Date: May 4, 2026 (Monday)
Time: 10:15 AM (First Break)
Location: Classroom 1-4
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Two weeks had passed. Another test was held three days ago. Today, the 8K Bulletin Board in the courtyard was once again screaming the results to the student body.
I didn't even bother to walk to the courtyard. I know the data before it renders. My score is 250/500. My Rank is somewhere in the 2000s. I am the 'Standard Model' of mediocrity.
Meanwhile, the world above me continues to spin. Rank 1: Tsukishiro Shiina. She held the throne. Two consecutive harvests, two perfect victories. The school has stopped calling her a 'Prodigy' and started calling her the 'Queen.'
I haven't returned to the 3rd Floor Reference Wing since that day. I've been hiding in the crowded, noisy shelves of the first floor, terrified that if I go back up there, she might think I'm a stalker or creep.
To my left, Himuro Leina is radiating absolute zero. She seems to care deeply about mathematics but ignores other subjects. She's staring at her math textbook like she wants to incinerate it.
Rank 2 in Math again. She can't beat 'Queen'. She's hitting the 'Genius Wall'—that invisible barrier where hard work stops mattering and raw talent begins. She looks frustrated. I get it. It hurts to run at full speed and still lose to someone who is sleepwalking.
Albert rested his chin on his palm, his eyes drifting to the right. The center of the universe.
And then, there are the Stars. Sterling Leo. The ace of the track team. In two weeks, he's become the unofficial 'Prince' of the first years. Upperclassmen wave to him. Girls leave sports drinks on his desk. He smiles at everyone, and he means it. He is a protagonist in a world of NPCs.
Tachibana Maya. The 'Campus Princess.'
The rumors are everywhere.
'Have you seen the girl in Class 1-4?'
She's an angel.'
She bakes cookies.'
She is trying so hard to keep up with him. Every day after school, she sits in that sterile Student Lounge, waiting for his practice to end. She waits for hours on a hard plastic chair, refusing to go home, refusing to let the gap between us widen.
I watch her wait and I feel the weight of it. I am the anchor attached to their ankles. I failed to make a single new friend in fourteen days. The only friends I have are Leo and Maya. To the rest of the class, I am just a pixel in the background. A shadow that somehow got stuck to the feet of royalty.
The chime signaled the end of the first afternoon period.
"Class," the Class Rep (Leo) announced as he stood up, "Sensei messaged. He's stuck in a faculty meeting so next period is self-study. Keep the volume down."
A cheer went up. The classroom instantly dissolved into social pockets. Groups formed like oil droplets merging in water.
Albert sat still. He did not move his chair or turn around. He opened his notebook and pretended to write and built his little fortress of solitude.
This is the worst part. The 'Free Time.' Look at them. They connect so easily. They laugh. They share snacks. They exist at the same frequency. I'm sitting three feet away from them, but I'm in a different dimension. I'm pathetic. I'm not 'mysterious' or 'cool.' I'm just... socially inert. I'm a waste of space."
"Man, I'm parched," Leo sighed while stretching his arms high above his head. His shirt pulled tight against his chest. Three girls in the front row instantly looked away and blushed furiously.
"I'll come with you!" Maya said as she hopped up immediately. "I need to get some tea. The vending machine in the East Hall has that peach flavor I like. Albert, do you want anything?"
She looked at him. Her eyes were kind. Too kind.
"I'm fine," Albert said while keeping his eyes on his notebook.
"Okay! Be right back!", said Maya.
"Don't study too hard, Professor," Leo grinned, ruffling Albert's hair as he walked past.
Leo and Maya walked out of the classroom together.
As they passed through the sliding door, they were laughing at something Leo said. They moved in perfect sync, their shoulders brushing lightly. Like two celestial bodies locked in a binary orbit.
Click.
The door slid shut. The sun and the moon had left the room.
Silence.
Then, movement.
The atmosphere shifted instantly and the warmth evaporated. The "Leo Effect" was gone.
Now, it was just a room of 37 curious teenagers. And Albert.
Albert felt the air pressure change. Shadows fell over his desk. He looked up.
Five classmates were standing around his desk. Three girls and two boys. He knew their names but he labeled them "Classmate A, B, C, D, and E."
"Hey, Atherton-kun, right?" Classmate A (a girl with a sharp bob cut and an overly sweet voice) leaned in. Her hands were behind her back.
"Yes?" Albert said. He gripped his pen.
Crowd density: High. Proximity: Uncomfortable. Objective: They want something. People like this don't approach Rank 2001 without a motive."
"You're totally best friends with Sterling-kun and Tachibana-san, right?" she asked. Her eyes were scanning his face, probably looking for weakness.
"We... grew up together," Albert answered carefully. "Since elementary school."
"I knew it!" Classmate B (a boy pushing up his glasses) chimed in. "So, spill it. We've got a bet going."
The circle tightened. The question hung in the air. The other three leaned in closer, desperate for the answer.
"Are they dating?", Classmate A whispered. The question hung in the air like heavy smoke.
"Everyone is talking about it," Classmate C whispered. "They walk to school together. They eat lunch together. When they stand next to each other... it's like a movie poster."
"Yeah," Classmate A sighed as she looked at the closed door where Leo had Maya vanished. "They're such a perfect match. The Prince and the Princess. It feels like they're dating, but they act like they aren't. It's frustrating! So, Atherton-kun. You're the insider. What's the truth? Are they hiding it?"
Albert felt a cold spike in his chest.
Perfect match. Work of art. Destiny.
It's not just me. It's not just my insecurity talking. It's the objective consensus of the entire world. These random classmates see it, the teachers see it, and the whole school sees it.
To the outside observer, Leo and Maya are a completed equation. A + B = Perfect.
And me? What am I? I'm the error term. I'm the remainder. I'm the 'Insider'—the staff member who holds the boom mic while the actors kiss. They don't care about me. They didn't come to ask how my day was. They came to mine me for data about the main characters. I am an Information Broker. That is my only social value.
He looked at their eager faces. They wanted him to say "Yes."
They wanted the fantasy to be true. They wanted him to confirm that the fairy tale was real.
"I actually don't know," Albert lied.
"Ehhh?" The group groaned in unison. "Come on, you're the childhood friend! Don't be stingy!"
"As far as I know," Albert said, his voice turning mechanical, stripping away all emotion to survive the interrogation, "they are not dating."
"Really?" Classmate A looked disappointed, but then she smiled—a knowing, smug smile. "Well, I bet it's only a matter of time, right? I mean, look at them. Who else would be good enough for Sterling-kun but her? And who else could handle Tachibana-san's energy?"
"Exactly," Classmate B laughed. "It's practically destiny. They just need a push."
Destiny.
The word wrapped around Albert's throat. The logic was flawless. The peer review was complete. The world had voted, and the verdict was unanimous.
"Yeah," Albert whispered. He looked down at his blank notebook. "You're right. It's only a matter of time."
He said it and verbally cut the cord. He agreed with the world that he did not belong in the picture.
"I knew it!" Classmate A squealed quietly.
Suddenly, the classroom door slid open.
"We're back!" Leo's voice boomed through the room. He tossed a plastic water bottle in the air and caught it with a casual, athletic grace.
Maya followed him in, giggling at him, her face bright and happy.
Scatter.
The effect was instantaneous. The group around Albert's desk dispersed like cockroaches under a kitchen light. They returned to their seats, pulled out their phones, and acted as if nothing had happened. They had extracted the data. The broker was no longer useful.
"Did we miss anything?" Leo asked as he dropped into his seat. He smelled like fresh air and sunlight.
"No," Albert said. He stared at his notebook. The numbers on the page looked like gibberish.
He stared at his notebook. The numbers on the page did not make sense anymore.
The black ink seemed to melt into the white paper, turning into a watery blur. It was not because his vision was bad.
It was because water was building up along his bottom eyelids.