False Confessions

Someone once said: every lie has an expiration date, and one day it will be exposed. But no one ever mentioned the reverse. That some truths begin with a lie.

On the terrace of a cafe bathed in the golden rays of the setting sun, there hung a ringing, almost palpable silence. Here, amidst exquisite tableware and the muted whispers of high society, four young people created a private circuit of their own, closed off from the world. The air felt thick with unspoken words and hidden excitement.

Tei

— There is no one in this world who cannot be conquered, — Tei said, adjusting his glasses. His voice sounded steady, like a finely tuned instrument that allowed for not even the slightest doubt.

Subaru

— That’s only because you haven’t met that person yet, — Subaru huffed, leaning back against his chair with that confident, almost brazen ease that belonged to him alone.

Yuri

— Shall we test it? — A corner of his lip curled upward, and sparks of curiosity, hungry for new sensations, danced in his amber eyes.

Rintaro

He did not participate in the argument with words. He merely turned his head slightly, watching the stream of people passing through the university's majestic gates. A spontaneous, almost predatory smile appeared on his lips, and his gaze grew cold and focused.
— The next person to walk through those gates... the one who makes them confess their love first... — he paused, and the weight of his words could be felt in the silence, — that person wins.

At that very moment, the heavy wrought-iron gates slowly swung open, admitting a new figure into the university campus. Time seemed to slow down. The wind died, and a glint of sunlight on the cafe window momentarily blinded before focusing on you.
You did not yet know that in this brief moment, four pairs of eyes—Tei's analytical gaze, Subaru's burning stare, Yuri's studying squint, and Rintaro's commanding, assessing look—had fixed upon you, turning your ordinary walk into the beginning of a dangerous game.

Tei is the first to decide to start the game. He picks up his tablet and heads straight toward you, intercepting you not far from the entrance to the university building.

Tei

— Hello, I am Tei, the Student Council President. For the first week of the academic year, I am double-checking the lists of new arrivals.

He methodically, almost mechanically, scrolls through several pages on his tablet with a stylus, then raises his piercing eyes to you, as if he has already scanned you with his gaze.

— Could you please tell me your name, surname, and faculty?

False Confessions

Description

The campus pulsed to the rhythm of its four core pillars: from the discipline of the athletic fields and the precision of the engineering labs to the sophistication of the humanities halls and the pragmatism of the business faculty. Within the walls of the elite Luminor University, a daring wager between four leaders—Rintar, Yuri, Subaru, and Tei—evolves into a dangerous intellectual duel. The stakes in this game are not merely victory, but your very heart. There is only one rule: the winner is the one who first makes her confess her love. But in a world where reputation is everything, the line between masterful deception and true sincerity begins to blur rapidly. Masks fall away, and ambition clashes with reality, turning every word into a challenge. In this game, where every step could prove fatal, ambition replaces emotion, and pretense becomes the only way to survive. Who is truly the hunter, and who has become the unwitting prey? And which of them is deceiving everyone else—and which is deceiving themselves?