The air in the narrow, congested streets of Delhi felt suffocatingly thick. Yuki adjusted the frayed strap of his backpack, his footsteps heavy and rhythmic as he walked toward the tuition center. Above, the sun was dipping below the horizon, bleeding a deep, unnatural crimson across the sky. To any other passerby, it was a beautiful sunset; to Yuki, it looked like a jagged, open wound.
"Is this all it is?" he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the distant rumble of the city's traffic. "Study. Get insulted. Fail. Repeat. What am I even fighting for?"
As he crossed the old, rusted railway tracks, he came to a halt. The cold metal rails stretched out into the encroaching darkness like a path leading to nowhere. For a split second, the roar of an approaching train didn't sound like a warning—it sounded like an invitation to escape. The crushing weight of the 8th-grade board exams, his family's empty pockets, and the endless mocking from his peers 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, snapping him out of the dark trance. The world around him seemed to slow down. The colors of the sunset sharpened into high-definition.
"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 as if to shake her out. "You're just a glitch. A hallucination caused by this damn stress."
A strange, pulsating warmth spread through Yuki's chest. The dark thoughts didn't vanish entirely, but they were pushed back by a glowing blue light that flickered deep within 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 a cloud of dust over his worn-out shoes. The rider was Priyansh, better known to everyone as 'Prince'. He was the living embodiment of everything Yuki detested: rich, arrogant, and lazy, yet treated like royalty simply because of his father's deep pockets.
On the back seat was Tamanna, her eyes hidden behind expensive sunglasses even as the evening light faded. She hopped off the bike and looked at Yuki as if he were a fresh stain on the pavement.
"Ugh, move aside, Scholar Beggar," Tamanna sneered, waving a manicured hand in front of her nose. "You smell like... poverty."
Prince 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. With a condescending smirk, Prince patted Yuki's cheek mockingly and walked inside, his expensive cologne lingering in the air like a taunt. Yuki's fists clenched until his knuckles turned bone-white.
[THE CLASSROOM INCIDENT]
Inside the cramped, dimly lit classroom, the atmosphere was tense. The teacher was droning on about the critical importance of the board exams, but Yuki couldn't hear a single word. His vision was being hijacked by something far more sophisticated.
[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, his eyes widening.
Yuki began to read frantically, his eyes darting across the glowing text. To everyone else, he appeared to be staring into thin air, looking like a madman lost in a trance. But to Yuki, he was seeing the future.
Suddenly, a loud, piercing voice shattered his focus.
"SIR! Look at Yuki! He's using a phone in the middle of the class!"
It was Prince. He was pointing a trembling finger at Yuki, a malicious grin plastered on his face. The teacher stopped writing on the board and whipped around, his face turning a deep, angry shade of red.
"Yuki! You know the rules! Hand it over, now!" the teacher roared, marching toward his desk with heavy, intimidating strides.
Yuki froze. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. "Sir, I... I don't have a phone! I swear!"
"Don't lie! I saw the blue light reflecting on your face!" Prince shouted, leaning back in his chair, thoroughly enjoying the show.
The teacher reached Yuki's desk and extended his hand. The Blue Holographic Screen was still there, hovering mere 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 the depths of his mind.
The teacher's hand moved closer. The blue light intensified, casting a glow over the desk. Yuki closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable end.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]