Invisible to the system, unforgettable to the world. At precisely noon, the academic system launched its routine refresh.
Rows of student data streamed across the backend—names, rankings, module selections, psychological adaptation scores.
Except for one. A file that refused to reveal anything. ID: 22-F03 Name: Elric Origin: Not Available
Family: Not Available
Academic History: Not Available
No access logs. No sync traces. "Profile secured by central protocol. Modifications not permitted."He wasn't listed. But the silence made him louder.
***
Meanwhile, in the faculty conference room—
The instructor from the earlier "Cognitive Architecture" class was briefing the senior mentors.
"That student—Elric."
"How did he perform?"
The instructor pulled up a simulation log, projecting the command pathway map onto the screen.
A web of lines burst forth from an irregular starting point, slicing clean through every logic filter node, then stabilizing into a dominant thread—an original path forged through chaos.
"No one builds reverse models like that. Not on day one."
"He's not just smart," the instructor added. "He's wired to find exits."
One of the senior professors narrowed his eyes, voice almost a murmur.
"He thinks like someone who wasn't born inside the system."
"Exactly."
They still didn't know where he came from.
But they were starting to remember his name.
***
At the far end of the corridor, Elric stood before a forgotten bookshelf, flipping through a worn-out volume on urban governance models.
He wasn't looking for information. He was studying the map.
Behind every structure lay something more than architecture—
Who controlled the entrances, who held the authority, and who was simply watching.
That was what he wanted to see.
—
Meng Zhiheng walked up, an energy bar between his teeth.
"I thought you were the math guy. What are you doing in the sociology section?"
"I want to know who writes the rules." Elric said.
Meng Zhiheng let out a low chuckle.
"Careful. That's how math majors fall into philosophy."
He cracked the bar in half and offered a piece.
"We've got a physical assessment at noon. Coming?"
Elric didn't take it immediately, but he didn't say no either. He simply nodded—just once, lightly.
***
At that very moment, across the city—
In the mansion's kitchen, steam was rising. The butler placed the morning mail in a corner near the stove.
On the sunlit balcony, the lady of the house sipped her tea in a newly changed crimson dress.
When she saw the envelope—stamped by the Overseas Psychiatric Guardianship Center—her gaze turned unnaturally calm.
She didn't ask why. She didn't open it.
She only said, softly—
"Finally… silence."
The kitchen resumed its chatter. A maid brought lunch with a smile.
And under the golden noon light, she stirred her tea—gently, rhythmically.
As if the boy had never existed at all.
***
And at that same moment, on the other side of campus—
Elric finally spoke his first full, voluntary sentence of the day:
"Do you guys play basketball?"
Meng Zhiheng blinked, then raised a brow.
"You play?"
"Once… had a match by the sea. While I was playing stones at the seaside."
"Then you're in—we're short of one for a three-on-three."
His tone shifted—lighter now. Less like an observer studying a variable, more like a teammate calling warmly in tone.
They didn't know who he really was.
But he was already starting to become a part of this world.
**
They all thought he didn't belong here.
But the system—quietly, inevitably—was beginning to remember his name.
—————
[Chapter Epigraph]
Some names never make it into the records—
but they get etched into memory.
⸻
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Chapter 16 · The Perfect Lie
She got everything she ever wanted—
and began to wonder what she had truly lost.