Mutagen

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The next day, Mark's life continued on. His daily routine as a college student started around five-thirty in the morning. His daily schedule differed depending on the day of the week. Nonetheless, his earliest classes at school started at either seven or eight in the morning.

Waking up early in the morning was a hassle to Mark today, however. It seemed that his headache had yet to subside. And for some reason, the usual medicine for headaches was not working on him this time around. The most that the medicine he took did was to lessen the pain a little.

Mark already had the idea to skip today's class. However, since one of today's subjects included their thesis preparations before it start in the next semester, he could not just skip. And worst of all, it was the last subject of the day.

After having a cup of coffee and a few pieces of Pandesal, Mark and his father left the house with everyone still asleep. The classes of Mark's siblings were still at noon, so only Mark and his father had to wake up early this whole school year.

Mark went on, following what his daily routines should be. Half-listening to the instructors in class, not putting much effort into everything.

Why? Because he found this life of his as something unnecessarily tedious.

Nothing really drives Mark to have the motivation to do so.

Every single day was just a fleeting scenario in his eyes, to be forgotten when the next day arrived.

The only things that still gave him life in this boring world were the occurrences of man-made worlds for the bored people to enjoy and explore.

These worlds were works of fiction. Computer games, anime, manga, and novels.

That was why it would be no surprise if one would see Mark lurking in internet cafes, either playing or watching others play games.

With his twenty pesos daily allowance, seventy-five percent of it would go to an hour of playing games a day.

What about his lunch then? Unfortunately, it was a pretty foreign thing in Mark's daily schedule. Even if he did not play games, his daily allowance would go to photocopies needed for their lessons. Most of the time, there would not be enough left for Mark to buy food with his allowance. In the first place, twenty pesos was never enough to buy even a small plate of food in the school cafeteria.

***

Time passed, Mark became tired of his daily routines. Well, he was always tired of it. It was just there was nothing much he could do to change it.

However, the change in Mark's outlook was too abrupt and confusing. It was because...

Mark never found the reason for this sudden change.

It started to Mark having less and less time he spent around internet cafes. Even if Glenn and the gang treated him a session of an hour or two, Mark would rarely come with them. The instances became rarer and rarer that they slowly began to not ask Mark anymore.

Nonetheless, no one was ignoring Mark.

The more he changed, his grades rose.

For some unknown reason, Mark began to understand the lessons as if he was already familiar with them. He had the feeling of deja vu. This feeling was not new to Mark. He had dreams before where he saw small things he would encounter in the future. Normally, it would just be seeing unfamiliar places that he would find himself lurking in the future. When the feeling of deja vu hit him, he would remember the dream and piece the puzzle.

But in his current state, Mark could not remember any dream at all. It was extremely strange, yet, a welcome change.

***

The sports season came. Everyone was quite excited.

It was near the time when several all Cavite State University branches would gather at the Main Campus in Indang, Cavite, for a week-long sports festival. The players from each campus would compete with each other and try to bring glory to their beloved alma mater.

This season was the best for those with low academic prowess but high athletic skills. Participating in the competition would guarantee them a passing grade for the semester. It was also why those who were not that sports savvy would also try to participate. It was even if they would just end up as benched players.

In the past, Mark was also interested in this. After all, it would be his actual first sports festival. Furthermore, one of the games would be soccer. One of the sports that Mark was the most interested in.

But... For some reason, Mark refrained to apply and join. Something was telling him not to. The feeling of deja vu struck him again. It was as if he participated in something like this in the past. And for some reason... The feeling of failure lingered in his heart for no reason.

Even so, Mark tried to gather information in the least. The requirements to join and the things needed by the players. It was something that Mark would not do in the past. However, the irking feeling in him compelled him to do so.

And it dawned unto Mark. Since the school was new, they did not have the budget to provide every piece of equipment needed by the players. They would have the general sports equipment such as balls and goalposts. But as for something personal like spike shoes, they could not. The players needed to provide their own.

And Mark was sure. There was no way he would be able to afford those. His family barely had enough extra money for their daily needs. His father's earnings as a tricycle driver were just enough to put food on their non-existent table and save up for the monthly bills.

There was absolutely no way for his family to afford a pair of spike shoes, not to mention that Mark would only use them for a short time.

Mark gave up. And instead, focused on his studies. Nonetheless, he would pass by and watch the soccer players practice with some sort of confusing nostalgia in his mind.

What Mark was doing was strange, even for himself. In the past, he was sure that he would blindly go chase something he liked to do without thinking about the consequences. Mark was that childish. Nonetheless, realizing he was childish was strange enough since it happened for no reason.

***

Mark's days as a second-year college student ended. He became a third-year student with flying colors. And unexpectedly, although it was a bit late, the sudden spike in his academic performance caused the college dean to recommend him for a scholarship. It was something unprecedented since scholarships should only be bestowed on new students. However, the dean pushed it after learning that he was struggling financially.

Of course, there was no way Mark would disagree with that. And because of this, the burden of his tuition on his family was gone. It was a welcome surprise for the family, and they actually celebrated it.

Mark's dull relationship with his family was getting better.

And the best change in Mark of all...

The improvement of Mark's life began to increase his self-confidence, something that was practically non-existent in the past. The only thing that was keeping Mark from breaking down was his childishness. It was a shell that shielded him. An aspect that kept him going in this boring world.

But, of course, it was also a shackle that hindered his growth, both mentally and physically.

And with things finally locking in the correct places, Mark's life became better.

***

Mark's days as a third-year college student did not start without other unexpected events in school.

It seemed that there were three sisters that enrolled as first years, with two of them being quite popular among the students. By what it looked like, those two cosplayers. They were not that popular among the cosplay community, but they sure had the experience.

Mark felt a bit interested. He was quite an Otaku, after all. Not to mention that Carren, Mark's best and worst influence, was a member of that community.

However, it never occurred to Mark to actually interact with those people. His self-confidence might have been boosted, but old ways would not change that easily.

It was until the main event of the year came. The once-a-year Acquaintance Party.

Due to the existence of cosplayers in the school, the theme of the party this year was shifted in their favor. It was also a new thing to common people and surely was an interesting topic.

A cosplay competition, complete with the skit and other things, was planned for the party.

And of course...

Carren dragged Mark and Markron into the fray.

It was not wrong to say that Mark was excited. Even if he was dragged in, it would be his first time cosplaying. As for Markron, he had gone to cosplay conventions before and had enough knowledge to participate.

***

Mark told his parents what was happening in school. They were not against it as could be a good experience for him. Besides, he had done better in the past few months. Mark deserved a reward of some sort.

The Acquaintance Party was still a month away. However, the preparations were already ongoing.

Mark's mother took charge of his clothes for the competition. On the other hand, Mark had to deal with the other props.

And because Mark got a scholarship this school year, they actually had some extra budget to spare.

***

The skits for the party had to be rehearsed, and there was also the display and catwalk.

Although not that unexpected, Mark met the talk of the school, the cosplayer sisters, Elsa and Charmaine. There were also other unusual people among the contestants of the Cosplay Competition. One was Carlo. The grandson of a popular fast-food chain.

Another was quite an energetic woman.

She was Mark's complete opposite.

Mark was an introvert. Silent, and mostly avoid attention. She was an extrovert, noisy, and attention seeker. Height-wise, they were also the opposite. Mark was on the tall side while she was rather short. Appearance-wise, Mark was below average, while she was above.

Most of all...

Mark was a Mark Anthony.

She was a Mary Antonette.

Even the other people present could not help but notice the funny coincidence.

What Mark did not expect, however... These people he did not even know, know of him.

How?

Mark could not understand. However, after talking with Carlo, Elsa, and Charmaine, it seemed that he was quite a topic among the school instructors.

A weird guy who was barely passing in his first and second years was now among the top students in his class. It seemed that his unexpected improvement garnered some attention, making the instructors tell the younger students to follow his steps.

***

Things sure had changed for better or for worse.

It was making Mark feel uncomfortable.

***

One day, the music to be used in the skit and catwalk was shown to them.

Carlo found that the music on his catwalk part was rather long. However, they could not just edit and cut it off abruptly since it would make the transition sound too off. Unfortunately, Carlo was the only person cosplaying for the anime he was aiming for. Thus, his part was unnecessarily wrong.

Looking up to Mark, Carlo asked if they could make a small battle skit. It would work since both their characters were battle types. Furthermore, Carlo's character was a protagonist, while Mark's was an antagonist.

Mark did not mind. However, Mark insisted on a proper choreographed fight for some reason he also did not understand.

And the two practiced on their own.

Carlo wielded a stick like a sword, while Mark was barehanded. It was because Carlo's character was a [Shinigami], while Mark's was a masked blue flame user.

What made Carlo confused was that Mark wore some gadget on his hand, with tubes and what seemed to be a canister.

"What is that?"

Of course, Carlo would ask. It was until Mark began to spurt blue flames from his hand that his eyes turned wide.

"Props."

Mark replied. He did not really know what urged him to make something this elaborate. But he just made it after experimenting and searching things on the internet.

Carlo was amused, asking Mark to improve his props too. However, it was the least of their concern as they began practicing.

Then, an accident happened.

Carlo stepped on a pebble and lost balance mid his attack. However, his hand holding the stick was about to stab Mark in the face. It was an accident, and it happened fast. There was no way for the two to react.

Or at least, should have been...

Mark blanked out as he saw the point of the stick approaching his face. And then, his body moved on its own. Faster than the two could perceive, Mark, bent his body backward, avoiding the stick before he made a few backflips taking some distance away from Carlo.

Carlo fell to the ground. He did not feel the pain, as he stared at Mark in surprise.

Nonetheless, the person in question, Mark, was also shocked. Just what in the world happened?