The True of The Queen Alpha

Chapter 1

While Luna was busy daydreaming, Serra, who had finished her meeting five minutes later, walked over to Luna, who was now standing still, staring at the staircase. Serra tapped her, causing Luna to reflexively turn toward the touch.

“Heh! What’s wrong with you?” Serra asked, confused by her best friend’s strange behavior.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later, wait for me, okay?” Luna replied as she entered the department head’s office.

“Okay,” Serra answered, sitting back in the same spot she had been in before her thesis guidance.

Feeling bored, Serra pulled out a slim Android phone and started scrolling through social media. A few minutes later, Luna finished her meeting, and Serra quickly put the phone into her front pants pocket.

“So? How was it? Did it go well, Lun?” Serra asked curiously.

They began walking toward the elevator to go down to the first floor. The pharmacy building was combined with the biology department, while the mathematics, physics, and chemistry departments were located in the neighboring building. These two buildings were adjacent to each other, separated only by glass, and they shared the same first floor.

The pharmacy and biology building had five floors. The first floor was a large hall usually used for orientation (ospek) for prospective students, either by department or major. The hall was about 300 square meters wide. In the northwest corner was a 12-square-meter administration office for handling tuition (UKT), semester fees, or other administrative matters. This office faced outward, with the back side leading to the stairs going up.

The stairs were often crowded when the elevator had long lines, so many students who feared being late would use them. Next to the stairs was a small glass-enclosed room with a large display cabinet filled with medals and trophies from students. Sometimes the room was also used for group study or community meetings that lacked space.

Next to that was a narrow one-meter-wide hallway leading to the faculty parking area. Opposite the entrance and facing the hallway was a small room known as the MIPA Faculty Student Association (HMFM) secretariat, which was also 12 square meters. Behind this room (to the north) was the upperclassmen motorcycle parking lot. Beside its door was the motorcycle parking lot for lecturers.

Next to the parking lot was the microbiology lab — shared by both biology and pharmacy departments. The lab doors faced south, with a total of three rooms measuring around 59 square meters in total. Beside the labs was a designated student motorcycle parking area, near the elevators and stairs.

The second floor consisted of lecture rooms. There was one large lecture hall used for general subjects for an entire cohort. There was also a void stretching from the second to the fifth floor, surrounded by aluminum railings, allowing visibility of student activities on the first floor. There were five to six classrooms, each holding about 30 students (usually divided into groups for more detailed teaching). On the northwest and southeast corners were staircases, with an elevator in the center of the southeast side connecting all five floors.

The third floor contained faculty offices, the department head’s office, and the dean’s office, all located near the stairs and elevator. On the opposite side was the conference room used for proposal seminars, final seminars, and thesis defense.

The fourth floor had two laboratories — the left side for pharmacy, the right side for biology. There was also a pharmacy counter and a drink vending machine.

The fifth floor housed the pharmacy lab and three biology labs located to the left of the elevator. There was also a staircase leading to the rooftop.

The rooftop was a shaded area, often used for doing assignments when group work at cafes or other aesthetic places wasn't an option. From the rooftop, one could see the buildings of other faculties to the north and west. The east offered a view of mountains, rice fields, and farmland, while the south showed people busily going about their activities — and even an animal farm managed by the animal science department.

Now Serra and Luna were waiting for the elevator on one of the upper floors. The elevator was on its way down from the fifth floor. They waited patiently, joking and making a list of what they would do once they got home after this meeting.

After fifteen minutes, the elevator doors opened, revealing five young men inside. Serra hesitated to enter, but Luna grabbed her hand and pulled her in. The elevator doors closed and began descending.

The atmosphere inside the elevator felt awkward for Serra, but Luna was inwardly glowing with excitement at the chance to be close to her crush, who was leaning against the elevator button panel. Luna wanted to scoot closer to him, but stopped when she saw a sharp glare from her crush’s eyes.