“Are you kidding me right now?” the tomboyish girl with thin eyebrows shot at Zack. “Tell me, why the hell would I trust you? Just look at yourself– it looks like you haven’t taken a shower in days, and you’re dressed like someone from off the streets.”

Zack’s eye twitched with irritation. It was true that he hadn’t taken a shower since his scuffle with the scorpion, but that was because he’d been running for his life. And it was also true that he looked terrible in his old ragged clothes. But he wasn’t like her, with all her fancy facial products and whatnot. He could barely afford to put food in his stomach, much less spurge on unnecessary stuff like that.

“I can’t afford any of that wasteful stuff that you can, okay?” Zack barked back, more than a little irritated. “I can barely buy meals to feed myself. You know the last time I used a vending machine was more than ten years ago?”

“So, why should I trust you then? You think you know how to handle this situation and keep us safe when you can’t even make yourself presentable?” Patricia retorted, her arms crossed.

Zack shook his head. “You can believe what you want. I have other plans for this examination, so I’m going to leave this room after I use the vending machine.”

“Fine,” Patricia replied with her usual tomboyish voice. “And I’ll be heading straight towards the gymnasium. Let’s see if you can get there by yourself.”

Zack shrugged, but then an idea came to him. Since those sponsors could listen in on their conversations, he decided to use that to his advantage. With the invigorating thought of finding another exploit solution to this dreadful examination, he decided to try his luck. “I’ll give you a hint. There’s a reason why the examination gave us five hours to reach the gymnasium, when it only takes about an hour to get there. If I had to take a guess, I don’t think we’re supposed to directly go there.”

He paused, wondering if it worked. Less than three seconds later, his theory was confirmed.

[A sponsor is impressed by your keen insight.]

[A sponsor is awed by your perceptiveness.]

Zack smiled. Originally he wasn’t sure if his hunch was correct, but because he unlocked constellation communications so early on, the sponsors’ reactions to his words were more than enough to confirm his feelings. This felt like a huge exploit.

“Oh, and she doesn’t like water. Other than that, you’re on your own.” Zack decided to be a bit more generous, not wanting her to die because he didn’t tell her something as simple as that.

“The monster doesn’t like water?” Patricia mumbled in reply with a confused look on her face.

But Zack had already moved on from the conversation. Whether she believed him or not wasn’t his problem. Eventually she’d come around, and offer up all her vending machine tokens to him as payment for his companionship. If she didn’t want to take his bus to the end zone in this incredibly difficult life-or-death campus scenario, that was her loss.

For now, he focused on the vending machine in front of him. To say that the options available were strange was a gross understatement. In this particular vending machine, there were four options.

[White Lotus Spiritual Pill] – A pill made from the leaves of a white lotus flower. Strengthens the soul. 50 tokens.

[Pink Lotus Spiritual Pill] – A pill made from the leaves of a pink lotus flower. Strengthens the spirit. 50 tokens.

[Yellow Lotus Spiritual Pill] – A pill made from the leaves of a yellow lotus flower. Strengthens the mind. 50 tokens.

[Blue Lotus Spiritual Pill] – A pill made from the leaves of a blue lotus flower. Strengthens the body. 50 tokens.

“Strengthens the body,” Zack muttered. “Sounds good. I’ll work towards taking this blue one.”

He resolved to collect enough tokens to purchase the blue lotus spiritual pill, as it would be best to increase his physical might for trials to come. Right as he made that resolution, an angered flash of visions appeared before him.

[You have engaged the regretful memories of a dying man.]

[The memories of a dying man urge you not to purchase the blue lotus spiritual pill.]

I chose the blue lotus spiritual pills during my time in the examination. If I’d known at the time, I would have chosen the purple lotus spiritual pill. For anyone that sees this after my time has come, do not repeat my mistakes. I have spent an eternity regretting my decisions. The vending machine that contains the purple lotus spiritual pill is on the rooftop. You MUST collect a large portion of the tokens on the first and second floors to be able to purchase the purple lotus spiritual pill. Do not make my mistake and waste your tokens. If only I was stronger…

[While you are in this world, your ability to access these memories is increased.]

[You will not be able to access these memories in your home world.]

He came back to his senses with his arms on his knees, panting as if he’d just run a marathon.

“Are you okay?” Patricia asked, leaning to the side to take a look at him.

Zack collected himself, taking in deep breaths as he processed what he’d just experienced. Whatever the hell these memories were, their frequency and aggressiveness felt like they were increasing each time. He could feel it this time, the raw emotions of the dying man cutting through his soul, just like how the thought of Shanna being captured felt like a dagger thrust into his heart. Whoever this man was, he had gone through unfathomable heartache and anguish. Zack could feel his regret about not having enough strength to prevent whatever catastrophes occurred to him in his lifetime.

“I’m alright,” he spat out, still feeling fatigued from the intensity of the memories shoved into his head. He would listen to them this time, without a question. Whoever this dead person was, Zack could feel a resonance with them from the depths of his soul. They were one and the same. And from the bottom of his heart, he could feel just how desperately the man in the memories wanted another chance to do things over again, to do things the right way this time around. His bottomless regret was like an unending cascade.

Zack took a deep breath and spoke. “I need to find more tokens, and then go to the roof.”

“Hm?” Patricia’s thin eyebrows flashed. “You’re going up to the roof for a joy ride or something? Why the roof?”

“Because there’s something there that I need,” he replied, rising up once more and towering above her. The combination of his imposing stature and the intensity of the determination in his eyes caused Patricia to shrink before him.

There was a different aura around him now. It was no longer the panicked and nervous Zack who was struggling to survive, but the one of someone with a singular determination, an obsessive one some might say, that he wore several months into using the dead man’s account. He had a clear goal now, one that was granted to him by the memories of the dying man and an option that he could already feel from his resonance with the man’s memories would grant him boundless power. Now, all he needed to do was execute. And if there was one thing that Zack prided himself in doing better than anyone else in the world, it was execution of impossible plans.

“Where did you find those tokens?” he asked her.

“They’re just lying around all over the place,” Patricia replied. “I found one by the window sill, and another on the floor under the desk. Then there were two in the closet.”

“I see.” The coins were scattered around the school like a scavenger hunt or an easter egg hunt. That was all he needed to know.

Zack peeked through the blinder to check if the demon was still in that visible hallway, but it was not there. He headed towards the door leading out of the faculty break room and carefully placed his ear against the crease of the door, listening, as Patricia scampered next to him and did the same.

Vague screams could be heard from somewhere in the distance as the Hamagku claimed another set of victims.

“She’s not here,” Zack said quietly, and then twisted the doorknob, pushing it until he and Patricia stepped outside.

Immediately upon stepping outside, they found themselves face to face in the hallway with two other nervous examinees who appeared to have had the same idea as them of sneaking by while the Hamagku was busy, a woman in a florist’s uniform with her arm wrapped around a boy around the age of fifteen with thick rim glasses. Zack didn’t recognize them, so they were probably markless examinees. Judging by their body language, they were probably family members, and were very scared.

Lifting two fingers, he summoned his golden origami square to signal to them that he knew what he was doing, then motioned for them to follow him, right as another gurgled scream came from somewhere down the hall. He wasn’t going to let innocent people die for no reason, and so he was fine with taking them with him. They could probably help with finding tokens as well, he mused.

The two examinees nodded with understanding, following him as he led them down the hall, scanning each sign. Upon seeing the sign for the staircase, he motioned them over.

“This way,” he whispered. “We’re going to go upstairs.”

Patricia looked like she was going to protest, but even she knew better than to talk loudly when a killer monster roamed the hallways.

The four of them went to the staircase, but as they turned the corner they were shocked by the sight of a body slumped over on the corner of the staircase, blood dripping down from his temple.

Patricia and the other two examinees recoiled in fear at the dead body, but Zack looked it over with an expert eye.

“It wasn’t the demon,” Zack whispered, pointing at the welt on the man’s head. “Someone did this. Another examinee killed him.”