The next day, a report was broadcast across all of Academy City and even the entire country.
"After confirmation, the inexplicable phenomena that occurred in and around Academy City last night have been proven to have been an accident caused by an experiment involving virtual imagery."
"Although the incident had a tremendous impact on the public, the actual damage caused was zero. In response, the twelve directors of Academy City's General Council gave interviews one after another and apologized to all citizens affected by the incident."
"As compensation for emotional distress, over the next three months, students, teachers, and scholars alike will receive improved benefits. Students will receive increased scholarships, teachers will receive salary supplements, and scholars and researchers will receive additional research funding, bringing this incident to a close."
Once the report was released, the public finally found some relief regarding what had happened the previous night. Though complaints and lingering fear remained, those effects gradually began to settle under the compensation.
Thus, the inexplicable phenomenon that had made everyone feel as though they had suffered a terrible nightmare ultimately became nothing more than dinner-table conversation and another part of Academy City's urban legends.
Of course, not everyone could accept such an explanation.
At the very least, many people understood that the matter definitely was not as simple as an accidental incident.
After all, even Academy City, whose technology was twenty or thirty years ahead of the outside world, could not possibly cause such a massive disturbance and such a wide-reaching impact through research into virtual imagery alone.
Therefore, in Academy City's shadows, quite a few people with ulterior motives began moving as well, seeking to uncover the truth behind this so-called accident.
Whether those people's actions would yield any results, however, was another matter entirely.
Meanwhile, the culprit