Chương 3: Hallucinations of Past

"WHY IS MY SCHOOL HERE?" I shouted, my voice echoing through the cold air. I could not see my face, but I knew I must have looked as tired and disgusted as I felt.

This place, this endless white wasteland—and now, my school?

It didn't make any sense. A place I once hated, still do for many reasons, filled with old memories I did not absolutely want to relive.

I was beginning to wonder if this place really is some kind of punishment.

I stood there for what felt like hours, just staring at my old school, intensely. Was it real? Or a hallucination? I couldn't tell. As I my touching was numb.

My school, standing alone in the middle of nowhere.

I used to enjoy my time there, back when things were easier with my friends. But that all changed after I failed my final exams two years in a row. That's when I realized life wasn't some anime or drama—I was stuck in reality.

And that failure led me to choose the path of a writer.

"Is this some kind of cruel joke?" I muttered to myself, but the 'answer was just another question.'

Yet, I had this gut feeling that whatever I was seeing... it was connected to me somehow. More then just trauma.

Like a shadow of my past, creeping up on me when I least expected it.

I had to know. I had to see what was inside.

The entrance doors were wide open, like they had been waiting for me. To trap me inside, once more.

I couldn't regret not going, so I stepped in.

As I moved through the school, something was really bothering me. I couldn't shake the feeling that this place wasn't just empty—it was wrong.

There were no stairs leading up to the second floor. Just... walls, and empty classrooms, as if the school had forgotten it even had more floors.

"Seriously, this place makes no sense," I muttered, but then again, none of this made sense.

As I walked by, I peeked into every classroom. Every single one was the same: empty. No chairs, no desks, nothing. Just blank rooms filled with silence.

But on the bright side, at least I didn't encounter any monsters or ghosts.

Then I stopped dead in my tracks when I reached the 10th class.

This one wasn't empty.

There was something written on the blackboard in messy white chalk. A fragment of a poem, with some lines missing.

"Little ■■ of kindness,

■■ ■■ of love,

Make our ■■ ■ Eden

■■ ■ Heaven ■■."

I felt a lump in my throat. It was just a dumb little poem, right? But as I read it, something stirred inside me, a wave of nostalgia that I couldn't quite explain.

I remembered this poem. Like there was some connection.

But what? And why?

I stood there for a moment, staring at the blackboard, letting the words sink in. Then my eyes caught on a word—Eden.

It was just one word, but it stood out like a flashing neon sign.

"Eden..." I whispered to myself.

Maybe it was a sign. A clue. Or maybe I just needed something—anything—to hold onto in this twisted version of my world.

Either way, I liked the sound of it.

"Yeah... Eden. That'll be my name," I told myself.

It felt right, somehow. Like I was reclaiming something I didn't even know I had lost. Maybe it held the key to getting out of this snowy wasteland. I repeated it—my new name—under my breath a few more times, like I was testing it out. Eden.

But as I stood there, something else hit me—a name I hadn't thought of in ages: Guu School.

Back when I was in school, one of my friends had called it 'Guu School' as a joke. In their language, Guu meant 'shit.' Yeah, that was just the kind of sense of humor we had back then.

I let out a laugh, but it felt hollow in the empty room. Come to think of it, I don't even remember them, or why we fell apart.

I looked around the room one more time, feeling that strange mix of nostalgia and unease.

"Guu School," I whispered. "Of all the places to end up in, why my school? Was it to get my name, or something else?"

CHIME*.

As I was sinking deeper into my endless thoughts, I heard something—a chime, faint and distant. My mind went blank for a second. But as soon as I turned towards the direction of the sound, there was nothing.

Nothing but the snowy field and open sky...

The school had completely disappeared, as if it had never existed.

I stood there in the snow, staring at the empty space where it had been just moments ago. My mind raced.

Was it all a hallucination? Or was there something more to it?