Chapter 1：One

The game was called Teacher's Pet and the rules were simple.

At the beginning of each school year, participants would each pick one student as their 'pet.' The participant must be with the same pet for one semester, unless he clears all stages of the game early.

The stages of the game are places scattered throughout campus. There are eight in total: any classroom, the library, the teacher's office, the gym, the auditorium, the parking lot, the clinic, and the participant's house.

Rumor has it the participants are all faculty members of a certain Thompson University. The game has been in practice for the last four years, with one Prof. K.M. being the brainchild and winner of the first and third year. The second and fourth year was won by a Prof. R.H. from the Mathematics department.

Players register themselves once a year at the beginning of each term. They must sign up for an account on the game's website, where they will each deposit a thousand dollars in advance to a bank account. Players' progress is monitored via e-mail with a password-protected encryption to watch captured videos online. All videos have a 24-hour shelf life before being permanently deleted on the website.

If a player decides to withdraw from the game, he is penalized another thousand dollars for the remaining participants to share. The rest of the earnings are received by the winner at the end of the game, and the site goes offline until the following year.

The fifth year of Teacher's Pet commenced at the start of the semester, with six participants in total. Most had already chosen their pet within the first week, but two-time winner Prof. R.H. from the Mathematics department had not yet found one to his liking. Just as the subjects he taught, he approached everything with calculation. He was not one to make decisions easily.

A week had passed since the new term started. R.H. was about to wrap up his Statistics class when the door to his classroom opened.

A girl with shoulder-length hair stood by the doorway. She was a petite brunette at five feet, with eyes that were wide with apprehension on her pretty face when she approached him.

"Sorry I'm late," she stammered, handing him a piece of paper. "I just came from the dean's office."

R.H. looked down. It was a notice of her late enrollment.

"Miss Sullivan." He read her name in a low drawl. "Have you been given your schedule yet?"

The bell rang as she uneasily watched the rest of the students leave the room. "Yes."

"Then isn't it a little too late for you to join my class?"

She lowered her head, looking considerably flustered. "I'm sorry, sir. I thought I could make it on time."

"I don't let anyone else enter after I come in." He stacked the papers on his desk with an audible thud. "Don't do it again."

"Yes, sir." She swallowed. "It won't happen again."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Sullivan."

She gave him a quick nod before leaving the room as soon as she'd come.

The cellphone in his pocket vibrated. One new message.

9/12 Recent Updates

Climax: 1-6 PTH CLEARED 9/12 (Video up!)

LordKelvin: Submitted PT A.N.4 9/11

$chadenfreude: Submitted PT R.E.4 9/8

Plutonium239: Submitted PT Y.O.4 9/7

MegahertZ: Submitted PT S.T.3 9/4

R.H. glanced at his watch and scoffed. No wonder he didn't see K.M. this morning.

R.H. looked at the late enrollment notice on his desk for a considerable while before picking it up and leaving the room.