Jeff had just endured the darkest day of his life.
Back when he'd been an apprentice at the Mage Tower, he'd thought those were the hardest days he'd ever face.
He'd only had to get up at six, start his apprenticeship at seven, and finish work at seven in the evening.
But this day's torment had started at five in the morning and lasted until eleven at night.
The morning run was baffling. Their homeroom teacher had insisted they run in a tight formation, so close together they could barely stretch their legs.
Run one step too fast and you'd ram into the person in front of you; run one step too slow and the person behind would ram into you. It was a nightmare!
He didn't have any unusual tastes, and he didn't want to accidentally bump into a classmate!
As he ran, he kept thinking about a classmate from his real life and the terrifying urban legend he'd told him.
Apparently, someone had dressed up as a woman and gone on dates with men.
The really bizarre part was that when the men found out he was a man, they didn't leave. They said, "Well, we're already here," and went along with it!
Was he going to end up like that, too?
After the run came the despair of morning study, where everyone had to shout out the material they'd memorized.
Even trying to catch up on sleep during class was impossible. That damn homeroom teacher would appear at the back door like a ghost, without warning.
The only break they got, PE, had been changed to Basic Runes.
The only way to get food was to run.
And when school was supposed to end, there was still evening study!
Why did evening study have to go on