Prologue Pt. 5:

Near her was the man seemingly everyone had been ogling at since we all arrived. His physique was no joke; you could almost see every muscle in his body. He was also about 10 inches taller than I was and wore the largest sized runner's clothing I had ever seen. Unlike most of those I've met so far, he started approaching me for our introductions.

He started of the conversation unexpectedly, "Don't let that fool in the black clothing give you a bunch of nonsense, got it?"

I replied, "I don't think I took him seriously anyways."

"Good. Make it stay that way. To survive in this world, you need to keep things real. Anyways, I'm Wakao Sotatsu and I'm the Ultimate Massage Therapist. What's yours?"

"Osada Mutsohito, the Ultimate Logician."

"Ha! Perfect! You should already be an expert in realism with that title. Now, will you allow me to show you my services?"

"You mean a massage?" Since my neck was still strained from when I woke up in the auditorium, it did seem like a great offer, but I then saw Todd with a eerie thousand-yard stare. 'The massage is definitely not worth going there,' I thought. "Eh, maybe later."

"Well, please do come soon. The muscle is strongest when at its least tense," After which he flexed his gigantic biceps.

"But… aren't you tensing up your muscles the-"

"Life's a test of balance, dude, and one must not sway one way or the other. Speaking of that, I'll let your time be balanced with everyone else here. Farewell."

I gave a slight hand wave on my way out of the area, not really sure what to think of Wakao. He had a clear way with words, but I could sometimes see the stereotypical "bro" attitude sneaking into his messages.

I then walked over the nearest student. She was a heavyset blonde woman in a formal suit. Her posture and overall cleanliness gave a sense of dominating prestige, especially when looking at what I and many of the other students showed up with.

When I arrived, she spoke with a noticeably monotone voice, "Being in a university does not suit the needs of my profession, but I'll just have to do with this."

Certain that what she said probably wasn't true, I stated, "That's an interesting thought, but I don't think the university would have accepted you if it thought it couldn't teach you anything."

"I only came here for the amenities it provided. Just like you, I knew everything about this university seemed completely real. This is now an obvious scam, but its ability to hide such a fact is supernatural, to say the least."

Just as I had expected, he hardly ever danced around her points. Her self-confidence rivaled that of Suchi's, but in a much, much different manner. "I think so, too. My name's Osada Mutsohito and I'm the Ultimate Logician."

"I am Ueno Homugi, and my title is the Ultimate Politician. You might have noticed a tired monotony in my tone, but I hardly ever activate that version of myself unless a worthy enough cause summoned it."

Curious for her answer, I asked, "But am I worthy enough for it?"

She went silent.

I sighed and continued, "I apologize for asking. I'll see you around."

She replied, "Farewell."

Ueno was a strange one. Unlike Wakao, her professional attitude never waned and it was almost as if she could never be distracted by anything. Her head was as far below the clouds as I could've imagined someone would be, perhaps a defining trait of a focused prodigy.

I then spotted the "teamwork" woman. She long, bright red hair and a baseball cap with an image of a cartoon version of a toy laser gun I'd often see at carnivals. She wore a black T-shirt with a picture of a ghost with a slash through it, blue jeans, and sneakers. It was baffling how casual her outfit was as it made her look like a normal student who just wandered their way here.

She then broke my train of thoughts, "Psst! There's something behind you!"

Confused, I said, "Hmm… there are many things behind me."

"No, not them! You just don't see it." She looked over my shoulder for a second, "It should be peeking out right about now." In a flash, she shouted, "Ah! There it is! Don't move!" and pulled out an item from her back pocket. Wait a minute! Is that… a handgun?!

I panicked, "Ahh! W-w-why the fuck do you have a gun!"

She calmly said, "Relax! I'm just joshing you. There's no hidden spirit there, and this is just a toy replica. No firing pin or magazine to boot."

"Oh, thank God! Though, why would you try to give me an onset heart attack?"

"I was wanting to practice my skills on interacting with victims of the spirit world. My name's Sunada Chifuyu, and I'm the Ultimate Paranormal Investigator!"

"I'm Osada Mutsohito, the Ultimate Logician. As for that whole… thing, wouldn't it have been better to practice such a thing in the dark where most apparitions are said to appear?"

"Spirits can be found anywhere at any time! We've lived long enough in this world for evolution to happen in both life and death. You always gotta be on the lookout."

I was hesitant to think she believed in any of this stuff, but considering what happened to me at the university lobby, her theories didn't seem very far off.

I said, "I'll make sure to be, and you yourself take care."

She replied, "Yes, sir," and walked away with a watchful eye.

I saw another woman further away in overalls with a bright, flowery shirt underneath. Her rather ordinary look reminded me of Sunada, but with assumedly less of a clue of what this student's personality was like.

When I got to her, she greeted me with a smile, "Oh, hi there! Nice to meet you."

I replied, "Nice to meet you, too," So far, this was easily the most normal start to a conversation I've had so far. With how zany, otherworldly, or oddly stoic everyone else had been so far, this familiarity was definitely a breath of fresh air. I continued, "My name's Osada Mutsohito, the Ultimate Logician. What about you?"

She responded with an admittedly cute grin, "That's wonderful! My name's Matsuno Azusa. Others know me as the Ultimate Interior Designer."

"Interesting! Do you enjoy designing?"

"I do! There's a lot of versatility to be had with interior design, especially when I design rooms for mansions and castles. Although," she started to sniffle a little bit, "sometimes I don't like reading about their histories."

"What parts don't you like about them?"

That question ended up opening a Pandora's Box I definitely shouldn't have opened. Welling up in tears, she tried to explain herself but couldn't and just sobbed, putting her hands to her face. Feeling horrible about causing this meltdown, I said, "Woah, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

She stated, "It's not you! I just get super overwhelmed when thinking about the slightest bit of morbidity. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"Please don't be. I'm ok."

She wipes her tears from her face and said, "Thank you for being here for all of that. I hope this didn't make things so off-putting."

I assured, "You weren't off-putting. I myself have been worse about this before." That was a lie, but I could nonetheless see how that might be a struggle for her, "anyways, I'll see you around."

"Yeah, of course!"