As Fang Li, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Yukimura Teruhiko arrived, only one of the four chairs before Majima Tomoya remained vacant.
What that meant, surely no one failed to understand.
"One more person, then the briefing can begin. Sit tight and wait."
With those words, Majima Tomoya brought the matter to a temporary close, and silence fell over the room.
A somewhat heavy atmosphere hung in the air.
Because of Majima Tomoya's remarks, no one spoke for the next several minutes. They merely waited quietly as time passed, and the oppressive atmosphere showed no signs of lifting—instead, it seemed to grow thicker.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Majima Tomoya glanced at his phone.
Fang Li took a quick look as well and confirmed the time.
"Is it time?"
At that moment, it was exactly 6:00 p.m., the appointed time.
Yet the last person had not arrived.
"What the hell?"
Even Yukimura Teruhiko could not help muttering that under his breath, a faint trace of impatience in his voice.
Fang Li could understand how he felt.
The email had made it perfectly clear: anyone more than five minutes late would be penalized.
And judging by the situation, of the four people summoned to this room, three were students from Class D. Naturally, the remaining person could only be from Class D as well.
If that person was late, it would be one thing for them to be punished themselves. But if they dragged down the entire class with them, it was only natural to worry.
That was probably why Yukimura Teruhiko reacted that way.
Even Majima Tomoya's brow furrowed slightly. His impression of the final person had surely already hit rock bottom.
Then several more minutes passed.
Just as the time limit was about to exceed five minutes, a