Part 2Eclipse of the System: The Star Outshines the Moon

For a long time, I actually believed her. I thought that if I just worked hard enough, I could close the gap between us.

So, to improve my grades, I stayed up studying and doing practice tests until 2 AM every night.

To look better, I went jogging and jumped rope every day after school, and practically starved myself at dinner.

But none of it worked.

My grades were still dead last in the class.

My body only grew heavier.

My parents, who used to dote on me, started looking at me with utter despair. "Astra really is a lost cause."

"Sigh... if we only had Selene, our lives would be so much easier right now..."

During the holidays, whenever my parents bought gifts, they only bought them for Selene.

When I was younger, I used to foolishly run up to my dad and pull on his sleeve. "Dad, where's mine? Did you forget me?"

My dad would shake my hand off, looking annoyed. "This is a reward for Selene’s excellence. She got first place and won a huge award. What did you do?"

When I had a dangerously high fever, my parents left me home alone to attend Selene’s parent-teacher conference.

Those conferences weren't even important, but they loved basking in the endless praise the teachers showered on "Selene's parents."

Even my friends slowly started to hate me. No matter how hard I tried to hold onto them, they would inevitably abandon me to hang out with Selene.

Eventually, the entire world revolved around Selene, and she was the only person left who was "nice" to me.

Whenever I felt deeply defeated and wanted to give up, she would always be right there, encouraging me with everything she had.

"Maybe you just aren't working hard enough. Or maybe your methods are wrong," she would say gently. "Why don't you try a different approach?"

People around us would sigh. "Selene, you're just too kind. You're the only person in the world who hasn't given up on your sister."

"Seriously, if I were a natural-born loser like Astra, I would have killed myself and hoped to respawn with better stats."

"Don't talk about my sister like that!" Selene would frown and scold them playfully, then grab my hand. "Astra, promise me you'll never stop trying. Okay?"

I would nod forcefully, and Selene would smile.

I always thought her smile was beautiful.

Until I discovered her secret.