Chapter 21: The Interest on the Debt

The alarm pierced through my skull like a knife.

Not my regular alarm. This was different, sharper, almost metallic. My hand shot out from under the covers, fumbling for my phone on the nightstand. The screen glowed an angry red, pulsing like a heartbeat. I squinted against the brightness, brain still foggy from sleep.

DEBT DETECTED: -5 CP.

The words burned across my screen in massive letters. My stomach dropped. Negative? How the hell was I negative? I’d been grinding, completing quests, playing by the rules. The app didn’t just take points away randomly, right?

My thumb swiped frantically across the screen. Locked. Everything was locked. The usual interface had vanished, replaced by this nightmare of red warnings and error messages. Shop items grayed out. Quest log inaccessible. Even my CP history had disappeared behind a massive warning banner.

A new notification materialized, pushing everything else aside.

ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE MISSION ACTIVATED.

My heart rate spiked. Absolute obedience? That sounded way more intense than the usual fetch quests and proximity challenges. This had to be endgame content, the kind of mission that separated casual players from hardcore veterans.

MANDATORY AFTER-SCHOOL EVALUATION – ROOM 3-C – 4:00 PM SHARP.

Room 3-C. The same study room from before, the one Seda had dangled that key for. My brain connected dots at lightning speed. This was it, the boss battle I’d been unconsciously preparing for. The system was forcing a confrontation, no more running away, no more excuses about dying goldfish or stomach viruses.

A second notification appeared below the first, this one formatted differently. Official looking, with some kind of digital watermark in the corner.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE EVALUATION – MANDATORY ATTENDANCE REQUIRED – AUTHORIZED BY EDUCATIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.

My blood turned to ice.

Government stamped. Actual official documentation. This wasn’t just the app messing with me anymore. This was real, legitimate, potentially transcript-affecting consequences. My hands started shaking, phone nearly slipping from my grip.

What if I failed? What if the debt meant I’d already failed? Would this go on my permanent record? Would colleges see this? Would my parents find out?

The panic spiral started immediately, thoughts cascading faster than I could process them. Negative CP meant I’d somehow violated the system’s rules. The evaluation meant accountability, judgment, potential academic destruction. This was bad, this was really bad, this was—

My phone buzzed again. Another message, smaller text this time.

FAILURE TO ATTEND WILL RESULT IN PERMANENT ACCOUNT SUSPENSION AND ACADEMIC CONSEQUENCES.

Permanent suspension. The words hit like a physical blow. All my progress, all my grinding, everything I’d worked for, gone. Plus whatever mysterious academic consequences they were threatening. Detention? Suspension? Actual expulsion?

I stumbled out of bed, legs shaky, adrenaline dumping into my system. School started in forty minutes. I needed to figure this out, needed to find some way to clear the debt before the evaluation. Panic grinding, speedrun strategies, whatever it took.

The app was my only advantage, my secret weapon. Losing it now meant going back to being regular Alfred, the guy who ran away from everything. No way, absolutely not, that wasn’t an option.

I got ready in record time, threw on my uniform, grabbed my bag, and sprinted out the door. My phone stayed clutched in my hand the entire time, screen still pulsing that angry red. The debt counter stared back at me, mocking, permanent.

-5 CP.

Five points. Just five measly points and I’d be back to zero, back to safety. How hard could that be?

School hallways buzzed with the usual morning chaos.

Students clustered around lockers, trading gossip, finishing homework, living their normal, non-debt-ridden lives. I pushed through them, eyes scanning for opportunities. The app had to work, had to let me complete some quick quest to clear this nightmare.

I spotted a group of girls near the vending machines. Three of them, all from my year, all potential targets. My thumb hovered over the app’s scan function, ready to deploy whatever quest appeared.

The screen flickered. Then went blank.

TARGET INCOMPATIBLE.

The words appeared in harsh red letters. Below them, my phone started heating up, temperature rising fast enough that I almost dropped it. What the hell? I tried again, focusing on a different girl walking past. Same result. Screen flicker, error message, sudden heat spike.

TARGET INCOMPATIBLE – MONOPOLY PROTOCOL ACTIVE.

Monopoly protocol? I’d never seen that term before. Some kind of high-level system restriction? Maybe beta testing limitations kicking in? The app had been glitching lately, weird notifications popping up, features appearing and disappearing. This had to be another bug, server-side issues, probably maintenance happening in the background.

I tried a third time, targeting a girl from the art club. She was cute, approachable, definitely within my usual wheelhouse.

TARGET INCOMPATIBLE – MONOPOLY PROTOCOL ACTIVE – COOLDOWN: INFINITE.

Infinite cooldown. My stomach sank. That meant no grinding, no quest completion, no way to earn CP from anyone except—

My brain connected the dots.

Seda and Elizabeth. The monopoly protocol only allowed interactions with them. The system had locked me into their route, no alternatives, no backup plans. Smart from a game design perspective, forcing commitment to chosen love interests. Absolutely terrible for someone currently in CP debt who needed quick points.

The phone cooled down slowly, screen returning to normal. The debt counter remained unchanged, glaring, permanent.

-5 CP.

I checked the time. Three hours until the evaluation. Three hours to somehow earn five points from two girls who’d probably rather watch me suffer. Great odds, truly inspiring confidence.

Lunch period arrived with all the mercy of a execution date.

The cafeteria noise hit like a wave, hundreds of conversations blending into incomprehensible static. I grabbed my tray, found my usual corner table, and tried to strategize. The app’s shop remained locked, all items grayed out with little padlock icons. No power-ups, no advantage items, no emergency CP boosters.

Debt mode had stripped everything away, leaving me with basic functionality only.

My phone buzzed. New notification, purple text this time.

REMINDER: EVALUATION IN 3 HOURS – CURRENT DEBT: -5 CP – PREPARE ACCORDINGLY.

Prepare how? The app wasn’t giving me tools, wasn’t offering guidance, wasn’t doing anything except counting down to my doom. This was like showing up to a boss fight with starting equipment, no healing items, and half your health bar already gone.

I opened the app’s main menu, desperate for any option I’d missed. The interface looked different in debt mode, stripped down, minimalist. Most buttons had vanished entirely. Only three options remained visible.

STATUS – MISSIONS – EVALUATION.

I tapped STATUS. A simple screen appeared, showing my current CP, my debt amount, and a timer counting down. Nothing helpful, nothing actionable, just cold hard facts about how screwed I was.

MISSIONS showed only one entry. The Absolute Obedience Mission, locked until the evaluation time. No details, no preview, no hint about what I’d be facing.

EVALUATION displayed the government notice again, that official stamp glaring at me like a judge’s gavel.

I was going in blind. Completely, utterly blind.

The afternoon crawled by with agonizing slowness.

Each class felt like an eternity, teachers droning about subjects I couldn’t focus on. My phone sat heavy in my pocket, that red glow occasionally visible through the fabric. Other students noticed, shot me weird looks, probably thought I was watching something inappropriate.

If only they knew the truth.

Final period ended at 3:45. Fifteen minutes until judgment. The classroom emptied quickly, everyone rushing toward their afterschool activities or freedom. I stayed seated, gathering courage, preparing mentally for whatever waited in Room 3-C.

My phone buzzed one final time.

EVALUATION BEGINS IN 10 MINUTES – PROCEED TO ROOM 3-C – ROBO-WALK PROTOCOL RECOMMENDED.

Robo-walk. Right. The app’s automatic movement feature, the one that had walked me straight into situations I’d normally flee from. Made sense for a mandatory evaluation. Can’t run away if your body’s on autopilot.

I stood up, legs moving without conscious input. The robo-walk engaged smoothly, muscles responding to commands I wasn’t giving. My feet carried me toward the hallway, toward the stairs, toward the third floor.

Other students passed by, heading in opposite directions, living their normal lives. None of them were marching toward academic doom with negative CP and a government-stamped evaluation notice.

The third floor hallway stretched empty and quiet. Most students had already left, clubs hadn’t started yet, creating this weird liminal space where time felt suspended. My footsteps echoed against tile flooring, steady and mechanical.

Room 3-C’s door appeared ahead, plain and unremarkable. The same door Seda had invited me through days ago, the same offer I’d rejected with that stupid goldfish excuse. Karma really did come back around, apparently with interest and late fees.

My hand reached for the doorknob, movement smooth and automatic.

This was it. Boss battle time. Sink or swim. Win or face permanent account suspension plus mysterious academic consequences that definitely wouldn’t look good on college applications.

I twisted the knob, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

The debt counter glowed bright red in my peripheral vision, a constant reminder of exactly how badly this could go.

-5 CP.

Time to find out what absolute obedience actually meant.