saved had he just found that book. He shook his head. There was no point reminiscing. What was done was done. It wasn’t as if he could turn back time, was it?

Pain, heartache, anguish… a sense of victory, only for it to be taken away at the last moment.

Zack gasped, as if his head was lifted out from a bowl of water. Just as quickly as they came, the deluge of feelings subsided, leaving him alone again in the courtyard.

“What was that?” he said breathlessly, unable to shake off a tight feeling in his chest, as if the weight of the world was pressing on him. Those memories were so real, and the feeling of regret so palpable. Zack saw that his hands were trembling.

The memories faded like a passing dream, but one phase lingered. The Book of Rituals in the school library… he wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but he could sense that it was of grave importance.

His eyes lingered on the destroyed fence, wondering what kind of creature could’ve caused the damage, when a shout startled him.

“Boy, what are you doing here?” shouted a weaselly voice from behind him.

He looked back to see someone speaking to him. An older examinee, someone that he instantly recognized but was not particularly happy to see.

The short man in his forties had the body shape of an egg and a receded hairline that was immaculately combed to the side. He wore a dark navy collared shirt with two yellow stripes down the sides– the yellow and dark navy color scheme a part of that easily recognizable uniform for Infinity-Up convenience store, where Zack used to work as a part-timer.

It was his old boss, and the white name tag placed on his shirt displayed his name prominently– General Manager Kim.

He was an angry man who constantly reminded Zack of his laziness and his posture. In reality, Zack was a hard worker who had trouble standing upright at his part-time job due to the physical strain from his drilling job, but the manager always viewed it as just excuses to slack off during work.

“Manager Kim,” Zack addressed him in a voice strained with annoyance. He just remembered that manager Kim never paid him for the weeks leading up to his firing. “You still owe me two weeks' pay.”

Because of manager Kim’s late payment, Zack had to suffer tremendously. He didn’t eat for an entire week to save money, wasting away when it was crucial for him to eat healthily to recover from his injury.

“And you owe me some diligent work,” manager Kim replied. “Do you know how hard it was for me to find a replacement for you after your little incident?”

“You think I got injured on purpose?”

“Of course, why else? You’ve always been a lazy, ungrateful bum,” manager Kim spat with disdain.

Zack’s hand formed a fist, preparing to take all his frustrations out and beat his former manager into a pulp, when his body suddenly froze as if it were chained down.

[You may not attack other examinees until the examination has begun. Please proceed to lecture hall 3-A for further instructions.]

It was only when he loosened his fist that he was able to move freely again.

“What are you waiting for? Open the door,” manager Kim goaded him, using that same tone of voice he used while chastising him as an employee. “We’re all here to take this examination nonsense, aren’t we? I don’t know what the hell is going on here but I’ll be damned if you make me die here with your incompetence yet again.”

“You better pay me after this is all over,” Zack mumbled under his breath, yanking the door open with more force than necessary.

He wordlessly entered the school building with the manager trailing behind him.

“You ungrateful boy. Nobody else would’ve given a slummer a job like I did, and you act this disrespectfully to me? Did your parents never teach you to respect your elders?” manager Kim rambled on as they walked.

Zack adjusted his worn out long sleeve shirt, trying to contain his anger. “My parents are dead. And you’re awfully composed for someone who just got teleported into the middle of nowhere. How did you even manage to survive the preliminary examination?”

Manager Kim chuckled, a conceited look upon his face. “Anyone could’ve passed it, boy. All I had to do was hide underneath the cashier counter for twenty minutes, and that thing passed.”

Zack frowned. Why was there such a difference between his preliminary examination and manager Kim’s? His examination was far more difficult, and it was situated on the fire pit islands, while the manager Kim’s apparently took place right in his convenience store.

He blinked. If he recalled, wasn’t there some kind of special message on his preliminary examination, something about it being specially tailored for Zero?

He held those questions though, as they had just arrived in front of lecture hall A-3.

Sliding the door open, Zack walked into a large lecture hall, which was designed in the shape of a hand fan, with seats for students fanning up the auditorium staircase in a cascading fashion.

[You have entered lecture hall 3-A.]

[Please take a seat.]

The prompt appearing before his face in that gray text box looked more like a threat than anything else. Other examinees were already seated, although there were many empty seats, possibly from examinees who perished in the preliminary examination.

Zack felt the stares of these strangers looking down at him as he ascended the stairs. Some people averted their eyes, while others glared at him as if he was competition. Other looks were of simple curiosity, or disdain at his disheveled appearance.

The examinees were a diverse group. Most were young adults, although there were virtually no children. As Zack walked by the other examinees, he felt a sudden sensation.

A guy he just walked by gave him goosebumps. It was strange. He’d never seen this person before, and yet the very fabric of his soul seemed to be warning him of danger.

It was a teal haired male in his mid twenties with narrow eyes, his feet perched up on his desk as if he owned the place, wearing an arrogant sneer on his face.

“Hey you. Homeless boy,” the teal haired man called out in a taunting voice, right as he was about to pass him. “The name’s Wallace. Now tell me, what’s your mark?

Without waiting for a reply, Wallace held up two fingers. An origami square with a velvety silver sheen appeared from thin air in between his index and middle finger, and he dangled the silver mark in front of him confidently.

“I’m a silver mark. You seem competent. A silver mark as well, perhaps?” he said with a toothy grin. “Or perhaps a gold mark?”

“Don’t tell him!” someone blurted out from the row right behind. “He’s targeting anyone with a gold mark!”