Economics class dragged on like torture. Mark had no intention of learning things he'd mastered decades ago. He'd lived seventy years, built empires, crashed markets. He knew exactly how fast time moved, how every wasted second was gone forever. Even in this new body, the clock was already ticking.
He spent the entire class watching the game's countdown, feeling each minute slip away. One hour down through pointless lectures.
And somewhere in this school, Alex Sentara was watching the same timer.
The cafeteria at lunch was chaos. Bodies everywhere, voices bouncing off walls, the smell of institutional food that Mark hadn't experienced in decades. His stomach growled but he still grabbed a tray and followed Henry through the line.
"Yeah, now this is noisy," Mark observed.
"Noisy?" Henry laughed. "Be glad the Spencer brothers didn't show up today. This is quiet."
They loaded up their trays and headed to their usual table. Empty seats surrounded them like a quarantine zone. Nobody wanted to sit with the nerds, not even after Mark's earlier display of courage. Social hierarchies didn't shift that fast.
Mark couldn't stop checking his pocket. Less than an hour now. He needed to complete this task, and he was pretty sure Alex would try it. At least Mark knew someone else was receiving these notifications. Alex probably thought he was alone in this game.
"Hey, Mark." Henry was staring at him. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine."
"Your pops just texted asking about you." Henry showed him the phone screen.
Across the cafeteria, Daniel Sterling sat with his skinny friend and two other guys. They kept glancing over at Mark's table, whispering, pointing. Daniel looked nervous.
"You notice Danny keeps staring over here?" Henry said quietly. "Bro, you're so dead."
But Mark saw something different. Daniel was scared. The way he kept looking away when Mark met his eyes, the nervous energy in his movements. He didn't want this fight. Maybe he was worried about getting caught, or maybe the bathroom video had embarrassed him more than anyone realized.
How do I start a fight in here with cameras everywhere? Mark thought, scanning the ceiling. That's when Alex walked in.
Mark watched as Alex moved through the cafeteria with purpose, eyes locked on Daniel's table. He was carrying a full tray, loaded with today's mystery meat and something that might have been mashed potatoes. His stride was confident, calculated. Then, in what looked like a complete accident but was probably anything but, Alex tripped over absolutely nothing and dumped his entire tray onto Daniel's lap.
Food everywhere. Red sauce dripping down Daniel's cheap jeans. Mashed potatoes sliding onto his shoes. The cafeteria went dead silent, that pregnant pause before chaos.
Mark's heart sank. Alex was going for it. He was going to complete the task first, steal the reward right out from under him. But would the system even recognize another player's completion?
Daniel shot to his feet, face going from pale to bright red in seconds. Pure rage. He threw a punch that connected solidly with Alex's jaw with a sound like a baseball bat hitting meat. Alex stumbled backward, arms windmilling, hit the floor hard, and lay there for a second looking genuinely dazed. Blood trickled from his split lip.
"I'm so sorry," Alex mumbled, scrambling to his feet and staggering toward the exit like a drunk. That's the moment he realized it was foolish to follow mysterious notifications without understanding what they meant.
The cafeteria exploded with laughter and commentary. Henry was cracking up next to Mark, nearly choking on his food.
"Seems like your new guy just got destroyed," Henry wheezed between laughs. "Guess who else is about to get beat down?"
Mark waited for the vibration in his pocket. The notification that Alex had completed the task. Nothing happened.
"Wait, was that even a fight?" Mark asked slowly.
"Seriously? That was a massacre. Dude just got knocked out on his first day. That's got to be some kind of record."
Sure, that was not a fight. Understanding hit Mark like lightning. A fight required both people to actually fight back. Alex had just taken a beating and run away. The game wanted a real fight.
Daniel was getting ready to leave, still wiping marinara sauce off his pants and cursing under his breath, when Mark stood up. Every conversation in the cafeteria died and students turned to watch, sensing blood in the water.
"What is this nerd thinking?" someone whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Mark walked straight toward Daniel's table, each step feeling like walking to the gallows. Daniel saw him coming and his expression cycled through emotions. Annoyed to angry to calculating. In a cafeteria full of cameras, getting into another fight would mean the principal's office for sure.
"What do you want, Lidorf?" Daniel asked slowly, voice tight with forced control.
Mark leaned in close enough that only Daniel could hear. Close enough to smell his cheap body spray and cafeteria food. "Pussies beat weak people."
Then he shoved Daniel backward hard enough that the bigger boy stumbled into his own chair. The cafeteria sucked in a collective breath.
"Show me what you've got, big man!" Mark said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Phones came out instantly. At least twenty students started recording, probably already mentally composing their TikTok captions. This was going to be viral within the hour.
Daniel's face went dark, that ugly shade of red that meant violence was coming. He couldn't back down now, not with everyone watching, not with phones recording everything, not with his reputation already damaged by the bathroom video.
He came at Mark with everything he had. A wild swing that Mark managed to dodge, then Mark threw a punch that actually connected. Daniel stumbled backward into a table.
That was easier than I thought, Mark had time to think before Daniel's fist crashed into his face.
Pain exploded across Mark's cheek. His glasses flew off, clattering somewhere across the cafeteria floor. The world immediately dissolved into shapes and colours, everything blurring together like a watercolor painting left in the rain.
He hit the floor hard, tasted blood. The game device in his pocket buzzed once, confirming task completion.
Then Daniel was on top of him, raining down punches. Mark tried to cover his face, but this body was weak, untrained, completely unprepared for actual violence. Each hit felt like getting slammed with a hammer.
What on earth was I thinking?
The cafeteria noise faded to a dull roar. Somewhere far away, Mark heard teachers shouting, students screaming, Henry calling his name.
Then everything went black..