Chapter 1: Gray Aster, Certified Loser
Gray Aster was late again.
He sprinted down the cracked sidewalk, his bag bouncing off his shoulder, his tie hanging loose like a defeated flag. He wasn't even halfway to school, but his lungs were already screaming.
"Why… is running… so hard?!" Gray wheezed, stumbling past a convenience store.
By the time he crashed through the school gates, the bell had already rung. The classroom door slammed open, and everyone turned to stare.
"Gray, you're late again!" the teacher snapped.
Gray staggered into class, hair sticking up like a bird's nest. He raised a hand, breathing heavily."Late? Nah, I'm just… early for tomorrow."
The class erupted with laughter.
Mina, the cheerful girl with a short bob cut, shook her head and hid her smile behind a notebook. "Idiot," she muttered.
Riku, Gray's oversized best friend, leaned back in his seat with a grin. "Gray… your fly's open."
The laughter doubled. Gray froze, then zipped up so fast he almost broke the zipper. His face turned red."…That was a tactical distraction."
"Sure it was," Riku snorted.
Gray slumped into his seat, already exhausted from existing. His head dropped to the desk.Another day in the life of Gray Aster, the human joke.
What he didn't know was that this joke was about to become the punchline of the entire school