The story focuses on Rio Mahadipa, a high school student.
Year 26, Month 1
"It hurts!"
"It hurts! Please stop!"
At Naraya High School, located in West Kencana City, Rio Mahadipa was being bullied.
A silent classroom. Only a few empty desks remained. The students were busy with their own business, while dim light slipped through the windows.
Classes were already over. It was late afternoon, the final hour of the school day.
The school felt vast, yet his world seemed to shrink with every step.
"Why does this always happen to me again…?"
Rio thought, someone who faced bullying almost every single day at school.
"I hate bullying."
Those words kept spinning in his mind, wrapped in sadness, anger, and disgust that never truly faded. Every day felt like the same page being rewritten with no changes. His thoughts mixed everything into one heavy weight pressing against his chest.
Rio Mahadipa, a student of Naraya High School in the Kencana District, had long grown used to scenes like this. His name was often mentioned, but his voice was rarely heard. School, which should have been a place to learn, had turned into a maze of pressure.
"Hey Rio, daydreaming again? What are you thinking about?! You shouldn't be allowed to think, right?... Did I ever give you permission?"
One student shouted at him. The next words came like a cheap order.
"No… I'm not thinking about anything."
Rio simply gave in, swallowed by fear.
"Good. Now kiss my shoes."
The figure stood right in front of him, demanding obedience. Rio was too exhausted to resist anymore.
He stared at the floor. Not because he wanted to give up, but because he saw no other way.
"If only I could fight back… if only this body were brave enough."
The thought hung like a prayer that would never reach anyone.
Bullying had become a routine. Every day followed the same pattern, with fear always trailing behind him. School felt colder than any empty house.
Bam!
A hard punch landed on his left cheek.
"What are you thinking about?"
The voice sounded flat, as if violence were just another daily decoration.
And the next day...
"Hey, Rivaldo! Teach him a lesson!"
Other students added pressure with cruel cheers. In Rio's class, no one truly cared about the bullying.
No one defended him. No one helped him. All this time, only Rivaldo bullied him. No one else.
Rivaldo was a name that meant nothing but threat to Rio. A classmate who loved exploiting others' weaknesses, surrounded by a group that enjoyed watching. Rio's hair was yanked upward, pain shooting down to his neck.
"Why are you just standing there?"
Kriiing.
The bell rang, cutting the scene like a dull blade.
"Haha, you got lucky this time."
Rivaldo and his friends walked away without a shred of guilt, as if what had just happened was merely a sequel to yesterday.
Even the other students in the classroom didn't look at him. Let alone show any concern.
Rio remained seated on the floor, trying to calm himself. He lightly touched the wound on his face, hoping it wouldn't leave a mark.
"No point staying here too long. It's already late… I should go home."
On his way home, his thoughts drifted through days that endlessly repeated the same pattern. His tired eyes stared at the ground, as if the future were nothing more than a thin shadow.
"Tomorrow will be the same. And after that… the same again. Is there no world where I can live normally and be happy?!"
Even so, he kept walking. Despair hadn't completely extinguished his steps. There was still something he held onto tightly. Something waiting for him at home.
At the entrance of an alley, a girl stood in his way. It was Elisa Nova.
Her long hair reached her shoulders, and she wore a white school uniform with a black skirt. A gentle voice left her lips.
"Why don't you fight back? At least people wouldn't think you're a coward."
Her gaze was sad, but her smile was sincere, as if she could see wounds deeper than anyone else.
Rio passed by her without looking up.
"I can't. I hate myself for being a coward. I don't even know how."
He left Elisa behind, head still lowered.
Rio's house wasn't far from school. He lived there with his younger sister after an accident took both their parents when he was still in middle school.
The door creaked softly as it opened.
"Welcome home!"
A cheerful voice greeted him, carrying a warmth he couldn't find anywhere else. Rani Mahadipa, his little sister, the reason he kept going. Her gentle eyes always managed to hold his broken heart together.
Rio smiled faintly. His body finally felt like it had returned to where it belonged. For her sake, life was still worth fighting for.
The simple room felt enough. A faded sofa, a short wooden table, a small TV, and the familiar smell of home-cooked food.
"I'm home,"
he said, heading toward his room. But Rani immediately stopped him.
"Nope! Eat first before sleeping!"
Firm, yet full of care. Her shoulder-length black hair swayed as she looked at her brother without compromise.
Fatigue still clung to Rio, but he obeyed. Sitting at the small table while watching TV, he felt a rare sense of peace.
"Maybe… this is already good enough."
After eating, he went to his room and let his body fall onto the thin mattress.
A dull ache spread across his back. But exhaustion quickly pulled him under like a curtain closing a stage.
He was almost asleep when something strange began to creep in.
A sudden pain struck his head, so intense it almost made him scream.
Ghh—!
He held it in, afraid of waking Rani in the next room. It felt like shards of glass pressing from inside his skull.
"I will help you a little."
The voice appeared inside his mind. Not like a hallucination, but not like a human voice either. Rio was startled, and the pain only grew worse.
"Who are you?" he asked silently. There was no answer. Only sharp pulses, crashing again and again like a cracked ship battered by waves.
"I am the one who will change your life."
After saying that, the voice vanished.
Rio's strength began to fade.
"H-help…?"
The hand clutching his head grew weak. His vision blurred, every breath becoming heavier. His thoughts collapsed inward, like a room falling apart.
And in that chaos, his consciousness slipped away
completely.
He fainted.