A head-and-shoulders illustration of Anika. They have light skin, medium-length brown hair with bangs, and are wearing a teal shirt with a red bandana, making a peace sign with their left hand.

New Game by Anika H. '26, MEng '27

a comic summary of the semester

level 1 prefrosh learns power tools, makes friends, gets lost and finds main quest: surviving classes.frosh takes first quiz and gets kicked in the ass. goes to masseh to eat and replenish hp. hp here is the health bar, and mp is for mental strength. going back into battle, i attack a pset, do barely any damage, and call up my friendswe pset in the lounge. side quest: career fair, i hand my resume in nervously and then decide to go for free stuff when i realized it was crap. on another side quest, i get manual and digital fabrication trained. on yet another side quest, i comfort a friend. colors are inverted, and a popup says i've discovered the headspace dimensionwe pset in the lounge. side quest: career fair, i hand my resume in nervously and then decide to go for free stuff when i realized it was crap. on another side quest, i get manual and digital fabrication trained. on yet another side quest, i comfort a friend. colors are inverted, and a popup says i've discovered the headspace dimensionit's break time, i watch a movie in the lounge with my friends and we all fall asleep. hp and mp replenished. i fight a midterm and barely survive. sidequest blog post. i fight another midterm and do surprisingly well. i enter headspace briefly with a low mp warning.side quest: i perform firespinning at novemburn and end up getting friction burns from overpractice. i fight another midterm and fail it. i enter headspace again with a low mp warning. i kick the computer dialogue. another popup says "void boss approaching". i get confused but quickly slip back out of headspace.i fight another midterm with low hp and low mp and i'm not prepared, but manage to defeat it. i enter headspace and angrily smash the screen to get out. side quest: radio society meeting. I sit to the side and pset while the others bicker. I enter headspace again, and the void boss, named "burnout" attacks. computer dialog shows repeated errors, saying i cannot fight this monster. it has infinite hp and infinite mp.i desperately swing at it and it takes no damage, so i just stand there. "I guess i'm stuck here for now, aren't i?" friend walks into headspace and hugs. "oh", i say, "never mind then." headspace crumbles, and both hp and mp are restored. there is a serene looking picture of me hugging my friend, but in reality i was a sobbing mess. pro tip: time won't stop for you.i fught my 8.01 final and then grind. i fight my 3.091 final and then grind. i fight my 18.02 final and finish all my finals. i am free.stage 1 (semester 1) is complete. Bonus comic. I'm talking to a sophomre friend. I ask them," hey wren, you were a frosh last year right?" "there's prefrosh now. isn't that crazy? you're gonna be a junior soon." they pause and say, "I need you to stop talking."