The snow had yet to melt, and gray clouds hung low over the town.At the northern edge of J-Country lay Sogo City, once a thriving port, now nothing but shuttered stores and empty streets.
Makoto Kudou, sixteen.A nobody, attending a correspondence high school.Most days, I hardly showed up. No friends. No invitations. Just me, sitting in the corner with my notebook.
In my third year of middle school, I was struck by a brain illness.Hospitalized for months, I lost my exams, my future, my place among classmates.By the time I returned, I was already forgotten—less a person, more a ghost.
Youth had never been mine to begin with.
My only escape was light novels.Turning the pages, I dreamed of another world, a place far from this cold, silent reality.
That was when I heard it.
—"Under the desk, on the right. A test paper has fallen."
A voice. Clear and direct, resonating in the back of my skull.Not through my ears—through my mind itself.
"…!"
I glanced around.Classmates were busy chatting, the teacher collecting papers. Nobody had noticed.
I peeked under the desk.And there it was—a test paper, my name written on it.
"…No way."
I picked it up with trembling fingers. I could have sworn I'd placed it on the stack earlier. If it hadn't been found, it would have gone unsubmitted.
"Thanks for handing it in," the teacher said, his lips curling faintly in surprise.
Such a small thing. Yet to me, it was earth-shattering.
—"I'm glad you noticed in time."
The voice again. Calm, monotone.Not quite human, not quite mechanical.
"…Who are you?"
I muttered under my breath, my heart pounding louder.
After school.
Snowflakes drifted from the gray sky as I left the building.No words, just the crunch of my footsteps.
At the bus stop, the voice whispered again.
—"Second row of the vending machine. The milk cocoa is sold out. Choose the tea from the third row instead."
"…Huh?"
Skeptical, I checked. Sure enough, the cocoa lamp was red.I pressed the tea button, and a warm can slid into my hand.
"…Too convenient."
On the freezing walk home, the sweetness soaked into me more deeply than ever.For the first time, I felt like I had something.
That night.
Alone in my room, under the blankets.Only the heater's low hum—until the voice returned.
—"You still have assignments left. If you start now, you'll finish in an hour."
Again.Directives, one after another.Guiding me to the optimal choices.
Convenient. Helpful.
Yet a chill crept down my spine.
Was this salvation?Or something else?
I clenched my trembling fingers in the dark.A nobody, granted a "Voice."
And I still had no idea what it truly was.