Everyone marched toward the lunch lounge. Lumbering the corridor, we stood in line to enter the lift that would carry us to the fourth floor where the lounge was.

There were hundreds of intelligentsias and I was just one among those in cheery cloak thronging the lift. The building had numerous lifts to accommodate us all to get to the top floor. It would drain our energy if we took the stairs.

I glanced around trying to spot Lanzo yet that boy was nowhere to be found. He might join the first group. And now he was enjoying the luscious food.

"Hey...you want to stay there forever?" I jolted back to reality after a red-haired boy who once argued with Marin admonished me. I stepped into the lift with the other twenty intelligentsia. The lift was bigger than the normal lift so that I didn't have to nudge other people's bodies.

The lift door slid open and we walked out in order. The throng of people strode in line through the path that led to the lounge at the end of the corridor.

I gawked in amazement; it was more like a palace, not a room for people to eat. Why did I feel that the rooms in this academy were designed enormously and luxuriously? How did they fund all this?

The tables and the buffets were arranged perfectly. The servants walked around doing their job providing the visitors with whatever they needed. It was different from the maid in the dorm, they wore uniforms in bright colors, mostly dominated by red.

What was strange was that the levels affected our position in the room. For the sophomore, their tables were just in the right corner near the big door. The Senior ones (third and fourth-year intelligentsia) were seated at the rear of the area. And the freshmen (the new intelligentsia) took a position on the left side of the room while the buffet was on the right side.

"Dylanesa… let's sit over there," Marin recommended to me to have a seat near a group of blond girls. I hesitantly obeyed her, put the tray of my meals on the table, and rested my hip on one of the chairs.

The food flavor made my mouth water, mushroom soup as an appetizer, the main course which was the beefsteak and cupcake as the dessert.

"Hi, Can we join you?" Marin excitedly greeted them. And they didn't care, ignoring us while chatting with one another.

"I came across a handsome boy in the corridor. I am trying to find him in this room. But, he is not here yet." A girl with slanting eyes opposite me started the gossip.

"Well, I am curious what he looks like," another girl with hazel eyes responded.

"Do you know his name?" Marin unexpectedly jumped into the conversation.

"Who are you? We are not talking with you."

"Hi, I am Marin." I admired this gray-eyed girl, Marin. She confidently introduced herself to the ones who didn't even accept her in their circle.

"You successfully ruined my mood." The slanting eyed-girl surged at her feet and took her steps away.

"One thing you have to know, we are all competitors here so don't act like we can be close friends!" That hazel-eyed girl warned Marin. She also left, joining her colleague.

"Do you think I did something wrong?" Marin turned to Dylanesa.

"No, it was just they couldn't see how nice and kind you are."

"That's so sweet."

Unlike me, Marin was an energetic, cheerful, friendly, nice, and attractive girl. Besides, she was talkative. As a new friend, she was too open about her personal life, her family, father, mother, and brother. She was too dominant over me who just listened to her.

"Now, please tell me about your parents, sisters, or brothers. I am eager to hear about them." Her request left me speechless. I didn't have anything to tell about my parents.

"I don't have a brother or sister."

"So, you're the only child in your family. That's great! Your parents must love you so much and they pay all their attention to you only. How delighted it is, you don't have to fight with your brother or sister over toys or food or clothes." I smiled wryly trying to press the misery in my heart. I set my fork and knife on the table.

"My… My parents have passed away. I lived in an orphanage before I came here." The sadness reflected through my hoarse voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that, dude." She touched and rubbed the back of my hand. I forced a smile on my lips, indicating that Marin's words didn't bother me.

"Good day, Miss." A waiter approached us. "I wonder if you like the food." We both nodded.

"The food is great!" Marin commented.

"Thank you. You can reach out to me whenever you need help."

'Sure,"

That humble lanky waiter got back to her work. My eyes kept searching Lanzo yet it was in vain. That boy didn't show up until lunch was over.

The head of the servant thanked all the intelligentsia before we rose from their seat. That fat tall man also apologized for their drawback in serving us.

I thought that they were at least a few of the people in the academy who treated me nicely. This academy seemed horrible after I learned how cynical and curt some students I had met today. But, knowing that the academy still had thoughtful people like the servants, this academy wasn't that terrifying.

I and Marin chose to be the last ones who abandoned the room. We didn't want to jostle with the others and create another quarrel.

Most of the intelligentsia had moved to the bus stop. I parted ways with Marin in the hallways because that girl had something to do with administrative matters. I strolled toward the bus stop yet an urge to have a pee stopped me. I directly ran back inside the nearest building in search of a toilet. As a new intelligentsia, I knew a little about the area of this academy, so I had to sprint around to get to the toilet.

I asked a staff member I bumped into in the corridor. His explanation was too complicated for me to fathom. He described the place in a hustle. I just jogged here and there trying to figure out where the restroom was based on his direction.

Finally, I read the notice on the board that I had to take the right turn to go to the next block. And the toilet was just right in the niche of the first floor of the central building.

I was relieved when I went out of the toilet. My eyes spotted a boy whose pasture matched Lanzo's torso. That boy sauntered outside. I spontaneously ran after him. I missed his track as he lurched too fast. I ceased for a moment. My limbs could no longer walk. I was too tired.

Suddenly, footsteps came behind me but I had no time to spin around. A force struck my shoulder and stole my consciousness. Everything around me turned dark