In a Civilized Manner

Edris knew that Ace was in class.

How could he not, when he had familiarised himself with all five professors' schedules like they were the back of his palm?

Indeed, his intention had been to find Magenta in the first place.

As the leader of the four professors, Magenta seemed to hold a slightly different role than the others. Edris was planning to test his speculations today.

"Would you like coffee? Tea? I personally recommend green tea with honey." Magenta said, leading him past the seventh-floor lounge and into her room on the right end of the curve.

Like Ace mentioned, each professor's room followed a specific theme. Magenta's grappled with the colour pink to the extreme. Despite the bright pink walls, flooring, and furniture, the entire room gave off an office-like feel, orderly yet restrained.

Pulling his gaze away from the "DONOR'S LIST" scroll plastered on one of the walls, Edris responded to her question with a gentle smile.

"I'll gladly take you up on your recommendation."

Ever since the Labyrinth rules were introduced on the first day, he'd discerned a trace of incongruity between the Labyrinth's obsession with order and its inherently destructive nature.

When the original owner of Edris's persona took over, he'd caught glimpses of his memories prior to his enrolment at MW Academy.

A meeting between parents and professors, and a hefty amount of money.

In the flashback, he saw the professors print down his name onto a sheet of paper—the donor's list, they called it. The same list he'd seen back in Sky's room, and unsurprisingly, his name was on the very top.

Edris had been wondering something for a long time.

The students had experienced two tests so far, both of which Edris had Ives write on his behalf. According to the seven-year-old, there had been multiple accounts where others were caught cheating by the professors and thrown in [DETENTION]. Thankfully, luck had been on her side, and she'd completed the test both times without being noticed.

However, Edris didn't believe in luck.

With the level of attention the academy placed on students' learning environment, how did Ives manage to sneak in two test packages—twice, too—without being noticed by the professors?

It was then Edris concluded that it wasn't that she wasn't noticed—her actions had been deliberately ignored.

And the reason for the blind eye?

Privilege, of course.

The differential treatment based on rankings, the intentional dismissal of "problematic" students such as Edris, who haven't attended a single class, and even the conspicuous scroll in Magenta's room, which seems to serve as a reminder of power… Edris had underestimated the influence privilege had on one's freedom in the academy.

Of course, he planned on taking advantage of this "privileged state."

The leading figure among the professors was an excellent place to begin.

"Sorry for the wait. I brought some desserts as well."

Magenta placed the platter of colourful sweets on the table, then sat on the couch across from him.

"How are you finding the academy so far? Not too straining? Are the cafeteria meals to your liking?" she asked. "My apologies for not inquiring about this earlier. Things have been quite… hectic."

“…”

Crossing one leg over the other, she looked at him with her head tilted. "No. 111? Is something wrong?"

"Is it really okay for the blatant differential treatment?" Edris received her mannerisms with an arched eyebrow.

"Now, I wouldn't call it differential treatment." Magenta leisurely took a sip out of her coffee. "We simply like to be extra mindful of our special students. After all, your family has contributed greatly to the well-being of our academy, which makes your presence here all the more valuable."

Keeping his wealthy "donor's son" persona, he leaned back in the cushion and tossed a cookie into his mouth.

"Shallow compliments."

"I mean it with utmost sincerity." Magenta smiled. "It is quite amusing seeing all the interactions among our students here at MW. And you, No. 111, I find especially fascinating."

She leaned forward, pink irises enlarging as they peered in his direction.

"How do you know 004?"

Hm?

Despite his inner confusion, Edris stared back, unfazed. "Why does that concern you?"

"Why not?" Magenta shrugged, then added, "After all, nothing good will come from being associated with him."

"What do you mean?"

"You, me, professors, students…" She lifted a finger, pointing toward Edris, then at herself. "Everyone here is subjugated to the rules of the academy. But he's different."

She glanced at the dark-haired man.

"You're fated to walk different paths."

At her words, the room fell silent. Edris gazed at her, eyes boring contemplation. The next moment, he leaned back with a nonchalant smile. "That's not for you to decide."

Magenta smiled back half-heartedly. She reached down at her cup of tea, but before her hands could clasp onto the handle, Edris kicked the leg of the table, causing the liquid to splatter all over her hand.

"The seventh-floor intruder," he began. "You know it's not her, right?"

"Why do you think so?" Magenta asked back. She patiently wiped each finger with a handkerchief. "She was the one that confessed to her wrongdoings."

"The interaction back in front of the dorms. It's much of a stretch," Edris said. "In other circumstances, the culprit wouldn't even be given a chance to defend themselves. Once they violated a rule, those cloaked guys would knock them right out and take them to [DETENTION]."

"No. 111, this is a world with only room for the powerful." Magenta sipped on her tea, which was empty at this point. "That is how we've all survived until now."

"Is that your justification for using an innocent student as a scapegoat?" Edris raised an eyebrow. "A bit weak, I'd say."

"I think you're misunderstanding something here." Magenta sighed. "Us professors are only here to perform our duties given by the Principal, and as long as that requirement is fulfilled, we are left to our leisure. Personally, I do not care for what is within the shadows. In fact, I do not hold much interest in rules at all.

"I'm more intrigued by the process itself, you see."

Edris narrowed his eyes.

"You asked why I allowed No. 39 to take the blame," she said. "Because it's exciting, of course."

"Watching students who know nothing about the world succumb to their desires, turn against each other, struggle until every inch of their being is exhausted of all lingering hope. I think it's quite a beautiful process."

Magenta tilted her body forward. She reached out to Edris, caressing the side of his face. A zealous flame was in her gaze as her lips curled into a chilling smile.

"Don't you?"

***

Night soon descended upon MW Academy.

Different from usual, however, were the student's whereabouts. With countless cloaked figures patrolling around the hallways, even studying in their rooms had become an extravagant yearning. Many decided to evade them by spending their days in the library instead.

The current time was 9:30 PM, an hour before the curfew check.

Ives sat on her bed, brushing her fingers against the surface of the leather notebook. She was one of the few students who'd remained in their dorm rooms.

She was waiting for Alicia's return.

After discussing with Edris in the morning, she'd gotten the confirmation from the latter on attempting Soul Solace once for the woman once she returned. Different from Soul Patching, Soul Solace was a form of psychological therapy that can be performed by anyone with experience dealing with Splinter Syndrome patients.

They deduced from past victims that [DETENTION] tended to lower the player's affinity by anywhere from fifteen to thirty points. Although a lofty number, it wasn't enough for the player to experience too intense of a drawback nor reach the "mute-intervals" they'd undergo once their affinity dropped below fifty.

From the times they'd spent together in the past month, Alicia seemed closer to the persistent, unyielding type, so although her punishment was a level above [DETENTION], Ives retained a sense of optimism that she'd pull through and come back safely.

But optimistic thinking aside, she still couldn't wrap her head around why Alicia would confess something she didn't do.

Was she threatened?

But again, she'd adamantly denied her words afterwards, which Ives to suspect that she must have been in an abnormal state when confessing her "crimes."

Amidst her contemplations, the seven-year-old's gaze landed on the player profile in the corner of her view. More specifically—the [CARD SLOT] section.

"…An item?"

All players were given a card on their first day of arriving at the Labyrinth. Mister Edris received [EARPLUGS], she got [LOUDSPEAKERS], while the beast tamer's was [STABILISING SNEAKERS]. What if the person who framed Alicia had also relied on some sort of card item?

The dorm door clicked open, pulling Ives out of her deductions.

She lifted her head toward the entrance and saw Alicia walk into the room.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and the woman glanced up.

"…Yes. I survived, somehow." She mustered a smile. "Time to catch up on all the work I missed."

Ives released a soft sigh of relief.

Although her face was stern and lips a bit pale, Alicia appeared to have survived the punishment and returned in one piece.

"You didn't miss much. You were only gone for a day, after all. But more importantly, are you sure you're not hurt anywhere? Mister Edris has agreed to—"

Her voice halted mid-sentence.

Noticing the seven-year-old's irregularity, the woman turned to her with a puzzled expression. "Is something wrong?"

Ives didn't respond. All her attention was on the glowing interface floating before her eyes.

Her affinity—it had dropped to 93.

But how?

Affinity was dependent on how cohesive the player was in following their assigned role, but she shouldn't have been impacted by her behaviour unless there were native students around…

Ives froze.

At the same time, Alicia strolled to her side of the table. Stacking her notebooks on top of one another, she was about to heave the rest out of her bag when a card suddenly slipped out.

Blinking twice, the woman bent over and picked up the card.

"Oh, by the way, I found this in my bag today while coming back from the library." She turned toward Ives, lifting the rectangular slip between her fingers. "Is it yours? I might have been holding onto it for you. I can't really remember…"

As she said that, she passed the card to the seven-year-old, who received it with trembling hands. The moment Ives gained hold of the card, a new message popped up on her profile interface.

The card [RING OF LOVE] has been acquired!

USAGE: When activated, a target will randomly be selected within the five-meter range and become infatuated with you for twenty minutes!

"Slow-burn romance is overrated—let's go for something quick and spicy~!"

Place [RING OF LOVE] into [SLOT 2]?

Ives's eyes widened. [RING OF LOVE] was the card Alicia had received at the dorms after the academy's opening ceremony. At the time, she'd even laughed at the name and complained to Ives about the cringeworthy quote.

Ives peered her way with a strange expression. "You're giving this to me?"

"It's not yours? I guess you can have it either way." Alicia shrugged as she organised her writing utensils. "Why? You don't like the colour? Ah, is it too big? I guess it might be for your hands…"

However, Ives was no longer listening to a word coming out of her mouth.

Just now, she'd tried to share her player profile with Alicia, only to receive a message in return:

THE INVITATION HAS FAILED TO SEND!

NOTE: [PLAYER PROFILE] can only be shared with other [PLAYERS]!

The woman, sensing her abnormality, stopped what she was doing and turned to the seven-year-old with a look of concern.

Confronted with her worried expression, Ives parted her mouth to say something—anything—yet she found herself unable to muster out a single sound.

"What's wrong, No. 112?"

The woman asked again, gaze bearing apprehension.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"