01

  After dinner, I stood in front of the gym. I check the time through my phone, it’s 6:50. Certainly earlier than the usual time but it’s not bad to be punctual. Besides, I might have the chance to catch this Zero off guard if I do so.

  I told One and Two about the paper we found at the cafeteria. Four and Five were busy with something else so I was the only one passing the message. I also told them that I would be the only one going in their alone, with the reason being that it would be much safer if one of us goes instead of all of us as Zero’s body snatching capabilities may be a hassle.

  Obviously, Two completely disregarded my plan, with the only one approving it is One. Which is honestly all the permission I need to go forward with this.

  Of course, doing so took a lot of bravery out of me. Judging by how One described Zero, they’re almost like a ghost. and I’m quite afraid of ghosts. Not because they look scary, but it’s because it’s very hard to hit a ghost.

  So, here I am. About to do something quite stupid.

  I opened the door and entered the gym. Since all the sports clubs are all done for the day, the gym is empty. The gym is so empty that the only thing I can truly point out is that somebody mopped the whole place with lemon, as there some citrusy smell going through the air.

  As I go around the gym, waiting for Zero to show up, I heard a sound. It wasn’t a very noticeable sound. But there was a sound. And it seems to be coming from the gym’s storage room.

  “…Oh come on.” Now this is suspicious. There’s supposed to be no one here at this point. Could whoever be making that sound is…Zero?

  I slowly make my way to the door. As I do, the subtle noise gets louder and louder, to the point where you would be deaf for not noticing it. And just hearing those noises send shivers down my spine. Once I reached the door, I grabbed it and took a deep breath. Whatever is waiting for me on the other side of the door is either something completely normal or abnormal. And unfortunately for me, there’s usually one way to find out.

  I took another deep breath as I opened the door wide open. And there, on the other side. There’s a poor fellow trapped under a pile of boxes. I can only think of one person who would end up like this.

  “Four…what are you doing over there?”

  “Eh? Three is that you?!” Four immediately removed the box from his head. “What brings you here?”

  “I can ask you the same question,” I said as I lift him up. “Are you looking for something?”

  “Oh, no, not really.” Four stretched his arms. “I was just done cleaning the gym.”

  Well, that explains the citrusy smell. But… “Did you clean everything here alone?” I asked him. And he answered with a dry laugh. “A few of my classmates were cleaning the gym with me. But they said they have to leave early because something urgent came up.”

  “In other words, they ditched you.”

  “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing. They just have something more important do than cleaning the gym.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that they ditch you.”

  Four bit his lips. Looks like he has nothing to say.

  “Mind telling me who were the ones that ditched you?”

  “I don’t know.” He scratched his head. “I’m not familiar with them.”

  “I see.” Four’s lying but it’s best to not push him to hard. He’ll talk when he feels like it.

  “…You still haven’t answered my question.” Four locked his eyes unto me.

  “Ah…right. Well, let’s say I’m waiting for somebody. Why don’t you go back to our room? You must be tired.”

  Four shook his head. “I’m not dumb, Three. You’re waiting for Zero, aren’t you?”

  …Right. How could I completely forget that he was the very first person who saw the challenge? “You know about that and you’re still sticking by me? This Zero person might not be too bad but I’m not sure if I can guarantee your safety.”

  “So, you’re saying that I couldn’t take care of myself?”

  “No, of course not. But remember what One said, this Zero can take over bodies. What do you think would happen if all of us go together? Or if it’s just the two of us? If they decided to take over my body then it would be a disaster.”

  “In other words, you plan on going alone against a spirit that can take over your body. Without anybody nearby that could possibly stop you from doing something that you wouldn’t want to.”

  “…Well, when you put it like that…”

  “That was a dumb, Three. I can’t believe One agreed to it. She probably thought it was dumb too and just went along with it to teach you a lesson!”

  “Alright, alright. I get it. Fine! You can stay here with me. But promise me that if anything were to happen to me then get out of here as fast as you can and look for the others. They would know what to do.”

  “…You know, I’ve been wondering about something…”

  “What is it?”

  “You were going on and on how terrible it is if Zero took over your body. But what to do you think would happen if Zero took over mine?”

  “That’s…something I don’t want to think about, actually.”

  Our conversation went to a complete stand still and to pass the time, we sat on the bench as we wait for this supposed Zero to arrive. Then, once the time reaches 7. We started paying a bit more attention to our surroundings, looking for anyone out of place or anything unusual going on with our bodies.

  “Do you feel anything weird, Four?”

  “I don’t think so?”

  Me and Four kept waiting and waiting. We thought that maybe Zero was just a little late so we kept waiting…

  Until eventually, it’s already 7:30. That’s already way too late for me. I don’t know if Zero was just messing with us or it’s One messing with us. And I can’t tell which is worse.

  All I know is that we shouldn’t stay here for too long. The guards will usually start their rounds around that time and I’m not sure if I have the mental strength to make up excuses as to why we are here. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. This whole thing turned out to be a bust.”

  “Hm.” Four nodded his head as he followed behind me. As we reached the door, I turned a glance at Four. There was no reason for me to do such a thing, I just wanted to check up on him. But when I do, I notice something that I didn’t really expect to see on Four’s face.

  It was a smile.

  Now, I’m not saying that Four is a person that doesn’t smile. But the smile he wears on his face is more subdued. This smile is more intense then the one he usually wears. Which forced me to remember some sickening words from One. And if what he’s saying is true and it isn’t some strange joke he pulled with Two then…it’s something I must see for myself.

  “Four…”

  “Yes?”

  I threw my fist at Four, and he responded by catching it with his own hand. “Huh…” This is the first time I’ve seen Four catching an attack by himself. Which, unfortunately, causes my suspicion to rise even higher.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Wh-what was that for, Three?!” Four asked me.

  “Who the heck are you?”

  “What kind of question is that?! It’s me, Four!” He said with a desperate tone in his voice that almost made me reconsider…if it wasn’t for that disturbing grin on his face.

  “Yeah, you’re not fooling me.”

  “Aw, and I was doing such a good job too.” Having been caught red-handed, this person who I assume is Zero, immediately dropped their fa?ade. “What gave me away?”

  “Your stupid smile.”

  “That’s all? That’s disappointing.” Zero let go of my hand and created some distance between themselves and me.

  “Tell me…are you Zero?” I must make sure that the person I’m seeing is the same one they met yesterday.

  They laughed. “Looks like your leader told you about me. But yes, my name is Zero. A pleasure to meet you. Your fist is as terrifying as I thought,” they said as they squeezed their hand. “If you were serious with your attack you could have killed me. But I know you wouldn’t do that to your dear old friend, am I right?”

  “Get out of his body right now.”

  “Or what? You’re going to hurt me? You’ll just be hurting your friend regardless.”

  “…Tch!” I just realized that this is basically a hostage situation, with the major difference being that the one doing it is something that couldn’t be touched. How annoying. “What do you want, then?”

  “Pardon?”

  “You called us all the way here for a game, right? Out with it then.”

  “Ah…right. I did say I was challenging you kids to a game, huh?” They crossed their arms. “I did say that but honestly, I just said that as an excuse me to bring you here.”

  “Then what are you after?”

  “Nothing, really. I just wanted to pass the time.”

  “Pass the time, really? Does Four have to be involved with your boredom?”

  “I can’t talk to people as a ghost and it can get boring being an empty mass without any influence on the world.”

  “Then why don’t you take my body? Staying in that body would just be a bad time for you.”

  “Are you perhaps talking about this young boy’s magnetism towards bad luck? I wouldn’t mind, to be honest. I don’t know what it felt like to be struck by misfortune. And as for you…” Zero scanned my body. Since they’re using Four’s face, it feels weird to see him look at me with an air of disgust. “While it’s tempting to try to feel what it’s like to be inside…that. Four and I happened to be compatible.”

  “Compatibility, huh? Is that why you chose Two instead of One?”

  “You can say that.” Zero raised both of their hands. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to try anything unbecoming when I’m inside this body. I just want to pass the time.”

  “I see.” I scratch the back of my head. “Now what?”

  Zero grinned. “Why don’t we share some gossip? But not here, let’s find a place that’s a bit more private. After all, the guards will be coming soon and I’m sure he wouldn’t like seeing two students doing a bit of hanky-panky in the school’s gym.”

  “ALRIGHT! I GET IT!”

  We left the gym while I was in an incredibly sour mood. The private place that Zero is talking about is the big tree in front of the main school building. Many students came to this place during lunch because of how cool it is.

  When we reached the tree, Zero lied down on the tree trunk. “So, this what it feels like!” They said with a smile on their face.

  I sat down on the grass next to them. Also getting myself comfortable.

  “I’ve been wondering about something,” Zero said.

  “What is it?”

  “Why is your name Three?” They said with an almost dumbfounded look on their face. “I can guess why One and Two are named like that…and to an extent, I know why Four was given such a name. But what about Three? That’s such a random number to give your child.”

  I looked at him with a face I didn’t even know I could make. “Who the hell starts a conversation like that? There’s no way I’m telling you why I’m named that!”

  “That’s too bad.” They looked up to the sky. “Would it make you feel any better if I told you why my name is like this?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Aw, that’s too bad.”

  I stared at the being using Four’s body. At lest they are keeping their word and are not doing anything strange to them…but still. “I never expect my night to turn out like this.”

  “I guess you were expecting something a bit more exciting, huh?”

  “I guess so.”

  They laughed. “Sorry, but that message was just a desperate plea for attention. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “You say that but it took you some time to come to the gym,” I said with exasperation.

  “What are you talking about? I came right on time,” Zero said.

  “Liar. I saw you taking over Four’s body when you make that uncharacteristic smile.”

  Zero raised his brow. “You know that all I have to do is not smile, right? If I make only simple gestures and answer very neutral questions then I might be able to pass of as Four quite easily.”

  Hearing Zero talk like this is forcing the gears in my head to turn. And it’s turning in a direction that I don’t want to. “But that’s impossible! I’ve been with Four this whole time! I would have noticed that something was off!”

  “And what, pray tell, were we doing those past 30 minutes?”

  “We were waiting…and making small talk.”

  “And during those small talks, all I did was nod and give very brief answers.”

  “I thought you were just feeling sick…” The gears in my head are turning faster. “But you were smiling!”

  “And how, pray tell, did you see me smile? Was I smiling in front of you?”

  “…No.” Zero was smiling next to me. And the only reason why I happened to notice was because I decided to steal a glance at Zero. In other words, if I didn’t do what I did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.

  “Though, to be fair, that smile was a mistake on my part. I got a bit too cocky for my own good…Three?”

  The gears in my head refused to stop at this point. The conclusion I’ve reached is simple, it means that for the past 30 minutes, the person I’ve been with wasn’t Two…but Zero.

  “Geez. I didn’t know it would blow your mind that much.”

  “Why…” I managed to get the words out of my mouth. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  They shrugged. “I was bored. So I decided to run a little test to see if you’re as close to Four as you think you are. Though, as you can already see, you failed on that regard.” Zero laughed. It may sound like an innocent, fun-loving laugh, but right now, it sounds like it’s actively mocking his friendship with Four.

  “Get out…get out of his body right now.”

  “Hm. Don’t worry. I plan on doing that. My time is already running out, after all. But before I go, there’s one curiosity I need to address.”

  Even I know I shouldn’t entertain this person any longer, I felt compelled to ask. “What is it?”

  “Why did you become friends with Four? Did you do it because you were seeking a genuine friendship with him? Or were you just feeling pity for the poor little boy that’s down on his luck?”

  Ah…I should have known it was a bad idea letting them open their mouth. “There’s no way I’m telling you that! And why are you so curious, anyway? Our friendship is none of your business!”

  “Oh. It wasn’t me asking that question.” Zero pointed at their…no, Four’s head. “It’s a question that came from your dear old friend.”

  02

  I never did tell a lot of people why I was beating the crap out of those kids back then. The only ones who knew were the Numbers and my parents. But basically, they were bullying a kid.

  There was a kid in my neighborhood that goes by the name of Four Dolor, and according to my parents, he is someone that’s born under an unlucky star. Four was a child of an accidental birth, his parents never intended to have a child, at least not yet but his mother ended up getting pregnant. His father insisted that his mother get an abortion but she wouldn’t have it…his mother ended up dying giving birth to him. And in his grief, he decided to name his own child Four.

  The number 4 is seen as a symbol of misfortune in certain cultures, and in a way, it felt like the father was blaming his own son for killing his own mother.

  Despite his unfortunate circumstances, Four grew up to be a decent boy, but there was one problem, he was terribly unlucky. No matter what happened, things would go wrong for him. To the point where it almost felt like the world is punishing him for being born.

  If you meet someone like that, what would you do? Obviously, you would reach out your hand and help him up. But that’s not what the people in my neighborhood did. Instead, they pick up their stones and threw it at Four.

  I found it unfair. He was already having a hard life as it is, why do they need to make it worse? Do they enjoy kicking someone while they were down?

  The Three back then couldn’t comprehend such cruelty being inflicted on him. So I did the only thing I could do back then, which happened to be excessive violence.

  Thinking back on it, what I did might have been a good thing, after all.

  I opened the door to our dorm room and carefully placed Four unto his bed. When Zero stopped using his body, Four dropped on the ground like a rag doll. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with him physically and Four appears to only be sleeping but I have no clue as to what’s going on with his mental state. I swear if any happened to Four because of that, I’m going to exorcise their ass.

  I dropped my head down, pressing my face against the edge of Four’s bed. Zero’s words kept ringing in my head.

  “…Why…did I choose to become friends with Four?” I asked a question to myself.

  “It’s pity, isn’t it?”

  “…” I turned my eyes to Four. His eyes are looking at the ceiling. No, he’s not looking at the ceiling. He’s looking at something far beyond from what I’m seeing.

  Four stopped staring at what’s above and turned his eyes to me. “Looks like a lot happened, huh?”