Sometimes when one door closes.
Another door will open for us.
Yet what slips through is not guaranteed to be light.
...
Sometimes I even feel disgust toward my own self.
Every time I look into a mirror, a wave of exhaustion surges within me.
I sigh, then put the hand mirror away.
My name is Ron Irus, well, Ron, while Irus is a name I gave myself.
I will register my surname as Irus once I gain sufficient wealth and reputation later in life. Perhaps that is all.
...
I am 12 years old this year, yet everyone in the Jinlus orphanage usually addresses me as little brother.
Whether they are barely 10 years old or already 17 years old, they all call me little brother Ron.
That is rather peculiar, but I usually do not pay much mind to it.
Because I am often looked after more than others; sometimes they say I am foolish and mentally deficient, so I require assistance.
I consider that to be incorrect, because the teacher said everyone possesses their own unique intelligence, and everyone ought to follow their own path.
However, I am not intelligent; my grades are terrible, I am not good at physical activities because I am very weak, and I am not good at art because I find it extremely boring.
I look at the sunbeams filtering through the window curtains. I am inside a room overflowing with colors, where square blocks of vibrant yellow and green stack upon one another.
Toys surround me; or more accurately, I placed them there myself, wanting to feel like a superhero confronting a horde of monsters.
"Brrrr."
"Bratu!~"
"Hey Ron, come outside to play."
Bratu, a boy with colorful hair in the orphanage, greets me from outside the window; how strange, how could he know I was up on the second floor to call out to me?
"I know!"
I shout back and run down the staircase; however, within my field of vision, shades of green, purple, and yellow continuously merge together.
That ordinary staircase I walk every single day, that dull reddish brown hue, no longer retains a single boring color.
With every step I take downward, a ribbon of colors wraps around me like a cloak.
And then those colors suddenly twist together into pitch black; I am wearing a cloak of pure black, which feels utterly amazing.
Yet when I step onto the very last stair, it turns snow white once more, then tightens into a spotless white outfit.
I can see it, but as I step onto the floor, everything turns dark for a moment, then reverts to its original state.
I do not pay much mind to it, for I seem to have grown accustomed to this.
"I am coming, I am coming!"
I sprint straight through the playground area, but then I suddenly spot Lunas, a brother two years older than me who possesses a staggering height of 1m80.
He, along with a few other children and Bratu, are whispering about something; then, upon hearing my footsteps, they turn around.
"...Oh, Ron."
Lunas scratches his head, looking back and forth between me and the paper in his hand.
"What is that?"
I ask, while Lunas whispers a few things to the group of children before shaking his head to look at me.
"There was a report about you; do you remember those test papers from a few days ago?"
I nod my head repeatedly. Then the gazes of the others grow increasingly peculiar with every word spoken by Lunas.
"IQ Score: 112
No psychological illnesses.
No mental disorders.
Physical body: Normal, currently in a late stage of puberty."
Even though Bratu and the others had prepared themselves, this remains far too incomprehensible.
"Vecic, what do you think? Did that guy cheat?"
"Do you think he is intelligent enough to do that? No, are you intelligent enough to make a statement like that, John?"
"Damn it, if cheating worked, I would have an IQ of 200 instead of staying here."
The remarks keep passing from one person to another, while Lunas looks at me and says he will ask the head of the orphanage about it.
As for me, I jump up for joy, because from this day forth, they will no longer be able to call me a fool.