"As you all know, the bigger something is, the more attractive it is, just like a girl's boobs—bigger ones are more likely to attract guys. So, girls, use this trick to turn guys into simps, okay!"
*'What the hell is she teaching?'* the whole class thought in unison as they listened to the teacher.
Oh, school's back in session, and everything's falling into place.
As for me? I'm doing alright.
[You sure?]
'Yup.'
Well, pretty alright, I guess.
After listening to the teacher ramble on about who-knows-what for a while, the bell finally rang. Everyone let out a tired sigh of relief while the teacher packed up her things and left.
I stretched my arms and looked around the classroom.
"Hey, have you heard? Five astronauts went to space and got into an accident!"
"For real?"
"Yeah, but the surprising part is that four of them survived—except for the fifth one."
"Wow."
I overheard some classmates talking and started thinking.
'So, everything's happening in chronological order, huh? I remember this Fantastic Four group is like a family, and they treated Spider-Man pretty well too…' (how the heck did you know they are Fantastic four??)
But who's the fifth one? Victor Doom? Hope it's not him…
"Hey, Peter!"
"?"
I looked over to see Harry walking toward me, plopping down in a nearby chair.
"The school's holding a sports festival, and it's gonna be huge this time because other schools are joining too!"
"…"
Now that I think about it, isn't that kind of event only held in Japanese schools? Since when did America start doing this?
"Excited?"
"Not sure… You?"
"I've been ready for this day!" Harry rolled up his sleeve, showing off his chiseled muscles.
"I bet you'll win first place for our school."
"Not so fast. Guess which school's joining this time?"
I looked at Harry, confused.
"Which one?"
"Xavier's School."
…huh?
[Oh… shit.]
'Huh? What's that about?'
[Uh… well… It's that Professor X guy… I don't like him.]
'Because he can read your thoughts?'
[No, he'll crawl into your brain and snoop around, and I don't like anyone poking around in your head.]
'…okay?'
"Hey, Peter? Why're you zoning out?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm just… shocked."
"Lying through your teeth, huh?"
"Damn it."
Harry glanced around, then leaned in closer to me.
"And I heard… there are a lot of hot girls at that school."
"…why are you telling me this?"
"Bro, we gotta share the intel! I'm planning to hit on one of those girls. You could too, if… you know, you want to~"
"Good luck, my man, but I'm gonna pass."
"Oh, thanks."
"What was that?"
A voice cut in, making me and Harry turn to look.
Uh-oh, it's Gwen.
"Harry, what did you just say to Peter?" she asked with a smile.
"…hitting on girls?" Harry blurted out.
"Dude, you didn't have to be that honest!" I shot him a look.
"Ohhhh… So you're planning to drag Peter-boi into hitting on girls, even though you know he's got me as his girlfriend?"
"Objection! I haven't confirmed any relationship—"
"Shh, Peter-boi, I'd advise you to stay quiet," Gwen said, pressing a finger to my lips.
"Uh, well… I was just gonna have him tag along to help me flirt, right, Peter?!"
"Yup, yup!"
Gwen looked at the two of us teaming up, narrowing her eyes for the first time.
Oh no, don't squint like that, it's scary.
[I'm definitely not gonna like it if you start flirting with someone.]
'Why not?'
[Because it'll get in the way of you causing chaos!]
'…'
"Hey, why's everyone staring at us?" Harry asked, confused.
"Huh?"
I looked around and saw everyone staring in surprise… no, more like staring at Gwen.
"Yo, isn't she…"
"Yeah, the gorgeous drummer girl! Who knew she'd look this good without makeup too!"
"Why's she in our class?"
Everyone was whispering. Harry and I turned to Gwen.
"Hey, Gwen."
"Hm?"
"Are you, like, famous or something? Why does everyone know you?"
"Oh… well… I was in the music club, and I've performed on stage before."
Wait, really? How did we not know? (Your guys were too busy making games to notice)
"Let's get out of here! It's too crowded to talk," Gwen said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the classroom. Harry scrambled to follow.
Man, she's strong!
As I was being dragged along, I noticed a chubby guy in our class drawing something on paper.
"Hm? What's up, Peter?" Harry and Gwen stopped to look at me.
I took a closer look at his drawing.
…yep, he's drawing anime.
…huh.
Why not try… making a horror anime game?
…nah, focus on the Baldi game first. Still got a ton of updates to add.
"Do you know that guy's name?" I asked Harry.
"Hm? Oh, that's Ned. He's always sitting in a corner, not talking to anyone. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
***
Somewhere in Vietnam
"Lalala," a boy was sitting on a water buffalo, humming some tune.
"Hey, Tí! Wanna go fishing?" another boy called out, waving his hand. Tí perked up excitedly.
"Of course! Hang on a sec!"
Tí grabbed his homemade fishing rod from beside him and urged the buffalo to follow the other boy.
They arrived at a nearby pond and got their rods ready to fish.
"This time, I'm gonna catch a fish!"
"Heh, bet you'll just catch a tiny one again," the other boy teased.
"Just you wait!" Tí gritted his teeth, determined.
Suddenly, Tí's rod hooked onto something.
"Hey! I got one!" Tí shouted, pulling on the rod with excitement.
But the rod wouldn't budge, and Tí started to lose strength.
The other boy came to help, but even together, they couldn't pull it up.
"What did you catch? It's so heavy!"
"Why are you asking me?!"
Tí thought for a moment, then glanced at his water buffalo relaxing nearby.
…
"That's it! Pull harder!" Tí and the other boy cheered as the buffalo chomped on the rod, tugging with all its might.
I wonder what that rod's made of to not snap under that pressure?
Slowly but surely, something was pulled up.
"Huh?"
It wasn't what the boys expected. It was… a machine?
"What's this?" The two boys stared, confused, at the machine, which was twice their size. They couldn't see inside because the glass was covered in moss.
"Should we tell the adults?"
"I dunno."
Both scratched their heads. Tí stepped closer, inspecting it, and noticed a button.
"What's this?"
He pressed it, and immediately, the machine released a blast of cold air.
The boys panicked, running back toward the buffalo as the machine's door slowly opened.
A hand gripped the door, and someone stepped out.
It was a foreign man, dressed in military gear with a large star on his chest.
He looked at the two boys and spoke in a low voice.
"…Hey, kids, where is this?"
The boys exchanged confused glances, likely because they didn't understand English.
Seeing their confusion, the man looked around.
"…Wait… This is!"
He turned back to the boys, speaking fluent Vietnamese.
"You two! This is Vietnam, right?!"
"Huh?! Uh, yes, sir."
"…What year is it?"
"20xx."
The man's eyes went blank upon hearing that.
"20xx…? So… xx years have passed?" He staggered back, nearly collapsing.
"Um… Who are you, sir?"
He looked at the boy and slowly answered.
"Steve… Steve Rogers."