Light High | •° RIIZE °•

01. FIRST IMPRESSION

Hyeon's pov

I stood in front of the gate I had walked through just two days ago. The only difference was that this time, it was morning, and I was filled with a mixture of nerves and determination. Today, I might finally see her again, and that thought propelled me forward as I stepped onto the school grounds.

As I walked through the hallway, I glanced around, hoping to find the student assigned to show me around. The teacher had mentioned that she'd be near Class A, but as I approached, there was no sign of her.

"Are you Lee Hyeon?" a voice called from behind. I turned to see a girl standing there, slightly shorter than me, with striking cat-like eyes and short hair. She seemed startled at first, her eyes widening, but then she smiled warmly.

"Why do you look so surprised? Is something wrong with me?" I asked, feigning confusion even though I knew exactly why she was shocked.

"Oh, no, no, nothing like that. You just remind me of someone," she quickly explained, her words confirming my suspicion—she must have been close to Yeon.

Sensing my silence, she started chatting to fill the gap. "So, I see you don't have a color star yet."

"What's a color star?" I asked, genuinely clueless about what she meant.She smiled as she explained, "We have monthly exams, and based on the rankings, the teachers divide us into five colors: gold, silver, yellow, green, and white. The top ten students get a gold star, ranks eleven to twenty get a silver star, twenty-one to thirty get yellow, thirty-one to forty get green, and forty-one to fifty get white. And it's important—never offend someone with a higher color star than yours."

"So, what about students below rank fifty?" I asked, wondering if there were more ranks, considering I might be among them.

"There aren't any. There are only fifty students in the school," she replied casually. I nodded, processing the information. But if that's true, wouldn't my arrival make it fifty-one?

"So—" I began, but my words were cut off by a sudden, eerie bell that echoed through the entire school, sounding more like horror movie music than a regular bell. The expression on the girl's face, along with everyone else around us, shifted to one of fear.

"It's the 'Fvck Time,'" she muttered under her breath, clearly frustrated. "It's only been two weeks since the last one. So much for peace."

Without further explanation, she grabbed my hand and started pulling me through the hallway. Confused and with no idea what was happening, I just followed her.

As we entered a large room, I realized it wasn't a gym as I first thought, but more like a main hall with a fighting ring in the middle. There were seats arranged according to the color stars, and since the girl I was with had a silver star, she led me to the silver section. We shared her seat, and as I looked around, I noticed various weapons neatly arranged on a table at the front. My confusion only deepened.

"Can you please explain what's going on here?" I asked, feeling completely lost.

"Please don't freak out when I tell you," she warned, and I nodded for her to continue.

"This place is called the 'Fvck Place.' Not officially, of course, but that's what all the students call it. What happens here is... students fight."

"Fight? Fight for what?" I asked, my mind racing with possible reasons.

"You know about the rankings. The student ranked last and the one just above them are the ones who engage in this... game," she explained, using hand gestures to help me understand. But it only left me more confused, so I shook my head.

"Okay, let me put it this way," she began again. "Imagine you're the tenth ranker. The eleventh ranker can challenge you to a fight to take your spot. And here's the most important part—the fight only ends when one student leaves this world." Her voice trembled slightly as she said those final words.

"You must be joking," I said, unable to believe what I was hearing. It sounded too cruel, too inhumane to be real.

"Sadly, I'm not. But if someone surrenders, they're spared from being killed. Though, it's rare for anyone to surrender," she sighed.

"Can't we stop this killing?" I asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them. I didn't even know why I asked, but it felt wrong not to.

"We can, but... see the boy sitting in the rank one seat? He's the only one who can stop it. But he doesn't anymore," she said, piquing my curiosity even further.

"Why?"

"He used to be like this before, but then there was a girl who changed him. They fell deeply in love and became the school's ideal couple. It was a miracle—love turned someone so cruel into an angel. But now, things are back to the way they were."

"What happened?" I asked, a strange feeling in my gut telling me this might be connected to my search for Yeon.

"Did I mention you look just like her?"

"Huh?" My heart skipped a beat. Was she talking about Yeon?

"Her name was Yeon. She was the miracle who made this school a better place. Everyone respected her. But she's gone now. We didn't even know she had suicidal thoughts," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What!?" I stood up abruptly, the shock of her words hitting me like a punch. How could she say Yeon was dead and had suicidal thoughts? I knew my sister better than anyone, and there was no way that was true. She was alive—I just knew it.

"Who is that?" a voice demanded, snapping me back to reality. I looked around, only now noticing that the fight had started and everyone in the hall was staring at me.

"Who is that?" the voice repeated, and this time I realized everyone was pointing at me. Slowly, I turned to meet the gaze of the rank one gold star student. He looked shocked at first, but quickly composed himself, his face turning emotionless. It was clear he recognized me—or rather, thought he recognized me.

"Stop the fight for today," he announced, his eyes never leaving mine. "And you, meet me in the detention room," he added before walking away, followed by another gold star student. His words lingered in the air, leaving me with more questions than answers.

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Phew.. I think this is the longest chapter I have written. Just kidding, there are more like this;)