In April, the classroom was bathed in perfect sunlight, with a gentle breeze drifting in through the windows.
Most of the cherry blossoms outside had already fallen.
The few that remained stubbornly clung to the branches, and whenever the wind blew, several pink petals would flutter softly to the ground.
The students in the classroom were scattered about — some chatting, some scrolling through their phones, some resting their heads on their desks to catch up on lost sleep, while a small group had huddled together to discuss their plans for the upcoming weekend.
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a blinding glare across the desktops.
Renji Hayakawa sat in the last seat by the window.
Renji propped his chin on one hand, his gaze fixed on the desk — or, more precisely, on the system panel that only he could see.
[System: Obsessed Youth].
[Currently Performing: ‘Scream’ x ‘My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected’].
[Starring: Renji Hayakawa, Hachiman Hikigaya, Yukino Yukinoshita, Yui Yuigahama, Iroha Isshiki, Shizuka Hiratsuka].
[Cameo: Haruno Yukinoshita, Komachi Hikigaya, Shō Tobe, Hayato Hayama, Yumiko Miura, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, Yamato, Ooka, Ayaka Totsuka, Hina Ebina.]
[Renji Hayakawa (Ghostface)].
[Ability: Master of Stealth and Tracking, possesses the special ability Nightfall — Surveillance.]
[Nightfall: After using Nightfall, your pure presence is significantly reduced. If used at night, the effect is doubled, and the thick darkness makes you nearly invisible.]
[Tail Trail: While Nightfall is active, a tracking effect is also applied. Main actors or guest characters within 100 meters will inexplicably feel a sense of unease, and you will be able to see their aura regardless of obstacles — this is known as Clairvoyance.]
[Phone Game: Ghostface loves to use threatening phone calls before the show begins to terrify the other party. You can spoof virtual numbers to avoid being traced.]
[Additional Perks: Game Afoot, Superior Anatomy, Terminus, Tinkerer].
[Tinkerer: Relentless, brutal destruction only accelerates the target group’s reaction time. The Master grants powerful skills capable of bypassing almost any mechanical lock and creating diversionary traps.]
[Superior Anatomy: You will possess unparalleled physical attributes — faster, stronger, and more dangerous than anyone else.]
[Terminus: You are an outstanding tactician with powerful strategic planning abilities. When a target attempts to call for outside help, this skill provides its strongest effect, blocking their communication and rescue channels for 10 minutes while revealing their aura to you. Each target can only be activated once.]
[Game Afoot: Intense excitement during the pursuit of a target drives you to chase even faster, increasing your endurance by 10%.]
In addition to the assassin’s innate strength, the system had granted Renji four extra perks.
At first, Renji genuinely didn’t know what the system manual meant by “where youth went.” He simply called it the “Dawn Assassin System,” almost adding extra accessories to it.
According to the system’s basic prompts, if each completed storyline was good enough, Renji would receive a large number of rewards based on his performance after the show ended.
The system evaluates based on three criteria: Search and Pursuit, Fear Intensification, and Hunt and Kill.
Of course, during the performance, nothing was real — it was all fabricated.
No matter how long the performance process lasted, the real time passing in the real world was merely the duration of one night, or a single dream.
“Youth?” Where is the youth in this?
Renji muttered to himself.
After all, whose normal youth ever had anything to do with Scream?
Shouldn’t he have gotten a romantic comedy script instead?
Why did it have to be a slasher scenario?
Naturally, the system gave no response.
Fortunately, the whole game was fake; otherwise, Renji truly wouldn’t have known what to do.
This lousy system had only told him a few things during the initial boot-up, and never interacted with him further.
Honestly, Renji suspected that some malevolent god hidden in black fog might be behind this system.
He was simply their worker — if he performed well, they would reward him.
Renji sighed, averted his gaze from the system panel, and casually scanned the classroom as if nothing had happened.
Sobu High School, Class 2-F.
Renji recognized most of the faces in this class.
Of course, it wasn’t that Renji was particularly close to them.
In fact, for some reason, he had only transferred here a few days ago and had barely exchanged a word with most of his classmates.
If he greeted them, ninety percent would probably stare back with a look that said, “Who are you?”
Hachiman Hikigaya — the dead-eyed guy sitting in front of him — always exuded an aura that felt out of place here.
Hayato Hayama — the blonde, handsome guy standing in the center of the classroom, surrounded by a group of boys and girls — was the current core of the class’s main clique.
Yumiko Miura — standing next to Hayama, a blonde, beautiful girl — radiated a natural sense of superiority.
There were other familiar figures in this school too; in fact, quite a lot of familiar faces.
But judging by the current state of the system, Renji figured that none of these familiar faces would be able to escape — not even those from other schools.
Because the most popular Scream scenario hadn’t been given directly by the system, but rather through Renji’s own draw.
He had spotted several familiar scripts during the lottery.
Halloween, Ghost Street, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, FNFA…
Who knows what expression Renji had on his face when he saw those scripts — each with its own unique flavor — during the draw.
For now, Renji’s attention was fixed on one person: Shō Tobe, who was also part of Hayato Hayama’s current clique.
That guy was standing next to Hayama, boldly resting one hand on his shoulder, laughing loudly.
He was wearing a rather flashy T-shirt, and by his feet sat a new sports store shopping bag — probably some recently bought sneakers or something fun he wanted to show off.
He was speaking so loudly that even several rows away, every word was crystal clear.
Renji didn’t need to eavesdrop at all.
“For real?” That store is really that amazing?
The place I went to last time was terrible.
I dropped almost 20,000 yen on a pair of shoes, and after a week of wearing them, the glue actually came off!
Isn’t that ridiculous?