You can only have 2D friends if you want to be a Mafia Boss

The classroom was noisy.

Almost every boy clamored as they sat beside each other in a particular spot. They were clutching their phones in landscape orientation, and a video game was visible on their screens.

"You idiot! I told you to come here! here! Use your eyes! look!" One boy shouted, smacking the head of his teammate at the same time.

"You're a kamen main with what? A 30%-win rate?" Another boy teased another.

"Skil! Go! Go! Die!"

That was all anyone could hear.

Fourteen-year-old boys were swearing like there was no tomorrow, making everyone wonder if they had mistakenly entered the wrong classroom. Is this actually the senior gangster`s classroom? No? Then, how come everyone`s so foul-mouthed!

The noise irritated the girls in the same room. There's an upcoming quiz, and they were trying to cram, but the boys made this impossible with the unbearable noise. They could barely remember the x and y; at this point, they might accidentally answer questions with a barrage of curses.

They were so mad they could snap a pen.

The vice president had had enough and decided to take action. She got up and walked over to the boys, who were arranged in a circular pattern in the corner.

"Guy---"

Just as she approached them, the boys started going at each other's throats. It seemed the game had ended with an unfavorable result. "You f***--"

"Who uses skills like that? Are you dumb-"

"I told you I`m still new! I don`t get this at all."

Snap. One vein snapped.

"Please lower down yo----"

"SAVAGE!"

Snap. Three veins snapped.

"Listen! We're trying to review--"

"MYTHICAL!" The boys triumphantly stood up, hugged each other, and jumped around like they'd gone insane.

The sound of a vein snapping suddenly filled the room, followed by an ear-piercing scream from the president who could no longer contain her anger.

"SHUT UP!'

Silence. There was only silence. A long, long silence.

The Vice President snapped. Her patience was nowhere near the length of the china wall.

"Seriously, do you have, like, earwax buildup or something? 'Cause I've been telling you to shut up for ages now! We're trying to cram for the quiz, and you're being so freaking loud! Why do you guys have to be so rude? If you want to tank the test, go ahead, but don't ruin it for the rest of us."

Her eyes moistened with rage. She was silenced three times, and she could barely speak. If curses are daggers, she wouldn't even be surprised if her ears started bleeding! Therefore, her outburst wasn't that surprising.

One of the boys who had lost a game scorned her. Nobody noticed that he was there, as he was in the corner with his back to most of the students.

As luck would have it, nobody was aware of his presence.

Alas, if they knew, especially the Vice President, there`s no doubt she would`ve rather decided to become mute.

After all, he's the most stubborn of them all. It was a chore dealing with this guy, the pathetic school bully that you often see in novels. Typically serving as cannon fodder for the sole purpose of making the protagonist appear a million miles greater.

He stood up, went to where the Vice President was, and flashed her his infamous glare.

The Vice President stepped back, she was so afraid, it was at a level where controlling her limbs became a difficult task. The other boy was suspended last year because he bashed a teacher's head in the wall, this caused severe head injury to the latter.

But the law, most often than not, shields those with money.

He was the son of a powerful politician, and so was able to get away with only a suspension.

The election day was near that incident date, so this boy's father, who ran for a high position, threatened the teacher to not tell a soul about what had happened, and he eventually succeeded. The said teacher felt compelled to leave the school after being threatened by a politician, who allegedly attempted to coerce them into compliance through fear or intimidation.

The vice president's eyes quivered from fear. How can she even protect herself from these monsters? In both physical and legal aspects, she's at a disadvantage. In simpler terms, she has no muscle and no connections to protect herself.

"Quit your blabbering, you pathetic bitch!" The student sneered at the vice president and raised their hand as if to strike her. "You think you're so important just because you have some fancy title? News flash, nobody cares about you or your stupid rules." The Vice President closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come. She was too scared to even move!

But the anticipated pain never came. A single word from someone who suddenly spoke up made the bully's movement halt all of a sudden.

"Shut it, psycho," the voice cut through the air, making Leo freeze in place.

The bearer of the voice was a young man. Despite his young age, his intimidating presence dominated everyone into suppression.

He held a natural air of arrogance like all except him were worthless ants.

"B-bright!" The bully, Leo, flinched. He stepped back in panic and fell, his buttocks roughly smashing against the ground.

Leo was well aware of their difference in status. If he's the City Lord, then this guy is the Emperor.

But even so!

Even though he knew, he just can't stop himself from deeply hating this guy!

"Don`t butt in! This is not your business!"

Leo's envy and resentment boiled within him as he watched Bright flipping through the pages of his book, seemingly unperturbed. Leo couldn't help but feel that life was unfair to him. Despite his constant efforts to gain recognition, Bright effortlessly commanded attention and admiration from everyone around him. It was infuriating to Leo that someone could have it all without even trying. To Bright, the attention and praise were nothing but a nuisance, while Leo yearned for even a fraction of the recognition that Bright received so effortlessly.

Leo hated Bright's gut but was undeniably envious of what he had.

Leo couldn't help but feel a wave of shame wash over him as he looked up at Bright's towering figure. It was a constant reminder of his own inadequacy, and he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever be able to measure up to someone like Bright. The knowledge that Bright didn't even seem to care about the power he held only made it worse, as if Leo's struggle for recognition and approval was all for naught.

"Bugs crawling around, I can't stand it," Bright muttered, nonchalantly flipping through the pages of his notebook as if unfazed by the commotion.

Leo's fist tightened, his nails digging into his palm as he glared at the cold and heartless figure before him. Rage and humiliation coursed through his veins, but he knew he was powerless to fight back. With no other option, Leo slunk back to his seat in defeated silence, knowing that there was no chance for him to retaliate.

Time passed and eventually school ended for the day. Bright left the campus and headed home. He was greeted by several servants along the way, but he indifferently walked past them and went towards his room on the upper floor.

And when he had finally entered the room and locked the door...

He plopped on his bed and sighed loudly.

"What a tiresome day." Bright felt extra tired today.

He reminisced about his verbal confrontation with Leo earlier, but instead of feeling regretful, he felt a sense of satisfaction. He had managed to prevent the situation from escalating into a physical altercation by using his intimidating presence, and it had worked perfectly. Bright was pleased with himself for handling the situation well.

If it didn't, Bright wouldn't know what else to do. He couldn't possibly punch him right?

It's not that he's physically weak, rather, he's really strong for his age. He's strong, but he can't control his strength. Engaging in a fight will surely injure his opponents. After all, he was trained to kill since young.

His father is a powerful businessman at the front, but he's also the mafia boss of the underworld.

Not the 'Hell' kind of Underworld, but the illegal businesses and organizations type of 'underworld'.

It should be noted that Bright is not fond of fighting and violence. He values peace and tranquility above all else, and his ultimate goal is to live a long and peaceful life, passing away naturally when his time comes.

It's an irony for somebody who was destined to become the Lenon clan's Mafia boss.

Bright sighed again, his mood gradually turning bitter. Who in their right mind would want to be a mafia boss? It might sound cool, but at the end of the day, they were just criminals.

"What are you sighing for?" Bright's heart nearly skipped a beat in surprise. Despite his extensive training since childhood, he still couldn't detect his father's presence.

Bright threw a pillow at his father, who easily caught it, prompting his father to playfully scold him. "That's not nice!"

"Why are you even here?" Bright asked, although he has zero interest in what his dad, Sinon, came for.

Sinon sat beside Bright and playfully tousled his hair as he asked about his school day. "Did you enjoy school?"

"No."

"I felt like an outcast."

Sinon glanced his way and let out a long sigh.

"It's not that I don't want you to make friends; I just told you that you can't be friends with someone who is weak, doesn't have the same financial power as us, and can't protect themselves from assassins. I'm not saying you shouldn't have any friends," Bright's father clarified.

Bright facepalmed and stared at his father, questioning how his father's criteria for his friends was any different than forbidding him from having friends at all.

'It's not as if everyone is like me...'

Bright positioned himself in the corner, glaring at his father with piercing eyes. But despite his disapproval, he secretly acknowledged the wisdom in his father's words.

He understood that associating with others could put them in harm's way, and therefore he followed his father's directive to avoid befriending individuals who were not equipped to handle such situations.

Noticing his son's discontent, Sinon let out a heavy breath and gestured with his index finger as if he had an idea to share.

"How about some online friends? At the very least, you can still be friends without putting the other's life at risk" Sinon believed he was quite clever for coming up with this solution. However, Bright didn't seem to agree and frowned, stating that he thought having only online friends was just...

"No, that's just sad."

"Then how about a 2D friend?"

"That's more upsetting." Bright grimaced, thinking about how it was even possible to have a 2D friend.

"Then fine, I'll try it out," Bright eventually conceded, feeling the weight of his father's expectant stare.

Sinon's expression brightened as he realized his persuasion had worked. He gave Bright a pat on the head and issued a final reminder: "Remember to pick wisely, okay? Only good friends are allowed." With that, he left the room, leaving Bright to contemplate his new endeavor.