In Buddhism, there are what is known as the Six Pāramitās and the Five Kleshas.
The Six Pāramitās include Dāna, Sīla, Prajñā, Kshanti, Dhyana and Vīrya. You could call these the equivalents of the Ten Commandments in Christianity.
Similarly to Chrisitanity where the Seven Deadly Sins exist, there is also the Five Kleshas in Buddhism. These are Pleasurable states, Painful states, Neutral states, Enviable states and Prideful states.
A human will not want to traverse into the region of the Five Kleshas and instead stay in the Six Pāramitās.
But... Sometimes...
You can't help but enter one area of the Five Kleshas and stay there for nearly your entire life. That was how I saw it.
Picture this for a moment, when you were born, did you ever think you would be a star in academics? A star in sports?
Of course not! You wouldn't think that when you were young.
But your parents might've.
And you would only find out as you experienced your life.
I was one of those people.
I was good at learning. I was good at excelling in tests. I was good at physical education. I didn't put in any particular effort and yet I was really good at these things.
And yet, before I knew it, I became the best in both academics and sports.
Though what came from that was jealousy and envy from others. I began to notice that there were people around me who tried to take advantage of me.
I was taught the same things in the same amount of time, but my ability to learn was better than anyone else. Of course, that meant I was able to counter these idiots who tried to take advantage of me and continued to get better at everything.
As a result, I became more popular with everyone.
It was... like an unexpected prerequisite to becoming popular.
From an early age, I learned that popularity was a gift. I had the talent to be popular.
Of course, I knew that not everyone liked me. Especially the ones who were rivalrous.
But it didn't matter.
Right or wrong, as long as people saw me as popular, that was all that mattered.
My life as a popular kid remained the same throughout elementary school and junior high - a dazzling road.
But, somewhere along the road, I began to get this discomforting feeling that I was missing something.
This discomforting feeling was the only thing that was preventing me from really enjoying my flawless life. Yet, I didn't let this feeling actually hold me back. I continued to stay popular and do whatever I could to be the best.
But that all changed when I entered high school.
Horikita Manabu.
The man who was a year older than me was someone who was subject to the respect of many.
He was much more dazzling and intelligent than I was, and he had a conviction that was anything but frivolous.
Seeing him more popular than me and doing better than me in everything I had worked for, I couldn't help but feel that sense of discomfort strongly rise to the surface again. The only difference was that it was more unbearable.
And I guess this is where the link to buddhism and the Five Kleshas started.
For that reason, I then decided to want more things. It didn't matter what it was, as long as I could become more popular and better than Horikita Manabu until this feeling went away, that was all that mattered.
But that feeling grew more into wanting more than just beating him. Wanting everything. The Student council position. The attention of everyone. The possession of some innocent girls under my control.
And that feeling grew immensely yet again when I found there was another guy one year below me who was different from Horikita Manabu, but had a special talent that appeared very favourable to Horikita Manabu.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
He was totally different. He had a cocky attitude, but his ability was undeniably real. I felt that it even surpassed that of Horikita Manabu, even though I really couldn't believe it.
What I accomplished should be no less than those two. But this discomforting feeling sometimes made me wonder...
Am I truly good? Or was I just an unlucky king who never had a good opponent?
That was why I had to beat them! I had already beaten Horikita Manabu. All I needed to do now was beat Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and claim everything that he had.
Only then could I achieve getting rid of this discomforting feeling and living the perfect life I was meant to live.
Otherwise... I might be stuck in the Five Kleshas for the rest of my life...
End of Prologue...
