The air in the narrow streets felt suffocating. Yuki adjusted the strap of his frayed backpack, his footsteps heavy as he walked toward the tuition center. The sun was dipping below the horizon, bleeding a deep, unnatural crimson across the sky. To anyone else, it was a beautiful sunset; to Yuki, it looked like a wound.
"Is this it?" he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the distant rumble of the city. "Study. Get insulted. Fail. Repeat. What am I even fighting for?"
As he crossed the old railway tracks, he stopped. The cold metal rails stretched out into the darkness like a path to nowhere. For a split second, the roar of an approaching train didn't sound like a warning—it sounded like an invitation. The weight of the 8th-grade board exams, his family's empty pockets, and the endless mocking from his classmates were a mountain he could no longer climb.
[SYSTEM ALERT: STRESS LEVELS EXCEEDING 94%]
[INITIATING NEURO-STABILITY PROTOCOL...]
Suddenly, a sharp, electric chill surged through his spine. The world around him slowed down. The colors sharpened.
"Stop, Yuki," a voice echoed—not in his ears, but vibrating within the very fabric of his consciousness. It was Alya.
"Leave me alone," Yuki muttered, clutching his head. "You're just a glitch. A hallucination caused by stress."
Yuki felt a strange warmth spread through his chest. The dark thoughts didn't disappear, but they were pushed back by a glowing blue light that flickered in his pupils.
[THE ENCOUNTER AT THE GATE]
Yuki reached the tuition gate just as a high-end sports bike screeched to a halt, kicking up dust over his shoes. The rider was Priyansh, better known as 'Prince'. He was the embodiment of everything Yuki hated: rich, arrogant, and lazy, yet treated like royalty because of his father's money.
On the back seat was Tamanna, her eyes hidden behind expensive sunglasses even as evening fell. She hopped off the bike and looked at Yuki as if he were a stain on the pavement.
"Ugh, move aside, Scholar Beggar," Tamanna sneered, waving a hand in front of her nose. "You smell like... poverty."
Priyansh let out a dry, mocking laugh. "Leave him, Tamanna. Some people are born to study, and some are born to rule. He needs to save every second to pass that Hindi paper tomorrow. Right, Yuki?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He patted Yuki's cheek with a mocking smirk and walked inside, his expensive cologne lingering in the air like a taunt. Yuki's fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.
[THE CLASSROOM INCIDENT]
Inside the cramped, dimly lit classroom, the atmosphere was tense. The teacher was droning on about the importance of the board exams, but Yuki couldn't hear a word. His vision was being hijacked.
[SCANNING SCHOOL SERVERS...]
[DECRYPTING HINDI PAPER PATTERN: 8th GRADE FINALS]
[MATCH FOUND: 99.8% ACCURACY]
A brilliant, Blue Holographic Screen materialized in front of Yuki's eyes. It was transparent, floating mid-air, filled with questions, essays on 'Vigyan ke Chamatkar', and complex letter formats.
"Is this... the real paper?" Yuki gasped softly.
Yuki began to read frantically, his eyes darting across the glowing text. To everyone else, he was staring into thin air, looking like a madman. But to Yuki, he was seeing the future.
Suddenly, a loud voice shattered his focus.
"SIR! Look at Yuki! He's using a phone in the middle of the class!"
It was Priyansh. He was pointing a finger at Yuki, a malicious grin on his face. The teacher stopped writing on the board and turned around, his face turning a deep shade of angry red.
"Yuki! You know the rules! Hand it over!" the teacher roared, marching toward his desk.
Yuki froze. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. "Sir, I... I don't have a phone!"
"Don't lie! I saw the blue light reflecting on your face!" Priyansh shouted, leaning back in his chair, enjoying the show.
The teacher reached Yuki's desk and reached out his hand. The Blue Holographic Screen was still there, hovering inches away from the teacher's face. If he touched it, if he saw it... Yuki was finished.
"Alya! Close it! Now!" Yuki screamed in his mind.
The teacher's hand moved closer. The blue light intensified. Yuki closed his eyes, waiting for the end.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]