Chapter 4: Free Fall

Monday Morning

An apparent calm reigned in Class D, but it carried the strange taste of silence before a storm. The chatter had quieted, and several students were nervously checking their tablets. Winner, however, observed.

On the collective display screen, the numbers had just been updated.

Class D monthly balance: 82,000 points.

The faces froze. A cutting silence settled.

— "What? We were at 100,000 three days ago!" — "What is this madness?!"

Panic spread like a virus. The students huddled around the screen, searching for an explanation. No warning. No details. Just a brutal loss of 18,000 points.

Salia furrowed her brows.

— "This isn't a mistake. It's the system. It watches us, judges us... and punishes us."

Nero, arms crossed, burst into laughter:

— "Yeah, or maybe there are people here doing whatever they want behind our backs."

He scanned the room with his gaze. Accusations lingered in the air, unspoken but very real. Everyone retreated. Already, trust was beginning to crumble.

Winner, in the back, remained impassive. He had anticipated this drop. Better yet... he had orchestrated it.

Three days earlier, he had discreetly left a tablet connected on a bench, with a video open on an unauthorized platform. Result? A violation of digital rules. Penalty: -5,000 points.

The next day, he had subtly informed an unsuspecting classmate that the lockers in the gym were accessible without supervision. Two boys had gone there... at an unauthorized time. Result: -8,000 points.

The rest? Simple chatter, tardiness, trivial mistakes. Nothing visible. Nothing traceable. Just an inevitable collective loss.

All of this for a simple lesson:

> Chaos is born where there are neither understood rules... nor a leader who is listened to.

---

Mlle Astar entered a few minutes later. She glanced at the points board without comment. She knew. But she would say nothing.

— "Here is your schedule for the week. Three standard classes, two behavioral assessment modules, and one strategic development class. Every behavior will be graded, every point will be influenced. Good luck."

Then she left as quickly as she had come.

Winner felt the eyes beginning to turn. Suspicions were growing. But he was just a silent student, without a story. Invisible.

And while the others worried about what they were losing... he was already building what he would gain.