"Hayes Joan was a special person."
This one sentence caused a butterfly effect that would one day affect the whole "world". This may seem confusing to the person just joining, so let's backtrack.
Hayes Joan did not consider himself a special person. No, that's not quite right.
Hayes Joan was not a special person.
He was not outstanding in any way; he was not handsome, and there was nothing that only he could do. However, within that knowledge of the fact that he was not special, he, too, wanted to be special.
He wanted to be one of the people who shone on the big stage, even though he knew that he never would be. Despite knowing that he was not special, he wanted to be seen, even if he didn't make any effort. He wanted to be one of the people called upon when something was needed. He wanted to be someone who could do something nobody else could do.
Therefore, Hayes Joan devoted himself to miscellaneous studies, only performing averagely to the outward eye, but studying like a madman in secret. All for the day when he would be called up. But alas, no matter how hard he worked, he never became a special person. Perhaps, he thought, if he prepared enough, someday the world would notice him. Someday, an opportunity would come, and he would finally prove himself.
But years passed, and nothing changed. The world remained silent. No one called his name.
Hayes Joan was not a special person.
The pivotal moment that cemented this in him was the day he confessed to his crush. He was not rejected, however--
"You are not special."
Those words nearly broke Hayes' ego, but before it could, the face of the girl in question warmed up as she continued--
"You have nothing special about you. However, you are not fake. To yourself, and to the world around you. You don't lie to yourself about things you are sure are true, and you strive to become what you want to become. That is what I love about you. Ergo, I will support you in anything you do until you become the special person you want to be. I love you, Hayes."
His friends, too, supported him, even knowing how unspecial he was. Therefore, he made up his mind. If this world had no place for someone like him, then he would make a place of his own. If he could not be special here, then he would build a world where he was.
That is how his obsession shifted. From gathering knowledge to writing stories. From studying endlessly to writing endlessly. With the support of his friends, he was able to push on, even when it got hard. He would write one chapter a day. Every single day. And with each chapter, he would pour out his very soul.
It was grueling at first. Words came haltingly, like stones dragged across rough ground. His sentences felt clumsy, his plots childish. He wrestled with doubt each night: Who would even read this? Why am I doing this? But then he would remember her words, his friends' laughter, the small sparks of belief that others had placed in him. He leaned on them like a weary traveler leaning on a staff.
Therefore, he decided to do something else. He would make a world where he was a special person. He moved all of his devotion from miscellaneous learning to writing. He would write one chapter every day, diligently post on all the platforms he could think of, all for the moment when he would be born into his world as a special person. Not the main character, but a special person.
Thus, with all of this determination and stress, everything Hayes had done led to the line--
"Hayes Joan was a special person."
That was the line that introduced "Hayes Joan" as a special person, and that version of Hayes Joan was…
Splendid.
For in that moment, the Hayes who had spent his life believing he was ordinary carved a fragment of himself into eternity. He was not splendid because the world had finally recognized him, nor because his stories had reached countless readers. He was splendid because he had created a place where he could exist as more than just ordinary.
He had turned yearning into creation, loneliness into stories, doubt into drive. He had proven to himself, and to anyone willing to look closely, that even the unspecial could birth something extraordinary.
Hayes Joan was not a special person.
But in the world he built, and in the hearts of those who read his words, Hayes Joan would always be--
Splendid.