Action required?
Sylus lowered his gaze to the screen, and he tapped the screen, the interface opened instantly.
MISSION 01: OBSERVE
Target: Classroom 2-B
Duration: 24 hours
Objective: Witness Emotional Default
Reward: Access Upgrade
Failure: Penalty Applied
And that was it, just like that. No backstory, nothing. Sylus was completely in the dark about how the game even showed up on his phone. Truth be told, he always avoided games that came with a price tag.
His gaze drifted, settling on the vacant desks surrounding him. This was it: Classroom 2-B, his class. He killed the phone's screen, then just... watched.
The sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway, hurried and off-kilter. Before he could react, the door slammed open.
Kai stood at the doorway, breathing hard.
"You didn't leave?"
Sylus shook his head once. Kai stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
"Something's wrong." Kai said, his voice low.
Above Kai's head—
[ Fear — 32% ]
[ Loyalty — 61% ]
"What?" Sylus asked calmly.
Kai swallowed. "Jun."
Silence.
"He collapsed in the cafeteria."
Sylus didn't react outwardly.
"How?"
"No idea. One second he was yelling at someone. Next second he just—" Kai gestured downward. "Dropped."
Ambulance sirens faintly echoed outside, distant but real. Sylus stood, then walked to the window. Below, near the cafeteria entrance, a small crowd gathered under umbrellas.
Teachers were pushing students back, Jun's body lay on the wet pavement.
Kai stepped beside him.
"They said he had a heart attack. But he's only seventeen."
Sylus focused, above Jun's unmoving body something lingered, like a smoke rising from his skin.
[ Emotional Debt: Critical ]
Then, Jun's chest jerked violently followed by a sharp gasp that made the crowd scream. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't conscious either.
Sylus stared harder, even though inside his chest was pounding. Just for a second, he saw a second demon, he couldn't make out the name. But its body stretched too long, Its fingers rested lightly over Jun's chest feeding off his energy, then it vanished.
Kai grabbed Sylus's sleeve unconsciously. Sylus didn't look at him. Kai's fear percentage had rose.
[ Fear — 41% ]
Sylus opened his phone again.
MISSION 01 UPDATED.
Emotional Default Observed.
Subject: Jun
Dominant Emotion: Aggression masking Fear
Debt Accumulation: Severe
Status: Collection Initiated
Collection? As in, unpaid interest? His thumb moved over the screen.
New notification.
GLOBAL NOTICE: First Default Recorded.
Ranking Adjustments Applied.
Across the courtyard, multiple phones buzzed at once. Other students checked reflexively and murmurs grew louder.
Kai pulled out his phone too, his face drained of color.
"My rank dropped."
He looked at Sylus. "Why did my rank drop?"
Sylus didn't answer, because his own screen displayed something different.
RANK: Unassigned
STATUS: Observer
Observer? Not a player.
Outside, the ambulance doors slammed shut and the siren sound faded in the air.
Kai's hands trembled slightly. "This isn't normal."
Sylus finally looked at him. "You downloaded it," he said quietly.
Kai nodded. "Everyone did."
Pause.
"…you didn't?"
"No, but the game appeared on my phone."
Kai stared. "How?"
Sylus's gaze drifted back to the window. He couldn't explain that, it sounded ridiculous to think of.
Another vibration, his screen changed without touch.
NEW ROLE AVAILABLE.
DEBTOR CANDIDATE CONFIRMED.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
That was the sound of Sylus's heart beating. He felt a strong pull, like something inviting him to step forward. Outside, high above the roof, the Regret Demon began to descend slowly. Closer to the glass.
Kai stepped back unconsciously.
"…why do I suddenly feel cold?"
Sylus didn't answer. Because across the empty desks, emotion tags began appearing one by one. Even without their owners present.
Residual emotions clung to wood and metal.
[ Envy ]
[ Greed ]
[ Fear ]
[ Desire ]
Floating faintly above chairs like ghosts of thoughts. The system message expanded.
AS A DEBTOR:
To Observe is to Measure.
To Measure is to Judge.
To Judge is to Collect.
Accept Role: DEBTOR.
Kai couldn't see it. He only saw Sylus staring at nothing.
"You're scaring me a little," Kai admitted quietly.
Sylus glanced at him. Kai's fear had increased.
He understood it clearly now, the difference. Demons feed blindly to emotions, but Debtors manage accounts. Balance sheets of emotion.
Someone had to or the world would collapse under its own unregulated impulses.
His phone vibrated once more.
FINAL CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.
Kai swallowed.
"Why do I feel like something bad is about to happen?"
Sylus answered softly. "Because it is."
Thunder cracked across the sky and lights went out completely. Darkness swallowed the classroom and someone screamed faintly from the other classroom. Backup power flickered on seconds later.
Sylus's reflection remained still, he slowly turned his head staring back at the demon.
Kai saw it, he stepped back fully now. "…Sylus?"
The unmoving reflection of the regret demon smiled, wide and inhuman, then it disappeared.
His phone screen went black, then displayed one final line.
ROLE ACCEPTED.
RANK ASSIGNED: D-0
TITLE: Junior Debtor
Kai's voice trembled slightly.
"What's happening?"
Sylus slipped the phone into his pocket.
"Nothing," he said.