If I had superpowers like the ones in movies, I would've thrown the kid sitting on my bed out of the dorm by now, like tossing trash into a trash can.
“Be patient, Sio. It's still the first day, so keep making a good first impression on these annoying kids.” I reminded myself as I kept sighing.
“Why are you just sitting there? Are you mute or something?”
“Move over. You're messing up my bed.”
“So you're not mute after all.”
Someone needs to discipline this kid's mouth.
“Sorry. I'll tidy it up again. Don't worry.”
The girl went back to straightening up my bed.
“My name's Mia. Here, accept this as an introduction gift from me.”
A chocolate bar landed in my hand.
“…Fine. I'll consider this payment for sitting on my bed earlier.”
“Kids, may I have your attention? At seven tonight, you have to gather in the school hall!” Monica called out.
“What are we going to do there?” one of the kids asked.
“You'll gather there with the other grades to hear the school rules. Everyone has to attend.”
At 7:00 p.m., the kids from my dorm and I gathered inside the school hall. There were so many other students there too.
“I wonder what the rules are like.”
“All right, thank you for coming tonight. We'll be reading out the school rules currently in effect. If you don't follow them, you'll be punished depending on the type of violation.”
At last, all the rules and their punishments were read out one by one.
As a new student, the rules felt unfamiliar and sounded incredibly difficult to follow. So many people began whispering while the rules were still being read.
*I'm sorry, but the author is experiencing extreme exhaustion. For now, the continuation of the original work has been temporarily suspended and will be edited again tomorrow.*
Once all the rules had been read out, the hall, which had been filled with whispers, slowly grew quiet again.
“All right, since everything has been read, you may now return to your respective dorms. Remember, all the rules are in effect starting tonight.”
Several students immediately stood up from their seats. Some let out sighs of relief, while others were still discussing the rules they thought were too difficult to follow.
I stood up with my friends.
“Wow, there are so many rules,” one of my friends whispered beside me.
“Yeah. I'm scared I'll forget them,” I replied with a small smile.
We walked out of the hall with the other students. The school corridors felt much busier than usual that night. The sounds of footsteps and conversations came from every direction.
But there was one thing that made me feel a little uneasy.
As we passed through the corridor toward the dorm, I saw several students hurrying along. They kept looking over their shoulders as if they were avoiding someone.
I furrowed my brow.
“What is it?” I asked.
My friend only shook her head.
“I don't know. They say not to stay outside the hall too long after curfew.”
“Why not?”
She was silent for a moment before answering in a quieter voice.
“They say there's a rule that wasn't read out earlier.”
I stopped in my tracks.
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind. You'll find out for yourself later.”
Her answer only made me more curious.
We finally reached the front of the dorm. Before we could enter, an older student stood near the door, checking every student who came in.
“Get inside, quick. The dorm doors close in five minutes.”
Everyone immediately quickened their pace.
I was just about to enter when I heard a voice from behind me.
“Excuse me.”
I turned around.
A girl stood alone at the end of the corridor. Her face looked pale. Her gaze was fixed directly on me.
“You haven't gone in yet?” I asked.
She didn't answer. She only pointed toward the dark corridor.
I followed the direction of her finger.
There was no one there.
When I looked back at her, the girl was already walking toward me.
“If you hear a bell ring after curfew,” she said softly, “never leave your room.”
I fell silent.
“Why?”
She stared at me for several seconds before whispering,
“Because if you go outside… you'll have to follow the rules that were never read out.”
Before I could ask anything else, the older student called from the door.
“Get inside!”
I glanced away for a moment.
When I looked back toward the girl, the corridor was empty.
I entered the dorm with a bad feeling in my gut.
That night, for the first time, I began to realize that the rules we'd just heard might not be the strangest thing about this school.
And it turned out there was still something being deliberately hidden from us.