My name is Kai, I'm eighteen, and I'm what you'd call painfully normal. Not handsome, not ugly, just the type of guy you'd walk past in a hallway and forget five seconds later. I like video games, anime, superhero movies—basically everything the rest of the dudes in my grade call "cringe." Which makes me the "nerd," the "loser," the "outcast."
I pretend it doesn't bother me. Most days it doesn't. Some days, like today, it really does.
School mornings always feel heavier for me. The moment I walked through the gates, I felt eyes on me. People whispering, looking at me like I was some weird animal on display. I kept walking.
Then I saw her.
Jessica!
The girl I had a crush on. The one I confessed to last year. The one who laughed in my face with her whole friend group like I had told the funniest joke in the world. I don't even like her anymore, but the humiliation lives in my bones.
She looked right at me and giggled. I could tell she remembered, because her friends immediately started whispering and glancing in my direction. The whole class probably knew again. News travels fast when you're the school clown.
I forced myself toward my locker, hoping I could just get my books and disappear. But of course, Derek was there. Derek, the school's favorite bully, whose hobbies included bench pressing, flexing, and ruining my life.
"Move, nerd," he said, shoving my shoulder.
My locker door popped open, and all my stuff spilled onto the floor. Pens, notebooks, everything. A girl walking by laughed out loud. Derek gave me that stupid grin of his, the kind that said he was proud of himself.
I clenched my jaw and picked up my things without saying a word.
Class wasn't any better. The teacher asked a question—something about history. I wasn't even paying attention. I wasn't going to raise my hand anyway.
But Derek yelled, "Sir! Kai said he knows the answer!"
Suddenly the whole class turned toward me. The teacher, annoyed and oblivious, called my name.
"Kai, if you know it, answer."
I stood up, chest tight, feeling everyone's eyes burning holes into my back. I muttered something probably wrong. I don't even remember what it was. People snickered. Derek gave me a thumbs-up like he'd done me a favor.
Lunch was the final punch. I bought my tray of food and barely took three steps before Derek bumped into me hard. The plate flew out of my hands and clattered onto the floor. Everything splattered across my shoes.
"Oops," he said. "Watch where you're going."
He walked away laughing with his friends. The cafeteria joined in. It felt like the entire school was laughing at me.
I didn't laugh. I didn't cry either. I just felt angry. Furious, actually. The type of anger that burns quietly because you have nowhere to put it.
When school ended, I went straight home, barely looking at anyone. I opened the door and stepped inside. Maria, my cousin who was staying with us for a few months, was just passing through the hallway on her way to the kitchen. She glanced at me as I walked in.
"Welcome back, brother!" she said, smiling. Then her smile faded. "Hey… are you okay?"
"Yeah," I said immediately. "I'm fine."
I wasn't fine. She probably knew that, but she didn't pry.
I went straight to my room, dropped my bag, and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. I didn't want to play games. Didn't want to read. Didn't want to do anything. Just… existed. Angry at the world. Angry that I couldn't fit in. Angry that people hated me for liking things they didn't. Angry that girls didn't like me for who I was. Angry that I didn't have the confidence to do anything about it.
My mom knocked for dinner later, but I ignored it. I heard her ask Maria what happened, and Maria said I was feeling "kind of low."
Low was an understatement.
I fell asleep angry, feeling like it didn't matter how much I wished for things to change. They wouldn't. Nothing ever changed.
But the next morning… something was different.
I woke up feeling weirdly refreshed, like I had cried in my sleep. My eyes were blurry, but I could see something glowing in front of me. A floating blue box. Like a hologram from a game.
At first I thought I was dreaming.
"What the hell…?"
I rubbed my eyes, sat up, blinked, but it was still there. A square of light hovering right in front of my face.
I stumbled into the bathroom and splashed water on my face. When I looked up, the glowing box was clearer than ever.
[Aura System Activated]
[Aura Level: 1/100]
[Unlocked Auras: Charm Aura, Predator Aura]
[Complete Tasks To Level Up Your Aura And Unlock New Ones]
For a full five seconds, I just stared.
"…This is bullshit. Did someone hack a projector into my room? Am I still half-asleep?"
I waved my hand through the screen. My fingers passed right through it like it wasn't even real.
It was exactly like those anime systems. A cheat power. A game screen. Something straight from a fantasy novel.
But why me? Why now?
Just as I was trying to figure out whether I was hallucinating, Maria yelled from downstairs.
"Kai! Breakfast is ready! You're going to be late!"
The glowing text disappeared instantly, fading like smoke.
But even after it vanished, I still felt different. Like something in me had shifted. Like a switch had been turned on.
I came downstairs, and Maria placed a plate in front of me. She looked at me carefully.
"You look… different today. What happened?"
"Nothing," I said quickly. I didn't know what else to say.
But as I sat there eating, one thing became very clear.
Something had changed. And deep down, I felt it.
Today wasn't going to be normal.
Then, out of nowhere, the glowing box popped back into existence right in front of my face.
[Female detected nearby]
[Charm Aura: Active]
[Complete Daily Tasks To Increase Aura]
As I stared at the notifications stacking themselves like spam pop-ups, I realized Maria was watching me weirdly. She was sitting across from me at the table, head tilted, eyes soft. Maria wasn't just "cute." She was genuinely pretty—warm brown hair, medium length, round cheeks, full lips, and a plump figure that honestly made most girls at school look like twigs. We weren't even closely related, distant cousins at most, yet we lived together like siblings.
But right now… she wasn't acting like family.
She kept twirling her hair with her finger, biting her lip a little. Her eyes were fixed on me like I was suddenly interesting. That alone was strange. Maria never looked at me like that. Ever.
"So… what are you doing after school, Kai?" she asked, her voice softer than usual.
"Huh?" I blinked. "Why?"
She shrugged, smiling in this playful way I'd never seen on her before. "I thought we could hang out. Maybe go to the movies or something."
My brain froze for a second.
The hell?
"But don't you have a boyfriend?" I asked. It just slipped out. She was always out with him. She barely had time for anything else.
Maria looked away for a second, smile fading into something nervous. "Yeah, but… I just felt like spending time with you today."
…Okay. What?
Was this seriously because of the Charm Aura? Level 1 and she was already acting… different?
This was insane. Insane or dangerous. Or both.
"Uh, I'm busy today," I lied. "Maybe another day."
She nodded, still smiling, still twirling her hair. "It's okay. Another time, then."
I swallowed hard. My heart wasn't beating normally. It felt like the world had shifted two inches to the left.
Did I really awaken a cheat system? Or was I going insane? Hallucinations? Schizophrenia? Some kind of breakdown from stress?
I needed to confirm it. I needed proof.
Just thinking about it made the system menu slide back into view like a transparent screen on a VR headset. I kept eating slowly, pretending everything was normal so I wouldn't freak Maria out.
[Charm Aura Active]
[Complete Daily Tasks To Increase Aura]
I focused on the "Daily Tasks" option in my mind, and the menu changed instantly.
[Daily Task: Compliment 3 Girls — 0/3]
[Reward: Charm Aura 50 EXP]
[Failure to complete the task will result in penalty]
[Accept / Decline]
My spoon froze halfway to my mouth.
Compliment three girls? As in… talk to random girls? Me? With my reputation? With my social anxiety?
This system was either trying to help me… or it was trying to watch me suffer.
Either way, I needed to test it to its fullest.