My name is Dante Karling. I live in a crowded city. Currently, I'm a high school student—17 years old, male.
But unlike many other ordinary students, I have a secret.
I have a superpower: I can hear other people's thoughts—although it's not very clear.
For example, if someone thinks: "I will eat raw egg this morning," what I hear is more like: "I... egg... morning." Just fragments of their thoughts.
When I was a child, I used to think how cool it would be to read minds. That way, I could find out if my mom was hiding candy from me.
Uh oh—about that—I don't have a mom or a dad. I only have sisters and brothers. I was born from a machine, like millions of my other sisters and brothers. We are what people call biological vessels.
Though, I don't really know what "vessel" means.
Back to the mind-reading thing—it turns out it's not that great a power.
Being able to see through lies and harsh truths is not a blessing. Being able to detect deception sounds useful, but it's exhausting.
Thankfully, my power isn't perfect, so I can still breathe normally.
I thought I was the only one in the world with a gift.
Until one day...
From others' perspective, Dante is a cool boy with a cold personality.
His face is not bad—maybe even a little attractive—but what really makes him different is his constant confidence.
His calmness. His quietness.
He says very little.
To be precise, he's an introvert—someone who gains energy from solitude and feels drained by too much social interaction.
'If my face was ugly, people would probably call me arrogant.'
That's what Dante thinks about his appearance.
One morning, like every morning, Dante rides his bicycle to school. He attends class like usual. Everything is normal.
But during break time, he always tries to find somewhere isolated. In this crowded school, he might walk around a bit, do some push-ups, or just sit alone and stare into the distance.
This time, as he walks quietly through the school corridors, his silent footsteps bring him upon something unexpected.
In an empty classroom, he sees someone.
A girl. A blonde-haired girl. Sitting on a desk. Writing something.
She reaches out her hand, palm open—
And above it... floats a pen.
'Huh? Am I hallucinating? Did that pen just... float?'
Dante blinks, looks away for a moment, then looks back, trying to confirm what he saw.
But the girl notices him. She quickly pulls her hand back, grabbing the pen, pretending nothing happened.
Dante, meanwhile, stands frozen.
'Maybe I imagined it.'
He turns to walk away.
Then he pauses.
'Wait... Is it just because I'm too shy to ask?'
He can't accept that truth—
So he turns back and steps into the classroom.
"Hey, you. Did you just... levitate your pen?"
Dante asks the blonde girl calmly.
She looks up, shocked.
"What? What are you talking about?"
'Huh? Why am I doing this? Maybe I imagined it... Why didn't I just walk away?'
Dante is surprised by his own boldness—but now there's no turning back.
"I mean, I clearly saw you levitating that pen. Can you explain how you did that?"
The blonde girl looks away, avoiding the question.
'Alright, I'll just read her mind and find out.'
But to his surprise—nothing.
'What? Why isn't it working? My power is always functioning... but not this time?'
"I'm sorry... You're Dante, right? What are you doing here?"
Dante isn't surprised she knows his name—he's somewhat popular, after all.
"I was just walking around during break. What's your name?"
"I'm Lina. Nice to meet you, Dante."
He doesn't know what to say next—his social awkwardness kicks in.
So, he just says goodbye and walks away, confused and curious.
A moment later, he hears someone else's thoughts as he passes:
'Dante... doing... what... eat...'
"Ah, my mind-reading ability again. Not great, but I'm fine with it. If it were better, I'd hear too many awful things."
'As for that girl... maybe I'll investigate later.'
Dante feels curious, but not overly obsessed.
Days later, he learns more about Lina. He pretends like nothing happened.
"If I approach her again, she'll probably just avoid the question. I'll wait for another chance."
He's in no rush—after all, his power doesn't give him a mission or purpose. It's just... there.
But that chance never comes.
Every day, Dante comes to school and, during his free time, tries to observe Lina. He asks around about her.
He finds out:
"Lina seems more intelligent than most people. And like me, she's an introvert. Her grades are better than others."
But she's never alone anymore. A chance like the one in the empty classroom may never come again.
So he gives up. For now.
Then days later something strange happens.
Dante had almost forgotten about Lina after several failed attempts to approach her again. But one day, when bored, he tries one last time.
He asks a random student from her class:
"Hey, do you know Lina?"
To his surprise, the student answers:
"What? Who's Lina?"
Dante stares at the girl in confusion.
'Hmm... she's not lying. Her expression is genuine. Wait, what?! That's not the answer I expected. She should've said something like...'
He trails off in his thoughts, confused.
But not giving up, he asks another student, like before.
"Lina? Who's that?"
"Blonde girl? Well, we have Jessie, Monica...?"
Dante confused.
'What? Where is Lina? Has she disappeared from this world? Everyone seems to have forgotten her... and this is beyond my ability. Who could do something like this?'