there is no i in teamwork

“Don’t think. Just step back. Blend into the crowd.”

What the hell was going on? It was kind of hard not to think when the Entity in his head had abruptly switched from robotic otome game instructions to a man’s voice, and he couldn’t help but compare it to how Halie had said the heroines from otome games generally didn’t have voice actors until they got anime adaptations—

“Stop that. Focus.”

“How do you expect me to focus?” Orion hissed through gritted teeth, clutching the side of his head. His ears were still ringing from the loud screeching noise earlier and his heart was thumping wildly off-kilter in a panic because so much was happening at once he couldn’t process—

“Shh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. This is the only way you’ll get a chance to rescue her.”

Rescue who?!

“Who do you think?” the Entity said snidely, using all of its voice acting budget to throw a heart-rending display of emotion at him. “Halie is in trouble!”

“Huh?”

“On your left!”

Orion glanced up to see one of the council members striding toward him, leaving the other dude behind to question another bystander. Was he acting too suspicious? Halie was in trouble—what did that mean? What the hell did that mean?!

“They didn’t see you come in with her,” the Entity said, its voice urgent. “Ask what the commotion is all about. Be humble. Be respectful.”

There was no time to think, no time to question any of that. The bearded council dude stopped a few paces away, and Orion nodded at him in acknowledgement while his heart was still on overdrive.

“Uh, good morning…sir,” he said, feeling very stupid. “I was wondering. So uh, what’s the commotion? All about?”

Thankfully, the council guy took all his awkwardness in stride. “You haven’t heard? A request came in for taboo information.”

“We lucked out. This one seems to like gossiping. Prompt him.”

Orion nodded jerkily. “A request?”

He just hoped the Entity was right about that. The request for taboo information had to be from Leonis—right?

“I’m always right. Now, be patient. We don’t know everything yet.”

The Entity had gotten weirdly talkative now that it had a voice actor. Orion could sense its immediate flood of displeasure because it could probably hear what he was thinking, which was a sign to stop thinking about stupid shit.

“Pay attention.”

A reminder that was right on time, because it was difficult to be paying attention to two conversations at once.

“You know,” the council dude was saying, “about the traitor, Viriadian. And get this—the request came from none other than his twin sister.”

So none of this was making any sense to Orion at that moment. None of the pieces were clicking, none of the math was mathing. But something in the air seemed to freeze. He could sense the Entity’s anguish, fear, and panic all at once. It was something that wasn’t shown in words or text, just a feeling wrenching in his gut, but it hit him all the same.

And in the next moment, he suddenly knew.

“Say, ‘wow, you sure know your stuff’,” the Entity said hollowly. “And then excuse yourself.”

They’d taken Halie, Orion realized, panic flooding into his heart. Somewhere, something went horribly wrong. He should’ve figured it out sooner, like when she’d vanished into the crowd. He should’ve figured it out that when they were talking about seizing her, it had been about Halie this whole time.

“Say, ‘wow, you sure know your stuff’,” the Entity repeated.“And then excuse yourself.”

Orion faced the council dude, masking the rising panic in his throat with the most neutral expression he could muster.

“Wow, you sure know your stuff,” he managed to choke out. “And then excuse yourself.”

-

Once Orion cleared his head and followed the Entity’s lead on autopilot to gather more information around the town hall, many things began to come to light. Leonis never came by to submit his incriminating clay tablet after all. Instead, the council had received an anonymous tip that a green-eyed girl from the insurgent group Caeruleum would come by with a request that would shake the foundations of the very city.

“Shit,” Orion said. “Someone set her up. I think.”

“You think? This was 100% a set-up.”

Now that he’d gotten over the initial shock of everything falling apart in front of him, it was reassuring to have the Entity’s presence to fill the space Halie left behind. So much that he didn’t even feel like questioning it.

“Ha, you thought,” Orion muttered under his breath, sidling closer to the wall to avoid being overheard. “What the hell are you? Why are you in my head?”

“Does that matter right now? We have more important things to worry about.”

That was true, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. But it was still unsettling to have the voice living in his head take on a distinct character voice. It was so much easier to follow the instructions of some unknown entity. Now it was just some guy talking in his head. Orion didn’t want to listen to that guy.

“I am the game system of A Study on the Former Love Interest,” the Entity said grandly, and visuals of a text box and character sprites flickered in his head. “Whether you trust me or not, I exist to be your guide.”

“So if you’re supposed to guide me, how the hell did we get into this situation?”

“It doesn’t matter. We just have to go rescue Halie.”

Orion glared furiously at the peeling paint on the wall. “How could you let them take her? If you’re the literal game system or whatever, aren’t you supposed to know everything? Control everything?”

Silence.

That meant it, too, knew that it had fucked up.

“...”

“Just tell me what you need me to do,” Orion said in a low voice. “I’ll save her.”

“First, we need to find Aries. If it’s him, we might…”

He didn’t like how unsure the Entity sounded when it trailed off, but he shook off his misgivings and scanned the crowd. The hall was still packed with people forming a disorderly line, and he glimpsed the occasional council member stopping to answer questions from passersby before hurrying off. He was starting to recognize their uniform, mostly because the council people were roaming around with a purpose instead of staying still.

But he still couldn’t find that guy.

“Can’t you do something?” Orion asked, trying to remember what colour Aries Buragandy’s hair was again.

“It’s burgundy, idiot. Turn a little to the left. I can only view the world through your gaze.”

“Yikes, that’s not alarming at all,” he muttered, but he still complied. He took extra care to stare into the sea of people so hard that his eyes started blurring. “See anything?”

“Wait. Stop.”

In his mind’s eye, the Entity circled a head in the crowd like drawing in MS Paint with a mouse.

“That guy? But he’s walking away—”

“Go after him!”

So he did, breaking into a jog as he awkwardly squeezed his way through the tiny spaces between clusters of people. Aries’s long cloak fluttered behind him as he turned the corner, just as Orion managed to catch up.

“Aries! Wait!”

“Follow my lead. Don’t say anything out of line.”

Aries had turned around, his eyes widening when he saw Orion panting and wheezing behind him.

“Are you quite alright, Orion?” he asked worriedly. “What happened?”

“Say, ‘the girl that saved me…I heard…’”

“The girl,” Orion repeated, barely getting the words out because he was so out of breath. “That saved me…I…heard…”

What came next? Was that it?

But the Entity remained silent for a moment, and in between that time, Aries spoke again.

“Did you realize it was Viriadian’s sister?”

The sudden shift in his tone set off a warning bell in Orion’s head. It was amplified by the Entity's misgivings flooding through him, sending him into an even worse spiral of panic.

It didn’t sound like Aries was willing to help Halie at all.

“You’re right. This isn’t going to work.”

Huh? Then why did they even bother—

The Entity’s voice grew solemn. “Tell him ‘you were right about picking random people off the ground. I’m sorry’.”

Hold on, Orion thought they were here to get Aries to help them. Was this really the right choice? They were going to give up, just like that?

“He’s not going to help us,” the Entity said. “His affection levels for Halie are at 0%. Now say it. ‘You were right about picking random people off the ground’.”

0%...?!

He repeated what the Entity told him to say, hating every word of it. Aries laughed heartily and smiled with his mouth but not his eyes. He told Orion to take care. He told him that he knew he’d just keep picking up people off the ground anyway, but it was nice to hear.

0%...

So this was an Aries Buragandy that gave up on someone that could’ve been his soulmate in another life. As he walked away, Orion was overwhelmed with a bittersweet feeling that lingered in his chest, wondering if things could’ve been different if Halie hadn’t chosen Magnaolia. Halie had chosen him, after all, with every piece of her heart.

And now they were back to where they started.

“Hey Entity, game system, or whatever,” Orion said, watching Aries’s retreating back. “Now what?”