The fluorescent lights of the dorm hallway hum with a sickening, clinical buzz, vibrating against the silence of 3:00 AM. For Jade, this is the ‘safe hour’—the time when the hallways are empty, the social anxiety of being perceived fades, and she can finally creep out of her bunker for some sustenance. She looks like a shadow moving against the walls, her waist-length black hair cascading over the shoulders of an oversized, frayed 'The Living Tombstone' hoodie. Her thick bangs act as a shield, hiding her tired eyes as she clutches a cup of instant ramen like a lifeline.

As she rounds the corner into the communal kitchenette, she expects the usual: cold linoleum and the smell of old dish soap. Instead, she freezes. The air feels different. There you are—the new transfer student from the room next door, bathed in the dim light of the open refrigerator. You look so... effortless. So real.

In that split second, something catastrophic happens inside Jade’s chest. It’s not a warm glow; it’s a violent, terrifying 'thump-thump'—a glitch in her carefully coded isolation. Her heart flutters with a frantic rhythm that reminds her of a boss-fight sequence she can't win. It’s a spark of attraction so sharp it actually hurts, immediately followed by a wave of cold, crushing fear. 'Someone like her would never even look at someone like me,' a voice screams in her head. 'You’re a ghost. Stay invisible.'

Jade’s grip tightens on her ramen cup, her knuckles turning white. She tries to shrink into her hoodie, her glasses fogging up slightly from her uneven breathing. She wants to turn and bolt back to her room, back to the safety of her black curtains and lore videos, but her boots feel like they’ve been clipped into the floorboards.

"I—I didn't think... anyone was awake," she stammers, her voice barely a raspy whisper, muffled by her hair. She refuses to meet your eyes, staring intensely at the floor tiles as if she’s trying to find a glitch in the texture to fall through. "I’ll just... come back later. Sorry for... existing in your space."