Chapter 1: First Step Towards Independency

On that first night of September when the loud sirens and red and blue flashes illuminated the darkness, authorities flooded the crime scene. The police took my parents' headless corpses and enveloped them in a cadaver pouch. All I could do was watch with horrified eyes.

I was thinking; how do I sustain my income by myself?

Do I need to work my ass off just to survive?

Am I awakened to adulthood?

Do I have the capacity to live without my parents' support?

Am I independent enough?

Those questions haunt me.

~~~~~

September 1, 2060, 6:40am. The fourth month of the first semester.

For introverts like myself, commuting to the academy is a nightmare. Nevertheless, I have no option but to cope.

I hate commuting since it requires interacting with strangers, and socializing isn't my strong suit.

Fortunately, I was the only one at the bus stop.

Not long, a public bus halted with a squeal in front of me.

The door slid open and I stepped in.

I showed my ID to the sleazy bus driver and he gazed closely at it while scratching his chin. "You're an Aspro student… I see. Please take the VIP seat, sir."

I slid my ID back in my backpack and walked down the aisle as other passengers glared at me.

They were intimidating, but the truth was they were inferring that they admire me.

Well, I'm kind of used to this circumstance; every time people saw my white blazer with red necktie, they treat me like a celebrity. After all, this is the signature uniform of the most prominent school in the world, the "Aspro Academy".

"Are you really studying at Aspro? That's fire dude!" one man exclaimed.

"I once took the entrance exam at Aspro, but I failed." a girl wearing a different school uniform wistfully said.

These loquacious strangers contradicts to my self-concept of being alone. However, I have to indulge them to preserve the academy's reputation. Infringing the academy's guidelines might get me expelled.

Since I'm an introvert, I gave them a brief smile. I rarely smile so I hope my smile didn't look creepy.

After some moments of praising me like a prince, the bus driver hits the break, finally arriving at my destination.

I got out of the bus and upon my arrival, the security guard on standby who has an M16 rifle strapped to his shoulder warmly greeted me "Good morning!"

I ignored him since it's his duty, but going forward, I swiped my ID on the scanner at the corner of the gate and the giant steel gate swung open automatically.

The school of dreams and fantasies, "Aspro academy". The school for talented and gifted students who studied like their lives depended on it. Aspro manifested their students to become the new hope of society and keep the government running. With that being said, millions of students tried their luck to enrol in this academy, but as expected, most of the enrollees failed the entrance exam. This prestigious school only becomes a dream to those who are unskilled and a living fantasy to the great ones.

I'm wearing a white long-sleeve polo and over it was a white blazer that has a "Clubs" playing card symbol imprinted on its patch pocket.

It indicates I'm a first-year student. There are four symbol and each of them corresponds to the student's school-year; Spade for second-year, Heart for third-year, and Diamond for fourth-year students.

It's peculiar how the school matches it with the playing cards symbols, but maybe there's a reason for this pattern.

Chit-chats of students sounded from every direction as I made my way to my classroom. I walked down the straight, cemented path where myriads of trimmed evergreen trees are arrayed in a column beside the path.

At the end was a roundabout walkway. I circled around it and paused to gaze at the enthralling fountain in the middle. Next to it was a replica statue of the famous "The Thinker".

This is the best setting for photography; I'd seen much of this background on Instagram.

I don't particularly like strolling, so I rushed into my building.

As I strode down the hallway, I pretended to be on my phone, frantically swiping left and right to not look awkward while walking past the other students.

I eventually made it to the classroom, and I was just on time.

I sat on my allocated seat and behaved quietly. It's already 7am and the classroom was filled with chattering.

Our homeroom teacher, who was wearing a casual tuxedo and blue rubber shoes, stepped foot inside the classroom—all the chattering was gone in a blink and everyone sprung into their seats.

Ramon Santiago; the teacher who is entrusted to handle the worst class (Class-F). He's a middle-aged man with a fine and healthy physique. He's the man who taught every female student martial arts, and as a result of his contribution, this school achieved gender equality.

Class-F is the lowest class for a reason; most of the students are placed here because they are troublemakers, and that's why most of the students in Class-F are male. However, there's one female student in Class-F, and she happens to be my childhood friend.

Selene Alarilla; she and I have been close friends since elementary school. She knew me very well; she was kind to me, which developed into love as our intimacy grew fonder. Long story short, we became together, but our love ended rather premature—she got involved in a car accident and suffered memory loss, all of her memories, including the relationship I established with her was deleted in her history. So now, I know her, but for her, I'm just a classmate.

I have no intention of mentioning to her our past relationship. I want my emotions concealed.

We all stood up from sitting and greeted our adviser synchronously, "Good morning, Sir Santiago."

"Please be seated." He replied, putting the folder he's holding on the table.

My seat was at the farthest left corner of the classroom. It'd be like I'm an anime protagonist if my seat was next to a window, but instead, my seat was next to a water dispenser.

On my right side was Selene, and even though we were seatmates, we'd never spoken since the first day of class, not even a small talk.

"Okay class, It's the first day of September. All of your monthly allowances have already been sent to your bank accounts. You can withdraw it after class, but in the meantime, let's have a regular class session." Sir Santiago said before sitting down on the teacher's seat.

He sat there for hours to observe us.

So this is normally how this academy operates. It might sound ridiculous, but our subject for today is to procrastinate—well, not really. We just have to stay silent until the bell rings at 11am; no talking, no standing up, and foremost, no sleeping. At first, everyone thought this was awesome because there were no lectures or boring discussions, and it's a dream come true for lazy students like me, until I realized that this was more of a torture than a paradise. My numbing spine kills me as I sit for hours, the deafening noise of silence, and the completely white concrete walls of this classroom can make someone lose their sanity. Nevertheless, I endured it for three months, and I'm kind of used to it by now. Sir Santiago once explained to us the importance of this teaching method: it's to teach us discipline and to give us peace of mind, which will help us make rational decisions in future events.

We all do what we regularly do during classes; others write or draw, some are listening to music with their earbuds, and some are gazing at the air blank-minded.

And as a responsible student, what I did during these procrastination hours is read a book—a novella to be precise.

Selene is sitting next to me and she's visible in my peripheral vision.

I avoid directly looking at her, because I don't want her to notice me.

The other man sitting next to Selene is Jacob. He puts a folded piece of paper on Selene's desk.

Jacob Espiritu; the class representative. To put it simply, I can describe him as the Alpha of Class-F. Despite him being the strongest in Class-F, he has some flaws that are easy to trigger—mainly his ego.

Selene accepted the paper and unfold it. She read the paper before writing something and returned it to the sender.

Their exchange of messages went on for hours.

They're patently flirting with each other and it's bugging me.

Having conversations through notes is not prohibited. As long as they don't make noise, they're fine. Even so, I'm still curious about what they're actually talking about.

I tried side-eyeing at the paper, but it's difficult to read when I do it discreetly.

In one second, I realized that I'm going too far. Prying in their conversation is what a stalker does, and I'm not a stalker.

So, I stopped stalking them. I just brushed them aside and continued reading the novella.

After all, Selene is beyond my concern now.

The intoxicating class session continued for hours. Time passed by and before I even realized it, the bell that signals the students' dismissal rang loud throughout the campus.

"Selene, follow me to my office." Sir Santiago commanded, "...and for the rest of you, you can have your lunch break." he added and left the classroom.

Selene followed shortly after him to his office just as he instructed.

When the teacher was gone, the true color of Class-F students revealed itself. The classroom erupted in chaos: baseball balls flew everywhere, some were bullying one another, others were barking as if they were patients in a mental hospital, and whatnot.

These delinquents don't even take their lunch; all they do during their free time is play and make fun of the inferior ones.

I was minding my own business when the least I expected happened—Jacob approached me.

"Sup!"

Crap… He initiated a conversation. How should I reply? I'm bad at communicating, so I might end up embarrassing myself if I do.

Acting friendly, he sat on the edge of my desk.

"We're planning to play 'Genshin' in the com-lab… wanna go with us?" He invited me.

So his objective was to befriend me. Was it because of sympathy, or is it selfishness?

At any rate, coming with Jacob's group of friends would make me look like dirt in a diamond. All of the students here are billionaires and I'm the only one who's living an average life. Sticking with these rich teens would make me look thirsty for gold.

After some forethought, I humbly declined. "Sorry, I'll pass."

"It's been three months of school and you seem to haven't spoken with anyone yet."

"I'm cool being alone."

"I bet you're not. Let's be friends, what's your name?"

For the three months of class that have passed, he doesn't even know my name.

~My camouflage skill is working.

"Leo."

"My name is Jacob—Jacob Espiritu. Glad to meet ya!" He outstretched his arms, gesturing for a handshake.

I shook his hand to reciprocate the energy.

His palm was firm. But mine were rough.

"Woaah… Your hand is wet. Are you nervous?"

I'm sweating hard on my scalp and my hands are vigorously shaking. So this is how it feels like to talk with someone—absolutely embarrassing.

"Uh—no, it's just hot today." I reasoned.

Jacob glanced over the buzzing air conditioner in the corner of the classroom.

"Hmm… You should make more friends if you want to survive this semester. You'll be needing companies who'll help you during troubles. You won't achieve anything by yourself, and bullies might see you as a target."

He's correct. I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with the saying, "No man is an island". Being independent is a must, having said that, there are certain things that can only be accomplished with a companion. The benefits of having friends are greater than gold and jewellery.

He's also right about me getting picked on by the bullies, but it hasn't happened yet, so I suppose it wouldn't bother me at the moment.

"Jacob, we have to go!" one of Jacob's friends who were waiting for him at the classroom door hollered.

Jacob playfully tapped my back.

"I gotta go, see ya around, Leo." before leaving, he added, "...and oh, by the way, I caught you stealing glances at Selene earlier. Just so you know, I like Selene too. Let's play fair, okay?"

~~~~~~~~~~

I closed the book I was reading and used it as a pillow. Sleeping suffices hunger, so I slept on my seat through the whole lunchtime.

After a quick nap, the chaotic chairs ruffling against the floor awakened me.

My classmates were deafening. They were playing baseball inside the classroom even if there's a wide baseball field outside. Maybe they're stupid, or they were purposely trying to damage the classroom.

Since I'm awake, I glance at the clock perched on the wall and it's already 12:58pm.

The next class will to start in two minutes, so I waited it out.

When the long arm of the clock landed at the number 12, the catastrophic noise pollution vanished in an instant.

These delinquents may be outrageous, but they were well-disciplined.

Everyone was back in their proper seats at exact 1pm. The same teacher from this morning entered the classroom.

This school operates in a peculiar way. In a normal school, they have teachers in different curriculums to teach students in an allocated time. However, in this academy, there's only one teacher for each class and they teach nothing. But despite them slacking in their jobs, they still have a monthly salary of roughly a hundred-thousand dollars.

~That's more than a million annually.

I'm starting to think that I'm wasting my time studying here. This academy is supposed to be the finest school, so why am I learning nothing but to procrastinate?

Sir Santiago was holding a laptop as he stood at the podium, announcing something out of the ordinary.

"We've been practising rational-thinking development for three straight months, correct?"

"Yes sir." all students answered, even if they have no clue of what rational-thinking development is.

"Today I'll present you a video, and we'll be having a recitation exam afterwards. I'll explain the details of the exam more thoroughly later."

Sir Santiago plugged his laptop into the TV and played a video.

"Watch carefully, we're having an exam after this, so be observant."

The video was a documentary about wildlife. I wonder, why are we subjected into watching something like this. Is this really the content of the exam? It's strange, maybe I'm missing something.

The video on the TV played boring animals having brawls.

Even if it doesn't make sense, I kept listening to prepare for the exam later.

After two hours of endless watching, the presentation finally reached its conclusion.

As I pondered over which animal is the most cunning, our teacher went into the front and unplugged his laptop from the TV before coming back to the teacher's table.

My memorization skill functions as a replaying vivid image. A photographic memory. The animals that were discussed in the presentation were glued to my mind, and I'm confident that I'll ace this exam with flying colors.

After Sir Santiago put his laptop back in his bag, the exam commenced.

Sir Santiago was standing behind his table as he announced additional exam's instructions.

"I'll call you one by one starting in alphabetical order of your surnames. When your name is called, come here in front. I'll ask the questions directly. You have five minutes to answer each question, and there'll be three questions in total. Everyone will have a 100% score to begin with, but there will be a 25% deduction for every wrong answer."

So it's an oral recitation—but recorded as an exam. In that case, then we'll need to get 2 out of 3 questions in order to get 75%—the passing grade. It shouldn't be that difficult since the coverage of the exam is about wildlife.

"However, if you failed to answer the question in time or answered it incorrectly, your classmates will have an opportunity to steal. The first one to raise their hand will get a chance to steal, and if their answer was correct, they'll receive 5%. And on the other hand, the one who unsuccessfully answered the question will get a 50% deduction instead of 25%."

Sir Santiago was simply implying that even if someone got two questions correctly, they may still fail if someone stole that last question. So the only way to guarantee a passing grade was to get a perfect score.

However, some counter-measures could be performed to improve everyone's passing rate. If everyone agreed on not stealing a question, then it would be much easier since stealing a question would only give 5%, but the one who got stolen will lose 25% more.

But I don't think implementing that strategy would work. Based on what I observed thus far, no matter how big or small the prize is, my classmates will willingly betray each other for extra credits.

Their self-importance demeanor will definitely consume them, and putting my trust in them is the worst action I could ever make.

I'll keep my silent approach for now and watch in the distance as I conceive of better counter-measures.

"Let's first start with the female, then we'll go with the males afterwards. Without further ado, let's begin the exam. Selene, you're first."

Selene stood up from her seat and confidently strode towards Sir Santiago as her cherry perfume left a trail of scent.

She then sat down on the prepared seat in front of Sir Santiago.

Sir Santiago was flipping through a folder which seemed to be the questionnaire.

He placed a rectangular digital timer on the left side of the table. The timer indicates a 5-minute mark.

The atmosphere inside the classroom becomes denser as the tension gets more thrilling. The boy sitting in front of me has his chair shaking as he fidgets excessively.

The cold breeze from the air conditioner plus the pressure from recitation would definitely make the next on the line's teeth chatter.

Luckily, my surname starts with the letter T, so it would take a while before my turn.

The hardest part of the recitation was always the first. Being the first to go would be the one to set the standards. So it's either you do good, or extremely terrible.

Sir Santiago pressed the button, starting the timer ticking down.

Then the question follows, "If you're sitting on top of a 19-meter-tall spaceship on Mars, calculate your potential energy."

The tensed students inside the quiet classroom began grumbling after hearing that jaw-dropping question.