The fluorescent light above him flickered and died. The basement went black. When the emergency backup hummed to life, Elias wasn't alone.
The Solution Book slammed shut on its own. The grid shattered like glass. Elias was back in the basement, the broken globe rolling to a stop against his shoe. The instructor was gone. Only a faint chalk outline of a man remained on the floor, and in the center of it, a single No. 2 pencil, snapped in half. Kumon Solution Book Level M
A second line appeared: Quantify the fear. The fluorescent light above him flickered and died
Elias hesitated. Potential wasn't a grade. It wasn't a score on a college entrance exam. It was the version of himself that stayed up late not to memorize formulas, but to understand why they worked. The version who didn't hide the Kumon worksheets he struggled with. The Solution Book slammed shut on its own