“Ugghh… Why are there so many students?”

Riel knew the answer to his question very well. It was a weekday. Obviously, everyone would be at school. Students, teachers, cafeteria staff as well as technicians. Even if half of the student body would be going home, the rest would still be doing their club activities. He just couldn’t help but complain as his anxiety gave him an attack that he couldn’t hold back. He hurriedly walked towards the literature club’s room in order to make himself feel safe as he had already established that space as a “safe zone”.

“Sigh. I’m glad I arrived a little late. The previous class had already departed.”

It meant that the room was solely for their club’s use.

One by one, his students began to appear, and after a few more minutes, everyone was present. Usually, there would be a roll call, but since Riel only had six students, he figured it would just be a waste of time.

“I wonder what he’s going to teach us…”

Arjay whispered to himself as his heart was set ablaze with anticipation. Riel didn’t talk and just went ahead and wrote on the board.

“NAMES”

Was what he wrote. Yes, in all caps. Everybody's eyes were fixated on what was written on the board. Each person had their questions in mind, but no one wanted to voice it to their teacher because it would be rude as the teacher hadn’t even begun explaining yet.

“Anybody here has any idea of what this implies?”

Riel asked his class, but nobody had any answers to give. Silence filled their clubroom which was fitting for a club that was supposed to specialize in writing.

“How important are names to you guys? I’m not asking for the correct answer here. I’m asking for your opinions. Be honest.”

“Names are there so that calling to each other can be convenient.”

Said Elrick.

Nobody else wanted to answer. Not even the twins. Well, Luna would be a given, but Runa as well?

[Runa doesn’t really write prior to my tutoring… I guess I can understand.]

But Riel was misunderstanding both Runa and Luna’s intention. As the chosen few who had been gifted with fantastical names, they can appreciate the creativity in naming and definitely had answers deep within their hearts, but they wanted Riel to feel confident about himself. Free yourself. Express yourself. Release yourself. These are the things that ran from the brain circuitry of the twins.

“Listen well because I don’t like repeating myself. I’m lazy, after all.”

Riel prepared himself so that he may not mess up his explanation.

“In writing a novel or any fictional work, the names that you use is the first thing that your readers will ingrain in their minds. Unlike comic books and movies, we don’t get luxurious illustrations in novels and similar mediums. At best, just a few pages of illustration. At worst, none at all. That’s why names are important in establishing your characters in a story. I would also like everyone to give attention to their titling sense. Because titles are just as important as names. After all, a story’s title is basically its name. A super-ultra long title may be unique, but fans will end up shortening it anyway because it would be too difficult to memorize or even recommend to another. Short titles are okay, but make it too short and you might notice your story being the 100th with the same title in the whole wide universe.”

He paused for a moment to go get chalk that he could use to write on the board. He wrote many names. Some of which are unique while most are generic, overused names.

“Among these names, which ones would you be able to remember quickly?”

Leila answered,

“Names like John, Michael, Kyle, Linda, and Maria.”

Riel then asked a different question.

“But which one would make it easy for you to remember a SPECIFIC character?”

He pointed at the Arjay whose eyes were glimmering at the sight of the names on the blackboard.

“Zerocrane, Chronossus, Ulterion, Ruthria, Cruxis”

Riel then went to explain.

“The advantage of generic names is that they are easy to remember. You hear them everywhere. It’s not surprising if they get etched in the depths of your memory, but it gets tricky if you know a people or two with the same name or a character with the same name in multiple stories. Because you know multiple Johns and Marias, the image in your head gets mixed and you end up remembering the wrong person or the wrong character. It also becomes confusing in certain situations, like if you are talking about a certain character in a story with a friend who knows that exact story and you have a classmate with the same name as that character who’s nearby, it gets confusing and sometimes, even disastrous.”

He stopped for a brief moment to allow the brains of the students to load. He then continued to explain the side of the unique names.

“On the other hand, we have the unique-sounding names. They are striking. There is a very good chance that you’ll easily remember a SPECIFIC character with a unique name because it’s either no one else has the same name, or very few use the name. Unique names are a good way to establish your primary characters as quickly as possible. There’s no way anyone would forget a main character with a unique, fantastical name. Although people tend to forget unique names rather quickly because either they don’t hear it too often, or the name just sounds disastrously unique as if you’re trying to pronounce or read something in a runic language. Anyways, people will always remember the image of a character with a unique name, but the names are rather easy to forget especially if your character is too one-dimensional or just plain boring. That’s why it’s recommended to use unique names only for your main cast of characters and it’s also definitely good not to go too overboard. Limiting the use of unique names means the readers have little to memorize and get used to.”

Silence filled the room once more. It seemed like everyone had been taking notes of what Riel had been saying, and that was a really great thing for Riel. After a few moments, he began to ask.

“Do you guys have any questions?”

None so far. Even back in Riel’s time, it was always difficult to ask a teacher about something he didn’t understand. He was always afraid of the word “Dumb” and “Stupid” being attached to him. That was why it didn’t matter what, he would never dare ask a question regardless. He didn’t know if his students were feeling the same, but they all looked sociable and gutsy enough except Arjay who Riel honestly thought of as a low-key introvert.

The moment Riel saw his students be about done with taking notes, he began to give them a task.

“So, let me give you guys an exercise.”

Riel paused for a moment to gauge the reaction of his students. Everybody seemed like they were in the mood for whatever Riel would throw at them. His sorry club probably missed having an adviser after their old adviser parted ways with them.

[Must have been tough keeping a club alive without an adviser.]

It was technically illegal by school rules to try and keep a club going without an adviser, but the literature club somehow got permission. Perhaps it was because they were one of the quietest club as well as the most budget-friendly.

“Sir Riel, what about the task? Don’t leave us hanging like this!”

It was the zealous Arjay who spoke. It seemed like Riel’s mind decided to float somewhere that he forgot his duty for a moment.

“Ah, right. Your task is to think up names. It doesn’t matter what. Just write whatever name you can think of. Regardless of whether they are common or not, just write them down. Of course, I’d like it if you’d try to write some unique names, but be careful not to overdo it. Always find a balance between common and unique names. Don’t go too unique or it might backfire on you.”

[As for me, I guess I’ll take a nap.]

That was the decision that Riel had made, but

“Sir, this is not your bedroom.”

Leila didn’t want to see her new adviser being a little too carefree. After all, it’s possible that the attitude and the personality of their adviser would reflect on their club as a whole.

“Hmm? If the bedroom is the only place where you can get sleep, then you should try seeing a doctor because you might have insomnia.”

“Pfftt… Sir Riel got you.”

“I don’t need to hear that from you, delinquent.”

Before it got worse, Anna joined in.

“Come on, you two. Sir probably just wants to rest because he’s tired. Also, Elrick. You don’t have to make fun of Leila.”

“Hmph!”

Elrick and Leila shrugged each other before heeding Anna’s words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~An hour later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Unaaaahhh!!”

Riel Stretched his muscles and joints shamelessly as if he were at home. He had a satisfactory nap which refreshed and reloaded his mental gears. Leila would definitely want a word with Riel, but at the time, she was too focused on the task that she hadn’t noticed.

“That’s probably enough. Let me see what you’ve worked on.”

Among the class, Arjay and Luna were the ones competing at the top. Not only did they take their task seriously. They were also talented and were definitely creative. Leila and Anna came in second, while Elrick was who Riel would consider to be about average. Runa on the other hand,

“Hey, Runa. What’s the meaning of this?”

Riel’s brow twitched in annoyance. He couldn’t tell if Runa was being serious with what she had done, or if she was trying to mock him. One thing was for sure. At school, Riel is a teacher to Runa. It’s a huge disrespect to mock her teacher. Especially on a task that he specifically told her to do.

“Hmm? What could you mean?”

Asked Runa.

“Do you really want me to read this aloud?”

“Yes, please!”

A vein could be seen bulging from Riel’s temple,

“Eriel, Ariel, Uriel, Iriel, Triel, Umbriel, Remiel, Ecriel, Muriel…”

“...”

“...”

The room was filled with silence for the third time. What broke that silence was Runa who giggled as she asked

“Is there anything wrong with those names?”

“Of course! EVERYTHING is wrong. I do not know if you’re mocking me or what, but all these names sound too alike to me I CAN’T EVEN!”

Riel’s reaction was bordering the exaggerated side, but to the witnesses, it was a totally understandable reaction. What everyone didn’t expect was Runa’s reply which would shake the whole room regardless of whether it was a joke or not.

“Well… What can I do? All I could think of was the name of my beloved. If I can’t think of anything else, wouldn’t it be logical to just think of names based on my beloved’s name?”

Riel could only let out a “Wah!” while the rest of the class was like,

“You look at Sir Riel in that manner?! How shameless! How illegal!” <<<< Leila

“Kyaahh! Tell me more, Runa! Do you love Sir Riel?! Is this a confession?!” <<<< Anna

“Y-you’re the man… Sir Riel.” <<<< Elrick

“Love relationships within the school is forbidden… But I approve!” <<<< Arjay with a thumbs up

“...!” <<<< Luna wore cheeks that were blushing from embarrassment. She had eyes widened at their best and a mouth opened agape as she stared at her sister in confusion and shock.

*Bang bang bang!*

Was the sound of the teacher’s desk being moderately slapped by Riel in order to gather the attention of his students.

“Yo, Runa…”

“It’s alright. I’m willing to wait for your answer.”

Riel couldn’t put up with her anymore and decided to abandon all morality and professionalism. He pointed at Runa using his right pointer finger with all his might as he said these words.

“You max leveled savage who doesn’t understand what you’re making me go through..! Don’t forget that you still owe me one!”

Runa reacted normally as if she had already expected Riel’s reaction.

“I don’t remember having any debt to you, but if it will make you feel better, I coul-”

Riel had a feeling that what Runa was about to say would border the acceptable. He decided to interrupt her before it’s too late.

“You were the one who spied on my computer back in CHAPTER 4! That’s why you figured out I was a writer and therefore was able to convince the director that my sh*t is good! I mean, my sh*t is good, yeah. But a debt is a debt! Learn how to respect people’s privacy you barbarian!”

“Who’s fault was it that his PC was vulnerable? How difficult is it to put up a password? Also, what did you mean by chapter 4?”

“It’s because I never expected anybody to be in my ROOM after I’ve just taken a bath! Also, Chapter 4 was a slip of the tongue...”

And then the club members began to pick up weird clues that would spark their creativity. The kind of creativity that Riel definitely didn’t want them to have.

“Sir Riel… I thought you liked HUGE tits?! How dare you betray me!” <<

Runa was not aware that Elrick was low-key being savage to her. Luna, on the other hand, decided that it would be better to shut down her cognitive function in order to protect both her purity and sanity.

“Runa on Sir Riel’s room while he takes a bath…” <<<< Anna

“So in the end, Sir Riel is just another shameless animal who cannot keep his carnal desires in check.” <<<< Leila

“It’s against the law, but I APPROVE!” <<<< Arjay with two thumbs up

“GRRAAAHH!! All of these stupid students of mine picking up the wrong idea?!?!?”

*Tok Tok Tok*

What stopped the literature club from their rampage was a student from the club just next to them. Riel and the gang seemed to have ticked the club next door’s fuses off.

“So loud! So shameless! You’ve got a neighbor for f**k’s sake!”

A female counterpart of the delinquent Elrick gave everyone a big middle finger after speaking and before leaving. That one middle finger stopped everyone on their tracks to destruction.

“That is one powerful middle finger right there…”

Said Elrick

“Tsch, an hour to go before club time ends. Everyone can do whatever they want. Talk to each other. Write. Buy something from the cafeteria. Anything.”

Was Riel instructing his club

“In other words, you’re giving us free time?”

Leila wanted to confirm. Riel just went with a “Yeah”.

“Alright! Free time, free time. What should I do…”

Was Elrick being excited for a moment only to end up confused as to what he should do for his free time. Anna, on the other hand,

“Sir Riel, since it’s free time anyway, we are allowed to do anything, right?”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

“Then, would you come have fun with us?”

“Errmm…. I guess… It’s free time, anyway.”

Anna gestured to Riel as if she wanted him to sit in front of her.

“So, what am I supposed to do?”

Riel then noticed the powder and hairbrush and have already figured out what Anna wanted to do, but it was too late to turn back. For the duration of the free time, Riel became the victim of Anna’s boredom. She not only brushed and waxed Riel’s hair, but she also decided it’d be a good idea to apply a bit of makeup and powder on him.

To Riel, it was a day of pure epic fail, but for the rest of the club, it was one of their funniest days as members of the literature club.