"Ding—"
A coin cut a silver arc, reaching its apex overhead, glittering with the sun's light. It sliced through the wind and fell to the ground, emitting a crisp clang.
The moment it touched the ground, Seele watched it bounce up again, the heads and tails rapidly switching before her eyes.
When it finally stopped, would it be heads or tails?
Seele stared intently at the coin, wanting to see the moment it landed.
"Clang~"
The coin landed in someone's hand, obscuring whether it was heads or tails up.
"Why are you so concerned about whether it's heads or tails?"
Seele half-closed eyes snapped wide open the moment she saw the person.
The azure visor stared calmly at her. Even though she couldn't see the eyes beneath the helmet, she could feel his gentle gaze.
"Captain... Lin..."
Why was he here?
No... where am I?
"Ding—" The man in the helmet looked up and tossed the coin toward the sky.
Beneath the illusory sky, the silver coin disappeared.
"Why are you so concerned about whether it's heads or tails?" He repeated the question.
A person's life is like a clock. The start and end are void, but no matter which point in time one is at, there is only one option: to move forward.
Numerous doubts, the world's unpredictability.
Zero sat on the edge of the rooftop, chewing on the hard-to-swallow bread, overlooking the lively, bustling chatter of Senba Academy below.
He looked back on his short, not entirely clear life. It was hard to describe it as "eventful." As a "transmigrator," he possessed such a mundane experience, his life composed of countless ordinariness.
But Zero had no complaints.
He remembered his parents perishing in the fire. He wanted to carry on their will to save more people, but he didn't know when to start, or where to start.
He didn't even know whom to start with.
Along the way, Zero had saved many people. He had never truly harmed a human being. He was like... an observer. Yes, an observer who never fully participated, letting humanity solve its own problems, yet often unable to resist offering a helping hand.
He didn't see himself as human.
He was a transmigrator, one who did not belong to the same world as these people.
Why he loved humanity should have an answer...
How could someone looking down from above not love a creature weaker than himself?
Zero didn't finish the bread. He wrapped the rest in the wrapper and tossed it casually toward the ground.
"Pat."
It landed in the garbage can, which looked smaller than an ant from his height, without even hitting the edge.
Today, just like any other day, he didn't feel like he was in the same world as everyone else.
"Is... anyone here?"
Just as he was about to return to the classroom, the rooftop door was pushed open, and a timid female voice came through.
A girl wearing glasses, with waist-length hair, looked unremarkable as she stood at the door. She seemed somewhat flustered, perhaps having found someone visiting her secret base.
"..." Zero pulled down his hood, said nothing, and walked straight past her to leave.
There was no need to say anything. This was just a random place he had stumbled upon while looking for a spot to eat lunch.
But as he walked down the stairs, he suddenly remembered that the girl seemed to be his classmate, sitting right in front of him.
Zero's memory was excellent. He could read a book in under a minute and extract the main points. Memory was key to information processing, so he basically had a photographic memory.
While there was no need to interact with others, he did know the basic information. For instance, this girl was named Mei. She was just as withdrawn as he was, spending all day with her head down writing something. Her grades were excellent, but few people noticed her.
No wonder she would go to the rooftop. It was silent and empty there, perfect for contemplation. She was probably there to think about academic problems.
Having figured out why she was there, Zero no longer cared. After all, they wouldn't have any further interaction.
However, at noon the next day, he was invited.
He was invited by Mei, who sat in front of him, to eat lunch on the rooftop together.
"...Why are you looking for me?" Zero neither accepted nor refused, just looking coldly at the timid girl.
"I think I took over your spot yesterday..."
"No, the rooftop belongs to no one. I just happened to be eating there." Zero took out his bread. Today, he had bought an extra bottle of milk, intending to find another spot to eat. "Don't come looking for me unless it's necessary."
Seeing Zero's refusal, Mei changed her question: "Can I ask you some questions?"
"..."
This was the first time Zero had encountered someone who persisted after being rejected.
Whenever he said similar things before, others would react as if they had been offended, but he was merely speaking the truth.
He didn't even have the intention to offend anyone.
"You can ask any questions you have here." Zero didn't chase Mei away. He tore open the wrapper, bit into the bread, which was hard as a rock, and swallowed it in a few mouthfuls. He glanced at the situation in the classroom.
No one was paying attention to them.
Neither Zero nor Mei were the type to draw attention. If anyone were to describe them, they would likely use only one word: "freaks."
"Your grades are always excellent, comparable to mine... Uh, I'm not saying I'm great, and I don't dislike you. I mean, you..."
"There are many people with good grades." Zero tore the wrapper, bit into the hard bread, and swallowed it quickly. "It's quite easy to find the corresponding knowledge in books, learn the techniques the teacher gives, and simply aim for pretty numbers on the test paper."
After all, it was just taking knowledge from a limited knowledge base and rearranging it. If one was willing to put in the effort, most people could easily get high scores.
Was Mei asking for study tips? Wasn't she also a top student?
"I know. That's exactly what I do. But you are a bit different from others. I noticed you read books very quickly, and it's not just flipping through them; you really finish the book." Mei's initial shyness gradually shifted to a more normal tone as she spoke. She asked with some anticipation, "Reading is not just memorizing the words; it's a combination of absorption and organization. So, I believe your information processing ability is far superior to ordinary people. Is your learning ability an application of this information processing ability?"
Mei was indeed different.
"So, what do you want from me?"
"Can you teach me how to process information like you do?"
"..." Zero looked at her in surprise, then said without hesitation, "Yes."
To help humanity.
For the first time, Zero didn't question why he was doing this.