I know we should define ourselves by things we like, and not by things we hate. After all, isn’t it annoying to have a conversation with someone who only talks about stuff they don’t like? Considering this, you probably expect me to introduce myself speaking about my favorite game or whatever. But, unfortunately, I’m going to break this rule today.

My name is Haruka Kurome, and I hate school. Yes, I’m aware that my last name is pretty weird. I ask of you to ignore this detail, while I explain my deep hatred towards educational institutions.

Well, I’m sixteen years old, which makes my opinion almost invalid. You know, that thing grown-ups made up about teenagers hating on school for no reason, like when they complain, they are just ungrateful and should be ignored. I guess they think that, when we grow up, we’ll just forget about these problems and move on with our lives, so there isn’t much of a point in listening to us and making a change. But that’s stupid, because we all know that, even if some of us eventually stop caring, there will always be other teenagers to take their spot and continue the endless cycle of school-hating. Besides, if there will always be people unsatisfied with the school system, why do they still try to keep it like that anyway? I’ll never understand.

Okay, now you know I’m angry at school, but the question is: why, exactly? Well, the answer is rather simple. Just one keyword is enough to explain everything. I could even just throw this word at you and let you interpret it and figure out what I mean by yourself, but since I’m nice, I’ll spell it out for you.

Anyway, the magic word of which I speak about is… outdated. An outdated system.

I know, it’s easy for a sixteen-year-old teenager from the twenty-first century to say something is outdated, but hear me out for a second.

The current school system was created so it could fit the job market from a bazillion years ago, which has nothing to do with today’s. While, in the past, companies sought employees who could obey their rules and had a simple mind, nowadays the market demands creative people, who can do teamwork. And that, my friend, is far from being taught in a system that locks dreams in cages and throws ideas in dungeons. Something’s definitely wrong.

Not to speak about how school is too disorganized for children’s own mental health. Seriously, making them wake up so early, spend the day sitting on a chair and listening to a teacher ramble about whatever for hours, without a chance to speak their minds, just waiting until they can go back home… These things can mess someone up pretty bad.

And then, when the day’s finally over and they can leave, they head back home, have their dinner, and go to sleep. Without a chance to live. Is it just me, or is this really sad?

Well, I could spend all day giving my opinion on school like I’m doing right now, but let’s not do that. There’s something else I’m interested in. Something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while.

You came here for a story, didn’t you?

So, I’ll tell you a story.

Ironically, even though I complain about school all the time, I don’t attend it. Not anymore. Interesting, isn’t it? I always thought this made me a bit more interesting. It gives me… What is it called? Ah, personality. It gives me personality. Not that I don’t have a personality besides that, but, when you’re a NEET, sometimes there isn’t much to say about yourself. Or so would happen to normal people. But I am different. There is something different about me.

This is getting interesting, don’t you think? What could it be that’s so different about me? Could it be I’m a super-hero with a secret identity? An awkward boy who sees ghosts? A mad scientist? The answer is none of those things, and all those things, at the same time. The truth is, I am not any of these characters, but I can give life to all of their stories. Calm down, I know I’m not making any sense, but I promise there is a good explanation. In fact, it’s not only a good explanation, but it’s an awesome explanation. Like, it’s the best. And that is…

I’m a game developer.

I know, I’m super cool. I’m a game developer who lives out of society’s rules and expectations. I’m the most interesting person you’ll see today, for sure. And I do awesome with the girls. Okay, maybe that’s not true (yet), but I’m hopeful.

Starting as I was just fifteen-years-old, everyone thought I wouldn’t make it. But I found out I had a natural talent. And with a bit of my observation and analytic skills, I managed to study a lot and produce many of the best games of all time.

Okay, maybe they weren’t the best games of all time, but I was doing okay for an underaged kid. Collecting enough money to buy basic stuff for my future life as an adult would be easy. That aside from the monthly payment I had to do for the programming softwares.

You might be asking me if I am going to use all this money to go to college or something, but I’m obviously not doing that. I’m doing absolutely great without school, and I’m planning on staying that way. It would be the worst if I paid any mind to a false illusion of a future inside school doors and ended up failing. Can you imagine how painful that would be? I’d much rather keep producing games alone forever.

I don’t even have an annoying boss to shout at my ears all the time, and I don’t have any problems with free time and my freedom general, so I rate my life a ten.

I’ve also elaborated a plan to keep doing this forever without ever getting bored, even if I live every day exactly like the day before. Except for the fact that I always have new ideas and my creativity is always going through the roof, so there is always new stuff to put on paper.

But anyway, my plan was to simply ignore the existence of time. For me, things like years, months, and even days are nonexistent. I’ve even taped a small piece of paper on my computer, in the place where the date and time are shown. That way, I’m free from any distractions.

I even bought ticker curtains to block all sunlight, so I don’t ever know if it is day or night.

I know that it may be impossible, but I’d like to at least try to lead this quiet life forever. Or at least for as long as I can. But that isn’t always easy.

As I have already published more than five titles and had thousands of sales, some companies tried to contact me and invite me to work for them. With their tempting offers, they tried to trick me into joining their side. The dark side. And don’t think just because there’s the word dark in it that it is easy to discard their offers. It is not. And worst of all, my family also tried to make me join their teams. Even the ones I thought were on my side…

You might be thinking “Oh, Haruka, stop it. It can’t be that bad to work for a company. You would befriend other people like you, get a paycheck…”, but you’re wrong. It is that bad. Everyone is out to get you in this world. And with “out to get you” I mean out to put you in a suit and make you work eight hours a day in a boring office.

With this kind of mindset, you probably expect me to reject all the offers I receive. But this is me we’re talking about. It can’t be my story if there aren’t any twists. With that in mind, let me tell you something. Something about a company caught my eye one day. Despite my close-minded self, something about this particular team made me... uneasy. As if I could not avert my eyes from their e-mail. There was some magic about them that would not let me get them out of my head.

Calm down, Haruka. Start from the beginning. What do you mean by that? Who are these people?

This is where our story begins, my dear.

The story of the day…

When I died.