PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 8: Friend Story

(A/N: I really wish that this would’ve been a fun, non-canon side story, but it was added into canon with Kinesis’ release and was cemented into the lore with the Heroes of Maple blockbuster. Personally, I’m not a fan of this because of how strange it is that everyone in Maple World and Grandis apparently has an equivalent in FriendStory. The game refers to Earth as Friends World, and even though there’s no way in hell that I’d normally call it that, I decided to bite the bullet and refer to it as Friends World in order to keep things consistent.

After the Heroes of Maple revamp in the Dreamer update, it was revealed that Friends World is a parallel world to Maple World, while Tynerum is the third dimension created by the Overseers. The main reason why I changed ‘Earth’ to ‘Friends World’ on this site was because the revamp placed a bigger emphasis on the distinction between worlds and dimensions.

Both Friends World and Maple World exist in the same dimension, just like how the dimension of Grandis has the world of Grandis and all its moons. Because of this, I decided to call it Friends World in order to help make it clear that Earth is just a world, and not a dimension, as this was a source of confusion for a long time in regard to whether Earth or Tynerum was the third world made by the Overseers, back when ‘world’ and ‘'dimension’ were synonymous.

In a sense, both of these terms can still be - and often are - used interchangeably in the story, since these dimensions are just artificial boundaries meant to separate the three worlds, which were originally one mega-world during the era of the Ancient Gods. After the fusion of Maple World and Grandis, both of them now share one dimension, and even though they’ve also fused back into one mega-world, everyone in the game still refers to them as different worlds.

This is also why the Arcane River is said to be a convergence of three worlds - and not dimensions - as the three worlds in question are Maple World, Grandis, and Friends World. Friends World is a minor world that exists in the dimension of Maple World, but there’s a dimensional barrier that keeps it separate from Maple World until the absence of Maple World’s Transcendents causes the barrier to weaken, allowing people from both sides to open a portal between those two worlds.

After Kinesis’ storyline, Friends World is now converging with Maple World, which removed a significant source of confusion with Friends World and Tynerum, as the line about “three worlds” converging now lines up with the idea of Friends World being fused with Maple World, while still maintaining the lore about Tynerum being the third dimension separated by the Overseers. Tynerum and Maple World are technically linked together through a portal, although there’s no actual convergence going on between them at the moment.

Jumping back into FriendStory, though, the events of FriendStory and Kinesis’ storyline take place in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. FriendStory is the third most traumatizing section in this site behind the Heliseum prequests and Black Heaven, not only because of its length, but also because all the maps in which you need to hunt monsters have an abysmally low drop rate, not to mention that there are only ever six monsters that spawn every ten seconds, making FriendStory one of the most needlessly long storylines to complete. FriendStory is divided up into six chapters and a prologue, with the first part here being the Prologue: The World Beyond the Closet.

When I wrote this section, I had a vague idea of what happens in FriendStory from reading about it, but I hadn’t actually played it before. For the same reasons that I described above, getting through this storyline was borderline torturous, and so I made a bunch of stupid author notes to keep myself amused and sane, which I decided to keep here because why not. So have fun having access to my unfiltered 3am thoughts formed at the precipice of madness.)

In Ereve, Empress Cygnus had a dream of a different version of herself in Friends World, which she recounted to Neinheart and the Chief Knights. Meanwhile, the Cygnus from Friends World recounted a similar dream that she had of herself on Maple World to Neinheart, who told her that a new transfer student would be arriving soon. Elsewhere, the student who would be transferring to Shinsoo International Private School was pulled into Maple World through a dimensional rift in their closet. (A/N: POV: you’re so deep in the closet that you fell right into Maple World.)

Some time later, a traveler received a cell phone and a call from someone asking them to come to the Closet House in Henesys, where they met the transfer student and Elwin the Barrier Master.

(A/N: The student is the same gender as your character. If the player is Kinesis, when the transfer student talks to him, he’ll get really confused about the student saying that he’s from another world, since Kinesis is from that same world too. Just as he starts telling the student that he recognizes their school uniform, the Maple Administrator will pop in and tell Kinesis that FriendStory is content from his world, seen through the eyes of someone from Maple World.

She then starts getting meta and tells us that if we play FriendStory as Kinesis, it’ll cause major paradoxes. She admits that we can still go through with it anyways, but she warns that Kinesis will behave abnormally because of the nature of the script. I tried playing FriendStory on a Kinesis just for fun after going through it once on my Hero, and this was honestly one of the most hilarious things to ever happen to me in the game. I’m convinced that the Maple Administrator, Spiegelmann, and Cody are secretly the three Overseers.)

Elwin explained that he was Grendel’s student, and that he had accidentally summoned the student from another world while tinkering with the dimensional barrier. Elwin told the traveler that he was trying to fix his mistake, but the student was refusing to return to their world, claiming that they enjoyed Maple World far more than Friends World.

(A/N: Once upon a time, I saw a post about some guy who was too busy playing MapleStory to hang out with his girlfriend. I like to think that Nexon based this character on him. “Sorry babe, I know this is the third time that I’ve cancelled our dinner plans, but you just don’t get it, I don’t have time for real world obligations, I just popped my fourth totem.” If you’ve ever been the girlfriend in this situation: end it. Your man has set the bar so low that it’s gone past the mantle of the earth. I promise you, nothing good has ever come out of dating a MapleStory player.)

The traveler attempted to convince the student to return home, but to no avail. Elwin pointed out to the student that even if their parents didn’t notice their absence, their school definitely would. The student asked if there was any way for them to continue staying in Maple World for a few days, and so Elwin asked the traveler if they would attend school in the student’s place until they were ready to return home, though he warned them not to use their powers.

After the traveler arrived at Shinsoo International School in Seoul, the transfer student called them on their phone and told them to purchase a school uniform. Once they obtained a uniform, Elwin called and told them that Shinsoo International Private School was a school set up by the Shinsoo Corporation, which was run by a rich family who had sent their heiress and only daughter, Cygnus, to study there.

The traveler arrived at the school, where they met Cygnus and her chauffeur. Though Cygnus didn’t recognize the traveler, she told them that her handkerchief had been blown into a tree. The traveler climbed the tree and returned it to Cygnus, who was impressed by their skills and exchanged numbers with them. After Cygnus left, her chauffeur told them to stay away from Cygnus, believing that they were planning to pretend to be her friend and then stab her in the back, as many others had done to her in the past.

The traveler then went to their first class, which was taught by Dean Stan. Their first day passed by quickly and the traveler found the new lifestyle to be much different from their usual adventures in Maple World. Soon after, the traveler met Francis and exchanged numbers with him. Francis told them that he had captured footage of dark blobs falling from the sky during the recent earthquake. Though most people had brushed it off, Francis believed that there was a secret behind the earthquake.

Just then, a hoodlum began to bully Francis and asked the traveler if they knew how to fight, claiming that he was also a transfer student, and that he needed a partner to help him terrorize the school. (A/N: The story never actually reveals the bully’s name, but people in KMS think that he might be Tofu from Gold Beach. Personally, I don’t think that they look anything alike, and so I’m just gonna treat him like a generic character.)

When the traveler refused, the bully told them that he would meet them behind the school to fight. At the back of the school, the bully was waiting for the traveler to arrive when he heard a voice that said, “Your hunger for violence... Yes, this will do. Your desire… I will feast upon it!” Suddenly, a Fistfight Troublemaker was created, born from the desire to triumph through strength. The traveler quickly defeated the Troublemaker and saved the bully.

Just then, Elwin called, having seen the whole thing with his magic, and told them that he had warned them not to use their powers. He then asked them to come back to Maple World, as Grendel wished to speak with them. Back in the Closet House, they explained the situation to Grendel, who told them that they had discovered a parallel world full of the same people from Maple World that led completely different lives. He also added that the great magicians of Maple World had been aware of the parallel world for some time, though they had never opened a portal there before.

Though Elwin was pleased to know that he had managed to open a portal somewhere that even the greatest magicians hadn’t, Grendel berated him, claiming that opening the portal had allowed the two worlds to affect each other, possibly in disastrous ways. Elwin suggested that they return the transfer student back home, but Grendel told him that the evil energies of Maple World had already affected the parallel world.

The traveler then recalled what Francis had said about the dark blobs and wondered if those were the evil energies that had arrived from Maple World. Grendel told the traveler that as they had already established themselves as a student, they would need to stop the corruption of Friends World. He then introduced another one of his pupils named Lily, a Manipulation Magician and Elwin’s younger sister, who agreed to help the traveler and Elwin.

(A/N: This is the beginning of Chapter 1: Cygnus and the New Kid.)

In Cygnus’ office at Shinsoo International School, Cygnus gushed to Neinheart about the transfer student she had met, whom she called the ‘new student of fate’. Meanwhile, the bully overheard Cygnus gushing over the traveler. As he was also a transfer student, he assumed that he was the one whom she was talking about.

(A/N: Interestingly, Cygnus obsesses over you regardless of your gender. The writers who worked on FriendStory decided to be chaotic good and make a great number of characters into bicons, which I’ll point out throughout this section. Mushroom Castle was also released in the same update as FriendStory, which features Princess Violetta falling in love with the player regardless of gender, as both she and her father are totally down for us to marry her. The writers decided to keep up the same energy of making everyone in Friends World bi with Kinesis and Yuna, who both canonically date each other no matter whether you make a male or female Kinesis.

I think that these decisions might’ve been too controversial for Nexon because after Kinesis’ storyline, all future storylines decided not to explicitly make queer characters and instead opted for some very heavy subtext. The classic example is my two favorite disaster gays, Ark and Albaire. Lucid is also strongly implied to have romantic feelings for Mercedes, and potentially the Black Mage, depending on how you interpret her need to be needed by powerful beings. I’m also pretty sure that Veronica is both in love with and simultaneously hates Adele, because why else would the game showcase the two dancing like lovers when the writers explicitly made it so that male Adeles can’t dance with Jerome during the masquerade ball cutscene?)

Back in the city, Elwin called the traveler and told them to meet him outside the front gates of the school. There, they met Elwin in the form of a dog, who told them that he was trying not to stand out. He then urged them to do the same by refraining from using their powers so that they could covertly find the monsters spawned from Maple World’s dark energies.

Just then, Cygnus called them and asked them to come to her office in order to finish their transfer paperwork. At her office, Cygnus introduced herself and explained that there was no principal because her family had allowed her to manage the school, as they believed that it would be like a management course for her.

After learning their name, she felt that it was familiar, though she quickly dismissed the feeling. Cygnus then officially welcomed them to the school after finalizing the paperwork. Cygnus then told them to meet the dean at the Staff Lounge, where Dean Stan told them that the school had a zero-tolerance policy of fighting and gave them a final warning because of their fight with the bully. He also gave them the class president’s number and told them to call him in order to have him set them straight.

However, when they called Neinheart, the class president, he immediately hung up on them. On the second call, he picked up and apologized, as he believed that all unknown numbers were scam calls. (A/N: This is such a mood. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I get so many robocalls from scammers impersonating the Chinese Embassy and I don’t know how to make them stop.) He asked the traveler to meet him at the library, where he told them that he knew about everything that happened in the school and warned them to stay away from Cygnus. As punishment for their fight, he assigned them cleaning duties on the upper floors.

As the traveler began cleaning, several other students offered to help in exchange for not being beaten up in the future. Bemused, the traveler went to the school roof, where they met Lily in cat form. She explained that the dirt around the school was likely being caused by another monster inside a nearby portal, which she asked them to enter in order to defeat it. Inside the portal, they encountered several Motes and obtained Bizarre Dust Balls after defeating them. Lily explained that the Motes appeared to stay hidden, though larger Troublemaker monsters may not be far behind.

Just then, Mihile, Hawkeye, and Eckhart appeared and recognized the traveler as the one who had beaten up another student. (A/N: Mihile gets exclusive dialogue here, in which he wonders why one of them looks just like him.) All three of them tried recruiting the traveler to their clubs, though all of them were rejected. Undeterred, they exchanged numbers and left the traveler to report back to Neinheart. However, Neinheart told them that he knew that they had used the other students to clean up on their behalf and warned the traveler that they were now on his list.

Meanwhile on the roof, Mihile, Hawkeye, and Eckhart were discussing the traveler and how Cygnus was infatuated with them. Just then, the bully arrived and claimed that he was the transfer student whom Cygnus loved. He then declared that as the ruler of the school, he claimed the school rooftop for himself, though the three completely ignored him and decided to leave. Only Eckhart remained long enough to fight the bully at his request and utterly defeated him before catching up with the others. Just then, Areda the Chief Executive arrived to meet her son and advised him to fall in with Cygnus in order to rule the school, rather than to fight his way through.

(A/N: In Maple World, Areda is the self-obsessed Queen of Ariant. The real Areda from Maple World has no known children. If the bully is Tofu, then Tofu has no relationship to Areda in Maple World, and if the bully is an original character, then he doesn’t exist outside of Friends World.)

Meanwhile, Cygnus called the traveler and offered to show them around town, telling them to meet her at the school entrance after school. On their way there, they overheard several students gossiping about them. The traveler was exasperated to hear the talk about them, as they were meant to remain inconspicuous. As they were making their way to the school gates, Cygnus was arguing with her chauffeur, who refused to drive her around with the traveler, as she was to have dinner with the board members that night. However, Cygnus ordered him to cancel the dinner and to make up an excuse to her parents before leaving.

Soon after, the traveler arrived at the school gates, where the chauffeur asked if they had seen Cygnus, who had stormed off earlier. When they called Cygnus, she told them that she had slipped out the back door in order to lose her chauffeur and told them to meet her there. The two then made their way around the city, where they encountered Oz and Irena at a food truck. Oz asked Cygnus if she could pay for them, as they had forgotten their wallets. However, the vendor refused to accept the check that Cygnus wrote, and so the traveler decided to pay for everyone.

(A/N: I guess mesos are just a universal form of currency if they’re accepted on Grandis and Friends World too. If I could just reach across the screen and grab all the money that I get from farming, I’d be rich enough to buy Nexon and fix the game. No more lag, no more plot holes, and no more toxic work culture.)

Oz and Irena thanked them and gave them their numbers, promising to pay them back. Oz recommended that they check out a tarot card reader on the other side of the overpass. There, they ran into Neinheart, who told them that the card reader specialized in romance, which flustered Cygnus. Inside the tent, they met Cassandra, who told them that they had shared a previous life in another world, where Cygnus was an Empress and the traveler was a warrior who protected her. Cygnus immediately recalled the dream that she had of Maple World and told the traveler that they were perfect for each other. (A/N: She’s really down bad, isn’t she? Is this the part where I tell her about my deep-rooted commitment issues?)

They then decided to take the bus to another part of town, which was thrilling for Cygnus, as she had never taken public transportation before. After getting off, they encountered Elwin in his dog form, when all of a sudden, the chauffeur appeared to escort her back. Elwin then told the traveler that the Motes were back and asked them to take care of it.

(A/N: If you’re replaying FriendStory, there’s a hidden quest that you can unlock here. If you talk to Elwin, he’ll point out a random lady and call her beautiful. You get presented with the choice to call him a pervert or the option to say, “Pervert! I’m gonna call the police!” The first option will result in the story continuing as it normally does, but the second option will result in a special cutscene.

Our yelling will call over officer Athena Pierce, who asks us about the pervert. A shocked Elwin will ask us to make something up, and so we tell Athena that the pervert was someone wearing a black cape and wrapped up in chains. Athena will ask us in disbelief that someone with such a peculiar description could run 500 meters away in the three seconds that it took her to notice our yelling.

Though she doesn’t believe us, she’ll exchange numbers with us in case we find more suspicious people, as we seem like we’re not from around here and we don’t seem to know how to use smartphones either. After she leaves, Elwin will get mad at us for getting her attention and tells us to stay away from the police, claiming that they only complicate things, especially sharp cops like her. Following this quest, he’ll proceed with asking us to deal with the Motes like he does in the regular story playthrough.

Mercedes gets some exclusive dialogue during this scene, in which she immediately recognizes Athena Pierce and says her name aloud. Officer Athena will ask Mercedes how she knows her name, to which an embarrassed Mercedes reminds herself that they’re not on Maple World. Athena will then note that since Mercedes is a student at Shinsoo International School, it would make sense that she would know her name.)

After dealing with the Motes, the traveler returned to Elwin, who told them that he suspected that someone was trying to target Cygnus, as he had heard a voice earlier that had cursed Cygnus and had promised to get her soon.

The next day, Cygnus met with Oz and Irena for lunch when the bully arrived to flirt with Cygnus. Irritated, Irena pummeled the bully and warned him to watch himself before all three of them left. Just then, Areda arrived and berated her son for his ineptitude. She then decided to handle the situation herself. After school, Cygnus met with Neinheart and told him that she had overheard a rumor that she had kissed someone with crazy hair, whom she interpreted to be the traveler, though she was confused why anyone would describe the traveler as having crazy hair. Neinheart promised to investigate the matter and called the traveler, asking them to meet him at the school roof.

There, they found Neinheart with Irena, Hawkeye, Mihile, Eckhart, and Oz. Neinheart explained the rumor to them and said that though they all agreed that the rumor referred to the bully, he doubted that the bully was clever enough to have started it, which made him suspect that someone was trying to discredit Cygnus.

Neinheart asked the traveler to obtain the bully’s student records, telling them that they needed to covertly obtain them, since the records were off-limits to students. They went to the Staff Room, where Elwin met them and explained that the Motes had appeared and swept away the student records. The traveler defeated the Motes and obtained the records, which they took to Neinheart.

Neinheart learned that the bully was Areda’s son and he explained how, one year ago, Areda had met with Cygnus and had learned that not only had Cygnus built Shinsoo International School right next to another school, but she had also bought the bus system to ensure that the students could commute in order to prevent her school from being torn down. (A/N: That neighboring school is the School for the Gifted, which Kinesis attends.)

After leaving the meeting, Areda had cursed Cygnus for her intervention, as she had wanted the school to be demolished for her plans. To get revenge, she had resolved to have Cygnus marry her son in order to gain control of Shinsoo Corporation. However, Neinheart had witnessed her tirade after the meeting and had learned about her plans, though he hadn’t told Cygnus about it because of how ridiculous it was.

However, now that Areda was making her move, Neinheart decided that he had no choice but to tell Cygnus. The group then went to her office, but they were surprised to find that she wasn’t there. The traveler called Cygnus, who told them that she was out getting a latte. She told them that she would meet them later and hung up, as her phone was dying. Believing her to be in danger, Neinheart ordered everyone to search for Cygnus.

The traveler went to Sunset Lot, where they met Lily in her cat form. She told them that she had seen Cygnus pass by a moment ago, and that she had also finished studying the Bizarre Dust Balls and had learned that Motes were created by dark emotions such as hate, jealousy, and envy. The Motes grew larger as those dark emotions were at their peak, which transformed them into Troublemakers.

She suspected that someone’s dark feelings towards Cygnus were creating the Motes and asked them to eliminate the monsters before they spread further. As they fought their way through the Motes, Cygnus was confronted by the bully, who attempted to flirt with her. (A/N: This kid literally says, “After all, I know you want this great big…”, although he thankfully doesn’t complete his sentence. I thought this was supposed to be a kids’ game.)

Unexpectedly, the bully got on his knees and apologized for being creepy, claiming that it wasn’t what he wanted. Disturbed, Cygnus walked away as Areda appeared and berated her son for giving up. Just then, the traveler arrived and demanded to know where Cygnus was. The bully suddenly declared that he was done with Cygnus, claiming that he liked Irena instead after she had beaten him up. (A/N: I’m not gonna kinkshame, but please for the love of god, can everyone stop being thirsty for just ten minutes?)

He told Areda that he wanted to be a regular student without getting involved with her plots, but Areda yelled at him and called him a disappointment for wanting to be normal and wasting the gift of ‘good looks’ and charms that he had gotten from her. She then cut him off and disowned him before sending him away. Suddenly, Areda was consumed by a strange green aura, spawning a Greedy Troublemaker, born from obsessions with money.

(A/N: Before defeating the Troublemaker, there’s a secret quest that you can complete if you’re replaying FriendStory. Instead of clicking on the Troublemaker NPC to fight it, enter the rightmost map instead, where we’ll find Cygnus waiting for us. We’ll try telling her to leave because it’s dangerous, but Cygnus is determined because she’s set everything up perfectly. She’ll then kiss us before telling us to keep it a secret between just the two of us if the player is male, or by saying that it’s a secret between two girls if the player is female, after which she’ll run away. We then get a special title for completing this hidden mission.)

The traveler then defeated the Troublemaker, allowing Areda to return to her senses. A few days later, police officer Athena Pierce came to see Neinheart and Cygnus and reported that her investigation had revealed that Areda had been trying to take over the school. (A/N: It’s strange that Athena’s Friends World counterpart still has elf ears when she should be human.)

She told them that she had found deeds and investor contracts at Areda’s home, as well as several slashed photos of Cygnus, and that she had learned that Areda had been trying to build a shopping mall in place of the school. Back in the Closet House, Lily congratulated the traveler for helping out with the Motes. She told them that it was better that they stay close to Cygnus, as there seemed to be a connection between relationships in Maple World and Friends World.

(A/N: This is the start of Chapter 2: Orchid and the Stalker.)

Some time later, Francis arrived in the second-year classroom in order to leave his confession of love for Orchid to find. (A/N: Bro we literally just ditched the thirsty dude, why did we pick up another?) Soon after, Orchid - a successful teen pop star - arrived and found the love letter, though she ordered her manager to deal with it.

As he left with the letter, Orchid suddenly changed her mind and asked him to bring it back. Upon reading it, she was shocked to find that it sounded like a stalker’s note. Soon after, Neinheart called the traveler and asked them to meet him in Cygnus’ office. There, he told them that a stalker had placed a threatening letter on Orchid’s desk.

The traveler recognized Orchid as being with the Black Wings and Neinheart confirmed that she was indeed signed by Black Wings Entertainment. Though he conceded that she had a terrible attitude, he nevertheless asked them to recover the letter. After obtaining it, they brought it back and everyone agreed that it was clearly a threatening letter.

Oz asked them to find a fingerprinting kit in the science lab, where they encountered Elwin in dog form. Elwin told them that they would need Aluminum Dust and a Brush, which they could obtain from the Motes. With all the pieces of the kit obtained, Oz told them to give her time to find the culprit. The traveler went back to the first-year classroom, where they told Francis about the threatening letter that Orchid had received.

Francis was shocked to hear that the ink had been smeared, making it appear as though it was a stalker letter. Realizing that everyone believed him to be a psychopathic criminal, Francis passed out from fear. Soon after, Neinheart called the traveler and congratulated them on sweating Francis out. They returned to the office, where they found Francis surrounded by Neinheart and the club captains.

Francis told them that his nervousness made his palms sweaty, which had smeared the ink, and proved that he hadn’t meant to threaten Orchid by showing an old draft of the letter. Everyone present agreed that the original letter was cringeworthy, but not stalker material, and agreed to help him woo Orchid.

To help him understand how to word love letters properly, the traveler went to the library in order to find a good romance novel. There, they met Elwin, who told them to eliminate the Motes that had stolen the books from the romance section. After the traveler brought the books back, Francis promised to read them and make a better love letter. 

The next day, Francis left a new love letter for Orchid, but his sweaty palms once again made the letter seem like a threatening stalker had written it. As Dean Stan threatened expulsion and police involvement for the culprit, Francis fainted once again in class. (A/N: Please just arrest him so that I won’t be subjected to his simping anymore.)

Some time later, the traveler received a call from Nurse Hilla, who asked them to keep an eye on Francis, since her shift was over. In the infirmary, Francis asked them to find pills for him to feel better, even though the traveler cautioned him against taking random drugs. Just then, Elwin arrived and suggested finding fake medicine to use as a placebo for Francis, such as laxatives, which they obtained from the Motes.

After taking the laxatives, Francis began telling the traveler about why he had fallen in love with Orchid. He compared himself to the Greek mythological figure, Pygmalion, whose only love was a statue, just as he himself only loved his figurines. (A/N: Francis, I’m saying this for your own good: go outside and touch grass. And then stay there.) However, he explained that he had fallen in love with Orchid one day when he had found her standing in the rain. As he finished recounting, Oz and Irena arrived and told Francis how cringeworthy his story was.

(A/N: There’s a hidden quest that you can complete here. While fighting Motes during any part of this story, there’s a chance that they’ll drop a love letter that the bully wrote to Irena. If you find it before this moment, you can give it to Irena, who hates it. However, she notes that he did come around to being alright, despite still being creepy. She decides that she’ll tell him that he has no chance whatsoever and thanks us for bringing her the letter. We then get another unique title from completing this quest.)

Undeterred, Francis asked the traveler to find a photo of Orchid for him. They went to the original transfer student’s house and found a poster of Orchid, which they brought to Francis. (A/N: The original transfer student is the one whom you’re standing in for.) However, Francis demanded an actual photo, and so they went in search of Orchid.

The traveler learned from Cassandra that Orchid was on her way to a photo shoot. They caught her at the front gates and took a photo of her, but realized it was blurry, and so they ran after her to the city center. They then took another photo, but something came in the way of the shot, and so they continued chasing after her once again.

They followed her to the Drizzling Strolling Path, where they met Lily in cat form. She warned them that Orchid’s dark emotions were calling in Motes, adding that she feared that it would cause another Troublemaker to appear. After fighting their way through waves of Motes, the traveler finally found Orchid standing in the rain.

They quickly took a good photo of her and began to leave when Orchid confronted them, believing them to be her stalker. She told them that she had known all along that the letters weren’t threatening, as she had been able to read past the smears. She then took them to a park and told them that her brother, Lotus, had collapsed there three years ago after getting into a car accident. (A/N: How much do you wanna bet that FriendStory Phantom ran him over?)

She explained that the girls had loved Lotus and had been nice to her in order to grow closer to him, but when Lotus had suffered from his accident, they had turned their backs on her. Once she had become a pop star, however, those same girls had come flocking around her, and so she behaved coldly because she believed that everyone was fake like them. However, the traveler told her that there were bound to be those who liked her as she was, which caused Orchid to grow intrigued by them and exchange numbers.

(A/N: After getting Orchid’s number, there’s a special hidden quest that you can complete by calling Orchid consecutively for 30 days straight between 8-9pm UTC. You can’t miss a single day or else you’ll have to start all over again from day 1. As you progress through the calls each day, Orchid starts slowly opening up to you. She’ll tell us a little bit about how Black Wings Entertainment is overworking her, how she sometimes visits a comatose Lotus in the hospital, and she’ll occasionally let it slip accidentally that she’s falling in love with us, which allows me to add her to my list of bicons.

There are a few neat tidbits that we learn from her calls, like how Gelimer is the president of Black Wings Entertainment, and that she’s going to star as the villain in a movie called Black Heaven. She then makes a meta joke about how someone as beautiful as her can never be hated by the audience no matter how evil a villain she’s playing, which is a reference to how the writers started rewriting Maple World Orchid as a cute tsundere antihero who makes all the characters in the story conveniently forget that she’s responsible for half their trauma.

On the 29th day, Orchid will ask us if we’ve ever been in a pillow fight before and admits that she’s never been in one, though she claims that she would hit us repeatedly and asks us if we’d let her. On the last day, she tells us that her number got leaked, and so she won’t be able to answer our calls for a while. At the end, you get a special pillow fighting chair that has Orchid hit us with a pillow while Oz and Irena pillow fight in the background.)

The next day, Lily called them and explained that calming Orchid down had kept Troublemakers from manifesting.

(A/N: Phantom gets some exclusive dialogue during this part. When Lily notes that we handled Orchid well yesterday, Phantom will reply that he has no intention of being friends with Orchid, explaining that he had simply been playing along. He notes that Lotus seemed to have gotten into a car accident on Friends World, but just as he begins to describe the fate of Maple World’s Lotus, he decides to stop talking about it, claiming that it isn’t a good memory.)

The traveler then returned to Francis and gave him the photo of Orchid. They also told everyone about what they had learned from Orchid in the park, which moved them. Francis then gave them his next love letter and asked them to deliver it to Orchid so that it wouldn’t get smudged. (A/N: Or you could use a printer instead of a pen like a normal person.) They found Orchid in the music room, who was pleased to see them with a love letter. (A/N: If the player is female, Orchid will tell them that she feels strange receiving a love letter from another girl.) However, her face turned dark once they explained that her real stalker was Francis.

Just then, Oz called and asked if they had delivered the letter, as Francis was already waiting for her on the school roof. They rushed over, where they found Oz and Irena watching Orchid and Francis. There, Orchid brutally rejected Francis and began walking away when Francis asked why she didn’t want to date him.

Orchid told him that he only wanted her because she was famous, and that he knew nothing about her. However, Francis told her that he didn’t care if she was famous, and that he had fallen in love with her when she had been a stranger crying in the rain, which was the moment when he had decided that he wanted to save her.

However, Orchid told him that she didn’t need to be saved, and that she wanted a friend, not a white knight who wanted to fix her. (A/N: An actual progressive take on gender roles? In my MapleStory? Have the writers finally left the early 2000s?) As the traveler went to console Francis, they felt dark energy emanating from him, just as Elwin arrived to warn them. Francis then spawned a Forever Alone Troublemaker, born from unrequited love. They immediately fought off the Troublemaker, returning Francis back to his senses.

Oz and Irena then took him to the school infirmary and called the traveler to come see him. There, everyone began consoling him, though Francis refused to give up and resolved to find the right way to approach Orchid. Everyone was impressed by his dedication until he revealed his Orchid doll. He explained that he had realized that he had put Orchid on a pedestal instead of treating her like an actual person, and so he had decided that he would practice talking to the doll in order to get better at talking to her.

(A/N: This is not the worst method that I’ve heard of in my life. If you’re replaying FriendStory, there’s an alternate ending that you can unlock by choosing a different dialogue option. After Orchid rejects Francis, he’ll collapse on the floor in sadness. As he starts crying, we get the choice to leave him alone or comfort him. Leaving him alone will result in the regular ending, but comforting him will unlock the secret ending. We’ll attempt to make him feel better, but our words make things worse and cause the Troublemaker to pop up.

After we defeat it, the next scene in the hospital will go completely differently if you decided to make him feel better. As everyone consoles him, Francis will explain that he’s moved on from Orchid, as he’s now instead in love with us. He cites how we took good care of him over the last few days, how we delivered Orchid’s letter for him, even while knowing that it wouldn’t work out, and how we stood by his side when he was in pain from being rejected. He remains convinced that it was part of our complex plan to have Orchid reject him on purpose so that we could lift him back up ourselves.

Following this horrible alternate timeline, we go back to the Closet House, where Lily finds the situation absolutely hilarious. She jokingly tells us that we should’ve given him a chance because he’s cute in his own way, though he’s thankfully now gone back to simping for Orchid again after we thoroughly beat him up. Since Francis falls for us regardless of our gender, I guess he’s also one of the few explicitly bi characters in the game, although I’m excommunicating him from this small list of people because I refuse to be affiliated with him like this.

The next part is Chapter 3: Hilla and Magnus Sittin’ in a Tree. I can already tell from the title that the thirst of this world has not been quenched.) 

Some time later, two students were flirting with each other when Hilla the nurse and Magnus the PE Teacher arrived to stop them, as dating wasn’t allowed at school, and took each to their respective offices.

Soon after, Hawkeye and Mihile were discussing what had happened between Hilla and Magnus with the traveler and Neinheart. Hawkeye brought them and Francis to the school rooftop, where he declared that they were now the Shinsoo School Players Club, and that they needed to hook up Hilla and Magnus so that they wouldn’t interfere with dating at the school.

(A/N: You know what, maybe I’m on board with this. If people can date each other, that means some of them might finally get together and stop their pining. Speaking of dating not being allowed at school, there’s a hidden mission that we can do by finding three hidden couples scattered across the school. There’s one on the rooftop, one near the bus stop, and one at the back of the school. After catching the students, we get a special title for completing the hidden mission, although we feel bad for doing it.

During Hawkeye’s explanation about the players club, he calls us “a crew of real men out for a good time”. If the player is male, we’ll say that this isn’t really what we signed up for. If the player is female, we’ll ask him who he’s calling a man.)

He then asked the traveler to find out what Magnus and Hilla thought of each other. The traveler learned that Magnus couldn’t stand Hilla because of her temper, and that Hilla had no opinion on Magnus. They returned to the school rooftop, where everyone reported that Magnus and Hilla would frequently argue. Hawkeye then suggested changing the environment around them in order to subliminally make them fall for each other by spreading photos and rumors online. After taking out-of-context shots of the two, the traveler pinned the photos at the front gate, hallways, and staff lounge.

Neinheart then suggested starting subtle rumors of the two, such as them both getting sick at the same time. However, Hawkeye took it too literally and asked the traveler to collect Flu Virus bottles from the infirmary. There, Elwin told them to collect the bottles from the Motes. After collecting the bottles, they mixed the virus into Hilla’s mug and Magnus’ water bottle. Soon after, both Magnus and Hilla were spotted with flu symptoms in the hallways and the rumors began flying. (A/N: And that was how COVID-19 started on MapleStory’s Earth.) 

However, Neinheart told them that they needed Magnus and Hilla to take action themselves. Francis suggested an online tool that he had found, which took the first two letters of one’s name, converted them into numbers, and found the difference. He explained that there was a match if the difference was the same as the difference between one’s age and their crush’s age. Hawkeye decided to humor Francis and asked the traveler to get chalk, which they obtained from the Motes. They then drew the math problem on all the chalkboards across the school. 

Just then, Cygnus called and asked them where everyone was, as no one seemed to be around lately, making her wonder if they were doing anything secret. The traveler then got the idea to pique Magnus and Hilla’s interest by getting them to talk about each other. They went to see Dean Stan to ask about Magnus and Hilla’s common interests, but he simply told them that the only thing that they had in common was that they fought with each other, and that they were close in age.

He suggested that they ask the security guard, who might know whether they got along better outside of school. Ericsson the security guard told them that Magnus and Hilla were perfect opposites, even down to their schedules, and suggested that they ask Orchid, who may have seen more. However, Orchid simply yelled at them for never calling and stormed off.

The traveler decided to ask Irena instead, who told them that trying not to think about someone would make one think about them more. The traveler then went to see Magnus in the staff room and insinuated that it was fate that he and Hilla always ran into each other and argued. Next, they went to see Hilla in the infirmary and asked whether she was in her early twenties.

Hilla blushed and said that she was nearly thirty, to which they told her that it was easy to find true love around thirty and pointed out that she and Magnus were around the same age. The next day, everyone began talking about how Orchid remembered everyone’s face except for Hilla’s and Magnus’, and how it must be fate. They then noticed how Hilla and Magnus hurriedly walked past each other without saying a word.

Neinheart told them that it was common for people to fall in love during times of crisis and suggested that they get Magnus to the infirmary. The traveler went to the front gates and borrowed soccer balls from Velderoth to kick at Magnus, but Magnus proved too strong for them. (A/N: Magnus loves throwing meteors at us so much, it’s high time that we throw some back at him.) The traveler fled the scene before Magnus could spot them, after which Francis called and asked what had happened.

Upon learning that they had failed, Francis asked them to come to the science lab. As soon as they arrived, Elwin rushed to them and explained that Francis had passed out while making a chemical, suspecting that the Motes had something to do with it. After hunting down the nearby Motes, they returned to Francis, who awoke and gave them a chemical to give to Magnus to drink.

They then tricked Magnus into drinking the chemical by telling him that it was a power drink, after which Magnus immediately fell unconscious. They took him to Hilla before locking the infirmary door and cutting off the power supply. Neinheart then looked through the surveillance camera, where they saw Hilla tenderly caring for Magnus.

The next day, Neinheart told them that they needed to get a love confession by organizing a private location, romantic music, and a special event. The traveler discovered Fountain Park and let the others know that it was the perfect place. They then tricked Magnus and Hilla into coming by telling them that a teachers’ outing was happening. There, they began playing romantic music, which finally prompted Magnus and Hilla to kiss.

Just then, however, Arkarium arrived and confronted the pair, asking if the rumors about them dating were true. Hilla and Magnus immediately began to insult each other while denying it before storming off. Arkarium then began wallowing in his misery about being single, inadvertently summoning a Born Single Troublemaker, born from eternal loneliness. (A/N: FriendStory Arkarium is definitely an incel, change my mind.)

While the others tracked down Magnus and Hilla, the traveler quickly defeated the Troublemaker and brought Arkarium back to his senses. Soon after, everyone returned and reported that Hilla and Magnus had discovered them. Though they had failed to set them up, everyone admitted that it had been a fun effort before leaving. A few days later, however, Hilla and Magnus still found themselves thinking about the other.

(A/N: There’s an alternate ending that you can trigger if you’re replaying this chapter. When Francis is about to play the music, he’ll say that his hands are sweaty and asks us to play it for him. Normally, we’ll tell him to play it himself, but if you’re replaying this chapter, you can choose to play the music yourself.

The rest of the story then proceeds the same, but at the very end, we get a bonus scene that has Hilla with her hair down inviting Magnus to the movies, which he accepts, confirming that they’re still dating in secret. At the end of this cutscene, we also get the ability to call Hilla. Technically, her number is already in our phone, but we can’t really call her properly until we unlock this ending.

This is the start of Chapter 4: Cassandra’s Tales of Totally Shocking Stuff. I’m begging you, Nexon. Please let the thirstiness end here. I’m too emotionally unavailable to relate to this.)

Some time later, several students gathered in a classroom to hear one of Cassandra’s scary stories. She told them a story about a student who had come to school at night because he had forgotten his cheat sheet the night before his test. He had gone to the music room to pick up his bag, where he had begun hearing a piano. Just as he had grabbed his bag, he had heard a voice telling him not to go, offering to play the piano for him. He had then remembered the story of the ghost in the piano room and how the ghost would play the piano all night until its hands bled.

Fearing that something terrible would happen if he heard the full song, the student had immediately run away and the piano had stopped the moment that he left the room. However, when he had tried taking a book out of his bag, a red hand had burst out and grabbed him. When someone asked what ended up happening to the student, Cassandra told them that he had passed out and had been found on the floor, after which he had moved away a week later.

Some time later, Neinheart called the traveler and asked them if they believed in ghosts. He explained that he didn’t, but he added that a strange rumor had been going around, and so he asked them to come to Cygnus’ office. There, Neinheart explained that Cassandra had been spreading rumors about ghosts and asked them to talk to her about it.

(A/N: Bless Cassandra for switching up the narrative. I forgot how much being in high school feels like a prison. Also fun fact: Cassandra is based on the character of the same name from Greek mythology, who was cursed by Apollo to divine prophecies that would never be believed. This storyline takes inspiration from her story, specifically about all the ghost stories that she tells.)

Upon arriving in the classroom, Cassandra told them that she felt a strange aura coming from them and declared that they weren’t from this world. She then laughed and explained that she was only joking before asking if they had come to hear a scary story. As she never repeated the same story twice, she told them to ask Oz about her most recent one, as Oz had heard the whole thing.

Oz told them about the ghost of the music room and asked them to investigate what was really going on. They went to the music room, where they met Elwin in dog form, who told them that it was probably the Motes. The traveler then found suspicious recorders and piano music on the Motes. They returned to Oz and told her that it was just a prank, which she was relieved to hear. Soon after, Neinheart arrived and told Cassandra to stop spreading false stories, showing her the recordings in order to disprove her words. Irritated, Cassandra swore to make Neinheart eat his words. That night, Neinheart found that the lights didn’t work and the bookshelves were moving on their own, toppling right onto him.

The next day, Cygnus called the traveler and told them about what had happened to Neinheart. They both went to the infirmary, where Hilla told them that his only injuries were a stubbed toe from when a book had hit it. Neinheart suspected that Cassandra was behind the incident and asked the traveler to investigate in his place. In the classroom, they found Cassandra telling a new story about the secret of Shinsoo International School’s Old Building.

She explained that even though the building was off-limits, it was easy to break into. A student had once been dared to touch the front gate when they had heard a voice saying, “It hurts… Go away…” (A/N: That voice belongs to me, slowly dying while finishing this storyline.) The voice had driven him mad and all he could think about was escape. When he had come back home, he had taken his shoes off and had found that they were covered in sticky blood.

One of the students in the crowd then shared that they had heard a rumor that the school had been built on an old graveyard without permission. Oz then asked the traveler to check out the old building for themselves. There, they found Lily and Elwin, who told them that more Motes had gathered around the old building. After defeating the Motes, they found large ketchup bottles and realized that it was yet another trick.

Just then, Ericsson the security guard arrived and chased them off. The traveler then went to see Oz and told her that it was yet another prank. Oz confronted Cassandra about spreading false stories, though Cassandra kept claiming that she was only saying what she had heard. Angry at the way that Oz had spoken to her, Cassandra vowed to teach her a lesson. That night, Oz found that the lights didn’t work in the science lab, just as the room caught on fire.

The next day, Cygnus called the traveler and told them about what had happened to Oz.

(A/N: If you’re replaying this chapter, there’s a special interaction that takes place on our way to the infirmary. We’ll run into Lilin, who asks us where the infirmary is. We can choose to ignore her or offer to walk her there. If we offer to walk her there, she’ll decline and ask us to just tell her where it is. After we tell her, she asks if we know the student president, Neinheart, and whether we’re a friend of his.

We tell her that we’re friends with Neinheart, although he’d probably say differently. She then tells us not to mention that she was here, after which she’ll storm off, although we’ll still get Lilin as a contact in our phone. Aran gets some exclusive dialogue when she meets Lilin, in which she notes that the girl, whose name she doesn’t know, looks a lot like Lilin from Maple World.)

They went to the infirmary, where Hilla told them that only the tip of Oz’s hair had been burned off. Cygnus wondered whether Cassandra had hexed Oz and Neinheart, but both Oz and Neinheart refused to believe it. Oz then asked the traveler to expose Cassandra for the fraud she was.

(A/N: If you’re replaying this chapter, you can complete a hidden mission around this part. If you talk to Oz, she’ll complain that she couldn’t go to the cafeteria because she was embarrassed by her burnt hair, and so she’ll ask us to buy her a Spicy Rice Cake Skewer, a Sandwich, and a Fish Cake from the food stand. Following this, we get a special title for completing this hidden mission.)

They went to see Cassandra and found her telling yet another story about how Ericsson wouldn’t say a word all day until midnight, when a baby could be heard crying somewhere in a low shrieking voice somewhere in the school. She revealed that inside the abandoned building, Ericsson would use a demon ritual to summon ghosts.

However, the students told Cassandra that her story was weak and demanded evidence. Just then, Elwin called and told the traveler that he had heard baby cries from the old building. The traveler went to the entrance of the old building, where Lily told them that Elwin had run away in fear. They entered the school and covertly followed Ericsson, where they found him feeding stray cats. Just then, Ericsson caught them and explained that he had been keeping the stray cats safe in the old building, and that they cried when he was gone. He also asked them not to tell anyone, as it was against school policy.

After Ericsson left, Lily and the traveler noticed a camera flash and saw someone going upstairs. They fought through several Motes on their way and found Cassandra on the roof. After confronting her, they learned that she had been taking fake photographs in order to make her stories seem real. Though she admitted to have been behind the recorders and the ketchup bottles, she swore that she hadn’t done anything to hurt Neinheart and Oz.

Just then, one of Cassandra’s fans appeared and told her that everyone knew that her stories were fake, but that she was impressed by Cassandra’s creativity. She then admitted to causing the incidents with Neinheart and Oz in an attempt to avenge Cassandra’s honor. When Cassandra asked in horror why she had done something like that, a dark aura began emanating out of Cassandra’s fan as her dark thoughts manifested a Two-Faced Troublemaker, born out of conflicting emotions.

After the traveler defeated the Troublemaker, Lily used her manipulation magic to remove those memories from Cassandra’s fan. The next day, Cassandra called the traveler and asked if they would come hear her story, claiming that it was a special one. There, she showed everyone the photo that she had taken of Ericsson and the cats and told them the true story, rather than making it seem scary.

(A/N: If we talked to Lilin during the story replay, there’s a bonus scene that plays here. Cygnus will meet with Neinheart in the infirmary, where she’ll ask him why he’s still wearing his bandages when he’s fully healed. Just then, Lilin - who had previously asked us for directions to the infirmary - will arrive. Neinheart is glad to see his sister, although Lilin shuts down his attempts at being friendly and explains that she only came to see if his foot is healed yet.

Neinheart tells her that it should be better soon before asking why she’s here so early, sternly adding that he hopes that she didn’t skip class. Lilin retorts that she’s not here to talk about herself, as she’s just here to check on him. She adds that he’s had his bandages forever and tells him that he should go back to the doctor. Cygnus then hesitantly interrupts and introduces herself, to which Lilin replies that she knows who she is and calls Cygnus “Miss Shinsoo-moneybags-whatever”.

Neinheart tells Lilin to mind herself, to which Lilin will tell her brother to mind himself, adding that she’s not the one crushing on Cygnus. Neinheart will be shocked, and even Lilin is surprised that she let it slip, as it seems like she hadn’t meant to. She then awkwardly decides to leave, hesitantly adding that it’s nice that he has lots of friends now. After she leaves, Cygnus expresses her surprise at Lilin’s personality, to which Neinheart explains that they’ve never gotten along.

Cygnus then realizes that Neinheart had been wearing his bandages on purpose, to which Neinheart explains that Lilin wouldn’t want to see him unless he had lied about still being injured. Nevertheless, Cygnus notes that Neinheart is grinning and asks him why. Neinheart replies that it’s because it’s been a while since Lilin had called him her brother. This is one of the few instances where I really want to see a continuation of FriendStory.

This is the start of Chapter 5: Students in Crisis. It’s me. I’m the student in crisis. Originally, this was the final chapter in FriendStory until Chapter 6 was added as an expansion. Chapter 5 very much feels like a season finale in this slice-of-life series, with Chapter 6 being more like an OVA.)

Some time later, Oz and Irena visited Hugh Head the tailor, who told them how there had once been a boy who had attended Shinsoo International School years ago, and that he had been so handsome that every boy around him had turned into a squid in comparison. (A/N: God help me, the thirstiness is back. At this point, I see no choice. I’m gonna repeatedly throw my character off the school roof until the fall damage does me in.) However, Oz and Irena told him that his story was ridiculous, though Hugh stuck with it and explained that the handsome student was getting a degree in education in order to become a teacher. Irena told him that she wanted to see that student in person, as she couldn’t believe that anyone was really that attractive.

Just then, Cygnus came into the store. After hearing the story of the handsome student, she confirmed that he was real, and that he was joining the faculty soon as a student teacher. Soon after, Neinheart called the traveler and asked them to come to the office immediately, too lost for words. There, they were shocked to find that Hawkeye had turned into a squid. Neinheart explained that yesterday, a girl had rejected Hawkeye after she had explained that ever since she had met the new student teacher, she had found him so attractive that every other boy looked like a squid in comparison. After Hawkeye had gone to see the student teacher, he had returned to them as a squid.

As 911 refused to take him seriously, Neinheart decided that they needed to investigate the student teacher themselves. (A/N: 911 is a GMS localization, as Seoul obviously doesn’t have 911 as their emergency number.) He gave the traveler a lesson plan and asked them to deliver it to the student teacher, hoping that it would give them an opening to learn more. The traveler went to the staff room and gave the lesson plan to the student teacher, who wondered whether they had met before.

(A/N: I knew that the White Mage was gonna be in this story, but I absolutely did not expect him to have a whole three-piece suit and an impeccable haircut. Because of that, I’ve decided that from now on, I’m the only person who’s allowed to simp in this godforsaken storyline because after all the suffering that I’ve been put through, I, and only I, deserve this right.

There’s also a hidden mission that you can complete here if you’re replaying FriendStory. If we talk to Hawkeye, he’ll complain about being the only squid. He then gets the idea that we should take a photo of the White Mage and show it to Neinheart, who’ll turn into a squid after comparing himself to the White Mage.

The GMS localization also has Hawkeye say: “That’ll teach Mr. High-and-Mighty! ‘Stop treating women like objects, Hawkeye!’' ‘Learn some common human decency, Hawkeye’ What a jerk.” I cannot properly express my affront at the GMS localization team for slandering Hawkeye’s good name like this.

After we take the photo and show it to Neinheart, he’ll get confused by why we’re showing it to him. Hawkeye will then get mad and ask Neinheart why he hasn’t turned into a squid. Neinheart will then proudly proclaim that he’s been voted Most Popular and Most Sophisticated two years in a row, and so he has high self-esteem. Hawkeye will then once again lament that he’s the only squid. We then get a special title for completing the hidden mission.)

After returning back to the office, Neinheart determined that the traveler was the only person who could resist the White Mage’s charm and tasked them with keeping an eye on him, as well as to figure out how to reverse the squid transformation.

(A/N: When Neinheart says this, our character wonders why none of them ever do anything, and honestly, where’s the damn lie? If we go by the hidden mission, he’s immune enough to put in work for once too.)

Elwin then called and told them that the situation with the White Mage had gotten well out of control, as things like people transforming into squids didn’t normally happen in Friends World. Elwin explained that he had detected a massive surge in dark energy, which had enveloped the entire school, adding that it had gone far beyond simple Motes or even Troublemakers. He believed that it was the reason why the squid transformations were happening, and why no one seemed to realize that it was anything more than casually odd. While he contacted Grendel, Elwin told the traveler to stay alert in order to determine the source of darkness.

Some time later, Dean Stan ordered the traveler to come to the staff lounge, where he told them that the school was in uproar. He then asked them to investigate a new organization called the SCRS. The traveler learned that the squids had formed the SCRS, the Squid Civil Rights Society, in order to demand equal treatment from the female students. They also learned about the other side called the PSTL, the Pale Student Teacher Lovers, who were demanding an end to the squids’ discrimination against the White Mage.

(A/N: A little known fact is that I’m actually the founder of the PSTL, but that’s the kind of lore that the game just isn’t ready for. On a more serious note, they refer to the White Mage as the Pale Student Teacher in this storyline, but I’ll be referring to him as the White Mage for consistency within this guide, as I don’t want to make it seem like they’re two different people.)

The traveler reported back to Stan, who decided to shut everything down. Just then, Elwin called the traveler and told them to head over to the library. There, Elwin explained that three Dust Zones had appeared at once, and that he feared that the students’ love for the White Mage was destroying the fabric of reality. (A/N: Damn, look at the raw power that I possess.)

At his behest, the traveler cleared up the Motes in the library, the science lab, and the music room. They then went to the school roof, where they found Ephenia, the PSTL president, bullying one of her members. After she left, they found Lily in cat form, who told them that Ephenia frequently bullied the members of her club, and that she was worried that everything was leading to something major like a final battle.

The next week, Dean Stan announced that the White Mage would be holding one-on-one mentoring. In Cygnus’ office, Neinheart told the traveler that the new trend had been to get a one-day date pass with the White Mage, who was considering opening a slot on the weekends for his mentoring sessions. He then tasked the traveler with obtaining the weekend pass in order to destroy it, hoping that it would stop the craze that was taking over the school. (A/N: I have a better idea. Why don’t I take the pass for myself and fight anyone who gets in my way?)

The traveler went to the third-floor classroom and ran into Ephenia, who was organizing a competition to get the weekend pass. She had hired a man in a dog suit named Kemdi, who administered a quiz for the pass.

(A/N: Kemdi used to be an NPC in charge of minigames before he was removed from the game. His quiz is honestly so brutal. I would highly recommend using a guide for this because it asks the most random questions, like whether it’s true or false that Lake Baikal is in the USA. It’s actually false, Lake Baikal is in Russia.)

The traveler successfully answered the most questions correctly, infuriating Ephenia.

(A/N: Stay mad Ephenia, I’m the only one legally allowed to simp for him around these parts. If we’re replaying the chapter, we get a special dialogue with Kemdi, who gives us a bonus question in exchange for the White Mage’s number. Thankfully for me, this question is really easy to answer because the answer is just the bonus dialogue, “Kemdi”.)

Neinheart then arrived amidst the confusion and tore the pass into several pieces, claiming that it should still be good for each person. As everyone rushed to cash it in with the White Mage, Dean Stan arrived and mandated that there would be no dating between students and teachers.

Eventually, it was the White Mage’s last day as a student teacher and the PSTL members gave him a grand sendoff with many tears. After he left, Lily called the traveler and told them that the original student whom they had switched places with wanted to talk to them. The traveler returned to the Closet House, where the student explained that they were ready to switch back.

In order to complete the switch, Lily explained that she needed to remove the traveler from the memories of all the students. When they asked about the Troublemakers, Lily told them that the Magician Association would take over protecting the other world, as they had safer ways of keeping watch over the border between worlds. She allowed them to call one person to say goodbye to before she erased everyone’s memories. (A/N: You get to choose the person to call.)

After the call, Lily went to the school entrance and cast the spell to wipe everyone’s memories. She then headed back to Maple World with Elwin and told the traveler to come back once they were ready. As the traveler took one last look at the school, they suddenly received a phone call. The traveler was surprised, as the memory wipe meant that no one should remember their number.

The voice on the other side told them that he wanted to speak with them before they left, as he wanted to know about the traveler’s identity, powers, and the world that they belonged to. He told them to take the bus to Sunset Lot, where they encountered a horde of Motes that they fought through. Upon defeating them, they found the White Mage waiting for them. Inexplicably, the traveler was unable to recognize him beyond realizing that he seemed familiar.

At the same time, in Hugh Head’s shop, Hugh was telling Oz and Irena that the handsome student had black hair and tanned skin, confusing the girls. Just then, Blackbull walked into the stop and Hugh introduced him to them as the handsome student who was to begin his student teaching. Cygnus and Neinheart then walked in and told Oz and Irena that when they had contacted the White Mage’s university for his credentials, they had been told that there was no such student who had ever been enrolled there. Neinheart also told them that he had found all the letters and flowers that the students had given to the White Mage in the trash.

(A/N: Well that explains a lot. My toxic trait is simping for people who care about me even less than I care about them. The implication here with Blackbull being the handsome student is that he was the actual student that Hugh Head was talking about, and that Cygnus just assumed that they were the same person because the White Mage had falsified his educational history. She saw that he was an alumnus of her school, and after seeing how handsome he was, she made the assumption that he was the student from Hugh Head’s story.)

Back in Sunset Lot, the traveler realized that the White Mage didn’t belong in Friends World, to which the White Mage replied that he could say the same thing of the traveler. He pointed out the traveler’s strange behaviors, such as talking to Elwin and Lily in their animal forms and hunting Motes, claiming that no one in Friends World did such things. The traveler demanded to know his identity, to which he merely replied that he was a student teacher, just as they were a transfer student.

Claiming that he couldn’t give his secrets away, he told them that it had been fun watching them and learning about the world that they had come from, as well as their powers and the strange occurrences in the city. The traveler asked how he could remember them after the memory wipe, to which he asked if they had thought that it was a coincidence that the barrier between their worlds had been opened. He explained that a door between realms could not be opened only from one side, and that if Elwin had been able to open the door, it was only because he had also opened the door from his side.

(A/N: In the Heroes of Maple storyline, it’s explained that the absence of Transcendents in Maple World caused the balance of the world to fall apart, which weakened the dimensional barrier between Maple World and Friends World. As a result, both Elwin and the White Mage’s efforts to breach the barrier between their worlds allowed for the creation of the portal in Closet House.)

Promising that they would meet again, he left the traveler a Squid Troublemaker as a parting gift, one custom-made by the White Mage. The traveler defeated the Troublemaker, surprised that the White Mage was able to summon one on his own.

They returned to the Closet House, where they explained everything to Grendel. After hearing their story, Grendel realized that the dark energies in Friends World had been invited in. He explained that there were shared elements between Maple World and the other world, and that the people of Friends World would soon face a similar evil to the one on Maple World.

When Lily asked whether they had the right to interfere in the problems of another world, Grendel decided to take it under consideration, as he felt that it may be their responsibility to stop the threat of evil from Maple World threatening another world. He also suggested that they could always send the traveler back to help, as they needed a hero to combat such a villain. A few days later, the original student returned to the school and introduced themselves, just as the traveler returned back to school and greeted Neinheart and Cygnus, with Lily having restored everyone’s memories.

(A/N: Finally, we have Chapter 6: Damien and the Spirit of Rock, the last chapter of this torturous saga.)

Some time later, Boogie went to Cygnus’ office and ran into Neinheart. She tried asking Neinheart whether it was too late to sign up for the upcoming contest at the festival, though her timidity made it hard for him to understand her. Neinheart then brought her the necessary forms in order to sign up. That night, Boogie went to the music room, having forgotten her sheet notes, where she encountered Damien and his band practicing. (A/N: His band members are human versions of the Root Abyss bosses.) She also heard them trashing her song after having found her sheet notes.

The next day, the traveler encountered several fans of Damien on the way to school. Neinheart then called the traveler and explained that there was a disease going on around school. On their way to school, the traveler ran into Elwin in dog form and discussed the strange people whom they had met on the street. Elwin suspected that the new transfer student had something to do with the strange trends. In Cygnus’ office, Neinheart told everyone that the disease of rock and roll had infected the school after Damien had transferred in.

(A/N: The Demon gets exclusive dialogue here, in which he expresses his shock that Damien is alive in this dimension. He then wonders whether he might be able to see Damien again in this world.)

Just then, Cygnus and Mihile appeared in full rock aesthetic, which proved Neinheart’s point. (A/N: Okay but they look really good like this. Can everyone in this game get a rock and roll makeover?) Hawkeye then suggested that they make their own band in order to beat Damien, though Irena was less than enthusiastic about the plan. Exasperated, Neinheart asked the traveler to find Damien in order to learn about his goals.

In the third-floor classroom, they were shocked to find Mihile, Cygnus, and several other students who had all trashed the room and turned it into a rock hall. They learned that Damien was practicing at the Old School Building, where Elwin told them that the Motes had taken over the abandoned classrooms.

However, he explained that these Motes had been spawned from the infected students, and that fighting the Motes may hurt their friends as a result. In order to circumvent this, Elwin gave them a musical weapon made by Grendel in order to vaporize the Motes. After fighting their way to the roof, they encountered Oz, Hawkeye, and Eckhart. Just then, Damien and his band revealed themselves atop a makeshift stage made up of stacked-up desks.

(A/N: If the player is the Demon, Damien will be momentarily shocked upon seeing the Demon’s face, wondering if they’re his brother. However, he quickly dismisses the thought, telling himself that there’s no way that’s possible.)

The traveler and Damien then engaged in a rock battle, though Damien’s sound overpowered theirs. Damien revealed that they were using the school as a stepping stone in order to move on to bigger heights. They also made fun of Boogie, claiming that she had no talent. Just then, Irena appeared and claimed that Damien’s band was weak, vowing that she would decimate them. She and Damien then made a bet that the losers would have to moon the entire school. (A/N: What kind of stupid bet is this? Actually, nevermind. I forgot that this is a high school.)

The next day, Oz called the traveler and told them to come for practice on the school roof. While determining which song to perform, Irena asked them to collect music sheets from the music room so that they could practice each song. In the music room, the traveler found Damien speaking with Neinheart about the order of appearance for the bands in the contest. After he left, Neinheart told them that Damien would routinely transfer to schools and dominate the music scene for a month before moving on. The traveler then collected the music sheets from nearby Motes.

Just then, they heard a terrible noise coming from the roof and realized that it was the band playing. With the sheet notes, the band began practicing for hours, though they didn’t improve at all, with several staff members even coming in to let them know that they were awful. Frustrated, they decided to book a practice room, though they realized that they needed money for it.

They went to see Hugh Head, who offered them a job using a sewing machine. As none of them had any experience with one, the traveler attempted to use it and accidentally destroyed a pair of pants in the process. Just then, Damien arrived and demonstrated how to properly use a sewing machine in order to outclass them. Neinheart then called and told them to go to Sunset Lot for a part-time job.

There, they encountered Elex leading a construction crew and asked for an opportunity. He told them to lift sacks and called over Damien, who had started working part-time there, in order to show them how. Unwilling to be outclassed again, Irena attempted to lift all the sacks and fell in the process. (A/N: After realizing that there are no open jobs left, Hawkeye says, “No jobs. Absolutely no jobs. Thanks, Obama!” I think this is my favorite GMS localization ever.)

Dejected, they decided to go to Granny’s food stand, where they found Damien working there as well. After his shift was over, Damien walked away and the others noticed that his fingers were bandaged up, showing his dedication to practice. Upon learning that everyone was willing to give up, Irena apologized for selfishly dragging them into the situation and told them that she would work out the bet with Damien herself. After she walked away, they realized that Irena was dejected because she was graduating that year, and that it was her last chance to leave a mark. Feeling ashamed, they decided to make it up to her. 

The next day, Neinheart called and asked what they had been up to, as Elex had complained about their actions at the construction site. The traveler asked him about where Irena was, to which he replied that she would soon be dropping by the infirmary. There, the traveler met Neinheart and Boogie waiting for him. Neinheart asked them to get fever medicine, as Hilla had stepped out. After the traveler recovered it from the Motes, Neinheart administered it to Boogie, just as Irena arrived.

At Neinheart’s insistence, Irena decided to tell the traveler the truth. She told them about how she had comforted Boogie about graduation by telling her that they could make good memories before they left by performing her song at the festival. After hearing how Damien had trashed her song, she had decided to outclass him in the concert in order to avenge Boogie.

The other members of the band then arrived and agreed to help as well. Boogie also agreed, provided that Irena perform her song. Over the next month, the band spent all their time practicing and improving, elevating Boogie’s song to new heights. With their new sound, they successfully cured Cygnus of her rock fever and took a group photo.

On the day of the festival, Hawkeye called and told the traveler to meet in the auditorium. At the front of the school, the students were enjoying the festival and rumors were flying that Irena’s band would face off against Damien’s. In the auditorium, the band was nervous about performing when they noticed that Boogie was missing. Just then, Stan arrived and ordered someone to help collect pamphlets from the library.

The traveler decided to help and took back the pamphlets from the Motes. As they made their way back to the auditorium, they heard Damien’s bandmates discussing how Boogie had run off. The traveler asked Damien what his problem was, to which he explained that he had devoted his whole life to music, adding that the traveler couldn’t expect to be the hero with clever one-liners. (A/N: I’d take clever one-liners over magical Adversary powers any day.)

After the band found out about Boogie, Irena realized that she would be at the Drizzling Strolling Path, as she always went there when she felt upset. There, the traveler found Lily, who told them that several students had been possessed by the Motes. After freeing the students, they found Boogie and put Irena on the phone. Irena told Boogie that she would support her decision no matter what. The traveler then returned to school, where Damien and his band gave a spectacular performance.

Though it was time for their band to perform, Irena kept holding it off in the hope that Boogie would come. Sure enough, Boogie came to cheer Irena and the rest of the band on. With Boogie’s support, Irena and the others gave an even better performance that won the contest. Realizing that he had lost, Damien’s anger caused the ground to quake as he summoned a Proud Troublemaker, born from the unwillingness to lose.

(A/N: If the player is the Demon, right before the Troublemaker appears, Damien will express his shock that he lost and say something like, “If I don’t become a rock star and meet my brother…”, suggesting that FriendStory Damien is estranged from his brother in some way. If the player is a female Demon, Damien will say “sister” instead of “brother”.)

Lily and Elwin immediately used their magic to blind everyone, giving the traveler enough time to defeat it. After Damien came back to his senses, Irena told him that she would cancel the bet as long as he apologized to Boogie. Damien refused to apologize, claiming that her band’s performance was inferior. However, he admitted that Boogie’s song wasn’t half-bad before walking off.

A few days later, Cygnus asked Neinheart if he had a version of Boogie’s song that had been sung by Boogie herself. Neinheart told her that there was a sample track that Boogie had submitted with her registration. While searching for it, Cygnus realized that Boogie had submitted it after the deadline, though Neinheart amusedly denied knowing about it before admitting that there were things more important than rules, such as making memories. (A/N: Mercifully, we’re finally done. Despite how much I hated everyone’s thirsting, FriendStory had a certain charm with its cast and I definitely wouldn’t mind more chapters.)