Awakening: Starting With The Villain System

I began walking to just pass them, making well sure to shift quite far from them, moving very close to the opposite wall as if it were a lifeline.

My eyes were fixed straight ahead, my pace steady but not hurried.

Don't make eye contact, don't change your rhythm, just be a ghost in the hallway. So they wouldn't notice me.

For a few blessed seconds, it worked.

They continued bullying the boy, their voices low, threatening, and luckily didn't notice me.

Their focus was entirely on their prey.

I was almost clear, almost past the whole ugly scene.

But while I passed, my ears, against my will, picked up their words.

And I began to understand why they were bullying him.

It wasn't the usual, mindless cruelty I'd assumed.

They weren't just picking on him for being weak, or for being an easy target to vent their own stupidity and insecurity.

No. The boy was holding a card on his hand, clutching it so tightly his knuckles were white.

A thin, plastic debit card. They were crowding him, demanding he hand it over.

They were bullying him for his money.

For a moment, I was almost surprised.

A flicker of genuine confusion cut through my desire to stay detached.

I thought Dusk was an academy for the rich. Wasn't that the whole point?

Then why were they shaking down some kid for his money? It didn't add up.

At that moment it clicked in my head. The realization was like a splash of cold water.

Oh right, I almost forgot. This place might be a gilded cage, but not every bird inside was born with a silver spoon.

There are also a very limited number of people who came here through scholarship.

And also some who's parents weren't financially well, who probably sacrificed everything, every comfort, every savings, for this one shot.

And also some who borrowed money, a mountain of debt, for their child to attend Dusk.

That last point was one thing I never understood.

It seemed like a special kind of madness.

Why would you want your child to attend something that costs more than your years of salary all at once?

Why chain them, and yourself, to a lifetime of financial strain?

Just enroll them in a good, solid academy you can actually afford and would be comfortable with.

Let them thrive somewhere they aren't the poorest person in a room full of heirs and heiresses.

But this was just my point of view. Maybe I am wrong, or don't understand what they feel, or why they're doing it.

Because if I direct to the parents point of view, they would say they want the best for their child, and all of that.

They see Dusk not as a academy, but as a gateway. A guarantee of a better life.

And for some, if I'm being cynical, and I usually am, it isn't for actually wanting the best for their child.

It is for bragging rights. The amount of respect they would get from their neighbors and relatives would be crazy.

The moment someone hears, 'oh, their child is attending Dusk,' their entire perception shifts.

They began to feel a certain respect, and some envy, towards them.

Their child isn't just a kid; they're a Dusk student. It's a status symbol.

But still, are all of those feelings going to pay the loan?

No. They are going to waste all their hard-earned money, every extra shift, every skipped vacation, on just paying interest throughout their entire life, which was crazy to me.

A lifetime of work, for a few years of prestige.

And not like it was only them who was going to suffer it, but their child will also.

The weight of that expectation, that debt, lands squarely on the student's shoulders too.

The child would be also working and paying the loan right after graduation, their first paychecks already spoken for before they even get them.

And if the child graduated as an average student, not a top-ranked prodigy snapped up by a major guild or corporation, there was a dead low percent chance they would even see a high-paying job in that field.

And even if they see one, the starting salary might be dead low compared to the debt over them.

And imagine the most worst case scenario...

What if they didn't graduate? What if they got injured, or washed out, or just couldn't handle the pressure?

The debt wouldn't vanish. The disappointment wouldn't just be emotional; it would be financial ruin.

Imagine the disappointment. Imagine the suffering.

The shame of coming home without the degree, with nothing but the same mountain of debt you left with.

I shook my head, physically dispelling that horrible thought.

I was glad I wasn't in that situation.

At least the only disappointment I can get if something like that happens to me, is the disappointment to myself.

I returned my attention back to the bully scene.

The boy flinched, his eyes were wide with fear as one of the bullies jabbed a finger at his chest.

I was almost clear. Just a few more steps and I'd be around the corner, leaving the whole ugly mess behind me.

But while I was passing them, the boy they were bullying was pleading with them, his voice desperate.

"Please, it's all I have for the month… my parents just sent it…" he was saying, his words tripping over each other in his fear.

And of course, as expected, they didn't listen.

One of them, a lanky guy with a cruel twist to his mouth, just sneered and made a grab for the card.

The boy yanked his hand back, clutching it to his chest like a lifeline.

Suddenly, the boy seemed to notice me.

His head turned, and his eyes, wide with panic and a flicker of hope, locked onto mine.

He wasn't just looking in my direction; he was looking at me, his eyes pleading with me to perhaps help him.

Dude, don't look at me. Just keep your head down, and I'll keep walking. Don't make me a part of this.

But it was too late. The damage was done.

Just like my whole bad luck wasn't enough for today, the whole bully group followed his gaze.

Five pairs of eyes, previously focused on their victim, now moved towards me.