We… … … … seven laments.
We are… … … … the topic of Jericho.
"It was my mistake."
"My decisions…"
"Oh, student, thanks for waking me up."
"And… yes…?"
"Wait, wait a minute?!"
I hurriedly stumbled off the train, a student's urgent voice calling after me.
Did I leave anything behind?
The wallet in my breast pocket and the cell phone in my pants was still there. Only they remained. Everything else around me was unfamiliar, alien.
"But… where am I…?"
I tilted my head and glanced back. The train had vanished without a trace. When I looked forward again, I was standing in the middle of a street that didn't look like anywhere I knew.
"…?"
People bustled past me. Tall girls, who looked like students, carried guns nearly as big as their torsos—or held them casually like cell phones.
A faint, strange halo floated above their heads.
Then it hit me.
What I had been doing just before I fell asleep on the subway…
And then I saw it—my reflection in the shop window, and the faint halo floating above my head.
…In this game, the main character was definitely supposed to be a teacher, right?
But here I was, a person with a halo over my head, someone I couldn't even tell was a teacher or a student.
And to make things stranger… I was in the body of a young girl.
I plugged in my earphones on the subway and started the game. Usually, these types of games begin with some character shouting the game's title for all to see.
I didn't want to be the center of attention on this crowded train.
"Hmm…" I mumbled, half-asleep. "…So sleepy…"
Tonight, the part-timer who was supposed to cover the shift had left without notice, and I'd stepped in as a substitute until the boss returned.
I hadn't expected the boss to be late—then again, maybe this was just his subtle way of making me work overtime.
Come to think of it, his house was only a ten-minute walk from the convenience store.
"Haam…" I yawned, rubbing my eyes.
I yawned again—and again.
I had to work as a delivery driver at dawn, and I was so tired I felt like I could collapse at any moment.
I glanced at my phone, silently hoping that the café would be quiet tomorrow morning.
I logged in… and a prompt appeared: Enter your nickname?
Nothing came to mind, so I just typed the name of a random animated character I had been watching a few days ago.
I thought it would just start, but no—another message popped up: Download additional data—over 10 gigabytes.
"Slow…" I muttered. The download crawled at a snail's pace, and I yawned again.
I'd been trying to play this game to stay awake, but at this rate, I wouldn't even be able to start it until I got home.
Ugh.
If I just took a deep breath and woke up properly, everything would be fine.
That's what happened. I was playing a game called Blue Archive. I had just started it, got stuck on the loading screen, and couldn't even reach the entrance.
As for the story, I'd only skimmed the compilation episodes on YouTube, skipping most of them except the finale. I only knew some of the character names and traits from memes and community posts.
I don't understand.
If you're going to make me look like an idiot, at least bring someone who knows something about games. Why me—a total newbie? Why drag me into this, you piece of—
Everything around me was full of things I couldn't comprehend.
As I stepped off the train, my suit and pants vanished. In their place was a white shirt and a dress. My wallet and phone, which had been tucked in my pockets, were now clutched naturally in my hand.
The round halo floating above my head… no matter how I reached, I couldn't grasp it.
And this body… the one I'd worked hard to maintain while juggling part-time work? Soft. Frail. My arms felt like they could snap if I hit something too hard.
My 3rd-generation 450… with this small frame, I wouldn't even manage thirty or forty.
I was weak—too weak even to get on or off the train.
I sighed, flipping open my wallet. No cash. Just a black card and a strange student ID in place of the usual ID.
A colorless student ID.
I carefully pried the wallet open, staring at the card.
The back was entirely white—no English name, no design, nothing. On the front, my expressionless face stared back at me, like my reflection frozen in a window. To the side were my age and a few sparse personal details.
Age: 19.
I leaned closer, scrutinizing my new body, trying to reconcile the words "19 years old" with the unfamiliar figure before me.
She had curly, yellow hair cascading down to her waist, with a single, wiry strand sticking straight up. Her eyes were large, round… and tinged with a golden hue.
She was short enough to look up at most of the students and robots passing by—but no matter how you looked at her, she resembled a harmless little chick.
…Nineteen years old?
Even up close, she looked no older than a middle schooler.
I rubbed the age section of the student ID with my finger, half-hoping the number would change. It didn't.
Looking back, that was a bit silly. I could feel the eyes of passersby on me, staring as if I were some strange child.
"Hm."
I cleared my throat and stared at the ID again, ignoring their gazes.
Affiliation… nothing.
The name underneath read: Praline.
And the nickname I had typed when starting the game? It was written exactly as I had entered it.
"Wait… Praline?"
I realized, with a sinking feeling, that I'd made a huge typo. I had typed Liren as Ralin.
I couldn't help it.
"From now on… my name is Praline!"
It was a cute, sweet-sounding name, and for some reason, it felt right.
I slipped the student ID back into its wallet and pulled out the black card next to it.
Pitch-black, as if scorched.
…Was this the legendary teacher's card I'd only ever heard about?
The one that appears at every climax, solving problems like a deus ex machina?
But how… do you even use it?
I flipped the card over. Nothing. No markings, not even a name in English like a normal credit card.
Curious, I walked down the street and slid it into an ATM. The balance popped up instantly.
Even though I had only worked part-time jobs for the past ten years, saving from morning to night, the money I'd earned was still there—expressed in yen.
"I'm not sure…" I muttered.
Being a teacher here wasn't just a title—it was a paid warrior role.
Every few weeks, the community posts would cry blood, rage against the director, and curse the system—but somehow, I had this black card.
And somehow… it was mine.
In this world… maybe it would be okay to use this money to help the students somehow.
I'd never seen a character with the Susanno concept, so I wasn't going to blindly follow anyone just because they handed me some cash.
As I wandered down the street, lost in thought, familiar faces passed me by.
A very picky kid, with thighs that could crush boulders.
A student who remembered Roman.
I didn't know all their names.
Uh… someone else… the name was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't quite remember.
Then a student with wings, impossibly large. A student with an armband and glasses.
And…
I saw someone whose role overlapped with mine.
An external entity. No halo.
A teacher.
Our eyes met for a fleeting moment as he headed toward a Building, and then he followed the three students down the street.
"Huh...?"