"It started thirty years ago. The first recorded case of the curse."
"Class 3E was different back then---a class of the academy's brightest minds, an honor, not a punishment. Among them was a girl. Brilliant. Promising. Too exceptional to be overlooked. But something happened that year. Something that shouldn't have been possible."
"One day, she was there. The next, she wasn't."
"No one could remember her name. No one could recall her face. The teachers hesitated when asked, their lips parting as if the answer was just within reach, only to fall silent. And then, the deaths began."
"A student's father died in a tragic accident. Another's mother vanished without a trace. Classmates grew restless, their numbers dwindling. Some swore they had glimpsed her shadow in the halls, a girl they could not name, watching from just beyond the veil of memory. But by the time anyone realized the truth---"
"It was too late."
"The school covered it up, of course. A freak accident. An unrelated tragedy. But the next year, it happened again. And again. And again. Until the school stopped trying to hide it and simply accepted it. The cursed class. The unspoken rule. The student who should not exist."
"Every year, an Extra appears."
"Every year, someone is already dead."
"At least… that's how the story goes."
"But is that really the truth?"
"Is that really… the true story?"
Opening Scene:
Heavy breaths. The pounding of footsteps against cold wooden floors.
A student ran through the dimly lit hallway, their lungs burning with each frantic inhale. The air was thick---too thick, as if the walls themselves were suffocating the space around them. And the walls… they were moving. Twisting. Shifting.
Behind them, a voice cracked through the darkness, raw with desperation.
"Wait---please! Help me!"
The runner's steps faltered for just a second. They turned back.
Nothing.
The hallway was empty. Silent. Their friend was gone---no trace, no echo of their existence. Erased, as if they had never been there in the first place.
The runner's breath hitched.
Then---movement. A figure emerging from the darkness, featureless yet impossibly fast, closing in like a living shadow.
Terror seized their chest. They spun back around, willing their legs to carry them faster. But the hallway stretched endlessly now, the exit slipping further and further away. No matter how fast they ran, they weren't moving forward.
Then, suddenly, it hit them.
A sickening realization settled in their gut. Their breath steadied—not out of relief, but out of grim understanding.
They stopped running. Slowly, deliberately, they turned around.
Their voice trembled, a whisper barely escaping their lips.
"I see now… So it was you. You were the Extra. You've been lying to us this whole time."
The figure lunged.
Darkness swallowed everything.
---
The sharp ring of the school bell cuts through the void.
Ren's eyes snap open. His chest rises and falls steadily, but his fingers are clenched tight around the edge of his desk. The lingering haze of the nightmare clings to him, the details already slipping away---except for the suffocating dread still curling in his stomach.
Sunlight filters through the classroom window beside him, too warm, too bright. It doesn't belong here. Not after that.
Then, the intercom crackles to life.
"Ms. Rinka Nakamura, please report to the principal's office."
A pause.
The class remains silent.
Ren exhales, loosening his grip on the desk. The words slip out before he even realizes---
"…You're wrong."
A chair scrapes against the floor. Someone shifts uncomfortably.
Then he notices---
The entire class is staring at him.
Some with confusion. Others with something quieter, uneasier.
Ren blinks, forcing the tension from his body, but the weight of their gazes lingers.
His nightmare wasn't just a dream.
And deep down, he knows---
---
The office was quiet. Heavy. The kind of silence that pressed against the skin like an unseen weight.
Ms. Rinka Nakamura stepped inside, her expression as unreadable as ever.
Behind the large, organized desk sat Principal Hoshino Alexander---a dignified woman whose presence commanded attention without the need for force. Her silver-gray hair was tied back neatly, a few strands framing sharp, discerning eyes. Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, she exuded an air of calm authority, though a subtle sharpness lurked beneath her composed exterior.
She didn't look up immediately, flipping through a document with precise, deliberate movements. The sound of paper shifting was the only thing breaking the silence.
Then, she spoke.
"It's time."
Her voice was smooth, calm---yet it carried weight.
Ms. Rinka merely lifted an eyebrow, waiting for more.
The principal finally met her gaze before flipping open a file.
A single photograph rested inside. Ren Ashford.
Hoshino's fingers tapped lightly against the paper.
"I just received a call from the orphanage. Ren's Nana has passed away."
She let the words settle. There was no need to elaborate—both women understood the weight of the statement.
Ren's Nana had been his most cherished person. His only true attachment in that orphanage.
Ms. Rinka didn't react outwardly, but something flickered behind her gaze.
Hoshino's voice remained composed, but the knowing look in her eyes said it all.
The Curse Has Started Its Work
Leaning back slightly, the principal shut the file and placed it aside.
"The timing is… unsettling."
Her fingers interlaced atop the desk.
"The Curse has started its work."
Ms. Rinka remained still, but her fingers tapped lightly against the arm of her chair. Once. Twice. A silent acknowledgment.
Without another word, the principal reached for another folder.
Flipping through the pages, she stopped at a specific section. A small crease formed between her brows.
"Something else is strange."
She turned the file toward Ms. Rinka, tapping a blank space on the page.
"I was going through student records. This blank space… There should be a name here."
A pause.
"I don't recall making an error. But I can't seem to remember whose name it was."
A slow exhale. The folder snapped shut.
Both women understood what that meant.
Ms. Rinka's Response
Finally, Ms. Rinka spoke, her tone as flat as ever.
"You think it's connected?"
Hoshino met her gaze.
"I think it's starting."
A beat of silence. Then, the principal sat forward, leveling Ms. Rinka with a steady look.
"We need to pick a location. Soon."
Ms. Rinka nodded.
"I'll bring it up with the class."
No more needed to be said.
The hallway was quiet when Ms. Rinka stepped out.
As she walked, another teacher approached---Mr. Hayashi, the literature instructor.
He offered a nod in greeting. "Rinka. How's 3E holding up?"
She didn't break stride.
"Oh, just the usual. Teaching, grading, and contemplating the meaninglessness of existence."
Mr. Hayashi paused, blinking after her as she continued down the hall without a second glance.
Class 3E was waiting.
[Author here I'm re-writing this story from beginning, more stuff will be revealed as the chapters progress] I hope you enjoy.
CHAPTER END.