SSS-Rank AI System: My Path from Failure to Supreme

The campus corridor was quiet as Alaric made his way to class. Occasionally, the sound of students laughing echoed from another direction, mixed with the scrape of chairs being moved in nearby rooms.

His heart began to race again, not because of any jeering, but from curiosity. "Does the system work inside the classroom too?"

His hand pushed open the wooden door. The hinges creaked softly, like something getting caught. As the door swung open, Alaric was met with the sight of a calm, composed classroom. Something he thought impossible just this morning.

The professor was standing in front of the board, chalk in hand, swiftly scribbling down a long formula that already covered nearly half the surface. He didn't pause or acknowledge Alaric's entrance, even though he clearly noticed someone had just come in.

Alaric stood at the doorway for a moment. "No reprimand? No asking where I've been?" A flash of comparison ran through his head, bringing him back to the chaos just hours ago.

Normally, if he arrived even five minutes late, that professor would turn around and ask for an explanation. Sometimes he'd even make Alaric explain himself in front of everyone.

But now... nothing. As if his lateness was entirely unimportant, or had never even occurred.

Slowly, Alaric stepped inside, walking past rows of desks. A few classmates glanced up at him briefly. Their stares were empty, like their minds had just been reset and were still trying to reboot.

No one looked at him strangely. Everyone seemed absorbed in their notes.

He could feel something was off. "Their thoughts… it's like there's a delay. As if their brains are struggling to process something about me."

He slid into his seat. The chair fit his body perfectly. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a friend sitting nearby blinking, as if trying to piece together some basic logic.

"Ah, maybe he just came back from the restroom," the friend muttered quietly, as though patching up a gap in memory.

The rest stayed silent. Some scratched their heads, others gave him a quick second glance before returning to their notes, their expressions leaving no real trace of curiosity.

The teenager glanced around, his gaze filled with quiet disbelief. "So this is how the system works? It's kind of harsh… like it's forcing their brains to come up with logical explanations to cover up missing memories."

He leaned back in his chair, letting out a breath of relief. No noise, no mocking, no whispers cutting through the air like they had when he first stepped into campus this morning without knowing a thing.

The professor began writing a row of practice problems on the board, saying,

"Alright, now let's move on to a case example. Take a look at the formula I've written. I want you to solve it using the method we covered last week."

Alaric quickly shifted his focus, flipping open his notebook and searching for the previous pages of notes, trying to catch up with the lesson in progress.

The classroom was once again filled with the sound of chalk against the board. Everything seemed normal. The chaos from a few hours ago felt like a bad dream that had never really happened.

He stared at the board intently. In the back of his mind, he muttered quietly, "If it's like this… at least I can finally focus on learning. I don't have to worry about everyone's stares. Thank you, system."

He gave a faint smile, flipped the page, and began copying down the problems from the board.

But in the middle of that quiet routine, something strange crept in. A subtle discomfort began building in his head. At first it was just a dull throb at his temples, then it grew heavier. Like something solid was weighing down on his skull.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was like a heartbeat had moved into his brain. Alaric paused mid-writing, squinting as his hand reached up to press against his temple, trying to ease the pressure.

Then, in a split second, the world in front of him shifted. His vision didn't just stay on the board. It split. One part of his awareness still saw the classroom: the professor writing, students taking notes. But the other part drifted somewhere completely different. A strange space had appeared in front of him, overlapping with the real world.

Alaric saw himself. It was as if his body existed in two places at once. In this subconscious realm, he was walking slowly along an empty road. He had no idea where it was, but he could feel it through his real senses. The texture of cracked asphalt underfoot. The wind brushing dust across his face.

In the middle of this deserted road, his sharp eyes spotted a piece of paper lying on the ground. No—two pieces. One looked clean and formal, almost like an official document.

Out on that empty road, the wind didn't just carry dust. It carried a warning. Alaric didn't know where he was, or how he got there, but the scene felt like a metaphor made real.

Two documents. One clean and stamped with authority. The other clearly tampered with off-center seal, mismatched signature. But why would the system let him see the difference? What was it trying to show him?

The other… had signs of tampering. A worn-out photocopy, a misaligned stamp, even a signature that looked suspiciously off. The kind of forgery that wasn't well hidden.

He stopped, bent down, and picked them up. The moment his fingers touched the paper, a soft vibration ran through them, climbed up his arm, and settled in his chest.

But before he could make any sense of it, the world around him tore apart. The road and the papers vanished into darkness. His awareness was yanked back into the classroom. His vision snapped back to the board. His consciousness had been pulled away from that place, as if against his will.

Alaric exhaled sharply, wiping his face. He needed to make sure he was still here, still where he started. Cold sweat began trickling down his forehead, though he wasn't sure why.

"Was that… a dream?" he wondered silently. But Alaric hadn't fallen asleep. Not even for a moment. It had felt real. Like two movie screens playing at once inside his head, and he could switch between them at will. One was the real world, the classroom. The other… some kind of subconscious realm that had accidentally shown itself.

His pen had paused on the page, leaving a broken line in the middle of a number he hadn't finished writing. He tried to return to taking notes.

"That document… what did it mean?" he asked himself.

Alaric was still trying to calm his thoughts. The fingers that once built detailed prototypes were now fidgeting with his pen cap. He glanced at the board again, but his focus scattered. That image of the mysterious papers haunted him. It had felt so real, like he had truly stood on that road just moments ago.

He exhaled softly, trying to push the thought away. But without realizing it, his leg began to swing restlessly. He didn't even notice the movement until...

THUD!

His knee slammed hard into the desk in front of him. The sound of metal hitting the floor echoed sharply throughout the room. The quiet atmosphere, previously filled only with the scratch of pens and rustle of papers, instantly widened with silence.

A few heads turned instinctively, even if just for a second. The professor, who was still standing near the board, looked over as well. For a moment, it felt like everyone was waiting to see if he'd say something or call Alaric out.

But he didn't. The professor paused for just a moment, his lips moving slightly as if starting to speak, but then stopping. He turned back to the board and kept writing, completely ignoring the disruption.

Alaric swallowed hard. He froze, bracing himself to avoid any more sudden movements. The sound of the desk still echoed in his ears. He knew that in a quiet room like this, it must have sounded louder than it actually was.

"God… why am I being so clumsy? I didn't mean to," he muttered in his head.

He shook his head slightly, trying to hide the awkwardness. His fingers reached for the pen again, trying to stay occupied with the problems on his desk.

But his mind wasn't entirely back yet. He whispered to himself, confused, "What was that just now? Why did I experience something so strange? Was it just my imagination from thinking too much?"

He took a long breath and shook his head quickly, as if trying to erase everything. "Alright, enough…" he told himself, finally closing off the mental door to that strange vision.

Still, beneath the calm movements of his hand as he copied down the formulas, his thoughts remained layered. Restless and circling back. But don't worry, Alaric will solve this puzzle with all the strength and intelligence he has.

"Nothing is impossible, even if everyone has forgotten their memories."