Every year on the day SAT scores are released, the top scorer in our state dies by suicide. The higher the score, the more gruesome the death. The police formed a task force, but they came up with nothing. The top students in the state are terrified. They've started intentionally tanking their exams, afraid of becoming the valedictorian. I was the only one who studied harder. In the end, I achieved a perfect score of 1600, becoming the highest-scoring valedictorian in history. Why? Because my brother was the valedictorian three years ago. I watched him die a horrific death right in front of me. I will avenge him. 1 My mom died the year I was born. My dad raised my brother and me alone. He worked every dirty, exhausting job he could find just so we wouldn't have to suffer. Over the years, women admired his work ethic and offered to start a new family with him. But Dad refused them all, afraid a stepmother would mistreat us. Because we saw how hard he worked, my brother and I studied relentlessly, desperate to give him a better life. Three years ago, my brother took the SATs. By then, the rumors about the valedictorian curse were already widespread. Every top student was anxious, terrified of ranking first. I begged my brother to hold back, to lower his score just enough to stay safe. But he just looked at me and said: "I've worked hard for years to get a good score, to give you and Dad a better life. I won't tank my score, and I certainly won't kill myself." "Besides, those suicides have to be coincidences. This time, I'm going to break the curse." He kept his word. With a score of 1580, he became that year's state valedictorian. But the brother who swore he would never commit suicide jumped from the roof on the day the scores came out. He didn't say a word before he died. He just looked deeply at our father, then leaped. He landed headfirst. It was gruesome. In his hand, he clutched a bloodstained note with a single sentence: "Brother, never become the valedictorian." As I held his broken body and screamed in agony, my father, who had always doted on him, stood silently by. He didn't shed a single tear. I asked him why. He looked at me with cold, dead eyes and said, "He chose to be the valedictorian. He has no one to blame but himself." I couldn't understand. My dad used to cry if my brother even had a fever. Why was he so indifferent watching him die? Remembering the look my brother gave him before he jumped... I couldn't shake the feeling that my father was involved. But why? What reason could he possibly have? My brother loved life. Why would he suddenly kill himself? Harboring these doubts, I studied bitterly for three years. Just for this one exam. This time, I'm using myself as bait. I will find the truth. 2 On the day the scores were released. I looked at my dad, who was cooking in the kitchen. "Dad, if I die, will you cry?" His hand paused while washing the rice. He turned to look at me, confusion in his eyes. "Why are you asking that?" I paused for two seconds, then said seriously: "I've checked the answers." "Unless something went wrong, I should be this year's state valedictorian." The light in his eyes vanished instantly. A second later, he said flatly, "Oh. Congratulations." Two words. Short and calm. Like we were discussing the weather. No emotion at all. I stared at him, searching for a crack in his mask. But he acted like nothing happened, turning back to wash the rice. The morning light reflected in his cold eyes, stinging my heart. I remembered when I was five, I had a sudden seizure and a high fever during a blizzard. In sub-zero temperatures, with no taxis running, my dad carried me on his back and ran six miles through the snow to the hospital. When we arrived, he was purple with cold, his feet bloody from the ice. But he didn't seem to feel the pain. He just begged the doctors to save me. They said it was hopeless. But my proud father knelt at the ER entrance, banging his head on the floor, crying and begging them to try again. I don't understand. Growing up, he valued my brother and me more than his own life. Why is he so cold about this? I didn't say anything else. I just waited for the score. In the end, as expected, I got a perfect 1600. The highest-scoring valedictorian in history. The score shocked the state and blew up the internet. From reality to online forums, everyone was debating it: "Is he crazy? Everyone else is scared to death, tanking their scores, and he gets a perfect score? Doesn't he know about the curse?" "I'm his classmate. His brother was the valedictorian three years ago! He died horribly! There's no way he doesn't know!" "Then why? Is he suicidal?" "I heard his dad raised them alone, working multiple jobs. His brother died three years ago, and now this... how will his dad survive losing him too?" Some were shocked by my score. Some pitied my father. Others called me selfish for courting death when I knew the consequences. Meanwhile, I locked my bedroom door and started a livestream. 3 I set up the camera to capture the entire room. As soon as the stream started, it went viral. Within minutes, millions of viewers flooded in. The comments were scrolling so fast I could barely read them. "This is the perfect score valedictorian? He doesn't look scared at all." "Streaming at a time like this? Kid's got nerves of steel." "Streamer, did you think about your dad when you got that score?" "Your dad worked his life away for you boys. He already lost your brother. If you die, how will he live?" "So unfilial. Is a test score more important than your lives?" Most people were condemning me. Calling me selfish, ungrateful. Pitying my father. Amidst the backlash, I started speaking slowly, like I was telling a story: "As you all know, my dad raised my brother and me alone. It wasn't easy." "We suffered, we struggled. Every day was a fight for survival." "But my brother was always optimistic. He taught me to cherish life, to keep living." "He said as long as we're alive, things will get better." "He swore he would use his own efforts to give Dad and me a good life." "But three years ago, he killed himself." I held up my brother's suicide note. Facing the camera, I said word by word: "This is the note my brother held when he jumped." "It has one sentence: 'Brother, never become the valedictorian.'" "I have treasured this note for three years." "And I have studied it for three years." "The handwriting is identical to my brother's." "The police confirmed only his fingerprints were on it." "But I am certain he didn't write it." "Someone forged his handwriting and left this note." "To cover up the fact that his death wasn't a suicide." "He was murdered." 4 The chat exploded. Question marks flooded the screen. "For real? I thought all the valedictorians committed suicide?" "If the handwriting is identical, how can you be sure?" "I was there that day! I saw him jump! No one pushed him!" "Are you delusional?" Shock, doubt, denial. I continued over the noise: "Because whether in life or in letters, my brother never called me 'Brother.' He only ever used my nickname." "He did jump. But he was forced to." "For three years, I've investigated the deaths of every other valedictorian." "I can tell you with certainty: every single one was suspicious." "This is a massive lie." "They were all murdered!" The chat went wilder. "Holy crap, this is terrifying. I have goosebumps." "Who? Why? Who could make so many top students kill themselves?" Amidst the shock, I looked straight into the lens, my voice firm: "Even though I know it wasn't suicide, I could never find proof of murder. The killer is too good at hiding." "That's why I did everything I could to become the valedictorian. To uncover the truth. To expose this lie." "They say the higher the score, the worse the death." "Today, I'm streaming so you can all witness it." "Will I die?" My words were sincere, my determination clear. The viewers were shaken. The livestream view count skyrocketed. The whole country was watching. Even the police saw it and dispatched units to my house. As the sirens wailed closer... The chat suddenly unified, screaming one thing: "BEHIND YOU!" "LOOK BEHIND YOU!" "RUN!" I spun around. And saw something I will never forget.
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