"Yo, Leo! Did you awaken your System yet? Any ability?"
The voice cut through the chatter that ruled over the classroom.
Leo had been sitting with his forehead against the desk, utterly depressed.
He remained like that, as he did not need to check who the voice belonged to.
"No," Leo's mutter felt like it held the last ounce of life within him.
"But it's been two weeks since the awakening ceremony!"
"I KNOWW!" Leo scratched his head. "What about you, Luka?"
"Nothing." Luka shrugged.
"It might not be so bad, right?" Leo finally raised his head off the desk. "I mean… Maybe we're awakening our Systems as we speak. Maybe they're super powerfully amazing Systems, and that's why it's taking so long."
Luka stared for a moment before nodding. "Sure, though that's totally not how it works. Well… We can only hope at this point."
Around them, the class buzzed with excitement. Floating holograms of stats and skills. Power demonstrations. One guy was showing off a flicker of lightning between his fingers while another was making his pencil levitate.
Both Leo and Luka had nothing to show.
No System. No flashy skill. No useful ability. Not even a flicker of light.
Leo told himself that it didn't bother him after the initial disappointment, but it did.
To remain Systemless was the worst possible outcome.
While many were already dreaming about becoming Hunters or Heroes, others focused on more realistic options. Countless Systems existed, and countless abilities could be gained. All would be very useful whether one is aiming to clear Dungeons for a living or to climb the career ladder.
To be Systemless was an incredibly heavy disadvantage, and less than 5% of the entire population was Systemless!
"Still, aren't you overreacting a bit?" Luka asked with a raised eyebrow.
Leo's forehead hit the desk again.
Two weeks had passed since the awakening ceremony, and being Systemless wasn't even what dampened his mood the most.
It was them.
The girls.
It was subtle, but Leo could feel it.
Women could sense that he was a Systemless loser with no future.
Ever since the awakening ceremony, the girls started looking at him strangely. Many had started completely avoiding him.
When he passed by them in the hallway, they stopped talking.
When he tried to hand back a dropped pen or eraser, they flinched.
It happened again that morning.
A classmate's eraser rolled under his desk. Leo bent down, picked it up, and handed it back.
"Hey, thank-"
The girl's eyes widened as she took hold of the eraser. She stared at him for a split second too long, then snatched the eraser while frowning.
Then she turned around without a word and completely ignored him from then.
Sigh-
By the time lunch came around, Leo had already gotten three strange looks and two girls changing seats.
He ate in the corner of the cafeteria, pretending to scroll through his phone.
Every few minutes, he caught someone watching him.
Girls were watching him. Many of them.
They glanced, froze, then quickly looked away. Faces flushed and frowning.
A few whispered behind their hands.
Leo exhaled and muttered to himself, "Do I smell weird or something?"
"Nah, you're good." Luka said while sipping on some juice. "I think?"
"Very reassuring, thanks…"
"What did you do for all the girls to start hating you?"
"Nothing!"
"Hm… If you say so. Guess you were never much of a rizzler, but things really took a turn for the worse, huh?"
"Ha! That's rich coming from you. How can you be sure it's not you they're frowning at, you ugly ass bastard?"
"Hey, I recognize my own ugliness. I'm cooked. It's over for me. I have an excuse, what's yours, handsome virgin loser?"
"..."
Across the room, two girls were arguing in hushed voices.
Neither Leo nor Luka could hear them.
"I told you, I just… I just feel weird around him."
"Like… Bad weird or good weird?"
"I don't know, that's what makes it so annoying! I just feel weird. My heart starts racing. I don't know!"
Leo lowered his forehead to table.
'Yeah…' He sighed. 'Women fucking hate me.'
…
At home, things weren't much better.
Breakfast had become a meal Leo takes alone in his room.
The day after the awakening ceremony, he had had breakfast with his mother, aunt, and sisters, like he always used to.
He'd tried to hand his older sister a cup of coffee, and she had suddenly dropped it, as if coming into physical contact with her younger brother was the worst thing in the world.
Dinner that night went similarly, with his aunt dropping the shaker as Leo passed her the salt.
Leo eventually stopped joining them.
He started eating breakfast and dinner alone.
'Even the women in my family hate me… It's over…'
***
In truth, Leo had become something of an urban legend at school.
Girls whispered his name in bathrooms.
Rumors even spread on social media.
Some said he had a serial killer aura, that grazing his hand will make you shiver.
Others said that he was cursed, some even claimed that looking him in the eyes while in contact with his hand made you dream about him that very night!
Leo didn't know anything about it. Girls were great at keeping secrets.
From his perspective, nothing had changed except that people avoided him.
He didn't see the flushed faces, the trembling hands, the way some girls bit their lips when he brushed past.
He didn't notice how the silence that ruled over every hall he passed by was quickly replaced by shouts and giggling once he was gone.
"Man, the girls on campus are losing their minds lately," Luka said.
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? About what?"
"Dunno. Some dude they keep talking about. He's making half the girls blush just by standing next to them."
Leo smirked faintly. "Must be nice."
"Yeah, imagine having that kind of effect, huh?"
Leo chuckled softly, "Girls and Systems are out of our reach, huh?"
"It's so over…" Luka's voice echoed as he nodded repeatedly.
Ring!
"Gaming at my place?" Luka suggested.
"Nah," Leo quickly got ready to leave. "Got work today."
"That convenience store, huh? The owner is a total baddie."
"Yeah? She has a daughter our age, maybe I could set you up on a date with her."
"For real, for real?"
"Fuck, no!" Leo laughed. "Take your ugly ass home and go goon to your doujins."
"Man, fuck you!"
"Haha." Leo chuckled as he walked away.
It wouldn't take long for things to change.
While the last two weeks felt pretty bad for him, they were much worse for those around him.
His family members and classmates had suffered a lot.
Miss Nayomi, the owner of the convenience store that employed him, was just about ready to break, and give in.
That day, she had told herself that she would either fire him, or…