Anomaly

The aftermath of that day's events was like a single stone cast into a pond, triggering a thousand ripples.

First was the suspicious geological disaster; when the school heard the explanation from the eyewitness, Kushida Kikyo, that there had been no warning signs whatsoever before it occurred, it raised eyebrows.

Even the various seismic sensors buried underground had failed to trigger a single alarm, a phenomenon so highly irregular that the school administration even briefly suspected it had been artificially fabricated.

However, when they arrived at the scene, they were mercilessly shocked by the devastated, ruinous sight before them.

Looking at the deep pits of varying sizes scattered across the ground, as if they had been embedded by giant boulders, along with the trees that looked as if they had been sliced through horizontally and the cracks on the soil layers that resembled the patterns left by prolonged high-pressure stress—

What kind of power could possibly cause such a scene? Is it really as simple as an earthquake?

The group of administrators fell into deep contemplation.

Only Chairman Sakayanagi, standing among them, had a thoughtful look in his eyes.

To ensure this incident would not damage the school's reputation abroad, the administration ordered all information regarding the matter to be sealed that very day, and any witnesses were strictly forbidden from discussing it casually.

And so, this incident seemed to become the first unsolved case since the school's founding.

Yet, there are no truly airtight walls in this world, and one could only wonder if someone had done this intentionally.

A few days later, the incident suddenly spread across the internet, and as a result, the school became a national sensation overnight.

Countless emails and messages, along with uninvited visitors from all over, arrived one after another.

Although the school eventually rejected them all, citing its closed-campus education policy, a significant number of reporters still exhausted every means possible to try and sneak into the school to uncover the secrets within.

It was also on that afternoon that the school officially announced the permanent closure of all external volunteer channels, effectively severing all ties with the outside world from that point on for the Advanced Nurturing High School.

Of course, those are stories for another time.

Because Class D of the first year had the highest number of injured personnel, and because everyone present at the time was stuttering and unable to give a clear account, they became the primary focus of the school's observation.

As the homeroom teacher for Class C, Sakagami Suma was naturally unaware of how much pressure public opinion had placed on him due to this incident, and he nearly fainted from rage when he couldn't get any results from his inquiries at the hospital.

"You... you bunch of trash, trash!"

"You don't even know who hit you."

"All you can say is 'rocks, rocks'—do you think the rocks just ran over here and hit you on their own?"

Watching their teacher, whose hair and beard were bristling with fury, the injured students all fell into silence.

They actually wanted to know how they had been knocked unconscious, too, but who could have imagined what happened in that split second?

And that wasn't even the worst of it; what made Sakagami Suma want to cough up blood even more was that Ryuen Kakeru, the most brilliant mind in Class C, had been diagnosed with mild depression after this injury...

As for his two right-hand men, one insisted he had just fallen and suffered a severe lower-body injury, while the other refused to speak a single word.

In this way, the strength of Class C plummeted, nearly causing the class to collapse entirely; it was only thanks to Shiina Hiyori, who had been silently watching over the class, that they managed to survive through her superb linguistic charm.

Of course, Class C was not the only one affected by this incident...

After it was discovered at the hospital that Koenji's severe injuries were caused by human factors, Chabashira couldn't sit still for a moment and immediately went to the hospital to investigate.

However, the result was even more tragic than the situation with the man from Class C; aside from a severe concussion leading to partial memory loss, the rest was nothing but an immovable, stony silence.

Even after Chabashira tried every method to pry information out of him until she was drenched in sweat, there wasn't a single change in his expression.

She had originally wanted to check the surveillance footage, but for some reason, the cameras for that specific time period had tripped a circuit breaker that night...

And the other injured student, Sudo Ken, displayed such confusing behavior that it almost made her want to hit him.

When he woke up, she had initially thought he was going to speak, and she felt a glimmer of hope, but the boy seemed to see someone from his class and his words suddenly became muddled and incoherent.

That act of feigned ignorance was so poorly performed, sigh...

It was only the first semester, yet Chabashira felt like she was going insane.

She wanted to investigate personally afterward, as the incident was clearly full of suspicious points—some of which, if dug into even slightly, would reveal discrepancies.

But what frustrated her was...

Chairman Sakayanagi, the highest authority in the school, seemed to have no intention of letting anyone dig deeper, issuing various orders to restrict both teachers and students.

If you like this book, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

That very day, even Horikita Manabu, who held significant influence, had his request to investigate mercilessly rejected, and two days later, the school hastily declared the case a cold case and closed it.

Perhaps the higher-ups didn't want an incident that damaged the school's reputation to continue fermenting, or perhaps someone among the top brass had done it intentionally.

But regardless, since the higher-ups had already decided, who below would dare to be so foolish as to openly oppose them...

Meritocracy—perhaps only at this moment could some truly understand just how terrifying its implementation could be...

After this incident, Class D of the first year, which had expected a brief period of calm, found that misfortunes never came singly.

First was the abnormality regarding Hirata Yosuke...

For some unknown reason, looking deathly pale, he suddenly announced to the entire class the next morning that the previously proposed fund plan had to be closed due to individual violations, and he hoped everyone would understand.

However, such a sudden move without any warning naturally led some classmates who had originally supported the plan to wonder where the violations had occurred.

Yet, before they could think too much, the words Hirata said next immediately interrupted everyone's train of thought.

"I'm sorry, everyone. There's something I've been thinking about for a long time, but I only understood it that night."

"Perhaps the position of class representative has always required someone with true capability, and I... am clearly not that person~" As he spoke, Hirata gave a bitter smile, sighed in a rare display of emotion, and his face was filled with numbness.

Upon hearing this, many of the boys and girls in the class who had been looked after by Hirata could no longer stand by, and they spoke up one after another to support him.

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about... Class Representative."

"Who says you don't have the ability? We certainly don't agree."

"That's right, Class Representative, you have always been thinking of the class, and everyone has seen it. You've already done a great job."

"..."

Among them, Wang Meiyu, a girl who had long harbored a secret crush on Hirata, was the most emotional, to the point where she was almost on the verge of tears.

If it weren't for the fact that his girlfriend, Karuizawa Kei, had taken a sick leave today, one might have mistaken her for his actual partner.

However, anyone with a keen eye could see that Hirata's current state was clearly abnormal, though no one was willing to point it out to his face.

Naturally, regarding such a matter of vital importance to the class, Horikita Suzune, sitting in the back row, could not help but ponder it in secret.

Perhaps, following Ayanokoji's suggestion, she could choose not to investigate that strange geological disaster.

But having long since tied the class's fate to her own goals, she clearly could not remain indifferent.

What's more, no matter how one looked at it, this matter was full of suspicious points.

As someone who has always appeared before everyone in the best possible light since enrollment, why would Hirata show such a dejected appearance this time?

And why would the fund project he had been struggling so hard to maintain be shut down just like that, without even explaining the so-called violations?

Then, he suddenly announces his resignation as Class Representative?

As she thought, her gaze suddenly fell upon the empty seat of Karuizawa Kei, and her eyes filled with surprise.

As his girlfriend, I've never seen her take any leave before, yet she suddenly takes sick leave on the very day her boyfriend announces his resignation?

Horikita Suzune narrowed her eyes, the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong.

"Do you want to get involved in this?"

Just then, the usually reticent Ayanokoji suddenly spoke in a flat tone.

"Why not? Since it concerns the class, can't I investigate it?"

"You can, but you need to think it through."

"Think what through?" Horikita Suzune turned her head to look at him, puzzled.

Seeing this, Ayanokoji, still wearing his deadpan expression, merely shifted his gaze slightly and did not reply.

"Tch, you're always like this. Boring."

Horikita Suzune tossed her long hair and coldly turned her head away.