Within RD University was a modern apartment building that seemed a bit different from the older, more traditional design of the administrative structure.

This was one of the recently built male dorms, and one that Mr. Valen had had a hard time finding.

Both he and Vincent had had to return to the student union to ask for directions; only then had they found it.

Unfortunately, Vincent had plans this evening, so he couldn't help him settle in.

Inside the building was quiet, with the occasional student walking through the carpeted hallways.

On the seventh floor of one such hallway stood Mr. Valen, before his room, 666.

"Beep!"

A sharp beep sounded as Mr. Valen slid the key card through the reader, and he pushed the door open after turning the handle.

The first thing he noted upon entering was the smell; lemon, new wood, and... 'Seamen?' It was an odd combination, to say the least.

The room was a standard double, but was also impeccably neat, most likely because of how recently the building had been built.

One side (his side) looked bare, save for the university-issued furniture: a table, a TV, a drawer, and a bed. The other side, however, seemed occupied at the moment.

On the other side, Mr. Valen caught sight of someone sitting in front of a high-end gaming desk, directly in front of an expensive-looking laptop.

It was a young man with a slender build who wore thick-rimmed glasses, a man who had failed to notice his rather brazen entry into the room.

'The survival instinct of a cricket,' Mr. Valen thought and took a step, noting that the guy seemed to be on some messaging application.

"Pa!" A sudden sound rang out as the youth, seemingly grasping his presence in the room, shut his laptop and turned around, but something was wrong.

"Badump!"

Mr. Valen felt his heart slow at the sight of him, his hunger flaring, compelling him to attack, 'But he does not possess avatar?' he thought to himself, squeezing his fists in an attempt to master the urge.

The two men stared at each other in silence for a moment, with the young man staring at him with narrowed eyes, a gaze mixed with surprise and wariness.

'Calm down, be a normal, nonchalant young adult,' Mr. Valen chanted in his mind before moving to his side of the room, his voice trailing, "Hey."

"Hi," the young man answered, watching Mr. Valen as he heaved his boxes of luggage onto the bare mattress.

Soon, he began unpacking: placing his toiletries in the bathroom, and his electronics in the drawer.

'Nothing seems to be missing,' Mr. Valen thought, retrieving the heavy metal pen from his pocket, one which he placed on one of his jean pockets before folding it.

He then moved to arrange his clothes in a large shared closet and saw that one side was already occupied.

'He has a lot of T-shirts,' Mr. Valen noted, the wardrobe before him a far cry from his fixation with hoodies.

"Don't touch my side of the closet, Mr. King," a tense, overly formal voice sounded out from the other side of the room, prompting Mr. Valen to look over to him.

'Well spoken,' Mr. Valen mused nodding to the man as he said. "No problem, man, as long as you don't touch my stuff as well."

"Very well, I do hope you can be trusted to keep your word," the youth turned back to his laptop, which Mr. Valen noted was angled in such a way that prevented him direct view.

'He's hiding something,' Mr. Valen thought for a moment, but when he thought about it for a moment, he decided that the youth was just a normal person who valued his privacy.

'A delicious looking, normal person-' Mr. Valen shook his head at that thought, his eyes narrowing as he jumped into the bed. 'My hunger is getting out of hand, has it grown so much that I have begun to desire normal as well?'

"You haven't told me your name, bro, or am I supposed to call you anonymous?" Mr. Valen chuckled, suppressing his hunger as he sat on the bed.

The four-eyed youth was quiet for a while before turning to Mr. Valen. "Anonymous? You did not strike me as a Chan user," he spoke, his tone dignified. "I am Lofi Levi, the twenty-eighth son of the Levi family."

"Ohh, a noble," Mr. Valen spoke while nodding his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'Professor Hornet had briefly mentioned that nobles had access to 'IT.' is this youth perhaps one of them? If I were to get closer, I might obtain the information I require.'

The nobles were a vital part of the Eagle Alliance's government system, and there were thirteen of them, forming the council of thirteen; every law passed had to be approved by the council.

At first, they might not seem too grand, but one would be surprised to discover that every major business in the Eagle Alliance had ties to these families. In fact, RD University was jointly owned by the Levi and Viper families, with shares held by the Alliance itself.

One would also be surprised to discover that every Alliance president seemed to, or indeed had, close connections with the noble families, making them a vital part of the country's political machinery.

Mr. Valen scoffed at that thought, 'The official state doctrine posits the Eagle Alliance as a participatory democracy, deriving its power from the consent of the governed; it would be a compelling narrative, if not for the fact that that's far from the truth.' he tuned his gaze to Lofi.

'The reality is that we live in a de facto oligarchy. The Council of Thirteen holds an absolute legislative veto over the alliance, and their control over the nation's commerce (evidenced by entities like Raindrop and RD) fuses economic and political power into an unassailable bloc. The presidency, therefore, is but a managed executive role, permissible only to those who already enjoy the confidence of the true ruling class.'

In that moment, Lofi noted Mr. Valen's leering gaze on his form and shuddered slightly, 'a fucking commoner,' he thought, his voice coming in a grim declaration after. "Do not try to suck up to me, I hate people like that."

Mr. Valen (snapping out of his thoughts) was somewhat taken aback by those words but quickly fabricated an expression of faint displeasure, his voice loud as he said, "The fuck do you mean by that?"

Seeing Mr. Valen's expression, Lofi went quiet for a moment, his eyes quickly taking in his towering form before he restructured, "I did not mean it to offend you, I apologize if I did so unintentionally."

Mr. Valen let out an audible sigh at those words, his fingers massaging his temples as he said, "It's all good, bro. I apologize for raising my voice. So, we good?"

"Yes, we are indeed... good. I'll be leaving in an hour, by the way. I have some personal matters to attend to tonight," Lofi spoke after some thought, watching as Mr. Valen dove into his bed with a tired sigh, 'not even a bath first? What kind of man is this.'

"Alright," Mr. Valen muttered, his breath muffled.

-----------

Time went on, and soon night fell, but while Mr. Valen was fast asleep, others were awake.

The moon was orange tonight (the rotten kind that provoked an unsettling feeling in one's gut), its glow painting the world in a sickly hue.

In one of the many female dorm buildings was a room illuminated only by the dim blue glow of a laptop screen, which cast long shadows behind the furniture, making them seem to move and tremble slightly.

But that did not bother her in the slightest (the girl in the room) as she was engrossed in the sliding pictures on her screen. 'Why won't Kim Jon Un just confess his feelings to Miss Trumpa? They seem to love each other so much,' she thought, tucking her knees against her chest, her fingers digging into her pajama pants.

'They kind of remind me of those hot guys Valen and Alvin from self-defense class,' she thought, pairing them together in her head, a sleezey smile on her face.

"Tap. Tap-tap." A sudden sound startled her to attention, forcing her to turn her gaze to the window.

'What was that?' she thought skeptically, staring at the faint, distorted shadow of her reflection staring back, wondering if hours before her screen had afflicted her with schizophrenia.

"What's wrong with you, Pat, you're not a kid anymore," the young lady chided herself, turning her gaze back to the screen.

But that peace lasted for only a moment as "Tap. Tap." A series of taps broke her concentration once more, this time louder than before.

"FUCK!" She yelled at the top of her voice when she gazed at the window, for this time, there was something (or the shadow of something standing there) peering at her with unblinking purple eyes.

The thing appeared to be beckoning her to come closer, wiggling its shadowy fingers at her.

"Hel-" Pat attempted to scream as she backed away, but then those purple eyes pulsed and she felt all desire to escape, seize.

"I have to open that window," she suddenly blurted out, feeling a certain rush of adrenaline well up in her, her heart beating against her ribs as she dashed (nearly dove) towards the window.

Upon reaching, she unlatched the window and pulled with such fervor that her actions almost seemed like a biological imperative, and after she did this, she found nothing.

There was no figure, no shadow, not even a lingering schizophrenic vision, all that was left was just the cold, decayed wind on the fifth floor of the female dorm building.

A wave of relief washed over her, at this development, relief followed by heavy confusion. "What was that? Did I stay up too late?" She muttered.

"No, you didn't," a voice whispered to her, the sound so close that it was definitely coming from beneath her.

"I..." Again her first instinct was to run, but it was once again replaced by an overwhelming imperative to look down.

Trembling slightly and with widened eyes, Pat found she had no choice but to lean forward and peer into the abyss below.

"Shii"

A wet, suppressed thud sounded out as a sharp, thin object was driven through her head, blood spurting from the other side.

'We're on the fifth floor,' was the last thought that ran through Pat's mind, still unable to visually comprehend the person or thing that had killed her.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.