Classroom of the Elite, A Hypocritical Gray Life

I let out a heavy sigh. It was just wiping my mouth, yet it felt like a boundary line between heaven and hell. I really am a man of deep sin.

I fixed my gaze on the handkerchief; her saliva still lingered on it.

What should I do with this handkerchief? Should I treasure it, or perhaps take a sniff?

No, that's not something a normal man would do. Besides, what if Ichinose suddenly woke up right now? I'd be dead for sure!

After a series of thoughts, I dismissed the idea and cleared my mind.

I had finished wiping the trace from the corner of my mouth, but how was I supposed to explain the damp spot on my clothes? I looked at the dull, wine-red patch.

It should dry before we reach our destination, provided nothing else happens...

I quietly closed my eyes.

About twenty minutes later, we arrived at our destination. Just as I had hoped, the air inside the vehicle was dry and slightly warm, so the damp patch had dried up.

I woke Ichinose.

"Mm, are we there already?" Ichinose asked, rubbing her eyes in a daze.

"Yes, it's time to get off."

Judging by the situation, she didn't seem to realize she had been sleeping on my shoulder. That's for the best.

"Sorry, thanks for waking me up."

"It's only natural, since you asked me to remind you before you fell asleep. Though, it seems you really didn't sleep well last night."

"Yeah, even now, I still want to sleep a little longer."

As she said this, Ichinose and I followed the high school students in front of us off the bus.

Waiting for us there was a gate constructed from natural rock.

"Mmm~ I feel like I haven't had such a comfortable sleep in ages." Ichinose stretched, exposing her figure, and I hurriedly looked away.

"Is Raku's shoulder okay?"

"Hm? Why do you ask?" I asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"Because I think I fell asleep leaning on Raku's shoulder," she said, looking embarrassed.

"Ah, you knew." I was actually found out.

"Yeah, I realized it when I woke up. Sorry about that."

"I didn't mind it too much, and my shoulder is fine." As I said this, I moved my left shoulder. This remark would probably be taken as a man trying to act tough, but in truth, I really didn't feel any soreness.

"Sorry," she said with a grin.

I think anyone who saw that expression would forgive her.

"Let's go, then."

I silently followed her energetic pace. Although she wasn't walking fast, I felt mentally exhausted.

"Come to think of it, Raku smells really nice."

"Nice? This is the first time I've ever heard that evaluation," I replied, somewhat surprised.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. In fact, I've had the fortune of riding the bus a few times before, and because I've been told some pretty harsh things, I remember it quite clearly. Once, an old lady told me, 'Why do you smell like shoe polish?' and other comments—in short, they were never very good." I denied it.

It wasn't just that one example; no matter who smelled me, they would feel repulsed. Except for that mentally unstable doctor.

"The smell of shoe polish? That's too mean. It's clearly the scent of grass and trees; it feels very soothing... Did you use some kind of essential oil?"

"I did take a bath before I left the house, at least."

"Then it must be the body wash."

"Possibly." I nodded, not answering the question directly.

In truth, the scent on my body had nothing to do with body wash—or perhaps there was a slight connection, but it was mostly due to the medicinal baths. Long periods of soaking in medicinal herbs had caused the scent of plants to permeate my body, and over time, it became a trait that remained with me. Even as time passed, the scent showed no signs of fading, which caused me a great deal of distress.

This is simply not a trait a normal person should possess.

Ichinose and I walked through the gate side by side. A person checking personal belongings appeared before us, holding an electronic detector.

As expected, there was a contraband inspection.

I spread my arms and let them scan me, then opened my crossbody bag for the other inspector to see. I had stuck two tiny objects under the zipper, so I wasn't worried at all that they would find them.

Once that was over, I took my first step into school life. The surrounding environment was well-landscaped, and the air was filled with the scent of life. I closed my eyes, opened my mouth, and took a deep breath; for a moment, I felt my entire body filled with vitality.

It was still spring, and the temperature was just right. My body was radiating energy from the inside out.

Now, then.

Where is the classroom?

I cast a macro-level gaze across the vast academy.

Chapter 4: The Ability Contained in 'Acceptance'

There are not many secrets in this world that cannot be told, even for those who have tried time and again to end it all themselves.

They are simply feeling despair toward life.

Despair toward life possesses a very common manifestation, which we can illustrate through the story of Sisyphus. Most people have likely heard his legend, but considering that one cannot generalize between individuals, I intend to explain it here.

Sisyphus is a figure from Greek mythology, the founder and king of Corinth. He even once kidnapped Death, causing the world to be without mortality. However, his actions offended the gods, so he was tasked with pushing a giant boulder to the top of a mountain. Yet, every time, due to the stone's own gravity, it would roll back down to the foot of the mountain. No matter how many times Sisyphus repeated this, he could never meet the demands of the gods.

In the end, even the resourceful Sisyphus was helpless against this, and he ultimately exhausted his life in day-after-day depression and struggle.

To give one's all every time, only to end in failure and have all previous efforts go to waste—this is the most terrifying thing. Ineffective and disappointing labor, year after year, endless, busy, a life spent in a hurry, only to look back and suddenly realize that, just like Sisyphus, one has gained nothing.

Thus, despair toward life arises, leading to the path of death.

I consider this approach to be quite correct; if one must say it is a pity, it is only that I did not think of this sooner. Well, at least that is what I think for now.

As I just mentioned, this is merely a superficial phenomenon, so we must wonder: what is the essence of it?

To put it in one word—'acceptance'.

To put it in one sentence—'allowing everything to happen'.

This shares a similar spirit with 'nothing is true, everything is permitted'. The reason people today feel despair is that they have not been accepted.

When Sisyphus pushed the stone to the top, the boulder was not accepted by nature; his actions were not acknowledged, which is why he failed.

[When we watch the sunset, we do not force the sunset to appear according to our own will.]

This sentence describes the definition of the word 'acceptance'.

When watching the sunset, we do not forcibly demand or command the scene of the sunset, and after seeing it, we think, 'Ah, so this is what a sunset is like.' At that very moment, the rationality of the sunset's existence is forcibly 'accepted' by us, and thus the sunset is allowed to exist.

However, such a simple thing appears exceptionally difficult when placed within our human society. It is not because of anything else, but because—'hell is other people'.

However, the example I am giving is different from what Sartre meant by 'hell is other people'; what I am speaking of is the existence of a worldview. When you establish your own world, if you accidentally wander into someone else's world, there will only be three outcomes.

One is that your world and theirs produce a certain compatibility, merging into a world where you can coexist; another is that your world completely crushes theirs, leading to their destruction; the final one is your own defeat and demise.

Regardless of whether you can be reborn from the fall, it no longer matters; you will undoubtedly become an outcast shared by this or that world—that is, unaccepted.

Humans are born lonely, yet they are forced to rely on the group.

This is a rather contradictory point.

But at the end of the day, no matter how much one thinks about this problem, there are no surprises (of course, if you are particularly passionate about this world, please do not take what I have said to heart), because from a philosophical perspective, the universe has no inherent meaning; things simply happen. Humans are merely an objective existence in the world, no different from anything else. The meaning we speak of is actually something we assign ourselves.

So, it might be better to have a grand liberation and be done with it.

Well, that's about the extent of my thoughts.

I shook my head, casting those cumbersome thoughts into space to let the scorching sun burn them away.

"Hmm, is something wrong?" Ichinose noticed my strange behavior and asked with concern.

"I just felt a bit stifled earlier."

Ichinose nodded in understanding, "It is indeed quite stuffy on the bus."

I only wanted to consider how to integrate into a class collective, so how did I end up rambling about all these things? Come to think of it, isn't building interpersonal relationships quite simple? Why must I dwell on these problems?

I followed in Ichinose's footsteps into the classroom. The room was very spacious, with few people, only three or four scattered about. There were forty desks in total, each with a nameplate on it. I looked around slightly and sat down at the seat with my nameplate.

The last row by the window—this was a good spot, with sunlight slanting in, creating a lazy atmosphere. This solidified the heart that had been wavering between escapism and energy conservation.

It is laziness—no, energy conservation.

After I solidified my conviction and put down my shoulder bag, Ichinose entered my line of sight.

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect us to be sitting in front of and behind each other."

"Ah, yeah."

What an annoying coincidence; energy conservation is going to be severely restricted.

I sat in my seat listlessly. Due to the small number of people, the students were mostly sitting at their desks looking at school materials or zoning out. I didn't seem to have brought anything with me; what should I do during this time? In terms of my philosophy, I should probably sleep or zone out.

Just as I was thinking about my next move, Ichinose finished tidying up her things and spoke to me.

"Raku, aren't you going to introduce yourself to the other students?"

"It's not urgent yet, there are so few people around."

"That's true. Then let's go say hello when there are a few more people."

Temporarily dodged a bullet...

But do I really need to take the initiative? Although making friends under Ichinose's leadership might become easier, being reticent and quiet really suits me better.

Falling into troubled contemplation, I decided to use sleep to escape the tedious time.

Although it is often said that 'escaping is shameful', there is a reason why it has been passed down as a method.

And so—I was woken up by Ichinose without even realizing it.

The students in the classroom had all arrived, and a beauty in light pink casual clothes was standing at the podium.

"...Can you tell me what the situation is now?"

Taking advantage of the gap while everyone was returning to their seats, I asked Ichinose.

"Sorry, because I saw you were asleep, I didn't have the heart to wake you up, so you didn't get to meet the others in the class."

I accidentally fell asleep for real.

"I don't mind that." I shook my head.

"Anyway, it should be the teacher, let's go back to our seats so she can announce some things."

Just as Ichinose finished saying this, the teacher on the podium continued.

"Yoo-hoo~ everyone, new students. I am the homeroom teacher for Class B. My name is Chie Hoshinomiya. I usually teach mathematics. In this school, classes do not change every academic year. Therefore, for the three years until graduation, I will be your homeroom teacher and we will learn together, so please take care of me." Teacher Hoshinomiya showed a vibrant smile, with a faint scent of alcohol mixed in.

"The entrance ceremony will be held in the gymnasium in one hour. Before that, I want to distribute materials regarding the special rules of this school. Although, these were also given to you during the previous orientation."

Orientation... Did I miss a step? Damn it, he didn't even mention this.

I watched quietly as the materials were passed down from the students in front. Then, I also received a 'magazine' with a conceptual map of the entire school on the cover.

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School

99.9% employment rate in desired jobs, equipped with the latest facilities.

In terms of its overall appearance, it would be more appropriate to call it an artificial island city rather than a school. In addition to the school, this institution also includes facilities like karaoke, movie theaters, cafes, clothing stores, and so on; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a small commercial district. As for the land area, according to the introduction, it is at least 600,000 square meters.

In addition, this school has another special feature, which is the introduction of the S System.

Currently, the exact function of the S System cannot be determined; it ends with a simple phrase: 'a competitive mechanism evaluation system.' This point is thought-provoking.

"Now, I am distributing your student IDs, which are your mobile phones. In that case, I don't need to explain the function of the student ID, right? Socializing, shopping at the mall, paying for entertainment facilities, etc., can all be realized through the student ID."

"Each person only gets one. If you lose it, you will have to spend extra points to replace it."

"Has everyone received one?" Teacher Hoshinomiya scanned the entire class, and after confirming there were no mistakes, she continued to speak.

"In this school, your daily living expenses are covered by the school, but that doesn't mean you can just take things from the school at will. It means the school will deposit money into your accounts every month."

"Now, please check your accounts. Each of you should have been fairly distributed 100,000 points. If the amount is incorrect, please tell the teacher immediately."