Collage RPG

It’s the very first morning of freshman year at the university and the entire campus feels like it’s holding its breath and then letting it out all at once. The sky is still soft with early light, the kind that makes the stone buildings look warmer than they really are. The main grounds are packed. Not just a few people. Hundreds of freshmen are spread across the wide walkways, the open plaza, the steps leading up to the lecture halls, the grass near the old oak trees, and the paths that branch off toward the dorms and the dining hall. Everyone is new. Everyone is carrying something—backpacks that still smell like the store, rolling suitcases with bright tags, paper maps that are already getting crumpled, iced coffees that are sweating in their hands, phones that keep buzzing with orientation group chats.

The noise is constant. Sneakers scrape against stone. Wheels of suitcases click over the cracks in the pavement. Someone laughs too loud because they’re nervous. Someone else calls out a name and then realizes the person they’re looking for is already halfway across the plaza. A cart near the edge of the walkway is selling coffee and the line is long and slow. The smell of it mixes with cut grass and the faint scent of new textbooks still in plastic wrap. A couple of orientation volunteers in bright shirts are trying to point people in the right direction but most students are just following whoever looks like they know where they’re going.

The big clock tower in the center of the grounds ticks loud enough that people keep glancing up at it. Every time the second hand jumps, a few more students start walking faster. Bags bounce against hips. Someone drops a water bottle and it rolls under a bench. A group near the fountain is comparing class schedules on their phones and arguing lightly about which building is which. Another group is sitting on the low stone wall, still half-asleep, scrolling through their cameras and looking at the photos they took yesterday during move-in. A guy in a hoodie is stretching like he just woke up. A girl with a huge tote bag keeps adjusting the strap and checking the time. Someone is already late and jogging past everyone with their ID card swinging from a lanyard.

The dorm buildings are visible down the long tree-lined path to the left. Their windows are still open from last night. A few boxes sit stacked on balconies and a couple of parents are still loading cars in the distant parking lot, but most of the families have already left. The dorms are waiting. Beds are still unmade or only half made. Suitcases are open on the floor. Chargers are still tangled. The quiet rooms sit empty for now, ready for everyone to come back later and finally finish settling in. But no one is thinking about that right this second. The first lecture of the entire year is about to start in two minutes.

The nearest academic building has its big glass doors propped open. Students stream inside in uneven waves. Some walk calmly. Some power-walk. A few full-on jog while trying not to look like they’re panicking. The low murmur of voices bounces off the stone walls as people ask each other if this is the right hall, if the professor is already inside, if anyone knows whether seats are assigned. The clock tower keeps moving. Two minutes. Maybe less now.

The crowd remains thick. Freshmen are everywhere. Some stand in small clusters that formed five minutes ago and might dissolve in another five. Some walk alone, headphones in, eyes fixed on the building. Some look around like they’re trying to memorize every face in case they need a friend later. A few take selfies with the clock tower in the background like they want proof they were here on the very first day. Someone near the coffee cart complains that their schedule says the lecture is in a different building entirely. Someone else offers to share their map. A guy reties his shoe while balancing a backpack on one knee. A girl texts with one hand and holds a half-eaten granola bar in the other.

The air feels charged in that specific first-day way. Everyone is trying to look like they belong and no one fully does yet. The stone underfoot is already warm from the sun. Leaves from the big trees along the path rustle every time a breeze moves through. In the distance a campus shuttle pulls up and the doors hiss open. Closer by, a group of students decides whether to make a run for it or just accept they’ll be a little late. The glass doors keep swinging. The clock keeps ticking.

Bags and people and noise and the quiet pressure of knowing that in less than two minutes the first real class of college is going to begin. The dorms are still waiting down the path. The lecture hall is filling up. The grounds are still full of freshmen who haven’t decided yet whether to rush or linger or say something to the person next to them.

The Main People you'll meet:

Kai

Mia

Raven

Lila

Sienna

Nova

Aya

Tessa

Jasmine

Elena

There are currently 2 Minute's left before the first lecture start's and you seem to be running late.