"Urban legend?"
A boy at an internet cafe rubbed his frozen, red hands. As winter approached, the cold wind could not be blocked even by the cafe's door. He shouted for the manager to turn the AC up higher. Hearing his roommate's gossip while starting up the computer, he curled his lip in disdain. "How old are you? Still believing in urban legends."
"But don't you think strange things have been happening worldwide in recent years? Like the Australian fires last year—that was the whole of Australia. How many people died? It's said even half of the Western Ocean was lit red by the fire. How could a forest fire be that intense?" Another boy shrank his shoulders slightly in fear as he spoke. "And I have a distant relative in Australia. Ever since that fire, we lost contact. They're likely dead."
"Wasn't that reported to be caused by a new type of energy leak?"
"Then there's the coldest winter reported before..."
"Stop talking about that nonsense. Isn't it all over?" The boy skillfully entered his login code and stared at the screen. "People always create anxiety for themselves like this. Ancient murals with prophecies, famous people dying and being born on the same day, or a celebrity dying the day another is born... Please, so many people are born and die every day. Calling coincidence 'destiny' is too far-fetched. I could say I was born on the same day as so-and-so."
"But aren't you curious? This urban legend is the same type as those cursed videotapes. If there were no source, these rumors wouldn't exist, right?"
"...Curious." The boy turned his head, his eyes like dead fish. "Curious if you can get that recording for me?"
"...I actually can't."
"Doesn't that settle it then?"
The topic ended, but the roommate who loved gossip and news added one more thing: "I heard that the people who fell into a coma after watching that recording have one thing in common: they all watched it at 1:15 AM."
"That specific?" The boy was surprised for a moment, then went back to being indifferent. "Whatever. I'm not going to look for trouble for myself anyway."
...
For energetic students, staying up late or even pulling an all-nighter was common. However, an internet cafe couldn't be full of only students. As the two were in the heat of their game, the cafe transitioned from the noise of the early night to the silence of the late hours.
1:15 AM?
His companion's words just now made the boy a bit concerned. He checked the time in the bottom right corner from time to time. It was now 1:10 AM, five minutes away from 1:15. The boy had a strange feeling, like the indescribable sense of crisis many people feel on the eve of a disaster—it made his heart flutter for no reason.
Then, because of his distraction, his character in the game died. While waiting for respawn, he stared at the bottom right corner, the numbers ticking toward 1:15 one by one.
At 1:14:50 AM, his character respawned, but he didn't control it to rejoin the fray. Instead, he stared at the time as if possessed.
Three seconds...
Two seconds...
One second—
The time reached 1:15 AM.
But nothing happened. The boy sighed in relief and laughed at himself; he actually believed it...
Thump.
The sound of a head hitting a keyboard made the boy freeze. Then he noticed his companion's character in the game was jumping around wildly. After being discovered by an enemy, it was killed in two hits.
What...
He suddenly thought of something and turned toward his companion. The gossipy boy was slumped face-down on the keyboard as if he were dead. And on his computer screen, a recording that had finished playing automatically closed and vanished...
...
Lin felt something was a bit odd. Why did the person who occupied his body prepare gifts for almost everyone, but not for Elysia? This resulted in him giving gifts to everyone else but forgetting Elysia. He had assumed it was already given before he returned, but there was no related fragment in his memory, and Elysia attitude confirmed she had become the "exception."
"Wait."
Lin quickly stepped in front of the pink-haired girl, who was walking out of the cafeteria with a dark face. There was no expression on her crystal-clear skin. This time, Lin had truly made this girl—who usually took the initiative to tease others—angry.
"Let me explain."
"I don't want to hear it."
"I think the reason I said the wrong thing was because that person still hadn't left my head yet." Lin looked at Elysia suspicious gaze and spoke sincerely.
"My dear adjutant, do you know what a girl hates most?" Elysia crossed her arms and said coldly, "It's being lied to her face."
"There's a reason for this..."
"Do you know what a girl hates second most?" In Elysia eyes, something that had never appeared before seemed to emerge. "It's making excuses after being caught."
"..." If Lin continued, there would likely be a third, fourth, and fifth thing she hated. All of these summarized would be that she hated him.
"Then do you know what a man likes most?" Lin asked, spreading his hands calmly.
"What?" Elysia instinctively asked back.
"He likes smart, clever, well-behaved, cute, bright-eyed, beautiful, shy, and lovely girls, of course."
"..."
This unexpected and blunt "confession" made Elysia face flush. She felt that person might really not have left, or perhaps he left a bit of silver-tongued nature in Lin head.
"Don't misunderstand, I didn't say I 'like' you." Lin next sentence made her feel as if a bucket of ice water touched by Kevin had been poured over her head, chilling her to the bone.
"..."
"I meant I especially like you."
Lin felt a slightly subtle pleasure. Seeing Elysia—who usually pranked others and himself—with such a rapidly changing expression was a very rare sight. However, Elysia probably said similar things to others all the time; why did she have a stronger reaction when she encountered the same situation?
It was time to stop. Lin thought for a moment and took out a crudely wrapped small box from his pocket. Since a certain someone hadn't prepared a gift for Elysia, Lin had made this himself using Aponia hand tools; there was no good packaging.
"...Sorry. You're right. Forgetting is forgetting. There's no excuse, and I shouldn't lie."
Lin voice was very calm, as usual, but Elysia could feel a sense of security different from before—it was no longer sharp or dejected, but a well-managed peace and warmth.
"This is just a handmade item. My craftsmanship isn't very good... but I thought since I forgot your gift, I should make one for you personally..."
The box opened. Lying inside was a shining crystal flower of the same color as the girl's hair.