08:47 AM
The first school bell rang, slicing through the morning fog like a blade.
Takumi Hoshino adjusted his uniform in the bathroom mirror, checking his reflection for imperfections.
Tie: straight.
Shirt: crisp.
Smile: flawless.
But his eyes?
His eyes betrayed something else. A sharpness. A calculation.
Arisa Kurobane.
Step one starts now.
The Approach
Takumi found her near the back of the school library, exactly where he predicted she'd be.
Alone.
Reading.
Pretending not to care about the world.
Her fingers turned the pages of a book she wasn't actually reading. That was the kind of detail Takumi noticed—tiny habits, microexpressions, tells.
He walked up, his voice soft but deliberate.
"Arisa."
She looked up, expression blank.
"Oh. Hoshino. Morning."
He smiled, perfectly casual.
But behind the smile was the first string tightening.
"Listen, you're one of the few people I can actually trust in this class."
That line was designed to hit her code directly.
"Detached observer. Secretly fears irrelevance."
By telling her she was special, he made himself the one giving her purpose.
Her eyes narrowed, but only for a second.
"I doubt that's true," she murmured.
Takumi chuckled, as if her doubt was adorable.
"Come on, Kurobane. You're smarter than most of these people. I need someone like you to help me manage the upcoming midterm project. Think of it like… an alliance."
Arisa tilted her head slightly, masking her real thoughts.
Interesting. He's making his move already.
She could feel the manipulation, but the brilliance of it was in its subtlety. He wasn't threatening her. He was offering importance.
If she rejected him, she'd seem antisocial. Irrelevant. Exactly what her psychological profile warned about.
Clever, Hoshino, she thought. But you're not the only one playing.
Aika's Trap
Meanwhile, Aika Fujimoto sat cross-legged on her bed, hoodie up, phone in hand.
The anonymous DM was still open on her screen.
Unknown:
"Hey… saw your sketch on that art forum. It's actually incredible. Why aren't you more famous?"
Her heart pounded.
She shouldn't reply.
But she did.
Aika:
"It's just a hobby. No one really notices."
Within seconds, the reply came back.
Unknown:
"Well, I noticed. Seriously. You're wasting your potential hiding like this."
Her throat tightened.
No one talks to me like that.
For the first time in months, she felt seen.
She typed back quickly, fingers trembling.
On the other side of the city, Yuto Sagawa smiled.
The hook was in deeper now.
Validation Hunger:
Step One: Compliment uniquely.
Step Two: Build dependency.
Step Three: Control.
Surveillance Feed
In a private observation room, The Director watched multiple screens at once.
Arisa.
Takumi.
Yuto.
Aika.
Strings crossing. Tensions rising.
The Director pressed a button, and a new update flashed onto the screen:
Current Cycle Ranking:
1st: Yuto Sagawa – 12 points
2nd: Takumi Hoshino – 10 points
3rd: Arisa Kurobane – 9 points
Others: In Progress
The Director whispered softly to no one:
"Fifteen players.
Four are already becoming predators.
The rest? They're just waiting to be eaten."
And in the next 24 hours, someone would break first.
That was inevitable.