Chapter 1

When Dad learned I placed second on a practice college entrance exam, he shouted at me.

"Second again? Can't you beat whoever came first?"

"How did I end up with such a useless son?"

I promised I'd take down the top student on the next exam. That night, I dreamed about the girl who came first.

In the dream, I pushed her from the twenty-third floor.

The sound of her hitting the ground made my stomach turn.

I woke from the nightmare to a flood of messages in the class group chat.

The first message made my blood run cold.

[Zara Henson jumped from the twenty-third floor. She died on the spot.]

[Zara's mother insists it wasn't suicide. She says someone pushed her.]

[Can you hear the police sirens?]

Chapter 1

I stared at the message for at least ten seconds.

Zara Henson was the girl who had placed first on the practice college entrance exam.

And the twenty-third floor was where she lived.

I remembered glancing at her details on the student information form at the start of the school year. Her address was Building 32, Rosewood Gardens.

In my dream, I pushed her from the twenty-third floor.

I put down my phone. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst.

I could still feel her pajamas against my palm.

The cotton was soft and so thin I could almost feel the warmth of her body through it.

It felt too real.

My fingers still trembled.

But it was only a dream!

How could anything that happened in a dream be real?

Messages kept flooding the class group chat.

[I heard the police are already there.]

[Zara's mom is beside herself. She says someone pushed her. She didn't jump.]

[She got the best grades in every exam. Why would she kill herself?]

[I live in the building next to hers. I heard a loud thud, and then a woman screamed...]

Someone posted a clear photo from the scene.

My heart seemed to stop when I saw Zara lying in a pool of blood.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

She wore the same pink pajamas covered in strawberry bears that I'd seen in my dream.

It had to be a coincidence!

My thoughts were a mess, but once I calmed down, I told myself one thing.

I could never have killed her just because she took first place from me.

So, I went to school the next day and acted as if nothing had happened.

Zara's desk sat empty, and the mood in our classroom was strange.

When class finally ended, I headed for the teachers' office.

I heard a police officer speaking as I reached the door.

"We found no fingerprints on Zara's body, so our preliminary finding is suicide."

"But she just placed first on the exam. She had no apparent trouble with her studies or anything else that might have driven her to it..."

Before the officer could finish, our homeroom teacher spotted me.

"Julian, why are you standing in the doorway?"

The officer's eyes sharpened when he saw me.

Our teacher quickly explained, "Officer Lewis, this is Julian Nash from my class. He placed second on the practice exam."

At the word "second," Daniel Lewis gave me a look I couldn't read.

"With Zara gone, you're the top student now."

I was too frightened to speak.

By the time I gathered my wits, Daniel was gone.

Our teacher saw that I was still standing there in a daze and patted my shoulder.

"Zara's death was an accident. Try to put it out of your mind. You can't let it affect your college entrance exam."

Chapter 2

The second practice exam came around before long.

I thought Zara's death meant I would finally place first.

But when I saw the results, my heart sank.

My classmates laughed.

"Julian really is stuck in second place forever. Zara's gone, and he still couldn't come first."

My best friend, Zachary King, took first place this time.

He looked embarrassed as he tried to comfort me.

"Julian, I'm sorry. I know your dad's going to hit you again because you didn't come first. I didn't know I'd do so well this time."

I ignored him, picked up my backpack, and left.

When I got home, Dad tore into me over my exam results, just as I expected.

"Julian Nash, how did I end up with such a useless idiot for a son? Zara's dead, and you still couldn't come first?"

"Do you remember what you promised me? And this time, that mediocre Zachary beat you! Didn't you say his grades were worse than yours? How could you lose to him?"

I couldn't deny that I was upset.

Zachary usually scored lower than I did. I gave up a lot of my free time to tutor him so he could improve.

I never expected him to outscore me.

Dad grew angrier the more he thought about it. He pulled off his belt and beat me.

I cried and begged him to stop.

"Dad, I won't tutor Zachary anymore. I promise I'll come first next time! Please believe me one more time."

He sighed and handed me a glass of milk.

"I'm doing this for your own good. If you can't even come first, how will you get into a prestigious university?"

Dad raised me alone and gave up everything to help me succeed.

I understood why he pushed me so hard.

His harsh rules and high expectations were meant to give me a better future.

I silently swore that I would do whatever it took to place first in our class on the next practice exam.

That night, I drank the milk and went to bed early.

Zachary sent me message after message, but I didn't reply.

Then I dreamed about him.

He slapped himself in front of me.

"Julian, I'm sorry. This was all my fault! Please forgive me this once!"

"I swear I won't score so high next time! Believe me!"

I stared at him without expression and said only one thing.

"Only the dead deserve forgiveness."

Then, to my horror, I watched myself reach out in the dream and shove him.

Zachary fell out of his bedroom window.

His school uniform fluttered as he fell. He looked back at me, his face full of disbelief and despair.

Less than three seconds later, I heard a tremendous thud.

Blood spread beneath him in a bright red bloom. I couldn't tear my eyes away.

"Zachary!"

I screamed and bolted upright in bed. Cold sweat covered my back and soaked my pajamas.

Thankfully, the class group chat was quiet. There were no new messages.

I'd killed someone in my dream again!

This time, it was my best friend.

I stared at the tenth apology Zachary sent me. I hesitated, but I still didn't reply.

I thought I could talk to him in person the next day.

But when I reached the classroom, he was nowhere to be seen.

The bell rang, and our homeroom teacher walked in with a grim expression.

"Everyone, I'm so sorry. I have some terrible news. Zachary jumped from a building yesterday. He died."

Chapter 3

How was that possible?

Why would Zachary kill himself?

My right hand shook uncontrollably.

In the dream, I used that hand to push him out the window.

"Is it true?" I asked our teacher.

Panic swept through me. I could barely hear my own voice.

Everyone turned to look at me.

Zachary was my best friend, after all.

And we'd fallen out over his exam results just yesterday.

"Do you think Zachary felt so guilty about taking first place from Julian that he killed himself?"

"What do you mean, ‘taking first place from Julian'? Julian's never come first."

"But two students who placed first have jumped to their deaths. That's creepy..."

Their whispers filled me with guilt.

Had Zachary jumped because I refused to answer his messages?

While I stood there in a daze, Daniel found me.

"Julian, was Zachary a close friend of yours?"

I nodded.

He held up Zachary's phone.

"He sent you a lot of messages last night. Why didn't you answer any of them?"

I told him the truth, then asked, "Officer Lewis, did Zachary kill himself because of me?"

Daniel studied me with suspicion.

"He didn't kill himself. Before he went to bed, he wrote in his diary that he planned to apologize to you in person today. Why would he take his own life that night?"

"Then who killed him?"

Daniel looked at me again.

Once he seemed satisfied that my grief and guilt were real, he said, "The investigation is still underway. All I can tell you is that the same person killed Zachary and Zara."

"The killer's target is clear: whoever comes first in your class."

His expression grew unreadable again.

"I should warn you. As things stand, you're the suspect with the strongest motive in both murders."

My heart lurched, then beat even faster...

He was right; even without those two strange dreams, I would have suspected myself too.

Whenever the top student died, I stood to gain the most as the student in second place.

But I'd checked the security footage.

On the nights Zara and Zachary were killed, I never left my bedroom.

I couldn't have committed either murder.

Still, I couldn't explain why I'd dreamed about them.

When school ended, I saw Zachary's mother.

For the past few days, she kept coming to the school gates, just as she had when she used to pick Zachary up.

But he would never come out again.

She rushed toward me as soon as she saw me.

"Julian, have you seen my Zachary?"

She seemed to have lost her grip on reality...

My eyes burned, but I couldn't find a word to say.

Then another woman charged over.

"Julian Nash! You killed my daughter. I know you did..."

Zara's mother slapped me across the face.

"My daughter never had a problem with anyone! You were the only one competing with her. Did you kill her so you could come first?"

Zachary's mother seized on her words. She grabbed my clothes and shouted at me.

"Yes! Zachary came home and said he'd taken first place from you. He said you hated him for it! You killed him! I know you did!"

"It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't!"

Tears spilled down my face as I tried desperately to explain. But the scenes from my dreams kept forcing their way back into my mind.

At last, the school guards arrived and pulled the two women away...

Chapter 4

After the scene outside the school, my classmates all began looking at me with suspicion.

Maybe they thought I was the killer too.

Everyone was on edge, but the college entrance exam wouldn't stop because two students had died.

The third practice exam came around amid the fear and rumors.

Once again, I disappointed Dad.

I didn't place first. I didn't even place second.

When our homeroom teacher announced the top student, everyone turned to my deskmate.

Jade Jacobs looked terrified.

"The last two students who came first are dead! Am I going to get killed tonight?

"I'm telling you now, I would never kill myself. Never!"

She looked at me fearfully as she spoke.

It was as though she'd already decided I was the one killing the top students.

I said nothing.

Even if I killed her, I still wouldn't move into first place.

The others urged Jade to call the police, and she finally did.

Daniel took the threat seriously and led the officers assigned to protect her.

Meanwhile, Dad gave me the scolding I'd expected.

"What's wrong with you? How do your scores keep getting worse?"

My face went stiff. "Dad, Zara and Zachary are dead..."

"So what?" His voice rang through the house. "Do you think the country will cancel the college entrance exam because they died?"

"Everyone thinks I'm the killer..."

"With your record of always coming second, you think you're capable of murder?"

He scoffed. "If they suspect you, then come first and prove them wrong!"

"Dad! Two students who placed first have died. Aren't you worried the killer will come after me if I place first too?"

I couldn't take any more. I ran to my room.

"Stop making excuses! If you come first, I'll stay awake all night to keep you safe!"

He used a key to force the door open.

Then he made me drink a glass of milk.

"Just drink the milk. Those deaths were accidents, so stop thinking about them. If someone were killing top students, wouldn't they target the best student in the school?"

I lay in bed and tossed and turned.

Then Daniel called me.

"Julian, you need to be careful tonight. I just learned there was an error in the results for the third practice exam. You actually placed the first."

"Lock your doors and windows. I'm on my way."

I was about to speak when my phone screen went black.

At the same time, the light above me flickered twice and went out.

I froze for a moment, then called out for my dad.

No matter how many times I shouted, no one answered.

Then I heard heavy footsteps in the darkness.

I couldn't see anything, but I could tell they were coming toward me.

The footsteps stopped right in front of me.

Before I could react, a pair of cold hands closed around my throat.

"How could you be the first?"

The voice sounded exactly like mine.

I couldn't breathe. I struggled desperately to push away whatever stood before me, whether it was a person or a ghost.

Something tore loose with a sharp rip. I couldn't tell what it was.

Just then, moonlight spilled into the room.

At last, I saw the face of the person trying to kill me.

I stared at it, too stunned to move.