Jerry Foster had barely survived the morning's system shock, and now he was standing in a sea of new faces and forced excitement. The orientation plaza at Magnolia State University looked like it was plucked straight out of a promotional brochure—colorful banners, booths for every club imaginable, overly enthusiastic volunteers with clipboards, and a backdrop of upbeat music playing from unseen speakers.
Everything looked normal. But nothing felt normal.
His head was still buzzing with phantom code and echoing voices. Ragnar had been unusually quiet for the last few minutes. Alric mumbled to himself about environmental analysis, and Zen had apparently gone to sulk in some metaphorical corner of Jerry's mind after being ignored.
He sighed and adjusted his bag strap. "Alright… act normal."
A volunteer wearing a bright orange 'MSU Welcomes You!' sash waved him toward a registration tent. He gave his name, got his welcome kit, and was directed to an open-air seating area where new students were gathering for the official introduction.
The metal chairs were arranged in neat rows. Jerry found an empty one near the back and dropped into it. He kept his eyes forward, pretending to listen to the staff member on stage welcoming them. But his gaze drifted.
There she was again—Mira.
Leaning against a tree just past the chairs, her headphones still around her neck. She was looking at the crowd with the same unimpressed expression Jerry imagined he wore himself. No one else seemed to notice her presence.
[Non-target Entity Detected – No Harem Connection Found]
A soft ping echoed in his head, and the system text flashed across his vision before disappearing again.
That settled it. She wasn't one of the Seven. But she had noticed him back when the glitch occurred. That alone was strange.
"Go talk to her," Zen's voice chimed in again, chipper and mischievous. "Break the ice. You're an introvert, not invisible."
Jerry groaned internally. But maybe… Zen had a point.
The official speech wrapped up, and students were now encouraged to mingle and visit different booths. Jerry stood, hesitated a moment, then walked toward the tree where Mira stood.
She didn't move.
"Hey," he said, his voice lower than he intended.
Her eyes slid over to him. "Yo. Orientation boring you too?"
He blinked. "Yeah, actually."
"You've got the look," she smirked, pushing one of her earbuds into her jacket pocket. "Like your brain's somewhere else."
That wasn't far from the truth.
"Jerry," he said, extending a hand.
She looked at it, then shook it briefly. "Mira. First year too?"
"Yeah. Computer science."
"Design tech. Mostly visual stuff. But I mess with audio too." She pointed to the headphones. "Keeps the noise out."
Jerry gave a short laugh. "Ironically, I've had nothing but noise in my head today."
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Same. I woke up thinking about deleting my entire Spotify playlist."
They stood there for a few more seconds. The conversation wasn't deep, but it wasn't awkward either. For the first time today, Jerry felt like he was actually in control.
The system remained quiet.
No glowing profiles. No warnings. No mysterious sync percentages. Just a regular, chill girl.
"Wanna grab a coffee from the booth?" she asked. "It's free today. They're bribing us with caffeine."
Jerry smiled. "Sure."
They walked toward the food section, weaving through the crowd. A few upperclassmen were trying to rope students into their clubs with over-the-top performances—someone was juggling flaming batons near the film club booth.
As they waited in line for coffee, Jerry caught himself glancing at her. Mira's presence was… normal. That was the strangest part. She didn't feel like part of the system. She felt real.
Alric spoke for the first time in minutes. "Good. You're practicing baseline social interaction. This is necessary for reducing erratic emotional feedback."
Zen scoffed. "Translation: you're learning not to be a hermit. Nice."
Ragnar didn't comment. That was either a good sign—or a very bad one.
After they got their drinks, Mira pointed toward a quieter patch of grass near a fountain. "Let's sit. My legs are killing me."
They sat. Talked a little more. About classes. Hobbies. She showed him a few odd remixes she'd made on her phone—an ambient version of a punk rock song and a lo-fi remix of anime dialogue.
The afternoon passed quickly.
Eventually, the campus bell rang for the final orientation meeting at the auditorium. Mira stretched, downed the rest of her coffee, and stood up.
"I'm heading that way. You coming?"
Jerry nodded, standing beside her. "Yeah."
As they walked back toward the crowd, the radar flickered again for just a moment.
[Target Range: Expanding…]
The pulses were faint, distant… but still locked.
The real journey hadn't even begun.
But at least, now, Jerry wasn't starting completely alone.