From the moment she learned to speak, Rin had been different. By age three, her parents had long abandoned the idea of typical milestones. While other children fumbled with simple words, Rin was reading through thick books meant for high schoolers. It was one of those moments, like so many others in her life, where her parents realized they weren’t dealing with an ordinary child.

One afternoon, her father sat in his study, staring at financial reports, the kind of paperwork that made even the most seasoned executives sweat. Rin wandered in, holding a hefty textbook on advanced mathematics. Without a word, she climbed into his lap, opened the book, and effortlessly solved a complicated equation.

Her father, still shocked, watched her scribble out an answer that made his head spin. "Sweetheart, why don't you go play with your toys or something?"

She didn’t look up. "Toys are for people who don’t solve problems, Dad. Watch this."

And just like that, she erased the chalkboard clean, writing out an entire proof without a single mistake. When she finished, she sat back, content, as though she had just completed a simple task—no challenge, no excitement.

Her father leaned back in his chair, his face a mixture of awe and mild panic. "You’re three."

"And?" Rin gave him a bored glance, her voice dripping with nonchalance. "It’s not hard when you know what you’re doing."

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By the time Rin started school in Tokyo, she was already leagues ahead of her peers. Teachers tried their best to keep up, but every test, every assignment, was just a formality. She finished assignments in seconds, solving complex problems with ease, while the rest of the class scrambled to catch up. No one had a chance against her effortless genius.

One day, her new teacher—a young woman just a few years older than the students—tried to challenge Rin. “Rin,” she asked, trying to sound stern, “can you solve this?” She pointed to an equation on the board that was said to be too difficult for anyone under twelve.

Rin looked at it for a moment, then casually raised her hand. “Sensei, you missed a step here. It’s not this hard. Let me show you.”

The teacher blinked in surprise as Rin solved the equation in a matter of seconds, barely breaking a sweat. "How did you...?" she stuttered.

Rin’s gaze never left the equation as she finished the last step. “Simple. You just need to look at the numbers differently.” She dropped her chalk with a soft clink and turned to the teacher. “I’m done. You can keep the rest of the class. I’m going for lunch.”

The teacher could only watch as Rin walked out of the classroom, the entire class staring in stunned silence.

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Middle school in Tokyo was where Rin’s indifference really began to show. While everyone around her got wrapped up in trivial matters—cliques, gossip, who was dating whom—Rin saw it all as a waste of time. She breezed through her classes, answered questions with a bored smile, and had long given up on the concept of ‘fitting in.’ She didn’t need friends. She didn’t need popularity. She needed one thing: to be better than everyone else.

One afternoon, a group of girls in her class—Yuka, Aiko, and Mei—surrounded her during lunch, eager to chat about the latest drama—Haruto’s breakup, who was the cutest boy in class, and who was acting ‘weird.’ Their words came in rapid-fire, with all the energy of a gossip storm.

“Rin! Did you hear about Haruto? He asked Aiko to the festival, but she turned him down!” Yuka squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Can you believe that?”

Rin glanced up from her book, her smoky gray eyes cold and disinterested. “Who cares?” she asked flatly. “Haruto’s weak. Aiko’s indecisive. Move on. There are bigger things to think about.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The girls blinked, trying to process her response. They gawked at her, stunned into silence by the sheer disinterest she exuded. Rin stood up, adjusting her uniform, her face impassive.

“Why waste time on the inconsequential? Get over yourselves. If you want to make something of yourselves, start using your brains instead of gossiping.”

And with that, she left them behind, her steps echoing in the hallway as she walked away from their petty conversations.

As Rin entered high school at a prestigious Tokyo academy, her reputation had already preceded her. Her intellect was so beyond her peers that any kind of academic competition felt like a joke. She solved problems before the teacher could finish explaining them, aced every test without even trying, and received awards for achievements she barely cared about. Her classmates feared her, admired her, but no one dared to approach her. She was untouchable.

One afternoon, a student—a self-proclaimed genius—decided to challenge her. Dressed in his sharpest suit, he strutted up to Rin, his arrogance evident in every step.

“Rin Kagetsuki,” he began with an air of superiority, “I’ve heard a lot about you. But tell me, do you think AI will surpass human intelligence? I’ve been reading about the future of machine learning. It’s fascinating, don’t you think?”

Rin didn’t even look up from the book she was reading. She raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. “AI is a tool. It’ll never surpass human intelligence. Don’t confuse potential with actual capability.”

He blinked, a little flustered. “But—”

She interrupted him, her gaze cutting through him like a blade. “Don’t waste your time trying to impress me. You’re not doing anything that matters. Go do something useful. And while you’re at it, solve the real problems in the world instead of wasting your time on theoretical fantasies.”

Without another word, she stood and left, her stride confident and steady, leaving the young man in the dust, unsure of how to respond.

Now, in her early twenties, Rin had already achieved more than most could dream of in a lifetime. She was a genius entrepreneur, a leading figure in the world of business and technology, and a woman whose intellect had no rival. Wealth and power? Easy. The game had become too simple, too predictable.

She stood in her penthouse in the heart of Tokyo, overlooking the sprawling cityscape with a detached gaze, sipping her tea, the very picture of a woman who had everything—yet still felt nothing.

Another day, another meaningless deal to close. Another round of petty negotiations. Another few hours spent in a room full of fools who thought they were in control. Rin was done. She wasn’t inspired by anything anymore. Everything felt hollow.

Her phone buzzed—another meeting request. She didn’t even look at it. How utterly pointless.

The hum of something... strange vibrated in the air. Rin looked around, her eyes narrowing slightly. What now?

And then, as if the universe was trying to catch her attention, the light began to flicker.

Rin stood up, sighing. She wasn’t going to waste her time with whatever this was. She simply brushed a strand of hair out of her face, already bored with the idea of whatever inconvenient event was about to unfold.

Before she could even finish her thought, the light exploded into a blinding flash, swallowing the room whole.

For a brief moment, reality itself seemed to bend and twist. The familiar surroundings of her penthouse vanished, replaced by something completely different—something... new. When the light dissipated, Rin found herself standing in a vast, magical landscape, the air thick with an unfamiliar energy.

“Well, that’s unexpected,” she muttered, scanning her new environment with a mixture of mild curiosity and disdain.

A deep, booming voice echoed around her. “Who dares enter the realm of the gods?!”

Rin stood there for a moment, expression unimpressed, her arms crossed. “Gods? Really? How adorable.”

The voice faltered, as if thrown off by her utter lack of reverence. She continued, her tone dripping with mockery, “Do you want me to bow down? Or can we skip all the boring ‘tests’ and get to the part where you tell me what I’m supposed to do?”

The voice, now clearly rattled, struggled to respond. Rin smirked, already knowing how this would play out. Another day. Another boring situation to deal with.

She turned her attention away from the booming voice, inspecting the magical world around her. This was probably going to be interesting for, like, five minutes.

With that, Rin stood tall, unfazed, ready to take on whatever the gods—or whatever else—had to throw at her. After all, life was just a game to her, and she always played to win